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PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 

•  .  I 


ESTABLISHED  1841. 


A  Weekly  Record  of  Pharmacy  and  Allied  Sciences. 


FOURTH  SERIES-VOLUME  IV. 
COMPLETE  SERIES -  VOLUME  LVIII. 


JANUARY  TO  JUNE,  1897. 


LONDON  : 

PHARMACEUTICAL  SOCIETY  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN, 
17,  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.C, 

Z{ 


W.  I.  RICHARDSON,  PRINTER, 

4  AND  5,  GREAT  QUEEN  STREET,  LINCOLN’S  INN  FIELDS, 
LONDON,  W.O. 


July  3,  1897.] 


INDEX. 


[Supplement  to 
Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


INDEX  TO  VOLUME 


A 


Aberdeen  and  North  of  Scotland  Society  of 
Chemists  and  Druggists,  157,  362,  504a. 

_  Junior  Chemists’  Association,  219,  262, 

283,  302. 

Acaroid  Resins  (Tschirch  and  Hildebrand), 
370. 

Accuracy  (Sutherland),  218. 

A.  C.  E.,  The  Keeping  Properties  of,  484. 
Acetic  Acid  as  a  Menstruum  (Remington), 
288. 

Acetone,  Assay  of  (Kebler),  161. 

—  Collodium  and  Oil  of  Cade  (Gaucher), 

314. 

Acetylene,  A  Bunsen  Burner  for  (Munby), 
423,  469. 

—  Explosions,  Products  of  (Bone  and  Cain), 

287. 

Acid  Fixing  Bath,  244. 

Acidity  of  Moorland  Water,  200. 

Acid- loving  Fungi  (Wehmer),  289. 

Acne,  Formula  for  Ointment  for  (Boeck), 
158. 

Aconiti  Folia,  The  Histology  of,  170. 

—  Radix,  The  Histology  of,  170,  230. 
Advertising  and  the  Press,  Editorial  Remarks 

on,  51. 

Agar  Agar  Gelatin,  Formula  for,  396. 

Age  of  the  Earth,  The,  as  an  Abode  Fitted 
for  Life  (Kelvin),  517. 

Air-bubbles  in  Slides,  To  Avoid,  140. 

Air,  Liquefacii  n  of  (Hampson),  287. 

Airol  in  Leprosy  (Fornara),  363. 

Alchemy,  Modern  (Gardner),  191, 

Alcock,  F.  H. — The  Studies  of  a  Fha  ma- 
cist,  380. 

Alcohol-produciog  Ferment  in  Yeast  (Buch¬ 
ner),  288. 

Alcohol  and  Non-Exciseable  Drinks,  Mr. 
Lough  on,  473. 

—  in  Chloroform,  The  presence  of  Water 

and  of  (Behai  and  Francois),  465. 
Alcohols,  The  Colour  of,  Compared  with 
Water  (Spring),  417. 

Algae,  Evolution  of  Green  (Chodat),  468. 

—  Food  Materials  of  (Molisch),  289. 

• —  Preservirg  the  Colour  of  (Sturch),  385. 
Alkali  Works,  The  Annual  Report  on,  497. 
Alkaline  Iodides  and  Bromides  (Knoblocb), 
460. 

Alkaloids  (Hoseason),  96. 

—  and  their  Salts,  Note  on  the  Drying  of 

(Dott),  21. 

—  of  Calisaya  Bark,  504. 

—  The  Determination  of  (Farr  and  Wriuht), 

202. 

Allen,  William,  and  the  Duke  of  Kent,  476. 


(FOURTH  SERIES.) 


Alloys  Containing  Zinc,  On  the  Freezing- 
point  Curves  of  (Heycock  and  Neville), 
238. 

—  Formulae  for  Fusible,  464. 

—  Recent  Work  on,  151. 

—  X-Ray  Photos  of  the  Solid  (Heycock), 

423. 

Aloin,  Determination  of  (Schafer).  287. 
Alpers,  W.  C. — Gelatin  Capsules,  25,  66. 
Aluminum  Condensers  (Norton),  290. 

—  Goods,  The  ILe  of,  in  the  United  States 

of  America,  568a. 

Amateur  Prescriber,  The,  at  it  Again  (Locul), 

200. 

American  “Pharmacy,”  Remarks  on  a 
Picture  of,  184. 

Ammonium  Sulphocyanide  not  Poisonous 
(Htffter),  184. 

Amygda1®,  The  Histology  of,  170. 

Amylum,  The  Histology  of,  170. 

Anaesthetics  and  Narcotics,  Notes  on  the 
Uses  of,  88. 

Analysis  of  Fatty  Oils,  The  (Cowley),  329. 

—  of  Trade  Gin,  An,  426. 

Analyst’s  Omission,  A  Public,  496. 

Analysts,  the  Danger  of  Public,  Editorial 

Remarks  on,  535. 

—  The  Society  of  Public  (Annual  Dinner),  53 
Analytical  Differences,  Remarks  on,  53,  298, 

378,  421. 

—  Work,  Apparatus  for,  504. 

Anethi  Fructus,  The  Histology  of,  230. 
Aniseed,  A  Dangerous  Adulteration  of,  399. 
Anisi  Fructus,  The  Histology  of,  231. 

—  Stel  ati  Fructus,  The  Histology  of,  231. 
Anniversary,  Editorial  Remarks  on  the 

Society’s,  447. 

Anozol  or  Deodorous  Iodoform  (Diaz),  422. 
Answers  to  Queries,  20,  40,  60,  80,  100,  1 .0, 
140,  160,  200,  224,  244,  266,  286,  306, 
326,  346,  366,  386,  408,  463,  483,  503, 
524,  544.  568. 

Antbemidis  Flores,  The  Histology  of,  269. 
Anti-Cutting  Movement  in  the  Photographic 
Trade,  472. 

Antiquity  and  History  of  the  Mortar,  The 
(Thompson),  267. 

Antiseptic  Pellets,  Soluble,  8. 

Antitoxic  Serum  (Behiing’s)  in  Diphtheria, 
On  the  Effects  of.  43. 

Antitoxin,  Electrolytic  Diphtheria  ( Smirnow ), 
368. 

—  The  Use  of  Diphtheria,  476. 

Antitoxins  (Gamble),  340. 

Anti-Vivisection  Society  and  the  Prince  of 

Wales,  536. 

Ants,  Solutions  to  Drive  away,  335. 

Apatite,  Canadian,  5U2. 

Aperient  Syrup,  Formula  for,  326 


Apothecaries  Act,  Proceedings  under  the,  at 
Sheffield,  405,  414. 

—  Society,  Course  of  Botanical  Lectures  by 

Prof.  F.  W.  Oliver,  453,  522. 

Appliances,  Novel  Pharmaceutical,  406. 
Application  for  Sycosis,  Formula  for  an,  425. 
Apprentices  in  Drug  Stores  and  Self-Medica¬ 
tion,  558 

April,  The  Flowers  of,  296,  336. 

Aquarium  and  Microscope,  Curiosities  of 
the,  335. 

Argentol,  Composition  of  (Fritzsche),  369. 
Argon  in  the  Blood  (Regnard  and  Schloesing), 

161. 

Armoracise  Radix,  The  Histology  of,  269. 
Army  Compounders  as  Public  Dispensers, 
Editorial  Remarks  on,  131,  237. 

Arnica  Rhizoma,  The  Histology  of,  269. 
Arrow  Poison  from  Larvae  (Boehm),  468. 
Arsenic  Flue,  Death  Caused  by  Falling  into 
an,  80a. 

Arsenical  Soap  Case,  Houghton  v.  Taplin, 
77,  415. 

—  Soap,  Claim  against  Manufacturers  of, 

415. 

—  Soap  Crusade,  The,  13;  (Barnes),  19;  53, 72, 

77,  120a,  415,  420  ;  (Harvey),  462. 

—  Water,  Export  of,  from  Guber,  38 4; 
Artificial  Wine,  602. 

Asbestic  (Jones),  468. 

Ashton,  C.  S. — Ancient  Pharmacy,  138. 

—  C.  S. — An  “  Enquirer’s  ”  Question  An¬ 

swered,  462. 

—  C.  S. — Chouan  Seed  and  Autour  Bark,  408. 

—  C.  S. — The  Latin  of  Pharmacy,  305. 
Aspidin  (Boehm),  288. 

Assimilation  of  Nitrogen  (Laurent,  Marchal 
and  Carpiaux),  289. 

Assistants  I  have  Met,  Some  (Morgan),  321. 
Assistants’  Qualification  Wanted,  An  (McMil¬ 
lan),  345  ;  (Bessant),  364  ;  (Longstaff), 
(Saltpetre),  365 ;  (One  who  Respects 
the  Major  Qual.),  385  ;  (Glass),  (A  Young 
Major),  407;  (Currie),  (Nil-Desperandum', 
427. 

Atkinson,  Leo. — The  Council  Election  and 
the  P.A.T.A.,  483,  523,  568. 

Atomic  Theory,  John  Dalton  and  the  (Cock- 
shot),  61. 

—  Weight  of  Carbon,  On  the  (Scott),  280. 
Atropine  in  Diphtheria  (Elsaesser),  58. 
Attfield  Testimonial,  The  Proposed,  113 ; 

(Moss),  305 ;  497. 

Austin,  Josiah — The  Proposed  New  Bye¬ 
laws  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  264. 
Autosprays  and  Autoclaves  (Medico- Hygienic 
Inventions  Co.,  Ltd.),  197. 

Autour  Bark, Chouan  Seed  and  (Pharmacist ), 
384  ;  (Ashton),  408, 


Supplement  to 
Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


B 

Bacteria  and  Chemical  Reagents  (Paul  and 
Kronig),  162. 

—  and  Disease  (Thompson),  85. 

—  Fossil  (Renault),  162. 

Bacterial  Diseases  of  Plants  (Peglion),  162 
Bacteriology  (Richardson),  96. 

—  Book  on,  568. 

—  in  1896,  17. 

Bailey,  H.  H. — The  Benevolent  Fund,  198. 
Balance,  Novel  Dispensing,  8. 

Balls  for  Dysentery,  etc.,  in  Lambs,  504. 
Balsam  of  Tolu,  A  Snurious  (Braithwaite), 
307. 

Balsamorrhiza  Terebintbacea  (Sayre),  289. 
Bankrupticies,  428 a,  484a,  504a,  524a. 
Barclay,  John — The  Coca  Wine  of  Com¬ 
merce,  341. 

Birks,  Compaiison  of  Rhamnus  (Sayre),  288, 
Bailey,  Germination  of  (Gribs)  163  ;  (Dav), 
290. 

Barnes,  J.  B.— Arsenical  Soap,  19. 

Barrass,  T.  E. — Oa  Counter  Prescribing,  244. 
Barrett,  J.  T. — The  Protection  of  Prices,  8. 
Barrett,  W.  L. — The  Students’  Page,  79. 
Bartleet,  J. — On  Check  Tills,  224. 

Basilicum  Oil  (Dupont  and  Guerlain),  467. 
Battery,  Hot  Fluid  Primary,  Description  of 
a,  371. 

Bear’s  Grease,  Formula  for,  60. 

Beauty  Merchant,  A,  100a. 

Beecham’s  Pills,  A  Coroner  on,  386a. 

Bee’s  Poison,  Method  of  Extracting,  20a. 
Bees  Intoxicated  by  Honey  (Williams),  163. 
Beeswax,  Adulterated,  Prosecution  at  Bir¬ 
mingham,  484a. 

—  The  Iodine  Value  of  (Gayer),  308. 
Begbie’s,  Dr.,  Mixture,  Composition  of,  60. 

—  Dr.,  Pills,  Formula  for,  80. 

Behring’s  Antitoxic  Serum  in  Diphtheria, 
On  the  Effects  of,  43. 

Belgique,  The  Association  G^rerale  Phar- 
maceutique  de,  112. 

Bell,  R.  H. — The  Approaching  Council  Elec¬ 
tion,  427. 

Belladonna  and  Zinc  Oxide  in  Whooping 
Cough,  Formula  for,  58. 

—  Dispensing  Extract  of,  504. 

—  Plasters  (Hill),  75. 

Bending  Brass  or  Steel  Tubes,  484,  504. 
Benevolence,  Remarks  on  Corporate,  137. 
Benevolent  Fund,  An  appeal  for  the  (Mum- 
bray),  78;  (Kemp)  98;  (Currie),  (Smith), 
(Moderate  Man),  119;  (Brown),  (Roper), 
137  ;  (Rawling),  159  ;  (Currie),  (Smith), 
(Kemp),  (Bailey),  (Thompson),  198; 
(Editorial),  213  ;  256  ;  (Riding),  263. 

—  Fund,  Editorial  Remarks  on  the,  181. 

—  Fund  Festival  Dinner,  The,  108,  398,  429. 

—  Fund,  Letter  from  the  President  on  the, 

180. 

—  Fund,  List  of  Donations  and  Subscrip¬ 

tions  in  Aid  of  the,  451,  476,  491,  496. 

—  Fund,  Manchester  and  District  Assis¬ 

tants’  and  Apprentices’  Special  Appeal 
in  aid  of  the,  263,  286a,  386a,  504a. 

—  Fund,  Manchester  and  District ;  List  of 

Donations  to  the,  180,  244a,  286a,  326a, 
366a,  428a. 

• —  Fund,  Result  of  the  Christmas  Appeal 
on  behalf  of  the,  13,  20. 

—  Fund,  The  Nature  and  Work  of  the,  448. 
Bent,  Mr.  Theodore,  Death  of,  422. 

Benzacetin  as  an  Anti  Neuralgic  ani  Ano¬ 
dyne,  221. 

Benzine,  Sale  of,  464. 

Benzol  and  Benzine,  to  Distinguish  (Lainer), 
368. 


INDEX. 


Benzoline  Explosion  at  Leeds',  A, 286a. 
Benzo-Naphthol  and  Bismuth  Salicylate  in 
Infantile  Diarrhoea,  405. 

Berlin  Medical  Law  and  Chemists,  120a. 

Best  ant,  F.  R.— An  Assistants’  Qualification 
Wanted,  364. 

Bevan,  Edward. — The  Brentford  Glycerin 
and  Lime  Juice  Case,  463. 

Biarritz,  English  Chemists  in,  at  Christmas, 
40a 

Bicyclists  and  French  Pharmacists,  205. 
Bills,  Parliamentary,  still  Waiting,  556. 

—  Position  of  Private  Members’,  295. 

—  Progress  of  Parliamentary,  407. 

Biologic  rl  Work,  A  Simple  Microtome  for 

(Flatters),  485. 

Birds,  Gallinaceous,  and  Tuberculosis 
(Lannelongue  and  Achard),  468. 
Birkbeck  Institution,  Students’  Conversa¬ 
zione  at  the,  157. 

Bismuth  Benzoate  (Rebhire),  82. 

—  Industry  of  Bolivia,  461. 

—  Iodogallate,  Formula  for  the  Preparation 

of,  167. 

—  Tribromophenol  as  an  Antiseptic  (Cum- 

ston),  196. 

Bitters,  Orange,  Formula  for,  9. 

Blaud  PilJ,  The  Composition  of  (Thompson), 

83. 

Bleaching  Dyed  Hair,  504. 

Blue,  The  Difference  Between  Methyl  Blue 
and  Methylene,  386. 

Boa,  Peter — Chloroform  Water,  75. 

B.ard  of  Trade,  Sir  Stafford  Northcote  and 
the  President’s  Position,  494. 

Boedecker’s  Test  for  Albumin,  544. 

Boilers,  To  Prevent  Scale  in,  472. 

Bois- Raymond,  Professor  Emil  du,  Death 
cf,  13. 

Bolton’s  Collodion  Emulsion,  Formula  for, 
484. 

Bonuses,  Distribution  of,  by  Messrs.  E.  Cook 
aEd  Co.,  504a. 

Book  on  Bacteriology,  568. 

—  on  Botanical  Microscopy,  568. 

Books  of  Reference,  524. 

—  on  Brewing  Beer  and  Stout,  346. 

—  on  Domestic  Medicine,  544. 

Bcr  jglyceride,  Preparation  of,  60  ;  (Martin- 
dale),  80  ;  (Hick),  100  ;  (Coull),  (Borax), 
(Free-Thinker),  119. 

Bose,  Prof.  J.  C. — The  Physical  Properties 
of  Electric  Waves,  102. 

Botanic  Gardens  of  the  World,  270,  507,  526. 
Botanical  Institute  and  Garden  at  Marburg, 
The  (Martindale),  174. 

—  Lectures  before  the  Apothecaries’  Society, 

by  Prof.  F.  W.  Oliver,  453,  522. 

—  Microscopy,  Book  on,  568. 

—  Society  of  Edinburgh,  281. 

—  Specimens  for  Students  (Roberts),  59. 

—  Work  in  Jamaica  and  Aburi  on  the  Gold 

Coast,  384. 

—  Works,  80,  160. 

Botany,  Economic,  in  1896,  17. 

—  H;nts  on  Field,  30. 

—  in  1896,  15. 

• —  Morphological,  The  Present  Position  of 
(Scott),  34,  360,  478. 

—  of  the  Months,  Notes  on  the,  10,  30,  50, 

70,  90,  110,  179,  254,  276,  296,  336,  418, 
534. 

—  On  the  Desirability  of  E  Jablishing  an 

Institute  for  the  Teaching  of,  in  the 
Royal  Botanic  Gardens  (Maitindale), 
183,  203;  (Editorial  Remarks),  214,  217. 

—  The  Professorship  of,  in  the  University  of 

Eiinburgh,  295. 

—  The  Teaching  of  Elementary,  409. 


[July  3,  1897. 


Bovril  Stamnoids,  544a. 

Boys,  Professor  C.  V.—  Capillary  Ripples, 
115. 

Bradford  and  District  Chemists’  Association, 
96,  140a,  191,  219,  363. 

Braithwaite,  J.  O. — A  Sourious  Balsam  of 
Tolu,  307. 

—  J.  O. — Commercial  Civet,  101. 

Brandy  Substitute,  Formula  for,  524. 
Brewing  Beer  and  Stout,  Books  on,  346. 
Brighton  Chemists  and  the  P.A.T.A.,  218, 

454. 

—  Junior  Association  of  Pharmacy, 
56,  100a,  117,  136,  156,  193,  218,  240, 
284,  302,  454. 

Bristol  Pharmaceutical  Association,  97,  260, 
401. 

British  Association  for  the  Advancement  of 
Science,  Botanical  Section,  34,  360, 
478. 

—  Association  Meeting  at  Toronto,  Arrange¬ 

ments  for  the,  133. 

- —  Institute  of  Public  Health,  518. 

—  Manufactured  Drugs,  An  Opening  for,  in 

China,  426. 

—  Pharmaceutical  Conference,  Origin  of 

the,  140. 

—  Pharmacopoeia  Preparations,  The  Specific 

Gravities  of  the  (Lunan),  219, 

—  Pharmacopoeia,  The  Ointments  of  the 

(Lucas),  121. 

—  Pharmacopoeia,  Explanatory  Notes  on 

the,  10,  50,  70,  90,  110,  130,  150,  179, 
254,  276,  296,  336,  356,  418,  474,  514, 
534. 

—  Trade  in  Bulgaria,  58. 

—  Trade  in  Drugs  and  Chemicals  during 

1896,  568a. 

—  Trade,  Obstacles  to,  461. 

—  Trade  with  Maranham  (Brazil),  461. 
Bromide,  Ethyl,  and  Suggestion  in  Hysterical 

Aphonia  (Arsslan),  426. 

Bromides,  Alkaline  Iodides  and  (Knobloch), 
460. 

Bronzing  Gun  Barrels,  Mixture  for,  408. 
Brown,  A.  J. — The  Benevolent  Fund,  137. 

—  J.  F. — Liquor  Bismuthi,  39. 

Brown  Varnish,  Formula  for,  80. 

Buckley,  J.  A. — Help  for  Major  Students, 

139. 

—  J.  A. — The  Proposed  New  Bye-laws  of 

the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  264. 

Bunsen  Burner  for  Acetylene  (Munby),  423, 
469. 

Barrage,  J.  H. — The  Adhesive  Discs  of 
Ercilla  Spicata,  216. 

Burroughs,  Wellcome  and  Co.’s  New  Year’s 
Dinner,  40a. 

Bush  (W.  J.)  and  Co. — Elder  Flower  Oint¬ 
ment,  19. 

Business  Ways  that  are  Dark  ( Anti-Soft- 
Sawder),  140 ;  (A.  J.  P.  S.),  (Jones), 
159;  (Ellinor),  286. 

Butt,  Edward  N. — On  Chicle  Gum,  328. 
Buttercups,  Poisoning  by  (Lancaster),  517. 
Butyric  Fermentation,  100. 

Bye-Laws,  Editorial  Remarks  on  the  Pro¬ 
posed  New,  255,  277,  297. 

—  -Laws,  the  Proposed  New,  Comments  on, 

236,  256,  (Austin),  (Buckley),  (Henry), 
(Spero),  264 ;  278 ;  (Henry),  (K.  K.),  285  ; 
(Editorial),  297 ;  (A  Student  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society),  304  ;  318 ; 
(Turnbull),  (A  Member  of  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society),  (T.  T.),  325 ;  (Russell), 
343;  358,  362;  (Associate),  364;  380,  382, 
383;  (Rawling),  384;  401,  403,  404, 
424  ;  (Vizer),  428  ;  437,  454  ;  (St.  Cyr)  . 
483. 


July  3,  1897.] 


c 


Cabot  Tower  at  Bristol,  The  Proposed,  379. 
Cacodyl  Compounds  for  Therapeutic  Use, 
221. 

Cade,  Oil  of,  Acetone  Collodium  and 
(Gaucher),  314, 

Caffeine,  Homologues  of,  21. 

—  load,  158. 

Calamines,  Improved  Formula  for  Lini- 
mentum  (Skinner),  513. 

Calcium  Carbide,  Reduction  by  (Warren), 
81. 

—  Carbide,  The  Danger  of,  154. 

—  Carbide,  The  Storage  and  Conveyance  of, 

186,  206  ;  (Order),  212  ;  (Memo),  234  ; 
318. 

—  Oleate,  The  Dispensing  of,  326. 

—  Oxalate,  Function  of  (Kraus),  370. 
Calendar  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of 

Ireland,  Notes  on  the,  132. 

Cali=aya  Bark,  Alkaloids  of,  504. 

Cambridge  Pharmaceutical  Association, 
220,  281,  346a. 

Camphor,  Cultivation  of  Chinese,  426. 

—  Exports  of  from  Tamsui  during  1895,  426. 

—  Powder,  Note  on  Permanent,  355. 

—  The  Production  of  in  China  (Henry),  201. 
Camphoronic  Acid,  The  Synthesis  of  (Per¬ 
kin),  280. 

Campkin,  A  S.,  and  the  Manchester  Unity 
at  Douglas,  Isle  of  Man,  544a. 

Canadian  Apatite,  502. 

Canary  Islands,  English  Trade  in  Drugs  with 
the,  38. 

Capillary  Ripples  (Boys),  115, 

Capping  Material,  New,  74. 

Capsicum  Fruits,  How  to  Cut  Sections  of 
(Flatters),  507. 

Capsule,  The  History  of  the  (Alpers),  25,  66. 
Capsules,  Membranous,  544a. 

Caramel  in  Fluid  Extracts,  167. 

Carbide,  Iron  (Moissan),  367. 

Carbolic  Acid  Pastilles,  Formula  for  (3alz- 
mann),  314. 

—  Acid  Scheduled  as  a  Prison  in  Ireland, 

558. 

—  Acid,  The  Use  of,  for  Tempering  Steel 

Tools,  183. 

Caibon  and  Hydrogen,  Union  of  (Bone  and 
Jerdan),  287. 

—  Dioxide  in  Clothes  (Wolpert),  368. 

—  On  the  Atomic  Weight  of  (Scott),  280. 
Carbonate,  Oxidation  of  Ferrous,  464. 
Cardell,  R  T. — The  Preliminary  Exanr'na- 

tion,  140. 

Carpaine  (Van  Rijn),  466. 

Casella,  Louis  Pascal,  Death  of,  379. 

Cash  Book,  A  Useful,  503. 

Cassias,  Parple  of  (Antony  and  Lucchesi), 

368. 

Casson,  Frank— Old  Pharmacy,  87. 
Castoreum  da  Gardon  (Gal),  161. 

Catgut,  Sterilisation  of  (Larrabee),  162. 
Cement  to  Fasten  Metal  to  Glass,  Formula 
for,  246. 

Cereal  Crops,  The  Diseases  of  (Oliver),  522. 
Cerium  Salts  as  Antiseptics,  363. 

Certificates,  The  Victoria  Pharmacy  Board 
and  the  Qaestion  of  Reciprocity  in,  449. 
Charity,  Art,  and  Humour,  263. 

Chattaway,  F.  D.,  and  Stephens,  H.  P. — The 
Hydrolysis  of  Perthioc.)  anic  Acid,  320. 
Cheavin’s  Microbe-Proof  Filters,  196. 

Check  Tills  —  A  Want  (Inquirer),  138 ; 
(Cook),  (Francis  and  Co.),  160  ;  (Hollo¬ 
way),  199  ;  (Hogg),  (Bartleet),  224. 
Chelidonine  Salts  as  Anodynes,  196. 


INDEX. 


Chelidonium  Majus,  Extract  of,  in  Cancerous 
Tumours  (Denisenko),  86. 

Chemical  and  Bacteriological  Examination 
of  Milk  (Davies),  302. 

—  Arts,  Sixty  Years’  Progress  in  Chemistry 

and  the  (Thorpe),  511. 

—  Changes  in  Crude  Drugs  (Dieterich),  529. 

—  Equations,  On,  90. 

—  Industry,  The  Society  of,  Invitation  to 

visit  Nottingham,  538. 

—  Laboratory  in  Pharmacy,  The  (Mayer),  27. 

—  Reagents,  Living  Tissues  as  (Wild),  125. 

—  Society,  94,  134,  187,  238,  280;  (Annual 

Dinner),  299,  300;  320,  400,  423,  480, 
521. 

Chemist,  Death  of  a,  from  Exposure,  20a. 

—  “  Poor,”  Editorial  Remarks  on  Considera¬ 

tion  for  the,  277. 

—  Prosecution  of  a,  under  the  Medicine 

Stamp  Act  at  Lambeth,  136. 

—  The  Affairs  of  a  North  Devon,  60a. 

—  The  True  Pharmaceutical,  450. 

Chemistry,  Ancient  and  Modern  (Kelly),  311, 

423. 

—  and  the  Chemical  Arts,  Sixty  Years’ 

Progress  in  (Thorpe),  511. 

—  Higher  Research  in,  113. 

—  in  1896,  14. 

—  of  Douradinha  (Peckholt),  369. 

—  of  Woolfat  (Darmstaedter  and  Lifschlitz), 

369. 

Chemists  and  Company  Legislation  (Why- 
sal)),  38. 

—  and  Druggists’  Society  of  Ireland  (North 

Branch),  404. 

Chemists’  and  “  Wea'her,”  100a. 

—  Assistants’  Association,  77,  95,  117,  137, 

155,  188,  218,  239,  258  (Removal  to  New 
Premises),  279,  283,  303,  322,  340,  408a, 
423 

Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,  Some 
Suggested  Improvements  in  the  Rules  of 
the  (Tasker),  155. 

—  Ball,  The,  80a. 

—  Club  (London),  100a,  120a,  286a,  422. 

—  Exhibition  for  1897,  The,  450. 

—  Federation  (Foulston),  39  ;  (Cooper),  59, 

(Plymouthian),  79;  (Park),  99. 

—  Holidays  (A.P.S.),  385. 

—  Protective  Association,  The  Need  of  a 

(Higgs),  462. 

Chemists’  Qualification,  The  Court 
Journal  and,  73. 

—  Wine  Licences,  464d!. 

—  Remuneration,  Editoral  Remarks  od,  297. 
Chemists  who  are  Sub-Postmasters, 

Combination  of,  497. 

Chicle  Gathering  in  Mexico,  568a. 

—  Gam,  On  (Butt),  328. 

China,  Diet  and  Medicine  in,  113. 

Chinese  Camphor,  Cultivation  of,  426. 

—  Ideas  of  Chemistry,  Anatomy,  and 

Physiology,  113. 

—  Opium,  The  Returns  of  Duty  and  Likin 

on,  384. 

—  Soap  Industry,  The,  568a. 

Chinosol  Preparations,  524a. 

Chloride,  Mercuric,  as  a  Remedy  for 
Potato  Disease,  417. 

Chlorine,  The  Behaviour  of  Under  the 
Influence  of  Electricity  and  in  Sunlight 
(Shenstone),  94. 

—  Water,  Extemporaneous  Preparation  of 

(Griggl),  513. 

Chloroform  for  the  Greeks  from  Forshaw 
and  Snow,  428a. 

—  Presence  of  Water  and  of  Alcohol  in 

(Behai  and  Frat^is)  465. 

—  Water  (Boa),  75. 


Supplement  to 
Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


Chlcros  Disinfectant,  524a. 

Chlor-Zinc-Iodine  Solution,  Schulze’s,  366. 
Chouan  Seed, and  Autour  Bark  (Pharmacist), 
384 ;  (Ashton),  408. 

Chrysoidin  and  Cholera  (Blachstein),  508. 
Cinchona  Bark,  The  Manufacture  of  Quinine 
from,  568a. 

Cinchonine  into  Cinchonidine,  The  Alleged 
Conversion  of  (Paul  and  Cownley),  141  ; 
(Shaw),  199,  286. 

Cinematographs  and  the  Fire  in  Paris,  473. 
Cineraria,  Origin  of  the  Garden,  340. 

Citrates  of  Phenetidine  (Heyden),  24. 

Citric  Acid,  Synthesis  of  (Laurence),  466. 
City  and  Guilds  of  London  Institute,  92. 
Civet,  Commercial  (Braithwaite),  101. 
Clague,  T.  M. — A  Correction,  100. 

—  T.  M.—  Proposed  Association  at  New- 

castle-on-Tyne,  80. 

—  T.  M  —  The  Part  of  Combination  in 

Modern  Pharmaceutical  Life,  381. 

Clove  Pink  Perfume,  Formula  for,  460. 
Clower,  John —  The  Proprietary  Articles 
Trade  Association,  344. 

Club,  A  London  Residential,  486. 

Coal  Box,  A  Novel,  74. 

Coal-Tar  Dyes  and  Digestion  (Weber),  82. 
Cobalt,  Cobaltites,  etc.,  The  Oxides  of 
(McConnell  and  Hanes),  238. 

Cobwebs  and  Wine,  371. 

Cocaine,  Difficulty  in  Dispensing  (Jenkins), 
385. 

—  Sale  of,  120. 

Coca-Kola  Wine  (Potter  and  Clarke),  197. 
Coca,  Miscible  Fluid  Extract  of,  To  Prepare, 
604. 

—  Wine  and  its  Dangers,  Remarks  on,  133. 

—  Wine  of  Commerce,  The  (Barclay),  341. 
Coccospheres  and  Rhabdospheres,  The  Form¬ 
ation  of  (Murray),  340. 

Coccus  Rusci.the  Parasite  of  the  Fig,  502. 
Cockshott,  W.  A. — John  Dalton  and  the 
Atomic  Theory,  61. 

Cod- Liver  Oil,  Formula  for  Emulsion  of,  484. 

—  -Liver  Oil  with  Hypophosphites,  197. 
Coffee,  Dr.  Dabb’s  P.B.  Essence  of,  464a. 
Coils  for  Evaporation,  On  the  Use  of  S;eam 

(Warden),  307. 

Colchici,  Vinum,  Note  on  (CowLy),  173. 
College  of  Pharmacy,  A  Royal  (Gieenisb), 
408 ;  (Forshaw),  (Jesper),  (Rogerson 
and  Son),  427  ;  (Fyton),  462  ;  (A  Young 
Chemist),  483;  (Fyton),  542. 

Collie,  Dr. — The  Production  of  Pyridine 
Derivatives  from  EthylicqS-Amido  Cro* 
tonate,  187. 

Collodion  Emulsion,  Bolton’s,  Formula  for, 
484. 

—  Preparation  for  Photography,  60. 

Colour  and  Perfume  Ointment,  To,  366. 

—  of  Alcohols  Compared  with  Water 

(Spring),  417. 

—  Photography,  The  Process  of,  111,  132, 

172;  (Wood),  187,  473. 

Colours  for  Show  Bottles,  Formula  for,  306. 
Combination  in  Modern  Pharmaceutical 
Life,  The  Part  of  (Clague),  381. 
Commemoration  Bouquet,  504 b. 

—  Festivities,  Arrangements  for  the,  537. 
Commercial  Civet  (Brathwaite),  101. 

—  Gingers  and  Essence  of  Ginger  (Glass), 

245. 

—  Interests,  Professional  and,  Editorial  Re¬ 

marks  on,  495  ;  (Glyn-Jones),  503. 

—  Varieties  of  Fennel  and  Their  Essential 

Oils,  The  (Umney),  225,  232. 

Companies  Bill,  The,  109,  154,  212,  242,  275, 
518. 

C  ompany  Pharmacy,  20a 


Supplement  to 
Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


Compliant,  A  Personal  (Onion),  189; 
(Thompson),  160. 

Composition,  The  Art  of  Literary  (Ince), 

292. 

Compounders  of  Spirits,  Special  Licence 
Required  for,  421. 

Compressed  Drugs,  74. 

Condensers,  Aluminium  (Norton),  290. 

—  and  X  Ray  Tubes,  (Norton  and  Lawrence), 

290. 

Conference  Blue  List,  The,  487,  496. 

—  British  Pharmaceutical,  Arrangements  for 

the  1897  Meeting,  13,  239,  487,  519,  566. 

—  British  Pharmaceutical,  Subjects  for 

Papers,  487. 

—  British  Pharmaceutical, The  Oiigin  of  the, 

140. 

Conroy,  Michael — Balsam  of  Copaiba,  219, 
Consideration  for  the  “  Poor”  Chemist, 
Editorial  Remarks  on,  277. 

Consular  and  Diplomatic  Reports,  Distribu¬ 
tion  of,  8. 

—  Reports,  Extracts  from,  38,  58,  158,  384, 

406,  426,  461,  502,  568a. 

Cook,  W.  R.— Check  Tills,  160. 

Cooper,  G-.  T. — Chemists’  Federation,  59. 
Copaiba  Balsam,  Maturin  (Dietze),  369. 

--  Balsam  of  (Conroy),  219. 

—  Poisoning  (Thompson),  369. 

Copper  in  Oysters  (Lowe  and  Haedman),  162; 
(Lowe),  493. 

Copyright  (Amendment)  Bill,  The,  461,  518. 
Corals  and  Coral  Islands  (Swainson),  95. 
Corks,  Disposal  of  Old  Clean,  200. 
Corrections,  50,  60,  80,  100,  200,  386,  428, 
484. 

Corydaline  (Dobbie  and  Marsden),  465. 
Cotton,  Manufacture  and  Examination  of 
Iodised  (Soulard),  417. 

Coull,  George — A  Disclaimer,  79. 

—  George — A  Panegyric — The  Other  Side, 

119. 

—  George — Ferrous  Phosphate,  199. 

—  George — Nitrous  Acid  in  AquaDestillata, 

199. 

—  George — The  Latin  of  Phrmacy,  272 
291. 

Council  Election,  The  Forthcoming  (Gost- 
ling),  304  ;  (Keen),  325  ;  (Storrar),  345  ; 
(Maben),  364;  (Norfolkensis),  385; 
(Editorial  Remarks),  397 ;  (Bell), 
(Johnson),  (Musca),  427. 

—  Election,  The  Result  of  the  (Editorial 

Remarks),  447,  475  ;  (Atkinson),  (Hy- 
slop),  483;  (Sharman),  502;  (Glyn- 
Jones),  (Hinde),  503;  (Hyslop),  (Atkin¬ 
son),  523;  (Glyn-Jones),(An  Old  Pharma¬ 
cist),  (Young),  542  ;  (Atkinson),  568. 

—  Meetings,  Editorial  Remarks  on  the,  51, 

111,  213,  317,  397,  432,  495. 

—  The  Work  of  the,  in  1896, 1. 

Counter  Prescribing,  On  (Barrass),  243. 
Couple,  Improved  Zinc-Copper  (Stock),  290. 
Cowley,  R.  C. — Analysis  of  Fatty  Oils,  239, 

329. 

—  R.  C. — Note  on  Vinum  Colchici,  173. 

— *R.  C.— Peach  Kernel  Oil  in  Olive  Oil,  305. 
Cowoley,  A.  J.,  and  Paul,  Dr.  B.  H. — The 
Alleged  Conversion  of  Cinchonine  into 
Cinchonidine,  141. 

Crabs.  Idiosyncrasy  Against  (Ki'rschberg), 
472. 

Crayons,  Mentholated,  Formula  for,  167. 
Cream  or  Cod-Liver  Oil,  544a. 

Creosote  in  the  Treatment  of  Pleuro-Peri- 
toneal  Tuberculosis  in  Children  (Thoma), 
221. 

—  The  Dose  of  (Harvey),  325. 

Crepe  Bandages,  5045, 


INDEX. 


Cricket  Club  for  Ladies,  A  Pharmaceutical 
(Emery),  427. 

—  -  Pharmaceutical,  544 d. 

Crookes’  Tubes,  The,  122. 

Crookes,  William — Diamonds,  538. 

Cross,  W.  Gowen — The  Journal  and  its 
Students’  Page,  99. 

Cryptogams,  Some  Notes  on  276,  296,  356, 
418. 

Crystallisation  of  Stannous  Iodide,  The 
Apparent  Action  of  Light  in  Inducing 
(Warden),  61. 

—  of  Super-Saturated  Solutions  (Ostwald), 

465. 

Crystallography  (Morgan),  146. 

Cultural  Evolution  of  Cyclamen  Latifolium 
Sibtb,  340. 

Cumarin,  Purification  of  (Claassen),  161. 
Currie,  Archibald- — Wanted,  An  Assistants’ 
Qualification,  427. 

—  W.  L. — The  Benevolent  Fund,  119,  198. 
Cyclists,  The  Dietary  of,  517. 

Cymralis  Water,  197. 

Cytisine  in  Medicine,  Value  of  (Plugge),  472. 

D 

Dalton,  John,  and  the  Atomic  Theory 
(Cockshott),  61. 

Darwin  andWeismann,  Editorial  Remarks  on 
an  Anticipation  of,  357. 

Davies,  Herbert  E. — Chemical  and  B  rcterio- 
logical  Examination  of  Milk,  302. 

Davy,  Humphry :  Poet  and  Philosopher 
(Thorpe),  41. 

Death  Certificate  Signed  by  a  Chemist,  A, 
524a. 

—  Roll  of  the  Year  1896,  7. 

Deaths  Caused  by  Poisons  and  Poisonous 
Vapours  during  1895,  477. 

—  from  Misadventure,  92. 

Deer  Suet,  Formula  for,  60. 

Dendrobium  Brymerianum,  A  CaS3  of 

Synanthy  in  (Reynolds),  319. 

Dentists  Act,  Proceedings  under  the  (Edin¬ 
burgh),  541. 

—  Act,  The  Interpretation  of  the,  538. 
Developer,  A  Novel  Pyro,  4645. 

—  Formula  for  Tondeur,  544. 

—  Hydrokinone  and  Pyrogallol,  Formula  for, 

408. 

—  Single  Solution,  Formula  for,  408. 
Development  of  Fungi,  Influence  of  External 

Conditions  on  the  (Lendner),  468. 
Devonshire  Cream  and  Malt  Extract,  263. 

—  Medical  Officer’s  Salary,  A,  366a. 

Dewar,  Prof. — L’quid  Air  as  an  Agent  of 

Research,  400,  423,  456. 

—  Prof. — The  Properties  of  L’quid  Oxygen, 

94. 

Diamonds  (Crookes),  538. 

Diastase,  The  Action  of  Light  on,  and  its 
B'ological  Significance  (Green),  528. 

—  in  Fungi,  Formation  of  (Pfeifer),  290. 

—  The  Action  of,  on  Starch  (Ling  and 

Baker),  94. 

Diatoms,  Mountants  for,  80. 

—  Reproduction  of  Marine  (Murray),  163. 
Di8t  and  Medicine  in  China,  113. 

Dietary  of  Cyclists,  The,  517. 

Dietericb,  Karl  —  Chemical  Changes  in 
Crude  Drugs,  529. 

Digestion  (Larkin),  96. 

Digitalis,  Collection  of,  80. 

Diphosphide,  Silver  (Granger),  467. 
Diphtheria  Antitoxin,  Electrolytic  (Smir- 
now),  368. 

—  Antitoxin,  The  Use  of,  476. 

Diseases  of  Cereal  Crops,  The  (Oliver),  522. 


July  3,  1897. 


Disinfection  with  Formic  Aldehyde  (Blyth), 
469. 

Dispensary,  Visit  to  a  Parish,  175. 
Dispenser,  Degrading  the  (Ad  Uirumque 
Paratus),  344. 

—  Sweating  the  (Anti-Sweater),  138  ;  (Dis¬ 

penser),  224  ;  (Blad  R.  O’Lard),  (Anti- 
Sweater),  263,  264 ;  (A.P.S.),  285  ; 
(Dispenser),  305  ;  (Anti-Sweater),  384 ; 
(Dispenser),  428. 

Dispensers,  Army  Compounders  as  Public, 
Editorial  Remarks  on,  131. 

—  Public  Service  (A  Fifteen  Years’  Dis¬ 

penser),  325. 

—  Remarks  on  the  Capacity  of,  93. 
Disp-nsersbips  in  the  Naval  Medical  Service, 

215  ;  (Videre  est  Credere),  365. 
Dispensing  Balance,  Novel,  8. 

—  Cocaine,  Difficulty  in  (Jenkins),  385. 

—  Difficulty  (Welsh),  300. 

—  Emulsions,  On,  130,  150,  178. 

• —  Notes,  More  (Wyatt),  464c. 

—  Queries,  286,  326,  346,  366. 

—  Sixty  Years  Ago,  Notes  on  (Proctor),  553. 
Doctor  and  Dentist  in  the  Welsh  Chubut 

Settlement,  568a. 

Doctors  and  Medicine-men  (Wilson),  135. 

“  Dodges  in  the  Drug  Trade,”  Cassell’s  Satur¬ 
day  Journal  and,  237. 

Dctt,  D.  B. — Note  on  the  Drying  of 
Alkaloids  and  their  Salts,  21. 

Douglas  Mixture  for  Fowls,  Formula  for, 
408. 

Douradinha,  Chemistry  of  (Peckholt),  369. 
Drapers’  Company  and  the  Radcliffe  Library 
at  Oxford,  537. 

Dressing  for  Skin  Diseases,  Gelante  A  New 
(Unna),  417. 

Drosera  Growing,  and  Is  Drosera  an 
Annual?  275. 

Druce,  Mr.  G.  C.,  and  the  Oxford  City 
Council,  450. 

Drug  and  Chemical  Trade  of  Japan,  Re¬ 
marks  on  the,  153. 

“Druggists’  Misfortune,  A,”  at  Bourne¬ 
mouth,  183. 

Drags,  A  Grocer  and  the  Sale  of,  366a. 

—  Chemical  Changes  in  Crude  (Dietericb), 
5*9. 

—  Chemicals  and  Colours  (Servia),  461. 

—  Euglish  Trade  in,  with  the  Canary 

Islands,  38. 

—  in  China,  An  Opening  for  British  Manu¬ 

factured,  426. 

—  Notes  on  the  Use3  of,  88. 

—  Therapeutic  Activity  of  (La  Wall),  288. 

—  The  Samples  o%  Examined  during  1895, 

257. 

Drying-Box  for  Pills,  etc.,  A  (Warden),  245. 

—  of  Alkaloids  and  their  Salts,  Nate  on  the 

(Dott),  21, 

Dual  Function  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society, 
Editorial  Remarks  on  the,  419. 

Dubosiue  Sulphate  iu  Paralysis  Agitans 
(Mendell  and  Francotte),  118. 

Duelling  in  German  Universities,  Remarks 
on,  133. 

Dumfries  Chemists  and  the  P.A.T.A.,  60a; 
(Sutherland),  80. 

Dunlop,  T. — Guaiacum  Resin,  139. 

Durrant,  George  R.— Insect  Powders  of 
Commerce,  505. 

Dyer,  E.  H. — The  Journal  and  its  Students’ 
Paze,  99. 

Dyes,  German  Profits  in  the  Manufactu-e 
of,  449. 

Dymond,  T.  S.,  and  Hughes,  F. — The  Oxida¬ 
tion  of  Sulphurous  Acid  by  Potassium 
Permanganate,  187. 


July  3,  1897. 


Dysentery,  etc.,  in  Lambs,  Balls  for,  504. 


E 

E  ‘,rly  Closing  Bills,  The,  98,  109,  212,  275, 
'376. 

Earth  as  an  Abode  Fitted  for  Life,  The  Age 
of  the  (Kelvin),  517. 

Earwigs,  Compound  to  Catch,  275,  335,  366. 
E  zjma  Caused  by  Hyacinths,  115. 
Edinburgh  Chemists’  Assistants’  and  Appren¬ 
tices’  Association,  75,  117,  156,  2i8,  210, 
284,  300,  380,  520,  544a. 

—  District  Chemists’  Golf  Club,  240,  262, 

366a,  408&,  484a,  504a. 

—  District  Chemists’  Trade  Association,  97, 

135,  302,  497,  520,  539. 

—  Pharmacy  Athletic  Club,  20a,  464a!,  484a, 

504a. 

—  Pharmacy  Students’  Supper,  221. 

—  The  Professorship  of  Botany  in  the  Uni¬ 

versity  of,  295. 

Education,  Editorial  Remarks  on  Technical, 
337. 

—  of  Pharmacists,  Remarks  on  the  Earlier, 

278. 

—  The  Parliamentary  Committee  of  Council 

on,  262,  494. 

Egg  Shampoo,  Formula  for,  544. 

Elder  Flower  Ointment  (Bush  and  Co  ),  19. 
Electric  Telegraph  “  Jubilee,”  Ad,  559. 

—  Wave  Apparatus  (Bose),  81. 

—  Waves,  The  Physical  Properties  of  (Bose), 

102. 

Electrical  Currents  in  the  Human  Body, 
Prof.  Horsley’s  Lecture  on,  184. 
Electricity,  Remarks  on  “Penny  in  the 
Slot,”  152. 

—  The  Source  of,  in  Radiography,  22. 

—  The  Use  of  the  Nile  as  a  Source  of,  339. 
Electrification  of  Air  by  Rontgen  Rays  (Kel¬ 
vin),  32. 

Elementary  Botany,  Some  General  Im¬ 
pressions  on  the  Teaching  of,  409. 
Elephant-*,  The  Poisoning  of,  421. 

Eilinor,  G. — Business  Ways  that  are  Dark, 
286. 

Embrocation,  Formula  for  White,  346. 

—  for  Whooping  Cough,  Formula  for,  9. 
Emery,  Eva — A  Pharmaceutical  Cricket 

Club  for  Ladies,  427. 

Emulsifying  Agents,  Various,  On  Dispensing 
Emulsions,  130,  150, 178. 

Emulsion,  Bolton’s  Collodion,  Formula  for, 
484. 

—  of  Cod- liver  Oil,  Formula  for,  484. 

—  Petroleum,  484. 

Emulsions,  On  Dispensing,  130,  150,  178. 
Enamel  Varnishes,  Formulas  for,  464. 

Era  Course  in  Pharmacy,  The  568d. 

Ercilla  Spicata,  The  Adhesive  Discs  of 
(Burrage),  216. 

Ergotinol,  The  Method  of  Obtaining,  287. 
Esbach’s  Reagent,  326. 

Essence  of  Lemon,  The  Keeping  Qualities  of 
(Typke  and  King),  120;  (Kobins),  159. 
Essences  of  Soap,  Formulae  for,  460. 

Ether  Drinking  in  Derry,  80a. 

Ethics,  A  School  of,  for  London,  517. 

Ethyl  Alcohol,  Acetaldehyde,  and  Acetic 
Acid  (Tayler),  300. 

—  Bromide  and  Suggestion  in  Hysterical 

Aphonia  (Arsslan),  426. 

E  hylene,  Action  of  Nickel  upon  (3abatier 
and  Senderens),  319. 

Eucaine  as  an  Anaesthetic  (Horne  and  Years- 
ley  ),  82. 

—  Ointment  Formula,  417, 


INDEX. 


Evans,  E.  J.— Ferrous  Phosphate,  141. 

—  J.  J.  O. — “Potato  Drops  and  Green  Mal¬ 

let,”  385. 

Evaporation,  On  the  Use  of  Steam  Coils  for 
(Warden),  307. 

Evolution  of  Green  Algae  (Chodat),  468. 
Examination  Syllabus,  The  Minor  (Audi 
Alteram  Partem),  100. 

Examinations  in  1896,  3. 

Examiners  in  the  Education  Department, 
Captains  Norton,  M.P.,  and,  461. 

—  Remarks  on  Complaints  against,  92. 
Exchange,  A  Scheme  of  (Macpherson),  135. 
Excise  Lic.nces  Bill,  The,  518. 

Exeter  Association  of  Chemists  and  Drug¬ 
gists,  55,  116, 

—  Dispensary  (Annual  Meeting),  190. 

—  Technical  College  Prizes  for  Pharmacists, 

299. 

Explosion  in  a  Chemist’s  Shop  at  Hull,464i. 
Explosions,  Products  of  Acetylene  (Bone  and 
Cain),  287. 

Extract  of  Vegetables,  An,  57. 

F 

Face  Lotion,  Startin’s  Formula  for,  326. 
Farr,  E.  H. — The  Proposed  New  Bye-laws 
of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  264. 

—  E.  H.,  and  Wright,  R. — The  Determina¬ 

tion  of  Alkaloids,  Notes  on  Some  of  the 
Pharmacopoeial  Processes,  202. 

Fatty  Oils,  The  Analysis  of  (Cowley),  239, 
329. 

Features  of  Progress,  Editorial  Remarks  on 
Some,  557. 

February,  The  Flowers  of,  110,  179. 
Federation,  Chemists’  (Foulston),  39  ; 

(Cooper),  59  ;  (Plymouthian),  79. 

Fennel  and  Their  Essential  Oils,  The  Com¬ 
mercial  Varieties  of  (Umney),  225,  232. 
Ferment  from  Yeast  (Buchner),  288. 

Ferns,  etc.,  Books  on,  40. 

—  (Wood),  135. 

Ferri  et  Quininm  Citras  and  Potassii  Citras, 
Dispensing  Experience  with  (Wokes), 
321 ;  (Stratton),  344. 

Ferric  Salicylate,  The  Colour  of,  200. 
Ferridcyanide  Reducer,  The  Action  of,  244. 
Ferrous  Carbonate,  Oxidation  of,  464. 

—  Phosphate  (Evans),  141;  (Coull),  199. 
Fertilisation  and  Germination  of  Loran- 

thacere  (Keeble),  83. 

—  in  the  Gymnosperms  (Ikeno  and  Hirase), 

162. 

Fibre,  The  Cultivation  of  Rhea  (Playfair), 
376. 

Field,  Admiral,  and  “  Nelson’s  Enchantress,” 
186. 

—  Botany,  Hints  on,  30. 

F  re  at  a  London  Drug  Mill,  60a, 

—  at  the  Schering  Chemical  Works,  524a, 

544a. 

Fire-Resisting  Decorations,  518. 

Fires  at  Chemists’  Shops,  100a,  326a,  386a, 
428a. 

Fireproof  Paint,  Formula  for,  266. 
Fireproofing  Timber,  Method  of,  266. 

Fish,  The  Composition  of  Cooked  (Williams), 
320. 

Fishes,  Remarks  on  the  Existence  of  Memory 
in,  93. 

Fixing  Bath,  Acid,  244, 

—  Solution,  New,  for  Vegetable  Tissues,  374. 
Flask,  A  New  Weighing  (Heath),  290. 
Flatters,  Abraham — A  Simple  Microtome  for 

Biological  Work,  485. 

—  Abraham — How  to  Cut  Sections  of 

Capsicum  Fruits,  507. 


[Supplement  to 
Phabmaceutical  Journal. 


Floral  Pomade,  Formula  for,  306. 

Florida  Water,  Formula  for,  530. 

Flower  Cement,  Preparation  of,  464. 

Flowers  Attract  Insects,  How  (Plateau),  163. 

—  Extracting  the  Perfume  of  (Pussy),  369. 

—  of  (Enothera,  Opening  of  the  (Planchon), 

468. 

—  of  the  Months,  The,  10,  30;  (Holmes), 

(Pollard),  39;  50,  70,  90,110, 179,254,276, 
296,  336,  418,  534. 

Fluorine,  Liquefied  (Dewar),  496. 

—  The  Isolation  of  (Moissan),  499. 
Fly-Papers,  “  Flyodoomo,”  in  Court,  20a. 
Food  and  Drugs  Act,  A  Bill  to  Amend  the 

S  de  of,  97,  98  ;  (Editorial  Remarks), 
235  ;  275,  324,  461,  473,  494,  556. 

—  and  Drugs  Act  at  Nottingham,  Magis¬ 

trates  and  Doctors  and  the  Sale  of,  536. 

—  and  Drags  Act  in  Yorkshire,  The  346a. 

—  and  Drugs  Act,  Proceedings  Under  the 

(Nitrous  Echer),  56 ;  (Rhubarb),  57 ; 
(Sugar),  80a ;  (Arsenical  Soap),  77, 
120a;  (Nitrous  Ether),  (Salicylic  Acid), 
120a ;  (Milk  of  Sulphur),  118 ;  (Gly¬ 
cerin),  194  ;  (Glycerin  and  Lime  Juice), 
253,  274,  298,  303,  363;  (Rhubarb),  366a; 
(Arsenical  Soap),  415 ;  (Glycerin  and 
Lime  Juice),  416;  (Beeswax),  484a; 
(Laudanum),  504a;  (Olive  Oil),  524a; 
(Nitrous  Ether),  540. 

—  and  Drugs  Act,  The  Sale  of  (Warreil), 

264. 

—  and  Drugs  Millennium,  A,  257. 

—  and  Drugs,  the  Purity  of,  Editorial 

Remarks  on,  91,  182. 

—  Materials  of  Algse  (Moliscb),  289. 

—  Products  Adulteration,  98. 

—  Products  (Liverseege),  55. 

—  Taken  ?  When  is  (Inquirer),  263. 

Foreign  and  Colonial  Trade  of  the  United 

Kingdom,  Remarks  on  the,  153. 
Forfarshire  District  Chemists’  Association, 
382,  403. 

Formalin,  The  Use  of,  in  Photography,  473. ' 
Formic  Aldehyde,  Disinfection  with  (Blyth), 

469. 

Formulae,  Selected  Practical,  9. 

Forshaw,  T.  Garratt — A  Royal  College  of 
Pharmacy,  427. 

Fossil  Antlers  (Lowe),  115. 

—  Bacteria  (Renault),  162. 

—  Plants  (Seward),  127. 

Foster,  Sir  Walter,  M.P.,  Award  of  the  Geld 
Medal  of  the  British  Medical  Associa¬ 
tion  to,  378. 

Foulston,  G.  R. — Chemists’  Federation,  39. 
Francis  and  Co. — Check  Tills,  160. 

Freezing  Mixture,  Preparation  of  a,  396. 
Freezing-Point  Curves  of  Alloys  Containing 
Zinc,  On  the  (Heycock  and  Neville), 
238. 

French  Academy  of  Sciences,  Gift  by  Mr. 
H.  Wilde  to  the,  319. 

—  Oils,  The  Origin  of  so-called,  406. 

—  Pharmacists  and  Bicyclists,  20c. 

—  Polish,  Formula  for,  80. 

Fresenius,  Professor  Karl  Remigius,  Death 
of,  538. 

Fruit  and  Seed  of  Viscum  (Gjokie),  289. 

—  Preservation,  The  Kent  County  Council 

and,  358. 

Fruits,  Rotting  of  (Wehmer),  163. 

Fumitory  in  Skin  Diseases,  196. 

Fungi,  Acid-loving  (Wehmer),  289. 

—  Formation  of  Diastase  in  (Pfeffer),  290. 

—  Influence  of  External  Conditions  on  the 

Development  of  (Lendner),  468. 

—  Parasymbiosis  of  (Zopf),  468. 

Furniture  Cream,  Red,  Formula  for,  20. 


Supplement  to 
Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


Fusible  Alloys,  Formu’®  for,  464. 

G 

Galiicaceous  Birds  and  Tuberculosis  (Lanne- 
longue  and  Achard),  468. 

Gamble,  F.  W. — Antitoxins,  340. 

Gamboge,  Composition  of  (Sassarini),  288. 
Gardner,  W. — Modern  Alchemy,  191. 

Gartb,  Sir  Samuel,  M.D.,  The  Career  of,  348. 
Gas  Companies  of  the  United  Kingdom, 
The,  113. 

—  for  Domestic  Lighting,  The  Use  of 

(Lewes),  65. 

—  for  Lethal  Chambers,  386. 

Gases  as  Heat  Conductors  (Villari),  469. 
Gelante,  A  New  Dressing  for  Skin  Diseases 
(Unna),  417. 

Gelatin  Capsules  (Alpers),  25,  66. 

■ —  Formula  for  Agar-Agar,  396. 

—  To  Coat  Horse-balls  with,  464. 

Gelatin isation  of  Tincture  of  Kino,  464. 
Gelsemic  Acid  (Coblentz),  467. 

Gelsemium,  Active  Piinciples  in  (Sayre),  467. 

- —  Composition  of  (Sayre),  83. 

Geologists’  Association  of  London,  Thp,  279. 
German  Competition  with  British  Goods  in 

the  U.S.A.,  568®. 

—  Ph.  D.  Degree,  464. 

—  Thermometers,  Remarks  on,  279. 
Germination  of  Barley  (Gifiss),  163  ;  (Day), 

290. 

Gibson,  M. — Solubility  cf  Iodine  in  Cod- 
Liver  Oil,  199,  265. 

Giles,  R.  W. — Reminiscences  of  the  School 
of  Pharmacy  (The  Session  of  1847  8), 
506. 

Gin,  An  Analysis  of  Trade,  426. 

Ginger  Beer,  Formula  for,  266. 

—  Spent,  Mr.  T.  P.  Blunt  on,  20 o. 

—  Wine,  Formula  for  Essence  for,  483. 
Gingers  and  Essence  of  Ginger,  Commercial 

(Glass),  245. 

Ginkgo  Tree,  The  (Smith),  137. 

Glasgow  and  West  cf  Scotland  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Association,  55,  96,  284,  301, 

323. 

—  Apothecaries’  Company,  Presentation  to 

Mr.  A.  M.  McAdam,  408 b. 

—  Chemists  and  the  P.A.T.A.,  60a. 

—  Conference,  Arrangements  for  the,  374, 

378. 

—  Chair  of  Materia  Medica  in  the  University 

of,  Editorial  Remarks  on  the  558. 

Glass,  Formula  for  Solution  to  Silver,  544. 
Glass,  W.  S. — Commercial  Gingers  and 
Essence  of  Ginger,  245. 

—  W.  S. — The  Social  Status  of  the  Pharma¬ 

cist,  543. 

—  W.  S.— Wanted,  An  Assistant’s  Qualifica¬ 

tion,  407. 

Glaze  for  Cookery,  408. 

Glycerin  and  Cucumber,  Formula  for,  464. 

—  and  Lime  Juice,  The  Sale  of,  253,  274, 

278;  (Hyslop),  286 ;  298,  303,  363,416, 
421;  (Bevan),  463;  (Webter),  483; 
(Strickland),  502. 

—  Cream  for  Chapped  Hands,  Formula  for, 

244. 

-T-  Formula  for  Rial  Lime  Juice  and,  386. 

—  Jelly,  Formula  for,  40. 

—  The  Sale  of  Adulterated,  at  Birmingham, 

194, 

Glycerinum  Amyli,  Note  on  (Pearson),  201. 
Glycerophosphates,  A  Simple  Method  of  Pre¬ 
paring  (Delage),  413. 

Glycin,  The  Formation  of,  244. 

Glyn- Jones,  W.  S. — The  Council  Election 
and  the  P.A.T.A.,  503,  542. 


INDEX- 


Glyn- Jones,  W.  S.— The  Proprietary  Articles 
Trade  Association,  23. 

—  W.  S. — The  Proprietary  Articles  Trade 

Association,  and  Local  Pharmaceutical 
Associations,  350. 

Gold  from  Silver  (Emmens),  100a. 

Goldby,  F. — The  Sale  cf  Morphine,  462. 
Goods  Act,  Proceedings  under  the  Sale  of 
(Kingston),  415,  420. 

Gostling,  T.  P. — The  Forthcoming  Council 
Election,  304. 

Gout,  The  Treatment  of  (Ewart),  28. 
Government  Stamp  on  Jugs,  Marking  the, 
366. 

Graft,  Influence  of  the  Stock  on  the 
(Riviere  and  Bailbache),  290. 

Graph,  Formula  for  Composition  for,  346. 
Gravimetric  Determination  of  Invert  Sugar, 
484. 

Greece,  Pharmaceutical  and  Medical  Assist¬ 
ance  for  the  War  in,  398. 

Green,  Prof.  J.  Reynolds — On  the  Action  of 
Light  on  Diastase  and  its  Biological 
Significance,  528. 

Greenish,  Thomas — A  Royal  College  of 
Pharmacy,  408. 

Grocers  and  the  P.A.T.A.,  516,  558. 

Group  Reagent,  Sodium  Peroxide  as  a 
(Parr),  367. 

Groves,  T.  B.— Reminiscences  of  the  School 
of  Pharmacy  (The  Session  of  1850-51), 
563. 

—  T.  B. — Solubility  of  Iodine  in  Cod-liver 

OJ,  223. 

Guaiacol  Phosphite,  Preparation  of  (Bal¬ 
lard),  368. 

—  Valerianate  (Vogt),  425. 

Guaiacum  Resin  (Doebner  and  Lfijker), 
369. 

—  Resin,  Note  on  (Smith),  101  ;  (Dunlop), 

139. 

Gun  Barrels,  Mixture  for  Bronzing,  408. 
Guyer,  R.  G. — Solubility  of  Iodine  in  Cod- 
Liver  Oil,  223. 

—  R.  G. — The  Iodine  Value  of  Beeswax, 

308. 

Gymnosperms,  Fertilisation  in  the  (Ikeno 
and  Kirace),  162. 

H 

Hsematogen  (Hertel),  167. 

Haemorrhoids,  Formula  for  Remedies  for,  326. 
Hager,  Dr.  Hans  Hermann  Julius,  Death  of, 
112. 

Hair  Curling  Fluid,  Formula  for,  266. 

—  Dark,  to  tu^n  Yellow,  100. 

—  To  Bleach  Dyed,  504. 

—  Wash,  Formula  for  Cheap,  464. 

—  Wash,  Mercury  in,  366. 

—  Wa  -h  with  Bay  Rum  and  Yolk  of  Egg, 

Formula  for,  266. 

Hairs  which  are  not  Trichomes  (Tieghem), 
371. 

Half-Holiday  Bill,  407. 

Halifax  and  District  Chemists’  Association, 
160a,  424. 

Hampstead’s  Mineral  Springs,  20a,  73. 
Hanbury,  Mr.  Thomas,  Presentation  of  a 
Drinking  Fountain  to  the  Town  of  Men¬ 
tone  by,  339, 

Hanes,  E.  S.,  and  McConnell,  A.  H.— The 
Oxides  of  Cobalt,  etc.,  238. 

Harvey,  S. — Arsenical  Soaps,  462. 

—  Dr.  William,  The  Life  and  Work  of 

(Summers),  155. 

—  W. — The  Dose  of  Creosote,  325. 

Healy,  Mr.  Timothy,  and  Carbide  o'  Cal¬ 
cium,  295. 


[July  3,  1897. 


Heat  Conductors,  Gases  as  (Villari),  469. 
Helianthus  Annus,  Extract  of,  in  Malaria 
(Moncorvo),  58. 

Heliotrope  Perfume,  Formula  for,  460. 

—  White,  Formula  for,  306. 
He’iotropinefrom  Saffrol,  544. 

Heliotropism,  Positive  and  Negative  (Olt- 

manns),  467. 

Henry,  Augustine  —  The  Production  of 
Camphor  in  China,  201. 

—  Claude  F. — The  Proposed  New  Bye-laws 

of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  264,  285. 
Herbarium  Prize,  Competition  for,  496. 

—  Specimens,  Formula  for  the  Preservation 

of,  160. 

Hewlett  and  Son’s  Staff  Outine,  544a. 
Heycock,  C.  T.,  and  Neville,  F.  H. — On  the 
Freezing-point  Curves  of  Alloys  Con¬ 
taining  Zinc,  238. 

—  C.  T.— X  Ray  Photos  of  the  Solid 

Alloys,  423. 

Hick,  John — A  Panegyric,  100. 

Hick  man,  F.  S. — The  Journal  and  its  Students 
Page,  120. 

Higgs,  Alfred — The  Need  of  a  Chemists’ 
Protective  Association,  462. 

Highly- purified  Substances,  Studies  of  the 
Properties  of  (Shenstone),  94. 

Hill,  J.  R.— Belladonna  Plasters,  75. 

Hills,  Mr.  Walter,  at  Oxford,  402. 

—  W.  —  The  Pharmaceutical  Society’s 

Benevolent  Fund,  180. 

Hinde,  A;  H. — The  Council  Election,  503. 
Histology  of  the  Vegetable  Tissue  Systems 
(Morison),  470. 

Hogg,  Samuel — On  Check  Tills,  224. 

Holiday  Science  (Scotch  Chemist),  224. 
Holloway,  E.  A. — On  Check  Tills,  199. 
Holmes,  E.M. — The  Cultivation  of  Sumbul 
in  England,  347. 

—  W.  M. — The  Flowers  of  January,  39. 
Hdccaine,  The  Composition  of,  368. 
Holyrood  Table  Water,  13. 

HolzinoJ,  Composition  of,  363. 

Homing  Instinct  in  Animals,  The  (Weii), 
335. 

Homologues  of  Caffeine,  21. 

Homology  of  the  Pollen  and  Ovule  (Molliard), 

83. 

Honey,  Bees  Intoxicated  by  (Williams),  163. 

—  Poisonous  (Gerpen),  289. 

Honeycomb,  A  Vegetable,  20c. 

Honours,  The  Jubilee  List  of,  559. 

Hooper,  Mr.  David,  Appointment  of,  as 

Curator  to  the  Indian  Museum,  Calcutta, 
386a. 

Hop  Ale  Syrup  for  Ae:ati:n,  Formula  for, 
200. 

—  Bitters,  Formula  for,  160. 

Horse-balls,  To  Coat,  with  Gelatin,  464. 
Hoseason,  J.  H. — Alkaloids,  96. 

Hot  Fluid  Primary  Battery,  Description  of 
a,  371. 

Hovenden,  S.  C. — Artificial  Light,  155. 
Howard,  Mr.  David,  on  the  Merchandise 
M-.rks  Act,  1887,  343. 

Hughes,  F.,  and  Dymond,  T.  S.—  The  Oxida¬ 
tion  of  Sulphurous  Acid  by  Potassium 
Permanganate,  187. 

Hull  Chemists  and  the  P.A.T.A.,  192. 
Hunyadi  Jfinos  and  Uj  Hunyadi  Waters 
(Saxlehner v.  Apollinaris  Co),  157,  195, 
224a. 

Huxley  Memorial  Fund,  Remarks  on  the,  54. 
Hyacinth  Perfume,  Formula  for,  460. 
Hydrargjri  Nitratis,  Ungueutum  (Lucas), 
121  ;  (Squire),  172  ;  (Maben),  223  ; 
(Squire),  244. 


July  3,  1897.) 


Hydrocarbons  from  American  Petroleum, 
Some  (Yeung  and  Thomas),  238. 
Hydrogen,  Peroxide  of,  in  Oto-rhinology 
(Gelle),  158. 

—  Union  of  Carbon  and  (Bone  and  Jerdan), 

287. 

Hydrokinone  and  Pyrogallcl  Developer, 
Formula  for,  408. 

Hydrolysis  of  Perthiocyanic  Acid  (Chatta- 
way  and  Stephens),  320. 

Hydroxylamine  Sulphate  (Divers  and  Haga), 
367. 

Hypophosphites,  Formula  for  Extract  of 
Malt  and  Oil  with,  484. 

Hyposulphite,  Sodium,  for  Parasites  in 
Cattle,  417. 

Hyslop,  J.  C. — Lime  Juice  and  Glycerin, 
286. 

—  J.  C. — Popular  Pharmacy,  103,  117,  124. 

—  J.  C. — Some  Short  Notes  on  Storage  and 

Pharmacy  Arrangement,  481. 

—  J.  C. — The  Council  Election,  483,  523. 


I 

Ice  Cream,  Formula  for,  326, 

Ichthyol  as  a  Laxative  (Gunsburg),  425. 

—  in  Conjunctival  Eczema,  363. 

—  in  Erysipelas  (Nabugnow),  425. 
Idiosyncrasy  Against  Crabs  (Kirschberg), 

472. 

Illustrated  Journal, The  Birth  of  an  (Richard¬ 
son),  95. 

Impersonation,  A  Case  of  (Rees),  199. 
Incandescent  Gas  Mantles,  Remarks  on,  73. 
Ince,  Joseph — The  Art  of  Literary  Com¬ 
position,  292,  351. 

—  Joseph — The  Latin  of  Pharmacy,  327. 

—  Joseph — The  Prosody  of  Latin  Phar¬ 

macy,  525. 

Income  Tax,  Matrimony  and  the,  517. 

—  Tax,  Overpaid  (Income  Tax  Adjustment 

Agency),  20. 

—  Tax  Returns,  Mr.  Kearley  on,  266a. 

Indian  Hemp,  Remarks  on  the  Active 

Principle  of,  93. 

Individualism  and  Socialism  in  Pharmacy, 
Editorial  Remarks  on,  181. 

Ingham,  John — The  Case  against  the 
P.  A.  T.  A.,  169. 

—  J. — The  Regulation  of  Prices,  139. 

Ink,  Formula  for  Marking,  to  Use  without 
Heat,  524. 

Ink  for  Rubber  Stamps,  Formula  fur,  244. 

—  Powders,  The  Composition  of,  568. 
Inkstains  from  Paper,  Removing,  200. 
Inoculation  of  Nodule-Bacteria  in  Different 

Host  Species  (Nobbe  and  Hiltner),  468. 
Insect  Powder,  Poisoning  with  (Bosredon), 
379. 

—  Powders  of  Commerce  (Durrant),  505. 
Insecticide  for  Plant  Lice,  Formula  for,  314. 
Insects,  How  Flowers  attract  (Plateau),  163. 
Instruments,  To  Prevent  Rusting  of  (Levai), 

374. 

Intensifier,  Formula  for  Uranium,  408. 

—  One  Solution  Formula  for  an,  266. 
International  Exhibition  and  Market  for 

Paper-makers’  and  Photographers’  Goods, 
538. 

—  Pharmaceutical  Congrers,  Arrangements 

for  The  Eighth  (Brussels),  112,  147,  152. 
Inverness  Chemists’  A=soc’’ation,  The,  408a. 
Invisible  Light,  Remarks  on,  52. 

Iodide,  Formula  for  Omtment  of  Starch 
(Oefele).  513. 

Iodides  and  Bromides,  Alkaline  (Knobloch), 
460. 


INDEX. 


Iodine,  Decoloration  of  Tincture  of  (Hager 
and  Remington),  266. 

—  in  Cod- Liver  Oil,  Solubility  of  (Gibson), 

199;  (Guyer),  (Groves),  223  ;  (Gibson), 
265. 

—  Value  of  Beeswax,  The  (Guyer),  308, 

—  Valsol,  484a. 

—  Vasol  “  Hell,”  205. 

Iodised  Cotton,  Manufacture  and  Examina¬ 
tion  of  (Soulard),  417. 

Icdoform,  Anczol  or  Deodorous  (Diaz),  422. 

—  Substitute  for,  274. 

Iodogallate,  Bismuth,  Formula  for  the 
Preparation  of,  167. 

Iodol,  Pharmacy  of,  167. 

Iodothyroidin  (Catillon),  287. 

Ipecacuanha,  The  Anatomy  of  (Schneider), 

112. 

Ireland’s  Advantages  in  Respect  to  Poison 
Law,  558. 

Irish  Grievances,  Som°,  342. 

—  Licence  Examination,  The  (Vim  et 
Verve),  19. 

Iron  Carbide  (Moissan),  367. 

Irving,  Sir  Henry,  Reading  of  Tennyson’s 
“  Becket  ”  by  (Farrar),  428. 

Italy,  Imports  of  Chemicals  into,  during 
1896,  384. 

Italy’s  Chemical  Trade  and  Productions, 
406. 

J 

Jack,  Mr.  James,  Presentation  to,  40a. 
Jackson,  T. — Peach  Kernel  Oil  and  Oil  of 
Almonds,  285. 

Japanese  Opium  Trade,  406. 

Japan  Wax,  Adulterated  (La  Wall),  83. 
Jenkins,  H.  C.,  and  Smith,  E.  A. — On  the 
Reactions  between  Lead  and  the  Oxides 
of  Sulphur,  423. 

—  T. — Difficulty  in  Dispensing  Cocaine,  385. 
Jesper,  C.  F. — A  Royal  College  of  Pharmacy, 

427. 

Johnson  and  Sons,  Ltd. — A  Correction  re 
Transfer  of  Business,  19. 

—  C.  T. — The  Approaching  Council  Elec¬ 

tion,  427. 

Johnston,  William — The  Case  for  the 
P.A.T.A.,  168,  265,  344. 

Jones,  Dr.  H.  Macnaughton — The  Therapeu¬ 
tics  of  Emergencies,  188. 

—  G.  W.— “  Business  Ways  that  are  Dark,” 

159. 

—  J. — The  Students’  Page,  60. 

Journal,  The,  and  its  Students’  Page  (Kemp), 
(J.  P.  K.),  (Barrett),  (H.  D.  K.),  79  ; 
(Hickman),  (Smith),  120;  (Buckley), 
(W.  W.),  139;  182. 

—  The  Society’s,  Editorial  Remarks  on,  255. 

J une,  The  Flowers  of,  534. 

Junior  Pharmacy  Ball,  140a,  160a. 

Juroi’s  Expenses,  The  Payment  of,  541,  556. 


K 

Kathode  and  X-Rays  (Swinton),  371. 

Keen,  B. — The  Forthcoming  Council  Elec¬ 
tion,  325. 

Kelly,  P. — Chemistry,  Ancient  and  Modern, 
341. 

Kemp,  Harry — An  appeal  for  the  Benevo¬ 
lent  Fund,  98,  198. 

—  II  .rr/ — The  Journal  and  the  Students’ 

Page,  79. 

Kew  Gardens,  John  Burns  on  an  Earlier 
Opening  Hour  for,  342. 

—  The  Botanic  Gardens  at,  270,  507,  526. 


[Supplement  to 
Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


Kiliani,  Dr.,  Appointment  of,  as  Professor  at 
the  Munich  Polytechnic,  40a. 

King,  Typke  and— The  Keeping  Qualities 
of  Essence  of  Lemon,  120. 

Kinkelibah,  121. 

Kinninmont  Prize,  The,  236. 

Kino,  Gelatinisation  of  Tincture  of,  464. 

Kites  for  Meteorology  (Rotch),  379. 

Kneipp,  Father,  Death  of,  559. 

Knott,  Percy  —  Practical  Photography, 
266a. 

Kobert,  Dr.  R„  Resignation  of,  112. 

Koch’s,  Professor,  New  Compounds  of 
Tuberculin,  299. 

Koh-i-Noor  Soap,  484a. 

Kritikstrahlen  (Freidricb),  80a. 


L 

Label  Paste  for  Gold  Paper  Labels,  Formula 
for,  266. 

Labels,  To  Prevent  Tins  from  Rusting 
Through,  346. 

Laboratory,  The  Chemical,  in  Pharmacy 
(Mayer),  27. 

Lactomaltine,  196. 

Lady  Dispensers  as  Candidates  for  Work¬ 
house  Dispenserships,  538, 

Lanolin  Cold  Cream,  Formula  for,  355. 
Lantern  Slides,  Photo-Micro-  (Phillips),  293. 
Larkin,  Charles — Digestion,  96. 

Larvae,  Arrow  Poison  from  (Boehm),  468. 
Latent  Life  of  Seeds  (Candolle),  468. 

Lathrea  Squamaria,  To  Prevent  the  Black¬ 
ing  of,  335. 

Lathyrus  Sativus,  Poisonous  Properlies  of 
(McDougall),  290. 

Latin  of  Pharmacy,  The  (Coull),  272  ;  291  ; 
(Pollard),  (Ashton),  305  ;  (Ince),  327 ; 
(Pollard),  364. 

—  Pharmacy,  The  Prosody  of  (Ince),  525. 
Laudanum,  Coroner  Wightman  on  the  Sale 

of,  in  Sheffield,  338. 

—  for  Black  Draught,  60a,  73. 

Lavender  Industry,  The,  52,  59,  92. 

Law  Society,  The  Incorporated,  and  its 
Statutory  Duties,  376,  413. 

Lead  and  the  Oxide3  of  Sulphur,  Oa  the 
Reactions  between  (Jenkins  and  Smith), 
423. 

Leather  Polish,  Composition  of,  544. 

Legal  Hints  for  Pharmacists,  176,  268,  353, 
458. 

—  Intelligence,  56,  77,  118,  136,  157,  194, 

221,  224a,  241,  252,  273,  303,  363,  366a, 
405,  414,  457,  500,  510. 

Leicester  Chemists  and  the  P.A.T.A.,  156. 

—  Chemists’  Association,  408a. 

Lemon,  Essence  of,  The  Keeping  Qualities 
of  (Typke  and  King),  120;  (Robins), 
159. 

—  Juice  in  Ophthalmia  Neonatorum  (Sza- 

welski),  134. 

—  Oil,  Haensel’sTerpeneless,  and  the  French 

Customs,  386a. 

Lemonade  Powder,  Formula  for,  306. 

Lethal  Chambers,  Gas  for,  386. 

Lewes,  Prof.  Vivian — The  Use  of  Gas  fir 
Domestic  Lighting,  65. 

Lewin,  Prof. — Suppositories  and  their  Manu¬ 
facture,  411. 

Library,  A  Technical,  464. 

—  The  Society’s,  in  1896,  7. 

L-'cence,  Difficulties  about  a  Chemist’s,  120a. 
Licensing  (Scotland),  Acts  Amendment  Bill, 
518,  556. 

Liebig’s  Extract  of  Meat  Company,  Financial 
Condition  of,  464 d,  504a. 


Supplement  to 
Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


Liebig’s  Extract  of  Meat  Company,  Ltd.,  v. 
Bovril  (British,  Foreign  and  Colonial), 
Limited,  399. 

Liebreich,  Dr.  Oscar,  Twenty-tifth  Anniver¬ 
sary  of,  as  Director  of  the  Pharmaco¬ 
logical  Institute,  Berlin  University,  33. 
Light,  Artificial  (Hovenden),  155. 

—  Influence  of,  on  the  Growth  of  Plants 

(Stameroff),  467. 

—  The  Action  of,  on  Diastase  and  Its  Bio¬ 

logical  Significance  (Green),  528. 

—  The  Nature  and  Polarisation  of,  32 ; 

(Thompson),  52. 

Lilac  Perfume,  Formula  for,  460. 

Lime  Cream  and  Glycerin,  The  Sale  of, 
253,  274,  278  ;  (Hyslop),  286  ;  298,  303, 
363,416,  421;  (Beven),  463;  (Webber), 
483 ;  (Strickland),  502. 

—  Juice  and  Glycerin,  Formula  for  Real, 

386. 

Limes,  Manufacture  of,  40. 

Ling,  A.  R.,  and  Baker,  J.  L. — The  Action  of 
Diastase  on  Starch,  94. 

—  A.  R.  and  Baker,  J.  L. — The  Solution, 

Density,  and  Cupric  Reducing  Power  of 
Dextrose,  Levulose,  and  Invert-Sugar, 
94. 

Linimentum  Belladonna,  Remarks  on  a  Case 
of  Poisoning  by,  450. 

—  Calaminre,  Improved  Formula  for  (Skin¬ 

ner),  513. 

Lin.  Potass.  Iodidi  c.  Sapone,  Reaction  in 
Making,  464. 

—  Terebinthinre  B.P.,  The  Proportions  of, 

346. 

Linnean  Society  of  London,  115,  216,  280, 
300,  340,  400,  456,  544a,  567. 

Lip  Salve,  Formula  for,  9. 

Liquefaction  of  Air  (Hampson),  287. 

Liquid  Air  as  an  Agent  of  Research  (Dewar), 
400,  423,  456. 

—  Oxygen,  The  Properties  of  (Dewar),  94. 
Liquor  Bismuthi  (Brown),  39. 

—  Licensing  Laws  Commission,  Remarks  cn 

the,  278. 

Liquorice  Root  Trade  of  B  itcum  during 

1896,  568a. 

Liq.  Strontii  Bromid.,  Formula  for,  140. 

List  of  Honours,  The  Jubilee,  559. 

Literary  Composition,  The  Art  of  (Ince), 
292,  351. 

—  Notes,  49,  114,  216,  359,  376,  396,  477. 
Liverpool  Chemists  and  the  P.A.T.A.,  54, 

455. 

—  Chemists’  Association,  54,  116,  219,  284, 

302,  38.3. 

—  Pharmaceutical  Students’  Society,  55,  77, 

96,  135,  191,  239,  300,  321,  363. 
Liverseege,  J.  F.  —  Food  Products,  55. 

Living  Tissues  as  Chemical  Reagents  (Wild), 
125. 

L'cal  Associations,  The  Increase  in  (Editorial 
Remarks  on),  71,  237. 

—  Government  Board,  The,  and  Over¬ 

pressure  of  Work,  324. 

—  Pharmaceutical  Associations  and  the 
P.  A.T.A.,  182  ;  (Glyn- Jones),  350. 

Locke,  W.  Makepeace — The  Profession  of 
Pharmacy  from  an  Assistant’s  Point  of 
View,  143. 

London  Institution,  115. 

—  Residential  Club,  A,  486. 

—  Teaching  University,  The  Prospect  tf  a, 

461. 

—  v.  Country  Members  of  Council  (Norfoik- 

ensis),  385. 

—  Water  Supply,  The  Effects  of  Continued 

Rain  on  the,  358. 


INDEX. 


Lo ogata ff,  W.  Luther — An  Assistant’s  Quali¬ 
fication  Wanted,  365. 

Loofahs  and  other  Foreign  Goods,  464&. 
Lorantbacem,  Fertiiisation  and  Germination 
of  (Keeble),  83. 

Lowe’s,  Dr.,  Pure  Water  Test,  60. 

Lucas,  E.  W. — The  Ointments  of  the  B.P., 

121. 

Lunan,  George — The  Specific  Gravities  of 
the  B.P.  Preparations,  219. 

Lure  for  Earwigs,  275,  335,  366. 

Lycetol  in  Gout  and  Rheumatism  ( De 
Tollenaere),  521. 

Ly  sidine  and  Piperazine  as  Uric  Acid  Solvents 
(Goodbody),  89. 

M 

Maben,  Thomas — The  Forthcoming  Council 
Election,  364. 

— Thomas — Unguentu  m  Hydrargyri  N  i  t  ratis, 
223,  265. 

McConnell,  A.  H.  and  Hanes,  E.  S. — The 
Oxides  of  Cobalt,  etc.,  238. 

Mace,  Histology  of  (Schneider),  288. 
MacEwan,  Peter — Science  and  the  Imagina¬ 
tion,  258. 

Mackay  (John)  and  Co.’s  Dinner  and 
“  Smoker,”  100a. 

McMillan,  John — An  Assistants’  Qualifica¬ 
tion  Wanted,  345. 

MacNaught,  A. — The  Dose  of  Tincture  of 
Strophanthus,  325. 

Macpherson,  C.  A. — A  Scheme  of  Exchange, 
135. 

—  C.  A. — An  Adulteration  of  Pimento,  75. 
Maggots  in  Canary  Seed,  100. 

Magistrates  and  Doctors,  and  the  Sale  of 

Food  and  Drugs  Act  at  Nottingham, 
536. 

Mugnesite  Quarries  in  Greece,  461. 

Magnetic  Rocks  (Folgheraiter),  371. 
Mahogany  Varnish,  Formula  for,  20. 

Mair,  Sheriff,  as  a  Pupil,  496. 

Major  Examination  Results,  Remarks  on  the, 
33. 

—  Students’,  Help  for  (Buckley),  (W.  W.), 

139. 

Malarine,  Formula  of,  405. 

Malic  Acid  in  Cider,  524. 

Malt,  Extract  of,  and  Oil  with  Hypophos- 
phites,  Formula  for,  484. 

—  Extract,  An  Active,  464a. 

Manchester  Chemical  Club  Library,  Addi¬ 
tions  to  the,  20a. 

—  Pharmaceutical  Association,  60a,  140a, 

125,  244a,  266a. 

—  Pharmaceutical  Association,  The  Forma¬ 

tion  of  the  (Wilkinson),  19. 

Manna  of  the  Israelites,  Remarks  on  the, 
152. 

Manure,  New  versus  Old,  472. 

Marburg,  The  Botanical  Institute  and  Garden 
at  (Martindale),  174. 

March,  The  Flowers  of,  254,  276. 

Marine  Diatoms,  Reproduction  of  (Murray), 
163. 

Marking  Ink  to  Use  without  Heat,  Formula 
for,  524. 

Martindale,  W. — On  the  Desirability  of  Estab¬ 
lishing  an  Institute  for  the  Teaching  of 
Botany  in  the  Royal  Botanic  Gardens, 
203. 

—  W. — On  the  Preservatives  of  Pharma- 

copoeial  Preparations,  227. 

—  W.  — The  Preparation  of  Boroglyceride, 

80. 

—  W.  Harrison — The  Botanical  Institute 

and  Garden  at  Marburg,  174. 


[July  3, 1897. 


Martin,  N.  H.— Pharmacy,  Some  of  its 
Dangers  and  Duties,  283. 

Materia  Mqdica  in  the  University  of  Glas¬ 
gow,  Editorial  Remaiks  on  the  Chair 
of,  558. 

Matrimony  and  the  Income-Tax,  517. 

Matter,  Editorial  Remarks  on  the  Inner 
Structure  of,  151. 

Matthews,  F.  E. — An  Improved  Apparatus 
for  Steam  Distillation,  134. 

May,  The  Flowers  of,  418. 

Maturin  Copaiba  Balsam  (Dietze),  369. 
Maybells  Perfume,  Formula  for,  460. 

Mayer,  J.  L. — The  Chemical  Laboratory  in 
Pharmacy,  27. 

Measures  used  in  Prescriptions,  70. 

Meat,  Examination  of  Potted  (Remmlingei ), 
472. 

—  Malt  and  Qainine  Wine,  Formula  for,  524. 
Mechanism  of  Sensitiveness  (Borzi),  370. 
Medical  and  Phaimacy  Act  Amendment 

Bill  for  the  Cape,  496. 

—  Boycott  at  Plymouth,  The  Proposed,  378, 

399,  559. 

—  Council,  The  General,  476. 

—  Environment,  Remarks  on  the,  by  Dr. 

Campbell  Black,  33. 

—  Quacks  and  the  Credulity  of  the  Public, 

299. 

Medicated  Pencils,  153. 

—  Wines,  Remarks  on  the  Sale  of,  by 

Chemists,  338. 

Medicinal  Herbs  and  Plants,  Cultivation  of, 
in  Russia,  58. 

Medicine  Cases,  New,  464a. 

—  Editorial  Remarks  on  Methylene  Blue  in, 

420. 

—  Stamp  Act,  Proceedings  under  the,  132 ; 

(Lambeth),  136. 

—  Stamp  Acts,  Legal  Hints  on  the,  353,  458. 

—  Stamps,  A  Suggestion  (Smith),  462. 
Medico-Hygienic  Inventions’  Company, 

Limited,  160a,  197. 

Memory  in  Fishes,  Remarks  on  the  Existence 
of,  93. 

Menthol  in  Peppermint  Oil,  Determination 
of  (Kebler),  367. 

Mentholated  Crayons,  Formula  for,  167. 
Merchandise  Marks  Act,  1887,  Select 
Committee  on  the,  262,  295,  343,  494. 
Merck  Pharmacy,  Editorial  Remarks  on  the, 
377. 

Mercuric  Chloride  as  a  Remedy  for  Potato 
Diseaae,  417. 

Mercary  Benzoate  (Rebiere),  82. 

—  Determination  of,  in-Ammonio  Mercuric 

Chloride  (Thompson),  117. 

—  in  Hair  Wash,  366. 

—  Pyroborate  (Tokayer  and  Dupuoy),  82. 

—  The  Behaviour  of  Chlorine,  Bromine  and 

Iodine  with  (Shenstone),  94. 

Metcethyl  as  a  Local  Anaesthetic,  368. 
Metallic  Solutions,  151;  (Heycock  and 
Neville),  319. 

Meteorology,  Kites  for  (Rotch),  379. 

Methyl  Blue  and  Methylene  Blue,  The  Differ¬ 
ence  Between,  386. 

—  Violet  for  Boils,  Carbuncles,  and  Anthrax 

(Trenite),  126. 

Methylated  Spirit,  Legal  Hints  for  Pharma¬ 
cists  Concerning,  176. 

—  Spirit,  The  Sale  of,  306. 

Methylene  Blue  in  Medicine,  Editorial 
Remarks  on,  420. 

—  Blue  Internally  in  Gonorrhoea  (Moore), 

405. 

—  Blue  in  Rheumatoid  Arthritis  (Philpots), 

426. 

Metol,  Formula  for,  224. 


July  3,  1897.] 


Metric  Measures  and  Our  Old  System  (Toms), 
68,  147. 

• —  Weights  and  Measures  Bill,  109,  324, 473, 
494,  556. 

Mexican  Imports  and  Exports,  58. 

Microbes  and  the  Australian  Babbit  Pest, 
469. 

—  New  Testament,  279. 

Micro-Objects,  Staining  and  Mounting  of, 

140. 

—  -Organisms  in  Milk  (Hesse,  Caro,  and 

Schotte),  162. 

—  -Photographs,  120. 

Microscope,  The,  What  it  Do  s,  30. 
Microtome  for  Biological  Work,  A  Simple 

(Flatters-),  485. 

Midland  Chemists’  Assistants’  Association, 
80 a,  303,  341,  380,  453. 

—  Pharmaceutical  Association,  55,  97,  135, 

266a,  519, 544 d. 

—  -  Pharmaceutical  Trade  Committee,  219, 

453. 

Midwives  Begistration  Bill,  The,  154,  413, 
556. 

Milk,  Chemical  and  Bacteriological  Examin¬ 
ation  of  (Davies),  302. 

—  Factory,  A  Sterilised  and  Humanised,  516. 

—  Preservative,  224. 

—  Variation  in  Richness  of,  472. 

Mineral  Waters,  Teneriffe,  38. 

Minor,  Books  for  the,  266,  504. 

—  Examira'ion  Standard  (Index),  463. 

—  Examination  Syllabus,  Bemarks  on  the, 

72  ;  (Audi  Alteram  Partem),  100. 

—  Man’s  Grievance,  A  (An  A.  Ph.  S.),  199. 
Minute  Organisms,  as  Causes  of  Disease 

(Thompson),  85. 

Mist.  Arsenicalis,  B.S  H.,  346. 

—  Ferri  Perchloridi,  B.S.H.,  316. 

Moissan,  Henri — The  Isolation  of  Fluorine, 

499. 

Molasses  Mull,  a  New  Cattle  Food,  159. 
Monol  as  a  Synonym  for  Calcium  Perman¬ 
ganate  (Bordas),  196. 

Monsonia  Ovata  (Maberly),  162;  (Wood), 
450. 

Montreal  College  of  Pharmacy  Sessional  and 
Pharmaceutical  Examinations,  368a. 
Montserrat,  The  Flocds  in,  20c. 

Moon,  The  Influence  of  the,  on  Climatic  Con¬ 
ditions  (Whitmore),  469. 

Morgan,  H  B. — Some  Assistants  I  have  Met 
321. 

—  H.  Marston — Crystallography,  146. 
Morison,  Dr.  J.  Louis  D. — Histology  of  the 

Vegetable  Tissue  Systems,  470. 

Morphine,  Alleged  Purchase  of  Four  Ounces, 
in  One  Week,  422;  (Goldby)  462. 

—  Hydrochloride  as  an  Antidote  to  Potas¬ 

sium  Cyanide  (Heim),  158. 

Morphological  Botany,  The  Present  Position 
of  (Scott),  34  ;  360,  478. 

Mortar,  The  Antiquity  and  History  of  the 
(Thompson),  267. 

Moss,  John — The  Attfield  Testimonial,  305. 
Mosses  and  Ferns,  Delation  between 
(Scott),  360. 

Moths,  Experiments  cn  '*  Sugaring”  for,  275. 
Mould-Fangi,  Mycele  of  (Marschall),  370. 
Mountants  for  Diatoms,  80. 

Moustache  Fixing  Fluid,  Formula  for,  390. 
Mouth-wash  Tablets,  Formula  for  (Berne- 
gan),  374. 

Mumbray,  B.  G. — The  Benevolent  Fund,  78. 
Mun’oy,  A  E. — A  Bansen  Burner  for  Acety¬ 
lene,  423. 

Museum,  The  Society’s,  in  1896,  7. 

Museums  Association  Meeting  at  Oxford, 
299,  518. 


INDEX. 


Mycele  of  Mould  Fungi  (Marschall),  370. 

N 

Names,  The  Lancet  on  Popular  and  Scientific, 
379. 

Nansen-Sverdrup  Expedition,  Bemarks  on 
the,  153. 

Naphtha  Wells  of  Baku,  568a. 

/8-Naphthol  and  Bismuth  Salicylate  in 
Infantile  Diarrhoea  (Solislchen),  405. 

—  in  a  Prescription  (Morgan),  135. 
Naphthosalicine  as .  an  Antiseptic  in  Laun¬ 
dries,  314. 

Naples  Zoological  Station,  Twenty-Fifth 
Anniversary  of  the,  358. 

National  Physical  Laboratory,  A,  133,  154, 
183. 

Natural  History  Notes,  177,  275,  335. 

Naval  Dispenserships,  215;  (Videre  est 
Credere),  365. 

—  Storekeeper,  The  Position  of,  517. 
Nectaries,  Septal  (Schniewind-Thies),  467. 
Nervosin  for  Neurasthenia  and  Hysteria 

(Aufrecht),  553. 

Nests  of  the  Chimney  Swallow,  300. 

Neville,  F.  H.,  and  Hey  cock,  C.  T. — On  the 
Freezing-Point  Curves  of  Alloys  Contain¬ 
ing  Zinc,  23  8. 

Newball  and  Mason’s  Annual  Dinner,  40a. 
Newcastle  Chemists  and  the  P.A.T.A.,  75. 

—  on-Tyne  Chemists’ Association,  118,  224a, 

381,  386a. 

—  on-Tyne,  The  Proposed  Association  at 

(Clague),  80. 

New  Ideas  and  Trade  Notes,  8,  57,  74,  196, 
263,  293,  326a,  346a,  366c,  336a,  464a, 
484a,  504J,  524a,  544a. 

—  Mown  Hay  Perfume,  Formula  for,  355. 

—  Bemedies,  58,  158,  196,  221,  363,  405, 

425. 

—  X  Bays  (Friedrich),  S0a. 

—  Year  Honours,  The  List  of,  32. 
Newspapers,  Post  Office  Test  Case  on  Be  turn 

Postage  of,  257. 

Nickel,  Action  of,  upon  Ethylene  (Sabatier 
and  Senderens),  319. 

—  in  Telephones  (Garrett  and  Lucas),  371. 
Night  Lights,  Fowler’s,  544a. 

Nile,  The  Use  of  the,  as  a  Source  of  Elec¬ 
tricity,  339. 

Nitrate  of  Copper,  The  Separation  of,  from 
Nitrate  of  Silver  in  the  Manufacture  of 
Caustic  (Warder),  61. 

Nitrites  in  Water,  Test  for  (Barbet  and 
Jandrier),  456. 

—  Method  of  Determining  Minute  Quanti¬ 

ties  of  (Zambelli),  169. 

Nitrogen, Assimilation  of  (Laurent,  Marchal, 
and  Carpiaux),  289. 

—  The  Oxidavion  of  (Rayleigh),  134. 

Nitrous  Acid  in  Aqua  Destillata  (CouT), 

199. 

—  Ether,  The  Sale  of  Spirit  of,  at  North- 

fleet,  540. 

—  Oxide  and  Destructiveness,  422. 
Nodule-Bacteria  in  Different  Host- Species, 

Inoculation  of  (Nobbe  and  Hiltner),  468. 
North  of  England  School  of  Chemistry  and 
Pharmacy  (Annual  Dance),  140a. 

—  Staffordshire  and  District  Chemists’  As¬ 

sociation,  258,  261,  404. 

Notes  and  Formulae,  167,  355,  374,  3S6,  417, 
460,  472,  493,  513,  530. 

Nottingham  and  Notts  Chemists’  Associa¬ 
tion,  100a,  193,  306a,  321  ;  (Annual 
Meeting),  482. 

Nursery  and  Toilet  Powder,  Formula  for,  9. 
Nux  Vomica,  Assay  of  Extract  of,  20.  | 


Supplement  to 
Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


Nymphseacere,  Morphology  and  Anatomy  of 
Some  of  the  (Vaughan),  216. 


O 

Oak  Varnish,  Formula  for,  20. 

Oaths,  Sir  Walter  Foster  and  the  Mode  cf 
Administering,  473. 

Obituary  :  (Boberts),  (Davies),  (Eaker), 
(Schacht),  20  ;  (Bennett),  (Roger),  40  ; 
(Skirrow),  (Howson),  (Venman),  (Blan- 
shard),  78  ;  (Williams)  (Riley), (Mather), 
(Crarer),  (George),  100  ;  (Nind),  (Burn), 
(Hunt),  120;  (Dadley),  (Miller),  (Steven¬ 
son),  (Lewis),  140  ;  (Nurthen),  (Brown), 
(Huggins),  (Kay),  (Southwell),  (Downie), 
(Johnston),  160;  (Bradley),  (Howe), 
(Taylor),  198  ;  (Howard),  (Sanson),  222; 
(Laws),  (Cupit),  244  ;  (Stocker),  (Pratt), 
(Taylor),  (Payne),  (Byder),  266;  (Coleby), 
(Hall),  (Alford),  (Dyer),  (Bae),  286 ; 
(Herbert),  (Boper),  (Marshall),  303; 
(Thomas),  (Bagley),  (Chessall),  (Allis), 
(Blatchley),  326;  (Staffing),  (Bulcock), 
(Jeffery),  (Watts),  (Backhouse),  343 ; 
(Earee),  (Sarsfield),  (Cawdell),  (Armi- 
tage),  366  ;  (Solomon),  (Barber),  (Press- 
lie),  (Thornton),  386  ;  (Nants),  (Smith), 
(Trollope),  408 ;  (Lumley),  (Hopkinson), 
(Moore),  (Merson),  428  ;  (Hemingway), 
(Barber),  (Sturges),  (Ford),  (Walters), 
(Willson),  (Hodder),  (Stearn),  459  ;  (Hol¬ 
land),  (Blackshaw),  (Morris),  (Byder), 
(Raynor),(Savage), (Cardwell), (Nicholls), 
(Maitland),  484;  (Keyworth),  (Starie), 
(Lambert),  504  ;  (C  ater),  (Sutherland), 
(Wood ), (Griffith )  (Kdsington),  (Farrage), 
524  ;  (Harrison),  (Parker),  (Bowe)  (Burn¬ 
ham),  544;  (Westrup),  (B'mmingtor), 
(Squire),  (Scanlan),  568. 

Odd-,  A  Knowledge  of  the,  279. 

CEnothera,  Opening  of  the  Flowers  of  (Plan- 
chon),  468. 

Oil  of  Spike,  200. 

Ointment  for  Pustular  Acne,  425. 

—  for  Ulcerated  Leg,  Composition  of,  386. 

—  of  Starch  Iodide,  Formula  for  (Oefele), 

513. 

—  To  Colour  and  Perfume,  366. 

Ointments  of  the  B.P.,  The  (Lucas),  121. 

Old  Price  List,  An,  556. 

Olive  Oil,  Extraction  of,  in  Persia,  38. 

—  Oil,  The  Italian  Government  and  the 

Adulteration  of,  461. 

Oliver,  Prof.  F.  W— Botanical  Lectures 
before  the  Apothecaries’  Society,  453, 
522. 

Olives,  Cultivation  cf,  in  Cadiz,  58. 

Onion,  John — A  Personal  Complaint,  139. 
Opium,  East  Indian,  Beport  on,  237. 

—  The  Ceylon  Government  and,  137. 

—  The  Beturns  of  Duty  and  Likin  on  Chi¬ 

nese,  384. 

—  Trade,  Japanese,  406. 

Optical  Classes,  The  Importance  of  Attend¬ 
ing,  379. 

Orange  Bitters,  Formula  for,  9. 

Organic  Liquids  and  Oxidation  (Bourquelot), 
466. 

—  Nourishment  of  Green  Plants  (Bokcrny), 

370. 

—  Substances,  Drying  Sensitive  (Parsons), 

465. 

Otto  of  Boses,  Eastern  Roumelia,  58. 

Ovaline  Preparations,  464 a. 

Ovules  without  a  Nucellus  (Tieghem),  370. 
Oxalic  Acid,  To  Obtain  Pure  (Riechelmann), 
460. 


INDEX. 


[July  3,  1897. 


Supplement  to 
Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


Oxford  and  District  Chemists’  Association, 
286a,  401. 

Oxidation  of  Ferrous  Carbonate,  464. 

—  of  Nitrogen,  The  (Rayleigh),  134. 

—  of  Silver  (Wait),  81. 

Oxide,  New  Phosphorus  (Besson),  368. 
Oxides  of  Cobalt,  The,  Cobaltites,  etc. 

(McConnell  and  Hanes),  238. 

Oxygen  Gas,  The  Treatment  of  Wounds  by, 
477. 

—  in  Ascites  (Teissier),  425, 

Oyster  Beds,  The  Local  Government  Board 
and,  343. 

Oysters,  Copper  in  (Lowe  and  Herdman), 
162 ;  (Lowe),  493. 

Ozone,  The  Inflaence  of  Moisture  on  the 
Production  of,  from  Oxygen  (Shenstone), 

94. 

—  The  Stability  of  (Shenstone),  94. 


P 

Panegyric,  A  (Hick),  100;  (Coull), 
(Borax),  (Freethinker),  119. 

Paraffin  -Naphthalin  Emulsion  as  a  Plant 
Insecticide,  460. 

—  Oil,  Purification  of,  346. 

Paraf.  Javal  Solution  (Pharmacist),  20 ; 
(Robertson),  39. 

Paraffinum  Molle,  Preparation  of,  544. 
Parasymbiosis  of  Fungi  (Zopf),  468. 

Parish  Dispensary,  Visit  to  a,  175. 

Park,  C.  J. — Chemists’  Federation,  99. 

—  C.  J. — The  Proprietary  Articles  Trade 

Association,  285. 

Parker,  R.  H. — The  Benevolent  Fund,  20. 

—  R.  H. — Will  Legislation  help  Pharmacy  ? 

156. 

Parliamentary  Bills,  First  Readings  of 
Private  Members’,  97. 

—  and  Legal  Business  in  1896,  3. 

—  Notes  and  News,  8,  69.  97,  109,  137,  154, 

186,  212,  242,  262,  275,  295,  324,  342, 
376,  407,  413,  461,  473,  494,  518,  541, 
556. 

Parthenium  Hysterophorus,  Examination  of 
(Arny),  370. 

Partnerships  Dissolved,  428*,  484a,  504a, 

524a. 

Paste  for  Gold  Paper  Labels,  Foimulafor, 

266. 

—  for  Labels  on  Tins,  Formula  for,  200. 
Past=ur  Institute,  Paris  (Donation  to  the), 

32;  (Patients  Treated),  73. 

Pastilles,  Formula  for  Carbolic  Acid  (Salz- 
mann),  314. 

Pa'ent  Act;on  (Wood  v.  Raphael)  ;  Appeal 
Case,  464 d. 

—  Laws,  Remarks  on  the  Amendment  of 

the,  338. 

—  Office  and  the  Trade  in  Aniline  Dyes,  186. 

—  Office  Protection,  494, 

Patents,  The  Number  of  Applications  for, 
during  1896,  358. 

Paul,  D.\  B.  H.,  and  Cownley,  A.  J. — The 
Alleged  Conversion  of  Cinchonine  into 
Circhonidine,  141. 

Peach  Kernel  Oil  and  Oil  of  Almonds  (Jack- 
son),  285;  (Cowley).  305. 

Pearson,  John  Henry — Note  on  Glycerinum 
Amyli,  201. 

Pellets,  Soluble  Antiseptic,  8. 

Pencils,  Medicated,  153. 

Pender  Memorial,  The,  120a. 

Penny-in-the  Slot  Electricity,  Remarks  on, 
152. 

Peppermint  Oil,  Determination  of  Menthol 
in  (Kebler),  367. 


Perfume,  “  1897,”  Formula  for,  460. 

—  of  Flowers,  Extracting  the  (Pass}),  369. 
Perfumes  and  Toilet  Articles,  196,  524a. 

—  Some  Formulae  for  Synthetic,  460. 
Perfuming  Programmes,  Formulae  for,  306. 
Perkin,  Dr.  W.  H. — The  Synthesis  of  Cam- 

phoronic  Acid,  280. 

Peronine,  A  New  Morphine  Derivative 
(Merck),  217. 

Peroxide  of  Hydrogen  in  Oto  Rhinology 
(Gelffi),  158. 

Perthiocyanic  Acid,  The  Hydrolysis  of 
(Chattaway  and  Stephens),  320. 
Petroleum  and  its  Products  ;  Their  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Uses,  410. 

—  Benzene  for  Removing  Grease  Spots, 

408. 

—  Emulsion,  Formulae  for,  200,  484. 

—  Licence  Prosecution,  428a. 

—  Some  Hydrocarbons  from  American 

(Young  and  Thomas),  238. 

—  The  Committee  of  Inquirv  on,  97,  186, 

242,  262,  324. 

Pharaoh’s  Serpents,  The  “Eggs”  Pro¬ 
ducing,  298. 

Pharmaceutical  and  Medical  Assistance  for 
the  War  in  Greece,  398. 

—  Appliances,  Novel,  406. 

—  Chemist,  The  True,  450. 

—  Chemists’  and  Apothecaries’  Assistants’ 

Association  of  Ireland,  54,  96,  140a,  258, 
284,  341,  454. 

—  Congress,  The  Eighth  International 

(Brussels),  112,  147,  152,  191. 

—  Development  During  Sixty  Years,  1837  to 

1897,  545. 

—  Football  Club,  60a,  80a,  140a,  160a,  244a, 

266d  ;  (Past  v.  Present),  286a. 

—  Journal,  The,  and  Changed  Ideals  (Edi¬ 

torial  Remarks  on),  12. 

—  Life,  The  Part  of  Combination  in  Modern 

(Clague),  381. 

—  Progress  in  1896,  1. 

—  Scholarships,  Three,  476. 

—  Secrets,  A  Physician  on,  450. 

—  Society  and  the  Daily  Press,  Remarks  on 

the,  214. 

—  Society  as  Representative  of  the  Whole 

“Trade,”  Remarks  on  the,  318. 

—  Society,  Editorial  Remarks  on  the  Dual 

Function  of  the,  419. 

—  Society  of  Ireland(CouncilMeetiDgs),  40a, 

136,  341. 

—  Society  of  Ireland  (Preliminary  Exam¬ 

inations  Results),  55 ;  73,  258;  (April  Ex¬ 
aminations),  266a  ;  341;  (Licence  Exam¬ 
inations),  366a ;  425,  520  ;  (July  Exam¬ 
inations),  539. 

Pharmaceutical  Society,  Transactions 

OF  THE  I — 

Address  to  the  Queen’s  Most  Excellent 
Majesty,  489,  531. 

Adjourned  General  Meeting,  445. 

Annual  General  Meeting,  Amendments 
to  be  Moved  to  the  Proposed  New 
Bye-Laws,  398. 

—  Meeting,  Date  of  Fifty-Sixth,  206,  214, 
(Meeting),  432. 

—  Report  of  the  Council,  387. 

Associates,  Election  of,  45,  105,  205,  309, 
391,  489. 

Auditors,  Nomination  and  Appointment 
of,  310,  437. 

—  Report,  389. 

Benevolent  Fund  Committee,  Reports  of 
'  the,  46,  105,  206,  312,  393,  490. 

—  Fund  Festival  Dinner,  108,  398,  429. 

—  Fund,  List  of  Donations  and  Subscrip¬ 
tions  in  Aid  of  the,  451,  491. 


Pharmaceutical  Society— continued. 

Brussels,  The  International  Congress  at, 
207,  309,  391. 

Bye-Laws,  Proposed  New,  207,  210,  236, 
310,  315,  393. 

Calcium  Carbide,  The  Sale  of,  206,  212, 
234,  309,  318. 

Committees,  Appointment  of,  489. 

Correspondence,  310,  313,  394,  491. 

Council  Election,  Result  of  the,  445. 

—  Meetings,  44,  105,  205,  309,  372,  391, 
432,  488. 

—  Nominations  for  the,  309. 

Diplomas,  Granting  of,  45,  391. 

Diplomas  of  Deceased  Members,  46. 

Donations  to  the  Library  and  Museum, 
74,  127,  238,  252,  372,  413,  531 

Earee,  Mr.  Thomas,  Death  of,  391. 

Evening  Meeting  in  Edinburgh,  251. 

—  Meetings  in  London,  127,  232. 

Examination  First,  Certificates  Accepted 
and  Results,  47,  108,  334,  394,  412. 

—  Papers,  Major,  9,  324. 

—  Questions,  First,  48,  334. 

Examinations,  Analysis  of,  for  the  Year 
1896,  107. 

—  in  Edinburgh,  Major  Results,  48,  355. 

—  in  Edinburgh,  Minor  Results,  48,  355. 

—  in  London,  Major  Results,  34,  334. 

—  in  London,  Minor  Results,  47,  334. 

—  in  London,  Report  of  the  Government 

Visitor  on  the,  310. 

—  Reports  of  the,  47,  105,  394. 

Examiners  for  the  Council  Prizes  and 
Scholarships,  Appointment  of,  489. 

Finance  Committee,  Reports  of  the,  46, 
105,  206,  312,  393,  489. 

Financial  Statement  for  1896,  388. 

General  Purposes  Committee,  Reports  of 
the,  47, 108,  207,  313,  394,  491. 

Glasgow  Conference,  Arrangements  for 
the,  37 4 

Government  Visitor,  Report  of  the,  on  the 
Examinations  in  London,  310. 

International  Congress  at  Brussels,  The, 
207,  309,  391. 

Letter  and  Resolutions  re  The  Proposed 
New  Bye  Laws,  310. 

Library  and  Museum,  Donations  to  tie, 
74,  127,  238,  252,  372,  413,  531. 

Library,  Museum,  School  and  House 
Committee,  Reports  of  the,  47,  108, 
206,  312,  393,  490. 

Members,  Election  of,  45,  105,  205,  309, 
391,  489. 

Nind,  Mr.  Geo.,  The  Late,  105. 

North  British  Branch,  372;  (Annual 
Report),  392;  (Annual  Meeting),  565. 

Officers,  Re-appointment  of,  489. 

President,  Election  of,  488. 

Piize  Examination  Papers,  School  of  Phar- 
macy  Sessional,  295. 

Quebec,  Pharmacy  in,  47. 

Registrar’s  Report,  The,  106. 

Restorations  to  the  Register,  45,  105,  206, 
309,  392,  489. 

Royal  Botanic  Society,  Appointment  of 
the  President  as  an  Hon.  Member  of 
the,  313. 

Russow,  Prof.  Edmund,  Death  of,  391. 

Sachs,  Dr.  Julius  von,  Death  of,  489,  496. 

Schacht,  G.  F.,  The  Late,  44,  205. 

School  of  Pharmacy  Sessional  Prize 
Examination  Papers,  295. 

Scrutineers’  Report  on  the  Election  of 
Council,  445. 

Secretaries,  Local  and  Divisional,  Appoint¬ 
ment  of,  47,  313. 


July  3,  1897,1 

r 


Pharmac  utical  Society— continued. 

Special  General  Meeting,  437 ;  (Taplin), 

464d. 

Students,  Election  of,  45,  105,  206,  309, 
391,  489. 

Treasurer,  Election  of,  489. 
Vice-President,  Election  of,  488. 

Vote  of  Thanks  to  Mr.  Gostling  on  his 
Retirement,  490. 

Vote  of  Thanks  to  the  Retiring  Vice- 
President,  490. 

Pharmaceutical  Uses  of  Petroleum  Products, 
410. 

Pharmacist,  The,  as  a  Photographic  Dealer, 

458. 

—  The  Social  Status  of  the  (Glass),  543. 
Pharmacists,  The  Position  of,  in  the  Social 

Scale,  Editorial  Remarks  on,  515. 
Pharmacograpby  in  1896,  18. 

—  The  Study  of  Practical,  30, 170 ;  (Editorial 

Remarks),  215  ;  230,  269. 

Pharmacopoeia,  British,  Explanatory  Notes 
on  the,  10,  50,  70,  90,  110,  130,  150, 
179,  254,  276,  296,  336,  356,  418,  474, 
514,  534. 

—  Committee,  The  Report  of  the,  496. 
Pharmacopoeial  Preparations,  On  the  Pre¬ 
servatives  of  (Martindale),  227,  234. 

Pharmacy  Act,  The  Difficulty  of  Administer¬ 
ing  the,  398. 

—  Act,  Cases  under  the,  in  1896,  4. 

—  Act,  Police  Prosecution  under  Section  17 

of  the,  222. 

—  Act,  Proceedings  under  the  (Airdrie), 

194,  221  ;  (London),  222  ;  (Glasgow), 
241;  (Hamilton),  242;  (Airdrie),  252; 
(Bow),  273  ;  (Hamilton),  (Edinburgh), 
(Glasgow),  294  ;  (Glasgow),  313  ;  (Hey- 
wood),326a;  (Nottingham),  342;  (Hamil¬ 
ton),  394;  (Glasgow),  395;  (Airdrie), 
414  ;  (Glasgow),  457  ;  (Airdrie),  500  ; 
(Preston),  540. 

—  Act  (Ireland),  Proceedings  under  the  :  — 

(Moneymore),  80a. 

—  Act,  Remarks  on  the  Administration  of 

the  (Scotland),  256 ;  (London),  278 ; 
(Scotland),  298,318;  (Nottingham), 338. 

—  Arrangement,  Some  Short  Notes  on 

Storage  and,  476  ;  (Hyslop),  481. 

—  Board  of  Victoria,  The,  449. 

—  Individualism  and  Socialism  in,  Editorial 

Remarks  on,  181. 

—  in  the  East  of  Scotland,  The  Progress  of 

(Scottish  Chemist  and  Druggist),  555. 

—  Old  (Casson),  87  ;  (Ashton),  138. 

—  Popular  (Hyslop),  103,  117,  124. 

—  Practical,  in  1896,  6. 

—  Progress  in  (Sinclair),  331. 

—  Some  of  its  Dangers  and  Duties  (Martin), 

283. 

—  The  Chemical  Laboratory  in  (Mayer),  27. 

—  The  Latin  of  (Ooull),  272,  291 ;  (Pollard), 

(Ashton),  305. 

—  Tne  Profession  of,  from  an  Assistant’s 

Point  of  View  (Locke),  143. 

—  The  Plough  Court,  164. 

—  The  Prosody  of  Latin  (Ince)  525. 

—  The  World  of,  54,  75,  116,  135,  155,  188, 

218,  239,  258,  281,  301,  320,  340,  362, 
380,  401,  423,  453.  481,  519,  539. 

Ph  rmacy  ?  Will  Legislation  H  dp  (Parker), 
156. 

Phenacetin  Tabloids,  Compound,  8. 

—  in  Typhoid  (Bigaami),  29. 

Phenamine  and  Triohenamine  (Limlhorst 

and  Langkopf),  530, 

Phenetidine,  Citrates  of  (Heyden),  24. 
Phonograph  Wax,  Composition  of,  408. 


INDEX. 


Phosphate,  Ferrous  (Evans),  141. 

—  Quarries  of  Orville,  568a. 

Phosphides  of  Platinum  (Clarke  and  Joslin), 

82.  ' 

Phosphorus  Oxide,  New  (Besson),  368. 
Photographic  Convention,  The,  473. 

—  Dealer,  The  Pharmacist  as  a,  458. 

—  Methods,  The  Production  of  Colour  by 

(Wood),  187. 

—  Notes,  473. 

—  Record,  Proposal  for  a  National,  358. 
Photography  and  Physics  in  1896,  14. 

—  in  Natural  Colours,  111,  132,  172,  187, 

473. 

—  Practical  (Knott),  266a. 

—  Some  Applications  of  (Wall),  516. 
Photo-Micro.  Lantern  Slides  (Phillips),  293. 
Physical  Laboratory,  A  National,  133,  154, 

183. 

—  Laboratory  for  India,  A,  339. 

Physics  and  Photography  in  1896,  14. 
Physiological  Experiments,  The  House  of 

Commons  and,  407. 

Pig  Bile  Tabloids,  524a. 

Pigments  of  Plants  (Newbigin),  289. 

Pil.  Rhei  Co.,  Pulv.  pro.,  464. 

Pilocarpic  and  Pilocarpidic  Acids  (Petit  and 
Polonovski),  466. 

Pilocarpidine  in  Pilocarpine  Salts  (Petit  and 
Polonovski),  466, 

—  Origin  of  (Petit  and  Polonovski),  466. 
Pilocarpine  and  Pilocarpidine  (Petit  and 

Polonovski),  466. 

—  The  Constitutioa  of  (Knudsen),  161. 

Pill,  Excipient  for,  464. 

Pimento,  An  Adulteration  of  (Macpherson), 
75. 

Piperazine  and  Lysidine  as  Uric  Acid 
Solvents  (Goodbody),  89. 

Piperidine  Guaiacolate  (Schidrowitz),  81. 
Plant  Insecticide,  Paraffin-Naphthalin  Emul¬ 
sion  as  a,  460. 

—  Lice,  Formula  for  Insecticide  for,  314, 
Plants,  Absent,  275. 

—  Bacterial  Diseases  of  (Peglion),  162. 

—  Formation  of  Secretions  in  (Tschirch), 

289 

—  Fossil  (Seward),  127. 

—  Influence  of  Light  on  the  Growth  of 

(Stameroff),  467. 

—  Organic  Nourishment  of  Green  (Bokorny ), 

370. 

—  Pigments  of  (Newbigin),  289. 

—  Protecting  Rare  Species  of,  275. 

—  Registration  of,  339. 

—  Spread  of  Immigrant,  275. 

—  Winter  green  (Lidforss),  83. 

Plaster  Press,  A  New,  406. 

Plasters,  Manufacture  of  Rubber,  396. 

Plate  Powder,  Formula  for,  326. 

Platinum  Chloride,  Recovery  of  Waste 

(McElroy),  287. 

—  Pnosphides  of  (Clarke  and  Joslin),  82. 
Playfair,  Lord,  on  Sanitary  Law,  559. 

Plough  Court  Pharmacy,  The,  164,  247. 
Plymouth,  Devonport,  Stonehouse  and  Dis¬ 
trict  Chemists’  Association,  56, 116,  136, 
191,  218,  284,  303,  362,  425,  454,  484a, 
504a,  521. 

—  Medical  Men  and  Friendly  Societies,  378, 

399,  559. 

Poet  of  the  North,  The  Pharmaceutical,  279. 

Poetry  and  Business,  464A 

Poison  Book,  The  Police  and  the,  504. 

—  Law,  Ireland’s  Advantages  ia  Respect 

t",  558. 

Poisoned  Grain,  Sale  of,  461c7. 

Poisoning  by  Ammonia  (Oldbury),  286a. 

—  by  Buttercups  (Lancaster),  517. 


Supplement  to 
Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


Poisoning  by  Carbolic  Acid  (Torpoint),  lOOrf  ; 
(Leytonstone),  (Burton-on- Trent),  386a, 
(Bulwell),  537. 

—  by  Chloral  (Handsworth),  386a. 

—  by  Chlorodyne  (Folkestone),  (Newport), 

57 ;  (Southport),  100<7. 

—  by  Chloronette  (Dunmow),  298. 

—  by  Copaiba  (Thompson),  369. 

—  by  Hydrocyanic  Acid  (Lyndhurst),  524a. 

—  by  Insect  Powder  (Bosredon),  379. 

—  by  Laudanum  (Newport),  20 cL ;  (Liver¬ 

pool),  60a,  73;  (Llandysilis),  100 cl\ 
(Carrington),  (Clifton),  160a  ;  (Cother- 
stone),  (Dublin),  504a. 

—  by  Liniment  (New  Wortley),  (High 

Buckholmside),  20 d ;  (Norwich)  (Brad¬ 
ford),  57. 

—  by  Linimentum  Belladonnas,  Remarks  on 

a  Case  of,  450. 

—  by  Prussic  Acid  (Dublin),  20d. 

—  by  Sulphate  of  Ammonia  (Warwick), 

20  d. 

—  by  Sulphuric  Acid  (Sparkhill),  57, 

—  of  Elephants,  The,  421. 

Poisonous  Honey  (Gerpen),  289. 

—  Properties  of  Lathyrus  Sativus  (Mc- 

Dougall),  290. 

Poisons  and  Poisonous  Vapours,  Deaths 
Caused  by,  477. 

Polarisation  of  the  Electric  Ray,  The  (Bose), 
116. 

Pollard,  H.  H. — The  Flowers  of  January,  39. 

—  H.  H.  —  The  Latin  of  Pharmacy,  305, 

364. 

Pollen  and  Ovule,  Homology  of  the  (Mol- 
liard),  83. 

—  Protection  of,  from  Rain  (Hansgirg),  163. 

—  Grain,  Spermatozoids  from  the,  92. 
Pollens,  Study  of  (Pfister),  467. 

Pomade,  Formula  for  Floral,  306. 

Position  of  Pharmacists  in  the  Social  Scale, 

Editorial  Remarks  on  the,  515. 

Postage  Rates  on  Foreign  Letters,  556. 

Postal  and  Telegraph  Reforms,  407,  408a, 
450,  556. 

—  and  Telegraphic  Service,  Cycles  and  the, 

262. 

Post-Office  Anomalies,  English,  319. 
Potassium  Bichromate  as  an  Expectorant 
(Weaver),  323. 

—  Compounds,  The  Detection  of,  339. 

—  Permanganate  in  Lupus  (Butte),  426. 
Potato  Disease,  Mercuric  Chloride  as  a 

Remedy  for,  417. 

“Potato  Drops  and  Green  Mallet”  (Evans), 
385. 

Potted  Meat  Examination  of  (Remmlicg-r), 
472. 

Potter,  Mr.  A.  H.,  Presentation  to,  326a. 
Poultry  Powder,  Ingredients  of  a,  140. 

—  Spice  to  Make  Fowls  Lay,  Forum’ a  for, 

60. 

Preece,  W.  H. — Signalling  Through  Space 
Without  Wires,  521, 

Preferential  Payments  in  Bankruptcy  Act 
(1889)  Amendment  Bill,  The,  324. 
Prehistoric  Human  Relics  (Piette),  84. 
Preliminary,  Books  for  the,  504. 

—  Examination,  The  (Cardell),  140. 

—  Examination  uf  the  Pharmaceutical  So¬ 

ciety  (Ireland),  Is  the,  a  Sufficient  Test 
of  Preliminary  Education  ?  (Harris),  54. 
Prescribing,  On  Counter  (Barrass),  244. 
Preservatives  of  Pharmacopoeial  Prepara¬ 
tions,  On  the  (Martindale),  227,  234. 
Preserving  Tomatoes,  Method  of,  513. 

Price  List.  An  Old,  556. 

Proctor,  B.  S. — Notes  on  Dispensing  Sixty 
Years  Ago,  553. 


•  Supplement  to 

XVI  Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


Professional  and  Commercial  Interests, 
Editorial  Remarks  on,  495,  (Glyn-Jones), 
503. 

Programmes,  Formulae  for  Perfaming,  306. 
Progress,  Editorial  Remarks  on  Some  Fea¬ 
tures  of,  557. 

_ of  Pharmacy  in  the  East  of  Scotland,  The 

(Scottish  Chemist  and  Druggist),  555. 
Proprietary  Articles,  The  Trade  in,  Editorial 
Remarks  on,  71. 

— -  Articles  Trade  Association  (Glyn-Jones), 
23. 

—  Articles  Trade  Association  and  Dealers  in 

Photographic  Materials,  215. 

_ Articles  Trade  Association  and  Local 

Pharmaceutical  Associations,  182 ;  (Glyn- 
Jones),  350. 

_ Articles  Trade  Association  and  Pharma¬ 
cists,  13,  54,  60a,  75,  77,  93,  156,  192; 
(Election  of  Council),  192 ;  218,  224a; 
(Election  of  Representatives),  259; 
285,  298,  320 ;  (First  Annual  Meeting), 
321 ;  454,  455. 

—  Articles  Trade  Association,  Grocers  and 

the,  516,  558. 

_ Articles  Trade  Association,  Remarks 

on  the  Rapid  Progress  of  the,  318. 
P.A.T.A.  Methods,  The  Legality  of  the,  378. 
P.A.T.A.,  The  Case  For  and  Against  the 
(Johnston),  (Ingham),  168;  (Midlothian), 
223 ;  (Johnston)  (Catalysis),  265 ; 
(Park),  285;  (Midlothian),  304  ;  (Clower), 
(Johnston),  (A.J.R.),  344. 

P.A.T.A.,  The  Society  and  the  (Atkinson), 

( Hy slop),  483 ;  (Sharman),  502;  (Glyn- 
Jones),  (Hinde),  503;  (Hyslop),  (At¬ 
kinson),  523;  (Glyn-Jones),  (An  Old 
Pharmacist),  (Young),  542  ;  (Atkinson), 
568. 

Prosody  of  Latin  Pharmacy,  The  (Ince), 
525. 

Protection  of  Prices,  The  (Barrett),  38  ; 
(Junior  Senex),  (Thompson),  59;  (Snook), 
(A  Pharmaceutical  Chemist),  78,  79 ; 
(Honest  Trader),  (Scupham),  99  ;  (Ray), 
(Ingham),  138,  139;  (Johnston),  (Ing¬ 
ham),  168;  (Midlothian),  223;  (John¬ 
ston),  (Catalysis),  265;  (Park),  285; 
(Midlothian),  304;  (Clower),  (Johnston), 
(A.J.R.),  344. 

—  of  Trade  Interests,  Editorial  Remarks 

on  the,  31. 

Proteids,  Formation  of  (Kosutany),  370. 
Psychological  Laboratory  at  University 
College,  London,  The  Proposed,  477. 
Pablie  Analysts  and  Somerset  House 
Disagree,  298,  378,  421. 

—  Analysts,  Editorial  Remarks  on  the 

Danger  cf,  535. 

—  Analyst’s  Omission,  A,  496. 

—  Health  Act  Amendment  Bill,  The,  413. 

—  Health  Congress,  A,  559. 

—  Health,  Ministry  of,  98. 

Pnlv.  Pro  Pil.  Rhei  Co.,  464. 

Purified  Substances,  The  Properties  of 
(Shenstone),  465. 

Purple  of  Cassius  (Antony  and  Lucchesi), 
368. 

Pustular  Acne,  Ointment  for,  425. 

Pyrene  Oil,  The  Manufacture  of,  568a. 
Pyridine  Derivatives  from  Ethylic-/3Amido 
Crotonate,  The  Production  of  (Collie), 
187. 

Pyro.  Developer,  A  Novel,  464&. 

Q 

Quacks,  Medical,  and  the  Credulity  of  the 
Public.  299. 


INDEX. 


Qualifying  Examination,  Remarks  on  the 
Results  of  the,  53. 

Quassia,  Characteristics  of  (Hills),  467. 
Qaebec  Pharmaceutical  Association,  568c. 
Question,  A  (Enquirer),  428  ;  (Ashton),  462. 
Quicksilver  Mines  at  Almuden,  The,  384. 
Quininse  Citras,  Ferri  et,  and  Potass*  Citrus, 
Dispensing  Experience  with  (Wokes), 
321 ;  (Stratton),  344. 

Quinine,  A  Record  in,  113. 

—  Enema  of,  in  Whooping  Cough  (Schulze), 

58. 

—  Powders,  The  Sale  of,  in  Madras,  80a. 

R 

Rabbits  and  Microbes,  469. 

Rabies,  Dr.  Farquharson  and  Reported 
C&S6S  of  27  5 

Radiography,  Practical  22,  63,  122,  246. 

Rae,  Mr.  Alexander,  Death  of,  286a. 

—  VV.  J. — The  Benevolent  Fund,  159. 
Railway  Return  Tickets,  The  Question  of, 

154. 

Rawling,  W.  J.— The  Proposed  New  Bye- 
Laws,  384. 

Ray,  G.  W. — The  Regulation  of  Prices,  138. 
Rayleigh,  Lord— The  Oxidation  of  Nitrogen, 
134. 

Reaction  in  Making  Lin.  Potass.  Iodidi  c. 
Sapone,  464. 

Reactions  Between  Lead  and  the  Oxides  of 
Sulphur,  On  the  (Jenkins  and  Smith), 
423. 

Reagents,  Reactions,  Methods  and  Formulae 
Known  by  the  Names  of  Their  Authors, 
491,  509,  531. 

Red  Furniture  Cream,  Formula  for,  20. 
Reduction  by  Calcium  Carbide  (Warren),  81. 
Rees,  Chas.  J.— A  Case  of  Impe’sonation, 
199. 

Registration  as  a  Panacea  for  All  Wees, 
343. 

—  of  Firms,  The  Qaestion  of,  154. 
Reminiscences  of  the  School  of  Pharmacy 

(Giles),  560  ;  (Reynold-),  562  ;  (Groves), 
(A  Student),  563. 

Remuneration,  Editorial  Remarks  on  Che¬ 
mists’,  297. 

Rennet,  Essence  of,  To  Prepare,  504. 
Research,  Higher,  in  Chemistry,  113. 
Residential  Club,  a  London,  486. 

Resin,  Guaiacum  (Doebner  and  Lticker),  369. 
Resinous  Tinctures,  Dispensing,  346. 

Resins,  Acaroid  (Tschirch  and  Hildebrand), 
370. 

Resorcin  in  Seborrhma  Capitis,  363. 
Reviews  and  Notices  of  Books: — 
American  Pharmaceutical  Association, 
Proceedings  cf  the,  186. 

“  Analyst,”  A  General  Index  to  the,  493. . 
Anatomischer  Atlas  der  Pharmacognosie 
und  Nahrungsmittelkunde  (Tschirch 
and  Oesterle),  375. 

Australasian  Medical  Directory  and  Hand¬ 
book  (Bruck),  49. 

Bacteriological  Diagnosis  (Reid),  29. 
Bacteriology,  Aids  to  (Pearmain  and 
Moor),  186. 

Bandaging  and  Surgical  Dressing,  Ele¬ 
mentary  (Pye  and  Smith),  186. 
Bazaar  Medicines  of  India  (Waring),  498. 
Botanists’  Pocket  Book,  The  (Hayward), 
114. 

Botany,  Manual  of  (Green),  498. 
Bournemouth,  The  Climate  of  (IOnsey- 
Morgan),  49. 

British  Mosses,  A  Catalogue  of  (Dixon), 
378. 


[July  3,  1897. 


Reviews  and  Notices  of  Books— contd. 

Calenlar  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society, 
The,  49. 

Chemical  Dynamics,  Studies  in  (van  ’t 
Hoff),  33. 

Chemistry,  First  Stage  Inorganic  (Bailey), 
359. 

—  Theore'  ical  and  Practical,  A  Manual 
of  (Tilden),  333. 

—  Tutorial  (Bailey),  185. 

Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,  Pro¬ 
ceedings  of  the,  216. 

Chronicles  of  Christopher  Bates,  The 
(Rees),  376,  396. 

Dental  Surgery  for  Medical  Practitioners 
and  Students  of  Medicine  (Barrett), 
396. 

Dentists’  Register  for  1897,  The,  257. 

“  Die  Umschau,”  A  New  ScientificJ  ournal, 
49. 

Economic  Plants  (Greshoff),  186. 

Feeding  of  Infants,  The  (Cantley),  114. 

Formulaire  des  Medicaments  Nouveaux 
for  1897,  359. 

Gout  and  Goutiness  and  their  Treatment 
(Ewart),  28. 

Guy’s  Hospital  Reports  for  1896,  359. 

Ham’s  Inland  Revenue  Year  -  Book 
(Hooper),  29. 

Heavy  Trial  Balances  Made  Easy  (Ciagg--), 
49. 

Herbal  Simples  Approved  for  Modern  Uses 
of  Cure  (Fernie),  185. 

Kelly’s  London  Medical  Directory  for  1897, 
114. 

Knowledge,  216,  359. 

Kodak  News,  376. 

Lean’s  Royal  Navy  List,  114,  376. 

Manuale  der Neuen  Arzneimittel  (Mindes), 
477. 

Medical  Annual  and  Practitioner’s  Index, 
The,  185. 

—  Chemistry,  The  Progress  of  (Thudi- 
chum),  185. 

—  Register  for  1897,  The,  257. 

Memoranda  (Hearon,  Squire  and  Francis), 

185. 

Merck’s  Annual  Report  for  1896,  359. 

Microscope,  The  Wonders  of  the  (Poulson), 

186. 

Microscopy  and  Natural  Science,  The  In¬ 
ternational  Journal  cf,  359. 

Moring’s  Quarterly,  376. 

Natural  Science.  216. 

Photography,  Imperial  Text-Bock  cf, 
(Wall),  477. 

—  The  Year-Book  of,  396. 

Physical  Science,  Chapters  in  (Cornish), 
143. 

Plant  Description  Schedules  for  (With- 
art),  498. 

Quackery,  Exposures  of,  114. 

Quarantine  in  England  (Collingridge), 
477. 

Reagents  and  Reactions  known  by  the 
Names  of  their  Authors,  498. 

Respiration  of  Man,  A  Contribution  to  the 
History  of  the  (Marcet),  375. 

St.  Thomas’s  Hospital  Reports,  1897, 
333. 

Schimmel’s  Semi-Annual  Reports,  376. 

Science  Goss;p,  216. 

Science  Progress,  49,  359. 

Skin  Pharmacopoeia  (Startin),  359. 

Squibb’s  Ephemeris,  216. 

Successful  Advertising  (Smith  and  Os¬ 
borne),  49. 

Sudthausen’s,  von,  Guide  for  the  Use  of 
Doctors  and  Apothecaries,  216. 


July  3,  1897.] 


Reviews  and  Notices  of  Books— contd. 

Summer  Tours  in  Scotland,  498. 

Technical  Education  at  the  City  and 
Guilds  of  London  Institute,  Report  on, 
477. 

Teeth,  Extraction  of  the  (Colyer),  396. 
Therapeutic  Value  of  the  Hydrocarbons, 
On  the  (Bayer),  477. 

Useful  Notes  for  Everyday  Practice  (Allen 
and  Hanbury),  185. 

Water  Analysis,  A  Simple  Method  of 
(Thresh),  142. 

Weights  and  Measures,  Our  (Chaney),  49. 

Reversion,  Editorial  Remarks  on  a  Case  of, 
377. 

Reymond,  Prof.  Emil  Du  Bois,  Death  of  13. 
Reynolds,  Richard — A  Case  of  Synanthy  in 
Dendrobium  Brymerianum,  319. 

—  Richard — Reminiscences  of  the  School 

of  Pharmacy  (The  Session  of  1850-1), 
562. 

Rhamnus  Barks,  Comparison  of  (Sayre)  288. 
Rhea  Fibre,  The  Cultivation  of  (Playfair), 
376. 

Rhei  Co.,  Pulv.  Pro  Pil.,  464. 

Richardson,  E.  W. — The  Birth  of  an  Illus¬ 
trated  Journal,  95. 

—  F.  W. — Bacteriology,  96. 

—  Sir  Benjamin,  The  Late,  237. 

Riding,  J. — The  Benevolent  Fund  Special 
Appeal,  263. 

Eimmington,  Felix  Marsh,  Death  of,  558, 
568. 

Ringworm  Fungus,  Formula  for  Staining, 
167. 

Roberts,  L.  A. — Botanical  Specimens  for 
Students,  59. 

Robertson,  Alex. — Sol.  Strontii  Iodid.  Paraf. 
Javal,  39. 

Robins,  H.  H. — The  Keeping  Qualities  of 
Essence  of  Lemon,  159. 

Rogerson,  M.  and  Son — A  Royal  College  of 
Pharmacy,  427. 

Rontgen  Light,  Remarks  on,  52. 

—  Rays,  Chemical  Inactivity  of  the,  133. 

—  Rays  (Wilson),  218. 

—  X  Rays,  Power  of  Penetration  of,  Remarks 

on  the,  184. 

Roper,  R.  F. — The  Benevolent  Fund,  137. 
Rotting  of  Fruits  (Wehmer),  163. 

Royal  Botanic  Society,  217,  339. 

—  Commission  on  the  Water  Supply  of 

London,  407. 

—  College  of  Pharmacy,  A  (Greeoish), 

408  ;  (Forshaw),  (Jesper),  (Rogerson  and 
Son),  427;  (Fyton),  462;  (A  Young 
Chemist),  483  ;  (Fyton),  542. 

—  Commissions  and  their  Cost,  69. 

—  Institution,  94,  102,  116,  217,  400,  423, 

428a,  456,  499,  521,  538. 

—  Photograph-' c  Society,  266a. 

—  Photographic  Society  and  the  Photo¬ 

graphic  Trade  Exhibition,  379. 

—  Society  Conversazione,  456,  499,  566. 

—  Society  Fellows,  The  New,  559. 

—  Society  of  Edinburgh,  404. 

Rubber  Piasters,  Manufacture  of,  396. 
Rubidamide,  The  Behaviour  of,  Towards 

Ammonia  (Titherley),  465. 

Russell,  J.  Anderson- The  Proposed  New 
Bye-Laws,  343. 

Russow,  Dr.  Edmund,  Death  of,  399. 

Rusting  of  Instruments,  To  Prevent  the 
(Levai),  374. 

—  through  Labels,  To  Prevent  Tins  from, 

346. 


INDEX. 


S 

Saccharin,  Discomfort  from  the  Continual 
Use  of  (Hogarth),  426. 

Sachs,  Dr.  Julius  von,  Death  of,  489,  496. 
Saffron,  Adulterated  (Verb  Sap),  223, 257, 

—  from  Eastern  Countries,  112. 

Sale  of  Food  and  Drugs  Act.  (See  under 
Food  and  Drugs  Act.) 

Sale  of  Goods  Act.  (See  under  Goods  Act.) 
Saline,  Formula  for  a  Cheap,  266. 

Salipyrine  in  Peliosis  Rheumatica  (Muhl- 
bauer),  411. 

—  the  Cause  of  Grave  Exanthem  (Schmey), 

555. 

Salophen  in  Pruritus  (Wannemarker),  426. 
Salve,  Formula  for  Lip,  9. 

Sandell  Exhibition,  The,  346a. 

Sander,  G. — Contribution  to  the  Knowledge 
of  Strychnine  Drugs,  245. 

Sandys  v.  Simpson — Proceedings  in  the 
Court  of  Appeal,  118. 

Sanitary  Towels,  Cheaper,  263. 

Sanitas  Company,  Limped,  The  Dairy  Show 
Exhibit,  20a. 

—  Disinfectant  Soap,  484a. 

Satchets,  Advertising,  484a. 

—  Formulae  for  Perfumed,  493. 

Saxin  as  a  Sweetening  Agent,  464. 

Saxlehner  v.  the  Apollinaris  Company, 

(Hunyadi  Janos  and  Uj  Hunyadi 
Waters),  157,  195, 224a. 

Scale  in  Boilers,  To  Prevent,  472. 

Scammony,  Note  on  a  Sample  of  (Thomson), 
245. 

Scents  and  Cosmetics  in  China,  The  Trade 
in,  426. 

Schacht,  George,  Frederick,  Editorial 
Remarks  on  the  Death  of,  11. 

—  G.  F.,  Memorial,  The,  224a,  446. 

—  G.  F. — Reminiscences  of  the  School  of 

Pharmacy,  546. 

Schering  Chemical  Works,  Fire  at  the,  524a, 
544a. 

Scholarships,  Three  Pharmaceutical,  476. 
School  of  Ethics  for  London,  A,  517. 

—  of  Pharmacy,  Reminiscences  of  the 

(Giles),  560  ;  (Reynolds),  562  ;  (Groves), 
(A  Student),  563. 

—  of  Pharmacy,  Class  of  1896-97  (A  Student), 

563. 

—  of  Pharmacy  Students’  Annual  Dinner, 

215,  219. 

—  of  Pharmacy  Students’  Association,  118, 

155,  258,  454. 

Schulze’s  Chlor-Zinc  Iodine  Solution,  366. 
Schweppe’s  Soda-Water  and  the  Customs, 
568a. 

Science  and  Art  Department,  The,  242. 

—  and  the  Imagination  (MacEwan),  258. 

—  Progress  in,  in  1896,  14. 

—  The  Endowment  of,  32. 

Scopolamine  as  a  Cerebral  Sedative,  405. 
Scotland,  The  Progress  of  Pharmacy  in  the 

East  of  (Scottish  Chemist  and  Drug- 
gist),  555. 

Scott,  D.  H. — The  Present  Position  of  Mor¬ 
phological  Botany,  34,  360,  478. 

—  Dr.  Alex. — On  a  New  Series  of  Mixed 

Sulphates  of  the  Vitriol  Group,  280. 

—  Dr.  Alex. — On  the  Atomic  Weight  of 

Carbon,  280. 

Scupham,  F.  H.— The  Regulation  of  Prices, 
99. 

Secretions  in  Plants,  Formation  of  (Tschirch), 
289. 

Sections  of  Capsicum  Fruits,  How  to  Cut 
(Flatters),  607. 

Seeds,  Latent  Life'  of  (Candolle),  468. 


[Supplement  to 
Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


Self-medication  in  Drug  Stores,  558. 
Sensitiveness,  Mechanism  of  (Borzi),  370. 
Seward,  A.  C. — Fossil  Plants,  127. 

Septal  Nectaries  (Schniewind-Thies),  167. 
Shampoo,  Egg,  Formula  for,  544. 

Sharman,  H.  B. — The  Council  Election,  502. 
Shaw,  G.  E. — The  Alleged  Conversion  of 
Cinchonine  into  Cinchonidine,  199,  286. 
Sheffield  College  of  Pharmacy,  224a. 

—  Pharmaceutical  and  Chemical  Society, 

95. 

Shells,  Peculiar  Markings  on  (Monckton), 
115. 

Shenstone,  W.  A. — Studies  of  the  Properties 
of  Highly-Purified  Substances,  94. 
Shoreditch  Combined  Electricity  and  Dust 
Destruction  Undertaking,  559. 

Show  Bottles,  Formulae  for  Colours  for,  306. 
Sight,  Book  on  Testing  the,  464. 

Signalling  Through  Space  Without  Wires 
(Preece),  521. 

Silver  Changed  to  Gold  (Emmens),  100a. 

—  Diphosphide  (Granger),  467. 

—  Glass,  Formula  for  Solution  to,  544. 

—  Oxidation  of  (Wait),  81. 

Silvering  Tinware,  Stockmeyer’s  Process  of, 
493. 

Sinclair,  George  —  Progress  in  Pharmacy, 
331. 

Single  Solution  Developer,  Formula  for,  408. 
Sixty  Years  Ago,  Notes  on  Dispensing  (Proc¬ 
tor),  553. 

—  Years  of  Progress,  Editorial  Remarks  on, 

536,  557. 

—  Years’  Progress  in  Chemistry  and  the 

Chemical  Arts  (Thorpe),  511. 

—  Years,  Pharmaceutical  Development  dur¬ 

ing,  545. 

Smith,  A. — The  Dose  of  Tincture  of  Stroph- 
anthus,  345. 

—  E.  A,,  and  Jenkins,  H.  C. — On  tho  Reac¬ 

tions  between  Lead  and  the  Oxides  of 
Sulphur,  423. 

—  F.  L. — Note  on  Guaiacum,  101. 

—  John  H. — Medicine  Stamps,  A  Sugges¬ 

tion,  462. 

—  John — The  Benevolent  Fund,  119,  198. 

—  John — The  Journal  and  its  Students’ 

Page,  120. 

—  J.  B.— The  Ginkgo  Tree,  137. 

—  (T.  H.)  and  Co.’s  Employes’  Outing,  524a. 

—  W.  U. — Sulphuric  Acid  and  its  Manufac¬ 

ture,  96. 

Snake-Bite  Treated  with  Antivenomous 
Serum,  33. 

Snook,  J.  J. — The  Regulation  of  Prices,  78. 
Soap,  Formulae  for  Essences  of,  460. 

—  Making  in  Persia,  38. 

—  Manufactories  in  Greece,  461. 

Soaps, (Vegetable  (Davy),  371. 

Social  Scale,  Editorial  Remarks  on  the 
Position  of  Pharmacists  in  the,  515  ; 
(Glass),  543. 

Society  of  Arts,  187. 

Society’s  Anniversary,  Editorial  Remarks  on 
the,  447. 

Sulphate  of  Ammonia  as  a  Fertilising  Agent 
in  Java,  568a. 

Soda  Deposits  of  Wyoming,  U.S.A.,  The 
Natural,  568a. 

Sodamide  and  some  of  its  Substitution 
Derivatives  (Titherley),  187. 

Sodium  Bicarbonate  as  a  Dressing 
(Georgevsky),  457. 

—  Bicarbonate  for  Common  Colds  (Bulkley), 

158. 

—  Chlorate  in  Uterine  Cancer  (Duvrac),  158. 

—  Chlorate,  The  Manufacture  of,  366c. 


•••  Supplement  to 

XV  111  Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


Sodium  Chlorate  to  Counteract  Iodism  (Calo- 
meuopoulo),  58. 

—  Fluoride,  60. 

—  Hyposulphite  for  Parasites  in  Cattle,  417. 

—  Peroxide  as  a  Group  Reagent  (Parr),  367. 

—  Telturate  as  an  Anti-Sudorific  in  Phthisis 

(Jo^uet  and  Neisser),  122. 

_ Tetraborate  iu  Otorrhoea  (Kafemann), 

426. 

Sol.  Strontii  Iodid.  Paraf.  Javal  (Pharma¬ 
cist),  20;  (Robertson),  39. 

Soups,  Solidified,  263. 

South  Kensington  Chemists  and  the  P. A  T.  A., 
224 a. 

_ Kensington  Museums,  The  Unprotected 

State  of,  from  Fire,  473. 

—  London  School  of  Pharmacy,  Smoking 

Concert,  244®. 

Spain,  Imports  of  Drugs  and  Chemicals  into, 
during,  1896,  384. 

Special  General  Meeting  of  the  Pharmaceuti¬ 
cal  Society,  The,  437 ;  (Taplin),  464^,  476. 
Species-making,  Philosophy  of  (Bailey),  84. 
Specimen  Bottles,  Domed,  484®. 

Spectral  Analysis  and  Wave-Lengths 
(Kayser),  81. 

Spermatozoids  from  the  Pollen  Grain,  92. 
Spirit  Gum  for  Theatricals,  Formula  for,  346. 
Spirits,  Special  Licence  Required  for  Com¬ 
pounders  of,  421. 

Spurious  Balsam  of  Tolu,  A  (Braithwaite), 
307. 

Squire,  P.  W.— Unguentnm  Hydrargyri 
Nitratis,  172,  244. 

Standardisation,  The  Limitations  of,  351. 
Stannous  Iodide,  The  Apparent  Action  of 
Light  in  Inducing  Crystallisation  of 
(Warden),  61. 

Starch  Gloss,  Formula  for,  100. 

—  Iodide,  Formula  for  Ointment  of  (Oefele), 

513. 

Startin’s  Face  Lotion,  Formula  for,  326. 

St.  Cyr,  E.  L.  N.— The  Proposed  New  Bye- 
Laws,  483. 

Steam  Bath,  a  Small,  74. 

—  Coils  for  Evaporation,  On  the  Ute  of 

(Warden),  307. 

—  Distillation,  An  Improved  Apparatus  for 

(Matthews),  134. 

Steel  or  Brass  Tubes,  To  Bend,  484,  504. 
Stephens,  H.  P.,and  Chattaway,  F.  D. — The 
Hydrolysis  of  Perthiocyanic  Acid,  320. 
Steresol  as  an  Application  to  Sore  Nipples, 
242. 

Sterilisation  of  Catgut  (Larrabee),  162. 
Sterilised  and  Humanised  Milk  Factory 
at  Dunfermline,  516. 

Steriliser,  A  Simple  (Forret),  293. 
Stevenson’s,  Dr.,  Report  on  the  Examina¬ 
tions,  Remarks  on,  318. 

8* ill,  Excise  Duty  for  the  Use  of  a,  160. 
Stills,  Excise  Regulations  respecting,  268. 
Stipules,  The  Forms  and  Functions  of,  300. 
Stock  on  the  Graft,  Influence  of  the 
(Rivihre  and  Bailbache),  299. 

Storage  and  Pharmacy  Arrangement,  Some 
Short  Notes  on,  476  ;  (Hyslop),  481. 
S'orrar,  David — The  Approaching  Council 
Election,  345. 

Stratton,  W.  G.— Ferri  et  Quinines  Citras  and 
Potassii  Citras,  344. 

Streatham,  Balham,  aDd  Tooting  Distiict 
Chemists’  Association,  449. 

Street  Noises,  Politicians  and,  541,  556. 
Strickland,  E.  J — The  Brentford  Lime  Cream 
and  Glycerin  Case,  503. 

Strophanthus,  The  Dose  of  Tincture  of 
(MacNaught),  325;  (Wilkinson),  (Smith), 
345. 


INDEX. 


Structure  of  Matter,  Editorial  Remarks  on 
the  Inner,  151. 

Strychnine  Drugs,  Contribution  to  the  Know¬ 
ledge  of  (Sander),  245. 

Students’  Page,  The,  10,  30;  (British  Student), 
40  ;  50,  54  ;  (Ulster  Student),  (Jones), 
(Ware),  60;  70;  (Kemp),  (J.  P.  K.), 
(Barrett),  (H.  D.  K.),  79;  90;  (Quali¬ 
fied),  (Cross),  (Dyer),  99;  110;  (Hick¬ 
man),  (Smith),  120;  130,  150,  178,  182; 
(Remarks  on  the  S.P.),  215;  254,276,  296, 
336,  356,  418,  474,  514. 

Studies  of  a  Pharmacist,  The  (Alcock), 
380. 

Sturch,  Harry  H. — Preserving  the  Colour  of 
Algre,  385. 

Sub-Postmasters,  Combination  of  Chemists 
who  are,  497. 

Substances,  Drying  Sensitive  Organic  ( Par¬ 
sons),  465. 

—  Properties  of  Purified  (Shenstone),  465. 
Substitution,  A  Case  of,  in  India,  236. 
Subterfuge,  UnearthiDg  a,  120®. 

Sugar  for  Chemists,  464®. 

—  Gravimetric,  Determination  of  Invert, 

484. 

—  Growing  in  the  British  West  Indies, 

Special  Commission  on,  8. 

—  Made  in  Germany,  Prosecution  for 

Selling,  80®. 

Sulphate,  Hydroxylamine  (Divers  andHaga), 
367. 

Sulphates  of  the  Vitriol  Group,  On  a  New 
Series  of  Mixed  (Scott),  280. 

Sulphur  Soap,  Manufacture  of,  493. 

Sulphuric  Acid  and  its  Manufactura  (Smith), 

96. 

Sulphurous  Acid  by  Potassium  Perman¬ 
ganate,  The  Oxidation  of  (Dymond  and 
Hughes),  187. 

Sumbul,  The  Cultivation  of,  in  England 
(Holmes),  347. 

Summers,  S.— The  Life  and  Work  of  Dr. 
William  Harvey,  155. 

Sunderland  Chemists  and  the  P.A.T.A  ,  77. 
Sundries,  Novelties  in,  464®, 

Super  saturated  Solutions,  Crystallisation 
of  (Ostwald),  465. 

Suppositories  and  Their  Manufacture 
(Lewin),  411. 

Suppository  Mould,  New,  406. 

Surfeit  Water  for  Horses,  Formula  for, 
316. 

S utherland,  Alexander— Accuracy,  218. 

—  A’exander,  Death  of,  516. 

—  j.  W. — The  P.A.T.A.  Meeting  at  Damfries, 

80. 

Swainson,  G.— Corals  and  Coral  Islands, 
95. 

Swansea  Chemist’s  Affairs,  A,  92,  112. 
Sweating  the  Dispenser  (Ami-Sweater), 
138  ;  (Dispenser),  224  ;  (Blad  R.  O’Lard), 
(Anti-Sweater),  263,  264  ;  (A.P.S.),  285  ; 
(Dispenser),  305  ;  (Anti-Sweater),  384  ; 
(Dispenser),  428. 

“Sweetbread,”  The  Different  Organs  Known 
as,  379.  ' 

“Sweet  Lavender,”  52;  (Perks  andLlewellen), 
59 ;  92. 

Sycosis,  Formula  for  an  Application  for, 
425. 

Synanthy  in  Dendrobium  Brymerianum,  A 
Case  of  (Reynolds),  319. 

Synthesis  of  Citric  Acid  (Laurence),  466. 
Synthetic  Perfumes,  Some  Formulfe  for, 
460. 

Syphons,  A  Chemist  Charged  with  Receiving 
Stolen,  160®,  28 Gel. 

Syrup  Making  without  Heat  (Wood),  79. 


[July  3,  1897. 


T 


Tabloids,  Compound  Phenacetin,  8. 

—  Formula  for  Mouth-wash  (Bernegan),  374. 

—  More  New,  57. 

—  Pig  Bile,  524®. 

—  Red  Gum,  366u. 

Tannigen  in  Diarrhoea  (Hirschberg),  58. 
Taplin,  Wm.  G.— The  Special  General  Meet¬ 
ing,  464 d. 

Tasker,  W.  A.— Some  Suggested  Improve¬ 
ments  in  the  Rules  of  the  C.A.A.,  155. 
Tayler,  C.  Ludlow — Ethyl  Alcohol,  Acetalde¬ 
hyde,  and  Acetic  Acid,  300. 

Teaching  University,  The  Prospect  of  a  Lon¬ 
don,  461. 

Technical  Education,  Editorial  Remarks  on, 
337. 

—  Education  in  Germany,  Remarks  on  the 

Progress  of,  72. 

Teeth,  Use  of  Iron  for  Filling,  568. 

Teetoral  Drinks  at  Sheffield,  Prosecution  for 
Selling,  56. 

Telegraphy  without  Wires,  Editorial  Re¬ 
marks  on,  515;  (Preece),  521. 
Telephones,  Nickel  in  (Garrett  and  Lucas), 
371. 

Temperature,  Measurement  of  High,  266. 
Teneriffe  Mineral  Waters,  38, 

Teratology,  Remarks  on  the  Study  of  Ex¬ 
perimental,  132. 

Terpenes  from  Essential  Oils,  Removal  of, 
346. 

Terrestial  Globe,  A  Great,  93. 

Tesla  Coil,  The  (Practical  Radiography),  63. 
Test  for  Nitrites  in  Water  (Barbet  and  Jan- 
drier),  456. 

Testing  the  Sight,  Bx>k  on,  464. 

Tetraborate,  Sodium,  in  Otorrhoea  (Ka'e- 
mann),  426. 

T’nalleoquia  Test,  Modified  (Hyde),  371. 
Theft  from  a  Chemist  at  Weston-super- 
Mare,  56. 

Therapeutic  Activity  of  Drugs  (La  Wall), 
288. 

Therapeutics  of  Emergencies,  The  (Mac- 
naughton-Jones),  188  ;  (Barrass),  243. 
Thermometers,  Remarks  on  German,  279. 
Thiselton-Dyer,  W.  T. — Cultural  Evolution 
of  Cyclamen  Latifolium  Sibth,  340. 
Thomas,  G.  L.,  and  Young,  Sydney— Some 
Hydrocarbons  from  American  Petro¬ 
leum,  238. 

Thompson,  Charles — “  A  Personal  Com¬ 
plaint,”  Reply  to,  160. 

—  C. — The  Benevolent  Fand,  198. 

—  C. — The  Regulation  of  Prices,  59. 

—  C.  J.  S. — The  Antiquity  and  History  of 

the  Mortar,  267. 

—  I.  W. — Note  on  a  Sample  of  Scammony, 

245. 

. —  J.  R.  —  Determination  of  Mercury  in 
Ammonio-Mercuric  Chloride,  117. 

—  Professor  E.  Symes — Bacteria  and  Disease, 

85. 

Thorpe,  Professor — Sixty  Years’  Progress  in 
Chemistry  and  the  Chemical  Arts,  511. 
Threats  to  Commit  Suicide,  537. 

Thymol  in  Pertussis  (Josias),  361. 

Thyroid,  Dangers  of  (Hessler),  426. 

Tincture  of  Kino,  Gelatinisation  of,  464. 
Tinware,  Stockmeyer’s  Process  of  Silvering, 
493. 

Titherley,  A.  W. — Sodamide  and  Some  of  Its 
Substitution  Derivatives,  187. 

Titroles,  German,  530. 

Tobacco,  A  Book  on,  503. 

Toilet  and  Nursery  Powder,  Formula  for  9 


July  3,  1897.] 


INDEX. 


Supplement  to 
Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


XIX 


Toilet  Soaps  and  Perfumery  (Bergmann  and 
Co.).  197. 

Tolu,  A  Spurious  Balsam  of  (Braithwaite), 
307. 

Tomatoes,  Method  of  Preserving,  513. 

Toms,  Frederick — Metric  Measures  and  Our 
Old  System,  68,  147. 

Tondeur  Developer,  Formula  for,  544. 

Tonic  Syrup,  Formula  for,  200. 

Tooth  Paste,  Composition  of  a  Non-gritty 
Soluble  (Frohmann),  417. 

—  Powder,  Formula  for  Violet,  9. 

Toothache,  The  Postal  Administration  of 

Geneva  and,  299. 

Trade,  British  and  German  with  the  Niger 
Coast  Protectorate,  159. 

Trade  Interests,  The  Protection  of,  Editorial 
Remarks  on,  31. 

Transfusion  Tissue,  The  Origin  of,  300. 
Trichomes,  Hairs  which  are  not  (Tieghem), 
371. 

Triphenamine  and  Prenamine  (Limlhorst 
and  Langkopf),  530. 

Tubercule  Bacilli  in  Batter,  Note  on,  355. 
Tuberculin  (Koch),  367. 

Tuberculosis,  Gallinaceous  Birds  and  (Lan- 
nelorgue  and  Achard),  468. 

—  The  Royal  Commission  on,  97,  137. 
Turnbull,  W.  S. — The  Proposed  New  Bye¬ 
laws,  325. 

Turpentine  for  Burns  (Maclnnes),  56. 

—  How  to  Treat  Discoloured,  40. 

—  The  Effect  of,  on  the  Ui inary  Secretion, 

386. 

Typke  and  King — The  Keeping  Qualities  of 
Essence  of  Lemon,  120. 

Tyrer,  Mr.  A.,  Death  of,  215. 

U 

Ulster  Pharmaceutical  Association,  191. 
Umney,  John  C. — The  Commercial  Varieties 
of  Fennel  and  their  Essential  Oils,  225. 
Unguentum  Hydrargyri  Nitratis  (Lucas), 
121  ;  (Squire),  172  ;  (Maben),  223  ; 
(Squire),  244  ;  (Maben),  265. 

United  States  Pharmacopoeia,  Remarks 
on  the,  339. 

Universal  Trade  Association  (Detroit), 
Remarks  on  the,  184. 

Uranium  Intensifier,  Formula  for,  408. 
Urtica  Urens  as  a  Haemostatic  (Solovieff), 
43. 

Y 

Vaccination  Question  before  Parliament, 
97.  154,  376,  494,  556. 

—  to  Counteract  the  Poisonous  Effect  of 

Ricin  (Cornevin),  445. 

Vanillin,  Note  on  (Gussmann),  82. 

—  Test  for,  167. 

Varnish,  Brown,  Formula  for,  80. 

—  Mahogany,  Formula  for,  20. 

—  Oak,  Formula  for,  20. 

—  White  Hard,  Formula  for,  80. 

Varnishes,  Formulae  for  Enamel,  464. 
Vaughan,  D.  T.  Gwynne — Morphology  and 

Anatomy  of  some  Nymphaeacae,  216. 


Vegetable  Antitoxins,  A  Theory  of,  152. 

—  Honeycomb,  A,  20c. 

—  Ointment  Case,  The,  56. 

—  Soaps  (Davy),  371. 

—  Tissue  Systems,  Histology  of  the 

(Morison),  470. 

Viburnum  Prunifolium  (Franqois),  290. 
Victoria,  The  Pharmacy  Board  of,  449. 

—  Violets  Perfume,  366c. 

Vinum  Colebici,  Note  on  (Cowley),  173. 
Violet  Perfume,  Formula  for,  460. 

—  Too  h  Powder,  Formula  for,  9. 

Viscum,  Fruit  and  Seed  of  (Gjokie),  289. 
Vitellin  Creme  (Bernegan),  530. 

Vitriol  Group,  On  a  New  Series  of  Mixed 
Sulphat  s  of  the  (Scott),  280. 

Vivisec  ionists  and  Mr.  Swift  McNeill,  262. 
Vizer,  Edwin  B.  —  The  Proposed  New 
Bye-laws,  428. 


W 


Warden,  C.  J.  H. — A  Drying-box  for  Pills, 
etc.,  245. 

—  C.  J.  H. — On  the  Apparent  Action  of 

Light  in  Inducing  Crystallisation  of 
Stannous  Iodide,  61. 

—  C.  J.  H. — On  the  Separation  of  Nitrate  of 

Copper  from  Nitrate  of  Silver  in  the 
Manufacture  of  Caustic,  61. 

—  C  J.  H. — On  the  Use  of  Steam  Coils  for 

Evaporation,  307. 

Ware,  Alan  H. — The  Students’  Page,  60. 
Warrell,  E. — The  Sale  of  Food  and  Drugs 
Act,  264. 

Water  Divining,  Costly  Faith  io,  497. 

—  Gas,  Preparation  of,  120. 

—  The  Presence  of,  and  of  Alcohol  in 

Chloroform  (Behai  and  Frarxjois)  465. 
Wave-Lengths,  New  Law  of  (Runge  and 
Paschen),  81. 

—  -Lengths,  Spectral  Analysis  and  (Kayser), 

81. 

—  -Motor,  A,  54. 

Waves,  The  Physical  Properties  of  Electric 
(Bose),  102. 

Weather  Signs  and  Fallacies  (Whitmore), 
469. 

Webber,  J,  W.— The  Brentford  Lime  Cream 
and  Glycerin  Case,  483. 

Weighing  Flask,  A  New  (Heath),  290. 
Weights  and  Measures,  British,  10,  242. 

—  and  Measures,  Our  (Chaney),  84. 

Wells,  Sir  Spencer,  Death  of,  112. 

Welsh,  John — Dispensing  Difficulty,  300. 
Western  Chemists’  Association  (London), 

100a.  156,  259,  386a,  481,  537. 

Whale  Oil  in  Acne  (Boeck),  158. 

White  Embrocation,  Formula  for,  346. 

—  Hard  Varnish,  Formula  for,  80. 

—  Heliotrope,  Formula  for,  306. 

Whooping  Cough,  Formula  for  Em¬ 
brocation  for,  9. 

Whysall,  W.  —  Chemists  and  Company, 
Legislation,  38. 

Wild,  Dr.  Robert  B.  —  Living  Tissues  as 
Chemical  Reagents,  125. 


Wilkinson,  W. — The  Dose  of  Tincture  of 
Strophanthus,  345. 

— -  W.  —  The  Formation  of  the  Manchester 
Pharmaceutical  Association,  19. 
Williams,  Miss  K.  J. — The  Composition  of 
Cooked  Fish,  320. 

Wilson,  Dr.  T. — Doctors  and  Medicine  Mer 

135. 

—  Dr.  W.  Cheyne  —  Rontgen  Rays,  218. 
Wine,  Artificial,  502. 

—  Formula  for  Meat,  Malt,  and  Quinine, 

524. 

—  Growing  in  Eagland,  Experiments  by 

Lord  Bute,  421.  g  ,AAnaj>j] 

—  Licences,  Chemists’,  464(7.  * 

Win  er-green  Plants  (Lidforss),  83. 

Wokes,  T.  S. — Dispensing  Experience|with 

Feiri  et  Quininse  Citras  and  Potass  as 
Citras,  321. 

Woman  Chemist,  Remarks  on  a,  73. 

Wood,  E.  M. — Ferns,  135. 

—  Sir  Henry  Trueman — The  Production 

of  Colour  by  Photographic  Methods, 
187. 

Wood  That  will  not  Burn,  46 id. 

Woolfat,  Chemistry  of  (Darmstaedter  and 
Lifschiitz),  369. 

Worms  in  Poultry,  Powder  for,  346. 

Wounds,  The  Treatment  of,  by  Oxygen  Gas, 
477. 

Wren’s  Nest  in  a  Rook’s  Body  (Harting),  216. 
Wright,  R.,  and  Farr,  E.  H.  —  The  De¬ 
termination  of  Alkaloids,  Notes  on  Some 
of  the  Pharmacopceial  Processes,  202. 
Wyatt,  Harold,  jun.  —  More  Dispensing 
Notes,  464c. 


X 

X-Crystals,  4646. 

Xeroform  as  a  Dressing  (Beyer),  522. 

X  Ray  Photographs  of  the  Solid  Alloys 
(Hevcock),  423. 

—  Ray-Tubes,  Condensers  and  (Norton  and 

Lawrence),  290. 

—  Ray -Tubes,  the  Efficiency  of,  422. 

—  Rays,  Action  of  (Sabrazes  and  Riviere), 

469. 

—  Rays,  Kathode  and  (Swinton),  371. 


Y 

Yeast,  Ferment  from  (Buchner),  288. 

—  Manufacture  of,  83. 

Yellow  Fever,  The  Bacillus  of,  80a. 

Young,  E.  F. — The  Society  and  the  P.A.T.A., 
543. 

—  Sydney  and  Thomas,  G.  L.  —  Some 
Hydrocarbons  ft  om  American  Petroleum, 
238. 


Z 

Zinc-Copper  Couple,  Improved  (Stock),  290. 
—  Oxide  and  Belladonna  in  Whooping 
Cough,  Formula  for,  58. 


W.  I.  Richaedson,  Peinteb,  4  and  5,  Geeat  Queen  Steeet,  Lincoln’s  Inn  Fields,  London,  W.C, 


XX 


Supplement  to 
Pharmaceutical  Journal 


.] 


INDEX. 


[July  3,  1S97. 


CONTRACTIONS  OF  TITLES. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  contractions  and  the  corresponding  full  titles  of  Journals  most  frequently  used  in  “  The  Month" 
and  elsewhere  in  the  “  Pharmaceutical  Journal."  The  titles  prefixed  by  an  asterisk  (*)  are  those  of  official  Journals. 


Amer.  Journ.  Pharm.  =  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy.  Phila¬ 
delphia.  Monthly. 

Annalen  —  Justus  Liebig’s  Annalen  der  Chemie.  Liepzig.  Monthly. 

*  Apot.-Zeit.  =  Apotheker-Zeitung.  Organ  of  the  Deutsche  Apothe- 
ker-Verein.  Berlin.  Twice  a  week. 

*  Apot.  Zeit.  Rep. =Repertorium  der  Pharmacie.  Supplement  to  the 
Apotheker-Zeitung. 

*  Archiv—Axchxw  der  Pharmacie.  Berlin:  J.  Greiss.  Monthly. 

*  Berichte  =  Berichte  der  deutschen  chemischen  Ges611schafr. 
Berlin.  Once  or  twice  a  month. 

*  Brit.  Med.  Journ.  =  British  Medical  Journal,  London.  Weekly. 

Bull.  corn.  =  Bulletin  commercial.  Supplement  to  L’union  pharma- 
ceutique.  Paris :  Pharmacie  centrale  de  France.  Monthly. 

*  Can.  Pharm.  Journ.  =  Canadian  Pharmaceutical  Journal.  Toronto. 
Monthly. 

Chem.  News  =  Chemical  News.  London.  Weekly. 

Chem.  Zeit.  =  Chemiker  Zeitung.  Cothen.  Twice  a  week. 

Chem.  Zeit.,  Rep.  =  Chemisches  Eepertorium.  Supplement  to  the 
Chemiker  Zeitung. 

*  Comp.  rend.  —  Comptes  rendus  des  seances  de  l’Acadjjmie 
des  Sciences.  Paris :  Gauthier-Villars.  Weekly. 


*  Journ.  Chem.  Ind.—  Journal  of  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry. 
Monthly. 

*  Journ.  de  pharm.  —  Journal  de  pharmacie  et  de  chimie. 
Paris :  G.  Masson.  Twice  a  month. 

Med.  Press = Medical  Press  and  Circular.  London:  A.  A.  Tindall, 
Weekly. 

Mon.  sclent.  =  Moniteur  scientifique.  Paris.  Monthly. 

Munch,  med.  Woch.  —  Miinchener  medicinische  Wochenschrift. 
Munich.  Weekly. 

Nouv.  rem.  =  Les  nouveaux  remedes.  Paris.  Twice  a  month. 

Pharm.  Centralli.  =  Pharmaceutishe  Centralhalle  Dresden.  Weekly. 

Pharm.  Post  =  Pharmaceutische  Post.  Vienna.  Weekly. 

Pharm.  Zeit.  =  Pharmaceutische  Zeitung.  Berlin  :  J.  Springer. 
Twice  a  week. 

*  Proa,  Chem.  Soc.  =  Proceedings  of  the  Chemical  Society.  London. 

About  twice  a  month. 

Repertoire  —  Repertoire  de  pharmacie,  archives  de  pharmacie 
et  journal  de  chimie  medicale  reunis.  Paris.  Monthly. 

Sclent.  A m er.  —  Scientific  American.  New  York.  Weekly. 

Union  pharm.  =  L’union  pharmaceutique.  Paris :  Pharmacie 
centrale  de  France.  Monthly. 


THE 


ARMAGEUTI 


VOLUME  LVIII.  (Fourth  Series,  Volume  IV.) 


LONDON :  SATURDAY,  JANUARY  2,  180 


Pharmaceutical  Progress  in  1896. 


'  HE  events  of  the  past  year  bearing  upon  the  business 
of  the  chemist  and  druggist  have  been  even  less 
important  than  those  of  immediately  preceding  years. 
The  administration  of  the  Pharmacy  Act  has  been  con- 
tinued  with  some  advantage,  though  the  prosecution 
of  offenders  is  attended  with  considerable  expense  and  risk  of  failure, 
besides  having,  in  some  instances,  other  obstacles  to  contend  with. 
The  breach  in  the  Pharmacy  Act  by  which  an  association  of  unquali¬ 
fied  individuals  is  enabled  to  carry  on  the  business  of  a  chemist 
and  druggist  has  now  been  considerably  widened,  and  practi¬ 
cally  the  application  of  the  principle  of  limited  liability 
has  been  so  far  extended  beyond  the  mere  monetary  affairs  of 
trade,  that  a  person  without  pharmaceutical  qualification  can  secure 
immunity  from  the  operation  of  the  law  relating  to  the  practice  of 
pharmacy  by  a  formal  compliance  with  the  technical  conditions 
requisite  for  constituting  a  company.  The  hope  that  amendment 
of  the  Companies  Acts  might  furnish  a  remedy  for  this  anomalous 
state  of  affairs  has  not  yet  been  realised,  and  while  the  magnitude  of 
the  interests  involved  in  company  trading  appears  to  be  an  obstacle 
to  reform,  it  has  also  had  the  effect  of  completely  overshadowing 
the  evils  inflicted  upon  chemists  and  druggists  by  misapplication  of 
the  Companies  Acts. 

At  the  meeting  in  January  the  President 
The  Work  drew  attention  to  the  fact  that  chemists’  branch 
of  the  shops  are  not  always  carried  on  under  the  con- 
Couneil.  ditions  which  the  law  requires,  and  he  suggested 
that  local  secretaries  should  take  cognisance  of 
such  cases  in  order  to  obviate  the  difficulty  in  which  the  Council 
might  be  placed  when  information  came  to  it — as  the  administrator 
of  the  Pharmacy  Act — that  registered  chemists  were  not  conducting 
their  business  in  strict  conformity  with  the  law.  He  held  that  it 
was  the  duty  of  every  person  on  the  Register  to  comply  with  the 
law,  and  that  the  endeavour  to  put  those  right  who,  perhaps  inad. 
vertently,  failed  to  do  so,  would  be  a  greater  kindness  than  to  come 
forward  and  ask  for  clemency  when  such  instances  were  made  known, 
sometimes  from  public  sources.  By  that  means  the  Council  would  be 
assisted  in  the  performance  of  its  duty  of  enforcing  the  law  and  also 
saved  from  appearing  to  do  so  harshly.  These  remarks  were,  in  the 
main,  endorsed  by  Mr.  Bottle  and  Mr.  Hills. 

In  connection  with  the  presentation  of  the  Registrar’s  report  at 
the  February  meeting  (see  p.  106),  Mr.  Bottle  expressed  regret  that 
chemists  did  not  rally  round  the  Society  as  he  thought  they 
should  do  in  their  own  interest.  He  hoped  before  long  that  the 
Council  would  be  enabled  to  elect  as  members  many  of  the  younger 
element  who  joined  the  Society  as  Associates.  Mr.  Allen  pointed 
out  that  the  larger  proportion  of  those  passing  the  Major  examina¬ 
tion  joined  the  Society  or  were  attached  to  it  before  passing,  and 
Mr.  Hills  mentioned  that  according  to  the  report  then 

Vol.  LVIII.  (Fourth  Series,  Vol.  IV.).  No.  1384 


presented,  fifty-seven  out  of  sixty-eight  Major  men  had 
joined  the  Society.  Before  passing  a  resolution  to  make  a  grant 
to  the  Liverpool  Pharmaceutical  Students’  Association,  a  long 
discussion  took  place  on  the  subject  of  assisting  the  education 
of  students  in  provincial  centres,  in  the  course  of  which  the 
want  of  a  definite  curriculum  was  referred  to  as  a  great  obstacle  to 
educational  improvement,  since  apprentices  were  not  made  aware  of 
what  they  would  have  to  learn  in  order  to  become  qualified.  General 
approval  was  expressed  of  the  facilities  for  study  now  afforded  at 
Liverpool,  Bristol,  Newcastle,  and  other  centres,  and  the  desirability 
of  aiding  schools  of  that  kind  was  recognised.  At  this  meeting  of 
the  Council  a  communication  was  read  from  the  Glasgow  and  West 
of  Scotland  Pharmaceutical  Association,  expressing  approval  of  the 
remarks  made  by  the  President  at  the  January  meeting  on  the 
subject  of  unqualified  managers  of  branch  shops. 

At  the  meeting  in  March  a  sub-committee  was  appointed  to  watch 
the  progress  of  business  in  Parliament,  and  take  such  steps  as  might 
be  necessary  in  regard  to  any  measure  affecting  the  trade.  A  long 
discussion  took  place  on  the  subjects  of  the  Companies  Bill  and  the 
Early  Closing  Bill,  in  which  opposite  views  were  expressed  in 
reference  to  the  latter  measure,  the  President  pointing  out  the 
advantage  of  having  the  ear  of  the  Government  when  legislation 
affecting  chemists  and  druggists  is  in  progress,  and  the  desirability 
of  encouraging  every  effort  tending  in  that  direction. 

On  the  presentation  of  the  Government  visitor’s  report  on  ex¬ 
aminations  at  the  April  meeting,  the  President  drew  attention  to 
the  remarks  made  upon  the  Preliminary  examination  as  indicating 
that  the  standard  of  that  examination  should  be  raised  and 
made  more  applicable  to  the  purpose  it  is  intended  to  serve. 
The  desirability  of  taking  steps  to  that  end  was  fully 
recognised. 

A  communication  from  the  Inverness  Chemists’  Association  was 
read,  informing  the  Council  of  the  action  taken  by  that  body  in 
reference  to  the  Companies  Bill,  and  the  President  reported  the 
general  result  of  the  interview  between  the  “  Watch  ”  Commit¬ 
tee  and  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade  on  that  subject. 

A  resolution,  passed  by  the  Western  Chemists’  Association  of 
London,  deprecating  the  prescribing  of  proprietary  medicines,  was 
referred  to  the  General  Purposes  Committee  for  consideration,  as  well 
as  another  communication  from  the  Glasgow  and  West  of  Scotland 
Pharmaceutical  Association,  relating  to  some  decisions  in  Scottish 
law  courts  in  prosecutions  under  the  Pharmacy  Act. 

A  letter  from  the  Local  Secretary  of  a  large  city  was  also 
read,  pointing  out  the  desirability  of  removing  the  inequalities  in 
the  position  of  Members  and  Associates  of  the  Society,  and  urging 
that  qualification  under  the  Pharmacy  Act  should  constitute 
eligibility  for  membership  of  the  Society.  Mr.  Warren  took  the 
opportunity  on  this  occasion  of  stating  that  since  the  time  when 
he  had  expressed  doubt  on  this  point  further  consideration  had 
convinced  him  that  he  had  been  mistaken,  and  he  now  thought 
that  every  inducement  should  be  offered  for  bringing  all  registered 
chemists  into  the  Society. 


2 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL.  * 


[Jan.  2,  1897 


At  the  meeting  in  May  the  report  of  the  Executive  of  the  North 
British  Branch  of  the  Society  was  presented,  showing  that  the 
extension  of  the  Society’s  premises  in  Edinburgh  bad  facilitated 
the  conduct  of  the  examinations  and  given  general  satisfaction. 

At  the  opening  of  the  June  meeting  the  chair  was  taken  by  Mr. 
Carteighe,  who  offered  a  welcome  to  the  new  members,  Messrs. 
Bateson,  Park,  and  Symes.  On  the  ballot  being  taken  for  the 
election  of  President  all  the  votes  were  in  favour  of  Mr.  Walter 
Hills,  who  in  taking  the  chair  expressed  his  sense  of  the  onerous 
nature  of  the  duties  appertaining  to  the  position,  and  of  the 
additional  difficulty  that  arose  in  following  a  president  who  had 
for  many  years  occupied  that  position  with  unparalleled 
ability.  Relying  upon  the  assistance  of  his  colleagues,  he  trusted 
they  would  he  able  to  accomplish  something  useful  for  the 
common  good.  In  the  ballot  for  Vice-President  Mr.  Harrison  was 
re-elected,  and  in  thanking  the  Council  for  the  renewed  proof  of 
confidence,  he  took  the  opportunity  to  assure  the  President,  on 
behalf  of  his  colleagues,  that  the  support  he  looked  for  would  be 
fully  and  freely  accorded.  Mr.  Hampson  was  re-elected  Treasurer, 
and  Mr.  Richard  Bremridge  was  re-appointed  Secretary 
and  Registrar. 

The  President  then  moved  a  resolution  of  thanks  to  Mr.  Carteighe 
for  the  invaluable  services  he  has  rendered  to  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  as  President  during  fourteen  years,  in  order  to  place  on 
record  the  Council’s  appreciation  of  his  self-sacrificing  devotion  and 
loyalty  to  the  interests  of  the  Society.  This  was  seconded  by  the 
Vice-President  and  carried  with  acclamation. 

At  this  meeting  a  resolution  was  passed  that  the  seal  of  the 
Society  should  be  affixed  to  the  document  authorising  the  Bank  of 
England  to  pay  the  dividends  on  the  stock  purchased  for  the 
Burroughs  Scholarship.  Mr.  Carteighe  reported  that  the 
Sab-Committee  charged  to  consider  the  relations  of  the 
Society  to  the  School  of  Pharmacy  and  its  general  scheme 
of  education  recommended  that  in  future  the  teaching  of 
chemistry  should  be  entrusted  to  one  person,  who  should  also 
be  the  Director  of  the  Research  Laboratory.  That  recom¬ 
mendation  was  adopted  by  the  Council,  and  the  Committee 
was  authorised  to  communicate  with  Professor  Attfield  on  the  sub¬ 
ject,  the  result  being  that  he  placed  his  resignation  in  the  hands  of 
the  Council,  and  the  Committee  recommended  that  it  should  be 
accepted.  A  further  recommendation  was  that  the  Council  should 
again  take  control  of  the  Laboratory,  as  in  former  years,  and  that 
the  Professor  appointed  should  devote  his  whole  time  to  the  duties 
of  his  office.  The  adoption  of  these  recommendations  of  the  General 
Purposes  Committee  was  moved  by  Mr.  Carteighe,  seconded  by  Mr. 
Martindale,  and  carried  unanimously.  Mr.  Carteighe  then  moved  that 
the  cordial  thanks  of  the  Council  be  given  to  Professor  Attfield  for 
the  services  he  had  rendered  to  the  Society  during  the  thirty-four 
years  he  had  held  the  distinguished  position  of  Professor  of 
Practical  Chemistry  in  the  Society’s  School,  supplementing  the 
motion  with  an  account  of  the  Professor’s  past  connection  with 
the  Society’s  School,  and  with  wishes  for  his  future  welfare  and 
happiness.  The  motion  was  seconded  by  Mr.  Hampson  and  carried 
unanimously. 

At  subsequent  meetings  of  the  Council  the  arrangements  relating 
to  the  conduct  of  the  School  of  Pharmacy  were  finally  confirmed. 
At  the  meetings  in  November  and  December  the  subject  of  the 
appointment  and  duties  of  local  secretaries  gave  rise  to  a  long  dis¬ 
cussion,  and  eventually  it  was  referred  to  the  General  Purposes 
Committee  for  consideration.  The  opinions  expressed  in  the 
discussion  were  generally  in  accord  with  the  remarks  made  by  Mr. 
Barnitt,  of  Leamington,  at  the  annual  meeting,  as  to  the  desirability 
of  placing  local  secretaries  more  closely  in  touch  with  the  Council, 


and  the  same  view  has  since  been  put  forward  in  a  letter  from  Mr, 
Bostock,  of  Ashton-under-Lyne. 

The  report  presented  by  the  Council  at  the 
The  Annual  anniversary  meeting  in  May  showed  a  con- 
Meeting1.  siderable  increase  of  expenditure,  partly  on 
.  account  of  the  new  premises  in  London  and 

Edinburgh,  partly  also  on  account  of  law  charges  and  of  the 
Society’s  Journal,  while  the  income  from  fees  was  less  than  in  the 
previous  year.  The  details  given  of  the  work  done  by  the 
Society,  in  its  private  capacity,  in  maintaining  museums  and 
libraries,  the  School  of  Pharmacy,  and  the  Research  Laboratory, 
showed  that  progress  had  been  made  in  each  department. 
The  subscriptions  to  the  Benevolent  Fund  had  been  a  few 
pounds  less  than  in  previous  years,  but  the  substantial  sum 
of  £2693  had  been  expended  in  grants  and  annuities.  In  the 
Society’s  public  capacity,  as  the  examining  body  authorised  to 
test  the  “competent  practical  knowledge”  of  persons  intending  to 
carry  on  business  as  chemists  and  druggists,  the  attainment  of  that 
object  was  shown  to  have  been  promoted  by  the  recently  extended 
scope  of  the  qualifying  examination,  but  the  Preliminary  examina¬ 
tion  was  referred  to  as  being  in  great  need  of  amendment.  The 
expenditure  on  prosecutions  for  infringement  of  the  Pharmacy  Act 
was,  as  usual,  far  in  excess  of  the  costs  allowed,  leaving  a  consider¬ 
able  adverse  balance.  In  most  of  the  cases  tried  judgment  was 
given  for  the  Society,  either  in  the  first  instance  or  on  appeal,  but 
some  difficulty  was  experienced  in  Scotland,  either  in  consequence 
of  the  views  held  by  the  Sheriffs  and  Procurator  Fiscal,  or  apparent 
sympathy  with  the  defendants.  As  a  result  of  the  action  taken  by 
the  Society  in  regard  to  the  patenting  of  medicines  containing 
scheduled  poisons  there  had  been  need  to  take  legal  proceedings 
only  in  three  instances,  and  in  those  there  was  no  serious  defence. 

In  addressing  the  meeting,  Mr.  Carteighe  expressed  the  opinion 
that,  large  as  the  capital  expenditure  had  been,  there  was  no  neces¬ 
sity  for  its  continuance,  nor  any  reason  to  anticipate  danger  of  the 
Society’s  work  being  restricted  in  future  on  that  account.  That- 
view  of  the  matter  was  very  generally  adopted  by  the  meeting, 
which  might  have  been  more  than  usually  uneventful  had  not  Mr- 
Whitfield  directed  attention  to  the  state  of  the  Society’s  School  as 
compared  with  that  existing  when  he  was  a  student.  His  speech 
on  that  subject  produced  considerable  effect  and  though  it  was  not 
commented  on  by  anyone  present,  it  may  be  assumed  to  have  exer¬ 
cised  considerable  influence  upon  the  Committee  which  had  under 
consideration  the  relations  of  the  Society  to  its  educational  work 
and  to  the  School.  The  recommendations  subsequently  made  to  the 
Council  and  the  further  consequences  of  their  adoption,  may 
perhaps  be  regarded  as  directly  due  to  the  action  of  Mr.  Whitfield, 
at  the  annual  meeting. 

The  periodical  reports  of  the  Committee  con- 
Benevolent  ducting  the  business  of  administering  the  Fund. 

Fund.  for  the  relief  of  distressed  members  of  the 
trade,  and  of  their  widows  and  orphans,  have 
continued  to  give  frequent  evidence  of  the  interest  taken  in  this, 
branch  of  the  Society’s  work,  by  recording  the  receipt  of  donations 
and  legacies.  The  subscription  to  the  Fund  has  not  been  so  welL 
maintained,  and  it  is  still  far  from  being  so  general  as  might  be 
expected,  or  sufficient  in  amount  to  enable  the  Committee  to  meet 
all  the  applications  which  bear  investigation.  Considerable  assist¬ 
ance  has  been  given  in  the  form  of  occasional  grants  in  many 
instances  during  the  year,  and  at  the  January  meeting  of  CounciL 
the  President  expressed  his  satisfaction  at  finding  the  Committee 
recommending  the  grant  of  respectable  sums  that  were  likely  to  be 
serviceable.  But  such  a  generous  policy  requires  corresponding 
support  from  subscribers. 


Jan.  2,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


3 


The  statistics  for  1896  lead  to  the  convic- 
Examinations.  tion  that  pharmacy  has  not  yet  reached  such  a 
stage  of  decadence  as  to  be  numbered  with 
unattractive  callings.  The  fact  that  the  number  of  entries  in  1896 
for  the  First  examination  shows  an  increase  of  103,  and  the  number 
for  the  qualifying  examination  a  rise  of  145,  may  be  taken 
as  a  proof  that  the  pessimism  which  contends  with  lugubrious 
persistency  that  pharmacy  is  “  going  to  the  dogs  ”  is  not  taken  very 
seriously  by  the  rising  generation.  In  the  following  table  the 
entries  and  rejections  in  the  Minor  examination  during  the  past 
three  years  are  compared,  and  the  comparison  is  instructive: — 

Minor  Examination. 


Year. 

Entries. 

Rejections. 

Percentages  of 
Rejections. 

London. 

Edin. 

London. 

Edin. 

London. 

Edin. 

1S94  . 

970 

440 

626 

260 

64-53 

59-09 

1895  . 

819 

485 

574 

2S3 

70-OS 

58-35 

1896  . 

793 

656 

533 

413 

67-21 

62-95 

Perhaps  the  most  noteworthy  circumstance  disclosed  in  this 
table  is  the  growing  popularity  of  Edinburgh  as  a  centre  for 
examination.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  the  additional 
examination  accommodation  provided  by  the  Council  at  York  Place 
has  been  promptly  taken  advantage  of  by  English  candidates 
residing  in  the  counties  near  the  border.  How  far  the  largely 
enhanced  attractiveness  of  the  northern  capital  to  Minor  candidates 
in  1896  was  related  to  the  low  percentage  of  rejections  recorded 
for  that  centre  in  1895  there  is  happily  no  need  to  discuss ; 
but  if  any  “unprepared”  man  went  across  the  Tweed 
in  the  hope  of  finding  the  statutory  test  of  pharmaceutical 
competency  less  stringent  there  than  in  London,  he  must 
have  been  badly  disillusioned,  and  sent  to  join  the  ranks 
of  those  who  have  raised  the  percentage  of  rejections  in 
Edinburgh  from  58-35  to  62'95.  Taking  the  candidates  for  the 
Minor  as  a  whole,  the  rejections  gave  a  similar  percentage  to  that 
experienced  in  1895,  that  is  to  say  a  little  over  65  per  cent. 

For  the  Major  examination  there  have  been  fewer  entries  than  in 
1895,  the  actual  numbers  being  130  as  against  146.  A  continuous 
diminution  has  thus  been  shown  in  the  returns  for  the  past  four 
years,  and  this  appears  significant  of  modern  conditions 
operating  against  academic  tests  which  confer  no  immediate 
tangible  reward  upon  those  successfully  submitting  to  them. 
The  following  comparison  of  entries  and  rejections  for 
the  last  three  years  reveals  no  very  satisfactory  decrease  in  the 
proportion  of  failures,  though  there  is  a  slight  move  in  the  right 
direction.  53-07  per  cent,  is,  however,  a  higher  rate  of  rejection 
than  might  be  reasonably  looked  for  among  persons  who  have  been 
through  the  severe  ordeal  of  the  Minor  examination. 


Major  Examination. 


Year. 

Entries. 

Rejections. 

Percentages. 

1894 . 

147 

73 

49-66 

1895 . 

146 

78  ■ 

5342 

1S96 . 

130 

69 

53-07 

TheFirst  examination  in  1896 proved  too  difficult  for  829  candidates 
out  of  1533,  a  percentage  which  is  not  encouraging  to  those  who 
believe  that  a  sound  elementary  training  in  arts  is  a  sine  qud  non  to 
pharmaceutical  success. 


First  Examination. 


Year. 

Entries. 

Rejections. 

Percentage. 

1894 . . 

1541 

788 

51-13 

1895 . 

1430 

753 

52-65 

1896 . . 

1533 

829 

54-07 

As  the  First  examination  is  now  on  its  trial  before  a  Committee 
of  the  Council  of  the  Society,  there  is  ground  for  hope  that  before 
long  some  radical  change  may  be  brought  about  in  the  method  of 
ascertaining  the  mental  calibre  of  youths  contemplating  entering 
upon  a  pharmaceutical  career. 

From  a  pharmaceutical  point  of  view  the 
Parliamentary,  pastyearhas  been  singularly  barren  inparlia- 
and  mentary'  results,  yet  it  may  be  said  with 

Legal.  truth  that  few  sessions  since  the  passing 

of  the  last  Pharmacy  Act  have  seen 
the  Society  so  politically  active  as  that  which  closed  in 
August  last.  It  may  be  remembered  that  early  in  the  year 
a  Sub-Committee  of  the  Law  and  Parliamentary  Committee 
was  appointed  to  watch  the  course  of  public  business,  and 
there  was  certainly  sufficient  on  the  Journal  of  the  House 
of  Commons  to  justify  the  appointment.  Legislation  was 
expected  in  the  direction  of  amending  the  law  relating 
to  food  and  drugs,  weights  and  measures,  the  sale  and  storage  of 
petroleum,  and  the  formation  and  registration  of  limited  liability 
companies,  in  each  of  which  Acts,  it  was  contended,  grave  defects 
existed.  With  questions  of  this  nature  coming  within  the  range  of 
practical  politics  and  affecting,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  the 
interests  of  chemists  and  druggists,  it  behoved  the  Council  to  ensure 
by  some  means  or  other  the  recognition  and,  if  possible,  the  accept¬ 
ance  of  pharmaceutical  views.  Though  the  Society’s  efforts  in  this 
direction  may  not  have  secured  any  very  brilliant  triumph,  there  is 
no  real  cause  for  discouragement. 

Perhaps  the  measure  of  most  vital  importance  was  the  Bill  to 
amend  the  Companies  Acts,  introduced  by  Earl  Dudley  into  the 
House  of  Lords  on  March  19.  By  the  efforts  of  the  Society,  acting 
in  conjunction  with  representatives  of  the  Medical,  Dental,  and 
Veterinary  professions,  a  clause  protecting  personal  professional 
titles  from  abuse  by  impersonal  corporations  of  unregistered 
individuals  was  sought  to  be  added  to  the  Bill.  The  amendment 
had  the  high  sponsorship  of  Lord  Herschell,  and  would  no  doubt 
have  been  embodied  in  the  measure,  if  fate  had  not  ordained 
that  the  Session  of  1896  should  be  a  unique  period  of  legis¬ 
lative  congestion.  The  Bill  was  read  a  second  time,  and  referred 
to  a  Select  Committee,  from  which  it  never  emerged.  The  Committee  is 
to  be  re-appointed  early  next  session,  when  it  is  possible  that  the 
significant  decisions  recently  delivered  in  the  House  of  Lords  in 
re  Salamon  and  in  the  Queen’s  Bench  Division  in  re  Wragg,  may 
stimulate  in  the  individuals  comprising  the  Committee  a  desire  to 
remove  at  the  earliest  possible  moment  the  legal  shelter  for  so 
much  commercial  unscrupulousness.  According  to  the  Lord  Chan¬ 
cellor,  the  present  law  as  to  incorporation  cannot  take  into  account 
motives  : — “The  motives  of  those  who  take  part  in  the  promotion 
of  the  company  are  absolutely  irrelevant  in  discussing  what  its 
rights  and  liabilities  are.”  “Register!  Register!  Register!”  thus 
seems  to  be  the  most  profitable  motto  for  adoption,  if  it  is  desired  to 
escape  the  personal  obligations  and  responsibilities  which  weigh 
upon  individuals. 

As  regards  the  Sale  of  Food  and  Drugs  Act,  although  no  amending 
Act  has  been  placed  upon  the  Statute  Book,  the  report  of  the  Select 
Committee  of  inquiry  into  the  subject  has  made  certain  recom¬ 
mendations  calculated  to  remove  much  of  the  ground  for  complaint 


4 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  2,  1897 


existing  under  the  present  Act.  The  establishment  of  a  Board  of 
Reference,  to  which  all  matters  relating  to  standards  should  be 
relegated,  and  on  which  a  representative  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  should  have  a  place,  is  among  the  satisfactory 
recommendations  contained  in  the  Report.  Whether  those 
recommendations  will  pass  into  an  enactment  during  the 
coming  session  depends  upon  fate  and  the  Opposition.  The 
attempts  of  the  Board  of  Trade  to  legalise  the  metric  system 
of  weights  and  measures  in  Great  Britain  culminated  in  the  intro¬ 
duction  of  a  permissive  Bill  in  July.  It  never  reached  its  second 
stage,  and,  indeed,  was  only  brought  in  tentatively  as  a  kind  of 
“feeler”  to  ascertain  the  general  views  of  the  commercial  com¬ 
munity  as  to  the  system.  The  support  of  assistants  in  shops  has 
been  very  largely  sought  after  by  members  of  Parliament,  and  no 
less  than  three  measures  for  the  limitation  of  the  hours  of  em¬ 
ployment  have  been  introduced.  Sir  J.  Lubbock,  Mr.  Duncomb, 
and  Mr.  J.  Burns  have  each  different  views  as  to  the  ideal  way  of 
dealing  with  the  question,  and  each  ideal  has  been  embodied  in 
ideal  Bills.  All  shared  a  common  fate  last  session.  Our  readers 
have  been  kept  fully  conversant  of  parliamentary  matters  affecting 
chemists  by  the  publication  of  weekly  notes  under  the  heading  of 
“  Parliamentary  Notes  and  News.” 

Under  the  Food  and  Drugs  Act  several  important  questions  have 
been  raised.  That  relating  to  the  use  of  preservative  substances 
still  remains  undecided,  opposite  decisions  having  been  given  in 
reference  to  the  use  of  salicylic  acid  for  preserving  orange  wine  and 
ipecacuanha  wine.  The  use  of  copper  salts  for  preserving  the  green 
colour  of  peas  has  been  held  to  constitute  an  offence.  The  sale  of 
seidlitz  powders  differing  in  weight  from  that  specified  in  the 
British  Pharmacopoeia  has  also  been  held  to  be  a  breach  of  the  law.  On 
the  other  hand,  in  a  prosecution  for  the  sale  of  beeswax  alleged  to 
contain  paraffin  it  was  held  that  when  sold  for  other  than  medicinal 
purposes  beeswax  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  drug  or  as  coming 
within  the  scope  of  the  Act.  Quite  recently  prosecutions  have  been 
instituted  for  the  sale  of  “  arsenical  soap  ”  alleged  not  to  contain 
arsenic,  and  in  two  very  similar  cases  opposite  decisions  have  been 
given.  Other  cases  are  still  pending. 

During  the  year  nearly  400-  cases  of  alleged 

Pharmacy  infringement  were  reported  and  investigated. 

Act.  The  necessary  legal  evidence  having  been  ob¬ 

tained  many  of  these  cases  were  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  Society’s  solicitors  for  the  institution  of  proceedings, 
and  as  a  result  the  majority  of  the  offenders  deemed  discretion  the 
better  part  of  valour,  and  paid  the  penalties  claimed  without  the 
cases  going  into  court. 

Littler  ( Ph .  J.,  January  11). — The  first  case  heard  in  open 
court  was  that  at  Rhyl,  where  a  grocer,  who  had  sold  two  bottles 
of  Mrs.  Winslow’s  soothing  syrup,  was  sued  for  two  penalties  in 
respect  of  keeping  open  shop  for  the  retailing  of  poisons. 
Defendant  admitted  being  unqualified,  but  stated  that  as  he  had 
a  licence  to  sell  patent  medicines,  he  thought  he  was  within  his 
rights  in  selling  the  article.  In  giving  judgment,  Sir  Horatio 
Lloyd  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  quantity  of  poison  in  the 
bottle  did  not  enter  into  the  question.  The  moment  it  was  proved 
to  him  that  an  unqualified  person  sold  any  of  the  poisons  mentioned 
in  the  Schedule  of  the  Act  or  any  preparation  of  them,  he  is 
proved  to  have  committed  an  offence  against  the  law,  and  renders 
himself  liable  to  penalties  which  there  was  absolutely  no  power  to 
reduce.  Judgment  must  therefore  be  entered  for  the  penalties 
and  costs. 

Peacock  (Ph.  J.,  January  18). — The  next  case  was  that  of  an 
unregistered  person  who  kept  a  drug  store  at  Hull  and  had  sold  a 
preparation  which  he  described  as  “  Mother’s  True  Friend,”  and 


which  upon  analysis  was  found  to  contain  morphine  to  the  extent 
of  l/3rd  of  a  grain  per  ounce  of  the  mixture.  The  defendant 
admitted  that  he  had  paid  penalties  for  the  sale  of  the  same  article, 
but  stated  that  since  the  last  payment  he  had  reduced  the  quan¬ 
tity  of  the  morphine.  The  case  having  been  clearly  proved,  His 
Honour  Judge  Bedwell  gave  judgment  for  the  penalty  claimed  and 
costs. 

Walton,  Hassell,  and  Port  ( Ph.  J.,  January  25). — An 
important  case  was  that  heard  at  the  Bloomsbury  County  Court  on 
January  21,  in  which  a  firm  of  oilmen  were  sued  for  a  penalty 
in  respect  of  a  sale  of  Mather’s  chemical  fly-papers,  containing 
arsenic.  An  eminent  counsel  was  engaged  for  the  defence,  and 
the  case  was  keenly  contested.  A  join  analysis  had  been  made  and 
it  was  proved  that  some  of  the  fly-papers  contained  as  much  as 
1 1  grains  of  arsenic.  Expert  evidence  was  given  to  prove  that 
there  was  sufficient  arsenic  in  one  paper  to  kill  at  least  six  people, 
and  that  it  was  a  simple  matter  to  extract  the  poison  from  the  fly¬ 
papers.  For  the  defence  an  endeavour  was  made  to  prove  that 
there  was  arsenic  in  wall  papers  and  other  commercial  articles  in 
use  in  this  country.  Objection  was  taken  to  this  line  of  argument 
and  the  Judge  refused  to  allow  it  to  be  put  in  evidence,  and  in 
giving  judgment  for  the  penalty  and  costs  held  that  it  had  been 
abundantly  proved  to  him  that  the  pores  of  these  fly-papers  were 
filled  with  arsenic,  or  a  preparation  of  arsenic.  It  being  a  test 
case  leave  was  given  to  appeal  to  the  higher  courts,  but  the  appeal 
was  not  proceeded  with. 

Ager  (Ph.  J.,  January  25). — In  the  same  court  and  on  the  same 
day  an  unregistered  person  was  proceeded  against  for  selling  pare¬ 
goric.  Defendant’s  solicitor  said  he  could  not  contend  after  the 
decision  just  given  that  paregoric  was  not  a  preparation  of  opium, 
but  his  client  was  an  old  man  who  had  been  a  dispenser  at  two 
hospitals.  The  judge  held  that  this  was  no  defence,  and  gave 
judgment  for  the  amount  claimed  with  costs. 

Symington  and  Thwaites  (Ph.  J.,  February  22). — At  Market 
Harborough  Count}'  Court  a  penalty  was  recovered  from  a  firm  of 
grocers,  who  had  sold  a  bottle  of  Fellows’  syrup  of  hypophosphites, 
which  was  proved  to  contain  strychnine. 

Bainbridge  (Ph.  J.,  February  29). — In  a  case  heard  at  the 
Liverpool  County  Court,  an  unqualified  assistant  in  a  pharmacy 
admitted  selling  a  preparation  containing  opium,  and  an  order 
was  made  for  payment  of  the  penalty  imposed  by  the  Statute  with 
costs. 

Savage  (Ph.  J. ,  May  2). — At  the  Bradford  County  Court  an 
unqualified  assistant  was  sued  for  selling  Powell’s  balsam  of  aniseed 
containing  morphine.  For  the  defence  an  attempt  was  made  to 
prove  that  a  qualified  man  was  in  the  shop  at  the  time  of  the  sale, 
but  the  evidence  in  support  of  this  statement  broke  down  in  cross- 
examination,  and  the  J udge  held  there  was  no  doubt  the  defendant 
sold  the  poison,  and  gave  judgment  accordingly. 

Thorne  (Ph.  J.,  May  9). — At  the  Clerkenwell  County  Court  a 
medical  student  was  sued  for  keeping  open  shop  for  the  sale  of  poisons, 
and  evidence  of  the  purchase  of  laudanum  on  two  occasions  was 
given.  For  the  defence  it  was  admitted  that  the  defendant  was  not 
qualified,  and  that  he  kept  a  surgery,  but  it  was  denied  that  the 
surgery  was  an  open  shop,  or  that  any  poison  was  sold.  In 
reviewing  the  evidence  his  Honour  said  that  nothing  could  be 
clearer  than  that  this  was  a  shop  where  anything  was  sold  to 
persons  who  chose  to  buy.  The  case  had  been  clearly  proved,  and 
he  gave  judgment  for  the  penalties  claimed  with  costs.  Leave  to 
appeal  was  refused  on  the  ground  that  it  was  quite  a  matter  of 
fact. 

Fox  (Ph.  J.,  May  16  and  June  20). — The  most  important  case 
during  the  year  was  that  heard  at  the  Westminister  County  Court, 


Jan.  2,  1S97J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL* 


5 


in  which  a  grocer  was  proceeded  against  for  selling  a  bottle  of 
Kay’s  compound  essence  of  linseed,  which  admittedly  contained 
morphine.  The  point  of  the  case  turned  upon  the  construction  to 
be  placed  on  the  exemption  created  in  Section  17  of  the  Pharmacy 
Act,  1868,  in  favour  of  patent  medicines.  The  compound  in  question 
was  patented  in  1873,  but  owing  to  non-payment  of  fees  the  patent 
expired  in  1876.  For  the  defence  in  was  argued  that  if  an  article 
is  once  a  patent  it  is  always  a  patent  within  the  meaning  of  the 
section.  Mr.  Lumley  Smith  decided  that  at  the  time  the  compound 
was  sold  there  was  no  patent  for  it  in  existence,  and  therefore  it 
had  ceased  to  be  a  patent  medicine,  and  did  not  come  within  the 
exemption  created  by  the  Statute.  Having  regard  to  the  importance 
of  the  case  he  allowed  leave  to  appeal.  This  appeal  was  heard 
before  Mr.  Justice  Cave  and  Mr.  Justice  Wills  in  the  Divisional 
Court,  and  without  calling  on  the  Society’s  counsel  they  dismissed 
the  appeal  with  costs. 

Sinclair  ( Ph .  J. ,  June  20). — At  the  Greenwich  County  Court  an 
unqualified  manager  of  a  branch  shop,  who  was  proved  to  have  sold 
laudanum,  pleaded  that  he  had  not  sold  the  poison  apart  from  the 
jurisdiction  of  his  master,  but  the  Judge  informed  him  that  the 
point  had  already  been  decided  by  the  High  Court,  and  he  had 
therefore  no  alternative  but  to  give  judgment  for  the  penalty,  with 
costs. 

Brade  ( Ph .  J.,  June  20). — An  unqualified  assistant  in  the  em¬ 
ploy  of  a  limited  company  was  sued  for  two  penalties  at  the 
Blackpool  County  Court  for  selling  Winslow’s  Soothing  Syrup. 
Defendant  did  not  appear,  but  the  case  was  fully  proved,  and 
judgment  was  given  for  the  penalties  and  costs. 

Blakeley  (Ph.  J.,  July  18). — At  the  King’s  Lynn  County  Court 
an  unregistered  person  was  sued  for  keeping  open  shop  for  retail¬ 
ing  poison.  Evidence  of  the  sale  by  him  of  laudanum  having 
been  given,  his  Honour  gave  judgment  for  the  penalty  imposed 
by  the  Statute  with  costs. 

Dickinson  (Ph.  J.,  July  25  and  August  22). — At  the  Durham 
County  Court  an  unqualified  assistant  was  proved  to  have  sold  a 
bottle  of  Powell’s  balsam  of  aniseed  containing  morphine,  and 
the  usual  penalty  was  imposed  with  costs. 

Ryott  (Ph.  J.,  July  25). — At  the  same  court  another  unquali¬ 
fied  assistant,  who  had  paid  into  the  court  the  penalty  claimed  on 
the  day  previous  to  that  fixed  for  the  hearing  of  the  case,  was 
ordered  to  pay  costs. 

Douthwaite  ( Pit.  J.,  August  1). — At  the  Sheffield  County 
Court,  the  unqualified  keeper  of  an  open  shop  who  had  previously 
paid  penalties,  was  charged  with  three  offences — two  in  respect  of 
the  sale  of  poisons,  and  one  for  using  the  title  “  Chemist.”  For 
the  defence  it  was  suggested  that  the  defendant  was  not  the 
keeper  of  the  open  shop.  His  Honour  held  that  the  offences  had 
been  fully  proved,  and  gave  judgment  accordingly. 

Burgon  (Ph.  J.,  August  29). — A  few  weeks  later  at  the  same 
court  and  the  same  Judge  a  firm  of  grocers  were  sued  for  selling 
Teasdale’s  chlorodyne  on  two  occasions.  Several  technical  objec¬ 
tions  were  raised  in  the  defence,  which  were,  however,  over-ruled 
by  the  Judge,  who,  in  giving  judgment  for  the  penalties  claimed, 
said  he  did  so  with  infinite  regret,  as  he  did  not  believe  there  was 
any  intention  on  the  part  of  the  defendants  to  lead  persons  to 
believe  that  they  were  chemists.  A  long  argument  ensued  on  the 
question  of  costs,  and  the  matter  was  adjourned  for  consideration. 
At  a  subsequent  court  his  Honour  stated  that  he  found  there  was 
no  power  for  him  to  refuse  costs  to  the  plaintiffs. 

Meek  (Ph.  J.,  August  8).— The  sale  by  a  naturalist  of  an  insect 
killing  bottle  containing  cyanide  of  potassium  was  the  subject  of 
an  action  at  the  Brompton  County  Court.  The  Judge  held  that  it 
was  a  sale  of  cyanide  of  potassium,  and  gave  judgment  accordingly. 


Mendel  (Ph.  J.,  October  24). — At  the  Lambert  County  Court 
an  unqualified  person  was  sued  for  keeping  open  shop  for  retailing 
poisons,  andfor  using  the  title  ‘  ‘  consulting  chemist.”  Two  purchases 
had  been  made,  one  of  oxalic  acid,  the  other  paregoric,  but  on  the 
latter  being  analysed  it  was  found  to  be  destitute  of  opium.  His 
Honour  in  giving  judgment  said  the  case  was  of  serious  importance. 
Not  only  had  the  defendant  sold  poison,  but  he  had  called  himself 
a  consulting  chemist,  which  meant  that  he  was  a  competent 
chemist.  In  addition  to  these  offences,  he  had  sold  what  was 
supposed  to  be  paregoric,  but  which  it  appeared  did  not  contain 
the  most  essential  ingredient  of  the  medicine,  which  if  bought  for 
the  purpose  of  administering  to  a  person  in  a  case  of  illness 
might  by  reason  of  its  not  containing  what  it  ought  to  contain 
result  in  very  serious  consequences.  The  Statute  was  a  very 
important  one  indeed  for  the  protection  of  the  public,  and  he 
ordered  the  penalties  to  be  paid  with  costs  on  the  higher  scale. 

Potton  (Ph.  J.,  October  31). — An  illustration  of  the  difficulty 
experienced  in  satisfactorily  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  the 
Statute  may  be  cited  in  the  case  heard  at  the  Bow  County  Court, 
where  an  unregistered  person  was  sued  for  selling  rat  cake.  The 
sale  was  admitted,  and  it  was  proved  that  there  was  sufficient 
arsenic  in  the  cake  purchased  to  poison  500  people.  His  Honour 
Judge  French,  whilst  characterising  the  offence  as  a  most  serious 
one,  ordered  the  penalty  and  costs  to  be  paid  at  the  rate  of  Is.  per 
month. 

Marston  (Ph.  J.,  December  26).—  At  the  Bournemouth  County 
Court  an  unqualified  managing  director  of  a  limited  liabilty 
company  was  sued  for  a  penalty  in  respect  of  selling  chlorodyne 
containing  morphine.  The  sale  having  been  admitted,  his  Honour 
Judge  Philbrick,  in  giving  judgment  for  the  penalty  and  costs, 
said  it  was  most  important  that  traders  and  the  public  should 
understand  that  poisons  could  only  be  sold  by  duly  qualified 
persons. 

Sleight  Pratt  (Ph.  J.,  May  2  and  December  5). — A  case  was 
heard  at  Leeds  and  another  at  Barrow-in-Furness  where,  owing 
to  mistaken  identity,  the  Society  failed  to  obtain  convictions. 
These  were  the  only  two  cases  in  which  there  was  failure  to  secure 
convictions. 

Dicksons,  Ltd.  (Ph.  J.,  March  14). — Proceedings  have  in  two 
instances  been  taken  under  Section  17  of  the  Pharmacy  Act,  1868. 
A  limited  company  trading  as  seedmen  were  summoned  at  the 
Chester  Police  Court  for  selling  arsenical  weed  killer  without  com¬ 
plying  with  the  regulations  required  to  be  observed  in  the  sale  of 
articles  in  Part  I.  of  the  Schedule  to  the  Act.  For  the  defence  it 
was  urged  that  the  defendants  only  acted  as  agents  for  a  firm  of 
chemists,  but  the  magistrates,  after  due  consideration,  felt  bound 
to  convict. 

Battle,  Son,  and  Maltby  (Ph.  /.,  December  19). — At  the  Lin¬ 
coln  Police  Court  a  firm  of  chemists  were  charged  with  selling 
vermin  killer  containing  strychnine  through  the  post  and  over  the 
counter  to  persons  who  were  unknown  to  them.  They  were 
further  charged  with  not  labelling  the  article  with  the  word 
strychnine  and  with  their  names  and  address.  The  magistrates 
convicted  on  the  summonses  for  selling  to  unknown  persons,  but 
in  the  cases  of  alleged  improper  labelling  the  summonses  were 
dismissed.  Leave  was  given  to  appeal  on  the  latter  point. 

Boots,  Limited  (Ph.  J.,  May  2). — In  one  instance  proceedings 
were  instituted  under  the  Companies  Acts.  A  limited  company, 
trading  as  chemists,  was  summoned  at  the  Bristol  Police  Court 
for  not  affixing  the  word  “Limited”  after  their  name,  and  a 
penalty  was  imposed. 

Ingram  (Ph.  J.,  April  4). — The  fiat  of  the  Attorney-General 
having  been  obtained,  a  petition  for  the  revocation  of  a  patent  for 


6 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  2, 18W 


liver  pills  came  on  for  hearing  in  the  Court  of  Chancery.  The 
particulars  of  objection  to  the  patent  pointed  out  that  all  the 
individual  drugs  in  the  patent  were  well  known,  and  that  they 
were  continually  compounded  in  different  proportions  by  chemists 
and  druggists  and  prescribed  by  medical  men.  Formal  evidence 
in  support  of  this  statement  having  been  given,  Mr.  Justice  Romer 
revoked  the  patent  and  gave  the  petitioners  the  cost  of  the 
proceedings. 

The  fact  that  the  revision  of  the  British  Phar- 
Praetieal  macopceia  was  known  to  be  definitely  in  band, 

Pharmacy,  and  the  doubt  whether  any  further  suggestions 
in  regard  to  matters  to  be  included  in  that  work 
would  receive  attention,  probably  accounted  for  the  comparative 
scarcity  of  communications  during  the  year  such  as  had  occupied 
practical  pharmacists  for  some  time  previously.  But  whilst  the 
flood  of  criticism  has  abated  considerably,  suggestions  for  the 
modification  and  possible  improvement  of  galenical  preparations 
have  been  as  plentiful  as  ever.  That  old  bone  of  contention — 
Blaud’s  Pill — has  been  found  by  R.  C.  Cowley  to  vary  greatly  as 
regards  the  amount  of  ferrous  carbonate  present  in  commercial 
specimens,  and  curiously  enough  many  proved  to  be 
stronger  than  pil.  ferri,  B.P.  A  modification  of  the  official 
formula  devised  by  W.  Lyon  was  found  to  yield  a  pro¬ 
duct  equal  to  that  of  the  original,  whilst  the  bulk  of  the  mass 
wa3  diminished  by  one-fifth.  Further,  H.  Wyatt  showed  that  by 
the  use  of  sodium  bicarbonate,  as  recommended  by  Dr.  Ravil,  an 
excellent  mass  can  be  produced,  which  contains  the  maximum 
amount  of  ferrous  carbonate,  the  carbon  dioxide  evolved  during 
the  reaction  apparently  protecting  that  salt.  Vinegar  has  also 
received  an  inordinate  share  of  attention ;  Cowley  was  unable  to 
purchase  from  retailers  specimens  according  with  the  B.P.  standard, 
but  Pearmain  and  Moor  urged  that  vinegar  of  B.P.  strength  is  obtain¬ 
able,  and  that  the  pharmacists’  standard  should  not  be  lowered 
whilst  B.  S.  Proctor  objected  to  the  limitation  of  the  term  “  vinegar” 
to  preparations  prepared  from  malt.  Some  slight  skirmishing  on 
the  application  of  the  term  “  white  wine  vinegar  ”  also  served  to 
lend  variety  to  the  fare  provided  in  the  Journal  pages. 

Cachets  and  Cachet  Machines  received  the  attention  they 
deserve  in  a  special  illustrated  article  devoted  to  those  encroach, 
ing  novelties  in  British  pharmacy.  Solutions  official  in  the 
Pharmacopoeia  have  been  commented  upon,  as  well  as  the  Wines 
and  Syrups,  modifications  of  existing  formulae  being  recommended 
wherever  found  desirable  in  practice.  Cod-liver  Oil  Emulsions, 
in  all  their  varieties,  received  attention  in  a  comprehensive 
summary  by  Professor  Gay,  of  Montpellier,  and  P.  C.  Arblaster  also 
devoted  attention  to  this  topic ;  the  suitability  of  spirit,  ammon. 
aromat.,  as  a  massing  agent  for  Pil.  Coloc.  Co.,  previously  pointed 
out  by  T.  Dunlop,  was  confirmed  by  W.  Lyon  ;  Mansier  referred  to 
the  advantages  accompanying  the  administration  of  medicaments, 
in  the  form  of  Medicated  Granules  ;  and  J.  Cocks,  of  Plymouth, 
published  some  useful  notes  on  Pill  coating,  besides  devising  a 
simple  form  of  coating  apparatus.  British  and  Foreign 
Syrups  were  treated  of  in  a  most  exhaustive  fashion  by 
J.  Ince  ;  a  good  word  was  put  in  for  Ext.  Ipecac.  Acet. 
and  wine  made  therefrom,  by  A.  Laing ;  the  use  of  methylated  spirit 
to  exhaust  the  root,  in  preparing  Ext.  Pareir^e  Liq  ,  was  recom¬ 
mended  by  J.  Barclay,  who  also  found  that  Ext.  Coloc.  Co.  is  a 
product  that  varies  in  more  ways  than  one.  Spiritus  2Etheris 
Compositus  was  the  subject  of  a  paper  by  W.  I.  Clark  and  D.  B. 
Dott ;  the  solution  of  the  sugar  in  Mist.  Ferri  Co.  with  the  iron 
sulphate,  instead  of  mixing  with  the  myrrh  and  potassium  car¬ 
bonate,  was  recommended  by  W.  Johnston,  who  also  pointed  out 
the  possible  decomposition  of  Cocaine  in  Ointments  ;  the  phar¬ 


macy  of  Phosphorus  was  very  completely  dealt  with  by  W.  Martin  - 
dale  ;  and  some  experience  gained  in  an  attempt  to  prepare  a  small 
quantity  of  Castor  Oii,  Soap  was  communicated  by  J.  F.  Brown, 
of  Dover,  who  also  suggested  a  modified  formula  for  Miscible 
Ext.  Cocas  Liq. 

A  formula  for  Eucalyptus  Ointment  was  sent  by  J.  Bosisto, 
of  Victoria ;  Granular  Effervescents  were  practically 
treated  in  useful  papers  by  W.  T.  C.  Clarke  and  G.  Lunan ;  the 
Preservation  of  Chloroform  was  the  subject  of  a  short  note 
by  D.  B.  Dott;  and  the  preparation  of  Nutrient  Beef  Foods  was 
described  in  an  excellent  paper  by  A.  W.  Gerrard.  Another  some¬ 
what  extra-pharmaceutical  subject — the  Sterilisation  of  Milk — 
was  profitably  treated  by  J.  A.  Forret.  Malt  Extract  and  Cream 
of  Tartar  were  the  subjects  of  notes  by  M.  Conroy,  the  latter 
being  a  reply  to  one  by  C.  A.  Hill ;  and  A.  H.  Allen  also  wrote 
on  the  composition  and  analysis  of  the  same  compound.  An 
article  on  the  making  of  Compressed  Tablets  by  F.  Edel 
embodied  much  useful  information,  whilst  the  fillicg  of  Capsules 
was  briefly  described  by  E.  P.  Ferte,  and  a  new  and  convenient  form 
of  Extraction  Apparatus  for  the  extraction  of  drugs  by  hot  or 
cold  solvents  has  been  devised  by  J.  H.  Hoseason.  The  comparative 
insolubility  of  Cocaine  in  vaseline  or  lard  was  referred  to  by  C.  E 
Sage,  who  showed  that  neither  is  a  suitable  solvent  for  the  base. 

The  Conference  at  Liverpool  brought  forth  both  good  and  in¬ 
different  papers  as  usual,  but  on  the  whole  a  fair  average  quality 
was  maintained  this  year.  E.  H.  Farr  and  R.  Wright  recommende 
that  the  green  fruit  of  Conium  Maculatum  should  alone  be 
retained  for  official  preparations,  and  that  Ext.  Conii  Liq.  should 
be  official  in  the  next  B.P.  They  have  also  found  that  the  official 
Succi  are  extremely  variable  in  degree  of  potency,  whilst  Wright 
pointed  out  that  existing  formulas  for  Liquor  Auri  et  Arsenii 
Bromatus  yield  products  differing  materially  both  in  strength  and 
composition.  Japanes  Fennel  and  its  oil  were  dealt  with  by 
J.  C.  Umney,  who  showed  that  the  latter  differs  but  little  from 
normal  oils  distilled  from  other  varieties;  he  also  dealt  with 
the  effects  of  climate  and  soil  on  Peppermint  Oils.  The  separated 
siftings  of  Belladonna  Root  powder  were  compared  by  R.  H. 
Parker,  whose  results  indicate  that  the  finer  powder  gives  a  darker 
coloured  alcoholic  tincture  but  contains  less  alkaloid,  and  that  the 
removal  of  this  powder  to  the  extent  of  forty  per  cent,  increases  the 
alkaloidal  potency  of  the  remainder  by  about  thirty  per  cent. 
S.  Hardwick  spoke  on  the  making  of  Compressed  Tablets  at  the 
dispensing  counter,  showing  that  it  is  quite  a  simple  matter  to 
prepare  and  dispense  small  quantities  of  tablets;  F.  C.  J.  Bird 
explained  how  Formaldehyde  may  be  advantageously  employed 
in  pharmacy  as  an  antiseptic,  particularly  in  the  case  of  infusions  ; 
C.  T.  Tyrer  communicated  a  note  on  Pyroxylin,  B.P. ;  A.  C.  Abra¬ 
ham  discussed  Indian  Bael  and  its  preparations;  J.  A.  Forret 
gave  a  formula  for  Essence  of  Rennet,  and  J.  F.  Liverseege 
described  the  effects  of  solvents  on  the  analytical  characters  of 
Ginger.  The  remaining  papers  came  more  within  the  scope  of 
chemistry  and  physics  than  pharmacy. 

More  recent  communications  include  a  paper  on  the  standardisa¬ 
tion  of  Solid  Extracts,  by  C.  H.  La  Wall ;  another,  in  which  the 
miscibility  of  different  Ointment  Bases  has  been  very  fully  dealt 
with  by  A.  St.  Onge  ;  a  summary  of  the  requirements  in  Denti¬ 
frices  of  various  kinds,  by  Miss  0.  M.  Conklin ;  P.  H.  Marsden  has 
published  some  useful  results  bearing  on  the  solubility  of  the 
Double  Cyanide  of  Zinc  and  Mercury;  a  note  on  Sherry 
Wine,  by  E.  W.  Lucas,  some  of  whose  data  were  called  in  question 
subsequently ;  and  a  useful  paper  on  Uniformity  in  Pharmacy, 
by  C.  F.  Henry.  On  the  whole,  then,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  past 
year  has  been  productive  of  a  fair  amount  of  useful  matter  bearing 


Jan.  2,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


7 


directly  on  pharmacy,  especially  when  we  consider  the  numerous 
brief  and  practical  notes  read  before  the  more  active  local  associa¬ 
tions,  which  lack  of  space  will  not  permit  to  be  even  enumerated 
here,  whilst  comments  are  scarcely  called  for  in  those  cases. 

During  the  past  year  valuable  additions  have 
The  been  made,  both  to  the  Museums  of  the  Society 

Society’s  and  to  the  Herbarium.  The  following  are  some 

Museum.  of  the  principal  donations.  More  than  a  hun¬ 

dred  specimens  of  the  medicinal  plants  of  the 
Stra'.ts  Settlements  have  been  presented  by  Mr.  H.  N.  Ridley,  M.A., 
from  the  Botanic  Gardens  at  Singapore,  in  illustration  of  a  work  on  the 
native  medicines  on  which  the  donor  is  engaged.  The  prize  herbarium 
of  British  plants  for  the  year  1896  has  been  presented  by  Mr.  F. 
Giles,  and  has  proved  a  source  of  considerable  interest  to  visitors 
and  students.  Professor  Dr.  Schweinfurth  has  contributed  a 
valuable  set  of  specimens  of  the  trees  yielding  myrrh  and  allied 
gum  resins  and  gum  Arabic,  as  well  as  specimens  of 
drugs  from  Egypt  and  Arabia.  Nineteen  West  African 
native  medicines  have  been  received  from  Dr.  E.  B.  Ormerod, 
and  a  valuable  series  of  essential  oils  from  Messrs.  Horner 
and  Sons,  together  with  specimens  of  the  products  from  which 
they  were  distilled,  thus  adding  considerably  to  their  authenticity. 
The  Museum  of  the  North  British  Branch  has  received  during  the 
year  more  specimens  than  it  is  at  present  able  to  display  satisfac¬ 
torily,  consisting  of  the  materia  medica  collection  of  the  Royal 
College  of  Physicians  of  Edinburgh,  including  a  valuable  series  of 
rare  drugs,  known  as  the  Martius  collection,  which  originally 
belonged  to  Dr.  Th.  Martius,  of  Erlangen.  It  will  also  probaby 
acquire  the  collection  of  the  late  Dr.  Scoresby  Jackson.  The  work 
done  in  connection  with  the  Museum  includes  a  description  of  a 
false  jaborandi,  consisting  of  a  new  species  of  Swartzia  ( S.decipiens ), 
the  chemical  examination  by  Paul  and  Cownley  of  the  leaves  of 
Aracati  jaborandi  and  of  P.  microphyllus,  which  seem  to  indicate  that 
at  least  two  alkaloids  are  present  in  each  variety  of  jaborandi.  The 
difference  between  the  two  commercial  varieties  of  patchouli  ( P . 
patchouli,  Pell. ;  P.  comosus,  Miq.,  Pli.  J.  [4],  ii.,  pp.  221-1)  has  been 
pointed  out  by  Messrs.  Sawer  and  Holmes ;  the  adulteration  of 
bloodroot  with  the  rhizome  of  Chamcelirium  carolinianum  has 
been  indicated  ;  the  identification  of  myrrh  as  the  product  of 
Commiphora  abyssinica  and  C.  schimperi  has  been  shown  to  rest  on 
inadequate  evidence,  B.  myrrha,  Nees,  being  the  only  plant  to 
which  the  drug  can  be  attributed  with,  any  degree  of 
certainty ;  the  source  of  proteacin  has  been  ascertained  to  be 
Leucadendron  decurrens,  R.  Br. ;  the  root  of  Tephrosia  macropoda  has 
been  examined  by  Professor  Plugge  and  found  to  contain  a  heart 
poison  net  identical  with  cytisin,  and  which  is  not  an  alkaloid.  A 
specimen  of  papaine  forwarded  by  the  Indian  Government  to  the 
Museum  for  examination  has  been  reported  on  by  Mr.  J.  C.  Umney 
as  of  good  quality.  Series  of  duplicate  specimens  of  materia  medica 
have  been  distributed  to  the  Local  Associations  at  Aberdeen  and 
Exeter,  to  the  University  Colleges  at  Liverpool  and  St.  Andrews,  to 
the  Royal  College  of  Science  at  Dublin,  and  smaller  donations  to  the 
New  York  College  of  Pharmacy,  and  to  Dr.G.  Planchon,  of  Paris,  and 
Dr.  Tschirch,  of  Berne  ;  and  some  living  roots  received  from  abroad 
to  the  Botanic  Gardens,  at  Kew,  Edinburgh,  Cambridge,  and  Dublin. 

Continued  attention  has  been  paid  during  the 
The  year  to  the  maintenance  of  the  efficiency  of  the 

Society’s  Library  in  London,  both  by  providing  the  more 

Library.  important  new  books,  and  in  securing  the  regular 
receipt  and  binding  of  scientific,  as  well  as 
pharmaceut’cal  periodicals.  The  principal  new  books  added  are  : — 
‘The  Chemistry  of  Urine’  and  vol.  iii.,  part  3,  of  ‘Commercial 
Organio  Ar  a’ysi®,’  by  A.  H.  Allen  ;  new  editions  of  Thorpe’s 


‘  Inorganic  Chemistry  ’  and  Bloxam’s  *  Chemistry,  Inorganic  and 
Organic’;  ‘Analysis  of  Food  and  Drugs ’and  ‘Applied  Bacterio¬ 
logy  ’  by  Pearmain  and  Moor  ;  ‘  Chemical  Recipes,’  by  the  Atlas 
Chemical  Company;  Clowes  and  Coleman’s  ‘  Quantitative  Analysis’; 
Ramsay’s  ‘  Gases  of  the  Atmosphere’;  Gattermann’s  ‘Practical  Methods 
of  Organic  Chemistry  ’ ;  ‘  Agricultural  Analysis,’  by  Addyman ; 
‘  Elements  of  Agriculture,’  by  Fream  ;  Van  Heurck’s  ‘  Treatise  on  the 
Diatomacc  re,’  translated  by  Dr.  Wynne  E.  Baxter,  a  worthy  companion 
to  the  work  on  ‘  The  Microscope  ’ ;  ‘  Text- Book  of  Bacteriology,’  by 
Crookshank;  Van  ’t  Hoff’s  ‘Studies  in  Chemical  Dynamics’; 

‘  Chemistry  in  Daily  Life,’  by  Lassar-Cohn  ;  ‘  Dictionary  of  Chemi¬ 
cal  Solubilities,’  by  Comey  ;  new  editions  of  ‘  Poisons,’  and  of 
‘Foods ’by  Wynter  Blyth  ;  Yeo’s  ‘  Food  in  Health  and  Disease’; 
Caspari’s  ‘  Treatise  on  Pharmacy  ’ ;  ‘  The  Art  of  Compounding,’  by 
Scoville  ;  Southall’s  ‘  Organic  Materia  Medica,’  5th  ed.,  by  Barclay; 

‘  Lectures  on  Pharmacology,’  vol.  i.,  by  Binz  ;  vol.  ii.  of  Green’s 
‘  Manual  of  Botany  ’ ;  ‘  Index  to  Watt’s  Dictionary  of  the  Economic 
Products  of  India’;  Fiiigel-Schmidt-Tanger’s  ‘German  and 
English  Dictionary’;  anew  edition  of  Lee’s  ‘Microtomist’s  Vade- 
Mecum’;  Cole’s  ‘Methods  of  Microscopical  Research’;  PriDgle’s 
‘  Photo-micrography ’;  Cross  and  Cole’s  ‘Modern  Microscopy’; 
Sutton’s  ‘Volumetric  Analysis’;  ‘  Nueva  farmacopea  mexicana  ’ ; 
part  3  of  Dammer’s  ‘  Chemische  Technologie’;  ‘  National  Formulary,’ 
revised  edition ;  Bretschneider’s  ‘  Botanicon  Sinicum,’  vol.  iii. ; 
‘Memorials  of  the  Faculty  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of 
Glasgow,’  and  the  first  volume  of  the  second  series  of  the  great 
‘  Index-Catalogue  of  the  Library  of  the  Surgeon-General,  U.S.A.’ 

The  three  rooms  which  comprise  the  London  Library  have  been 
rendered  brighter  by  a  much-needed  repainting  and  whitewashing. 
According  to  the  Librarian’s  record,  only  two  small  books  were 
missing  from  the  shelves  between  the  annual  stocktakings  of  1895 
and  1896,  while  two  other  volumes,  previously  reported  missing, 
were  found  to  have  been  returned  to  the  shelves.  The  number  of 
volumes  lent  out  during  the  year  is  about  2000,  nearly  half  having 
gone  to  the  provinces.  The  utility  of  the  Library,  cannot,  how¬ 
ever,  be  fully  gauged  by  the  numbers  of  books  lent  out,  or  by 
signatures  in  the  attendance  book,  as  the  Librarian  has  frequently 
to  answer  written  and  veibal  applications  for  information  of  which 
no  record  is  kept.  The  Librarian  has  reported  that  a  very  successful 
meeting  of  the  Library  Association  was  held  at  Buxton  in  the  first 
week  of  September. 

From  the  Library  in  Edinburgh  about  1400  volumes  have  been 
lent  out  during  the  year,  of  which  164  were  to  provincial  readers. 
The  Library  continues  to  be  made  use  of  largely  for  purposes  of 
reference.  About  60  volumes  have  been  added  during  the  year, 
mostly  by  purchase,  and  a  few  as  donations.  These  include 
periodicals,  received  as  published,  and  standard  books,  among  which 
maybe  mentioned  Allen’s  ‘  Chemistry  of  Urine,’  Cole’s  ‘Studies  in 
Microscopical  Science,’  Everett’s  ‘Physics,’  Fresenius’  ‘Qualitative 
Chemical  Analysis,’  Gattermann’s  ‘  Practical  Organic  Chemistry,’ 
Green’s  ‘  Manual  of  Botany,’  Lassar-Cohn’s  ‘  Chemistry  in  Daily 
Life,’  and  his  ‘  Manual  of  Organic  Chemistry,’  Pearmain  and  Moor’s 
‘  Analysis  of  Food  and  Drugs,’  Sutton’s  ‘  Volumetric  Analysis,’ 
Tilden’s  ‘Chemical  Philosophy,’  and  Wanklyn’s  ‘Water  Analysis.’ 

No  annual  summary  is,  unfortunately,  com- 
Death  Eoll  plete  without  the  mournful  epilogue  in  which 
of  the  we  honour  the  names  of  those  who,  after  good 

Y ear.  and  faithful  service  in  pharmacy  or  in  science, 

have  passed  hence.  Prominent  among  thos$ 
who  contr  ibuted  to  the  sum  of  human  knowledge  in  their  respective 
spheres  of  activity  are  Dr.  J.  Langdon  Down  and  Sir  B.  W.  Richard¬ 
son,  the  former  a  distinguished  student  of  the  Society’s  School  in  its 
ear  ly  days,  and  a  valued  honorary  member  of  the  Society  for  many 


8 


rHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  2,  1897 


years.  Among  corresponding  members  the  Society  has  to  deplore 
the  loss  of  Dr.  Trimen — the  co-worker  with  the  late  Professor 
Bentley  in  the  production  of  the  now  classical  work  *  Medicinal 
Plants  ’ — and  Baron  Ferdinand  yon  Mueller,  Government  Botanist 
at  Melbourne  and  an  eminent  authority  on  the  Australasian  Flora. 
The  list  of  deaths  during  the  year  also  includes  the  names  of 
T.  C.  Betty,  Marshall  Leigh,  and  G.  F.  Schacht,  the  latter  of 
whom  had  filled  the  office  of  Vice-President  of  the  Society,  and  all 
■  of  whom  had  served  the  Society  as  members  of  the  Council.  The 

•  death  of  the  following  local  and  divisional  secretaries  has  likewise 
to  be  recorded : — H.  Saxby  (Lewes)  ;  R.  H.  Swingburn  (South 
Molton)  ;  J.  W.  Littlefield  (Ventnor) ;  J.  B.  Parkin  (Ripon)  ; 
F.  Codd  (Devonport) ;  W.  B.  Stonham  (Maidstone) ;  F.  Baker 
(Sandwich) ;  T.  Howard  Hall  (East  Islington) ;  H.  A.  Thomas 

•  .(City) ;  and  W.  Gulliver  (St.  George’s). 


PARLIAMENTARY  NOTES  AND  NEWS- 


Diplomatic  and  Consular  Reports  and  communications  from 
British  representatives  on  matters  of  commercial  or  general 
interest  are  now  published  in  a  manner  which  will  render  them  of 
some  value.  The  good  old  bureaucratic  idea  of  pigeon-holing 
every  report  received  has  given  way  at  last  to  the  more  rational 
consideration  that  as  these  reports  were  meant  to  be  of  value  to 
the  commercial  and  general  community  they  should  be  freely 
obtained  through  the  ordinary  channels.  Thus  is  to  be  explained 
the  somewhat  startling  line  “to  be  purchased  either  directly  or 
through  any  bookseller,”  which  now  appears  on  official  publica¬ 
tions  of  this  kind.  “  The  Report  on  the  Petroleum  Industry  in 
Roumania,”  which  may  be  purchased  for  twopence  with  one’s 
morning  paper,  is  a  good  instance  of  what  the  Foreign  Office  can 
do  in  the  way  of  producing  cheap,  and  possibly  beneficial,  litera¬ 
ture. 

A  Special  Commission  has  been  appointed  to  inquire  into  the 
condition  and  prospects  of  the  cane  sugar-growing  islands  of  the 
British  West  Indies.  The  Commissioners  are  three  in  number, 
viz.,  General  Sir  H.  W.  Norman,  C.I.E.  (Chairman)  ;  Sir  Edward 
Grey,  Bt.,  M.P.  ;  and  Sir  David  Barbour,  K.C.S. I.  Mr.  S.  Olivier, 
B.A.,  will  accompany  the  Commissioners  in  the  capacity  of  Secre¬ 
tary,  and  Dr.  D.  Morris,  Assistant-Director  of  the  Royal  Gardens, 
Kew,  is  to  be  the  expert  of  the  party  to  advise  on  botanical 
matters.  Sugar-growing  was  the  staple  industry  of  the  West 
India  Islands,  and  anything  affecting  the  growth  of  the  cane  or 
interfering  with  the  disposal  of  the  refined  product  induces  some¬ 
thing  approaching  a  crisis.  It  should  go  a  long  way  to  remove 
anxiety  in  the  minds  of  colonial  planters  to  know  that  the  Home 
Government  has  promptly  recognised  the  seriousness  of  existing 
conditions,  and  has  promptly  taken  steps  to  see  what  can  be  done 
towards  remedying  such  conditions. 

The  British  West  Indies,  however,  are  not  the  only  sufferers. 
A  consular  report  on  the  trade  of  Martinique  and  Guadeloupe,  just 
issued  by  our  Foreign  Office,  shows  that  the  French  Colonial 
Department  is  sorrowing  over  very  deplorable  accounts  from  these 
islands.  A  series  of  visitations,  in  the  shape  of  fires,  cyclones,  pro¬ 
longed  droughts,  and  disease  have  ruined  the  crops  and  exhausted 
local  resources.  The  exports  have  fallen  enormously,  and  the  im¬ 
ports  have  also  diminished,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  remitting  for 
the  goods.  Measures  of  relief  for  the  planter  are  in  prospect,  and 
even  now  he  is  encouraged  by  the  remission  of  the  duty  on  artificial 
manures  to  pay  some  attention  to  enriching  the  soil :  5000  tons  of 
chemical  manure  reached  the  island  in  1895  from  England.  There 


is  evidence  that  in  default  of  sugar  raising,  the  planters  in  both 
British  and  French  West  Indies  will  turn  their  attention  to  second¬ 
ary  cultures.  Coffee,  cocoa,  cassia,  and  logwood  are  already 
figuring  in  the  exports.  Most  of  the  produce  at  present  goes  to 
France. 


NEW  IDEAS. 


SOLUBLE  ANTISEPTIC  PELLETS. 

For  some  time  past  the  Sanitas  Company,  Limited,  has  manu¬ 
factured  L.G.B.  corrosive  sublimate  pellets,  but  they  have  only 
been  put  up  for  sale  in  bottles.  The  firm  has  now  placed  on  the 
market  the  same  article  in  small  tubes,  retailing  at  4 d.  each,  and 
containing  eight  pellets,  each  of  which  when  dissolved  in  half-a- 
pint  of  water  yields  a  solution  of  1  in  1000.  The  same  firm  has 
added  to  its  manufactures  pellets  of  potassium  permanganate  and 
carbolic  acid  pellets,  both  of  which  should  prove  very  useful  in 
numerous  instances,  on  account  of  their  extreme  portability. 

COMPOUND  PHENACETIN  TABLOIDS. 

The  constantly  increasing  use  of  phenacetin  as  an  analgesic  and 
antipyretic  has  suggested  to  Messrs.  Burroughs,  Wellcome  and 
Co.  the  preparation  of  tabloids  of  the  following  formula 
R.  Caffeine,  gr.  1  ;  phenacetin,  gr.  4.  It  is  anticipated  that  the 
combination  of  phenacetin  with  so  useful  a  cardiac  stimulant  as 
caffeine  Mill  prove  therapeutically  useful  in  many  ways,  and  already 
a  number  of  reports  have  been  received  of  its  excellent  effect  in 
relieving  the  sick  headache  of  migraine.  The  tabloids  are  supplied 
in  bottles  containing  twenty-five  and  one  hundred. 


NOVEL  DISPENSING  BALANCE. 


An  ingenious  balance  for  weighing  a  number  of  powders  of  the 
same  weight  has  been  devised  by  Nithack,  and  is  manufactured 
and  sold  by  F.  Russ,  of  Vienna.  A  circular  rotating  plate  with  ten 
apertures  supports  as  many  horn  capsules.  Below  the  plate  is  a 
fixed  balance,  into  the  pan  B  of  which  the  weights  are  placed.  The 
arm  opposite  to  this  pan  supports  the  capsule  C,  which  has  been 


previously  counterbalanced.  The  powder  having  been  weighed 
into  the  capsule  C,  the  lever  A,  working  backwards  and  forwards, 
lifts  the  plate  and  with  it  the  capsule,  rotates  .t,  and  brings  the 
next  capsule  over  and  deposits  it  on  the  arm  of  the  balance  ;  the 
weighing  can  thus  be  repeated  with  great  ease'and  rapidity.  The 
pointer  of  the  balance  projects  above  the  plate  and,  moving  over  a 
graduated  scale,  allows  of  an  accurate  weighing  being  made. 


Jan.  2,  18t7J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


9 


PHARMACEUTICAL  SOCIETY. 


MAJOR  EXAMINATION  PAPERS. 

DECEMBER  29  and  30,  1896. 

[Time  Allowed  for  each  Paper— Three  Hours  ] 


CHEMISTRY. 

[Six  questions  on7]/  are  to  be  attempted  ] 

1.  One  and  the  same  electric  current  is  simultaneously  parsed  through  so’u- 
tions  of  the  following  substances  in  successi  >n Hydroch'oric  acid,  sulphuric 
acid,  sodium  sulphate,  potassium  chloride,  ferrous  sulphate,  ferric  sulphate. 
What  would  separate  at  the  cathode  and  anode  respectively  in  each  case  ? 
Calculate  also  the  weights  of  the  several  substances  which  wou  d  separate 
whilst  5  grms.  of  hjdrogen  were  being  evolved  from  the  hydrochloric  acid 
solution. 

2.  What  are  the  several  ways  in  which  argon  has  been  isolated,  what  are  its 
distinctive  properties,  and  on  what  grounds  is  its  molecule  believed  to  consist  of 
a  single  atom? 

3.  Describe  the  method  of  obtaining  glycerine  on  an  industrial  scile.  Explain 
by  means  of  equations  any  reactions  with  which  you  are  acquainted  into  which 
this  substance  enters,  and  indicate  what  light  they  throw  on  its  constitu' ion. 

4.  How  could  the  following  substances  be  obtained  from  benzene  : — Toluene, 
benzoic  acid,  salicylic  acid,  phenol,  benzaldehyde,  phenylhydrazine,  benzyl 
chloride  ?  Indicate  also  how  benzene  could  be  ob tamed  from  each  of  these 

.5.  State  what  you  know  about  the  thermal  phenomena  attending  the  neutralisa¬ 
tion  of  strong  acids  by  strong  bases  in  dilute  solution,  and  point  out  what 
inferences  have  been  made  from  the  facts. 

6.  What  process  or  series  of  processes  would  you  adopt  in  order  to  obtain  : — - 

(a)  Sulphur  from  potassium  sulphate, 

(b)  Phosphorus  from  potassium  phosphate, 

(c)  Carbon  from  potassium  carbonate, 

(d)  Nitrogen  from  ammonium  nitrate  ? 

7.  Give  an  account  of  the  action  of  atmospheric  air  on  an  aqueous  solution 
containing,  originally,  ammonium  sulphide. 

8  What  is  the  composition  and  constitution  of  phenylhydrazine  What  is  its 
action  on : — 

(a)  Aldehyde,  (6)  acetone,  (c)  fructose,  (d)  glucose? 

9.  Plow  is  ammonium  sulphocyanide  prepared  ?  Describe  the  action  of  heat 
upon  it. 


A  Paper.* 

PRACTICAL  BOTANY  AND  MATERIA  MEDICA. 

1.  Describe  in  technical  language  the  flower  A.  Refer  it  to  its  Natural  Order, 
and  give  reasons  for  your  determination. 

2.  Cut  sections  of  specimen  B.  Mount  not  more  than  two  in  dilute  glycerine, 
and  leave  them  with  explanatory  sketches  for  inspection  by  the  examiners. 
Briefly  describe  the  structures  shown  in  your  prepaiations,  and  identify  the 
specimen  as  far  as  you  are  able. 

3.  Examine  the  bark  provided,  and  make  a  microscopical  preparation  to  dis¬ 
play  any  peculiarity  of  structure  which  it  presents.  Leave  with  your  prepara¬ 
tion  a  short  desc>iption  calling  attention  to  such  peculiarity. 

4.  Ascertain  the  constituents  of  the  powder  C. 


B  Paper.  * 

BOTANY  AND  MATERIA  MEDICA. 

1.  Give  some  account  of  the  mode  of  formation  of  the  grains  of  sttrch  present 
in  the  cells  of  the  tuber  of  a  potato.  What  is  the  ultimate  fate  of  these  starch- 
grains  ? 

2  Give  an  account  of  the  external  features  of  any  British  Fern.  Compare  and 
contrast  the  methods  of  reproduction  in  a  Moss  and  a  Fern. 

3  Give  an  account  of  the  different  forms  of  fruit  found  among  plants 
belonging  to  the  natural  order  Rosacese.  In  each  case  you  mention  say  from 
what  part  of  the  flower  the  succulent  portion  of  the  fruit  is  derived. 

4.  Describe  the  histological  features  of  Cinchona  succirubra  bark.  How  is  this 
bark  distinguished  from  that  of  other  cinchonas?  How  may  the  presence  of 
cinchona  alkaloids  be  readily  demonstrated? 

5.  By  what  reactions  would  you  recognise  the  presence  of  Quinine,  Morphine, 
and  Strychnine  ? 


SELECTED  PRACTICAL  FORMULA 


The  following  specially  selected  formulae  are  published  in  the 
hope  that  they  may  convey  some  seasonable  hints  to  readers  of 
the  Journal  (see  also  last  volume,  p.  468) : — 

Embrocation  for  Whooping  Cough. 


Rectified  Oil  of  Amber  ..  ..  ..  1  ounce. 

Oil  of  Cloves  . 1  ounce. 

Olive  Oil  , .  . .  . .  . .  . .  3  ounces. 

Mix. 


PHYSICS. 

[Six  Questions  only  are  to  be  attempted.] 

1.  Describe  in  detail  the  way  in  which  the  metric  measures  and  weights  have 
been  obtained,  at  d  give  approximately  their  equivalents  in  the  English  system. 

2.  How  do  the  spectra  obtained  by  means  of  prisms  of  different  kinds  of  glass 
differ  from  each  other  and  from  those  produced  by  gratings  ? 

3.  What  do  you  understand  by  the  interference  of  1  ght  ? 

4.  Describe  the  construction  and  action  of  some  form  of  electrometer. 

r  5.  How  is  the  relative  electric  conductivity  of  a  solution  of  a  salt  affected  by 
dilution  ? 

6.  How  is  the  pressure  of  vapour  of  a  liquid  determined  ?  What  happens  if 
the  volume  of  a  saturated  vapour  is  diminished  ? 

7.  State  the  law  of  Dulong  and  Petit.  What  elements  are  notably  exceptional 
in  regard  to  this  law  ? 

8.  How  may  an  electric  current  be  produced  by  means  of  a  magnet?  Describe 
a  machine  by  which  a  direct  continuous  current  of  electricity  may  be  obtained 
through  the  intervention  of  a  magnet. 

9.  What  is  the  action  of  heat  on  iodine,  elementary  arsenic,  arseniaus  an¬ 
hydride,  ice,  and  sulphur?  Would  any  of  the  phenomena  be  changed  by  the 
increase  or  diminution  of  pressure  during  the  heating  ? 


A  Paper.* 

BOTANY  AND  MATERIA  MEDICA. 

1 .  Give  an  account  of  the  changes  which  take  place  in  the  contents  of  the 
cells  of  the  endosperm  of  the  barley  grain  as  germination  proceeds.  Explain 
these  chemical  changes  as  far  as  you  can. 

2.  What  are  the  most  important  characteristics  of  mosses  ?  Give  an  account 
of  the  st  mature  and  life  history  of  any  British  moss. 

3.  Compare  the  Natural  Orders  Ranunculacese  and  Rosacese,  with  regard  to 
their  vegetative  and  floral  organs. 

4.  De-cribe  the  histological  features  of  Ipecacuanha.  What  are  its  active 
principles  ?  In  what  proportions  are  they  present  ?  Mention  the  source  of  the 
official  drug,  and  give  the  chaiacters  which  distinguish  it  from  other  varieties. 

5.  How  is  Cod-Liver  Oil  prepared  ?  Give  an  account  of  its  chemical  com¬ 
position.  How  would  you  distingui  h  it  from  other  fish  oils  ? 


B  Paper.* 

PRACTICAL  BOTANY  AND  MATERIA  MEDICA. 

1.  Describe  in  technical  language  the  flower  D.  Refer  it  to  its  Natural  Order, 
and  give  reasons  for  your  determination. 

2.  Cut  sections  of  specimen  E.  Mount  not  more  than  two  in  dilute  gly  erine, 
and  leave  them  with  explanatory  sketches  for  inspection  by  the  examiners. 
Briefly  describe  the  structures  shown  in  your  preparations,  a . d  identify  the 
specimen  as  far  as  you  are  able. 

3.  Examine  the  bark  provided,  and  make  a  microscopical  preparation  to  display 
any  peculiarity  of  structure  which  it  presents.  Leave  with  your  preparation  a 

thort  description  calling  attention  to  such  peculiarity. 

4.  Ascertain  the  constituents  of  the  powder  F. 


*  Part  of  the  candidates  received  the  papers  A,  A,  and  the  remainder  had  the 
papers  B,  B. 


T  iolet  Tooth  Ponder. 


PrecipRited  Chalk 

. .  8  ounces. 

Cuttlefish  Powder . . 

..  2  „ 

Powdered  Castile  Soap  . . 

..  2 

Powdered  Orris  Root 

..  4 

Ionone  . 

Anethol 

Carmine 

Tincture  of  Orris  ... 

.  . 

..  \  ounce. 

Rub  down  the  carmine  thoroughly  with  a  little  of  the  chalk  ;  add  the  rest  of 
the  powders.  Dissolve  the  perfumes  in  the  tincture,  and  add  this  to  the  mixed 
powder  s.  Rub  till  dry. 


Orange  Bitters. 

Soluble  Essence  of  Orange 
Soluble  Essence  of  Lemon 
Concentrated  Infusion  of  Cusparia  . . 
orange  Wine  .  to 


2  fluid  ounces. 

1  fluid  ounce. 

4  fluid  drachms, 
10  fluid  ounces. 


Mix,  stir  in  3  drachms  of  finely-powdered  pumice  stone,  and  filter  bright. 


Lip  Salve. 

Benzoated  Lard  ..  ..  ..  ..  8  ounces. 

Spermaceti  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  4  „ 

White  Wax . 2  ,, 

Oil  of  Sweet  Almonds . 1  ounce. 

Balsam  of  Peru  . .  . .  . .  1  drachm. 

Alkanet  Root  . .  . .  . .  . .  2  ounces. 

*  Digest  the  alkanet  root,  coarsely  powdered,  in  the  benzoated  lard  and  the  oil 
on  a  water  bath,  until  a  spot  of  mixture  when  cold  shows  a  deep  rose  tint,  then 
add  the  Peruvian  balsam,  strain  through  flannel,  and  melt  the  spermaceti 
and  wax  in  the  bright  liquor,  finally  perfume  with — 

Otto . 10  minims. 

Oil  of  Ylang  Ylang  . 5  ,, 

Terpineol . 20  ,, 


Toilet  and  Nursery  Ponder. 

Boric  Acid  in  Finest  Powder  . .  . .  8  ounces. 

Oil  of  Petitgrain .  ..  2  m  nims. 

Oil  of  Neroli  .  ..2  ,, 

Od  of  Bergamot . 2  ,, 

Otto . 5  ,, 

If  desired  this  may  be  coloured  pink  by  the  addition  of  10  grains  of  carmine. 


*  Part  of  the  candidates  received  the  papers  A,  A,  and  the  remainder  had  the 
papers  B,  B. 

t  Records  of  experience  with  any  of  rinse  formulae,  if  sent  by  readers,  will  be 
gladly  received. 


10 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan  2,  1897. 


THE  STUDENTS’  PAGE. 


INTRODUCTORY. 

Under  this  heading  it  is  proposed  to  publish  from  time  to  time 
short  articles  or  notes  specially  designed  to  assist  in  removing  from 
the  path  of  students  working  at  home  such  stumbling-blocks  as  all 
must  of  necessity  encounter  in  their  studies.  These  notes  will 
deal  generally  with  the  subjects  included  in  the  pharmaceutical 
curriculum,  difficult  points  in  chemistry  and  physics,  botany, 
materia  medica  and  histology,  practical  pharmacy  and  dispensing, 
being  treated  as  occasion  may  arise.  Amongst  other  matters 
lists  will  be  published  regularly  of  such  plants  as  may 
be  found  in  blossom,  with  explanatory  notes  of  their 
structure  when  any  peculiarity  renders  this  desirable. 
It  is,  of  course,  difficult  to  arrange  such  lists  for  all  parts  of  the 
country,  since  seasons  and  districts  vary.  Thus,  the  West  of 
Scotland,  in  some  sheltered  parts,  is  as  mild  as  Devonshire,  and 
plants  may  be  in  flower  from  Ayrshire  to  Orkney  that  will  hardly 
be  seen  in  blossom  anywhere  in  England  at  the  same  date  north 
of  Kent  on  the  eastern  coast.  An  endeavour  will  be  made  to  meet 
this  difficulty  by  describing  any  wild  specimens  which  may  be 
sent  for  the  purpose  by  those  who  do  not  find  them  mentioned  in 
the  lists  published.  It  should  be  understood  that  the  lists  given 
will  usually  be  of  plants  found  in  the  neighbourhood  of  London, 
and  it  will  serve  the  purpose  of  those  in  colder  districts  if  they  will 
consult  the  list  of  the  previous  month,  since  the  flowers  may  be  two 
or  three  weeks  later  in  the  north  than  in  the  south  of  Britain. 
Special  attention  will  also  be  given  to  points  requiring  explanation 
in  the  British  Pharmacopoeia,  whilst  communications  are  invited 
from  students  who  experience  any  difficulties  in  their  work,  as  similar 
difficulties  may  occur  to  others  and  explanations  published  in 
this  page  will  prove  useful  to  numerous  readers. 

BRITISH  WEIGHTS  AND  MEASURES. 

About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  (1758-1760),  Mr.  Bird 
made  a  standard  troy  pound  and  a  standard  yard  for  a  Weights  and 
Measures  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons.  In  1824  these 
standards  were  legalised  in  order  that  a  uniform  system  might  be 
made  compulsory  for  the  whole  realm.  The  troy  pound  was 
retained  as  the  standard,  because,  amongst  other  reasons, 
all  coinage  was  regulated  by  it  and  all  medical  prescriptions  were 
compounded  by  it  under  a  peculiar  sub-division  which  the  College 
of  Physicians  was  most  anxious  to  retain.  But  though  the 
avoirdupois  pound  was,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Commissioners,  not 
fit  to  be  made  a  standard,  it  was  in  such  general  use  that  they 
considered  its  weight  should  be  definitely  fixed.  Accordingly  they 
divided  the  troy  pound  into  5760  grains,  and  fixed  the  weight  of 
the  avoirdupois  pound  at  7000  such  grains.  Thus  the  use  of  two  sys¬ 
tems  of  weights  was  permitted,  the  troy  for  particular  (jewellers’ 
and  apothecaries’)  use,  the  avoirdupois  for  general  use.  The  former 
was  sub-divided  in  two  ways,  one  for  jewellers  (ounces,  penny¬ 
weights,  and  grains),  the  other  for  apothecaries  (ounces,  drachms, 
scruples,  and  grains). 

Not  long  after  the  legalisation  of  the  standards  they  were  lost 
(in  1834)  in  the  fire  by  which  the  House  of  Commons  was  destroyed. 
The  Committee  which  was  appointed  (1838)  to  restore  the  standards 
did  so  between  1843  and  1854,  but  they  replaced  the  troy  pound 
by  the  avoirdupois  pound.  These  standards  were  legalised  ;  they 
are  the  imperial  standards,  and  are  now  deposited  in  the  Standards 
Department.  The  standard  yard  is  the  distance  between  the 
centres  of  two  gold  plugs  sunk  in  a  bronze  bar,  and  the  standard 
pound  is  a  mass  of  platinum. 

Eour  “parliamentary”  copies  of  each  of  these  imperial  standards 
have  been  made  so  as  to  provide  against  injury  or  loss.  Two  of 
them  are  deposited  at  the  Mint,  two  at  the  Royal  Observatory 
(Greenwich),  two  with  the  Royal  Society/whilst  two  are  immured 
in  the  parliamentary  buildings  at  Westminster.  Other  copies 
have  been  supplied  to  numerous  towns.  Both  systems  of  weights 
previously  in  use  were  thus  retained,  but  the  avoirdupois  was  made 
the  standard,  whilst  the  value  of  the  troy  ounce  was  regulated  by 
that  standard. 

By  the  Act  of  1878  it  is  determined  that  the  sixteenth  part  of 
the  imperial  standard  pound  shall  be  an  ounce,  the,  sixteenth  part 
of  such  ounce  a  drachm,  and  the  seven-thousandth  part  a  grain. 
Further  480  such  grains  shall  be  an  ounce  troy. 

All  articles  sold  by  weight  must  be  sold  by  avoirdupois  weight, 
with  the  exception  of— (1)  Gold,  silver,  platinum,  etc.,  which  may 


be  sold  by  the  ounce  troy  or  decimal  parts  thereof.*  (2)  Drugs, 
which  when  sold  by  retail  may  be  sold  by  apothecaries  weight. 

The  latter  (apothecaries  weight)  consists  of  the  ounce  (identical 
with  the  troy  ounce),  the  drachm,  the  scruple  and  the  grain 
(identical  with  both  avoirdupois  and  troy  grain). 

In  this  way  it  has  come  about  that  the  following  are  now  legal 


weights  (amongst  others) : — • 

Pound  (avoirdupois)  . 

equals 

7000 

grains 

Ounce  (  ,,  )  . 

5  5 

437-5 

5  5 

Drachm  (  ,,  )  . , . 

27-3 

Ounce  (apothecaries) . 

5  5 

480 

5  > 

Drachm  (  ,,  ) . 

5  5 

60 

Scruple  (  ,,  ) . 

5  5 

20 

5  5 

Ounce  (troy,  identical  with  apoth. ) 

55 

480 

55 

Pennyweight  (troy)  . 

5  5 

24 

55 

There  is  but  one  legal  pound,  the  avoirdupois  pound,  containing 
7000  grains,  but  there  are  two  legal  ounces  and  two  legal  drachms, 
viz.,  the  avoirdupois  ounce,  weighing  437 '5  grains,  and  the  troy 
(or  apothecaries)  ounce,  weighing  480  grains ;  the  avoirdupois 
drachm,  weighing  27 '3  grains,  and  the  apothecaries  drachm, 
weighing  60  grains.  The  avoirdupois  drachm  is,  however,  practi¬ 
cally  obsolete. 

THE  STUDY  OF  THE  B.P. 

The  study  of  the  British  Pharmacopoeia  for  examination  purposes 
is  usually  regarded  by  students  as  a  stupendous  and  unnecessary 
labour  imposed  upon  them  by  an  exacting  Board  of  Examiners.  A 
careful  inspection  of  the  Minor  syllabus  shows,  however,  that  the 
memory  work  insisted  upon  is  limited  to  a  knowledge  of  the  pro¬ 
portion  of  active  constituent  in  the  preparations  of  a  small  number 
of  potent,  and  in  most  cases  poisonous,  drugs.  Yet  it  is  no 
uncommon  thing  to  find  the  pharmaceutical  student  plodding 
through  the  Pharmacopoeia  from  A  to  Z,  endeavouring  to  commit 
to  memory  the  proportional  composition  of  every  preparation  con¬ 
tained  in  it — a  herculean  task  which  no  one,  and  least  of  all  the  Board 
of  Examiners,  expects  or  desires  him  to  attempt.  It  cannot  be  too 
strongly  insisted  upon  that  this  committing  to  memory  of  the 
proportion  of  such  things  as  cardamoms,  coriander,  and  saffron  in 
the  various  preparations  into  which  they  enter  is  both  unnecessary 
and  injurious.  It  is  unnecessary  because  the  Pharmacopoeia  is 
essentially  a  standard  book  of  reference,  and  as  such  is  always  at 
hand  in  any  actual  manufacturing  operation  ;  injurious  because 
it  is  burdening  the  mind  with  trivial  and  useless  details. 

The  object,  therefore,  which  each  student  should  clearly  set 
before  himself  in  ‘  ‘  grinding  up  ”  the  Pharmacopoeia  is  the 
acquisition  of  such  knowledge  as  will  make  him  a  skilful 
and  safe  dispenser,  and  not  a  parrot-like  acquaintance 
with  various  formulae,  to  acquire  which  they — like  Silas  Wegg 
— sometimes  “drop  into  poetry.”  The  student  should  endeavour 
to  make  as  many  as  possible  of  the  preparations  in  the  Pharma¬ 
copoeia,  and  pay  particular  attention  to  their  general  composition 
and  physical  properties,  as  well  as  to  their  solubility  and  behaviour 
towards  substances  with  which  they  are  commonly  prescribed. 

But  no  student  should  neglect  to  become  perfectly  familiar  with 
the  proportions  of  active  constituents  in  the  preparations  of  those 
potent  drugs  mentioned  in  the  Minor  syllabus  in  pharmacy,  in  the 
first  place  because  no  one  can  be  a  safe  dispenser  without  that 
knowledge,  and  also  because  he  cannot  expect  to  pass  the 
examination  without  it. 


THE  FLOWERS  OF  JANUARY. 

The  wild  flowers  most  likely  to  be  found  in  blossom  early  in 
January  are  Capsetta  bursa-pastoris,  Ulex  europceus,  and  Senecio 
vulgaris.  A  naturalised  plant,  Petasites  fragrans,  may  also  be 
found  in  flower  in  the  south  of  England.  In  gardens  the  Helle- 
borus  niger  ( Ranuncidacece )  and  Jasminum  nudiflorum  (  Oleacece, )  are 
just  coming  into  blossom,  and  the  greenhouse  plants, ' Schizostylis 
caccinea  ( Iridacmi ),  the  Roman  hyacinth,  tulips,  and  lilies  of  the 
valley  ( Liliacece, ),  narcissus  of  various  species  ( Amaryllidacece. ),  and 
Acacia  of  various  species  ( Leguminosce ),  Poinsettia  and  Euphorbia 
jacquinceflora  ( Euphorbiacece ),  Dendrobium  nobile  ( Orchidacece )  are 
available  for  examination,  being  easily  obtainable  from  florists. 
In  botanical  gardens  Hamamelis  virginica  may  still  be  found  in 
blossom.  Explanations  of  difficult  points  in  connection  with 
several  of  these  plants  will  be  given  next  week. 

*  This  is  the  reason  why  in  sets  of  troy  weights  the  sub-divisions  of  the 
ounce  are  decimal  parts  of  an  ounce.  The  pound  troy  is  not  a  legal 
weight. 


JAN.  2,  18t7j 


k  HARM  ACE  UTICAL  JOURNAL. 


11 


PWABIUCEUTIBAL  JOUBHAL. 

A  Weekly  Record  of  Pharmacy  and  Allied  Sciences 

ESTABLISHED  1841. 

Circulating  in  the  United  Kingdom,  France,  Germany, 
Austria,  Italy,  Russia,  Switzerland,  Canada,  the 
United  States,  South  America,  India, 
Australasia,  South  Africa,  etc. 

Editorial  Office:  17,  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.C. 
Publishing  a^d  Advertising  Office :  5,  SEfyLE  STREET,  W.C. 

LONDON:  SATURDAY,  JANUARY  2,  1897. 


GEORGE  FREDERICK  SCHACHT. 

Full  of  years  and  honourable  distinction  in  his  own 
vocation,  as  well  as  in  other  relations,  a  most  distinguished 
member  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  has  gone  to  his  rest. 
The  record  of  George  Frederick  Schacht  covers 
the  entire  history  of  the  Society,  and  in  every  phase 
of  his  career  he  gained  affectionate  regard  from 
all  with  whom  he  was  personally  associated,  as  well  as 
universal  respect  from  those  who  knew  him  less  intimately. 
That  such  should  have  been  the  case  was  a  natural  conse¬ 
quence  of  his  amiable  and  chivalrous  character,  his  perfect 
honesty  of  purpose  and  the  strict  regard  for  high  principle 
which  marked  every  action  of  our  departed  friend. 

George  Frederick  Schacht’s  early  pharmaceutical  train¬ 
ing  began  some  years  before  the  foundation  of  the  Society, 
in  the  Pond  Street  establishment  of  Messrs.  Savory  and 
Moore,  where  he  was  a  pupil  of  John  Savory,  one  of 
the  members  of  the  first  Council.  In  1842  young  Schacht 
became  an  Associate  of  the  newly-formed  Society,  and 
when  a  laboratory  for  practical  instruction  in 
pharmaceutical  chemistry  was  opened  in  1844,  George 
Frederick  Schacht  was  one  of  the  small  group 
of  students  who  entered  for  that  course,  as  well  as 
the  lectures  by  Pereira,  Thomson,  Fownes,  and  Red¬ 
wood.  In  taking  that  step  Schacht  was,  no  doubt, 
influenced  by  John  Savory,  who  was  President  of  the 
Society  when  the  Council  in  its  annual  report  drew 
especial  attention  to  the  “obvious  necessity  of  pupils,  at  the 
expiration  of  their  apprenticeship,  devoting  some  months 
to  lectures  and  practical  manipulations.”  By  this  means  it 
was  urged  that  “  the  active  business  operations  of  their  future 
lives  would  be  rendered  more  useful  to  themselves  and 
others,  by  giving  to  the  pharmaceutical  chemist  such  a 
professional  education  and  knowledge  as  would  justly  entitle 
him  to  the  confidence  of  the  public.”  Schacht’s  subsequent 
career  as  a  pharmacist  afforded  ample  proof  of  the  sound¬ 
ness  of  the  views  expressed  above.  As  a  student  he  was 
very  popular  with  his  comrades,  and  active  in  carrying 
out  the  arrangements  for  meetings  where,  in  turn,  they  read 
papers  on  some  subject  of  interest.  One  outcome  of  the  work 
done  in  the  laboratory  was  apaper  on  “unguentum  hydrargyri 
nitratis,”  which  was  read  at  an  evening  meeting  of  the  Society 
in  March,  1845.  He  took  prizes  in  both  branches  of 


chemistry  and  in  practical  pharmacy,  and  before  the  end  of 
the  session  passed  the  Major  examination.  His  removal  to 
Clifton  took  place  shortly  afterwards,  and  towards  the  end  of 
the  year  a  letter  from  him  appeared  in  the  Journal  dated 
from  3,  Regent  Place,  Clifton. 

For  some  years  afterwards  he  was  a  frequent  contributor  of 
papers  and  notes  on  pharmaceutical  subjects  to  the  Journal 
and  at  the  meetings  of  the  Bristol  Pharmaceutical  Associa¬ 
tion,  in  which  he  always  took  especial  interest,  and 
perhaps  the  last  letter  he  wrote  was  to  Mr  B.  Keen, 
relating  to  the  business  of  that  Association.  As  a 
pioneer  of  pharmaceutical  advancement  Schacht  will  long 
be  remembered  as  having  originated  the  idea  which  led  to 
the  foundation  of  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference,  for 
his  advocacy  of  provision  being  made  for  provincial  education 
and  of  a  compulsory  curriculum.  On  a  recent  occasion 
when  a  very  complimentary  address  was  presented  to 
him  by  his  colleagues  in  Bristol,  he  referred  to  these  efforts 
with  a  feeling  of  regret  that  he  had  not  met  with  more 
support,  but  it  may  safely  be  predicted  that  these  projects 
will  yet  bear  good  fruit  in  the  future  and  long  preserve 
the  memory  of  their  proposer  as  a  man  who  strove  to 
fulfil  the  duty  of  repaying  to  his  calling  the  repute  which  he 
derived  from  it. 

One  wdio  was  one  of  his  most  intimate  friends  says  of 
him  :  “  I  knew  Schacht  first  in  1864  at  the  Bath  meeting  of 
the  Conference,  our  acquaintance  quickly  ripening  into  friend¬ 
ship,  and  we  have  been  intimate  friends  ever  since.  He 
with  Giles  and  Stoddart  formed  a  trio  of  which  we  West 
of  England  pharmacists  were  justly  proud.  Schacht  was 
always  particularly  happy  in  bringing  members  of  the  craft 
together  and  furthering  in  every  way  he  could  the  interests 
of  our  body,  especially  in  the  direction  of  advanced  educa¬ 
tion,  and  his  local  influence  was  considerable. 

“  I  have  vivid  recollections  of  his  ever  hearty  cry  of 
welcome  and  the  genial  and  kindly  hospitality  of  himself 
and  of  the  lady,  his  wife,  who  always  so  warmly  seconded 
him.  In  the  early  days  we  had  many  a  long  tramp  together 
in  the  lovely  scenery  round  our  respective  cities  of  Bristol 
and  Bath.  I  first  taught  him  to  throw  a  fly,  and  he  became 
an  enthusiastic  fisherman.  For  many  years  we  never  missed 
the  spring  fishing  either  on  Exmoor  or  Dartmoor,  but 
latterly  the  ‘  Wylye,’  near  Salisbury,  made  a  more  conve¬ 
nient  meeting  ground,  and  only  this  year  he  was  as  keen  as 
ever,  though  perceptibly  not  able  to  stand  so  well  the  fatigue 
of  a  long  day. 

“  What  always  impressed  me  in  his  character  was  his 
undoubted  high  principle,  which  he  pushed  sometimes 
almost  to  the  verge  of  Quixotism,  and  his  rare  magnanimity. 
Although  a  keen  and  intelligent  critic  of  men  and  things, 
and  quick  to  resent  injustice ;  sometimes  a  little  too  im¬ 
patient  of  mere  opposition,  I  never  knew  him  harbour  an 
unkind  thought  of  anyone,  and  his  loyalty  towards  those 
who  were  doing  good  work  was  conspicuous.  A  brighter 
and  more  delightful  companion  it  would  be  hard  to  find,  and 
his  spirits  and  pluck  to  the  last  were  those  of  a  bright 
schoolboy.” 

Mr.  Schacht’s  official  connection  with  the  Society  was  of 
long  duration.  From  1863  to  1869  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Examiners.  At  the  opening  of  the  School  of 
Pharmacy  in  1870  he  delivered  the  inaugural  address.  From 
1872  to  1896  he  was  a  member  of  the  Council.  From  1879 
to  1882  he  filled  the  office  of  Vice-President.  He  was 


12 


PHARMACEUTICAL  journal. 


[Jan.  2,  18t?T 


President  of  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference  in  1878 
and  1879,  having  also  been  Treasurer  from  1870  to  1877, 
and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  Treasurer  of  the 
University  College,  Bristol,  an  institution  in  connection 
with  which  he  had  been  long  actively  engaged,  and  had 
gained  the  high  esteem  of  his  fellow-townsmen. 

The  funeral  was  held  on  Wednesday  afternoon,  when  the 
interment  took  place  in  the  churchyard  at  Portbury,  a  village 
six  miles  from  Clifton.  In  addition  to  members  of  the 
bereaved  family,  the  ceremony  was  attended  by  Mr.  Walter 
Hilis,  President  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  Mr.  Michael 
Carteighe,  Mr.  Charles  Ekin,  Mr.  R.  W.  Giles,  and  Mr. 
A.  L.  Savory,  who  came  to  pay  the  last  token  of  respect  to 
their  old  comrade  and  friend.  Professor  Lloyd  M organ,  Prin¬ 
cipal,  and  Mr.  Jas.  Rafter,  Secretary,  of  University  College, 
Bristol,  attended  on  behalf  of  the  institution  in  whose  success 
the  deceased  pharmacist  had  been  so  deeply  interested,  whilst 
the  Bristol  Pharmaceutical  Association  was  represented  by 
its  President,  Mr.  B.  Allen  ;  the  Treasurer,  Mr.  J.  Stroud  ; 
and  the  Honorary  Secretary,  Mr.  B.  Keen.  The  mourners 
also  included  Messrs.  C.  Townsend,  J.P.,  J.  W.  White,  W. 
Pitman,  G.  W.  Isaac,  T.  Burton,  and  J.  T.  Long.  Thus 
was  laid  to  rest  a  leader  in  pharmacy,  an  enthusiast  in 
matters  educational  and  one  who,  as  a  man,  gained  during  a 
long  and  honourable  career  the  friendship  and  esteem  of  all 
with  whom  he  came  in  personal  contact. 


THE  ‘  PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL  ’  AND 
CHANGED  IDEALS. 

The  position  which  pharmacists  in  all  civilised  countries 
have  been  accustomed  to  regard  as  an  ideal  one  is  that  of  an 
individual  in  whom  is  vested  the  sole  right  to  dispense 
prescriptions  and  vend-  medicaments,  who  at  the  same 
time  experiences  no  need  to  go  outside  those  limits  to  secure 
a  sufficient  income  to  exist  comfortably  and  maintain  his 
professional  status  with  proper  dignity.  Regarded  in  the 
abstract,  such  a  position  appears  at  first  glance  extremely 
attractive  to  the  dealer  in  miscellaneous  oddments,  who 
rarely  sees  a  prescription  from  one  year’s  end  to  another. 
At  the  same  time,  could  it  be  realised,  it  would 
more  probably  than  not  prove  appalling  in  its  monotony. 
But  it  is  never  likely  to  be  realised  in  the  future,  any  more 
than  it  has  been  realised  in  the  past,  for  even  the  recognised 
leaders  of  the  craft — both  in  and  out  of  London — have  always 
in  great  measure  depended,  and  will  continue  to  depend,  upon 
the  manufacture  and  sale  of  proprietary  preparations,  the 
supply  of  medicines  to  medical  practitioners  who  do  their 
own  dispensing,  the  sale  of  lozenges,  perfumes,  sponges,  and 
the  thousand  and  one  articles  usually  associated  in  the  public 
mind  with  the  “  chemist’s  shop.”  If  anyone  can  point  to  a 
single  instance,  past  or  present,  of  a  British  pharmacist  who  has 
practised  or  now  practises  “  pharmacy  pure  and  simple,”  the 
case  will  be  both  interesting  and  worthy  of  special  record  for 
the  benefit  of  future  historians. 

As  was  shown  in  these  columns  last  week,  however, 
indications  are  not  lacking  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
extremely  multifarious  nature  of  the  modern  pharmacist’s 
acquirements — which  he  finds  necessary  in  his  constant  inter¬ 
course  with  a  public  of  an  enquiring  disposition — is  likely  to  re¬ 
sult  in  his  ultimate  benefit.  For  the  opportunity  is  offered  him 
of  acting  as  general  scientific  adviser  to  the  large  number  of 
persons  who  resort  to  him  for  information,  and  in  the  prac¬ 


tical  applications  of  all  the  natural  sciences  a  sufficiently 
wide  field  is  opened  for  unlimited  enterprise  and  accompany¬ 
ing  profit.  The  new  ideal  too — which  impels  the 
pharmacbt  to  fit  himself  to  impart  information,  based  on, 
practical  knowledge,  concerning  all  matters  connected  with 
the  varied  applications  of  chemistry,  electricity,  optics,  etc. — 
is  if  anything  loftier  than  the  old  one,  and  is  certainly  far 
in  advance  of  the  conditions  that  have  actually  prevailed. 
Moreover  the  manner  in  which  his  ordinary  business  is 
perforce  conducted  gives  him  an  advantage  over  others  who- 
act  as  scientific  experts,  as  he  is  daily  brought  in  contact 
with  his  clients  in  an  informal  sort  of  way,  and  will 
frequently  be  consulted  off-hand  when  a  formal  meeting 
by  appointment  would  be  carefully  avoide'd.  Most  phar¬ 
macists  have  had  personal  experience  of  this  fact  in  a  more  or 
less  limited  degree,  and  the  object,  at  present  in  view  is  to 
induce  them  to  cultivate  this  branch  of  their  business  with 
assiduity,  continually  maintaining  their  stock  of  information 
on  scientific  matters  at  the  highest  pitch,  so  that  they  may 
at  any  moment  be  able  to  prove  their  ability  to  cope  with 
technical  difficulties  of  the  most  varied  nature. 

The  position  of  the  Journal  in  this  matter  is  to  serve  as 
a  ready  means  of  diffusing  the  latest  information  on  all 
matters  of  interest,  and  also  as  a  medium  of  inter¬ 
communication  between  those  of  its  readers  who 
require  or  wish  to  impart  information.  In  years 
past  both  these  objects  have  been  served  in  accordance  with 
the  demands  of  its  readers  and  proprietors,  as  expressed  through 
theirelected  representatives  for  the  time  being.  To-day  the  same 
is  the  case,  and  in  the  future  this  condition  of  affairs  must 
of  necessity  continue.  But  the  changed  aspect  of  pharma¬ 
ceutical  affairs  during  recent  years,  or  perhaps  wre  ought  to 
say  the  gradual  realisation  by  pharmacists  of  what  the 
changing  conditions  of  business  necessitate,  has  resulted  in  a 
very  radical  alteration  in  the  manner  in  which  the  Journal  is 
conducted.  Desires  for  modifications  and  additions  had 
long  been  freely  expressed  by  individuals  from  time  to 
time,  at  annual  meetings  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
and  on  other  occasions,  as  well  as  privately,  but  no 
definite  change  was  possible  or  indeed  desirable  until  those 
to  whom  had  been  entrusted  the  direct  care  of  the  Society’s 
interests  had  become  impressed  with  the  universality  of  the 
wish  lor  alterations  in  the  Journal. 

The  decision  now  being  acted  upon  has  been  arrived  at 
after  careful  deliberation,  and  it  has  met  with  general 
approval.  There  is  no  doubt  whatever  that,  at  present,  the 
vast  majority  of  our  readers  are  anxious  that  “their”  Journal 
should  develop  in  a  certain  definite  direction,  and  at  the 
close  of  the  first  complete  year  during  which  the  new  lines 
have  been  followed,  it  is  gratifying  in  the  extreme  to  find 
with  what  unanimity  the  progressive  tendency  of  the  respon¬ 
sible  authorities,  as  interpreted  by  the  Journal,  has  been 
approved.  Much  more  yet  remains  to  be  done  no  doubt, 
but  if  those  who  ar-e  of  this  opinion  will  but  take  the  trouble 
to  inform  and  educate  their  elected  representatives  accord¬ 
ingly,  there  can  be  but  one  result.  Meanwhile,  at  the 
beginning  of  a  new  year,  a  fairer  prospect  than  ever  discloses 
itself  of  ways  in  which  the  craft  may  be  assisted  through  the 
medium  of  the  Journal,  and  if  the  efforts  made  be  but  sup¬ 
ported  by  those  on  whose  behalf  they  are  made,  there  is 
every  indication  that  both  the  Journal  and  its  readers  will 
have  gone  far  towards  realising  their  present  and  newer 
ideals  before  the  close  of  another  twelve  months. 


Jan.  2,  1897J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


13 


ANNOTATIONS. 


The  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference  is  to  be  held  at  Glas¬ 
gow  on  August  9  next  and  following  days,  and  already  the  local 
committee  appointed  to  make  the  necessary  arrangements  is  busil  y 
engaged  in  its  self-appointed  task.  The  honorary  secretary,  Mr. 
■J.  Anderson  Russell,  has  forwarded  an  advance  copy  of  a  circular 
which  is  about  to  be  issued.  In  this  those  connected  with  pharmacy 
in  the  district  are  asked  for  contributions  to  a  fund  that  is  beino- 

o 

raised,  to  meet  the  expenses  expected  to  be  incurred  in  carrying  out 
the  arrangements.  Apparently  it  is  intended  to  entertain  the 
visitors  right  royally,  for  it  is  estimated  that  a  sum  approaching 
two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  will  be  required  for  the  purpose. 

A  Spirit  of  Emulation,  coupled  with  a  desire  to  maintain  the 
reputation  for  hospitality  gained  by  Glasgow  twenty-one  years 
Ago,  is  doubtless  influencing  our  friends  in  the  other  “  second  city 
•of  the  Empire  ”  in  this  matter,  and  so  long  as  it  is  clearly  under¬ 
stood  that  such  an  expenditure  is  exceptional  and  not  expected  to 
be  repeated  by  less  wealthy  centres,  no  one  need  object  to  the 
lavish  scale  on  which  the  entertainments  are  proposed  to  be 
planned.  But  the  good  of  the  Conference  is  the  main  object  to  be 
aimed  at,  and  it  would  be  a  pity  to  risk  a  paucity  of  invitations  in 
the  future  by  allowing  it  to  be  thought  that  to  tender  such  may 
prove  a  too  expensive  luxury.  It  was  agreed  at  the  Edinburgh 
meeting  that  such  an  idea  should  be  rigidly  discountenanced,  and 
whilst  thanking  Glasgow  for  its  generous  sentiments  and  heartily 
thanking  its  citizens  for  their  gracious  hospitality,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  avoid  prejudice  to  other  places  that  may  be  glad  to 
•entertain  the  Conference  on  a  humbler  scale. 

The  Chairman  of  the  Local  Committee  is  Mr.  Robert 
M'Adam ;  the  Vice-Chairman,  Mr.  William  L.  Currie  ;  and  the 
Treasurer,  Mr.  John  Walker,  whilst  the  General  Committee,  as 
apart  from  the  Executive,  is  a  highly  representative  one,  including 
residents  in  some  twenty  different  towns.  As  might  be  expected 
the  list  of  names  differs  greatly  from  that  of  the  1876  Committee, 
though  some  few  of  the  old  names  appear  again.  Change  is  mani¬ 
fested  in  other  directions  also,  for  it  will  be  remembered  that  the 
President  of  the  last  Glasgow  Conference  was  the  late  Professor 
Redwood,  whilst  G.  F.  Schacht,  who  has  so  recently  passed  away, 
was  Treasurer  on  that  occasion.  As  mentioned  elsewhere  in  this 
issue,  Mr.  Schacht  was  the  originator  of  the  idea  which  led  to  the 
first  Conference  being  held. 

The  Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association  has  the  sym¬ 
pathy  of  Oxford  pharmacists,  thirteen  new  members  having  been 
enrolled  at  a  meeting  held  in  the  University  city  on  Wednesday, 
December  19,  whilst  several  others  were  previously  connected  with 
the  movement  to  restrain  the  insane  competition  in  prices.  Mr. 
Sheriff  Claridge  Druce,  M.A.,  acted  as  Chairman  at  this  meeting, 
and,  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Henry  Matthews,  it  was  resolved  ‘ 1  That 
the  chemists  of  Oxford  desire  to  express  approval  of  the  objects  of 
the  Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association,  and  pledge  themselves  to 
support  it  in  every  way ;  they  also  strongly  urge  upon  all  proprietors 
the  advisability  of  adding  their  preparations  to  the  protected  list.” 

The  Disapproval  of  the  Glasgow  Association  (see  last 
volume,  p.  518)  has  not  dismayed  Mr.  Glyn-Jones,  who  refuses 
to  accept  the  recent  vote  as  the  decision  of  the  Glasgow  chemists, 
and  confesses  to  having  been  disrespectful  enough,  on  first 
noticing  the  hour  at  which  the  vote  of  the  Glasgow  and  W est  of 
Scotland  Pharmaceutical  Association  was  taken,  to  attribute  the 
result  to  the  fact  that  local  supporters  of  the  P.A.T.A. — “who 


everywhere  are  eminently  respectable  citizens,  and  dutiful  hus 
bands  and  sons  ” — were  at  that  hour  well  on  their  way  to  bed. 
Becoming  serious  again,  he  expresses  the  opinion  that  a  sur¬ 
prising  amount  of  misconception  apparently  existed  in  the 
minds  of  some  of  the  prominent  speakers,  and  suggests  that  it 
would  have  been  well  had  the  P.A.T.A.  been  offered 
the  opportunity  of  being  officially  represented.  This  suggestion 
seems  only  fair  and  reasonable,  whilst  the  reference  to  possible 
misconception  existing  in  certain  minds  fully  accords  with  an 
opinion  we  have  long  held  in  this  matter.  Mr.  Glyn-Jones  has 
therefore  been  asked  to  write  for  the  Journal  a  concise  account  of 
the  aims  and  objects  of  the  Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association, 
making  the  most  of  its  claims  to  the  support  of  chemists  and  drug¬ 
gists,  and  showing  both  what  has  been  accomplished  and  what  yet 
remains  to  be  done.  This  article  he  has  promised  for  an  early 
date,  and  if  the  matter  is  then  properly  put  before  our  readers  no 
further  cause  of  misconception  on  their  part  should  be  possible. 

Professor  Emil  Du  Bois-Reymond  died  on  Saturday  morning 
last,  and  the  University  of  Berlin  is  thus  deprived  of  one  who  was 
foremost  in  the  sphere  of  organic  chemistry  and  physiology.  He 
was  of  French-Swiss  extraction,  and  studied  in  the  first  place  at  a 
French  gymnasium.  Proceeding  later  to  Berlin,  however,  he 
became  connected  with  many  important  investigations,  and, 
amongst  other  matters,  did  much  to  prove  that  biological  phe¬ 
nomena  are  governed  by  physical  and  chemical  laws.  He  was 
seventy-eight  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  death,  having  been 
Professor  at  Berlin  University  for  more  than  forty  years. 

The  Arsenical  Soar  Crusade  still  proceeds  apace,  Mr.  Alfred 
Higgs,  J.P. ,  of  Kingston-on-Thames,  having  been  fined  ten 
shillings  and  costs  on  December  23,  for  selling  an  article — Dr. 
King’s  Arsenical  Soap — found  by  Dr.  Stevenson  to  contain  no 
arsenic.  The  magistrates  decided  that  arsenical  soap  is  a  drug 
within  the  meaning  of  the  Sale  of  Food  and  Drugs  Act,  and  also 
held  that  the  use  of  the  term  “arsenical”  in  an  invoice  and  on  a 
label  does  not  constitute  a  warranty  on  the  part  of  the  manufac¬ 
turers.  The  Richmond  case  was  again  adjourned  on  Thursday. 

Holyrood  Table  Water. — Water  as  a  beverage  owes  its  agree¬ 
able  taste  to  the  presence  of  certain  saline  constituents,  among 
which  alkaline  and  earthy  sulphates,  carbonates,  and  chlorides  are 
the  most  important.  With  a  pure  water  and  a  judicious  selection 
of  these  salts  the  possibility  of  supplying  table  water  of  excellent 
quality  need  not  involve  the  cost  of  transport  of  several  hundred 
miles  from  a  Continental  source.  Acting-  upon  this  principle, 
Messrs.  Macfarlan,  of  Edinburgh,  are  introducing  an  economical 
table  water,  which  in  all  essential  characters  bears  comparison 
with  any  of  those  imported  from  abroad.  Holyrood  water  is  quite 
free  from  organic  impurity,  is  well  aerated,  very  agreeable  to  the 
palate,  and  free  from  the  objection  often  made  to  mineral  water, 
that  when  mixed  with  wine  or  spirits  it  spoils  their  flavour. 

The  Benevolent  Fund  has  benefited  as  a  result  of  the  special 
appeal  to  the  extent  of  £44  15s.  6 d.,  received  in  subscriptions  up 
to  the  end  of  December,  that  is  to  say,  nearly  forty  pounds  has 
been  received  during  the  last  week  of  the  year.  This  is  in  addi¬ 
tion  to  the  donation  of  twenty  pounds  mentioned  last  week,  which 
must  be  invested,  and  is  therefore  not  available  for  pressing 
necessities.  The  letter  of  Mr.  R.  H.  Parker  shows  how  the  Fund 
may  be  readily  increased,  without  disturbing  the  flow  of  ordinary 
subscriptions,  and  to  all  divisional  and  local  secretaries — indeed, 
to  all  members  and .  associates  of  the  Society— we  commend  the 
practical  study  of  the  precept,  “  Go  thou  and  do  likewise.” 


14 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  2,  18b7 


Progress  in  Science  in  1896. 


Nothing  of  primary  importance  in  chemistry 
Chemistry.  has  been  discovered  during  the  pa^t  year  but,  as 
usual,  the  number  of  minor  problems  that  have 
been  solved  is  beyond  calculation.  Amongst  other  matters  of 
interest  to  pharmacists,  the  constituents  of  Aristolochia  Aegen- 
tina  were  investigated  by  Dr.  0.  Hesse,  who  also  showed  that  the 
so  called  Scopolamine  Hydkochloeide  consists  in  reality  of 
salts  of  hyoscine  and  atroscine  ;  Professor  Schmidt,  however,  failed 
to  find  the  last  two  bases  in  Scopola  Root.  Professor  Fischer 
explained  the  failures  experienced  in  attempts  made  to  convert 
Uetc  Acid  into  Xanthine,  and  Fischer  and  Ach  succeeded  in  ob¬ 
taining  7-dimethyl  uric  acid  from  which  Caffeine  can  be  prepared* 
The  detection  and  determination  of  Aconitine  engaged  the  atten¬ 
tion  of  Dunstan,  Carr,  and  Tickle  ;  J.  0.  Umney  has  carried  out  a 
considerable  amount  of  work  on  the  chemistry  of  Essential  Oils, 
and  A.  H.  Allen  concluded  his  summary  of  the  properties  of  the 
Alkaloids  of  the  Veeateums. 

The  constituents  of  Rose  Oil  have  continued  to  interest  several 
workers,  and  Erdmann  and  Huth  suggested  the  retention  of  the 
term  Rhodinol  for  the  alcohol  from  that  and  other  sources.  D. 
Rainy  Brown  recommended  the  adoption  of  an  official  method  for 
the  preparation  of  pure  Azolitmin  ;  George  Coull  usefully 
explained  tbe  importance  and  value  of  Flame  Tests  ;  Professor 
Dewar  has  continued  his  work  on  the  Liquefaction  of  Gases  ; 
T,  W.  Schaefer  has  prepared  numerous  compounds  by  the  union  of 
Camphob  with  different  Phenols;  and  Paul  and  Cownley 
have  published  further  results  of  investigations  of  Beaziltan  and 
Columbian  Ipecacuanha.  R.  C.  Cowley  has  found  barium 
present  in  a  sampleof  Hydeobkomic  Acid  ;  H.  Kiliihi  has  advanced 
our  knowledge  of  the  Digitalis  Glucosides  and  their  products 
another  step.  Peoteacin  has  been  further  investigated  by  Merck 
and  Hesse,  who  prefer  for  it  the  name  Leucodein,  'and  E.  M. 
Holmes  has  advanced  the  opinion  that  the  botanical  source  of 
the  substance  is  Leucadendron  decurrens,'R.  Br.,  and  not  L.  concinnum. 

The  detection  of  C'oppee  in  Vegetable  Substance  was 
the  subject  of  a  note  by  Paul  and  Cownley,  to  some  extent 
confirming  the  view  of  Vediodi,  that  there  is  sometimes  more 
copper  naturally  present  in  vegetable  substances  than  is  found 
in  those  to  which  it  has  been  added  to  preserve  their 
natural  colour.  The  same  workers  have  instituted  an  examination 
of  the  alkaloids  of  Jaboeandi  ;  Dr.  Hesse  described  Rumicin, 
Nepalin,  and  Nepodin,  extracted  by  him  from  Hum  ex  nepalensis, 
Wall.  ;  A.  Petit  and  P.  Terrat  confirmed  the  opinion  that  Tea 
should  be  moistened  with  water  prior  to  extraction  with  chloroform, 
and  that  dilute  alcohol  acts  better  as  a  solvent  of  the  caffeine  in 
tea  than  nearly  anhydrous  alcohol ;  C.  T.  Tyrer  published  notes  on 
Concenteated  Hydeobeomic  Acid,  Hypophosphoeus  Acid  and 
Pyeoxylin.  Naylor  and  Littlefield  have  examined  Cascaeillin 
and  compared  the  work  of  Duval  and  Alesrandri  on  substances 
known  under  that  name.  Cellulose  and  its  derivatives  served 
Cross,  Bevan,  and  Beadle  as  the  subject  cf  an  excellent  paper,  in 
which  their  properties  were  described  ;  M.  Kubli,  and,  later, 
D.  Howard  have  dealt  with  the  testing  of  Quinine  and  its  salts 
Alex.  Gunn  has  written  on  the  determination  of  total  alkaloids  in 
Coca  Leaves;  Dr.  Wyrouboff  throws  doubt  upcn  the  universality 
of  the  Pekiodic  Law  ;  and  G.  Meiling  explains  the  synthetic  pro¬ 
duction  of  Eucaine.  Schimmel  and  Co.  have  published  additional 
useful  notes  on  the  testing  of  Essential  Oils  ;  the  present  position 
of  Beeswax  Analysis  has  been  summarised  by  R.  G.  Guyer ;  a 


simple  methcd  for  obtaining  a  Low  Tempekatuee  is  described  by 
0.  E.  Sage  ;  and  Professor  J.  N.  Collie  has  ably  described  how 
Aegon  and  Helium  were  discovered. 

The  explosive  properties  of  Acetylene  have  been  studied  during 
the  year,  and  two  accidents  have  been  caused  in  connection  with  that 
gas;  Calcium  Carbide  has  naturally  assumed  a  position  of  consider¬ 
able  importance  as  a  commercial  product;  Compressed  Gases  gener¬ 
ally  have  been  referred  to  in  detail  by  T.  Maben  ;  and  multitudinous 
other  items  of  more  or  less  indirect  pharmaceutical  interest  have 
been  published  in  these  columns  during  the  twelve  months  that 
have  just  elapsed,  and  the  closing  days  of  which  have  been  so 
notably  marked  by  the  opening  of  the  Davy  Faraday  Research 
Laboratory,  the  magnificent  gift  of  Dr.  Ludwig  Mond  to  his 
adopted  country. 

The  most  striking  advance  in  the  domain  of 
Physics  physics  and  photography  during  the  past  twelve 

and  months  has  been  the  discovery  of  the  “  X  ”  rays. 

Photography,  by  Professor  Rontgen.  That  this  discovery  lies 
rather  in  tbe  domain  of  physics  than  photography 
cannot  be  denied,  the  latter  being,  as  it  were,  dragged  into  it  by 
the  use  of  the  sensitive  dry  plate.  Notwithstanding  the  very  large 
number  of  experiments  which  have  been  conducted  by  various 
workers  since  Rontgen’s  first  announcement,  it  may  be  said 
that  we  know  but  little  more  of  these  rays  than  he  told  us. 
Of  their  application  to  surgery  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  speak 
except  to  point  out  their  ever  increasing  use  in  this  raspect.  As 
to  the  nature  of  the  “X”  rays  practically  nothing  is  known. 
The  assumption  that  they  are  light  waves  of  extremely  short  wave 
length  hardly  seems  tenable,  for  shadows  produced  by  wave  trans¬ 
missions  are  never  absoluiely  sharp,  the  wave  movement  being 
propagated  within  the  geometrical  shadow  in  increasingly  less 
quantity  as  the  wave  lengths  become  shorter.  This,  of  course,  is 
well  known,  for  in  the  case  of  sound  waves — their  lengths  being- 
of  feet  and  inches — the  shadow  penetration  is  excessive,  and  with 
light — where  the  wave  lengths  are  measured  in  microns  or 
thousandths  of  an  inch—  this  shadow  penetration  can  only  he  de¬ 
tected  readily  by  special  instruments.  Then  agaiD,  the  phenomena 
of  interference  and  refraction  are  characteristic  of  wave  motion,  and 
yet  the  “  X  ”  rays  cannot  be  either  refracted  or  give  rise  to  inter¬ 
ference.  If  the  vibration  of  the  waves  are  transverse  they  may  be 
polarised,  and  as  at  present  we  know  of  no  light  which  cannot  be 
polarised,  and  the  “X”  rays  cannot  be  polarised,  it  seems  but 
reasonable  to  conclude  that  the  “  X  ”  rays  are  not  transverse  but  longi¬ 
tudinal  vibrations,  and  not  light  rays.  On  the  other  hand,  it  should 
be  pointed  out  that  the  “X”  rays  produce  the  effects  of  ultra-violet 
light  in  producing  dermatitis,  in  discharging  electrically  charged 
conductors,  and  in  increasing  the  conducting  power  of  selenium. 

Whilst  considering  the  “X”  rays  and  their  connection  with  wave 
motion,  one  cannot  help  being  irresistibly  reminded  of  two 
striking  facts  which  have  keen  brought  prominently  forward 
recently  —  the  one  the  possibility  of  telegraphing  without 
wires,  as  suggested  by  Preece ;  and  the  other,  what  has 
been  termed  the  electric  eye  brought  forward  by  Professor 
Bose,  of  Calcutta.  Consideration  of  these  two  subjects  shows 
that,  after  all,  what  is  being  done  here  is  the  utilisation  of  the  Hert¬ 
zian  electric  waves.  Preece  was  led  to  his  subject  by  hearing  the 
conversation  going  on  between  two  users  of  the  telephone,  though 
his  wire  was  not  connected  with  theirs.  It  seems  probable  that 
here  he  had  actually  been  listening  to  the  effect  of  a  current  in¬ 
duced  in  his  wire  from  the  neighbouring  wires,  a  well-known  phe¬ 
nomenon,  which,  of  course,  is  taken  advantage  of  in  electro¬ 
magnets  and  coils  of  all  kinds,  whether  medical  or  the  more 
powerful  Ruhmkorff.  In  the  ’ater  experiments,  in  which  Preece  has 


JAX.  2,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


15 


attempted  to  telegraph,  unsuccessfully  at  present,  from  the  shore 
to  a  lightship,  it  is  probably  not  rash  to  hazard  the  suggestion  that 
he  has  been  using  Hertzian  waves.  To  some  extent  the  lay,  in  contra 
distinction  to  the  technical,  pressis  at  a  disadvantage  when,  in  search 
of  the  wonderful  and  thrilling,  statements  are  made  which  are  little 
short  of  the  absurd,  and  it  is  therefore  as  well  to  look  back  to  Hertz’s 
work  to  see  what  he  did.  It  would  be  out  of  place  here  to  enter 
at  any  length  into  Hertz’s  work,  but  by  producing  an  extremely 
rapid  oscillation  by  means  of  an  electric  current,  such  oscillation 
being  probably  smaller  than  the  thousandth-millionth  of  a  second, 
Hertz  proved  that  it  was  possible  to  provoke  electro -dy manic  waves 
in  air,  to  reflect,  refract,  and  condense  them,  and  that  they  would 
also  give  rise  to  interference.  This  being  the  case,  it  is  but 
following  the  matter  to  a  logical  conclusion  to  test  whether  they 
could  not,  like  the  ether  vibrations  of  light,  be  condensed  and 
sent  to  a  distance,  which  is  practically  what  Professor  Bose  has 
-done. 

Turning  now  to  matters  photographic,  we  find  but  little  startling 
-to  record.  Thanks  to  the  Jena  glass  and  to  the  valuable  mathe¬ 
matical  calculations  of  Dr.  Rudolph,  a  new  form  of  convertible 
anastigmat  lens  has  been  produced,  each  combination  of  which 
as  in  itself  astigmatically  and  chromatically  corrected,  both  for 
•oblique  and  central  pencils.  In  England  only  two  lenses  which  are 
novel  have  appeared,  and  one  of  these  must,  from  an  optical  point 
•of  view,  be  considered  as  a  retrograde  step,  as  it  is  not  achromatic 
nor  corrected  for  astigmatism  and  spherical  aberration,  but  as  it 
.gives  that  peculiar  soft  diffusion  of  focus  which  is  so  much 
.admired  by  some  schools  in  photography,  it  may  be  also  con¬ 
sidered  an  advance.  The  other  lens,  which  is  called  the  stigmatic, 
calculated  by  Mr.  Hugh  Aldis,  of  Cambridge,  may  be  said  to  be 
a  portrait  lens  working  at  F/4,  following  somewhat  on  the  lines 
•of  the  older  Petzval  form,  since  it  has  a  cemented  convex  front  com¬ 
bination  and  a  back  combination  composed  of  two  lenses  separated 
The  essentially  novel  point  is  in  the  use  of  flint  glasses  of  lower  indices 
of  refraction  than  the  crown,  which,  by  the  bye,  it  may  be  stated 
•would,  prior  to  the  introduction  of  the  Jena  glass,  have  been  an 
impossibility.  Acetylene  has  not  only  claimed  a  very  large  amount  of 
attention  from  photographers  but  also  a  victim  or  two.  Various 
dorms  of  generators  have  been  placed  on  the  market,  all,  so  far  as  a 
comparatively  short  acquaintance  with  them  will  warrant  one  in  say- 
og,  safe  in  use.  The  great  value  of  the  light  is  undoubtedly  in  its 
actinic  properties,  for  if  the  ordinary  three-wick  lamp  be  regarded 
as  unity  and  the  limelight  as  7,  acetylene  may  be  placed  as  5.  This 
is  somewhat  curious,  for  so  far  as  has  been  tested  at  present  acety¬ 
lene  seems  extremely  poor  in  ultra-violet  rays.  Ranking  next  in  public 
estimation  to  the  “  X  ”  rays  are,  undoubtedly,  “  animated  ”  photo¬ 
graphs.  In  this  case,  again,  is  seen  the  evolution  of  an  idea  which 
s  by  no  means  new,  and  it  is  evident  that  we  have  not  yet  reached 
.finality  by  any  means,  as  improvements  are  continually  being 
made. 

Photography  in  natural  colours  remains  practically  where  it  was, 
-though  increased  attention  has  been  paid  to  it  both  in  its 
application  to  the  printing  press  and  to  the  optical  lantern  for  projec¬ 
tion.  What  few  novelties  there  are  to  record  in  this  direction  may 
certainly  be  said  to  be  but  slight,  and  in  some  cases  doubtful 
improvements  on  older  and  well-known  methods  of  work. 
Possibly  one  of  the  mo3t  striking  applications  of  photography, 
about  which  a  great  deal  more  will  be  heard  in  the  near 
-future,  is  the  production  of  a  magazine  entirely  by  photography, 
.without  the  intervention  of  type  or  the  printing  press.  Mr.  Friese 
Greene,  the  inventor  of  this  process,  uses  a  band  or  continuous  roll 
•of  paper,,  coated  on  both  sides  with  a  gelatino-bromide  emulsion, 
•and  this  is  exposed  to  the  light  of  electric  incandescent  lamps  which 


are  placed  inside  a  glass  cylinder,  on  the  circumference  of  which 
are  placed  the  negatives  on  flexible  or  celluloid  films.  If  type 
matter  is  to  surround  the  illustrations,  the  type  takes  the  form  oE 
stencils  cut  in  opaque  or  non-actinic  paper.  After  passing  over  one 
cylinder,  by  which  one  side  is  exposed,  it  passes  under  another,  by 
which  the  other  side  is  printed,  and  thence  into  the  necessary 
developing,  fixing,  and  washing  troughs.  The  action  is  perfectly 
continuous,  and  an  edition  of  several  thousands  can  thus  be  printed 
off,  and  it  is  stated,  at  considerably  less  cost  than  by  the 
ordinary  type  and  printing  processes.  The  beauty  of  this 
method  will  be  revealed  of  course  in  the  exquisite  reproduction  of 
negatives. 

The  one  branch  of  photography  which  has  not  only  been  ex¬ 
tremely  active,  but  in  which  it  may  safely  be  said  there  has  been 
a  distinct  advance,  is  in  the  making  of  half-tone  or  process 
blocks.  Great  as  have  been  the  strides  during  the  last  ten  years  in 
this  department,  it  is  only  within  the  past  twelve  or  eighteen 
months  that  investigations  have  been  made  into  the  action  and 
theory  of  the  cross-lined  screen  through  which  such  pictures  are 
taken,  and  the  result  is  that,  whereas  but  two  years  ago  the 
practical  process  worker  knew  little  or  nothing  of  the  why  and 
wherefore,  and  obtained  his  results  by  rule  of  thumb  and  trial  and 
error,  he  now  has  clearly  defined  mathematical  rules  and  equations, 
which  enable  him  to  tell,  before  he  begins,  what  with  careful 
manipulation  he  may  obtain. 

Beginning  with  the  text-books  issued  during 
Botany.  the  current  year,  in  our  own  tongue  have  been 
published  Bergen’s  ‘  Elements,’  the  second 
volume  of  Dr.  Reynolds  Green’s  ‘  Manual,’  Macbride’s  ‘  Lessons  in 
Elementary  Botany,’  and  Dr.  Vines’  ‘  Student’s  Text-book.’  In 
German,  Prantl’s  ‘  Lehrbuch  ’  has  attained  its  10th  edition,  under 
Dr.  Ferdinand  Pax’s  care,  Max.  Rees  has  his  ‘  Lehrbuch  ’ 
published  at  Stuttgart,  Landsberg’s  ‘  Botanik,’  Baenitz’s  ‘  Grund- 
ziige,’  the  5th  issue  of  Hansen’s  ‘  Repetitorium,’  the  third  edition 
of  Willkomm’s  ‘  Bilderatlas  des  Pflanzenreiches  ’  is  brought  to  a 
conclusion,  and  lastly  Loew’s  ‘ Pflanzenkunde.’  A  large  book  in 
two  substantial  volumes  is  Constantin’s  ‘  Le  Monde  des  Plantes,’ 
and  Kerner  von  Marilaun’s  popular  ‘  Pflanzenleben  ’  has  reached 
its  second  edition.  Of  a  somewhat  different  type  are  Frank’s 
‘Lehrbuch  der  Pflanzenphysiologie,’  ed.  II.,  and  Schindler’s  ‘Die 
Lehre  vom  Pflanzenbau  auf  physiologischen  Grundlage,’  so  far  as 
the  introductory  and  general  part  (Allgemeine  Theil). 

In  the  life-history  of  plants  the  striking  observations  of  Prof. 
J.  B.  Farmer  and  Mr.  J.  LI.  Williams  on  the  fertilisation  of  Fucus, 
of  which  the  abstract  as  yet  only  has  appeared  in  the  Proceedings 
of  the  Royal  Society ,  cannot  be  passed  over  in  silence.  These 
authors  have  succeeded  in  tracing  the  actual  fertilisation  of  the 
archegonia  by  the  antherozoid,  and  the  subsequent  segmentation 
process.  Thuret  and  others  had  recorded  the  earlier  and  later 
stages,  but  the  actual  contact  had  not  been  previously  observed  ; 
it  is  rapidly  effected,  about  ten  minutes  sufficing  from  the  time 
when  the  antherozoids  were  placed  in  the  water  containing  the 
female  plants.  The  third  volume  of  the  collected  papers  of  Prings- 
heim  has  appeared,  under  the  pious  care  of  his  children,  and  Prof. 
F.  O.  Bower  has  within  the  last  few  days  produced  the  second 
portion  of  his  ‘Studies  in  the  Morphology  of  Spore-Producing 
Members,’  it  being  devoted  to  the  Ophioglossacece,  with  nine  quarto 
plates.  This  is  published  independently  by  the  author  ;  the 
former  parb  came  out  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions. 

The  important  ‘  Naturliche  Pflanzenfamilien,’  which  is  known  as 
Engler  and  Prantl’s,  continues  to  progress,  several  “  Lieferungen” 
having  made  their  appearance.  Dr.  Mez,  who  had  previously  mor  o- 
graphed  the  Brazilian  species  of  Bromeliacese,  has  prepared  a  com- 


16 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[J  AN 


plete  account  of  the  order  in  De  Candolle’s  ‘  Monographic,’  forming 
a  thick  volume  in  that  series.  Professor  Radlkofer,  of  Munich,  is 
still  energetically  working  at  the  Sapindace®,  and  his  monograph 
of  the  genus  Paullinia,  in  316  folio  pages,  attests  his  undiminished 
appetite  for  work.  A  monograph  on  a  different  plane  is  Dr. 
Wettstein’s  elaborate  account  of  the  genus  Euphrasia. 

On  the  very  day  these  lines  are  written  has  been  delivered  what 
purports  to  be  part  of  the  final  volume  of  Saccardo’s  *  Sylloge  Fun- 
gorum,’  it  being  a  general  index  to  the  whole  of  the  preceding 
eleven  volumes,  compiled  by  P.  Sydow.  A  popular  issue  of  Sir  John 
Lubbock’s  book  on  seedlings  has  appeared,  with  a  selection  from 
the  figures  which  adorn  the  original  form. 

The  consideration  of  local  floras  may  be  fitly  preceded  by  the 
mention  of  two  important  books,  the  first,  Engler  and  Drude’s  ‘  Die 
Vegetation  der  Erde,’  and  the  second  Warming’s  ‘Lehrbuch  der 
Okologischen  Pflanzengeographie,’  in  which  the  plants  are  treated 
according  to  their  environment ;  it  marks  a  new  stage  in  the  treat¬ 
ment  of  this  question. 

Tourist’s  floras  for  Switzerland  are  well  supplied  this  year.  We 
have  Mr.  Alfred  Bennett’s  volumes,  *  The  Flora  of  the  Alps,’  with 
coloured  illustrations,  which  are,  however,  out  of  date,  and  have 
served  for  another  work  previously.  The  popular  Gremli’s 

*  Excursionsflora  ’  has  reached  its  eighth  edition,  and  Schroter’s 

*  Taschenflora  des  Alpenwanderers  ’  its  fifth.  A  work  on  the  trees 
of  Switzerland  has  been  begun  as  *  Baum- Album  der  Schweiz.’ 
Turning  to  our  own  country,  we  find  new  editions  of  Mrs. 
Lancaster’s  *  British  Ferns  ’  and  ‘  Wild  Flowers  Worth  Notice,’  Mr. 
Step’s  ‘Wayside  and  Woodland  Blossoms  ’  in  a  second  issue,  and  a 
small  volume  by  the  Rev.  George  Henslow,  ‘  How  to  Study  Wild 
Flowers.’  The  excellent  ‘  Students’  Handbook  of  British  Mosses,’  by 
Messrs.  Dixon  and  Jameson,  will  be  welcomed  by  working  crypto- 
gamists.  Of  new  county  floras  there  are  two,  of  Ayrshire  and  of 
Dumfriesshire,  the  latter  by  Mr.  G.  F.  S.  Elliot,  and  noteworthy  by 
its  recording  the  names  of  the  insect  visitors  to  the  various  species. 

Again  crossing  the  Channel,  we  find  a  ‘  Flore  des  Algues  de 
Belgique,’  by  E.  de  Wildman,  and  for  France  two  series  of  ‘  Nouvel 
Atlas  de  Poche  des  Plantes,’  with  coloured  figures,  by  W.  Sielain, 
the  third  volume  of  Rouy  and  Foucaud’s  ‘  Flore  de  France,’  and  the 
second  of  Burnat’s  ‘  Flore  des  Alpes  Maritimes,’  which  runs  from 
Tilia  to  Fragaria  but  has  not  yet  embraced  Rosa.  There  is  also 
a  flora  for  the  mosses  and  hepatics  of  France  by  M.  Douin. 

Germany,  as  might  he  expected,  furnishes  many  books  to  the 
list,  including  the  continuation  of  Reichenbach’s  ‘  leones  Florae 
Germanic®, ’  by  F.  G.  Kohl ;  Schmidt’s  *  Pflanzen  der  Heimath  ’ ; 
W  unisch’s  *  Die  Verbreitesten  Pflanzen  Nord-Deutschlands,’  and 
a  companion  volume  on  the  fungi.  Kohl’s  ‘Excursionsflora 
Mitteldeutschlands,’  the  cryptogams  and  phanerogams  separate, 
the  10th  edition  of  Lackowitz’s  Brandenburg  Flora,  including 
Berlin ;  Kraepelin’s  North  and  Central  Germany  Excursion 
Flora,  and  last  bub  nob  least,  the  first  parb  of  Dr.  Ascherson’s 
‘  Mitteleuropaische  Flora,’  which,  as  might  be  guessed,  is  most 
carefully  done,  but  by  some  regarded  as  almost  needlessly 
complex.  Dr.  Drude  has  brought  out  the  first  volume  of  his 
‘  Deutschland’s  Pflanzengeographie.’  As  regards  Austrian  local 
works,  there  are  Kerner  von  Marilaun’s  ‘Sched®,’  the  seventh  part, 
and  a  flora  of  Stiermark,  by  Krasan,  a  small  pocket  volume. 

Dr.  Engler  has  brought  his  ‘  Pflanzen  der  Osb- Africa  ’  to  a  close, 
and  Mr.  H.  Bolus  has  issued  his  ‘  leones  Orchidearum,’  with  fifty 
plates,  partly  coloured.  The  most  important  venture  in  African 
botany  is  the  resumption  of  the  ‘  Cape  Flora,’  which  was  begun 
more  than  thirty  years  ago  by  Harvey  and  Sonder,  who  issued 
three  volumes.  Recently  two  parts  of  the  sixth  volume  have  been 
iesued  under  the  care  of  the  Director  of  the  Royal  Gardens,  Kew, 


comprising  ‘Iridace®,’  *  Amarylliuace®,’  and  ‘Liliace®,  ’  the  work 
of  Mr.  J.  G.  Baker. 

Messrs.  N.  L.  Britton  and  A.  Brown  have  brought  out  the  first 
volume  of  an  ‘  Illustrated  Flora  of  N.  America,  Canada,  and  the 
British  Possessions,’  with  cuts  bearing  a  close  resemblance  to  those 
prepared  by  W.  H.  Fitch  for  Mr.  Bentham’s  ‘  British  Flora  ’ ;  two 
more  volumes  are  to  complete  the  work.  Another  of  Professor 
Sargent’s  splendid  volumes  on  the  North  American  *  Silva  ’  has 
made  its  appearance,  being  the  ninth,  and  containing  the  Cupuli- 
fer®  and  Salicace®.  Mr.  Trealease  has  published  on  ‘  The 
Juglande®  of  the  United  States,’  with  twenty-five  plates ;  Mr. 
Mudford  on  ‘  The  Agaves,’  with  thirty-eight  plates ;  and  Dr.  Allen 
has  issued  another  parb  of  his  ‘Charace®.’ 

Brazilian  plants  have  received  attention  from  Mr.  S.  L.  Moore, 
whose  working  up  of  his  collections  from  the  botanically  little- 
known  ‘  Matto  Grosso  ’  came  out  as  a  thick  quarto  in  the  Linnean 
Society’s  Transactions,  published  late  in  December,  1895,  and  hence 
boo  late  to  mention  in  our  last  year’s  summary.  The  magnificent 
folio  flora  begun  by  Martins  has  received  accessions,  in  |a  part 
devoted  to  the  Bignoriiace®  by  Bureau  and  K.  Schumann,  and  two 
parts  of  the  orchids  by  Cogniaux. 

Reverting  to  the  old  world,  it  is  extremely  satisfactory  to  be 
able  to  allude  to  the  two  parts  of  the  Indian  Grasses  of  the 
‘  Flora  of  British  India  ’  which  have  been  published  lately. 
After  long  and  tedious  labour  the  flora  of  British  India  is 
approaching  completion,  and  we  may  confidently  expect  the 
last  part  and  the  general  index  to  appear  during  1897.  At  the 
end  of  more  than  forty  years’  labour  Sir  Joseph  Hooker  has  the  satis¬ 
faction  of  bringing  his  monumental  labours  on  this  subject  to  a 
successful  close.  Also  East  Indian  is  Mr.  Gamble’s  illustrated 
monograph  of  the  bamboos,  which  forms  part  of  the  quartos  issued 
as  ‘  Annals  of  the  Calcutta  Botanic  Garden.’  Professor  Post,  of  the 
American  Mission  at  Beirut  has  printed  his  ‘  Flora  of  Syria, 
Palestine,  and  Sinai  ’  in  a  handy  octavo,  with  cuts  of  many  of  the 
plants. 

In  Australia  Professor  Tate  has  issued  a  report  on  the  Horn 
Expedition  to  Central  Australia,  but  we  have  no  important  work  to 
record  from  the  dozen  of  Australian  phytographers.  Sir  Ferdinand 
von  Mueller,  whose  recent  death  has  left  a  void  which  we  cannot, 
expect  to  see  filled  again. 

Signor  Paolucci  has  produced  a  work  on  the  tertiary  fossils  of 
Ancona,  and  Dr.  D.  H.  Scott  is  continuing  his  researches  on  the  Coal- 
Measures  fossils  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions ;  Mr.  A.  S.  Seward 
has  compiled  a  catalogue  of  mezozoic  plants  in  the  British  Museum* 
Of  works  connected  with  gardening  may  be  recorded  Dr.  Schumann’s 
‘  List  of  Cacti  in  Cultivation,’  Mr.  E.  J.  Lowe  on  ‘  Fern  Growing,’ 
Professor  L.  Bailey  on  ‘  Plant  Breeding,’  and  Messrs.  Autran  and 
Durand’s  ‘  Hortus  Boissierianus,’  a  handsome  octavo. 

The  Royal  Gardens  at  Kew  have  issued  three  lists,  the  second 
part  of  the  ‘  Trees  and  Shrubs,’  and  ‘  Conifers  ’  and  *  Orchids.’  The 
Missouri  garden  has  printed  its  seventh  annual  report,  and  a  thin 
folio  by  H.  Ross,  gives  figures  and  description  of  new  plants  in  the 
Palermo  garden.  Heer  Paque  has  printed  the  Flemish  popular 
names  of  plants,  as  used  in  what  used  to  be  termed  the  Low 
Countries.  W  e  have  also  the  ‘  Reminiscences  of  a  Yorkshire 
Naturalist,’  by  Professor  Williamson,  completed  by  his  widow. 
Finally  reference  mustbemadetoDorfler’s  ‘Botanists’ Address-Bc  ok’ 
which  is  a  great  advance  on  anything  attempted  as  a  botanical 
directory.  The  publication  at  last  of  the  diary  of  Sir  Joseph  Banks, 
edited  by  Sir  Joseph  Hooker,  deserves  record,  while  the  issue  of  the 
new  edition  of  the  Catalogue  of  the  Linnean  Society  should  be 
mentioned,  as  being  that  of  the  best  biological  library  of  modem 
times  which  exists  complete  in  printed  form. 


Jan.  2,  1897]  \ 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


17 


In  reviewing  this  division,  it  cannot  be  said 
Economic  that  the  year  has  been  noteworthy  for  bringing 

Botany.  to  light  anything  remarkable  either  amongst 

food  products  or  articles  of  manufacture.  From 
time  to  time,  and  in  various  publications,  a  good  deal  of  fresh 
light  has  been  thrown  either  upon  the  botanical  identification  of 
useful  plants,  or  upon  their  development  and  extension,  or  upon 
their  characters  and  properties.  Early  in  the  year  the  Rem 
Bulletin  drew  attention  to  two  African  species  of  Holarrhena. 
namely,  3.  africana  and  H.  febrifuga.  It  was  pointed  out  that 
the  chief  economic  interest  attached  to  the  former  was  on  account 
of  its  medicinal  properties,  being  known  on  the  Gold  Coast  as  a 
native  cure  for  dysentery  under  the  name  of  “  Gbomi  ”  or  “  Kpomi.” 
The  bark  is  also  referred  to  as  yielding  an  alkaloid  similar  to 
conessine  from  the  Indian  species  3.  antidysenterica.  The  plant 
is  confined  to  West  Africa,  ranging  from  Sierra  Leone  to  the  Lower 
Niger.  The  other  species,  3.  febrifuga,  is  common  in  East  Africa, 
especially  in  the  Zambesi  region,  and  is  known  as  “  Quina”  by  the 
Portuguese.  Livingstone  himself  used  it  in  cases  of  fever, 
and  he  says  that  while  the  native  used  the  thick  soft  bark 
of  the  root,  the  Portuguese  used  the  trunk  bark.  A  de¬ 
coction  of  it  is  given  after  the  first  paroxysm  is  over. 

The  continually  increasing  demands  for  Caoutchouc,  or 
indiarubber,  has  aroused  a  considerable  amount  of  interest  in  the 
new  source  of  this  article  from  Lagos,  which  came  to  light  in  1895 
as  the  produce  of  Kickxia  africana,  an  apocynaceous  plant,  and  so 
rapid  has  been  its  development  that  it  is  estimated  that  the  quan¬ 
tity  now  produced  from  this  plant  amounts  to  an  average  annual 
value  of  £30,000  to  £40,000.  In  the  matter  of  New  fruits,  about 
which  there  is  a  frequent  complaint  that  India  and  our  tropical 
possessions  generally  do  not  supply  our  markets  with  any  of  their 
produce,  it  may  be  worth  recording  that  the  attention  of  Kew  has 
-been  drawn  to  the  fruit  of  Rhodomyrtus  tomentosa,  which  is  known 
at  Ootacamund  as  the  Hill  gooseberry.  The  fruit  is  about  the  size  of 
a  cherry,  of  a  dark  purple  colour,  and  with  a  sweet  aromatic  pulp.  In 
India  it  is  eaten  both  raw  and  made  into  jam  and  jelly,  the  latter 
of  which  is  excellent.  It  is  suggested  that  in  sub-tropical  countries 
the  plant  might  be  usefully  introduced  both  as  an  ornament  and 
for  the  fruit  supply.  The  latter  could  no  doubt  be  greatly 
improved  by  cultivation,  and  would  be  more  desirable 
than  the  Guava. 

Another  interesting  plant  brought  before  the  notice  of  the  Kew 
authoritie  s,  namely,  3yoscyamus  muticus,  was  sent  by  a  corre¬ 
spondent  residing  at  Alexandria,  who  said  that  during  the  summer 
of  1895  he  observed  a  native  gathering  seeds  from  a  large  plant  near 
some  houses  at  Mex,  five  miles  west  of  Alexandria.  The  plant,  which 
was  three  or  four  yards  in  circumference,  and  was  in  full  flower,  with 
its  handsome  purple  blossoms,  as  well  as  in  fruit,  was  found  to  be 
3.  muticui.  It  had  never  been  seen  in  this  neighbourhood 
before,  and  it  is  remarkable  that  four  cases  of  family  poisoning  by 
the  same  seeds  had  only  just  before  been  established.  The  plant 
is  called  by  the  natives  “  sakran,”  meaning  drunken,  with  reference 
to  its  properties.  It  seems  that  the  same  name  is  given  at  Mex  to 
the  Hyoscyamus  albus,  which  is  common  there,  and  is  used  medi¬ 
cinally  by  the  natives.  The  introduction  to  India  and  our  colonies 
through  the  instrumentality  of  Kew  of  a  new  species  of  Coffee, 
known  as  the  Highland  coffee  of  Sierra  Leone  ( Coffea  stenophylld), 
promises  to  be  a  matter  of  some  importance.  It  was  fully  treated 
of  in  the  Rem  Bulletin  for  November  last.  Mr.  Scott-Elliott,  whose 
travels  in  Tropical  Africa  will  be  fresh  in  the  minds  of  our  readers, 
says  of  this  coffee  that  it  is  found  wild  in  the  hills,  and  is  more 
often  cultivated  than  the  Liberian.  It  grows  freely,  and  yields 
quite  as  much  as  the  Liberian,  but  is  somewhat  longer 


in  coming  into  bearing.  Both  the  natives  and  the  French  traders 
at  Freetown  say  that  it  has  a  superior  flavour  aud  prefer  it  to  the 
Liberian.  He  further  states  that  some  of  the  coffee  sent  to  a  French 
dealer  was  sold  at  4  frs.  50  cents,  per  lb.  as  “  best  Mocha.”  The 
results  of  the  introduction  of  this  species  to  the  West  Indies  is  said 
to  be  so  far  of  a  promising  character,  though  the  plants  have  not 
thriven  so  well  as  could  be  wished  in  Dominica  and  Ceylon.  The 
progress  of  this  new  source  of^  Coffee  will  be  watched  with  interest- 

Notwithstanding  the  introduction  of  Vanillin  or  artificially 
prepared  vanilla  crystals,  as  a  substitute  for  the  true  bean,  there  is 
a  continued  demand  for  the  real  article.  It  is  therefore  interesting 
to  find  that  in  Reunion  attention  has  been  paid  to  a  new  process  of 
treating  vanilla  pods  by  a  M.  Dolabartz,  the  operation  of  which 
consists  of  first  drying  the  fruits  in  hermetically  closed  vessels  by 
means  of  chloride  of  calcium  in  the  proportion  of  about  one  kilo, 
for  every  kilo,  of  dried  vanilla  obtained.  The  chloride  of  calcium 
is  not  lost,  as  it  can  be  easily  regenerated  by  heating  it  in 
an  iron  or  copper  receptacle.  One  lot  of  chloride  of  calcium 
is  thus  sufficient  for  several  dryings,  if  kept  after  regeneration 
in  an  air-tight  vessel.  It  is  said  that  2-981  kilos.  of 

raw  vanilla  will  produce  about  one  kilo.  of  the 

prepared  bean.  It"  is  urged  in  favour  of  this  process 
that  vanilla  dried  in  an  air-tight  vessel  loses  much  less  vanillin 
than  when  dried  by  the  ordinary  process,  by  which  it  is  exposed  to 
the  open  air  for  several  weeks. 

With  regard  to  the  increasing  and  widely  spreading  use  of  Tea, 
which  has  been  condemned  by  some  as  a  habit  bordering  on  a  vice, 
it  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  public  expression  of  these  opinions  has 
been  the  cause  of  other  beverages  being  recommended  to  take  the 
place  of  the  better  known  article.  Thus  a  “Mat6  Tea  Company  ”  has 
recently  been  formed  to  promote  the  use  of  mate,  or  Paraguay  tea, 
as  “  the  only  tea  free  from  tannic  acid.”  We  are  also  reminded 
that  this  tea,  which,  as  will  be  well  known,  is  composed  of  the 
leaves  and  twigs  of  Ilex  paraguensis,  has  no  astringency,  that 
“  fifty-five  millions  of  the  most  healthy  people  in  the  world  drink 
mate  tea,”  and,  further,  that  sufferers  from  gout,  constipation, 
flatulency,  sleeplessness,  or  nerve  exhaustion  should  drink  mate, 
as  it  will  give  immediate  relief.  At  the  close  of  another  year  the 
Pharmaceutical  Journal  may  have  to  record  the  general  adoption 
in  England  of  Paraguay  tea,  but  this  is  a  fact  which  at  present 
seems  extremely  doubtful. 

The  most  important  practical  advance  in 

Bacteriology,  bacteriology  during  the  present  year  has  been 
the  introduction  of  a  simple  and  apparently 
reliable  method  for  the  diagnosis  of  Enteric  Fever.  This 
method  is  now  known  as  that  of  Widal,  from  its  originator,  and  is 
dependent  upon  a  reaction  originally  devised  by  Pfeiffer,  and  sub¬ 
sequently  extended  by  Gruber  and  Durham.  Pfeiffer  observed  that 
if  an  emulsion  of  cholera  vibrios  together  with  a  small  amount  of 
“cholera”  antitoxic  serum  from  a  highly  immunised  animal  be 
injected  into  the  peritoneal  cavity  of  a  normal  guinea-pig,  it  will  be 
found,  in  about  an  hour’s  time,  that  all  the  vibrios  have  become 
aggregated  together  into  spherules, whereas  if,  instead  of  the  cholera 
vibrios  other  organisms  be  injected,  these  will  be  unaffected. 

Gruber  and. Durham  ( Journ .  Path,  and  Bad.,  iv.,  1896,  p.  13^ 
ascertained  that  the  same  reaction  occurred  with  Typhoid,  B.  coli, 
and  other  species  with  their  respective  serums,  and  that  in  vitro  a 
very  striking  appearance  was  noticeable.  If,  for  example,  to  an 
emulsion  of  a  typhoid  culture  in  a  test-tube  a  little  “  typhoid  ” 
8erum  be  added,  it  will  be  found  that  after  a  variable  time  the 
mixture  becomes  clear,  owing  to  the  precipitation  of  the  bacilli  as 
a  fiocculent  deposit  at  the  bottom  of  the  tube.  If  this  deposit  be 
examined,  the  bacilli  will  be  seen  to  be  motionless  and  to  have 


18 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  2,  1897 


aggregated  into  clumps.  Widal  conceived  the  idea  that  the  sub¬ 
stance  which  is  present  in  the  serum  employed  in  Pfeiffer’s  re' 
action,  and  which  acts  on  the  bacilli  in  the  manner  described, 
might  be  formed  in  the  body  in  the  course  of  the  natural  disease, 
and  that  the  blood  of  the  patient  would  therefore  produce  an  effect 
similar  to  that  recorded  by  Gruber  and  Durham.  In  the 
method  employed  for  diagnosis  the  patient’s  finger  is 
pricked  and  a  drop  or  two  of  blood  allowed  to  exude  ;  this 
may  be  drawn  up  into  a  small  glass  pipette,  or  may  be  placed  on  a 
cover-glass,  on  a  piece  of  glazed  paper,  or  on  a  piece  of.  blotting 
paper  and  allowed  to  dry.  It  is  necessary  to  have  a  young  and 
active  culture  of  the  typhoid  bacillus,  preferably  a  broth  one.  With 
this  a  hanging  drop  cultivation  is  prepared,  and  to  it  a  little  of  the 
serum  from  the  pipette,  or  when  the  blood  has  been  allowed  to  dry 
on  a  cover-glass  or  paper  a  solution  is  made  by  soaking  in  a  drop 
or  two  of  sterile  water,  and  this  solution  added  to  the  hanging 
drop.  The  preparation  is  then  examined  microscopically, 
and  if  the  case  be  one  of  enteric  fever,  it  will  be  found  that  the 
typhoid  bacilli  have  lost  their  motility,  and  in  half  an  hour’s  time  or 
more  clumping  will  be  observed. 

The  dissemination  of  Enteric  fever  by  oysters  has  claimed 
a  considerable  amount  of  attention,  and  an  important  report 
on  the  subject  has  recently  been  issued  by  the  Medical  Officer 
of  the  Local  Government  Board;  in  it  Dr.  Bulstrode  states 
that  few  of  the  oyster  layings,  fattening  beds  or  storage  ponds 
round  the  English  and  Welsh  coasts  can  be  regarded  as  theoreti¬ 
cally  free  from  all  risk  of  sewage  pollution.  Dr.  Klein  investigated 
the  matter  bacteriologically,  and  found  that  the  typhoid  bacillus 
and  the  cholera  vibrio  would  live  from  two  to  four  weeks  in  sea¬ 
water.  Oysters  were  also  submitted  to  sea-water  infected  with  the 
typhoid  bacillus  and  with  the  cholera  vibrio,  and  these  organisms 
could  be  obtained  from  the  oysters  as  late  as  the  seventeenth  day 
of  experiment.  In  one  case  typhoid  bacilli  were  found  in  an  oyster 
obtained  from  a  natural  source. 

Lemoine  (Arch.  M6cL.  Exper.,  1896,  No.  2)  has  investigated  the 
cultural  and  morphological  differences  of  the  various  Strepto¬ 
cocci,  and  like  others  has  come  to  the  conclusion  that  these  differ¬ 
ences  are  not  constant  and  cannot  be  made  a  basis  for  the  separation 
of  species.  The  Protozoon  theory  of  the  origin  of  malignant 
growths  has,  during  the  present  year,  been  relegated  somewhat  to 
the  background,  and  in  its  stead  Sanfelice,  Roncali,  and  others 
have  described  yeast-like  forms  or  blasto-mycetes,  which  have  not 
only  been  observed  in  the  growths,  but  have  been  isolated  and 
cultivated,  and  are  stated  to  reproduce  the  disease  on  inoculation. 
Gimbert  has  examined  the  Fermentations  excited  by  the  bacillus 
pneumoniae  of  Friedlander,  and  finds  that  it  ferments  not  only 
glucose,  but  galactose,  arabinose,  mannite,  saccharose,  maltose, 
lactose,  raffinose,  dextrin  and  starch,  glycerin  and  dulcite.  The 
fermentation  products  were  ethyl  alcohol,  acetic  acid,  lactic  acid 
(lasvo-rotatory),  and  succinic  acid.  Mannite  gave  lactic  acid  (laevo- 
rotatory)  only,  while  its  isomer  dulcite  produced  succinic  acid. 

Although  no  startling  discoveries  in  the 
Pharmaeography.  field  of  pharmacography  have  to  be  recorded, 
and  no  new  drugs  possessing  any  remarkable 
properties  have  been  brought  to  the  front  during  the  past  twelve 
months,  yet  it  is  satisfactory  to  note  that  our  knowledge  of  well- 
known  ones  has  made  satisfactory  progress,  both  with  regard  to  their 
constituents,  their  structure  or  mode  of  formation  and  source. 
Ergot,  concerning  which  last  year  interesting  and  important 
information  was  communicated  by  Keller,  has  been  assayed  by 
Beckurts,  w  ho  finds,  as  the  principal  result  of  his  work,  that,  contrary 
to  the  opinion  at  present  generally  held,  Russian  and  Austrian 
ergot  is  to  be  preferred  to  German  and  Spanish,  since  the  former 


contain  about  0‘2  per  cent,  of  alkaloid,  and  the  latter  only  about 
0J5,  assuming  of  course  that  the  medicinal  value  of  the  ergot  is 
determined  by  the  proportion  of  alkaloid  present. 

Paul  and  Cownley  have  examined  Pernambuco  jaborandi  and  its 
commercial  substitutes,  and  their  assays,  whilst  indicating  the 
superiority  of  the  Pernambuco  drug  show  that  the  jaborandi 
derived  from  Pilocarpus  microphyllus  is  not  much  inferior 
in  the  proportion  of  crystallisable  nitrate  it  yields,  other 
varieties  of  jaborandi  being,  in  this  respect,  comparatively 
valueless.  The  same  chemists  have  continued  their  investigations 
of  Ipecacuanha,  and  from  their  results  it  appears  that,  although 
the  Brazilian  and  Columbian  drugs  yield  approximately  the  same 
percentage  of  total  alkaloid,  the  Columbian  drug  contains  a 
larger  proportion  of  cephaeline  than  the  Brazilian.  As  Wild  has 
found  the  physiological  action  of  cephaeline  to  be  distinct  from  that 
of  emetine,  these  results  are  of  much  interest  and  importance,  for 
they  show  that  the  Columbian  should  not  be  substituted  for  the  Bra¬ 
zilian  drug,  a  substitution  Greenish  has  proved  to  be  far  from  rare. 

Gunn  has  compared  a  number  of  processes  for  the  assay 
of  Coca,  and  finds  that  Lyons’  process,  though  it  yields  the  best 
results,  is  objectionable  on  account  of  the  time  it  occupies, 
and  suggests  a  modification  to  remedy  that  defect.  Browne  finds 
the  flowers  of  Datura  alba  to  contain  0  48  per  cent,  of  an  alkaloid 
which  he  believes  to  be  Ladenburg’s  hyoscine,  the  identity  of  which, 
however,  requires  further  confirmation.  Indian  Hemp  has  again 
been  the  subject  of  investigation,  Marshall  has  extracted  from  it 
by  ether  a  toxid  red  oil  which  he  regards  as  the  active  constituent, 
and  so  another  is  added  to  the  list  of  active  principles  that  have 
been  isolated  from  this  drug.  Hesse  has  examined  the  root  of 
Rumen  nepalensis  and  separated  three  crystalline  bodies,  one  of 
which  is  of  a  yellow  and  another  of  an  orange  colour,  but  neither 
of  them  identical  with  the  chrysophanic  acid,  emodin,  or  rhein  of 
rhubarb  root.  Naylor  and  Littlefield  have  compared  Duval’s 
method  of  extracting  Cascarillin  from  cascarilla  bark  with- 
Alessandri’s,  and  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  process 
advocated  by  the  latter  chemist  is  wholly  untrustworthy. 

Lloyd  has  determined  the  ash  in  Asafcetida,  and  finds  that, 
whilst  picked  tear  asafoetida  yields  from  D7'8  to  2 '55  per 
cent.,  commercially  fair  samples  of  the  drug  yield  from  Iff 
to  20  per  cent.,  and  samples  of  lower  quality  as  much  as  50 
per  cent.  On  the  basis  of  these  figures,  which  confirm  pre. 
vious  analyses,  Lloyd  recommends  that  purified  asafoetida, 
should  alone  be  employed.  Schaer  has  presented  an  interesting 
account  of  a  Kino- like  Product  obtained  from  the  bark  of 
Myristica  malaharica ;  it  appears  that  this  substance  closely 
resembles  Malabar  kino,  although  in  botanical  origin  it  is  widely 
different.  Kiliani  has  investigated  the  reactions  of  some  of  the 
constituents  of  Fox-glove  with  ferruginous  sulphuric  and  acetic 
acid,  and  given  exact  details  of  the  means  by  which  the  most 
delicate  reaction  for  digitalin  and  digitoxin  may  be  secured  and 
either  substance  detected  in  the  presence  of  the  other.  Kiliani  has 
further  proved  the  identity  of  his  digitoxin  with  Schmiedeberg  fe 
to  which  a  glucosidal  nature  is  ascribed,  Pellitory  root  has 
been  examined  by  Schneegans,  and  a  crystalline  pungent  body 
extracted,  for  which  he  retains  the  name  pyrethrin  ;  this  substance 
may  prove  to  be  identical  with  Dunstan’s  pellitorine.  Interesting 
results  have  been  obtained  by  Hooper  with  Camphor  oil  distilled1 
from  the  leaves  of  the  camphor  tree  grown  in  India,  those  from  a, 
tree  grown  at  a  low  elevation,  yielding  a  large  proportion  of 
camphor  ;  the  production  of  this  valuable  substance  may  therefore 
possibly  be  profitably  be  undertaken  in  India.  From  Scrophularia 
nocLosa ,  which  has  long  been  known  as  a  domestic  medicine  in 
certain  districts,  van  der  Moer  has  isolated  a  yellow  amorphous 


Jan.  2, 1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


toxic  substance,  possessing  properties  resembling  those  cf  the 
digitalis  poisons.  In  connection  with  this  investigation  it  is 
interesting  to  note  that  attention  has  been  drawn  by  Yogi  to  the 
occurrence  in  the  epidermis  of  this  plant  of  yellow  sphte-o- crystalline 
masses,  which  he  thought  were  probably  hesperidin. 

Holmes  has  furnished  an  interesting  criticism  of  Schweinfurth’s 
identification  of  the  plant  that  yields  Arabian  Myrrh  with 
Commiphora  abyssinica.  From  the  absence  of  any  bitterness'in  the 
bark  of  this  plant,  Holmes  is  led  to  conclude  that  it  cannot  be  the 
the  source  of  Arabian  myrrh,  and  his  supposition  that  this  drug  is 
probably  furnished  by  C.  myrrha  receives  support  from  the  fact  that 
the  bark  of  this  plant  alone  of  all  examined  by  Holmes  possessed  the 
bitterness  and  aroma  characteristic  of  myrrh.  Adulterations  of 
drugs  have  also  been  pointed  out  by  Holmes,  who  found  in  a  com¬ 
mercial  sample  of  Blood-root  no  less  than  40  per  cent,  of  the 
rhizome  of  Chamcelirium  carolinianum ,  and  detected  the  substitu¬ 
tion  of  the  leaflets  of  a  species  of  Swartzia  for  the  small-leaved 
Maranham  Jaborandi  ( Pilocarpus  mierophyllus) . 

The  histological  investigation  of  drugs  has  been  vigorously 
prosecuted,  and  yielded  important  results.  After  much  labour 
Moller  has  succeeded  in  elucidating  the  mystery  that  has  long 
enveloped  the  secretion  of  Storax,  and  proved  that  the  injury 
inflicted  on  the  trunk  by  beating  results  in  the  formation  of 
schizogenous  secretion-ducts  in  the  young  wood,  and  it  is  in  these 
that  the  storax  is  formed.  These  results  may  throw  much  light  on 
the  production  of  other  similar  pathological  secretions.  Vogl  has 
examined  and  compared  the  structure  of  several  varieties  of 
Jaborandi  Leaves,  and  an  important  contribution  to  our  know¬ 
ledge  of  the  structure  of  some  official  leaves  and  their  adulterations 
has  been  made  by  Virchow,  whose  researches  were  undertaken 
with  the  view  of  ascertaining  whether  diagnostic  characters  could 
be  found  in  the  course  of  the  ultimate  ramifications  of  the  veins, 
and  especially  their  terminations  in  the  margins  of  the  leaves.  By 
a  long  series  of  experiments,  Virchow  has  shown  that  a  further 
means  is  here  available  for  the  identification  of  a  leaf  or  the  detec¬ 
tion  of  adulteration.  The  anatomy  of  cubebs  forms  the  subject 
of  still  one  more  investigation.  Peinemann  deals  at  length  with 
the  histology  of  Cubebs  and  their  substitutes,  and  corrects  certain 
details  in  previous  descriptions  of  their  anatomy.  Latour  has 
communicated  the  results  of  a  histological  investigation  of  Senna 
Leaves  and  their  adulterants,  and  pointed  out  the  characters  that 
distinguish  each. 

Biermann  has  investigated  the  development  of  the  Bitter 
orange,  with  especial  reference  to  the  formation  of  the  oil-glands, 
which  he  finds  to  be  schizolysigenous.  Lutz  has  followed  the 
development  of  the  oil-glands  of  various  species  of  Myrtace^e  and, 
finding  they  differ  from  those  already  known  in  the  obliteration  of 
the  secreting  cells,  has  described  them  under  the  name  of  oblito- 
schizogenous  glands.  In  the  laboratory  of  Tschirch,  Sandarac  and 
Dragon  s  blood  have  been  chemically  examined.  Balzer  has  shown 
that  Sandarac  consists  of  85  per  cent,  of  sandaracolic  acid  and 
10  per  cent,  of  callitrolic  acid,  both  of  which  he  obtained  in  crys¬ 
talline  form.  Dieterich  extracted  from  Dragon’s  blood  13  per 
cent,  of  a  yellow  and  56  per  cent,  of  a  red  resin,  the  latter  proi  ing 
to  consist  of  esters  of  a  resinotannol  with  benzoic  and  acetic  acids. 

Ihe  literature  of  the  subject  has  been  augmented  by  the  publica¬ 
tion  of  several  valuable  works.  Planchon  and  Collins’  *  Les  Drogues 
Simples  contains  in  two  volumes  much  that  is  interesting,  and 
Kanny  Lall  Dey’s  ‘Indigenous  Drugs  of  India’  will  be  welcome  to 
every  pharmacognosist.  The  most  important  contribution  to  our 
knowledge  of  the  anatomy  of  drugs  is  that  made  by  Tschirch  and 
Oesterle  in  the  parts  of  their  ‘Anatomical  Atlas’  that  have  been 
issued  during  the  year. 


1!) 


Arsenical  Soap. 

Sir, — I  venture  to  ask,  is  the  sale  of  this  article  worth  the 
attention  of  chemists  ?  In  the  first  place,  its  efficacy  is  ex¬ 
tremely  doubtful,  in  vieAV  of  the  minute  quantity  of  arsenic  shown 
to  exist  in  samples  recently  brought  before  benches  of 
magistrates.  Should  arsenical  soap  contain  an  appreciable 
amount  of  arsenic,  there  is  the  possibility  of  danger  from  absorp¬ 
tion  ;  there  is  also  the  trouble  of  complying  with  the  regulations 
of  the  Act  of  Parliament  respecting  the  sale  of  arsenic  and  its 
combinations  to  be  considered,  and  all  to  encourage 
the  sale  of  an  article  of  doubtful  efficacy,  which  may  be 
a  dangerous  application.  It  has  been  alleged  that  at  least  one. 
sample  of  a  so-called  arsenical  soap  did  not  contain  a  trace  of 
arsenic,  and  the  sale  of  this  looks  very  like  a  fraud  on  credulous 
purchasers. 

Knightsbridge,  December  26,  1896.  J.  B.  Barnes. 


Manchester  Pharmaceutical  Association. 

Sir, — May  I  be  allowed  in  reply  to  “  Your  Contributor  ”  (72/6) 
to  say  that  Mr.  G.  Wilkinson’s  statement  in  regard  to  this  Asso¬ 
ciation  is  quite  correct  ?  The  Association  was  originally  formed  in 
1852,  with  the  title  of  “  The  Manchester  Chemists’  Conversational 
Society”  and  under  various  titles  and  with  very  fluctuating 
fortunes  ;  from  that  time  until  the  formation  of  the  present  Asso¬ 
ciation  it  never  entirely  ceased  to  exist.  It  is  true  that  after  about 
the  year  1859  no  meetings  were  held  and  no  reports  published,  but 
there  were  always  two  or  three  who  kept  up  the  name  of  the 
Association  and  would  not  allow  it  to  die  out  entirely,  and  were  in 
readiness  to  take  action  in  the  event  of  any  measure  being  proposed 
affecting  the  interests  of  the  trade.  I  may  say,  also,  that  the  men 
who  had  been  most  earnest  in  the  support  of  the  old  Association 
were  amongst  the  most  active  in  the  formation  of  the  new  one, 

and  may  fairly  claim  a  continuous  existence  for  their  old  organ  isa . 

tion. 

Cheetham  Hill,  December  21.  W.  Wilkinson.. 


A  Correction. 

Sir,— A  notice  having  appeared  in  one  of  the  trade  journals  to 
the  effect  that  our  business  has  been  transferred  to  “May  and 
Baker,  Ltd.,”  we  shall  esteem  it  a  favour  if  you  will  enable  us,  by 
the  insertion  of  this  letter  in  your  next  issue,  to  inform  our  friends 
that  such  is  not  the  case,  and  that  we  have  no  intention  of  making 
any  change  of  the  kind.  The  confusion  may  have  arisen  through 
our  transferring  our  cyanide  manufacture  to  the  above  firm,  but 
nothing  more  has  been  or  will  be  so  transferred. 

23,  Cross  Street,  Finsbury,  E.C.  Johnson  and  Sons,  Ltd. 

December  28,  1896. 


The  Irish  Licence  Examination. 

Sir, — The  Registrar  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Ireland,, 
not  having  denied  my  statement  re  the  Irish  licence  examination, 
which  appeared  in  your  issue  of  the  12th  inst. ,  he  leaves  your  readers 
to  conclude  that  an  undoubted  grievance  exists.  I  trust  Dr.  Duffey, 
the  courteous  and  watchful  Government  Visitor,  will,  in  his  comi  ng 
yearly  report,  have  this  matter  remedied.  The  -present  council  is 
a  far  too  Conservative  body,  and  until  some  Radical  blood  is  intro¬ 
duced,  no  useful  reforms  need  be  expected.  Since  I  wrote  last,  I 
see  several  licentiates  have  resigned  membership.  Why  is  this  ? 
The  reasons  are  only  too  self-evident.  Just  look  at  the  splendid 
circulating  pharmaceutical  library  at  Bloomsbury  Square,  for 
English  and  Scotch  students  ;  then  cast  your  gaze  at  the  bare  walls 
of  Mount  Street,  and  remember  it  is  not  for  lack  of  funds.  The 
other  week  at  Edinburgh,  Messrs.  Ewing,  Storrar  and  Tocher, 
spoke  humorously  regarding  pharmaceutical  Home  Rule  for  Scotland. 
I  sincerely  trust  they  will  never  have  it ;  the  decision  of  the  Irish 
pharmacists  in  1868,  in  that  respect,  is  now  found  out  to  be 
Ireland’s  bane. 

Belfast,  December  21,  1896.  “  Vim  et  Verve.”  (73/14) 


Elder  Flower  Ointment. 

Sir, — In  your  last  issue  Mr.  J.  F.  Brown  refers  to  the  difficulty  of 
preserving  elder  flower  ointment  duringthe  twelve  months  that  must 
elapse  between  the  periods  of  its  preparation  from  fresh  flowers. 
He  suggests  the  preparation  by  enfleurage  of  an  elder  flower 
pomade,  but  a  still  more  convenient  way  out  of  the  difficulty  is  the 
use  of  the  otto  of  elder  blossoms.  This  is  distilled  from  the  flowers 


20 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  2,  1897 


like  otto  of  roses,  and,  like  it,  is  solid  at  ordinary  temperatures,  its 
melting  point  being  28°  C.  It  consists  of  a  fragrant  liquid  oil 
with  an  odourless  stearopten  almost  insoluble  in  alcohol.  It  is 
soluble  in  fats,  and  possesses  the  exact  aroma  of  the  flowers.  The 
yield  from  the  flowers  is  extremely  small,  and  the  cost  of  the  oil  is 
approximately  the  same  as  that  of  otto  of  roses,  but  like  this  latter 
body,  a  little  goes  a  long  way,  and  a  grain  of  the  oil  is  sufficient  to 
give  a  very  distinct  perfume  of  elder  flowers  to  a  Jib.  of  lard. 

Artillery  Lane,  London,  W.  J.  Bush*  and  Co. 

December  29,  1896. 


Benevolent  Fund. 

Sir, — I  am  convinced  that  the  idea  of  a  “Christmas  box  sub¬ 
scription  ”  (as  an  effort  separate  from  the  regular  subscriptions  to 
the  Benevolent  Fund)  is  one  that  will  readily  respond  to  cultiva¬ 
tion.  The  one  thing  needful  is  a  personal  call.  May  I  suggest 
that  in  order  to  keep  the  ball  rolling  an  official  communication  be 
addressed  to  all  local  and  divisional  secretaries  early  each  December 
asking  them  to  endeavour,  by  means  of  a  personal  call,  to  induce 
every  chemist  and  assistant  in  their  respective  districts  to  sub¬ 
scribe  a  shilling  to  the  Fund  ?  I  have  just  been  round  here,  and 
practically  every  chemist  and  assistant  in  North  Paddington  has 
immediately  joined  in  the  subscription  ;  the  result  is  35  s.  (which  I 
enclose)  for  the  Benevolent  Fund  just  for  the  asking.  Even  those 
who  are  already  subscribers  have  willingly  added  extra  shillings, 
and  others  who  ‘  ‘  don’t  take  any  interest  in  the  Fund  and  don’t 
care  ‘  tuppence  ’  about  the  Society  ”  seemed  quite  pleased  to  add 
their  shillings  for  the  benefit  of  the  widow  and  the  fatherless. 
Imagine  every  chemist  and  assistant  throughout  Great  Britain  joining 
hands  at  Christmas  and  giving  a  shilling  each  to  help  those  of  us  who 
are  in  need  !  The  idea  is  sublime,  and  I  feel  sure  that  no  local  or 
divisional  secretary  would  fail  to  do  his  share  towards  its  realisa¬ 
tion. 

35,  Clifton  Road,  Maida  Vale,  W. ,  R.  H.  Parker. 

December  29,  1896. 

V*  V e  are  mush  indebted  to  Mr.  Parker  for  Ms  practical  demonstration  that 
the  suggestion  made  in  the  Journal  of  December  19  was  a  feasible  one. — 
[Ed.  Pharm.  Journ.] 


Paraf.  Javal’s  Solution. 

Sir,— Can  any  reader  give  me  the  formula  for  Paraf.  Javal’s 
solution  of  strontium  iodide  ? 

December  13,  1S96.  “Pharmacist”  (71/27). 


Overpaid  Income  Tax. 

Sir, — Now  that  those  of  your  readers  who  are  engaged  in  busi¬ 
ness  are  ascertaining  the  amount  of  their  profits  for  the  past  year, 
will  you  allow  us  to  remind  them  that,  if  such  profits  show  a 
diminution  they  may  be  entitled  to  the  repayment  of  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  Income  Tax  paid  in  respect  of  the  same  and  to  point 
out  the  importance  of  making  the  claim  forthwith.  Not  only  can  they 
claim  the  difference  named,  but  if  the  average  is  there¬ 
by  reduced  to  the  limits  of  exemption  or  abatement  they  can 
obtain  additional  relief.  Thousands  of  people  pay  tax  for  which 
they  are  not  liable,  more  particularly  those  whose  incomes  are 
derived  from  investments  where  tax  is  deducted  before  being  paid 
to  the  recipients  ;  partners  who  have  been  assessed  jointly  with 
the  firm,  but  whose  separate  incomes  are  such  as  to  entitle  them  to 
relief  ;  and  married  women  having  incomes  derived  from  a  profes¬ 
sion,  employment  or  vocation  where  the  total  joint  income  does 
not  exceed  £500. 

With  few  exceptions,  which  need  not  be  mentioned,  all  persons 
whose  incomes  for  the  year  ending  April  5,  1894,  were  under  £400, 
and  tuose  whose  incomes  did  not  exceed  £500  per  annum  for  the 
two  years  ending  April  5,  1896,  can  still  claim  repayment  of  tax 
deducted  from  rents,  interest  or  dividends,  even  when  the  latter 
are  said  to  be  “free  of  income-tax.”  Claims  can  in  many  cases 
now  be  made  for  four  years,  and  the  sum  repayable  might  exceed 
£36  up  to  the  end  of  the  current  financial  year,  to  say  nothing  of 
tax  allowed  in  respect  of  life  assurance  premiums,  even  when  the 
income  exceeds  £500. 

We  shall  be  glad  to  advise  any  of  your  readers  gratuitously 
whether  they  can  make  a  claim,  if  they  send  us  full  particulars  of 
their  incomes  and  a  stamped  addressed  envelope. 

12  and  13,  Poultry,  London,  E.  C. , 

January  1,  1897.  The  Income-Tax  Adjustment  Agency. 


ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 

Oak  Varnish. — Pale  clear  resin,  6  ounces  ;  sandarach,  2  ounces  ; 
turpentine,  24  ounces  ;  dissolve.  [ Reply  to  “  Old  Reader.’’ — 73/38.  ] 

Book  on  the  “X”  Rays. — See  “Practical  Radiography,”  by 
H.  Snowden  Ward  (Dawburn  and  Ward,  Ltd.,  6.  Farringdon  Avenue, 
E.C.  Price  Is.  2d.,  post  free).  You  will  observe  that  we  are  publish¬ 
ing  a  series  of  articles  on  the  same  subject,  intended  to  cover  the 
whole  ground  in  a  practical  manner.  [Reply  to  Thorax. — 72/35.] 


Kopp’s  Syrup  Maker  and  Filter. — We  doubt  if  this  apparatus 
is  yet  obtainable  in  this  country.  Inquire  of  Maw,  Son  and  Thomp¬ 
son  and  other  dealers  in  druggist’s  sundries,  referring  them  to  our 
pages  for  particulars.  You  might  also  write  direct  to  Strasburg 
for  a  price-list.  [Reply  to  J.  W.  and  Co. — 73/22.] 


Mahogany  Varnish. — Gum  sandarach,  2  ozs.  ;  shellac,  1  oz.  ; 
benzoin,  J  oz.  ;  Venice  turpentine,  1  oz.  ;  powdered  glass,  1  oz.  ; 
methylated  spirit,  20  fl.  ozs.  ;  dragon’s  blood  sufficient  to  tint. 
Let  stand  in  a  warm  place  in  a  well-corked  bottle  with  frequent 
shaking  until  the  gums  are  dissolved,  then  allow  to  settle  down 
bright.  [Reply  to  Old  Reader. — 73/38.] 


Red  Furniture  Cream.— Beeswax,  7  ounces  ;  soap,  f  ounce  ; 
pearlashes,  2  drachms  ;  turpentine,  10  ounces  ;  water,  10  ounces  ; 
powdered  dragon’s  blood,  q.s.  to  colour.  Add  the  dragon’s  blood 
and  wax  to  the  turps,  warm,  till  the  wax  is  dissolved.  Heat  the 
soap  and  pearlashes  in  the  water  till  dissolved  ;  then  mix  and  stir 
till  cold.  [Reply  to  “  Old  Reader.” — 73/38.] 


Assay  of  Extract  of  Nux  Vomica.— In  the  official  directions 
in  the  first  paragraph,  you  will  note  that  the  chloroform  is  added 
first  to  the  acid  liquid.  This  chloroform  is  then  rejected,  as  the 
alkaloids  remain  behind  as  acid  salts.  It  removes  fatty  matter  and 
resinoid  colouring  bodies.  The  acid  liquid  is  made  alkaline  and 
again  shaken  with  chloroform,  which  removes  the  alkaloids.  The 
process  hinges  on  the  fact  that  alkaloids  are  not  removed  from 
acid  liquids  by  chloroform,  but  are  dissolved  out  by  it  from  alka¬ 
line  ones.  In  other  words,  the  salts  of  the  alkaloids  are  more 
soluble  in  water  than  in  chloroform,  but  the  free  alkaloids  them¬ 
selves  are,  in  this  and  many  other  instances,  more  soluble  in 
chloroform  than  in  water.  [Reply  to  G.  W.  G. — 70/37.] 


OBITUARY. 


Roberts. — On  December  17,  Thomas  Roberts,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  of  Manchester. 

Davies. -r-On  December  21,  William  Evans  Davies,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  of  Cardiff.  Aged  52. 

Baker. — On  December  23,  Frank  Baker,  Chemist  and  Druggist, 
Sandwich,  aged  55.  Mr.  Baker  was  a  member  of  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society,  having  been  in  business  before  the  passing  of 
the  Pharmacy  Act,  1868.  He  was  elected  on  the  Sandwich  Town 
Council  in  1871,  was  chosen  Mayor  in  1876  and  the  following 
year,  became  an  Alderman  in  1881,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death 
was  the  oldest  member  of  the  Council.  Mr.  Baker  was  also  one 
of  the  trustees  of  the  Municipal  Charities  and  a  borough 
magistrate. 

Schacht. — On  December  26,  George  Frederick  Schacht,  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Chemist,  of  Clifton.  Aged  73. 


PUBLISHERS’  NOTICE. 


COVERS  FOR  BINDING. 

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COMMUNICATIONS,  LETTERS,  etc.,  have  been  received  from 

Messrs.  Barnes,  Blackwell,  Blunt,  Bowden,  Bush,  Butler?  Cook, 
Dott,  Duncan,  Evans,  Fletcher,  Gadd,  Giliaddison,  Goldby, 
Hayes,  Hogg,  Holmes,  Howe,  Keen,  Parker,  Ridyard,  Russell, 
Spilsbury,  Weddell,  Wiggins,  Williams. 


Jan.  9,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


21 


HOMOLOGUES  OF  CAFFEINE.* 

One  of  Professor  Schmidt’s  studentst  has  taken  up  the  investiga¬ 
tion  of  these  compounds  to  complete  the  somewhat  imperfect 
account  given  of  ethyl-theobromine  by  L.  Philips, J  and  prepared 
according  to  Strecker’s  caffeine  synthesis,  by  acting  upon  theo¬ 
bromine  silver  with  ethyl  iodide. 

The  production  of  ethyl-theobromine  was  effected  by  the  method 
applied  by  E.  Schmidt  and  H.  Pressler§  for  converting  theobromine 
into  caffeine,  a  mixture  of  the  potassium  compound  of  theobromine 
with  an  alcoholic  solution  of  ethyl  iodide,  being  heated  for  six  hours 
on  a  water  bath  in  a  flask  capable  of  bearing  pressure.  The 
product  of  the  reaction  was  then  mixed  with  water,  the  filtered 
solution  evaporated,  and  the  residue  extracted  with  chloroform. 
In  this  way  a  satisfactory  yield  of  ethyl-theobromine  or  homo¬ 
caffeine  was  obtained. 

Ethyl-Theobromine  forms  anhydrous  silky  crystals,  and  is 
capable  of  being  sublimed  when  cautiously  heated.  Its  solubilility 
in  various  menstrua  closely  resembles  that  of  caffeine.  The  melt¬ 
ing  point  is  from  164°  to  165°  C.,  though  Philips  has  stated  it  is 
above  270°  C. 

The  reaction  of  ethyl-theobromine  with  chlorine  water  and 
ammonia  is  similar  to  that  of  caffeine,  and  is  due  to  formation  of 
amalic  acid.  The  salts  of  ethyl-theobromine  also  resemble  those 
of  caffeine  in  being  decomposed  by  solution  in  water  so  completely 
that  the  amount  of  acid  in  any  of  the  salts  may  be  ascertained  by 
titration  with  decinormal  alkali  solution.  The  following  salts 
were  prepared  and  examined  : — 

Hydrochloride ,  C7H7(C2H5)N402,HC1  +  2H20. — Acicular  crystals, 
losing  their  water  at  100°  to  120°  C. ,  and  also  the  whole  of  the 
hydrochloric  acid. 

Hydrobromide,  C7H7(C  JL )N402, HBr. — Transparent  needles. 

Acetate,  C7H7(C2H5)N402(C2H402)2. — Transparent  needles,  losing 
the  whole  of  their  acid  at  100°  C. 

The  gold  chloride  salt  melts  at  226°  C.,  the  platino  chloride  above 
240°  C.  Both  the  hydrargyro  chloride  and  the  hydrargyro  cyanide 
crystallise  in  needles.  The  compound  with  silver  nitrate, 
C7H7(C2H5)N402,AgN03,  forms  fine  long  needles. 

By  reaction  with  methyl  iodide  ethyl-theobromine  is  converted 
into  the  compound  C7H7(C2H.)N402-CH3I.  The  corresponding 
chloride  yields  well-defined  crystalline  compounds  with  platinum 
chloride  and  with  gold  chloride  [CyH^CjjHg^CVCHjPP-f  Cl4, 
melting  at  232°  C.,  and  C7H7(C.H5 )N4Oa -CH3C1  +  AuC13,  melting  at 
215°  C.  Ethyl  iodide  does  not  react  with  ethyl-theobromine  any 
more  than  it  does  with  caffeine. 

By  the  action  of  an  equivalent  proportion  of  caustic  potash  ethyl- 
theobromine  is  converted  into  homo-coffeidine  carbonic  acid, 
C8H14N403,  which  can  be  identified  by  means  of  its  characteristic 
copper  salt  (C9H13N403)2Cu  +  4H20. 

Bromine  converts  ethyl-theobromine  into  monobrom-ethyl-theo- 
bromine,  C7H6Br(C2H5)N402,  which  is  precipitated  from  solution  in 
strong  hydrochloric  acid,  on  addition  of  water,  in  small  colourless 
crystals,  melting  at  171°  to  172°  C.  When  this  compound  is  heated 
with  alcoholic  potash  it  is  converted  into  ethoxy-ethyl-theobromine, 
C7H7(C2H6)N402  0-C2u,  in  the  form  of  sparingly  soluble  crystals 
melting  at  154°  C. 

By  oxidation  with  potassium  bichromate  and  sulphuric  acid, 
ethyl-theobromine  yields  ammonia,  methylamine  and  finely 
crystallisable  ethyl-methyl  parabanic  acid,  C3(C2H8)(CH3)N203, 
which  melts  at  44°  C.  and  is  resolved  into  ethyl-methyl  urea  and 
oxalic  acid  by  the  action  of  caustic  potash.  By  heating  with 

*  Apothelcer  Zeitung,  xii.,  5. 

t  W.  van  der  Stoolen. — Inaugural  Dissertation,  Marburg,  1895. 

4  Bericht.e,  ix.,  1308.  §  Liebig’s  Annalen,  217,  294. 

Yol.  LVIII.  (Fourth  Series,  Vol.  IV.}.  No.  1385. 


nitric  acid  (s.g.  1'4)  ethyl-theobromine  is  converted  into  ethyl- 
methyl  parabanic  acid  and  methylamine.  An  intermediate 
product  similar  to  amalic  acid  appears  to  be  formed  in  this  reaction. 
Potassium  chlorate  and  hydrochloric  acid  convert  ethyl-theo¬ 
bromine  partly  into  monochlorethyl-theobromine,  C7H6Cl(CiH  ) 
N402,  melting  at  141°  C.  By  further  action  syrupy  ethylmethyl- 
alloxan  is  formed  which  gives  a  crystallisable  compound  with 
potassium  bisulphate,  C7H8N204‘KHS04,  and  ethyl-apotheobromine, 
CgllgN.jOr,,  melting  at  137°  to  138°  C.  This  reaction  supports  the 
structural  formula  suggested  by  E.  Fischer  for  theobromine  in 
regard  to  the  position  of  the  remaining  NH.  group. 

Propyl-Theobromine,  C7H7(C3H7)N402,  is  formed  in  the  same 
manner  as  ethyl-theobromine  :  it  crystallises  in  needles,  melts  at 
136°  C.,  and  can  be  sublimed  by  cautious  heating. 

Isobutyl-Theobromine,  C7H7(C4H9)N402,  forms  white  needles 
very  sparingly,  soluble  in  cold  water,  and  melting  at  129  to  130°  C. 
With  chlorine  water  and  ammonia  they  give  the  amalic  acid 
reaction.  The  gold  and  platinum  double  salts  of  both  the  last- 
named  caffeine  homologues  are  crystallisable. 

NOTE  ON  THE  DRYING  OF  ALKALOIDS  AND 
THEIR  SALTS. 

BY  D.  B.  DOTT. 

There  has  lately  been  discussion  as  to  the  proper  temperature 
and  time  of  exposure  to  be  observed  in  drying  the  alkaloids  and 
their  salts,  when  these  are  being  estimated  by  the  pharmacopceial 
methods.  Drying  in  the  water  bath  is,  no  doubt,  the  most  con¬ 
venient  course,  and  should  be  adopted  when  not  contra-indicated. 
But  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  “  temperature  of  a  water 
bath  ”  is  not  a  constant,  but  varies  according  to  circumstances. 
The  larger  the  bath  the  lower  the  temperature,  for  the  heating 
surface  does  not  increase  in  anything  like  the  ratio  of  the  cubic 
space.  A  bath  which  has  almost  no  ventilation  will 

attain  a  higher  temperature  than  one  which  is  suit¬ 
ably  ventilated  for  the  drying  of  moist  precipitates.  With 
only  a  little  water  in  the  bath  the  temperature  will  not  rise  so 
high  as  when  well  filled  with  boiling  water.  Wherefore  it  is 
evident  that  a  substance  which  does  not  readily  part  with  its  water 
a  few  degrees  below  100°  C.  should  not  be  directed  to  be  dried  in 
the  water  bath,  but  in  an  air  bath  or  otherwise  at  a  temperature 
over  100°.  Morphine  hydrate  is  such  a  substance.  In  a  copper 
water  bath  of  ordinary  construction,  10  inches  internal  measure¬ 
ment,  pure  morphine  hydrate  in  fine  powder  lost  after  two  hours 
3  31  per  cent.,  after  three  hours  3  56  per  cent.,  the  bath  being  well 
filled  with  water  briskly  boiling.  The  morphine  was  then  transferred 
to  the  air  bath  at  120°  for  one  hour,  when  it  indicated  a  loss  of 
6  35  per  cent.,  and  lost  nothing  further.  8C17H19N03,9H20  requires 
6 ‘63  per  cent,  loss  on  complete  desiccation.  Another  sample  dried 
in  the  water  bath  containing  very  little  water,  had  lost  after  two 
hours  only  -17  per  cent.,  then  on  drying  at  120°  indicated  6 "49  per 
cent.  The  morphine  precipitates  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  ought 
therefore  to  be  dried  either  at  a  low  temperature  (as  U.S.P. ),  or  at 
110°  to  120°  C.,  and  not  in  a  water  bath. 

Quinine  hydrate  exposed  for  three  hours  in  the  water  bath 
lost  nothing  further  at  120°  C. ,  yet  it  does  not  follow  that  a 
temperature  under  100°  is  to  be  adopted  for  drying 
quinine.  When  an  alkaloid  has  been  extracted  by  alcohol 
or  chloroform,  it  may  only  slowly  attain  a  constant  weight 
in  the  water  bath,  for  reasons  partly  physical  and  partly  chemical. 

In  such  cases  it  is  much  more  convenient  to  dry  at  110°  to  120^, 
assuming  that  there  is  no  decomposition  at  the  higher  tempera¬ 
ture.  Quinine  sulphate  lost  14  43  per  cent,  by  drying  in  the 
water  bath  for  three  hours,  and  nothing  more,  in  the  air  bath  ah 


22 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  9  i897 


120°  C.  There  are  several  salts  which  lose  only  a  proportion  of 
their  water  under  100°  C.,  and  the  remainder  at  a  higher  tempera¬ 
ture.  In  these  cases  it  would,  as  a  rule,  be  preferable  to  dry  at  the 
higher  temperature,  so  as  to  estimate  the  total  water  of  hydration. 

PRACTICAL  RADIOGRAPHY. 


Fig.  I. 


II.— THE  SOURCE  OF  ELECTRICITY. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  the  induction  coil  (see  last  volume, 
p.  526)  it  must  be  pointed  out  that  there  is  one  thing  which  should 
always  be  fitted  (to  large  coils,  that  is  a  commutator  or  current 
reverser,  for  though  not  essential  to  the  working  of  the  coil,  it  will 
be  found  a  great  convenience.  As  a  rule  it  takes  the  form  of  an 
ebonite  cylinder,  on  oppo¬ 
site  sides  of  which  are  ^  1 1  v  s  | 

fixed  two  brass  plates  in 
connection  with  the  up¬ 
rights  supporting  the  cy¬ 
linder.  These,  again,  are 
connected  with  the  wires 
from  the  battery,  as  shown 
in  the  accompanying 
sketch,  in  which  P  P  are 
the  batteries  with  the  wires  connected  to  the  supports  (Sx  S2)  of  the 
cylinder.  T2  are  contact  springs  which  are,  as  shown,  connected 
with  the  two  ends  of  the  primary  coil  through  the  contact  breaker, 

BR,  and  condensers,  C  N.  It  is  obvious 
that  if  the  commutator  is  turned  with  the 
ebonite  touching  the  springs,  Tj  T2,  no 
current  will  pass  ;  but  if  it  be  turned  one 
quarter  of  a  revolution  the  electricity  may 
be  caused  to  flow  in  either  direction,  and 
ij.  this  saves  the  necessity  of  disconnecting 
the  wires  from  the  batteries  and  reversing 
their  positions  with  respect  to  the  primary } 
which  is  a  saving  of  time  and  trouble, 
whilst  a  ready  means  is  also  afforded  of  cutting  off  the  current. 

We  now  come  to  the  source  of  electricity ;  this  may  take  the 
form  of  a  primary  battery  or  an  accumulator.  The  most  useful  forms 
are  the  bichromate,  the  Bunsen,  the  Grove,  and  the  Edison-Lalande. 

The  Bichromate  Battery. 

The  bichromate  battery  is  fairly  familiar  to  all  in  its  normal 
bottle  shape,  and  consists  of  a  zinc  rod  between  two  sheets  of 
carbon  immersed  in  a  liquid  composed  either  of  bichromate  of 
potash,  6  ozs.  ;  hot  water,  2  pints;  sulphuric  acid,  6  ozs.; 
or  else  chromic  acid  may  be  obtained  commercially,  which  merely 
requires  dissolving  in  water  to  form  the  exciting  fluid.  A  much 
more  convenient  form  than  the  bottle  for  portability  is  the  squat 
square-shaped  glass  jar  shown  in  Fig.  2,  in  which  the  internal 
arrangements  are  precisely  the  same  as  already  described. 

The  Bunsen  Battery. 

The  Bunsen  battery  is  very  satis¬ 
factory  in  working,  except  that  it 
gives  off  fumes  which  are  extremely 
unpleasant.  It  consists  of  a  glazed 
stoneware  jar,  in  which  is  a  cylinder 
(Fig.  3)  of  zinc,  which  is  the  negative 
element,  and  inside  this  a  porous  pot 
containing  a  bar  of  carbon,  which  is 
the  positive  element.  The  exciting 
fluid  is  strong  nitric  acid  for  the  car¬ 
bon,  and  a  10  per  cent,  solution  of  sul¬ 
phuric  acid  for  the  zinc  which  should 
be  amalgamated. 


Fig.  2. 


The  Grove  Battery. 

This  is  almost  identical  with  the  Bunsen,  only  a  platinum  or 
platinised  silver  plate  is  used  instead  of  the  carbon.  Of  the  two, 
as  a  rule  the  Bunsen  is  to  be  preferred,  because  its  prime  cost  is 
less,  and  it  costs  less  to  maintain,  and  the  difference  as  regards 
efficiency  is  negligible. 

The  Edison-Lalande  Battery. 

This  is  preferable  to  all  the  others,  and  curiously  enough  seems 
but  little  known,  but  from  its  great  constancy,  low  internal  re¬ 
sistance,  and  absence  from  local  action  is  deserving  of  better  notice. 

It  is  usually  a  porcelain  or  glass  jar 
with  zinc  as  the  positive  element  and 
plates  of  black  oxide  of  copper,  CuO  as 
the  negative,  the  exciting  solution  being 
a  25  per  cent,  solution  of  caustic  potash. 
The  zincs  are  amalgamated,  and 
thicker  at  the  top  than  the  bottom. 
The  action  of  this  cell  is  as  follows  : — ■ 
When  the  circuit  is  closed  the  water 
is  decomposed,  the  oxygen  combining 
with  the  zinc  to  form  oxide,  which  dis¬ 
solves  in  and  combines  with  the  caustic 
potash,  and  the  hydrogen  liberated  from 
the  water  combining  with  the  oxygen 
of  the  copper  oxide,  reducing  it  to  a 
very  pure  metallic  state.  As  a  rule  it  is 
advisable  to  cover  the  top  of  the  solu¬ 
tion  with  about  half  an  inch  of  heavy 
paraffin  oil  to  prevent  the  “creeping”  of  the  liquid.  One  great 
advantage  of  this  battery  is  that  when  not  in  use  it  can  be  merely 
set  on  one  side  and  left  for  months  without  suffering  any  deterio¬ 
ration  or  causing  trouble  of  any  kind. 

The  number  of  cells  used  will  of  course  depend  upon  the  current 
that  is  wanted,  but  it  may  be  assumed  that  six  quart  bichromates, 
five  or  six  Bunsen  and  Grove,  or  an  Edison-Lalande,  No.  2,  of  300 
ampere  hours’  capacity,  measuring  5|  x  3f  inches,  will  be  about 
right  for  a  4  or  6  inch  spark  coil.  The  cells  may  be  increased  in 
number,  but  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  to  do  this  means  increas¬ 
ing  the  risk  of  breaking  down  the  insulation  somewhere. 

The  Use  of  Accumulators. 

Accumulators  may  be  used,  and  frequently  are,  by  lecturers 
who  find  it  necessary  to  travel,  but  whilst  called  accumulators  it 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  they  are  really  batteries,  though  of  a 
somewffiat  different  type  to  the  others,  and  from  some  experience 
it  has  been  found  that  the  Edison-Lalande  battery  is  more  con¬ 
venient  because  it  need  not  be  charged  till  just  before  the  lecture, 
and  can  be  carried  about  dry,  whereas  accumulators  if  at  all  strained 


t/namc 


fto. 

ft 

-f 

H,SO, 

will  readily  leak  and  not 
only  make  a  mess  but 
prove  to  be  deficient  in 
current  at  a  critical  time. 

An  accumulator,  as  al¬ 
ready  stated,  is  a  battery, 
and  is  sometimes  called  a 
secondary  or  storage  bat¬ 
tery.  Its  action  is  very 
simple  when  understood. 

If  we  take  two  sheets  of 
lead  and  suspend  them  in 
a  solution  which  does  not 
attack  them,  such  as 

electricity 


Fig.  5.  attack  them,  such  as  Fig.  6. 

dilute  sulphuric  acid,  there  is  no  electricity  generated,  but 
supposing  we  have  an  outside  generating  current  and  pass  it  into 


Jan.  9,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


23 


such  a  cell  by  one  of  the  plates  through  the  solution  into  the 
other,  chemical  action  is  set  up,  and  the  plates  are  affected.  A 
simple  form  of  storage  battery  is  shown  in  Fig.  5,  and  consists  of 
two  plates  of  lead,  AB,  immersed  in  sulphuric  acid  and  connected 
to  a  dynamo.  The  current  flows  in  the  direction  of  the  arrow  into 
A,  through  the  acid  to  B,  and  thence  back  again,  when  peroxide  of 
lead,  PbOs,  and  spongy  lead  are  formed.  When  the  cell  is  fully 
charged  and  the  two  -wires  are  connected  with  a  lamp,  or  the  cir¬ 
cuit  is  otherwise  closed,  one  atom  of  oxygen  from  the  Pb02  unites 
with  the  spongy  lead  and  PbO  is  formed,  this  going  on 
with  the  generation  of  a  current  of  electricity,  till  both  plates  are 
converted  into  PbO,  when  the  cell  is  exhausted  and  must  be 
recharged.  It  will  be  seen  from  this  that  we  do  not  actually  store 
electricity,  but  convert  the  cell  into  a  primary  battery,  and  it  will 
also  be  noted  that  the  cell  is  discharged  in  a  contrary  direction  to 
that  in  which  it  receives  the  current. 

The  Wimshurst  or  Influence  Machine. 

Soon  after  Rontgen’s  announcement  many  tried  the  Wimshurst 
or  influence  machine  for  X  ray  work  with  varying  results,  but  now 
there  is  no  doubt  that  with  certain  precautions  and  care  as  good 
results  may  be  obtained  by  it  as  by  the  coil,  but  it  is  doubtful 
whether  in  as  brief  time.  Reports  upon  this  point  are  a  little 


Qontradictory,  and  when  cost  is  taken  into  account  there  is  not 
much  to  choose  between  the  two,  whilst  a  Wimshurst  is  almost 
worse  to  carry  about  than  a  coil  and  batteries. 

The  principle  involved  in  a  Wimshurst  or  influence  machine  is 
exceedingly  simple.  If  we  take  a  smooth  glass  rod  and  rub  it 
with  a  silk  handkerchief,  the  glass  rod  becomes  charged  with 
negative  electricity  on  its  surface,  and  this  can  be  made  manifest 
by  the  attraction  of  small  pieces  of  paper  lying  on  a  table. 
In  precisely  the  same  way  we  can  excite  a  stick  of  sealing-wax  by 
rubbing  it  with  flannel,  but  it  will  be  found  that  in  this  case 
the  sealing-wax  is  charged  with  positive  electricity.  As  the  glass 
and  sealing-wax  become  charged  or  excited  the  rubbing  material 
is  also  excited  with  the  opposite  electricity.  Thus  in  the  case  of 
the  silk  and  glass  the  silk  is  positively  charged. 

As  it  would  be  impossible  by  any  ordinary  means  of  rubbing  to 
excite  sufficient  current  to  produce  a  spark  of  any  length, 
the  Wimshurst  machines  are  used.  No  further  description  of 


these  is  required,  and  the  general  form  is  shown  in  Fig.  7.  From 
an  examination  of  this  figure  it  will  be  seen  that  there  are  sets  of 
combs  which  collect  the  electricity  from  the  glass,  and  from  one 
of  these  sets,  if  the  machine  is  worked  in  the  dark,  a  peculiar 
brush-like  discharge  will  be  seen  to  take  place  over  the  surface  of 
the  glass,  whilst  at  the  other  will  be  mere  stars  or  spots  of  light. 
This  brush  discharge  is  positive  and  the  anode  of  the  Crookes 
tube  must  be  connected  with  the  discharging  terminal.  It  is 
usual  in  all  Wimshursts  to  have  two  Leyden  jars  affixed  to  the 
base,  which  act  as  condensers,  but  for  X  ray  work  these  should  be 
omitted,  as  they  make  the  discharge  too  intermittent.  The  use 
of  a  Tesla  coil  and  the  current  from  the  street  mains  will  be 
considered  in  the  next  article. 


PROPRIETARY  ARTICLES  TRADE  ASSOCIATION. 

BY  W.  S.  GLYN- JONES. 

Unless  the  Editor  has  a  somewhat  liberal  conception  of  concise¬ 
ness,  I  fear  he  has  set  me  a  difficult  task  in  asking  me  to  write 
“a  concise  account  of  the  aims  and  objects  of  the  P.A.T.A. ,  making 
the  most  of  its  claims  to  the  support  of  chemists  and  druggists, 
and  showing  both  what  has  been  accomplished  and  what  yet 
remains  to  be  done.”  The  Association  has  been  in  existence  just 
one  year.  Like  the  majority  of  my  brother  chemists,  I  have  for 
some  time  past  felt  the  necessity  for  curtailing  the  ruinous  com¬ 
petition  in  what  unfortunately  constitutes  so  large  a  proportion  of 
our  business— -that  is,  the  sale  of  proprietary  articles — believing 
that,  if  the  assistance  of  the  proprietors  of  the  articles  in  question 
could  be  enlisted,  prices  could  be  controlled.  After  securing  the 
co-operation  of  the  principal  wholesale  houses,  I  approached  a 
number  of  the  proprietors,  with  the  result  that  the  P.A.T.A.  was 
formed.  I  mention  this  in  order  to  show  that  the  Association  is 
not  a  manufacturer’s  or  wholesaler’s  movement.  That  they  each  ■ 
have  something  to  gain,  so  far  from  being  denied,  is  affirmed,  as  a 
reason  for  anticipating  hopeful  results.  The  objects  as  stated  in 
the  rules  are  as  follow  : — 

(o)  The  discussion  of  matters  of  common  interest  to  the  branches  of  the  trades 
represented,  with  a  view  to  decision,  and,  if  necessary,  concerted  action. 

(6)  To  take  such  steps  as  the  Association  may  he  advised  are  legal  to  deal  with 
extreme  cutting  of  prices,  and  to  give  advice  and  render  assistance  to  its 
members  in  preventing  substitution. 

(c)  To  do  all  such  other  things  as  may  appear  to  be  of  benefit  to  the  trade. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  they  are  sufficiently  far  reaching.  The 
prevention  of  cutting  is,  of  course,  our  chief  object,  though  it  is 
open  to  either  of  the  three  sections  of  the  Association — proprietors, 
wholesalers,  or  retailers — to  take  up  any  other  matter  upon  which 
concerted  action  should  be  thought  desirable.  The  mention  of 
substitution  in  paragraph  (b)  requires,  perhaps,  some  explanation. 
The  term  is  used  in  the  sense  of  describing  a  growing  practice 
amongst  retailers,  by  which,  without  the  slightest  fraudulent 
deception,  every  endeavour  is  used  to  induce  customers  to  accept, 
in  lieu  of  the  advertised  article  they  inquire  for,  and  which  would 
be  sold  at  an  infinitesimal  profit,  a  similar  article,  upon  which 
the  retailer  is  enabled  to  secure  an  adequate  return.  It  is  main¬ 
tained  that  this  practice  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  business  in 
advertised  proprietaries  is  conducted  at  almost  cost  price,  and  if 
the  proprietors  ensured  on  the  distribution  of  their  goods  an  adequate 
profit,  they  would  be  removing  the  necessity  for  this  substitution. 
Hence  the  ground  of  our  appeal  to  proprietors.  I  would  especially 
point  out  that  no  compulsory  undertaking  is  asked  of  retailers  as  to 
pushing  their  own  or  other  preparations  in  the  place  of  protected 
articles.  They  arc  not  asked  to  pledge  themselves,  against  their 
will,  not  to  substitute.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  contended  that 
where  a  fair  profit  is  guaranteed  substitution  does  not  pay,  and 


24 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  9,  1897 


that  this  fact  alone  safeguards  the  interests  of  proprietors  on 
our  list.  That  this  is  so  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  so  many 
retailers  have  written  to  the  proprietors  of  the  articles 
on  our  list,  volunteering  the  statement  that  they  always 
hand  their  articles  to  customers  who  ask  for  them 
without  attempting,  as  they  formerly  did,  to.  sell  a  rival 
article.  The  plan  by  which  prices  are  secured  is  simple,  and 
obviates  the  very  great  difficulties  and  annoyances  experienced, 
especially  by  the  wholesale  trade,  owing  to  the  various  separate 
agreements  issued  by  an  ever-increasing  number  of  individual  pro¬ 
prietors.  The  proprietors  of  the  articles  upon  our  list  undertake 
to  withhold  supplies  of  their  articles  from  any  firm  selling  any  one 
of  them  below  the  minimum  prices,  or  from  any  firm  who  after  due 
notice  supplies  such  a  cutter  with  any  of  the  goods.  Retailers 
buying  through  the  wholesale  houses  are  not  required  to  give 
agreements,  but  immediately  information  of  their  cutting  reaches 
the  Association,  their  names  are  sent  to  the  proprietors  and  to  the 
wholesale  trade,  and  supplies  of  the  whole  list  withheld  until  the 
correct  prices  are  maintained.  Our  list,  which  is  being  added  to 
each  month,  includes  the  following  articles 


Aston’s  Sovereign  Embrocation. 
Barclay’s  Dr.  Bateman’s  Drops. 
Beetham’s  Anodyne  Lotion. 

,,  Capillary  Fluid  and  Hair 

Grower. 

,,  Corn  Plaster. 

Glycerine  and  Cucumb3r, 

,,  Indel.  Extract. 

,,  Soft  Corn  Cure. 

Benbow’s  Dog  Mixture. 

Condal  Water. 

Davis's  Calorific. 

,,  ,,  Shields. 

Dicey’s  Dr.  Bateman’s  Drop’. 

,,  Daffy’s  Elixir. 

Dredge's  Heal-All. 

Frog  in  Your  Throat  ? 

G-ell’s  Foot-Bot  Ointment. 

Oaraudel’s  Pastilles. 

Hall’s  Coca  Wine. 

“  H.O.” 

Hayman’s  Balsam  of  Horehound. 
Invalid  Bjvril. 


Kearsley’s  Original  WidowWelch’s  Pills. 
Mrs.  Johnson’s  American  Soothing 
Syrup. 

Lambert’s  Balsam. 

Lascelles’  Pills. 

Liebig’s  Ext.  of  Meat  and  Malt  Wine 
(Keystone  Brand). 

Liebig  Co.’s  Ext.  of  Meat. 

Moller’s  New  Hydroxyl-free  Cod-liver 
Oil. 

Peptarnis  (Liebig  Co.’s  Peptone  of 
Beef). 

Powell’s  Balsam  of  Aniseed. 

,,  Mild  Aperient  Pills. 

Dr.  Scott’s  Bilious  and  Liver  Pills. 
Smedley’s  Chillie  Paste. 

Standard  Malt  Extract. 

Standard  Liquid  Malt  Extract. 

Vitalia  Meat  Juice. 

Webster’s' Manilla  Paper. 

Zox. 

„  Plasters. 

,,  Tonic. 


Further  additions  will  be  made  this  month.  Over  1700  retailers 
have  been  enrolled,  and  our  list  of  wholesale  members  includes 
(with  the  exception  of  Messrs.  Newbery)  every  wholesale  patent 
medicine  house  in  London  ;  together  with  the  following  country 
firms,  Messrs.  Bleasdale,  Ltd.,  York;  Evans,  Gadd,  and  Co., 
Exeter ;  Hirst,  Brooke,  and  Hirst,  Leeds  ;  Morris  and  Jones,  Liver¬ 
pool  ;  Southall  Bros,  and  Barclay,  Birmingham ;  W oolleys, 
Alan  Chester,  and  Wyleys,  Coventry. 

So  much  for  what  we  have  done.  It  is  a  year’s  record  of  which 
I  maintain  we  have  every  reason  to  be  proud,  and  one  which 
should  establish  our  claims  to  the  supjoort  of  all  retail  chemists, 
who  in  this  matter  have  everything  to  gain  and  nothing  to  lose  by 
supporting  the  movement.  Much  as  some  may  regret  the  fact, 
proprietary  articles  of  a  medicinal  character  are  in  great  demand. 
They  are  consumed  by  the  “drug-taking”  public,  our  customers, 
and  if  we  are  not  in  a  position  to  meet  that  demand  we  lose  our 
clientele.  Two  reasons  are  often  given  for  not  supporting  us. 

First. — “My  business  is  of  a  high-class  character,  chiefly  dispens¬ 
ing,  and  I  sell  no  quack  nostrums.”  If  there  were  no  proprietaries 
other  than  quack  nostrums  this  objection  would  perhaps  hold  good. 
Your  article  on  “Th e  Pharmaceutical  Journal  and  Changed  Ideals,” 
(page  12),  may  be  referred  to  here  in  reference  to  this  point. 
Invalid  preparations,  toilet  specialties,  mineral  waters,  all  come 
under  the  heading  of  proprietary  articles  and  within  the  scope  of 


the  enterprising  cutter.  No  pharmacist,  however  high  class  his 
business,  can  afford  to  ignore  the  fact  that  his  position  as  a 
trader  in  these  articles  is  being  undermined  by  his  store  com¬ 
petitors,  and  that  he  risks  the  loss  of  his  dispensing  by  being 
undersold  in  the  other  branches  of  his  business.  Apart  from  this, 
freedom  from  the  annoyance  of  constant  bickering  and  grumbling 
as  to  prices  for  these  articles,  and  the  knowledge  that  in  charging 
a  certain  amount  no  underselling  can  take  place,  are  in  themselves 
desirable  apart  from  any  pecuniary  advantage.  The  chemist  who, 
whilst  laying  claim  to  the  highest  class  of  business,  offers  as  an 
excuse  for  his  lukewarmness  to  our  movement  that  his  trade  in 
proprietaries  is  so  small,  apparently  forgets  that  it  is  in  all  proba¬ 
bility  due  to  the  underselling  of  his  neighbours,  and  that  if  such 
cutting  were  prevented,  his  share  in  the  trade  of  these  goods 
would  be  increased.  That  this  is  the  result  of  protected  prices 
has  been  proved  in  the  cases  of  articles  upon  our  list. 

Second  Objection. — The  man  who  says  he  prefers  selling  his  own 
'  preparations  whether  he  makes  a  profit  or  not  upon  an  advertised 
article,  and  urges  this  as  an  objection  to  our  Association,  seems  to 
overlook  the  fact  that  by  joining  our  movement  he  is  quite  at  liberty 
to  push  his  own  articles,  though  I  maintain  he  will  find  it  better 
business  to  sell  the  article  he  is  asked  for,  provided  the  trans¬ 
action  shows  a  fair  profit,  than  to  risk  offending  the  customer  by 
pressing  him  to  take  something  in  its  place. 

Our  prospects  are  just  what  retail  chemists  and  druggists  choose 
to  make  them.  The  principal  obstacle  in  the  way  of  an  increased 
list,  the  chief  weapon  in  the  hands  of  the  cutters  who  are  opposing 
us,  is  that  we  do  not  speak  for  the  trade.  A  number  of  leading 
proprietors  have  promised  to  add  their  articles  directly  a  fair 
proportion  of  the  trade  show  their  desire  for  such  a  step 
by  becoming  members  of  the  Association.  No  better 
evidence  of  the  possibilities  of  our  Association  can  be  afforded 
than  the  evident  concern  shown  by  the  big  cutting  houses* 
and  the  astonishing  efforts  they  have  been,  making  to 
thwart  us.  If  the  rank  and  file  of  the  trade  only  showed  a  tithe 
of  the  energy  in  supporting  us  that  has  been  forthcoming  from 
the  enemies  of  the  trade  in  opposition  to  our  work  a  vast  amount 
could  be  done  by  way  of  curtailing  the  insane  competition  which 
to-day  is  playing  such  great  havoc  with  the  business  of  our 
fellow-craftsmen.  A  suggestion  that  our  work  is  in  opposition 
to  the  work  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  may  at  once  be  dis¬ 
missed.  The  objects  of  the  P.A.  T.A.  are  of  a  character  which  it 
would  be  impossible  for  the  Society  to  deal  with.  In  an  article  of 
this  description  it  is  impossible  to  go  into  detail,  but  I  should  be 
glad  at  all  times  to  be  able  to  afford  any  other  information  that 
may  be  thought  desirable.  The  retail  subscription  to  the  Associa¬ 
tion  is  5s.  a  year. .  It  should  be  sent  to  the  Secretary,  2  and  3, 
Stonecutter  Street,  London,  E.C. 


Citrates  of  Phenetidine.  — By  heating  together  a  mixture  of 
citric  acid  and  para-amidophenetol  at  a  temperature  from 
100°-200°,  Heyden  has  obtained  two  compounds  of  citric  acid  with 
the  phenetidine  radical,  one  mono-,  the  otlfer  di-basic.  The  former 
occurs  as  a  white  crystalline  powder  or  in  large  crystals  melting  at 
72°,  readily  soluble  in  warm  water,  and  having  an  acid  reaction 
Solution  of  sodium  carbonate  dissolves  it  with  effervescence. 
Heated  to  100°  it  loses  a  molecule  of  water,  and  then  does  not 
melt  below  120°.  The  dibasic  bod}7  is  a  white  powder  with  an  acid 
reaction,  only  slightly  soluble  in  water,  melting  at  177°.  Solution 
of  sodium  carbonate  does  not  dissolve  it  until  heated.  Both  these 
bodies  possess  analgesic  and  antipyretic  properties,  which  are 
more  promptly  manifested  than  in  the  case  of  phenacetine  or  lacto- 
phenine. — Journ.  de  Pharm.  d’ Anvers,  lii. ,  after  Pharmaceut.  Post. 


Jan.  9,  1897J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL* 


25 


GELATIN  CAPSULES.* 

BY  WM,  C.  ALrERS. 

1.  History  of  the  Capsule. 

Daring  the  last  fifty  years,  the  filled  and  empty  gelatin  capsules 
have  become  of  such  general  use  among  physicians  and  pharmacists, 
that  a  short  history  of  their  origin  and  development  may  not  be 
without  interest.  Oar  Pharmacopoeia  ignores  them  entirely,  and 
the  various  handbooks  on  pharmacy  contain  but  very  scant  infor¬ 
mation  on  this  useful  article. 

In  compiling  the  following  notes,  the  writer  consulted  the 
libraries,  public  and  private,  of  New  Yoik,  as  far  as  they  were 
accessible,  and  while  he  thinks  that  he  has  recorded  all  that  is 
desirable  to  know  on  this  subject,  he  cannot  claim  that  nothing  has 
been  overlooked  or  forgotten,  and  will  be  glad  to  receive  additions 
or  corrections.  He  is  greatly  indebted  for  much  valuable  informa¬ 
tion  to  the  firms  of  H.  Planten  and  Co.  and  E.  Fougera  and  Co.,  of 
New  York  ;  to  Parke,  Davis,  and  Co.  and  the  Merz  Capsule  Co.,  of 
Detroit,  Mich.,  and  to  the  authors  of  the  various  pharmaceutical 
manuals. 

The  gelatin  capsule  was  invented  by  Mr.  A.  Mothes,  a  French 
pharmacist,  in  1833.  Experiments  had  evidently  been  made  before, 
but  no  evidence  of  success  nor  public  acknowledgment  can  be 
found  before  this  date.  Official  notice  of  the  discovery  was  taken 
by  two  reports  to  the  “  Acad<§mie  royale  de  Medecine,”  one  on  May, 
13,  1834,  the  other  on  February  28,  1837,  both  of  which  speak 
approvingly  of  it.  On  March  15,  1837,  Dr.  M.  F.  Ratier,  a  prominent 
physician  and  teacher  of  Paris,  inserted  in  the  ‘  Dictionnaire  de 
Medecine  et  de  Chirurgie  practiques’  (volume  xv.,  page  285)  an 
article  on  “  Therebinthine  de  Copahu,”  in  which  he  speaks  of  the 
happy  idea  of  the  gelatin  capsules  which  admit  of  direct  adminis¬ 
tration  of  either  balsam  of  copaiva  or  its  volatile  oil  without  any 
addition  liable  to  alter  its  virtues.  There  is  therefore  no  doubt  that 
this  invention  was  at  once  welcomed  by  the  medical  and  pharma¬ 
ceutical  professions  as  a  safe  method  of  administering  nauseating 
liquids.  The  capsules  were  known  after  their  inventor  as  “  Capsules 
Gelatineuses  de  Mothes,”  and  were  manufactured  and  sold  by  the 
firm  of  Mothes  et  Dablanc,  of  Paris.  At  first  only  capsules  filled 
with  balsam  of  copaiva  were  made,  afterwards  various  nauseating 
1'  quids,  principally  oils,  were  treated  in  the  same  way.  Soon  a 
demand  for  empty  capsules  arose,  and  the  firm  supplied  them  al  o. 
The  method  of  making  these  capsules  was  described  by  Mr. 
Cottereau  in  an  article  in  the  ‘  Traits  de  Pharmacologie  ’  early  in 
1835.  A  small  pouch  made  of  a  soft  skin,  shaped  like  a  small 
olive,  served  as  a  mould.  This  pouch  was  fastened  by  means  of  a 
waxed  thread  to  a  small  long-necked  funnel  of  metal,  the  upper  wide 
opening  of  which  could  be  closed  with  a  screw  cover.  Through 
this  funnel  the  pouch  was  filled  with  mercury  in  order  to  expand 
it.  A  solution  of  gelatin  and  water  was  made  in  the  proportion 
of  1  part  of  gelatin  to  3  of  water,  and  the  expanded 
pouch  dipped  into  it.  On  withdrawing,  a  rotary  motion  was 
given  the  instrument  until  the  gelatin  had  almost  hardened ;  if 
desired,  a  second  or  third  dipping  might  be  used.  The  cover  of 
the  funnel  was  removed  and  the  mercury  poured  out,  by  which  the 
pouch  would  collapse  and  could  easily  be  withdrawn.  The  neck  of 
the  capsule  was  then  cut,  leaving  a  small  opening  through  which  it 
was  filled  by  means  of  a  syringe.  Finally  a  drop  of  the  gelatin 
solution  would  close  the  capsule. 

In  1838,  Mr.  Garot,  a  pharmacist  of  Paris,  read  a  paper  before 
the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Paris  ( Journal  de  Pharmaeie ,  1838, 
p.  78),  in  which  he  states  that  the  manufacturers  of  capsules  having 


*  Read  before  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association,  at  Montreal. 


refused  to  sell  empty  ones,  he  was  forced  to  invent  a  plan  of  his 
own,  in  order  to  fill  certain  prescriptions  of  local  physicians  who  did 
not  wish  to  have  the  formula  communicated  to  others.  He  proceeded 
by  making  a  mass  of  the  cubebs  and  copaiva  and  other  substance?, 
and  divided  and  rolled  the  mass  into  pills.  He  then  made  a 
gelatin  solution,  using  one  part  of  gelatin  to  three  of  water,  put  the 
pills  on  needles,  dipped  them  into  the  liquid,  rotated  them  in  the 
air  until  the  gelatin  was  losing  its  liquid  consistency,  and  kept 
them  on  the  ntedle  by  inserting  the  blunt  end  into  a  thick  paste. 
After  preparing  about  fifty  pills,  he  would  take  each  needle  and 
warm  it  gently  at  a  candle ;  the  heat  beffig  sufficient  to  melt  the 
gelatin  around  the  needle  to  allow  the  latter  to  be  withdrawn.  A 
warm  spatula  and  a  trace  of  liquid  gelatin  would  finally  close  the  hole 
left  by  the  needle.  It  will  be  seen  that  this  is  substantially  the  method 
used  in  later  years  by  the  manufacturers  of  gelatin-coated  pills, 
although  other  methods  are  now  employed  by  some.  Mr.  Garot,  there¬ 
fore  was  the  inventor  of  the  gelatin- coated  pill  in  1838.  Two  year 
later  ( Journal  de  Pharmaeie,  1840,  p.  585)  Mr.  Vde  proposed  an 
improvement  in  the  coating  material  by  using  1  part  of  gelatin 
7  parts  of  jujube,  and  water  enough  to  dissolve  both  to  a  syrupy 
consistency.  This  mass  would  prevent  the  crackiDg  of  the  coating 
caused  by  the  rapid  drying  and  contraction  of  the  gelatin,  and  also 
leave  a  pleasant  flavour  in  the  mouth  after  swallowing  the  pill. 
Another  modification  was  recommended  in  1848  by  Mr.  M.  G. 
Jozeau  ( Gazette  Midicale  de  Paris,  1848,  iii.,  193)  by  substituting 
casein  for  gelatin. 

Returning  to  the  capsules,  it  must  be  noted  that  the  process 
invented  and  employed  by  Mr.  A.  Mothes  was  a  rather  complicated 
one,  and  we  cannot  wonder  that  ingenious  minds  looked  for 
improvements.  Such  an  improvement  is  recorded  in  the  Journal  de 
Pharmaeie  et  de  Chimie  (vol.  1846,  p.  354)  by  Mr.  A.  Giraud.  He 
took  small,  iron,  olive-shaped  balls  with  a  wire  attached  to  one  end, 
and  after  covering  them  with  a  thin  coat  of  sweet  almond  oil 
dipped  them  into  a  solution  of  syrupy  consistence  of  24  parts  of 
gelatin,  4  parts  of  syrup  of  acacia,  6  parts  of  simple  syrup,  and  20 
parts  of  water.  The  coated  moulds  were  suspended  by  means  of  the 
wire  until  the  gelatin  was  cold  enough  to  be  touched  by  the  fingers, 
when  he  would  grasp  each  one  with  the  hand  and  briskly  withdraw 
the  mould.  The  gelatin  mass  was  elastic  enough  to  expand  and 
contract  agaia.  Mr.  Giraud  finally  asked  if  there  would  be  legal 
objections  to  using  this  method.  The  answer  is  given  in  a  footnote, 
stating  that  this  process  cannot  be  used,  as  it  interferes  with  the 
patent  of  Mr.  Mothes.  It  seems,  however,  that  Mr.  Mothes  himself 
took  advantage  of  this  paper,  for  in  1850,  that  is,  four  years  later, 
we  find  in  the  Journal  de  Pharmaeie  et  Chimie  (vol.  1850,  p.  204),  a 
communication  signed  H.  B.,  to  the  effect  that  Mr.  Mothes  has 
introduced  an  improvement  in  making  his  capsules,  in  order  to  over¬ 
come  the  variations  in  size,  by  taking  iron  moulds  of  the  shape  of 
an  olive  suspended  by  wires.  Then  follows  the  same  description 
that  Mr.  Giraud  had  given  before,  without  giving  him  the  credit  of 
the  invention.  We  must  surmise  that  French  manufacturers,  just 
like  their  American  brethren,  are  in  the  habit  of  re-inventing,  when¬ 
ever  the  original  inventor  is  careless  enough  to  publish  his  inven¬ 
tion  without  patenting  it  at  once.  From  this  time  the  gelatin 
capsules  were  generally  used  by  the  French  pharmacists  and 
physicians,  and  we  find  many  evidences  in  the  various  French 
pharmaceutical  journals.  Formu’m  for  certain  mixtures  are 
recommended,  ending  generally  with  the  phrase:  “Then  fill  into 
gelatin  capsules,  and  close  them  in  the  usual  way.”  It  might 
be  mentioned  that  in  1878  ( Journal  de  Pharmaeie  et  de  Chimie , 
1878,  ii.,  p.  74),  Mr.  Detenhof  gives  again  a  description  of  a  method 
of  making  capsules,  which  differs  from  Giraud’s  method  only  in  the 
material.  Detenhof  used  7  4  gelatin,  14-4  water,  and  added  14-4 


26 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jax.  9,  1897 


glycerin;  he  was  probably  the  first  one  to  recommend  glycerin  in 
the  gelatin  mass. 

The  French  Pharmacopoe’a  also  took  notice  of  this  invention,  and 
we  find  an  official  formula  for  the  manufacture  of  the  gelatin 
capsule  in  the  edition  of  1866  of  the  ‘  Codex  Medicamentarius.’ 
The  mass  employed  consisted  of  gelatin,  30  parts ;  gum  arable, 
30  parts ;  sugar,  30  parts ;  white  honey,  10  parts,  and  water* 
100  parts.  The  process  differs  from  that  of  Giraud,  in  so  far  that 
the  olive-shaped  iron  moulds  are  not  provided  with  a  wire,  but  are 
soldered  with  their  elongated  necks  to  a  small  plate,  so  that  after 
dipping  them  into  the  gelatin  solution  they  would  stand  erect 
until  sufficiently  dry  to  withdraw  them  from  the  mould.  The  last 
edition  of  the  German  Pharmacopoeia  also  recognises  the  capsules, 
and  gives  a  similar  formula.  Also  in  other  countries  the  capsules 
soon  became  very  popular,  and  experiments  to  improve  the  method 
of  their  manufacture  were  made  by  many  pharmacists. 

In  the  ‘  Repertorium  fur  die  Pharmacie  ’  (1840,  xxiv.,  2,  p.  158), 
we  find  an  article  on  the  “  The  Formation  of  the  Gelatin  Capsule,” 
by  Adolph  Steege,  court  apothecary  at  Bucharest.  He  provided 
his  moulds  with  wooden  handles  fitting  snugly  into  perforations 
of  a  wooden  plate.  Patting  about  fifty  such  moulds  into  position, 
he  dips  them  into  the  gelatin  solution  and  then  rotates 
the  whole  apparatus  in  the  air  until  the  gelatin  has  become 
solid  enough  to  be  handled.  Taking  each  handle  from  the  plate, 
he  cuts  the  gelatin  neck  at  the  proper  place,  and  pulls  the  capsule 
off  the  mould.  This  process  is  substantially  still  in  use  to-day, 
according  to  Remington’s  ‘  Pharmacy,’  3rd  edition,  p.  1231,  where 
the  apparatus  used  by  Parke,  Davis,  and  Co.  is  illustrated  and 
described. 

In  1845  two  pharmacists,  Evans  and  Lescher,  invented  a  process 
by  which  a  small  animal  membrane,  made  of  the  small  intestines  of 
the  sheep,  was  used  as  a  covering.  A  description  of  their  invention 
is  given  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  and  Transactions ,  1845-46, 
p.  361. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  capsules  so  far  mentioned  were, 
without  exception,  olive-shaped,  and  had  to  be  closed  with  a  drop 
of  gelatin  solution.  They  were  hand-made,  and  naturally  expen¬ 
sive.  The  French  manufacturers  exported  them  to  all  countries, 
but  it  seems  that  they  preferred  to  sell  filled  capsules  of  various 
formulte,  and  while  the  pharmacists  of  other  countries  handled 
them,  the  capsules  did  not  become  of  general  use.  To  us  the  ques¬ 
tion,  how  they  were  introduced  into  American  pharmacy,  is  of 
particular  interest. 

The  first  mention  of  gelatin  capsules  appears  in  the  American 
Journal  of  Pharmacy  of  1835,  new  series,  vol.  i.,  p.  351,  giving  a 
short  translation  of  Cottereau’s  article  in  the  *  Traite  de  Pharma¬ 
cologies  without  any  commentary.  Only  two  years  later  we  find 
Jn  the  same  journal  (Am.  Journ.  of  Ph.,  1837,  new  series,  vol.  iii., 
p.  20),  a  lengthy  article  on  “  Capsules  of  Gelatin,”  by  Alfred  Guillon, 
graduate  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy,  which  is  well 
worth  copying : — 

Provide  a  suitable  number  of  narrow  tin  dishes,  about  18  or  20  in.  in  length, 
1  in.  deep,  and  about  2  in.  in  width.  In  the  length  of  these  and  in  a  line,  plant 
or  so’der  at  a  distance  of  cue  inch  from  each  other  a  number  of  smoothly  formed 
metallic  knobs  of  an  ovoid  shape,  whose  apex  having  been  somewhat  lengthened 
out,  forms  a  thin  neck  by  which  they  are  attached  to  the  t'n  dishes.  This  neck 
may  he  about  J  of  an  inch  in  length.  Procure  a  sheet  of  tin  and  perforate  with 
round  holes,  of  which  the  diameter  will  be  equal  to  the  thickness  of  the  knobs. 
Having  greased  the  knobs  well  with  lard,  so  as  not  cnly  to  prevent  any  adhesion 
to  them,  but  also  the  adhesion  of  the  inner  sides  of  the  capsules  to  each  other 
after  casting,  pour  melted  glue  (the  most  transparent  hiving  been  selected) 
upon  them  and  allow  it  to  become  tolerably  stiff.  If  you  think  the  shell  is  too 
thin,  a  second  coat  may  be  poured  upon  the  first.  The  capsule  having  been 
coated,  this  cast  is  allowed  to  cool  down  to  the  ordinary  consistency  of  india- 
}  utter,  and  having  run  a  knife  around  the  neck,  you  twist  it  briskly  around  and 


pull  it  upwards  off  the  knob.  It  will  immediately  collapse  and  lose  the  form 
1mparted  to  it  on  the  mou’d,  but  if  laid  aside  to  dry,  will  by  the  time  it  fcas 
hardened  have  regained  the  desired  rotundity.  Place  it  upon  your  perforated 
plate  or  “filler,”  and  you  can  thus  convenient'y  fill  it  with  the  article 
prescribed,  and  close  the  opening  with  a  piece  of  gold  beater’s  s-kin. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  Mr.  Guillon  used  glue  instead  of  gelatin,  and 
also  recommended  iron  moulds  soldered  by  their  necks  to  small  tin 
plates,  and  therefore  devised  the  instrument  which  is  now  official  in  the 
French  Pharmacopoeia.  Asthisarticle  was  written  in  1837,  that  is  nine 
years  before  Mr.  Giraud  recommended  his  iron  mould  with  wires, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  Guillon,  an  American  student  of  the  Phila¬ 
delphia  College  of  Pharmacy,  was  the  first  inventor  of  the  improved 
process  for  making  capsules,  preceding  even  Steege’s  invention  by 
five  years.  I  have  not  been  able  to  discover  whether  any  practical 
results  came  from  this  discovery,  the  records  of  the  patent  office 
do  not  mention  any  patent  for  capsules  at  that  time,  nor  have  I 
found  the  inventor’s  name  anywhere  later. 

The  real  capsule  industry  in  America  dates  from  1836,  when  Mr. 
H.  Planten  emigrated  from  Paris  and  established  a  capsule  business 
at  No.  3,  Chambers  Street,  New  York,  at  the  place  where  the  East 
River  Savings  Institution  is  now  located.  Filled  capsules,  accord¬ 
ing  to  French  formulae,  were  manufactured  after  the  process  of 
Mothes,  and  new  ones  added  whenever  a  demand  arose.  The  cap¬ 
sules  were  first  sold  as  “  Mothes’  capsules,”  and  the  labels  printed 
in  French  and  English.  Powders  were  also  put  in  the  capsules,  if 
ordered.  Capsules  in  two  parts  were  also  made,  the  lower  part 
filled  and  then  capped.  But  their  manufacture  was  soon  abandoned 
as  unpractical,  the  two  parts  rarely  fitting  well.  The  firm  of  H. 
Planten,  now  H.  Planten  and  Son,  never  patented  any  machinery, 
and  invariably  decline  to  announce  their  methods.  How  long  they 
adhered  to  Mothes’  original  process,  or  when  improvements  were 
made  is  therefore  impossible  to  say.  The  old  firm  of  B.  Keith  and 
Co.’s  also  attempted  to  introduce  empty  gelatin  capsules  and  manu¬ 
factured  them  here  about  1860,  but  soon  abandoned  the  attempt. 
E.  Fougera  and  Co.,  of  New  York,  also  imported  French  capsules  for 
many  years,  but  during  the  last  twenty  years  the  domestic  capsules, 
on  account  of  their  cheapness,  superseded  those  imported. 

In  1863  the  firm  of  H.  Planten  took  up  the  industry  of  empty 
capsules  for  powders  and  liquids.  The  first  capsules  intended  for 
powders  alone  were  called  by  them  Jujube  Paste  capsules  and  were 
offered  to  the  trade  before  1870.  Another  manufacturer,  Dundas 
Dick,  also  experimented  in  the  same  direction  and  secured  a  patent 
on  cone-shaped  capsules  as  early  as  1865.  The  first  inventor,  how¬ 
ever,  to  manufacture  capsules,  as  now  used,  by  machinery,  to 
devise  ingenious  apparatus  for  their  production  on  an  extensive 
scale  and  to  render  their  use  popular  in  pharmacy,  was  Mr.  F.  A. 
Hubei,  of  Detroit.  He  secured  his  first  patent  for  a  capsule 
machine  February  13,  1877,  although  he  had  already  manufactured 
and  sold  empty  capsules  as  early  as  January,  1875  (see  Parke,  Davis, 
and  Co.’s  price-list  of  1875).  From  this  date  till  1883  we  find  a  long 
list  of  patents  in  the  records  of  the  patent-office,  some  of  them 
granted  to  Mr.  Hubei,  some  to  other  inventors.  Disputes  as  to 
priority  soon  arose,  and  law  suits  followed,  in  which  Mr.  Hubei  was 
victorious.  His  whole  output  is  brought  into  the  market  by  Parke, 
Davis,  and  Co.  The  following  is  the  process  employed  by  him, 
which  I  copy  verbatim  from  a  letter  that  Parke,  Davis,  and  Co.  had 
the  kindness  of  sending  me  in  answer  to  my  inquiry  : 

“  Metal  moulds  set  in  metal  plates  are  first  lubricated,  and  then 
dipped  into  solution  of  gelatin.  They  are  withdrawn  at  a  regulated 
speed,  the  solution  being  of  a  given  temperature,  and  that  tempera¬ 
ture  being  higher  according  as  the  temperature  of  the  mould  is 
lower  and  vice  versd.  The  temperature  of  the  moulds,  and  of  the 
solution  and  the  speed  at  which  the  moulds  are  withdrawn,  deter¬ 
mine  the  thickness  of  the  capsule.  The  solution  comprises  seven 


Jan.  9,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


2  7 


puts  of  water  to  four  of  gelatin.  After  dipping,  the  gelatin 
investment  is  allowed  to  congeal  sufficiently,  and  it  is  then  cut  by 
a  special  cutting  machine,  and  the  waste  aborft  the  cut  is  shoved 
away  from  the  capsule.  The  capsules  are  dried  by  passing  a  current 
of  air  over  them,  and  when  dry  and  hard  are  stripped  from  the 
mould  by  machine.  The  caps  are  joined  to  the  bodies  by  hand,  and 
at  the  same  time  defective  capsules  are  sorted  out  and  rejected. 
The  finest  quality  of  gelatin  is  alone  suitable.  The  one  other 
process  we  are  familiar  with  varies  from  the  foregoing  only  in  the 
fact  that  after  dipping  the  moulds,  the  capsules  are  allowed  to  dry 
wholly,  or  almost  wholly,  before  stripping.” 

I  also  quote  from  a  letter  of  “  The  Merz  Capsule  Co.,”  of  Detroit, 
who  write :  “  In  order  to  make  capsules  properly  and  sufficiently 
cheap  it  requires  a  large  amount  of  complicated  and  expensive 
machinery,  and  constant  attention  to  small  details,  inasmuch  as  the 
one-thousandth  of  an  inch  difference,  more  or  less,  in  the  thickness 
of  a  capsule  will  either  make  it  a  loose- joining  or  a  tight- joining 
capsule. 

The  last  invention  on  the  field  of  capsules  is  that  of  Mr.  Heine- 
man,  who  now  manufactures  empty  elastic  capsules  for  fluids. 

“  By  means  of  these  the  druggist  is  enabled  himself  to  fill  elastic 
capsules  as  occasion  may  require,  perfectly  and  without  loss  of 
time,  doing  the  work  as  well  as  the  capsule  manufacturer  himself 
could  do  the  same  in  the  factory.  The  convenient  shells  will  keep 
almost  indefinitely,  are  always  ready  for  use,  and  enable  the 
druggist  not  alone  to  avoid  carrying  a  large  stock  of  filled  capsules, 
but  enable  him  to  dispense  freshly  made  capsules  containing  an 
almost  indefinite  variety  of  formulae  wilh  whatever  variations 
physicians  may  be  pleased  to  give  them  from  time  to  time,  as  the 
needs  of  the  patient  may  require.” 

The  use  of  the  gelatin  capsule  is  daily  extending,  not  only  in 
medicinal  and  pharmaceutical  adaptation,  but  also  for  mechanical 
purposes  of  varied  kinds.  They  are  employed  for  beef  juices  and 
ether  extracts,  for  candies  and  chocolates,  for  inks  and  blueing. 
The  latest  use  to  which  they  are  put  is  for  packing  cigars,  in  order 
to  better  preserve  the  flavour,  and  daily  new  ideas  appear  in  which 
the  gelatin  capsule  may  take  part  in  due  time. 

( To  be  continued. ) 


THE  CHEMICAL  LABORATORY  IN  PHARMACY. 

BY  JOS.  L.  MAYEE,  PH.G. 

Not  unfrequently  one  hears  some  cynical  druggist  laugh  and 
sneer  when  something  is  said  about  the  present  courses  of  instruc¬ 
tion  in  a  college  of  pharmacy.  The  name  cynic  is  perhaps  better 
suited  to  druggists  of  this  class  than  any  other,  for,  according  to 
Henry  Ward  Beecher,  a  cynic  is  a  person  who  never  sees  a  good 
quality,  and  never  fails  to  find  seme  insignificant  bad  one.  The 
cynical  druggist  never  sees  the  many  advantages  of  a  college  of 
pharmacy,  but  never  fails  to  find  and  point  out  some  disadvantages 
which  oftentimes  exist  to  him  only. 

The  disadvantages  which  he  will  almost  invariably  point  are — the 
cost  of  a  college  course  as  compared  with  the  expense  of  passing  a 
board  of  pharmacy,  the  idea  that  there  is  not  enough  practical 
pharmacy  taught,  never  forgetting  to  say  some  sarcastic  or  ironical 
things  about  the  chemical  laboratory  requirements ;  in  fact,  he  is  so 
biased  and  prejudiced  that  he  will  hardly  admit  one  advantage  of 
the  college  of  pharmacy  course  as  now  mapped  out. 

This  class  of  persons  claim  that  to-day,  when  pharmacy  is  down 
about  as  low  as  it  can  ever  come  (speaking  from  both  a  financial 
and  professional  standpoint),  the  colleges  seek  to  teach  the  embryo 
pharmacist  “  these  scientific  studies”  (as  they  are  pleased  to  allude 
to  them),  which  were  never  required  in  the  time  when  pharmacy 


was  yet  a  profession,  and  there  was  money  making  on  all  sides 
They  say  that  those  times  were  prosperous  ones  for  the  druggist, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  average  druggist  had  no  pharma¬ 
ceutical  college  education.  The  money-making  question  is  about  as 
far  as  they  go,  and  here  they  stop.  They  do  not  mention  the  fact 
that  at  that  money-making  period  the  undermining  of  pharmacy  as 
a  profession  wa3  going  on,  until  at  last  the  climax  was  reached,  and 
there  was  neither  professional  nor  financial  advancement.  The 
competition  was  so  sharp  on  all  sides  that  the  druggist  and  his 
profession,  instead  of  keeping  pace  with  the  advancing  professions, 
kept  at  a  standstill.  All  this  time  these  ever-complaining  druggists- 
were  idle,  never  lending  a  shoulder  to  the  wheel  to  help  out  of  the 
mire  the  fallen  profession.  They  were  the  Neros  of  their  time  ; 
while  the  profession  was  sinking,  they  were  money-hunting. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  the  colleges  of  pharmacy  took  an 
active  part,  and  with  the  aid  of  the  pharmaceutical  press  laid  a  new 
foundation  for  the  new  resurrected  profession.  This  foundation 
was  so  laid  that  the  pharmacist  could  consistently  be  a  professional 
man  and  at  the  same  time  make  money.  While  medicine  has  pro¬ 
gressed  so  rapidly  and  attained  such  a  high  position,  physicians 
have  not  suffered  financially  thereby. 

The  colleges  which  have  built  up  the  new  profession  to  its  present 
standard,  and  know  not  such  words  as  “good  enough,”  are  to-day 
graduating  men  yearly  who  are  better  fitted  to  perform  the  duties 
of  a  pharmacist  than  any  class  of  men  ever  were  before ;  they  are 
not  turning  them  out  too  full  of  theory  to  make  good  practical 
pharmacists  as  some  would  have  us  believe. 

There  is  hardly  a  college  to  day  but  makes  it  obligatory  on  a 
student  who  wishes  the  degree  of  Ph.G.  to  take  the  courses  in. 
chemical  analysis,  the  more  important  ones  requiring  quantitative 
as  well  as  qualitative  analyses.  The  cynical  druggist,  when  he 
yearly  opens  the  various  college  announcements  sent  him,  notices 
this  part  of  the  instruction,  and  begins  to  jest,  claiming  to  be  un¬ 
able  to  understand  why  all  this  is  required  of  the  present  pharma¬ 
cist,  as  he  will  never  have  the  time  nor  occasion  to  make  any 
analyses  ;  for  the  wholesale  houses  are  so  reliable  that  there  is  no 
necessity  for  a  druggist  to  make  an  analysis  of  the  drugs  he  receives. 

The  Pharmacopoeia  Committee  never  thought  that  way  (and  they 
are  credited  with  knowing  some  of  the  needs  of  the  practical  phar¬ 
macist),  or  else  they  should  never  have  given  all  the  standard 
strengths  of  purity  and  a  method  of  estimating  them  volumetrically 
or  gravimetrically,  as  in  the  case  of  the  preparations  of  opium. 
They  recognised  the  fact  that  the  druggist  of  the  day  must  have  a 
genuine  right  to  hang  out  his  sign  “Druggist  and  Chemist”  ;  that 
the  druggist  of  the  day  must  make  money  in  some  other  way  than 
making  the  professional  interests  suffer,  and  that  the  druggist  can 
better  prosper  as  a  professional  man  than  he  can  as  a  mere  tradesman. 

There  is  perhaps  to-day  too  much  reliance  placed  on  the  various, 
wholesale  houses  from  whom  the  druggist  buys  his  drugs  and 
chemicals  ;  there  are  too  many  druggists  who  dismiss  the  query, 
“  Do  you  ever  analyse  your  drugs  or  chemicals  to  see  whether 
they  comply  with  the  Pharmacopoeia  requirements  1  ”  with  a  mere 
“No,  the  wholesale  houses  I  buy  from  are  very  reliable.” 

The  institution  with  which  the  writer  is  connected  had  several 
experiences  in  buying  from  these  “reliable  wholesale  houses” 
lately,  which  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  cite  here.  For  the 
determination  of  starch  quantitatively  according  to  a  method  here 
employed,  among  other  reagents  required  is  barium  hydroxide, 
which  must,  like  all  chemical  reagents,  be  absolutely  pure — in  fact, 
so  much  so,  that  it  is  a  custom  to  test  all  the  chemicals  before 
proceeding  to  make  any  of  the  tests  in  the  laboratory.  In  procuring 
this  we  did  not  depart  from  the  custom,  and  subjected  it  to  the 
usual  tests,  finding  very  little  barium  hydroxide,  but  chiefly 


28 


'  PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  9,  1897 


carbonate.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  we  looked  upon  this  as  an 
adulteration  on  the  part  of  the  manufacturer,  as  the  Ohio  Food 
Commission  has  recently  been  doirg ;  but,  instead,  knowing  the 
rapidity  with  which  the  one  salt  is  conveyed  into  the  other,  we 
looked  upon  it  as  the  result  of  carelessness  on  the  part  of  the 
wholesale  house. 

On  another  occasion  on  ordering  some  sodium  bromate  to  be  used 
in  a  modification  of  the  U.S.P.  process  for  estimating  phenol,  our 
analysis  showed  but  10  per  cent,  of  bromate  of  sodium,  and  90  per 
cent,  of  bromide  of  sodium.  This,  like  the  former  salt,  was  also 
obtained  from  a  reliable  dealer.  Several  more  cases  might  be  cited 
that  came  to  our  notice,  but  these  will  suffice  as  an  illustration. 

When  a  college  of  pharmacy  receives  chemicals  marked  c.  p.,  and 
upon  analysis  finds  .they  are  not  as  represented,  what  then  is  the 
druggist  to  do  to  protect  himself  7  He  must  be  competent  to  do 
just  what  the  laboratory  assistant  does  before  the  day’s  work  is 
begun — he  must  establish  a  little  laboratory  and  test  his  various 
chemicals  as  he  receives  them. 

This  accounts  for  the  fact  that  to  the  laboratory  courses  is  yearly 
added  more  time ;  it  accounts  for  the  Pharmacopoeia  devoting  so 
much  space  to  tests  and  test  solutions.  While  these  two  manufac¬ 
turers  were  responsible  people,  it  does  not  follow  that  all  vendors  of 
drugs  deserve  the  same  title. 

Of  course,  anyone  who  had  been  taught  analysis  at  a  college 
could  oftentimes  take  advantage  of  a  special  price  by  making  an 
analysis  before  buying.  Then  the  various  courses  in  analytical 
chemistry  embrace  a  course  in  urine  analysis,  both  qualitative  and 
quantitative,  and  some  colleges  teach  microscopical  methods.  The 
student  is  taught  the  best  methods  for  such  analysis,  so  that  when 
he  leaves  college  he  may  be  another  to  help  heal  the  breach  and 
lower  the  friction  now  existing  between  some  pharmacists  and 
physicians.  It  is  a  great  relief  to  a  physician  to  know  that  he  can 
take  his  samples  for  examination  to  a  pharmacist  who  has  had  the 
necessary  training  to  fit  him  for  this  work  ;  the  physician  appre¬ 
ciates  the  favour,  and  the  druggist  is  not  forgotten  for  it. 

Some  of  the  laboratory  courses  also  embrace  instruction  in  the 
analysis  of  foods,  such  as  milk,  water,  etc.  At  this  day,  when  there 
is  such  an  encroachment  on  the  rights  of  the  pharmacist  by  the 
dry  goods  stores,  he  can  find  an  avenue  to  escape  from  their  methods 
by  taking  to  chemical  analysis  ;  thus  he  could  make  an  occasional 
dollar,  not  to  say  anything  of  the  many  friends  he  would  thereby 
gain. 

The  claim  that  is  sometimes  urged  against  the  establishment  of  a 
chemical  laboratory  in  the  rear  of  the  store  or  any  other  suitable 
place  is  the  expense.  This  need  be  no  serious  item,  for  it  is  not 
necessary  to  have  chemical  reagent  bottles  j  for,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  any  clean  glass-stoppered  bottle  will  do,  and  the  reagents  are 
quickly  and  cheaply  prepared,  the  pharmacist  having  most  of  the 
chemicals  in  stock.  A  second  objection  urged  is  the  time  required 
to  make  an  analysis.  This  should  not  be  considered,  for  any  of  the 
U.S.P.  methods,  with  a  few  exceptions,  can  be  carried  out  in  a  few 
minutes ;  and  it  also  requires  but  a  few  minutes  to  complete  a  urine 
analysis. 

Another  great  advantage  of  a  course  in  chemical  analysis  is  that 
the  student  is  taught  accuracy ;  accuracy  in  putting  up  preemp¬ 
tions  as  well  as  analysis,  for  the  analytical  chemist  knows  no  such 
word  as  “  about.”  Training  of  this  kind  is  what  makes  the  man 
who  has  taken  the  course  superior  over  his  fellow-druggists  who 
have  not  done  so.  The  importance  of  accuracy,  which  is  impressed 
on  a  man  when  he  is  at  college,  is  never  forgotten,  no  matter  how 
long  he  may  stay  in  the  drug  business. 

Ic  is  but  recently  that  we  sent  out  prescriptions  to  a  number  of 
pharmr  cl -ts  for  various  amounts  of  drugs,  and  upon  measuring  or 


weighing  them  found  some  short  of  the  amount  prescribed.  These 
were  probably  put  up  by  men  who  were  never  taught  to  be  accurate, 
for  this  is  a  principle  very  rarely  found  in  a  man  behind  a  drug 
counter,  unless,  as  before  stated,  he  had  had  the  laboratory  training. 

By  the  combined  efforts  of  the  pharmaceutical  colleges  and  phar¬ 
maceutical  press,  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  behind  every  drug 
store  will  be  found  an  analytical  chemical  laboratory. — Druggists' 
Circular. 


THE  TBEATMENT  OF  GOUT.* 

In  this  work  the  author,  if  he  adds  little  to  the  subject,  discusses 
gout  from  its  many  different  aspects,  both  theoretical  and 
practical,  and  this  in  a  way  that  allows  of  what  is  at  present  known 
and  what  surmised  beiDg  readily  followed. 

The  great  advance  made  by  Sir  Alfred  Garrod  (viz,  the  demon¬ 
stration  of  an  excess  of  urates  in  the  blood  before  and  during  an 
attack)  is  justly  dwelt  upon  ;  even  now  nothing  of  corresponding 
importance  has  been  added  to  our  knowledge  of  the  subject.  The 
large  number  of  theories  held  as  to  the  nature  and 
causation  of  gout  shows,  as  the  author  observes,  how 
much  yet  remains  to  be  discovered.  By  the  term  “goutiness”  he 
himself  understands  what  is  otherwise  known  as  latent  gout,  the 
functional  disturbances  of  a  general  kind  recognised  only  by 
clinical  symptoms,  as  distinguished  from  the  local  lesions  like 
those  met  in  the  joints.  The  pathognomonic  lesion  of  local  gout 
is  the  deposition  of  urate  of  soda  in  the  tissues.  In  “  goutiness  ” 
this  is  absent,  yet  the  term  is  justified  by  the  adoption  of  such 
criteria  as  the  disappearance  of  these  symptoms  under  treatment 
that  is  successful  in  gout,  or  after  the  occurrence  of  an  articular 
outbreak.  Such  “goutiness”  is  witnessed  in  inflammations 
of  the  larynx,  bronchi,  stomach,  liver,  heart,  veins,  skin, 
etc.  An  extensive  review  of  the  theories  held  upon 
the  nature  of  gout  would  be  of  little  purpose ;  briefly,  it  may  be 
enough  to  state  the  following  : — Garrod  holds  gout  to  consist  in 
the  group  of  changes  and  symptoms  connected  with  the  deposition 
of  urate  of  sodium  in  the  joints  and  tissues  ;  there  is  an  accumula¬ 
tion  of  the  urate  in  the  blood  in  consequence  of  a  defective 
excretion  by  the  kidney,  which  in  the  first  place  is  functional,  and 
may  be  an  inherited  or  acquired  defect.  Ebstein,  after  pointing 
out  the  death  of  tissue  or  necrosis  that  is  met  with  in  gouty  foci 
(which  has  been  more  fully  studied  in  this  country  by  Berkart), 
formulates  the  view  that  this  is  to  be  explained  by  the  local  action 
of  urates  on  the  tissues,  the  crystallisation  of  the  urate  oc¬ 
curring  subsequently  in  the  necrosed  foci  by  reason  of  the  acidity 
of  the  latter.  The  alleged  poisonous  property  of  solutions  of  urates 
upon  the  tissues  has  not  been  confirmed,  however,  by  their  experi¬ 
mental  injection  in  animals.  Berkart  is  inclined  to  view  the  tissue 
degeneration  as  the  essential  antecedent  factor  in  gout,  the  deposi¬ 
tion  of  uric  acid  being  an  epiphenomenon,  and  not  the  essential 
part  of  the  disease. 

Ha;g’s  theory  assumes  that  uric  acid  in  the  soluble  form  in  which 
it  circulates  in  the  blood  is  poisonous  or  toxic,  and  may  produce 
various  clinical  results.  The  experimental  injection  of  large  quan¬ 
tities  of  urates  into  the  veins  of  animals,  however,  has  not  been 
productive  of  any  results. 

A  considerable  modification  in  the  theories  of  gout  has  arisen  out 
of  the  investigations  of  Horbaczewski,  who  showed  that  uric  acid 
might  be  derived  from  tha  decomposition  of  the  tissues  themselves, 
particularly  f i  om  the  spleen,  and  that  it  was  furnished  by  changes 

*  ‘  Gout  and  Goutiness  and  their  Treatment.’  By  William  Ewart,  M.D. 
Cantab.,  F.R.C.P.  Lond.,  M.R.C.S.  Eng.,  Physic’an  to  St.  George’s 
Hospital,  London.  Pp.  589.  Price  12s.  6 d.  London,  Balliere,  Tindall 
and  Cox.  1896. 


Jan.  9,  189  7 J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


29 


taking  place  in  the  nuclein  of  the  cells,  especially  the  leucccytes, 
so  abundant  in  the  spleen. 

The  influence  of  the  nervous  system  has  been  maintained  by  Dr. 
Ord,  and  more  lately  by  Sir  Dyce  Duckworth,  the  latter  holdirg 
that  some  nervous  disturbance  is  responsible  for  a  peculiar  incapa¬ 
city  for  normal  elaboration  of  focd  within  the  whole  body,  whereby 
uric  acid  is  formed  at  times  in  excess,  or  is  incapable  of  being  duly 
transformed  into  more  soluble  and  less  noxious  products.  Coosi  'erable 
space  is  devoted  to  the  consideration  of  Sir  William  Robert’s  view, 
which  holds  that  the  deposition  of  urate  is  brought  about  by  excess  of 
sodium  salts,  and  that  the  localisation  of  the  deposits  is  due  to 
the  amount  of  soda  or  richness  of  the  part  in  soda  salts ; 
amongst  the  fluids  of  the  body  synovia  has  the  highest  per¬ 
centage  of  sodium,  and  Sir  William  Roberts  supposes  that  t  e 
deposition  in  the  joints  proceeds  from  this.  What  will  be  of  more 
interest  to  readers  of  the  Journal  are  those  portions  of  the 
work  treating  of  the  therapeutical  and  especially  the  medicinal 
agents  used  in  the  treatment  of  the  dise  se.  The  indi¬ 
cations  for  the  use  of  emetics,  purgatives,  diure'ics,  and 

diaphoretics  being  disposed  of,  there  follow  two  chapters 
devoted  to  a  discussion  on  the  value  or  colchicum.  It 

is  noteworthy  that  the  use  of  this  specific  may  be  traced 
back  to  about  the  year  580  a  d.,  when  it  was  intro¬ 
duced  under  the  name  “  Hermodactyl  ”  by  Alexander 
of  Tralles.  Hermodactyl  was  freely  employed  in  the 

Middle  Ages  by  the  Arabian  physicians  Avicenna  and 

Serapion. 

Its  remarkable  specific  properties  in  alleviating  the  disease 
admit  of  no  scepticism  in  the  mind  of  Dr.  Ewart ;  indeed,  the  only 
questions  for  discussion  are  the  injurious  results  arising  from  its 
excessive  use,  and  its  contra  indications.  Yet  the  mode  of  its 
action  is  so  subtle  that  as  yet  it  has  defied  analysis.  It  is  instruc¬ 
tive  to  observe  that  the  author  supposes  the  specific  action  of 
colchicum  to  reside  in  the  happy  comb’nation  of  its  cholagogue, 
purgative,  nerve-depressing,  and  heart- depres  sing  properties.  Should 
this  be  so,  it  indicates  the  theoretical  value  of  combination  in  pre¬ 
scriptions  other  than  those  for  the  alleviation  of  gout,  and  suggests 
further  that  simplicity  in  prescribing  may  be  carried  so  far  as  to 
defeat  its  own  ends. 

Beddes  such  treatment,  that  by  meins  of  alkalies  (the  salts  of 
sod  um,  potassium,  lithium)  is  discussed,  as  well  as  that  by 
salicylic  acid  and  its  compound0,  and  by  other  agents  of  less 
importance,  whilst  the  bock  closes  with  a  notice  of  medicinal 
springs,  heme  and  continental,  and  the  dietetics  and  general 
Iqgieie  indicated  in  the  prevention  and  treatment  of  the 
disease.  Under  the  choice  of  alcohol,  more  particularly,  the  author 
states  definitely  that  in  acute  gout  alcohol  is  contra-indicated  ;  and 
that  in  chronic  gout  its  chief  value  i3  dietetic.  Comparative 
safety  lies  in  avoiding  all  wines  and  malt  liquors,  and  in  trusting 
to  that  form  of  spirit  which  most  approaches  pure  alcohol;  tho 
best  whiskey,  well  watered,  is  therefore  to  be  preferred  to  all  else. 
Ale  and  stout,  and  of  wines,  champagne  beyond  all,  are  strictly 
forbidden. 


Phenacetine  in  Ttphoid. — Hiving  treated  over  200  cases  of 
typhoid  with  phenacetine  during  the  past  four  years,  and  only 
having  had  six  deaths,  B'gnami  ( Gaz .  d'Oup)  naturally  concludes 
that  the  remedy  is  a  very  valuable  one  in  this  disease.  The  drug 
is  given  at  once  as  soon  as  the  disease  is  diagnosed  or  merely  sus¬ 
pected,  in  doses  of  3  grammes  in  twenty  four  hours,  divided  into 
six  do  re5,  in  cachetp,  one  being  taken  every  four  hours.  Infants  and 
old  people  are  given  from  1|  to  2^  grammes  in  the  same  period. — 
B.M.J.  Epit ,  2/96/92. 


LITERARY_NOTES. 

‘  Bacteriological  Diagnosis,’  by  St.  George  Reid,  is  a  useful 
collection  of  notes,  intended  as  an  analytical  key  to  the  subject  the 
name  of  which  serves  the  book  as  a  title.  Originally  drawn  up 
for  use  in  differentiating  mouth  and  throat  organisms,  the  scope  of 
the  tables  has  been  extended  so  as  to  embrace  most  of  the  known 
bacteria.  The  works  of  Crookshank,  Fliigge,  Schenk,  Sims 
Woodhead,  and  Sternberg  have  been  freely  drawn  upon,  but  bac¬ 
teriological  technique  is  advisedly  left  for  treatment  elsewhere. 
The  first  table  includes  micrococci  which  liquefy  gelatin,  these 
being  divided  into  species  which  form  white,  red,  or  yellow 
colonies,  and  those  again  subdivided  according  as  the  cocci  occur 
in  chains,  masses,  etc.  The  next  table  deals  similarly  with  micro¬ 
cocci  that  do  not  liquefy  gelatin,  the  third  and  fourth  with 
bacilli,  and  so  on.  Finally  there  are  classified  lists  of  the 
organisms  found  in  air  or  water,  in  the  nose  and  mouth,  those 
known  to  form  spores,  and  others  whose  growth  is  accompanied  by 
a  foul  odour.  The  scheme  of  bacteriological  analysis  thus  con¬ 
stituted  is  ingenious,  and  should  prove  of  considerable  value  to 
everyone  concerned  with  the  treatment  of  diseases  with  which 
specific  micro-organisms  are  associated,  and  the  detection  of  the 
latter.  The  book  is  published  at  2s.  6 d.,  by  BaillUre,  Tindall 
and  Cox,  London. 

Wall  Calendars  for  1897  are  published  by  Messrs.  Evans, 
Gadd,  and  Co. ,  of  Exeter,  and  Messrs.  Parke,  Davis,  and  Co. , 
London.-  Both  are  arranged  on  the  excellent  plan  according  to 
which  all  the  dates  for  a  given  month  appear  on  the  same  sheet, 
and  this  can  be  torn  off  to  expose  that  for  the  next  month.  Messrs. 
Evans,  Gadd,  and  Co.’s  card  also  shows  a  calendar  for  the  whole 
year,  such  as  is  found  useful  in  referring  to  a  date  during  a  past 
month,  whilst  the  production  of  the  London  firm  is  ornamented 
with  a  finely  printed  engraving,  the  subject  of  the  picture  being 
an  invalid  cat  with  its  jaws  bound  up  and  medicine  bottled  along¬ 
side  its  couch.  The  patient  is  represented  as  plaintively  murmur¬ 
ing  “  And  yet — they  call  this  fun  !  ” 

Ham’s  ‘Inland  Revenue  Year-Book,’  edited  by  E.  Grant 
Hooper,  F.I.C.,  F.C.S. ,  and  others,  is  now  in  its  twenty-first  year, 
and  may  be  specially  commended  to  the  public  and  to  readers  of 
the  Journal  in  particular,  for  the  simple  and  non-technical  informa¬ 
tion  which  it  furnishes  in  connection  with  income  tax,  the 
death  duties  and  the  mode  of  obtaining  probate  of  wills, 
the  origin  and  extent  of  the  contribution  from  Imperial  sources  to 
the  local  taxation  account,  the  annual  Exchequer  state¬ 
ment,  the  statistics  illustrating  the  progress  and  trade 
,of  the  nation,  the  political  information  dealing  with 
the  successive  Governments  of  the  Queen,  and  those  who  have 
filled  the  more  important  political  offices  during  the  nine¬ 
teenth  century,  and  lastly  the  recent  additions  to  the 
peerage.  It  includes  a  diary,  the  fullest  information  (with 
statutory  authorities,  etc. )  for  the  numerous  licences  and 
duties  placed  under  the  control  of  the  great  Inland  Revenue 
Department,  not  excepting  even  the  latest  and  scarcely 
fully-fledged  arrival,  the  light  locomotive.  To  chemists 
who  compound  or  sell  proprietary  medicines,  and  all  others 
closely  affected  by  revenue  law  this  well-known  annual  is 
indispensable.  Statistics  illustrating  the  progress  of  the  nation 
constitute  a  wonderfully  compendious  statement  as  to  population, 
revenue,  trade,  railways,  letters,  savings,  education,  pauperism, 
etc.,  presenting  not  the  slightest  intricacy.  The  work  is  pub¬ 
lished  by  Effingham  Wilson  and  Co.,  11,  Royal  Exchange, 
London,  E.C.,  at  3s.  or,  with  Warehousing  Regulations  at  4s.  6 d. 


30 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  9,  1857. 


THE  STUDENTS’  PAGE. 


WHAT  THE  MICROSCOPE  DOES. 

The  pharmacist  of  to-day  finds  considerable  use  for  the  microscope; 
the  pharmacist  of  to-morrow  will  find  it  an  indispensable  accessory 
in  his  business.  Already  a  limited  knowledge  of  the  use  of  the 
instrument  is  required  in  the  examination  room,  and  as  time 
passes  the  requirements  in  this  direction  are  likely  to  be  greatly 
extended.  Accordingly,  it  seems  desirable  to  point  out  that 
the  microscopical  examination  of  substances  is  simply  an 
essential  step  in  the  complete  visual  examination  of  those  sub¬ 
stances.  Everyone  realises  that  the  nearer,  within  certain 
limits,  an  object  is  brought  to  the  normal  eye,  the  larger  it  appears 
and  the  more  distinctly  its  details  are  apparent.  When  brought 
within  a  distance  of  two  or  three  inches,  however,  the  image 
becomes  blurred  and  indistinct,  whilst  an  object  held  close  to  the 
eye  cannot  be  seen  at  all,  and  simply  obstructs  light.  Now 
the  use  of  a  hand-lens  enables  one  to  bring  an  object  under 
examination  much  closer  to  the  eye  than  is  normally  possible,  for 
the  outer  surface  of  the  lens  represents  that  of  the  eye  for  the  time 
being.  As  a  result  the  object  appears  much  larger,  and  more 
structural  detail  is  revealed  than  when  the  object  is  viewed  by  the 
unassisted  eye.  Similarly,  the  compound  microscope  still  further 
lessens  the  distance  between  the  object  and  the  eye,  the  surface 
of  which  is  now  represented  by  the  front  of  the  objective,  and  to 
speak  of  the  image  of  an  object  as  being  enormously  magnified 
under  the  microscope  is  simply  another  way  of  expressing 
the  fact  that  the  object  has  virtually  been  brought  into  such 
close  proximity  to  the  organ  of  sight  as  is  normally  impossible. 
Examination  of  an  object  by  the  aid  of  the  microscope,  therefore, 
must  be  regarded  as  a  mere  extension  of  the  limits  within  which 
the  normal  human  eye  is  capable  of  clearly  distinguishing  the 
details  of  objects.  As  spectacles  help  the  partially  blind  to  see,  so 
the  microscope  enables  those  with  perfect  eyes  to  see  more  than  is 
possible  without  such  aid,  and  the  natural  conclusion  is  that  phar¬ 
macists  and  others  whose  skill  is  partly  dependent  upon  the 
accurate  impressions  they  form  of  the  appearance  of  objects, 
should  be  adepts  in  the  use  of  an  instrument  that  can  so  increase 
their  natural  powers. 

THE  STUDY  OF  PHARMACOGRAPHY. 

The  study  of  materia  medica  is,  fortunately,  so  independent  of 
weather  and  season  that  it  may,  without  disadvantage,  be  pur¬ 
sued  at  the  present  moment.  The  student  will  derive  the  greatest 
benefit  from  exercising  himself  in  the  accurate  description  of  drugs, 
for  such  exercise  compels  him  to  observe  closely  and  minutely,  and 
it  is  just  in  the  power  of  accurate  observation  that  the  student  is 
usually  deficient.  He  should  never  be  satisfied  until  he  is  able  to 
record  his  observations  concisely  v  nd  accurately  in  writing,  for 
“  writing  rnaketh  an  exact  man.”  The  easiest  plan  to  follow  is  to 
divide  the  drugs  into  morphological  groups  and  deal  with  the 
leaves  first.  Now,  it  may  seem  a  comparatively  easy  task  to  describe 
a  leaf,  but  in  reality  certain  difficulties  will  be  encountered.  Never¬ 
theless,  with  a  little  practice  the  principal  characters  of  any  leaf  can 
soon  be  grasped  and  clearly  and  briefly  transferred  to  paper.  Note 
should  be  taken  of  the  following  points  : — Size,  colour,  texture, 
outline,  margin,  apex,  base,  petiole,  venation,  surface,  odour,  taste. 
Every  specimen  must  be  examined  in  each  of  these  respects,  and 
the  result  of  the  examination  systematically  recorded. 

Size.  — A  leaf  will  naturally  increase  in  size  until  it  arrives  at 
maturity.  Length  and  breadth  of  the  smallest  and  largest  should 
be  noted,  as  well  as  of  the  size  that  is  most  frequent  in  the  specimen 
under  examination. 

Colour. — The  colour  of  a  leaf  may  be  sufficiently  accurately 
described  by  the  terms  in  common  use,  such  as  “  dark  green,” 
“brownish-green,”  etc.  Both  upper  and  lower  surfaces  must  be 
examined. 

Texture,  outline,  form,  margin,  apex,  base. — For  an  enumeration 
of  the  differences  that  leaves  exhibit  in  these  respects,  reference 
must  be  made  to  one  of  the  standard  descriptive  botanical  works, 
such  as  Asa  Gray’s  ‘  Structural  Botany’  (1879).  The  illustrations 
should  be  transferred  to  the  note-book  and  the  proper  designation 
appended.  In  this  way  a  convenient  standard  is  provided  to  which 
the  leaves  can  be  referred  when  they  are  being  examined.  Such  a 
standard  having  once  been  adopted  should  be  adhered  to. 

Venation. — The  texture,  outline,  form,  margin,  apex,  and  base 
having  been  ascertained  and  noted,  the  next  course  for  the  student 
is  to  examine  the  venation  of  the  leaf.  This  is  an  important  charac¬ 


ter.  The  outline  of  the  leaf  should  be  sketched  in  the  note-book, 
whilst  the  midrib  and  direction  and  course  of  the  principal  lateral 
veins  should  be  indicated.  The  nature  of  these  veins  should  also 
be  carefully  noted.  They  may  be  scarcely  visible  or  they  may  be 
distinct ;  in  which  case  they  may  be  prominent  or  depressed. 

Surface. — This  examination  of  the  veins  will  naturally  lead  to  a 
close  scrutiny  of  the  surface  of  the  leaf,  both  with  and  without 
the  aid  of  a  lens.  The  presence  or  absence  of  hairs  and  glands 
must  be  ascertained  ;  if  present,  their  particular  characters  must 
be  noted.  They  may  be  present  on  one  surface  or  on  both  surfaces 
of  the  leaf,  and  on  the  veins  alone,  or  on  the  interneural  spaces 
as  well ;  they  may  be  found  in  young  leaves,  but  may  fall  off  as 
the  leaves  attain  maturity.  During  this  examination  the  leaves 
should  be  scrutinised  by  transmitted  light.  Pellucid  dots  are 
frequently  (but  not  always)  caused  by  the  presence  of  oil  glands, 
a  fact  which  should  be  fully  recorded. 

Odour  and  Taste. — No  examination  or  description  is  complete 
without  specifying  the  odour  and  taste  the  leaf  possesses  ;  these 
are  frequently  so  characteristic  as  to  be  of  material  service  in 
identifying  a  leaf.  The  odour  can  best  be  appreciated  by  crushing 
a  leaf  and  smelling  it,  or  from  leaves  in  bulk. 


NOTES  ON  THE  BOTANY  OF  JANUARY. 

Poinsettia  is  a  somewhat  difficult  flower  to  examine,  but  if 
the  student  will  refer  to  former  pages  of  this  Journal  [3],  vol.  viii., 
p.  501,  he  will  have  no  difficulty  in  understanding  its  structure. 
That  of  Helleborus  niger  is  explained  in  Ph.  J.  [3],  vii. ,  p.  610. 

Holly.—  The  “berries”  are  not,  strictly  speaking,  berries,  since 
like  the  buckthorn  they  contain  stones  or  endocarps.  The  fruit 
might  be  termed  baccate  (or  baccoid).  It  is  superior,  and  con¬ 
tains  four  triangular  endocarps,  which  are  curiously  reticulated 
with  raised  veins  or  ridges.  The  minute  calyx  and  the  nearly 
sessile  stigma  are  not  easily  recognised.  The  plant  is  an  ever¬ 
green  shrub  (several  stems),  or  sometimes  has  only  a  single  large 
trunk,  and  forms  a  tree.  The  leaves  are  commonly  said  to  be 
prickly,  but  it  would  be  more  correct  to  call  them  spinous,  since 
their  character  is  due  to  the  hardening  of  the  edge  of  the  leaves, 
more  particularly  at  the  apex  of  the  lateral  nerves  or  veins.  The 
upper  part  of  the  plant,  and  even  the  terminal  leaves,  are  often 
devoid  of  spines,  a  feature  which  seems  to  depend  on  a  temporary 
or  local  abundance  of  moisture,  since  a  prickly  and  an  unarmed 
leaf  may  often  be  found  contiguous  to  each  other.  The  leaves  are 
coriaceous  in  texture,  and  have  a  shining  surface. 

Mistletoe. —  The  fruit  differs  in  structure,  the  calyx  being 
adherent  to  the  ovary,  and  the  walls  of  the  ovary  are  so  developed 
as  to  form  a  viscid  pulp,  which  fills  the  cavity  present  in  ordinary 
ovaries.  The  seeds  also  are  remarkable  for  often  containing  two 
embryos.  The  cotyledons,  as  well  as  the  albumen,  are  dark 
green,  containing  chlorophyll,  and  the  pulp  of  the  less  fruit  contains 
some  constituent  that  prevents  it  from  drying  for  a  considerable 
time  when  exposed  to  the  air.  An  interesting  account  of  the 
germination  of  the  seeds  is  given  in  Kerner  and  Oliver’s  ‘  Natural 
History  of  Plants,’  i.,  pp.  205-209.  The  seeds  at  this  time  of  the 
year  are  not  usually  mature,  but  planted  in  March  they  will  easily 
germinate  in  a  crack  or  slit  made  in  the  young  bark  of  the  black 
and  Lombardy  poplars. 

Ivy. — The  berries  of  the  ivy  contain  five  seeds,  and  the  ovary 
is  inferior,  the  five  minute  calyx  teeth  crowning  the  fruit.  This 
plant  serves  to  illustrate  the  difference  between  the  Araliacece.  to 
which  it  belongs,  and  the  closely  allied  natural  order  Umbelliferce. 
In  the  Araliacece  there  are  always  more  than  two  seeds,  and  the 
double  epigynous  disk  of  the  umbelliferous  plants  is  absent. 

HINTS  ON  FIELD  BOTANY. 

The  young  student  may  easily  be  deterred  from  the  practical 
study  of  systematic  botany  by  too  early  an  introduction  to  a  Flora. 
A  much  better  plan  is  to  begin  with  a  copy  of  Shirley  Hibberd’s 
‘  Field  Flowers,’  and  after  collecting  all  the  specimens  available, 
sit  down  and  identify  them  by  the  aid  of  the  letterpress  descrip¬ 
tions  and  coloured  plates  in  that  book.  Grierson’s  ‘  Lessons  from 
Fields  and  Lanes  ’  may  also  be  usefully  referred  to,  the  flowers 
obtainable  each  month  being  treated  in  separate  chapters  as  in  Shir¬ 
ley  Hibberd’s  work.  The  next  step  should  be  to  write  out  full  de¬ 
scriptions  of  as  many  of  the  specimens  as  possible.  Here  Holmes’ 
‘  Botanical  Note  Book  ’  will  be  found  of  the  greatest  value.  Finally, 
compare  the  written  descriptions  with  those  in  Hayward’s 
‘  Botanist’s  Pocket  Book,’  or  some  other  good  Flora.  Before 
beginning  field  work  a  second  year  carefully  run  over  the  de¬ 
scriptions  of  all  specimens  collected  the  previous  season. 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


31 


JAN.  9,  1897] 


Pharmaceutical  Journal. 

A  Weekly  Record  of  Pharmacy  and  Allied  Sciences. 

ESTABLISHED  1841. 

Circulating  in  the  United  Kingdom,  France,  Germany, 
Austria,  Italy,  Russia,  Switzerland,  Canada,  the 
United  States,  South  America,  India, 
Australasia,  South  Africa,  etc. 

Editorial  Office :  17,  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.C. 
■Publishing  aqd  Advertising  Office :  5,  SERLE  STREET,  W.C. 

LONDON :  SATURDAY,  JANUARY  9,  1897. 


THE  PROTECTION  OF  TRADE  INTERESTS. 

Some  nine  years  ago  an  article  appeared  in  these  columns 
■entitled  “  The  Philosophy  of  ‘  Cutting.’  ”  This  aroused  con¬ 
siderable  antagonism  on  the  part  of  some  leading  pharmacists, 
who  thought  the  “cut-rate  problem  ”  was  a  subject  that  should 
be  strictly  tabooed.  Nevertheless  the  cutting  difficulty  has 
increased  and  compelled  recognition  on  every  hand,  until  at 
last  an  association  has  been  formed  which  has  for  its  sole 
ultimate  object  the  regulation  of  prices  in  a  certain  section  of 
the  chemist  and  druggist’s  business.  In  the  article  referred 
to  (see  Ph.  J.  [3],  xviii.,  827),  an  attempt  was  made  to  show 
that  a  tendency  exists  to  gradually  reduce  the  prices 
of  all  commodities  to  the  point  at  which  a  fair 
rate  of  profit  shall  be  realised.  The  process  is  slower 
in  some  cases  than  in  others,  and  it  occasionally 
happens  that  prices  are  reduced  to  an  extravagantly  low 
point.  But  this  is  simply  a  natural  result  of  maintaining 
prices  for  a  time  at  an  unduly  extreme  limit  in  the  opposite 
direction.  A  moving  pendulum  does  not  stop  directly  it 
arrives  at  zero  but  passes  to  the  other  side,  and  only  gradually 
comes  to  rest.  Similarly  the  reaction  following  an  inflation 
-of  prices  tends  to  reduce  those  prices  below  the  point  at 
which  a  fair  profit  can  be  realised,  but  a  reaction  in  the 
■opposite  direction  may  be  expected  to  follow  sooner  or  later, 
and  a  certain  fluctuation  will  then  be  apparent  f<?r  some  time 
longer,  even  though  no  other  factors,  such  as  diminished 
cost  of  production,  etc.,  should  come  into  play.  Of  course, 
the  matter  is  here  considered  from  the  strictly  trading 
point  of  view,  but  in  this  connection  it  may  be  useful 
to  quote  from  “  The  Philosophy  of  ‘  Cutting  ’  ”  the  follow¬ 
ing  passage  :  — “  It  ought  to  be  unnecessary  to  remind  phar¬ 
macists  that,  in  so  far  as  they  are  tradesmen,  they  must  expect 

no  advantage  over  other  tradesmen . As  professional 

men  they  may  look  for  more,  and  in  fact  are  entitled  to 

much  more  ;  but  this  also  must  be  worked  for . The 

real  source  of  profit  in  pharmacy  is  the  skill  attained,  and 
in  proportion .  as  this  is  exerted  and  produces  satisfactory 
results,  just  so  much  must  the  faithful  pharmacist  expect 
to  he  repaid  for,  in  addition  to  mere  commercial  profits.” 
This  quotation  seems  fairly  to  represent  the  point  of  view 
from  which  the  present  agitation  in  favour  of  regulating 
the  prices  of  proprietary  articles  ought  to  be  regarded  by 
chemists  and  druggists. 

In  the  present  issue  of  the  Journal  (p.  23)  the  case  for 


the  Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association  is  stated  by  the 
chief  promoter  and  secretary  of  that  body.  His  statement 
is  a  very  fair  one,  and  after  perusing  it  our  readers  ought 
to  have  no  further  cause  for  misapprehension  as  to  the 
objects  of  the  Association  and  its  methods  of  attaining 
those  objects.  It  is  not  proposed  to  comment  on  what  Mr. 
Glyn- Jones  says,  for  the  subject  is  one  to  be  discussed 
by  the  parties  chiefly  interested — privately  rather  than  in 
public,  informally  rather  than  in  set  debates.  Privately, 
because  it  never  pays  to  let  your  opponents  know  on 
what  lines  you  propose  to  attack  them  ;  informally,  since 
thus  only  can  you  expect  the  greater  proportion  of  the  craft 
to  take  part  in  the  attempt  to  arrive  at  a  useful  result. 
Everyone  ought  to  form  a  definite  opinion  on  a  matter  so 
vitally  concerning  the  interests  of  all,  and  this  can  best  be 
brought  about  by  quiet  chats  amongst  those  called  upon  to 
decide.  Meetings  in  different  centres  may  doubtless  serve  a 
useful  purpose,  and  especially  in  proportion  as  they  are 
small  and  private,  but  more  good  can  be  accomplished  by 
local  secretaries  and  other  prominent  pharmacists  calling 
upon  as  many  of  their  fellows  as  possible  to  talk  the  matter 
over.  If  then  reports  were  forthcoming  from  each  district, 
a  consensus  of  opinion  would  readily  be  arrived  at,  and  this 
of  such  a  nature  that  it  might  safely  be  acted  upon.  A 
virtual  federation  would  thus  be  formed,  including  the  whole 
of  the  fifteen  thousand  registered  chemists  and  druggists, 
and  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  the  way  of  determining 
within  narrow  limits  exactly  how  many  took  one  side  on  the 
question  at  issue  and  how  many  the  other. 

Assuming,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  that  the  whole  or  a 
vast  majority  favoured  the  views  of  the  Proprietary  Articles 
Trade  Association,  how  much  more  effective  would  be  the 
force  placed  within  the  control  of  the  leaders  of  the  move¬ 
ment  than  anything  now  available  1  Manufacturers  and 
wholesale  dealers  would  be  compelled  to  fall  into  line 
without  further  consideration,  and  the  movement  would 
be  overwhelmingly  successful,  merely  because  of  its  com¬ 
pleteness.  Suppose,  however,  on  the  other  hand,  that  only  a 
small  minority  approved  of  the  policy  of  uniting  to 
maintain  prices  at  a  point  where  a  fair  profit  will  be 
yielded,  it  would  manifestly  be  unwise  to  proceed  further  in 
the  matter  for  the  time  being.  In  either  case,  the  result  would 
be  practically  conclusive,  whilst  in  the  event  of  an  adverse 
decision  it  would  be  possible  to  decide  whether  it  was  worth 
while  attempting  to  educate  opinion  in  the  matter,  and  if 
so,  in  what  direction  1  But  only  by  practical  unanimity, 
such  as  is  advocated  by  Messrs.  Barrett  and  Foul- 
ston  in  this  number  of  the  Journal,  can  any  per¬ 
manent  effect  be  produced,  and  even  then  the  effect 
will  be  limited  to  the  maintenance  of  a  fair  and  reasonable 
profit.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  public  has  a  voice 
in  the  matter,  and  that  the  popular  vote  will  invariably  be 
cast  in  favour  of  the  minimum  price,  other  things  being  equal. 
Manufacturers,  too,  cannot  be  depended  upon  to  trouble 
themselves  much  about  the  rate  of  profit  reaped  by  distribu¬ 
tors.  Their  only  anxiety  is  to  get  their  goods  into  the  hands 
of  the  public,  and  they  consider  it  of  little  importance 
whether  this  is  done  by  the  chemist  or  anyone  else  so  long  as 
business  is  done.  In  the  end,  therefore,  the  retailer  must 
rely  upon  himself,  and  act  upon  his  own  initiative.  If, 
however,  he  acts  alone,  he  can  effect  but  little,  whilst  if  he 
proceeds  in  accordance  with  a  plan  previously  agreed  upon 
by  the  majority  of  those  similarly  situated,  benefit  cannot 
fail  to  ensue. 


32 


PHARMACEUTICAL  journal. 


[Jan  9,  18f  7 


ANNOTATIONS. 


The  List  of  New  Year  Honours,  published  last  week,  is 
chiefly  remarkable  for  the  announcement  of  a  unique  distinction 
for  a  medical  man,  a  peerage  of  the  United  Kingdom  having  been 
conferred  upon  Sir  Joseph  Lister,  Bart.  But  it  would  perhaps  be 
more  accurate  to  attribute  this  event  to  the  distinguished  surgeon’s 
position  in  the  world  of  science,  rather  than  in  that  of  medicine, 
for  his  discovery  of  the  antiseptic  system  in  surgery  was  a 
scientific  discovery  of  the  first  order,  and  the  recognition  his  services 
to  humanity  have  received  have  been  fully  merited.  Already  he 
enjoys  the  rare  distinction  of  being  at  one  and  the  same  time 
President  of  the  Royal  Society  and  President  of  the  British 
Association,  and  the  action  of  the  Queen  in  conferring  the  peerage 
but  serves  as  an  official  expression  of  the  country’s  approval  of  the 
results  of  a  noble  life-work.  Another  medical  man,  Dr.  Richard 
Douglas  Powell,  of  Wimpole  Street,  who  is  an  authority  on  chest 
affections,  receives  a  baronetcy. 


Science  is  Truly  in  Luck,  for  after  occupying  the  position  of 
Cinderella,  the  household  drudge,  during  untold  years,  she  is  now 
being  fully  recognised  by  the  fairy  godmother,  who  manifests, 
her  existence  by  sending  down  showers  of  gold.  Quite 
recently  we  had  occasion  to  speak  of  Dr.  Ludwig  Mond’s  mag¬ 
nificent  endowment  of  research,  and  this  week  it  is  announced  that 
the  late  Dr.  Alfred  Nobel  has  bequeathed  a  sum,  estimated  at 
nearly  two  million  pounds,  for  the  advancement  of  science.  The 
yearly  interest  of  this  sum  is  to  be  divided  into  five  equal  portions, 
three  of  which  are  to  constitute  prizes  for  the  most  important 
discoveries  in  physics,  chemistry,  and  physiology  or  medicine, 
whilst  a  fourth  is  to  reward  the  most  distinguished  literary, 
contribution  in  those  departments  of  science,  and  the  fifth  is  to  be 
awarded  to  that  individual  who  shall  have  done  most  to  promote 
the  cause  of  peace.  Competition  for  these  prizes  will  not  be 
restricted  by  any  conditions  as  to  nationality. 

The  Pasteur  Institute,  Paris,  is  also  to  benefit,  it  is  reported, 
by  a  donation  of  eighty  thousand  pounds  from  Baroness  de  Hirsch. 
Thi3  money  will  probably  be  partly  used  for  fully  equipping  a 
laboratory  of  biological  chemistry,  in  which  the  successors  of 
Pasteur  will  be  enabled  to  conduct  extended  researches  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  the  products  of  the  activity  of  minute  organisms.  This 
addition  to  the  pecuniary  resources  of  the  Institute  will  come  at  a 
time  when  it  is  calculated  to  confer  great  benefit,  for  the  funds  at 
present  available  do  not  suffice  to  defray  all  incidental  expenses. 


The  Davy  Faraday  Research  Laboratory  of  the  Royal 
Institution  is  to  be  opened  for  work  on  Monday,  January  18,  and 
applications  are  invited  from  would-be  investigators  in  pure  and 
physical  chemistry.  As  has  already  been  explained  in  these  pages, 
workers  in  the  Laboratory  are  entitled,  under  the  Deed  of  Trust, 
to  free  supplies  of  gas,  electricity,  and  water,  as  far  as  available, 
and,  at  the  discretion  of  the  Directors,  to  the  use  of  the  apparatus 
belonging  to  the  Laboratory,  together  with  such  materials  and 
chemicals  as  may  be  authorised.  It  is  now  announced  that  all 
persons  desiring  to  be  admitted  as  workers  must  send  evidence  of 
scientific  training,  qualification,  and  previous  experience  in 
“  original”  research,  along  with  a  statement  of  the  nature  of  the 
investigation  they  propose  to  undertake.  Further  information, 
together  with  forms  of  application,  can  be  had  from  the  Assistant 
Secretary,  Royal  Institution.  Perhaps  among  other  information 
may  be  forthcoming  the  long-desired  definition  of  “original” 


research  and  of  its  suggested  “second-hand”  correlative.  Or 
will  some  brave  investigator  undertake,  as  a  forlorn  hope,  to 
ascertain  exactly  ivhat  the  word  “original”  means  in  this 
connection  ?  Can  it  imply  research  made  in  Germany  and  uttered  as- 
of  native  growth  ? 


The  Nature  of  Light  was  made  as  clear  last  week,  at  the  Royal 
Institution,  as  it  is  possible  for  anything  to  be  which  is  based  on  a 
hypothesis  incapable  of  proof.  In  the  first  place,  the  wave  theory 
was  explained  by  Professor  Silvan  us  Thompson,  whose  practical 
demonstrations  are  such  as  appeal  to  the  most  unscientific  minds, 
then  the  convergence  and  divergence  of  light  waves  were  illus¬ 
trated,  as  well  as  the  action  of  the  photometer,  the  principle  of 
the  kaleidoscope,  and  other  kindred  matters.  The  visible  spectrum 
and  the  eye  occupied  attention  at  the  second  lecture,  the  varying 
lengths  of  light  waves  of  different  colours  being  referred  to,  whilst 
an  artificial  rainbow  was  produced  and  Newton’s  rings  were  shown 
and  explained.  Illustrations  of  the  effects  produced  by  mixing  light 
of  different  colours  were  followed  by  an  account  of  complementary 
colours,  and  an  additional  zest  was  imparted  to  the  brilliant  experi¬ 
mental  display  by  an  exhibition  of  the  animatograph  with  its 
animated  photographs. 


The  Polarisation  of  Light,  so-called,  was  shown  by  the 
lecturer  to  be  capable  of  ready  explanation,  all  that  is  to  be 
understood  by  the  term  being  the  causation  in  one  particular  direc¬ 
tion  of  small  displacements  in  the  medium  through  which  the  light 
waves  are  passing.  Ordinary  light  consists  of  all  colours  mixed 
together,  and  also  of  waves  of  different  polarisations,  that  is  te 
say  vibrations  are  taking  place  in  all  possible  directions.  The 
effect  of  “polarising”  this  light  is  to  alter  the  direction  of  the 
vibrations,  and  allow  waves  to  pass  which  are  vibrating  in  one 
direction  only,  vertical,  horizontal,  or  oblique,  as  the  case  may  be. 
The  polarising  effects  produced  by  Iceland  spar  and  tourmaline 
were  shown,  as  also  the  wonderful  colour  changes  caused  by 
passing  polarised  light  through  mica,  crystals,  etc. ,  and  altogether 
what  is  usually  regarded  as  a  most  abstruse  subject  was  rendered 
exceedingly  clear. 


Electrification  of  Air  by  Rontgen  Rays  has  been  accom-' 
plished  by  Lord  Kelvin,  with  whom  have  been  associated  in  his 
experiments  Dr.  J.  C.  Beattie  and  Dr.  M.  Smoluchowski.  de 
Smolan.  In  the  apparatus,  as  represented  in  Nature ,  the  air  was 
drawn,  by  means  of  an  air  pump,  through  a  lead  cylinder  closed  at 
both  ends  with  paraffined  cardboard  transparent  to  the  Rontgen 
rays,  and  thence  through  an  electric  filter.  In  every  case  the  air 
drawn  through  the  filter  was  found  to  be  negatively  electrified 
when  no  screen  or  an  aluminium  screen  was  interposed  between  the 
Rontgen  lamp  and  the  near  end  of  the  lead  cylinder,  but  the 
interposition  of  a  lead  screen  prevented  electrification.  A  very 
decided  electrification  of  air — sometimes  negative,  sometimes 
positive — was  also  observed  when  the  Rontgen  rays  were  directed 
across  a  glass  or  aluminium  tube,  through  which  the  air  was  being- 
drawn  from  the  quadrangle  outside  the  laboratory,  to  the  filter. 


The  Secretary  of  the  P.A.  T.A.  is  promptly  following  up  his 
protest  against  the  position  occupied  by  the  Glasgow  and  West  of 
Scotland  Pharmaceutical  Association,  in  regard  to  the  protection 
of  prices,  by  calling  a  special  meeting  of  the  trade  in  and  around 
Glasgow,  on  Tuesday  next  at  11  a.m.,  to  discuss  the  aims  of  the 
“anti-cutters.”  One  result  of  this  carrying  war  into  the  enemy’s 
camp  should  be  to  remove  the  “  surprising  amount  of  misconcep¬ 
tion ’’that  has  struck  Mr.  Glyn-Jones  as  existing  in  the  northern 


Jan.  9,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


33 


city.  But  to  attain  this  result  he  must  be  severely  logical,  and 
indulge  in  no  metaphors  with  hidden  meanings,  as  our  clear¬ 
headed  friends  across  the  border  are  apt  to  take  things  very 
literally.  Another  meeting,  with  a  similar  object,  will  be  held  at 
Sunderland  on  the  following  day,  Wednesday,  January  13,  when 
Mr.  John  Harrison,  Vice-President  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society, 
will  take  the  chair,  and  Mr.  Glyn- Jones  again  recite  his  tale. 
Whether  or  not  he  is  likely  to  gain  the  sjunpathy  of  the  Wear- 
siders  we  are  unable  to  say,  but  he  will  at  least  have  a  fair  field, 
for  Sunderland  was  one  of  the  first  towns  to  suffer  from  the  ravages 
of  the  cutting-fiend. 

The  Major  Examination  Results,  published  this  week 
(see  p.  34),  are  decidedly  discouraging,  even  if  contrasted  only 
with  the  poor  average  that  has  prevailed  generally  of  late  years. 
Thus,  the  percentages  of  rejections  for  the  past  three  years  have 
been: — 1894,  49 "66;  1895,  53  42  ;  and  1896,  53-07,  these  figures 
being,  as  was  observed  in  last  week’s  Journal  (p.  3),  higher  than 
might  reasonably  be  looked  for  among  persons  who  have  passed 
through  such  a  severe  ordeal  as  the  Minor  examination  now 
undoubtedly  is.  On  the  present  occasion,  however,  the  percentage 
of  rejections  at  the  Major  examination  has  reached  57 '14,  a  figui'e 
which  cannot  be  viewed  with  equanimity  by  anyone  having  the 
best  interests  of  British  pharmacy  at  heart.  These  things  are 
managed  much  better  on  the  Continent,  where  the  percentage  of 
failures  does  not  exceed  5 '0  per  cent.,  if  even  it  reaches  that 
figure,  and  the  only  inference  that  can  be  drawn  is  that  there 
must  be  some  grave  defect  in  the  British  system — either  of  edu¬ 
cation  or  of  examination.  Perhaps,  on  the  whole,  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  our  examination  standard  appears  to  be  far  above  the  head 
of  the  average  candidate,  and  there  is  little  reason  to  doubt 
that  the  cause  is  defective  education  and  a  consequent  unfitness 
for  the  position  the  pharmacist  of  to-day  may  reasonably 
expect  to  occupy. 

Dr.  Oscar  Liebreich  is  to  be  congratulated  on  having  cele¬ 
brated,  on  December  30  last,  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  his 
occupancy  of  the  chair  he  holds.  He  was  born  at  Konigsberg, 
Prussia,  in  1839,  and  after  serving  for  some  time  in  the  mercantile 
marine,  proceeded  to  study  chemistry  under  Eresenius  at  Wies¬ 
baden.  Technical  chemistry  engaged  his  attention  for  a  time,  but 
he  then  began  to  study  medicine,  and  graduated  at  Berlin  in  1865. 
Six  years  later  he  became  assistant  to  Virchow  at  the  Pathological 
Institut  der  Charity,  and  shortly  afterwards  extra-ordinary  pro¬ 
fessor  at  the  university.  Since  the  death  of  Mitscherlich,  Dr. 
Liebreich  has  occupied  the  position  of  Director  of  the  Pharma¬ 
cological  Institute  of  the  Berlin  University.  With  his  assistant, 
Dr.  Langgard,  he  has  published  a  compendium  of  medicine,  and 
they  also  jointly  edit  the  Therapeutische  Monatshefte,  and  are  now 
engaged  in  publishing  an  extensive  encyclopaedia  of  therapeutics. 
Amongst  other  work,  Liebreich  introduced  the  use  of  chloral 
hydrate  as  a  soporific  and  revived  the  use  of  wool-fat  for  medicinal 
purposes. 

‘  The  Medical  Environment  ’  is  the  title  given  by  Dr.  D. 
Campbell  Black  to  a  little  book  which  consists  of  reprints  of  two 
addresses  delivered  by  him.  The  first,  on  the  hospital  question, 
was  delivered  before  the  Anderson’s  College  Medico-Chirurgical 
Society,  and  deals  with  certain  anomalies  in  connection  with 
hospitals.  Amongst  other  points,  it  is  stated  that  the  hospital 
system  is  iniquitous  and  fraudulent  “in  the  dominance  of  the 
personal  interests  of  the  hospital  physicians  and  surgeons,”  and 
that  a  system  of  weeding  at  “the  gate”  is  practised  with  the 
object  of  keeping  down  the  death-rate  of  given  wards  “  when  some 


fad  is  being  boomed,  or  some  astute  adventurer  to  be  advertised.” 
In  the  second  address,  delivered  before  the  Saint  Mungo  Medico- 
Chirurgical  Society,  the  author  treats  of  medical  ethics  or 
etiquette.  He  tilts  against  the  Editor  of  the  British  Medical 
Journal  and  his  Medico-Ethical  Assessor,  whose  oracular  utter¬ 
ances  are  undoubtedly  such  at  times  as  to  give  occasion  for  much 
scoffing.  As  a  “  very  fair  example  of  the  metaphysical  idiocy  of 
medical  virtue,”  the  answer  is  quoted  to  a  question  regarding  the 
propriety  of  affixing  a  red  lamp  to  the  wall  of  a  medical  man’s 
house.  The  use  of  a  red  lamp  was  considered  objectionable,  but 
it  was  suggested  that,  if  the  situation  of  the  house  rendered  more 
light  desirable,  “  an  ordinary  or  other  selected  gas  lamp,  with  or 
without  a  reflector,  should  be  so  arranged  as  to  throw  the  light 
upon  the  door  or  name-plate.”  Presumably  the  “other  selected 
gas  lamp  ”  might  be  any  other  colour  than  red  without  infringing 
the  official  code  of  medical  ethics. 

“  The  Lecture  that  Failed,”  the  editor  of  the  Practitioner 
heads  a  paragraph  in  which  he  relates  how  it  had  been  arranged 
that  Dr.  Thorne  Thorne  should  deliver  a  lecture,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  National  Health  Society,  on  the  transmission  of 
typhoid  fever  by  oysters.  Large  posters  had  announced  the  coming 
event,  and  a  strong  force  of  fishmongers  and  others  interested  in 
the  oyster  trade  had  mustered  on  the  appointed  day.  No  lecture 
was  delivered,  however,  but  whether  because  the  officials  of  the 
Society  did  not  altogether  like  the  look  of  their  unusual  audience, 
or  because  the  medical  officer  of  the  Local  Government  Board 
objected  to  the  manner  in  which  his  official  position  had  been 
“boomed,”  is  not  known. 

‘  Studies  in  Chemical  Dynamics,’  by  J.  H.  van  ’t  Hoff,  as  re¬ 
vised  and  enlarged  by  Dr.  Ernest  Cohen,  of  Amsterdam,  has 
been  translated  into  English  by  Dr.  Thomas  Ewan,  of  the  York¬ 
shire  College,  Leeds,  and  published  by  Williams  and  Norgate 
London,  at  half-a-guinea.  The  original  work  was  published  some 
thirteen  years  ago,  and  the  present  edition  not  only  reproduces 
that,  but  also  presents  the  researches  which  have  been 
engendered  by  it.  The  main  divisions  of  the  work  deal  with  the 
course  of  chemical  change,  the  influence  of  temperature  on  chemi¬ 
cal  change,  chemical  equilibrium,  and  affinity. 

The  Revenue  Returns  for  the  first  three  quarters  of  the 
current  financial  year  show  an  increase  of  £1,284,000,  all  of  which 
occurred  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  year.  Customs  and  Excise 
yield  a  much  larger  surplus  than  was  anticipated,  Estate  Duties 
and-  Stamp  have  fallen  much  less  than  was  expected,  and  other 
branches  are  in  an  equally  satisfactory  condition.  Unless,  there¬ 
fore,  any  unforeseen  contingency  happens,  the  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer  should  have  a  handsome  surplus  to  dispose  of  when  he 
makes  his  Budget  estimates.  Let  us  hope  that  the  chemist  and 
druggist  may  benefit  by  this  happy  condition  of  affairs. 

Another  Case  of  Snake-Bite  treated  with  antivenomous  serum 
is  recorded  by  Professors  Keatinge  and  Ruff'er,  in  the  British 
Medical  Journal. ,  but  though  complete  recovery  is  recorded  there 
is,  as  in  most  cases  of  this  kind,  a  flaw  in  the  chain  of  evidence,  as 
the  snake  escaped  and  “it  is  not  possible  to  say  exactly  what  it 
was.”  It  follows,  therefore,  that  proof  is  lacking  of  the  assump¬ 
tion  that  the  snake  was  “a  highly  venomous  one.”  The  patient 
was  a  girl  of  13,  and  she  was  bitten  in  the  forearm.  When 
seen  by  the  professors,  at  the  School  of  Medicine,  Cairo,  some 
three  or  four  hours  later,  she  was  in  a  very  precarious  condition. 
Dr.  Calmette’s  serum  was  administered  and  recovery  was. complete 
in  three  weeks. 


34 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  9,  1897 


PHARMACEUTICAL  SOCIETY. 


EXAMINATIONS  IN  LONDON. 

January,  1897. 


MAJOR  EXAMINATION  RESULTS. 


Candidates  examined .  35 

„  failed .  20 

,,  passed . . .  15 


Bowden,  Harold. 

Brigham,  Edwin  Beal. 

Brown,  Charles. 

Campkin,  Francis  Sidney. 
Critchley,  Charles  Albert. 

Dann,  Charles. 

Gooie,  Arthur  Frederick. 

Pitcher. 


Greenhalgh,  Edmund  Parkin?  on. 
Knight,  William  Arthur. 

Last,  George  Valentine  Chapman 
Lloyd,  Hugh  William. 
Masterman,  Henry. 

Morrell,  John  George. 

Pearson,  George  Ernest. 

James  Frederick. 


BRITISH  ASSOCIATION  FOR  THE 

ADVANCEMENT  OF  SCIENCE. 

- ♦ - 

BOTANICAL  SECTION. 


OPENING  ADDRESS  BY 


D.  H.  SCOTT,  M.A.,  Ph.D.,  F.RS., 

Honorary  Keeper  of  the  Jodrell  Laboratory ,  Royal  Gardens,  Kew, 
President  of  the  Section. 


THE  PRESENT' POSITION  OF  MORPHOLOGICAL  BOTANY. 

The  object  of  modern  morphological  botany  (the  branch  of  onr 
science  to  which  I  propose  to  limit  my  remarks)  is  the  accurate 
comparison  of  plants,  both  living  and  extinct,  with  the  object  of 
tracing  their  real  relationships  with  one  another,  and  thus  of  ulti¬ 
mately  constructing  a  genealogical  tree  of  the  vegetable  kingdom. 
The  problem  is  thus  a  purely  historical  one,  and  is  perfectly  distinct 
from  any  of  the  questions  with  which  physiology  has  to  do. 

Yet  there  is  a  close  relation  between  these  two  branches  of 
biology  ;  at  any  rate,  to  those  who  maintain  the  Darwinian  position. 
For  from  that  point  of  view  we  see  that  all  the  characters  which 
the  morphologist  has  to  compare  are,  or  have  been,  adaptive.  Hence 
it  is  impossible  for  the  morphologist  to  ignore  the  functions  of 
those  organs  of  which  he  is  studying  the  homologies.  To  those 
who  accept  the  origin  of  species  by  variation  and  natural  selection 
there  are  no  such  things  as  morphological  characters  pure  and 
simple.  There  are  not  two  distinct  categories  of  characters — a 
morphological  and  a  physiological  category — for  all  characters 
alike  are  physiological.  “  According  to  thao  theory,  every  organ, 
every  part,  colour,  and  peculiarity  of  an  organism  must  either  be  of 
benefit  to  an  organism  itself,  or  have  been  so  to  its  ancestors.  .  .  . 
Necessarily,  according  to  the  theory  of  natural  selection,  structures 
either  are  present  because  they  are  selected  as  useful,  or  because 
they  are  still  inherited  from  ancestors  to  whom  they  were  useful, 
though  no  longer  useful  to  the  existing  representatives  of  those 
ancestors.”* 

The  useful  characters  may  have  become  fixed  in  comparatively 
recent  times,  or  a  long  way  back  in  the  past.  In  the  latter  case 
the  character  in  question  may  have  become  the  property  of  a  large 
group,  and  thus,  as  we  say,  may  have  become  morphologically 
important. 

For  instance,  parasitic  characters,  such  as  the  suppression  of 
chlorophyll,  are  equally  adapUve  in  Dodder  and  in  the  Fungi.  In 
Dodder,  however,  such  characters  are  of  recent  origin  and  of  little 
morphological  importance,  not  hindering  us  from  placing  the  genus 
in  the  natural  order  Convolvulacese ;  while  in  Fungi  equally  adap¬ 
tive  characters  have  become  the  common  property  of  a  great  class 
of  plants. 

*  Lankester,  ‘Advancement  of  Science,’  p.  307. 


Then,  again,  the  existence  of  a  definite  sporophyte  generation  ? 
which  is  the  great  character  of  all  the  higher  plants,  is  in  certain 
Fungi  inconstant,  even  among  members  of  the  same  species. 

Although  there  is  no  essential  difference  between  adaptive  and 
morphological  characters,  there  is  a  great  difference  in  the  morpho¬ 
logist’s  and  the  physiologist’s  way  of  looking  at  them.  The  physio¬ 
logist  is  interested  in  the  question  how  organs  work ;  the  morpho¬ 
logist  asks,  what  is  their  history  ? 

The  morphologist  may  well  feel  discouraged  at  the  vastness  of 
the  work  before  him.  The  origin  of  the  great  groups  of  plants  is 
perhaps,  after  all,  an  insoluble  problem,  for  the  question  is  not 
accessible  either  to  observation  or  experiment. 

All  that  we  can  directly  observe  or  experiment  upon  is  the 
occurrence  of  variations — perhaps  the  most  important  line  of 
research  in  biology,  for  it  was  the  study  of  variation  that  led 
Darwin  and  Wallace  to  their  grand  generalisation.  Many  observers 
are  working  to-day  in  the  spirit  of  the  great  masters,  and  it  is 
certain  that  their  work  will  be  fruitful  in  results.  It  is  evident, 
however,  that  such  investigations  can  at  most  only  throw  a  side 
light  on  the  historical  question  of  the  origin  of  the  existing  orders 
and  classes  of  living  things.  The  morphologist  has  to  attack  such 
questions  by  other  methods  of  research. 

The  embryological  method  has  so  far  scarcely  received  justice 
from  botanists.  A  great  deal  of  what  is  called  embryology  in 
botany  is  not  embryology  at  all,  but  relates  to  pre-fertilisation 
changes.  Of  real  embryology — that  is  to  say,  the  development  of 
the  young  plant  from  the  fertilised  ovum — there  is  much  less  than 
we  might  expect.  Thus  no  comparative  investigation  of  the 
embryology  of  either  dicotyledons  or  monocotyledons  has  ever  been 
carried  out,  our  knowledge  being  entirely  based  on  a  few  isolated 
examples. 

In  the  cases  which  have  been  investigated,  perhaps  excessive 
attention  has  been  devoted  to  the  first  divisions  of  the  ovum,  the 
importance  of  which,  as  Sachs  long  ago  showed,  has  been  overrated, 
while  the  later  stages,  when  the  differentiation  of  organs  and 
tissues  is  actually  in  progress,  have  been  comparatively  neglected. 

The  law  of  recapitulation  (or  repetition  of  phytogeny  in  ontogeny) 
has  been  very  inadequately  tested  in  the  vegetable  kingdom.  What¬ 
ever  its  value  may  be,  it  is  certainly  desirable  that  the  development 
of  plants  as  well  as  animals  shoffid  be  considered  from  this  point 
of  view  ;  and  this  has  so  far  been  done  in  but  very  few  cases.  M. 
Maisart,  of  Brussels,  has  made  some  investigations  with  this  object, 
on  the  development  of  seedlings  and  if  individual  leaves.  He  is 
led  to  the  conclusion  that  examples  of  recapitulation  are  rare  among 
plants.* 

So  far,  at  least,  embryological  research  has  only  yielded  certain 
proof  of  recapitulation  in  a  few  cases,  as  in  the  well-known  example 
of  the  phyllode- bearing  acacias,  in  which  the  first  leaves  of  the 
seedling  are  normal,  while  the  later-formed  ones  gradually  assume 
the  reduced  phyllode  form. 

A  less  familiar  example  is  afforded  by  Gunnera.  Here,  as  is  well 
known,  the  mature  stem  has  a  structure  totally  different  from  that 
of  ordinary  dicotyledons,  and  much  resembling  that  characteristic 
of  most  ferns.  In  most  species  of  Gunnera  there  are  a  number 
of  distinct  vascular  cylii dtrs  in  the  stem,  instead  of  one  only,  and 
there  is  never  the  slightest  trace,  so  far  as  the  adult  plant  is  con¬ 
cerned,  of  the  growth  by  means  of  cambium,  which  is  otherwise  so> 
general  in  the  class.  The  seedling  stem,  however,  is  not  only 
monostelic  below  the  cotyledons,  but  in  this  region,  though  nowhere 
else,  shows  distinct  secondary  growth.  Thus,  if  we  were  in  any  doubt 
as  to  the  general  affinities  of  Gunnera,  owing  to  its  extraordinary 
mature  structure,  we  should  at  once  be  put  on  the  right  track  by 
the  study  of  the  embryonic  stem,  which  alone  retains  the  charac¬ 
teristic  dicotyledonous  mode  of  growth. 

It  is  only  in  a  few  cases,  however,  and  for  narrow  ranges  of 
affinity,  that  the  doctrine  of  recapitulation  has  at  present  helped 
in  the  determination  of  relationships  among  plants.  Beyond  this, 
conclusions  based  on  embryology  alone  tend  to  become  merely 
conjectural  and  subjective.  In  fact,  all  comparative  work,  in  so  far 
as  it  is  limited  to  plants  now  living,  suffers  under  the  same 
weakness  that  it  can  never  yield  certain  results,  for  the  question 
whether  given  characters  are  relatively  primitive  or  recently  ac¬ 
quired  is  one  upon  which  each  naturalist  is  left  to  form  his  own 
opinion,  as  the  origin  of  the  characters  cannot  be  observed. 

To  determine  the  blood-relationships  of  organisms  it  is  necessary 
to  decipher  their  past  history,  and  the  best  evidence  we  can  have 


*  ‘  La  Recapitulation  et  l’lnnovation  en  Embryologie  Vegetale,,’' 
Bull,  de  la  Soc.  roy.  de  Bot.  de  Belgique,  vol.  xxxiii.,  1894. 


Jan.  9,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


35 


(when  we  can  get  it)  is  from  the  ancient  organisms  themselves 
The  problem  of  the  morphologist  is  an  historical  one,  and  con¬ 
temporary  documentary  evidence  is  necessarily  the  best.  It  is 
palaeontology  alone  which  can  give  us  the  real  historical  facts. 

Anatomical  Characters. 

In  judging  of  the  affinities  of  fossil  plants  we  are  often  compelled 
to  make  great  use  of  vegetative  characters,  and  more  particularly 
of  characters  drawn  from  anatomical  structure.  It  is  true  that  in 
many  cases  we  do  so  because  we  cannot  help  ourselves,  such 
anatomical  features  being  the  only  characters  available  in  many  of 
the  specimens  as  at  present  known.  But  the  value  of  the  method 
has  been  amply  proved  in  other  cases  where  the  reproductive 
structures  have  also  been  discovered,  and  are  found  to  fully  confirm 
the  conclusions  based  on  anatomy.  I  need  only  mention  the  great 
groups  of  the  Lepidodendrere  and  the  Calamites,  in  each  of  which  the 
anatomical  characters,  when  accurately  known,  put  us  at  once  on 
the  right  track,  and  lead  to  results  which  are  only  confirmed  by  the 
study  of  the  reproductive  organs. 

In  this  matter  fossil  botany  is  likely  to  react  in  a  beneficial  way 
on  the  study  of  recent  plants,  calling  attention  to  points  of  structure 
which  have  been  passed  over,  and  showing  us  the  value  of  characters 
of  a  kind  to  which  systematists  had  until  recently  paid  but  little 
attention.  At  present,  owing  to  the  work  of  Radlkofer,  Vesque, 
and  others,  anatomical  characters  are  gradually  coming  into  use  in 
the  classification  of  the  higher  plants,  and  in  some  quarters  there 
may  even  be  a  tendency  to  over-estimate  their  importance.  Such 
exa'geration,  however,  is  only  a  temporary  fault  incident  to  the 
introduction  of  a  comparatively  new  method.  In  the  long  run 
nothing  but  good  can  result  from  the  effort  to  place  our  classification 
on  a  broader  basis.  In  most  cases  the  employment  of  additional 
characters  will  doubtless  serve  only  to  further  confirm  the  affinities 
already  detected  by  the  acumen  of  the  older  taxonomists.  There 
are  plenty  of  doubtful  points,  however,  where  new  light  is  much 
needed  ;  and  even  where  the  classification  is  not  affected  it  will  be 
a  great  scientific  gain  to  know  that  its  divisions  are  based  on  a 
comparison  of  the  whole  structure,  and  not  merely  on  that  of 
particular  organs. 

The  fact  that  anatomical  characters  are  adaptive  is  undeniable, 
but  this  applies  to  all  characters,  such  difference  as  there  is  being 
merely  one  of  degree.  Cases  are  not  wanting  where  the  vegetative 
tissues  show  greater  constancy  than  the  organs  of  reproduction,  as, 
for  example,  in  the  Marattiacese,  where  there  is  a  great  uniformity 
in  anatomical  structure  throughout  the  family,  while  the  sporangia 
show  the  important  differences  on  which  the  distinction  of  the 
genera  is  based.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  anatomical 
characters  are  neces  arily  the  expression  of  recent  adaptations.  On 
the  contrary,  it  is  easy  to  cite  examples  of  marked  anatomical  pecu¬ 
liarities  which  have  become  the  common  property  of  large  groups  of 
plants. 

For  instance,  to  take  a  case  in  which  I  happen  to  have  been 
specially  interested,  the  presence  of  bast  to  the  inside  as  well  as  to 
the  outside  of  the  woody  zone  is  a  modification  of  dicotyledonous 
struture,  which  is  in  many  groups  at  least  of  ordinal  value.  The 
peculiarity  is  constant  throughout  the  orders  Onagracese,  Lythraceae, 
Myrtaceas,  Solanacese,  Asclepiadacete,  and  Apocynaceao,  not  to  men¬ 
tion  some  less  important  groups.  In  other  families,  such  as  the 
Cucurbitaceaa  and  the  Gentianeae,  it  is  nearly  constant  throughout 
the  order,  but  subject  to  some  exceptions.  Among  the  Composites 
a  similar,  if  not  identical,  peculiarity  appears  in  some  of  the  sub¬ 
order  Cichoriacese,  but  is  here  not  of  more  than  generic  value.  In 
Campanula  the  systematic  importance  of  internal  phloem  is  even 
less,  for  it  appears  in  some  species  and  not  in  others.  Lastly,  there 
are  cases  in  which  a  similar  character  actually  appears  as  an 
individual  variation,  as  in  Carum  carvi,  and,  under  abnormal  condi¬ 
tions,  in  Phaeeolus  multiflorus. 

These  latter  cases  seem  to  me  worthy  of  special  study,  for  in 
them  we  can  trace,  under  our  very  eyes,  the  first  rise  of  anatomical 
characters  which  have  elsewhere  become  of  high  taxonomic  im¬ 
portance.  A  comparative  study  of  the  anatomy  of  any  group  of 
British  plants,  taking  the  same  species  growing  under  different 
conditions,  would  be  sure  to  yield  interesting  results  if  any  one 
had  the  patience  to  undertake  it. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  a  given  anatomical  character 
may  be  of  a  high  degree  of  constancy  in  one  group  while  extremely 
variable  in  another,  a  fact  which  is  already  perfectly  familiar  as 
regards  the  ordinary  morphological  characters.  For  example, 
nothing  is  more  important  in  phanerogamic  classification  than  the 
arrangement  of  the  floral  organs  as  shown  in  ground-plan  or  floral 


diagram.  Yet  Professor  Trail’s  observations,  which  he  has  been 
good  enough  to  communicate  to  me,  show  that  in  one  and  the  same 
species,  or  even  individual,  of  Polygonum,  almost  every  conceivable 
variation  of  the  floral  diagram  may  be  found. 

There  is,  in  facL,  no  “  royal  road  ”  to  the  estimation  of  the  relative 
importance  of  charac‘ers;  the  same  character  which  is  of  the 
greatest  value  in  one  group  may  be  trivial  in  another;  and  this 
holds  good  equally  whether  the  character  be  drawn  from  the 
external  morphology  or  from  the  internal  structure. 

Oar  knowledge  of  the  comparative  anatomy  of  plants,  from  this 
point  of  view,  is  still  very  backward,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that 
the  introduction  of  such  characters  into  the  ordinary  work  of  the 
herbarium  may  be  premature  ;  certainly  it  must  be  conducted  with 
the  greatest  j  idgment  and  caution.  We  have  not  yet  got  our  data, 
but  every  encouragement  should  be  given  to  the  collection  of  such 
data,  so  that  our  classification  in  the  future  may  rest  on  the  broad 
foundation  of  a  comparison  of  the  entire  structure  of  plants. 

In  estimating  the  relative  importance  of  characters  of  different 
kinds  we  must  not  forget  that  characters  are  often  most  constant 
when  most  adaptive.  Thus,  as  Professor  Trail  informs  me,  the 
immense  variability  of  the  flowers  of  Polygonum  goes  together 
with  their  simple  method  of  self-fertilisation.  The  exact  arrange¬ 
ment  i3  of  little  importance  to  the  plant,  and  so  variation  goes  on 
unchecked.  In  flowers  with  accurate  adaptation  to  fertilisation  by 
insects  such  variability  is  not  found,  for  any  change  which  would 
disturb  the  perfection  of  ths  mechanism  is  at  once  eliminated  by 
natural  selection. 

Histology. 

I  propose  to  say  but  little  on  questions  of  minute  histology,  a 
subject  which  lies  on  the  bo'derland  between  morphology  and 
physiology,  and  which  will  be  dealt  with  next  Tuesday  far  more 
competently  than  I  could  hope  to  treat  it.  Last  year  my  prede¬ 
cessor  in  the  presidency  of  this  section  spoke  of  a  histological  dis¬ 
covery  (that  of  the  nucleus,  by  Robert  Brown)  as  “  the  most  epoch- 
makiDg  of  events”  in  the  modern  history  of  botany.  The  histological 
questions  before  us  at  the  present  day  may  be  of  no  less  importance, 
but  we  cannot  as  yet  see  them  in  proper  perspective.  The  centro- 
somes,  those  mysterious  protoplasmic  particles  which  have  been 
supposed  to  preside  over  the  division  of  the  nucleus,  and  thus  to 
determine  the  plane  of  segmentation,  if  really  permanent  organs  of 
the  cell,  would  have  to  rank  as  co-equal  with  the  nucleus  itself.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  as  some  think,  they  aie  not  constant  morpho¬ 
logical  entities,  but  at  most  temporary  structures  differentiated  ad 
hoc,  then  we  are  brought  face  to  face  with  the  question  whether  the 
causes  of  nuclear  division  lie  in  the  nucleus  itself  or  in  the  surround¬ 
ing  protop1  asm. 

Nothing  can  be  more  fascinating  than  such  problems,  and  nothing 
more  difficult.  We  have,  at  any  rate,  reason  to  congratulate  our¬ 
selves  that  English  botanists  are  no  longer  neglecting  the  study  of 
the  nucleus  and  its  relation  to  the  cell.  For  a  long  time  little  was 
done  in  these  subjects  in  our  country,  or,  at  least,  little  was  pub¬ 
lished,  and  botanists  were  generally  content  to  take  their  informa¬ 
tion  from  abroad,  not  going  beyond  a  mere  verification  of  other 
men’s  results.  Now  we  have  changed  all  that,  as  the  communica¬ 
tions  to  this  section  sufficiently  testify. 

Nothing  is  more  remarkable  in  histology  than  the  detailed  agree¬ 
ment  in  the  structure  and  behaviour  of  the  nucleus  in  the  higher 
plants  and  the  higher  animals,  an  agreement  which  is  conspicuously 
manifest  in  those  special  divisions  which  take  place  during  the 
maturation  of  the  sexual  cells.  Is  this  striking  agreement  the 
product  of  inheritance  from  common  ancestors,  or  is  the  paral¬ 
lelism  dependent  solely  on  similar  physical  conditions  in  the  cells  ? 
This  is  one  of  the  great  questions  upon  which  we  may  hope  for  new 
light  from  a  histological  discussion  of  the  matter, 

Alternation  of  Generations. 

We  have  known  ever  since  the  great  discoveries  of  Hofmeister 
that  the  development  of  a  large  part  of  the  vegetable  kingdom 
involves  a  regular  alternation  of  two  distinct  generations,  the  one, 
which  is  sexual,  being  constantly  succeeded — so  far  as  the  normal 
cycle  is  concerned — by  the  other  which  is  asexual.  This  alterna¬ 
tion  is  most  marked  in  the  mosses  and  ferns,  taking  these  words  in 
their  widest  sense,  as  used  by  Professor  Campbell  in  his  recent 
excellent  book.  In  the  Bryophyta,  the  ordinary  moss  or  liverwort 
plant  is  the  sexual  generation,  producing  the  ovum,  which,  when 
fertilised,  gives  rise  to  the  moss-fruit,  which  here  alone  represents 
the  asexual  stage.  The  latter  forms  spores  from  which  the  sexual 
plant  is  again  developed. 


36 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  9.  1897 


In  the  Pteridophyta  the  alternation  is  equally  regular,  but  the 
relative  development  of  the  two  generations  is  totally  different,  the 
sexual  form  being  the  insignificant  prothallus,  while  the  whole  fern- 
plant,  as  we  ordinarily  know  it,  is  the  asexual  generation. 

The  thallus  of  some  of  the  lower  Bryophyta  is  quite  comparable 
with  the  prothallus  of  a  fern,  so  as  regards  the  sexual  generation 
there  is  no  difficulty  in  seeing  the  relation  of  the  two  classes  ;  but 
when  we  come  to  the  asexual  generation  or  sporophyte  the  case  is 
totaPy  different.  There  is  no  appreciable  resemblance  between  the 
fruit  of  any  of  the  Bryophyta  and  the  plant  of  any  vascular 
Cryptogam. 

There  is  thus  a  great  gap  within  the  Archegonia^ac ;  there  is 
another  at  the  base  of  the  series,  for  the  regular  alternation  of  the 
Bryophyta  is  missing  in  the  Algae  and  Fungi,  and  the  question  as 
to  what  corresponds  among  these  lower  groups  to  the  sporophyte 
and  oophyte  of  the  higher  Cryptogams  is  still  disputed. 

Now  as  regards  this  life-cycle,  which  is  characteristic  of  all  plants 
higher  than  Algse  and  Fungi,  there  are  two  great  questions  at 
present  open.  The  one  is  general:  Are  the  two  generations,  the 
sporophyte  and  the  oophyte,  homologous  with  one  another,  or  is  the 
sporophyte  a  new  formation  intercalated  in  the  life-history,  and  not 
comparable  to  the  sexual  plant?  The  former  kind  of  alternation 
has  been  called  homologous,  the  latter  antithetic.  This  question 
involves  the  origin  of  alternation ;  its  solution  would  help  us  to 
bridge  over  the  gap  between  the  Archegonial  se  and  the  lower  plants. 
The  second  problem  is  more  special :  Has  the  sporophyte  of  the 
Pteridophyta,  which  always  appears  as  a  complete  plant,  been 
derived  from  the  simple  and  totally  different  sporophyte  of  the 
Bryophyta,  or  are  the  two  of  distinct  origin  ? 

At  present  it  is  usual,  at  any  rate  in  England,  to  assume  the  anti¬ 
thetic  theory  of  alternation.  ProFessor  Bower,  its  chief  exponent, 
says  :*  “  It  will  also  be  assumed  that,  whatever  may  have  been  the 
circumstances  which  led  to  it,  antithetic  alternation  was  brought 
about  by  elaboration  of  the  zygote  [i  e.,  the  fertilised  ovum]  so  as  to 
form  a  new  generation  (the  sporophyte)  interpolated  between  suc¬ 
cessive  gametophytes,  and  that  the  neutral  generation  is  not  in  any 
sense  the  result  of  modification  or  metamorphosis  of  the  sexual, 
but  a  new  product  having  a  distinct  phylogenetic  history  of  its 
own.”  In  his  essay  on  “  Antithetic  as  Distinguished  from  Homo¬ 
logous  Alternation  of  Generations  in  Plants, vf  the  author  describes 
the  hypothetical  first  appearance  of  the  sporophyte  as  follows: 
“  Once  fertilised,  a  zygote  might  in  these  plants  [the  first  land 
plants]  divide  up  into  a  number  of  portions  (carpospores),  each  of 
which  would  then  serve  as  a  starting-point  of  a  new  individual.” 

On  this  view,  the  sporophyte  first  appeared  as  a  mere  group  of 
spores  formed  by  the  division  of  the  fertilised  ovum.  Consequently 
the  inference  is  drawn  that  all  the  vegetative  parts  of  the  sporo¬ 
phyte  have  arisen  by  the  “  sterilisation  of  potentially  sporogenous 
tissue.”  That  is  to  say,  there  was  nothing  but  a  mass  of  spores  to 
start  with,  so  whatever  other  tissues  and  organs  the  sporophyte 
may  form  must  be  derived  from  the  conversion  of  spore-forming 
cells  into  vegetative  cells.  Professor  Bower  has  worked  out  this 
view  most  thoroughly,  and  as  the  result  he  is  not  only  giving  us  the 
most  complete  account  of  the  development  of  sporangia  which  we 
have  ever  had,  but  he  has  also  done  much  to  clear  up  our  ideas,  and 
to  show  us  what  the  course  of  evolution  ought  to  have  been  if  the 
assumptions  required  by  the  antithetic  theory  were  justified. 

Without  entering  into  any  detailed  criticism  of  this  important 
contribution  to  morphology,  which  is  still  in  progress,  I  wish  to 
point  out  that  we  are  not,  after  all,  bound  to  accept  the  assumption 
on  which  the  theory  rests.  There  is  another  view  in  the  field,  for 
which,  in  my  opinion,  much  is  to  be  said.  The  antithetic  theory  is 
receiving  a  most  severe  test  at  the  friendly  hands  of  its  chief 
advocate.  Should  it  break  down  under  the  strain  we  need  not 
despair,  for  another  hypothesis  remains  which  I  think  quite  equally 
worthy  of  verification. 

This  is  the  theory  of  Pringsheim,  according  to  which  the  two 
generations  are  homologous  one  with  another,  the  oophyte  corre¬ 
sponding  to  a  sexual  individual  among  Thallophytes,  the  sporo¬ 
phyte  to  an  asexual  individual.  To  quote  Pringsheim’s  own  words : X 
“The  alternation  of  generations  in  mosses  is  immediately  related  to 
those  phenomena  of  the  succession  of  free  generations  in  Thallo¬ 
phytes,  of  which  the  one  represents  the  neutral,  the  other  the 
sexual  plant.”  Further  on§  he  illustrates  this  by  sajing:  “The 

#  “  Spore -producing  Members,”  Phil.  Trans.,  vol.  clxxxv.  B.  (1894), 
p.  473. 

t  Annals  of  Botany,  vol.  iv.  (1890),  p.  362. 

X  Gesammelte  Abhandlungen,  ii.,  p.  370. 

§  Ibid.,  p.  371. 


moss  sporogonium  stands  in  about  the  same  relation  to  the  moss 
plant  as  the  sporangium-bearing  specimens  of  Saprolegnia,  stand  to 
those  which  bear  oogonia,  or  as,  among  the  Floridese  the  specimens 
with  tetraspores  are  related  to  those  with  cystocarps.”  This  gets 
rid  of  the  intercalation  of  a  new  generation  altogether ;  we  only 
require  the  modification  of  the  already  existing  sexual  and  asexual 
forms  of  the  Thallophytes. 

The  sudden  appearance  of  something  completely  new  in  the  life- 
history,  as  required  by  the  antithetic  theory,  has,  to  my  mind,  a 
certain  improbability.  Ex  nihilo  nihil  fit.  We  are  not  accustomed 
in  natural  history  to  see  brand-new  structures  appearing,  like  mor¬ 
phological  Melchizedeks,  without  father  or  mother.  Nature  is  con¬ 
servative,  and  when  a  new  organ  is  to  be  formed  it  is,  as  every  one 
knows,  almost  always  fashioned  out  of  some  pre-existing  organ. 
Hence  I  feel  a  certain  d  fficulty  in  accepting  the  doctrine  of  the 
appearance  of  an  intercalated  sporophyte  by  a  kind  of  special 
creation. 

We  can  have  no  direct  knowledge  of  the  origin  of  the  sporophyte 
in  the  Bryophyta  themselves,  for  the  stages,  whatever  they  may 
have  been,  are  hopelessly  lost.  In  some  of  the  Algae,  however,  we 
find  what  most  botanists  recognise  as  at  least  a  parallel  develop¬ 
ment,  even  if  not  phylogenetically  identical.*  Ia  CEdogonium,  for 
example,  the  oospore  does  not  at  once  germinate  into  a  new  plant, 
but  divides  up  into  four  active  zoospores,  which  swim  about  and 
then  germinate.  In  Goleochoste  the  oospore  actually  becomes  par¬ 
titioned  up  by  cell- walls  into  a  little  mass  of  tissue,  each  cell  of 
which  then  gives  ri?e  to  a  zoospore. 

In  both  these  genera  (and  many  more  might  he  added)  the  cell- 
formation  in  the  germinating  oospore  has  been  generally  regarded! 
as  representing  the  formation  of  a  rudimentary  sporophyte  genera¬ 
tion.  If  we  are  to  apply  the  antithetic  theory  of  alternation  to 
these  cases,  we  must  assume  that  the  zoospores  produced  on  ger¬ 
mination  are  a  new  formation,  intercalated  at  this  point  of  the 
life-cycle.  But  is  this  assumption  borne  out  by  the  facts  ?  I  think 
not.  In  reality  nothing  new  is  intercalated  at  all.  The  “  zoospores  ” 
formed  from  the  06  -spore  on  germination  are  identical  with  the  so- 
called  “  zoogonidia,”  formed  on  the  ordinary  vegetative  plant  at  all 
stages  of  its  growth. 

In  science,  as  in  every  subject,  we  too  easily  become  the  slaves  of 
language.  By  giving  things  different  names  we  do  not  prove  that 
the  things  themselves  are  different.  In  this  case,  for  example,  the 
multiplication  of  terms  serves,  in  my  opinion,  merely  to  disguise 
the  facts.  The  reproductive  cells  produced  by  the  ordinary  plant 
of  an  CEdogonium  are  identical  in  development,  structure,  behaviour, 
and  germination  with  those  produced  by  the  oospore.  The  term 
“  zoogonidia  ”  applied  to  the  former  is  a  “  question-begging  epithet,” 
for  it  assumes  that  they  are  not  homologous  with  the  “zoospores  ” 
produced  by  the  latter.  I  prefer  to  keep  the  old  name  zoospore  for 
both,  as  they  are  identical  bodies. 

To  my  mind  the  point  seems  to  be  this.  An  CEdogonium  (to  keep 
to  this  example)  can  form  zoospores  at  any  stage  of  its  develop¬ 
ment  ;  there  is  one  particular  stage,  however,  at  which  they  are 
alwajs  formed— namely,  on  the  germination  of  the  cospore.  Nothing 
new  is  intercalated,  but  the  irregular  and  indefinite  succession  of 
sexual  and  asexual  acts  of  reproduction  is  here  tending  to  become 
regular  and  definite. 

In  Sphceroplea,  as  was  well  pointed  out  bv  the  late  Mr.  Yaiz?y,f 
though  bis  view  of  alternation  was  very  different  from  that  which 
I  am  now  putting  forward,  the  alternation  is  as  definite  as  in  a  moss, 
for  here,  so  far  as  we  know,  zrospores  are  only  formed  on  the  ger¬ 
mination  of  the  fertilised  ovum.  If  Sphceroplea  stood  alone  we 
might  believe  in  the  intercalation  of  these  zoospores,  as  a  new  stage, 
but  the  comparison  with  Ulothrix,  CEdogonium ,  Bulbochwte,  and 
Coleochcete  shows,  I  think,  where  they  came  from. 

The  body  formed  from  the  oospore  i3  called  by  Pringsheim  the 
first  neutral  generation.  In  CEdogonium  this  has  no  vegetative 
development,  for  the  first  thing  that  the  oospore  dees  is  to  form  the 
asexual  zoospores,  and  it  is  completely  used  up  in  the  process.  In 
other  cases  it  is  not  in  quite  such  a  hurry,  and  here  the  first  neutral 
generation  has  time  to  show  itself  as  an  actual  plant.  This  is  so  in 
Ulothrix,  a  much  more  primitive  form  than  CEdogonium,  for  its 
sexuality  is  not  yet  completely  fixed.  Here  the  zygospore  actually 
germinates,  forming  a  dwarf  plant,  and  in  this  stage  passes  through 
the  dull  seasoD,  producing  zoospores  when  the  weather  becomes 
more  favourable.  On  Pringsheim’s  view  the  dwarf  plant  is  not  a 
new  creation,  but  just  a  rudimentary  Ulothrix,  which  soon  passes 


*  See  Bower,  ‘  Antithetic  Alternation,’  p.  361. 
t  ‘  Annals  of  Botany/  vol.  iv.,  p.  373. 


Jan.  9,  1-8973 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


37- 


on  to  spore-formation.  So,  too,  with  the  cellular  body  formed  on 
the  germination  of  the  oospore  of  Coleochcete ;  this  also  is  looked 
upon  as  a  reduced  form  of  thallus.  On  any  view  this  genus  is 
especially  interesting,  for  the  sporopbyte  remains  enclosed  by  the 
tissue  of  the  sexual  generation,  thus  offering  a  striking  analogy  with 
the  Bryopbyta. 

In  the  Phycomycetous  Fungi — plants  which  have  lost  their 
chlorophyll,  but  which  otherwise  in  many  cases  scarcely  differ  from 
Algas — the  oospore  in  one  and  the  same  species  may  either  form  a 
normal  mycelium,  or  a  rudimentary  mycelium  bearing  a  sporan¬ 
gium,  or  may  itself  turn  at  once  into  a  sporangium  (producing 
zoospores)  without  any  vegetative  development.  Here  it  seems 
certain  that  Pringsheim’s  view  is  the  right  one,  for  all  stages  in  the 
reduction  of  the  first  neutral  generation  lie  before  our  eyes. 
Nowhere,  either  here  or  among  the  green  Algse,  do  I  see  aDy 
evidence  for  the  intercalation  of  a  new  generation  or  a  new  form  of 
spore  on  the  germination  of  the  fertilised  ovum. 

Pringsheim  extends  the  same  view  to  the  higher  plants.  The 
sporogonium  of  a  moss  is  for  him  the  highly  modified  first  neutral 
generation,  homologous  with  the  vegetative  plant,  but  here  specially 
adapted  for  spore-formation.  I  have  elsewhere  pointed  out*  that 
this  view  has  great  advantages,  for  not  only  does  it  harmonise 
-exactly  with  the  actual  facts  observed  in  the  green  Algse  and  their 
allies,  but  it  also  helps  us  to  understand  the  astoundingly  different 
forms  which  the  archegoniate  sporophyte  may  assume. 

It  seems  to  me  that  Pringsheim  was  right  in  regarding  the  fruit- 
formation  of  Floridese  as  totally  different  from  the  sporopbyte- 
■formation  of  Coleochcete  or  the  Bryophyta.  The  cystocarp  bears 
none  of  the  marks  of  a  distinct  generation,  for  throughout  its 
whole  development  it  remains  in  the  most  complete  organic  connec¬ 
tion  with  the  thallus  that  bears  it.  The  whole  Floridean  process, 
-often  so  complicated,  appears  to  be  an  arrangement  for  effecting  the 
fertilisation  of  many  female  cells  as  the  result  of  an  original 
impregnation  by  a  single  sperm  cell.  There  is  here  still  a  great 
field  for  future  research  ;  but  in  the  light  of  our  present  knowledge 
there  seems  to  be  no  real  parallelism  with  the  formation  of  a  sporo- 
p>hyte  in  the  higher  plants. 

The  gap  between  the  Bryophyta  and  the  Algse  remains,  unfor¬ 
tunately,  a  wide  and  deep  one,  and  it  is  not  probable  that  any  Algse 
at  present  known  to  us  lie  at  all  near  the  line  of  descent  of  the 
•higher  Cryptogams.  Riccia  is  often  compared  with  Coleochcete,  but 
it  is  by  no  means  evident  that  Riccia  is  a  specially  primitive  form. 
Sn  Anthoceros,  which  bears  some  marks  of  an  archaic  character,  the 
sporophyte  is  relatively  well  developed.  To  those  who  do  not 
accept  the  theory  of  intercalation  it  is  not  necessary  to  assume 
that  the  most  primitive  Bryophyta  must  have  the  most  rudimentary 
sporophyte. 

Apart  from  other  differences,  Bryophyta  differ  from  most  green 
Algae  in  the  fact  that  asexual  spores  are  only  found  in  the  genera¬ 
tion  succeeding  fertilisation.  The  spores,  moreover,  are  themselves 
•quite  different  from  anything  in  Algae,  and  the  constancy  of  their 
formation  in  fours  among  all  the  higher  plants  from  the  liverworts 
upwards,  is  a  fact  which  requires  explanation.  I  should  like  to 
suggest  to  some  energetic  histologist  a  comparison  of  the  details  of 
spore-formation  in  the  lower  liverworts  and  in  the  various  groups  of 
Algse,  especially  those  of  the  green  series.  It  is  possible  that  some 
light  might  be  thus  thrown  on  the  origin  of  tetrad-spore-formation, 
a  subject  as  to  which  Professor  Farmer  has  already  gained  some 
very  remarkable  results.  On  Pringsheim’s  view  some  indications  of 
homology  between  bryophytic  and  algal  spore-formation  might  be 
•exprcted,  and  anyhow  the  tetrads  require  some  explanation. 

The  peculiarities  of  the  sporophyte  in  the  Archegoniatre,  as  com¬ 
pared  with  any  algal  structures,  depend,  no  doubt,  on  the  acquire¬ 
ment  of  a  terrestrial  habit,  while  the  cophyte  by  its  mode  of 
fertilisation  remains  “tied  down  to  a  semi-aquatic  life.’’f  Professor 
Bower’s  phrase  “amphibious  alternation”  expresses  this  view  of 
the  case  very  happily,  and  indeed  his  whole  account  of  the  rise  of 
the  sporophyte  is  of  the  highest  value,  even  though  we  may  not 
accept  his  assumption  as  to  its  origin  de  novo. 

I  attach  special  weight  to  Professor  Bower’s  treatment  of  this 
Subject,  because  he  has  shown  how  the  most  important  of  all 
morphological  phenomena  in  plants,  namely,  the  alternation  of 
generations  in  Archegoniatac,  may  be  explained  as  purely  adaptive  in 
origin.  All  Darwinians  owe  him  a  debt  of  gratitude  for  this  demon¬ 
stration,  which  holds  good  even  if  we  believe  the  sporophyte  to  be 
the  modification  of  a  pre-existing  body,  and  not  a  new  formation. 


Apospory  and  Apogamy. 

We  must  remember  that  the  theory  of  homologous  alternation 
has  twice  received  the  strongest  confirmation  of  which  a  scientific 
hypothesis  is  susceptible — that  of  verified  prediction.  .In  both 
cases  Pringsheim  was  the  happy  prophet.  Convinced  on  structural 
grounds  of  the  homology  of  the  two  generations  in  mosses,  he 
undertook  his  experiments  on  the  moss  fruits,  in  the  hope,  as  he 
says,*  that  he  would  succeed  in  producing  protonema  from  the 
subdivided  seta  of  the  mosses,  and  thus  prove  the  morphological 
agreement  of  seta  and  moss  stem.  His  experiment,  as  everybody 
knows,  was  completely  successful,  and  resulted  in  the  first 
observed  cases  of  apospory,  i.e.,  the  direct  outgrowth  of  the  sexual 
from  the  asexual  generation. 

Here  he  furnished  his  own  verification  ;  in  the  second  case  it  has 
come  from  other  hands.  In  the  paper  of  1877,  so  often  referred  to, 
he  says  (p.  391):  “Here,  however  [i.e.,  in  the  ferns],  the  act  of 
generation,  that  is,  the  formation  of  sexual  organs  and  the  origin 
of  an  embryo,  is  undoubtedly  hound' up  with  the  existence  of  the 
spore,  until  those  future  ferns  are  found  which  I  indicated  as  con¬ 
ceivable  in  my  preliminary  notice,  in  which  the  prothallus  will 
sprout  forth  directly  from  the  frond.” 

It  is  unnecessary  to  remind  English  botanists  that  Pringsheim’s 
hypothetical  aposporous  ferns  are  now  perfectly  well  known  in  the 
flesh ;  such  cases  having  been  first  observed  by  Mr.  Druery  and 
then  fully  investigated  by  Professor  Bower. 

A  very  remarkable  case  of  direct  origin  of  the  oophyte  from 
the  sporophyte  has  lately  been  described  by  Mr.  E.  J.  Lowe  in  a 
variety  of  Scolopendrium  vidgare.  Here  the  young  fern-plant 
produced  prothalli  bearing  archegonia  as  direct  outgrowths  from 
its  second  or  third  frond.  The  specimen  had  a  remarkable  history, 
for  the  young  plants  were  produced  from  portions  of  a  prothallus 
which  had  been  kept  alive  and  repeatedly  subdivided  during  a 
period  of  no  less  than  eight  years.  I  cannot  go  into  the  interest¬ 
ing  details  here,  they  will  be  published  elsewhere  ;  but  I  wish  to 
call  attention  to  the  fact  that  in  this  case  the  production  of  the 
sexual  from  the  asexual  generation,  occurring  so  early  in  life,  has 
no  obvious  relation  to  suppressed  spore-formation,  and  so  appears 
to  differ  essentially  from  the  cases  first  described ,  which  occurred 
on  mature  plants.  I  believe  Mr.  Lowe’s  case  is  not  an  altogether 
isolated  one. 

The  converse  phenomenon — that  of  apogamy — or  the  direct 
origin  of  an  asexual  plant  from  the  prothallus,  without  the  inter¬ 
vention  of  sexual  organs,  has  now  been  observed  in  a  considerable 
number  of  ferns,  the  examples  already  known  belonging  to  no  less 
than  four  distinct  families:  Polypodiaceee,  Parkeriacese,  Osmund- 
acere,  and  Hymenophyllacese.  In  Trichomanes  alatum  Professor 
Bower  found  that  apospory  and  apogamy  co-exist  in  the  same 
plant,  the  sporophyte  directly  giving  rise  to  a  prothallus,  which 
again  directly  grows  out  into  a  sporophyte  ;  the  life-cycle  is  thus 
completed  without  the  aid  either  of  spores  or  of  sexual  organs. 
Dr.  W.  H.  Lang,  who  has  recently  made  many  interesting  obser¬ 
vations  on  apogamy,  will,  I  am  glad  to  say,  read  a  paper  on  the 
subject  before  this  section,  so  I  need  say  no  more. 

I  must,  however,  express  my  own  conviction  that  the  facility 
with  which,  in  ferns,  the  one  generation  may  pass  over  into  the 
other  by  vegetative  growth,  and  that  in  both  directions,  is  a  most 
significant  fact.  It  shows  that  there  is  no  such  hard  and  fast  dis¬ 
tinction  between  the  generations  as  the  antithetic  theory  would 
appear  to  demand,  and  in  my  opinion  weighs  heavily  on  the  side 
of  the  homology  of  sporophyte  and  cophyte.  I  cannot  but  think 
that  the  phenomena  deserve  greater  attention  from  this  point  of 
view  than  they  have  yet  received. 

A  mode  of  growth  which  affords  a  perfectly  efficient  means  of 
abundant  propagation  cannot,  I  think,  be  dismissed  as  merely 
teratological. 

Since  the  foregoing  paragraph  was  first  written  Dr.  Lang  has 
made  the  remarkable  discovery  (already  communicated  to  the 
Royal  Society)  that  in  a  Lastraea  sporangia  of  normal  structure  are 
produced  on  the  prothallus  itself,  side  by  side  with  normal 
archegonia  and  antheridia.  I  cannot  forbear  mentioning  this 
striking  observation,  of  which  we  shall  hear  an  account  from  the 
discoverer  himself. 

The  strongest  advocate  of  the  homology  of  the  prothallus  with 
the  fern  plant  could  scarcely  have  ventured  to  anticipate  such  a 
discovery. 

( To  he  continued.') 


*  Nature,  February  21, 1895. 

-+  Bower,  ‘  Antithetic  Alternation.’ 


*  ‘  Ges.  Abh.’  ii.,  p.  407. 


38 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  9,  1897 


EXTRACTS  FROM  CONSULAR  REPORTS- 


Olive  Oil. — In  May,  1890,  a  concession  was  granted  by  the 
Persian  Government  to  Messrs.  Konssis  and  Theophilactos,  a  Greek 
firm  under  Russian  protection,  giving  them  a  monopoly  for  the 
purchase  and  working  of  all  the  olives  in  Northern  Persia.  This  is 
only  now  being  put  into  operation  by  the  establishment  of  a 
properly-constituted  factory  on  the  most  approved  system.  The 
firm  intend  to  induce  the  owners  of  olive  groves  to  sell  them 
their  entire  crops,  by  offering  them  more  remunerative  prices  than 
they  have  hitherto  obtained.  They  will  manufacture  table  olive 
oil  of  the  best  quality  with  the  greater  part  of  the  olives,  the 
residue  being  used  for  soap-making.  With  their  machinery  they 
will  be  able  to  extract  the  whole  of  the  oil  from  the  olives,  which 
is  far  from  the  case  by  the  present  primitive  methods. — ‘Foreign 
C  ffice  Report,’  No.  407. 


Mineral  Waters. — Consul  W.  S.  H.  Gastrell,  in  his  report  on 
the  trade  of  Teneriffe,  says  there  are  several  mineral  springs  in  this 
island,  the  water  from  which,  if  properly  collected  and  bottled, 
would  form  a  very  large  source  of  revenue  ;  but  the  enormous  pro¬ 
portions  to  which  this  trade  has  been  developed  on  the  Continent, 
render  it  useless  for  any  but  large  capitalists  or  joint  stock  com¬ 
panies  to  attempt  a  development,  since  the  expense  of  advertising 
them  and  putting  them  on  the  market  is  so  great.  The  principal 
of  these  springs  is  the  “Firgas”  spring,  which  has  an  analysis 
equal  or  superior  to  any  of  the  table  waters  of  the  Continent,  and 
its  habitual  use  is  not  found  so  lowering  as  many  of  those,  whilst 
its  pleasant  flavour  and  natural  effervescence  make  it  very  popular 
among  the  visitors  here,  used  alone  or  combined  with  spirits. 
There  is,  no  doubt,  in  this  direction  a  good  opening  for  capital, 
since  the  greater  bulk  of  these  waters  are  used  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  to  the  ports  of  which  country  a  large  majority  of  the 
steamers,  which  discharge  coal  at  the  coaling  stations  in  Puerto 
Lrz,  proceed  in  ballast,  and  would  be  very  glad  to  offer  very  low 
freights  for  a  new  and  constant  trade,  which  would  mean  to  ship¬ 
owners  a  reduction  in  the  expenses  of  a  round  vojage. — ‘Foreign 
Office  Report,’  No.  1828. 


Soap  Making  in  Persia. — Consul  Churchill,  reporting  on  the 
olive  cultivation  in  the  districts  of  Ghilan,  gives  an  interesting 
account  of  the  native  method  of  soap  making.  When  in  late 
autumn  the  olives  are  ripe  or  black,  they  are  collected  by  shaking 
the  trees  and  striking  the  branches  in  the  same  manner  as  walnuts 
are  obtained.  The  olives,  when  collected,  are  boiled  for  an  hour, 
they  are  then  dried  in  the  sun.  After  this  they  are  pressed  under 
foot  in  a  trough,  which  reduces  the  olives  to  a  paste.  The  paste  is 
then  placed  in  an  earthenware  jar  and  heated;  it  is  afterwards 
placed  in  bags  and  pressed,  when  the  oil  is  extracted.  This  oil  is 
kept  several  months  in  jars,  and  can  be  kept  for  years  without 
deteriorating.  In  order  to  make  soap  they  purchase  “kaliab  ”  or 
alkali  in  Taroum ;  they  have  lime  on  the  spot.  The  following  pro¬ 
portions  are  used  for  making  the  soap. 

Lime  . _ .  4  parts. 

Alkali . .  . . „ .  10  „ 

Olive  Oil .  12  „ 

Salt  .  1  „ 

There  are  about  ten  houses  where  soap  is  manufactured  in  the 
village  of  Kilishter.  The  best  soap  is  made  in  this  village.  Since 
the  price  of  olive  oil  has  risen,  suet  is  added  in  equal  proportions  to 
olive  oil  in  soap  making.  The  prices  are  : — 

Per  Man  of  17  lbs. 

Alkali  .  1  kran. 

Olive  Oil .  18  krans. 

Animal  Fat  (Suet) .  12  ,, 

Salt  .  J  kran. 

The  soap  made  without  the  addition  of  suet  is,  when  kept,  of  an 
excellent  quality  and  well  adapted  for  washing  clothes  and  rough 
work  generally. — ‘  Foreign  Office  Report,’  No.  407. 


English  Trade  in  Drugs  with  the  Canary  Islands.— 
The  consular  report  for  November  gives  a  list  of  principal  duty¬ 
free  goods  imported  at  Santa  Cruz  in  1895  from  various 
countries,  among  which  drugs  appear.  The  total  quantity  of  drugs 
imported  was  145,230  kilos.  ;  from  England  82,280  kilos.,  France 
47,370  kilos.,  and  from  Germany  15,580  kilos.  It  is  satisfactory  to 
see  that  Great  Britain  supplies  the  bulk  also  of  the  remaining 
imports. — ‘  Foreign  Office  Report,’  No.  1828, 


All  Articles,  Letters,  Notices,  and  Reports  Intended  for 
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must,  be  Addressed  “Editor,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square, 
London,”  and  not  in  any  case  to  individuals  supposed 
to  be  connected  with  the  Editorial  Staff.  Communica¬ 
tions  for  the  Current  Week’s  Journal  should  reach  the 
Office  not  later  than  Wednesday,  but  news  can  be  Re¬ 
ceived  by  Telegraph  until  4  p.m.  on  Thursday. 

Correspondents  who  wish  notice  to  be  taken  of  their  communications  must 
write  in  ink,  on  one  side  of  the  paper  only,  and  should  authenticate  the 
matter  sent  with  their  names  and  addresses — of  course  not  necessarily  for 
publication.  No  notice  can  be  taken  of  anonymous  communications. 

Names  and  Formulae  should  be  written  with  extra  care,  all  systematic 
names  of  plants  and  animals  being  underlined,  and  capital  letters  used  to 
commence  generic  but  not  specific  names. 

Ant  Instructions  from  Members,  Associates,  and  Students  of  the  PI  a  -ma~ 
ceutical  Society,  with  reference  to  the  transmission  of  the  Journal* 
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bury  Square,  London. 

Business  communications — including  advertisements,  orders  for  copies  of  the 
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London.  Cheques  and  money  orders  should  be  made  payable  to  “Street 
Brothers.” 

Drawings  for  illustrations  should  be  executed  twice  the  desir  ed  size ;  clean 
sharp  lines  being  drawn  with  a  pen  and  liquid  Chinese  ink.  Shading  by 
washes  is  inadmissible.  Photographs  can  he  utilised  in  certain  cases. 

Reprints  of  articles  cannot  be  supplied  unless  authors  communicate  with 
the  Editor  before  publication. 


Chemists  and  Company  Legislation. 

Sir, — A  few  clays  ago  I  had  an  interview  with  our  local  Member 
of  Parliament,  and  called  his  attention  to  the  Companies  Bill  intro¬ 
duced  into  the  House  of  Lords  last  session.  I  found  in  conversa¬ 
tion  that  he  knew  little  about  our  Act  of  Parliament  passed  some 
thirty  years  ago,  or  how  company  trading  has  jumped  through 
that  Act  with  a  coach  and  four.  I  explained  to  him  all  the  points 
of  the  case,  in  which  he  was  very  interested,  and  asked  him  to  be 
kind  enough  to  use  what  influence  he  had  in  helping  the  Bill  for¬ 
ward  when  it  comes  into  the  House  again  next  session.  He 
thanked  me  for  the  information  that  I  had  given  him,  and  said  he 
had  wondered  how  it  was  that  a  “company”  could  carry  on  a. 
chemist’s  business.  He  said  that  he  would  go  into  the  matter  and 
do  what  he  could.  Now  my  object  in  writing  to  you,  sir,  is  to- 
urge  all  local  secretaries  to  see  their  representatives  in  Parliament, 
or,  still  better,  members  of  the  House  of  Lords,  to  explain  the  case 
to  them  and  to  ask  them  for  their  support  to  help  the  qualified 
chemist.  This  can  best  be  given  by  aiding  the  Council  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  and  other  public  bodies  in  securing  the 
insertion  in  any  Companies  Bill  of  a  special  clause  prohibiting  cor¬ 
porations  doing  what  individuals  are  not  allowed  to  do. 

Grantham,  December  SO,  1896.  Wm.  Whysall. 


The  Protection  of  Prices. 

Sir, — Like  Mr.  Park,  of  Plymouth,  I  have  been  much  surprised 
that  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  has  not  contained  any  corre¬ 
spondence  on  the  topic  that  is  certainly  engrossing  much  of  the 
time  and  thoughts  of  some  of  the  energetic  and  younger  members 
of  our  so-called  profession,  viz.,  “the  protection  of  the  price  of 
proprietaries.”  The  necessity  of  an  appeal  on  behalf  of  the 
Benevolent  Fund  clearly  indicates  to  me  as  an  old  local  secretary 
that  in  consequence  of  severe  competition  and  selling  in  many 
instances  below  cost  price,  the  funds  of  our  deserving  charities 
have  fallen  off,  and  this  view  is  further  emphasised  by  your  leader 
in  last  week’s  J ournal,  in  which  you  point  out  that  the  sums  already 
received  have  been  sent  by  those  who  already  subscribe.  In  can¬ 
vassing  for  subscriptions  I  have  found  in  prosperous  times  a  readi¬ 
ness  to  give  to  the  Benevolent  F und  even  by  those  who  are  not 
members  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society ;  indeed,  I  might  say 
further,  who  ridicule  the  utility  of  such  membership.  The 
P.A.T.A.  movement  is  one  deserving  of  the  support  of  all  chemists 
who  honestly  wish  to  better  their  own  position,  and  in  bettering 
their  own  to  assist  their  brother  chemist  in  so  doing ;  but,  like  all 
new  movements,  it  has  been  treated  with  contumely  and  ridicule 
by  many  of  those  to  whom  we  generally  look  to  guide  us  in  all 
matters  appertaining  to  the  welfare  of  the  trade.  The  names  of 


Jan.  9,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JO  UR  N  A  L. 


39 


those  who  have  done  so  much  to  earn  for  the  Society  as  an  educa- 
cational  body  the  respect  that  is  shown  it  by  kindred  bodies  are 
sadly  missing  from  the  ranks  of  this  trade-assisting  Association. 
The  list  of  protected  articles  is  growing,  but  month  by  month  those 
who  are  interested  in  the  movement,  and  who  do  not  wish  to  leave 
one  stone  unturned  that  will  bring  ultimate  success,  look  for 
such  articles  as  Dinneford’s  magnesia  and  peppermint  water, 
Benger’s  liquor  pancreaticus,  pepticus,  and  food,  Collis 
Browne’s  chlorodyne,  Parrish’s  food,  Steedman’s  powders,  and 
many  others,  all  made  by  prominent  chemists  who,  we  believe,  are 
anxious  for  the  welfare  of  their  weaker  brethren.  The  P.A.T.A. 
has  already  accomplished  much,  but  if  the  fathers  of  the  trade 
would  help  us  by  joining  its  ranks  and  putting  their  preparations  on 
the  protected  list,  those  of  the  trade  who  are  still  lethargic,  and 
give  as  an  excuse  that  the  great  lights  in  pharmacy  are  opposed  to 
the  movement,  would  be  convinced  and  would  follow  in  their  foot¬ 
steps.  For  years  I  have  worked  for  the  Society,  and  have  con¬ 
stantly  urged  on  all  the  necessity  of  membership,  but  on  the  trade 
side  I  have  met  with  the  greatest  obstacles,  and  these  will  increase 
rather  than  lessen,  unless  the  prominent  members  assist  to  the 
greatest  of  their  power  any  movement  that  has  for  its  object  the 
protection  of  the  articles  so  many  of  us  are  bound  to  look  to  if  we 

Are  to  make  a  livinsr. 

© 

Leamington,  December  30,  1S96.  J.  T.  Barrett. 


The  Flowers  of  January. 

Sir, — It  may  interest  some  of  your  readers  to  hear  that  catkins 
of  the  hazel  with  fully-developed  pollen  were  gathered  on  January  3 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Croydon,  and  as  might  be  expected,  the 
crimson  stigmas  of  the  female  flowers  were  also  found.  I  have 
Also  a  plant  of  Helleborus  fcetidus  in  full  bloom  in  my  garden. 

7,  Belgrave  Mansions,  W.  Murton  Holmes. 

Grosvenor  Gardens,  S.  W.,  January  3,  1897. 


Sir, — Your  note  on  the  “Flowers  of  January”  reminds  me  that 
I  have  never  seen  a  more  luxuriant  bloom  of  Petasites  fragrans  than 
was  to  be  seen  on  the  1st  inst. ,  within  a  stone’s  throw  of  our 
busiest  street — produced  by  the  mild  bright  weather.  I  have 
been  driven  to  consult  my  calendars  for  the  past  nineteen  years, 
and  it  may  interest  some  of  your  readers  to  have  the  record  of  the 
plants,  and  the  number  of  times  I  have  found  them  in  or  before 
January  during  those  years.  It  does  not  follow  that  more  plants 
have  not  flowered,  or  that  these  have  not  flowered  oftener,  but 
only  that  I  have  not  noted  them.  The  list  is  as  follows  : — 
Ranunculus  acris,  nine  times ;  R.  ficaria,  3  ;  Helleborus  fcetidus,  1  ; 
Cheiranthus  cheiri,  8  ;  Car  damme  hirsuta,  6  ;  Alliaria  officinalis,  1 ; 
Capsella  bursa-p. ,  9 ;  Lychnis  vespertina.  1;  Stellaria  media,  10; 
Geranium  robertianum,  1  ;  Ulex  europceus,  17 ;  Sarothamnus 
ecoparius,  2 ;  P otentilla  fragariastrum,  7  ;  Fragaria  vesca,  5  ; 
Anthriscus  sylvestris,  1  ;  Petasites  fragrans,  19;  Tussilago  farfara,  2; 
Beilis  per ennis,  14  ;  Senecio  mdgaris,  16;  Taraxacum  offidncde,  7; 
Linaria  cymbalaria,  3 ;  Veronica  agrestis,  6 ;  V.  chamcedrys,  1  ; 
I .  serpyllifolia,  1  ;  V.  hederifolia,  2 ;  Lamium  purpureum,  9  ; 
L.  album,  2 ;  L.  amplexicaule,  1  ;  Daphne  laureola,  13  ;  Primula 
mdgaris,  10 ;  Mercurialis  perennis,  6  ;  Corylus  avellana,  stam.  and 
pist. ,  11  ;  Ruscus  aculeatus,  19. 

Ryde,  J anuary  2,  1S97.  Henry  H.  Pollard. 

***  The  list  given  by  Mr.  Pollard  will  serve  as  a  useful  supplemc  nt  to  that  pub¬ 
lished  last  week.— [Ed.  Pharm.  Journ .] 


Liquor  Bismuthi. 

Sir, — On  two  previous  occasions  you  have  permitted  me  to 
discuss  in  your  columns  the  precipitation  of  liquor  bismuthi  et 
ammonise  citratis  by  sodium  bicarbonate.  May  I  now  say  that  this 
reaction  is  inhibited  by  the  presence  of  either  mucilage  of 
tragacanth  or  of  that  made  from  Irish  moss.  With  the  intention 
of  obtaining  a  fine  and  easily  suspended  carbonate  of  bismuth  in 
the  form  of  a  lotion,  I  mixed  18  fluid  ounces  of  the  liquor  bismuthi 
with  480  grains  of  sodium  bicarbonate,  and  24  fluid  ounces  of 
mucilage  of  Irish  moss  prepared  as  directed  in  the  ‘  Art  of 
Dispensing,’  p.  168,  adding  also  1  fluid  ounce  liquor  picis  carbonis, 
B.P.  C.  For  six  months  the  mixture  has  remained  unaltered,  with 
no  sign  of  milkiness  or  precipitation. 

A  small  quantity  mixed  in  the  same  proportion,  but  with  dis¬ 
tilled  water  only,  became  milky  in  twelve  hours,  and  deposited  a 
precipitate.  With  the  addition  of  the  coal  tar  solution  the  milki¬ 


ness  was  perceptibly  retarded,  and  there  was  no  actual  precipita¬ 
tion  in  twenty-four  hours.  Freshly  made  mucilage  of  acacia  was 
next  tried,  and  a  decided  turbidity  was  produced,  but  at  the  end 
of  twelve  hours  no  sediment  had  fallen.  The  mucilage  of 
tragacanth  in  like  quantity  preserved  the  mixture  quite  limpid  for 
twenty  hours.  The  interest  of  the  observation  lies  in  its  reveal¬ 
ing  the  power  which  a  simple  mucilage  possesses  to  hinder 
chemical  action.  So  that  in  addition  to  the  strength  of  the 
solutions  used,  the  variations  of  temperature,  exposure  to  light, 
and  other  conditions,  the  presence  of  a  mucilaginous'  retarding 
agent  must  be  borne  in  mind  in  considering  the  phenomena  of 
precipitation.  For  dispensing  purposes  a  clear  mixture  would 
appear  to  be  best  insured  by  the  judicious  employment  of 
tragacanth  mucilage. 

Dover,  January  If,  1897.  J.  F.  Brown. 


Sol.  Strontii  Iodid.  Paraf.  Javal. 

Sir, — In  reply  to  “Pharmacist”  in  to-day’s  Journal,  I  beg  to 


hand  you  the  following  : — • 

V  Strontii  Iodid.  (Paraf.  Javal) . .  3iii. 

Glycerini  . . . . ..  giss. 

Aquam  ad .  Jvi. 

M.  (Filter). 


I  believe  Paraf.  J  aval  is  the  name  of  the  chemist  who  worked  up 
the  strontium  salts.  Such  was  my  information  the  only  time  I 
had  occasion  to  order  the  salt,  and  I  may  say  that  I  was  advised 
always  to  mention  Paraf.  Javal  when  ordering,  as  the  ordinary  salt 
was  not  so  good.  Why,  I  can’t  say. 

Elgin,  January  2,  1897.  Alex.  Robertson. 


Chemists’  Federation. 

Sir, — I  regret  that  some  action  has  not  been  taken  to  form  the 
chemists  into  one  federation  for  defence  or  attack  in  regard  to  the 
trade  in  proprietary  articles.  The  P.A.T.A.  is,  in  a  sense,  inviting 
our  trade  to  combine  in  helping  our  worst  enemies,  the  proprietary 
medicine  men,  the  men  who  are  gradually  gripping  us  by  the  threat 
and  will  make  our  business  one  simply  to  stock  their  goods  and  pass 
over  to  the  public  at  a  minimum  of  profit.  The  American  chemists 
are  in  this  pitiable  condition,  through  the  constant  rush  on  the 
market  of  new  specialties.  Before  we  get  to  that  state  let  us  stem 
the  tide  (if  not,  we  sink)  and  combine  to  hold  the  manufacture  and 
sale  of  proprietaries  amongst  ourselves. 

Surely  we  can  do  as  well  as  the  poor  working  man  with  his 
small  wage  and  his  grand  example  in  the  matter  of  trade  unionism. 
We  might  form  one  gigantic  trust  to  boom  the  public  with  one 
pill  (worth  25s.  per  box),  one  emulsion,  one  Mother  Humbug’s 
syrup,  etc.,  and  reap  a  handsome  profit  out  of  the  undertaking  ; 
supply  shareholding  chemists  only  (thereby  gently  leading  into  the 
fold  the  non-unionists),  prevent  underselling,  and  drive  the 
medicine  men,  who  are  trying  to  sap  our  trade  to  its  foundations, 
out  of  existence. 

It  is  not  only  in  taxed  medicines  that  we  are  handicapped,  but 
in  what  I  may  term  the  raw  drug  trade ;  the  public  are  now  made 
to  require  pepsin,  rhubarb,  quinine  andiron,  1  drop  doses  of  tinctures, 
and  a  hundred  other  things  in  compressed  form,  and  the  nuisance 
of  it  is  that  one  section  must  have  them  prepared  by  Smith, 
another  by  Brown,  another  by  Jones,  and  we  are  supposed  to  stock 
each  make  of  each  drug,  or  be  out  of  the  class  of  respectable 
chemists  where  they  can  always  be  obtained  ;  this  could  be  stopped 
by  a  strong  federation. 

I  could  point  out  many  other  grievances  which  might  be  stopped 
or  greatly  lessened.  I  should  just  like  to  give  a  little  hint  as  to 
the  scheme  of  combination  in  proprietary  articles,  and  its  advan¬ 
tage  from  a  monetary  point  of  view.  Say  the  average  price  charged 
to  us  for  the  present  advertised  specialties  is  9s.  6 d.  per  dozen  for 
the  13 \d.  size,  which  costs  3s.  6d.  per  dozen,  leaving  6s.  for  adver¬ 
tising  and  profit  to  the  maker,  and  retailed  at  10s.,  leaves  a  noble 
6d.  to  us  for  selling.  Compare!  With  our  own  adopted  child  we 
should  have  less  advertising  (by  not  fighting  one  another),  the  cost 
price  would  be  less,  and  instead  of  the  humble  6 d.  per  dozen  we 
should  have  nine  times  that  amount. 

The  profits  made  by  the  federation  would  be  used  for  dividends 
and  forcing  the  demand.  Clarke  was  credited  with  making 
£30,000  on  the  sale  of  blood  mixture,  and  Holloway  much  more. 
Why  could  not  the  federation,  with  hundreds  and  thousands  of 
willing  hands  to  help,  do  better  ?  A  movement  of  this  description 
is  not  put  on  foot  without  expense,  and  chemists  must  be  prepared. 


40 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL, 


[Jan.  9,  1897 


to  put  down  their  shillings  in  order  to  ensure  their  pounds  after¬ 
wards. 

If  chemists  in  any  part  of  the  kingdom  are  willing  to  join  in 
this  movement  and  will  communicate  their  willingness  to  me  to 
do  so,  and  enclose  stamps  for  replies,  saying  how  much  they  would 
be  inclined  to  invest  in  £1  shares  in  a  limited  company  (5000  are 
wanted  to  make  a  big  success),  I  will,  if  there  is  anything  like 
support,  take  steps  to  have  the  matter  put  in  hand  w'ithout  delay. 

A  scheme  of  this  kind  must  mean  to  many  that  their  pet  child 
proprietary  will  be  neglected,  but  let  me  point  out  that  the 
adopted  one  will  become  a  far  stronger  support  to  them  than  their 
own  they  reap  as  good  a  profit  with  the  adopted  one,  and  also 
benefit  by  the  sale  of  every  one  of  such  articles  throughout  the 
federation. 

48,  Waterworks  Street,  Hull.  G.  R.  Foulston. 

January  4,  1897. 


The  Students’  Page. 

Sir,  On  turning  over  the  pages  of  the  Journal,  as  I  have  been 
wont  to  do  from  week  to  week  for  the  past  few  years,  my  heart 
filled  with  joy  when  I  beheld  the  heading  “  The  Students’  Page.” 
This  comes  to  us  students  as  a  New  Year’s  gift  of  very  great  value. 
It  is  proposed  to  publish  from  “time  to  time”  articles  or  notes 
which  are  intended  to  remove  “  stumbling  blocks.”  Well,  I  am 
sure  the  first  students’  page  has  removed  one  great  stumbling 
block,  viz.,  that  of  the  “committing  to  memory  the  B.P.”  I,  along 
with  many  others,  have  always  been  under  the  impression  that 
preparations  of  the  B.P.  had  to  be  almost  wholly  committed  to 
memory.  Have  not  the  strengths  of  all  the  tinctures,  infusions, 
decoctions,  etc.,  to  be  remembered  ?  [Refer  to  note  again. — Ed  Ph. 
Journ.\  All  students  will  be  pleased  to  see  a  page  of  the  Journal 
devoted  to  their  special  interests.  The  innovation  is  certainly, 
from  the  Minor  student’s  point  of  view,  the  best  of  all  that  has 
taken  place  in  the  contents  of  the  J ournal  during  the  past  year  or 
two.  I  thank  you,  sir,  for  this,  and  look  forward  with  expecta¬ 
tion  to  the  removal  of  other  “stumbling  blocks”  at  no  distant 
future,  and  hope  there  will  be  no  more  than  seven  days  between 
the  “time  to  time.” 

January  5,  1897.  British  Student  (74/26). 


ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 


[ Queries  addressed,  to  the  “  Editorial  Department,  17,  Bloomsbury 
Square,  W.C.,”  will  be  replied  to  in  the  Journal  as  early  as  possible 
ajter  receipt,  but  the  Editor  cannot  undertake  to  reply  to  them 
through  the  post,  nor  is  it  always  possible  to  publish  answers  the  same 
week.  Questions  on  different  subjects  should  be  written  on  separate  slips 
of  paper,  each  of  which  should  bear  the  sender’s  name  or  initials. 
Readers  requiring  working  formulae  for  special  preparations,  and 
intimating  their  wants  to  the  Editor,  will  be  assisted  as  far  as  may  be 
practicable.  The  word  “parts,”  when  used  in  formulas,  invariably 
indicates  parts  by  weight.  Anonymous  queries  will  be  ignored .] 


Moss  Identified. — Your  specimen  is  Fontinalis  antipuretica. 
[Reply  to  A.  R. — 74/20.] 


Novel  Dispensing  Balance. — Try  Messrs.  Maw,  Son  and 
Thompson,  or  write  direct  to  maker.  [Reply  to  T.  G.— 74/15.] 


Lin.  Pot.  Iodid.  c.  Sapone  (Unna).— See  reply  to  F.  J.  Ellis  in 
Ph.  J.  for  December  26.  [Reply  to  M.  P.  S.  — 74/6.  ] 

Blue  Dye.  -It  is  neither  methylene  blue  nor  Hoffmann’s  blue 
biit  sodium  triphenyl-rosaniline  sulphate,  known  as  alkali  blue, 
Nicholson’s  blue,  or  fast  blue,  and  contains  a  considerable  amount 
of  sodium  sulphate.  [Reply  to  Associate.— 74/7.] 


Manufacture  of  Limes. — We  are  informed  that  in  making 
these,  cylindrical  pieces  are  turned  out  of  marble  or  limestone  and 
then  burned,  the  marble  cylinders  yielding  soft  limes  whilst  the 
limestone  gives  hard  ones.  [Reply  to  W.  P.— 65/33.] 

Phenyl-hydrazine. — You  state  the  formula  of  this  compound 
correctly.  Full  information  concerning  it  will  be  found  in 
M‘Gowan7s  translation  of  Bernthsen’s  ‘  Organic  Chemistry  ’ 
(Blackie,  7 s.  Gd.),  the  handiest  work  of  reference  in  this  subject 
for  pharmacists.  You  can  enjoy  the  use  of  the  Society’s  Library 
by  becoming  a  Registered  Student.  [Reply  to  S.  H.— 74/19.] 


Books  on  Ferns,  etc. — (1)  M.  C.  Cooke’s  ‘Fern  Book  for 
Everybody  ’  (Warne  and  Co. ).  (2)  For  practical  work  in  the  field 
get  Holmes’  ‘  Botanical  Note  Book’  and  Shirley  Hibberd’s  ‘Wild 
Flowers,’  or  Grierson’s  ‘  Lessons  from  Fields  and  Lanes  ’ ;  for 
practical  structural  botany  use  Scott’s  ‘Structural  Botany’  (A.  and 
C.  Black),  and  for  the  anatomy  of  plants,  Bower’s  ‘Practical  Botany 
for  Beginners’  (Macmillan).  [Reply  to  W.  T. — 74/10.] 


Discoloured  Turpentine. — An  iron  cistern  is  not  at  all  suitable 
for  storing  turpentine.  The  best  way  to  remove  the  colour  from 
your  residual  stock  would  be  to  have  it  redistilled.  If  you  cannot 
do  this  yourself,  probably  your  wholesale  house  would  do  it  for  you. 
You  mighirremove  a  good  deal  of  the  colour  by  adding  a  pound  or 
two  of  commercial  animal  charcoal  to  the  bulk,  and  filtering  it. 
through  the  same  substance,  but  this  is  at  the  best  a  troublesome 
and  wasteful  process.  It  could  be  “  re-drawn  ”  with  much  less 
loss  and  trouble. — [Reply  to  H.  G.  A. — [73/17.] 


Glycerin  Jelly. — We  doubt  if  you  will  find  that  agar  jelly  is 
less  viscid  than  the  gelatin  preparation.  Possibly  either  a  soap 
basis  or  one  of  glycerin  of  starch  will  better  meet  your  require¬ 
ments.  The  former  may  be  made  as  follows  : — Shred  1  ounce  of 
transparent  soap,  dissolve  it  in  4  fluid  ounces  of  water  and  4  ounces, 
by  weight  of  glycerin  with  the  aid  of  heat.  While  hot  add  20  ounces 
by  weight  of  glycerin,  and  when  nearly  cold  perfume  to  the 
desired  odour  and  pour  into  the  pots.  The  starch  basis  is  made 
from  Tous  les  mois  starch,  280  grains  ;  glycerin,  4  fluid  ounces 
water,  1  fluid  ounce.  Heat  until  transparent,  and  when  nearly  cold 
perfume  and  pour  out.  [Reply  to  G.  and  K. — 73/8.] 


Photographic  Negatives. — Please  always  number  your  negatives 
when  sending  for  examination.  Your  specimens  are  being  returned 
numbered  for  convenience  of  reference.  1.  Very  much  over¬ 
exposed  and  too  strong  a  developer  used  ;  would  give  a  good  print 
if  intensified  with  mercury  and  ammonia.  2.  Fully  exposed  and 
under-developed.  3.  Ditto.  4.  Slightly  under-exposed  and  under¬ 
developed.  You  do  not  state  what  method  of  development  yon 
are  using,  and  probably  the  developer  is  a  little  too  strong  in 
alkali.  The  rich  purple  tone  depends  a  great  deal  upon  the 
character  of  the  negative  ;  it  would  be  impossible  to  get  it  from 
your  negatives,  as  at  present  they  are  not  plucky  or  vigorous 
enough.  [Reply  to  H.  G.  M. — 72/24.] 


OBITUARY. 


Bennett. — On  November  11,  John  Henry  Bennett,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  of  Cheltenham.  Aged  47. 

Roger, — On  December  26,  James  Roger,  Chemist  and  Druggist,  df 
Rhynie,  Aberdeenshire.  Aged  86. 


PUBLICATIONS  RECEIVED. 


Anatomischer  Atlas  der  Pharmacognosie  und  Nahrungs- 

MITTELKUNDE,  VON  Dr.  A.  TSCHIRCH  AND  Dr.  O.  OeSTERLE. 
Lieferung  II.  Pp.  30.  With  five  plates.  London  :  Williams  and 
Norgate,  14,  Henrietta  Street,  Covent  Garden.  1896. 
Bacteriological  Diagnosis.  By  St.  George  Reid,  Bacterio¬ 
logist  to  the  Central  London  Throat  and  Ear  Hospital.  Pp.  64, 
Price  2s.  6 d.  London  :  Bailliere,  Tindall  and  Cox,  20  and  21, 
King  William  Street,  Strand.  1897.  From  the  Publishers. 


NEWSPAPEBS  sent  to  the  Editor  should  have  the  paragraphs 
marked  to  which  it  is  desired  to  call  attention.  Copies  have 
been  received  during  the  week  of  the  following : — Norwood  Weekly 
Herald,  The  Morning  Leafier,  The  Bristol  Mercury,  Scarborough 
Evening  News,  The  Daily  Mail,  The  Arbroath  Herald. 


COMMUNICATIONS,  LETTERS,  etc.,  have  been  received  from 

Messrs.  Austen,  Barnett,  Bottle,  Breeze,  Brown,  Butler,  Daves, 
Duncan,  Foulston,  Grant,  Hicks,  Hogg,  Holding,  Holmes,  Hudson, 
Ingham,  Jack,  Jackson,  Jarvis,  Keen,  Lescher,  Linstead,  Maggs, 
McKellar,  Parke,  Payne,  Peckolt,  Pollard,  Ridgwood,  Roberts*, 
Robertson,  Shepherd,  Squire,  Taplin,  Taylor,  White-,  WhysalL; 


Jan.  16,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


4  L 


HUMPHRY  DAVY  ;  POET  AND  PHILOSOPHER.* 

This  life  of  one  of  the  founders  of  modern  chemistry,  written  by 
so  competent  a  pen,  is  a  welcome  addition  to  the  admirable  series 
of  lives  of  men  of  science  now  appearing,  and  the  volume  now 
issued  should  be  especially  useful  when  so  much  attention  is  being 
given  to  scientific  education  and  so  much — wise  and  otherwise — 
written  about  English  chemists. 

The  life  of  Davy  comes  appropriately  between  those  of  Dalton 
and  Faraday,  though  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  their  lives  are  not 
in  successive  generations,  but  rather  that  they  were'contemporaries. 
Dalton  was  born  in  1766,  Davy  twelve  years  later  in  1778,  and 
Faraday  thirteen  years  later  in  1791.  But  while  the  brilliant  life  of 
Davy  was  comprised  in  little  more  than  fifty  years,  both  Dalton  and 
Faraday  long  survived  him. 

Humphry  Davy,  like  Dalton,  was  born  of  the  yeoman  class,  and 
also  like  him  had  a  somewhat  shiftless  father,  but  a  mother  of 
greater  powers.  In  both  cases  too,  although  without  position  or 
influence  taaid  their  advance  on  the  lower  rungs  of  the  ladder  of 
fame,  they  yet  had  the  good  fortune  to  meet  with  kind  friends,  who 
were  able  to  assist  to  a  very  great  extent  youthful  self-education. 

Nine  years  at  the  Penzance  Grammar  School,  under  the  rule  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Coryton,  “  gave  him  nothing  beyond  a  smattering  of 
elementary  mathematics  and  a  certain  facility  in  turning  Latin 
into  English  verse.”  The  reverend  master’s  method  seems  to  have 
been  the  customary  liberal  application  of  the  cane,  supplemented 
by  a  special  habit  of  pulling  the  ears  of  the  boys.  On  one  occasion 
we  are  told  that  Davy  appeared  before  him  with  a  large  plaster  on 
each  ear,  explaining  with  a  very  grave  face  that  he  had  “  put  the 
plasters  on  to  prevent  mortification.”  Bat  he  had  the  advantage  of 
a  kind  and  wise  friend  in  Mr.  Tonkin,  who  had  been  the  adoptive 
father  of  Mrs.  Davy  and  her  sisters,  and  extended  his  kindness  to 
her  son  Humphry.  In  his  library  the  future  chemist  picked  up  for 
himself  most  of  what  he  obtained  in  the  way  of  general  knowledge. 
The  death  of  his  father  when  he  was  sixteen  years  of  age  had  a 
great  influence  on  his  character,  and  as  eldest  son,  “  he  dried  his 
mother’s  tears  with  the  assurance  that  he  would  do  all  in  his  power 
for  his  brothers  and  sisters,”  a  promise  to  which  he  adhered  through 
life. 

He  was  fortunate  again  in  making  friends  such  as  Gregory  Watt, 
the  son  of  James  Watt,  the  engineer,  and  Mr.  Davies  Gilbert,  who 
lived  to  succeed  him  in  the  presidential  chair  of  the  Royal  Society. 
These  were  no  doubt  attracted  by  his  intelligence,  and  were  able  to 
help  him  by  the  use  of  books,  and  still  more  by  the  influence  of 
trained  minds. 

One  wonders  whether  youths  of  seventeen  now  prepare  for  them¬ 
selves  such  a  programme  of  study  as  that  set  forth  by  Davy  in  the 
opening  pages  of  his  earliest  note-book,  dated  1795  ?  It  comprises 
twenty-six  subjects,  beginning  with  religion  and  ending  with 
mathematics,  and  including  English  and  no  less  than  six  foreign 
languages ! 

At  this  period  he  was  fond  of  metaphysics,  and  we  are  told  of  an 
argument  with  “  a  worthy  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  who 
concluded  with  the  remark,  ‘  I  tell  thee  what,  Humphry,  thou  art 
the  most  quibbling  hand  at  a  dispute  I  ever  met  with  in  my  life.’ 
Whether  it  was  in  revenge  for  this  sally  that  the  young  disputant 
composed  the  ‘  Letter  on  the  Pretended  Inspiration  of  the  Quakers,’ 
which  is  to  be  found  in  one  of  his  early  note-books,  does  not  appear.” 

Of  the  poetical  side  of  his  character  little  need  be  said  here» 
but  it  is  clear  that  his  powers  were  very  considerable  on  no  less 
authority  than  that  of  Coleridge  and  Southey ;  the  former  saying 

*  Humphry  Davy;  Poet  and  Philosopher.  By  T.  E.  Thorpe,  LL.D., 
F.R.S.  Pp.  240.  Price  2s.  6d.  London:  Cassell  and  Co.,  Limited.  1896. 

Vol.  LYIII.  (Fourth  Series,  Vol.  IV.).  No.  1386. 


that  “  if  Davy  had  not  been  the  first  chemist,  he  would  have  been 
the  first  poet  of  his  age,”  and  the  latter,  “  Davy  was  a  most  extra¬ 
ordinary  man ;  he  would  have  excelled  in  any  department  of  art  or 
science  to  which  he  had  directed  the  powers  of  his  mind.  He  had 
all  the  elements  of  a  poet ;  he  only  wanted  the  art.  I  have  seen 
some  beautiful  verses  of  his.  When  I  went  to  Portugal  I  left  Davy 
to  revise  and  publish  my  poem  of  ‘  Thalaba.’  ” 

Of  course  he  made  early  chemical  experiments  with  the  primitive 
apparatus  of  “  phials,  wine-glasses,  teacups,  tobacco  pipes,  with  an 
occasional  earthen  crucible,”  and  with  the  usual  result  of  occasional 
evil  odours  and  explosions,  to  the  alarm  of  his  kind  friends  and 
neighbours.  The  apparatus  was  primitive,  but  if  youthful 
enthusiasts  of  later  days  have  better  appliances,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  they  obtain  better  results  or  gain  a  better  training. 

When  not  quite  twenty  years  of  age,  he  made  his  first  step 
towards  professional  life,  going  as  Superintendent  of  the 
“Pneumatic  Hospital,”  established  at  Clifton  by  Dr.  Beddoes,  for 
the  investigation  of  “  the  medicinal  powers  of  factitious  airs.”  This, 
appointment,  although  the  schism  of  the  hospital  itself  was  a 
failure,  was  of  the  utmost  importance  to  Davy,  for  it  gave  him 
opportunity  for  work,  and  he  also  by  failure  and  by  success  in 
publication  had  most  useful  training,  which  probably  affected  his 
subsequent  course.  He  published  his  first  two  papers  here,  the 
first  “  On  Heat,  Light,  and  the  Combinations  of  Light,  with  a 
New  Theory  of  Respiration,”  and  the  second  “  On  the  Generation 
of  Phosoxygen  (Oxygen  Gas),  and  on  the  Causes  of  the  Colours 
of  Organic  Beings.”  In  the  first  of  these  he  attacks  Lavoisier's 
doctrine  that  heat  was  a  material  substance,  and  that  oxygen  was 
a  compound  body,  composed  of  a  simple  substance  combined  with 
the  matter  of  heat,  or  caloric.  He  proceeds  with  youthful 
confidence  “  to  demolish  the  French  theory  in  half  an  hour.” 
This  adventure  need  not  be  followed,  as  Dr.  Thorpe  says  “  Jupiter  in 
the  shape  of  a  Reviewer,  soon  hurled  the  adventurous  boy  from  the 
giddy  heights  to  which  he  had  soared  ....  and  his  theory  was. 
either  mercilessly  ridiculed  or  treated  with  contempt.”  But  the 
lesson  was  useful,  and  his  next  publication  “  On  the  Silex  Com¬ 
posing  the  Epidermis  or  External  Bark,  and  Contained  in  other 
parts  of  Certain  Vegetables,”  gave  proof  of  this.  “  The  theme  was 
humble  enough,  and  the  language  as  sober  and  sedate  as  that  o£ 
Mr.  Cavendish.”  Besides  this  he  did  much  work  on  gases,  and 
especially  on  the  respiration  of  nitrous  oxide.  Much  was  expected 
of  the  action  of  this  and  other  gases  in  medicine,  and  if  but  little  re¬ 
sulted  in  this  respect,  Davy  did  work  which  was  good  from  a  chemical 
point  of  view,  and  courageous  also,  for  he  made  his  experiments  on 
his  own  person  with,  in  one  or  two  cases,  almost  fatal  consequences. 
Once  he  breathed  “  water  gas  ”  made  by  passing  steam  over  char¬ 
coal,  and  was  with  difficulty  brought  back  to  consciousness.  At- 
this  epoch  Dr.  Thorpe  inserts  some  very  interesting  letters  to  Davy 
from  Southey  and  Coleridge,  and  one  from  “good  old  Dr.  Priestley.”' 

But  he  was  not  long  at  Clifton,  and  we  are  told  of  the  steps  which, 
led  him,  at  the  age  of  twenty -two,  to  the  scene  of  his  chief  and 
triumphant  labours,  the  Royal  Institution,  then  newly  founded, 
where  he  was  engaged  in  the  first  instance  as  “  Assistant  Lecturer 
in  Chemistry,  Director  of  the  Laboratory,  and  Assistant  Editor  of 
the  Journals  of  the  Institution  ”  at  a  salary  of  one  hundred  guineas 
per  annum,  with  room,  coals,  and  candles. 

He  had  now  found  a  fitting  and  most  congenial  sphere  of  work. 
At  the  very  early  age  of  twenty-two  he  was  in  possession  of  a 
laboratory  for  his  experiments,  a  lecture-room  for  public  dis¬ 
courses  and  a  receptive  audience.  His  success  as  a  lecturer  waa 
immediate  and  complete,  and  if  the  Institution  was  a  splendid 
opportunity  for  him,  he  was  a  no  less  opportune  acquisition  for  the 
Institution,  for  there  seems  to  be  little  doubt  that  its  original  form. 


42 


PHARMACEU  TICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  16,  1897 


as  designed  by  Count  Rumford,  would  have  been  a  failure,  but  in 
Davy’s  hands  it  took  a  different  shape,  and  one  which  has  proved  to 
be  lasting.  His  lectures,  with  constant  novelty  from  the  results  of 
his  own  researches,  and  aided  by  his  brilliant  style  and  experi¬ 
ments,  attracted  large  audiences  of  the  most  distinguished  and 
fashionable  people  of  the  metropolis.  The  success  of  the  Institution 
depended  on  him,  and  this  was  shown  in  1808,  when  he  was  pros¬ 
trated  by  a  serious  illness.  Dr.  Thorpe  writes,  “  One  proof  of  what 
Davy  was  to  the  Royal  Institution  is  seen  in  the  position  to  which 
it  was  reduced  in  consequence  of  his  protracted  illness.”  The 
lectures  were  postponed,  and  by  their  interruption  “the 
income  of  the  Institution  was  greatly  diminished;  it  fell  from 
£4141  in  the  preceding  year  to  £1560.  This  was  the  low-water 
mark  of  its  financial  state.”  However,  after  a  long  illness,  he 
recovered,  and  resumed  his  work  and  his  success.  Space  will  not 
allow  us  to  speak  more  of  his  career  here.  The  chapters  on  the 
work  done  in  laboratory  and  lecture  room  at  the  Institution  are 
most  interesting.  Two  illustrations  are  given,  one  the  well-known 
caricature  sketch  of  Gillray  (judiciously  curtailed)  entitled  “Pneu¬ 
matic  Experiment  at  the  Royal  Institution,”  and  the  other  from  a 
drawing  by  Miss  Moore  showing  the  laboratory  in  Davy’s  time. 

No  mention  is  made  of  the  interesting  meeting  of  Davy  and 
Dalton  on  the  occasion  of  the  latter  coming  to  the  Institution  in 
January,  1804,  to  deliver  his  first  course  of  lectures.  Davy  had 
then  been  installed  there  for  three  years,  and  Dalton  speaks  of  him 
as  “  a  very  agreeable  and  intelligent  young  man,  and  we  have  inte¬ 
resting  conversations  in  an  evening.  The  principal  failing  in  his 
character  is  that  he  does  not  smoke.” 

From  the  Royal  Institution,  where  it  may  be  said  that  Davy 
attained  the  summit  of  his  ambition  in  research,  we  are  led  to  the 
presidency  of  the  Royal  Society,  where  he  reached  his  climax  of 
social  rank.  This  is,  unfortunately,  scarcely  so  pleasant  reading, 
for  here  Davy’s  defects  of  personal  character  are  shown,  and  some¬ 
thing  of  the  reasons  of  his  later  unpopularity.  He  was  knighted  on 
April  8,  1812,  and  made  a  baronet  in  1818.  It  is  difficult  to  avoid 
the  impression  that  the  brilliance  of  his  success,  with  this  added 
distinction  and  the  wealth  which  came  to  him  by  his  marriage,  had 
a  baleful  influence,  and  that  Sir  Humphry  Davy,  Bart.,  was  a  less 
estimable  person  than  Humphry  Davy  the  chemist. 

There  are  two  points,  and  those  important  ones,  in  which  it  is 
difficult  to  agree  with  Dr.  Thorpe.  The  first  is  in  his  estimate  of 
Davy’s  genius,  and  the  other  in  his  judgment  on  the  question  of  the 
safety  lamp.  He  says,  and  no  doubt  truly,  that  “at  no  period 
of  his  life  could  he  exercise  that  power  of  sustained  and  con¬ 
centrated  thought  which  so  strikingly  characterised  Newton  or 
Dalton  or  Faraday,”  and  yet  later  he  says  that  “  in  genius  he 
was  unquestionably  superior  to  Faraday.”  But  many  will 
question  this  latter  opinion  very  strongly.  The  arguments  that 
“  what  Davy  was  to  Faraday,  Faraday  would  have  been  the  first 
to  admit,”  and  that  “  Faraday  was  not  easily  roused  to  anger,  but 
nothing  so  effectually  moved  him  as  any  aspersion  on  Davy’s 
character  as  a  man  of  science,  or  any  insinuation  of  ungenerous 
treatment  of  himself  by  Davy,”  are  quite  beside  the  mark,  for 
no  one  could  justly  asperse  Davy’s  scientific  character,  even  if  com¬ 
paring  it  with  that  of  Faraday,  and,  moreover,  Faraday  is  not  a  fit 
witness  to  call  in  such  a  question.  No  doubt  the  gentle  and 
chivalrous  Faraday  would,  in  spite  of  unkindness,  yet  strongly  and 
rightly  too,  defend  his  chief’s  scientific  repute. 

In  regard  to  the  safety  lamp  question  it  is  necessary  to  speak 
with  reserve,  unless  one  has  had  the  great  advantage  enjoyed  by  the 
author  of  perusing  the  “  rare,  if  not  unique,  collection  of  pamphlets 
and  reprints  of  newspaper  articles”  in  the  possession  of  the 
Literary  and  Philosophical  Society  of  Newcastle-on-Tyne. 


The  claims  of  Stephenson  are  dismissed,  however,  in  a  somewhat 
too  summary  fashion  with  the  argument  that  “it  is  difficult  to 
imagine  that  an  unlettered  man,  absolutely  without  knowledge  of 
physical  science,  could  have  discovered  the  philosophical  principle 
upon  which  the  security  of  the  lamp  depends.”  To  begin  with,  the 
question  is  not  whether  Stephenson  discovered  this  philosophical 
principle  or  not,  but  whether  he  made  a  safety  lamp  or  not.  It  is 
true  he  was  then  “  only  an  engine-wright,”  but  he  was  in  a 
responsible  position,  having  charge  of  the  machinery  of  a  number 
of  collieries  belonging  to  the  “Grand  Allies.”  He  was  just  three 
years  Davy’s  j  unior,  and  at  that  time  some  thirty-three  years  of  age. 
Of  course  he  had  far  less  knowledge  of  physical  science,  but  can  it 
be  said  that  he  was  “  an  unlettered  man,  absolutely  without  know¬ 
ledge  of  physical  science,”  having  regard  to  the  fact  that  he  and 
his  son  Robert  had  access,  through  the  kindness  of  the  Rev.  William 
Turner,  one  of  the  secretaries  of  the  Philosophical  and  Literary 
Society  of  Newcastle,  to  the  stores  of  books  and  instruments  of  that 
valuable  institution  ?  In  ‘  Smiles’  Life  ’  it  is  stated  that  George 
Stephenson  said  of  Mr.  Turner  that  he  “  was  always  ready  to  assist 
me  with  books,  with  instruments,  and  with  counsel  gratuitously 
and  cheerfully.  He  gave  me  the  most  valuable  assistance  and 
instruction,  and  to  my  dying  day  I  can  never  forget  the  obligations 
which  I  owe  to  my  venerable  friend.”  It  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  the  help  thus  gratefully  acknowledged  was  given  to  a  man 
of  most  exceptional  mental  power,  at  perhaps  the  most  active  and 
receptive  time  of  life,  and  with  marvellous  mechanical  ability. 
Without  charging  Dr.  Thorpe  with  sharing  the  feeling,  possessed 
by  some  men  who  call  themselves  scientific,  of  contempt  for  a  mere 
mechanic,  it  may  be  asked  whether  he  has  been  influenced  by 
Dr.  Paris,  who  in  the  heading  to  one  of  his  chapters  puts — 
“The  invention  of  the  safety  lamp,  claimed  by  a  Mr.  Stephenson” 
— and  again  in  the  body  of  his  chapter  puts  these  words  which, 
more  suo,  are  grandiloquently  expressed,  but  appear  in  sub¬ 
stance  very  similar  to  the  above  quoted  words  of  Dr.  Thorpe : 
“It  will  hereafter  be  scarcely  believed  that  an  invention  so 
eminently  philosophic,  and  which  could  never  have  been  derived 
but  from  the  sterling  treasury  of  science,  should  have  been 
claimed  in  behalf  of  an  engine-wright  of  Killingworth,  of  the 
name  of  Stephenson,”  a  person  not  even  professing  a  knowledge  of 
the  elements  of  chemistry.”  It  must,  of  course,  be  remembered, 
that  Dr.  Paris  wrote  in  1830  or  1831,  and  although  the  “  person  of  the 
name  of  Stephenson  ”  had  ceased  to  be  the  engine  wright  of  Killing- 
worth,  and  had  just  carried  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  Railway 
across  Chat  Moss,  and  had  constructed  the  “Rocket”  engine,  yet 
these  achievements  had  perhaps  not  reached  Dr.  Paris’s  ears.  Per¬ 
haps  the  true  version  is  that  there  is  little  doubt  that  Davy’s  lamp 
was  constructed  as  a  result  of  scientific  research  and  with  due 
regard  to  scientific  principle  clearly  ascertained  and  applied,  while 
Stephenson’s  was  constructed  by  successive  trials,  led  by  the  same 
principle,  but  far  less  accurately  or  clearly  apprehended.  There 
can  now  be  no  question  of  Stephenson’s  honesty  in  the  matter,  and 
as  Dr.  Thorpe  says,  “  his  behaviour  throughout  the  whole  f 
the  controversy  increases  one’s  respect  for  him  as  a  man  of 
integrity  and  rectitude.”  The  matter  was  fairly  stated  by  Robert 
Stephenson  when  asked  about  it  in  1857.  He  said  “  I  am  not  exactly 
the  person  to  give  an  unbiassed  opinion ;  but,  as  you  ask  me  frankly^ 
I  will  as  frankly  say  that  if  George  Stephenson  had  never  lived,  Sir 
Humphry  Davy  could,  and  most  probably  would  have  invented  the 
safety  lamp ;  but  again,  if  Sir  Humphry  Davy  had  never  lived, 
George  Stephenson  certainly  would  have  invented  the  safety  lamp> 
as  I  believe  he  did,  independent  of  all  that  Sir  Humphry  Davy  had 
ever  done  in  the  matter.” 

It  is  apparently  a  case  of  independent  discovery,  honourable  to 


Jan.  16,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


43 


both  inventors.  Dr.  Thorpe  says  in  reference  to  comparisons  between 
Davy  and  Faraday,  that  “  it  is  not  necessary  to  belittle  Davy  in 
order  to  exalt  Faraday,”  and  whilst  thoroughly  agreeing  with  this,  it 
may  be  added  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  belittle  Stephenson  in  order  to 
exalt  Davy.  In  truth,  men  like  Dalton,  Davy,  Faraday,  and  Stephen- 
sod,  are  of  the  race  of  giants,  head  and  shoulders  above  their 
fellows,  and  it  is  useless  to  attempt  to  gauge  their  exact  relative 
intellectual  stature  with  a  foot-rule. 

In  conclusion,  the  sincere  thanks  which  all  chemists  who  read 
this  little  book  must  feel  should  be  expressed  to  Dr.  Thorpe,  for 
thus  giving,  in  the  short  compass  of  240  pages,  so  lively  and 
interesting  a  portraiture  of  a  great  chemist  who,  in  so  few  years 
achieved  such  great  and  far-reaching  results. 


ON  THE  EFFECTS  OF  BEHRING’S  ANTITOXIC  SERUM  IN 

DIPHTHERIA. 

Wesener  (Munch.  Med.  Woch .)  concludes  his  observations  on  this 
subject  by  answering  the  questions  raised  by  Hansemann  and  other 
critics  of  the  method. 

Is  the  Serum  Injurious  ? — Almost  every  drug  from  mercury  and 
iodide  of  potassium  to  antipyrine  and  trional  have  been  observed  to 
cause  certain  unpleasant  after-effects,  and  in  the  same  manner 
cutaneous  eruptions  and  pains  in  the  limbs  and  effusions  into  joints 
have  been  observed  after  the  use  of  antitoxic  serum,  but  there  is  no 
evidence  to  show  that  any  of  these  consequences  are  really  of  a 
serious  nature. 

Although  the  great  majority  of  observers  have  found  that  the 
number  of  diphtheria  patients  who  suffer  from  nephritis  is  not 
greater  with  the  serum  treatment  than  it  was  before  the  method 
came  into  use,  Hansemann  and  Kassowitz  believe  that  the  serum 
treatment  causes  albuminuria  in  a  certain  number  of  cases. 
Wesener’s  experience  has  led  him  to  take  the  view  of  the  majority. 
Wesener  found  that  out  of  ninety-five  cases  in  which  Loffier’s 
bacillus  was  present  albuminuria  occurred  in  twenty-five,  i.e.,  about 
26  per  cent.,  whilst  in  a  consecutive  series  of  139  cases  treated 
before  the  serum  method  came  into  use  albuminuria  was  observed 
in  thirty-eight  cases,  i.e.,  in  27  per  cent.  The  course  of  the  renal 
complications  was  not  less  favourable  in  the  cases  treated  with 
serum  than  in  those  treated  by  the  older  methods.  In  thirty-one 
instances,  or  about  one-third  of  the  ninety-five  cases,  skin  eruptions 
were  observed  during  the  treatment.  In  twenty-two  cases  the  erup¬ 
tion  resembled  that  of  scarlet  fever,  and  in  these  cases  it  became  a 
question  whether  the  eruption  was  caused  by  the  serum  or  was  an 
instance  of  what  is  sometimes  observed,  namely,  a  double  infection 
of  diphtheria  and  scarlet  fever.  By  attention  to  the  form  of  the 
eruption,  the  degree  and  duration  of  fever  accompanying  it,  and 
the  presence  or  absence  of  desquamation,  a  positive  diagnosis  can 
often  be  made,  but  there  remain  some  doubtful  cases  which  require 
isolation  as  a  precaution.  Six  out  of  the  twenty-two  cases 
Wesener  decided  to  be  true  scarlet  fever,  and  not  due  to  the  serum. 
Joint  affections  were  observed  in  four  of  the  cases,  but  they  were 
not  of  a  serious  nature. 

Is  the  Serum  a  Curative  Agent  ? — This  question  cannot  as  yet  be 
answered  definitely.  Many  times  the  injection  of  serum  is  followed 
by  a  marked  improvement  in  the  condition  of  the  patient,  but 
similar  results  have,  though  not  so  frequently,  followed  the  older 
methods  of  treatment. 

Single  cases  reported  to  record  a  marked  improvement  following 
on  the  exhibition  of  the  serum  should  be  received  with  caution  ; 
since  the  same  thing  is  sometimes,  if  perhaps  less  often,  seen  when 
the  serum  is  not  used.  On  one  important  point  observers  are  almost 
unanimous :  the  serum  has  an  unmistakably  definite  effect  in 
diphtheria  of  the  larynx,  trachea,  and  bronchi.  Thus,  after  the  I 


injection  of  serum  the  number  of  cases  in  which  diphtheria  extends 
from  the  fauces  to  the  larynx  is  diminished,  and  cases  in  which  the 
larynx  is  already  attacked  when  the  serum  is  injected  show  a 
diminution  in  the  number  in  which  tracheotomy  becomes  necessary, 
and  lastly,  the  percentage  of  recoveries  after  tracheotomy  is 
distinctly  higher  when  the  serum  is  used.  These  are  most  weighty 
considerations,  and  if  they  should  be  upheld,  fully  indicate  the 
claim  of  the  method  to  a  place  in  the  first  rank  of  therapeutic 
measures.  The  results  of  Wesener’s  cases  are  in  accord  with  this 
general  experience. 

The  serum  treatment  cannot  be  claimed  as  a  preventive  measure 
against  the  dreaded  complications  of  diphtheria,  eg.,  nephritis, 
pneumonia,  paralysis,  and  inflammation  of  glands.  Examples  of  all 
these  occurred  in  the  series  of  cases. 

Does  the  Treatment  confer  Immunity  ? — In  no  case  of  this  series 
was  the  serum  used  as  a  prophylactic  merely,  but  three  patients  after 
admission  to  the  hospital  and  injection  with  serum,  were  found  to 
be  suffering  from  pseudo-diphtheria :  that  is  to  say,  bacteriological 
examination  proved  the  absence  of  Loffier’s  bacillus.  In  none  of 
these  cases  was  the  disease  contracted,  in  spite  of  an  exposure  to 
infection  of  several  days’  duration.  The  beneficial  effect  of  the 
serum  treatment  may  be  reasonably  regarded  as  evidence  of  a  local 
immunisation,  and  it  is  important  to  note  that  in  Wesener’s  cases 
the  serum  treatment  was  employed  without  the  addition  of  local 
treatment,  for  the  reason  that  in  children  the  struggling  and  scream¬ 
ing  caused  by  attempts  at  local  treatment  result  in  the  inhalation 
of  particles  of  membrane  and  discharge,  and  expose  the  patient  to 
the  danger  of  infection  of  the  bronchi  and  the  lungs.  This  “  local 
immunity  ”  is  all  that  can  be  claimed  for  the  remedy  in  this 
direction.  No  immunity  is  conferred  on  the  tissues  of  the  body 
generally,  as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  in  three  of  the  tracheotomy 
cases  treated  with  serum,  infection  of  the  wound  occurred,  and, 
further,  in  three  cases  second  attacks  of  the  disease  were  noticed 
In  the  intervals  between  the  first  and  second  attacks- 
the  patients  suffered  from  other  diseases— scarlet  fever  in 
two  cases,  and  pneumonia,  with  doubtful  scarlet  fever,  in  the  third. 
It  is  suggested  that  the  intercurrent  diseases  may  have  diminished 
what  immunising  influence  the  serum  may  have  had.  The  author 
concludes  a  temperate  and  most  valuable  article  by  enunciating  the 
following  conclusions : — 

1.  In  simple  diphtheria  of  the  fauces  the  serum  treatment  tends 
to  prevent  extension  to  the  larynx,  but  otherwise  effects  neither 
more  nor  less  than  thorough  local  treatment. 

2.  In  diphtheria  of  the  larynx  serum  treatment  appears  to  obviate 
the  necessity  for  tracheotomy  in  some  cases. 

3.  In  diphtheria  of  the  larynx  the  serum  is  the  best  preventive 
agent  against  extension  of  the  disease  to  the  trachea  and 
bronchi.  If  the  trachea  and  bronchi  are  already  affected  the 
serum  treatment  is  of  doubtful  value. 

4.  Against  septic  processes  present  when  the  serum  treatment  is 
applied,  it  is  of  less  avail  than  ordinary  local  measures. 

5.  The  immunising  capacity  of  the  serum  has  not  yet  been  proved 
to  exist. 

6.  The  serum  treatment  is  not  injurious. 


Urtica  Urens  as  a  Haemostatic. — Under  the  name  of 
“  Poudre  de  Marr,”  the  powdered  extract  obtained  by  extracting  the 
fresh  leaves  and  stems  of  Urtica  urens  with  alcohol,  and  evaporat¬ 
ing  to  dryness,  has  a  reputation  as  a  haemostatic.  Solovieff  has 
employed  this  substance  in  several  surgical  cases  and  in  minor 
operations,  in  all  cases  with  satisfactory  results.  Since  it  seems  to 
be  without  action  on  organic  tissues,  it  should  prove  a  useful 
haemostatic  in  all  plastic  operations. — Rev.  de  Thdrap.  Med.-Chirurg., 
lxiii.,  604. 


44 


PH ARM  ACEUTIC  AL  JOURNAL. 


UTICAL  SOCIETY 


OF  THE  COUNCIL. 


Y,  JANUARY  13,  1897. 


Present : 


Mb.  Walter  Hills,  President. 


Messrs.  Allen,  Atkins,  Bateson,  Bottle,  Carteighe,  Corder, 
Grose,  Hampson,  Martindale,  Newsholme,  Park,  Savory,  Southall, 
-Symes,  and  Young. 

In  the  absence  of  the  Vice-President,  the  Vice-Chair  was 
occupied  by  the  Treasurer. 

The  minutes  of  the  last  meeting  having  been  read  and  confirmed, 

The  President,  after  mentioning  the  receipt  of  letters  from  the 
examiners  acknowledging  the  vote  of  thanks  passed  at  the  last 
meeting,  said  he  had  no  doubt  all  his  colleagues  had  seen  with 
great  satisfaction  that  a  distinguished  honorary  member  of  the 
Society,  Sir  Joseph  Lister,  figured  in  the  list  of  New  Year 
honours,  he  having  been  raised  to  the  peerage  under  the  title 
of  Lord  Lister.  He  had  sent  him  an  official  card  of  congratula¬ 
tion,  to  which  he  had  received  a  suitable  reply.  They  would  all 
wish  him  many  years  of  health  and  happiness,  and  further 
usefulness  to  humanity. 


# 


The  Late  G.  F.  Schacht. 

The  President  then  said :  Since  our  last  meeting  one  of  our 
leaders  has  fallen,  and  a  distinguished  and  honourable 
pharmacist  has  been  called  to  his  rest.  With  very  little  warn¬ 
ing  death  has  closed  the  earthly  career  of  George  Fred¬ 
erick  Schacht,  who  only  a  few  months  ago  resigned  a 
seat  on  this  Council,  of  which  he  had  been  for  nearly  twenty-five 
years  a  highly  esteemed  member.  You  will  all  remember  that 
■early  last  year  we  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Schacht,  asking  us  to 
accept  his  resignation,  and  at  that  time  a  resolution  was  passed 
eonveying  the  cordial  thanks  of  this  Council  to  Mr.  Schacht  for 
his  past  labour,  and  expressing  the  deep  affection  and  regard  we 
all  had  for  him.  But  our  late  colleague  inspired  affec¬ 
tion  as  well  as  respect.  He  was  not  only  an  honour¬ 
able  and  high-minded  man,  but  also  a  very  loveable  one. 
To  many  of  us  he  perhaps  represented  more  nearly  the  ideal 
pharmacist  than  anyone  else.  Distinguished  in  presence,  courteous 
in  manner,  absolutely  honest  in  word  and  deed,  enthusiastic  in  the 
promotion  of  pharmaceutical  education,  and  of  everything 
tending  to  the  advancement  of  his  calling,  interested  in  the 
progress  of  science  generally,  G.  F.  Schacht  held  a  unique 
position,  and  he  has  left  a  record  which  will  long  live  in 
the  memory  of  those  who  had  the  honour  of  his  friendship. 
In  many  respects  he  was  in  advance  of  his  time,  and  he  was,  I 
think,  sometimes  a  little  disappointed  that  his  proposals  were  not 
more  readily  adopted.  Those  views  were  almost  invariably  such 
as  commended  themselves  in  the  abstract  to  his  colleagues,  and 
only  on  the  ground  of  practical  expediency  were  they  not  gener¬ 
ally  accepted.  But  Schacht  ever  kept  a  high  ideal  before  him,  and 
his  motto  being  principle,  not  expediency,  the  good  seed  which  he 
has  sown  will  in  due  course  spring  up  and  bear  good  fruit. 
He  has  laboured,  and  others  will  enter  into  his  labours.  It  has 
been  said  that  “  gentleness,  when  it  weds  with  manhood,  makes  a 
-man.”  According  to  this  definition,  G.  F.  Schacht  was  indeed  a 
man.  Up  to  the  last  he  maintained  a  youthful  enthusiasm,  to¬ 
gether  with  those  personal  charms  of  gentleness  and  thoughtful¬ 
ness  for  others,  and  I  am  glad  to  know  that  on  the  last  day  of  his 
life,  Christmas  Day,  he  was  the  bright  and  cheerful  centre  of  a 
happy  family  gathering.  I  beg,  then,  to  move  the  follow¬ 
ing  resolution,  which  will  be  seconded  by  the  Treasurer,  but  before 
doing  so  I  may  say  that  I  have  received  letters  from  the  Vice- 
President  and  from  other  members  of  the  Council  expressing  their 
warm  and  affectionate  regard  for  the  late  Mr.  Schacht.  I  move — 

“  That  this  Council  desires  to  record  its  sense  of  profound  regret  at  the  death 
of  George  Frederick  Schacht,  whose  personality  was  regarded  with  respect 
and  affection  by  each  of  his  colleagues,  and  the  memory  of  whose  wise  and 


[Jan.  16,  1897 


untiring  labours  in  the  best  interests  of  pharmacy  will  not  readily  die 
amongst  those  who  were  associated  with  him.  The  Council  tenders  its 
siLcere  sympathy  with  Mrs.  Schacht  and  her  family  in  the  irreparable  loss 
they  have  sustained.” 

Mr.  Hampson  said  he  should  only  add  a  few  words  in  seconding 
this  resolution.  It  was  extremely  difficult  to  control  one’s  feelings 
on  such  an  occasion,  when  they  all  remembered  how  recently  their 
friend  had  sat  at  that  table.  The  loss  of  a  good  man,  a  strong 
man,  and-  a  man  of  principle  was  always  a  loss  to  the  community, 
he  might  even  say  to  the  country,  and  if  they  could  not  exactly 
appreciate  the  loss  of  Mr.  Schacht  to  the  general  community,  they 
must  all  feel  how  great  was  the  loss  sustained  by  the  community 
of  pharmacy.  They  all  knew  him  as  a  man  of  considerable 
powers,  always  genial,  always  consistent,  always  faithful  to  his 
convictions,  which  were  invariably  broad  and  high-minded.  The 
great  grief  of  his  family  must  be  uppermost  in  their  thoughts,  and 
they  all  sympathised  with  them. 

Mr.  Savory  desired  to  add  a  few  words  to  the  very  graceful 
tribute  which  had  been  paid  to  the  memory  of  Mr.  Schacht,  whose 
death  must  be  deplored  by  pharmacists  all  over  the  kingdom. 
It  was  not  his  privilege  to  sit  very  long  at  that  table  in  company 
with  Mr.  Schacht,  but  he  had  the  pleasure  of  knowing  him  very 
intimately  in  private  life.  In  the  first  place  Mr.  Schacht’s  connec¬ 
tion  with  his  (Mr.  Savory’s)  grandfather  and  family  formed  a  great 
bond  of  union,  and  he  gratefully  remembered  the  great  interest  he 
took  in  his  welfare.  It  was  not  until  his  student  days  in  Bath 
that  he  first  made  Mr.  Schacht’s  acquaintance,  when  his  kindness 
to  him  was  indescribable.  Since  then  he  had  known  him  more 
intimately,  another  bond  of  union  being  a  companionship  in  the 
sport  of  fishing.  It  would  be  impossible  to  have  a  more  genial  or 
kindly  companion.  His  marvellous  youth  for  his  years  struck 
everyone  with  whom  he.  came  in  contact,  as  well  as  his  great 
intelligence  and  conversational  powers.  He  should  always  regard 
it  a  great  honour  to  have  known  him. 

Mr.  Southall  said  he  also  had  much  pleasure  in  supporting 
the  resolution. 

Mr.  Atkins  said  he  could  not  help  endeavouring  to  express  some 
portion  of  what  he  felt  on  this  occasion.  He  met  Mr.  Schacht  first  at 
one  of  the  early  meetings  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Conference,  when 
he  was  immensely  struck  with  his  personality,  and  that  ac¬ 
quaintance,  having  been  renewed  from  time  to  time  on  similar 
occasions,  speedily  ripened  into  an  intense  friendship,  and 
he  should  always  feel  that  his  connection  with  the  Society, 
if  it  had  brought  him  no  other  boon  than  the  personal 
friendship  of  George  Frederick  Schacht,  had  abundantly  repaid 
for  his  association  with  it.  It  was  a  wonderful  thing  how  deeply 
some  men  etched  themselves  on  the  hearts  and  memory  of  those 
with  whom  they  came  in  contact ;  it  was  that  wonderful  thing 
called  character,  which  was  built  up  of  many  elements.  The 
President  had  most  happily  referred  to  the  salient  points,  but 
he  might  say  that  he  was  always  impressed  with  Mr. 
Schacht’s  intense  honesty,  and  next  with  the  kindness 
and  courtesy  with  which  (though  often  in  a  minority)  he  fought 
out  and  argued  his  views.  He  was  not  only  a  good  scientific 
chemist,  but  a  most  accomplished  pharmacist,  and  independently 
of  that  he  was  a  man  of  the  widest  culture.  He  even  cultivated 
the  spirit  of  poetry,  and  he  remembered  his  sending  him  a  few 
years  ago  some  lines  he  had  written  with  a  request  for  his  opinion. 
This  revealed  a  side  of  his  character  which  was  not  previously 
known  to  him. 

Mr.  Bottle  said  on  this  occasion  he  felt  that  he  must  endorse 
the  testimony  which  had  been  made  to  the  character  of  the  late 
Mr.  Schacht.  He  thought  he  might  claim  to  be  one  of  his  oldest 
friends.  It  had  been  his  privilege  during  the  time  that  he  nad 
known  him  to  cultivate  the  closest  friendship  with  him,  and  always 
looked  upon  him  as  a  typical  pharmacist  who  was  perhaps  some¬ 
times  somewhat  in  advance  of  his  time.  From  time  to  time  he 
(Mr.  Bottle)  was  not  in  accord  with  Mr.  Schacht’s  views,  but  his 
difference  with  him  was  only  on  matters  of  principle.  Mr.  Schacht 
at  all  times  advocated  views  which  he  pressed  so  strongly  and  in  a 
way  which  could  not  do  otherwise  than  gain  the  admiration  of  his 
friends  on  the  Council. 

Mr.  Symes  thoroughly  endorsed  all  that  had  been  said  on  this 
matter.  He  had  sat  for  many  years  on  the  Council  with  the  late 
Mr.  Schacht,  and  was  always  struck  with  his  strong  personality 
and  logical  arguments.  Many  of  the  members  could  not  always  go 
so  far  as  Mr.  Schacht  went,  but  the  extreme  courtesy  and  graceful 
manner  in  which  he  treated  those  who  Offered  from  him  made 
them  regret  having  to  do  so.  Thai  was  a  feature  in  the  late  Mr. 


Jan.  16,  1897J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


45 


Schacht  which  endeared  him  to  all.  They  all  felt  that  Mr. 
Schacht  was  a  thorough  man  and  a  gentleman,  and  all  deeply  re¬ 
gretted  his  loss. 

The  resolution  was  then  put,  and  carried  unanimously. 

The  Board  of  Examiners. 

The  President  said  the  usual  official  letter  had  been  received  from 
the  Privy  Council  Office  approving  the  appointment  of  the  Ex¬ 
aminers  for  1897. 


Diplomas. 


The  undermentioned,  being  duly  registered  as  pharmaceutical 
chemists,  were  respectively  granted  a  diploma  stamped  with  the 
seal  of  the  Society  : — 


Bowden,  Harold. 

Brigham,  Edwin  Beal. 

Brown,  Charles. 

Campkin,  Francis  Sidney. 
Critchley,  Charles  Albert. 

Dann,  Charles. 

Goode,  Arthur  Frederick. 

Pitcher, 


Greenhahh,  Edmund  Parkinson. 
Knight,  William  Arthur. 

Last,  Geo.  Valentine  Chapman. 
Lloyd,  Hugh  William. 
Masterman,  Henry. 

Morrell,  John  George. 

Pearson,  George  Ernest, 
s  Frederick. 


Election  of  Members. 

The  following,  having  passed  the  Major  examination  and 
tendered  their  subscriptions  for  the  current  year,  were  elected 
‘  ‘  Members  ”  of  the  Society  : — 


Critchley,  Charles  Albert ;  Blackburn. 
Dixon,  Rowland  ;  Sheffield. 

Dyson,  Thomas  Hatfield  ;  London. 
Johnson,  John  Richard  ;  Plymouth. 
Jones,  William  Miall ;  London. 

Last,  George  Valentine  0. ;  LiverpooL 


Latham,  Hugh ;  London. 

Masterman,  Henry ;  London. 
Moorhouse,  Joseph  William;  Sheffield. 
Morrell,  John  G.  ;  Stockton-on  Tees. 
Pearson,  George  Ernest ;  Canonbui  y. 
Pitcher,  James  F.  ;  Princes  Risboro’. 


The  following,  who  was  in  business  before  August  1,  1868, 
having  tendered  his  subscription  for  the  current  year,  was  elected 
a  Member  of  the  Society  : — 

Glover,  John  Smith;  Vancouver. 


Election  of  Associates  in  Business. 

The  following,  having  passed  the  Minor  examination,  being  in 
business  on  their  own  account,  and  having  tendered  their  subscrip¬ 
tions  for  the  current  year,  were  elected  “Associates  in  Business  ”  of 
the  Society 


Beal,  Johnson  ;  Manchester. 

Beckett,  Harry  Rumbold ;  Tonbridge. 
Burch,  Thomas  William  ;  Prestwich. 
Close,  Thomas  ;  Middleshro’. 

Connan,  Campbell  Allan ;  Cowdenbeath. 
Cooper,  George  Henry  ;  Failswoith. 
Crofts,  Robart ;  Canterbury. 

Davidson,  James  Bruce ;  London. 
Hanson,  Arthur  William  ;  London. 
Hunter,  Robert ;  Perth. 

J ones,  Robert  Coetmor ;  Bethesda. 


Knowles,  William  Edward  ;  Birstall. 
Mennie,  James  ;  Golspie. 

Mercer,  Frederick  Peter  ;  Wigan. 
Paterson,  Andrew  John  Kidd;  Dundee. 
Robinson,  John  James  ;  Carlisle. 

Shaw,  William  Alfred  ;  Birmingham. 
Stevenson,  George  Miller ;  Cheshunt. 
Stuttard,  Thomas ;  Colne. 

Taylor,  Abraham,  jun.  ;  Morley. 
Thompson,  Herbrrt ;  Manchester. 
Wilson,  James;  Gt.  Harwocd. 


Nuttall,  Maurice  William  ;  Alfreton. 
Priestman,  William ;  Penrith. 

Rattray,  David  Smith  ;  Aberdeen. 
Reed,  Joseph;  Dumfries. 

Rtmmington,  Whitworth  ;  London. 
Robinson,  Percy  ;  Norwich. 

Rowland,  George  H.  C.  ;  Matlock  Bath. 


Si ve wright,  James  ;  Aberdeen. 
Stewart,  William  Napier ;  Glasgow. 
Suttie,  Joseph  H.  C.  ;  Broughty  Ferry. 
Wainwright,  Percy;  Crstleford. 
Walker,  George  B  ;  Wellingborough. 
Watt,  Marshall  Keith  ;  Dinecht. 
Wheeler,  Alice  Maud  ;  Oxford. 


Whitelam,  John  Herbert ;  Hull. 


Election  of  Students. 

The  following,  having  passed  the  “First”  examination  and 
tendered  their  subscriptions  for  the  current  year,  were  elected 
“  Students  ”  of  the  Society  : — 


Bailey,  Daniel  Jennings  ;  Denton. 
Bailey,  George  W. ;  Spalding. 

Barley,  Maurice  Arthur  H. ;  Tunstall. 
Barton,  Harold  ;  Southport. 

Battle,  Ernest  W.  0.  ;  Manchester. 
Beeny,  Wallace  Frederick  ;  London. 
Bell,  William  W.  ;  Newcastle-on-Tyne. 
Billings,  Sydney  James ;  Cheltenham. 
Blair,  William  John  ;  Greenock. 

Blake,  Ernest  A. ;  Leighton  Buzzard. 
Burn,  Mordey  ;  Manchester. 

Chandler,  Richard  Walter  ;  Bristol. 
Coley,  Ernest  James  William  ;  Stroud. 
Cook,  Charles  Henry  ;  Horsell. 

Cooke,  Robert  Burt ;  Newhaven. 
Cooling,  William  Arthur  :  Newark. 
Cooper,  Herbert  Edward  ;  Kettering. 
Cottle,  Charles  James  ;  Newferry. 
Dearden,  Theodore  E.;  Luddenden  Foot. 
Deed,  Arthur  Edgar  ;  Lincoln. 
Doughty,  John  Edward  ;  Birmingham. 
Draper,  Eliza  Frances  ;  London. 
Drynan,  John  Forgie  ;  Carluke. 

Eggett,  Louis  C.  ;  Burnham-on-Crouch. 
Evans,  John  Owen  ;  Chapeltown. 
Excelby,  George  Henry  ;  York. 
Ferriday,  Herbert  John  ;  Shrewsbury. 
Fox,  Thomas  James  ;  Portsmouth. 
Francis,  Alan  ;  London. 

Gale,  William  Edward  ;  Ilkley. 
Goodyer,  William;  West  n. 

Gray,  Alexander;  London. 

Greatrex,  E  J.  Me  William;  Liverpool. 
Greaves,  Henry  Eldred  ;  Ironville. 
Green,  Charles  Orton  :  B  ackley. 
Hadfield,  Sidney  Herbert ;  Preston. 
Helliwell,  Hubert  Wellesley  ;  Bradford. 
Henderson,  Henry  John  ;  Lowestoft. 
Homer,  Ernest ;  Birmingham. 
Horniblow,  Kate  Nellie ;  Charlbu-y. 
Irving,  Lottie ;  Muthill. 

Jackson,  Frederick  harles  ;  Southport. 
Jasper,  William;  Plymouth. 

Jeffs,  Richard  Thomas  ;  Gloucester. 
Jolly,  William  Isaac  ;  Bradford. 


Kent,  Frank  Stephen  ;  Hastings. 
Kerruish,  Thomas  Maltby  ;  Douglas. 

Le  Dain,  Nicholas  John  F.  ;  Jersey. 
Lindsay,  Andrew  ;  Helensburgh. 
Lister,  Frederick  Spencer;  Cambridge. 
Lycett,  Herbert ;  Workington. 
Macadie,  William,  East  Watten. 
McFadden,  William  James  ;  Southsea. 
McGhie,  John  Knowles  ;  Liverpool. 
McRostie,  James  ;  Stranraer. 

Matson,  Joseph ;  Stockton-on-Tees. 
Mellor,  William  Gilbert ;  Warwick. 
Morgan,  Harold  Marston  ;  Illesthorpe. 
Morgan,  Howell ;  Twickenham. 

Morris,  Gabriel ;  Winchmore  Hill. 
Morris,  Kenneth  Austen  ;  Presteigne. 
Morris,  Robert  Leitch  ;  Dunfermline. 
Nethercoat,  Ernest  Tom  ;  Ely. 

Oldham,  John  Joseph  ;  Preston. 

Oliver,  John;  Holywell. 

Peek,  John  Wicliffe  ;  Clapham. 

Peters,  William  Harold  ;  Breaston. 
Pick,  Frank  Phillips  ;  Barnsley. 
Plumb,  Alfred  ;  Cambridge. 

Porter,  Frank  ;  Leicester. 

Pugh,  John  James  Edgar ;  Leominster. 
Purnell,  Austin ;  Clevedon. 

Renouf,  Lucy;  Jersey. 

Renouf,  Nora  ;  Jersey. 

Rosenloecher,  Arthur  R.  ;  Dalston. 
Saunders,  John  ;  West  Worthing. 
Shelley,  George ;  Bilston. 

Steward,  Charles  Alfred  ;  Worcester. 
Street,  Spencer ;  Littleport. 

Tebbutt,  Thomas  P. ;  New  Brighton. 
Thomas,  Arthur  G. ;  Barrow-iu-Fumess. 
Thomas,  William  Isaac  ;  Abergele. 
Ullett,  Frank ;  Ilminster. 

Walmsley,  James  Edgar  ;  Halifax. 
Watson,  Herbert  Shepley ;  Towcester. 
Weddle,  William  Gardner ;  Liverpool. 
Webster,  Bertram  ;  Uttoxeter. 

Whysall,  Edward  Searson  ;  Grantham. 
Willey,  Francis  Joseph  ;  Hoyland. 
Willis,  Alfred  James  ;  New  Brompton 


Wise,  Guy  William  ;  Watford. 


Election  of  Associates. 


The  following  having  passed  the  Minor  examination,  and 
tendered,  or  paid  as  “Students,”  their  subscriptions  for  the 
current  year,  were  elected  “Associates  ”  of  the  Society 


Allen,  William  John  ;  Cardiff. 

Burgin,  Mark  Frederick  ;  Kennington. 
Cleave,  Thomas  William  ;  Leeds. 
Courtenay,  Edward  ;  Shrewsbury. 
Devereux,  Arthur  E. ;  Stoke-on-Trent 
Dixon,  William  ;  Kendal. 

Deuth waite,  Douglas  George  ;  Ruaton. 
Ellis,  Frederic  Richard  ;  Liverpool. 
Evans,  David  ;  Carmarthen. 

Everett,  Henry  Percy  ;  Ipswich. 
Fairley,  Charles  Ernest ;  Sunderland. 
Fletcher,  Richard  Bewley ;  Sunderland. 
Gibson,  Hubert ;  Leeds. 


Glover,  Charles  C.  ;  Ashby-de-la-Zouch. 
Gregory,  Herbert  William  ;  Lincoln. 
Griffiths,  Frederick  Gray  ;  Manchester. 
Haigh,  William  ;  Stocksbridge. 
Henderson,  William  ;  Dollar. 

Hopkins,  John  S.  ;  Stow-on-the-Wold. 
Keif,  Henry  David  ;  Reading. 

Lincoln,  John  Edward  ;  London. 
Monaghan,  John  Edward  ;  Glasgow. 
Morton,  Henry  Rosser  ;  Margate. 
Murdoch,  James  ;  Glasgow. 

Myers,  Gabriel ;  Brough. 

Norton,  Alfred  James  ;  Swansea. 


Restoration  to  Register. 

The  name  of  the  following  person,  who  had  made  the  required 
declarations,  and  paid  the  restoration  fee,  was  restored  to  the 
Register  of  Chemists  and  Druggists  ; — 

Henry  Little,  134,  Jamaica  Road,  London,  S.E. 

Several  persons  were  restored  to  their  former  status  in  the 
Society  upon  payment  of  the  current  year’s  subscription  and  a 
nominal  restoration  fee  of  one  shilling. 

Mr.  Bateson  in  connection  with  the  election  of  associates  and 
students,  drew  attention  to  the  prevalent  feeling  throughout  the 
country  in  favour  of  improved  education,  and  the  importance  of 
young  chemists  taking  advantage  of  the  opportunities  which  were 
now  offered  in  so  many  localities  for  continuing  their  educa¬ 
tion  after  they  left  school.  A  special  move  had  recently 
been  made  in  his  own  small  town,  and  evening  classes 


46 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  16,  18W 


were  formed  in  connection  with  the  Science  and  Art  Department,  a 
registered  chemist  and  druggist  who  had  recently  passed  his 
examination  being  the  teacher  of  one  of  the  science  classes,  whilst 
a  local  doctor  took  a  class  in  physiology.  He  thought  if  young 
men  would  continue  their  studies  after  they  had  passed  the  Pre¬ 
liminary  they  would  have  a  better  chance  of  ultimately  passing 
the  qualifying  examination. 

The  President  said  there  was  no  doubt  that  education  was  “  in 
the  air,”  and  it  was  very  desirable  that  young  pharmacists  should, 
if  possible,  be  ahead  of  everyone  else. 


Report  oe  Finance  Committee. 

The  Secretary  read  the  report  of  this  Committee,  which  was  of 
the  usual  character,  and  recommended  various  accounts  for  payment. 

The  President  (as  Chairman  of  the  Committee)  moved  the 
adoption  of  the  report,  and  said  there  was  nothing  which 
needed  special  notice  in  connection  with  the  General  Fund, 
the  payments,  though  somewhat  large,  being  of  the  ordinary 
kind,  and  including  expenses  connected  with  the  examinations 
and  the  School,  tin  connection  with  the  Benevolent  Fund  he 
was  pleased  to  be  able  to  report  that  in  response  to  the 
announcement  made  in  December  that  money  was  needed  for  the 
payment  of  annuities,  several  subscriptions  had  been  received. 
Amongst  them  were  five  guineas  from  the  students  of  the  Society’s 
School,  and  four  guineas  from  the  Metropolitan  School  of  Phar¬ 
macy,  which  showed  that  the  younger  pharmacists  took  an  interest 
in  the  Fund.  Contributions  had  also  been  received  from  several 
well-known  firms,  and  from  local  and  divisional  secretaries,  who 
had  been  good  enough  to  make  a  special  Christmas  canvass.  He 
was  also  glad  to  report  donations  to  the  Fund  from  Mr.  Percy  Nott, 
local  secretary  for  Bolton,  five  guineas ;  from  the  Rochdale 
Chemists’  Association,  eight  guineas ;  and  from  Mr.  J.  Heron, 
Edinburgh,  ten  guineas.  The  Camwal  directors  had  sent  £50  with 
the  following  letter  : — • 

83,  Qt.  Russell  Street, 

Bloomsbury,  W.C., 

Jan.  G,  1897. 

R.  Bremridge,  Esq. 

Dear  Sir, — At  the  last  General  Meeting  of  “  Camwal  ”  the  sum  of  £50  was 
voted  to  the  Directors  ;  we  now  beg  of  you  to  accept  that  sum  on  behalf  of  the 
Benevolent  Fund  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  and  at  the  same  time  we  tender 
to  the  Society  our  best  thanks  for  its  able  administration  of  the  Fund.  We 
consider  it  a  boon  that  chemists  are  able,  through  your  agency,  to  assist  the 
poorer  members  of  the  craft  without  running  the  risk  of  being  imposed  upon, 
and  without  any  deduction  being  made  from  the  amount  donated. 

We  are, 

Yours  faithfully, 

The  “  Camwal  ”  Directors, 

per  Horace  Davenport, 
Chairman. 

All  these  generally  were  entitled  to  the  thanks  of  the  Council. 
There  was  also  a  legacy  of  £9  from  the  estate  of  Ann  Spenceley, 
being  the  amount  of  the  legacy,  less  duty,  left  by  that  lady  some 
few  years  ago.  She  was  the  sister  of  a  chemist  and  druggist  who 
died  many  years  ago,  and  the  claims  of  the  Benevolent  Fund 
were  brought  to  her  attention  by  a  member  of  the  Society. 

The  report  and  recommendations  were  unanimously  adopted. 


Report  of  Benevolent  Fund  Committee. 

The  report  of  this  Committee  included  a  recommendation  of 
grants  to  the  amount  of  £76  in  the  following  cases  : — 

The  widow  of  a  registered  chemist  and  druggist  (aged  63)  who  had  a  grant  last 
year,  and  is  in  bad  health.  London. 

The  widow  (aged  87)  of  a  registered  chemist  and  druggist,  who  was  an  annui¬ 
tant,  and  died  in  November  last.  Ramsgate. 

The  widow  (aged  70)  of  a  pharmaceutical  chemist  member.  London. 

The  widow  (aged  67)  of  a  pharmaceutical  chemist  member  and  subscriber,  who 
has  had  six  previous  grants.  Doncaster. 

A  pharmaceutical  chemist  member,  1853-95  (aged  70),  who  has  had  two  pre¬ 
vious  grants,  and  was  an  unsuccessful  candidate  at  the  late  election.  Barry. 

A  registered  chemist  and  druggist  (aged  50)  suffering  from  severe  and 
incurable  disease.  London. 

Two  other  cases  were  not  entertained,  and  another  was  deferred  for  further 
information. 

The  Secretary  reported  the  death  on  December  9  of  J.  8.  Jarvis  (aged  57),  who 
had  been  an  annuitant  since  1892. 


The  Committee  recommended  that  a  public  dinner  in  aid  of  the  Benevolent 
Fund  be  held  in  May  next,  and  that  the  Council  take  the  necessary  steps  to 
promote  the  same. 

Mr.  Bottle  (as  Cbairman  of  the  Committee)  moved  the  adoption 
of  the  report.  He  said  it  did  not  present  any  particular  feature  to 
comment  on.  There  had  been  half  a  dozen  applicants  who 
had  been  relieved  to  the  best  of  their  ability.  With  regard  to 
the  unsuccessful  applicants,  he  hoped  that  they  would  be  more  fortu¬ 
nate  another  time. 

Mr.  Atkins,  in  seconding  the  adoption  of  the  report,  said  he 
would  not  add  anything  to  what  Mr.  Bottle  had  said,  but  just 
wished  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Council  to  an  effort  that  was 
being  made  to  secure  the  election  of  a  child  to  the  Infant  Orphan 
Asylum  at  Wanstead.  Last  month  the  Vice-President  had  directed 
attention  to  an  effort  that  was  being  made  to  secure  the  election 
of  another  child  of  the  same  family  to  the  London  Orphan  Asylum 
at  Watford,  with  what  result  was  not  yet  known.  He  (Mr.  Atkins) 
would  very  earnestly  submit  the  present  case  to  the  Council,  and 
through  the  Press  to  their  brethren  outside.  The  circum¬ 
stances  were  that  a  Mr.  Robert  Kirkby,  a  pharma¬ 
ceutical  chemist  at  Ramsbury,  Wiltshire,  had  died.  The 
widow  was  making  a  gallant  effort  to  support  herself  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  London.  The  child  on  whose  behalf  he  now 
appealed  was  Robert  Kirkby,  aged  5J  years.  It  was  a  most  worthy 
case,  and  he  would  do  his  best,  and  hoped  his  friends  would  do 
the  same,  to  secure  the  election  of  this  child  to  the  Infant  Orphan 
Asylum,  at  Wanstead.  He  did  not  think  there  was  any  form  of 
benevolence  that  was  more  helpful  than  to  secure  the  election  of 
children  to  orphan  asylums. 

The  President  said  he  had  no  doubt  the  Press  would  make  the 
case  known.  He  would  only  express  his  regret  that  the  orphans 
in  question  were  not  eligible  for  the  Society’s  Orphan  Fund.  It 
was  to  be  regretted  that  through  inadvertence  their  parent  had 
not  seen  his  way  to  subscribe  for  three  years  to  the  Benevolent 
Fund. 

The  report  was  passed  unanimously.  Mr.  Hampson  said  it  had 
been  the  custom  to  have  a  dinner  every  ten  years,  the  object 
being  to  make  a  grand  effort  at  a  time  when  perhaps  the  heart 
was  more  open  to  augment  the  Benevolent  Fund.  By  the  Report 
of  the  Benevolent  Fund  Committee,  it  appears  that  this  year  was 
the  right  time  to  make  the  effort,  and  he  trusted  that  it  might  be 
very  successful.  He  would  just  like  to  say  that  he  hoped  the 
special  Christmas  effort  would  become  a  permanent  contribution 
to  the  Benevolent  Fund.  He  concluded  by  proposing — 

“  That  the  following  he  appointed  a  committee  to  arrange  and  carry  out  the 
details  of  the  decennial  dinner  in  connection  with  the  Benevolent  Fund 
the  President,  the  Vice-President,  the  Treasurer  and  the  members  of  the 
Benevolent  Fund  Committee,  and  the  London  members  of  Council.” 

Mr.  Atkins  seconded  the  resolution.  It  was  a  most  worthy 
cause,  and  he  hoped  would  be  a  great  successs. 

Mr.  Allen  asked  if  he  rightly  understood  the  President  to 
intimate  that  if  the  parent  of  the  children  in  question  had  sub¬ 
scribed  for  three  years  to  the  Benevolent  Fund  there  were  funds 
at  their  disposal  which  would  have  helped  those  children. 

The  President  said  that  was  so. 

Mr.  Allen  said  that  this  was  a  point  which  should  be  urged  on 
the  non-subscribers  of  the  Benevolent  Fund  all  through  the 
country. 

The  President,  in  putting  the  resolution,  said  he  would  just  call 
attention  to  the  fact  that  this  was  the  sixtieth  year  of  the  reign  of 
Her  Most  Gracious  Majesty  the  Queen,  and  he  hoped  that  there 
would  be  this  year  of  all  years  a  very  successful  dinner  in  every 
respect,  and  that  by  its  means  a  large  addition  might  be  made  to  the 
Benevolent  Fund.  He  would  also  mention  that  it  had  been 
arranged  that  this  particular  dinner  should  be  held  in  place  of  the 
ordinary  annual  dinner. 

The  resolution  was  passed  unanimously. 


Diplomas  of  Deceased  Members. 

Mr.  Bottle  asked  if  it  was  the  custom  to  look  after  the 
diplomas  of  deceased  members.  It  occurred  to  him  that  after 
the  death  of  a  member  the  diploma  was  valueless  to  his  heirs  and 
executors,  but  that  it  would  be  available  to  anybody  who  had  a 
mind  to  make  improper  use  of  it. 

The  Secretary  said  they  could  not  always  be  got,  as  they  were 
often  lost. 

Mr.  Bottle  said  that  was  a  misfortune,  as  they  might  often  be 
used  improperly. 


Jan.  16,  1807.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


47 


Mr.  Bateson  thought  it  only  right  and  proper  that  the  Society 
should  have  the  diplomas. 

The  President  understood  that  it  was  the  rule  of  the  office  to 
write  on  every  occasion  asking  for  the  return  of  the  stamped 
diplomas,  but  that  in  very  many  cases  they  could  not  be  found. 


Library,  Museum,  School,  and  House  Committee. 

Library. 

The  report  of  the  Librarian  had  been  received,  including  the 
following  particulars  — 

Attendance.  Total.  Highest.  Lowest.  Average. 

November  /Day .  390  26  9  16 

Novemoer . \  Evening  .  127  17  1  6 

Circulation  of  Books.  Total.  Town.  Country.  Carriage  paid. 

November . . .  206  110  96  £1  7s.  lid. 

Donations  to  the  Library  had  been  announced  {Pharm,  Journ., 
December  12,  p.  511),  and  the  Committee  had  directed  that  the 
usual  letters  of  thanks  be  sent  to  the  respective  donors. 

The  Committee  had  recommended  that  the  undermentioned 
books  be  purchased  : — 

For  the  Library  in  London : — 

Peters,  Pictorial  History  of  Ancient  Pharmacy,  1889. 

Guareschi,  Einffihrung  in  das  Studium  der  Alkaloide,  1896. 

Yeo,  Pood  in  Health  and  Disease,  latest  edition. 

Tilden,  Introduction  to  Chemical  Philosophy,  latest  edition. 

For  the  Library  in  Edinburgh  : — 

Tilden,  Introduction  to  Chemical  Philosophy. 

The  Scottish  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,  for  one  year. 

Museum. 


The  Curator’s  report  had  been  received,  and  included  the  fol¬ 
lowing  particulars  : — • 

Attendance.  Total.  Highest.  Lowest.  Average. 

November  /Day .  476  30  13  19 

CNovemDer . \  Evening  .  49  22  1  2 

Several  donations  had  been  received  {Pharm.  Journ.,  Decem¬ 
ber  12,  p.  511),  and  the  Committee  had  directed  that  the  usual 
letters  of  thanks  be  sent  to  the  respective  donors. 

A  letter  of  thanks  for  duplicate  specimens  had  been  received 
from  Professor  W.  H.  de  Wytt,  M.B.,  etc.,  Lecturer  on  Materia 
Medica  at  St.  Andrews  University,  N.B. 


The  President  moved  that  the  report  and  recommendations  of 
the  Committee  be  received  and  adopted.  There  was  really  nothing 
to  call  attention  to,  the  recommendations  being  of  a  purely  formal 
character. 

Mr.  Symes  drew  attention  to  the  very  small  average  attendance 
in  the  Library  during  the  evening.  One  would  expect  the 
attendance  in  the  evening  would  be  better  than  during  the  day, 
but  it  seemed  to  be  very  much  less. 

The  resolution  was  unanimously  agreed  to. 


Local  Secretaries. 

Mr.  John  Harvey  was  appointed  Local  Secretary  for  Airdrie, 
Mr.  A.  C.  Cobb  was  appointed  Local  Secretary  for  Maidstone,  in 
the  place  of  Mr.  Stonham,  deceased. 

Report  of  Examinations. 

January ,  1897. 

The  following  report  on  the  examinations  was  presented  : — 

Candidates. 

/ - X 

Examined.  Passed.  Failed. 

England  and  Wales. — 


Major . 35  15  20 

Minor  . 196  63  133 

Scotland. — 

Major  . 1  0  1 

Minor  . 140  48  92 


Twenty-one  certificates  by  approved  examining  bodies  were 
received  in  lieu  of  the  Society’s  “  First  ”  examination. 


Pharmacy  in  Quebec. 

The  President  read  a  letter  which  had  been  received  from  the 
Pharmaceutical  Association  of  the  Province  of  Quebec,  requesting 
that  the  Council  would  take  into  consideration  the  question  of  re¬ 
ciprocity  in  British  and  Colonial  certificates  in  pharmacy.  It 


stated  that  persons  holding  the  diploma  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  of  Great  Britain  who  came  to  Quebec  were  admitted  with¬ 
out  further  examination,  and  suggested  that  a  reciprocal  courtesy 
should  be  extended  to  gentlemen  who  had  passed  their  examina¬ 
tion  in  Quebec  on  going  to  England.  Particulars  of  the  examina¬ 
tions  were  enclosed.  It  was  interesting  to  know  of  the  good  work 
being  done  by  the  Pharmaceutical  Association  of  the  Province  of 
Quebec,  but  the  only  answer  which  could  be  made  to  the  letter 
was  that  whatever  might  be  the  views  of  the  Council,  it  had  no 
power  under  the  Act  of  Parliament  to  receive  the  certificates  re¬ 
ferred  to.  A  new  Act  would  be  required  before  the  desired  recip¬ 
rocity  could  be  accorded. 

General  Purposes  Committee. 

This  report,  which  dealt  exclusively  with  legal  matters,  was 
taken  as  usual  in  committee.  It  included  a  letter  from  the  solicitor 
as  to  the  progress  of  cases  which  had  been  placed  in  his  hands. 
On  resuming  the  report  and  recommendations  were  received  and 
adopted,  and  special  resolutions  were  passed,  authorising  the 
Registrar  to  institute  proceedings  against  the  persons  named  in 
the  resolution. 

EXAMINATIONS  IN  LONDON. 

January,  1897. 

MINOR  EXAMINATION. 


Candidates  examined  . 19S 

,,  failed  .  133 

„  passed .  63 


Allen,  William  John. 
Anderson,  Frank. 

Bills,  Albert  James. 

Burgin,  Mark  Frederick. 
Chaundy,  John  Henry. 

Craft,  Charles. 

Crawhall,  Thomas  Currah. 
Orookham,  Harry. 

Curtis,  Edgar. 

Davies,  Henry. 

Devereux,  Arthur  Edward. 
Dix,  Henry  Walter. 

Dixon,  William. 

Douthwaite,  Douglas  George. 
Edwards,  Thomas  Christ  re  as. 
Elkington,  Charles  John. 
Fletcher,  Bichard  Bewley. 
Ford,  Jessie 
Fynn,  Robert  Hudson. 

Glover,  Charles  Craft*. 
Goodall,  Frederic  Charles. 
Green,  George  Winfield. 
Gregory,  Herbert  William. 
Haigh,  William. 

Hankinson,  Herbert  Stanley. 
Harman,  Harry. 

Harries,  Wm.  Geo.  Augustus. 
Hawker,  William  Harrifred. 
Hoare,  William  Harold. 
Horsfield,  Jessie  Agnes. 
Huck,  Henry. 


J ean,  Ei  nest  Albert. 

John,  Ernest. 

Johnson,  Robert  Clitherow. 
Jones,  Robert  Frederick. 

Jones,  Sidney  Clifford. 

Kent,  Charles. 

Leech,  Peter. 

Lincoln,  John  Edward. 

Lloyd,  Thomas  Mainwaring. 
Maynard,  George  Henry. 

Moody,  Thomas  Adam. 

Morton,  Henry  Rosser. 

Nutiall,  Maurice  William. 

Oatley,  Thomas  James. 

Orme,  Arthur  J ohn. 

Pattison,  Herbert  George. 
Pickering,  William  Cowper. 
Priestman,  William. 

Pr.nce,  John. 

Proctor,  Ernest  Anthony. 

Reed,  Joseph. 

Richardson,  Richard  Conway. 
Robinson,  Percy. 

Sadleir,  Horace  Sutton. 

Saunders,  Alfred  Woods. 
Somerton,  William  Knight. 
Stewart,  William  Napier. 
Thomas,  William. 

Wainwright,  Percy. 

Westerman,  Thomas  Kenworthy. 
Wheeler,  Alice  Maud. 


Young,  William  Frank. 


FIRST  EXAMINATION. 

Certificates  by  approved  examining  bodies  were  received  from 
the  under-mentioned  in  lieu  of  the  Society’s  examination  : — 


Baines,  Louis  Sydney,  Sheffield. 
Bembridge,  Charles  H.,  Alfreton. 
Betten,  Hugh,  Brighton. 

Church,  Charles  Edward,  Andover. 
Dalton,  George  Townsend,  Northwich. 
Davies,  H.  M.,  Llandrindod  Wells. 
Dowdy,  Sidney  Ernest,  Kennington. 
Gibson,  Thomas,  Brigg. 

Griffin,  Alfred  Buckle,  London. 
Howorth,  Christian  W.,  Plumstead. 

Thwaite,  Ernest 


Jones,  John  Lee,  Ebbw  Vale. 
Lenfestey,  L.  d’Estreville,  London. 
Lund,  Frederick  Arthur,  Rotherham. 
Munro,  Hugh  Lennox,  Brigg. 
Nancarrow,  Samuel,  Falmouth. 
Parkin,  Ernest,  Elsecar. 

Powell,  William  Evans,  Cardiff. 
Quinton,  Percy  Julian,  Stowmarket. 
Seaborne,  Lionel  D.,  Wombwell. 
Smith,  Henry  Llewellyn,  Dorking, 
ward,  Liverpool. 


48 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  16,  1897 


EXAMINATIONS  IN  EDINBURGH. 

January,  1897. 

MAJOR  EXAMINATION. 

One  candidate  was  examined,  but  failed  to  pass. 


MINOR  EXAMINATION. 

140 
92 

48 


Candidates  examined 
,,  failed 

„  passed  .. 

Adan,  James  Watt. 

Ball,  Ernest  Harry. 

Broughton,  Ernest. 

Darley,  Edward. 

Faull,  Arthur. 

Ferguson,  John  Alexander. 
Forrest,  James  Lindsay. 

Furber,  Robert  Arthur. 

Gardiner,  William. 

Gauldie,  Norman  Lewis. 

Gow,  Adam. 

Graham,  William. 

Gray,  Andrew. 

Greig,  John. 

Haley,  Benjamin  Pawson. 
Johnson,  John  William  Baker. 
Kennedy,  Robert  Ker. 

Lamb,  Thomas. 

Linklater,  Peter. 

Logie,  John  Moffat. 

McGregor,  Duncan  Anderson. 
Mate,  Max. 

Miller,  Arthur. 

Milner,  Jonah. 


Ness,  William  Adams. 

Nicol,  Thomas. 

Owen,  Thomas  Pritchard. 
Pagan,  Thomas. 

Peebles,  David. 

Potts,  Albert  Edward. 

Prescott,  John. 

Prophet,  William  Todd. 
Ramsay,  William  Christopher. 
Roberts,  Rees. 

Sheed,  William. 

Simpson,  Gilbert. 

Sinclair,  James  Pettigrew. 
Smith,  Foster. 

Spence,  Edward. 

Spink,  Richard. 

Stringer,  Horace. 

Sturrock,  James  Nicolson  Law. 
Thomas,  Penry  Sidney. 
Wilcockson,  William. 

Watts,  Herbert. 

Weir,  Thomas. 

Wharton,  Anthony  James. 
Whitehead,  William. 


“FIRST”  EXAMINATION  QUESTIONS. 

January  12,  1897. 

LATIN. 

Time,  allowed — from  11  a.m.  to  12.30  p.m. 

I.  For  all  Candidates.  Translate  into  Latin  : — 

1.  Augustus,  the  emp:  ror  of  Rome,  is  dead. 

2.  Build  the  walls  of  our  city. 

8.  Within  three  days  we  shall  flee  from  Athens. 

4.  Having  heard  these  things,  he  set  out  for  home. 

5.  Will  you  not  teach  your  daughters  the  art  of  singing  ? 

II.  Translate  into  English  either  A  (Caesar)  or  B  (Virgil). 

(Candidates  must  not  attempt  both  authors. ) 

A.  — Caesar. 

1.  Helvetii,  ea  spe  dejecti,  navibus  junctis  ratibusque  compluribus  factis,  alii 
vadis  Rhodani,  qua  minima  altitudo  flumtnis  erat,  nonnunquam  interdiu, 
saepius  noctu,  si  perrumpere  possent,  conati,  operis  munitions  et  militum  con- 
cursu  et  telis  repulsi,  hoc  conatu  destiterunt. 

2.  Turn  demum  Ariovistus  partem  suarum  copiarum,  quae  castra  minora 
oppugnaret,  mteit.  Acriter  utrimque,  usque  ad  vesperum,  pugnatum  est.  Solis 
occasu  suas  copias  Ariovistus,  multis  et  illatis  et  acceptis  vulneribus,  in  castra 
reduxit.  Quum  ex  captivis  quaereret  Caesar,  quam  ob  rem  Ariovistus  proelio 
non  decertaret,  hanc  reperiebat  causam  :  quod  apud  Gevmanos  ea  consuetudo 
esset,  ut  matres  familiae  eorum  sortibus  et  vaticinationibus  declararent,  utrum 
proelium  committi  ex  usu  esset,  nerne  ;  eas  ita  dicere  :  Non  esse  fas  Germanos 
superare,  si  ante  novam  lunam  proelio  contendissent. 

Grammatical  Questions. 

(For  those  only  who  take  C?esar.) 

1.  Decline,  in  the  singular,  ea  ape  ;  and,  in  the  plural,  hoc  conatu  (Passage  1). 

2.  Give  the  principal  parts  of  all  the  verbs  in  Passage  2. 

3.  Compare  bonus,  juvenis,  malus,  vetus ;  and  give  the  positive  of  summus, 

imus,  facillime. 

4.  Give,  with  examples,  the  chief  uses  of  the  dative  in  Latin. 

B. — Virgil. 

1.  Aeneas  scopulum  interea  conscendit,  et  omnem 
Prospectum  late  pelago  petit ;  Anthea  si  quem 


Jactatum  vento  videat,  Phrygiasque  biremes, 

Aut  Capyn,  aut  celsis  in  puppibus  arma  Caici. 

Navem  in  oonspectu  nullum  ;  tres  litore  cervos 
Prospicit  errantes  ;  hos  tota  armenta  sequuntur 
A  tergo,  etlongum  per  valles  pascitur  agmen. 

2.  Quinquaginta  intus  famulae,  quibus  ordlne  longo 
Cura  penum  struere,  et  flammis  adolere  Penates. 

Centum  aliae,  totidemque  pares  aetate  ministri, 

Qui  dapibus  mensas  onerant,  et  pocula  ponunt. 

Necnon  et  Tyrii  per  limina  laeta  frequentes 
Convenere  toris  jussi  discumbere  pictis. 

Mirantur  dona  Aeneae  ;  mirantur  Iulum, 

Flagrantesque  Dei  vultus,  simulitaque  verba, 

Pallamque,  et  pictum  croceo  velamen  acantho. 

Praecipue  lnfelix,  pesti  devota  futurae, 

Expleri  mentem  nequit,  ardescitque  tuendo 
Phoenissa,  et  pariter  puero  donisque  movetur. 

Grammatical  Questions 

(For  those  only  who  take  Virgil. ) 

1.  Decline,  in  the  singular,  pelagus  patens  ;  and,  in  tne  plural,  collis  altior. 

2.  Give  the  principal  parts  of  all  the  verbs  in  Passage  2. 

8.  Compare  bonus,  juvenis,  malus,  vetus  ;  and  give  the  positive  of  summus,  imus , 
facillime. 

4.  Give,  with  examples,  the  chief  uses  of  the  dative  in  Latin. 


ARITHMETIC. 

Time  allowed — from  12.30 p.m.  to  2  p. rn. 

[The  working  of  these  questions,  as  well  as  the  answers,  must  be  written  out 

in  full.] 

1.  Divide  twenty-three  millions  four  hundred  and  seventy-seven  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  twenty-four  by  mdcclxxvii. 

2.  Find  the  value  of  51  of  — -i—  of  £44. 

3J  +  2J 

8.  Express  as  a  vulgar  fraction  in  its  lowest  terms  : — 

(1-205-  -25)  X  (g-fj 
1-4+3-375 

4.  Find  the  cost  of  painting  the  walls  and  ceiling  of  a  room  16  ft.  long,  15  ft. 
wide,  13  ft.  4  in.  high,  at  2s.  3d.  per  sq.  yd. 

5.  If  800  men  could  do  a  piece  of  work  in  2  4  days,  how  many  would  be  re¬ 
quired  to  do  -3  of  the  same  work  in  12  days  ? 

6.  If  a  dishonest  tradesman  uses  a  weight  of  14-76  oz.  for  1  lb.  (avoirdupois), 
and  professes  to  sell  his  goods  at  the  cost  price,  what  does  he  gain  per  cent.  ? 

The  following  question  must  be  attempted  by  every  candidate  : — 

7.  Write  out  the  table  used  in  the  metric  system  for  measuring  the  surface  of 
land.  An  estae  measuring  1927  hectares  is  sold  for  10100000  francs:  find  the 
price  per  acre  approximately  in  English  money,  taking  a  pound  sterling  as  equal 
to  25J  francs. 


ENGLISH. 

Time  allowed — from  3  p. rn.  to  4.30 p.m. 

1.  Analyse 

“  The  stag  at  eve  had  drunk  his  fill, 

Where  danced  the  moon  on  Mcnan's  rill. 

And  deep  his  midnight  lair  had  made 
In  lone  Glenartney’s  hazel  shade.” 

2.  Parse  fully : — 

“  And  oft  they  thought  him  sinking, 

But  still  again  he  rose.” 

3.  Point  out  the  force  of  the  following  prefixes,  and  write  words  in  illustra¬ 
tion  :  — ex,  retro,  anti,  sym,  arch. 

4.  In  the  following  passage  supply  the  necessary  capital  letters,  and  put  in 
the  stops  and  inverted  commas  where  necessary  as  i  approached  a  pass  in  the 
rocks  four  mounted  men  videttes  I  suppose  suddenly  dashed  out  from  their 
concealment  and  reined  up  their  horses  when  close  to  mine  who  are  you  whither 
going  was  quickly  asked  an  Englishman  travelling  to  beyrout  was  the  reply 
they  held  a  moments  counsel  and  then  suffered  me  to  pass 

The  following  question  must  be  attempted  by  every  candidate 

5.  Write  a  short  composition  on  one  of  the  following  subjects : — 

(i.)  Recent  events  in  the  Soudan. 

(ii.)  The  influencj  of  air,  soil,  and  water  on  hum:  n  health  and  longevity, 
(iii.)  Recent  developments  of  Photography. 

(iv.)  “Industry  is  the  secret  of  those  grand  results  that  fill  the  mind 
with  wonder.” 


Jan.  16,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


49 


LITER  ARY_N0TES. 

‘Science  Progress’  for  January  is  full  of  interesting  matter, 
and  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  paper,  an  article  of 
economic  importance  finds  a  place  in  its  pages.  In  this  article, 
Mr.  C.  A.  Barber  takes  an  exceedingly  pessimistic  view  of  the 
outlook  for  the  sugar-producing  British  Colonies  under  existing 
conditions,  as  it  is  asserted  that  unless  Continental  “  war  bounties  ” 
cease,  inevitable  ruin  stares  those  Colonies  in  the  face.  Professor 
H.  A.  Miers  shows  how  cholesteryl  benzoate,  azoxyphenol 
and  azoxyanisol  are  capable  of  forming  what  may  be  termed 
“  liquid  crystals,”  self-contradictory  though  this  term  may 
appear ;  Professor  J.  Bretland  Farmer  treats  of  the  cell 
and  some  of  its  constituent  structures;  and  Mr.  John 
Beddoe  continues  his  consideration  of  that  always  interesting 
topic — selection  in  man.  Some  results  of  experiments  on  the 
larvae  or  plutei  of  sea-urchins  are  recorded  by  Mr.  H.  M.  Vernon, 
and  appear  likely  to  have  an  important  bearing  on  the  causes  of 
variation.  Thus,  he  has  established  the  fact  that  the  ova  of  these 
organisms  are  more  sensitive  to  changes  of  environment,  such  as 
temperature,  at  the  time  of  impregnation  than  subsequently. 
Other  articles  are  on  “  The  Glossopteris  Flora,”  by  Mr.  A.  C. 
Seward;  “Condensation  and  Critical  Phenomena,”  by  Professor 
J.  P.  Kuenen  ;  and  “  The  Origin  of  Lakes,”  by  Mr.  J.  E.  Maw. 

*  The  Climate  of  Bournemouth  ’  is  discussed  by  Dr.  A. 
Kinsey-Morgan  (Wright  and  Co.,  Bristol,  Is.  net),  in  relation  to 
disease,  especially  phthisis.  The  subject  is  treated  from  the 
point  of  view  of  climatic  conditions,  geological  features,  purity  of 
air,  sanitary  and  meteorological  conditions,  morbific  influences, 
influence  of  the  pines,  etc. ,  and  numerous  cases  of  benefit  accruing 
from  treatment  in  the  Bournemouth  district  are  recorded  by  the 
author.  The  little  book  may  therefore  be  consulted  with 
advantage  by  everyone  in  search  of  a  suitable  health  resort. 

‘  Successful  Advertising  ’  has  reached  its  seventeenth  edition, 
and  the  authors  —  Messrs.  Thomas  Smith  and  J.  H.  Osborne — 
naturally  think  their  explanations  of  the  secrets  of  success  in  this 
direction  are  the  correct  ones.  Be  this  as  it  may,  those  who  con¬ 
template  appealing  to  the  public  through  the  medium  of  advertising 
pages  can  here  find  much  food  for  thought.  The  problems  dis¬ 
cussed  include  the  preparation  of  successful  advertisements,  the 
introduction  of  new  articles,  the  free  sample  question,  what  can  be 
done  with  moderate  capital,  the  tests  of  success,  and  other  points 
too  numerous  to  mention  but  of  primary  importance  to  interested 
parties.  Moreover,  the  book  includes  the  rates  for  advertising  in 
the  leading  London  and  provincial  papers,  in  addition  to  lists  of  the 
London,  suburban  and  provincial  daily,  weekly,  and  monthly  papers, 
so  that  very  good  value  is  given  for  the  price  {2s. )  charged  for  the 
book,  which  is  published  by  the  authors  at  132,  Fleet  Street,  E.C. 

Die  Umschau  is  the  title  of  a  new  weekly  scientific  journal  pub¬ 
lished  by  Messrs.  Bechhold,  of  Frankfurt,  It  is  intended  to  furnish 
a  popular  summary  of  progress  and  research  in  all  branches  of 
science,  industry,  literature,  and  art.  The  subjects  dealt  with 
will  be  treated  of  in  separate  articles  as  occasion  offers,  or  in  annual 
retrospects  of  particular  departments.  The  services  of  a  large 
staff  of  distinguished  authorities  have  been  secured,  and  the  list  of 
articles  that  will  appear  in  the  early  numbers  covers  a  very  wide 
range.  The  articles  in  the  first  number  are  on  Volkerkunde,  by 
Dr.  Max  Buchner,  of  the  Ethnographic  Museum,  at  Munich  ; 
the  Physics  of  Celestial  Bodies,  by  Professor  William 
Huggins  ;  Music  since  the  Death  of  Wagner,  by  Dr. 
Hugo  Riemann  ;  Criticism,  by  Leo  Berg,  of  Berlin;  the 
Home  of  the  Germans,  by  Dr.  J.  W.  Brainier,  of  Greifswald  ;  A 


Financial  Review  of  the  Year,  by  S.  v.  Halle  ;  besides  some  three 
pages  of  short  notes  on  various  subjects.  Articles  are  announced 
upon  old  and  new  medicines  by  Dr.  G.  Arends,  the  editor  of  the 
Pharmaceutisclie  Zeitung  ;  on  Chlorophyll  by  Dr.  L.  Marchlewski,  of 
Manchester  ;  Colour  Photography,  by  Professor  E.  Valenta,  of 
Vienna  ;  the  Utilisation  of  Molasses  in  Sugar  Production  by  Dr.  G. 
Pulvermacher ;  the  Alchemists,  by  Professor  F.  Fittica,  of  Mar¬ 
burg.  The  price  of  the  journal  is  4 d.  for  a  single  number,  and  it 
can  be  obtained  through  any  of  the  foreign  booksellers  in  London 
for  2s.  6 d.  per  quarter,  or  by  post  for  3s.  6 d.  a  quarter. 

‘  Our  Weights  and  Measures,’  by  Mr.  H.  J.  Chaney,  Super¬ 
intendent  of  the  Standards  Department,  Board  of  Trade,  is  a 
handsome  volume  (Eyre  and  Spottiswoode,  London,  7s.  6 d.)  con¬ 
taining  much  information  on  the  subject  of  which  it  treats, 
derived  from  authorised  sources.  It  deals  with  the  “  Imperial 
System  ”  very  fully  from  a  historical  point  of  view,  but  metric  and 
other  standards  are  also  described,  as  well  as  pharmaceutical 
weights  and  measures,  and  measurements  of  various  kinds.  Fine 
collotype  illustrations,  together  with  lithographs  and  woodcuts, 
serve  to  render  the  work  unusually  attractive.  Further  reference 
to  its  contents  must  be  deferred  for  the  present,  but  it  may  at 
once  be  said  that  whilst  the  book  should  be  very  useful  to 
chemists  and  physicists,  it  must  also  prove  of  considerable  interest 
to  antiquarians  and  scientific  authorities. 

The  Calendar  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  for  1897  is  now 
ready  and  contains  the  usual  information  respecting  the  Society, 
but  somewhat  more  condensed  than  usual.  Thus,  the  Society  is 
now  credited  with  no  officials  except  the  Secretary  and  Registrar, 
or  it  would  appear  so  from  the  fact  that  the  familiar  page  headed 
“Present  Professors  and  Officers  of  the  Society”  is  either  missing 
or  so  well  hidden  as  to  be  difficult  to  detect.  Doubtless  the  Secre¬ 
tary  and  Registrar  is  a  host  in  himself,  but  persons  buying  the 
Calendar  naturally  expect  to  find  it  useful  for  reference  on  all 
points  concerning  the  Society.  Acts  of  Parliament,  and  extracts 
from  Acts,  bearing  on  the  trade  of  chemists  and  druggists,  examin¬ 
ation  and  scholarships  regulations,  examination  questions,  excise 
duties  and  regulations,  naval  hospital  and  poor  law  dispenserships, 
and  numerous  other  matters  of  the  highest  importance  to  everyone 
connected  with  pharmacy  are  dealt  with  in  this  volume,  which 
may  be  obtained  from  the  Secretary,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square, 
W.  C. ,  at  the  price  of  2s. ,  or  post  free,  2s.  4Jd. 

“Heavy  Trial  Balances  Made  Easy,’ by  J.  G.  Craggs,  F.C.A., 
(Scientific  Press,  Limited,  2s.  6 d.),  is  an  exposition  of  a  new 
system  for  ensuring  the  agreement  of  trial  balances,  which  is 
described  as  being  of  the  greatest  value  where  accounts  are  very 
heavy,  and  also  where  the  operations  of  the  business  concerned  do 
not  naturally  fall  into  such  sub-divisions  as  can  readily  be  followed 
by  isolating  the  books  of  account  to  agree  with  them.  The  new 
method  is  claimed  to  put  checks  upon  fraud,  carelessness 
and  indolence ;  to  lead  to  detection  of  culprits ;  to  convert 
single  into  double  entry ;  and  to  be  less  expensive  to 
work  than  older  plans  adopted  by  accountants. 

The  Australasian  Medical  Directory  and  Hand-Book  is 
much  more  interesting  than  the  usual  run  of  such  works,  the 
editor — Mr.  Ludwig  Bruck — having  included  a  short  account  of 
the  climatic  and  sea-side  health  resorts  in  Australia,  Tasmania, 
and  New  Zealand.  The  book  also  serves  as  a  general  gazetteer  of 
nearly  1000  post  towns  in  Australia,  Tasmania,  New  Zealand,  and 
Fiji,  as  well  as  a  local  directory.  The  London  publishers  are 
Messrs.  Bailliere,  Tindall  and  Cox,  20,  King  William  Street, 
Strand,  W.C. 


50 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan  16,  1897. 


THE  STUDENTS’  PAGE. 


NOTES  ON  THE  FLOWERS  OF  JANUARY. 

Ulex  europceus. — The  furze  or  gorse  frequently  produces  flowers 
from  September  to  February,  although  March  is  the  month  in 
which  they  are  in  perfection.  The  plant  is  an  undershrub 
(suffruticose),  having  a  woody  perennial  stem,  but  rarely  attains, 
except  in  woods,  a  height  exceeding  3  or  4  feet.  The  branchlets 
are  developed  in  the  form  of  thorns,  and  the  veins  of  the  leaves  as 
spines.  The  small  trifoliate  leaves  are,  however,  well  represented 
in  seedling  plants.  Beneath  each  flower  there  is  usually  one 
spine  representing  the  central  leaflet,  the  other  two  which  represent 
the  lateral  leaflets  being  developed  as  bracts  beneath  the  flower. 
The  calyx  is  two-lipped  with  spreading  hairs.  The  corolla  is 
papilionaceous,  the  two  lateral  petals  (wings)  being  longer  than 
the  lower  one  (keel)  and  being  locked  into  it,  so  that  when  an 
insect  alights  on  the  wings  the  stamens  are  forced  out  of  the  keel. 
The  fruit  is  a  short  pod,  containing  several  seeds,  which  are 
scattered  to  a  distance,  when  mature,  by  the  sudden  twisting 
backwards  of  the  valves  when  the  pod  dehisces.  The  curious 
arrangement  of  the  spines,  which  are  longer  than  the  pods  and 
point  downward,  prevent  the  attacks  of  birds  and  mice  until  the 
seeds  are  ripe.  In  the  dwarf  furze,  Ulex  nanus,  which  flowers  in 
summer,  the  wings  are  shorter  than  the  keel,  and  the  hairs  on 
the  calyx  are  appressed. 

Capsella  bursa-pastoris. — The  shepherd’s  purse  affords  an  excel¬ 
lent  example  of  the  great  variability  in  the  shape  and  development 
of  leaves,  according  to  their  environment.  Hardly  two  specimens 
are  exactly  alike  in  outline.  They  are  normally  more  or  less 
pinnatifid,  but  are  sometimes  almost  entire.  The  lower  leaves 
are  usually  depressed  so  as  to  form  a  stellate  rosette  on  the  ground. 
The  conditions  of  dryness  or  moisture  and  the  character  of  the 
soil  as  bearing  upon  the  form  of  the  leaves  are  worth  observing. 
The  inflorescence  is  a  raceme,  i.  e. ,  the  flowers  are  stalked  on  a 
central  axis,  the  outer,  which  become  the  lowest,  opening  first. 
It  may  be  noted  as  characteristic  of  the  Cruciferce  that  the 
individual  flowers  have  no  bract  beneath  them,  these  occurring 
only  where  the  inflorescence  branches,  as  it  does  in  some 
genera.  The  flowers,  which  are  small  and  white,  have  four  sepals, 
four  petals,  and  six  stamens.  Two  of  the  latter  are  shorter  than 
the  other  four  (tetradynamous),  and  have  two  green  glands  or 
nectaries  at  the  base.  The  fruit  is  compressed  and  short  (silicula) 
and  triangular,  with  the  apex  of  the  triangle  nearest  the  flower 
stalk.  The  edges  of  the  carpels  are  visible  in  the  centre  of  the 
fruit  as  a  vertical  line,  and  give  rise  in  the  interior  of  the  fruit  to 
a  membranous  partition  (replum)  which  separates  the  fruit 
into  two  cells.  The  seeds  are  attached  in  two  rows  to  the 
edge  of  each  of  the  carpels  (i.e.,  the  modified  leaves  of  which 
the  fruit  is  formed).  As  the  replum  is  narrower  than  the 
broadest  diameter  of  the  fruit,  the  fruit  belongs  to  the  section  of 
the  Cruciferce  named  Angustiseptce.  In  this  section  the  central  line 
of  union  of  the  carpels  is  always  easily  seen.  Sometimes  the  shep¬ 
herd’s  purse  may  seem  to  be  covered  with  whitish  patches  of  a 
fungus,  Cystopxis  candidus,  by  which,  and  by  another,  Peronospora 
parasitica,  various  parts  of  the  plant  become  remarkably  hyper¬ 
trophied,  the  petals  becoming  six  times  their  usual  length  and  the 
stamens  eight  in  number,  whilst  the  stems  look  as  if  they  suffered 
from  elephantiasis. 

Senecio  vulgaris. — The  common  groundsel  requires  the  use  of  a 
lens  to  examine  it  properly.  *  The  root  is  fibrous  and  the  leaves  are 
pinnatifid  and  irregularly  incise-serrate,  without  any  leaf-stalk 
(petiole)  and  clasping  the  stem  at  their  base  (amplexicaul).  The 
hairs  on  the  leaves  are  beautifully  moniliform  ;  they  may  be 
found  more  abundantly  on  the  pedicels  beneath  the  flower-heads. 
The  flowers  are  arranged  in  narrow  capitula,  which  have  an 
outer  row  of  black-tipped  bracts  (phyllaries),  and  a  single  row  of 
similar  but  larger  inner  ones,  which  is  characteristic  of  the  genus. 
The  florets  are  all  tubular,  +  and  have  no  bractlets  (pale;e)  at  their 
base.  The  ovary  is  inferior,  and  is  surmounted  by  a  ring  of  un¬ 
branched  hairs  (pilose  pappus)  which  represents  the  calyx.  The 


*  For  directions  how  to  examine  a  plant  see  Ph.  J.  [3],  xxv.,  p.  313, 
or  Holmes’  ‘  Botanical  Note  Book.’ 

f  Occasionally  a  plant  may  be  found  with  a  single  row  of  revolute, 
ligulate  florets,  thus  approaching  8,  sylvaticus,  in  which  revolute, 
ligulate  florets  are  always  present.  The  latter,  however,  is  a  taller  plant 
with  tougher  stems  and  gland  tipped  hairs. 


corolla  is  five-toothed,  and  the  stigma  is  forked.  The  style  at  first 
is  shorter  than  the  stamens,  and  the  two  lobes  of  the  stigma  are 
pressed  together,  but  as  the  style  elongates  the  stigma  pushes 
the  pollen  before  it  through  the  tube  formed  by  the  united 
anthers,  so  that  as  the  sticky  surface  of  the  stigma  is  not  ex- 
osed  until  the  pollen  is  pushed  out,  each  individual  floret  cannot 
e  self-fertilised.  The  outer  florets  open  first,  so  that  each  flower- 
head  (capitulum)  has  a  centripetal  inflorescence.  The  central 
flower-head  is,  however,  the  first  of  the  corymbose  cyme  to  open, 
so  that  the  general  inflorescence  is  centrifugal,  thus  affording  an 
instance  of  mixed  inflorescence.  The  fruits  are  furnished  with 
hairs,  which,  when  moistened,  exude  mucilage,  and  thus  cause 
them  when  blown  about  to  adhere  to  the  soil.  * 

Correction. — The  interpolation  of  the  word  “less”  in  the  sixth 
line  of  the  paragraph  descriptive  of  the  mistletoe  fruit  {ante,  p.  30) 
was  an  inexplicable  compositor’s  freak.  If  the  word  be  deleted, 
the  sentence  will  then  read  correctly. 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  B.P. 

The  notes  published  under  this  heading  will  deal  chiefly  with 
such  points  as  are  insufficiently  dealt  with  in  the  elementary  text¬ 
books  to  which  apprentices  or  students  usually  have  access.  In 
the  case  of  any  points  which  are  not  sufficiently  clear  being  over¬ 
looked  in  this  page,  students  are  invited  to  communicate  with 
the  Editor  respecting  their  difficulties. 

Acacice  Gummi. — The  iodine  test  is  of  course  intended  to  detect 
the  adulteration  of  powdered  gum  with  starch  or  flour.  The 
solution  must  be  cooled  before  adding  the  iodine,  because  the  blue 
compound  of  iodine  and  starch  is  not  formed  in  hot  solutions. 

Acetum. — The  barium  chloride  test  is  intended  to  show  the 
absence  of  more  than  the  quantity,  1  in  1000  (T  per  cent.)  of 
sulphuric  acid  which  manufacturers  are  allowed  to  add  to  vinegar. 
Note  that  the  solution  of  chloride  of  barium  must  be  the  official 
solution  whose  strength  is  defined  in  the  appendix,  p.  482. 

Acidum  Aceticum. — The  zinc,  hydrochloric  acid,  and  lead  acetate 
test  shows  absence  of  sulphurous  acid  or  sulphites.  If  such  be 
present  the  hydrogen  evolved  by  the  action  of  the  zinc  and  acid 
reduces  the  sulphurous  acid  to  sulphuretted  hydrogen — 

H2S03  +  4H  =  H2S  -I-  3H20. 

The  H2S  then  attacks  the  lead  subacetate  with  formation  of  black 
lead  sulphide — 2H2S  +  Pb202C2Hs02  =  2PbS  +  H.,0  +  2HC2H302. 
The  same  test  is  also  given  under  acidum  aceticum  glaciale. 
Hydrogen,  owing  to  its  affinity  for  oxygen,  and  especially  in  the 
nascent  condition,  is  an  energetic  reducing  agent,  and  as  such  it  is 
employed  in  a  large  number  of  chemical  reactions. 

Acidum  Benzoicum. — Benzoic  acid  can  be  prepared  synthetically 
in  many  ways,  e.g.,  from  hippuric  acid  and  toluene.  This  syn¬ 
thetic  acid  is  not  official,  and  has  not  the  agreeable  odour  possessed 
by  benzoic  acid  derived  from  benzoin,  due  to  aromatic  constituents 
of  the  latter,  which  sublime  with  it. 

Acidum  Boricum. — This  acid  loses  water  when  ignited,  and  leaves 
a  glassy  residue  of  boric  anhydride— 

2H3B03  =  B203  +  3H20. 

Acid  Carbolic. — The  album] n  test  distinguishes  it  from  creosote. 
Compare  also  the  ferric  chloride  test  for  the  two  substances. 
Bromine  water  produces  a  precipitate  of  tri-brom-phenol  by  dis¬ 
placement  of  three  hydrogen  atoms  by  three  atoms  of  bromine — 

C6H6OH  +  3Br2  =  C6H2Br3OH  +  3HBr. 

Acidum  Citricum. — The  absence  of  precipitation  when  an  excess 
of  the  aqueous  solution  is  added  to  a  solution  of  potassium  acetate 
indicates  absence  of  tartaric  acid.  If  the  latter  be  present,  the 
sparingly  soluble  potassium  hydrogen  tartrate  (cream  of  tartar) 
is  precipitated.  In  this  case  a  salt  of  potassium  is  used  as  a 
reagent  to  detect  tartaric  acid,  just  as  the  latter  may  be  used  for 
the  detection  of  the  former. 

Acidum  Gcdlicum. — Galls  contain  tannic  acid.  When  the 
powdered  galls  are  boiled  with  diluted  sulphuric  acid  the  tannic 
acid  is  hydrolysed — i.e.,  one  molecule  of  water  is  taken  up  by  one 
molecule  of  tannic  acid,  and  two  molecules  of  gallic  acid  are 
formed.  The  test  with  isinglass  solution  indicates  absence  of 
tannic  acid.  The  latter  forms  an  insoluble  compound  with  gelatin, 
of  which  isinglass  is  chiefly  composed. 


*  For  further  particulars  see  ‘A  Year’s  Botany’  (Rivingtons), 
p.  220  to  223. 


Jan.  16,  1897] 


IrHARxMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


51 


Pharmaceutisal  Journal 


LONDON:  SATURDAY,  JANUARY  16,  1897. 


THE  COUNCIL  MEETING. 

The  business  last  Wednesday  was  chiefly  ordinary  routine. 
After  the  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  had  been 
•confirmed,  and  the  President  had  drawn  attention  to 
the  fact  that  a  distinguished  Honorary  Member  of  the  Society 
lias  been  raised  to  the  Peerage,  he  proceeded  to  propose  a 
resolution  in  reference  to  the  death  of  Mr.  Schacht,  and  in 
•doing  so  paid  a  graceful  tribute  to  his  memory.  The  motion 
was  seconded  by  the  Treasurer  acting  as  Vice-President, 
supported  by  Messrs.  Savory,  Southall,  Atkins,  Bottle, 
and  Symes,  before  being  passed  by  unanimous  consent. 

The  additions  to  the  Society  were  numerous,  comprising 
31  members,  63  associates,  and  91  students.  In  reference 
to  the  latter  class,  Mr.  Bateson  drew  attention  to  the  educa¬ 
tional  work  now  in  progress  at  Kendal  as  promising  to  afford 
pharmaceutical  apprentices  and  assistants  a  means  of  improv¬ 
ing  their  knowledge  of  science. 

The  report  of  the  Finance  Committee  did  not  call  for 
snecial  comment,  except  in  connection  with  the  Benevolent 
Fund.  In  response  to  the  recent  appeal  for  contributions  to 
make  up  the  deficiency  in  the  amount  available  for  payment 
of  the  annuities  now  falling  due,  several  sums  have  been 
received  from  students,  local  secretaries,  and  the  directors  of 
the  Chemists’  Mineral  Water  Association. 

On  the  recommendation  of  the  Benevolent  F und  Committee 
six  grants,  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  seventy-six  pounds, 
were  ordered  to  be  paid,  and  the  Secretary  announced  the 
•death  of  J.  S.  Jarvis,  an  annuitant  since  1892.  Mr.  Atkins 
mentioned  the  case  of  Robert  Kirkby,  an  orphan  child,  for 
whose  election  to  the  Wanstead  Orphan  Asylum  he  earnestly 
solicited  support.  In  connection  with  this  appeal  the  Presi¬ 
dent  expressed  regret  that  in  so  many  instances  orphans  in 
this  position  are  not  eligible  as  recipients  of  the  benefits  of 
the  Society’s  Orphan  Fund.  In  answer  to  an  inquiry  by 
Mr.  Allen,  the  disqualification  was  explained  as  resulting 
from  the  parents  of  the  children  requiring  assistance  not 
having  been  Members  or  Associates  of  the  Society,  or  sub¬ 
scribers  to  the  Benevolent  Fund. 


ADVERTISING  AND  THE  PRESS. 

An  important  article  in  the  current  number  of  the 
Nineteenth  Century,  written  by  Mr.  H.  J.  Palmer,  the  editor 
•of  the  Yorkshire  Post,  draws  attention  to  the  great  develop¬ 
ment  of  advertising  enterprise  which  has  resulted  from 
recent  improvements  of  the  rotary  printing  press.  He  shows 
that  until  within  the  last  three  years,  the  daily  newspapers 
of  large  circulation  could  not  add  to  their  size,  and  were 
consequently  unable  to  comply  with  the  wishes  of  a  daring 
advertiser  disposed  to  occupy  an  entire  page.  But  when 
improved  presses  were  introduced  capable  of  turning  out  ten 
or  twelve  pages  at  double  the  speed — the  old  ones  produced 
eight  pages — the  newspaper  proprietor  has  been  able  to  give 
both  advertisers  and  readers  an  extra  page  or  two.  The 
result  has  been  that  advertisers  have  taken  advantage  of  the 
opportunity  and,  though  the  increase  in  the  size  of  a  paper 
sold  for  a  penny  has  been  costly,  the  extra  expense  has 


been  more  than  repaid  by  the  largest  advertising  revenue 
the  British  press  has  ever  known. 

So  far  all  parties  concerned  have  been  benefited  :  the  reader 
has  had  nearly  double  his  former  quota  of  news  ;  the  papers 
have  gained  in  revenue  and  advertisers  have  obtained  the  pro¬ 
minence  to  which  they  are  entitled  whenever  they  pay  for  it. 
A  certain  control  of  the  relation  of  advertisements  to  news 
must  necessarily  be  exercised  in  the  interest  of  the  reader, as  he 
will  always  remain  the  predominant  partner.  As  an  experienced 
editor,  Mr.  Palmer  acknowledges  the  importance  of  adver¬ 
tising  and  the  obligation  of  the  British  Press  to  advertisers  ; 
he  admits  that  it  owes  its  prosperity  chiefly  to  them.  But 
he  also  holds  that  as  the  most  powerful  engine  at  the  disposal 
of  those  who  wish  to  bring  their  wares  before  the  public,  the 
Press  has  had  something  valuable  to  sell  in  the  ordinary  way 
of  business  exchange,  and  that  the  profit  derived  from  ad¬ 
vertising  does  not  in  the  least  degree  invalidate  the  main¬ 
tenance  of  a  policy  of  independence  and  of  incorruptible 
fidelity  to  the  public  interests.  But  the  point  to  which  Mr. 
Palmer’s  article  relates  is  that  the  advertiser  is  not  always 
content  with  the  advantage  he  ■  has  gained  and  is  showing  a 
disposition  to  push  it  further,  under  the  impression  that  a 
newspaper  is  nothing  more  than  an  advertising  machine.  Not 
content  with  his  own  recommendation  of  his  wares,  he  is 
beginning  to  hanker  after  a  recommendation  bearing  the  im- 
primatur  of  the  journal  he  is  pleased  to  patronise — is  some¬ 
times  willing  to  pay  for  such  masked  advertisement — and  pur¬ 
suing  this  line  of  enterprise  by  subtle  methods  he  has  already 
achieved  so  distinct  a  measure  of  success  that  the  time  has 
come  for  newspaper  managers  and  the  public  to  consider  the 
threatened  breach  in  what  should  be  an  absolutely  inviolable 
principle. 

This  is  the  point  to  which  Mr.  Palmer’s  article  is  directed, 
and  he  represents  the  danger  which  threatens  the  Press  as 
bribery.  He  adds  that  though  some  papers  would  refuse  to 
insert  advertisements  set  in  news  type  and  placed  so  as  to  be 
indistinguishable  from  ordinary  news  and  to  be  taken  as  em¬ 
bodying  the  veritable  recommendation  and  opinion  of  the 
editor  of  the  journal  in  which  the  reader  reposes  his  trust, 
there  are  half  a  dozen  who  will  accept  the  alluring  proposals 
of  advertising  agents  for  one  that  will  refuse.  As  an 
instance  of  this  corroding  innovation  Mr.  Palmer  speaks  of 
journals — not  corning  within  the  pale  of  the  highest  class, 
although  rightly  regarded  as  papers  of  reputation  and  enjoy¬ 
ing  public  confidence  accordingly — where  there  are  lauda¬ 
tory  paragraphs  in  connection  with  company  schemes  com¬ 
mending  them  to  investors.  Such  paragraphs,  he  says,  are 
supplied  by  an  advertising  agent,  who  either  pays  for  them 
or  promises  in  return  the  preferential  insertion  of  remunera¬ 
tive  advertisements  relating  to  the  same  or  other  companies. 
The  feeble  attempts  on  the  part  of  papers,  so  selling  their 
editorial  influence,  to  qualify  the  effect  are  denounced  as 
shams,  because  the  public  knows  nothing  of  their  significance 
and  because  the  whole  object  of  the  advertiser  is  to  deceive 
the  public  into  the  belief  that  the  editor  is  commending  the 
speculation  to  which  reference  is  made. 

Granting  the  reality  of  the  practice  here  referred  to,  there 
can  be  no  question  that  it  is  not  only  immoral  but  certainly 
suicidal  to  both  advertisers  and  the  proprietors  of  newspapers 
who  lend  themselves  to  the  system.  The  public  will  soon 
learn  to  distrust  alike  the  newspapers  that  sell  their  journal¬ 
istic  virtue  and  the  schemes  that  are  puffed  by  them,  so  that 
both  parties  to  the  deceit  will  sooner  or  later  be  placed  in 
the  position  of  actors  playing  to  an  empty  house. 


52 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  16,  1897 


ANNOTATIONS. 


Invisible  Light— to  use  the  somewhat  contradictory  term 
employed  to  distinguish  the  phenomena  associated  with  the  parts 
of  the  spectrum  not  visible  to  the  unaided  human  eye— received 
attention  at  the  hands  of  Professor  Silvanus  Thompson,  at  the 
Royal  Institution,  last  week.  The  method  of  sifting  out  the  short, 
actinic  waves  from  visible  light  was  successfully  demonstrated, 
the  normally  invisible  ultra-violet  rays  being  rendered  visible,  as 
well  as  reflected,  refracted,  and  polarised,  just  like  ordinary  light. 
Fluorescence  and  phosphorescence  were  beautifully  illustrated, 
and  shown  to  be  due  to  the  ultra-violet  rays,  whilst  the  power  of 
the  rays  to  dis-electrify  electrified  bodies  and  to  act  upon  a  photo¬ 
graphic  plate  were  clearly  manifested.  Colour-photography 
naturally  came  in  for  a  large  share  of  attention,  fine  specimens  of 
Lippmann’s  and  Ives’s  work  being  exhibited  on  the  screen. 


The  Infka-Red  Part  of  the  spectrum  was  next  treated,  the 
longer  calorific  waves  being  in  turn  sifted  out  from  visible  light 
and  shown  to  be  cut  off  by  transparent  glass  but  transmitted  by 
opaque  ebonite.  The  radiometer,  thermopile,  and  bolometer  were 
put  in  action,  the  heat-indicating  power  of  paints  prepared  from 
mercuro-mercuric  iodide  (?)  and  the  double  iodide  of  mercury  and 
copper  was  demonstrated,  and  the  infra-red  rays  were  also  reflected, 
refracted  and  polarised,  thus  fulfilling  the  conditions  required  of 
rays  classed  as  light  waves.  Still  more  interesting  was  the 
demonstration  of  the  gigantic  waves  discovered  by  Hertz, 
which  fulfilled  all  the  required  conditions  and  helped  to  complete 
the  inference  that  all  light  waves,  whether  visible  or  invisible,  are 
really  electric  waves  of  different  sizes.  But  more  information 
concerning  these  giant  waves  will  be  forthcoming  at  Professor 
Bose’s  lecture  on  Friday,  January  29. 


Rontgen  Light — the  only  known  kind  that  as  yet  refuses  to  be 
reflected,  refracted,  and  polarised,  as  all  well-conducted  light 
ought  to  do,  but  prefers  for  the  present  to  masquerade  as  an 
exception  to  the  general  rule — occupied  the  whole  of  the  concluding 
lecture,  which  was  all  too  brief  even  though  it  greatly  exceeded 
the  time  limits  nominally  set.  The  effects  following  the  exhaustion 
of  tubes  through  which  electric  discharges  were  passed  naturally  led 
to  a  fine  exhibition  of  Geissler-tube  phenomena.  *Jhe  mercurial  pump 
was  then  shown  and  described  and  set  to  work,  the  Crookes’  tube 
phenomena  were  shown,  and  the  properties  of  kathode  light 
demonstrated.  Crookes’  shadows  were  shown,  the  greenish-yellow 
light  in  the  tube  was  deflected  by  a  magnet,  and  its  luminescent 
and  mechanical  effects  were  illustrated.  Reference  to  the  libera¬ 
tion  of  these  kathode  rays  from  their  transparent  prison  house  by 
Lenard,  who  found  that  they  pass  readily  through  a  plate  of  alu¬ 
minium  inserted  in  the  tube  as  a  window,  was  followed  by  a 
concise  summarised  account  of  Rontgen’s  discovery  of  the 
mysterious  dark  rays,  which  as  yet  can  only  be  rendered  visible  by 
the  interposition  of  luminescent  bodies,  and  are  apparently 
capable  of  penetrating  most  substances  that  we  have  been  in  the 
habit  of  regarding  as  opaque.  Some  rays  of  a  different  nature 
seem  to  be  associated  with  these  so-called  X  rays,  and  Professor 
Thompson  finds  that  they  are  capable  of  deflection  by  a  magnet. 
But  no  more  is  known  concerning  them  at  present. 


“  The  Light  that  Never  was  on  Sea  or  Land,”  until  Crookes 
invented  his  famous  tube,  was  unfortunately  introduced  to  the 
audience  by  Professor  Thompson  with  an  unworthy  gibe  directed  at 
■“photographic  papers  and  other  papers  conducted  by  unscientific 


(sic )  persons.”  Ignoring  his  own  previous  lapses  in  the  matter  of 
chemical  details  and  his  somewhat  painfully  insufficient  acquaint¬ 
ance  with  the  photographic  processes  he  referred  to,  the  lecturer 
complained  that  Rontgen’s  discovery  had  been  claimed  as  a  photo¬ 
graphic  one.  But  the  photographic  effects  of  the  X  rays  were  the- 
first  to  be  announced  to  the  world,  and  those  effects  were  as  novel 
as  the  discovery  of  the  existence  of  the  X  rays  themselves. 
There  was  therefore  a  real  photographic  discovery  no  less  than 
an  optical  or  electrical  one.  But  this  lapse  may  be  forgiven  a 
lecturer  whose  only  object  for  the  time  being  was  to  instruct 
and  amuse  juveniles — the  average  age  of  those  “juveniles’* 
by  the  way,  being  about  thirty  years — for  he  imparted  a  very 
living  interest  to  his  subject,  and  communicated  the  little  there  is 
to  relate  about  the  Rontgen  rays  as  simply  as  a  scientific  tale  can- 
well  be  told.  Sir  George  Stokes’  theory  of  the  nature  of  the  rays— 
that  they  consist  of  waves  of  exceedingly  short  vibration,  of  only  a 
single  ripple  each  as  it  were — was  quoted  approvingly,  and  this  in¬ 
teresting  series  of  lectures  on  electrical  waves,  for  this  is  what 
they  were  in  reality,  was  concluded  by  the  statement  that  the- 
universe  is  full  of  different  sorts  of  vibrations,  of  which  we  have 
not  the  remotest  knowledge  or  slightest  suspicion.  “As  years  go  by, 
however,  and  one  apparently  useless  observation  leads  another  man 
to  make  an  observation  to  some  purpose,  so  science  will  creep 
from  point  to  point,  and  the  cloud  of  ignorance  will  be  rolled  back 
farther  and  farther,  giving  light  where  we  now  have  but  darkness.’* 


The  Royal  Institution  lecture  season  begins  in  earnest  on 
Tuesday  next,  January  19,  when  Professor  Augustus  D.  Waller, 
M.D.,  F.R.S.,  Fullerian  Professor  of  Physiology,  will  deliver  the 
first  of  a  course  of  twelve  lectures  on  “Animal  Electricity.”  On 
Thursday,  January  21,  Professor  Henry  A.  Miers,  F.R.S.,  will 
begin  a  course  of  three  lectures  on  “Some  Secrets  of  Crystals”? 
and  on  Saturday,  January  23,  Mr.  Carl  Armbruster  will  deliver  the 
first  of  three  lectures  on  “Neglected  Italian  and  French  Com¬ 
posers.”  The  Friday  evening  meetings  of  the  members  will 
commence  on  January  22,  when  Professor  Dewar  will  deliver  a 
lecture  on  “  Properties  of  Liquid  Oxygen.”  Professor  J.  C.  Bose, 
Professor  of  Presidency  College,  Calcutta,  will  deliver  his  discourse- 
on  “The  Polarisation  of  the  Electric  Ray”  on  Friday  evening, 
January  29,  and  not  on  February  5  as  previously  announced.  The 
discourse  on  the  latter  date  will  be  delivered  by  the  Bishop  of 
London,  who  will  take  as  his  subject  “The  Picturesque  in 
History.”  Several  intellectual  treats  are  therefore  in  store. 


The  Lavender  Industry  has  been  the  subject  of  the  latest- 
“  decline-of-British-industry  ”  scare,  the  following  paragraph 
having  gone  the  round  of  the  London  dailies  : — 

Owing  to  a  series  of  bad  seasons,  but  principally  to  the  large  quantity  of 
foreign  essential  oils  imported  lately,  the  lavender  industry  of  Hitehin  is 
threatened  with  extinction.  Hitehin  and  Mitcham  have  for  years  divided 
honours  in  producing  England's  supply  of  lavender  water,  the  surroundings  and 
sub-soil  of  chalk  being  peculiarly  favourable  to  the  plant’s  growth.  The  principal 
growers  at  Hitehin  are  Quaker  gentlemen.  The  acreage  under  cultivation,  a 
large  grower  assured  a  correspondent,  is  rapidly  declining,  and  the  plant  bids- 
fair  to  go  out  of  cultivation  altogether. 

As  might  be  expected,  this  scare  had  as  little  justification  as  in 
most  other  cases,  for  Messrs.  W.  Ransom  and  Sons  state  that  it  is- 
totally  incorrect  to  say  that  the  lavender  industry  at  Hitehin  is- 
threatened  with  extinction  owing  to  a  series  of  bad  seasons 
and  the  importation  of  foreign  essential  oils.  The  acreage  under 
cultivation  by  the  principal  growers  in  Hitehin  is  not  de¬ 
creasing,  and  the  product  of  last  season’s  distillation  was  larger 
than  for  several  years  previously.  The  severe  winter  of  1894-95 
certainly  destroyed  a  large  portion  of  the  plants,  but  the  stock 


Jan.  16,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


53 


was  replenished  by  cuttings  taken  from  those  that  survived.  The 
importation  of  foreign  oils,  it  is  pointed  out,  cannot  extinguish  the 
demand  for  the  English  product,  which  is  entirely  different  from, 
and  vastly  superior  in  aroma  to,  any  oil  distilled  elsewhere,  and  the 
fact  is  emphasised  that  there  is  no  prospect  of  the  extinction  of 
the  industry,  either  at  Hitchin  or  in  the  Mitcham  district.  Messrs. 
Ransom’s  statements  are  confirmed  by  Messrs.  Perks  and 
Llewellyn,  of  Hitchin  (see  p.  59),  who  say  that  far  from  enter¬ 
taining  pessimistic  views  regarding  the  cultivation  of  lavender, 
they  contemplate  putting  a  much  larger  acreage  under  cultivation. 

That  English  Lavender  Oil  is  of  superior  quality  to  oil 
obtained  from  lavender  grown  out  of  England  is  a  fact  so 
well  established  that  the  sensational  paragraphs  published  may 
have  caused  a  thrill  of  regret  that  in  future  there  will  be  no  more 
“sweet  lavender,”  but  only  the  less  fragrant  exotic  product. 
In  addition,  however,  to  learning  from  authentic  sources  that 
there  is  not  the  least  foundation  for  the  alarming  statements 
that  have  been  made  as  to  the  extinction  of  lavender  cultivation 
in  this  country,  and  that  those  who  prefer  the  superior  lavender 
water,  made  with  English  oil,  have  no  reason  to  fear  that  the 
supply  will  cease,  we  are  informed  by  the  principal  growers  of 
lavender  that  the  oil  distilled  last  year  was  of  exceptionally  fine 
quality,  besides  having  been  produced  in  larger  quantity  than  for 
several  years  past.  Moreover  there  is  no  evidence  of  diminution 
in  the  demand  for  the  home  product,  although  it  may  have  been 
for  a  time  partially  supplanted  by  foreign  oil  at  the  time  when  the 
price  of  English  oil  was  at  a  very  high  figure  in  consequence  of 
apprehended  scarcity,  and  in  cases  where  cheapness  was  con¬ 
sidered  more  than  quality. 

The  Society  or  Public  Analysts  held  its  annual  dinner  at  the 
Criterion  Restaurant,  London,  on  Wednesday  last,  Dr.  Bernard 
Dyer,  the  newly-elected  president,  occupying  the  chair.  The 
growing  importance  of  this  Society  as  a  public  body  may  be  esti¬ 
mated  from  the  large  number  of  distinguished  guests  who  attended, 
including  many  leading  scientists.  Mr.  Walter  Hills,  President  of 
the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  was  amongst  those  present,  a  happy 
augury,  it  may  be  hoped,  of  the  maintenance  of  friendly 
relations  between  pharmacists  and  analysts.  Amendment  of  the 
Sale  of  F ood  and  Drugs  Act  naturally  formed  the  chief  topic  in 
the  speeches  delivered,  and  Mr.  Hudson  Kearley,  M.P.,  who 
responded  for  “The  Houses  of  Parliament,”  expressed  the  hope 
that  there  may  shortly  be  a  statement  that  the  Government 
intends  to  introduce  an  amending  Bill  at  the  earliest  opportunity. 

Analysts’  Differences. — Comparing  the  decisions  given  in 
some  cases  of  prosecution  under  the  Food  and  Drugs  Act  with  the 
evidence  produced  on  both  sides,  the  necessity  of  more  efficient 
means  of  estimating  the  value  of  such  evidence  is  too  frequently 
apparent.  This  is  especially  the  case  when  there  is  such  a  conflict 
of  evidence  that  a  magistrate  considers  he  has  to  believe  one  or 
other  of  the  witnesses.  That  was  the  position  taken  by  the 
Linlithgow  Sheriff  in  regard  to  two  public  analysts  who  gave 
directly  opposite  evidence  concerning  a  sample  of  reputed  butter, 
one  declaring  that  it  was  genuine,  while  the  other  stated  that  it 
contained  76  per  cent,  of  fat  not  derived  from  butter.  A  decision 
based  upon  the  Sheriff’s  belief  of  one  witness  rather  than  the 
other  is  in  such  a  case  eminently  unsatisfactory,  and  apart  from 
its  prejudicial  reflection  upon  the  discredited  analyst,  there  cannot 
be  on  such  a  basis  any  certainty  that  the  decision  is  just  to 
the  person  prosecuted.  The  testimony  of  both  analysts  was 
probably  honest,  and  the  discrepancy  between  them  merely  a 
result  of  erroneous  inference  on  one  side  or  the  other.  In  fairness 


to  them  as  well  as  to  all  concerned,  the  settlement  of  such  a  case 
demands  something  more  than  mere  belief,  and  it  could  only  be 
arrived  at  by  reference  to  an  authority  technically  competent  to 
appraise  the  data  on  which  conflicting  evidence  was  given.  For 
want  of  provision  for  such  reference,  offenders  against  the  Food 
and  Drugs  Act  may  escape,  or  unmerited  hardship  may  be  inflicted. 

Analytical  Differences  in  regard  to  the  detection  of  such  a 
poison  as  arsenic  have  recently  occurred  in  connection  with 
arsenical  soap,  and  a  somewhat  dangerous  application  has  been 
made  of  the  maxim  de  minimis  non  curat  lex,  as  it  has  been  con¬ 
tended  that  when  soap  contains  only  one  hundredth  part  of  a  grain 
of  arsenic  to  the  pound,  arsenic  is  not  present.  If  the  question 
at  issue  had  been  one  as  to  purity,  there  is  reason  for  thinking 
that  such  an  argument  would  be  inadmissible,  but  in  a  prosecution 
that  is  to  be  supported  only  by  the  entire  absence  of  an  ingredient 
stated  to  be  present,  there  would  seem  to  be  still  less  reason  for 
disregarding,  even  an  infinitesimal  proportion  of  it.  Moreover,  if  the 
above-mentioned  legal  principle  be  once  admitted  in  reference  to 
poisons  there  is  no  telling  what  mischief  may  be  done,  or  where 
the  line  is  to  be  drawn  between  poison  and  the  opposite.  A  corre¬ 
spondence  now  going  on  in  the  Lancet  serves  to  show  that  on  this 
point  there  may  be  very  wide  and  perplexing  differences  of  opinion. 

Arsenical  Soap  continues  to  provoke  magisterial  decisions  that 
differ  in  variety,  but  on  the  whole  there  is  a  pretty  general  agree¬ 
ment  that  it  must  be  regarded  as  a  drug,  and  inability  of  public 
analysts  to  detect  the  presence  of  arsenic  in  samples  bought  by 
inspectors  under  the  Sale  of  Food  and  Drugs  Act  is  promptly 
followed  by  the  imposition  of  fines.  Considering  that  arsenic  i3 
undoubtedly  present  in  most  cases  and  can  be  detected  by  resort¬ 
ing  to  suitable  methods,  it  seems  odd  that  innocent  tradesmen 
should  have  to  pay  for  the  tune  piped  by  inefficient  analysts. 
But  so  the  matter  stands,  and  is  likely  to  remain  until  some  one 
plucks  up  sufficient  courage  to  risk  money  on  an  appeal.  Accord¬ 
ing  to  the  Wimbledon  Post,  a  local  case  is  to  be  carried  further,  which 
was  dismissed  recently — on  the  ground  that  if  the  soap,  however 
named,  contained  no  arsenic,  as  asserted  by  the  prosecution,  it 
could  not  be  a  drug — and  it  is  stated  that  the  appeal  will  probably 
be  heard  some  time  in  March.  This  is  good  news,  and  for  the  sake 
of  retailers  it  is  to  be  hoped  it  is  true. 

The  Results  of  the  Qualifying  Examination  deteriorate  as 
steadily  as  those  of  the  “  Major,”  but  the  proportion  of  failures 
has  attained  a  much  higher  point  in  the  former  case.  It  was  noted 
last  week  that  the  percentage  of  rejections  at  the  “Major”  has 
risen  from  49  66,  in  1894,  to  57  14  during  the  present  month,  but 
the  Minor  examination  results  for  the  past  three  years  have  shown 
the  following  percentages  of  rejections  : — 1894,  62'83  ;  1895,  65  72  ; 
1896,  65 ’28 ;  and  the  lists  published  this  week  show  that  the  per¬ 
centage  has  attained  the  very  high  figure  of  67  ‘26,  the  proportions 
at  Edinburgh  and  London  being  virtually  identical.  Contrast  this 
figure  with  the  results  of  the  latest  examination  in  Berlin,  when 
only  four  candidates  failed  out  of  twenty-four,  and  the  effect  pro¬ 
duced  is  not  one  of  unmixed  cheerfulness. 

The  Chemists’  Thirty-first  Annual  Ball  will  be  held  at  the 
Portman  Rooms,  Baker  Street,  W.,  on  Wednesday  next,  January 
20,  and  persons  desirous  of  acting  as  stewards  or  requiring 
tickets  should  communicate  at  once  with  the  Honorary  Secretary, 
Mr.  John  C.  Umney,  48  and  50,  Southwark  Street,  S.E.  Remit¬ 
tances  must  accompany  all  applications  for  tickets  (lady’s,  12*.  6d. ; 
gentleman’s,  17s.  6 d.).  These  include  refreshments,  supper,  and 
wine.  Mr.  Dan  Godfrey’s  Quadrille  Band,  conducted  by  Mr.  Dan 
Godfrey,  will  be  in  attendance,  and  dancing  commence  at  9  p.m. 


54  PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL.  [Jan.  16,  1897 


The  Students’  Page  has  been  received  with  greater  enthusiasm 
than  any  single  new  feature  ever  introduced  into  the  Journal 
before,  both  old  and  young  readers  having  communicated  favour¬ 
able  comments,  not  only  from  themselves  but  also  from  their 
neighbours  and  friends.  This  is  decidedly  encouraging  and, 
coupled  with  the  fact  that  the  material  for  such  a  page  is  practi¬ 
cally  exhaustless,  tends  to  encourage  the  hope  that  this  new 
graft  on  an  old  growth  may  flourish  exceedingly  for  many  long 
years  to  come.  But  students  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  matter 
rests  in  great  measure  with  themselves.  If  they  require  aid  and 
seek  it  we  are  always  glad  to  assist  them,  but  everyone  gets  tired 
in  time  of  thrusting  food  into  unwilling  mouths.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  they  apply  in  crowds  each  one  must  be  content  to  await 
his  turn.  But  a  little  more  enthusiasm  like  that  manifested  in 
letters  published  last  week  and  this  is  always  useful,  and  we 
especially  commend  the  practical  appreciation  indicated  in  the 
case  of  our  Irish  correspondent  whose  letter  appears  on  page  60. 
Ireland  has  certainly  scored  over  Great  Britain  for  once,  in 
matters  pharmaceutical. 


The  Huxley  Memorial  Fund  now  amounts  to  £2900,  and 
further  additions  to  the  Fund  are  expected.  Various  local 
institutions  and  scientific  societies  have  subscribed  handsomely, 
Bristol,  Leeds,  Leicester,  Adelaide,  Sydney,  New  Zealand  and 
Calcutta  having  been  conspicuous  in  this  respect,  whilst  British 
Guiana,  Cairo,  the  East  Indies,  and  Mauritius  have  also  contributed, 
in  addition  to  the  United  States,  France,  Germany,  Austria 
Hungary,  Holland,  Belgium,  Switzerland,  Scandinavia,  Italy, 
Portugal,  Russia,  Servia,  Mexico,  Peru,  Arabia,  and  Japan.  This 
world-wide  support,  as  the  Daily  News  fitly  terms  it,  is  well 
merited,  as  Huxley’s  labours  in  the  cause  of  science  fully  justify 
the  hope  that  a  form  of  memorial  may  be  secured  in  which  persons 
of  all  nationalities  shall  participate,  in  addition  to  the  statue  and 
medal  already  decided  upon.  The  full-sized  model  for  the  statue 
on  which  Mr.  Onslow  Ford,  R.A.,  is  engaged  is  said  to  be  nearly 
completed.  The  marble  statue  itself  will  be  placed  in  the  Central 
Hall  of  the  British  Museum  of  Natural  Science,  South  Kensington, 
near  the  statue  of  Darwin.  The  design  for  the  Royal  College  of 
Science  Medal  has  been  prepared  by  Mr.  L.  Bowcher,  and  the  dies 
are  now  being  executed.  Those  who  have  not  yet  contributed  to 
the  Fund  may  be  glad  to  be  reminded  that  donations  can  be  sent 
to  Messrs.  Robarts,  Lubbock  and  Co.,  15,  Lombard  Street,  E.C. 


A  Wave-Motor  is  the  latest  outcome  of  the  inventor’s  ingenuity, 
according  to  the  Daily  Mail.  This  new  economiser  of  the  world’s 
energy  is  described  as  consisting  of  a  cylindrical  tube  that  pro¬ 
trudes  a  few  feet  above  the  water-level  and  is  fixed  to  a  submerged 
plane,  together  with  a  cylindrical  buoy  surrounding  the  tube,  which 
floats  on  the  waves  and  has  a  pump  barrel  attached  to  it  below. 
Oscillation  of  the  buoy  up  and  down  the  tube  is  the  source  of 
power,  for  the  whole  apparatus  resembles  a  reversed  engine 
cylinder,  and  the  barrel  with  the  attached  buoy  is  guided  by  the 
fixed  piston-rod  or  tube  in  its  movement.  The  inventor,  Mr.  B. 
Morley  Fletcher,  C.E.,  of  Westminster,  is  said  to  have  tried  the 
apparatus  in  the  Thames  and  in  the  sea,  but  public  demonstrations 
are  promised  for  the  present  year.  The  main  value  of  the  motor 
is  stated  to  consist  in  the  fact  that  it  provides  a  point  of  resistance 
which  is  fixed  in  relation  to  the  vertical  motion  of  the  waves,  but 
varies  with  the  level  of  the  water  in  which  the  machine  floats  and 
its  horizontal  movement.  The  Morley -Fletcher  motor  will  certainly 
have  a  great  future  before  it,  if  it  realises  the  expectations  this 
announcement  raises. 


THE  WORhD  Op  PHARMACY. 

- - — ♦ - 

BUSINESS  MEETINGS. 


Pharmaceutical  Chemists’  and  Apothecaries’  Assist¬ 
ants’  Association  of  Ireland,  Friday,  January  8. — Mr.  W.  J. 

Hardy,  Vice-President,  in  the  chair. — A  debate  on  the  question 
Is  the  Preliminary  Examination  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  (Ireland)  a  Sufficient  Test  of  Preliminary 
Education  ? 

was  opened  by  Mr.  Harris,  who  said  the  preliminary  examination 
might  be  regarded  as  the  starting  point  of  the  chemist’s  profes¬ 
sional  career,  and  was  necessary  as  a  means  of  securing  a  certain 
standard  of  education  in  all  comers.  In  his  opinion  the  present, 
test  for  the  entrance  to  pharmacy  was  sufficiently  searching. — 
Mr.  Alister  said  that  now  the  cry  of  higher  education  was 
everywhere  being  raised  the  necessity  for  a  more  searching  pre¬ 
liminary  examination  for  pharmacists  became  apparent.  The- 
preliminary  examination  was  either  not  sufficiently  searching, 
or  those  who  got  through  must  have  set  themselves  to  unlearn 
what  they  had  already  learned.  Pharmacists  should  not  forget 
that  a  good  educatiori  was  the  foundation  of  a  boy’s  future 
successful  career.  Unhappily,  however,  it  seemed  as  if  the  wheels 
of  pharmaceutical  education  were  at  a  standstill,  and  that  things  in 
this  direction  instead  of  getting  better  were  going  from  bad  to 
worse. — Several  others  having  spoken,  the  Chairman,  in  putting  the 
question,  said  that  ten  years  ago  the  Pharmaceutical  Society’s 
examinations  were  of  a  much  lower  standard  than  at  present,  but 
the  Society  was  advancing  with  rapid  strides.  It  would  be  fatal 
to  pharmacy  if  all  its  followers  were  highly  educated  (sic),  astheeffect 
would  be  that  the  pharmacist  would  be  too  big  a  man  to  go  behind 
the  counter.  The  meeting  then  divided,  and  the  Chairman 
declared  amid  applause  that  the  negative  side  of  the  question  was 
carried  by  a  majority  of  five  votes. 


Liverpool  Chemists’  Association,  Thursday,  January  7. — 
Mr.  A.  C.  Abraham,  President,  in  the  chair. — Mr.  Glyn-Jones. 
attended  to  explain  the  programme  of  the 

Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association. 

At  the  outset  Mr.  Jones  ran  over  the  various  objections  made  by 
members  of  the  trade  to  the  P.A.T.A.  These  were  shortly  that 
the  business  in  proprietary  articles  was  an  excrescence  upon 
pharmacy  pure  and  simple,  and  could  very  well  be  allowed  to  drift 
away  from  it  to  the  benefit  of  pharmacy  generally,  and  that,  con¬ 
sequently,  to  support  the  P.A.T.A.  would  be  practically  deferring 
this  much  to  be  desired  consummation.  Secondly,  men  had  an 
objection  to  being  tied  down  in  their  methods  of  conducting  busi¬ 
ness,  and  wished  for  a  free  hand  in  their  trading.  To  the  first 
objection  he  would  say  that,  unfortunately,  the  houses  in  which 
this  ideal  pharmacy  was  or  could  be  practised  were  very  few  and 
far  between,  and  he  would  refer  objectors  on  this  score  to  the 
article  which  recently  appeared  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  on 
“  The  ‘  Pharmaceutical  Journal’  and  Changed  Ideals,”  from  which 
they  would  gather  that  pharmacy  pure  and  simple  could  scarcely 
be  said  to  exist.  If  those  who  were  in  the  enviable  position  of 
having  purely  dispensing  businesses  could  see  no  advantage  to  be 
got  out  of  the  P.A.T.A.  they  might  at  least  join  it  so  as  to  assist 
their  less  fortunate  brethren,  who  undoubtedly  formed  the  large 
majority  of  the  trade.  The  second  objection  was  met  by  the 
assurance  that  membership  of  the  P.A.T.A.  did  not  bind  chemists 
down  to  any  particular  price  or  profit,  it  simply  defined  the  minimum 
price  at  which  proprietors  were  willing  to  see  their  goods  sold.  A 
very  lucid  and  satisfactory  resume,  of  the  work  already  done  by  the 
Association,  and  its  future  programme  was  then  laid  before  the 
meeting  by  Mr.  Glyn-Jones,  who  said  that  what  they  would  do  in 
the  future  naturally  depended  on  the  manner  in  which  they  were 
supported  by  chemists,  and  to  enable  them  to  appeal  to  the  pro¬ 
prietary  medicine  makers  effectually  it  would  be  absolutely 
necessary  to  show  a  larger  proportion  of  the  trade  members 
of  their  Association  than  at  present,  for  out  of  some  8000 
chemists  in  business  only  about  1700  had  as  yet  joined. 
The  hardest  argument  against  the  Association  was  the  holding  back 
of  the  very  men  it  was  intended  to  benefit.  It  was  an  undoubted 
fact  that  proprietors  generally  could  quite  see  the  benefit  to  be 
derived  by  them  from  chemists  stocking  their  goods,  and  were 


JAN.  16,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


55 


beginning  to  perceive  the  truth  and  force  of  the  statement  that  it 
is  Better  to  sell  a  gross  of  an  article  divided  among  a  dozen  or  more 
chemists  scattered  over  a  large  area  of  country,  than  to  sell  it  to 
one  man  or  stores,  where  it  is  used  as  a  bait  for  a  time  to  draw 
other  custom  and  then  dropped.  Therest  of  Mr.  Jones’  speech  covered 
the  same  ground  as  other  speeches  that  have  been  reported  in  the 
Pharmaceutical  Journal  of  late. — After  some  remarks  by  the 
President,  who  said  Mr.  Jones  had  put  the  whole  affair  before  the 
meeting  in  a  very  satisfactory  manner,  Dr.  Symes  proceeded  to 
point  out  that  nothing  could  be  done  except  by  judicious 
combinations  as  far  as  cutting  was  concerned,  and  he  moved — 

"That  this  meeting  of  the  chemists  of  Liverpool  and  the  district  expresses 
its  hearty  approval  of  the  aims  and  objects  of  the  P.A.T.A.,  and  would 
urge  upon  all  proprietors  the  advisability  of  joining  it.” 

Mr.  J.  Smith  seconded  the  motion,  which  was  also  supported  by 
Mr.  T.  S.  W okes  and  others.  The  resolution  was  then  put  to  the 
meeting,  which  was  a  large  and  representative  one  numbering 
close  upon  eighty,  and  passed  unanimously.  Upon  the  pro¬ 
posal  of  Mr.  J.  Smith,  the  Liverpool  Chemists’  Association 
undertook  to  look  after  the  interests  of  the  P.A.T.A.  so  far  as  en¬ 
rolling  members  was  concerned,  and  many  were  forthwith  entered 
on  the  roll.  It  was  intimated  that  Messrs.  J.  Thompson,  the  well- 
known  Liverpool  wholesale  house,  had  joined  the  P.A.T.A.  A 
letter  was  read  from  Messrs.  Evans,  Sons  and  Co. ,  saying  that  the 
matter  was  one  in  the  hands  of  the  retailers  entirely,  and  there¬ 
fore  they  preferred  to  leave  it  to  them  to  decide  as  to  whether  they 
would  join  the  P.A.T.A  or  not. 


Liverpool  Pharmaceutical  Students’  Society,  Thurs¬ 
day,  January  7. — Mr.  Peirson,  Vice-President,  in  the  chair. — Mr. 
J ohn  Turcan  described  a 

“Tour  in  North  Wales” 

with  the  aid  of  lantern  illustrations,  most  of  which  had  been  made 
from  photographic  views  taken  by  the  lecturer  and  others  by  the 
President,  Mr.  John  Jones,  and  the  Treasurer,  Mr.  R.  H.  Mitchell. 
These  views  were  of  a  high  order,  and  embraced  scenes  in  Liver¬ 
pool— the  excursion  very  appropriately  being  supposed  to  start  from 
the  University  College,  of  which  some  fine  illustrations  were 
thrown  on  the  screen — the  Landing  Stage,  Chester,  and  then  down 
through  the  Vale  of  Clwyd,  Llangollen,  Bettwys-y-Coed,  and  the 
ascent  of  Snowdon. 


Glasgow  and  West  of  Scotland  Pharmaceutical 
Association,  Thursday,  January  7. — Mr.  W.  L.  Currie,  Presi¬ 
dent,  in  the  chair. — The  Hon.  Secretary,  Mr.  J.  Russell  Anderson, 
said  that  he  had  received  a  communication  from  Mr.  Wokes, 
Secretary  of  the  Federation  of  Local  Pharmaceutical  Associations, 
stating  that  it  had  been  thought  advisable  by  the  Executive  to 
ascertain  the  opinions  of  the  members  of  the  affiliated  associations 
regarding  the  objects  of  the  P.A.T.A.,  and  enclosing  a  circular  on 
the  subject.  The  circular  contained  nothing  but  what  they  were 
all  familiar  with,  and  as  they  had  had  these  matters  under  dis¬ 
cussion  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Wokes  intimating  their  decision.  Perhaps 
it  would  be  well  for  him  (the  Secretary),  on  account  of  insinuations 
which  had  been  thrown  out  in  regard  to  this  matter,  and  bearing 
on  their  own  Association  particularly,  to  say  what  was  the  actual 
state  of  matters.  He  got  a  note  from  Mr.  Glyn-Jones,  asking  him 
to  call  a  meeting  of  the  Association,  about  the  same  date  as 
one  in  Edinburgh.  That  note  was  laid  before  the  Council  of  the 
Association,  who  decided  to  leave  the  P.A.T.A.  to  call  its  own 
meeting.  He  wrote  Mr.  Jones  to  that  effect,  and  when  a  meeting  was 
held  in  Edinburgh,  he  came  to  Glasgow  to  make  inquiries.  Mr. 
Jones  called  on  Mr.  Currie,  and  at  his  request  the  matter  was 
again  laid  before  a  meeting  of  the  Council,  which  adhered  to  its 
former  decision.  He  intimated  that  to  Mr.  Jones  officially,  and 
also  sent  a  private  note,  indicating  what  were  the  reasons  of  the 
members  of  Council  for  not  agreeing  to  call  the  meeting — 
namely,  that  they  should  do  nothing  which  would  make 
them  appear  as  identifying  themselves  with  the  P.A.T.A.  At  the 
same  time  he  told  Mr.  Jones  that  he  would  be  very  pleased  to  let 
him  have  the  use  of  the  lists  of  names  and  addresses  in  his  pos¬ 
session,  if  they  would  be  of  any  service  to  him.  He  had  received 
no  acknowledgment  of  that  letter  which  he  wrote  during  the  recess. 
At  the  first  meeting  of  this  session  Mr.  Moir  gave  notice  of 
motion.  It  had  been  suggested  that  they  should  have  had  a 
representative  of  the  P.A.T.A.  present,  but  that  would  have 
been  ridiculous,  seeing  that  the  motion  arose  from  one  of 


their  own  members,  and  was  discussed  by  their  own  members 
— Mr.  Currie  said  he  was  very  much  surprised  at  the  action 
which  was  likely  to  result  from  their  last  meeting.  He  had  been 
informed  that  the  P.A.T.A.  intended  to  hold  a  meeting  in  Glasgow 
the  following  week,  but,  so  far  as  he  knew,  no  member  of  that 
Association  had  received  notice  of  it.  He  thought  it  rather  un¬ 
fortunate  that  the  P.A.T.A.  should  have  adopted  this  mode  of 
procedure. — The  Secretary  stated  that  the  number  of  members 
on  the  roll  at  present  was  185,  which,  he  believed,  was  the  largest 
membership  of  any  local  association  in  Great  Britain. — Mr.  James 
Robb  then  read  a  paper  on  “Botany  as  a  Recreation,”  for  which  he 
was  awarded  a  hearty  vote  of  thanks. 


Exeter  Association  of  Chemists  and  Druggists,  Satur¬ 
day,  January  9. — Alderman  H.  Gadd,  J.P. ,  President,  in  the 
chair. — The  Chairman  said  he  thought  it  would  be  wise  if  fresh 
officers  were  elected  year  by  year,  because  members  would  thus  be 
induced  to  take  greater  interest  in  the  Association.  He  therefore 
proposed  that  Mr.  J.  H.  Lake  be  elected  President  for  the  ensuing 
year. — Mr.  E.  Lemmon  seconded  the  resolution,  which  was  carried 
unanimously,  and  Mr.  Lake,  in  acknowledging  the  compliment, 
testified  to  the  able  services  rendered  by  Mr.  Gadd  as  President, 
and  said  that,  as  his  successor,  he  should  be  very  pleased  to  do  his 
best  to  further  the  interests  of  the  Association. — Mr.  F.  P.  Rowsell 
moved  that  Mr.  H.  Gadd  be  elected  Vice-President  for  the  ensuing 
year,  this  being  seconded  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Lake,  and  carried  unani¬ 
mously,  Mr.  Gadd  returning  thanks. — On  the  motion  of  Mr.  Lemmon, 
seconded  by  Mr.  Bartlett  (Heavitree),  Mr.  Rowsell  was  re-elected 
Honorary  Secretary  for  the  ensuing  year,  and  thanked  for  his 
past  services.  Mr.  Rowsell  presented  a  statement  of  accounts, 
which  was  passed,  and  the  following  were  elected  as  the  Com¬ 
mittee  for  the  ensuing  year : — Messrs.  Stone,  Reid,  Bartlett, 
Lemmon,  H.  W.  Gadd,  and  Milton.  The  meeting  next  proceeded 
to  consider  the  advisability  of  holding  a  supper. — The  Chairman 
said  it  was  proposed  to  hold  a  supper  with  the  object  of  getting 
the  chemists  of  the  district  together,  and  to  advocate  the  advantages 
of  the  pharmaceutical  classes  which  had  recently  been  started  at  the 
Technical  College  at  the  Museum.  They  had  a  laboratory  second 
almost  to  none,  teachers  most  efficient,  and  classes  for  every  branch 
of  pharmaceutical  science,  and  it  was  hoped  to  send  young  men 
from  the  College  to  London  to  pass  their  examination.  He  was 
pleased  to  say  that  nearly  all  the  chemists  of  the  city  had  promised 
to  attend  the  supper,  and  it  was  proposed  to  invite  chemists  from 
towns  in  the  district. — Mr.  J.  H.  Lake  thought  that  if  they  held 
a  supper  it  would  be  an  opportunity  for  the  re-union  of  the  chemists 
of  Exeterand  the  neighbourhood,  and  would  be  in  many  respectsmost 
desirable.  He  therefore  proposed  that  a  supper  be  held  on  Friday  the 
29th  instant. — Mr.  Lemmon  seconded  the  resolution,  which  was 
unanimously  agreed  to.  A  small  sub-committee  was  appointed 
to  make  the  necessary  arrangements,  and  it  was  proposed  to  invite 
the  Mayor  and  Sheriff  to  attend. — Mr.  Lake  proposed  that  the  best 
thanks  of  the  meeting  be  given  to  Mr.  Gadd  for  the  services  he 
had  rendered  in  the  past  as  President,  and  also  for  his  generosity 
in  supplying  specimens  for  the  materia  medica  cabinet  which  was 
recently  placed  in  the  Technical  College.  The  resolution  was 
carried  by  acclamation,  and  Mr.  Gadd  having  returned  thanks, 
the  meeting  terminated. 


Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Ireland. — Preliminary  Exami¬ 
nation  .-—The  following  have  passed  :  J.  Sullivan,  J.  O’Donoghue, 
A.  N.  Rogers,  P.  J.  Fleming  (F.  M‘Caughey  and  J.  Marks  equal), 
T.  Lynch  (J.  W.  Fenton  and  P.  F.  Smith  equal),  J.  H.  Corken, 
D.  Chambers,  C.  B.  Johnston,  J.  Guinan,  C.  E.  Warner,  E.  E. 
Wolfe.  Thirteen  candidates  were  rejected. 


Midland  Pharmaceutical  Association,  Tuesday,  January 
12. — Mr.  R.  Darton  Gibbs,  President,  in  the  chair. — Mr.  J.  F. 
Liverseege  read  a  paper  dealing  with  the  report  of  the  Select  Com¬ 
mittee  of  the  House  of  Commons  on — 

Food  Products. 

Referring  to  the  parts  of  the  report  of  the  Select  Committee  re¬ 
lating  to  drugs,  Mr.  Liverseege  said  he  thought  the  report  con¬ 
tained  much  information  which  should  interest  the  trade.  Speak¬ 
ing  of  the  proposed  Court  of  References,  he  said  the  statement 
that  public  analysts  desired  it  for  the  purpose  of  their  professional 
standing  was  without  foundation.  They  desired  to  know  what  to 
call  adulterated  and  what  to  call  genuine.  One  thing 
in  connection  with  the  recommendation  puzzled  him,  for 


56 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


’[Jan.  16.  1897 


in  no  way  was  that  court  spoken  of  with  regard  to  drugs.  It 
was  spoken  of  with  regard  to  food,  but  not  drugs.  On  the  whole, 
however,  he  felt  that  in  some  directions  the  alterations  suggested 
by  the  Committee  would  be  valuable,  but  in  other  directions  con¬ 
siderable  modifications  would  be  required  to  make  the  altera¬ 
tions  acceptable  to  the  trade  and  the  Society  of  Public  Analysts. 
— The  Chairman  said  that  the  proposal  by  the  Society  of  Public 
Analysts  to  step  outside  their  ordinary  duties  to  offer  the  world  a  cer¬ 
tain  amount  of  protection  was  a  matter  that  was  open  to  considerable 
criticism.  He  thought  itwas  an  unfortunate  thing  that  an  Act  of  Par¬ 
liament  intended  for  the  protection  of  the  public  against  adultera¬ 
tion  should  have  mixed  up  two  matters  of  so  dissimilar  a  character  as 
food  and  drugs.  No  one  could  object  to  the  proposed  Court  of  Re¬ 
ference,  if  it  was  properly  and  fairly  constituted. — Mr.  J.  Poole 
said  that  he  would  like  to  see  retailers  represented  on  the  Court  of 
Reference. — Mr.  Jarvis  said  that  many  chemists  bought  drugs 
believing  they  were  pure,  and  by  not  testing  them  fell  into  error. 
He  thought  before  a  prosecution  followed  the  visit  of  the  inspector 
the  seller  should  be  warned  that  a  certain  article  was  not  in  accord¬ 
ance  with  the  analyst’s  standard,  and  that  would  enable  him  to 
avoid  a  repetition  of  the  offence. — Mr.  J.  Barclay  thought 
at  least  half  of  the  difficulties  which  arose  between  public 
analysts  and  traders  were  due  to  ignorance  'on  the  part  of 
public  analysts  of  the  pharmacist’s  business.  The  analyst  might 
have  a  good  knowledge  of  chemistry,  but  he  was  in  many  cases 
entirely  ignorant  of  pharmacy. — Mr.  F.  H.  Alcock,  Mr.  Spilsbury, 
Mr.  Poole,  and  other  members  also  took  part  in  the  discussion. 

Midland  Pharmaceutical  Association  (Trade  Com¬ 
mittee),  Friday,  January  8. — It  was  resolved  that  in  the  matter 
of  the  Bradford  Chemists’  Association  and  the  Charles  A.  Yogeler 
Co.  it  was  to  be  regretted  that  the  company,  whilst  writing  in  the 
following  terms — 

“  We  consider  ourselves  in  a  measure  in  the  hands  of  the  majority  of  dealers  in 
proprietary  medicines,  and  it  is  our  intention  and  desire  to  study  the 
interest  of  the  majority,” 

did  not  see  that  this  interest  is  best  studied  by  fixing  a  living 
profit  on  the  firm’s  goods.  It  was  also  regretted  that  the  company 
should  have  issued  a  circular  at  Bradford  so  inimical  to  the 
interests  of  the  majority  of  chemists,  and  agreed  that  unless  some 
more  favourable  move  were  made,  it  might  be  necessary  for  the 
Committee  to  suggest  to  the  members  of  the  Association  the 
advisability  of  discontinuing  to  stock  the  company’s  articles. 


SOCIAL  MEETINGS- 

Plymouth,  Devonport,  Stonehouse  and  District 
Chemists’  Association,  Friday,  January  8. — The  annual 
pharmacy  ball  was  held  at  the  Town  Hall,  Stonehouse,  and  proved 
a  brilliant  success,  over  two  hundred  spending  a  most  enjoyable 
evening.  Brock’s  noted  band  was  in  attendance,  and  the  catering 
was  satisfactorily  carried  out  by  Messrs.  Matthews  and  Co. 
Amongst  those  who  accepted  invitations  were  the  Mayor  of  Devon  - 

Sort,  Chairman  Stonehouse  District  Council,  C.  Harrison,  Esq., 
I.P.,  H.  E.  Kearley,  Esq.,  M.P.,  and  E.  J.  C.  Morton,  Esq., 
M.P.  The  following  committee  arranged  the  same  : — Messrs. 
G.  Breeze,  J.P.,  J.  Harvey  Bailey,  H.  C.  Cantle,  James  Cocks, 
G.  H.  W.  Green,  J.  R.  Johnson,  C.  T.  Park,  J.  H.  B.  Swainson. 
J.  D.  Turney,  W.  H.  Woods,  and  F.  Maitland,  Hon.  Sec.,  the 
latter  deserving  the  greatest  credit  for  the  success  of  the  evening 
by  his  energetic  enthusiasm. 

Brighton  Junior  Association  of  Pharmacy,  Wednesday, 
January  6.— Mr.  T.  Little  in  the  chair. — This  meeting  was  of  a 
“musical  and  social”  character,  and  a  large  number  attended. 
A  capital  programme  was  well  rendered,  and  the  evening  proved 
a  most  enjoyable  one.  Votes  of  thanks  to  the  chairman  and 
artistes  concluded  the  proceedings. 


Turpentine  for  Burns. — In  the  New  York  Medical  Record 
Maclnnes  states  that  oil  of  turpentine  applied  to  a  burn  of  the 
first,  second  or  third  degree  will  at  once  relieve  the  pain,  and 
promote  rapid  healing.  A  thin  layer  of  absorbent  cotton  is  placed 
over  the  burn,  and  this  is  saturated  with  the  turpentine,  what  is  lost 
by  evaporation  being  replaced.  Where  large  blisters  are  formed 
these  are  opened  on  the  second  or  third  day.  The  turpentine 
should  be  kept  off  the  healthy  skin  if  possible,  as  sometimes  it 
gives  rise  to  pain. — B.  M.  J.  Epit .,  2/96/56. 


LEGAL  INTELLIGENCE. 


The  Vegetable  Ointment  Case. 

In  the  Court  of  Session,  on  January  6,  the  judges  of  the  Second 
Division  gave  judgment  in  the  reclaiming  note  by  the  com- 
plainers  in  the  action  by  William  Mathieson,  Elsbank,  Inverleith 
Place,  Edinburgh,  Alexander  Porteous,  leather  merchant,  Rose 
Street,  Edinburgh,  and  other  members  of  the  Porteous  Vegetable 
Ointment  Company  against  Archibald  Porteous,  carrying  on 
business  at  33,  Ann  Street,  Glasgow.  The  complainers  sought  te 
have  the  respondent  interdicted  from  manufacturing  or  selling 
any  ointment  as  Porteous  Vegetable  Ointment,  or  using  that 
designation  on  labels  or  invoices.  Alexander  Porteous,  who  sold 
the  recipe  of  the  ointment  to  the  Company  for  £1000,  held  that 
when  he  acquired  the  goodwill  of  his  father’s  business  of  leather 
merchant  the  recipe  for  the  ointment  was  included  in  it,  and  that 
he  had  been  the  only  one  who  had  manufactured  it.  The  re¬ 
spondent,  who  is  a  brother  of  Alexander  Porteous,  averred  that 
the  recipe  belonged  to  no  particular  member  of  the  family,  and 
that  the  ointment  had  been  manufactured  by  several  of  them.  In 
the  Outer  House  Lord  Kincairney  refused  interdict,  but  held  that 
the  respondent  had  no  right  to  represent  himself  as  the  sole  maker. 

On  this  occasion  their  Lordships  adhered  to  the  Lord  Ordinary’s 
decision. 

The  Lord  Justice  Clerk  said  the  proof  in  the  case  satisfied  him 
that  whatever  was  the  origin  of  this  ointment,  the  name  of 
Porteous  Vegetable  Ointment  had  come  down  from  an  early  period 
through  certain  members  of  the  family  of  Porteous,  and  he  was 
satisfied  that  there  had  never  been  any  exclusive  right  on  the  part 
of  any  individual  member  of  the  family  to  the  use  of  that  name 
so  that  at  the  present  time  they  could  say  that  they  and  nobody 
else  could  use  it.  He  was  satisfied  that  the  ointment  had  been 
made  by  others  than  those  from  whom  the  complainers  had  re¬ 
ceived  their  title,  and  had  been  sold  by  them  from  time  to  time 
for  a  considerable  period  of  years.  Even  the  member  of  the  family 
from  whom  the  complainers  had  derived  their  title  had  not  shown 
that  he  had  the  sole  right  either  to  the  manufacture  or  sale  of  the 
ointment  under  that  name. 

Lord  Young,  commenting  on  the  question  of  who  had  been  in 
possession  of  or  was  entitled  to  the  original  recipe,  said  he  did 
not  think  it  could  possibly  be  of  importance  to  anyone  except  a. 
collector  of  old  documents. 

Interdict  was  therefore  refused,  and  the  '  respondent  was  found 
entitled  to  additional  expenses. 

Theft  from  a  Chemist. — At  the  Somerset  Quarter  Sessions 
held  at  Taunton  on  Wednesday,  January  6,  Lawrence  Hooper, 
aged  20,  described  as  a  printer,  of  Weston-super-Mare,  was 
indicted  for  having  stolen  £10  belonging  to  Mr.  William  Henry 
Webb,  chemist,  his  master,  at  Weston-super-Mare  on  August  17.— 
Prisoner  pleaded  guilty,  and  also  acknowledged  a  previous  convic¬ 
tion  for  felony. — Mr.  Metcalfe  prosecuted. — On  August  17  last  the 
prisoner  was  in  the  employ  of  the  prosecutor  as  a  porter,  and  on 
that  date  Mr.  Webb  sent  him  to  get  a  cheque  of  the  value  of  £10’ 
cashed  at  the  Wilts  and  Dorset  Bank.  As  Hooper  failed  to  return 
he  sent  to  the  Bank,  and  learnt  that  the  prisoner  had  cashed  the 
cheque.  Information  was  given  to  the  police,  and  Sergeant 
Richardson  subsequently  arrested  the  prisoner. — A  sentence  of  six 
weeks’  imprisonment  with  hard  labour  was  passed. 


Spirit  of  Nitrous  Ether. — On  January  4,  Mr.  Lemon, 
High  Street,  Whitechapel,  described  as  a  chemist  but  not 
registered  as  such,  was  summoned  at  Worship  Street  Police 
Court  for  selling  spirit  of  nitrous  ether  deficient  in  strength. 
Defendant  pleaded  guilty,  and  in  explanation  said  that  the 
spirit  depreciated  every  time  the  stopper  was  taken  from 
the  bottle,  and  also  by  long  keeping.  He  had  had  the 
spirit  from  which  the  inspector  was  supplied  since  April  last, 
and  all  the  summer  there  was  not  much  sale  for  it. — Mr.  Corser 
said  there  was  no  suggestion  of  adulteration,  and  under  the 
circumstances  he  thought  that  if  the  defendant  paid  the  costs — 
12s.  6 d. — the  summons  might  be  withdrawn.  — The  defendant  at 
once  paid  the  costs. 

How  Teetotal  Drinks  are  Made.  — At  the  Sheffield  Police  Court, 
on  Jan.  5,  two  shopkeepers  were  charged  with  selling  so-called  tee¬ 
total  drinks  which  contained  more  than  2  per  cent,  of  proof  spirit. 
In  the  first  case  taken  the  evidence  was  to  the  effect  that  one  of  the 


Jan.  16,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


57 


aissistant  supervisors  of  Excise  bought  a  bottle  of  herb  beer,  \yhich 
was  found  to  contain  4  3  per  cent,  of  proof  spirit,  and  a  bottle  of 
•ginger  beer,  which  contained  4  per  cent.  In  support  of  the  prose¬ 
cution  evidence  was  given  by  Mr.  C.  H.  Barge,  of  Somerset 
House,  showing  that  the  herb  beer  contained  a  saccharine  value 
of  1034  ‘28,  and  the  ginger  beer  a  saccharine  value  of  1029  22. 
Home  of  the  ordinary  beer  sent  out,  said  Mr.  Barge,  and  sold  in 
public  houses  contained  very  little  more  spirit  than  the  samples. 
In  'both  prosecutions  the  defendants  were  fined  10*. ,  and  theBench 
promised  more  severe  treatment  to  other  offenders. 


Tincture  of  Rhubarb. — Edward  Chambers,  grocer,  Soughton, 
was  summoned  at  the  Northop  Petty  Sessions,  on  Thursday, 
December  31,  for  selling  adulterated  tincture  of  rhubarb. — Supt. 
John  Jvor  Davies  stated  that  on  December  4  he  purchased  three 
ounces  of  tincture  of  rhubarb  from  defendant’s  shop,  for  which 
he  paid  Is.  3d.  He  divided  it  into  three  parts,  one  of  which  he  sent 
to  the  public  analyst,  who  certified  that  the  sample  contained 
25  per  cent,  of  added  water,  and  that  there  was  no  saffron  in  the 
tincture  as  there  should  have  been. — -  Defendant  said  he  was 
ignorant  of  the  adulteration,  and  that  his  wife  bought  the 
tincture  from  Mr..  Barker,  chemist,  Mold. — Fined  1 8*.  9 d.,  includ¬ 
ing  costs. 


POISONING  CASES  AND  INQUESTS. 


Some  Liniment  was  taken  by  Mary  Ann  Woods,  of  Norwich, 
-causing  her  death.  Five  years  previously  she  had  made  an 
unsuccessful  attempt  to  poison  herself.  At  the  inquest  the  medical 
evidence  showed  that  a  fluid  extracted  from  the  deceased’s  stomach 
resembled  a  liniment  contained  in  a  bottle  labelled  as  coming  from 
the  Medical  Institute.  It  was  not  in  a  special  poison  bottle.  The 
jury  found  “That  deceased  committed  suicide  by  taking  poison 
whilst  in  an  unsound  state  of  mind.” 


Chlorodyne  was  purchased  by  Mary  E.  Palmer  from  a  chemist 
at  Folkestone,  after  quarrelling  with  a  lady  friend.  She  then 
went  to  the  rocks  near  the  harbour  and  deposited  her  hat,  tippet, 
gloves,  and  the  chlorodyne  bottle  on  the  rocks,  where  they  were 
found  next  morning.  Later  the  body  was  discovered  between  the 
rocks.  Evidence  was  given  to  the  effect  that  deceased  was  in  the 
habit  of  taking  ehlorodyne  for  heart  affection,  and  that  there 
was  a  severe  blow  over  the  right  eye,  caused  before  death, 
probably  by  a  fall  on  the  rock,  sufficient  to  render  her  insensible 
.and  to  remain  under  the  water  until  suffocated.  A  verdict  of 
“  Found  drowned”  was  returned. 


Morphine,  taken  by  Isabella  Wedge,  the  widow  of  a  chemist 
formerly  carrying  on  business  in  Queen  Street,  Wolverhampton, 
was  the  cause  of  her  death,  which  occurred  on  December  5,  1896. 
An  analysis  of  the  stomach  revealed  traces  of  morphine  poisoning. 
After  medical  evidence  had  been  given  as  to  the  condition  of  the 
deceased  at  the  time  of  taking  the  poison,  a  verdict  was  returned 
that  ‘  ‘  Death  was  due  to  morphine  poisoning,  but  there  was  no  evi¬ 
dence  to  show  under  what  circumstances  the  morphine  was  taken.” 

An  Embrocation  was  taken  in  mistake  for  medicine  by  Samuel 
Thickett,  at  Bradford,  on  January  6.  A  police  constable  at  once 
rendered  first  aid,  and  administered  the  necessary  emetics,  and 
the  man  soon  recovered. 


Overdose  of  Chlorodyne. — On  Friday,  January  8,  an  inquest 
was  held  with  respect  to  the  death  of  Alfred  William  Salmon,  18, 
draper’s  apprentice,  Newport.  Evidence  was  given  to  the  effect 
that  deceased  complained  of  toothache  on  the  previous  day  and 
had  purchased  a  2*.  bottle  of  chlorodyne,  containing  three  ounces, 
from  a  chemist.  There  were  full  directions  as  to  its  use  on  the 
bottle,  and  he  was  twice  warned  not  to  take  more  than  15  drops  as 
a  dose.  The  next  morning  he  was  found  lying  in  bed  uncon¬ 
scious,  and  quite  two  ounces  had  gone  from  the  bottle,  which 
was  properly  labelled  “Poison.”  The  Coroner  said  he  thought 
chlorodyne  should  be  one  of  the  medicines  to  be  sold  as  a  poison, 
but  it  was  not  on  the  list  ;*  evidently  deceased  had  inadvertently 
taken  an  overdose  to  relieve  his  pain.  No  blame  attached  to 
-anyone.  The  jury  agreed,  and  returned  a  verdict  accordingly. 

This  is  another  instance  of  insufficient  knowledge  on  the  part  of  a  Coroner, 
■  as  chlorodyne  contains  a  scheduled  poison,  and  must  therefore  be  sold  under 
the  same  conditions  as  a  schedu  ed  poison.— [Ed.,  Ph.  /.] 


A  correspondent,  referring  to  this  case,  raises  the  question  whether 
the  young  man  would  have  taken  so  large  a  dose  had  he  not 
obtained  so  much  at  such  a  low  price. 


Sulphuric  Acid  for  Brandy. — Thomas  Ward,  54,  a  retired 
farmer,  of  117,  Wilton  Road,  Sparkhill,  after  being  a  total  abstainer 
for  twelve  months,  commenced  the  new  year  by  drinking  brandy 
to  an  extent  not  good  for  him,  with  the  result  that  on  Wednesday 
morning,  January  6,  he  told  his  wife  he  had  taken  poison  in  mis¬ 
take  for  brandy.  Dr.  Treston,  who  attended,  found  the  man  in  a 
most  serious  condition,  death  taking  place  at  11.30  a.m.  A  bottle 
bearing  the  words  ‘  ‘  Sulphuric  Acid  :  Poison  ”  was  produced  at 
the  inquest,  as  having  been  identified  by  deceased  prior  to  his 
death  as  the  bottle  from  which  he  had  taken  a  quantity  of  liquor, 
believing  it  to  contain  brandy.  P.  S.  Harrison  described  the 
shelves  on  which  a  number  of  bottles  containing  deceased’s  horse  oils 
and  a  bottle  of  brandy  were  found,  and  pointed  out  that  the  bottle 
in  which  the  acid  was  found  had  a  screw-stopper,  which  was  not 
the  case  with  the  brandy  bottle.  The  Coroner  thought  it  an  ex¬ 
traordinary  thing  that  a  man  should  mistake  one  bottle  for  the 
other,  but  it  was  possible  that  deceased  had  drunk  himself  into 
such  a  condition  as  not  to  know  what  he  was  doing.  “  Poisoned 
by  misadventure  ”  was  the  verdict. 


NEW  IDEAS. 

[ Inventors  and  manufacturers  are  invited  to  submit  specimens  of 
novelties,  descriptive  notices  of  which  will  be  inserted  for  the  tnjorma- 
tion  of  readers  of  the  Journal.  Whenever  possible,  illustrative  blocks 
adapted  to  the  width  of  the  Journal  columns  should  accompany  the 
particulars  sent.  Address  :  Editorial  Department ,  17,  Bloomsbury 
Square,  W.C.j 


MORE  NEW  TABLOIDS. 

The  more  recent  additions  to  Messrs.  Burroughs,  Wellcome, 
and  Co.’s  list  of  tabloids  include  codeine  tabloids,  each  containing 
§  grain  of  the  pure  alkaloid ;  tabloids  of  mercury  with  chalk  and 
opium,  each  containing  1  grain  of  grey  powder,  and  f  grain 
of  opium ;  tabloids  of  blue  and  compound  rhubarb  pills, 
containing  equal  quantities  of  blue  pill  and  compound  ^lubarb 
pill ;  compound  iridin  tabloids,  prepared  according  to  the  follow¬ 
ing  formula:  ft  Iridin,  gr.  2;  ext.  hyoscy. ,  gr.  £  ;  pil.  rhei  co., 
gr-  4;  compound  colchicuna  tabloids,  each  containing  1  grain  of 
acetic  extract  of  colchicum  and  1|  grain  salicylic  acid  ;  pepsin  and 
strychnine  tabloids,  first  formula  :  ft  Pepsin,  gr.  1 ;  strych.  sulph., 
gr.  Y4- ;  second  formula  :  Ijf  Pepsin,  gr.  1  ;  bism.  subcarb. ,  gr.  3 ; 
strych.  sulph.,  gr.  x4- 


AN  EXTRACT  OF  VEGETABLES. 

The  preparation  known  as  “Fromm’s  Extract”  is  claimed 
to  be  made  entirely  from  vegetable  substances  which, 
after  being  ground  to  powder  and  mixed,  are  treated  by 
special  machinery  into  which  steam  is  introduced ;  a  vacuum 
is  then  created,  and  all  waste  materials  drawn  off,  leaving 
the  extract  an  absolutely  pure  nutrient.  The  whole  of 
the  process  is  effected  by  machinery,  none  of  the  material  being 
touched  by  hand  from  the  time  it  is  introduced  into  the  grinding 
rollers  until  the  extract  is  delivered  from  the  last  one  ready  for  use. 
The  extract  has  a  very  similar  appearance  to  that  of  meat  extract, 
and  is  used  in  the  same  way  ;  it  is  appetising,  of  agreeable  taste 
and  smell,  and  a  small  quantity  added  to  soups,  gravies,  jellies, 
sauces,  hashes,  stews,  ragouts,  etc.,  greatly  improves  their  flavour, 
digestibility,  and  nutritive  value.  A  small  quantity  of  the  extract 
added  to  water  which  has  ceased  to  boil,  makes  a  most  nourishing 
soup  or  bouillon,  and  forms  a  valuable  resource  in  all  cases  of  ex¬ 
treme  debility,  as  it  is  most  palatable,  and  very  easily  digested. 
Analytical  reports  show  that  the  extract  is  very  rich  in  flesh¬ 
forming  constituents,  fat,  phosphates,  chlorides,  etc.,  part  of 
the  nitrogenous  matter  being  in  the  form  of  peptone  and  albu- 
mose,  whilst  the  digestive  ratio  of  the  food  stuffs  present  is 
exceedingly  high.  It  seems  therefore  not  too  much  to  claim  that  the 
extract  is  “a  most  nourishing  article  of  diet,  easily  digested,  and 
forming  a  food  of  the  utmost  value  and  palatability.”  It  is 
supplied  in  jars  and  bottles  to  retail  at  7 \d.,  1*.  1  d.,  and  2s.,  whilst 
it  is  also  manufactured  in  conjunction  with  all  kinds  of  food  for 
the  purpose  of  increasing  their  nutritive  and  digestive  value, 
including  Fromm’s  soup  tablets  (various),  infants’  lacteal  food, 
baking  flour,  bread,  biscuits,  etc.,  and  all  kinds  of  anti-diabetic 
preparations.  The  preparations  are  supplied  wholesale  only  by 
Fromm’s  Extract  Company,  61£>  Fore  Street,  London,  E.C. 


58 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  16,  1897 


EXTRACTS  FROM  CONSULAR  REPORTS- 


Cultivation  of  Medicinal  Herbs  and  Plants. — The  consular 
report  for  November  on  the  Agriculture  of  the  District  of  Batoum 
states  that  an  enterprising  gentleman  came  from  Russia  Proper 
about  a  year  ago  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  experiments  in 
the  cultivation  of  medicinal  herbs  and  plants  in  the  Caucasus,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  procure  volatile  oils.  Pending  the  receipt  of 
the  required  permission  from  Government  for  carrying  out  his 
proposed  undertaking,  he  made  researches  in  every  direction  for 
this  class  of  plants,  and  his  labour,  according  to  the  Caucasian 
agricultural  newspaper,  has  been  crowned  with  great  success,  he 
having  discovered  a  large  variety  of  herbs  which  possess  important 
healing  properties,  the  result  being  that  he  has  received  large 
orders  from  many  Russian  firms  of  druggists.  With  a  view  to 
encouraging  the  cultivation  of  the  castor-oil  plant,  the  Imperial 
Bank  has  been  authorised  to  make  advances,  at  all  its  branches,  on 
the  seed  of  this  plant. 


Otto  of  Roses. — Mr.  Vice-Consul  Wratislaw,  reporting  on  the 
trade  of  Eastern  Rouiiielia,  says  it  is  probable  that  more  land  will 
be  put  under  rose  cultivation  as  the  production  of  grain  becomes 
less  and  less  remunerative.  But  it  is  highly  necessary  that  Govern¬ 
ment  or  other  supervision  should  be  instituted  in  order  to  insure 
the  purity  of  the  otto  exported,  or  European  buyers  would  fight 
shy  of  the  Bulgarian  article.  ‘  ‘  Pure  ”  otto  was  offered  last  year  by 
certain  firms  at  Kezanlik  and  Karlovo  for  1200  fr.  per  kilo. ,  about 
200  fr.  less  than  what  producers  asked  merchants  for  the  un¬ 
adulterated  article. 


Olives. — Consul  Hearn,  in  his  report  for  November  on  the  agri¬ 
culture  and  vintage  of  Cadiz,  says  the  cultivation  of  olives  is  the 
most  important  branch  of  the  agricultural  wealth  of  the  distr  ict. 
The  collection  of  this  crop  has  just  finished,  and  the  result  is  most 
deplorable.  The  olives  are  all  worm-eaten  and  useless  for  pickling 
or  anything  else.  Last  year’s  crop  of  Queen’s  olives  was  estimated 
at  2,250,000  gallons,  and  it  is  not  expected  that  this  one  will  give 
over  30,000  gallons  of  sound  fruit.  The  gathering  and  preserving 
of  the  oil-producing  olives  (Manzanilla)  do  not  commence  till  the 
end  of  November,  and  the  result  is  certain  to  be  analogous  to  that 
of  the  eating  olives  (Queen’s). 


Mexican  Imports  and  Exports.  —  Consul  Carden,  in  his 
Annual  Commercial  Report  on  the  trade  of  Mexico,  states  that  the 
imports  of  chemical  products  show  a  larger  proportionate  increase 
in  1895  as  compared  with  1894  than  any  other  group  of  articles,  the 
value  returned  being  £304,000,  as  against  £227,000,  a  difference  of 
34  per  cent.  In  this  trade  England  has  only  a  very  small  share, 
under  10  per  cent.  The  United  States  supply  nearly  one-half,  and 
the  remainder  is  furnished  by  France,  and,  in  a  lesser  degree,  by 
Germany.  The  exports  of  dye-woods  from  Mexico  amounted  in 
1895  to  93,936  tons,  valued  at  £250,874,  as  against  70,169  tons, 
valued  at  £183,600  in  1894.  About  50  per  cent,  of  the  total  exports 
of  dye-woods  goes  to  England,  about  20  per  cent,  each  to  France 
and  Germany,  and  the  remainder  to  the  United  States.  The 
exports  of  vanilla  have  increased  very  notably  in  the  past  year, 
the  returns  for  1895  showing  a  value  of  £135,330  against  £86,449.’ 
for  1894.  The  whole  crop,  with  the  exception  of  a  very  small 
amount  sent  to  France,  is  exported  to  the  United  States.  The 
New  York  quotations  show  an  average  price  of  vanilla  throughout 
the  year  1895  of  from  5  to  8  dol.  gold  (£1  to  £1  12s.)  per  lb.,  ac¬ 
cording  to  quality.  The  export  price  as  given  in  the  Mexican 
official  returns  would  appear,  therefore,  to  be  low,  being  at  the 
rate  of  little  more  than  16s.  per  lb. 


i  British  Trade  in  Bulgaria.— Mr.  McGregor,  British  Consul  at 
Sofia,  in  his  report  for  November  says,  another  article  which  was 
formerly  supplied  by  the  United  Kingdom,  to  the  exclusion  of  all 
other  countries,  but  which  now  comes  entirely  from  Austria,  is 
indigo,  and  the  only  reason  that  can  be  suggested  for  this  change 
is  the  want  of  readiness  on  the  part  of  British  houses  to  meet  the 
requirements  of,  or  even  to  enter  into  relations  with,  would-be 
customers. 


NEW  REMEDIES. 


[ The  notes  given  under  this  heading  embody  recent  suggestions  in 
therapeutics.  They  cover  both  new  drugs  and  preparations,  and  old  ones 
under  new  aspects.  The  word  “  parts  ”  is  used  to  represent  parts  by 
weight,  both  for  solids  and  liquids.'] 

Atropine  in  Diphtheria. — Elsaesser  strongly  recommends 
atropine  in  the  treatment  of  diphtheria,  after  testing  its  action  in 
350  cases.  The  prescription  he  employs  is 

R  Atropini  sulfurici . . .  3  milligrammes. 

Cocaini  hydrochlorici .  5  centigrammes. 

Aquas  amygdal.  arnar .  20  grammes. 

M.D.S.— Every  hour  a  drop  for  every  year  of  the  child’s  age. 

For  adults  he  recommends  10-15  drops,  according  to  the  constitu¬ 
tion  and  state  of  the  disease.  He  regards  it  of  the  greatest  im¬ 
portance  that  the  medicine  should  be  given  regularly  every  hour, 
day  and  night.  Gargling  with  potassium  chlorate  or  ol.  terebinthinae, 
with  good  wine  to  drink,  is  also  recommended.  Tire  drops  are  best 
taken  on  sugar,  or  in  a  spoonful  of  tokay. — Therap.  Mmiatsh. ,  x. ,  471 . 

Enema  of  Quinine  in  Whooping  Cough. — As  a  substitute  for 
sublimate  painting  in  whooping  cough,  Schulze  recommends  the 
use  of  an  enema  of  quinine  bisulphate  in  distilled  water,  the  dose¬ 
being  1  centigramme  for  every  month,  and  1  decigramme  for  every 
year  of  the  patient’s  age,  the  limit  of  50  centigrammes  not  being- 
exceeded  even  in  the  case  of  older  children.  A  clyster  of  this- 
strength  is  given  three  times  daily.  No  disadvantages  have 
resulted,  and  a  cure  is  generally  effected  in  eight  days,  although  it 
is  advisable  to  give  one  enema  per  diem  for  another  eight  days  to 
guard  against  relapse.  In  certain  cases  a  suppository  may  be 
substituted  for  the  enema,  but  the  author  finds  that  the  fluid  injec¬ 
tion  acts  more  promptly. — Munch.  Med.  Woch.,  xliii. ,  859. 

Extract  of  Helianthus  Annuus  in  Malaria. — As  a  substi¬ 
tute  for  quinine,  which  is  difficult  to  administer  to  young  children, 
Moncorvo  has  found  the  alcoholic  extract  of  the  flowers  and  leaves 
of  Helianthus  animus,  the  common  sunflower,  to  have  a  prompt  and 
general  anti-malarial  action.  The  dose  given  was  from  one  to  six 
grammes  in  the  twenty-four  hours.  No  bad  after-effects  were 
observed,  but  in  a  few  cases,  which  were  also  intractable  to- 
quinine,  the  result  of  the  helianthus  treatment  was  not  satis¬ 
factory.- — Pediatrics,  ii.,  287,  after  Rio  de  Janeiro  Centralblatt  f. 
Therap. 

Tannigen  in  Diarrhoea. — Reviewing  the  published  literature  of 
tannigen  and  recording  his  own  practical  experience,  Hirschberg 
considers  the  new  compound  to  be  extremely  valuable  in  the  treat¬ 
ment  of  diarrhoea,  particularly  in  infantile  patients.  For  these 
the  dose  is  20  to  30  centigrammes  four  times  daily  ;  to  adults,  off 
centigrammes  may  be  given  for  a  dose  in  a  cachet.  Infants  take 
the  powder  best  mixed  with  some  pleasant  vehicle,  since  it  is- 
without  taste  it  is  easily  given.  The  precaution  should  be  taken 
to  give  a  cupful  of  milk  about  an  hour  before  the  dose  to  prevent 
the  decomposition  of  the  tannigen  in  the  stomach.  The  few  cases 
of  vomiting  after  the  administration  of  the  drug  are  probably  due 
to  the  omission  of  this  precaution.  Tannigen  is  particularly  bene¬ 
ficial  in  chronic  diarrhoea,  both  in  infants  and  adults  ;  in  cases  of 
rachitis  with  this  complication  the  effect  is  very  notable.  In  adults- 
the  author  obtains  the  best  results  with  a  mixture  of  equal  quan¬ 
tities  of  tannigen  and  betol. — Rev.  de  Therap.,  lxiii. ,  618. 

Sodium  Chlorate  to  Counteract  Iodism. — In  a  case  of  marked 
intolerance  to  iodide  of  potassium  in  an  old  syphilitic,  Calomeno- 
poulo  found  that  all  the  objectionable  symptoms  vanished  when 
the  iodide  was  combined  with  sodium  chlorate,  90  grains  of  the 
latter  salt  being  given  each  day  ;  under  these  circumstances  the- 
patient  was  able  to  take  45  grains  of  potassium  iodide  for  forty 
days  without  inconvenience,  but  developed  acute  symptoms  of 
iodism  when  the  chlorate  was  omitted,  even  with  a  diminished  dose- 
of  the  iodide. — Therap.  Gaz.  [3],  xii. ,  613,  after  Joum.  des  Tracts- 

Zinc  Oxide  and  Belladonna  in  Whooping  Cough. — The- 
following  combination  is  recommended  (./ ourn.  des  Practiciens)  for 
pertussis : — Powdered  belladonna,  15  grains ;  oxide  of  zinc, 
15  grains ;  extract  of  wild  thyme,  30  grains.  Make  into  forty 
pills,  and  give  from  one  to  six  pills  per  diem. — Therap .  Gaz.  [3], 
xii.,  v  618. 


Jan.  16,  1897J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


59 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


All  Articles,  Letters,  Notices,  and  Reports  Intended  for 
publication  in  the  Journal,  Books  for  Review,  and  com¬ 
munications  respecting  editorial  matters  generally) 
must  be  Addressed  “editor,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square, 
London,”  and  not  in  any  case  to  Individuals  supposed 
to  be  connected  with  the  editorial  Staff.  Communica¬ 
tions  for  the  Current  Week’s  Journal  should  reach  the 
Office  not  later  than  Wednesday,  but  news  can  be  Re¬ 
ceived  by  Telegraph  until  4  p.m.  on  Thursday. 


The  Regulation  of  Prices. 

Sir,— A  correspondent  appeals  to  “the  fathers  of  the  trade”  to 
help  the  P.  A.T.  A. ,  whatever  that  may  mean.  The  presumption  of 
-answering  for  the  “  fathers,”  or  for  anybody  else,  be  far  from  me, 
who  still  lack  a  few  years  of  half  a  century  in  the  business ;  but 
perhaps  I  may  make  an  observation  or  two.  In  many  things  the 
fathers  of  the  present  day,  instructed  by  their  richly  endowed 
children,  are  content  to  stand  aside  and  watch  the  arena  until  they 
are  called  upon  to  hang  their  somewhat  rusty  and  obsolete  arms  in 
the  temple.  Old-fashioned  principles  have  grown  familiar  to  them 
and  form  part  of  their  nature.  If  they  do  not  grow  wiser  they 
may  grow  more  crafty,  desiring  new  experiments  to  be  made  in  the 
roverbial  direction.  The  other  day  I  found  a  new  Yankee  notion 
eing  tried  upon  me  in  the  shape  of  an  invoice  for  unordered  goods, 
with  wonderful  liberty  in  the  terms  of  payment.  I  have  an  old- 
fashioned  predilection  for  ordering  what  goods  I  want.  I 
refused  to  take  the  parcel  in,  and  the  postman  took  it  away. 
I  am  more  than  haunted,  I  am  possessed  by  an  old  ghost  of*  a 
notion  that  when  I  buy  and  pay  for  goods  they  are  absolutely  my 
own  to  do  what  I  like  with,  subject  to  such  laws  as  Parliament 
may  make  respecting  their  sale  and  disposal.  But  now  I  find  a 
new  principle  introduced,  which  I  call  conditional  buying.  The 
conditions  on  an  educated  body,  according  to  my  ancient  faith, 
should  be  those  of  honour  ;  and  it  is  an  indignity  to  be  called  upon 
to  sign  an  agreement  to  act  honourably.  Would  any  man  buy  a 
horse  of  his  friend  with  a  guarantee  in  writing  that  he  would  treat 
it  well?  But  I  am  beginning  an  essay  on  ethics  when  I  only 
meant  to  say  that  some  of  us  older  ones  have  more  confidence  in 
following  sound  principles  of  political  economy,  though  they  may 
seem  to  be  temporarily  inconvenient  than  in  “going  for”  the  gold 
that  glitters.  The  subject  would  run  over  many  of  your  pages  if  it 
.got  loose. 

January  9,  1897.  Junior  Senex  (75/6). 

Sir, — I,  too,  like  Mr.  Barrett,  would  like  to  know  how  it  is  our 
“  fathers  in  the  trade  ”  do  not  take  sides  with  the  retail  dealers, 
and  do  what  they  can  to  assist  us  in  obtaining  a  living  profit  on 
the  specialties  in  which  they  are  interested.  They  may  possibly 
be  like  Evans,  Sons,  and  Co. ,  waiting  and  watching.  I  know  only 
too  well  from  extensive  experience  that  the  average  chemist  and 
druggist  is  a  cold,  unsympathetic  sort  of  individual,  who  expresses 
his  dislikes  freely,  but  will  not  exert  himself  one  little  bit  in  the 
way  of  combination,  even  when  it  is  to  better  his  own  position  in 
the  near  future.  A  paltry  five  shillings  per  annum  is  all  that  is 
asked  by  the  P.A.T.A. ,  a  trifle  over  one  penny  per  week,  which  is 
returned  even  now  many  times  a  day,  if  he  has  any  business  at 
all.  Surely,  sir,  it  is  high  time  this  waiting  and  watching  atti¬ 
tude  came  to  an  end,  both  by  the  makers  and  the  distributors. 
Much  has  been  done  by  the  few  faithful  ones,  and  more  still  can 
be  done  if  each  chemist  will  only  do  his  duty.  We  also  want 
the  assistance  of  energetic  men  who  will  canvass,  each  in  his 
own  district.  It  must  not  be  expected  in  large  districts  like 
the  Midlands,  that  the  Honorary  Secretary  of  the  Trade  Com¬ 
mittee  can  spare  the  necessary  time ;  it  is  therefore  imperative 
that  more  help  in  this  direction  be  forthcoming.  Information 
of  any  underselling  of  the  P.A.T.A.  list  should  be  given  to 
headquai'ters,  or  the  Local  Trade  Secretary.  Trial  purchases 
would  then  be  made,  and  supplies  stopped  if  the  offender  will 
not  listen  to  reason,  which  I  am  pleased  to  sav  he  invariably 
does.  We  are  frequently  told  that  a  certain  article  can  be  bought 
from  so-and-so  at  such  a  price,  though  on  investigation  it  is  not  true. 
The  thanks  of  the  trade  are  due  to  you,  Mr.  Editor,  and  to  the 
other  trade  journals  who  have  given  valuable  assistance.  It  only 
remains  for  the  “fathers”  to  join  hands  with  the  “children”  of 
the  drug1  trade  to  ensure  positive  and  complete  success. 

.  Birmingham,  January  12,  1897.  Chas.  Thompson. 


Chemists’  Eederation. 

Sir, — I  was  pleased  to  see  Mr.  Foulston’s  letter  on  “  federation  ” 
as  a  remedy  for  the  “  patent  medicine  ”  difficulty.  I  hope  chemists 
will  now  shake  themselves  up  and  keep  up  a  good  discussion  in  the 
Journal  and  amongst  themselves,  to  weigh  the  advantages  and 
disadvantages  of  such  a  scheme,  which  might  also  be  applied  to 
the  wholesale  supply  of  other  chemists’  requisites.  A  similar 
scheme  was  advocated  by  me  last  April,  but  apparently  only  one 
chemist  found  it  worth  while  to  write  to  the  Journal  on  it,  although 
many  wrote  direct.  If  only  chemists  could  be  brought  into  line 
on  the  subject  I  believe  it  would  revolutionise  their 
trade  in  the  right  direction.  The  P.A.T.A.  is  very  good  in  its 
way,  but  as  the  public  have  already  become  accustomed  to 
get  “patents”  at  practically  cost  prices,  I  fail  to  see  how 
the  proprietors  as  a  whole  can  now  raise  them  to 
secure  the  retailer  more  than  a  10  per  cent,  or  so  profit  at  the 
outside.  The  P.A.T.A.  has  undertaken  the  correlation  of  too 
many  interests  in  my  opinion.  It  appears  to  me  that  the  chemist 
is  rapidly  drifting  into  the  position  of  a  mere  distributor  of 
branded  goods,  on  which  he  can  make  only  a  10  per  cent,  or  so 
profit — the  bulk  of  the  profit  on  them  being  made  by  the  proprie¬ 
tors,  who  in  many  cases  are  unconnected  with  his  trade.  Will 
the  chemists  kindly  reflect  on  the  influence  that  branded  com¬ 
pressed  drugs  will,  in  the  near  future,  have  on  their  business  ? 
Anyone  who  has  had  hospital  experience  and  constant  intercourse 
with  medical  men  will  know  what  a  hold  these  are  getting,  and 
how  they  tend  to  render  the  skilled  chemist  unnecessary.  These 
also  in  the  future  will  drift  into  the  position  of  “  patents,”  bearing 
the  same  miserable  rate  of  profit.  How  much  better  it  would 
have  been  for  chemists  to  have  got  not  only  the  retail  profit  but 
the  wholesale  profit  also  pro  rata.  Our  energetic  new  counsellor 
Mr.  Park  who,  I  should  think  from  the  tone  of  his  letter  in  the 
Journal,  is  in  favour  of  such  a  scheme,  could  not  do  better  than 
bring  the  -matter  before  his  local  association  at  an  early  date  to 
sift  the  matter  out  and  report  the  result.  If  the  fashion  were  once 
set,  other  associations  would  probably  follow  suit.  In  short, 
the  movement  now  wants  an  influential  leader.  Trusting 
chemists  will  not  let  this  occasion  slip  of  airing  their  views  on  this 
important  subject, 

New  Gross  Gate,  S.E.,  January  11,  1897.  G.  T.  Cooper. 


Botanical  Specimens  for  Students. 

Sir, — I  should  be  glad  to  forward,  post  paid,  to  one  or  two 
students  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Society’s  Schools,  any  number  of 
botanical  specimens  during  the  coming  course  of  lectures.  I  can 
give  the  genus  of  most  indigenous  local  Phanerogams,  and  the 
more  common  genera  of  the  algae  (fresh  water)  ;  but  only  a  few 
enera  of  fungi,  musci,  hepatic*.  Also,  besides  plants  for  classi- 
cation,  plants  with  members  differentiated,  so  as  to  be  of  use  in 
the  study  of  the  morphology  of  members  generally.  Also  organs 
and  members  at  interesting  stages  of  development  for  histological 
study.  In  return  I  should  be  glad  if  they  would  give  me  the  bare 
outline  of  the  lectures  on  botany,  and  occasionally  identify  a  plant 
for  me,  and  give  me  the  benefit  of  any  interesting  notes  they  find 
time  to  insert.  I  read  Vine’s  ‘  Students’  Text-Book.’  Shorthand 
notes  would  save  time. 

Bedford,  January  8,  1897.  Lewis  Amb.  Roberts. 

***  We  are  always  prepared  to  Identify  suitable  specimens  sent  in  good  con¬ 
dition  by  readers. — [Ed.,  Ph.  /.] 


“Sweet  Lavender.” 

Sir, — Our  attention  has  been  called  to  a  paragraph  which 
appeared  in  several  of  the  daily  papers  last  week  relative  to  the 
lavender  industry  of  Hitchin  and  Mitcham.  We  are,  of  course, 
ignorant  of  the  source  from  which  the  writer  obtains  the  informa¬ 
tion  upon  which  his  remarks  are  based,  but  we  feel  bound,  as  one 
of  the  largest  and  oldest  firms  of  growers  and  distillers  of  lavender 
in  Hitchin  (the  lavender  industry  having  been  carried  on  by  us 
and  our  predecessors  for  upwards  of  a  century)  to  protest  against 
the  remarks  as  being  misleading  and  contrary  to  the  facts.  In  our 
opinion  no  artificial  concoction  can  so  far  successfully  compete 
with  the  natural  product  as  to  threaten  with  extinction  or  even 
curtailment  the  lavender  industry  of  Hitchin  and  Mitcham. 
Indeed,  so  far  as  we  personally  are  concerned,  the  demand 
for  the  genuine  article  increases  rather  than  diminishes  year  by 
year.  It  is  perfectly  true  that  the  severe  frost  of  two  years  ago 
did  considerable  damage  to  the  crops  both  here  and  at  Mitcham, 
but  the  plants  have  now  recovered  from  its  effects,  and  we  have 


60 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL-, 


[Jan.  1G,  1897 


every  reason  to  look  hopefully  to  the  future.  In  conclusion  we 
may  mention  that,  so  far  from  entertaining  the  pessimistic  views 
attributed  to  growers  by  the  writer,  we.  are  contemplating  putting 
even  a  much  larger  acreage  under  cultivation  than  we  at  present 
possess. 

Hitchin,  January  11,  1897.  Perks  and  Llewellyn. 


The  Students’  Page. 

Sir, — Permit  me  to  second  the  remarks  of  a  “  British  Student,” 
and  to  offer  a  ceacl  mille  failthe  to  “  The  Students’  Page,”  which  I 
am  so  glad  to  see  inaugurated.  As  an  encouragement  to  other 
students,  I  send  your  publishers  half  a  guinea,  thus  becoming  a 
semper  reader  of  your  pages  instead  of  a  quondam  one.  Would  you 
kindly  state  in  a  foot-note  how  an  Irish  student  can  become  a 
registered  student  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  in  order  that  he 
may  have  access  to  the  Library  ? 

Belfast,  January  11,  1897.  Ulster  Student. 

*#*  The  only  way  in  which  anyone  can  become  a  Registered  Student  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  is  by  passing  the  First  examination  or  its 
equivalent,  and  then  applying  to  be  elected.  Apply  to  the  Registrar,  IT, 
Bloomsbury  Square,  W.C.,  for  a  list  of  the  bodies  whose  certificates  are 
accepted  in  lieu  of  the  First  examination.— [Ed.  Ph.  J.] 


Sir, — In  my  opinion  every  alteration  that  has  taken  place  in  the 
Pharmaceutical  J ournal  has  improved  the  same,  and  not  the  least 
the  latest,  viz.,  “  The  Students’  Page.” 

Carnarvon,  January  12,  1897.  J.  Jones. 


Sir, — There  seems  to  be  some  confusion  in  your  account  of 
Professor  J.  Bretland  Farmer  and  Mr.  Lloyd  Williams’  investiga¬ 
tions  of  the  fertilisation  of  fucus  ( Ph .  J.,  January  2,  “Year’s 
Botany,”  p.  15).  I  have  learnt  from  Vine’s  manual  and  other 
works  that  the  female  organ  among  the  thallophytes  is  never  an 
archegonium,  and  that  that  of  fucus — the  particular  case  in  point — 
is  an  oogonium.  Secondly,  I  have  always  understood  that  the 
oogonia  rupture,  their  oospheres  becoming  extruded.  Thuret’s 
research,  as  I  understand  it,  proved  that  the  oosphere  after  libera¬ 
tion  became  surrounded  by  the  spermatozoids,  hence  the  oogonium 
itself,  if  this  be  so,  can  scarcely  be  said  to  be  fertilised.  I  gather 
from  your  article  that  the  actual  fusion  of  the  gametes,  which 
Thuret  was  unable  to  observe,  has  now  been  seen  by  Farmer  and 
Williams.  I  may,  however,  be  entirely  wrong  in  my  rendering  of 
the  matter,  and  if  so  should  be  glad  to  be  set  right.  Several 
students  have  expressed  to  me  their  appreciation  of  ‘  ‘  The  Students’ 
Page  ”  so  recently  introduced,  and  these  sentiments  I  can  heartily 
re-echo. 

Exeter  Technical  College,  January  10,  1897.  Alan  H.  Ware. 

***  Our  correspondent  is  thanked  for  his  correction.  In  the  passage  referred 
to  the  word  “archegonia”  should  be  replaced  by  “oospheres.”— 
[Ed.,  Ph.  /.]  _ 

ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 


[Queries  addressed,  to  the  “  Editorial  Department,  17,  Bloomsbury 
Square,  W.C.,”  will  be  replied  to  in  the  Journal  as  early  as  possible 
ajter  receipt,  but  the  Editor  cannot  undertake  to  reply  to  them 
through  the  post,  nor  is  it  always  possible  to  publish  answers  the  same 
week.  Questions  on  different  subjects  should  be  written  on  separate  slips 
of  paper,  each  of  which  should  bear  the  sender’s  name  or  initials. 
Readers  requiring  working  formulae  for  special  preparations,  and 
■intimating  their  wants  to  the  Editor,  will  be  assisted  as  far  as  may  be 
practicable.  The  word  “parts,”  when  used  in  fop  mules,  invariably 
indicates  parts  by  weight.  Anonymous  queries  will  be  ignored .] 


Medical  Specialist. — We  cannot  undertake  to  recommend 
medical  practitioners.  [Reply  to  J.  K. — 74/36.] 

Pharmaceutical  Preliminary. — No,  the  standard  of  the  exami¬ 
nation  is  so  low  that  the  certificate  would  not  be  accepted  in  lieu 
by  any  other  examining  body.  [Reply  to  H.  H. — 75/23.] 

Deer  Suet. — Prepared  lard,  10  ounces ;  veal  suet,  10  ounces  ; 
olive  oil,  2  ounces  ;  palm  oil,  1  ounce ;  French  oil  of  lavender,  30 
minims ;  or  any  other  perfume  to  desired  odour.  Melt  the  fats, 
remove  from  the  source  of  heat  and  add  the  perfume. 
[Reply  to  Country  Man. — 74/37.] 


Botanical  Specimens. — (1)  Alchemilla  arvensi.%  Scop.  (2) 
Rhamnus  purshiana.  (3)  Specimen  insufficient  for  identification  ; 
send  a  leaf.  [Reply  bo  Wood. — 75, 19.] 


Sodium  Fluoride. — Under  the  name  of  fluorol,  sodium  fluoride- 
has  been  introduced  into  medicine  by  Duclos ;  it  is  used  as  an 
antiseptic  in  f  per  cent,  and  1  per  cent,  solutions  (see  Ph.  J.  [4], 
ii. ,  33).  [Reply  to  J.  A. — 74/8.] 


Hair  Dye. — Except  for  your  bashfulne.su  in  refraining  from  ap¬ 
pending  your  name  to  the  query,  it  might  be  doubted  whether- 
anything  would  injure  your  skin.  Note  that  anonymous  queries 
cannot  be  attended  to.  [Reply  to  W.  I.  J. — 75/20.] 


Bear’s  Grease. — Soft  veal  fat,  15  ozs.  ;  palm  oil,  1  oz.  ;  essence 
of  bergamot,  30  minims  ;  oil  of  cintronella,  10  minims  ;  coumarin, 
10  grains.  Melt  the  fats  together  on  a  water  bath,  when  nearly- 
cold  stir  in  the  perfume.  [Reply  to  Country  Man. — 74/37.] 

Poultry  Spice  to  Make  Fowls  Lay. — Coarsely  powdered 
oyster  shells,  1  lb.  ;  dried  sulphate  of  soda,  8  ozs.  ;  dried  sulphate 
of  iron,  8  ozs.  ;  gentian  root  in  coarse  powder,  8  ozs.  ;  powdered 
black  pepper,  8  ozs.  ;  powdered  cummin,  8  ozs.  ;  powdered 
capsicums,  2  ozs.  Mix.  [Reply  to  Country  Man. — 74/37.] 


Prescription  Difficulty. — This  is  evidently  intended  to  be: 
dispensed  at  some  hospital  or  dispensary  where  alone  the 
strengths  of  the  solutions  are  known.  “Sol.  cocain.  fort.,  ^ii.,” 
and  “sol.  atrop.  fort.,  Jii.,”  appear  to  be  the  ingredients  of  the- 
drops.  [Reply  to  C.  W.  R. — 73/36.] 


Dr.  Begbie’s  Mixture. — This  is  composed  of  dilute  hydro¬ 
cyanic  acid,  30  minims ;  dilute  nitric  acid,  3  fluid  drachms ; 
glycerin,  1  fluid  ounce  ;  infusion  of  quassia,  up  to  6  fluid  ounces. 
Dose. — One  tablespoonful  three  times  a  day.  We  are  making 
inquiries  about  the  pills.  [Reply  to  Associate. — 73/29.] 


Collodion. — The  B.P.  preparation  is  not  suitable  for  photo¬ 
graphic  purposes,  though  it  might  serve  for  rough  experiments. 
This  you  can  ascertain  for  yourself.  To  prepare  photographic 
collodion,  dissolve  pyroxylin,  5  grains,  in  alcohol  (s.g.  0-820),. 
|  ounce,  and  ether  (s.g.  0'725),  §  ounce.  Both  alcohol  and 
ether  may  be  methylated.  [ Reply  to  Zanoni. — 75/5.] 


Preparation  of  Boroglyceride. — You  must  not  look  upon 
Martindale  as  an  infallible  guide,  or  you  may  be  led  astray.. 
To  prepare  the  boroglyceride,  take  boric  acid,  62  ;  glycerin,  92. 
The  glycerin  should  first  be  heated  in  a  tared  porcelain  dish  over 
the  naked  flame  to  a  temperature  not  exceeding  300°  F.  ;  then  add 
the  boric  acid  in  successive  portions,  constantly  stirring.  When 
all  is  dissolved  continue  the  heat  at  the  same  temperature, 
breaking  up  the  skin  which  forms  on  the  surface  until  the  weight 
is  reduced  to  100  parts.  Then  pour  out  on  to  a  flat  slab,  previously 
wiped  over  with  a  rag  made  slightly  greasy  with  vaselin  ;  when 
cool  cut  the  boroglyceride  into  pieces  and  keep  in  stoppered 
bottles.  [Reply  to  Associate.— 75/9.] 


Dr.  Lo wes’s  Pure  Water  Test. — This  test  is  described  in  a 
price-list  published  by  J.  J.  Hicks,  Hatton  Garden,  E.C.,  as  a. 
simple  but  effective  method  of  treating  the  purity  of  water,  by 
Nessler,  “derived  from  sewage  water  (sic)  placed  in  small  glass 
bulbs  hermetically  sealed.”  The  precaution  of  hermetically  sealing 
up  the  sewage  water  is  a  wise  one,  particularly  as  the  bulbs  are 
recommended  for  use  in  households.  Why,  however,  the  presence 
in  a  house,  of  bulbs  containing  sewage  water  is  “specially  valuable” 
in  “  hot  weather,”  as  is  stated  in  the  list,  does  not  appear.  Pre¬ 
sumably  it  is  to  be  understood  that  the  bulbs  actually  contain 
Nessler’s  reagent,  but  it  must  be  pointed  out  that  this  is  a  most. 
unsatisfactory  test  for  the  purity  of  water.  If  the  water  be  hard 
the  test  cannot  be  relied  upon,  and  in  most  cases  it  is  abso¬ 
lutely  necessary  to  distil  the  water  before  adding  the  reagent. 
[Reply  to  T.  L.  B.— 72/27.] 


COMMUNICATIONS,  LETTERS,  etc.,  have  been  received  from 

Messrs.  Bechhold,  Bennett,  Blackburn,  Bullivant,  Clague,  Cocks, 
Cooper,  Crampton,  Deacon,  Gibson,  Green,  Hogg,  Jackson, 
Johnston,  Jones,  Kenway,  Llewellyn,  Lloyd,  Parsons,  Perks, 
Pollard,  Prosser,  Ransom,  Reynolds,  Roberts,  Standage,  Thomp¬ 
son,  Walker,  Wanner,  Ware,  Wilson,  Woolldridge. 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


61 


Jan.  23,  189J>] 

ON  THE  SEPARATION  OF  NITRATE  OF  COPPER  FROM 
NpTRATE  OF  SILVER  IN  THE  MANUFACTURE 
OF  CAUSTIC. 

!-•  .  JC'l 

.  EY  C.  J.  IJ.:  WARDEN, 

\  .  !  -  >  -  • 5  a  7/" rjr 

Corresponding  Member  of  ine  Pharmaceutical  Society. 

So  far  as  I  am  aware,  i-^  is^et  generally  known  that  strong 
nitric  acid  precipitates  pitrat^jOf  silver  from  concentrated  aqueous 
solutions,  and  this  action  Tias  been  utilised  in  the  manufacture  of 
lunar  caustic  at  the  Calcutta  Medical  Depot.  The  silver  employed 
always  contains  a  certain  amount  of  copper,  and  after  solution  of  the 
metal  in  nitric  acid  and  separation  of  the  gold,  as  much  as  possible 
of  the  nitrate  of  silver  is  crystallised  out,  and  the  deep  blue  mother 
liquor  evaporated  to  dryness.  The  dry  salt  is  then  powdered  and 
placed  in  a  glass  funnel  stopped  with  a  plug  of  asbestos,  and  perco¬ 
lated  with  strong  nitric  acid,  sp.  gr.  1  ’42.  The  nitric  acid 
dissolves  the  whole  of  the  nitrate  of  copper,  leaving  the  nitrate  of 
silver  perfectly  white,  while  only  a  very  small  amount  of  silver 
nitrate  is  dissolved.  The  nitric  acid  can  of  course  be  recovered  by 
distillation,  and  the  small  amount  of  nitrate  of  silver  separated 
from  the  nitrate  of  copper  by  precipitation  with  salt,  and  when 
sufficient  has  accumulated  reduced  to  the  metallic  condition  by  one 
of  the  usual  methods.  In  preparing  nitrate  of  silver  by  crystallising 
out  the  salt,  a  point  is  reached  when  the  mother  liquor  is  too 
highly  charged  with  nitrate  of  copper  to  permit  of  a  sufficiently 
pure  silver  salt  separating  by  crystallisation,  and  this  impure  or 
“  blue  nitrate  of  silver  ”  has  hitherto  been  returned  to  the  Mint. 
By  the  adoption,  however,  of  the  method  above  described  these 
residues  can  be  worked  up  and  nearly  the  whole  of  the  silver 
obtained  in  the  form  of  nitrate,  and  as  the  nitric  acid  can  be 
recovered  the  process  is  decidedly  economical,  while  it  affords  a 
salt  practically  free  from  copper. 


ON  THE  APPARENT  ACTION  OF  LIGHT  IN  INDUCING 
CRYSTALLISATION  OF  STANNOUS  IODIDE. 

BY  C.  J.  H.  WTARDEN, 

Corresponding  Member  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society. 

About  six  years  ago,  while  at  the  Medical  College,  Calcutta,  I 
prepared  some  stannous  iodide  by  acting  on  stannous  chloride  with 
iodide  of  potassium,  the  salt  being  preserved  in  a  stoppered 
inverted  flint  glass  specimen  bottle  in  a  moist  condition.  The 
bottle  was  placed  in  a  glass  case  with  glass  doors  in  front  and 
behind,  painted  white  inside,  and  about  three  feet  from  a  window 
facing  W,  with  a  fan-light  above,  but  the  window  was  generally 
closed  by  Venetian  shutters  ;  as  a  rule,  only  diffused  light  entered 
the  room.  After  the  stannous  iodide  had  been  in  this  position  for 
some  time,  I  observed  that  that  portion  of  the  salt  facing  the 
window  was  coated  with  ruby  coloured  needles,  while  the  iodide 
at  the  back  and  sides  of  the  bottle  was  still  apparently  amorphous- 
The  bottle  was  shaken  up,  and  a  piece  of  thin  white  paper 
cut  in  the  shape  of  a  cross  was  gummed  by  the  top  of  the  cross  to 
the  bottle,  which  was  then  replaced  in  the  glass  case,  with  the 
cross  opposite  the  window.  After  some  weeks  that  portion  of  the 
contents  not  protected  by  the  cross  was  coated  with  ruby  needles, 
while  the  salt  behind  the  paper  cross  was  apparently  amorphous. 
A  few  months  ago  I  asked  Professor  A.  Pedler,  F.R.S.,  to  have  a 
look  at  the  specimen,  and  he  informed  me  that  its  condition  was 
unchanged,  the  portion  of  the  iodide  protected  by  the  cross  being 
non-crystalline,  and  having  the  shape  of  the  cross  accurately 
marked,  while  the  rest  of  the  front  of  the  bottle  was  covered  with 
ruby  needles.  The  difference  in  appearance  between  the 
Vol.  LVIII.  (Fourth  Series,  Vol.  IV.).  No.  1387. 


ruby  crystals  and  the  dirty  yellowish  hue  of  the  salt  covered 
by  the  cross  being  most  striking.  According  to  Roscoe  and 
Schorlemmer,*  stannous  iodide  is  readily  soluble  in  warm 
solutions  of  the  chlorides  and  iodides  of  the  alkali  metals, 
and  also  in  dilute  hydrochloric  acid.  I  cannot  now  remem¬ 
ber  whether  the  salt  I  prepared  was  thoroughly  washed,  or 
the  mother  liquor  merely  drained  off  before  it  was  placed  in  the 
bottle.  If  it  was  not  washed,  chloride  of  potassium  and  free 
hydrochloric  acid  would  be  present,  and  the  stannous  iodide  might 
have  been  dissolved  and  slowly  crystallised  out  on  the  front  of  the 
bottle,  which  was  exposed  to  a  slightly  higher  temperature  than 
the  back  :  but  then  it  is  hardly  possible  that  a  thin  piece  of  paper 
could  have  intercepted  the  heat  rays,  and  prevented  solution  of 
the  salt  in  those  portions  which  it  covered ;  and  besides  the  period 
now— -about  five  years— during  which  the  specimen  has  been  ex¬ 
posed,  would  appear  to  militate  against  the  view  that  heat  was  the 
factor  which  induced  the  phenomenon.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
light  induced  the  crystallisation,  the  thin  white  paper  could 
hardly  have  intercepted  all  light  rays,  especially  when  the  duration 
of  the  experiment  is  remembered.  Be  the  explanation  what  it 
may,  the  phenomenon  is  strikingly  interesting  and  worth  investi¬ 
gation  :  while  for  lack  of  a  satisfactory  explanation,  I  have 
ascribed  it  to  the  apparent  action  of  light. 


JOHN  DALTON  AND  THE  ATOMIC  THEORY. f 

BY  W.  A.  COCKSHOTT. 

John  Dalton  was  born  at  Eaglefield,  a  small  village  near  Cocker- 
mouth,  in  Cumberland,  in  September,  1766,  of  parents  belonging  to 
the  peasant-farmer  class,  known  in  the  Lake  District  as  “states¬ 
men,”  noted  for  their  sturdy  independence  and  simplicity  of  life. 
Dalton’s  father  was  a  Quaker,  and  by  trade  a  hand-loom  weaver, 
which  occupation,  though  only  yielding  him  a  scant  income,  enabled 
him  to  send  his  son  to  school  until  the  age  of  eleven,  by  which 
time  he  had  gone  through  a  course  of  mensuration,  surveying,  and 
mathematics,  thanks  to  an  appreciative  schoolmaster,  who  recog¬ 
nised  his  pupil’s  talent  and  respected  his  dogged  perseverance.  In 
addition  to  securing  the  interest  of  his  schoolmaster,  young  Dalton 
found  a  patron  in  a  neighbour,  a  Mr.  Robinson,  who  had  given 
much  attention  to  meteorology  and  was,  for  the  times,  a  very 
capable  scientist,  and  moreover  a  correspondent  of  Benjamin 
Franklin.  By  the  encouragement  and  help  he  thus  obtained 
Dalton,  at  the  early  age  of  twelve,  was  in  a  position  to  open 
a  village  school  as  principal,  which  occupied  him  for  two 
years,  when  he  turned  to  farming,  still  pursuing  his  -studies, 
however,  under  the  friendly  guidance  of  Mr.  Robinson.  After  four 
years  he  joined  his  elder  brother,  who  was  a  schoolmaster  at 
Kendal,  where  he  remained  twelve  years,  finding  in  a  blind  gentle¬ 
man  of  the  name  of  Gough  a  friend  of  similar  tastes  and  views, 
who  induced  him  to  make  a  collection  of  the  Kendal  flora,  which 
still  exists  and  is  accessible  in  one  of  the  Manchester  libraries. 
The  meteorological  observations  and  studies  of  Dalton,  commenced 
in  1787,  and  continued  by  him  until  the  evening  before  his  death 
in  1844,  a  period  of  fifty-seven  years,  comprising  a  total  of  200,000 
separate  observations,  are  a  convincing  proof  of  his  perseverance 
and  methodical  habits.  During  his  residence  at  Kendal,  Dalton 
delivered  several  courses  of  lectures  on  Natural  Philosophy, 
which  attracted  attention  to  his  capabilities  as  a  teacher,  with  the 
result  that  in  1793  he  was  appointed  Lecturer  in  Mathematics  and 
Natural  Philosophy  to  a  Nonconformist  college  in  Manchester, 
where  he  stayed  six  years  at  a  salary  of  £S0  per  year.  In  addition  to 

Treatise  on  Chemistry,’  vol.  ii. ,  part  2,  p.  242.  _ 

fLecture  delivered  before  the  Liverpool  Pharmaceutical  Students’ Society 


62 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  23,  1897 


this,  he  continued  to  deliver  public  lectures  and  to  give  private 
lessons,  and,  as  a  member  of  the  Manchester  Literary  and  Philo¬ 
sophical  Society,  communicated  at  its  meetings  most  of  his  original 
work  in  the  form  of  papers.  One  of  his  most  remarkable  papers 
was  his  first,  delivered  in  1794,  “On  Some  Extraordinary  Facts 
Relating  to  the  Vision  of  Colours,”  in  which  he  gave  a  critical 
account  of  his  colour  sensations,  for  he  was  himself  “  colour¬ 
blind,”  and  was  one  of  the  first  to  draw  general  attention  to  this 
disease,  and  to  study  the  subject  in  a  thorough  manner.  Hence 
the  term  applied  to  this  defect — Daltonism. 

At  this  point  it  would  be  as  well  to  shortly  sketch  the  history  of 
the  Atomic  Theory.  The  earliest  name  associated  with  the  theory 
is  that  of  a  Greek,  Leucippus,  whose  works  are  lost  and  whose 
teachings  would  be  so  as  well  but  for  the  incidental  references  of 
other  ancient  authors,  such  as  Democritus  (erroneously  called  a 
pupil  of  Leucippus),  who  beyond  question  deserves  the  credit  of 
originating  the  theory.  This  was  most  unpopular  with  Greek 
philosophers,  and  was  generally  referred  to  with  contempt,  Aris¬ 
totle  even  rejecting  it,  and  the  weight  of  his  name  was  enough  to 
dispose  of  it  for  many  centuries.  Some  100  years  after  Democritus, 
Epicurus  developed  and  added  to  the  theory,  being  credited  with 
great  penetration  in  reviving  and  preserving  to  the  world  a  theory 
in  his  own  time  scouted  as  absurd.  Only  a  few  fragments  of  his 
works  remain,  and  with  these  exceptions  all  the  works  of  these 
ancient  philosophers  are  lost.  A  poem  by  Lucretius,  who  lived 
b.c.  99-55,  fully  describes  the  theory  which  has  been  adopted  by 
modern  scientists.  This  poet,  whose  works  were  much  admired 
by  Shelley,  whose  peculiar  views  they  undoubtedly  influenced,  has 
been  called  the  atheistic  and  materialistic  poet,  the  object  of  his 
poem  being  “the  demonstration  of  the  importance  of  the  Atomic 
Theory  as  a  means  to  enable  a  man  to  live  his  life  free  from  the 
crushing  pressure  of  superstitious  fears.”  In  the  opening  sentences 
of  the  poem  he  states  that : — - 

“  When  human  life  lay  shamefully  grovelling  upon  earth,  crushed  down  under 
the  weight  of  Beligion,  who  showed  her  face  from  heaven  frowning  upon 
mortals,  from  on  high  with  awful  aspect,  a  man  of  Greece  was  the  first  who 
ventured  to  lift  mortal  eyes  to  her  face,  and  the  first  to  withstand  her 
openly. 

The  universe  is  described  as  atom*  and  void,  the  atoms  being 
hard  and  solid,  an  idea  retained  by  recent  chemists,  though 
Professor  Clifford  says  : — 

“Modem  chemists  explain  the  hardness  of  solid  matter  by  the  very  rapid 
motion  of  something  which  is  infinitely  soft  and  yielding.” 

Essential  properties  and  secondary  qualities  are  sharply  distin¬ 
guished  by  Lucretius,  who  separates  the  intrinsic  and  essential 
qualities,  such  as  form,  size,  weight,  etc.,  of  atoms  from  the 
secondary  evanescent  qualities  ;  for  example,  he  says  all  colours 
are  perishable,  therefore  the  atoms  are  not  coloured.  Neither  in 
the  same  way  have  they  sound,  scent,  warmth,  or  cold.  All  such 
things  are  perishable,  and  must  be  withdrawn  from  the  first 
beginnings  (atoms)  if  we  wish  to  assign  for  existing  things 
imperishable  formations.  The  best  known  dictum  of  Lucretius, 
which  he  asserts  frequently  in  the  course  of  his  poem,  is  that 
“nothing  is  ever  begotten  of  nothing,”  but  that  what  each  thing 
can  and  cannot  do  is  absolutely  decreed.  All  his  laws  of  Nature 
are  constant  and  unchanging,  all  phenomena  follow  some  well- 
defined  law  or  laws,  and  nothing  happens  without  a  cause,  or  in 
other  words,  nothing  happens  but  what  can  be  accounted  for 
without  supernatural  agency. 

From  the  time  of  Lucretius  until  the  seventeenth  century  there  is 
a  long  blank,  and  we  hear  nothing  of  atomic  theories  until  Gassendi 
revived  those  of  Lucretius,  and  it  was  probably  his  influence  which 
converted  Robert  Boyle  and  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  and  made  them  such 


pronounced  atomists.  Boyle  suggested  that  the  various  atoms 
differed  in  form,  and  that  when  two  substances  did  not  act  chemi¬ 
cally  upon  one  another  the  forms  of  their  respective  atoms  were  in¬ 
appropriate  for  doing  so.  A  quotation  which  particularly  in¬ 
fluenced  Dalton  at  an  early  date,  taken  from  the  works  of  Newton, 
will  explain  his  views  : — 

“  It  seems  probable  that  God  in  the  beginning  formed  matter  in  solid,  massy, 
hard,  impenetrable,  moveable  particles  of  such  sizes  and  figures,  and  with 
such  other  properties,  and  in  such  proportion,  and  as  most  conduced  to  the 
end  for  which  He  formed  them,  and  that  these  primitive  particles  being 
solids  are  incomparably  harder  than  any  porous  body  formed  of  them,  even 
so  very  hard  as  never  to  break  or  tear  in  pieces.  While  the  particles  con¬ 
tinue  entire  they  may  compose  bodies  of  one  and  the  same  nature  and 
texture  in  all  ages,  but  should  they  wear  away  or  break  in  pieces,  the 
nature  of  things  depending  on  them  would  be  changed,  and  therefore  that 
nature  may  be  lasting.  Compound  bodies  (are)  apt  to  break  not  in  the  midst 
of  solid  particles,  but  where  those  particles  are  laid  together  and  only  touch 
at  a  few  points.” 

From  these  principles  it  will  be  seen  that  all  material  things  seem 
to  have  been  composed  of  the  hard  and  solid  particles  above  men¬ 
tioned,  variously  associated  in  the  first  creation  by  the  counsel  of 
an  intelligent  agent. 

A  number  of  valuable  manuscript  notes,  laboratory  note-books, 
notes  for  courses  of  lectures  in  Dalton’s  handwriting  have  been 
found  in  the  Library  of  the  Manchester  Literary  and  Philosophical 
Society  by  Sir  Henry  Roscoe,  which  help  us  in  observing  the  steps 
in  the  mental  process  which  led  Dalton  to  the  conception  of  the 
Atomic  Theory.  Other  scientists,  such  as  Boerhaave  and  Van 
Helmont,  held  the  Newtonian  theory  of  atoms,  but  they  were 
exceptions,  for  the  general  opinion  was  that  matter  was  continuous 
and  not  composed  of  atoms.  This  may  be  illustrated  as  follows : — 
Previous  to  the  discovery  of  C02  the  atmosphere  was  supposed  to 
take  up  the  water  in  solution,  and  the  air  and  aqueous  vapour  existed 
together  in  such  a  way  that  the  smallest  conceivable  particle 
of  the  atmosphere  would  contain  a  certain  proportion  of  aqueous 
vapour,  and  a  certain  proportion  of  air,  that  is  to  say  the  air  and 
aqueous  vapour  had  become  a  part  of  each  other.  This  was  the 
doctrine  of  chemical  solution.  On  the  subsequent  discovery  of  C02, 0 
and  N  the  same  view  of  their  constitution  was  held,  and  in  the  least 
possible  portion  of  atmosphere  0,N,C02  and  water  were  said  to  exist. 
During  his  residence  at  Kendal,  Dalton,  in  his  volume  on  meteoro¬ 
logy,  concluded  one  of  his  essays  by  stating  that  in  his  opinion 
the  aqueous  vapour  in  the  atmosphere  existed  separately  from  the 
air,  or  in  other  words  he  negatived  this  generally  received  theory 
of  chemical  solution,  which  was  then  applied  to  all  bodies,  solid 
and  liquid.  Just  one  hundred  years  ago  Dalton,  then  thirty  years 
of  age,  was  attending  classes  in  chemistry,  held  by  Dr.  Garnet,  and 
from  this  date  to  1810  his  best  work  was  done.  Prior  to  this  he 
had  confined  his  researches  to  the  physical  constitution  of  the 
atmosphere.  At  that  time  the  phlogistic  theory  was  not  yet 
thrown  over;  Black,  Priestley,  and  Cavendish  still  stubbornly  held 
their  views,  notwithstanding  that  the  work  of  Lavoisier  (who  had 
been  guillotined  in  1794)  had  practically  given  this  theory  of  phlo¬ 
giston  its  death  blow.  Lavoisier’s  theory  of  combination  only 
partially  replaced  the  general  theory  of  phlogiston  and  was  but  of 
limited  application,  so  that  chemistry  just  then  was  without  any 
definite  theoretical  basis.  In  the  year  Lavoisier  died,  Richter 
published  a  work  on  chemistry,  giving  the  proportionate  weights  in 
which  bases  and  acids  united,  clearly  indicating  that  he  perceived 
the  law  of  combination  in  reciprocal  proportions,  but  not  giving 
forth  his  conception  of  any  atomic  theory  nor  showing  any  know¬ 
ledge  of  the  law  of  multiple  proportions. 

This  work  of  Richter’s  did  much  to  excite  Dalton’s  views  as  to 
the  Atomic  Theory,  and  was  the  means  of  Berzelius  undertaking 
the  investigation  of  the  combining  weights  of  bodies.  Inde- 


Jan.  23,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


63 


# 

pendently  of  Richter’s  wo  rk,  Prout  did  much  of  a  similar  cast 
arriving  at  the  same  conclusions  as  Richter,  and  like  him  failing 
to  see  the  relationship  of  the  multiple  proportions.  Both  Prout  and 
Richter  were  mathematicians  rather  than  chemists,  and  instead  of 
expending  their  ingenuity  in  elaborating  an  atomic  theory,  used 
all  their  energy  in  trying  to  arrange  the  combining  numbers  of  bases 
and  acids  in  some  kind  of  mathematical  series.  One  of  Dalton’s 
contemporaries,  Berthollet,  though  not  holding  the  atomic  theory, 
threw  over  the  phlogiston  theory,  and  held  that  chemical  affinity 
and  the  laws  of  attraction  discovered  by  Newton  in  astronomy 
were  only  different  manifestations  of  the  same  force  :  that  sub¬ 
stances  did  not  always  combine  in  definite  fixed  proportions,  but 
that  in  this  there  was  a  latitude  within  which  they  did  so. 

As  Wurtz  says  of  the  theories  of  chemistry  up  to  this  date, 

“  they  were  isolated  and  without  connection,  and  it  was  reserved  for  an 
English  chemist  to  complete  them  by  a  discovery  of  the  first  order  and  to 
arrange  them  by  an  hypothesis  at  once  simple  and  fruitful.” 

Going  back  to  Dalton’s  chemical  studies,  he  continued  his 
researches  on  gases,  and  to  the  law  relating  to  the  expansion  of 
gases  by  heat  he  certainly  deserves  to  have  his  name  attached,  as 
he  was  the  first  to  give  it,  and  not  either  Gay  Lussac  or  Charles 
Papers  on  the  atmosphere,  containing  the  first  observations  on  the 
law  of  multiple  proportions  ;  on  the  solubility  of  mixed  gases, 
given  in  conjunction  with  one  by  Dr.  Henry,  the  originator  of  Henry’s 
law  relating  to  the  solubility  of  gases  in  water  when  under  pressure, 
were  read  by  Dalton  in  Manchester.  How  Dalton  came  to  apply  the 
combining  weights  to  atoms  we  know  not,  yet  that  is  the  very  point 
to  which  science  is  so  much  indebted  to  him.  The  results  of  Dalton’s 
work  were  published  by  him  in  his  ‘  New  System  of  Chemistry. 
A  claim  was  put  in  for  one  Dr.  W.  Higgins  as  the  inventor  of  the 
Atomic  Theory  by  Sir  H.  Davy  in  1815,  and  Dalton  was  stated  to  be 
simply  a  plagiarist,  but  the  claim  would  not  stand,  and,  as  Wurtz 
says,  Higgins’  conception  was  spoilt  by  errors  and  contradictions,  so 
that  it  is  useless  to  represent  him  as  one  of  the  authors  of  the 
Atomic  Theory.  This  honour  belongs  to  Dalton  and  Dalton  alone. 
Honours  fell  thick  upon  Dalton  towards  the  end  of  his  life. 
He  was  elected  an  F.  R.  S. ,  received  the  first  Royal  medal,  became  a 
corresponding  member  of  the  French  Academy,  had  the  Oxford 
honorary  degrees  of  D.C.L.  and  LL.D.,  and  received  a  pension  from 
the  British  Government  of  £150  per  annum.  In  addition  to  these,  a 
statue  to  his  honour  was  placed  before  the  Manchester  Town  Hall 
by  public  subscription,  and  a  bronze  replica  opposite  the  Infirmary. 
After  his  death  his  name  was  perpetuated  by  the  city  in  the  Dalton 
Mathematical  and  the  Dalton  Chemistry  Scholarships.  He  died  on 
the  morning  of  July  28,  1844. 


Further  Notes  on  Tannoform. — De  Buck  and  De  Moor  have 
given  tannoform  an  extended  clinical  trial,  employing  it  both  ex¬ 
ternally  as  a  dressing,  or  as  a  diapasm,  or  internally.  In  various 
forms  of  skin  diseases  a  dusting  powder — composed  of  French 
chalk,  4  parts  ;  tannoform,  1  part — has  given  excellent  results.  In 
cases  of  hyperidrosis  the  direct  application  of  tannoform  has  given 
immediate  relief  and  ultimately  effected  a  cure.  In  impetigo  the 
following  ointment,  applied  twice  daily,  effected  a  complete  cure 
in  four  days  : — Tannoform,  3  parts ;  vaseline,  10  parts  ;  lanoline, 
20  parts.  Acute  eczema  of  the  breasts  yielded  in  fifteen  days  to 
the  application  of  tannoform,  1  part ;  starch  powder,  5  parts.  In 
eczematous  impetigo  of  the  ears  and  face  cure  in  eight  days  was 
effected  with  tannoform,  3  parts  ;  oxide  of  zinc,  6  parts  ;  vaseline, 
30  parts.  In  infantile  diarrhoea  tannoform  was  given  internally, 
in  daily  doses  of  one  gramme,  divided  into  four  doses  ;  it  acted 
promptly  and  effectually. — Rev.  de  Thfrap.  Med.  Chirurg.,  lxiii. 
586,  after  Bdg.  Med. 


PRACTICAL  RADIOGRAPHY. 


III.— THE  TESLA  COIL. 

This  coil,  which  is  known  also  as  the  disruptive  coil,  takes  its 
name  from  the  discoverer,  Nikola  Tesla,  who  by  its  aid  produced 
a  great  number  of  highly  interesting  phenomena  in  connection 
with  electric  currents  of  high  frequency  of  alternation,  and  high 
voltage  or  pressure.  These  currents  have  some  very  remarkable 
properties  which  quite  eclipse  the  phenomena  produced  by  the 
spark  of  an  ordinary  Ruhmkorff  coil. 

If  the  current  generated  in  the  secondary  of  a  Ruhmkorff  coil  be 
passed  through  the  primary  of  a  Tesla  coil,  sparks  will  be  obtained 
from  the  secondary  of  the  latter  which  differ  from  those  of  the 
ordinary  induction  coil  in  that  they  have  a  very  much  sharper 
sound,  and  are  much  more  brilliant,  and  a  long  spark  may  be 


Fig.  1. 


taken  through  the  body  without  any  inconvenience  arising.  Tesla’s 
original  experiments  are  described  in  detail  in  the  Journal  of  the 
Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers,  vol.  xxi.,  No.  97,  and  are  highly 
entertaining  and  instructive. 

The  following  instructions  will  enable  anyone  to  make  a  Tesla 
which  will  give  excellent  results  in  radiography  for  a  small,  say 
2  inch,  Ruhmkorff. 

The  coil  has  no  iron  core,  no  contact  breaker,  a  very  simple  and 
easily  made  condenser,  and  very  little  solid  insulation,  and  there¬ 
fore  presents  no  difficulties  to  anyone  in  the  making.  The  primary 
is  composed  of  one  layer  of  No.  24  B.  W.  G.  gutta-percha  covered 


Fig.  2. 

copper  wire  in  about  thirty  turns,  which  should  be  well  separated 
one  from  the  other  and  wound  on  a  glass  or  ebonite  rod  of  one  inch 
diameter;  the  ends  of  the  wire  should  be  carried  off  through 
rubber  tubes  so  as  to  prevent  any  chance  of  contact  with  the 
secondary. 

The  secondary  is  composed  of  about  400  turns  of  No.  36  double 
silk-covered  copper  wire,  which  has  been  well  soaked  in  melted 
paraffin  wax,  or  even  better  than  this  is  a  mixture  of  paraffin  wax, 
stearine,  and  resin.  It  should  be  wound  on  an  ebonite  tube  of  not 
less  than  1|  inch  internal  measurement,  so  that  there  may  be  a 
small  space  between  the  individual  turns  of  the  wire,  and  it  should 
be  in  one  layer,  and  the  ends  of  the  wire  taken  out  through  glass 
tubes. 

The  primary  coil  is  supported  on  ebonite  blocks,  so  that  it 


64 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL, 


[Jan.  23,  1897 


passes  through  the  secondary  tube  and  leaves  about  J  inch  between 
the  primary  and  secondary,  and  the  ends  of  the  primary  should 
extend  slightly  beyond  the  ends  of  the  secondary,  as  shown  in 
Pig.  1,  as  this  increases  the  efficiency  of  the  coil. 

The  whole  coil  is  now  placed  in  a  glass  dish,  or  as  a  substitute 
smay  be  used  a  wooden  box  which  has  been  rendered  liquid  tight 
by  means  of  shellac  or  asphalt.  The  size  of  the  box  should  be 
6^  x  4  x  2\  inches,  and  when  the  coil  has  been  placed  in  position 
it  should  be  covered  completely  with  boiled  linseed  oil,  care  being 
taken  that  there  are  no  air  bubbles  between  primary  and  second¬ 
ary,  and  plenty  of  time  should  be  allowed  for  the  oil  to  soak  well 
in  before  the  coil  is  used,  as  the  oil  is  the  insulating  medium.  The 
connections  of  the  coil  are  shown  in  Fig.  2. 

The  secondary  terminals  of  the  Ruhmkorff  A  are  connected  to 
the  primary  of  the  Tesla  coil  B,  of  which  C  is  the  secondary.  In 
one  wire  there  is  interposed  a  “spark  gap”  E,  which  is 
composed  of  two  small  brass  balls  very  highly  polished,  one  of 
which  is  fixed  and  the  other  moveable,  so  that  the  distance 
between  them  can  be  varied.  The  construction  of  this  spark  gap 
is  shown  in  Fig.  3,  where  A  is  the  fixed  ball  and  B  the  moveable, 
being  clamped  by  a  small  screw  C. 

Returning  to  the  connections.  Across  the  terminals  of  the 

Ruhmkorff  coil  there  is 
placed  a  Leyden  jar  of  about 
one  quart  capacity,  one  coat¬ 
ing  being  attached  to  each 
terminal  as  inD  (Fig.  2).  For 
such  a  coil  as  above 
described,  the  Ruhmkorff 
Big.  3.  may  be  designed  to  give  any¬ 

thing  from  a  1J  inch  to  4-inch  spark ;  above  this  the  Tesla  must 
be  made  larger. 

Possibly  a  little  more  attention  has  been  given  to  the  construc¬ 
tion  of  a  Tesla  than  seems  at  first  sight  warranted,  but  when  it 
is  pointed  out  that  with  a  Tesla  made  precisely  on  the  above  lines 
we  may  use  a  Ruhmkorff  coil  giving  only  a  |  or  1-inch  spark,  and 
yet  obtain  equally  good  results  in  radiography  as  using  an  8  or  10' 
inch  Ruhmkorff  direct,  the  extra  description  will  be  forgiven. 

Action  of  the  Tesla  Coil. 

The  precise  action  which  takes  place  is  as  follows  : — The  current 
from  the  Ruhmkorff  charges  up  the  Leyden  jar  till  it  is  able  to 
force  a  spark  across  the  spark  gap,  the  balls  of  which  should  be 
about  js  inch  apart,  when  of  course  the  jar  is  at  once  discharged 
through  the  primary  of  the  Tesla,  which  induces  a  current  in  the 
secondary,  which,  if  the  terminals  are  brought  close  together, 
will  make  itself  manifest  as  a  spark.  The  whole  apparatus,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Ruhmkorff,  may  be  fastened  down  to  a 
wooden  base  so  as  not  to  allow  of  any  displacement. 

As  has  already  been  stated,  the  discharge  may  be  used  for  X-ray 
work,  and  the  method  of  connecting  up  is  shown  in  Fig.  2. 

With  a  Tesla  coil  it  is  possible  to  excite  considerable  wonder  in 
an  audience,  for  if  a  Crookes’  tube  be  connected  to  one  terminal 
only,  and  the  other  be  held  in  the  operator’s  hand,  and  he  presents 
his  other  hand  to  the  tube,  it  will  instantly  light  up,  and  it  is  thus 
possible  for  two  people  to  take  hold  of  one  terminal  apiece  and 
excite  a  Geissler  tube  by  holding  it  in  their  disengaged  hands,  and, 
again,  if  a  Crookes’  tube  be  working  and  a  Geissler,  or  even  an 
ordinary  vacuum  or  Plucker’s  tube  be  presented  to  it,  the  Geissler 
will  glow  faintly,  although  the  operator  may  not  in  any  way  be 
connected  with  the  coil.  He  then  serves  as  an  “earth,”  or  as  a 
conductor  or  escape  of  the  current  to  earth. 

The  Ruhmkorff  coil  may  be  run  by  means  of  a  bichromate  battery 
or  an  accumulator,  but  if  the  electric  current  be  supplied  to  the  house 


by  far  the  most  convenient  method  is  to  utilise  this,  and  for  this  pur¬ 
pose  a  wall  plug  will  be  required  such  as  is  utilised  for  table  lamps. 
If  this  is  not  available  one  should  be  fitted  by  an  electrician,  the 
usual  flexible  wire  as  used  for  lamps  will  not  generally  be  large 
enough  for  the  current  required  for  anything  like  a  good  sized  coil, 
as  it  will  only  carry  about  2  amperes  with  safety,  and  therefore 
wires  large  enough  to  carry  10  amperes  should  be  fitted. 

Owing  to  the  small  resistance  of  the  primary  of  the  coil  the 
pressure  of  the  mains  will  force  too  large  a  current  through,  and 
therefore  this  must  be  modified  by  a  resistance,  which  may  be  of 
wire  of  the  usual  form  that  can  be  obtained  from  any  electrician, 
or  what  is  more  convenient,  it  may  be  a  liquid  resistance.  This  is 
composed  of  two  plates  of  stout  zinc  about  4  inches  in  diameter, 
and  j  inch  thick,  to  each  of  which  a  wire  is  attached,  the  wire 
being  enclosed  in  an  indiarubber  tube  to  prevent  electrolysis  ;  the 
zincs  aresuspended  some  distance  apart  in  a  saturated  solution  of 
zinc  sulphate,  the  resistance  being  altered  by  moving  the  plates  to  or 
from  one  another.  A  convenient  way  to  do  this  is  to  place  one 
plate  at  the  bottom  of  a  tall  glass  or  earthenware  jar  which  has  an 


Fig.  4. 

opening  at  one  side,  which  is  sometimes  known  as  a  settling  jar, 
the  wire  being  brought  out  through  this  ;  the  other  plate  is 
suspended  from  the  top  in  such  a  way  that  the  distance  between 
them  can  be  altered,  and  the  resistance  increased  or  diminished  at 
will.  The  necessary  connections  are  shown  in  Fig.  4. 

The  Use  of  Alternating  Currents. 

The  above- described  apparatus  is  suitable  for  continuous 
currents,  but  as  in  some  towns  the  alternating  current  is  supplied, 
the  coil  requires  modifying  as  the  to  and  fro  alternation  of  the 
current  serves  the  same  purpose  as  the  contact  breaker,  which, 
therefore,  has  to  be  cut  out  of  the  circuit,  and  the  condenser  is 
alsouseless.  In  some  modern  large  coils  terminals  are  placed  specially 
for  alternating  currents,  but  with  those  that  are  not  thus  fitted 
the  contact  breaker  must  be  screwed  tight  up  against  the  hammer 
and  a  bit  of  copper  wire  wound  tightly  round  the  two.  The  con¬ 
nections  shown  above  will  then  be  suitable. 

The  ammeter  in  the  diagram  serves  the  purpose  of  giving  in¬ 
formation  of  the  quantity  of  the  current  passing  through  the 
primary,  and  by  which  the  current  can  be  kept  constant  by  altering 
the  adjustable  resistance.  The  ammeter  is  of  great  importance 
in  radiography,  as  it  really  gives  one  some  guide  as  to  the 
efficiency  of  the  tube  and  the  length  of  exposure.  The  ammeter 
will  have  to  be  obtained  for  either  continuous  or  alternating 
currents,  as  the  one  will  not  do  for  the  other,  although  there  are 
a  few  on  the  market  intended  for  both. 

The  alternating  current  is  not  generally  so  suitable  for  coil 
running  as  the  continuous,  as  the  frequency  of  alternation,  which 
is  about  100  per  second,  is  not  so  great  as  given  by  the  contact 
breaker  to  a  continuous  current,  and  therefore  the  sparks  suffer  in 
consequence/  A  Tesla  coil  cannot  be  run  with  any  degree  of 
efficiency  off  the  alternating  current,  owing  to  the  low  frequency 
of  alternation. 


Jan.  23,  1897J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


65 


THE  USE  OF  GAS  FOR  DOMESTIC  LIGHTING.* 

BY  PROFESSOR  VIVIAN  LEWES. 

It  is  not  always  possible  to  use  coal  gas  as  the  source  of  illumina¬ 
tion  on  account  of  the  capital  charge  represented  in  the  generating 
plant  and  the  mains  for  distribution  to  consumers.  Thus  arises  a 
raison  d'etre,  for  the  employment  of  oil  gas  and  other  illuminants. 
Oil  gas,  as  its  name  implies,  is  the  inflammable  vapour  given  off  by 
certain  liquid  hydrocarbons.  There  are  a  large  number  of  carbon 
and  hydrogen  compounds,  ranging  from  solids,  such  as  paraffin 
wax,  down  to  the  oils  used  in  the  domestic  lamp.  The  higher 
compounds  may  usually  be  reduced  by  heat,  converted  into  the 
gaseous  form,  and  made  suitable  for  employment  as  an  illuminant. 
The  gas  at  present  most  largely  used  is  that  obtained  from  the 
“  leavings”  after  the  distillation  of  Russian  petroleum. 

A  gallon  of  Scotch  oil  may  be  converted  by  Young’s  process  of 
reduction  into  98  cubic  feet  of  gas.  (This  process,  which  was 
briefly  explained,  effects  the  reduction  at  a  somewhat  lower  tem¬ 
perature  than  former  processes,  and  therefore  retains  certain 
volatile  products,  such  as  benzenes,  compounds,  etc.,  which  add 
to  the  illuminating  power  of  the  gas. )  The  following  table  com¬ 
pares  analyses  of  gas  made  respectively  by  Young  and  Patterson — 
two  typical  processes. 

Paterson.  Young. 


Unsaturated  Hydrocarbons  .  33  '16  43  '83 

Saturated  ,,  . _..  45-45  36-30 

Hydrogen .  19-35  16‘85 

Carbon  Dioxide  .  -50  "63 

Carbon  Monoxide  .  -50  — 

Oxygen .  -60  1-14 

Nitrogen  .  -44  l-25 

100-00  100-00 

The  illuminating  power,  in  candles  =*  50  60 


Passing  to  the  newest  illuminant,  acetylene  was  first  spoken 
of  as  a  commercial  possibility  four  years  ago.  It  was  known  as  far 
back  as  1838,  when  it  was  found,  with  ethane,  by  E.  Davy — a 
relative  of  the  great  Sir  Humphry.  Berthelot,  the  great  French 
chemist,  took  up  the  investigation  of  this  hydrocarbon  in 
1850,  but  did  not  suggest  a  method  for  easily  preparing  it,  though 
he  added  much  to  the  knowledge  of  the  properties  of  the  gas.  The 
only  known  method  was  to  take  advantage  of  the  fact  that  acetylene 
gas  was  produced  during  the  incomplete  combustion  going  on  in  the 
interior  of  a  luminous  flame,  but  the  process  of  obtaining  it  was 
long,  laborious,  costly,  and  not  over  safe. 

In  1890,  T.  L.  Willson,  of  N.  Carolina,  experimenting  with  his 
electric  furnace  with  calcic  compounds  in  the  hope  of  reducing 
them  by  high  temperature,  and  obtaining  calcium  in  that  way, 
was  time  after  time  disgusted  to  find  the  only  result  he  got  was  a 
fused  metallic  mass  not  particularly  nice  smelling,  and  certainly  not 
exhibiting  any  resemblance  to  calcium.  He  threw  it  away  with  every 
gesture  of  disappointment  into  a  stream  which  ran  close  by,  when, 
to  his  intense  surprise,  a  brilliant,  illuminating  flame  leapt  up 
immediately  on  the  contact  of  the  fused  substance  with  the  water. 
Willson  repeated  his  experiments  with  coke  and  lime  under  properly 
observed  conditions,  and  finally  hit  upon  the  secret  of  calcic 
carbide,  and  solved  the  question  of  the  commercial  production  of 
acetylene  gas.  The  compound  discovered  by  Willson,  and  to  which 
the  name  of  calcic  carbide  has  been  given,  is  composed  of  carbon 
and  calcium,  in  the  proportion  of  two  of  the  former  to  one  of  the 
latter.  As  it  is  the  product  of  the  highest  known  temperature,  it 
naturally  defies  high  temperatures,  and  cannot  be  dissociated  by 
concussion.  It  will  stand  fire  and  shock,  but  like  a  street  arab  it 

*  Notes  of  lectures  delivered  at  the  Society  of  Arts.  See  last  volume, 
pp.  490,  532. 


cannot  stand  water.  (Lecturer  demonstrated  each  of  his 
points  by  experiment. )  This  not  over-elegant  portion  of  carbide 
contains  the  latent  power  of  generating  on  the  addition  of  water 
the  most  powerful  illuminating  gas  known.  A  double  decompo¬ 
sition  takes  place  ;  the  calcium  of  the  carbide  taking  hold  of 
the  oxygen  of  the  water,  and  the  carbon  combining  with  the 
hydrogen  to  form  acetylene.  Acetylene,  therefore,  is  a  gas  com¬ 
posed  of  24  parts,  by  weight,  of  carbon,  and  2  parts,  by  weight,  of 
hydrogen.  This  substance  (carbide)  has  been  before  us  a  few 
years,  but  its  price  has,  until  very  recently,  been  rather  prohibi¬ 
tive.  At  present  it  is  anything  from  6s.  per  cwt.  to  several  pounds 
per  ton,  but  several  circumstances  combine  to  keep  the  price  up. 
The  Acetylene  Gas  Company,  which  has  recently  erected  a  special 
factory  at  Foyers  for  the  production  of  calcic  carbide  under 
Wilson’s  patents,  recently  lent  me  (the  lecturer)  certain  plant  with 
which  to  experimentally  ascertain  the  cost  of  producing  car¬ 
bide.  It  was  found  that  one  electric  horse-power  gave  3  to  *4 
pound  of  the  compound.  Now  the  cost  of  the  electric  h.p. 
varies  in  different  parts,  and  will  be  least  in  those  places 
where  water-power  is  available.  The  Acetylene  Gas  Com¬ 
pany  have  ample  water-power,  and  can  hence  produce 
at  a  cheaper  rate.  To  a  large  extent  the  manufacture  is 

a  monopoly  protected  by  patents,  and,  for  a  time  at  least,  acety¬ 
lene  cannot  rival  coal  gas.  British  carbide  is  the  best  in  the 
market,  and  contains  over  90  per  cent,  of  CaC2,  and  evolves  5  cubic 
feet  of  acetylene  per  lb.  French  and  Swiss  makes  rarely  give 
more  than  4  cubic  feet  and  the  German  only  3  '5  cubic  feet.  Pure 
carbide  is  perfectly  safe  if  kept  dry,  but  when  impure  it  is  some¬ 
times  very  dangerous.  SH2  is  commonly  present  to  the  extent  of 
2  per  cent. ,  but  it  does  not  constitute  a  danger,  though  its  presence 
is  unpleasant  to  the  nose.  Much  more  dangerous  impurities 
are  the  phosphides  of  calcium,  which,  when  decomposed,  give 
rise  to  phosphoretted  hydrogen  and  bring  about  spontaneous 
combustion  (combustibility  of  foreign  carbide  shown).  No 
doubt  the  charcoal  from  which  the  carbide  was  made  con¬ 
tained  traces  of  phosphorus,  or  perhaps  phosphates  were 
present  in  the  lime.  Now,  the  danger  here  is  this  ;  in  the  col¬ 
lection  of  acetylene  in  the  gasholder  there  must  come  a  moment 
when  that  holder  contains  an  explosive  mixture  of  C^H,}  and- 
air.  If  at  that  moment  phosphoretted  hydrogen  is  present,  all  the 
elements  of  disaster  are  there,  and  an  explosion  occurs.  Another- 
dangerous  impurity  is  ammonia.  In  the  presence  of  ammonia  and 
moisture  acetylene  attacks  copper  and  copper  alloys,  producing 
explosive  compounds.  There  is  no  danger  if  care  is  taken  to  use 
pure  materials  in  making  the  carbide.  A  good  deal  has  been 
made  of  the  dangerous  nature  of  carbide  and  acetylene,  but  only 
by  those  ignorant  of  the  properties  of  the  substances.  If,  as  was 
actually  the  case,  eight  tons  of  carbide  are  sent  by  rail  in  open 
trucks  one  must  not  be  surprised  at  something  happening  if  a 
shower  of  rain  fall,  but  if  properly  stored  the  danger  is  no  greater 
than  that  experienced  in  the  storage  of  benzene  or  coal  gas. 
Most  of  the  accidents  have  been  the  result  of  careless  handling 
by  ignorant  persons,  or  the  reckless  experiments  of  up-to-date 
amateurs.  With  regard  to  generators,  most  of  the  acetylene 
generators  at  present  on  the  market  are  unsafe.  The  point  to  be 
aimed  at  is  to  have  a  small  portion  of  the  carbide  acted  upon,  and 
to  be  able  to  stop  the  evolution  at  a  moment’s  notice.  In  the 
generation  an  amount  of  heat  is  evolved  as  the  outcome  of  the 
double  decomposition  which  is  sufficient  to  decompose  the  acety¬ 
lene.  This  gives  rise  to  “choking”  of  the  pipes  and  formation  of 
explosive  hydrocarbons,  hence  the  necessity  for  not  having  an 
excess  of  carbide.  Again,  in  some  generators  the  water  is  merely 
drawn  off  the  carbide,  but  the  latter  is  left  damp  and  still  evolving 


6G 


pharmaceutical  journal. 


[Jxx.  23,  1897 


gas,  with  the  result  that  a  self -compression  goes  on  in  the  contents 
of  the  gasholder,  which  may  give  rise  to  serious  conditions. 
(Several  apparatus  for  generating  gas  were  on  exhibition,  and 
special  praise  was  accorded  to  one  on  the  diving-bell  principle. ) 
With  reference  to  burners  it  is  advisable  not  to  have  the  orifices 
too  fine  or  choking  results.  The  ordinary  flat  flame  burner  is  as 
good  as  any,  and  a  flame  consuming  1  cubic  foot  of  gas  per  hour 
will  emit  a  light  of  from  32  to  34  “candles.”  The  life  of  such  a 
burner  is  about  400  hours.  ( All  sorts  of  burners  were  shown  in  action, 
to  the  great  optical  suffering  of  those  in  the  front  row  of  the 
lecture  room.)  With  a  greater  consumption  of  gas  a  better  power  is 
obtained,  and  with  a  consumption  of  5  cubic  feet  per  hour  a  power 
of  240  candles  may  be  obtained.  The  illuminating  power  of  other 
hydrocarbons  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  table 

Methane . 5'  candles. 

Ethane  . 35  ‘7  ,, 

Propane . , ... . . .  56’7  ,, 

Ethylene  . - .  70‘  ,, 

Butylene.. .  123‘  ,, 

In  each  case  a  consumption  of  5  cubic  feet  per  hour  is  assumed. 

A  great  future  is  before  the  acetylene  light  in  the  illumination  of 
the  interior  of  railway  carriages  and  tram-cars,  but  the  dangers 
attending  compression  of  the  gas  have  yet  to  be  overcome. 


GELATIN  CAPSULES.* 

BY  WM.  C  AI.PEBS 
(  Concluded  from  page  27. ) 

2.  Filling  the  Capsule  with  Powders  or  Pill  Mass. 

There  exists  a  great  diversity  of  opinions  as  to  the  proper  way  of 
dispensing  medicinal  media  in  gelatin  capsules.  While  some  phar¬ 
macists  claim  that  a  mass  should  always  be  prepared,  others  contend 
that  the  only  proper  way  is  to  fill  the  mixture  of  the  various  items 
of  the  prescription  in  powder  form  into  the  capsule.  Under  certain 
circumstances  both  may  be  right.  Physicians  are  not  always 
explicit  in  writing  prescriptions,  and  often  omit  to  state  in  what 
form  they  wish  the  medicine  administered.  If  they  would  simply 
add  “  fiat  massa  in  capsulas  dividenda,”  or  “  fiant  pulveres  in  cap- 
sulas  dividendi,”  all  doubts  would  be  dispelled.  But  there  are  only 
a  few  who  do  this,  and  as  long  as  the  modus  operandi  is  left  to  the 
judgment  of  the  pharmacist  a  definite  rule  should  be  adopted. 

The  public  in  general  prefer  capsules  filled  with  powder,  and  all 
pharmacists  know  the  sometimes  very  troublesome  customer  who 
will  insist  on  having  his  20  grains  of  quinine  put  into  ten  capsules, 
because  “  they  act  better  that  way.”  The  argument  that  a  dry 
powder  is  more  readily  dissolved  or  absorbed  than  a  more  or  less 
compressed  pill,  is  a  very  plausible  one  and  hard  to  refute.  In 
reviewing  prescriptions  on  which  capsules  are  ordered,  we  will  find 
that  the  majority,  almost  65  per  cent.,  are  orders  for  pills,  that  is  to 
say,  they  contain  ingredients  whose  mixture  will  result  in  a  pill 
mass.  Vegetable  extracts  of  more  or  less  soft  consistency,  oils  of 
various  natures,  articles  like  oxgall  or  ichthyol,  and  similar  drugs, 
:all  these  can  only  be  prepared  in  pill  form  ;  for  to  make  powders 
of  them  would  require  an  addition  of  so  much  absorbing  powder 
as  to  make  the  powders  unreasonably  large.  To  this  class  we 
must  also  count  those  prescriptions  that  contain  deliquescent 
salts  or  such  chemicals  which  by  their  mixture  will  turn 
moist  or  liquid.  There  can  be  no  question  about  such  prescriptions 
and  our  investigation  is  therefore  restricted  to  prescriptions  that  are 
composed  only  of  dry  ingredients,  or  in  which  the  amount  of  liquid 
medicaments,  like  a  few  drops  of  some  ethereal  oil,  is  so  small  that 
it  will  be  readily  taken  up  by  the  solid  ingredients  without  the 
addition  of  any  absorbing  powder.  What  is  ordered  in  such  cases, 
powders  or  pills  ? 

#  Read  before  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association ,  at  Montreal 


Let  us  take  analogous  cases.  Would  a  pharmacist  think  of 
changing  a  prescription  for  pills  into  one  for  powders,  or  one  for 
powders  into  a  liquid  ?  Is  it  not  the  rule  to  dispense  conscien¬ 
tiously  whatever  is  ordered,  and  not  alter  a  prescription  in  the 
least,  unless  the  limits  of  safety  have  been  transgressed?  Why 
then  should  a  mixture  of  drugs  ordered  in  powder  form  be  changed 
into  a  pill  mass  ?  A  capsule  is,  according  to  all  authorities,  a  cover 
for  nauseating  or  strong- smelling  medicines,  no  teacher  or  encyclo¬ 
pedist  restricts  its  meaning  to  pills  alone.  A  pharmacist,  therefore, 
has  no  right  to  suppose  that  a  physician  wishes  to  order  a  pill  mass 
when  he  orders  powders,  especially  as  the  prescriber  has  it  in  his 
power  to  add  the  words  “fiat  massa,”  and  thereby  express  such  desire 
if  it  existed.  Where,  however,  such  a  remark  is  wanting,  there  is  no 
reason  why  a  mass  should  be  formed.  Powders ,  not  pills  are 
ordered  to  be  put  into  capsules,  and  the  pharmacist  who  changes 
the  powders  into  a  mass  doubtlessly  transgresses  the  limits  of  his 
professional  liberties.  And  what  other  motive  to  do  so  can  there 
exist,  but  the  desire  to  save  time  and  labour  ?  The  tendency  of 
late  years  to  prepare  prescriptions  at  lower  prices  than  all  the  com¬ 
petitors  and  sacrifice  everything  to  cheapness,  has  reduced  not  only 
the  time  allotted  to  each  prescription,  but  also  the  care  and  solici¬ 
tude  so  necessary  in  the  fulfilment  of  our  professional  duties.  It 
goes  quicker  to  make  a  mass  and  cut  it  into  so  many  parts  than  to 
carefully  weigh  each  powder,  and  let  the  accuracy  with  which  the 
last  powder  balances  the  calculated  weight  serve  as  a  proof  of  the 
correctness  of  all  powders. 

It  is  claimed  that  in  many  instances  the  bulk  of  the  dry  powder 
would  necessitate  a  very  large  capsule,  while  a  mass  could  be  com¬ 
pressed  to  a  much  smaller  volume.  In  answer  to  this  argument  we 
must  not  forget  that  it  is  not  the  pharmacist’s  province  to  regulate 
the  bulk  of  the  medicine,  or  to  correct  a  physician,  as  long  as  the 
dose  is  within  the  limits  of  safety.  If  a  physician  chooses  to  order 
a  mixture  containing  as  a  dose  one -sixtieth  grain  of  strychnine  dis. 
solved  in  a  tablespoonful  of  some  aromatic  liquid,  no  pharmacist 
would  consider  it  his  duty  to  change  the  tablespoon  to  a  teaspoon, 
and  thereby  reduce  the  bulk  of  this  medicine  to  one-fourth  of  the 
prescription  under  the  plea  that  the  bulk  of  the  dose  was  too 
large.  If,  therefore,  the  physician  orders  a  powder  to  be  put 
into  capsules  and  the  largest  capsules  alone  will  hold  the  pre¬ 
scribed  dose,  there  is  no  reason  why  the  pharmacist  should 
change  the  order.  Nor  is  it  always  true  that  a  mass  will  reduce 
the  bulk.  In  the  first  place  it  is  always  necessary  to  add  some  ex¬ 
cipient,  if  it  be  only  water,  thereby  adding  to  the  weight ;  very  often 
adhesive  vehicles  as  gum  acacia,  tragacanth,  various  mucilages  or 
glycerites  are  needed  to  form  the  mass.  The  danger  of  adding  a 
little  too  much  of  a  liquid  vehicle,  and  then  being  c  impelled  to 
correct  the  mistake  by  adding  some  solid,  often  increases  consider¬ 
ably  the  bulk  of  the  mass  without  adding  to  its  medicinal  properties. 
Furthermore,  while  all  these  ingredients  may  be  perfectly  harmless, 
if  considered  by  themselves,  they  may  yet  change  the  finely- 
comminuted  powder  to  a  hard  lump,  which  instead  of  being  easily 
assimilated  by  the  patient  would  pass  undissolved  through  the 
system,  or  even  be  the  cause  of  serious  digestive  disorders.  Lastly, 
we  may  also  state  that  although  there  are  people  who  prefer  small 
capsules  to  large  ones,  there  are  just  as  many  who  will  take  a  large 
capsule  as  readily  as  a  small  one. 

A  few  words  may  be  added  about  the  filling  of  capsules,  which 
seems  to  be  a  difficult  task  to  some  pharmacists.  Whenever  a  mass  is 
first  prepared,  little  difficulty  is  experienced.  The  general  pro¬ 
cedure  is  to  roll  the  mass  and  cut  it  into  the  required  number  of 
pieces,  in  such  a  way  that  each  piece  has  the  shape  of  a  small 
cylinder,  of  a  diameter  a  little  smaller  than  that  of  the  body  of  the 
selected  capsule.  The  operator  should  then  wash  his  hands,  in 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


67 


Jan.  23,  1897.] 


order  to  remove  all  traces  of  the  mass,  and  then  introduce  the  small 
cylinders  into  the  capsules  by  means  of  a  needle  with  which  he  picks 
them  up.  As  especially  fit  for  this  work,  I  mention  the  small  bota¬ 
nical  needles  used  in  dissecting  flowers,  which  are  provided  with 
a  wooden  handle,  an  instrument  that  every  pharmacist  can  prepare 
himself.  The  covers  are  afterwards  put  on  with  the  fingers.  By 
this  method  the  odour  as  well  as  the  taste  of  the  ingredients  of  the 
mass  are  thoroughly  covered  by  the  capsule.  Care  should  be  taken 
not  to  select  too  large  a  capsule,  so  that  the  mass  after  drying  will 
fill  only  half  the  space  ;  but  even  with  the  greatest  care  in  preparing 
the  mass  a  shrinking  will  afterwards  take  place,  an  inconvenience 
which  it  seems  impossible  to  overcome. 

During  the  last  year  I  have  given  this  method  of  filling  capsules 
my  special  attention,  and  compared  repeatedly  the  cylindrical  parts 
of  the  mass  by  weighing  them.  In  very  rare  instances  have  I  found 
two  parts  that  weighed  exactly  the  same,  the  variation  in  my  own 
work  ranging  from  a  fraction  of  1  per  cent,  to  3  per  cent.,  in  spite 
of  the  greatest  care  exercised.  Experiments  with  masses  cut  by 
other  operators  showed  a  similar,  sometimes  worse,  result.  I  have 
discovered  two  apparently  equal  pieces  of  the  same  mass  to  vary  as 
much  as  8  per  cent.  In  most  instances  this  lack  of  exactness  seems 
to  be  irrelevant,  but  we  must  admit  that  if  we  once  allow  a  varia¬ 
tion  it  is  hard  to  draw  a  limit.  I  have  therefore  adopted  a  better 
and  more  correct  method,  and  during  the  last  six  months  instructed 
my  assistants  to  weigh  the  mass,  divide  the  weight  by  the  number 
of  capsules  ordered,  and  then  weigh  each  part  separately  before 
putting  it  into  the  capsule.  Objection  might  be  raised  that  this  is 
a  troublesome  and  tedious  procedure.  But  this  is  not  so.  By  using 
the  metric  weight  a  division  is  quickly  made,  and  the  weighing  of 
from  12  to  20  small  parts  requires  no  longer  time  than  the  rolling 
and  cutting. 

To  introduce  powders  into  the  capsules  is  not  quite  so  simple,  and 
requires  a  small  apparatus  to  insure  correct  results.  Some  pharma¬ 
cists  resort  to  the  rather  crude  method  to  put  the  powder,  without 
dividing  it,  on  a  piece  of  paper,  take  the  body  of  the  empty  capsule 
between  the  fiDgers  in  the  left  hand  and  the  cover  in  the  right,  and 
fill  both  by  shoving  them  through  the  powder  repeatedly.  This 
method,  which  is  even  recommended  in  one  of  the  newer  works  of 
pharmacy  as  the  best  means  of  filling  capsules,  is  objectionable  in 
more  than  one  respect.  In  the  first  place  it  is  impossible  to  gauge 
the  quantity  of  the  powder  that  is  thus  introduced  into  the  capsule, 
and  repeated  weighing  of  each  capsule  becomes  necessary,  until 
the  correct  weight  is  reached,  sometimes  after  many  trials. 
Secondly,  the  very  object  of  the  capsule  is  entirely  ignored  ;  par¬ 
ticles  of  the  mass  will  adhere  to  the  outside,  and  neither  taste  nor 
odour  of  nauseating  medicines  can  afterwards  be  entirely  removed. 
A  capsule  filled  with  quinine  in  this  manner  will  taste  bitter 
no  matter  how  often  it  is  wiped  after  filling,  and  if  the  mass 
should  contain  such  strong  smelling  ingredients  as  asafcetida 
or  valerian,  their  odour  can  never  be  removed.  The  proper 
way,  insuring  correctness  and  elegance,  is  to  weigh  each 
powder  separately,  and  introduce  it  into  the  empty  cap¬ 
sule  by  means  of  a  small  apparatus,  of  which  various  kinds 
are  in  the  market.  There  is  Reymond’s  capsule  filler,  con¬ 
sisting  of  a  block  of  wood  with  a  number  of  sockets  for  the 
empty  capsule,  and  a  second  block  with  a  corresponding  number  of 
funnel-shaped  receptacles.  Another  instrument,  the  Davenport 
capsule  filler,  consists  of  a  metal  funnel  for  the  capsule  and  a 
plunger.  Both  these  and  other  apparatus  have  their  advantages 
and  drawbacks. 

I  have  here  an  instrument  which  I  think  is  an  improvement  on 
the  others.  It  consists  of  a  base  (Fig.  2),  with  a  number  of  small 
plugs,  and  a  block  (Fig.  1),  with  a  corresponding  number  of  holes 


into  which  the  plugs  fit ;  these  holes  are  widened  at  the  upper  side 
into  small  funnels.  At  the  sides  are  pegs  as  guides  for  the  upper 
block,  so  that  each  hole  will  be  exactly  over  each  plug.  In  the 
centre  of  the  baseboard  there  is  a  small  metal  rod  with  a  thread 
for  a  screw-nut  at  the  upper  end  ;  the  nut  for  this  thread  is  held  on 
the  upper  side  of  the  perforated  block  by  an  overlapping  flange,  and 


can  be  turned  easily  by  means  of  a  pair  of  wings.  A  short  plunger 
(Fig.  3),  concave  at  one  end  and  convex  at  the  other,  completes  the 
apparatus.  The  modus  operandi  explains  itself.  The  two  blocks  are 
arranged  so  as  to  place  the  upper  one  over  the  lower  one,  the 
empty  capsules  are  introduced  and  pushed  by  means  of  the 
plunger  into  the  perforation  until  they  touch  the  plugs ;  if  neces¬ 
sary  the  upper  block  is  lowered  by  means  of  the  screw  until  the 
upper  parts  of  the  capsules  are  even  with  the  funnel-shaped  widen¬ 
ing  of  the  perforations ;  the  powders,  each  one  having  been  weighed, 
are  put  into  the  funnels  and  pressed  down  with  the  concave  end  of 


the  plunger,  leaving  a  small  elevation  over  each  capsule  for  the 
hollow  of  the  cover.  By  a  few  turns  of  the  nut  the  capsules  are 
now  partially  raised  out  of  their  casings,  high  enough  to  put  the 
covers  on,  these  latter  might  be  moistened  inside  with  a  trace  of 
water  by  means  of  a  camel’s-hair  pencil,  and  thereby  glued  on. 
After  the  covers  are  put  on,  a  few  additional  turns  of  the  screw  will 
raise  the  capsules  entirely  out  of  the  casings. 

As  a  rfoumi  I  would  submit  the  following  rules  : — 

1.  Always  follow  the  physician’s  directions  as  to  the  formation  of 
a  mass. 

2.  If  no  directions  are  given,  form  a  pill  mass  whenever  the 
ingredients  cannot  be  mixed  in  powder  form.  Weigh  the  mass, 
divide  the  weight  by  the  number  of  capsules  ordered,  weigh  each 
part  and  give  it  the  shape  of  a  small  cylinder  by  rolling  it  between 
the  thumb  and  first  finger.  Wash  the  fingers  and  introduce  the 
cylinders  into  the  capsules  by  means  of  a  needle. 

3.  If  no  directions  are  given,  and  the  ingredients  of  the  prescrip¬ 
tion  will  form  a  powder,  divide  their  combined  weight  by  the  number 
of  capsules  ordered,  weigh  each  powder  separately  and  introduce  it 
in  powder  form  into  the  capsule  by  means  of  a  convenient  apparatus 
Under  no  condition  should  the  undivided  powder  be  forced  into  the 
capsules  by  moving  the  bodies  and  covers  through  the  powder  from 
opposite  directions. 


68 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  23,  1897 


METRIC  MEASURES  AND  OUR  OLD  SYSTEM.* 

BY  FREDERICK  TOMS. 

Sooner  or  later  the  British  public  will  have  to  accommodate  it¬ 
self  to  another  system  of  weights  and  measures.  A  Bill  to 
legalise  the  decimal-metric  system  has  been  brought  into  the 
House  of  Commons,  and  will  probably  receive  parliamentary  sanc¬ 
tion  ;  but  its  adoption  appears  to  be  merely  permissory.  The 
advocates  of  the  new  system,  however,  are  not  likely  to  be  content 
with  this,  as  many  are  of  opinion  that  the  use  of  metric  measures 
should  be  made  compulsory,  as  has  already  been  done  in  many 
other  countries.  But  before  taking  this  extreme  course,  with  all 
the  inconveniences  which  such  a  change  must  necessarily  entail 
upon  immense  numbers  of  people — and  more  especially  upon  the 
least  educated  portion  of  the  community,  who  are  not  receptive  of 
new  ideas — it  may  be  desirable  to  regard,  not  merely  the  merits  of 
the  new  system,  but  all  its  defects.  Likewise  let  us  take  into  con. 
sideration  the  good  points  of  our  old  system  (with  which  every¬ 
body — man,  woman,  and  child — is  familiar),  and  then  endeavour  to 
ascertain  whether  it  may  not  be  possible  to  combine  the  best 
features  of  the  two ;  so  that  the  advantages  of  the  metric  method 
may  be  added  to  the  facilities  of  our  present  practice,  and  the  new 
system  be  brought  into  operation  with  the  smallest  amount  of 
disturbance  to  the  business  proceedings  and  domestic  habits  of 
the  British  nation  as  a  whole. 

For  simplicity  in  scientific  calculations,  and  for  large  commercial 
transactions,  the  metric  method  cannot  be  surpassed ;  but  the 
decimal  arrangement  does  not  really  adapt  itself  to  the  minor  tran¬ 
sactions  of  retail  trade  and  ordinary  dealings  of  the  poorer  classes, 
whose  purchases  require  greater  facility  of  subdivision.  It  is  re. 
corded  that,  long  before  the  present  metric  system  was  devised,  Charles 
XII.  of  Sweden  proposed  the  number  12  for  the  arithmetical  base, 
and  said  :  “  It  is  quite  ridiculous  to  use  10  as  the  base  for  arithmetic, 
it  can  only  be  once  divided  by  2,  and  then  stops.” 

It  would  be  absurd,  however,  to  attempt  now  to  establish  a 
duodecimal  base  for  arithmetic.  But  having  a  duodecimal  method 
of  weights  and  measures  already  in  operation,  and  familiar  to 
everybody,  it  would  be  almost  as  ridiculous  to  throw  away  its  many 
advantages  in  order  to  make  the  habits  and  customs  of  the  com¬ 
monality,  as  regards  their  purchases  and  sales,  subordinate  to  the 
restrictions  of  a  code  of  decimals.  By  all  means  adopt  the  base  of 
the  metric  system — in  order  to  place  yourself  on  a  similar  footing 
to  most  other  civilised  nations — but  do  not  discard  your  old 
facilities  of  subdivision.  You  may,  on  the  contrary,  if  so  disposed, 
increase  those  facilities  by  adding  to  the  halves,  quarters,  thirds1 
sixths,  eighths,  twelfths,  and  so  on,  which  are  found  in  our  presen  - 
code,  the  fifths  and  tenths  which  occur  in  the  decimal  code  ;  and  thus 
people  would  gradually  become  familiarised  with  the  metric 
system  in  general. 

The  want  of  the  old  subdivisions  has  been  a  source  of  vast  trouble 
and  inconvenience  to  the  French  people  ;  and  they  have  tried  to 
palliate  the  inconveniences  by  applying  old  names  to  new  divisions. 
But  when  proportions  are  also  altered,  this  is  merely  grasping  at 
the  shadow  while  losing  the  substance.  Let  us  retain  the  old  pro. 
portions  together  with  the  old  names,  while  slightly  varying  the 
basis  whereon  they  are  founded.  We  shall  thus  be  brought  into 
touch  with  all  nations  which  have  adopted  the  metric  system,  and 
our  measures  will  be  readily  convertible  into  theirs ;  while  we  shall 
still  keep  our  existing  methods,  and  not  deprive  the  mass  of 
the  people  of  the  familiar  knowledge  which  they  already 
possess. 


*  Paper  read  at  the  meeting  of  the  British  Association  for  the  Advance¬ 
ment  of  Science,  held  at  Liverpool  in  September,  1896. 


It  seems  a  pity  that  when,  in  the  year  1790,  a  proposition  having 
been  sent  by  the  French  Government  asking  for  the  appointment  of 
an  international  conference  (combining  an  equal  number  of 
members  of  the  Academie  Franchise  and  of  the  Rojal  Society  of 
London) — for  the  purpose  of  taking  steps  to  devise  a  new  system 
of  measures — nothing  was  done  on  our  side  of  the  Channel  towards 
carrying  the  suggestion  into  effect.  But  it  is  not  surprising  that, 
amid  the  political  complications  of  that  troublous  period,  the 
British  Government  did  not  see  its  way  to  give  such  proposal  a 
favourable  reception.  France,  however,  not  being  successful  in 
obtaining  the  co-operation  of  England,  appointed  a  commission  of 
its  own,  which  included  some  of  the  most  celebrated  scientific  men 
of  the  time.  Among  them  was  one  practical  mathematician  and 
astronomer  who  had  shortly  before  taken  an  active  part  in  bringing 
the  observatories  of  Paris  and  Greenwich  into  closer  relations  ;  and 
another  was  a  French  member  of  our  English  Royal  Society.  So 
here,  it  may  be  supposed,  were  at  least  two  commissioners  who 
would  have  been  able  and  willing  to  work  in  unison  with  English 
confreres.  And  if  such  men  as  these  could  have  been  associated 
with  equally  competent  men  of  our  own  nation,  it  is  not  impossible 
that  a  means  might  have  been  discovered  for  placing  the  new 
French  system  on  practically  the  same  basis  as  the  old  English 
method  ;  for,  as  Sir  John  Herschel  afterwards  pointed  out,  the 
English  inch  was  more  exact  than  the  metre  as  a  unit  whereon  to 
base  the  whole  metric  system. 

But,  although  it  is  useless  to  cry  over  spilt  milk,  one  cannot  dis¬ 
regard  the  fact  that  the  task  to  be  accomplished  is  much  more 
difficult  now  than  it  might  have  been  a  century  ago.  Then,  a 
difference  in  length  of  the  metre  by  a  few  thousandth  parts,  more 
or  less,  would  have  been  a  matter  of  comparatively  small  import¬ 
ance.  The  main  principle  could  have  been  worked  on  exactly  the 
same  lines ;  and  all  the  advantages  of  this  admirable  system  might 
have  been  conferred  upon  the  world  in  just  the  same  degree  as 
exists  at  present.  But  there  would  have  been  the  additional  and 
immense  advantage  that,  if  the  metre  had  been  altered  by  a  small 
fraction,  so  as  to  make  it  accord  with  eleven-tenths  of  the  English 
yard — or  if  the  yard  had  been  varied  in  some  slight  degree,  so  as  to 
make  it  correspond  with  the  metre — the  two  systems  might  have 
been  put  into  simultaneous  operation  in  both  countries,  and  serious 
arithmetical  and  business  difficulties,  extending  over  a  hundred 
years,  would  thus  have  been  spared  to  the  world. 

The  slight  alteration  which  might  then  have  been  effected,  by  a 
little  judicious  negotiation  between  two  friendly  nations,  is  no 
longer  possible,  as  about  thirty  diff  irent  countries,  large  or  small, 
have  now  adopted  the  metric  system  in  some  degi  ee — though  not 
always  in  its  entirety  ;  and  many  of  them  have  transferred  their  old 
names  to  the  new  weights  and  measures.  It  is  obvious,  therefore, 
that  whenever  the  ultimate  change  comes — as  come  it  must — some 
alteration  will  have  to  be  made  in  the  British  unit  of  length.  How, 
then,  can  this  change  be  effected  with  the  least  amount  of  disturb¬ 
ance  in  our  existing  arrangements  ? 

The  metric  system  has  already  been  adopted  by  scientific  men  ; 
and,  for  their  purposes,  its  original  form  is  much  preferable  to  any 
modification.  Where  help  is  really  required,  in  effecting  the 
change,  is  solely  among  those  people  who  have  no  knowledge  of 
decimal  weights  and  measures,  but  who  are  thoroughly  familiar 
with  our  English  system.  Before  they  can  utilise  the  metric  method 
they  will  have  to  undergo  a  process  of  education.  What  is  requi¬ 
site,  therefore,  is  that  our  grown-up  population — which  cannot  be 
sent  to  school  again — should  not  be  arbitrarily  and  suddenly 
deprived  of  the  system  which  they  know,  but  they  should  gradually 
be  made  acquainted  with  the  new  process  by  utilising  the  informa¬ 
tion  which  is  already  at  their  command.  In  this  way  the  change 


Jan.  23,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


69 


from  one  to  the  other  may  be  effected  ;  but  it  must  be  a  work  of 
time.  Compulsion  is  not  needed  ;  but  guidance  is. 

The  key  to  the  conversion  process — which  is  suggested  by  the 
fact  that  the  metre  is  just  about  one-tenth  longer  than  our  present 
yard — is  simply  to  divide  the  metre  into  eleven  equal  parts,  and 
take  ten  of  these  parts  to  represent  the  new  English  yard. 

This  proposed  new  yard  could  be  subdivided  and  used  in  exactly 
the  same  manner  as  the  old  measure  ;  and  the  difference  between 
the  inches,  feet,  and  yards  would  be  scarcely  perceptible  to  ordinary 
observers,  as  they  would  be  only  a  small  fraction  shorter — each 
being  barely  -006  less  than  its  present  length. 

The  impression  may  possibly  be  formed  that  the  use  of  the 
number  11  would  render  calculations  difficult,  seeing  that  it  is  not 
divisible.  There  is  no  necessity,  however,  to  divide  that  number  • 
but  it  will  be  found  very  useful  in  converting  English  measures  into 
metric  equivalents,  as  our  existing  codes  of  long  and  square 
measures  contain  multiples  of  that  number,  and  the  use  of  11  (or 
its  decimal  11)  fits  in  wondrously  well  with  the  conversion  of  yards 
into  metres,  and  vice  versa. 

If,  for  example,  the  metre  be  taken  as  equivalent  to  el  even- tenths 
of  a  yard,  a  kilometre  (or  1000  metres)  would  be  equal  to  1100 
yards — i.e.,  exactly  5  furlongs.  A  hectometre  (or  100  metres)  would 
be  just  the  same  in  length  as  110  yards,  or  half  a  furlong ;  a  deka- 
metre  (or  10  metres)  would  be  equal  to  11  yards — i.e.,  double  the 
length  of  the  English  rod,  pole,  or  perch,  which  measures  5£  yards. 
In  short,  take  any  number  of  metres,  multiply  them  by  11,  and  you 
get  their  equivalent  in  yards ;  or  take  any  number  of  yards,  and 
divide  them  by  IT,  and  you  obtain  the  corresponding  number  of 
metres. 

The  11-10  process  would  be  quickly  comprehended  by  mechanics 
when  they  found  the  metre  to  be  exactly  one-tenth  longer  than  the 
yard.  The  peasant  would  soon  put  this  and  that  together  if  he  saw 
the  milestones  inscribed  with  “8  kilometres— 5  miles,”  “9  kilo¬ 
metres— 5  miles  5  furlongs,”  and  so  on.  Even  the  skilled 
geographer  need  not  be  above  admitting  that  the  circumference  of 
the  earth  is  the  same  whether  it  be  represented  as  25,000  miles  or 
40,000  kilometres,  and  by  44  million  yards  as  well  as  40  million 
metres.  He  may  aver  that  the  French  philosophers  somewhat 
under-estimated  the  earth’s  circumference  ;  but  it  is  a  century  too 
late  to  rectify  that  slight  difference ;  and  the  evenness  of  the 
numbers  and  facility  of  conversion  are  certainly  a  great  aid  to 
memory. 

With  our  apparently  complicated  method  of  land-measurement 
the  metric  system  would  fit  in  remarkably  well  when  11  yards  are 
made  exactly  equivalent  to  10  metres.  Farm  labourers,  as  well  as 
the  farmers  themselves,  would  perceive  that  the  French  system> 
though  unfamiliar  at  first,  is  more  simple  than  ours  ;  and  it  will  be 
easy  to  convert  the  one  into  the  other.  Our  English  measures  are 
divisible  by  11,  from  the  acre  of  4840  square  yards  downwards. 
Even  our  square  rod,  pole,  or  perch  (which  is  equal  to  the  seemingly 
odd  number  of  30J  square  yards)  becomes  simplified  by  the  metric 
system,  as  the  length  of  the  rod  is  5^  or  5  5  yards,  and  the  same 
length  would  be  exactly  5  metres  ;  while  it  goes  without  saying 
that  5  times  5,  or  25  square  metres,  is  more  simple  than  5|  times 
5J,  or  30J  square  yards.  This  square  perch,  too,  would  be  exactly 
one-fourth  the  size  of  the  French  are  ;  and  10  ares  would  be  the 
same  as  our  rood  ;  100  ares  form  the  hectare,  equal  to  10  roods,  or 
2^  acres  ;  while  our  square  furlong,  containing  10  acres,  would  be 
exactly  200  metres  square.  Our  square  mile,  too,  which  contains 
640  acres,  would  be  equal  to  a  square  the  sides  of  which  measure 
1600  metres ;  and,  as  16  times  16  amount  to  256,  there  would  be 
256  hectares  as  the  equivalent  of  our  square  mile  of  640  acres. 

(To  he  contmued.) 


PARLIAMENTARY  NOTES  AND  NEWS- 

The  Third  Session  of  the  present  Parliament  opened  on  the 
19th  instant — a  date  considerably  in  advance  of  that  usually  asso¬ 
ciated  with  the  inauguration  of  a  new  session.  It  is  not  likely, 
however,  that  the  extra  fortnight  or  so  will  be  found  superfluous, 
for  in  addition  to  the  by  no  means  trivial  labours  indicated  in  Her 
Majesty’s  Speech,  there  are  grievances  “in  the  air,”  and  it  does 
not  require  much  foresight  to  enable  one  to  announce  the  proba¬ 
bility  of  talk  on  the  alleged  over-taxation  of  Ireland. 

Education  is  apparently  to  take  first  place  in  the  ministerial 
programme,  and  this  is  only  in  accord  with  the  repeated  pledges 
given  by  responsible  ministers  last  session.  Then  follows  the 
question  of  compensation  to  workpeople  who  suffer  from  accidents 
in  the  course  of  their  employment  ;  and  the  London  water  supply 
will  also  receive  legislative  attention.  These  items,  together  with 
the  Military  Defences  of  the  Empire,  and  the  promotion  of  agri¬ 
culture  in  Ireland  by  the  establishment  of  an  Irish  Board  of  Agri¬ 
culture,  are  prominent  in  the  Westminster  programme  for  1897. 

Chemists  will,  however,  have  more  interest  in  the  announce¬ 
ment  “  in  Her  Majesty’s  own  words  ”  that  during  the  session  a 
Bill  will  be  introduced  for  the  revision  of  the  Acts  relating  to  the 
formation  and  administration  of  limited  companies.  Since  this 
item  last  figured  in  the  Queen’s  Speech  the  abuses — and  there  is 
no  milder  term  for  it — of  the  privilege  of  incorporation  have  been 
more  pronounced,  and  the  revision  of  the  law  has  now  become  an 
urgent  public  necessity.  The  Bill  to  be  introduced  will  doubtless 
be  that  which  was  referred  to  a  Committee  of  the  House  of  Lords 
last  Session,  and  on  its  reappearance  it  is  probable  the  Committee 
will  be  re-constituted,  and  will  at  once  proceed  with  its  work. 
Those  who  are  credited  with  knowing — in  a  parliamentary  sense — - 
“a  thing  or  two,”  are  not,  however,  sanguine  that  the  current 
Session  will  witness  the  enactment  of  a  measure  on  the  subject. 

The  Hon.  Alfred  Lyttelton,  who  seconded  the  Address,  is 
the  popular  member  for  Leamington  and  one  of  the  few 
members  of  the  House  who  maintain  a  sympathetic  attitude 
towards  the  legislative  aspirations  of  chemists  and  druggists.  It 
is  due  to  the  commendable  activity  of  the  chemists  in  his  con¬ 
stituency  that  Mr.  Lyttelton  knows  so  much  about  pharmacy  and 
the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  and  that  he  may  be  counted  on  to 
understand  and  carefully  consider  anything  pharmacists  may 
have  to  say  through  their  accredited  representatives. 

Mr.  Kearley  (Devonport)  is  evidently  determined  to  be  no  less 
active  this  Session  than  he  was  last.  He  did  a  lot  of  Committee 
work  in  1896,  notably  in  connection  with  the  Select  Committee  on 
Food  Products,  and  he  is  disappointed  that  no  reference  in  the 
Queen’s  Speech  has  been  made  to  probable  legislation  on  the 
subject.  He  will  therefore  move  an  amendment  to  the  Address 
expressive  of  regret  at  what  he  considers  so  glaring  an  omission. 

Royal  Commissions  and  their  cost  form  the  subject  matter  of  a 
very  instructive  Return  just  issued  from  the  Home  Office.  It 
appears  that  the  Vaccination  Inquiry  cost  £13,040,  and  lasted  seven 
years  ;  the  first  Commission  on  Tuberculosis  took  £6156  out  of  the 
Treasury  ;  the  Gresham  (university  scheme)  Commission  £2823  ; 
the  Opium  Inquiry  £18,503  ;  Secondary  Education  £5329,  whilst  the 
Chicago  Exhibition  Commission,  which  comprises  the  President, 
Vice-President  and  Council  of  the  Society  of  Arts,  managed  to  run 
up  a  bill  of  £61,464.  Whether  the  country  has  had  the  money’s 
worth  is  a  question  that  may  safely  be  left  with  Mr.  J.  Ellis,  on 
whose  motion  the  Return  was  ordered. 


70 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  23,  1897. 


THE  STUDEHTS’  PAGE. 


MEASURES  USED  IN  PRESCRIPTIONS. 

For  special  use  in  compounding  prescriptions  the  following 
denominations  of  measures  of  capacity  were  legalised  in  1879  : — 
The  fluid  ounce  (the  measure  of  437 ‘5  grains,  or  ounce  avoirdupois, 
weight  of  water),  the  fluid  drachm  (the  eighth  part  of  the  fluid 
ounce,  and  the  measure  therefore  of  54  68  grains  of  water),  and  the 
minim  (the  sixtieth  part  of  the  fluid  drachm  and  the  measure  of 
•91  grain  of  water).  This  want  of  a  simple  relation  between  the 
subdivisions  of  the  ounce  and  the  fluid  ounce  are  a  fruitful 
source  of  error  to  the  student.  He  should  be  very  careful  to 
bear  in  mind  that  the  only  weights  employed  in  the  body 
of  the  Pharmacopoeia  are  the  grain,  the  ounce  (of  437 '5  grains), 
and  the  pound  (of  7000  grains).  The  necessity  for  this  will  be 
more  evident  when  he  attempts  to  calculate  the  amounts  of  sub¬ 
stances  to  be  taken  for  preparing  smaller  quantities  than  those 
ordered  in  the  official  processes.  Supposing,  for  example,  he 
wishes  to  make  one-eighth  of  the  official  quantity  of  liq.  amm.  acet. 
fort.,  in  which  15£  ozs.  of  carbonate  of  ammonia  are  neutralised 
with  (about)  50  fluid  ounces  of  acetic  acid.  Being  familiar  with 
the  fluid  drachm  as  the  eighth  part  of  a  fluid  ounce,  he  will  take 
151  drachms  as  the  eighth  part  of  15^  ounces,  and  50  fluid  drachms 
as  the  eighth  part  of  50  fluid  ounces,  forgetting  that  the  drachm 
(60  grains)  is  not  the  eighth  part  of  the  ounce  (437 -5  grains). 

Another  point  upon  which  the  student  is  likely  to  err  is  in  the 
making  of  “percentage”  solutions,  that  is  solutions  which  shall 
contain  a  certain  percentage  of  some  specified  body.  For  instance, 
a  1  per  cent,  solution  of  corrosive  sublimate  in  water,  spirit  or 
ether  may  be  required.  Now  a  1  one  per  cent,  solution  is  a 
solution  that  contains  in  one  hundred  parts  by  weight  one  part  by 
weight  of  the  desired  constituent,  and  such  percentage  solutions 
as  those  alluded  to  should  invariably  be  made  by  weighing  one 
part  of  the  active  constituent  and  adding  solvent  until  the  product 
weighs  100  parts.  Taking,  say  10  grains  of  corrosive  sublimate 
and  dissolving  it  in  water,  spirit,  or  ether  sufficient  to  produce 
1000  grains  of  solution,  the  volumes  produced  will  differ  consider¬ 
ably,  Dut  in  each  case  a  “  1  per  cent.  ”  solution  will  be  produced, 
since  100  parts  by  weight  will  contain  1  part  by  weight  of  corrosive 
sublimate. 

But  if  a  solution  is  ordered  “  1  in  100,”  then  the  case  is  different. 
Some  pharmacists  understand  this  to  mean  1  grain  in  100  minims, 
whilst  others  consider  1  grain  in  100  fluid  grains  to  be  the  correct 
rendering,  the  fluid  grain  (or  grain  measure)  being  the  measure  of  a 
grain  weight  of  water  (and  therefore  not  identical  with  the 
minim).  Probably  the  former  more  usually  represents  the  pre- 
scriber’s  desire,  since  he  is  certain  to  be  well  acquainted  with 
the  relation  of  the  grain  and  minim,  but  may  not  be  so  familiar 
with  grains  and  fluid  grains.  Here  the  student  must  remember 
that  the  fluid  ounce  contains  437 -5  fluid  grains,  and  that  such 
solutions  can  be  made  only  by  weighing  the  substance  and,  after 
solution,  bringing  the  product  up  to  a  definite  volume. 


THE  FLOWERS  OF  JANUARY. 

Veronica  buxbaumii. — This  pretty  little  weed  may  be  found  in 
cornfields,  and  is  easily  recognised  by  its  axillary  blue  flower, 
cordate,  serrate  leaves,  and  its  compressed  ovary  with  two  spread¬ 
ing  keeled  lobes.  The  flower,  like  the  rest  of  the  genus,  has  only 
two  stamens  developed,  and  the  flower  does  not  at  a  first  glance 
seem  to  be  irregular.  If  carefully  observed,  however,  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  lowest  petal  of  the  four  is  rather  narrower  than  the 
rest.  The  corolla  is  gamopetalous,  wheel-shaped  (rotate),  and 
very  easily  falls  off.  The  ovary,  if  cut  across,  is  seen  to  differ 
from  that  of  the  Labiatse  in  being  two-celled  and  containing 
numerous  seeds.  Some  of  the  Labiatse  (e.g.,  rosemary)  have  also 
only  two  stamens  developed,  so  that  the  structure  of  the  ovary  is 
very  useful  for  distinguishing  the  two  natural  orders. 

Ghimonanthus  fragrans. — Amongst  the  garden  flowers  worth 
examining  by  those  who  have  the  opportunity,  is  this  Chinese 
shrub,  which  flowers  before  the  leaves  appear.  The  flowers  are 
difficult  to  make  out,  since  the  membranous  bracts  run  into  yellow 
sepals,  and  the  sepals  into  yellow  petals  veined  with  red.  The  inner 
stamens  have  no  anthers,  but  the  outer  ones  have  anthers  opening 
outwardly  (extrorse),  and  the  carpels  are  distinct  and  line  the 
hollowed-out  pedicel,  as  in  the  dog  rose.  But  from  the  rose  family 
it  differs  in  the  opposite  leaves,  and  the  wood  has  the  curious  disc¬ 


bearing  wood-cells,  found  in  the  Calycanthaceee  (to  which  it  belongs) 
as  well  as  in  the  Magnoliaceae. 

Drimys  winteri  and  Illicium  religiosum  (see  Ph.  ./. ,  Jan.,  1877,  p. 
609)  are  usually  in  flower  this  month  at  Kew  and  other  botanical 
gardens.  These  plants  will  serve  to  show  the  leading  features  of 
the  cohort  Ranales,  to  which,  in  common  with  the  Ranunculacese, 
these  families  belong,  agreeing  with  the  latter  in  the  apocarpous 
ovary  and  numerous  hypogynous  stamens.  In  the  Magnoliacese, 
however,  the  plants  are  mostly  trees  or  shrubs,  and  the  alternate 
leaves  are  usually  simple  and  entire,  and  the  parts  of  the  flowers 
arranged  in  whorls  of  three.  In  the  Calycanthaceae  the  leaves  are 
opposite  and  the  carpels  immersed. 

Hamamelis  arborea  is  another  interesting  shrub  now  in  full 
beauty  at  Kew  in  the  open  ground,  which  differs  from  H.  virginica 
chiefly  in  the  red  calyx,  which  contrasts  well  with  the  golden-yellow 
ligulate,  twisted  petals.  The  parts  of  the  flower  are  in  fours,  but 
there  are  four  abortive  scale-like  stamens  between  the  fertile  ones, 
and  opposite  to  the  petals.  The  ovary  is  inferior,  two-celled,  with 
one  ovule  in  each.  It  belongs  to  the  Hamamelidacese  (Calyciflorge). 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  B.P. 

Acidum  Chromicum. — This  is  really  chromic  anhydride,  Cr03  :  it 
forms  chromic  acid  when  dissolved  in  water. 


Cr03  +  H20  =  HaCr04. 

When  the  anhydride  is  heated,  chromic  oxide  is  formed  with  evolu¬ 
tion  of  oxygen— 

2Cr03  =  Cra03  +  30. 

When  a  metal  forms  two  or  more  oxides  the  higher  oxides  usually 
have  acidic  properties,  and  the  lower  ones  basic.  This  is  well  ex¬ 
emplified  by  the  oxides  of  chromium  ;  Cra03  does  not  combine  with 
water  to  form  an  acid,  but  with  acids  to  form  salts,  e.g.,  Cr2Cl#, 
cf.  oxides  of  manganese.  Chromic  acid  is  an  energetic  oxidising 
agent.  With  hydrochloric  acid — 

2H2Cr04  +  12HC1  =  CraCl8  +  8H20  +  3C12. 


2HaCrO. 


/  2HvO 


1  2CrO, 


5  Cr203 

3  *  30>3H20. 


6HC1 


6H' 

6C1 


The  reduced  chromic  oxide  forms  chromium  chloride  with 
more  hydrochloric  acid.  The  chromium  salt  gives  the  green  solu¬ 
tion  which  is  produced  when  chromic  acid  acts  as  an  oxidising 
agent  in  acid  solution.  The  oxidation  of  cold  alcohol  gives  rise 
to  aldehyde  ;  at  higher  temperatures  acetic  acid  is  also  produced. 
In  all  these  actions  two  molecules  of  chromic  anhydride  yield  three 
atoms  of  oxygen — 


2CrO„  =  Cr203+30, 


and  two  molecules  of  the  anhydride  will  convert  three  molecules  of 
alcohol  into  aldehyde  or  three  molecules  of  aldehyde  into  acetic 
acid — • 

C2H,OH  +  0  =  C2H40  +  H20. 

Aldehyde. 

CaH40  +  0  =  CaH40,  (or  HC2H3Oa). 

Acetic  Acid. 


Acidum  Hydrochloricum. — Note  that  the  acid  is  to  be  “diluted 
with  four  times  its  volume  of  distilled  water,”  before  adding  the 
barium  chloride  solution  for  the  detection  of  sulphuric  acid.  The 
addition  of  BaCl2  solution  to  the  strong  acid  would  result  in 
precipitation  of  barium  chloride,  this  salt  being  insoluble  in 
concentrated  hydrochloric  acid.  The  test  with  copper  foil  is  to 
detect  arsenic,  which  might  be  present  if  impure  sulphuric  acid 
had  been  employed  in  manufacture.  The  next  test  has  been  already 
explained  under  “Acidum  Aceticum.”  Indigo  solution  would  be 
decolorised  if  chlorine  were  present,  the  latter  acting  as  an 
indirect  oxidiser  (H  O  +  Cl2  =  2HC1  +  O)  and  converting  the  blue 
indigo  into  a  colourless  derivative. 

Acidum  Meconicum. — The  red  meconate  of  iron  is  decomposed 
by  strong,  but  not  by  weak  hydrochloric  acid.  Compare  this  test  with 
those  for  acetates  and  thiocyanates.  Both  give  red  ferric  salts  on 
the  addition  of  ferric  chloride  in  neutral  solution,  but  the  ferric 
acetate  is  decomposed  by  both  weak  and  strong  hydrochloric  acid, 
the  ferric  thiocyanate  by  neither.  Formation  of  precipitate  with 
iodine  solution  would  indicate  presence  of  morphine  or  other 
alkaloid. 


JAN.  23,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


71 


PmumoEUTifflu.  Jourmul. 

A  Weekly  Record  of  Pharmacy  and  Allied  Sciences. 
ESTABLISHED  1841. 

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Editorial  Office:  17,  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.G. 
Publishing  aqd  Advertising  Office :  5,  SEQLE  STREET,  W.C. 


LONDON:  SATURDAY,  JANUARY  23,  1897. 


THE  INCREASE  IN  LOCAL  ASSOCIATIONS. 

Probably  not  the  least  useful  result  of  the  labours  of  the 
■energetic  Secretary  of  the  Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Asso¬ 
ciation  will  prove  to  he  the  awakening  or  re-awakening  of 
the  chemists  and  druggists  in  districts  where  local  associa¬ 
tions  have  been  non-existent,  as  they  realise  what  a  powerful 
weapon  is  lacking  in  their  never-ending  struggle  against  the 
■changing  conditions  of  business.  As  Mr.  Glyn- Jones  had 
•occasion  to  point  out  this  week  at  Newcastle-on-Tyne,in  a  place 
where  a  local  association  exists  and  deals  with  matters  of 
trade  interest,  nothing  is  simpler  than  the  calling  of  a  meeting 
to  deliberate  upon  any  question  of  importance  for  the 
time  being.  Failing  such  an  organisation,  however,  the 
■difficulties  of  ascertaining  the  opinion  of  the  trade  in  a  dis¬ 
trict  are  multiplied  indefinitely.  Mr.  Glyn- Jones  warmly 
recommended  his  auditors,  therefore,  to  take  immediate  steps 
to  combine  for  the  local  consideration  of  any  and  every  topic, 
the  discussion  of  which  may  be  followed  by  results  of 
importance  to  the  members  of  the  association  as  tradesmen. 
The  letter  received  from  Mr.  T.  Maltby  Claque,  and  printed 
at  page  80,  shows  that  the  seed  has  fallen  on  good  soil,  and 
■everyone  will  join  in  the  hope  that  a  healthy  and  vigorous 
plant  may  be  the  result. 

Already  two  or  three  new  associations,  have  thus  been 
started,  qthers  are  in  process  of  formation,  and  the  dry  bones 
-are  stirring  in  several  of  the  time-honoured  ones  that  have 
been  in  the  habit  of  meeting  once  a  year  for  a  dinner,  and  then 
adjourning  until  the  occasion  of  the  next  annual  meal.  If 
this  activity  is  maintained  and  the  movement  in  the  direction 
■of  union  for  trade  defence  continues,  better  things  may 
be  hoped  for  with  regard  to  the  future  of  pharmacy 
as  a  trade  than  have  been  indicated  for  some  years  past. 
Let  local  associations  be  formed  in  every  city  and  town, 
federated  to  the  extent  that  means  shall  exist  for  ready 
inter-communication — so  that  any  question  of  trade  import¬ 
ance  may  be  simultaneously  discussed  all  over  the  country 
and  the  results  recorded  at  headquarters,  where  steps  can  at 
once  be  taken  to  formulate  and  act  upon  those  results — and 
the  protection  of  trade  interests  will  be  better  assured  than 
is  possible  in  any  other  way.  The  results  already  achieved  by 
the  Plymouth  and  other  specially  active  associations  are  in 
themselves  sufficient  to  prove  the  very  great  value  of  cordial 
■co-operation  amongst  chemists  and  druggists,  and  the  best 


advice  that  can  be  given  to  any  other  association,  new  or  old, 
is  to  follow  the  example  indicated. 

At  the  risk  of  being  accused  of  reiteration,  though  that 
were  a  slight  risk  to  incur  if  only  the  desired  consummation 
could  be  attained,  we  venture  to  assert  that  a  local  association 
for  the  discussion  of  trade  topics  should  be  feasible 
in  every  place  where  there  are  two  or  more  chemists  and 
druggists.  The  less  the  number  the  simpler  should  it  be  to 
arrange  matters.  Where  only  one  exists,  let  hi  nr  occasionally 
visit  the  nearest  town  or  village  where  another  is  to  be  found, 
and  let  the  latter  in  turn  call  upon  the  first  for  a  quiet  chat. 
If  then  they  were  to  communicate  with  headquarters,  in  this 
way  even  the  most  sparsely  populated  districts  could  be 
organised  and  expressions  of  opinion  be  as  readily  obtainable 
from  remote  corners  as  from  the  larger  towns  and  cities. 
As  regards  publication,  the  very  nature  of  discussions  on 
many  trade  topics  will  of  course  always  render  it  undesirable 
to  publish  more  than  the  outcome  of  the  deliberations,  if 
even  so  much  in  some  instances,  but  when  anything  take3 
place  which  is  worth  putting  on  record,  the  columns  of  the 
Journal  are  freely  open  for  the  purpose.  Through  the  medium 
of  our  correspondence  columns,  also,  many  questions  of  detail 
may  be  threshed  out  and  the  work  of  local  associations  thus 
be  aided  and  facilitated.  But  the  key  to  the  whole  situation, 
so  far  as  regards  trade  defence,  is  local  organisation  which 
can  then  be  supplemented  by  further  action. 


THE  TRADE  IN  PROPRIETARY  ARTICLES. 

The  tenor  of  some  remarks  by  Mr.  Weddell,  at  the 
Newcastle-on-Tyne  meeting,  which  do  not  appear  in  the 
report  at  p.  75,  was  very  encouraging  from  the  pharmaceutical 
point  of  view,  for  he  was  able  to  show  from  his  own  busi¬ 
ness  experience  that  the  proportion  occupied  by  proprietary 
medicines  in  the  total  business  now  done  by  his  firm  is  much 
less  than  was  the  case  sixteen  years  ago.  At  that  time,  not 
only  did  the  sale  of  those  medicines  constitute  a  very  large 
proportion  of  the  total  business  done,  but  profits  being  then 
at  high-water  mark,  that  section  of  the  business  was  a  very 
important  one  from  a  mere  trading  point  of  view.  Now, 
however,  although  the  volume  of  business  has  increased  con¬ 
siderably,  the  proportion  of  the  turnover  due  to  proprietary 
medicines  amounts  to  much  less  than  half  what  it  was 
sixteen  years  ago,  so  that  whilst  profks  have  been  reduced 
the  proportional  amount  of  business  done  in  those  articles 
has  declined,  whilst  other  branches  have  developed  so  as  to 
fill  the  gap  and  more. 

Thus  while  the  total  business  done  has  increased,  the 
portion  which  has  come  to  bear  little  or  no  profit  has 
decreased,  and  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  this  is 
not  an  isolated  case,  or  even  one  of  a  minority.  The  trade 
done  by  chemists  as  a  whole  has  increased  largely  as  the 
public  has  gradually  developed  more  wants,  and  no  con¬ 
siderable  proportion  of  this  increase  can  have  been  due  to 
increased  sales  of  proprietary  medicines.  Trade  has  increased 
all  round  and  growth  has  been  less  marked  in  the  case  of 
proprietary  medicines  than  with  other  goods  supplied  by 
chemists  and  druggists.  There  may,  perhaps,  be  fewer 
brilliantly  successful  pharmacists  to-day  than  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago,  but  the  number  engaged  in  the  craft  is  very 
much  greater  than  it  was  then,  while  the  average  chemist  and 
druggist  is  almost  certainly  better  off  now  than  his  prede¬ 
cessor  at  that  time.  How  much  more  so  he  may  be  rests 
largely  with  himself  to  decide. 


72 


pharmaceutical  journal. 


[Jan.  23,  18c7 


ANNOTATIONS. 


‘  Fossil  Plants”  will  be  the  subject  of  the  lecture  at  the  next 
evening  meeting  in  London  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  and 
the  lecturer  will  be  Mr.  A.  C.  Seward,  M.A.,  Examiner  in  Botany 
to  the  Society.  The  date  of  the  meeting  is  Tuesday,  February  9, 
and  the  chair  will  be  taken  by  the  President,  Mr.  Walter  Hills,  at 
eight  o’clock,  precisely. 

The  School  of  Pharmacy  Students’  Dinner,  which  is  to  take 
the  place  of  the  annual  Football  Club  Dinner,  will  be  held  in  the 
Duke’s  Salon,  Holborn  Restaurant,  at  7  p.m.,  on  Friday, 
February  26.  The  chair  will  be  taken  by  Professor  Greenish,  and 
it  is  hoped  that  all  old  students  and  others  interested  in  the 
School  will  avail  themselves  of  this  opportunity  of  showing  their 
continued  interest  in  its  work  and  progress.  Tickets  (5s.  each) 
may  be  had  of  the  Hon.  Secretary,  Mr.  T.  P.  Tebbutt,  17,  Blooms¬ 
bury  Square,  W.C.,  to  whom  all  inquiries  should  be  addressed. 

The  Minor  Examination  Syllabus,  explicit  though  it  be,  does 
not  seem  altogether  to  carry  conviction  into  the  minds  of  students 
preparing  for  the  examination.  There  appears  to  be  a  lurking 
suspicion  that  the  words  used  in  the  syllabus  imply  more  than  they 
express,  and  that  what  is  actually  expected  by  the  examiners  is 
much  more  than  is  directly  stated.  Attention  has  been  especially 
directed  to  the  existence  of  some  such  feeling  as  this,  owing 
to  doubts  having  been  expressed  by  students  whether  depen¬ 
dence  could  be  placed  upon  the  advice  given  in  the  note  on 
‘‘The  Study  of  the  B.P.”  that  appeared  in  the  Journal  for 
January  2  (ante,  p.  10),  and  referred  to  the  extent  to  which 
candidates  should  commit  to  memory  the  proportions  of  ingre¬ 
dients  in  official  preparations.  But  there  is  no  reason  whatever  for 
such  scepticism,  for  the  Pharmacy  Syllabus  distinctly  limits  the 
candidate’s  “knowledge  of  the  proportion  of  active  ingredient  or 
crude  material  in  official  preparations  ”  to  those  containing — 

Aconite,  antimony,  arsenic,  belladonna,  Calabar  bean,  cantharides,  hydrate 
of  chloral,  chloroform,  caustic  potash  and  soda,  colchicum,  digitalis,  elateri. 
mim,  ergot,  iodine,  iodoform,  ipecacuanha,  lead,  mercury,  mix  vomica,  opium, 
phosphorus,  scammony,  stramonium,  squill,  alkaloids  and  alkaloidal  salts. 

The  limited  time  available  for  study  in  the  case  of  many  pharma¬ 
ceutical  students  renders  it  particularly  necessary  that  they  should 
not  waste  any  of  it  by  the  performance  of  unnecessary  tasks, 
or  burden  their  minds  with  useless  lumber,  and  it  was  with  the 
object  of  checking  the  tendency  in  this  direction  that  the  note 
was  published.  Whilst  it  should  be  quite  clear  that  a  candidate 
is  none  the  worse  off  for  knowing  more  than  is  specified  in  the 
syllabus — indeed,  for  his  own  sake,  he  will  be  wise  to  learn  a  great 
deal  more — when  preparing  for  the  examination  he  should  adapt 
his  course  of  study  to  the  requirements  of  the  Boards  of  Examiners, 
and  regard  what  is  mentioned  in  the  syllabus  for  the  time  being 
as  a  fixed  minimum.  But  above  all  else  candidates  should  be 
reasonable,  and  give  examiners  credit  for  the  possession  of  common 
honesty,  rather  than  assume  them  to  be  capable  of  the  merest  trickery. 

The  Arsenical  Soap  Case,  in  which  Mr.  J.  W.  Taplin,  Presi¬ 
dent  of  the  Western  Chemists’  Association  of  London,  was  the 
defendant,  has  terminated — though  only  provisionally,  perhaps — 
in  a  manner  that  can  give  little  satisfaction  to  either  party.  It 
will  be  remembered  that  Dr.  Thomas  Stevenson  failed  to  find  any 
arsenic  in  the  sample  sent  to  him,  and  the  case  was  adjourned  to 
enable  the  defendant  to  submit  the  matter  to  the  Somerset  House 
authorities.  The  result  of  this  further  analysis  (see  p.  78)  is 
indecisive,  the  small  sample  of  soap  not  sufficing  for  the 
application  of  exhaustive  tests.  It  was  clear,  however,  that 


the  arsenic,  if  present  at  all,  could  be  only  in  inappreciable  quantity  , 
and  Dr.  Stevenson’s  opinion  was  therefore  confirmed.  But  the  event, 
proved  that  the  prosecution  would  have  been  non-suited  in  any 
case,  for  the  magistrates — whilst  inclining  to  the  view  that  true 
arsenical  soap  is  a  drug — followed-  the  Wimbledon  precedent  and 
held  that  “arsenical”  soap  containing  no  arsenic  could  not  be  a 
drug.  The  case  was  accordingly  dismissed,  with  the  remark  that 
proceedings  should  have  been  taken  under  the  Merchandise  Marks- 
Act  instead  of  the  Sale  of  Food  and  Drugs  Act,  with  which  ruling 
the  preachers  of  the  new  crusade  against  arsenical  soap  are  not 
likely  to  be  contented. 

The  Progress  of  Technical  Education  in  Germany  is  the 
subject  of  a  report  by  Sir  Philip  Magnus  and  Messrs.  Redgrave, 
Smith  and  Woodall,  who  have  visited  that  country  as  special 
Commissioners  on  behalf  of  the  British  Government.  It 
is  shown  that  Germany  is  rapidly  progressing  in  those  manu¬ 
factures  in  which  superior  knowledge  and  technical  skill, 
together  with  the  application  of  chemistry  and  other  sciences, 
can  be  brought  to  bear.  Nevertheless,  it  is  pointed  out  the 
aggregate  value  of  Germany’s  foreign  commerce  in  comparison  with 
that  of  Great  Britain  has  been  over-estimated,  though  British 
supremacy  is  seriously  challenged.  This  is  the  case  in  spite  of  a 
tendency  to  shorten  hours  of  labour,  German  manufacturers  being 
of  opinion  that  extended  hours  of  labour  react  upon  both  the 
quality  and  quantity  of  the  output.  The  Germans  are  described 
as  appearing  now  to  attach  greater  importance  than  ever  to  the 
connection  between  higher  scientific  training  and  the  development 
of  manufacturing  industry,  evidences  being  found  of  a  determina¬ 
tion  on  the  part  of  municipalities  and  the  State  to  increase  and 
extend  many  schools,  and  to  equip  them  with  the  most  modern 
and  improved  apparatus.  Numerous  instances  are  recorded  to 
show  what  great  efforts  Germany  is  making  to  come  to  the  front 
both  in  educational  and  industrial  matters,  under  the  conviction 
that  the  nation  which  has  the  best  schools  is  the  best  equipped 
for  commercial  warfare.  It  is  especially  noted  that  the  Merchandise 
Marks  Act  as  it  now  operates  is  said  to  be  generally  spoken  of  in 
Germany  as  a  strong  weapon  against  England.  The  measure 
is  found  to  act  as  an  advertisement  of  German  industries,  and 
indicates  to  American  and  colonial  buyers  the  true  origin  of  much 
that  they  had  hitherto  been  in  the  habit  of  regarding  as  English. 

Incandescent  Gas  Mantles  appear  likely  to  play,  a  very 
important  part  in  the  immediate  future  of  illumination  by  gas, 
but  their  great  value  is  to  some  extent  counter-balanced  by  certain 
disadvantages,  mainly  depending  upon  the  colour  of  the  light* 
emitted  by  the  combinations  at  present  utilised  in  preparing  them. 
Mantles  containing  the  oxides  of  zirconia  and  alumina,  or  alumina 
alone  excited  by  oxides  of  chromium,  diffuse  a  warm  pinkish- 
yellow  light,  whilst  others  in  more  common  use  emit  a  cold 
greenish-blue  light.  Professor  Vivian  B.  Lewes  thinks  it  possible 
that  the  colour  of  the  latter  will  prove  to  have  a  distinctly 
injurious  action  upon  the  eyesight  when  continued  over  any  long- 
period  of  time.  His  opinion  with  regard  to  artificial  illumina¬ 
tion  is  that  a  light  to  work  by  should  be  essentially 
different  from  ordinary  daylight  and  as  free  as  possible  from 
actinic  rays.  When  daylight  disappears  it  is  natural  that  the 
optic  nerve  should  be  relieved  by  the  periods  of  twilight  and  dark¬ 
ness,  but  if  an  artificial  light  be  employed  which  is  of  a  soft 
character  and  poor  in  actinic  rays,  the  eyes  can  be  safely  used  for 
some  hours  longer  without  risk  of  fatigue.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  continued  use  of  artificial  light  rich  in  violet  and  ultra-violet 
rays,  such  as  is  emitted  by  the  more  prominent  mantles  on  the 
market,  may  result  in  the  course  of  a  generation  or  so  in  gradual 


Jan.  23.  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


73 


deterioration  of  eyesight.  From  this  point  of  view,  it  would  seem 
that  the  acetylene  light  is  particularly  well  adapted  for  artificial 
illumination,  for  it  is  remarkably  free  from  ultra-violet  rays. 
Workers  with  the  microscope,  too,  will  find  here  a  definite  reason 
for  preferring  paraffin  lamps  as  a  source  of  light  when  working 
after  nightfall. 

But  Professor  Crookes  has  shown  that,  whilst  light  more  than 
normally  rich  in  violet  rays  contributes  in  time  to  a  partial  destruc¬ 
tion  of  the  crystalline  lens,  and  when  excessive  produces  erythema 
and  symptoms  resembling  those  of  sunstroke,  excess  of  yellow  rays 
temporarily  destroys  the  erythropsine  or  photo-sensitive  substance 
of  the  retina,  producing  great  fatigue  of  the  nerve,  and  requiring 
darkness  for  its  re-formation  and  the  restoration  of  normal  vision. 
The  best  form  of  artificial  light,  therefore,  is  one  containing  little 
or  no  ultra-violet  rays,  no  excess  of  yellow  rays,  and  just  sufficient 
red  rays  to  communicate  a  warm,  pleasant  tone  to  the  surrounding 
objects.  The  “Holophane”  globe  is  recommended  by  Professor 
Lewes  for  correcting  the  irregular  distribution  of  rays  from  mantles, 
and  bringing  the  maxima  of  rays  down  to  the  working  angles,  the 
surface  of  the  globe  becoming  the  light  distributing  medium. 

Chemists  and  Druggists  should  be  grateful  to  the  Editor  of  the 
Court  Journal  for  defending  the  principle  that  special  qualification 
secured  in  the  public  interest  is  a  thing  to  be  valued  and  paid  for 
accordingly.  Commenting  on  the  fact  that  a  protest  against  the 
increase  in  the  cost  of  medical  advice  has  been  followed  in  the 
daily  press  by  a  tirade  against  the  price  of  medicines,  he  observes 
that  people  will  always  continue  to  prefer  paying  a  price  for  their 
medicines,  which  ensures  the  employment  not  only  of  pure 
chemicals,  but  of  men  whose  responsibility  is  undoubted.  Even 
though  the  statement  may  be  correct  that  in  very  many  instances  the 
medicine  supplied  costs  less  than  the  value  of  the  bottle  and  cork, 
the  fact  remains,  it  is  observed,  that  the  skill  of  the  chemist  must  be 
paid  for,  and  it  is  this  very  skill  that  people  are  willing  to  pay  for, 

‘  ‘  for  in  it  lies  the  comparative  immunity  from  serious  results  by 
wrongful  administration  of  drugs.” 

A  Woman  Chemist,  who  supposes  she  is  “  something  of  a  rare 
specimen,”  has  waxed  confidential  with  a  Daily  Chronicle  interviewer 
who,  in  turn,  seems  to  have  quite  lost  his  heart  to  the  “  bright 
looking  woman  standing  behind  the  counter  of  a  tiny  chemist’s 
shop.”  As  a  matter  of  course,  not  a  specimen  of  dust  was  to  be 
seen  anywhere  in  this  Liliputian  pharmacy,  the  proprietress  of 
which  seems  to  have  found  her  mission  in  tying  up  phials  of 
perfumes  with  “  wondrous  bows  and  fancy  finishes  which  might 
well  have  figured  on  a  Bond  Street  bonnet  ”  ;  besides  setting  out  her 
powders,  cosmetics,  and  “accessories”  as  prettily  as  a  garden  in 
spring  ;  contending  against  the  maleficent  influence  of  the  naughty 
physicians  who  boycott  women  pharmacists  on  the  ground  that 
their  drugs  cannot  be  of  high  quality  ;  and  above  everything  else, 
acting  as  consultant  to  ladies  requiring  the  hundred  and  one  little 
appliances  necessary  for  the  sick-room  and  nursery,  cosmetics, 
ether  draughts  as  “  pick-me-ups,”  and  so  forth.  Truly,  an  ideal 
picture,  this  young  man  has  sketched,  but  under  the  influence  of 
what  kind  of  stimulant  it  is  difficult  exactly  to  say.  As  fleeting 
in  its  effects  as  the  ether  draughts,  let  us  hope. 

The  Fatality  at  Liverpool,  reported  briefly  last  week, 
affords  another  instance  of  the  risk  incurred  by  the  public  in  re¬ 
sorting  to  shops  belonging  to  others  than  registered  chemists  and 
druggists  for  medicines.  According  to  the  evidence  at  the  in¬ 
quest,  the  deceased  had  visited  the  shop  for  the  purpose  of 
purchasing  a  black  draught.  The  individual  in  charge  of  the 


premises  was  a  boy  of  sixteen,  and  he  appears  to  have  taken  the 
bottle  immediately  above  that  containing  the  mist,  sen  me  co.  The 
bottle  taken  down  contained  laudanum,  and  of  this  two  ounces 
was  given  to  the  unfortunate  old  man.  The  youth  said,  in  reply 
to  a  question,  that  when  in  the  act  of  taking  the  bottle  down  he 
turned  to  ask  whether  a  strong  or  weak  draught  was  required,  and 
that  he  then  grasped  the  bottle  “without  looking  towards  the 
shelf  again.”  The  jury  returned  a  verdict  of  “Death  from  misad¬ 
venture,”  without  casting  any  blame  on  the  boy,  but  it  is  more 
than  questionable  whether  someone  should  not  be  held  responsible 
for  such  gross  carelessness  as  was  displayed,  as  it  seems  deserv¬ 
ing  of  the  severest  censure  possible. 

Hampstead’s  Mineral  Springs  are  apparently  to  be  boomed 
with  determination,  observes  the  Daily  Telegraph,  and  if  half  of 
the  marvellous  cures  attributed  to  the  waters  by  a  local  doctor  be 
true,  Lourdes  may  yet  have  to  defend  its  laurels.  One  spring  has 
been  “  rescued  from  those  iconoclasts  who  wished  to  turn  it  into  an 
ordinary  fountain,”  and  it  is  reported  that  fresh  chalybeate  sources 
have  proved  efficacious  in  combating  “all  sorts  of  maladies,” 
whilst  the  fact  that  the  London  County  Council  has  instructed  its 
analyst  to  examine  and  report  upon  samples  of  the  waters  has 
raised  high  hopes  among  the  residents  that  Hampstead  may  yet 
become  the  Homburg  of  England. 

The  London  Water  Supply,  as  apart  from  these  and  other 
mineral  springs,  is  shown  by  Mr.  W.  J.  Dibdin  to  have  improved 
greatly  in  quality  between  1892  and  1895.  But  comparing  the 
waters  now  supplied,  with  Welsh  waters,  it  is  stated  that  the 
organic  impurity  of  Welsh  unfiltered  water  is  less  than  that  of 
average  London  filtered  water,  the  former  containing  only  26 
microbes  per  cubic  centimetre,  whilst  London  filtered  water  con¬ 
tains  167  in  summer,  and  298  in  winter.  The  Kent  supply, 
however,  contains  only  90  in  each  cubic  centimetre.  These  and 
other  facts  recently  placed  before  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry 
tend  to  encourage  the  notion  that  the  public  health  would  benefit 
if  Welsh  water  were  brought  to  London. 

The  Pasteur  Institute  treated  316  patients  in  April,  May, 
and  June  last,  and  during  those  three  months  only  six  deaths 
occurred.  Rabies  was  apparently  the  cause  of  death  in  each  of 
the  six  cases,  including  two  sent  over  from  England.  During  the 
previous  three  months  only  one  death  occurred  out  of  320  cases, 
but  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  deaths  often  occur  in  one 
quarter  when  the  patients  have  been  under  treatment  during  the 
previous  one.  The  mortality  of  1896,  says  the  British  Medical- 
Journal,  will  come  out  higher  than  that  of  previous  years,  but  in 
all  forms  of  admittedly  imperfect  treatment,  like  the  Pasteur, 
times  of  bad  luck  must  come.  The  important  point  to  remember 
is,  that  during  nine  years  the  mortality  has  steadily  diminished 
under  treatment  from  94  to  13  per  cent. 

Postal  Reforms  designed  to  promote  simplicity  and  uniformity 
come  into  effect  on  February  1.  The  main  features  of  these  reforms 
are  the  reduction  of  the  surcharge  on  unpaid  post-cards  from  two¬ 
pence  to  a  penny,  and  of  the  fee  on  unregistered  packets  containing 
jewellery,  etc.,  from  eightpence  to  fourpence,  whilst  the  maximum 
dimensions  of  letters  and  book  packets  are  raised,  the  scales  of  com¬ 
mission  on  inland,  foreign,  and  colonial  money  orders  recast,  and 
various  other  small  changes  effected,  which  will  tend  to  save  much 
annoyance  now  caused  by  numerous  petty  restrictions.  Whether 
anyone  hankers  after  the  receipt  of  letters  measuring  2  ft.  by  1  ft. 
by  1  ft.  may  be  doubted,  but  the  abolition  of  much  useless  and 
|  irritating  red  tape  is  to  be  strongly  commended. 


74 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  23,  1897 


NEW  IDEAS. 


PHARMACEUTICAL  SOCIETY. 


STEAM  BATH. 

Franz  Hering  (Jena)  manufactures  a  small  steam  bath  for 
heating  infusion  pots,  etc.  It  is  claimed  as  one  of  the  principal 
advantages  of  this  little  apparatus  that  with  an  ordinary  Bunsen 
burner  it  yields  steam  within  half  a  minute.  The  large  brass  ring 


shown  in  the  illustration  is  hollow,  and  filled  with  water.  The 
central  cylinder  is  arranged  to  contain  only  a  small  quantity  of 
water,  which  is  therefore  rapidly  heated,  the  water  level  being 
maintained  from  the  supply  in  the  reservoir. 


A  NOVEL  COAL-BOX. 

“  The  Silent  Coal-Box”  has  been  devised  by  Mr.  Fred  Reynolds^ 
whose  thirty-first  invention  it  is,  for  the  special  benefit  of  invalids. 

Its  value  will  be  fully 
appreciated  by  every¬ 
one  who  has  suffered 
irritation  from  the 
grating  of  coals  as  they 
are  coaxed  out  of  an 
ordinary  coal-box  which 
might  have  been  spe¬ 
cially  designed  for  its 
acoustic  properties. 
This  “  Silent  Coal-Box” 
is  made  of  almost  inde¬ 
structible  material,  and  will  not  wear  out  like  the  tin  sheath 
of  the  ordinary  sounding  coal-box.  It  should  therefore  prove 
economical  as  well  as  counter-irritant.  Messrs.  Reynolds  and 
Branson,  Leeds,  lend  a  few  of  these  “  Silent  Coal-Boxes  ”  on  hire 
at  a  small  charge  per  week  or  month. 


NEW  CAPPING  MATERIAL. 

Specially-prepared  flare  skins  are  being  offered  by  Messrs. 
James  E wen  and  Sons,  5,  Hatfield  Street,  S.E.,  for  capping 
bottles  and  pots.  These  skins  are  claimed  to  be  better  for  the 
purpose  than  French  gut,  and  certainly  they  serve  the  specified 
purpose  extremely  well.  On  soaking  for  a  few  minutes  in  cold 
water  they  can  be  stretched  considerably,  and,  if  all  superfluous 
moisture  be  then  wiped  off,  a  satisfactory  cap  can  be  made,  which 
will  dry  within  a  reasonable  time,  stretched  taut,  and  without  any 
creases.  The  price,  too,  is  exceedingly  moderate,  as  the  skins  are 
supplied  at  ninepence  per  dozen. 


COMPRESSED  DRUGS. 

Trional  and  tetronal  tabloids  (5  grains  each)  have  been  intro¬ 
duced  by  Messrs.  Burroughs,  Wellcome,  and  Co.,  to  meet  a 
demand  for  a  convenient  method  of  administering  these  drugs. 
Eucaine  hydrochloride  soloids  (1  and  5  grains  each)  are  also  being 
prepared  by  the  firm. 


DONATIONS  TO  THE  LIBRARY  AND  MUSEUM. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Library,  Museum,  School  and  House  Com¬ 
mittee,  held  on  Wednesday,  the  20th  inst.,  the  Librarian  presented 
the  following  report  of  donations  : — 

To  the  Library  (London). 

The  Surgeon-General,  U.  S.  Army,  Washington  : — Index-Catalogue  of  Library, 
2nd  series,  vol.  1. 

Kaiserlieh-Japanische  Universitat : — '  Mittheilungen,’  Band  3,  No.  2,  1895. 
Imperial  Botanic  Garden,  St.  Petersburg  ‘  Acta  Horti  Petropolitani,’  tom.  15, 
fasc.  1. 

Messrs.  E.  B.  Squibb  and  Sons,  Brooklyn ‘Ephemeris  of  Materia  Medica,’ 
vol.  4,  No.  4. 

H.M.  Secretary  of  State  for  India  :— ‘  Flora  of  British  India,’  No.  22. 

Yorkshire  College,  Leeds  ‘  Twenty-second  Annual  Report,'  1895-6. 

Dr.  Louis  Planchon,  Montpellier  : — ‘  Les  drogues  recemment  inscribes  au  Codex, 
1896,  two  pamphlets  ;  ‘  Le  commerce  actuel  de  l’herboriste  dans  une  region 
du  Languedoc,’  1896. 

Mr.  Thomas  Christy,  London : — ‘  New  Commercial  Plants  and  Drugs’,  No.  12, 1897. 
Mr.  Wm.  Copney,  London Ure’s  ‘  Dictionary  of  Arts,’  3rd  ed. ;  Turner's. 
‘  Chemistry,’  8th  ed. 

Professor  Oliver,  F.R.S.,  Kew  : — Daniel  Hanbury’s  MS.  Notes  on  Amomum. 
Journals,  etc.,  received  duriDg  1896  : — ‘  Archiv  for  Pharmaci  og  Chemi  ’  7. 
‘Bulletin  de  l’association  beige  des  chimistes * ;  ‘  Botany  Bulletin,’  Queens¬ 
land  ;  ‘Agricultural  Ledger,’  Calcutta;  ‘Agricultural  Gazette  of  N.S. 
Wales’ ;  ‘  Zeitschrift  des  allgemeinen  Osterreichischen  Apotheker-Vereines’ ; 

1  Alumni  Report,’  Philadelphia;  ‘  American  Druggist  ’ ;  ‘American  Journal 
of  Pharmacy’;  ‘The  Analyst’;  ‘Australasian  Journal  of  Pharmacy  ’  7 
‘  British  Medical  Journal  ’ ;  ‘  Canadian  Pharmaceutical  Journal  ’ ;  ‘  Chemical 
News’  ;  ‘Journal’  and  ‘Proceedings  of  the  Chemical  Society’;  ‘Chemist 
and  Druggist  ’  and  ‘  Diary  ’ ;  ‘  Journal  of  the  Linnean  Society  ’ ;  ‘  Memoirs 
and  Proceedings  of  the  Manchester  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society  ’  7 
‘Pharmaceutical  Journal  of  Australasia’;  ‘Quarterly  Record  of  the  Royal. 
Botanic  Society’;  ‘Kew  Bulletin’;  ‘Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Society ’7 
‘  Sei  I-Kwai  Medical  Journal  ’ ;  ‘  Journal  of  the  Society  of  Chemical 

Industry’;  ‘Tlmehri’;  ‘Western  Druggist’;  ‘Anzeiger’  and  ‘Sitzungs- 
berichte,’  Kaiserliche  Akademie  der  Wissenschaften  in  Wien. 

To  the  Library  (Edinburgh).] 

Professor  Fraser,  M.D.,  F.R.8.,  Edinburgh  : — ‘  Bone-Marrow  in  the  Treatment  of 
Pernicious  Anaemia  ’ ;  ‘The  Limitations  to  the  Antidotal  Power  of  Anti¬ 
toxins  ’ ;  ‘  Bichromate  of  Potassium  as  a  Remedy  in  Gastric  Affections  ’  ; 

‘  The  Remedies  Employed  in  Cardiac  Affections  and  their  Indications  ’ 

‘  Immunisation  against  Serpents’  Venom  and  the  Treatment  of  Snake-bite-, 
with  Antivenene  ’ ;  ‘Serpents’  Venom,  Artificial  and  Natural  Immunity: 
Antidotal  Properties  of  the  Blood-Serum  of  Immunised  Animals  and  of 
Venomous  Serpents’;  ‘Preliminary  Notice  on  the  Arrow-Poison  of  the 
Wa  Nyika  and  Other  Tribes  of  East  Equatorial  Africa,  with  Special  Refer¬ 
ence  to  the  Chemical  Properties  and  Pharmacological  Action  of  the  Wood 
from  which  it  is  Prepared.' 

Mr.  James  Thin,  Edinburgh : — '  Edinburgh  Royal  Infirmary  Pharmacopoeia,, 
2nd  ed.,  1896. 

Mr.  William  Burley,  Edinburgh  : — ‘  Pharmaceutical  Journal,’  65  parts,  1863-70. 
Journals,  etc.,  received  during  1896  : — ‘  Alumni  Report,'  Philadelphia ;  ‘  Austra¬ 
lasian  Journal  of  Pharmacy’;  ‘Pharmaceutical  Journal  of  Australasia’  ;. 

‘  Anti-Cutting  Record.’ 

The  following  donations  were  reported  by  the  Curator  : — ■ 

To  the  Museum  (London). 

The  African  Lakes  Co.,  Glasgow  : — Fruits  of  Strophanthus  lcombe,  Oliv. 

Professor  J.  B.  Balfour,  M.D.,  F.R.S.,  Edinburgh: — Gum  resins  of  Balsamoden- 
dron  socotranum,  Balf.  f . ,  and  oleoresin  of  Boswellia  socotrana,  Balf.  f. 

Messrs.  Wright,  Layman,  and  Umney,  London: — Persian  Fennel  Fruits. 

Messrs.  Evans,  Lescher,  and  Webb,  London : — Flowers  of  Cereus  grandiflorus, 
Mill. 

Mr.  R.  T.  Baker,  F.L.S.,  Technological  Museum,  Sydney :— Fruits  of  Cassia 
brewsteri,  F.  v.  Mull. 

To  the  Museum  (Edinburgh). 

Messrs.  Hodgkins m,  Treacher,  and  Clarke,  London :— False  packed  Lima 
Sarsaparilla. 

Messrs.  Wright,  Layman,  and  Umney,  London :— Persian  Fennel  Fruits. 

Mr.  J.  Rutherford  Hill  reports  that  the  Royal  College  of  Physicians  has  finally 
ratified  the  transference  of  their  Materia  Medica  Museum  to  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  of  Great  Britain,  and  that  the  Scoresby-Jackson  Materia  Medica  Collec¬ 
tion  has  been  purchased  for  £45,  in  accordance  with  the  arrangement  made  by 
Mr.  Ewing,  on  behalf  of  the  Society. 


Jan.  23,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


75 


THE  WORLD  Op  PHARMACY. 

- - ♦ - 

BUSINESS  MEETINGS. 


Edinburgh  Chemists’  Assistants,’  and  Apprentices’ 
Association,  Friday,  January  15. — Mr.  James  McBain, 
President,  in  the  chair. — The  first  paper  read  was  by  Mr.  Peter 
Boa,  on — 

Chloroform  Water. 

The  author  said  it  had  been  alleged  that  the  chloroform  water  of 
the  B.P.  did  not  keep  well,  and  he  had  conducted  some  experiments 
to  test  the  point  both  as  to  keeping  qualities  and  taste.  In 
October,  1894,  he  prepared  three  solutions  :  No.  1  was  the  chloro¬ 
form  water  of  the  B.P.,  and  contained  chloroform,  itlxv.,  and  dis¬ 
tilled  water,  6}  fl.  ounces ;  No.  2  was  a  similar  solution,  to  whiph 
3ii.  of  rectified  spirit  was  added ;  No.  3  was  made  by  using  an 
equivalent  quantity  (3v.)  of  spirit  of  chloroform.  The  solutions 
were  placed  in  partially-filled  corked  bottles,  kept  in  the  pharmacy, 
and  opened  several  times  weekly  for  about  six  months,  and  then 
about  once  a  month  up  till  the  present  date.  The  taste 
of  1  and  2  was  at  first  nearly  alike,  but  3  was  not 
so  nice.  Gradually  2  and  3  deteriorated  in  taste  and 
became  less  palatable.  At  the  end  of  the  time  (2£ 
years)  1  was  still  in  a  quite  usable  condition  ;  2  and  3 
had  to  a  considerable  extent  lost  the  characteristic  flavour. 
1  had  an  acid  reaction,  and  gave  a  distinct  cloudiness  with  silver 
nitrate.  2  and  3  were  neutral  and  gave  a  faint  haze  with  silver 
nitrate.  Spirit  of  chloroform,  in  perhaps  three-fourths  of  the 
mixtures  in  which  it  is  prescribed,  is  added  merely  for  flavouring 
purposes,  and  he  thought  this  end  would  be  better  attained  by 
using  chloroform  water.  The  cloudiness  with  silver  nitrate  in  1 
seemed  to  indicate  a  slight  decomposition,  and  2  and  3  seemed  to 
indicate  some  preservative  effect,  due  to  the  alcohol,  but  the  loss 
of  flavour  was  not  explained. 

The  next  paper  was  by  Mr.  C.  A.  Macpherson,  on — 

An  Adulteration  of  Pimento. 

Pimento  is  described  in  the  B.  P.  as  being  of  a  dark  brown  colour. 
While  this  is  correct  in  a  general  way,  yet,  as  usually  seen  in 
commerce,  it  is  a  mixture  of  various  shades,  ranging  from  a  grey 
brown  to  a  very  dark  brown.  A  few  months  ago,  however,  a 
sample  came  into  my  possession  in  the  ordinary  course  of  trade 
which  differed  very  much  from  any  I  had  previously  seen.  It  was 
of  a  reddish  colour,  and  though  somewhat  resembling  the  shade  of 
some  of  the  berries  occurring  in  ordinary  parcels,  it  still  seemed 
different  and  was  too  uniform  in  tint  not  to  arouse  suspicion.  On 
closer  examination  it  was  seen  to  have  a  dull  earthy  appearance, 
and  when  viewed  through  a  lens  brown  patches  could  be  seen  on 
the  berries,  particularly  near  the  ring  formed  by  the  remains  of  the 
calyx.  It  was  found  that  the  colour  could  be  removed  by  washing, 
was  insoluble  in  water,  and  very  slowly  acted  upon  by  hydrochloric 
acid.  A  small  quantity  having  been  obtained, and  a  solution  formed, 
potassium  ferrocyanide  was  added,  with  the  result  that  the 
blue  colour  indicative  of  a  ferric  salt  was  obtained.  It  was 
evident  that  the  colour  was  due  to  ferric  oxide,  probably  in  the 
form  of-  Armenian  bole.  I  am  informed  that  the  dealers  from 
whom  the  sample  was  obtained,  on  being  asked,  stated  that  some 
of  their  customers  wanted  it  coloured.  Be  that  as  it  may,  anyone 
selling  the  sophisticated  article  would  probably  be  made  to  suffer 
if  the  stuff  found  its  way  into  the  hands  of  a  public  analyst. 
While  it  may  be  necessary  for  us  at  times  to  have  iron  administered 
to  us,  I  think  we  ought  to  be  allowed  to  take  it  in  some  other  form 
and  not  be  forced  to  swallow  it  in  the  form  of  Armenian  bole, 
either  in  our  sausages  or  with  our  condiments. 

The  next  paper  was  by  Mr.  J.  Rutherford  Hill,  on— 

Belladonna  Plasters. 

Mr.  Henry’s  recent  paper  on  “  Uniformity  in  Pharmacy”  indi¬ 
cated  that  there  was  a  difference  in  practice  in  Edinburgh  as  to 
what  should  be  supplied  when  belladonna  plaster  was  prescribed. 
The  author  had  recently  had  brought  under  his  notice  a  series  of 
seven  different  types  of  belladonna  plaster,  all  of  which  had  been 
supplied  in  the  ordinary  way  in  various  places  when  a  belladonna 
plaster  was  asked  for  over  the  counter.  An  examination  of  these 


revealed  an  even  greater  variety,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  follow¬ 
ing  : — 

No.  1.— American,  rubber  basis,  no  lead,  spread  on  felt,  dark  green,  relatively 
high  proportion  of  atropine. 

No.  2. — American,  rubber  basis,  no  lead,  porous,  spread  on  muslin,  dark  green, 
relatively  high  proportion  of  atropine. 

No.  3. — English,  like  rubber  basis,  but  more  resinous,  no  lead,  porous,  spread 
on  muslin,  light  bright  green,  contained  no  alkaloid. 

No.  4. — English,  similar  basis  to  No.  3,  but  contained  lead,  porous,  spread  on 
muslin,  very  dark  green,  contained  no  alkaloid,  labelled  poison. 

No.  5. — Spread  on  leather,  soap  and  resin  plaster  basis,  dark  olive-green, 
medium  proportion  of  atropine,  apparently  the  belladonna  plaster  of  the  1867 
Pharmacopoeia. 

No.  6. — Spread  on  leather,  soap  and  resin  plaster  basis,  very  pale  olive-green, 
small  proportion  of  atropine,  labelled  jpoison. 

No.  7.— The  official  brown-coloured  plaster  spread  on  leather,  more  than 
medium  proportion  of  atropine,  labelled  poison. 

Thus  in  every  instance  a  different  article  was  supplied,  and  only 
in  one  case  in  seven  was  the  official  plaster  supplied.  It  seemed  to  be 
undoubtedly  the  case  that  the  public  desired  the  green  plaster,  and 
it  was  rather  interesting  to  note  that  the  U.S.P.  of  1890 
had  reverted  to  the  green  plaster,  and  some  recent  work  by 
Mr.  Naylor  indicated  a  similar  tendency  in  this  country.  There 
had  been  many  complaints  as  to  the  present  B.P.  plaster. 
It  was  said  to  be  much  too  soft,  and  Mr.  Boa  had 
suggested  a  new  formula  to  meet  this  objection  (Wear 
Book,’  1895).  He  observed  that  when  the  plaster 
made  from  the  root  extract  was  first  introduced  by  Mr.  Martindale 
at  University  College,  he  used  lead  plaster  alone  as  the  basis,  and 
he  thought  that  would  give  a  firmer  plaster.  There  had  also  been 
several  complaints  that  the  plaster  produced  an  eruption  or 
blister.  Gerard  mentioned  a  similar  complaint  about  the  leaf  ex¬ 
tract  plaster,  but  such  complaints  had  been  much  more  common 
since  the  1885  B.P.  form  was  adopted.  This  result  was  attributed 
to  the  plaster  being  too  strong  in  atropine,  but  some  of  the  rubber 
basis  plasters  were  as  strong,  or  stronger,  and  no  complaints  had 
been  made  about  them.  In  the  case  of  two  of  the  seven  samples,  no 
alkaloid  at  all  was  present,  and  this  would  be  awkward  for  the 
seller  if  the  public  analyst  appeared  on  the  scene. 

Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Ireland.  — Registered  Druggist 
Examinations : — Mr.  R.  N.  Allen  passed.  Three  candidates  were 
rejected.  Pharmaceutical  Licence  Examinations : — Messrs.  W. 
Yeats,  J.  F.  O’Neill,  G.  A.  Deans,  W.  H.  Hopkins,  J.  W.  Carr, 
and  J.  M.  Whelan,  passed.  Nine  candidates  were  rejected. 


Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association  (Newcastle- 
on  Tyne),  Thursday,  January  14. — Mr.  G.  Weddell  in  the  chair. 
— There  was  a  large  and  representative  attendance,  those  present 
including  Mr.  L.  Arrowsmith,  Byker ;  Mr.  G.  F.  Merson,  New¬ 
castle  ;  Mr.  R.  Wright,  Byker ;  Mr.  Radford,  Newcastle ;  Mi1. 
T.  M.  Clague,  Newcastle  ;  Mr.  C.  Ridley,  Newcastle ;  Mr.  Ord, 
Gateshead  ;  Mr.  F.  R.  Dudderidge,  Newcastle  ;  Mr.  Rose,  Jarrow  ; 
and  Mr.  R.  H.  Bell,  Sunderland. — The  Chairman,  in  introducing 
Mr.  Glyn-Jones,  said  he  believed  that  the  proprietary  medicines’ 
question,  so  far  as  chemists  were  concerned,  was  not  so  serious  as 
it  had  been,  because  those  articles  had  ceased  to  be  a  source  of 
livelihood  for  them.  They  did  not  rely  upon  the  proprietary  medi¬ 
cine  trade,  having  learnt  by  bitter  experience  to  do  without  the 
profits  on  those  preparations.  Therefore,  while  they  were  met  to 
see  what  could  be  done  in  order  to  regulate  the  prices  of  those 
things  to  prevent  outrageous  cutting,  and,  if  possible,  to  establish 
a  uniform  selling  price,  still,  it  was  not  a  matter  of  life  or  death 
to  them.  They  were  now  existing  without  any  profits  on 
proprietary  medicines,  and  they  would  continue  to  exist 
whatever  steps  were  taken.  The  serious  part  of  the 
business  was  the  cutting  in  drug  stores,  and  he  believed 
the  demand  for  cheap  goods  had  caused  deterioration  in 
the  quality  of  drugs  supplied  in  many  places.  They  had  to  decide 
what  attitude  they  would  take  in  regard  to  the  question  of  cutting 
prices.  He  had  a  perfectly  open  mind  on  the  matter.  He  had  not 
followed  very  closely  the  movements  of  the  Association,  but  would 
like  to  say  that  a  closer  association  of  the  chemists  in  Newcastle 
had  been  attempted  but  had  failed,  sometimes  for  one  reason  and 
sometimes  for  another.  He  did  not  think,  however,  that  such  an 
association  was  at  all  impossible.  If  they  could  get  such  a  meeting 
as  that  for  a  quiet  talk  once  in  three  months,  he  thought  they 
might  understand  one  another  better  and  sympathise  with  one 


76 


PHARMAGETJTIGA L  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  23,  1897 


another  better  than  they  did  at  present,  and  not  run  away 
with  the  idea  that  they  were  intent  on  cutting  each  other’s 
throats. 

Mr.  Glyn-Jones  read  letters  from  Mr.  B.  S.  Proctor,  Mr.  James 
Davidson,  Mr.  Baker  (Gateshead),  Mr.  Whitehead  (Whitley),  and 
Mr.  Rheeder  (Newcastle),  who  regretted  absence  and  expressed 
entire  sympathy  with  the  objects  of  the  Association.  He  further 
stated  that  he  had  called  upon  several  chemists  in  Newcastle  that 
day,  and  that  Mr.  Bolam  and  Mr.  Forster  had  joined  the  Associa¬ 
tion.  He  was  glad  to  see  such  an  excellent  meeting  of  chemists  in 
Newcastle  and  district,  more  especially  because  of  the  somewhat 
unusual  difficulty  they  had  had  in  calling  that  meeting.  Un¬ 
fortunately  for  Newcastle  it  was  one  of  the  large  towns 
where  no  chemist’s  association  existed.  He  could  assure  them  that 
the  importance  of  local  associations  had  been  brought  very  promi¬ 
nently  before  him  in  connection  with  this  work,  as  by  their  means 
trade  meetings  could  be  called  with  far  greater  ease  than  when  there 
was  no  local  association.  The  Chairman  had  told  them  of  the  difficul¬ 
ties  experienced  in  trying  to  form  an  association  in  Newcastle.  His 
experience  with  the  trade  throughout  the  country  convinced  him 
that  one  of  the  most  powerful  motives  for  combination  lay  in  the 
questions  which  affected  their  trade  interests.  There  could  be  no 
doubt  that  the  most  promising  associations  they  had  in  the  country 
were  conducted  and  officered  by  men  who  were  alive  to  their 
interests  as  retail  chemists  and  druggists.  The  question  now 
before  them  was  a  trade  question,  and  that  it  had  been  the  means 
of  bringing  together  such  a  meeting  proved  his  contention.  If  he 
found  from  that  meeting  that  there  was  a  tendency  to  support  the 
Association  he  would  be  sorry  to  leave  Newcastle  without 
some  step  being  taken  to  form  a  local  branch.  The  Chair¬ 
man  had  said  that  this  question  was  not  so  serious  as  it 
had  been  sixteen  years  ago.  He  did  not  know  what 

the  state  of  affairs  had  been,  but  if  it  had  been  worse  than  it  was 
to-day  he  was  more  than  ever  surprised  that  some  attempt  had  not 
been  made  to  stem  the  tide.  The  sale  of  proprietary  articles 
affected  them  mostly,  and  their  action  in  preventing  cutting  had  a 
two-fold  aspect.  One  was  to  guarantee  a  fair  profit  upon  proprie¬ 
tary  articles,  and  surely  it  did  not  want  any  argument  to  prove 
that  they  would  all  benefit  by  having  guaranteed  profits.  Then 
there  was  the  question  of  establishing  uniform  prices.  No  doubt 
the  crux  of  the  matter  was  this  :  the  drug  stores  and  cutters 
were  robbing  chemists  of  their  business  and  fleecing 

the  public  by  making  use  of  proprietary  articles  as  a 
draw,  and  by  using  them  to  prove  the  statement,  which  they 
had  no  hesitation  in  making,  that  the  ordinary  retail  chemist  was 
exorbitant  in  his  charges.  No  doubt  the  public  had  no  idea 
of  the  ratio  of  chemists’  expenses  to  their  turnover,  and  no 
idea  what  chemists  took  in  a  week,  or  how  that  compared 

with  what  was  taken  by  a  grocer  or  a  draper.  The  public, 

therefore,  had  no  idea  what  chemists’  working  expenses  were. 
Moreover,  trade  opponents  endeavoured  to  prove  that  the 
charges  of  chemists  were  exorbitant,  and  if  chemists 

could  take  away  from  their  strongest  opponents  this  weapon, 

a  very  useful  purpose  would  certainly  be  served.  As 

to  how  that  object  was  to  be  attained,  it  was  obvious 

that  any  plan  for  preventing  cutting  in  connection  with 
proprietary  articles  must  have  the  active  support  of  the  pro¬ 
prietor,  and,  in  order  to  get  that  support,  they  must 
show  the  proprietor  that  what  they  were  working  for  would  be  to 
his  interest.  He  did  not  think  the  raising  of  prices  would  decrease 
the  demand  for  proprietary  medicines,  although  in  reference  to 
luxuries  he  was  prepared  to  admit  that  prices  had  a  considerable 
effect  upon  the  demand.  But  though  the  proprietor  might  create 
a  demand,  he  had  to  rely  upon  the  assistance  of  a  certain  body  of 
traders  for  his  goods  reaching  the  public,  and  they  were  able  to 
show,  beyond  doubt,  that  the  retailer  was  now  in  a 
position  to  exert  a  vast  amount  of  influence  for  good 
or  for  bad  upon  the  sale  of  proprietary  articles.  No 
man,  whether  chemist  or  grocer,  was  prepared  to  distribute 
other  people’s  proprietaries  without  profit.  They  had  already  a 
list  of  between  thirty  and  forty  articles,  in  regard  to  which  an 
agreement  had  been  made  between  the  proprietor  and  the  retailer, 
and  the  arrangement  was  working  successfully.  The  objection 
that  their  list  did  not  include  articles  of  the  largest  sale  was  ex¬ 
ceedingly  unreasonable.  They  had  made  a  man  a  present  of  the 
profits  upon  forty  articles,  and  he  objected  to  support  the  Associa¬ 
tion  because  they  had  not  guaranteed  him  a  profit  upon  the 
largest.  And  that  objection  came  from  gentlemen  who 
had  done  least  in  helping  to  accomplish  the  work  they  had  done. 


If  the  rank  and  file  of  the  trade  had  been  half  as  much  irs 
earnest  in  supporting  the  Association  as  some  had  been  in 
opposing  it,  they  would  have  carried  this  thing  to  an  issue. 
With  regard  to  proprietors,  if  they  looked  the  matter  fairly 
in  the  face,  they  would  realise  that  any  little  ill  effect  which 
the  raising  of  prices  might  have,  would  be  more  than  counter¬ 
balanced  by  their  having  the  cordial  goodwill  and  support  of 
the  retail  trade.  As  to  the  prospects  of  the  Association, 
that  body  depended  almost  entirely  upon  the  amount 
of  support  which  the  retail  trade  gave  it.  In  conclusion 
stress  must  be  laid  upon  the  importance  of  prompt 
action.  The  great  obstacle  in  the  way  of  getting  proprietors  to 
come  upon  their  side  was  the  fact  that  their  opponents  had  been 
able  to  say  that  their  Association  did  not  speak  for  the  retail 
trade.  They  now  had  with  them  the  great  bulk  of  the  wholesale 
trade,  and  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  getting  the  rest  if  the 
retailers  would  make  it  plain  that  it  was  their  wish  that  the  whole¬ 
sale  firms  should  support  this  movement.  Some  ten  or  eleven 
houses  had  already  promised  £550  as  a  guarantee  fund. 

»Mr.  L.  Arrowsmith  moved — 

“  That  this  meeting  of  chemists  in  Newcastle  and  district  cordially  approves 
of  the  proposals  of  the  Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association,  and  strongly 
urges  upon  proprietors  the  advisability  of  adding  their  articles  to  the- 
protected  list,” 

and  spoke  at  length  on  the  manner  in  which  drug  stores  conducted 
their  business,  and  the  advantages  attendant  on  the  system 
followed. — Mr.  Rose  (Jarrow)  seconded  the  resolution.  He  said  he 
had  been  an  ardent  supporter  of  the  Association  from  its  conception, 
and  had  great  faith  in  its  ultimate  success,  provided  retailers 
would  act  at  once  and  together. 

Mr.  T.  M.  Clague  (Newcastle)  said  the  chemist  as  well  as  the 
store  man  would  be  compelled  to  raise  retail  prices  by  such  an 
organisation  as  this  when  they  got  a  majority.  There  were  9000, 
and  when  they  got  something  like  6000  or  7000  they  would  be  able 
to  say  to  these  men,  “  You  are  not  going  to  charge  us  11s.  6ri.  per 
dozen  unless  you  say  we  are  going  to  get  Is.  l^d.”  The  crux  of 
the  situation  lay  in  the  one  word  “combination.”  If  the  P.A.T.A. 
was  not  worked  on  the  best  lines,  though  it  probably  was,  they 
ought  to  give  the  benefit  of  their  adhesion  and  encouragement, 
then  work  it  on  such  lines  as  would  be  effective.  The  question  was. 
Were  they  able  to  do  more  singly  in  dealing  with  the  individual 
recalcitrant  proprietor  or  when  they  went  to  the  latter  era  masse  ? 
Combined,  they  could  do  a  great  deal,  whereas  as  individuals  they 
were  as  ropes  of  sand.  Ever  since  the  Association  was  started  he 
had  recognised  in  it  an  honest  attempt  to  deal  with  what  he  felt  to 
be  a  difficulty.  He  felt  that  there  were  elements  of  danger  in  the 
question  ;  thus  :  there  was  a  danger  that  they  might  in  some  in¬ 
stances  ask  too  much.  Unfortunately,  there  was  a  little  bit  of  the 
strain  of  Oliver  Twist  in  the  drug  trader.  For  instance,  they  were 
to  blame  if  they  asked  50  per  cent,  for  handling  a  drug.  The 
difficulty  had  arisen  from  that.  It  gave  the  cutter  a  look  in,  which 
he  would  never  have  had  otherwise.  It  would  not  be  right  to 
expect  50  per  cent. ,  though,  of  course,  they  must  have  a  margin  for 
credit  business.  The  cash  customer  was  entitled  to  some  considera¬ 
tion,  and  in  that  respect  the  stamp  value  was  very  handy.  They 
(the  chemists)  were  entitled  to  an  additional  threehalfpence  when  a 
sale  had  to  go  into  their  books.  He  thought  they,  should  have 
something  more  to  offer  than  they  had  at  present  before  they  nego¬ 
tiated  with  the  proprietor,  and  he  trusted  there  would  be  no  hang¬ 
ing  back,  but  that  the  meeting  would  unanimously  pass  the  resolu¬ 
tion,  and  everyone  present  associate  himself  with  the  P.A.T.A. 
He  hoped  they  would  also  look  after  those  who  were  not  present, 
and  see  that  they  gave  their  adhesion,  as  he  believed  there  were 
some  men  on  the  cutting  side  who  would  be  glad  to  find  an  easy 
and  safe  path  to  the  other  side.  Let  them  take  it  that  these 
men  were  willing,  whatever  they  had  done  in  the  past,  to 
co-operate  with  them  in  securing  a  better  profit  on  proprietary 
articles. 

Mr.  Radford  said  a  great  diversity  of  opinion  existed  through¬ 
out  the  country  regarding  this  movement ;  but  he  thought  every 
one  should  support  this  Association,  because  they  would  g  et  no 
better  opportunity. — Mr.  Wright  thought  this  a  step  in  the  right 
direction,  and  one  of  the  most  pleasing  things  was  the  fact 
that  the  proprietors  were  prepared  to  join  the  Association 
as  soon  as  they  saw  the  trade  was  united  upon  the  matter. 
He  thought  that  they  in  Newcastle  at  all  events  would  be  going 
against  their  interests  if  they  did  not  support  this  movement. 
— Mr.  Glyn- Jones  subsequently  replied  to  several  questions,  and 


JAN,  23,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  J  TURN  AX  . 


// 


the  resolution  was  then  put  and  carried. — Mr.  Clague  was  ap¬ 
pointed  to  convene  a  meeting  of  Newcastle  and  district  chemists, 
with  a  view  to  a  branch  of  the  Association  being  formed. 


Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association  (Sunderland), 
Wednesday,  January  13. — Councillor  John  Harrison,  J.P., 
Vice-President  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  in  the  chair. — This 
meeting  of  the  chemists  and  druggists  of  the  district  was  called  by  the 
Sunderland  Chemists’  Association  to  consider  the  proposals  of  the 
P.A.T.A.,  and  amongst  those  present  were  Messrs.  R.  H.  Bell, 
T.  D.  Pattison,  J.  S.  Bowman,  C.  Hodgson,  J.  F.  Weightman, 
W.  J.  B.  Blyth,  J.  G.  Sutherland,  T.  Walton,  E.  R.  Cherrett, 
C.  Thompson,  W.  Bowness,  A.  W.  Golightly,  T.  B.  Nicholson, 
J.  G.  Harrison,  M.  J.  Todd,  E.  J.  Harrison,  and  H.  C.  Harrington. 
— The  Chairman  said  that  he  was  not  present  as  representing  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society,  but  he  presumed  he  had  been  asked 
to  take  the  chair  as  being  one  of  the  oldest  chemists  in 
the  town.  The  position  was  one  which  must  be  faced  fearlessly 
and  clearly.  Competition  in  proprietary  articles  had  become 
unfair,  and  they  could  not  hope  to  meet  it  by  individual  efforts, 
but  by  effective  combination.  They  were  there  to  view  the  matter 
as  tradesmen,  and  it  would  be  undoubtedly  an  advantage  to  secure 
uniform  prices  for  proprietaries.  The  cutters  had  used  this  in 
order  to  give  the  public  an  impression  that  as  a  trade  chemists 
were  exorbitant  in  their  prices.  He  thought  every  chemist  ought 
to  become  a  member  of  the  P.A.T.A. — Mr.  Glyn- Jones  then  dealt 
fully  with  the  history  of  the  Association,  showing  its  aims  and  its 
proposals  for  the  future.  In  doing  so  his  address  was  very  much  upon 
the  lines  of  the  article  written  by  him,  which  appeared  in  the  Pharma- 
ceutical  Journal  for  January  9  {ante,  p.  23).  He  pointed  out  the  diffi¬ 
culties  experienced  in  carrying  out  individual  agreements,  showing 
from  this  the  importance  of  having  a  combined  plan.  He  mentioned 
some  firms  with  great  resources  at  their  back  who  had  been  unable 
so  far  to  defeat  the  Association.  He  strongly  condemned  the 
practice,  which  he  said  was  far  too  common,  by  which  chemists 
were  gratuitously  advertising  unprotected  articles,  and  he 
earnestly  appealed  to  the  leaders  of  pharmacy  to  support  the 
movement  for  the  sake  of  their  less  fortunate  brethren,  who, 
though  they  were  not  in  possession  of  high-class  dispensing  busi¬ 
nesses,  were  yet  serving  a  useful  purpose. — Mr.  Bell  then  moved  . 

“  That  this  meeting  of  chemists  residing  in  Sunderland  and  district  cordially 
approves  of  the  proposals  of  the  P.A.T.A.,  and  urges  upon  all  proprietors  the 
advisability  of  adding  their  articles  to  the  protected  list.” 

Mr.  Todd  seconded  this,  and  said  that  from  30  to  50  per  cent,  of 
•chemists’  takings  were  for  proprietary  articles,  so  that  the  question 
was  of  vital  importance  to  them.  No  pharmacist  could  afford  to 
ignore  the  question,  and  so  far  as  he  had  been  able  to  gather,  all 
his  trade  friends  spoke  in  support  of  the  movement.  It  was  now 
their  duty  to  force  the  hands  of  such  proprietors  as  were  sitting  on 
the  fence,  and  to  get  them  to  declare  their  position. — Mr. 
Weightman  said  his  experience  was  that  where  prices  were  main¬ 
tained  the  public  were  willing  to  give  them,  and  he  thought 
-that  if  chemists  joined  the  Association  they  would 
eventually  get  what  they  were  seeking. — Mr.  Cherrett 
wished  to  know  what  would  be  done  in  the  case  of  chemists 
who,  after  promising  to  maintain  prices,  obtained  large 
supplies,  and  then  commenced  to  cut. — Mr.  Walton  said  that  they 
should  have  at  least  15  per  cent,  minimum  profit. —  Mr.  Todd 
agreed  that  this  was  fair  on  articles  of  every-day  use,  but  in  the 
case  of  medicine  it  should  be  25  per  cent. — Mr.  Blyth  said 
that  whatever  the  profit  allowed  was,  the  article  should  be 
sold  at  the  advertised  price. — Mr.  Glyn- Jones,  in  reply,  said  that  it 
was  essential  that  their  demands  as  to  the  amount  of  profit  should 
be  reasonable  and  that  they  should  be  able  to  show  the  public  that 
their  demands  were  but  just  and  not  extortionate.  Various  classes 
of  goods  should  show  better  profits  than  others.  If  there  was  any 
doubt  about  the  bona  fides  of  a  trader  a  special  agreement  en- 
forcable  in  a  Court  of  Law  would  have  to  be  made.  If  they  wished 
the  least  increase  they  must  remember  that  it  would  only  be  so  in 
proportion  to  the  amount  of  support  received  from  the  retail  trade. 
The  resolution  was  carried  unanimously,  and  also  a  motion  asking 
the  Sunderland  Association  to  act  as  local  executive  of  the  P.A.T.A. 
— The  Chairman,  in  replying  to  a  vote  of  thanks,  said  he  felt  more 
.strongly  than  he  did  when  he  came  to  the  meeting  that  they  were 
taking  part  in  a  movement,  which, .if  supported  as  it  should  be, 
would  do  a  great  deal  for  the  retail  chemists  of  this  country.  He 
warned  them,  however,  against  thinking  that  the  enthusiasm  of 


the  movement  would  be  sufficient  for  their  purpose.  It  required 
their  whole  energy  and  persistent  effort.  Proprietors  would  not 
co-operate  with  them  until  they  found  that  they  were  thoroughly 
united  in  their  demands,  and  that  they  were  determined  to  obtain 
their  just  rights. 


SOCIAL  MEETINGS. 


Liverpool  Pharmaceutical  Students’  Society,  Thurs¬ 
day,  January  14. — The  seventh  annual  dinner  of  this  Society  took 
place  at  the  Alexandra  Hotel,  Liverpool,  the  Vice-Presidents, 
Messrs.  H.  S.  Peirson  and  H.  B.  Morgan  occupying  the  posts  of 
Chairman  and  croupier  respectively.  After  an  excellent  dinner, 
served  in  good  style  and  partaken  of  by  a  company  numbering 
upwards  of  fifty,  a  lengthy  list  of  toasts,  interspersed  with  vocal 
and  instrumental  music,  was  entered  upon,  occupying  the  time 
very  pleasantly  until  nearly  midnight.  The  oratorical  honours  of 
the  evening  were  divided  among  Mr.  F.  C.  Larkin,  F. R.C. S.,  who 
replied  to  the  toast  of  “  The  Medical  Profession,”  Messrs.  R.  H. 
Mitchell  and  John  Smith  (local  secretary  for  the  Liverpool  district), 
the  proposer  and  responder  to  the  toast  of  “The  Pharmaceutical 
Society,”  Dr.  Logan  and  the  Chairman  for  “  The  Students’  Society,” 
and  Mr.  Charles  Sharp,  F.L.S.,  in  proposing  “The  Visitors,”  with 
the  reply  by  the  students’  old  friend,  Mr.  Edward  Davies,  P.I.C. , 
F.C.S.  The  arrangements  reflected  great  credit  upon  the  Secre¬ 
tary,  Mr.  P.  H.  Marsden,  F.C.S. ,  and  the  Treasurer,  Mr.  R.  H. 
Mitchell,  to  whose  exertions  the  success  of  the  affair  was  to  a  great 
extent  due. 


Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,  Thursday,  January  14. 
— Mr.  Charles  Morley,  President,  in  the  chair. — The  second  half 
of  the  session  was  opened  by  a  musical  and  social  evening,  under 
the  direction  of  Mr.  H.  H.  Robins.  An  excellent  programme,  con¬ 
sisting  of  songs,  humorous  and  otherwise,  recitations,  pianoforte 
solos,  etc.,  was  rendered  by  several  of  the  members  and  friends, 
and  was  greatly  appreciated,  Mr.  A.  Lilly  accompanying.  During 
an  interval  refreshments  were  provided,  and  on  resuming  the  pro¬ 
gramme  Mr.  C.  E.  Robinson  proposed  and  Mr.  F.  Cooper  seconded 
a  hearty  vote  of  thanks  to  all  who  had  assisted  in  the  entertainment. 
This  was  carried  with  acclamation,  and  a  very  pleasant  evening 
was  concluded  by  singing  the  “  National  Anthem.” 


LEGAL  INTELLIGENCE. 


PROCEEDINGS  UNDER  THE  FOOD  AND  DRUGS  ACT. 


The  Sale  of  Arsenical  Soap. 

At  Richmond  Petty  Sessions,  on  Monday,  before  His  Worship 
the  Mayor  and  other  justices,  J.  W.  Taplin,  of  Station  Parade, 
Kew  Gardens,  chemist  and  druggist,  appeared  to  an  adjourned 
summons  for  having  sold  arsenical  soap  not  of  the  nature  and  sub¬ 
stance  demanded.  Mr.  J.  H.  Gould  prosecuted  on  this  occasion, 
and  Mr.  A.  Hutton,  barrister,  appeared  to  defend. 

The  report  of  the  former  proceedings  will  be  found  at  page  561 
of  last  volume.  As  the  case  stood,  an  adjournment  had  been 
granted  so  that  a  portion  of  the  tablet  might  be  taken  to  Somerset 
House  for  analysis.  The  facts  briefly  were : — An  assistant  to 
Inspector  Houghton,  one  of  the  Surrey  County  Inspectors,  pur¬ 
chased,  for  6 d.,  a  tablet  of  “Dr.  Mackenzie’s  Arsenical  Soap,” 
which  was  subsequently  sent  to  the  analyst,  Dr.  T.  Stevenson,  who 
certified  in  the  following  words  : — - 

“  I  am  of  opinion  the  sample  contains  soap  free  from  arsenic,  100  per  cent.” 

Dr.  Stevenson,  in  supporting  his  analysis  on  oath,  declared  that 
arsenic  was  useless  as  a  preparation  for  the  skin,  and  it  could  not 
do  what  the  advertisement  of  the  soap  said  it  could  :  viz. ,  ‘  ‘  Have 
a  marvellous  effect  on  the  skin,  and  prevent  the  growth  of  super¬ 
fluous  hair,”  nor  would  it  “  nourish  and  whiten  and  benefit  the 
skin.  ”  The  defence  set  up  was  that  this  article  was  not  a  drug, 
but  the  Bench  overruled  it,  and  then  defendant  availed  himself  of 
the  right  to  have  the  second  moiety  sent  to  Somerset  House  for 
independent  analysis. 

The  Clerk  of  the  Court  announced  he  had  received  the  following 
letter : — 


78 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  23,  1897 


Government  Laboratory, 

Somerset  House,  London. 

Sir, — The  sample  of  arsenical  soap  referred  to  in  your  letter  of  December  17, 
1896,  marked  “A  227,”  was  duly  received  securely  sealed.  From  the  contention 
of  the  prosecution  and  the  defence,  it  is  evident  that  arsenic,  if  present  at  all, 
must  be  there  in  a  very  minute  quantity,  and  in  view  of  the  very  small  sample 
sent,  a  series  of  experiments  has  been  made  on  soap  mixed  with  arsenic  as 
sodium  arsenite,  to  discover  the  most  trustworthy  method  for  its  detection  in 
small  samples.  After  a  careful  investigation,  we  find  that  the  sample  referred 
to,  which  weighs  only  293  grains,  would  be  quite  insufficient  to  enable  us  to 
determine,  with  certainty,  whether  it  contains  arsenic,  if,  as  is  alleged,  the 
amount  does  not  exceed  l/100th  grain  of  arsenious  oxide  to  the  pound. 

I  am,  Sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

B.  Bannister 

Mr.  Hutton  said  upon  that  letter  and  upon  the  finding  of  the 
Bench  upon  the  last  occasion  that  arsenical  soap  was  a  drug,  he 
should  not  contest  the  ruling  any  further  upon  that  analysis.  His 
client  had  exercised  his  rights  under  the  Act,  and  had  elected  to 
take  the  independent  certificate  of  the  Government  department, 

'  but  he  must  abide  by  its  decision.  Although  it  was  a  chemist  who 
was  the  seller,  and  therefore  summoned,  he  was  there  in  con¬ 
sequence  of  instructions  from  Mr.  Harvey,  the  manufacturer  of  the 
soap.  Soon  after  one  or  two  prosecutions  in  respect  of  this  soap 
took  place,  Mr.  Harvey  had  a  careful  analysis  made,  and  it 
appeared  in  that  particular  batch  there  was,  by  some  reason,  little 
or  no  arsenic.  Although  he  had  evidence  that  arsenic  was  given 
out  by  Mr.  Harvey  for  the  purpose  of  being  put  into  the  soap,  he 
knew  the  Bench  would  rule  against  him,  so  he  would  not  tender 
such  testimony.  The  manufacturer  had,  however,  done  all  in  his 
power  to  comply  with  the  law.  He  had  caused  advertisements 
to  be  issued  desiring  all  chemists  to  return  to  him  their  stock 
of  Dr.  Mackenzie’s  arsenical  soap  in  exchange  for  some 
made  under  a  different  formula,  and  promising  to  indemnify 
against  prosecution  all  who  responded  to  the  request.  He  had 
also  promised  to  give  a  warranty  with  the  new  packets.  He  at 
once  recalled  the  soap  that  was  out,  and  he  desired  that  these  facts 
should  be  laid  before  the  Court.  He  asked  that  a  light  penalty 
might  be  imposed  on  the  defendant,  as  they  had  endeavoured  to 
comply  with  the  ruling  of  the  Bench. 

Mr.  Gould  intimated  he  did  not  press  for  a  heavy  penalty,  and 
the  prosecution  did  not  suppose  the  defendant  sold  the  soap  other¬ 
wise  than  as  he  received  it  from  the  manufacturer. 

After  the  Bench  had  privately  deliberated,  His  Worship  said 
when  the  Bench  came  to  the  conclusion  that  arsenical  soap  was  a 
drug  they  did  so  upon  the  ground  that  it  contained  arsenic. 
Since  it  had  been  proved  that  it  did  not  contain  arsenic  it  ceased 
to  be  a  drug,  therefore  they  dismissed  the  summons  upon  the 
ground  that  it  was  under  the  wrong  Act. 

Mr.  Gould  asked  that  the  decision  might  be  adjourned  until  the 
decision  of  an  appeal  pending  on  the  same  point. 

Aid.  Burt :  You  should  have  asked  that  earlier. 

The  Bench  refused  to  accede  to  the  request,  but  intimated  they 
would  state  a  case. 

Inspector  Houghton  asked  for  a  summons  against  other  chemists 
who  had  sold  similar  soap  certified  to  contain  no  arsenic,  but  the 
Bench  intimated  that  it  would  be  better  to  wait  the  result  of  the 
appeal. 


OBITUARY. 


Skirrow. — On  October  26,  William  Skirrow,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  of  Bingley,  Yorks.  Aged  32. 

Howson. — On  January  16,  Thomas  J.  Howson,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  of  Gateshead-on-Tyne.  Aged  77. 

Venman.—  On  January  16,  Hezekiah  Yenman,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  late  of  Pimlico.  Aged  65. 

Blanshard. — On  January  18,  Thomas  Blanshard,  late  of  the  firm 
of  Raimes,  Blanshards,  and  Co.,  Edinburgh.  Mr.  Blanshard  was 
born  at  Kelfield,  Yorkshire,  in  1820,  and  went  to  Edinburgh  in 
1832,  where  he  served  his  apprenticeship  with  John  and  Richard 
Raimes  and  Co.  In  1839  he  became  traveller  for,  and  partner  in  the 
firm,  and  was  well  known  both  in  England  and  to  the  extreme 
North  of  Scotland.  He  retired  from  the  firm  about  twenty  years 
ago,  and  at  the  time  of  death  was  aged  77. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


The  Benevolent  Fund. 

Sir, — That  the  Fund  is  in  so  low  a  condition  is  not  only  a 
source  of  regret  but  of  serious  apprehension — and  although  the 
cause  is  apparent,  the  means  of  relief  are  not  forthcoming.  Now 
can  no  plan  be  devised  to  meet  the  exigency  of  the  case?  No 
spasmodic  effort  is  of  permanent  avail.  That  far-seeing  benevo¬ 
lent  man  John  Wesley  secured  the  permanency  of  his  society  by  a 
very  simple  method — every  member  is  required  to  contribute  a 
penny  per  week  and  a  shilling  four  times  a  year.  From  this 
source  alone  all  the  working  expenses  of  the  vast  machinery  of 
Wesleyan  Methodism  is  supported.  Reckoning  the  number  of 
chemists  and  druggists  at  12,000,  each  subscribing  five  farthings 
weekly  would  produce  an  aggregate  sum  of  £2500  per  annum.  He 
must  be  poor  indeed  who  could  not  put  by  so  minute  a  sum,  even 
by  denying  himself  half  a  pint  of  ale.  The  amounts  might  be 
collected  by  the  local  secretaries,  who  would  thus  be  brought  into 
contact  with  members,  and  in  case  of  unforeseen  misfortune  afford 
immediate  relief.  Applicants  for  annuities  being  personally 
known  to  the  secretary,  he  might  report  to  the  committee  and  the- 
grant  graduated  to  circumstances.  This  would  obviate  the- 
expensive  method  of  voting,  and  also  do  away  with  the  touting 
system,  besides  which  there  would  be  no  hint  of  charitable 
grindery ;  each  man  claiming  as  a  right  what  he  had  helped  to 
maintain.  And  I  beg  to  suggest  that  accumulated  wealth  would  be 
in  a  few  years  sufficient  to  endow  a  comfortable  home  for  the  life- 
worn  man  of  drugs,  who  might  there  spend  the  evening  of  his 
days  associated  with  his  companions  of  long  past  years,  spent  in 
the  activities  of  scientific  and  business  engagements. 

Kew,  January  13,  1897.  R.  Goodwin  Mumbray. 


The  Regulation  of  Prices. 

Sir, — As  the  subject  of  the  present  disastrous  tendency  to 
cutting  prices  below  the  profit  margin  is  evidently  one  which 
interests  most  of  your  readers,  I  gladly  avail  myself  of  the  hos¬ 
pitality  of  your  columns  to  make  a  few  remarks  bearing  thereon. 
For  many  years  past  as  managing  director  of  the  businesses 
Wilcox  and  Co.  and  Gabriel  Jozeau,  I  have  been  receiving  com¬ 
plaints  which  may  be  grouped  under  three  heads  :  (1)  From  the 
public,  who  purchase  the  proprietary  articles  advertised  by  us, 
complaining  of  the  reluctance  of  the  retailer  to  supply  the  par¬ 
ticular  article  demanded,  and  of  his  persistent  endeavours  to  palm 
off  something  else  in  lieu  thereof.  These  complaints  for  the  most 
part  have  reference  to  demands  for  Mariani  Wine  ;  (2)  from  whole¬ 
sale  dealers  in  proprietary  medicines,  complaining  of  other 
dealers  selling  the  goods  at  an  invisible  profit ;  and  (3)  from 
retail  chemists  complaining  of  their  inability  to  obtain 
a  working  profit  on  the  sale  of  our  proprietary  articles,  on 
account  of  the  prices  having  been  ‘  ‘  cut  ”  so  low  as  to  leave  no 
margin  for  a  “living  wage!”  Now  it  may  safely  be  asserted, 
speaking  generally,  that  the  demand  for  this  class  of  goods  is 
created  by  advertisements.  The  handling  of  these  goods  com¬ 
paratively  requires  little  skill,  and  entails  a  minimum  of  working 
expenses,  but  it  is  evident  that  the  distribution  should  secure  a 
fair  margin  of  profit  on  their  sale,  otherwise  it  cannot  possibly  be 
worth  one’s  while  to  sell  them. 

With  regard  to  the  first  group  of  complaints  it  may  fairly  be 
asked  whether  the  public  really  object  to  paying  a  price  which 
shall  allow  of  a  reasonable  margin  of  remuneration  for  work  done. 
Would  not  the  public  generally  prefer  to  obtain  what  they 
require  promptly  and  certainly  without  having  to  resist  the 
insidious  arguments  of  the  salesman,  seeking  to  foist  upon 
them  some  “superior”  article  instead  of  the  one  asked  for? 
Passing  on  to  the  second  group,  it  must  be  conceded  that  the 
keen  competition  which  has  manifested  itself  in  this  department 
of  trade  for  some  years  past,  has  had  for  result  that  the  wholesale 
dealei’s  work  very  hard  for  very  little  pay.  This  fact  suggests  the 
question  whether  it  would  not  be  vastly  to  their  advantage  for  all 
of  them  to  sell  these  proprietaries  at  the  same  price.  There  is  na 
danger  of  their  seeking  to  exact  an  exorbitant  profit,  for  any  such 
policy  would  promptly  be  met  by  a  combination  of  retailers 
buying  goods  in  wholesale  quantities  and  dividing  them  up. 
Lastly  in  respect  of  the  third  group,  would  not  the  business  of 
the  retailers  be  placed  on  a  much  more  satisfactory  basis,  if  they 
agreed  between  themselves,  or  with  the  proprietors,  to  establish 
fixed  minimum  prices  for  all  proprietary  articles,  comprising  a 


Jan.  23,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


79 


reasonable  profit  on  the  sale  thereof  ?  The  public  would  gain  by 
the  adoption  of  such  a  scheme,  inasmuch  as  they  would  then  be 
enabled  to  obtain  what  they  wanted  at  the  nearest  shop,  instead, 
as  frequently  happens,  having  to  take  a  cab,  or  wasting  valuable 
time  in  order  to  obtain  a  possible  reduction  of  price  elsewhere. 

Hitherto  I  have  taken  the  view  that  purchasers  of  my  goods 
were  quite  at  liberty  to  deal  with  them  when  bought  as  thought 
best,  and  it  always  appeared  to  me  to  savour  of  impertinence  to 
dictate  or  even  suggest  the  price  at  which  they  should  be  retailed, 
beyond,  of  course,  advertising  the  retail  prices  at  which  we  our¬ 
selves  sell  the  articles  in  question.  Even  now,  I  feel  very  strongly 
that  boycotting  and  contracts  restricting  the  freedom  of  trade  are, 
in  many  respects,  open  to  objection.  The  conclusion  has,  however, 
been  forced  upon  me,  that  this  extreme  ‘  ‘  cutting  ”  must,  in  the 
long  run,  diminish  the  value  of  the  proprietary  articles  in  which  I 
am  personally  interested.  This  is  so  obvious  that,  in  self-defence, 
I  feel  justified,  when  selling  goods,  in  fixing  a  minimum  sale  price 
in  respect  of  the  wholesale  and  retail  dealers,  leaving  it  to  them 
to  fix  the  price,  above  the  irreducible  minimum  at  which  they  will 
dispose  of  them.  I  am  well  aware  of  the  difficulties  which  such  a 
course  presents  in  carrying  out,  and  I  have,  therefore  placed 
Mariani  Wine  and  Santal  Midy  upon  the  P.A.T.A.  list.  These 
minimum  prices  I  have  fixed  from  a  public  point  of  view,  and  to 
the  best  of  my  thirty-five  years’  experience  in  wholesale  and  retail 
as  follows  : — 

Mai’iani  Wine,  advertised  45s.  dozen,  or  4s.  bottle,  minimum  selling 
prices  40s.  per  dozen,  20s.  per  half  dozen,  or  3s.  6 d.  per  bottle. 
Minimum  trade  price  35s.  per  dozen  or  part  of  dozen.  In  cases  of 
six  dozen,  £10  4s.  net,  and  in  six-case  lots,  3  per  cent,  discount. 

Santal  Midy,  minimum  cutting  price  3s.  6 d.  per  bottle,  and 
minimum  trade  price  33s.  per  dozen  or  part  of  dozen.  Per  twelve 
-dozen  £18  net. 

I  may  point  out,  in  conclusion,  that  my  advertisements  bring 
■customers  to  chemists,  who  will  not  improbably  prove  to  be  pur¬ 
chasers  for  other  articles  in  addition  to  those  advertised  by  us. 
All  I  ask  is,  that  my  goods  shall  be  supplied  when  asked  for,  and 
I  hope  most  sincerely  that  my  customers  will  recognise  that  it  is 
also  to  their  advantage  to  conform  to  the  stipulated  conditions  in 
respect  of  the  minimum  prices. 

London,  January  16,  1897.  J.  John  Snook. 


Sir, — I  am  in  favour  of  the  P.A.T.A.  because  I  do  not  wish  to 
charge  more  than  my  neighbours  for  “patents,”  and  I  do  not 
wish  to  sell  these  without  a  working  profit.  I  should  like  to  see 
the  demand  for  pills,  syrups,  compressed  drugs,  etc.,  supplied  by 
those  who  are,  or  ought  to  be,  best  qualified  to  supply  them,  the 
chemists.  What  is  wanted  is  one  of  ourselves  to  organise  the 
forces  so  that  an  association  of  chemists  might  be  formed  to  set 
a-going  a  pill,  an  ointment,  an  embrocation,  a  syrup,  etc.,  etc. 
We  could  do  this  and  have  our  25  to  50  per  cent. ,  while  the  public 
—our  customers — would  be  no  worse,  perhaps  better.  We  need  a 
Glyn-  J  ones  to  do  for  the  chemists  in  this  direction  what  our  friend 
has  done  and  is  doing  for  them  in  another. 

J anuary  18,  1897.  A  Pharmaceutical  Chemist. 


A  Disclaimer. 

Sir, — It  has  quite  recently  come  to  my  ears  that  certain  members 
cf  the  craft  have  been  crediting  me  with  the  authorship  of  the 
letters  which  lately  appeared  in  your  columns  signed  “Natu 
Minimus.”  I  must  confess  I  was  not  a  little  struck  with  the  truth¬ 
fulness  and  d  propos  nature  of  some  of  the  remarks  of  your  wrath¬ 
ful  correspondent,  but  I  entirely  disclaim  all  knowledge  of,  or 
connection  with,  the  writer.  If  I  am  ever  led  to  discuss  the 
subject  our  anonymous  [friend  has  initiated  it  will  certainly  be 
over  my  own  name.  I  ask  you  to  insert  this  disclaimer  solely 
with  the  object  of  correcting  the  unfounded  rumours  that  are  in 
circulation. 

Leith,  January  12,  1897.  George  Coull. 

Syrup  Making  without  Heat. 

Sir,— It  is  not  necessary  to  send  out  of  the  country  for  special 
•apparatus  for  “making  syrups  in  the  cold,”  as  more  than  twenty 
years  ago  I  made  them  in  an  ordinary  York  glass  percolator.  My 
modus  operandi  was  to  tie  a  bit  of  flannel  over  the  bottom  of  the 
upper  part,  add  the  sugar,  and  turn  percolator  off,  pour  the  water 
on  and  allow  to  macerate  for  an  hour,  and  then  set  it  going.  The 
sugar  was  dissolved  and  strained  as  it  passed  through  the  flannel, 
give  a  shake,  and  there  you  are.  In  this  way  I  have  made  syrupus, 
syrupus  scillie,  syr.  pruni  virg.,  Parrish’s  syrup,  etc.  The  only 


trouble  was  with  the  blued  sugar,  as  the  blue  was  thrown  out  and 
the  syrups  made  muddy,  but  recently  having  tried  a  special  blue¬ 
less  sugar  manufactured  by  Messrs.  Macfie  and  Sons,  Liverpool, 
specially  for  syrup  making,  it  left  nothing  to  be  desired. 

Liverpool,  January  16,  1897.  James  Wood. 

Chemists’  Federation. 

Sir, — Is  it  not  rather  surprising  that  no  greater  notice  has  been 
taken  of  Mr.  Foulston’s  letter  of  January  9  in  the  Pharmaceutical 
Journal,  in  which  he  raises  the  flag  of  federation  with,  as  it  were, 
a  bugle  call  of  “  Wake,  Brethren,  Wake  ”  ?  It  cannot  be  expected 
that  the  P.A.T.A.  will  do  all  that  is  necessary  for  the  retailer  ; 
although  very  good  in  itself  and  its  aims,  its  very  constitution 
prevents  that.  In  this  town  of  Plymouth  I  know  there  are  several 
chemists  who  would  join  with  others  to  start  a  proprietary  medi¬ 
cine  on  lines  to  be  hereafter  decided,  probably  some  article  which 
could  be  recommended  by  doctors  and  in  which  doctors  might  also 
take  shares,  thereby  giving  it  a  better  start.  Will  not  the  “  ever 
faithful”  city  of  Exeter  join  with  us,  her  big  sister  ;  also  Bradford, 
who  so  boldly  protested  against  the  action  of  St.  Jacob? 
Birmingham,  too,  whose  motto  is  “Forward”;  will  the  chemists 
there  not  do  their  share  and  communicate  with  Mr.  Foulston,  as 
he  suggests  in  his  letter,  either  direct  or  through  the  Journal? 
This  is  an  opportunity  which  should  not  be  allowed  to  pass 
unheeded,  for  by  taking  action  now  the  seed  may  be  sown  at  small 
expense  to  each,  which  will  bring  in  a  good  harvest  of  profit  by 
and  by.  If  the  secretaries  of  local  associations  would  talk  the 
matter  over  with  their  members,  and  write  their  opinions  to  Mr. 
Foulston,  great  good  might  be  done.  But  individual  grumbling  is 
worse  than  useless,  for  it  is  waste  of  time.  I  understand  there  is 
a  small  amount  of  money  promised,  but  not  anything  like  enough 
to  start  with.  It  ought  not  to  be  very  difficult  to  raise  the  £5000 
asked  for,  or  £20,000  if  needed,  when  the  object  is  to  promote  our 
own  interests. 

January  18,  1897.  Plymouthian  (76/33). 


The  Journal  and  the  Students’  Page. 

Sir, — Whether  it  be  a  change  of  ideal  or  merely  the  carrying  out 
by  authority  of  old  ideas  matters  little  ;  in  any  case  you  are  to 
be  congratulated  upon  the  decided  improvements  made  recently  in 
the  official  trade  journal,  for  whilst  taking  more  account  of  the 
commercial  and  utilitarian  matters  appertaining  to  the  pharma¬ 
cist’s  calling,  you  are  still  not  neglecting  the  more  scientific  ones. 
Whilst  we  (the  subscribers,  and,  of  course,  proprietors)  must 
think  more  and  better  of  our  J ournal  than  before,  I  hope  to  see, 
and  think  we  may  reasonably  look  for,  still  further  developments 
in  the  direction  indicated.  Even  now  I  think  every  pharmacist 
ought  to  read  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal — whatever  else  he  may 
read — and  I  see  no  reason  why  it  should  not  become  an  “indispens¬ 
able  ”  to  him  in  his  business,  as  well  as  a  great  educational  aid  to 
the  younger  members  of  the  trade.  ‘  ‘  The  Students’  Page  ”  is  a 
particularly  good  idea,  and,  so  far,  appears  to  be  carried  out  on  very 
common-sense  lines.  I  am  pleased  to  add  my  congratulations,  and 
to  know  that  my  opinion  is  endorsed  by  many  of  my  fellow  chemists. 

Manchester,  January  18,  1897.  Harry  Kemp. 


Sir,— Having  been  a  subscriber  for  now  some  eight  years,  I  have 
ever  found  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  a  most  valuable  and 
indispensable  companion  in  my  daily  work.  It  brings  before  us 
weekly  all  the  latest  information  in  the  rapid  and  ever  increasing 
developments  in  science  of  which  we  pharmacists  of  to-day  cannot 
well  afford  to  be  ignorant  of.  Its  general  character  from  a  trade 
point  of  view  has  of  late  years  been  greatly  enhanced  in  giving  us 
the  market  reports,  and  latterly  the  “  Students’  Page,”  which  has 
been  a  welcome  addition  to  many  of  the  craft. 

January  16,  1897.  J.  P.  K.  (76/36). 


Sir, — Your  “  Students’  Page  ”  is  a  very  good  idea,  and  will  be 
appreciated  not  only  by  students,  but  also  by  those  whose  student 
days  are  over. 

Landport,  January  16,  1897.  W.  L.  Barrett. 


Sir, — Kindly  allow  me  to  express  my  appreciation  of  “  The 
Students’  Page.”  Although  I  have  successfully  got  over  the 
“  Minor  ”  difficulty,  this  page  is  very  interesting  and  use¬ 
ful.  May  I  suggest  that  articles  and  hints,  etc.,  suitable  for 
Major  students  should  be  included  from  time  to  time?  [This  sugges¬ 
tion  is  already  under  consideration. — Ed.  Ph.  J.]  I  think  the 
“  Students’  Page  ”  is  a  step  in  the  right  direction,  for  thus  the 


80 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL, 


[Jan.  23,  1897 


Journal  will  enlist  the  support  of  students  and  associates  not  in 
business  with  encouragement  for  study  in  their  leisure. 

January  20,  1897.  H.  I).  K.  (77/8). 


The  P.A.T.A.  Meeting  at  Dumfries. 

Sir, — Kindly  allow  me  space  to  correct  one  or  two  remarks 
inadvertently  made  by  Mr.  Glyn- Jones,  at  the  recent  meeting  of 
the  P.A.T.A.,  in  regal’d  to  no  cutting  of  prices,  etc.,  in  Dumfries. 
For  several  years  Dumfries  has  had  a  branch  of  one  of  the  principal 
cutting  houses  in  Glasgow,  as  well  as  several  grocers,  who  issue 
price-lists  regularly,  and  stock  all  the  leading  patent  and  pro¬ 
prietary  articles,  etc.,  at  lowest  store  prices.  When  Mr.  Jones 
stated  that  we  got  Is.  or  face  value  for  Is.  1  %d.  articles,  Mr.  Daniel 
replied  that  business  was  not  quite  in  such  a  happy  condition  as 
was  pictured.  And  to  meet  the  store  competition,  all  the  chemists 
have  reduced  their  prices  more  or  less  for  some  years.  Where  we 
occupy  a  fortunate  position  is,  in  that  in  all  matters  regarding  the 
business  we  meet  as  an  Association  and  act  unitedly.  We  are  not 
so  fortunate  as  to  have  abundance  of  elbow  room,  for  there  are 
twelve  chemists’  shops  in  Dumfries  for  a  population  of  18,000,  and 
this  I  think  is  a  good  deal  above  the  average  in  most  towns. 

Dumfries,  Jan.  16, 1897.  J.  W.  Sutherland. 

Hon.  Sec.  Dumfries  Chemists’  Association. 


Proposed  Association  at  Newcastle-on-Tyne. 

Sir, — A  meeting  of  chemists  and  druggists  recently  held  in  this 
city  passed  a  resolution  in  favour  of  holding  a  meeting  to  consider 
the  advisability  of  forming  an  association  of  chemists  and  drug¬ 
gists  to  deal  with  scientific,  educational,  and  trade  matters,  and  to 
promote  social  intercourse.  The  meeting  also  called  upon  me,  as 
local  secretary  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  to  convene  the 
gathering.  I  have  therefore  sent  out  circulars  to  all  whose 
addresses  I  have  in  Newcastle  and  Tyneside  inviting  to  a  meeting 
at  the  Crown  Hotel  on  Wednesday,  the  27th  inst. ,  at  8  p.m.  May 
I  ask  you  to  make  this  known  through  your  paper,  and  if  I  have 
inadvertently  omitted  to  send  the  invitation  to  anyone  interested 
I  ask  him  to  accept  this  intimation  and  come  to  the  meeting  ? 

11,  Grey  Street,  Newcastle-on-Tyne.  T.  Maltby  Clague. 

January  19,  1897. 


The  Preparation  of  Boroglyceride. 

Sir, — In  your  issue  of  last  week  I  notice  on  page  60,  under  the 
head  of  “Preparation  of  Boroglyceride,”  you  say  :  “You  must  not 
look  on  Martindale  as  an  infallible  guide,  or  you  may  be  led 
astray.”  In  the  ‘  Extra  Pharmacopoeia’  I  say  boroglyceride  is  “a 
patented  preparation,  made  by  heating  92  parts  of  glycerin  with 
62  parts  of  boric  acid.  A  tough,  deliquescent  mass  is  produced,” 
etc.  This  I  abstracted  from  the  specification  of  the  patent,  and  in 
the  light  of  the  details  which  you  publish  I  do  not  see  anything 
incorrect  in  this  note  on  a  patented  preparation.  I  am  not 
infallible,  but  I  hold  that  the  ‘  Extra  Pharmacopoeia  ’  is  more 
nearly  free  from  errors  than  most  works  of  the  kind  that  have  been 
published. 

London,  January  20,  1897.  Wm.  Martindale. 

**'*  We  much  regret  to  learn  that  Mr.  Martindale  feels  hurt  by  the  reference  to 
his  book  last  week,  in  a  reply  to  a  correspondent  who  complained  that  the 
details  given  in  the  ‘  Extra  Pharmacopoeia  ’  were  insufficient  to  enable  him 
to  produce  a  satisfactory  product.  All  that  it  was  intended  to  convey  is 
what  should  be  a  self-evident  fact — that  no  book,  however  eminent  its  author 
or  authors,  can  be  depended  upon  as  an  absolute  guide  upon  every  subject  of 
which  it  treats.  It  does  seem,  moreover,  that  practical  works,  written  or 
compiled  by  pharmacists  for  pharmacists,  should  as  far  as  possible  give  essential 
working  details,  from  the  writers’  own  experience  if  necessary. — [Ed.  Ph.  J.] 


ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 

[Queries  addressed  to  the  “  Editorial  Department,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  W.C.,” 
will  be  replied  to  in  the  Journal  as  early  as  possible  after  receipt,  but  the  Editor 
cannot  undertake  to  reply  to  them  through  the  post,  noi •  is  it  always  possible  to  publish 
answers  the  same  week.  Questions  on  different  subjects  should  be  written  on  separate 
slips  of  paper,  each  of  xoliich  should  bear  the  sender's  name  or  initials.  Readers 
requiring  working  formula  for  special  preparations,  and  intimating  their  wants  to  the 
Editor,  will  be  assisted  as  far  as  may  be  practicable.  The  word  “parts,"  when  used  in 
formUlce,  invariably  indicates  parts  by  weight.  Anonymous  queries  will  be  ignored.] 


Dr.  Begbie’s  Pills. — These  are  composed  of  podophyllin,  gr.  J  ; 
pulv.  ipecac.,  gr.  $ ;  ext.  tarax.,  ext.  hyoscy.,  aa  gr.  1£.  Ft.  pil.  i. 
[Reply  to  Associate. — 73/29.] 


Brown  Varnish. — Seed  lac,  12  ounces  ;  dragon’s  blood,  1  ounce  ; 
methylated  spirit,  1  pint.  Let  stand  in  warm  place  till  dissolved. 
[Reply  to  Country  Man. — 74/37.  ] 


French  Polish. — Shellac,  5  ounces ;  seed  lac,  1  ounce ;  sanda- 
rach,  \  ounce  ;  mastic,  1  ounce  ;  methylated  spirit,  20  fluid  ounces.. 
Let  stand  in  a  warm  place  in  a  well-corked  bottle,  shaking  oc¬ 
casionally  until  dissolved.  [Reply  to  Country  Man. — 74/37.] 


White  Hard  Varnish. — White  shellac,  1  ounce ;  mastic, 
4  ounces ;  methylated  spirit,  24  fluid  ounces ;  powdered  glass,. 
2  ounces.  Mix  and  let  stand  in  a  warm  place  until  the  resins 
are  dissolved.  The  glass  acts  as  a  mechanical  purifying  agent.. 
[Reply  to  Country  Man. — 74/37.] 


Boroglyceride. — The  specimen  you  send  appears  to  be  [a 
mixture  of  boric  acid  and  glycerin,  prepared  without  heat.  You 
can  prepare  a  similar  article  by  mixing  boric  acid,  40  parts  by 
weight,  with  glycerin,  28  parts,  and  rubbing  them  together  in  a 
mortar.  [Reply  to  Associate. — 75/9.] 


Botanical  Works. —  Shirley  Hibberd’s  ‘Field  Flowers’  is- 
published  by  Groombridge  and  Sons,  London,  at  about  3s.  6<Z. ; 
Grierson’s  ‘  Lessons  from  Fields  and  Lanes,’  by  Bleasdale  and  Co.,, 
York,  at  Is.;  Holmes’  ‘  Botanical  Note  Book,’  by  Christy  and  Co., 
London,  at  3s.;  and  Hayward’s  ‘  Botanist’s  Pocket  Book,’  by  Geo. 
Bell  and  Sons,  London,  at  4s.  6 d.  [Reply  to  W.  L.  B. — 76/26.] 


Edison-Lalande  Battery. — This  and  all  other  electrical 
apparatus  can  be  obtained  from  The  General  Electric  Company,. 
Queen  Victoria  Street,  E.C.,  or  The  Electrical  Accessories  Com¬ 
pany,  Ltd.,  110,  Charing  Cross  Road,  W.C.  Full  details  will  be 
given  later  as  to  wholesale  houses.  You  could  use  the  battery  for 
a  small  motor,  and  the  cost  would  vary  from  12s.  6d.  to  17s.  6oL 
[Reply  to  J.  D.  C.— 75/29.] 


Digitalis. — It  is  apparently  the  intention  that  the  pharmacist 
should  collect  and  dry  his  own  digitalis.  Even  in  calcareous  and 
clayey  districts  foxglove  is  easily  grown  in  gardens,  if  sandy  or 
gravelly  soil  is  provided  for  it.  The  leaves,  if  collected  according 
to  the  directions  of  the  Pharmacopoeia,  would  be  of  medium  size, 
and  would  not  have  long  or  broad  leaf  stalks,  such  as  the  first 
year’s  leaves  have.  We  are  not  aware  of  any  difference  in  the 
physical  characters  of  the  leaves  by  which  the  first  and  second 
year’s  growth  might  be  distinguished.  [Reply  to  J.  H. — 75/28.] 


Mountants  for  Diatoms. — Storax  has  been  recommended  by 
several  workers.  Dr.  Piffard’s  plan  is  to  liquefy  on  a  water-bath, 
filter  through  two  or  three  thicknesses  of  cheese-cloth  on  a  hot- 
water  funnel,  and  when  cold  mix  with  an  equal  weight  of  xylol. 
Shake  at  frequent  intervals  during  a  fortnight  or  more,  then  filter 
two  or  three  times  through  absorbent  cotton  or  Swedish  filter- 
paper,  evaporate  to  the  consistency  of  treacle,  and  to  each  two 
parts  add  three  parts  of  naphthalin  monobromide.  Finally,  heat 
gently  until  a  clear  amber-coloured  fluid  is  obtained,  and  if  the 
best  results  are  desired  bring  the  refractive  index  of  the  medium 
to  1‘625,  by  adding  more  of  the  ingredient  that  happens  to  be 
deficient.  Liquidambar  is,  of  course,  the  generic  name  of  the 
plant  yielding  storax.  Tolu  can  probably  be  prepared  for  your 
purpose  by  similar  treatment  to  storax.  Canada  balsam  dissolved' 
in  toluol  is  also  used  as  a  mountant.  [Reply  to  J.  A. — 76/30.] 


CORRECTION. 

Local  Secretary  for  Maidstone. — The  new  local  secretary  for 
Maidstone  is  Mr.  Alfred  Frederick  Corfe,  and  not  Mr.  A.  C.  Cobb, 
as  reported  on  page  47. 


COMMUNICATIONS,  LETTERS,  etc.,  have  been  received  from 

Messrs.  Allan,  Andrews,  Austen ;  Barrett,  Bartlett,  Bayley, 
Bienvenu,  Bingley,  Birkbeck,  Booth,  Bolton,  Boyd,  Bramwell ; 
Clague,  Clark,  Cocks,  Coleman,  Corfe,  Coull,  Cowper,  Cracknell,. 
Crampton,  Crick ;  Davidson,  Davies,  Dyson  ;  Eberlin  ;  Garvie, 
Glass,  Glyn- Jones,  Goodall,  Gunn;  Hardie,  Hetherington, 
Higham,  Hill,  Hogg,  Hoit,  Holding;  Jolly;  Keith,  Keif,  Kemp, 
King ;  Lillard,  Linstead,  Lloyd,  Luke ;  Mallett,  Mander,  Martin¬ 
dale,  Miller,  Morris,  Mumbray ;  Nall ;  Parker,  Pirie ;  Raimes, 
Reynolds,  Russell ;  Snook,  Squire,  Stonham,  Sutherland,  Symes  ; 
Warden,  Wardleworth,  Wild,  Wood. 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


81 


Jan.  30,  1897]  X,  \ 


I 


"THE  month: 


<z\ 


JAM  97  /^! 


H/  Kayser  points  out  that  with  the  aid 
Spectral  Analysis  of  such  measurements  of  the  spectra  of 
and  the  elements  as  are  now  available  it  will 

Wave-Lengths,  be  possible  to  effect  trustworthy  qualita¬ 
tive  analyses,  though  the  need  for  such  is 
likely  to  occur  but  rarely,  spectral  analysis  being  mostly  too  deli¬ 
cate  for  general  chemical  uses.  It  shows  everywhere  traces  of 
impurities  which  are  far  from  distinguishable  and  of  no  significance 
chemically,  but  in  the  determination  of  the  atomic  weights  of 
elements  and  similar  work  the  chemist  ought  to  ascertain  the 
purity  of  his  material  spectroscopically.  By  the  more  accurate 
measurement  of  wave-lengths  it  has  also  become  possible  to 
arrange  the  spectra  of  certain  elements  in  groups  based 
on  analogy  of  the  spectra,  as  in  the  following  instances  : — 1.  Li, 
Na,  K,  Rb,  Cs.  2.  Cu,  A g.  3.  Mg,  Ca,  Sr.  4.  Zn,  Cd,  Hg.  5. 
Al,  In,  Tl.  All  the  lines  of  any  element  appear  to  be  arranged  in 
a  series,  and  the  spectra  of  the  alkalies  consist  of  three  series  of 
pairs  of  lines,  one  principal  and  two  subordinate  series.  Those  of 
Cu  and  Ag  have  the  same  subordinate  series  of  pairs,  whilst  in  the 
spectra  of  Mg,  Ca,  and  Sr  the  two  series  consist  of  triplets  of  lines. 
The  same  holds  good  for  the  spectra  of  Zn,  Cd,  and  Hg,  but  the 
two  series  of  pairs  occur  in  those  of  Al,  In,  and  Tl.  In  each  group 
the  difference  of  vibrations  of  the  pairs  or  of  the  triplets  increases 
with  the  atomic  weight  of  the  elements,  and  it  is  about  propor¬ 
tional  to  the  square  of  the  atomic  weight.  In  each  group,  again, 
with  the  increasing  atomic  weight,  the  spectrum  advances  con¬ 
tinually  to  long  wave-lengths,  as  if  the  heavy  atoms  vibrate  more 
slowly,  whilst  from  group  to  group  there  occurs  a  considerable  dis¬ 
placement  of  the  spectrum  towards  the  ultra-violet. — Cherniker 
Zeitung  and  Chemical  News,  lxxiv. ,  307. 

The  practical  bearing  of  the  foregoing  re- 
New  Law  suits  has  been  strikingly  exemplified  by  the 
Of  work  of  Runge  and  Paschen  on  the  gas 

Wave-Lengths,  evolved  from  cleveite.  On  measuring  the 
spectrum  of  this  gas  they  found  that  its  lines 
could  be  arranged  in  six  series,  of  which  three  display  single 
lines  only,  but  the  other  three  consist  of  double  lines,  and 
form  a  spectrum  exactly  corresponding  to  the  type  of  the  alkalies, 
».€.,  a  principal  and  two  subordinate  series.  The  conclusion  drawn 
from  these  experiments  by  Runge  and  Paschen  is  that  the  cleveite 
gas  consists  of  two  elements — helium  and  another  as  yet  unnamed. 
The  lines  of  both  have  long  ago  been  observed  in  the  chromo¬ 
sphere  and  in  many  stars.  On  the  assumption  that  the  lines  of  an 
clement  are  divided  into  series,  an  important  new  law  connecting 
the  wave-lengths  of  different  lines  of  the  same  element  has  recently 
been  enunciated  by  Professor  A.  Schuster,  in  the  following 
terms : — “  If  we  subtract  the  frequency  of  the  fundamental 
vibration  from  the  convergence  frequency  of  the  principal  series  we 
obtain  the  convergence  frequency  of  the  supplementary  series.” 
This  law  has  been  found  to  hold  good  for  the  alkalies  and  for  the 
two  constituents  of  cleveite  gas,  i.e.,  in  the  cases  for  which 
Kayser,  Runge,  and  Paschen  have  established  the  existence  of  a 
principal  and  subordinate  series.—  Chem.  Zeit.  and  Nature,  lv.,  200. 

The  apparatus  devised  by  Dr.  J.  C.  Bose 
Electric  for  the  study  of  the  properties  of  electric 
Wave  waves  is  founded  on  Lodge  and  Branly’s 

Apparatus.  discovery  of  the  “coherer”  for  detecting 

those  waves,  and  the  general  design  of  the 
apparatus  was  originally  described  by  Professor  Lodge  in  his  book 
on  “  The  Work  of  Hertz  and  Some  of  his  Successors.”  By  means 
Vol.  LYIII.  (Fourth  Series,  Yol.  IV.).  No.  1388. 


of  the  complete  apparatus  it  is  possible  to  conduct  experiments  on 
the  verification  of  the  laws  of  reflexion,  the  phenomena  of  refraction, 
selective  absorption,  the  phenomena  of  interference,  double  refraction 
and  polarisation.  It  consists  of  ( 1 )  a  radiating  apparatus  emitting 
electric  waves  of  short  length  ;  (2)  a  receiver  used  as  a  detector  of 
electric  radiations  ;  and  (3)  various  accessories  for  the  study  of  the 
different  phenomena.  In  view  of  the  sensational  misdescriptions 
of  Dr.  Bose’s  apparatus  and  the  work  it  is  capable  of  accomplishing 
that  have  been  published,  the  illustrated  description  now  pub¬ 
lished  is  particularly  welcome.  — Philosophical  Magazine,  xliii. ,  55. 

C.  E.  Walt  has  shown  that  neither  metallic 
Oxidation  silver  finely  sub-divided  by  mechanical  means, 
Of  nor  silver  freshly  obtained  from  its  chloride  by 

Silver.  the  action  of  zinc,  is  soluble  in  acetic  acid. 

Argentic  oxide,  however,  is  soluble  in  that  acid 
and  can  be  completely  precipitated  from  the  solution  by  means  of 
metallic  lead  upon  boiling.  Experiments  conducted  by  the  same 
chemist  indicate  that  minutely  sub-divided  metallic  silver  can  be 
oxidised  when  heated  in  the  muffle  of  an  assay  furnace  with  man¬ 
ganese  dioxide,  but  not  when  heated  with  iron,  bismuth,  copper, 
or  zinc  oxide,  or  with  calcium  carbonate.  The  oxygen  that  com¬ 
bines  appears  to  be  derived  from  the  manganese  dioxide  only,  and 
the  proportion  of  silver  oxide  produced  varies  inversely  with  the 
duration  and  amount  of  heat  and  the  quantity  of  manganese 
dioxide  present.  The  oxides  of  lead  and  barium  are  also  capable 
of  reacting  with  metallic  silver  under  similar  circumstances. 
Commenting  on  the  ease  with  which  silver  may  thus  be  oxidised 
by  lead  oxide,  and  particularly  by  substances  such  as  manganese 
dioxide  and  barium  dioxide,  which  give  up  part  of  their  oxygen  on 
gentle  ignition,  the  author  asks  whether  it  is  not  reasonable  to 
assume  that  certain  losses  or  irregularities  in  the  treatment  of 
silver  and  its  compounds  may  be  due  to  this  cause. — Journal  of 
the  American  Chemical  Society,  xviii.,  No.  3. 

The  use  of  calcium  carbide  as  a  metal- 
Reauetion  lurgieal  reducing  agent  is  described  by  H. 

by  N.  Warren.  On  excess  of  litharge  being 

Calcium  Carbide,  heated  to  redness  with  the  carbide,  metallic 
lead  and  calcium  oxide  result,  the  reaction 
being  accompanied  by  vivid  incandescence.  When  the  carbide  is 
in  excess  carbon  dioxide  is  evolved,  and  a  regulus  of  calcium  and 
lead  obtained,  of  varying  percentage  according  to  the  temperature 
employed.  The  alloys  thus  formed  are  all  more  or  less  brittle  and 
to  a  certain  extent  sonorous  when  struck.  Their  melting  points 
rank  below  that  of  pure  lead,  and  they  are  slowly  but  completely 
decomposed  in  contact  with  aqueous  vapour,  the  reaction  being 
much  less  energetic  than  that  afforded  by  alloys  of  lead  with  the 
alkali  metals.  Stannic,  cupric,  and  ferric  oxides  are  readily 
reduced  by  the  carbide,  but  yield  results  of  no  practical  value, 
whilst  manganese,  nickel,  cobalt,  chromium,  molybdenum,  and 
tungsten  oxides  yield  calcium  alloys  on  reduction. — Chemical 
News,  lxxv.,  2. 

This  compound,  CsHnNC7H802,  has  been 
Piperidine  prepared  by  Dr.  Schidrowitz  by  the  action  of 
Guaiacolate.  piperidine  on  guaiacol  dissolved  in  benzol 
or  petrolic  ether.  It  orystallises  in  prismatic 
needles  or  plates,  melts  at  79°’81  C.,  is  soluble  in  water 
to  the  extent  of  3 ‘5  per  cent.,  and  also  easily  soluble  in 
most  organic  solvents.  Mineral  acids  and  alkalies  decompose 
it  into  its  constituents.  It  has  been  used  in  the  treatment  of 
phthisis  by  Drs.  Chaplin  and  Tunnicliffe,  who  suggest  that  its 
pharmacology  resolves  itself  into  that  of  guaiacol  and  piperidine, 
as  the  compound  is  decomposed  into  those  substances,  probably 
in  the  alkaline  medium  of  the  duodenum.  The  solubility  of  the  guaia- 


82 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  30,  1897 


colate  is  remarkable  when  contrasted  with  the  insolubility  of  guaiacol 
carbonate.  Thus,  ten  grains  canbe  administered  in  an  ounce  of  water 
or,  if  a  little  glycerin  or  mucilage  be  added,  as  much  »as 
thirty  grains  can  conveniently  be  given  at  once.  The  evidence 
of  the  therapeutic  effect  seems  much  stronger  than  is  usually 
forthcoming  in  the  case  of  new  remedies.  It  also  appears 
to  be  perfectly  safe  up  to  thirty  grains  three  times  a  day, 
besides  causing  no  unpleasant  effects.  It  is  well  borne  by  the 
stomach,  and  patients  improve  in  appetite  and  general  strength 
while  under  its  influence.  Unfortunately  the  remedy  is  a  patented 
one,  but  the  rights  have  been  secured  by  English  chemists,  and 
the  preparation  is  being  manufactured  by  Messrs.  Joseph  Turner 
and  Co.,  of  Queensferry. — British  Medical  Journal,  No.  1881,  p.  136. 

By  precipitating  an  aqueous  solution  of 
Mercury  mercuric  chloride  with  borax,  Tokayer  (Pharm. 

Pyroborate.  Post,  xxv.,  156)  obtained  a  brownish-red  pre¬ 
cipitate,  which  he  regarded  as  mercuric  pyro¬ 
borate,  HgB407.  This  substance  has  recently  been  successfully 
employed  as  an  antiseptic,  being  applied  in  the  form  of  a  2  per 
cent,  ointment,  with  lanolin  as  a  basis.  Dupuoy,  however,  has 
examined  this  salt  and  finds  that  it  contains  no  boric  acid  what¬ 
ever,  but  is  a  basic  oxychloride  of  mercury,  having  the  formula 
HgCl2,3HgO.  This  oxychloride  may  be  produced  by  treating  a 
boiling  solution  of  mercuric  chloride  with  sodium  carbonate, 
keeping  the  mercuric  salt  in  excess,  however,  or  other  oxychlorides 
will  be  formed. — Bullet,  de  la  Soc.  de  Pharm.  de  Bord.,  xxxvi.,  269. 

Continuing  his  researches  on  the  metallic 
MePCUPy  benzoates,  Rebiere  finds  that  this  salt,  as  met 

Benzoate.  with  in  commerce  is  far  from  pure  or  constant 

in  composition.  Four  samples  examined  gave 


No.  1. 

No.  2. 

No.  3. 

No.  4. 

Hg . 

52-80 

42-6 

45-12 

c7hso2 . 

...  24-80 

23-20 

58-00 

54-75 

HC1  . 

. . .  16-79 

+ 

+ 

HNO . 

....  + 

20-36 

traces 

The  fourth  sample  was  prepared  by  the  author,  and  closely  agrees 
with  the  theoretical  figures  for  Hg  (C7H602)2,  which  requires  45 '25 
Hg  and  54-75  of  the  acid.  This  salt  is  prepared  as  follows  : — A 
known  quantity  of  pure  mercuric  chloride  is  precipitated  with 
soda  and  washed  until  free  from  chloride.  From  the  amount  of 
mercuric  chloride  taken  the  amount  of  oxide  is  calculated  and 
sufficient  finely  powdered  benzoic  acid  mixed  with  it  to  leave  a  slight 
excess  of  HgO.  The  mixture,  diluted  with  a  little  water,  is  left 
for  twenty-four  hours,  and  then  heated  to  boiling  ;  a  white  amor¬ 
phous  powder  results,  which,  when  again  heated  with  a  large 
volume  of  boiling  water,  redissolves,  and  on  cooling  crystallises 
out  in  long  silky  needles,  which  are  drained  and  dried  at  the 
ordinary  temperatures.  These  crystals  have  the  definite  composi¬ 
tion  Hg(C7Hs02)2,  is  true  mercuric  benzoate,  and  not  an  oxy  salt. 
— Bull,  de  la  Societie  de  Pharm.  de  Bord. ,  xxxvi. ,  280. 

Although  the  basic  benzoate  of  bismuth,  BiO 

Bismuth  (C7HB02),  has  been  made  official  in  the  French 

Benzoate.  Codex,  Rebiere  finds  that  the  commercial 

article  varies  very  greatly  in  composition.  Five 

samples  from  different  sources  were  found  to  differ  in  constitution, 

giving  respectively : — 

No.  1.  No.  2.  No.  3.  No.  4.  No.  5. 

Bi .  36-82  42-73  24’99  31'01  50'62 

C7Hb02  .  62-72  45-98  48'40  55'66  29 '04 

HNO3 .  traces  2-16  4'93  traces  3-26 

The  author  criticises  the  official  process,  and  substitutes  the 

following  method  Freshly  precipitated  oxide  of  bismuth, 

thoroughly  washed,  is  drained  to  a  pasty  consistence.  The  amount 

of  anhydrous  Bi203  is  determined  in  a  portion  of  the  paste,  and  to 

the  rest  is  added  the  theoretical  quantity  of  finely-powdered 

benzoic  acid  to  produce  the  salt  Bi0(C7II502),  which  contains  60  '25 


per  cent,  of  bismuth  and  35 -12  per  cent,  of  benzoic  acid.  The 
mixture  is  diluted  with  sufficient  water  to  make  it  fluid,  well 
mixed,  and  left  in  contact  for  twenty-four  hours.  The  precipitate 
is  then  thrown  on  a  cloth,  drained,  and  dried  in  the  air. — Bxdlet . 
de  la  Soc.  de  Pharm.  de  Bord. ,  xxxvi. ,  272. 

Clarke  and  Joslin,  two  American  chemists. 
Phosphides  obtained  a  definite  compound  of  platinum  and 
Of  phosphorus,  Pt3PB,  in  1884,  the  biphosphide 

Platinum.  alone  having  been  previously  known.  On  dis¬ 
solving  the  Pt3P5  as  far  as  possible  in  aqua 
regia,  an  insoluble  protophosphide,  PtP,  was  left,  whilst  the  por¬ 
tion  dissolved  contained  the  biphosphide,  PtP2.  A.  Granger  has 
experimented  on  similar  lines,  and  states  that  platinum  wire  or 
foil  is  not  attacked  by  phosphorus  below  a  red  heat,  but  phos¬ 
phide  of  platinum,  Pt3PB,  is  then  produced.  At  higher  tempera¬ 
tures  the  bodies  formed  are  less  rich  in  phosphorus,  approaching 
the  sub-phosphide  PtJP  in  composition,  whilst  at  a  white  heat. 
( rouge  blanc)  the  compound  does  not  contain  more  than  4  per  cent, 
of  phosphorus.  In  the  case  of  spongy  platinum  the  reaction  takes 
place  below  red  heat,  the  biphosphide  PtP2  being  then  formed. 
This  compound  is  not  entirely  soluble  in  aqua  regia,  the  part  dis¬ 
solved  corresponding  to  Pt3P5. — Comp,  rend.,  cxxiii.,  1284. 

This  body  has  been  obtained  by  C.  Gussmann, 
Vanillin.  by  boiling  vanillo-carbonic  acid,  1  part,  with 
aniline,  2  parts,  until  the  escape  of  carbon 
dioxide  ceased.  The  substituted  benzyli dene-aniline  formed  was 
separated  from  excess  of  aniline  by  means  of  a  current  of  steam, 
and  the  vanillin-aniline  finally  split  up  by  boiling  for  a  short  time 
with  50  per  cent,  sulphuric  acid.  After  separating  the  vanillin 
with  ether  it  was  readily  obtained  in  crystals.  The  same  pro¬ 
cedure  is  applicable  for  the  production  of  aceto-vanillin  from 
acetyl- vanillo-carbonic  acid.  — Comp,  rend.,  cxxiv.,  38. 

This  base  appears  to  increase  in  favour  as  a 
Eueaine  local  anaesthetic,  and  a  preliminary  communi- 
as  an  cation  on  its  use  in  the  surgery  of  the  throat, 
Ansesthetie.  nose,  and  ear  is  published  by  W.  J.  Horne  and 
Macleod  Yearsley.  The  results  of  previous 
investigations  into  the  action  of  eueaine  show  that  it  is 
analogous  to  that  of  cocaine,  except  that  eueaine  is  less  toxic, 
slows  the  pulse,  and  does  not  affect  the  pupils.  It  does  not  in¬ 
fluence  the  heart  in  any  way,  the  anaesthesia  produced  is  more 
extensive  than  with  cocaine,  both  as  regards  time  and  locality,  and 
solutions  prepared  with  sterilised  water  and  maintained  ah 
the  room  temperature  remain  always  clear,  even  without  the 
addition  of  carbolic  or  salicylic  acid,  and  never  become 
flocculent  like  those  of  cocaine.  Eueaine  can  also  be  sterilised 
by  boiling  without  undergoing  decomposition.  The  points 
dealt  with  in  the  present  communication  are  the  strength, 
of  solution  required  (varying  from  2  to  8  per  cent. ) ;  the  rapidity,, 
intensity,  and  extent  of  the  anaesthesia ;  the  general  and  local, 
action  upon  the  circulatory  system  ;  and  the  after-effects  of 
eueaine. — British  Medical  Journal,  No.  1881,  p.  134. 

The  effect  which  coal-tar  colours  may  exert 
Coal-Tar  Dyes  upon  digestive  ferments  has  received  attention 
and  at  the  hands  of  H.  A.  Weber,  who  has  experi- 

Digestion.  mented  upon  pepsin  and  pancreatin  with. 

selected  dyes  in  common  use  by  confectioners 
and  others.  For  the  experiments  on  peptic  digestion  the  colour  to 
be  tested  was  added  to  the  following  mixture  : — Hydrochloric  acid 
solution  (0’2  per  cent.),  100  C.c.  ;  pepsin,  0 '020  Gm.  ;  blood  fibrin 
preserved  in  alcohol,  1*0  Gm.  The  fibrin  was  washed  with  water 
before  use  to  remove  alcohol,  and  excess  of  water  removed  by 
pressing  between  filter  paper.  The  mixture  was  placed  in  a  test- 


Jan.  30,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


83 


tube  and  heated  on  a  water-bath  at  a  temperature  of  38°  to  40° 
until  the  fibrin  was  as  far  as  possible  dissolved.  Under  these 
circumstances  oroline  or  acid  yellow  was  found  to  exert  a  marked 
injurious  effect  upon  peptic  digestion,  but  no  effect  was  produced 
by  saffoline  (acridine  red),  magenta,  or  methyl  orange  under 
similar  conditions.  The  mixture  used  for  the  experiments  on 
pancreatin  was  as  follows  : — Water,  100  C.c.  ;  sodium  bicarbonate, 
1*5  Gm.  ;  pancreatin,  0'3  Gm.  ;  fibrin,  1*0  Gm.,  and  in  this  case 
the  action  of  the  ferment  was  unaffected  by  oroline  yellow.  On  the 
other  hand,  saffoline,  magenta,  and  methyl  orange  completely 
stopped  the  action  of  pancreatin  in  strong  solutions  and  retarded 
it  to  a  marked  extent  in  weaker  ones. — Journal  of  the  American 
Chemical  Society,  xviii.,  1092. 

W.  B.  Thompson  refers  to  the  great  variety 
Blaud  Pill.  found  to  exist  in  the  composition  of  Blaud  pills, 
and  observes  that  in  the  numerous  essays  which 
have  appeared  on  the  subject,  are  many  finely  wrought  theories 
respecting  the  action  of  the  supposed  free  hydrochloric  acid  and 
other  normal  fluids  of  the  stomach.  The  acid  is  “fancifully 
conceived  ”  to  be  in  waiting  in  that  wondrous  receptacle  ready 
to  seize  first  upon  any  congenial  substance  which  may  be  ingested — 
with  a  predilection  for  a  ferrous  salt  of  iron — and  it  is  assumed 
that  an  insignificant  amount  of  ferric  oxide  will  prove  but  a 
slight  obstacle  to  the  action  of  this  solvent  acid.  He 
suggests,  however,  that  it  would  appear  more  reasonable 
to  cease  indulging  in  any  more  theories  as  to  the  precise 
behaviour  of  the  intestinal  processes  towards  foreign  substances, 
or  to  speculate  upon  a  probably  uniform  action  regulating  animal 
chemistry,  and  rather  see  that  the  state  of  combination  is  exactly 
such  as  will  meet  the  indications  suggesting  its  use.  It  will  also 
be  well  to  know,  if  the  pill  is  prepared  in  advance  of  requirement, 
what  chemical  change  or  alteration  can  occur  without  affecting  its 
nature  as  a  Blaud  pill,  as  well  as  the  precise  character  of  this  pill 
as  commonly  found  in  commerce,  and  wherein  it  differs  from  the 
extemporaneous  preparation. — Am.  Joum.  ofPharm.,  lxix.,  17. 

C.  H.  La  Wall  considers  that  the  extent  to 
Adulterated  which  the  Japan  wax  of  commerce  is  adul- 
Japan  terated  at  the  present  time  has  never  been 
Wax.  equalled.  Of  fifty-nine  cases  containing  from 
205  to  225  pounds  each,  twenty-five  were 
found  to  be  adulterated  with  starchy  material  to  the  extent  of 
20  to  25  per  cent.  The  specific  gravity  of  the  sophisticated  pro¬ 
duct  was  slightly  higher  than  that  of  the  genuine  wax,  and  it  was, 
as  a  rule,  free  from  the  peculiar  network  of  minute  cracks  which 
usually  characterise  the  surface  of  cakes  of  pure  Japan  wax. — 
American  Journal  of  Pharmacy,  lxix.,  18. 

At  the  Netherlands  Yeast  and  Spirit  Com- 
Manufaeture  pany’s  works  in  Delft,  which  yield  nearly  100 
Of  tons  of  yeast  per  week,  the  first  step  towards 

Yeast.  the  manufacture  of  that  article  is  the  con¬ 
version  of  barley,  rye,  and  Indian  corn  into 
malt.  After  malting  and  drying  in  kilns,  the  malt  is  macerated  in 
large  wooden  tubs  and  then  introduced  into  the  fermentation  tubs, 
together  with  a  fermenting  agent  previously  prepared  by  mixing 
yeast  and  flour.  After  fermentation  the  yeast  appears  in  a  frothy 
state  on  the  top  of  the  liquid,  and  is  conducted  through  channels 
into  a  common  reservoir,  then  passed  through  sieves  to  effect 
cleansing.  It  is  next  collected  in  a  milky  state,  and  after 
repeated  washings  in  clean  water,  transported  to  filter  presses 
which  remove  excess  of  moisture,  leaving  a  solid  cake— the  yeast 
of  commerce.  The  spirituous  liquor  formed  as  a  by-product 
during  the  fermentation  process,  after  being  drawn  off  and  rectified, 
is  bottled  and  sold  as  Hollands  gin. — Engineer. 


L.  E.  Sayre  finds  that  the  gelsemium  of  the 
Gelsemium.  market  is  composed  of  the  rhizome,  root  and 
stem  in  varying  proportions,  and  gives  the 
results  of  a  microscopical  examination  of  sections  of  the  three 
parts.  In  the  stem  are  found  comparatively  large  bundles  of 
bast  near  the  wood,  just  outside  the  cambium,  whereas  in  the 
rhizome  the  bast  is  arranged  near  the  corky  layer,  and  in  an 
interrupted  ring  rather  than  in  bundles.  In  the  root  the  bast  is 
entirely  absent,  but  there  are  several  layers  of  cork.  The  following 
description  is  suggested  for  the  official  rhizome  and  root : — Rhizome, 
cylindrical,  cut  or  long  in  sections,  mostly  5  to  15  millimetres, 
and  occasionally  3  centimetres  thick ;  externally  light  yellowish - 
brown,  with  purplish-brown  longitudinal  lines  ;  tough  and  woody, 
fracture  splintery,  bark  thin,  with  silky  bast  fibres  near  the  pale- 
yellowish  porous  wood,  which  has  fine  medullary  rays,  and  a  small 
pith  which,  under  the  lens,  is  seen  to  be  usually  divided  into  four 
segments.  The  root  is  2  to  10  millimetres  thick ;  externally 
lighter  than  the  rhizome,  fracture  brittle,  thick  bark  closely 
adhering  to  the  light -yellowish  wood,  odour  of  both  rhizome  and 
root  aromatic,  taste  bitter. — Am.  Joum.  of  Pharm.,  lxix.,  8. 

According  to  Dr.  B.  Lidforss,  plants  whose 
Winter-  leaves  remain  green  through  the  winter,  whether 
Gre  en  woody  or  herbaceous,  are  characterised  by  the 

Plants.  entire  absence  of  starch  from  the  guard-cells  of 
their  stomates  during  the  cold  season.  By 
December  it  has  usually  entirely  disappeared  ;  but  its  re-formation 
is  at  once  induced  by  a  higher  temperature.  The  same  is  the  case 
with  the  starch  in  the  mesophyll  of  the  leaves.  The  cells  of  the 
mesophyll  contain,  on  the  other  hand,  large  quantities  of  a  soluble 
carbohydrate,  probably  glucose.  The  transformation  of  starch  into, 
glucose  probably  acts  as  a  protection  against  cold  in  the  same  way 
as  the  formation  of  oil  in  evergreen  trees.  Submerged  plants — - 
mosses  and  green  algae — exhibit  similar  phenomena. — Botanisches- 
Centralblatt ,  vol.  68,  1896,  p.  33. 

From  a  series  of  observations  made  chiefly 
Homology  of  on  abnormal  structures  of  Torilis  Anthriscus. 
the  Pollen  and  Sinapis  arvensis,  M.  M.  Molliard  has  come 
and  Ovule.  to  the  conclusion  that  the  anther  corresponds. 

homologically  to  a  simple  leaf,  the  limb  of 
which  is  folded  over  on  each  side  of  the  median  vein.  Each  half 
gives  rise  to  a  mass  of  pollen  ;  but  the  two  halves  are  not  of  equal 
value,  one  contains  the  median  fibrovascular  bundle,  while  the 
other  one  is  an  emergence  of  the  first,  and  contains  only  very  small 
vascular  bundles.  From  the  study  of  a  number  of  cases  of  transforma¬ 
tion  of  stamens  into  carpels  in  Sedum,  Petunia,  Narcissus,  etc.,  he 
concludes  that  the  entire  pollen  mass  of  an  anther  is  the  homo- 
logue  of  a  row  of  ovules,  the  integument  of  the  ovule  corresponding 
to  the  invaginated  epiderm.  The  degree  of  coalescence  between 
the  nucellus  and  the  integument  varies  greatly  in  different  classes 
of  plants.  The  naked  ovule  of  the  Santalacese  and  Balano- 
phoracefe  corresponds  altogether  to  a  pollen  mass.  The  number 
of  rows  of  ovules  in  a  carpel  varies  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
pollen  masses  in  each  anther-lobe.  The  non-marginal  placentation 
of  Papaver  and  Nymphcea  may  be  compared  to  the  distribution  of 
the  pollen  masses  over  the  whole  upper  surface  of  the  staminal 
leaf  in  Viscum. — Bonnier' s  Rev.  Gin.  de  Botanique,  vol.  viii. ,  1896. 

Mr.  F.  W.  Keeble  records  some  very 
Fertilisation  interesting  facts  respecting  the  Cingalese 
and  species  of  Loranthacese.  All  those  which 

Germination  of  have  tubular  flowers  are  ornithophilous> 
Loranthaeese.  the  bird  which  usually  effects  the  pollination 
being  a  honey-sucker.  In  many  speciea 
the  corolla  is  split  longitudinally,  and  the  anthers  are  then  placed 


84 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  30,  1897 


in  a  row  behind  the  style,  instead  of  in  a  ring  around  it ;  and  this 
greatly  facilitates  the  carriage  of  the  pollen  by  birds  in  search  of 
the  nectar.  In  some  of  the  large-flowered  species  the  flower-buds 
remain  closed ;  but  when  tapped,  as  by  the  beak  of  a  bird,  the 
corolla  lobes  fly  open  with  an  explosion,  and  the  pollen  is  scattered. 
The  closing  of  the  buds  appears  to  serve  the  purpose  of  protecting  the 
pollen  against  rain  ;  while  the  violent  expulsion  of  the  pollen  aids  in 
its  carriage  by  the  visiting  birds,  their  beaks  being  frequently  found 
to  be  covered  with  pollen  after  visiting  the  flowers.  Mr.  Keeble 
doubts  the  correctness  of  the  common  statement  that  the  seeds  of 
the  Loranthacese  [e.g.,  the  mistletoe)  pass  through  the  bodies  of  birds 
without  injury,  and  are  voided  with  the  excrements.  As  far  as 
the  Cingalese  species  are  concerned,  birds  eat  the  succulent 
portion  of  the  fruit  only,  wiping  out  the  seeds  with  their  beaks  on 
to  the  branch  of  a  tree  ;  or,  if  swallowed,  they  are  frequently 
digested  and  destroyed.  In  some  species  the  sucker  by  which  the 
seedling  is  attached  to  the  branch  puts  out  one  or  more  aerial 
roots  which  reach  other  branches,  or  even  the  soil,  and  enable  the 
young  plant  to  carry  on  a  semi-parasitic  life.  The  hypocotyl  ex¬ 
hibits  negative  heliotropism,  but  no  geotropism.  It  curves  away 
from  inert  bodies  and  even  from  its  natural  host  when  the 
conditions  are  not  favourable  for  growth. — Trans.  Linn.  Soc., 
Botany,  vol.  v.,  part  3,  1896. 

In  an  article  on  the  philosophy  of  species- 
Philosophy  making,  L.  H.  Bailey  discusses  the  species- 
Of  conception,  the  art  of  species-making,  and  the 

Speeies  Making,  hybridity  corollary.  He  defines  a  species  as 
“  The  unit  in  classification,  designating  an 
assemblage  of  organisms  which,  in  the  judgment  of  any  writer,  is 
so  marked  and  so  homogeneous  that  it  can  be  conveniently  spoken 
of  as  one  thing.”  It  is  not  made  a  test  of  a  species  that  there 
should  be  no  intergradient  forms.  If  the  intermediate  forms  are 
so  few  that  they  do  not  seriously  obscure  the  mental  conception 
of  the  type,  then  all  interests  will  be  subserved  by  disregarding 
them  for  purposes  of  nomenclature.  Very  few  species  of  plants 
can  be  expected  to  be  perfectly  free  from  aberrant  and  entangling 
forms,  and  the  groups  are  rare  in  which  it  can  be  said  that  the 
types  are  unique,  for  soil,  exposure,  climate,  contest  with  fellows, 
and  a  hundred  incidental  circumstances  leave  their  impress  upon 
the  plant  forms.  It  is  suggested  that  if  the  making  of  species  is 
an  expediency,  it  is  neither  necessary  nor  desirable  to  search  for 
obscure  or  anatomical  characters  with  which  to  separate  them, 
and  that  the  species-division  will  be  useful  in  proportion  as  it 
is  founded  upon  obvious  and  easily -ascertained  attributes.— 
Botanical  Gazette,  xxii.,  454. 

An  interesting  discovery  has  been  made  by 
Prehistoric  E.  Piette,  in  a  cave  at  Mas-d’Azil,  on  the  left 

Human  bank  of  the  Arise,  in  the  Department  of 

Relics.  Ariege,  a  layer  of  pebbles  having  been  excavated 
there  which  bear  various  devices  painted 
with  peroxide  of  iron.  The  marks  appear  to  represent  minerals, 
crosses,  and  other  symbols ;  pictographic  signs  apparently 
representing  snakes,  trees,  etc.,  and  alphabetical  characters. 
These  pebbles  are  supposed  by  the  discoverer  to  date  back 
to  the  later  Quaternary  Period,  during  the  Asylian  phase, 
at  which  time  it  is  suggested  man  had  forgotten  the  arts  of 
engraving  and  carving  on  reindeer  bones,  etc. ,  and  had  commenced 
to  devote  himself  to  cultivation  and  painting  quaint  forms  on 
rolled  stones.  M.  Piette  states  that  “thirteen  out  of  twenty- 
three  Phoenician  characters  were  equally  Asylian  graphic  signs,” 
and  it  is  difficvdt  to  conceive  that  the  devices,  as  illustrated  by 
the  author,  are  either  meaningless  cabalistic  signs  or  aimless 
decorations. — Anthrapologie,  vii.,  385,  and  Nature,  lv.,  229. 


OUR  WEIGHTS  AND  MEASURES.* 

At  a  time  when  a  radical  change  in  the  standard  weights  and 
measures  employed  throughout  the  British  Empire  seems  not 
altogether  impossible,  though  likely  to  be  preceded  by  a  more  or 
less  prolonged  period  during  which  old  and  newer  systems  will  be 
used  side  by  side,  it  is  interesting  to  stop  to  consider  how  we  stand 
in  the  matter  and  what  the  standards  are  that  it  is  proposed  to 
relinquish  sooner  or  later.  But  accurate  and  recent  information 
on  the  subject  has  been  difficult  to  obtain,  on  account  of  the 
manner  in  which  it  was  scattered  in  official  reports,  papers,  etc. , 
and  the  connected  account  now  furnished  by  the  Superintendent 
of  the  Standards  Department  of  the  Board  of  Trade  is,  therefore,  a 
welcome  contribution  to  the  literature  of  the  subject.  He  describes 
the  work  as  an  attempt  to  indicate  what  is  now  the  practice  in  the 
use  of  our  various  weights  and  measures,  either  in  trade  or  for  the 
purposes  of  manufacture,  and  as  an  attempt  it  must  be  regarded 
as  remarkably  successful. 

Commencing  with  a  consideration  of  the  origin  of  the  Imperial 
system,  the  author  shows  that  it  is  based  on  two  units,  the  yard 
measure  being  the  unit  of  length,  and  the  pound  weight  that  of 
mass,  the  standards  in  each  case  being  deposited  at  the  Standards 
Office,  Old  Palace  Yard,  Westminster.  The  term  “Imperial” 
was  first  used  in  reference  to  our  weights  and  measures  in  a  report 
of  the  Weights  and  Measures  Commissioners,  published  in  1821, 
but  the  legal  introduction  of  the  Imperial  system  dates  from  1824, 
when  an  Act  of  Parliament  was  passed  with  the  object  of  removing 
the  existing  diversity  in  usage  and  so  preventing  great  confusion 
and  manifest  fraud.  Attempts  in  this  direction  had  repeatedly 
been  made  from  the  time  of  Henry  III. ,  but  custom  has  proved  so 
strong  with  the  people  of  these  islands  that  even  yet  absolute 
uniformity  does  not  exist.  The  first  Imperial  standards  were 
injured  or  destroyed  at  the  burning  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament 
in  1834,  their  legal  life  being  thus  exceedingly  brief  as  compared 
with  that  of  the  old  Winchester  standards,  which  lasted  from 
1588  to  1824.  New  standards  were  not  legalised  until  1855,  wheu 
the  avoirdupois  pound  of  7000  grains  was  substituted  for  the  Troy 
pound  of  5760  grains,  and  from  investigations  made  at  that  time 
there  appears  little  doubt  that  the  present  Imperial  standards 
have  been  accurately  derived  from  those  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  the 
latter  in  turn  having  been  derived  from  those  of  Henry  VIII.  Copies 
of  the  new  standards  were  deposited  in  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  at 
the  Royal  Observatory,  in  the  Royal  Mint,  and  with  the  Royal 
Society.  In  the  event  of  the  original  standards  being  lost  or  injured, 
new  ones  can,  under  the  Weights  and  Measures  Act,  1878,  be 
created  by  reference  to  or  adoption  of  those  “Parliamentary  Copies.’ 

Descriptions  of  the  present  Imperial  standards  are  followed  by 
detailed  references  to  ancient  standards,  the  local  or  subsidiary 
standards  by  which  the  trade  weights  and  measures  are  controlled, 
and  the  probable  origin  of  our  ancient  systems.  Fiction  and  fact 
alike  receive  attention,  but  the  author  is  content  to  trace  the  origin 
of  our  measures  of  length  back  to  Roman  and  Anglo-Saxon  times. 
The  old  London  mile  (5000  feet  of  1000  paces)  was  in  all  probability 
derived  from  the  Romans,  and  the  yard  from  the  Anglo-Saxons, 
who  doubtless  brought  their  own  weights  and  measures  from 
Germany.  But  Greece  and  Arabia  also  contributed  their  quota  to 
the  foundation  of  the  existing  system,  whilst  various  Eastern 
countries  have  had  attention  directed  to  their  claims  in  this 
matter.  In  all  cases  the  original  standards  were  almost  certainly 
devised  from  natural  constants,  but  faith  is  no  longer  pinned 

*  ‘  Our  Weights  and  Measures’  :  a  practical  treatise  on  the  standard 
weights  and  measures  in  use  in  the  British  Empire,  with  some  account 
of  the  metric  system,  by  H.  J.  Chaney.  Pp.  163.  Price  7s.  6d. 
London :  Eyre  and  Spottiswoode,  East  Harding  Street,  Fleet  Street, 
W.C.  1897. 


Jan.  30,  1897J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


85 


to  the  accuracy  of  methods  of  reference  to  such  constants, 
preference  being  given  to  material  or  arbitrary  standards 
constructed  by  hand.  Thus  the  yard  measure  is  no  longer 
required  as  formerly,  to  be  restored  if  lost  by  reference  to  the  length 
of  a  pendulum  vibrating  seconds  of  mean  time  in  the  latitude  of 
London,  in  a  vacuum  at  the  level  of  the  sea,  nor  the  pound  to  be 
restored  by  reference  to  the  weight  of  a  cubic  inch  of  distilled 
water  at  the  temperature  of  62°  Fahrenheit.  Neither  is  the 
theoretical  metre  any  longer  regarded  as  the  one  ten-millionth  part 
of  the  elliptic  quadrant  of  the  meridian  passing  through  Paris,  nor 
the  kilogramme  as  the  weight  of  distilled  water  contained  in  a 
cubic  decimetre.  They  are  now  simply  the  length  marked  on  a 
metal  bar  known  as  the  “Metre-International,”  and  the  mass 
represented  by  an  iridio-platinum  weight  known  as  the  “  Kilo¬ 
gramme-International,”  just  as  the  Imperial  yard  is  the  length 
between  two  points  on  a  bronze  or  gun-metal  bar  at  62°  Fahren¬ 
heit,  and  the  Imperial  pound  is  the  weight  of  a  platinum  cylinder. 
It  is  worthy  of  note,  by  the  way,  that  the  metre  has  been  found 
to  contain  1,553, 163‘5  wave-lengths  of  the  red  ray  of  the  spectrum 
of  cadmium,  measured  in  air  at  15°  C.,  and  under  an  atmospheric 
pressure  of  760  Mm.,  and  that  the  actual  length  of  the  metre  bar 
at  Paris  can  thus  be  determined  to  within  a  micron. 

The  old  standards  used  in  Scotland,  Ireland,  the  Channel 
Islands,  and  the  Isle  of  Man  next  receive  attention,  numerous 
interesting  facts  being  classified  in  this  connection,  and  special 
reference  is  then  made  to  the  standards  of  the  United  States,  whose 
history  is  so  intimately  connected  with  that  of  our  own.  Sections 
on  the  standards  of  India,  Canada,  Australia  conclude  the  first  part 
of  the  book.  Part  two  deals  with  the  inspection  and  verification 
of  weights  and  measures  used  in  trade,  which  should  be  found 
especially  useful  by  manufacturers,  traders,  local  inspectors,  and 
others  interested  in  their  use.  Part  three  is  devoted  to  measures 
used  for  surveying  purposes  or  for  the  measurement  of  land,  and 
part  four  treats  of  scientific  measuring  instruments,  including 
hydrometers,  gas-measuring  standards,  photometers,  and  so  forth. 

The  metric  system  is  concisely  yet  comprehensively  dealt  with 
in  part  five,  descriptions  of  the  standards  being  succeeded  by 
tables  of  equivalents  of  metric  weights  and  measures  in  terms  of 
the  Imperial  system  and  vice  versd,  an  account  of  the  origin  of 
the  metric  system,  and  remarks  on  the  proper  way  in  which 
weights  and  measures  may  be  taught  in  schools.  The  last 
part  of  the  book  is  descriptive  of  weights  and  measures  used  for 
special  purposes,  commencing  with  those  employed  by  pharmacists. 
As  is  well  known,  when  sold  by  retail,  drugs  may  be  sold  by 
apothecaries’  weight,  which  perpetuates  the  old  Troy  pound  of 
5760  grains,  and  the  wish  may  be  expressed  that  this  part  of  the 
work  might  have  been  dealt  with  much  more  fully,  little  being  re¬ 
lated  of  apothecaries’  weights  and  measures  except  that  they 
appear  to  have  had  a  Grecian  and  Arabic  origin.  Lists  of  the 
weights  of  the  various  denominations  of  coins  are  followed  by  an 
interesting  account  of  the  Pyx  Chapel  and  the  trial  of  the  coinage, 
as  well  as  the  Jewel  Tower  at  Westminster,  and  part  six  concludes 
with  a  mass  of  details  referring  to  the  large  number  of  other 
weights,  measures,  and  gauges  used  for  special  purposes.  Then 
comes  an  appendix  embodying  a  list  of  Board  of  Trade  standards 
of  the  Imperial  system,  and  another  enumerating  representative 
forms  of  weighing  instruments  used  in  trade. 

It  will  be  gathered  from  what  has  been  said  that  the  work  may 
be  regarded  as  a  standard  of  standards.  It  only  remains  to  say  that 
the  author’s  position  in  the  Standards  Department  has  enabled  him 
to  derive  the  information  given  from  authentic  sources,  and  the  book 
is  written  in  a  style  that  leaves  little  to  be  desired.  -So  attrac¬ 
tively  is  the  matter  presented  that  the  general  reader  may  be  in¬ 


terested  in  it  no  less  than  chemists,  physicists,  and  antiquarians, 
or  those  on  whose  behalf  the  compilation  has  been  more  especially 
prepared.  The  illustration  of  the  book  by  fine  collotypes,  litho¬ 
graphs,  woodcuts,  and  other  blocks  is  most  profuse,  whilst  the 
type  is  excellent,  so  that  in  every  possible  way  utility  is  supple¬ 
mented  by  first-class  workmanship.  Mr.  Chaney  is  therefore  to  be 
most  cordially  congratulated  upon  the  production  of  a  volume  that 
is  as  creditable  to  everyone  concerned  as  it  has  long  been  necessary. 
Higher  praise  than  this  could  not  be  given. 


BACTERIA  AND  DISEASE.* 

BY  PROFESSOR  E.  SYMES  THOMPSON,  M.D.,  F.R.C.P. 

Minute  Organisms  as  Causes  of  Disease. 

The  science  of  bacteriology  at  first  made  slow  progress,  but 
during  the  last  few  years  it  has  made  marvellous  strides,  the 
steps  taken  of  late  being  so  great  that  it  is  impossible  to  keep  up 
with  the  progress  of  the  science  unless  the  whole  attention  is 
given  to  it,  and  even  then  the  subject  is  so  vast  that  „the  attention 
should  be  given  to  one  branch  alone.  In  pursuance  of  the  science 
of  bacteriology,  the  process  of  staining  microscopical  objects 
has  been  of  immense  service,  as  by  this  means  it  has  become 
possible  to  distinguish  many  minute  organisms  which  otherwise 
are  not  distinguishable.  It  was  discovered  early  in  the  history 
of  the  science  that  ’old  buildings  became  impregnated  with 
micro-organisms,  which  rendered  old  laboratories  useless  for  experi¬ 
ments  which  were  successful  in  new  ones.  This  discovery  led  the 
imaginative  minds  of  one  or  two  speculative  experimenters  to 
conceive  the  idea  that  diseases  were  due  to  a  kind  of  fermentation. 
This  idea  was  investigated,  and  it  was  found  that  if  microbes 
like  those  found  in  the  air  and  in  old  buildings  alighted  on  a 
wound  they  caused  suppuration  and  greatly  retarded  the  healing 
of  the  wound.  If  these  organisms  were  kept  away,  suppuration 
never  occurred.  On  this  account  it  was  found  to  be  necessary  to 
destroy  many  of  the  older  hospitals.  The  microbes,  however,  fulfil 
a  purpose  of  great  value  by  changing  dead  material  from  some¬ 
thing  dangerous  to  something  useful,  cleansing  and  destroying  and 
protecting  the  living  from  the  dead. 

These  organisms  are  of  the  greatest  possible  importance  not  only 
in  connection  with  diseases,  but  with  all  the  processes  of  life ; 
therefore  the  surgeon  must  know  a  great  deal  about  antiseptics 
and  the  best  kind  to  be  used  in  different  cases.  Antiseptics  are  of 
great  value  in  destroying  the  microbes  of  disease,  a  one  per  cent, 
solution  of  carbolic  acid  being  sufficient  to  kill  the  anthrax  bacillus 
in  two  minutes,  and  a  five  per  cent,  solution  clearing  the  bilge 
water  in  a  ship  in  forty-eight  hours.  The  bacillus  spores,  how¬ 
ever,  have  the  power  of  remaining  latent  after  the  death  of  the 
bacillus,  but  a  five  per  cent,  solution  of  carbolic:  acid  arrests  their 
growth  in  four  days.  A  knowledge  of  the  natural  history  of  these 
microbes  is  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the  surgeon  and  physician 
in  the  checking  of  human  diseases.  Pasteur  by  his  observations 
and  investigations  into  the  diseases  of  silkworms  and  vines 
discovered  the  cause  to  be  these  micro-organisms,  and  by  destroy¬ 
ing  their  power  he  was  enabled  to  check  the  disease.  The  bite  of  the 
mosquito  is  believed  by  some  people  to  cause  ague,  and  in  like 
manner  the  tsetse  fly  is  said  to  cause  certain  diseases  which  have 
interfered  with  the  British  troops  at  Buluwayo,  but  there  is  no 
harm  in  the  insects  themselves,  they  being  simply  the  means  of 
conveying  the  microbes  from  infected  bodies.  The  rinderpest  in 
South  Africa  is  largely  due  to  like  agencies.  Dr.  Edington,  who 
is  investigating  the  matter,  claims  to  have  discovered  the  rinder¬ 
pest  microbe,  and  is  of  opinion  that  a  serum  of  greater  or  less 
virulence  can  be  obtained  according  to  the  animal  infected,  the 
disease  being  less  malignant  in  the  aritelope  than  in  cattle. 
The  bacillus  of  influenza  has  recently  been  discovered,  it  is  very 
agile,  and  has  caused  investigators  a  great  amount  of  trouble 
before  allowing  itself  to  be  found.  The  microbe  of  tetanus,  or 
lockjaw,  has  also  been  discovered,  and  it  is  found  that  damp,  dirty 
leather  is  a  very  suitable  medium  for  its  growth,  thus  explaining 
why  horses  are  so  frequently  troubled  with  tetanus,  the  bacillus 
flourishing  more  readily  on  dirty  harness  than  elsewhere. 

#  Notes  of  lectures  delivered  at  Gresham  College,  January  19  to  22. 


86 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  30,  1897 


Bacteria  in  Air  and  in  Water. 

Organisms  that  do  not  produce  spores  are  easily  killed  by  drying, 
and  are  rarely  conveyed  by  the  air.  Spores,  however,  are  readily 
carried  about  alone  or  adhering  to  dust.  There  are  a  certain  set 
which  require  air  for  their  activity,  and  another  set  which  live 
without  air.  These  micro-organisms  play  an  important  part  in 
the  preparation  of  food.  Bread  and  beer  are  prepared  from  barm 
or  yeast,  which  is  produced  by  these  organisms.  In  the  manufac¬ 
ture  of  butter  and  cheese  bacteria  are  essential.  If  butter  is 
prepared  from  fresh  cream  it  is  insipid  and  will  not  keep 
well,  but  if  by  the  help  of  microbes  the  cream  is  allowed 
to  get  sour,  the  butter  will  keep  much  better.  The  process  of 
souring  is  due  to  the  presence  of  various  bacteria.  One  has  the 
effect  of  souring  the  milk  and  another  imparts  its  keeping  qualities. 
Thus  in  large  scientific  dairies  the  milk  is  first  sterilised,  and  then 
is  subjected  to  two  kinds  of  bacilli,  which  are  carefully  cultivated 
so  as  to  be  free  from  all  impurities.  The  work  of  preparing  the 
bacilli  is  of  so  important  a  character  that  in  the  majority  of  the 
great  dairies  and  factories  in  Germany  special  chemists  are 
employed  for  the  purpose.  In  England  chemists  are  also  employed 
for  this  work,  but  many  of  them  are  German  chemists. 
Laboratories  are  now  specially  set  apart  for  the  work  of  bacterio¬ 
logical  investigators.  The  various  kinds  of  bacillus  are  cultivated 
and  carefully  watched  to  see  how  they  behave  under  different 
circumstances.  It  is  found  that  in  the  pure  culture  of  tubercle 
bacilli  the  growth  is  very  slow,  it  taking  many  weeks  to 
fully  develop,  and  the  presence  of  any  other  bacillus  will 
absorb  all  the  nutriment  necessary  for  its  growth,  thereby 
destroying  it.  Experiments  based  upon  this  theory  produced 
excellent  results  in  the  laboratory,  but  when  Dr.  Koch  en¬ 
deavoured  to  turn  it  to  practical  use  it  was  found  not  to  work 
•quite  so  successfully.  One  of  the  results  of  a  more 
accurate  knowledge  of  the  minute  organisms  which  abound  in  the 
air  and  water  is  a  better  sewage  system.  As  the  forms  in  the  air 
become  better  known  it  is  possible  that  such  terrible  scourges  to 
•humanity  as  cholera,  typhoid,  diphtheria,  etc.,  will  lessen  from 
year  to  year. 

Milk,  Meat  and  Oysters  as  Carriers  of  Disease. 

If  it  is  desired  to  know  how  the  typhoid  organism  behaves 
within  the  body,  it  is  essential  to  watch  its  growth  and  develop¬ 
ment  outside  the  body,  and  this  has  been  done  with  great  pain  and 
care  during  the  last  few  years.  The  typhoid  organism  grows  best 
in  the  presence  of  oxygen,  but  it  also  grows  where  air  is  excluded, 
it  is  both  aerobic  and  anaerobic.  If  subjected  to  a  heat  of  140° 
Fahren.  it  is  killed  in  twenty  minutes,  but  subjected  to  a  freezing 
(temperature  its  vitality  is  not  hurt,  and  may  be  kept  alive  for  a 
very  long  time.  On  sterilised  linen  it  is  found  to  be  active  after  a 
period  of  seventy-one  days.  Street  scrapings  have  also  been  known 
to  contain  active  typhoid  bacillus  at  the  end  of  thirty  days.  Car¬ 
bolic  acid  and  corrosive  sublimate  destroy  the  vitality  of  the  typhoid 
■organism,  and  it  is  rapidly  killed  in  sunlight,  the  chemical  rays  of 
the  sun  being  most  destructive.  The  germs  also  seem  to  have  a 
particular  dislike  to  the  violet  rays  of  the  spectrum.  In  river  and 
well  water  it  is  found  that  they  remain  active  from  forty  to  eighty 
•days,  disappearing  most  quickly  from  well  water,  but  at  the 
bottom  they  remain  in  a  state  of  activity  for  a  much  longer  time. 
Mud  affords  a  very  suitable  medium  for  the  germs,  the  cholera 
vibrio  retaining  in  mud  its  active  influence  for  three  months. 
Cholera  organisms  introduced  into  oysters  and  then  placed 
in  sea-water  have  been  found  to  retain  their  vitality  for 
eighteen  days,  whereas  typhoid  organisms  so  placed  retained  their 
activity  for  a  period  of  three  months.  Thus  it  is  very  necessary 
that  oyster  beds  contaminated  with  typhoid  should  be  under 
oareful  control,  so  as  to  arrest  the  spread  of  that  and  many  other 
diseases. 

Milk  is  also  a  medium  in  which  bacteria  develop  rapidly,  and 
has  frequently  been  the  cause  of  spreading  a  typhoid  epidemic, 
but  the  better-class  dairies  are  now  supervised  with  such  care  that 
the  public  are  almost  free  from  the  dangers  of  an  epidemic  caused 
by  contaminated  milk.  Although  a  person  may  take  an  amount 
of  virulent  poison  which  is  insufficient  to  produce  typhoid  fever,  it 
is  possible  to  take  enough  to  damage  the  health  in  other  ways.  It 
is  necessary  first  to  set  up  some  irritative  action,  and  to  reduce  the 
vitality  of  the  body  before  the  poison  will  take  effect,  and  while  it 
is  true  a  person  may  be  in  such  a  state  of  vitality  as  to  resist  these 
organisms,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  they  are  the  means  of 
reducing  the  vitality,  so  that  by  again  and  again  introducing  these 
microbes  the  body  is  rendered  liable  to  typhoid  and  cholera. 


It  has  often  been  thought  that  if  the  presence  of  typhoid  in  a 
person  could  be  discovered  before  the  symptoms  developed,  it 
would  be  possible  to  prevent  the  disease,  and  from  recent  experi¬ 
ments  it  seems  probable  that  such  a  discovery  has  been  made. 
If  milk  or  flesh  meat  is  contaminated,  in  the  case  of  milk 
once  boiling  is  sufficient  to  kill  the  microbes,  but  in  the  case  of  meat, 
as  a  knife  may  convey  the  contamination  to  the  centre  of  a  joint, 
it  requires  to  be  well  and  thoroughly  cooked  to  kill  the  microbes. 
In  England  typhoid  fever  is  found  conveyed  in  milk,  water,  and 
other  fluids,  but  in  South  Africa  and  very  dry  lands  the  typhoid 
organisms  fall  upon  the  earth,  and  are  carried  about  by  the 
winds  and  deposited  on  the  house-tops,  so  that  when  a  shower  of 
rain  comes  it  carries  the  contamination  into  the  cisterns,  and  the 
water  being  warm  the  microbes  speedily  develop.  The  right  course 
to  adopt  under  these  conditions  is  to  run  the  water  off  and  scour 
out  the  cistern  after  the  first  fall  of  rain  ;  the  water  collected 
afterwards  will  then  be  free  from  the  dangerous  organisms.  The 
germs  found  in  the  bodies  of  those  who  die  of  typhoid  fever 
are  rarely  found  in  the  blood,  but  they  remain  in  association  with 
the  tissues,  where  they  live  bottled  up  for  many  years.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  be  afraid  of  these  germs,  but  rather  to  take  means  to 
develop  the  phagocytes,  and  by  living  a  rational  life  go  through 
the  world  regardless  that  these  microbes  exist. 

Diphtheria. 

The  diphtheria  bacillus  is  peculiarly  dangerous  to  doctors  and 
nurses.  It  is  very  infective,  and  requires  great  care  in  exposing 
the  persons  of  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  attend  on  anyone  suffering 
from  the  disease,  and  it  is  well  to  disinfect  very  vigorously  when 
in  contact  with  it.  Diphtheria  is  found  to  keep  in  gelatin  as  long 
as  eighteen  months,  and  will  lie  latent  for  a  much  longer  time. 
The  disease  is  specially  prone  to  attack  children,  but  does  not  often 
affect  babies.  It  attacks  girls  more  than  boys,  those  who  are  weak 
being  particularly  prone  to  it.  The  large  tonsil  with  its  little 
follicles  seems  to  hold  the  disease,  but  the  bacteria  are  not  found 
very  deeply  in  the  mucous  membrane ;  it  is  in  the  false 
membrane  that  the  bacillus  takes  up  its  abode.  During  an 
epidemic  season  the  bacilli  are  often  found  on  healthy  throats, 
so  that  a  perfectly  healthy  person  may  find  after  visfting  a 
diseased  person  that  he  has  microbes  on  his  throat.  It  is  possible, 
however,  to  have  the  bacilli  without  having  diphtheria,  and  to  have 
diphtheroid  disease  without  having  the  bacilli.  Immunity 
from  the  disease  may  be  secured  by  the  injection  of  anti¬ 
toxin.  The  mortality  caused  by  diphtheria  varies.  Some¬ 
times  it  is  so  severe  that  50  per  cent,  die  from  it. 
If  the  blood  of  immuned  animals  is  employed,  it  is  found 
to  give  relief  in  twelve  hours,  and  in  an  acute  stage  in  twenty- 
four  hours.  Diphtheria  antitoxin  has  been  one  of  the  most 
important  discoveries  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  results  being 
very  gratifying,  inasmuch  as  the  average  mortality  has  been 
reduced  from  41  per  cent,  to  15  per  cent. 


Extract  of  Chelidonium  Majus  in  Cancerous  Tumours. — 
Denisenko  has  employed  the  extract  of  greater  celandine  with 
remarkable  success  in  the  treatment  of  cancroid  growths.  He 
ives  internally  from  1  ’5  up  to  5  grammes  daily  of  the  extract, 
issolved  in  water  or  peppermint  water  ;  at  the  same  time  he  in¬ 
jects  into  the  tumour,  at  the  limit  of  the  neoplastic  and  healthy 
tissues,  a  mixture  of  equal  parts  of  the  same  extract,  of  glycerin, 
and  of  distilled  water.  About  a  cubic  centimetre  is  employed 
each  time,  distributed  into  several  punctures.  Lastly  the  surface 
of  the  neoplasm  where  it  is  ulcerated  is  painted  twice  daily  with  a 
liquid  composed  of  one  or  2  parts  of  the  extract  and  1  part  of 
glycerin.  The  internal  use  of  the  extract  is  generally  well  borne, 
and  the  local  applications  only  occasion  a  passing  smarting.  The 
injections,  however,  besides  a  smarting  sensation,  occasion  a  sensa¬ 
tion  of  weakness,  shivering,  and  a  rise  in  temperature  to  38°  or 
39°  C.  These  phenomena  commence  in  fifteen  to  thirty  minutes 
after  the  injection,  and  disappear  by  the  next  day.  These  injections 
therefore  require  to  be  cautiously  given  and  regulated  according 
to  the  susceptibility  of  the  patient.  According  to  the  author,  the 
therapeutic  action  of  the  treatment  is  manifest  in  a  few  days.  In 
three  or  five  days  fistulas  appear  in  region  of  the  punctures,  around 
which  the  tumour  rapidly  disintegrates.  In  fifteen  to  twenty-five 
days  a  line  of  demarcation  appears  between  the  neoplasm  and  the 
healthy  tissues,  the  volume  of  the  tumour  diminishes  to  one  half, 
and  the  swelling  of  the  neighbouring  lymphatic  ganglia  disappears. 
— Bull.  Com. ,  xxiv. ,  426,  after  Semaine  M ed. 


Jan.  30,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


87 


OLD  PHARMACY.* 

BY  FRANK  CASSON. 

For  the  earliest  mention  of  drugs  and  their  uses,  I  think  we  must 
refer  to  the  Bible,  remembering,  however,  that  the  names  of  many 
drugs  have  been  translated  by  the  nearest  English  words  the 
translators  could  hit  upon — in  many  case3,  very  misleading.  Another 
point  to  be  noticed  is  that  the  names  of  drugs,  etc.,  are  almost 
always  introduced  indirectly.  Physicians  and  apothecaries,  drugs, 
and  perfumes  we  read  of,  Solomon’s  plant  lore  we  are  told  of,  but 
in  very  few  cases  are  we  told  the  nature  of  the  remedies  employed 
against  diseases,  or  anything  of  the  healing  art  in  general.  Two 
exceptions  may  be  pointed  cut — Hezekiah,  treated  with  a  poultice 
of  figs,  and  the  Good  Samaritan’s  First  Aid. 

Poisons  are  mentioned,  but  only  in  connection  with  animals,  as 
the  serpent.  There  is  no  mention  of  preparations  of  poisons  being 
used  to  destroy  life.  “Witchcraft”  (pharmakeia),  as  used  by  St. 
Paul,  may  probably  mean  “  poisoning  or  else  the  preparation  of 
philtres,”  etc.  In  Exodus  we  have  the  prescription  in  a  proper 
workable  form  for  the  preparation  of  the  anointing  oil. 

Altogether  we  have  mentioned,  direct  or  indirect,  forty-five  sub¬ 
stances,  including  the  following  : — 

Antimony  Sulphide. 

Camphire. 

Colocynth  (“  Wild  Vines”  of  II.  Kings). 

Aloe,  “  Lign  Aloe,”  or  Eaglewood,  of  India,  highly  prized  new  as 
a  perfume. 

Natron,  or  Nitre,  probably  an  alkaline  c?.rbonate,  mentioned  in 
connection  with  soap. 

Ricinus  probably  is  meant  by  “  Gourd  ”  in  Jonah. 

Saffron,  Vermilion,  etc. 

Ointments  are  frequently  mentioned,  and  were  largely  used  as 
perfumes ;  in  Job  we  have  an  allusion  to  their  mode  of  manufacture, 
and  in  Ecclesiastes  to  the  trouble  arising  from  flies  in  them.  Next, 
to  turn  to  ancient  history  On  Egyptian  sculpture  we  can  find 
figures  of  men  using  mortar  and  pestles.  Two  men  are  employed, 
each  with  a  pestle,  striking  alternately,  while  others  are  sifting  and 
bringing  up  fresh  supplies.  Scales  are  shown  much  like  our  dis¬ 
pensing  scales. 

In  Greek  mythology  we  read  of  Aesculapius,  son  of  Apollo,  who 
studied  the  art  of  healing  with  herbs,  and  went  as  ship’s  doctor 
with  the  Argonauts  on  their  famous  voyage. 

The  Greeks  and  Romans  had  a  fair  knowledge  of  soap,  starch, 
glass,  leather,  mineral  and  vegetable  pigments,  wine,  beer,  vinegar, 
sulphur,  carbonate  of  soda,  etc.  Hippocrates,  who  died  about  b  c. 
360,  and  Galen,  who  died  about  a.d.  190,  are  well-known  names. 
But  it  is  to  the  Arabs  that  we  owe  the  greater  part  of  our  present 
chemical  knowledge.  They  appear  to  have  first  tried  making  new 
medicines  by  chemical  changes.  As  early  as  the  eighth  century,  A  D., 
we  find  Geber  acquainted  with  or  preparing  vinegar,  nitric  acid, 
milk  of  sulphur,  arsenic,  borax,  salt,  alum,  sal  ammoniac,  ferrous 
sulphate,  nitre,  mercuric,  chloride,  and  others.  His  plans  for  dis¬ 
tilling  apparatus,  furnaces,  etc.,  were  used  for  hundreds  of  years. 

From  about  the  ninth  to  the  twelfth  century  the  Arabs  were  the 
great  doctors  of  the  world,  the  Moors  being  especially  famous.  The 
work  was  afterwards  carried  on  by  the  great  medical  school  at 
Salerno.  During  the  thiiteenth,  fourteenth,  and  fifteenth  centuries, 
dispensaries  appear  to  have  been  founded  often  at  the  public  ex¬ 
pense  in  France  and  Germany,  and  we  find  the  first  Pharmacopoeia 
published  at  Nuremburg  by  Cordus  in  1542.  The  first  London 
Pharmacopoeia  appeared  in  1618  with  eleven  later  additions.  In 
the  early  editions  we  find  the  usual  animal  abominations  then  in 

*  Read  before  the  Midland  Chemists’  Assistants’  Association. 


use — earthworms,  frogs,  puppies,  foxes,  skull  of  man,  etc.,  and 
electuaries  containing  fifty  or  sixty  ingredients,  and,  in  one  case 
124  different  substances. 

In  this  country,  so  late  as  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
physicians  seem  to  have  made  and  dispensed  their  own  medicines, 
generally  keeping  an  assistant  to  do  their  work.  In  process  of 
time  some  of  these  assistants  started  business  on  their  own  account, 
while  the  busy  physicians  sent  their  “  bills  ”  or  prescriptions  to 
them  to  be  dispensed.  We  find  that  both  physicians  and  apothe? 
caries  obtained  their  supplies  of  drugs  from  abroad  through  the 
grocers,  some  of  whom  by  devoting  the  greater  part  of  their  atten¬ 
tion  to  the  drugs,  became  known  as  druggists.  Hence,  in  1606,  we 
find  the  grocers  and  apothecaries  incorporated  together.  But  the 
number  of  apothecaries  increasing,  partnership  was  dissolved,  and  a 
new  company,  the  Apothecaries’  Company,  was  formed.  The 
company  prospered  and  opened  an  establishment  in  Blackfriars  for 
preparing  and  compounding  the  medicines  used  by  members.  This 
was  begun  on  a  small  scale,  but  was  afterwards  mnch  extended,  and 
was  the  foundation  of  the  Apothecaries  Hall. 

Instead  of  confining  themselves  to  dispensing,  however,  the 
apothecaries  started  visiting  and  prescribing,  and  so  became 
formidable  rivals  to  the  physicians.  To  counteract  this  rivalry  the 
physicians  started  dispensaries  theoretically  to  supply  medicines  to 
the  poor,  but  practically  to  get  their  own  prescriptions  dispensed 
without  the  help  of  their  rivals. 

Let  us,  then,  glance  at  the  bodies  of  men  engaged  in  the  healing 
art  at  this  time.  There  were  herbalists,  who  dealt  in  indigenous 
plants,  the  drug-grocers,  the  chemists,  or  rather  alchemists,  who 
made  and  supplied  the  few  chemicals  used,  the  apothecaries,  and 
the  physicians,  some  of  whom  dispensed,  but  most  of  whom  were 
looking  for  some  means  of  getting  their  dispensing  done  without 
the  help  of  their  rivals.  Dispensing  was  no  light  matter  then. 

Chemistry  also  was  emerging  from  the  darkness  of  alchemy,  and 
progress  was  being  made  beyond  where  Geber  left  off,  eight 
centuries  ago.  A  demand  was  arising,  fostered  by  such  men  as 
Valentine  and  Paracelsus,  for  chemical  substances  to  be  used  in 
medicine.  Valentine’s  autimonial  cups  and  pills  are  well  known. 
Hence  we  find  a  new  class  of  men  arising,  who  called  themselves 
chemists,  who  manufactured  and  sold  their  own  chemicals  and  pre¬ 
parations.  Mention  may  be  made  of  three  such  establishments, 
Wilson’s,  one  of  which  bore  the  sign  of  the  “  Bell  and  Dragon,”  and 
Godfrey’s. 

During  the  eighteenth  century  important  reforms  were  made. 
More  attention  was  devoted  to  chemistry,  the  drug-grocers  and 
chemists  seemed  to  have  formed  a  class  bearing  the  title  of  chemist 
and  druggist,  and  the  pharmacopce'ias  were  much  improved  and 
simplified. 

In  1723,  powers  were  given  to  the  College  of  Physicians  to 
examine  the  medicine  sold  by  apothecaries  and  destroy  any  unfit 
for  use.  In  1748  the  Apothecaries  Company  was  empowered  to 
examine  and  license  all  practising  as  apothecaries  within  seven 
miles  of  London.  Under  this  act,  the  apothecaries  claimed  the 
exclusive  right  to  compound  and  dispense  in  London,  a  right  they 
failed  to  enforce  against  the  ever-increasing  number  of  chemists 
and  druggists.  An  attempt  by  the  apothecaries  to  put  a  stop  to 
these  formidable  rivals  failed,  and  it  was  left  to  the  process  of 
survival  of  the  fittest  to  decide  the  fate  of  the  apothecaries. 

The  Apothecaries  Act  of  1815  empowered  twelve  examiners  to  be 
appointed  by  the  Apothecaries’  Company  to  examine  and  license  all 
selling  drugs,  etc.,  in  England  and  Wales,  physicians  and  apothe¬ 
caries  alike.  Five  years’  apprenticeship  was  necessary. 

In  1868  came  the  Pharmacy  Act,  which  definitely  settled  the 
qualifications  of  a  qhemist  and  druggist. 


88 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  30,  1897 


Next  as  to  the  pharmacy  practised  in  these  early  days  with  no 
help  from  the  alchemists  (I  am  speaking  now  of  the  fifteenth  and 
sixteenth  centuries),  it  followed  all  the  substances  used  were  of 
vegetable  or  animal  origin,  together  with  the  few  chemicals  known 
for  centuries  and  a  few  mineral  substances. 

I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Lawton  for  the  loan  of  a  small  book,  appa¬ 
rently  published  about  the  seventeenth  century,  containing  many 
quaint  prescriptions  and  their  uses.  It  is  entitled  ‘  A  Choice  Manual  of 
Rare  and  Select  Secrets  in  Physick.’  They  appear  to  be  rather 
better  than  the  usual  run  of  preparations  then  made.  Animal 
patters  of  all  kinds  are  not  so  much  used.  The  author  was  extremely 
partial  to  distillation.  I  read  a  few  extracts :  — 

“  If  you  be  sick  after  meet  use  this  ”  (a  preparation  of  green 
ginger  in  syrup,  and  cinnamon  water). 

“  To  take  away  hoarseness.” 

Take  a  turnip,  cut  a  hole  in  the  bop  of  it,  and  fill  it  up  with 
brown  sugar-candy,  and  so  roast  it  in  the  embers,  and  eat  it  with 
butter. 

“  For  a  Cough.” 

Take  Salad  Oil,  Aqua  Vit©,  and  Sack,  of  each  in  equal  quantity, 
beat  them  all  together,  and  before  the  fire  rub  the  soles  of  your  feet 
With  it.  (A  great  waste  of  good  stuff.) 

“  An  approved  medicine  for  a  sticking  breath  ”  consists  of 
rosemary  leaves  and  flowers  boiled  in  white  wine,  and  cinnamon  and 
benzoin  added  to  be  used  as  a  mouth  wash. 

“  Against  the  biting  of  a  mad  dog  and  the  rage  or  madness  that 
followeth  a  man  after  he  his  bitten.” 

Take  the  blossoms  of  flowers  of  wild  thistles  dried  in  the  shade 
and  beaten  to  powder,  give  him  to  drink  of  that  powder  in  white 
wine  half  a  walnuts  hell  full,  and  in  thrice  taking  it  he  shall  be 
healed. 

Mr.  Becger  in  the  Pli.  /.,  January  13,  1877,  gives  us  some  more. 

The  best  water  for  the  face  ”  is  made  from  white  of  egg, 
almonds,  endiff  boras,  camphor  zuchanimum,  “  which  is  made  with 
alum  that  is  relented,”  white  rose  water,  vinegar,  and  bean  blossom 
water.  In  preserving  a  youthful  appearance,  etc.,  it  seems  to  have 
been  marly  as  effective  as  our  modern  toilet  soaps. 

“  An  approved  good  water  for  the  jarndines  or  the  collick  or  con¬ 
sumption  ”  is  made  from  a  peck  of  snails  washed  in  beer  and 
roasted,  earthworms,  angelica  celandine,  etc.,  nineteen  ingredients. 

“  Heat  in  the  face”  is  cured  by  distilling  strawberries  and  cream 
with  vine  leaves,  and  using  the  water.  “  Cock  ale,  and  puppy 
water  ”  are  described.  Andrew  Borde,  who  lived  at  the  beginning 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  also  gives  us  some  quaint  methods  of 
treatment  ( Pli .  J.,  1871).  He  shows  certainly  much  good  sense. 
I  might  here  show  of  many  salubrious  medicines,  but  the  best 
medicine  that  I  know  is  to  let  the  matter  alone.  “  Abstinence  is 
the  chief est  medicine  of  all  medicines.” 

His  treatment  of  itch  is  distinctly  funny  :  “  This  I  do  advertise 
every  man  for  this  matter  to  ordeyne  or  prepare  a  good  payre  of 
nayles  to  crack  and  claw  and  to  rent  and  teare  the  skynne  and  the 
fleshe,  that  the  corrupt  bloud  maye  runne  out  of  the  fleshe ;  and 
vse  than  purgacious  and  stuphes  and  sweates  ;  and  beware,  re- 
uberate  not  the  cause  inwards  with  no  ointment,  nor  clawe  not  the 
skinne  with  fyshe  fyngers,  but  wash  the  handes  to  bedwarde.” 

And  here  we  must  leave  the  pharmacy  of  our  forefathers.  Crude 
and  unscientific  though  it  was,  made  horrible  with  various  animal 
substances,  and  expensive  with  the  diamonds,  pearls,  and  rubies 
occasionally  used,  we  cannot  help  admiring  the  pictures  these 
quaint  old  books  call  up  of  the  careful  housewife  with  her  pantries 
stored  up  with  herbs,  in  many  cases  collected  and  dried  by  herself, 
who  distilled  her  water  for  the  benefit  of  poor  suffering  humanity. 
And  it  seems  to  me  that,  considering  the  disadvantages  under 


which  they  laboured  in  those  days  of  darkness,  they  showed  a 
disregard  of  trouble  and  a  skill  that  would  not  disgrace  any  of  us. 


NOTES  ON  THE  USES  OF  DRUGS. 

Anesthetics  and  Narcotics. 

Ancesthetics  deprive  the  brain  of  all  power  of  voluntary  motion  or 
sensation.  They  include  chloroform,  ether,  ethyl  bromide,  and 
nitrous  oxide,  or  laughing  gas.  The  first  effect  of  inhaling  these 
substances  is  stimulating,  bright  fancies  and  pleasant  thoughts  are 
indulged  in,  and  vigorous  struggling  movements  are  made.  In  the 
second  stage,  anaesthesia  comes  on,  and  neither  movement  nor 
sensation  is  possible. 

Ether  is  by  far  the  safest  anmsthetic,  it  does  not  depress  the 
heart ;  unfortunately  it  cannot  be  given  either  to  young  children  or 
bronchitic  adults,  because  its  vapours  irritate  the  air  passages  and 
lungs,  causing  bronchitis  and  pneumonia.  Ether  is  inhaled  from  an 
apparatus  which  regulates  the  amount  of  air  mixed  with  it. 

Chloroform  is  a  handy  anaesthetic,  as  it  may  be  inhaled  without 
any  apparatus  ;  a  little  poured  out  on  a  rag  or  towel  is  all  that  is 
required.  Chloroform  should  be  used  with  caution,  as  it  depresses 
the  heart.  In  every  possible  case  ether  should  be  used  instead. 

Ethyl  bromide  is  official  in  the  German  Pharmacopoeia,  but  it 
was  employed  first  in  England  by  Nunnely  in  1849.  It  causes 
anaesthesia  more  quickly  than  chloroform,  and  its  effect  is  less 
lasting.  It  is  said  to  be  less  depressant  to  the  heart  than  chloro¬ 
form,  but  it  is  to  be  avoided  if  the  kidneys  are  diseased. 

Nitrous  oxide,  or  laughing  gas,  was  discovered  by  Priestley  in 
1776.  Sir  Humphry  Davy  experimented  with  it  on  himself  in  1799, 
and  discovered  its  power  of  anaesthesia.  The  first  tooth  was  ex¬ 
tracted  under  its  influence  in  1844,  but  it  did  not  become  popular 
until  thirty  years  ago,  when  the  Dental  Hospital  began  to  use  it. 

Anaesthesia  is  produced  by  laughing  gas,  partly  because  it  causes 
a  condition  of  semi-suffocation,  and  partly  by  a  special  action  on 
the  brain.  Anaesthesia  only  lasts  a  few  minutes  and  is  quite  free 
from  risk. 

Narcotics  are  drugs  which  affect  the  brain,  so  as  to  produce 
indifference  to  surroundings.  At  first  they  bring  about  a  condition 
of  joyousness,  where  visions  and  fancies  have  free  play,  then  an 
emotional  condition,  and  the  memory  of  actual  surroundings  dis¬ 
appears,  finally  mental  powers  are  lost,  and  voluntary  motion  is 
badly  performed,  and  a  condition  of  mental  unconsciousness  and 
semi-paralysis  is  produced. 

The  narcotics  are  opium  and  morphia,  cannabis  indica,  bella¬ 
donna,  hyoscyamus,  stramonium.  Opium  and  morphia  are  both  so 
important  that  their  action  on  the  whole  of  the  body  must  be  con¬ 
sidered.  Opium  has  always  been  in  use  in  the  East,  and  is  grown 
in  India  and  Turkey;  it  should  contain  at  least  10  per  cent,  of 
morphine. 

If  about  one  grain  of  opium  be  taken,  a  feeling  of  Men  §tre  and 
general  comfort  are  first  produced,  the  mind  then  wanders  and 
pictures  pleasant  scenes,  fantastic  lights,  weird  fancies  and  figures 
float  before  it.  There  is  an  indifference  to  surroundings,  and  a 
partial  insensibility  to  pain.  Drowsiness  now  comes  on,  movement 
becomes  impossible,  pain  is  not  felt,  finally  sleep  with  quiet 
breathing  and  steady  pulse  is  produced. 

If  an  excessive  dose  of  opium  be  taken  then  sleep  becomes  so 
heavy  that  the  person  cannot  be  aroused,  nothing  will  induce  move¬ 
ment,  the  skin  becomes  covered  with  a  profuse  perspiration,  the 
breathing  becomes  slow  and  shallow,  the  pulse  grows  weaker,  the 
face  becomes  livid  and  the  pupils  of  the  eyes  contracted  to  the  size 
0f  pinholes. 

The  action  of  opium  is  explained  in  this  way,  it  first  stimulates 


Jan.  30,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


89 


the  brain,  then  later  it  paralyses  the  centres  for  motion  and  sensa¬ 
tion  in  the  brain  ;  that  is  to  say,  unconsciousness  supervenes  ;  later, 
opium  paralyses  the  spinal  cord  and  reflex  action  is  abolished,  still 
later  the  centres  in  the  brain  controlling  the  breathing  and  the 
heart  become  paralysed,  and  death  ensues. 

Liniments  and  ointments  containing  opium  are  applied  to  the 
skin  to  relieve  the  pain  of  lumbago  and  rheumatism  ;  it  is  inferior 
to  belladonna  for  this  purpose. 

An  ointment  of  galls  and  opium  cures  the  pain  and  prevents  the 
bleeding  of  piles. 

Opium  relieves  cough  of  a  nervous  origin,  but  it  is  always  used  with 
caution  in  chest  troubles  which  are  serious,  because  it  dries  up  the 
natural  secretion  and  weakens  the  respiratory  centre  in  the  brain. 

Opium  makes  the  skin  perspire.  Ten  grains  of  Dover’s  powder 
will  often  induce  a  good  night’s  rest,  bring  out  a  copious  perspira¬ 
tion,  and  ward  off  a  cold. 

Opiam  is  a  specific  against  all  kinds  of  pain,  and  acts  especially 
well  for  the  pain  of  colic,  peritonitis,  and  cancer;  it  is  also  un¬ 
rivalled  for  producing  sleep,  and  restoring  the  nervous  system  when 
worn  out  by  worry  and  care. 

So  pleasant  is  opium  that  a  craving  for  it  is  easily  established. 
Whole  nations,  such  as  the  Indians,  give  way  to  it. 

Tolerance  for  the  drug  is  quickly  established.  As  much  as  half- 
a-pint  of  laudanum  can  be  taken  by  habitues  without  ill  effect. 

Morphine  is  more  suitable  for  hypodermic  injection,  and  is  espe¬ 
cially  used  to  relieve  pain.  It,  unfortunately,  confines  the  bowels  ; 
a  small  quantity  of  atropine  is  often  prescribed  with  it  to  prevent 
constipation. 

Opium  must  be  taken  with  caution  when  there  is  disease  of  the 
kidneys,  as  it  then  may  cause  convulsions  and  unconsciousness. 

Children  are  very  sensitive  to  the  influence  of  opium,  which  it  is 
to  be  feared  is  a  constituent  of  many  soothing  powders,  and  is 
answerable  for  much  infant  mortality. 

Opium  is  more  active  in  men  than  in  women,  yet  it  has  very  little 
effect  on  the  lower  animals  ;  this  is  probably  because  the  higher  the 
scale  the  greater  the  predominance  of  the  brain  and  the  influence 
of  opium  on  it. 

Codeine  is  an  opium  alkaloid  and  is  largely  used  in  the  treatment 
of  diabetes  to  lessen  the  amount  of  sugar  in  the  urine.  It  is  far 
less  narcotic  than  morphine,  but  seems  to  have  a  special  action 
on  the  nerves  of  the  abdominal  viscera.  The  other  alkaloids  of 
opium  are  not  extensively  used. 

Cannabis  indica  is  the  haschisch  of  the  Orientals.  Its  effects  are 
similar  to  that  of  opium,  but  its  physiological  action  has  not  been 
so  carefully  investigated,  Freusberg  tells  how  a  young  Englishman 
indulged  in  smoking  Indian  hemp.  Alone  in  his  rooms,  he  fancied 
orchestral  music  filled  his  ears,  and  theatrical  performances  and 
dancing  figures  presented  themselves  before  his  eyes.  Looking  into 
empty  space,  he  was  charmed  by  seeing  beautifully  coloured  land¬ 
scapes  peopled  with  men  and  animals,  while  the  murmurs  of 
running  water  and  the  wind-blown  leaves  of  trees,  mingling  with 
the  strains  of  vocal  and  instrumental  music,  charmed  his  senses. 
The  tones  of  the  music  were  soft  and  in  harmony ;  objects  round 
the  room  were,  however,  distorted,  people  appeared  changed, 
generally  comical  and  repulsive. 

After  waking  up  from  this  condition  his  impressions  were  lively, 
clear,  and  varied. 

The  tincture  of  cannabis  indica  is  not  a  reliable  drug,  as  its 
composition  is  variable.  It  is  used  to  relieve  neuralgia  and  migraine, 
and  occasionally  to  induce  sleep  when  opium  disagrees. 

Belladonna  is  a  narcotic ;  it  also  relieves  pain  when  applied 
locally,  and  checks  all  the  natural  secretions.  When  an  excessive 
dose  of  belladonna  has  been  taken,  the  mouth  becomes  dry  and 


clammy,  the  pupils  of  the  eyes  dilate  widely,  the  face  is  flushed, 
and  the  pulse  small  and  rapid.  The  person  becomes  first  giddy, 
then  restless  and  excited  ;  he  has  hallucinations,  and  is  delirious  ; 
he  sees  visions,  and  his  hands  are  constantly  moving  as  if  he  were 
rolling  bread  crumbs  or  picking  up  bedclothes. 

Belladonna  is  a  very  important  drug  and  acts  on  many  parts  of 
the  body,  and  therefore  is  much  used  in  medicine,  and  requires 
consideration. 

Ointment  of  belladonna,  often  mixed  with  equal  parts  of  glycerin, 
is  often  ordered  to  relieve  the  pain  of  lumbago,  or  the  aching  of  a 
rheumatic  joint.  The  deeper  seated  pains  of  pleurisy  and  pneumonia, 
the  discomfort  caused  by  palpitation  of  the  heart,  will  often  yield 
to  the  application  of  a  belladonna  plaster.  The  tincture  of 
belladonna  is  sometimes  used  to  induce  sleep,  but  its  action  is  very 
uncertain,  sometimes  it  is  used  to  stop  a  troublesome  cough,  some¬ 
times  to  relieve  palpitation  of  the  heart  and  angina  pectoris. 

The  extract  of  belladonna  is  put  as  an  adjuvant  in  many 
purgative  pills,  it  makes  their  action  certain  and  mild,  and  prevents 
griping. 

Belladonna  stops  the  secretion  of  saliva,  and  is  therefore  a 
powerful  antisialic ;  it  also  checks  the  formation  of  milk  in  the 
breast,  and  therefore  a  plaster  of  belladonna  or  the  ointment  is 
ordered  after  childbirth  when  it  is  not  intended  to  bring  up  the 
infant  by  the  breast.  Belladonna  checks  sweating,  and  is 
frequently  given  to  stop  the  night  sweats  of  phthisis. 

Belladonna  also  relaxes  muscular  spasm,  and  therefore  hiccough, 
spasmodic  cough,  asthma,  and  angina  pectoris  are  relieved  by  it; 
this  drug  also  checks  bronchial  secretion  and  is  given  in  cases 
of  bronchitis  with  excess  of  mucus. 

Incontinence  of  urine  in  children  is  often  treated  with  doses  of 
tincture  of  belladonna,  it  probably  acts  by  soothing  the  mucous  mem¬ 
brane  of  the  bladder  and  checking  the  irritability  of  its  muscles. 

Belladonna  ointment  or  atropine  ointment  applied  locally  to  the 
eye  dilates  the  pupil  and  is  much  used  by  ophthalmic  surgeons.  In 
many  ways  opium  and  belladonna  are  opposed  to  each  other. 
Opium  contracts  the  pupils,  belladonna  dilates  them,  opium 
in  excess  paralyses  the  heart,  belladonna  given  at  the  same  time 
prevents  this ;  opium  confines  the  bowels,  belladonna  relaxes  them. 
Opium  is  a  diaphoretic,  belladonna  is  an  antidiaphoretic ;  little 
wonder,  then,  that  belladonna  is  given  in  opium  poisoning  and  vied 
versd.  Atropine  is  the  active  alkaloid,  and  is  sometimes  ordered  in 
preference  to  belladonna.  Stramonium  resembles  belladonna  in  its 
action,  but  is  a  far  less  powerful  narcotic.  It  is  used  chiefly  in 
chest  disease  as  an  antispasmodic.  Hyoscyamus  also  resembles 
belladonna,  but  it  is  less  active.  It  has,  however,  a  special  action 
on  the  bowels,  regulating  peristalsis  and  preventing  griping,  and  is, 
therefore,  added  to  many  purgative  pills. 

(To  be  continued.') 

Piperazine  and  Lysidine  as  Uric  Acid  Solvents.  —Dr.  Woodcock 
Goodbody,  as  the  result  of  an  extended  chemical  examination  of 
the  urine  secreted  under  the  influence  of  piperazine  and  of  lysidine, 
finds  that  both,  when  added  to  a  urine  tending  to  deposit  uric  acid 
gravel,  are  capable  of  hindering  the  deposit  on  standing.  The 
experiments  further  show  that  lysidine  exerts  a  more  powerful 
solvent  action  on  uric  acid  than  piperazine.  Both,  when  taken 
internally,  increase  the  elimination  of  the  acid,  not  by  increasing 
its  formation,  but  by  rendering  the  blood  more  capable  of  removing 
it  from  the  tissues  ;  so  that  prolonged  administration  of  these  drugs 
causes  a  diminution  of  the  quantity  of  acid  eliminated  by  the 
kidneys.  Both  are  diuretics,  and  cause  an  increased  output  of 
nitrogen,  partly  due  to  the  increase  of  uric  acid,  and  partly  to  the 

ncreased  volume  of  the  urine  excreted. — B.  M.  2/96/903. 


90 


FHARxMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  30.  189?i 


THE  STUDENTS’  PAGE. 


THE  STUDY  OF  THE  B.P. 

Acidum  O/eicum. — The  almost  complete  solubility  of  the  lead 
precipitate  indicates  absence  of  more  than  traces  of  stearic  acid. 
Potassium  carbonate  neutralises  oleic  acid,  forming  potassium 
oleate.  Any  excess  of  carbonate  is  neutralised  by  acetic  acid  (to 
prevent  subsequent  formation  of  lead  carbonate),  and  the  solution 
yields  a  precipitate  of  lead  oleate  on  addition  of  lead  acetate.  This 
is  soluble  in  ether  ;  lead  stearate  is  not. 

Acidum  Phosphoricum  Concentratum. — This  contains  ortlio-phos- 
phoric  acid.  The  glassy  substance  obtained  by  heating  to  low 
redness  the  residue  of  its  evaporation  is  metaphosphoric  acid  formed 
by  loss  of  water — 

H3P04  -  H20  =  HPOg. 

Albumin  is  precipitated  by  metaphosphoric  acid.  The  latter  is 
formed  when  phosphoric  anhydride  is  added  to  water  (ride  alterna¬ 
tive  method  of  manufacture  in  B.P. ),  but  by  subsequent  boiling 
metaphosphoric  acid  takes  up  water  and  forms  ortho-phosphoric 
acid.  Phosphorous  acid  is  indicated  by  precipitation  with  solution 
of  mercuric  chloride— 

H3P03  +  OH2  +  2Hg012  =  H3P04  +  2HC1  +  2HgCl. 

This  tendency  of  phosphorous  to  pass  into  phosphoric  acid  consti¬ 
tutes  it  a  reducing  agent.  Note  that  the  oxygen  is  obtained  from 
water,  the  hydrogen  of  which  reduces  the  mercuric  to  insoluble 
mercurous  chloride. 

Acidum  SulpTiurosum.— Sulphurous  acid  wlffen  pure  gives  no 
precipitate  with  BaCl2,  the  barium  sulphite  being  soluble  in  the 
hydrochloric  acid  which  rvould  be  formed  at  the  same  time — 
HjS03  +  BaCl2  =  BaSO;,  +  2HCl. 

Chlorine  oxidises  the  barium  sulphite  to  sulphate  in  presence  of 
water,  and  the  sulphate,  being  insoluble  in  hydrochloric  acid,  is 
then  precipitated — - 

Cl2  +  H20  +  BaS03  =  BaS04  +  2HCT. 

Acidum  Sulphuricum, — Stannous  chloride  is  employed  for  the 
detection  of  arsenic,  which  it  reduced  by  SnCl*  to  the  elemental 
state,  the  stannous  passing  into  stannic  chloride.  The  chlorine 
required  for  this  change  is  obtained  from  the  HC1  present,  the 
hydrogen  of  which  forms  the  immediate  reducing  agent — 

3SnCl2+6HCl  +  As  03  =  3SnCl4  -t  3HX>  +  2As. 


ON  CHEMICAL  EQUATIONS. 

The  use  of  equations  is  often  sadly  misunderstood  by  students* 
By  some  they  are  exalted  to  a  position  of  importance  they  do  not 
possess,  being  regarded  as  deciding  the  reactions  they  represent, 
provided  the  two  sides  of  the  equation  can  be  ‘  ‘  balanced.  ”  But 
it  cannot  be  too  strongly  emphasised  that  it  is  only  feasible  to 
write  an  equation  for  a  reaction  when  the  conditions  of  the 
experiment  and  both  the  initial  and  final  members  of  the  reacting 
system  are  known.  Under  these  conditions  writing  equations 
becomes  easy,  and  in  no.  way  dependent  upon  remembering  the 
number  of  the  reacting  molecules.  The  equation  becomes  then  a 
kind  of  shorthand  representation  having  a  real  value  to  the  writer. 
The  student  should,  therefore,  Carefully  consider  the  substances 
whose  reaction  is  to  be  interpreted,  and  find  out  what  becomes  of 
each  of  them,  into  what  substances  they  are  each  and  all  converted. 
Without  this  knowledge  writing  the  equation  becomes  a  matter  of 
juggling  with  figures  and  symbols,  and  however  successfully  he  may 
juggle  in  “balancing  the  equation,”  his  knowledge  is  in  no  way 
advanced,  but  in  many  cases  retarded. 

Let  us  consider  a  few  typical  cases.  (1st)  The  preparation  of 
chlorine  by  the  action  of  hydrochloric  acid  on  binoxide  of  man¬ 
ganese.  When  the  mixture  is  heated  chlorine  is  evolved  ;  man¬ 
ganese  chloride  and  water  are  also  formed — - 

Mn02  +  4HC1  =  MnCl2  +  Cl2  +  2B.fi. 

Now  the  interpretation  of  this  reaction  is  far  more  important  than 
merely  writing  the  equation.  When  an  oxide  is  treated  with  an 
acid,  the  usual  reaction  is  to  obtain  the  corresponding  salt — 

CaO  +  2HC1  =  CaCL  +  H.O, 

and  again — • 

Cr.,03  -r  3H  S04  =  Cr.3S04  +  3H20. 

But  in  the  case  of  manganese  binoxide  we  do  not  apparently  obtain 
the  corresponding  chloride,  MnCl4,  oxygen  being  divalent  and 
chlorine  univalent.  Why  is  this  ? 


When  manganese  binoxide  is  added  to  strong  hydrochloric  acid 
in  the  cold,  only  a  trace  of  chlorine  is  evolved,  although  the  oxide 
dissolves.  When  heat  is  applied,  chlorine  is  given  off  and  man¬ 
ganese  dichloride  is  left  in  solution,  as  shown  by  the  previous 
equation.  The  explanation  is  this  :  before  the  mixture  is  heated 
the  chloride  corresponding  to  the  binoxide  is  really  formed  — 
Mn02  +  4HC1  =  MnCl4  +  2H..O.* 

On  the  application  of  heat  this  tetrachloride  decomposes,  forming 
the  lower  chloride  and  free  chlorine  — 

MnCl4  =  MnCl2  b  CU 

A'  knowledge  of  the  intermediate  stages  which  often  occur  between 
the  initial  and  final  conditions  represented  by  an  equation  should, 
therefoi’e,  be  obtained.  It  gives  the  student  an  extended  acquaint¬ 
ance  with  chemistry,  and  the  equation  then  follows  as  a  representa¬ 
tion  of  real  knowledge,  without  which  it  is  comparatively  valueless. 

Let  us  consider  next  the  formation  of  ferric  sulphate  from 
ferroiis  sulphate  by  oxidation  with  nitric  acid,  as  in  liquor  ferri 
persulphatis.  The  substances  reacting  are  ferrous  sulphate,  sul¬ 
phuric  acid  (the  importance  of  this  will  be  seen  later),  water,  and 
nitric  acid.  The  reaction  results  in  the  formation  of  ferric 
sulphate,  nitric  oxide  being  given  off.  First,  compare  the 
formulae  for  ferrous  sulphate  (FeS04)  and  ferric  sulphate  (Fez3SOj. 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  ratio  of  S04  to  Fe  is  greater  in  the 
latter  than  the  former.  This  extra  S04  has  been  derived  from  the 
sulphuric  acid  added.  Nitric  oxide  is  evidently  obtained  by  the 
reduction  of  nitric  acid,  the  oxygen  lost  by  the  latter  forming 
water  with  hydrogen  from  sulphuric  acid,  the  sulphuric  radicle  of 
which  has  gone  to  raise  the  ferrous  to  ferric  sulphate.  Consider 
now  the  amount  of  oxygen  obtainable  from  nitric  acid,  UNO,. 
Nitric  acid  can  be  obtained  by  adding  nitric  anhydride,  N-A,  to 
water, 

N205  +  H20  -  2IiN03, 

and  was  formerly  regarded  under  the  Berzelian  system  as 
11,0 'N 205 .  In  all  reductions  to  which  nitric  acid  may  be  sub¬ 
jected  the  hydrogen  comes  out  combined  with  its  equivalent  of 
oxygen  as  water.  The  amount  of  oxygen  yielded  by  the  nitric 
acid  therefore  depends  entirely  upon  which  of  the  lower  oxides  of 
nitrogen  is  obtained.  Nitric  oxide  is  obtained  in  the  present  case, 
and  a  simple  inspection  of  the  formulas  shows  that  every  two  mole¬ 
cules  of  nitric  acid  yield  three  atoms  of  oxygen,  2HN03(Ho0,Ni0.-)! 
giving  H20‘2N0-30.  If  nitric  peroxide  were  formed,  only  one 
atom  of  oxygen  would  be  available  for  oxidation,  H20\N205  giving 
H,0'2N0/0.  The  equation  becomes  therefore  a  simple  matter — 

3HN°.{n!o,  jUJO 

H*s0*{s<5. 

It  is  evident  that  we  cannot  take  less  than  two  molecules  of 
nitric  acid,  which  yields  three  atoms  of  oxygen.  These  three 
atoms  of  oxygen  combine  with  six  atoms  of  hydrogen.  We  must 
therefore  have  three  molecules  of  sulphuric  acid  and  consequently 
three  S04  groups.  Two  molecules  of  ferrous  sulphate  require  one 
S04  group  to  convert  them  into  ferric  sulphate.  The  outcome  of 
this  is  to  show  that  two  molecules  of  nitric  acid  suffice  to  raise 
6FeS04  to  3Fei3S04,  and  the  equation  in  one  line  becomes — 
6FeS04  +  3H2S04  +  2HN03  =  3Fe_3S04  +  2N0  +  4H_0. 


THE  FLOWERS  OF  JANUARY. 

Jasminum  nudijlorum  is  a  common  garden  shrub  likely  to  puzzle 
the  student  on  account  of  the  absence  of  leaves  when  the  plant  is 
in  flower,  and  because  the  yellow  corolla  has  often  six  or  seven  parts 
instead  of  four  or  five.  The  stem,  however,  shows  a  dicotyledonous 
structure,  and  there  are  rarely  more  than  two  stamens.  It  belongs 
to  the  Oleacea,  the  Oleaceae  belong  to  the  sub-class  Corolliflora?, 
which  has  a  regular  corolla,  two  stamens,  and  a  two-celled  ovary 
with  few  seeds  (usually  one  to  four)  in  each  cell,  and  is  thus  easily 
distinguished  from  the  Labiate  and  Scrophulariaceous  flowers  with 
two  stamens. 

Pemnus  boldus  (Monimiaceae)  is  another  medicinal  plant  in  flower 
this  month.  It  grows  well  at  the  Regent’s  Park  Botanic 
Gardens.  This  family  is  allied  to  the  Laiuraceae  in  some  respects, 
but  differs  in  the  opposite  leaves  and  albuminous  seed  with  a 
small  embryo.  The  flower  is  described  in  Ph.  J.  [3],  vol.  vii., 
p.  609  to  610.  Both  the  Monimiacese  and  Lauraceee  belong  to  the 
Corolliflora'. 


Jan.  SO,  189?] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


91 


Pharmaceutigal  Journal 


A  Weekly  Record  of  Pharmacy  and  Allied  Sciences. 
ESTABLISHED  1841. 


Circulating  in  the  United  Kingdom,  France,  Germany, 
Austria,  Italy,  Russia,  Switzerland,  Canada,  the 
United  States,  South  America,  India, 
Australasia,  South  Africa,  etc. 


Editorial  Office:  17,  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.C. 
Publishing  aqd  Advertising  Office  :  5,  SE^LE  STREET,  W.O. 


LONDON  :  SATURDAY,  JANUARY  30,  1897. 


THE  PURITY  OF  FOOD  AND  DRUGS. 

It  has  come  to  be  regarded  as  a  necessary  evil  in  these 
degenerate  days  that  the  British  taxpayer  should  be  freed  as 
much  as  possible  from  tlie  necessity  of  initiating  self-protec¬ 
tive  measures.  Hence  the  enactment  of  Statutes 
directed  against  tlie  exercise  of  individual  discretion — by 
teaching  people  to  rely  more  and  more  on  elected  bodies  and 
their  paid  agents — is  hardly  to  he  wondered  at.  As  a  result 
of  this  system  the  individual  gradually  becomes  unaccus¬ 
tomed  to  act  for  himself  in  certain  directions,  and  ultimately 
he  may  he  rendered  unfit  to  protect  himself  entirely.  In  no 
instance  is  this  tendency  so  strongly  marked  as  in  connection 
with  the  purity  of  foodstuffs  and  drugs.  There  is  some  reason  to 
believe  that,  years  ago,  sophistication  was  practised  to  an  extent 
that  can  hardly  he  conceived  as  possible  to-day,  and  that  the 
worstcaseof  adulteration  occurring  at  this  latter  end  of  thenine- 
teenth  century  would  have  been  regarded  as  an  exceedingly 
mild  one  in  earlier  times.  And  yet,  in  spite  of  this,  people 
thrived  in  those  days  and  transmitted  to  their  descendants 
at  least  as  good  physical  constitutions  as  they  inherited. 
The  reason  is  perhaps  not  far  to  seek — our  ancestors  who 
were  fit  to  survive  carefully  avoided  inferior,  sophisticated 
stuff.  Not  that  they  organised  auy  such  elaborate  system  as 
obtains  now,  or  that,  as  individuals,  they  were  capable  of 
acting  as  their  own  analysts  and  adulteration  detectors.  The 
means  resorted  to  were  such  as  were  bound  fo  fall  out  of 
use  sooner  or  later,  because  they  were  too  simple.  The  pur¬ 
chaser  who  wished  to  avoid  shams  paid  a  fair  price  for  what 
he  wanted,  at  a  place  where  experience  had  led  him  to 
expect  he  could  depend  upon  procuring  a  sound  article, 
and — human  nature  being  such  that  sellers  prefer  on  the  I 
whole  to  walk  straight  so  long  as  they  are  not  beaten  down 
and  worried  about  the  means  of  existence — the  purchaser 
was  not  often  disappointed. 

This  old-fashioned  plan — as  old  as  human  society — is  prac¬ 
tised  by  some  people  even  now,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
they  are  perforce  obliged  to  contribute  towards  tlie  expense 
of  maintaining  an  army  of  spies  and  analysts  for  tlie  protec¬ 
tion  of  weaker  elements  in  Society.  The  latter,  by  con¬ 
tinually  buying  in  the  market  where  the  lowest  price  pre¬ 
vails,  offer  a  premium  to  competition,  of  which,  according 
to  John  Bright,  adulteration  is  a  form  ;  they  thus  wage  an 
unceasing  war  with  shopkeepers,  who,  owing  to  lack  of 
u^nion  in  their  ranks,  are  sooner  or  later  ground  down  to 
bottom  prices  and  even  lower,  the  sale  of  inferior  and 


adulterated  goods  then  taking  place  as  a  natural 
corollary.  In  the  ordinary  course  of  events  this  state  of 
affairs  would  soon  right  itself,  as  the  consumers  of  less  pure 
and  nutritious  articles  would  be  less  fitted  to  survive  than 
those  who  declined  to  ruin  their  health  and  stamina  even  to 
save  their  pockets.  But  false  humanitarian  motives  have 
come  into  play  at  this  point,  and  the  best  of  our  race  must 
needs  be  taxed  to  help  maintain  the  most  incapable  alive. 
Moreover,  the  ranks  of  the  helpless  soon  swell,  as  those  in 
the  borderland  between  the  naturally  dependent  and  inde¬ 
pendent  lapse  into  a  worse  condition  rather  than  a  better. 
The  result  is  that,  at  the  present  time,  many 
thousands  of  naturally  generous-minded  people,  who 
would  have  been  quite  capable  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago  of  protecting  themselves  in  the  matter  of  food  and 
drugs,  have  become  comparatively  helpless  in  that  respect. 
Thoughtlessly  trusting  to  the  adulteration  Acts  for  protection, 
such  people  are  deluded  into  the  belief  that  all  foodstuffs 
and  drugs  they  see  exposed  for  sale,  however  low-priced, 
must  be  genuine,  and  therefore  as  fit  for  the  desired  pur¬ 
poses  as  the  more  expensive  articles.  It  is  not  surprising 
then  that  the  sale  of  goods  just  good  enough  to  meet  official 
requirements  increases,  and  the  public  is  worse  off  generally 
than  at  the  time  when  adulteration  was  more  openly  and 
extensively  practised.  The  difference  between  good  and  bad 
was  then  strongly  pronounced,  hut  now  we  have  one  gradu¬ 
ally  shading  off  into  the  other,  and  the  medium_or  second- 
rate  article  sells  best  of  all. 

All  this  must,  of  course,  he  of  very  great  disadvan¬ 
tage  t )  the  public  ;  hut,  unfortunately,  the  retrograde 
tendency  of  grandmotherly  legislation  results  in  moral 
emasculation,  and  the  development  of  a  somewhat  inverte¬ 
brate  type  to  which  the  support  afforded  by  the  ingenuity  of 
tinkering  legislators  becomes  a  necessity,  Accordingly,  the 
worse  the  evil  becomes  the  more  we  must  legislate,  establish 
standards,  and  worry  the  shopkeeper  who  depends  upon  the 
trade  of  the  incapable,  on  all  hands,  until  the  quality  of  his 
wares  is  maintained  at  a  dead-level  of  uniformity,  and  that 
the  minimum  point.  Last  year  a  Select  Committee 
on  Rood  Products  did  its  best  to  ascertain  how  existing 
Acts  could  be  modified  to  the  public  advantage,  and,  so 
far  as  making  the  best  of  a  bad  job  goes,  the  report  of  that 
Committee  indicated  what  are  probably  the  best  means  of 
remedying  certain  defects.  Bat  whether  the  members  of 
the  present  Government  disapprove  of  the  means  sug¬ 
gested,  or  object  on  principle  to  the  regulation  of  the  quality 
of  food  by  legislation,  when  it  is  such  an  easy  thing  for 
everyone  to  regulate  it  for  himself,  there  appears  to  be  no 
immediate  intention  on  the  part  of  those  at  present  responsible 
for  the  direction  of  public  affairs  to  take  part  in  the  tinker¬ 
ing  process.  In  spite,  therefore,  of  the  clamours  of  Mr. 
Kwarley  and  his  supporters  who,  for  reasons  best  known  to 
themselves,  attempt  to  make  capital  out  of  the  situa¬ 
tion,  the  Government  does  not  intend  to  move  in  the 
matter  at  present.  We  must  own  to  a  lingering  desire 
that  if  anything  is  to  he  done  at  all,  the  Government  should 
act  directly  in  the  matter ;  we  should  like  also  to  see  legis¬ 
lation  respecting  drugs  separated  from  that  dealing  with 
foodstuffs  \  but  on  the  whole  there  is  not  much  to  lose 
from  keeping  the  whole  matter  open  for  some  time  longer, 
even  though  public  analysts  may  continue  to  lament  the 
lack  of  satisfactory  standards  and  the  public  require  to  look 
better  after  their  own  interests 


PHARMACEUTICAL  journal. 


92 


ANNOTATIONS 

Complaints  against  Examiners,  like  that  in  a  letter  on  page 
100,  are  not  rare,  though  they  are  not  often  committed  to  paper  and 
sent  for  publication.  But  in  most,  if  not  all,  instances  there  is  usually 
some  factor  of  which  the  complainant  is  not  cognisant,  which  totally 
invalidates  his  case,  for  a  candidate  is  rarely  in  a  position 
to  form  a  reasonable  estimate  of  his  own  fitness  to  pass 
an  examination ;  the  best  men  being  unnecessarily  afflicted  with 
doubt,  and  those  far  down  in  the  list  of  merit  as  conceitedly  cer- 
t  ain  of  a  favourable  result.  The  grievances  of  rejected  candidates 
may  therefore  be  regarded  as  invariably  requiringmuch  more  than  the 
proverbial  grain  of  salt  to  season  them.  Nevertheless,  since  examiners 
are  but  human,  there  must  always  be  a  lurking  possibility  of 
an  appearance  of  unfairness,  especially  if  questions  be  asked  which 
are  outside  the  limits  of  the  examination  syllabus.  Though 
inability  to  answer  such  questions  may  carry  with  it  no  “black 
marks,”  the  man  who  has  travelled  far  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  syllabus  in  his  studies  and  solves  the  problems  with  ease  may 
thus  put  himself  in  a  much  better  position  ;  but  a  candidate  who 
happens  to  be  “  plucked  ”  after  such  a  question  has  been  put  to  him 
is  almost  certain  to  attribute  his  ill-luck  to  the  question  which  he 
thinks  he  ought  not  to  have  been  asked. 

The  Irish  Examinations  are  also  occasionally  the  subject  of 
criticism  on  the  part  of  candidates,  with  what  show7  of  reason  it  is 
impossible  for  us  to  say.  One  correspondent  has  sent  the  following 
facts  for  publication “At  the  Irish  Pharmaceutical  Licence 
examination,  a  candidate  took  a  certain  number  of  marks,  and 
had  the  honour  of  first  place ;  exactly  twelve  months  later, 
another  candidate — a  fellow  assistant  of  the  former— took 
at  the  same  examination  no  less  than  twenty  marks 
more  than  his  fortunate  comrade,  and  was  rejected.” 
We  make  no  comment  on  this  statement,  being  unfamiliar  with 
the  working  of  the  Irish  examination  system.  On  the  face  of  it, 
however,  the  stoi'y  is  a  curious  one.  And  yet,  though  our 
informant  may  be  quite  correct  in  his  facts,  it  is  both  possible  and 
probable  that  there  may  be  an  adequate  explanation.  In  spite  of 
his  high  total,  the  second  candidate  may  have  done  very  badly  in 
some  particular  subject.  But,  as  matters  stand,  it  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at  if  he  feels  unduly  despondent. 

The  Junior  Pharmacy  Ball  will  be  held  for  the  sixteenth 
occasion,  on  Wednesday,  February  10.  The  first  dance  will  com¬ 
mence  at  the  Portman  Rooms  at  9  p.m. ,  the  musical  accompani¬ 
ment  being  provided  by  Mr.  Mortlake  Mann’s  Orchestral  Band. 
The  support  of  Mr.  Walter  Hills,  President  of  the  Pharmaceuti¬ 
cal  Society,  Mr.  Michael  Carteighe,  Mr.  Arthur  L.  Savory,  and 
other  prominent  pharmacists  has  been  promised,  and  tickets 
(7*.  6 d.  each)  may  be  obtained  from  any  of  the  numerous  stewards. 
They  may  also  be  obtained  from  the  honorary  secretary,  Air.  H. 
Arliss  Robinson,  29,  Chapel  Street,  Belgrave  Square,  S.W.,  who  is 
anxious  that  the  Ball  should  be  an  unqualified  success  during  this, 
the  last  year,  of  his  secretaryship.  We  therefore  call  upon  his 
friends,  in  the  words  of  Dickens,  to  “  rally  round  him”  and  show 
their  appreciation  of  the  good  service  he  has  rendered  in  the  past. 

A  Swansea  Chemist  who  has  been  unfortunately  obliged  to 
have  recourse  to  the  Bankruptcy  Court,  appears  to  have  suffered 
in  great  measure  through  not  sharply  looking  after  his  own 
interests.  According  to  his  own  account,  he  bought  the  stock  of 
his  shop  from  the  former  tenant  for  three  hundred  pounds,  and 
also  gave  two  hundred  for  the  goodwill  on  the  representation  that 
the  takings  were  from  fifteen  to  twenty  pounds  a  week.  After 
taking  possession  he  found  that  the  books  had  been  “cooked,”  but 


[Jan.  30,  1 897 


the  former  proprietor  had  left  the  country,  so  that  he  could  not  be 
brought  to  account.  The  unlucky  purchaser  had  valued  the  stock 
himself  at  three  hundred  pounds,  but  on  taking  possession  he 
found  some  of  the  stock  had  disappeared  and  the  value  he  actually 
received  was  not  more  than  one  hundred.  The  Registrar  having 
observed  that  an  elaborate  fraud  had  evidently  been  practised  on 
the  debtor  after  he  saw  the  premises  first,  the  examination  was 
provisionally  closed.  The  former  proprietor  is  still  wanted. 

Deaths  from  Misadventure  are  reported  in  which  the  fatality 
has  been  due  to  chlorodyne,  laudanum,  mercuric  chloride,  and 
A.C.E.  anEesthetic  respectively.  The  chlorodyne  was  taken  in 
large  doses  to  induce  sleep  by  an  Islington  cellarman,  aged  43, 
and  he  appears  to  have  swallowed  the  contents  of  an  ounce  bottle 
at  once.  At  Headingley,  a  man,  aged  35,  had  spoiled  his  whisky 
toddy  by  the  addition  of  laudanum,  and  did  not  wake  after  imbib¬ 
ing  the  mixture.  The  evil  habit  of  self-doctoring  was  responsible 
for  the  third  case,  in  which  a  Stockton  engineer,  aged  41,  who  had 
been  in  the  habit  of  taking  bromide  as  a  nervous  stimulant  [sic), 
took  corrosive  sublimate  instead,  and  obtained  a  more  definite  result. 
Finally,  a  man,  aged  54,  died  at  the  Leeds  Infirmary  whilst  under 
the  influence  of  the  alcohol-chloroform-ether  anaesthetic. 

The  Sweet  Lavender  Scare  created  by  articles  which  recently 
appeared  in  the  daily  press  on  the  production  of  English  lavender  oil, 
has  caused  Alessrs.  Jakson  and  Co. ,  of  Mitcham,  to  write  in  reference 
to  this  subject,  and  they  point  out  that  there  is  no 
foundation  for  the  statements  as  to  their  cultivation  of 
lavender  at  Mitcham  being  abandoned  or  reduced.  As  large 
growers  and  distillers  of  lavender  and  peppermint,  Messrs. 
Jakson  have  this  year  put  an 1  additional  ten  acres  of  land 
under  cultivation,  and  the  cultivation  of  lavender  can  be  further  ex¬ 
tended  in  other  parts  of  Surrey.  English  lavender  water  is  now 
exported  to  all  parts  of  the  civilised  world  in  increasing  quantity) 
and  as  a  proof  that  it  stands  unrivalled  for  excellence,  Alessrs. 
Jakson  mention  that  they  have  obtained  the  highest  awards  at 
international  exhibitions  where  they  have  exhibited,  This 
industry  gives  employment  to  a  large  number  of  hands,  and  there 
is  no  reason  to  fear  that  it  will  decline. 

Sperm atozoids  from  the  Pollen  Grain  would  appear  to  be 
the  fertilising  agent  in  the  case  of  GingJco  biloba,  the  discovery  that 
this  is  so  being  attributed  to  a  Japanese  histologist.  If  this  report 
be  a  correct  statement  of  fact,  a  way  should  be  opened  to  further 
important  discoveries,  as  the  plant  referred  to  will  thus  form  a  fresh 
connecting  link  between  the  Cryptogams  and  Phanerogams. 

The  City  and  Guilds  ok  London  Institute  has  had  its  financial 
affairs  investigated  by  a  special  committee,  with  the  result  that  it 
is  shown  to  have  well  and  economically  carried  out  the  objects  for 
which  it  was  founded,  The  report  of  the  Finance  and  Administra¬ 
tion  Sub-Committee  commences  with  a  brief  survey  of  the  history 
of  the  Institute,  and  then  proceeds  to  deal  with  its  current  expenses. 
The  approximate  gross  cost  per  student  during  the  past  two  finan¬ 
cial  years-  taken  together  is  shown  to  have  been  £54,  as  against  an 
original  estimate  of  £75,  whilst  the  net  cost  was  £31,  as  against  an 
original  estimate  of  £50.  The  students  devote  their  whole  time  to 
study,  and  attend  the  Central  Technical  College  close  upon  1000 
hours  during  the  session.  These  figures,  therefore,  compare  very 
favourably  with  those  of  similar  institutions  in  England,  America, 
Germany,  and  Switzerland.  The  Sub-Committee  on  the  Educa¬ 
tional  Work  of  the  College  also  expresses  the  opinion  that  the  work 
of  the  institution  has  been  eminently  successful,  and  thinks  the 
City  Guilds’  Institute  is  to  be  congratulated  on  what  it  has  accom¬ 
plished,  the  results  achieved  being  regarded  as  fully  commensurate 


JAN.  30,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


93 


with  the  expenditure  involved.  It  is  believed  that,  in  the  near 
future,  the  College  will  be  found  too  small  for  the  number  of 
students  likely  to  seek  admission,  and  that  the  question  of  ex¬ 
tending  the  building  may  before  long  have  to  be  considered. 

The  Active  Principle  of  Indian  Hemp  is  the  subject  of  a  com¬ 
munication  to  the  Lancet  by  C.  R.  Marshall,  M.B.,  who  points  out 
that  the  want  of  uniformity  in  the  preparations  of  Indian  hemp  has 
so  often  led  to  serious  consequences  in  practice  that  many  practi¬ 
tioners  have  discarded  the  drug  as  worthless  or  dangerous.  The 
principal  natural  products  of  the  Indian  hemp  plant — charas, 
ganja,  and  bhang — are  briefly  referred  to,  after  which  is  given  a 
historical  summary  of  researches  that  have  been  undertaken  in 
connection  with  the  plant.  Then  follow  some  records  of  personal 
experiments  with  a  preparation  to  which  the  author  applies  the 
name  of  cannabinol,  the  results  of  which  are  thought  to 
establish  its  activity  sufficiently  to  justify  its  introduction  into 
therapeutics.  Uncontrollable  mirth  and  inability  to  fix  attention 
on  anything  were  marked  symptoms  produced  by  the  drug,  acute 
intoxication,  slurred  speech,  and  ataxic  gait  being  accompanied  by 
freedom  from  all  sense  of  care  and  worry.  Hallucinations  were 
not  indicated,  the  sense  of  happiness  manifested  seeming  rather  to 
result  from  absence  of  all  external  irritation.  There  was  a  com¬ 
plete  loss  of  time  relation,  the  impression  being  that  of  living  in  a 
present  without  a  future  or  a  past.  In  fact  the  symptoms  recorded 
forcibly  recall  accounts  of  the  action  of  “  hashish,”  which  it  has 
been  customary  to  relegate  to  the  region  of  romance. 

A  Great  Terrestial  Globe  is  likely  to  be  constructed  for 
exhibition  in  London,  on  the  scale  of  1/500, 000th  of  Nature. 
The  globe  will  have  a  diameter  of  eighty-four  feet,  and  show 
the  earth’s  surface,  on  a  scale  of  about  eight  miles  to  the 
inch.  London,  for  instance,  will  cover  a  space  rather  larger 
than  a  penny.  Spectators  will  view  the  globe,  certain  sections  of 
which  have  already  been  prepared  by  T.  Ruddiman  Johnston,  from 
a  spiral  gallery  running  round  it,  and  as  the  globe  slowly  revolves 
every  portion  of  its  surface  will  successively  come  into  view. 

The  Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association  has  been 
favoured  with  a  notice  by  the  Daily  Telegraph,  in  which  the  fact 
is  noted  that  within  a  year  of  its  formation  the  Association  has 
enrolled  over  seventeen  hundred  members.  But,  it  is  observed, 
the  outside  public  can  hardly  be  supposed  to  have  any  hope  of 
pecuniary  advantage  from  this  movement,  and  it  is  mentioned 
that  some  influential  chemists  are  opposed  to  the  organi¬ 
sation,  on  the  ground,  as  stated  by  one  of  them,  that  it 
is  “  inviting  our  trade  to  combine  in  helping  our  worst  enemies, 
the  proprietary  medicine  men,  the  men  who  are  gradually 
gripping  us  by  the  throat  and  will  make  our  business  one  simply 
to  stock  their  goods  and  pass  them  over  to  the  public  at  a 
minimum  of  profit.”  The  quotation  is  from  a  letter  by  Mr.  G.  R. 
loulston,  of  Hull,  which  appeared  in  our  issue  for  January  9,  and 
has  apparently  attracted  as  much  attention  outside  the  trade  as 
within,  if  an  opinion  may  be  based  on  the  scanty  number  of 
responses  evoked.  Possibly,  however,  correspondents  may  have  pre¬ 
ferred  to  communicate  their  views  privately  to  Mr.  Foulston,  a  course 
which  possesses  certain  advantages  in  dealing  with  so  delicate 
a  subject,  and  might  more  frequently  be  adopted  with  advantage. 

The  Capacity  of  Dispensers  to  turn  out  bottles  of  medicine 
was  the  subject  of  discussion  at  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Camber¬ 
well  Board  of  Guardians.  A  medical  practitioner  said  a  man  could 
turn  out  five  hundred  bottles  daily,  but  he  must  work  continuously, 
and  another  local  oracle,  whilst  scouting  the  idea  that  the  thing  was 


impossible,  mildly  remarked  that  he  thought  it  was  too  much.  On 
enquiry,  however,  it  appeared  that  three  hundred  of  the  daily  half 
thousand  were  simply  filled  with  a  stock  mixture,  and  so  the  mystery 
of  how  the  trick  is  done  was  solved.  Patients  in  the  Camberwell 
district  must  be  afflicted  with  a  strange  sameness  of  symptoms,  or 
it  may  be  that  residents  in  that  part  of  South  London  have 
acquired  a  t^ste  for  the  stock  mixture  in  question,  and  take  care 
always  to  require  the  same  remedy.  The  outcome  of  the 
discussion  was  a  decision  to  provide  the  dispenser  with  an  assistant, 
since  the  Local  Government  Board  do  not  allow  of  his  salary 
being  increased  however  many  the  bottles  he  dispenses  (?)  daily. 

The  Existence  of  Memory'  in  Fishes  is  a  moot  point,  but 
there  is  a  general  opinion  that  fish  have  some  sort  of  memory,  and 
they  can  recognise  people,  know  how  to  find  or  to  avoid  places 
where  they  have  formerly  made  some  experiences,  whilst  fish  which 
have  once  escaped  the  rod  are  supposed  to  know  the  bait, 
etc.  Professor  Ludwig  Edinger  thinks  it  is  highly  desirable  that 
all  experience  of  this  kind  should  be  collected,  in  the  interests  of 
comparative  psychology.  All  experience  in  man  and  in  the  higher 
animals,  he  points  out,  has  led  to  the  conclusion  that  the  function 
of  memory  depends  on  the  action  of  the  brain  cortex,  but  during 
recent  years  it  has  been  proved  that  fish  have  no  brain  cortex  at 
all,  being  the  only  existing  vertebrates  in  that  condition.  If  it 
could  be  proved  beyond  the  possibility  of  doubt  that  fish  really 
have  a  memory,  that  they  gain  experience  and  can  make  use  of  it, 
then  the  till  now  general  opinion  that  memory  has  its  seat  in  the 
brain  cortex  will  have  to  be  relinquished,  and  it  is  therefore 
extremely  important  to  have  an  entirely  new  set  of  experiences 
to  theorise  on.  Professor  Edinger  accordingly  asks  all  anglers 
and  naturalists  to  communicate  to  him,  at  20,  Gartnerweg, 
Frankfurt,  Main,  any  experiences  they  may  have  had,  request¬ 
ing  them  particularly  to  take  nothing  for  granted,  as  the  smallest 
observation  may  prove  of  the  greatest  importance. 

Here  is  a  Splendid  Chance  for  Anglers  to  tell  their 
pet  tales,  the  Lancet  remarks,  and  to  throw  light  on  this 
interesting  question.  Many  incidents  which  commonly  occur 
to  anglers  would  decidedly  go  against  the  theory  that  fish 
have  memories.  Thus,  a  fish  which  has  had  a  fly  broken  in  its 
mouth  will  often  immediately  take  another,  and  on  being  captured 
the  broken  one  may  be  found  still  sticking  in  his  mouth,  and  then 
it  is  well  known  to  fishermen  that  a  pike  which  escapes  while  it  is 
being  played  will  often  again  ferociously  seize  the  bait  if  it  be  at 
once  temptingly  offered  him.  Such  well-known  facts  as  these  do 
not  at  first  sight  point  to  any  highly-developed  powers  of  reason¬ 
ing  in  the  fish,  but  before  drawing  any  conclusions  from  them, 
another  factor — that  of  sensibility — must  also  be  taken  into  con¬ 
sideration.  It  is  highly  probable  that  a  fish  hooked  with  a  small 
fly-hook  in  a  gristly  part  of  the  jaw  feels  little  or  no  pain,  and  if, 
therefore,  the  hook  immediately  breaks,  the  fish  possibly  looks 
upon  it  as  a  very  slight  inconvenience,  which  in  no  wise  need 
hinder  him  from  continuing  his  meal. 

The  Eighth  International  Pharmaceutical  Congress  is 
announced  to  be  held  in  Brussels  during  August  next,  and  the 
Secretary  of  the  Belgian  General  Pharmaceutical  Association  asks 
us  to  lay  before  our  readers  certain  resolutions  in  connection  with 
the  matter.  These  resolutions,  however,  and  “divers”  docu¬ 
ments  concerning  the  approaching  Congress,  which  the  Secretary 
says  lie  has  enclosed  with  his  letter,  are  unfortunately  missing. 
For  the  present,  therefore,  readers  desirous  of  learning  more  about 
the  matter  must  communicate  with  the  Secretary,  102,  Chaussee 
de  Wavre,  Brussels, 


94 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL, 


[Jan.  SO,  1897 


SWEETINGS  Op  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIETIES 


Chemical  Society,  Thursday,  January  21.— Mr.  A.  G. 
Vernon  Harcourt,  F.R.S.,  President,  in  the  chair. — The 
meeting  was  a  very  large  one :  the  papers  brought  forward 
were  of  considerable  interest  to  chemists  generally,  and  they 
were,  moreover,  a  relief  to  the  ennui  caused  by  a  prolonged  diet  of 
“  organic”  chemistry,  with  its  endless  accompaniment  of  formula1. 
While  the  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  and  the  certificates  of 
candidates  were  being  read,  there  was  a  din  caused  by  the  general 
conversation  going  on  as  if  the  Fellows  were  entirely  forgetful  that 
the  meeting  had  been  opened  ;  indeed,  this  is  the  case  at  all 
meetings,  but  on  this  occasion  Professor  Thompson’s  laudable 
efforts  to  pronounce  the  names  of  some  Japanese  candidates  at 
once  attracted  attention,  and  the  audience  was  duly  tickled. 

Immediately  after  the  transaction  of  formal  business,  the  Presi¬ 
dent  called  upon  Mr.  W.  A.  Shenstcne  to  communicate  to  the 
Society  the  results  of  his  “  Studies  of  the  Properties  of  Highly- 
Purified  Substances.”  Part  I.  dealt  with — 

The  Influence  of  Moisture  on  the  Production  of  Ozone  from 
Oxygen  and  on  the  Stability  of  Ozone. 

Mr.  ShenSTONE  is  gifted  with  a  pleasing  voice,  and,  in  addition,  an 
attractive  style  of  delivery,  so  that  his  paper,  which  occupied  over  an 
hour  of  the  meeting’s  time,  was  listened  to  with  great  attention. 
He  referred  at  the  outset  to  the  statement  that  chemical  reactions 
could  not  occur  in  the  absence  of  water  or  moisture.  He  was 
inclined  to  take  exception  to  this  however  as  an  absolute  rule,  and 
whilst  admitting  that  most  reactions  were  controlled  by  moisture, 
he  held  that  some  are  certainly  not.  Andrews  and  Tait,  workers 
on  the  subject  of  ozone,  emphasise  the  importance  of  using  dry 
oxygen  for  the  production  of  ozone.  Figures  of  the  elaborate 
apparatus  used  were  projected  on  the  screen,  and  the  author  referred 
to  the  assistance  he  had  derived  from  one  of  his  pupils  who  was  an 
expert  glass-blower.  Indeed  the  apparatus  which  was  displayed  on 
the  bench,  and  which  it  was  observed  the  President  handled  very 
fondly,  was  all  that  the  most  fastidious  chemist  could  desire. 
Most  of  it  was  made  of  hard  Jena  glass,  and  so  Mr.  Shenstone 
was  enabled  by  its  use  to  perform  experiments  which  under  other 
or  ordinary  conditions  could  never  have  been  done.  Roughly  the 
apparatus  consisted  of  an  ozone  generator,  a  manometer,  drying 
tubes  of  phosphorous  oxide,  and  a  receiver.  After  repeatedly 
exhausting  and  heating  this  apparatus,  a  proceeding  involving 
weeks  and  even  months,  it  was  filled  with  oxygen,  re-heated,  and  so 
on  for  a  great  number  of  times.  In  this  way  the  amount  of  gaseous 
impurities  was  reduced  to  a  minimum.  On  ozonising  the  oxygen, 
he  had  obtained  on  an  average  something  like  13 '6  per  cent., 
the  least  successful  experiment  showing  a  percentage  of  13 ‘3. 
In  all  the  experiments  there  was  never  any  difficulty  experienced 
in  measuring  the  amount  of  ozone  obtained,  but  in  presence  of 
moisture  the  volume  of  ozone  was  diminished,  and  it  was 
found  that  this  was  brought  about  by  the  ozone  decomposing. 
An  ingenious  contrivance  was  employed  for  heating  the  ozone 
generator  in  a  perfectly  gradual  and  uniform  manner,  viz.,  an 
electric  current,  which  was  led  round  the  generator  in  a  spiral. 
Mr.  Shenstone  was  enabled  in  this  way  to  warm  the  tubes  so 
gradually  that  no  hesitation  was  felt  in  bringing  the  actual  flame 
in  contact  with  the  apparatus  for  further  heating.  A  temperature 
approaching  400°  C.  was  employed,  and  was  maintained  for  four 
hours.  Pumping  operations  were  continued  for  a  week,  eight 
hours’  heating  again,  and  then  more  pumping  until  the  oxygen  had 
been  reduced  to  this  tension,  ‘000,000,001  Mm.  There  was 
laughter  as  Mr.  Shenstone  seriously  put  these  figures  down  on  the 
blackboard,  but  he  smiled  when  he  said  that  they  might  be  taken 
with  a  grain  of  salt.  He  had  obtained  similar  results  by  using 
Ruhmkorff  or  Tesla  apparatus.  Absolute  drying,  he  said,  would 
result  in  the  production  of  no  ozone  at  all. 

The  second  part  of  the  paper  was  on — 

The  Behaviour  of  Chlorine,  Bromine,  and  Iodine 
with  Mercury. 

Particular  precautions  were  taken  to  ensure  the  purity  of  the 
chlorine  used.  Hydrochloric  acid  especially  was  an  impurity  liable 
to  be  present,  and  difficult  to  get  rid  of.  Pure  chlorine,  however, 
was  eventually  prepared  from  silver  chloride  by  electrolysis  (Arm¬ 
strong’s  suggestion),  but  a  serious  objection  to  its  employment  was 
the  formation  of  the  silver  tree.  This  difficulty,  however,  was 
disposed  of  by  reversing  the  current  and  thus  blowing  the  “  tree  ” 


away.  The  experiments  involved  in  this  work  were  very  laborious. 
The  apparatus  was  exhausted  and  heated  as  for  ozone.  The 
bromine  used  was  prepared  by  placing  it  in  a  large  excess 
of  potassium  bromide,  heating  to  70°  or  80°  for  a  day  and  then 
fractionating. 

Three  different  specimens  of  mercury  were  employed  : — 

1.  By  electrolysis  of  specially  prepared  nitrate. 

2.  By  dissolving  mercury  in  sulphuric  acid,  precipitating  by 
hydrochloric  acid,  the  mercurous  chloride  then  converted  into 
mercuric  salt,  treated  with  sodium  carbonate,  the  oxide  obtained 
and  the  mercury  distilled  therefrom. 

3.  From  oxide  of  mercury  converted  into  nitrate,  then  into  oxide 
and  distilled.  The  purified  mercury  thus  obtained  left  no  stain  on 
a  glass  surface.  It  was  dried  in  phosphorous  oxide.  The  drying 
of  the  halogens  occupied  some  seven  or  eight  months.  In  every 
case  the  action  was  complete. 

Part  three  was  on — - 

The  Behaviour  of  Chlorine  under  the  Influence  of  the 
Silent  Discharge  of  Electricity  and  in  Sunlight. 

A  very  minute  contraction  takes  place,  but  Mr.  Shenstone  thinks 
it  just  possible  that  a  slight  change  in  temperature  might  have 
produced  it.  The  chlorine  was  dried  by  passing  through  phos¬ 
phorous  pentoxide.  Impure  chlorine  shows  great  differences  in 
expansion.  The  experiments  do  not  agree  with  all  the  theories 
as  to  the  influence  of  moisture  on  chemical  reactions. 

In  the  discussion  which  followed  the  reading  of  this  paper  there 
was  nothing  but  compliments  to  Mr.  Shenstone,  not  only  for  the 
admirable  results  he  had  obtained,  but  for  the  excellence  of  the 
apparatus  which  had  been  made  under  his  guidance.  Professor 
Tilden  doubted  if  anyone  present  could  have  performed  the 
experiments,  even  if  the  apparatus  were  provided. 

At  this  stage  the  President  intimated  that  the  Treasurer, 
Professor  Thorpe,  had  a  statement  to  make  which  he  felt  sure  the 
Society  would  consider  very  satisfactory.  Professor  Thorpe  then 
stepped  up  to  the  platform  and  said  that  a  cheque  for  £1000  for 
the  Research  Fund,  without  any  restrictions,  had  been  received 
from  a  certain  gentleman  whose  name  he  mentioned.  The  thanks 
of  the  meeting  was  cordially  given  for  this  generous  gift. 

The  next  paper  was  on— 

The  Action  of  Diastase  on  Starch, 

Part  III. ,  by  A.  R.  Ling  and  J.  L.  Baker.  The  authors  have 
isolated  two  new  substances  from  the  products  of  the  hydrolysis 
of  starch  agreeing  with  Brown  and  Morris’s  malto-dextrin,  C1,H.,!JOn 
(C19H  0O10)j.  The  statements  in  this  paper  are  very  much  at 
variance  with  some  of  the  work  by  Messrs.  Horace  T.  Brown  and 
Morris,  and  the  reading  of  the  third  paper  by  the  latter  gentle¬ 
man  on-. 

The  Solution-Density,  and  Cupric  Reducing  Power  of 
Dextrose,  Levulose,  and  Invert-Sugar. 
resulted  in  rather  a  hot  discussion  on  these  kindred  subjects. 
This  last  paper  was  got  through  very  hurriedly,  as  it  was  already 
ten  minutes  to  ten.  It  is  really  supplementary  to  the  papers 
brought  before  the  Society  some  time  ago.  -  Levulose  and  dextrose 
are  prepared  by  the  most  approved  methods,  and  the  solution 
densities  carefully  determined.  The  authors  are  thus  enabled  to 
obtain  divisors.  The  cupric  reducing  power  was  determined 
by  the  method  formerly  described,  and  the  conditions  of  time, 
mode  of  heating,  etc.,  were  precisely  as  before.  Levulose  and 
invert-sugar  have  a  lower  cupric  reducing  power  than  dextrose. 
— Dr.  Morris,  who  read  this  paper,  regretted  that  Mr.  Ling 
did  not  go  more  fully  into  the  properties  of  the  substances 
he  had  isolated,  indeed  he  was  quite  unable  to  follow  him 
closely,  but  from  what  he  had  picked  up  he  considered  that 
Mr.  Ling  had  brought  forward  no  evidence  to  prove  his  case. 
Dr.  Armstrong  rose  and  spoke  in  defence  of  Mr.  Ling,  saying 
that  he  had  obviously,  and  unfortunately  for  himself,  no  gift  in 
communicating  the  results  of  his  important  work  to  the  Society  in 
abstract,  but  he  had  no  doubt  that  Dr.  Morris  on  reading  the  entire 
paper  would  be  convinced  of  the  accuracy  of  Messrs.  Ling  and 
Baker’s  work. 


Royal  Institution,  Friday,  January  22. — Professor  Dewar 
delivered  a  lecture  on — 

The  Properties  of  Liquid  Oxygen, 

and  demonstrated  a  number  of  experiments  with  that 
liquid.  The  subject  was  treated  in  an  exceedingly  inter¬ 
esting  manner,  the  experiments  being  of  a  most  delicjit§ 


Jan.  «0, 1897] 


PH  A  RM  ACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


95 


nature.  In  commencing,  Professor  Dewar  observed  that  five 
years  ago  he  had  lectured  upon  the  properties  of  liquid  oxygen, 
chiefly  dealing  with  its  magnetic  properties,  and  after  that 
interval  he  was  again  referring  to  the  subject  which  had 
been  studied  by  scientists  for  a  long  series  of  years. 
Knowledge  of  the  subject  has  accumulated  very  slowly,  and  al¬ 
though  we  have  had  a  knowledge  of  liquid  oxygen  for  some 
fifteen  years,  we  have  not  yet  exhausted  its  mysterious  properties. 
The  most  important  property  is  its  stability  of  temperature  at  a 
constant  boiling  point,  this  being  of  value  in  a  variety  of  experi¬ 
ments.  The  boiling  point  of  ordinary  air  and  that  of  liquid  oxygen 
differ  considerably,  the  liquid  oxygen  having  a  fixed  boiling  point, 
while  that  of  air  varies  according  to  the  various  impurities  which 
mix  with  it.  Several  experiments  were  made  showing  the 
variability  of  the  boiling  point  of  air  and  the  stability  of  that  of  liquid 
oxygen.  A  series  of  observations  of  low  and  high  temperatures 
followed,  Professor  Dewar  explaining  the  electric  thermometer 
used  in  the  tests,  and  showing  by  a  number  of  experiments 
"how  by  the  aid  of  liquid  oxygen  low  temperatures  can 
be  determined,  and  how,  having  got  the  standard  of  tempera¬ 
ture,  the  specific  heat  of  bodies  can  be  ascertained.  He 
then  proceeded  to  illustrate  by  experiments,  how,  in  the 
event  of  the  earth  cooling  down  to  the  temperature  of  the  moon, 
the  extremely  low  temperature  would  cause  the  absorption  of  a 
large  amount  of  air,  and  also  the  means  by  which  he  could  ascertain 
the  thickness  of  the  liquid  air  layer.  Other  experiments  followed 
with  reference  to  the  origin,  etc.,  of  certain  curious  atmospheric 
bands. 


THE  WORLD  Op  PHARMACY. 

- ♦- - - 

BUSINESS  MEETINGS. 


Chemists’ Assistants’  Association,  Thursday,  January  21. 
— Mr.  Charles  Morley,  President,  in  the  chair. — At  this  meeting 
a  departure  was  made  from  the  usual  style  of  papers  read  before 
the  Association  which  deal  chiefly  with  subjects  of  pharmaceutical 
and  scientific  interest,  an  address  being  delivered  by  Mr.  E.  W. 
Richardson,  assistant  editor  of  the  St.  James's  Budget ,  on — 

The  Birth  of  an  Illustrated  Journal. 

Mr.  Richardson  began  by  remarking  that  he  made  no  apology 
for  bringing  such  a  subject  before  an  association  of  gentlemen 
whose  business  was  usually  of  a  more  scientific  character,  inasmuch 
as  he  believed  that  what  was  of  interest  to  other  men  would 
.equally  interest  them.  He  then  went  on  to  explain  the  duties  of 
the  editorial  staff  connected  with  the  production  of  an  illustrated 
journal,  commencing  with  the  most  important  person,  that 
“  necessary  evil,”  the  proprietor,  concluding  with  the  office  boy. 
The  business  of  running  a  newspaper  is  very  much  like  running  a 
grocery  establishment  or  business  of  any  kind,  there  being  always 
a  certain  daily  routine  of  duties,  which  become  as  methodical 
and  systematic  as  those  of  other  businesses. — The  lecturer 
then  described  the  getting-up  of  a  journal  from  the  pre¬ 
paration  of  the  “raw  news”  as  it  evolves  from  the  tape 
machine  or  other  instrument  for  the  transference  of  news,  to  its 
appearance  in  the  clean  pages  of  the  published  journal.  The 
methods  of  preparing  zinco  line  blocks  and  the  more  costly  half¬ 
tone  blocks  for  the  illustrations  were  also  clearly  described.  The 
subject  was  made  doubly  interesting  to  those  present  by  the  ex¬ 
hibition  of  “copy,”  “galley  proofs,”  “pulls,”  “blocks,”  etc., 
actually  used  in  bringing  out  the  issue  of  the  current  week,  and 
the  various  styles  of  issuing  “  copy  ”  employed  by  the  numerous 
press  agencies  to  render  their  news  easily  distinguishable  in  the 
'hurry  and  rush  of  a  newspaper  office.  At  the  conclusion  of  the 
address,  Mr.  Richardson  having  invited  criticism  either  on  ariy- 
thing  he  had  referred  to  or  on  the  style  in  which  his  particular 
journal  was  published,  Messrs.  R.  G.  Guyer,  0.  Morley,  E.  W. 
Hill,  Strother,  H.  H.  Robins,  Melhuish,  and  C.  E.  Robinson 
asked  several  questions  relating  to  the  printing  of  the  Budget, 
the  most  important  being  as  to  the  use  of  the  “s”  after  the 
apostrophe  in  “  St.  James’s,”  and  the  production  of  the  coloured 
•Christmas  number  of  the  Budget,  Mr.  Robins  wishing  to  know  why 
it  could  not  be  printed  as  well  and  as  cheaply  in  England  as  in 
Holland. — Mr.  Richardson,  in  reply,  explained  why  the  “  s’s  ”  was 


adhered  to,  stating  that,  although  grammatically  wrong,  it  was  an 
old  custom  which  was  continued  more  as  a  distinctive  mark  than 
for  any  other  reason.  It  was  a  case  of  unadulterated  conventionalism. 
With  regard  to  coloured  picture  printing,  they  must  take  into  con¬ 
sideration  that  naturally  developments  in  printing  should  take 
place  in  the  country  in  which  it  was  first  invented.  Colour  working 
is  undoubtedly  done  better  and  cheaper  in  Holland  and  Germany 
than  in  England.  As  far  as  his  journal  was  concerned,  they  had 
tried  to  get  the  work  done  in  this  country,  and  had  given  it  to  an 
English  firm  to  do,  but  he  was  afraid  this  work  ultimately  found  its 
way  to  Holland. 


Sheffield  Pharmaceutical  and  Chemical  Society, 

Wednesday,  January  27. — Dr.  Dyson  in  the  chair. — Mr.  George 
Swainson,  F.L.S.,  of  Bolton,  delivered  a  most  interesting  lecture 
on — - 

Corals  and  Coral  Islands, 

the  subject  being  well  illustrated  by  a  series  of  beautiful  lantern 
slides.  Those  who  had  anticipated  an  interesting  hour  and  a  half 
were  by  no  means  disappointed,  for  the  subject  was  treated  in  so 
pleasantly  chatty  and  withal  lucid  a  manner  that  all  persons,  how¬ 
ever  ignorant  of  or  well  versed  in  the  theory  of  the  development  of 
this  wonderful  ocean  growth,  were  afforded  an  opportunity  in  the 
first  place  of  gaining  a  knowledge  of  a  matter  enveloped  in  a  good 
deal  of  mystery,  and  in  the  second  of  adding  to  their  store  of  facts 
the  results  of  the  latest  and  most  thorough  investigation  by  those  who 
have  devoted  to  the  work  many  years  of  patient  study  and  observation. 
At  the  outset,  Mr.  Swainson  said  he  hoped  this  lecture  on  “  Corals 
and  Coral  Islands”  would  be  of  interest  to  Sheffield  chemists, 
because  the  subject  had  been  now  for  ten  years  exciting  the 
deepest  interest  amongst  scientific  men.  They  had  in  these  dis¬ 
cussions  evidence  of  a  great  personality.  For  some  forty  years 
the  influence  of  one  man  had  been  predominant.  He  referred  to 
the  late  Charles  Darwin,  and  said  that  for  forty  years  his  pro¬ 
nouncements  on  the  subject  of  corals  had  gone  undisputed,  no  one 
seeming  to  dream  of  doubting  anything  he  had  written  on  the 
subject.  He  supposed  the  scientific  world  was  too  busy  in  the 
discussion  of  the  evolution  theory,  the  survival  of  the  fittest, 
natural  selection,  and  so  on,  to  think  of  corals.  It  was  not  until 
the  “  Challenger”  survey  that  Dr.  Murray  began  to  whisper  some¬ 
thing  in  the  way  of  contradiction.  Darwin’s  theory  was  that  coral 
formations  were  effected  by  the  earth’s  descent  and  not  by 
ascent.  He  was  right  in  that  to  some  extent,  but  that  theory 
did  not  cover  the  whole  question.  But  he  (the  lecturer)  was  sorry 
that  Dr.  Murray  had  made  such  a  bold  statement  as  that  there 
was  no  evidence  of  subsidence.  Well,  he  would  show  them  that 
night  that  even  such  great  men  as  Dr.  Murray  and  Dr.  Guppy  were 
wrong,  and  that  Darwin  was  right  about  the  Great  Barrier  Reef  of 
Australia  and  the  Fiji  Islands.  But  Darwin  was  not  right  in 
making  his  theory  account  for  all  corals  and  coral  islands,  because 
there  were  ascending  islands. 

In  taking  up  the  study  of  coral,  one  had  to  unlearn  something 
which  had  been  learned  at  school.  For  instance  coral  was  not  an 
insect,  nor  did  it  live  deep  down  in  the  sea  as  we  were  taught  as 
children  : — 

“  Deep  down  the  silent  ocean 
Dwells  the  coral  insect  rare.” 

It  was  one  of  the  jelly-fish  family,  and  first  cousin  to  the  well- 
known  sea  anemone.  It  did  not  live  deep  down  in  the  ocean,  and 
that  was  a  problem  that  Darwin  had  to  solve.  The  coral  animal 
could  not  live  in  water  of  lower  temperature  than  60°  F. — that  was 
to  say,  the  animals  most  prolific  in  building  up  reefs.  It  required 
a  temperature  of  60°  F.,  but  near  England  and  along  the  coast  of 
Portugal  there  was  only  a  temperature  of  50°  F.  or  thereabouts. 
Coral  in  these  two  places  was  making  no  headway.  There  were 
miles  and  miles  along  the  coast  of  Portugal  where  there  were 
immense  forests  of  branch  coral,  but  which  was  not  forming  reefs 
or  coral  structures  of  any  kind  but  simply  breaking  up  and  being 
destroyed.  Seeing  that  coral  requires  a  warm  temperature,  it 
showed  that  England  once  enjoyed  a  hot  climate,  because  we  have 
plenty  of  evidence  of  coral  reefs. 

Proceeding  to  his  lecture  proper,  Mr.  Swainson  first  exhibited 
specimens  of  branch  coral,  and  explained  that  the  ends  of  this 
broke  off  and  formed  a  substance  like  snuff.  When  the  tide  went 
down  and  this  was  exposed  to  the  sun,  it  became  solid  and  formed 
a  hard  durable  substance  like  cement,  and  layer  upon  layer  of  this 
accumulating,  so  coral  reefs  and  banks  developed. 


96 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[JAN.  30„  1897 


Darwin’s  theory  for  this  formation  was  slow  descent  of  the  land 
with  the  coral  building  upwards,  but  Mr.  Murray  declared  for  the 
ascent  of  the  land.  Having  thus  prepared  his  hearers  for  the  two 
issues,  Mr.  Swainson  proceeded  to  exhibit  a  long  succession  of  re¬ 
markably  fine  microscopic  and  photographic  slides  showing  all 
sorts  of  coral  and  anemones,  all  the  while  explaining  the  growths, 
and  keeping  in  mind  the  two  points  he  wished  to  elucidate  for  the 
benefit  of  his  hearers.  He  showed  that  in  many  instances  islands 
and  lands  in  the  vicinity  of  which  coral  existed  had  gradually  sub¬ 
sided  into  the  ocean.  Simultaneous  with  this  subsidence  the  coral 
animal  had  been  building  up  their  structure,  and  finally  their  reef  or 
island  marked  the  point  at  which  the  last  peak  or  summit  of  the 
submerged  land  has  disappeared. 

By  this  system  of  reasoning  it  was  shown  that  Australia  had 
once  been  vastly  in  excess  of  its  present  size,  while  the  Fiji  and  other 
islands  were  similar  instances.  Thus  by  the  formation  of  the 
cement  of  which  the  banks  and  the  islands  were  composed,  and  the 
building  up  of  the  barrier  reefs,  the  two  theories  of  Darwin  and 
Murray  were  each  proved  to  be  correct.  Incidental  to  this  ex¬ 
planation,  however,  were  views  and  statements  showing  the  birth 
and  development  of  the  coral,  from  which  it  was  gathered  that 
eggs  from  which  the  minute  creatures  sprung  were  at  the  appointed 
time  cast  off  into  the  sea  by  the  parent  animal  and  the  young  swam 
about  until  it  found  some  object  to  cling  to.  Great  numbers  of 
the  animals  adhered  to  each  other  and  formed  one  substance,  while 
at  the  same  time  each  was  a  separate  and  distinct  organism. 

The  method  of  obtaining  food  was  explained,  and  it  was  further 
shown  that  with  the  advance  of  time,  the  nourishment  obtained 
formed  line,  and  the  various  corals  became  welded  together,  so  to 
speak,  inseparably,  though  between  each  there  was  a  system  of 
communication  by  means  of  which  nourishment  could  be  conveyed 
throughout  the  whole  of  the  little  community,  from  the  one  to  the 
other.  Like  the  anemone,  coral  had  power  of  defence  by 
means  of  stinging.  A  large  number  of  specimens  of  coral  were 
shown,  and  their  peculiarities  explained,  and  Mr.  Swainson  con¬ 
cluded  his  most  fascinating  lecture  with  the  following  appropriate 
lines  from  the  pen  of  Sheffield’s  own  poet — Montgomery. 

“  Line  laid  on  line,  on  terrace  terrace  spread, 

To  swell  the  heightening,  brightening,  gradual  mound. 

By  marvellous  structure  climbing  towards  the  day. 

Each  wrought  alone,  yet  altogether  wrought, 

Unconscious,  not  unworthy  instruments 
By  which  a  Hand  invisible  was  rearing 
A  new  creation  in  the  secret  deep.” 


Pharmaceutical  Chemists’  and  Apothecaries’  Assist¬ 
ants’  Association  of  Ireland,  Friday,  January  22. — Mr.  W. 

Vincent  Johnston  in  the  chair. — Mr.  W.  U.  Smith  read  a  paper  on 

Sulphuric  Acid  and  its  Manufacture. 

He  gave  a  general  outline  of  the  process  of  manufacture,  and 
explained  in  a  lucid  manner  the  different  appliances  used  therein. 
The  gases  S02  and  nitrogen  oxides  are  generated  and  conducted 
together  into  a  large  leaden  chamber,  the  S02  combined  with  an 
atom  of  oxygen  taken  from  oxides  becoming  S03,  and  this  in  turn, 
when  it  reaches  the  chamber  combines  with  the  vapour  of  water 
which  is  being  injected,  and  becomes  H2S04,  which  condensed  on 
the  surface  of  the  chamber.  The  acid,  which  is  of  a  strength 
between  1  '5  and  1 -6,  is  then  concentrated,  and  purified  from  nitrous 
gases  by  passing  it  through  a  series  of  Gay  Lussac  and  Glover  towers, 
and  then  further  concentrated  and  purified,  the  process  being  a 
continuous  one.  The  gases  pass  in  a  constant  stream  into  the 
chamber,  there  becoming  combined  with  the  aqueous  vapour 
introduced  in  the  form  of  steam,  the  resulting  acid  collecting  on 
the  floor  of  the  chamber.  The  nitrogen  oxides  generated  are  the 
higher  oxides,  and  on  being  deprived  of  an  atom  of  0  by  the  S02 
immediately  replace  the  lost  0  from  the  air,  so  that  theoretically 
the  supply  of  N20:j  would  act  as  a  carrier  of  O  for  an  indefinite 
amount  of  S02.  Practically  this  is  not  so,  and  the  Na03  has  to  be 
supplied  in  a  constant  stream  along  with  the  other  gases.  The 
source  of  the  S02  is  either  sulphur  itself  or  iron  pyrites  which 
contain  from  30  to  50  per  cent,  of  sulphur  ;  iron  pyrites  is  chiefly 
used  in  this  country.  The  lecturer  exhibited  different  specimens 
of  pyrites,  some  of  which  were  stated  to  be  much  richer  in  sulphur 
than  others.  When  pure  acid  is  required  sulphur  must  be  used, 
as  pyrites  almost  invariably  contained  arsenic.  The  source  of  the 
nitrogen  oxides  is  nitrate  of  soda,  and  the  source  of  the  steam  is 
an  ordinary  steam  boiler  of  20  h.p. 


Liverpool  Pharmaceutical  Students’  Society,  Thurs¬ 
day,  January  21. — Mr.  John  Jones,  President,  in  the  chair. — An 
illegible  prescription  was  passed  round  for  the  members’  inspection 
by  Mr.  Morgan  for  Mr.  Cowley,  and  subsequently  Mr.  Charles 
Larkin,  F.R.C.S.,  lectured  upon 

Digestion. 

After  a  description  of  the  anatomy  of  the  digestive  organs,  with 
particular  mention  of  the  mouth  and  throat,  the  lecturer  explained 
the  structure  and  uses  of  the  secretory  glands  covering  the  surface 
of  the  tongue,  stomach,  duodenum,  and  bowels.  The  salivary 
glands  and.  their  secretion  of  an  amylolitic  ferment,  ptyalin,  the 
glands  of  the  stomach  and  their  pepsin,  and  the  glands  of  the  pan¬ 
creas  with  their  pancreatine,  were  all  shown  to  be  necessary  to  perfect 
digestion,  and  the  substances  in  our  daily  food  acted  upon  by  these 
several  active  principles  were  touched  upon,  and  the  differences  in 
nutritive  value  between  the  peptones  produced  by  the  digestion  of 
albumins  and  fibrin,  and  those  from  gelatinous  bodies  emphasised. 
The  anatomical  portion  of  the  lecture  was  illustrated  by  excellent 
lantern  slides  from  drawings  and  diagrams  made  by  the  lecturer, 
who  exhibited  numerous  similar  slides  made  from  microscopical 
preparations,  all  of  a  high  degree  of  merit.  At  the  termination  of 
the  lecture,  which  was  listened  to  by  a  very  appreciative  if  some¬ 
what  small  audience,  a  hearty  vote  of  thanks  was  accorded  to 
Mr.  Larkin  on  the  proposal  of  Mr.  R.  H.  Mitchell,  seconded  by 
Mr.  T.  S.  Wokes. 


Glasgow  Pharmaceutical  Association,  Thursday, 
January  21. — Mr.  W.  L.  Currie,  President,  in  the  chair. — Mr. 
J.  H.  Hoseason,  of  the  Glasgow  School  of  Pharmacy,  read  a 
paper  on — 

Alkaloids. 

He  gave  a  short  historical  account  of  the  alkaloids,  beginning 
with  the  discovery  of  morphine  by  Sertiirner  in  1804,  his  recog¬ 
nition  of  its  basic  properties  and  its  probable  relationship  to 
ammonia.  Liebig’s  prediction  of  the  organic  ammonias  and  the 
syntheses  of  these  by  Wurtz  and  Hofman  at  a  later  period  were 
dealt  with.  Mr.  Hoseason  then  showed  the  relationship  existing 
between  ammonia  and  primary,  secondary,  and  tertiary  mona¬ 
mines,  including  the  various  methyl  and  ethyl  derivatives  of  these, 
and  afterwards  the  bases  contained  in  bone  oil  and  coal  tar,  namely, 
pyridine,  picolines,  lutidenes,  collidenes,  etc. ,  quinoline,  isoquino¬ 
line  and  acridene.  The  constitutional  formulae  of  some  of  the 
principal  diamines,  triamines,  and  tetramines  were  next  discussed. 
The  saponification  of  piperine  and  the  methods  for  determining 
the  products  of  decomposition  by  ultimate  analysis,  fusion 
with  potash,  further  oxidation  and  comparison  of  the  substances 
so  obtained  with  similar  known  bodies  was  fully  described.  The' 
synthesis  of  any  alkaloid  from  artificial  products  was  the  best  proof 
of  the  correctness  of  our  experimental  data  and  deductions.  Deal¬ 
ing  with  the  study  of  the  pyridine  carboyl  compounds  the  lecturer 
showed  the  great  value  the  knowledge  of  these  had  been  to  the 
organic  chemist  in  elucidating  the  structure  of  various  alkaloids 
Mr.  Hoseason  concluded  by  giving  brief  descriptions  of  the 
methods  employed  in  isolating  and  identifying  alkaloids,  illus 
trating  his  remarks  by  a  few  experiments.  Messrs.  T.  and  H. 
Smith,  of  Edinburgh,  kindly  sent  a  large  selection  of  the  rarer 
alkaloids  for  exhibition,  and  the  opportunity  of  examining  these 
was  greatly  appreciated  by  the  members  of  the  Association  whe 
were  present. 


Bradford  and  District  Chemists’  Association,  Tues¬ 
day,  January  19. — Mr.  A.  H.  Waddington  in  the  chair. —  A 
lecture  on — - 

Bacteriology 

was  given  by  Mr.  F.  W.  Richardson,  F.C.S.,  F.R.M.S.,  etc.,  a- 
gentleman  well  known  in  the  district  as  an  expert  in  that  science. 
The  lecture  was  illustrated  by  sixty-six  specially  prepared  slides 
admirably  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Riley  Bros.’  powerful  lantern. 
There  were  also  in  evidence  a  large  number  of  pure  crdtivations  of 
microbes  on  different  media  in  large  test-tubes,  with  several 
accessories  for  bacter  iological  work.  Clear  illustrations  were  given 
of  the  methods  of  distinguishing  between  the  various  kinds  of 
microbes  by  means  of  their  peculiar  and  distinctive  affinities  for 
certain  foods  and  temperature^  and  their  characteristic  growths  on 
different  media.  All  the  chief  disease  germs  were  optically  de¬ 
picted,  and  the  bacterium  assumed  to  be  the  cause  of  pubonic  plague, 
“  Black  Death,”  etc.,  received  rather  full  attention,  as  this  microbe 


Jan.  30,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


9  7 


is  of  peculiar  and  melancholy  interest  at  the  present  time.  In 
conclusion  there  ensued  a  brief  summary  of  industrial  bacteriology  ; 
.a  subject  in  itself  requiring  several  lectures  for  adequate  eluci¬ 
dation.  It  was  pleasant  to  learn  that  of  microbes  there  are  ‘ £  more 
that  be  for  us  than  against  us,”  and  that  to  them  we  may  look  in 
the  future  for  the  solution  of  a  number  of  hitherto  insoluble 
technological  problems. 

Bristol  Pharmaceutical  Association,  Wednesday, 
January  27. — Mr.  B.  Allen,  President,  in  the  chair. — The  annual 
meeting  of  this  Association  was  held  at  University  College.  The 
Treasurer’s  report,  showing  a  balance  in  hand,  was  read  by  Mr. 
.Stroud.  The  Hon.  Secretary,  Mr.  Keen,  read  the  following 
report  of  the  Council  for  the  year  1896  : — 

“The  Council  cannot  report  a  year  of  any  great  activity,  yet  they  think  some 
useful  work  has  been  done  in  the  way  of  arousing  an  interest  in  the  Association 
amongst  members  of  the  trade.  Early  in  the  year  a  meeting  was  held  for  the 
purpose  of  discussing  the  proposals  made  by  the  then  newly-formed  P.A.T.A. 
There  was  a  large  and  representative  gathering,  by  which  a  resolution  was  unani¬ 
mously  passed,  that  it  was  desirable  to  support  that  Association.  A  resolution 
upon  that  subject  will  also  be  submitted  to  you  to-night.  In  the  autumn  the  subject 
■of  winter  evening  classes  for  students  was  considered  by  the  Council.  Consider¬ 
ing  that  the  materia  medica  class  had  been  carried  on  for  two  consecutive  winters, 
it  was  thought  best  to  suspend  that  class  for  one  year  and  to  call  attention  to  the 
other  scientific  subjects  so  well  arranged  for  at  University  College.  A  prospectus 
of  the  College  was  sent  by  this  Association  to  all  chemists  in  Bristol  and  neigh¬ 
bouring  towns.  The  Council  are  glad  to  know  that  at  least  eight  students,  who 
.are  either  assistants  or  apprentices  with  local  chemists  are  now'  working  at  the 
College.  In  the  early  part  of  the  year  we  lost  one  of  our  oldest  supporters  in  the 
-death  of  Mr.  La  Trobe.  In  the  spring  our  old  friend  and  colleague  Mr.  George 
F.  Schacht  intimated  his  intention  of  withdrawing  from  the  Council  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society.  The  Council  of  this  Association  thought  it  desirable  in 
some  way  to  mark  its  sense  of  obligation  to  Mr.  Schacht  for  his  long  period  of 
service,  as  well  as  to  express  to  him  its  high  appreciation  of  his  personal  character. 
It  was  determined  therefore  to  ask  Mr.  Schaclit’s  friends  to  unite  in  presenting 
him  with  an  illuminated  address.  The  presentation  was  duly  made  in  August. 
Although  our  friend  had  passed  the  allotted  three  score  years  and  ten,  he  seemed 
in  good  health  and  spirits.  We  looked  forward  with  hopefulness  to  his  help  for 
many  years.  But  before  the  year  had  ended  we  stood  at  his  grave  regretting  the 
doss  of  a  true  friend,  an  accomplished  pharmacist,  and  a  loyal  citizen.” 

The  President  moved  the  adoption  of  both  reports,  which  were 
.agreed  to  unanimously.  The  following  were  elected  as  officers  for 
the  ensuing  year : — President,  Mr.  B.  Allen  ;  Treasurer,  Mr.  J. 
Stroud;  Hon.  Secretary,  Mr.  B.  Keen;  Council,  Messrs.  Buxton, 
W.  Berry,  Chandler,  Plumley,  Pitchford,  Turner,  Young,  Warren, 
White.  The  following  resolutions  were  then  unanimously  passed 
by  the  meeting  : — 

Resolved — 

“  That  this  Association  desires,  at  its  first  meeting  after  the  event,  to  express 
its  deep  regret  at  the  death  of  our  colleague  Mr.  Geo.  Fred.  Schacht,  whose 
interest  was  so  long  experienced  in  its  aSairs.  This  Association  remembers 
with  gratitude  the  variety  of  ways  in  which  Mr.  Schacht  promoted  its 
interests,  his  unfailing  courtesy,  his  wise  counsels,  as  well  as  his  high  per¬ 
sonal  character,  and  desires  to  assure  Mrs.  Schacht  and  her  family  of  their 
sincere  sympathy  in  their  great  bereavement.” 

Resolved — 

“  That  this  Association  desires  to  express  its  satisfaction  of  the  measure  of  success 
achieved  by  the  P.A.T.A.  during  the  first  year  of  its  existence,  and  resolves 
to  continue  its  support  to  the  Association.  It  also  urges  the  retail  chemists 
of  the  country  to  join  the  P.A.T.A.  in  larger  numbers,  as  being  the  most 
practical  way  of  limiting  the  extreme  cutting  prices.” 

Resolved — 

“That  this  Association  deeply'  regrets  the  position  assumed  by  the  C.  A. 
Vogeler  Co.  in  their  correspondence  with  the  Bradford  Chemists’  Association, 
and  hereby  protests  against  members  of  their  craft  being  called  ‘un¬ 
principled  ’  because  they  refuse  to  deal  in  any  particular  proprietary  article, 
whether  it  bears  a  profit  or  not.  If  the  C.  A.  Vogeler  Co.  wish  their  prepara¬ 
tions  to  be  distributed  by  chemists,  this  Association  recommends  them  to 
put  the  articles  on  the  P.A.T.A.  list." 

It  was  further  resolved  that  in  future  a  quarterly  meeting  of 
the  Association  should  be  held,  also  that  it  is  desirable  at  some 
convenient  and  early  date  a  dinner  should  be  arranged  for. 


SOCIAL  MEETINGS- 

Midland  Pharmaceutical  Association,  Thursday,  Jan¬ 
uary  21. — The  twenty -fourth  annual  ball  was  held  in  the  Grosvenor 
Rooms  at  the  Grand  Hotel,  and  proved  a  great  success.  The 
handsome  rooms  had  been  prettily  decorated  for  the  occasion,  and 
as  this  is  one  of  the  popular  functions  of  the  local  dancing  season, 
the  event  was  largely  and  influentially  patronised.  The  President 
(Mr.  J.  F.  Gibson,  Wolverhampton)  attended  with  a  party  of 
guests,  and  among  the  numerous  company  present  were  Pro¬ 
fessor  and  Mrs.  Hillhouse  (Mason  College),  Councillor  Barrett 
and  party  (Leamington),  Councillor  and  Mrs.  Price, 
Dr.  Kneale,  Messrs.  F.  H.  Alcock,  A.  Blackburn,  T.  W. 


Chapman,  F.  Barlow,  J.  Wakefield,  C.  S.  Baynton,  R. 
Brown,  S.  L.  Bates,  W.  T.  Elliott,  H.  M.  Bindloss  (Midland 
Chemists’  Assistants’  Association),  etc.  Mr.  A.  Gregory’s  band 
supplied  the  music,  and  the  duties  of  M.C.  were  discharged  by 
Mr.  E.  J.  Reynolds.  The  general  arrangements  were  admirably 
carried  out  by  Mr.  Charles  Thompson  and  Mr.  J.  C.  Mackenzie. 
Dancing  was  kept  up  till  two  o’clock. 


Edinburgh  District  Chemists’  Trade  Association, 

Thursday,  21st  inst. — The  fourteenth  annual  ball  took  place  in  the 
Freemasons’  Hall,  George  Street.  About  eighty  couples  were 
present,  and  a  very  pleasant  evening  was  spent  to  the  music  of 
Mr.  Craig  Lumden’s  band.  The  duties  of  M.C.  were  efficiently 
discharged  by  Messrs.  Butchart  and  Jardine,  and  an  excellent 
supper  was  purveyed  by  Mr.  Sawers.  All  the  arrangements  were 
admirably  carried  out  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  R.  I.  Macdougall, 
convener  of  the  Committee. 


PARLIAMENTARY  NOTES  AND  NEWS- 


The  Committee  of  Inquiry  on  petroleum  is  to  be  reconsti¬ 
tuted  at  an  early  date.  Though  the  Committee  took  a  large 
amount  of  evidence,  chiefly  scientific,  last  session,  its  work  is  by 
no  means  completed.  The  vexed  question  of  construction  of 
lamps,  and  the  commercial  considerations  involved  in  amending 
the  present  regulations  as  to  storage  of  the  oil,  will  necessitate  the 
examination  of  a  number  of  witnesses  yet.  If  it  be  found  impos¬ 
sible  to  report  finally  on  the  subject  during  the  Session,  public  regret 
will  be  tempered  by  the  feeling  that,  at  any  rate,  when  legislation 
does  come  it  may  be  expected  to  be  thorough. 

The  Royal  Commission  on  Tuberculosis  has  resumed  its 
meetings  and  is  taking  evidence  three  days  a  week,  under  the 
chairmanship  of  Sir  Herbert  Maxwell,  M.P.  The  witnesses  are 
for  the  most  part  medical  officers  to  Metropolitan  Boards,  or  to 
large  Provincial  Boroughs,  and  Inspectors  of  meat  to  various  local 
Health  Authorities. 


First  Readings  of  a  multitude  of  private  members’  measures 
took  place  on  the  22nd  inst.  Among  the  host,  may  be  noted 
several  which  have  seen  more  than  one  session,  and  it  is  sad 
to  think  that  some  will  also  have  to  reappear  at  future 
sessions  if  they  are  to  be  enacted.  The  subject-matter  of  these 
Bills  covers  a  very  wide  range  and  seems  devised  to  advance  every 
department  of  human  activity  but  pharmacy,  and  to  benefit  every 
class  of  worker  but  the  chemist.  The  “  Deceased  Wife’s  Sister” 
— that  doyen — of  Bills — makes  its  reappearance  under  the  segis 
of  Mr.  Spicer.  Education  is  represented  by  Sir  A.  Forwood’s 
Bill  to  permit  School  Boards  to  assist  Voluntary  schools  out 
of  the  local  rates,  and  by  a  Bill  to  amend  the  Education  Acts  of 
1870  and  1871  (Sydney  Gedge).  Sir  J.  Lubbock  and  Sir  C.  Dilke 
take  up  the  cause  of  the  shop  assistant,  the  former  with  his  now 
familiar  Shops  (Early  Closing)  Bill,  and  the  latter  with  a  “  Bill  to 
amend  the  law  relating  to  Shops.”  Other  measures  of  passing 
note  are  those  dealing  with  the  registration  and  inspection  of 
boilers,  the  registration  of  plumbers  (which,  by  the  way,  is  en¬ 
dorsed  by  Dr.  Farquharson),  the  suppression  of  street  noises,  old 
age  pensions,  and  the  simplification  of  registration  for  parlia¬ 
mentary  voting.  In  face  of  the  rumours  that  the  Government 
will  early  take  Wednesdays  for  its  own  business,  there  seems 
little  hope  for  a  large  portion  of  the  foregoing. 

Sale  op  Food  and  Drugs. — A  Bill  to  consolidate  and  amend 
the  law  relating  to  the  Sale  of  Food  and  Drugs  has  been  introduced 
by  Mr.  Kearley,  and  is  supported  by  Sir  James  Wodehouse,  Mr. 
Horace  Plunket,  Mr.  Lambert,  Mr.  Jeffreys,  Mr.  Nicol,  Mr. 
Channing,  and  Mr.  Maurice  Healey.  Second  reading  is  fixed  for 
Thursday,  March  18. 

The  Vaccination  Question  gives  promise  of  maintaining  its 
position  as  a  favourite  pretext  for  minister-baiting.  The  Session  is 
little  more  than  a  week  old,  and  already  the  question  paper  bears 
several  cunningly-worded  queries  intended  to  draw  official  replies 
favourable  to  the  particular  opinions  of  the  interrogator,  or  those 
for  whom  he  acts.  Mr.  Logan,  who  was  sent  to  St.  Stephens  by  a 
somewhat  decided  anti-vaccination  constituency  (Leicester),  has 
been  first  in  the  field  by  asking  the  President  of  the  Local  Govern¬ 
ment  Board  whether  the  Government  intends  to  carry  out  the 


98 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Jan.  30,  1897  1 


recommendations  of  the  Royal  Commission  (for  a  precis  of  which 
see  Pharmaceutical  Journal,  Aug.  22,  p.  173).  In  the  absence  of  the 
President  of  the  Department,  Mr.  T.  W.  Russell,  the  Parliamentary 
Secretary,  stated  that'  the  report  of  the  Commission  was  receiving 
the  consideration  of  the  Local  Government  Board.  It  was,  how¬ 
ever,  the  duty  of  Boards  of  Guardians  to  enforce  the  existing  law, 
and  the  Report  did  not  in  any  way  relieve  them  from  that  duty. 
“What  is  the  existing  law?”  asked  Mr.  Lough  (W.  Islington) ;  and 
“Would  it  not  be  advisable  to  alter  the  law  in  conformity  with  the 
Commissioners’  Report  ?”  added  Mr.  Logan.  But  on  both  these 
points  Mr.  Russell  was  diplomatically  dumb. 

Ministry  of  Public  Health. — Commenting  on  the  increasing 
pressure  of  departmental  duties  at  the  Local  Government  Board, 
we  recently  hinted  at  the  possibility  of  advantage  resulting  from 
the  constitution  of  a  Department  of  Public  Health  {Ph.  J.,  Dec.  19, 
p.  534).  The  same  idea  seems  to  have  occurred  to  Mr.  Fortes  cue 
Flannery  (Shipley),  who  has  now  recorded  his  intention  of  moving 
at  the  earliest  opportunity  that  “it  is  desirable  that  a  Depart¬ 
ment  of  Public  Health  be  constituted,  and  that  the  same  be  under 
the  charge  of  a  responsible  minister  having  a  seat  in  Parliament.” 

The  Early-Closing  Bill  has  now .  been  circulated  and  is 
pi’actically  identical  with  the  measure  which  passed  through  Grand 
Committee  last  Session.  The  saving  clause  for  pharmaceutical 
chemists,  chemists  and  druggists,  and  registered  druggists  is 
retained.  The  second  reading  of  the  Bill  was  in  the  first  place 
ut  down  for  Monday  25,  then  for  the  following  day,  and  has  now 
een  relegated  to  February  1.  Three  unsympathetic  legislators 
have  placed  “blocking”  notices  in  the  way  of  the  Bill,  viz.,  Mr. 
R.  G.  Webster,  Mr.  Duncombe,  and  Major  Dalbiac. 


Food  Products  Adulteration. — Mr.  Kearley  duly  moved  the 
amendment  to  the  Address  standing  in  his  name.  Mr.  Jeffreys 
(Basingstoke),  in  seconding  the  motion,  submitted  that  British  pro¬ 
ducers  were  unfairly  hampered  by  the  admission  of  adulterated 
and,  consequently,  lower-priced  imports.  The  motion  also  had 
the  high  support  of  Mr.  Maurice  Healy,  who  complained  especially 
of  adulterated  butter.  Replying  on  the  debate,  Mr.  T.  W. 
Russell  pointed  out  that  the  Report  of  the  Select  Committee 
on  Food  Products  had  practically  only  just  been  received,  and 
immediate  legislation  could  hardly  be  looked  for.  A  Bill  dealing 
with  the  subject  would  be  no  doubt  contentious,  and  there  would 
be  great  difficulty  in  fixing  a  standard  of  purity.  A  draft  Bill  had 
been  prepared,  but  he  thought  it  improbable  that  it  could  be  intro¬ 
duced  this  Session.  Sir  W.  Foster  thought,  and  many  professional 
men  may  be  found  who  hold  similar  opinions,  that  the  difficulties 
as  to  standard  were  exaggerated.  He  hoped  for  an  early  introduc¬ 
tion  of  the  Bill.  Mr.  Balfour,  however,  considered  that  the 
Government  ought  not  to  be  asked  to  make  a  pledge.  And  thus 
the  amendment  fell,  with  the  assertion  of  Mr.  Lough,  by  way  of 
benediction,  that  the  worst  adulteration  was  done  in  this  country. 


PUBLICATIONS  RECEIVED. 


Our  Weights  and  Measures.  By  H.  J.  Chaney.  Pp.  157, 
illustrated.  Price  7s.  6 d.  London  :  Eyre  and  Spottiswoode, 
East  Harding  Street,  E.C.  1897.  From  the  Publishers. 

A  Simple  Method  of  Water  Analysis.  By  John  C.  Thresh, 
M.D.,  etc.  Pp.  47.  Price  2s.  6 d.  London  :  J.  and  A.  Churchill, 
7,  Great  Marlborough  Street.  1897.  From  the  Publishers. 

Jahresbericht  uber  die  Fortschritte  der  Chemie  und  ver- 
wandter  Theile  anderer  Wissenschaften.  Begriindet  von 
J.  Liebig  und  H.  Kopp.  Herausgegeben  von  F.  Fittica. 
Fur  1890.  Braunschweig  :  Druck  und  Yerlag  von  Friedrich 
Vieweg  und  Sohn.  1896.  From  the  Publishers 

The  Botanist’s  Pocket  Book.  By  W.  R.  Hayward.  Pp.  226. 
Price  4s.  6d.  London  :  George  Bell  and  Son.  1896.  From  the 
Publishers. 

The  Natural  and  Artificial  Methods  of  Feeding  Infants  and 
Young  Children.  By  Edmund  Cantley,  M.D.  (Cantab).  Pp. 
376.  Price  7s.  6 d.  London  :  J.  and  A.  Churchill,  7,  Great 
Marlborough  Street,  W.  1897.  From  the  Publishers. 

Dental  Surgery  for  Medical  Practitioners  and  Students  of 
Medicine.  By  A.  W.  Barrett,  M.B.  (Lond.),  M.R.C.S., 
L.D.S.E.  Pp.  154.  Price  3s.  6 d.  London  :  H.  K.  Lewis,  136, 
Gower  Street,  W.C.  1897.  From  the  Publisher. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


All  Articles,  Letters,  Hotlcea,  and  Reports  Intended  for 
publication  In  the  Journal,  Books  for  Review,  and  com¬ 
munications  respecting  Editorial  matters  generally,, 
must,  be  Addressed  “Editor,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square, 
London,’’  and  not  in  any  case  to  individuals  supposed 
to  be  connected  with  the  Editorial  Staff.  Communica¬ 
tions  for  the  Current  Week’s  Journal  should  reach  the 
Office  not  later  than  Wednesday,  but  news  can  be  Re¬ 
ceived  by  Telegraph  until  4  p.m.  on  Thursday. 

Correspondents  who  wish  notice  to  be  taken  of  their  communications  must 
write  in  ink,  on  one  side  of  the  paper  only,  and  should  authenticate  the. 
matter  sent  with  their  names  and  addresses — of  course  not  necessarily  for 
publication.  No  notice  can  be  taken  of  anonymous  communications. 

Names  and  Formula:  should  be  written  with  extra  care,  all  systematic  names 
of  plants  and  animals  being  underlined,  and  capital  letters  used  to  commence 
generic  but  not  specific  names. 

Any  Instructions  from  Members,  Associates,  and  Students  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society,  with  reference  to  the  transmission  of  the  Journal,  should  be  sent  to 
the  Secretary — Mr.  Richard  Bremridge, — 17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  London. 

Business  communications — including  advertisements,  orders  for  copies  of  the 
Journal,  and  instructions  from  Subscribers  respecting  transmission  of 
same — must  be  addressed  to  the  Publishers,  5,  Serle  Street,  Lincoln’s  Inn, 
London.  Cheques  and  money  orders  should  be  made  payable  to  “Street 
Brothers.” 

Drawings  for  illustrations  should  be  executed  twice  the  desired  size  ;  clean, 
sharp  lines  being  drawn  with  a  pen  and  liquid  Chinese  ink.  Shading  by 
washes  is  inadmissible.  Photographs  can  be  utilised  in  certain  cases. 

Reprints  of  articles  cannot  be  supplied  unless  authors  communicate  with 
the  Editor  before  publication. 


An  Appeal. 

Sir, — The  “  Diamond  Jubilee”  of  Her  Most  Gracious  Majesty’s 
reign  is  likely  to  be  a  historic  year  in  the  annals  of  charities. 
Throughout  the  world  loyal  subjects  of  our  beloved  sovereign  are- 
considering  the  most  fitting  way  of  marking  their  appreciation  of 
all  the  blessings  which  have  attended  her  long  and  beneficent' 
reign,  and  we  have  the  assurance  of  H.R.H.  The  Prince  of  Wales- 
that  no  form  will  be  more  pleasing  to  Her  Majesty  than  those 
having  for  their  object  the  alleviation  of  human  suffering  and 
distress.  May  I  then  most  respectfully  suggest  that  we  who  are 
engaged  in  the  calling  of  pharmacy  make  it  a  memorable  year  in 
connection  with  our  Benevolent  Fund.  A  most  deserving  cause,, 
and,  unlike  many  other  charities,  bestowing  a  maximum  of  help  at 
a  minimum  of  cost  to  the  Fund.  Let  us  make  one  grand  united 
effort  to  put  it  into  a  sound  position,  such  as  it  has. not  hitherto 
known,  and  thereby  enable  the  distributors  of  the  Fund  to  dispense 
more  relief  to  the  distressed  and  add  some  scrap  of  comfort  to  the 
lives  of  our  less  fortunate,  though  not  necessarily  less  deserving 
brothers  and  sisters. 

The  plan  I  would  propose  is  (1)  that  each  present  subscriber 
double  his  subscription  for  this  year ;  (2)  that  every  chemist  or 
chemist’s  assistant  not  already  a  subscriber  be  personally  invited 
to  become  one,  and  (3)  that  an  organised  plan  of  campaign  be 
arranged  to  cover  the  whole  of  Britain.  In  many  districts, 
the  local  secretary  will  be  all  sufficient  for  the  purpose ;  in- 
others  he  may  probably  succeed  better  if  supported  by  a 
second,  whilst  in  others  it  may  be  necessary  to  accomplish  the 
work  in  a  reasonable  time  (owing  to  the  large  area  of  the  local 
secretary’s  jurisdiction)  that  he  has  a  fair  number  of  coadjutors, 
and  that  these  should  again  be  divided  to  work  in  pairs.  In  sparsely 
peopled  districts  and  outside  the  reasonable  limits  of  a  secretary’s 
working  area  representatives  of  wholesale  drug  firms  might  be 
asked,  and  would,  I  feel  sure,  be  found  willing  to  render  this  small 
service ;  and  to  this  end  a  few  of  the  principals  of  the  leading- 
firms  might  be  invited  to  co-operate  and  nominate  one  or  more  of 
their  “  commercials  ”  for  particular  localities.  It  should  not  be  a 
difficult  matter  to  arrange  the  ground,  and  if  you,  sir,  or  our 
estimable  secretary  would  convene  a  meeting  at  the  Society’s 
rooms  or  at  some  central  place  in  London,  it  might,  so  far  as 
England  and  Wales  are  concerned,  soon  be  un  fait  accompli. 

Our  Scottish  brethren  who  work  the  North  British  territory 
might  be  similarly  marshalled  by  our  genial  friend  Mr.  Rutherford 
Hill,  and  thus  the  chemist  in  the  far-off  village  or  secluded  hamlet, 
would  be  reached  and  afforded  an  opportunity  of  joining  in  this 
grand  work  of  charity.  Will  the  local  secretaries  throughout  the 
country  see  to  their  portion  of  the  work  ?  Will  volunteers  offer 
themselves  in  this  and  other  large  centres,  so  that  the  work  may¬ 
be  apportioned  and  begun?  And  will  everyone  who  reads  this 


Jan.  30, 1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


99 


appeal  take  it  as  a  direct  personal  one,  and,  whilst  being  grateful 
for  the  peace  and  general  prosperity  which  have  marked  our  good 
Queen’s  reign,  be  thankful  for  the  opportunity  of  showing  his 
gratefulness  in  a  practical  sympathy  with  those  who  have  fallen 
upon  hard  times  ? 

January  23,  1897.  Harry  Kemp, 

Local  Secretary  for  Manchester. 

The  Journal  and  its  Students’  Page. 

Sir,— “  The  Students’ Page  ”  is  undoubtedly  a  capital  addition 
to  the  Journal.  Might  I  suggest  a  similar  page  being  devoted  to 
the  encouragement  of  Major  students  ?  I  think  you  will  agree  with 
me,  sir,  that  there  are  many  newly-fledged  “Minor  ”  men  who  would 
continue  their  studies  for  the  Major  examination  if  it  were  not  for 
further  considerable  expense,  and  a  loss  of  quite  six  or  nine  months’ 
time  from  business.  Further,  the  advantages  derived  from  the 
possession  of  this  additional  qualification  in  our  present  time,  in 
the  opinion  of  we  young  “  Minor  ”  men — whatever  our  older  friends 
might  say — does  not  encourage  us  to  spend  so  much  more  time  and 
more  money  to  get  it.  It  seems  to  me  that  plenty  of  careful 
reading  is  needed  for  the  Major  examination,  and  the  majority  of 
young  qualified  men  of  the  present  day  having  had  a  systematic 
course  of  tuition  for  the  Minor,  with  a  few  hints  on  the  various 
“  Major  ”  subjects,  some  guidance  as  to  what  is  expected  would 
enable  them  to  master  almost,  if  not  quite,  all  the  theoretical 
studies  after  business  hours  or  at  home.  After  allowing  this 
method  of  study  to  extend  over  some  twelve  or  eighteen  months, 
I  believe  three  months’  practical  work  under  a  good  tutor  would 
enable  the  average  “ Minor ”  man  to  pass  the  “Major.”  This  I 
believe  would  be  a  practical  step  towards  increasing  not  only  the 
number  of  Associates  of  the  Society,  but  also  multiply  the  number 
of  candidates  for  the  Major  examination.  Though  only  a  “Minor” 
myself,  I  realise  that  it  is  the  “  Major  ”  men  who  chiefly  keep  the 
Society  more  closely  together,  because  having  continued  their 
studies  after  merely  qualifying,  interest  in  the  Society  continues 
as  a  result,  so  that  only  in  a  few  cases  does  that  interest,  once 
.  having  got  a  firm  hold,  dwindle  away,  as  is  the  evident  case  with 
so  many  “Minor”  men  who  lose  all  interest  in  the  Society  very 
soon  after  qualifying.  It  is  useless  trying  to  draw  old  sheep  into 
the  fold — try  your  hand  at  we  youngsters  by  the  plan  I  have  here 
suggested  and  note  the  result. 

Weymouth,  January  18,  1897.  Qualified  (77/17). 


Sir, — In  common  with  the  majority  of  the  members  of  the 
Society,  I  have  been  greatly  pleased  with  the  recent  alteration  and 
development  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal.  Surely  no  young 
apprentice  or  student  can  now  say  that  he  finds  nothing  in  the 
weekly  issue  to  interest  him.  Nor  can  the  busy  pharmacist  com¬ 
plain  that  the  same  number  contains  no  business  matter.  To 
cater  for  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  active  pharmaceutical  life  and 
still  retain  the  premier  place  in  the  domain  of  scientific  literature 
is  a  heavy  task  to  attempt.  You  seem,  however,  to  have  a  happy 
way  of  mastering  difficulties,  and  I  heartily  congratulate  you  upon 
the  success  which  you  have  already  achieved. 

Shrewsbury,  January  23,  1897.  <t.  W.  Gowen  Cross. 


Sir, — Having  read  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  now  for  over 
twenty  years,  I  am  able  to  appreciate  the  efforts  to  make  it  a 
really  representative  Trade  Journal.  “  The  Students’  Page  ”  is  a 
great  addition. 

Honiton,  January  21,  1897.  E.  H.  Dyer. 


The  Regulation  of  Prices. 

-  Sir, — Mr.  Snook’s  letter  which  you  published  in  last  week’s 
Journal  covers  nearly  all  the  ground,  but  I  should  like  to  empha¬ 
sise  one  point,  viz. ,  that  it  is  to  the  interest  of  all  manufacturers 
to  enlist  the  active  and  friendly  co-operation  of  all  who  retail  their 
goods. .  As  the  cheapest  method  of  increasing  their  sales,  costly 
advertising  is  all  very  well,  but  most  of  it  is  quite  unnecessary, 
and  merely  means  the  senseless  giving  away  of  profits.  Old  time 
retail  profits  are  a  thing  of  the  past  ;  all  we  want  is  a  reasonable 
living  profit  in  return  for  our  help  in  stocking  and  sell¬ 
ing  articles  which  at  best  cannot  be  very  remunerative, 
and  an  end  put  to  the  present  unsatisfactory  state  of  things 
which  upsets  public  confidence  all  round.  I  should  like,  also,  to 
point  out  the  help  derived  from  catering  for  drug  stores  is  of  more 
than  doubtful  benefit.  ( 1 )  Because  drug  stores  invariably  run  articles 


as  much  as  possible  like  those  they  sell  (as  rarely  as  possible)  at 
store  prices  ;  (2)  because  they  are  anybody’s  friend,  and  ready, 
for  a  consideration,  to  fill  their  window  and  boom  A’s  baby’s  food 
to-day  and  do  the  same  for  B’s  food  next  week  and  C’s  food  the 
week  after,  all  the  while  pushing  their  own  food  at  the  expense  of 
all  three.  Makers  of  proprietaries  should  note,  too,  they  lack  an 
element  of  stability,  which  may  some  day  prove  their  ruin.  There 
are  journals  now  in  existence  which  sell  cigarettes.  Why  not 
pills  ?  And  where  will  the  pattent  medicine  proprietors  be  when 
their  advertisements  are  neither  asked  for  nor  wanted.  They  will 
be  in  the  unenviable  position  of  not  having  a  friend  in  the  world. 
Said  a  German  to  me  the  other  day,  “  Such  a  state  of  things  as 
you  describe  would  be  impossible  in  Germany,  because  no  one 
would  be  such  a  fool  there  as  to  trade  without  a  profit.”  I  am  glad 
to  think  common-sense  is  beginning  to  assert  itself  over  here. 

January  26,  1897.  Honest  Trader  (78/10). 


Sir,; — Although  outsiders  like  myself  may  read  with  interest  the 
reports  of  the  doings  of  the  P.A.T.A.,  may  admire  its  tenacity  of 
purpose  and  the  unity  which  has  already  caused  its  power  to  be 
felt,  yet  many,  no  doubt,  like  myself,  seek  in  vain  to  learn  and  be 
convinced  of  the  practical  utility  of  what  has  been  accomplished 
and  what  is  to  be  accomplished  in  the  future.  Suppose  that  all 
the  proprietors  of  patent  medicines  of  note  consent  to  put  their 
articles  on  the  protected  list,  with  a  uniform  retail  selling  price, 
what  is  the  position  then  ;  viz. ,  that  articles  which  have  hitherto 
been  bought  by  the  cutting  trader  at  10s.  per  dozen  and  sold 
at  10 \d.  each  are  now  bought  by  him  at  11s.  6 <7.  dozen  and 
sold  at  Is.  1  \d.  each,  still  leaving  in  his  hands  a  branch 
of  business  which  yields  a  very  large  return,  is  no  trouble 
to  handle,  and  forces  him  to  take  a  gross  profit  of  some 
15  per  cent.  True,  they  have  been  deprived  of  a  very  great 
draw,  but  then  there  is  nothing  original  in  using  this  means  in  the 
retail  trade  to  obtain  customers;  it  is  done,  and  has  been  for 
years,  by  drapers  and  grocers,  and  in  every  trade  where  competi¬ 
tion  is  very  keen.  Are  we  to  think  because  we  have  deprived 
them  of  this  method  of  advertising  and  yet  left  in  their  hands  a 
largely  increased  profit  that  there  is  no  other  way  open  to  them  ? 
It  has  been  suggested  that  chemists  foster  some  special  proprietary 
of  their  own,  and  by  company  trading  find  the  means  to  advertise 
it  and  push  the  sale,  but  this  way  is  also  open  to  any  of  the  large 
drug  stores,  which  are  in  the  hands  of  business  men  with  plenty 
of  capital  behind  them,  who  could  develop  many  specialties  and 
advertise  them  in  a  way  that  would  be  impossible  to  chemists 
acting  either  singly  or  in  concert.  Suppose  when  the  stores  are 
deprived  of  the  patent  medicine  draw  they  turn  round  and 
commence  universal  cutting  in  drugs,  for  if  you  look  through  the 
lists  of  the  large  cutting  stores  you  will  find  many  articles  in 
common  demand  that  would  still  bear  a  considerable  reduction  in 
price,  and  for  which  if  the  public  were  simply  charged  a  bare  trade 
profit,  the  demands  of  the  chemist  might  be  made  to  appear  far 
more  exorbitant  than  the  3d.  in  the  Is.  obtained  for  patents.  The 
line  of  action  which  would  bring  about  such  a  result  seems  to  me 
to  savour  largely  of  putting  us  out  of  the  frying-pan  into  the  fire. 
Side  by  side  with  this  outcry  to  stem  the  torrent  of  bad  times  upon 
which  the  chemist  has  fallen  comes  the  optimistic  little  leader  in 
the  Journal  on  “  The  Trade  in  Proprietary  Articles,”  in  which  we 
are  assured  that  although  the  number  of  chemists  is  greater,  yet 
on  the  average  they  are  almost  certainly  better  off  than  their  pre¬ 
decessors  of  some  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  ago,  whilst  “how  much 
more  so  he  (the  average  chemist  and  druggist)  maybe  rests  largely 
with  himself  to  decide.”  Are  chemists  then  generally  doing  well), 
but  continuing  to  grumble  to  prevent  it  being  found  out? 

Coleford,  January  26,  1897.  F.  H.  Scutham. 


Chemists’  Federation. 

Sir, — Mr.  Cooper  is  quite  right  in  his  assumption  that  I  am  in 
favour  of  some  such  scheme  as  propounded  by  Mr.  Foulston,  and  I 
think  it  is  a  subject  that  might  with  advantage  be  discussed  by  local 
associations  at  present,  with  a  view  to  future  action  if  necessary, 
and  found  practicable.  At  present  I  would  suggest  that  retail 
chemists  should  concentrate  their  efforts  at  making  the  present 
trade  movement  (P.A.T.A. )  a  success,  by  joining  and  inducing 
others  to  join. 

They  would  then  be  able  to  form  an  opinion  as  to  who  were 
willing  amongst  the  proprietors  to  try  and  safeguard  retail 
interests,  and  who  were  indifferent.  The  retail  trade  must  have 
a  little  more  patience,  or  else  bestir  itself  more  in  its  own  interests. 


[Jan.  30,  1897 


H'O  "PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


It  cannot  expect  proprietors  who  have  invested  many  thousands  of 
pounds  in  advertising  their  preparations  to  join  any  scheme 
without  full  consideration,  and  until  they  have  come  to  the  con¬ 
clusion  that  it  is  to  their  own  interests*  as  well  as  to  the  interests 
of  the  retailers.  It  is  very  encouraging  to  see  what  successful 
meetings  in  support  of  the  P.  A.  T.  A.  have  been  held  in  the  North, 
and  the  action  of  so  shrewd  and  successful  a  business  man  as  Mr. 
Snook  should  attract  new  members  to  the  retail  section,  and 
encourage  proprietors  to  take  the  same  step. 

Plymouth,  January  25,  1897.  Charles  J.  Park. 


The  Minor  Examination  Syllabus. 

Sir,  —On  page  72  of  last  week’s  journal,  in  some  annotations  on 
the  Minor  examination  syllabus,  you  refer  to  a  feeling  among 
students  that  the  examiners  require  more  than  is  stated  in  the 
syllabus  from  a  candidate.  You  advise  students  to  reject  this 
idea,  and  to  “give  the  examiners  credit,”  etc.  But,  sir,  there  are 
scores  of  students  who  have  passed  the  examination,  as  well  as 
many  who  have  failed,  who  could  tell  you  of  many  a  question 
asked  quite  unprovided  for  by  the  published  syllabus. 

It  is  some  years  now  since  I  was  plucked  at  the  Pharmacy  table 
by  an  examiner,  who  was  the  essence  of  kindness  and  politeness  to 
his  candidates,  but  who  “regretted  that  he  could  not  pass”  me 
unless  I  could  write  out  all  the  ingredients  of  three  compound  tinc¬ 
tures.  Five  out  of  six  I  gave,  but  a  nervous  memory  refused  to  re¬ 
call  the  sixth,  and  I  was  rejected.  Again,  in  a  very  recent  examina¬ 
tion  I  know  a  candidate  who  was  closely  questioned  in  the 
chemistry  room  on  crystallography.  He  admitted  to  the  ex¬ 
aminer  that  he  had  not  studied  the  subject  “as  it  is  not  men¬ 
tioned  in  the  syllabus,”  and  was  met  with  this  reply — “I  know  it 
isn’t,  but  you  can’t  study  chemistry  or  pharmacy  without  it, 
because  the  Pharmacopoeia  describes  certain  substances  as 
crystallising  in  certain  definite  forms.”  I  do  not  say  that  the  can¬ 
didate  was  ‘  ‘  ploughed  ”  on  crystallography,  but  I  believe  that  his 
failure  was  due  in  no  small  measure  to  his  being  confused  and 
frightened  by  the  introduction  of  that  subject. 

The  examiners  may  be  all  that  you  say  that  they  are,  sir,  and  I 
never  yet  met  any  student,  successful  or  otherwise,  who  could  say 
that  he  had  found  them  other  than  thorough  gentlemen  in  their 
manner  of  dealing  with  candidates,  but  there  are  more  than  one  or 
two  grave  faults  to  be  found  with  the  method  of  the  examination, 
and  you  would  confer  a  very  great  boon  on  the  future  candidates 
if  you  would  open  your  columns  to  a  free  discussion  of  the 
grievances  w  hich  do,  or  are  alleged  to  exist  in  connection  with  the 
Minor. 

January  21/.,  1897.  Audi  Alteram  Partem  (77/33). 

***  Space  is  found  for  the  above  letter  because  it  is  always  desirable  that  the 
baselessness  of  imaginary  grievances  should  be  exposed  whenever  possible. 
The  question  which  our  correspondent  alleges  was  the  cause  of  his  discom¬ 
fiture  in  the  examination  room  seems  to  us  an  eminently  proper  one,  as 
candidates  ought  certainly  to  know  what  ingredients-  are  contained  in  all 
official  preparations.  This  is  quite  a  different  matter  to  being  able  to  state 
off-hand  the  “proportion”  of- all  the  ingredients  in  any  preparation.  It  is 
extremely  doubtful,  too,  whether  rejection  was  due  to  failure  to  answer  this 
one  question.  .  The  probability  is  that  this  was  merely  the  culminating  point 
m  an  exhibition  of  decided  weakness  in  Pharmacy.  The  other  instance 
adduced  is  quite  beside  the  question,  for  assuming  the  accuracy  of  the  state¬ 
ment  that  the  candidate  was  “closely”  questioned  on  crystallography,  there 
is  no  evidence  that  his  interests  suffered  because  of  his  ignorance  of  the 
subject,  whilst  ability  to  answer  the  supposed  questions  would  have  been 
very  much  to  his  credit.— [Ed.,  Eh.  /.] 


A  Correction. 

Sir, — I  must  ask  you  to  allow  me  to  point  out  that  the  report 
given  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  of  January  23,  of  my  remarks 

P^A.T.A.  meeting  in  Newcastle,  is  not  quite  correct.  If  it  is  so 
altered  as  to  read  “proprietary  articles”  instead  of  “drug”  or 
“drugs,”  it  may  be  intelligible.  This,  together  with  “previous 
good  behaviour  ”  may  excuse  me  in  the  eyes  of  lenient  friends. 

Newcastle-on-  Tyne,  January  25, 1897.  "  T.  Maltby  Clague. 


A  Panegyric. 

Sir, — I  was  surprised  to  see  your  answer  to  Associate  (75/9)  in 
the  Journal  of  January  16,  re  boroglyceride,  as  the  present 
generation  of  pharmacists  are  more  indebted  to  Mr.  Martindale 
for  the  information  published  in  the  Extra  Pharmacopoeia  than  to 
any  other  living  pharmacist.  When  reading  the  answer,  I  thought 
you  had  vacated  the  editorial  chair  for  a  stool  in  the  research 
laboratory,  and  that  you  were  busy  on  aconitine  original  notes 
“  Made  in  Germany.”  It  has  not  surprised  me  that  Mr.  Martindale 
should  “feel  hurt”  by  such  remarks. 

-  London,  January  26,  1897.  John  Hick. 


ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 


[Queries  addressed  to  the  “  Editorial  Department,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  W.C.," 
will  be  replied  to  in  the  Journal  as  early  as  possible  after  receipt,  but  the  Editor 
cannot  undertake  to  reply  to  them  through  the  post,  nor  is  it  always  possible  to  publish- 
answers  the  same  week.  Questions  on  different  subjects  should  be  written  on  separate 
slips  of  paper,  each  of  which  should  bear  the  sender’s  name  or  initials.  Readers 
requiring  working  fornlula?  for  special  preparations,  and  intimating  their  wants  to  the 
Editor,  will  be  assisted  as  far  as  may  be  practicable.  The  word  “parts,"  when  used  in 
formula,  invariably  indicates  parts  by  weight.  Anonymous  queries  will  be  ignored .] 


Specimen  Identified. — They  are  the  seeds  of  Butea  frondosa, 
which  are  used  as  a  vermifuge.  [Reply  to  T.  H.  I). — 77/9.] 

Woven  Asbestos  Fabric. — You  will  probably  get  what  you 
require  from  Bell’s  Asbestos  Company,  59§,  Southwark  Street, 
S.E.  [Reply  to  J.  W.— 76/23.] 

Starch  Gloss. — Powdered  borax,  3  ounces  ;  paraffin  wax,  2 
drachms ;  dextrin,  f-  ounce ;  potato  starch,  6^  ounces.  Melt  the 
paraffin  and  pour  it  upon  the  mixed  powders  in  a  mortar.  Bub 
well  till  a  uniform  mixture  results.  [Reply  to  H20. — 77/7-] 

Butyric  Fermentation. — You  will  probably  succeed  with  the 
fermentation  process  you  mention  if  you  give  it  time  enough. 
Patience  is  essential  to  success  in  this  experiment.  The  best 
cheese  for  starting  the  process  is  thoroughly  rotten  cheddar,  mixed 
with  an  equal  weight  of  very  rancid  butter.  [Reply  to  H.  R. — 77/18.  ] 

To  Turn  Dark  Hair  Yellow. — The  only  satisfactory  body  for 
this  purpose  is  hydrogen  peroxide.  First  free  the  hair  from  any 
greasy  secretion  by  washing  in  water  containing  a  little  ammonia. 
Dry  well,  and  apply  the  peroxide  freely.  In  course  of  time  tlie 
hair  will  be  bleached  to  almost  any  degree  of  yellow  you  require. 
The  peroxide  is  perfectly  harmless.  [Reply  to  Lac. — 76/40.] 

Maggots  in  Canary  Seed. — Put  a  few  pieces  of  naphthalin  in  a 
piece  of  muslin  in  a  tight-fitting  tin  box  (a  100-ounce  quinine  tin 
or  a  biscuit  box),  pour  the  seed  upon  it,  close  up  the  lid,  and  let 
it  stand  in  a  moderately  warm  place  for  a  few  days.  Then  spread 
out  the  seed  to  the  air  until  every  trace  of  the  smell  of  napthalin 
has  gone.  It' is  soon  volatilised.  This  is  an  excellent  remedy  for 
maggots  and  also  for  “  moth  ”  in  clothes.  [Reply  to  M.  P.  S. — 77/10.] 

Handbook  of  General  Analysis. — You  will  probably  find 
Pearmain  and  Moor’s  ‘Aids  to  the  Analysis  of  Foods  and  Drugs,’ 
published  by  Ballicre,  Tindall,  and  Cox,  price  3s.,  the  most  use¬ 
ful  book  for  your  purpose  :  it  about  covers  the  ground  you  mention. 
A  more  extended  work,  invaluable  for  reference,  is  Muter’s  ‘  Short 
Manual  of  Analytical  Chemistry,’  published  by  the  same  firm, 
price  6s.  6dL  [Reply  to  H.  P.  M. — 77/6.] 


OBITUARY. 


Williams. — On  January  16,  Josiah  Thomas  Williams,  Chemist 
and  Druggist,  of  Coleford  (Clos. ).  Aged  72. 

Riley.— On  January  18,  John  Peet  Riley,  Chemist  and  Druggist, 
of  Hetton  (Yorks).  Aged  58. 

Mather. — On  January  19,  William  Mather,  Chemist  and  Druggist, 
of  South  Hylton  (Durham).  Aged  81. 

Crarer.—  On  January  20,  at  Park  Place,  Coupar  Angus,  Mrs. 
Crarer,  widow  of  John  Crarer,  Pharmaceutical  Chemist,  Blair¬ 
gowrie.  Aged  65  years. 

George. — On  January  21,  William  Arthur  George,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  of  Pentre  (Pontypridd).  Aged  30. 


NEWSPAPERS  sent  to  the  Editor  should  have  the  paragraphs 
marked  to  which  it  is  desired  to  call  attention.  Copies  have 
been  received  during  the  week  of  the  following Sheffield  Inde¬ 
pendent,  Henley  and  South  Oxfordshire  Standard,  Echo,  Standard, 
Liverpool  Daily  Post,  Scotsman,  Northern  Whig. 


COMMUNICATIONS,  LETTERS,  etc.,  have  been  received  from 

Messrs.  Anderson,  Austen,  Bailes,  Blythe,  Brayshay,  Brown,  Bustard,  Clague, 
Cocks,  Cracknell,  Cross,  Dyer,  Dyson,  Ferrall,  Glyn- Jones,  Groves,  Harris, 
Harrison,  Heaver,  Hick,  Hill,  Hogg,  Hoit,  Ince,  James,  Kelly,  Kemp,  Lucas, 
Martindale,  Matthews,  Miller,  Nall,  Netting,  Oliver,  Park,  Powell,  Reynolds, 
Roberts,  Scupham,  Squire,  Stewart,  Strachan,  Wallace. 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


101 


/W  f# 

6,| V 


'  \ 


-J— 


^-5  FEE 


RCIAL  CIVET. 


LDHAM  BRAITHWAITE. 

ingredient  in  perfumery  ;  its  consumption 
s  considerable  and  apparently  on  the  increase  ; 
the  production,  however,  is  necessarily  limited,  and  in  consequence 
the  price  has  materially  advanced  in  the  last  few  years.  Under 
these  circumstances  it  is  not  surprising  that  suspicion  has  been  ex¬ 
cited  as  to  the  purity  of  much  of  the  civet  met  with  in  commerce,  the 
more  so  since  it  is  a  product  which  lends  itself  readily  to  sophistica¬ 
tion.  Having  recently  had  occasion  to  examine  some  samples  of  com¬ 
mercial  civet,  I  found  that  few  data  of  any  value  for  determining  the 
relative  purity  of  this  substance  have  been  recorded.  I  therefore 
applied  to  Mr.  Bartlett,  the  Superintendent  of  the  Zoological 
Society’s  Gardens,  for  an  authentic  sample.  He  has  kindly  fur¬ 
nished  me  with  a  small  quantity  of  the  secretion  obtained  from  the 
civet  cats  under  his  charge.  From  this  I  have  been  able  to  obtain 
data  which  have  been  of  service  in  the  comparative  examination 
of  commercial  specimens,  and  which  appear  to  be  of  sufficient 
interest  to  put  on  record. 

The  civet  obtained  from  the  gardens  was  a  chocolate -brown 
stiff  mass  resembling  date  pulp  in  consistence.  The  odour  was 
distinctive,  powerful,  and  not  unpleasant.  The  reaction  was  faintly 
acid.  Examined  with  a  lens  it  was  seen  to  contain  much  sawdust 
derived  from  the  animals’  cage  and  numerous  hairs.  It  lost  6*45  per 
cent,  on  drying,  and  gave  4 ’9  per  cent,  of  ash,  but  these  figures  are 
not  of  any  value  for  comparison,  on  account  of  the  presence  of  the  saw¬ 
dust.  Upon  spreading  a  weighed  portion  on  an  Adam’s  paper  and  ex¬ 
tracting  it  with  light  petroleum  ether  in  a  Soxhlet  apparatus,  it  was 
found  that  the  exhausted  residue  consisted  almost  entirely  of  sawdust 
and  hairs,  and  was  practically  odourless,  showing  that  the  pure 
secretion  is  almost  wholly  soluble  in  petroleum  ether.  The  ex¬ 
tracted  portion  deprived  of  the  solvent  and  cautiously  dried 
amounted  to  39 '9  per  cent.  This  extracted  portion  consisted  of  a 
soft  brown  fatty  matter,  a  little  firmer  than  butter,  and  possess¬ 
ing  the  powerful  but  fragrant  odour  of  original  sample,  and  may 
be  considered  pure  “civet.” 

The  total  acid  number  of  this  fatty  substance  was  next  deter¬ 
mined  in  the  usual  manner  by  saponifying  with  alcoholic  potash 
and  found  to  be  140.  The  odour  of  the  soap  formed  in  this  process 
was  peculiar,  being  distinctly  alliaceous,  pointing  to  the  probable 
presence  of  a  sulphur  compound.  On  liberating  the  fatty  acids  a 
marked  odour  of  valerianic  and  butyric  acids  and  other  volatile 
fatty  acids  was  noted,  and  suggested  that  probably  the  determina¬ 
tion  of  the  saturating  power  of  these  bodies  might  furnish  a  useful 
figure.  The  whole  was  therefore  made  distinctly  alkaline,  and  the 
alcohol  cautiously  and  entirely  removed.  The  acids  were  then 
liberated  with  a  slight  excess  of  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  the  volatile 
fatty  acids  distilled  as  in  Reichert’s  method,  and  the  distillate 
titrated  with  decinormal  soda  solution.  The  volatile  fatty  acid 
number  for  1000  parts  of  “  civet  ”  was  found  to  be  32  3. 

Having  obtained  these  data,  three  samples  of  commercial  civet 
were  examined  in  a  similar  manner  and  afforded  figures  that  are  of 
considerable  interest.  All  differed  from  the  authentic  sample  in 
odour,  having  much  more  the  smell  of  rancid  butter  and  less  of  the 
agreeable  musky  odour. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  all  the  commercial  samples  give  a 
markedly  lower  figure  for  volatile  acids  than  the  authentic  speci¬ 
men,  while  the  total  acid  number  varies,  both  ways  being  too  low  in 
A  and  too  high  in  B  and  C.  In  all  instances  these  figures  indicate 
the  presence  of  foreign  fatty  matter.  Sample  A  is  noteworthy  for 
the  large  amount  lost  on  drying  :  the  figures  here  indicate  the 
undoubted  presence  of  added  water. 

Vol.  LVIII.  (Fourth  Series,  Vol.  IV.).  No.  1389. 


Loss  at  100° 
Ash  . 


Petrol.  Ether  Ext. 

Total  Acid,  No.  of  Pet 
rol.  Ether  Ext.  . 
Volatile  Acid,  No.  Pet 
Ether  Ext . 


Nature  of  Residue  in 
Petrol.  Ether 


to{ 


Sugar  in  Residue  Insol. 
in  Petro.  Ether . 


Sample  from 

Zoological 

Commercial 

Commercial 

Commercial 

(Freed  from 

Sample  A. 

Sample  B. 

Sample  C. 

Sawdust). 

+ 

30-1 

12-5 

23-4 

+ 

2  1 

4-4 

3-9 

Almost  wholly 
soluble. 

62  -9 

70-07 

50- 

140 

108 

166 

175 

32-3 

11 

11-5 

9 

Moist, 

Hairs,  etc. ; 

Dry,  slight 

Dry,  slight 

sticky, 

almost 

odour,  ster- 

odour,  ster- 

strong  ster- 

odourless. 

coraceous. 

coraceous. 

coraceous 

odour. 

None. 

None. 

None. 

Present  in 
quantity. 

The  characters  of  the  residues  differed  considerably.  In  the 
case  of  the  sample  from  the  Zoological  Gardens  there  was 
practically  nothing  but  hair,  except  the  sawdust  already  men¬ 
tioned,  and  this  residue  was  almost  odourless.  Sample  A  and  B 
gave  dry  residues  with  more  or  less  fsecal  odour,  while  C  was 
particularly  unpleasant  in  this  respect,  and  its  viscid  nature 
suggested  the  presence  of  saccharine  matter.  An  aqueous 
solution  of  this  after  inversion  with  hydrochloric  acid  gave  a 
copious  reduction  with  Fehling’s  solution,  a  reaction  which  was 
not  obtained  in  any  other  instance.  It  is  therefore  adulterated 
with  saccharine  matter  as  well  as  with  other  substances. 


That  the  adulteration  of  civet  is  old  established  is  shown  by  the 
very  interesting  paper  by  Boutran  Charland  in  the  Journ.  de 
Pliarm.,  1824  (the  only  published  note  upon  the  subject  with 
which  I  am  acquainted),  in  which  the  author,  after  enumerating 
the  various  adulterants  used,  states  that  the  natives,  in  order  to 
obtain  a  greater  product  from  their  animals,  introduce  fatty  matter 
into  the  pouches,  'which  they  remove  when  it  has  become  impreg¬ 
nated  with  the  odour  of  the  civet.  From  the  fact,  however,  that 
his  sample  was  alkaline,  evolving  fumes  of  ammonia  sufficient  in 
quantity  to  alter  the  colour  of  moistened  red  litmus  paper  when 
exposed  with  a  portion  of  the  sample  under  a  glass,  its  genuineness 
is  doubtful. 

I  am  endeavouring  to  obtain  a  sufficient  quantity  of  pure  civet 
to  further  determine  the  nature  and  composition  of  the  volatile 
bodies  to  which  the  odorous  properties  are  evidently  due. 

My  thanks  are  due  to  Messrs.  Wright,  Layman,  and  Umney,  in 
whose  laboratory  these  experiments  have  been  conducted. 


NOTE  ON  GUAIACUM  RESIN. 

BY  F.  L.  SMITH,  WOLVERHAMPTON. 

For  sometime  past  I  have  observed  that  commercial  guaiacum  resin 
when  made  into  tincture  leaves  a  considerable  amount  of  residue. 

As  the  British  Pharmacopoeia  is  silent  upon  this  point  I  deter¬ 
mined  to  make  a  quantitative  experiment ;  220  grains  were  placed 
in  a  bottle,  together  with  2 '5  fluid  ounces  of  rectified  spirit,  and 
after  the  whole  of  the  resin  had  dissolved,  the  tincture  was  filtered, 
and  the  residue  was  collected  upon  a  filter  paper.  This  residue  was 
washed  with  more  spirit  until  2-5  fluid  ounces  had  been  collected. 

The  filter  paper  and  its  contents  were  then  transferred  to  a 
Soxhlet’s  apparatus  and  exhausted  of  any  resin  they  might  retain 
by  means  of  rectified  spirit ;  the  filter  paper  and  its  contents  were 
then  removed  and  dried  at  the  temperature  of  the  laboratory. 
The  dry  residue  was  carefully  removed  from  the  paper,  and  when 
weighed  was  found  to  be  34-5  grains,  thus  corresponding  to  15 ’7 
per  cent,  of  the  guaiacum  acted  upon.  The  residue  was  then  in¬ 
cinerated,  and  an  ash  weighing  7 '40  grains  or  3'36  per  cent,  re¬ 
mained,  thus  showing  that  the  residue  was  mainly  organic  matter, 
for,  indeed,  it  appeared  to  be  chiefly  wood  and  bark.  Now  it  seems 


102 


P  EAR  MACE  UTICA  L  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  G,  1897. 


to  me  that  official  cognisance  should  be  taken  of  this  experiment, 
and  a  note  be  made  in  the  forthcoming  Pharmacopoeia  of  the  limit 
of  insoluble  debris  allowable  in  guaiacum  resin,  as  is  the  case  with 
asafcetida,  benzoin,  and  other  official  drugs  of  like  nature. 


The  Radiator. 


THE  PHYSICAL  PROPERTIES  OF  ELECTRIC  WAVES.* 

BY  PROFESSOR  J.  C.  BOSE. 

The  work  of  Hertz  and  of  Fitzgerald  in  the  investigation  of  the 
phenomenon  of  ethereal  vibration  has  invested  the  subject  with 
great  interest,  especially  with  regard  to  periodic  electrical  vibrations. 
Periodic  vibration  may  be  set  upby  various  means.  If  a  pendulum  be  set 
swinging  or  a  string  stretched  and  relaxed,  the  air  surrounding  would 
be  struck  periodically  and  thrown  into  motion  in  a  series  of  waves. 
Under  certain  conditions  such  vibrations  would  produce  the  phe¬ 
nomenon  of  sound,  and,  under  other  conditions,  other  phenomena 
would  result  according  to  the  length  of  the  wave  and  the  fre¬ 
quency  of  oscillation.  (Wave  motion  was  shown  by  an  arrange¬ 
ment  of  balls  strung  vertically  on  a  steel  support  which  was 
rapidly  rotated  by  an  electric  motor. )  It  will  be  observed  that 
the  periodic  disturbance  is  trans¬ 
mitted  along  the  whole  body,  and 
if  a  suitable  receiver  is  provided 
in  the  path  of  the  distui'bance  it 
responds.  If  the  frequency  of 
the  vibrations  is  increased  the 
wraves  become  shorter.  The  wave 
movement  in  this  case  is  lateral, 
but  an  illustration  of  a  vertical  oscillation  is  given  by  the  device 
now  shown .  This  consists  of  an  elastic  spring  suspended  by  one 
end,  and  having  attached  at  its  lower  extremity  a  piece  of  string. 
If  the  string  is  pulled  downwards  the  spring  is  stretched,  and  when 
the  string  is  released  the  elasticity  of  the  spring  will  cause  it 
to  fly  back  towards  its  original  position,  the  resulting  alternate  com¬ 
pression  and  relaxation  causing  the  body  to  oscillate  up  and  down. 

The  same  principles  are  involved  in  electric  vibrations. 
If  two  metallic  plates  be  charged  electrically  and  brought 
into  apposition,  the  air  between  them  is  affected,  and  a 
condition  of  tension  is  induced.  When  the  plates  are  dis¬ 
charged  suddenly  by  sparking,  this  tension  is  removed,  and  a  wave 
impulse  is  thus  given  to  the  medium.  Suppose  two  metallic  balls 
be  taken  and  placed  side  by  side,  one  charged  with  positive  and  the 
■other  with  negative  electricity  ;  if  now,  by  means  of  a  make  and 
breakapparatus,  these  balls  can  be  rapidly  discharged  and  re-charged, 

the  interveningmedium,  being  alternately 
rendered  tense  and  relieved  from  tension, 
will  be  made  to  vibrate.  The  mainten¬ 
ance  of  such  oscillations,  however,  was 
found  to  be  a  difficulty,  for  after  a  time 
the  surface  of  the  two  balls  become 
roughened,  owing  to  electric  action,  and 
leakage  ensued,  with  a  complete  cessa¬ 
tion  of  oscillatory  discharge.  Professor 
Lodge,  by  employing  two  side  balls  and 
an  interposed  sphere,  thought  to  get 
over  that  difficulty,  and  it  was  found 
that  the  presence  of  the  third  sphere  did 
improve  the  constancy  of  the  vibration, 
and  that  roughening  of  the  sparking 
balls  did  not  so  much  affect  the  oscillations.  Still,  even  with  this 
arrangement  the  electric  oscillations  after  a  time  cease.  Platinum 
is  found  to  resist  the  disintegrating 
action  of  the  current,  and  moreover, 
it  is  not  at  all  necessary  to  have  a 
series  of  sparks  to  produce  the  waves, 
one  break  being  quite  enough  to  pro¬ 
duce  a  flash  of  radiation  sufficient  for  a 
single  experiment.  Hence  in  the  radiator 
before  us  the  sparking  balls  and  the 
interposed  sphere  are  of  platinum,  and 
a  single-break  key  is  employed  instead 
of  the  usual  interrupter.  To  describe 
the  apparatus  a  little  in  detail,  a 
modified  RulimkorfFs  coil  (worked  by  a 
small  storage  cell)  charges  two  plati¬ 
num  balls  carried  on  jointed  elec¬ 

*  Notea  of  a  lecture  on  the  polarisation  of  the  electric  ray,  delivered  at  the 
Royal  Institution.  The  illustrations  are  reproduced  from  the  Philosophical  Maga¬ 
zine,  in  which  the  apparatus  devised  by  Professor  Bose  is  described  at  full  length. 


Fig.  2. — The  Radiating  Box. 


H> 


Fie. 


3. — The  Spiral  Spring 
Receiver. 


trodes,  and  ha  v  ing  a  larger  sphere  of  platinum  between  them  (Fig.  1 ). 
The  sparking  balls  are  made  very  small  to  get  rid  of  the  secondary 
disturbances  produced  by  the  coil  itself.  A  very  great  convenience 
results,  too,  in  having  short  wave  lengths  such  as  these  small 
radiating  balls  give,  for  if  we  have  large  waves  there  will  be  a 
larger  degree  of  divergence,  and  it  would  be  impossible  to  get 
sure  results  for  experiment.  This  radiator  gives  a  wave  length 
of  half  an  inch,  and  is  very  successful,  the  oscillations  correspond¬ 
ing  to  it  being  computed  at  50,000  millions  per  second.  The 
modified  coil  and  the  actuating  cell  are  enclosed  in  a  box  of  tinned 
iron,  and  this  again  is  placed  in  another  box  of  stout  copper  to 
prevent  any  disturbance  from  electric  leaking  or  stray  radiations. 
(Fig.  2).  In  front  of  the  box  is  a  tube  called  the  radiator  tube, 
to  which  may  be  fitted  various  supplementary  apparatus  required 
in  demonstrating  the  properties  of  the  electric  ray.  The  radiation 
flash  is  produced  by  means  of  the  button  at  the  back  of  the  box 
which  operates  the  break-key. 

For  the  detection  of  these  waves  a  modification  of  Professor 
Lodge’s  “coherer”  is  used.  The  first  receiver  was  composed  of 


■  Fig.  4. — Arrangement  of  the  Apparatus.  R,  Radiator ;  T,  Tapping  Key  ; 

8,  Spectrometer-Circle  ;  M,  Plane  Mirror  ;  C,  Cylindrical  Mirror ; 
p,  Totally  Reflecting  Prism ;  P,  Semi-Cylinders ;  K,  Crystal- 
Holder  ;  F,  Collecting  Funnel  attached  to  Spiral  Spring  Receiver  ; 
t,  Tangent  Screw  by  which  Receiver  is  rotated  ;  V,  Voltaic  Cell ; 
r,  Circular  Rheostat  ;  G,  Galvanometer. 

layers  of  metallic  filings  upon  which  the  radiation  effected  a  certain 
action,  possibly  in  the  nature  of  re-arrangement  of  the  particles  or 
a  molecular  change.  This  change  can  be  detected  by  electrical 
means,  for  the  conductivity  of  the  layers  is  altered  by  the  radia¬ 
tion,  and  may  be  readily  noted  by  the  galvanometer.  There  is, 
however,  no  dependence  to  be  placed  on  this  form  of  receiver ;  it 
does  not  respond  to  different  vibrations.  The  conditions  of  a  good 
receiver  are  (a)  it  should  be  fairly  sensitive ;  (b)  its  sensibility- 
should  be  uniform.  Now  the  loss  of  sensibility  in  the  coherer 
seemed  to  be  the  result  of  short  circuiting  between  the  inner  and 
outer  layer  of  filings,  and  this  difficulty  is  overcome  in  the  modified 
form  before  you.  It  consists  of  a  single  layer  of  spiral  springs  of 
coiled  steel  wire  laid  side  by  side,  thus  securing  something  like  1000 
points  of  contact,  and  maintaining,  by  the  elasticity  of  the  metal, 
a  uniform  pressure  throughout.  Even  now  the  receiver  shows 
signs  of  insensibility  at  times  because  the  sensibility  depends 
upon  the  pressure  to  which  the  spirals  are*  subjected  and  to  the 

E.M.F.  in  the  circuit.  But 
by  means  of  a  screw  (shown 
Fig.  3)  the  pressure  may  be 
adjusted,  and  the  E.M.F. 
may  be  controlled  by  means 
of  a  circular  rheostat.  In 
Fig.  5.  Arrangement  of  Semi-Cylinders.  order  to  prevent  lateral  rays 
from  interfering  with  the  action  of  the  receiver,  an  ebonite  funnel 
furnished  with  two  hinged  flaps  is  provided,  and  it  is  thus  possible 
to  vary  the  amount  of  radiation  collected.  The  receiver  is  in 
circuit  with  a  Daniell  cell  and  a  galvanometer,  the  latter  of  which 
carries  a  mirror  reflecting  a  beam  of  light  on  the  screen.  By 
manipulating  the  button  of  the  radiator  box  the  flash  of  radiation 
is  produced  sufficient  to  set  up  the  necessary  oscillations ;  the 
motion  is  transmitted  to  the  receiver,  the  resistance  in  the 
receiving  circuit  is  diminished,  and  the  resulting  deflection  of  the 
galvanometer  is  made  manifest  by  the  movement  of  the  spot  of 
light  on  the  screen.  The  general  arrangement  of  the  apparatus 
for  experiments  is  shown  in  Fig.  4. 

Substances  opaque  to  ordinary  light  permit  the  passage  of  the 
electric  ray,  and  it  is  seen  that  the  galvanometer  is  violently 


Feb.  6,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


103 


deflected  when  a  solid  substance,  such  as  ebonite,  is  interposed 
between  the  radiator  and  receiver.  Water,  which  is  transparent  to 
ordinary  light,  is  opaque  to  the  electric  radiation — -water  being  a 
conductor,  and  the  “colour”  of  the  invisible  ray  being  different 
from  that  of  ordinary  light.  Each  substance  has  a  selective  power 
of  absorption,  i.e.,  allows  certain  kinds  of  light  only  to  pass 
through  and  absorbs  the  rest.  A  brick  absorbs  ordinary  light, 
but  offers  no  obstacle  to  radiation.  Water  being  opaque,  it  might 
be  supposed  other  liquids  were.  Professor  Dewar’s  investigations 
gave  physicists  a  rather  rude  shock  by  showing  that  at  low 
temperatures  there  is  no  such  thing  as  resistance,  and 
one  became  curious  to  see  how  liquid  air  would  behave 
in  relation  to  the  electric  ray.  It  is  satisfactory  to  find  that  air 
even  when  liquefied  is  transparent  to  the  ray.  (This  was  shown, 
with  acknowledgments  to  Professor  Dewar  for  the  loan  of  the 
liquid  air. )  The  electric  ray  may  be  reflected.  To  show  this  ex¬ 
perimentally,  a  circular  plate  is  mounted  in  front  of  the  radiator- 

tube,  provided  with  a  ro¬ 
tatory  platform  on  which  may 
be  placed  the  different  articles 
to  be  tested.  The  receiver 
is  placed  on  a  radial  arm  (in¬ 
dexed)  and  always  points  to 
the  centre  of  the  circle ;  it 
Fig.  6. — Showing  increase  of  Incident  Angle  may,  however,  be  rotated 
on  Plane  Surface  separating  Semi-Cy-  to  any  angle.  If  now  a 
linders,  on  rotating  Platform.  plane  mirror  be  placed  in 

the  centre  of  the  circular  platform  and  the  platform  be  rotated 
so  that  the  mirror  is  at  right  angles  to  the  electric  beam,  and 
to  the  receiver,  the  beam  will,  if  it  follow  the  ordinary  laws  of 
reflection,  deflect  the  galvanometer  spot.  You  see  it  does  ;  showing 
that  the  electric  ray  is  capable  of  being  reflected  just  as  ordinary 
light  is  reflected.  A  curved  mirror  focusses  the  ray,  and  produces 
a  much  stronger  deflection  when  the  receiver  is  placed  at  the  point 
where  the  reflected  image  is  formed. 

It  is  also  possible  to  refract  the  ray.  Until  now  it  has  been 
impossible  to  determine  the  refractive  indices  of  solid  or  opaque 
substances,  but  the  radiation  waves  enable  us  to  do  this. 
Hertz  tried  to  find  the  indices  by  using  isosceles  prisms,  but  the 
amount  of  deviation  rendered  it  impossible  to  get  any  degree  of 
accuracy.  The  method  giving  the  best  results  is  that  depending 
on  the  determination  of  the  critical  angle.  Two  semi-cylinders  of 
ebonite  are  placed  on  the  platform,  their  plane  surfaces  facing 
each  other,  and  being  separated  by  a  slight  space  (Fig.  7).  The  beam 
passing  through  the  cylinders  is  focussed  on  the  receiver,  which 
will  always  respond  while  the  angle  of  incidence  remains  less 


Fig.  7.— Electric  Refractometer  ;  R,  Radiator  ;  C,  Receiver  ;  P  Q,  Semi- 
Cylinders  on  Rotating  Platform,  with  Metallic  Plate  interposed  to 
serve  as  a  Diaphragm  and  cut  off  all  but  Central  Rays. 

than  the  critical  angle.  The  platform  is  rotated  until  the  plane 
surfaces  of  the  semi-cylinders  are  at  such  an  angle  to  the  beam 
that  refraction  gives  place  to  total  reflection,  and  the  galvano¬ 
meter  records  no  action.  The  index  is  then  read,  and  the  plat¬ 
form  rotated  in  the  opposite  direction  till  a  similar  failure  of  the 
receiver  to  respond.  The  difference  in  the  two  readings  will  be 
twice  the  critical  angle,  and  from  that  the  refractive  index  may  be 
readily  computed. 

Passing  to  the  subject  of  the  lecture,  the  polarisation  of  the 
electric  raj',  the  polariser  consists  of  a  grating  made  by  cutting 
parallel  slots  in  a  metallic  plate,  and  the  analyser,  which  is  fitted 
to  the  receiver,  is  a  similar  grating.  These  gratings  are  better  than 
the  wire  gratings  of  Hertz,  because  there  is  no  chance  of  the  spaces 
getting  out  of  the  parallel.  The  polariser  being  placed  with  the 
gratings  vertical  in  front  of  the  radiator  tube,  and  the  analyser 
being  similarly  adjusted  on  the  receiver,  the  latter  responds 
to  the  ray.  If,  however,  the  analyser  be  disposed  so 


that  the  gratings  are  exactly  at  right  angles  to  those 
of  the  polariser,  the  polarised  ray  cannot  get  through 
to  the  receiver.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that,  in  the  flrst  instance 
the  radiation,  vibrating  vertically,  was  able  to  pass  through  the 
vertically  disposed  grating  of  the  analyser,  but  in  the  latter 
instance  the  horizontal  gratings  were  only  open  to  vibrations  in  a 
horizontal  plane.  If  the  grating  on  the  receiver  be  inclined  at  an 
angle  of  45°,  a  portion  of  the  ray  will  get  through  to  the  receiver. 
Certain  substances  have  the  power  of  doubly-refracting  light,  and 
of  acting  as  depolarisers.  Do  they  act  similarly  with  the  electric 
ray?  A  large  number  of  crystals  do — nemalite,  beryl,  apatite,. 


Fig.  S. — Polarisation  Apparatus  ;  K,  Crystal  Holder  ;  8,  Piece  of  Stratified 
Rock  ;  C,  Crystal ;  J,  Jute  Polariser ;  W,  Wire-Grating  Polariser ; 

D,  Vertical  Graduated  Disc  by  which  Rotation  is  measured. 

barytes,  for  instance.  If  crystals  of  these  substances  be  interposed 
between  the  polariser  and  the  analyser,  the  ray  is  depolarised  and 
the  galvanometer  is  deflected.  It  is  not  necessary  to  have  large 
crystals  for  the  purpose,  for  the  radiation  waves  are  much  longer 
than  light  waves.  The  piece  of  apatite  used  just  now  was  very 
small,  and  could  only  intercept  a  part  of  the  radiation,  but  it  was 
sufficient  to  demonstrate  the  depolarising  effect. 

Physical  tension  will  sometimes  produce  polarisation.  A  rect¬ 
angular  mass  of  paraffin  wax  strained  by  rapid  cooling  on  two  sides 
only  exhibits  the  phenomena.  Pressure  also  is  a  factor.  Nature 
has  provided  a  specimen  of  this  class  of  substance  in  stratified  rock, 
which,  it  is  seen,  acts  admirably.  Tourmaline,  which  produces  so 
great  an  effect  on  ordinary  light,  is  not  of  much  use  in  the  case  of 
the  electric  ray.  Human  hair  is  found  to  doubly  refract  the  radia¬ 
tion,  and  common  jute  also  ;  in  fact,  the  latter  exhibits  in  a  very 
strong  manner  the  property  of  absorbing  vibrations  parallel  to  its 
fibres  and  transmitting  those  oscillating  at  right  angles  to  that- 
plane.  A  book,  such  as  Bradshaw’s  railway  guide,  will  act  as  an 
almost  perfect  polariser  of  the  radiation  waves. 

POPULAR  PHARMACY.* 

BY  J.  C.  HYSLOP. 

Our  lot  is  cast  at  a  time  in  the  world’s  history  when,  more  than 
ever,  popularity  spells  success.  ‘  ‘  Vox  populi  vox  Dei”  itself,  but 
quite  a  modern  adage,  though  in  such  an  ancient  dress,  conveys 
an  idea  which  seems  to  have  given  the  main  impetus  to  everything 
for  nearly  a  century  past,  and  the  probable  developments  of  which 
it  would  stagger  the  mind  to  contemplate,  for  it  seems  to  permeate 
more  and  more  widely  all  the  undercurrents  of  life,  social, 
political,  and  industrial.  True,  the  best  informed  minds — the 
greatest  benefactors  to  mankind — the  most  skilled  craftsmen,  join 
as  they  ever  have  done  in  loving  adoration  of  a  “  divinity  that 
shapes  our  ends,  rough  hew  them  how  we  may,”  yet  to  the  best 
of  our  finite  intelligence  the  modus  operandi  of  all  the  underlying 
forces  of  the  moral,  as  of  the  physical  universe,  in  working  out 
for  the  greatest  number  the  greatest  good,  seems  more  than  ever 
to  be  the  result  of  some  innate  or  infused  life  in  the  mass  itself,  of 
which,  if  he  take  too  small  an  account,  your  philosopher,  politician, 
or  craftsman  is  altogether  at  sea. 

I  have  long  felt,  that,  as  to  pharmacy,  never  was  there  an  avoca¬ 
tion  which,  irrespective  of  times  or  clime  or  local  surroundings, 
stood  so  fair  for  popular  appreciation  if  only  cultivated  and 
worked  out  in  a  legitimate  manner.  And  in  the  recognition  of 
this  fact  lies,  I  think,  the  secret  of  the  success  of  the  founders  of 
the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain,  when  nearly  sixty 
years  ago  they  first  gave  the  craft  “  a  local  habitation  and  a 

*  Report  of  paper  read  before  the  Chemists’  Assistants’  Association. 


104 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  6,  1897 


name”  somewhat  befitting  its  imperial  dignity  and  universal 
importance.  From  the  earliest  times  of  which  any  record  exists, 
the  pharmacist,  long  known  as  the  “apothecary,”  i. e. ,  “store¬ 
keeper,”  because  in  primitive  times  a  sort  of  druggist — a  keeper  of 
dried  or  otherwise  prepared  medicaments  to  meet  the  urgency  of 
sudden  sickness  or  accident — was  the  only  kind  of  “  store¬ 
keeper”  required.  Food  and  clothing  and  other  periodic  neces¬ 
saries  being  provided  straight  from  their  natural  fresh  sources  as 
needed  by  the  individual  or  the  family  itself.  Hence  arose  the 
term  “apothecary,”  the  one  who  was  responsible  for  the  super¬ 
intendence  of  the  “apotheca”  or  stoi’e,  and  later  on  “druggist,” 
an  artist  in  dried  medicaments.  A.S.  drig  =  dry.  This  individual 
was  regarded  always  as  an  honoured  servant  of  the  public 
welfare,  at  times  somewhat  confounded  with,  at  others  as  distinct 
from  the  actual  medical  practitioner,  but  always  acting  in  harmony 
with  the  physician  and  enjoying  amongst  all  peoples,  barbarian 
and  civilised  alike,  a  reputation  on  a  level  with  that  of  the  priest¬ 
hood  amongst  the  different  religious  persuasions  of  those  times, 
which  now  are  seen  through  vistas  of  history  as  exulting  in  the 
simple  sunlight  of  serene  divinity  and  now  sunken  down  and 
enslaved  beneath  the  weight  of  accumulated  superstitions.  When 
at  the  dawn  of  the  Victorian  era  it  was  plainly  evident  that  so  far 
as  concerned  our  own  country,  this  distinguished  individual  was  in 
danger  of  sinking  to  a  condition  lower  even  than  that  in  which  the 
bard  of  Avon  had  depicted  him  some  centuries  before,  there  arose 
a  warm  nucleus  of  men — the  best  conditioned  of  their  craft — who, 
fired  with  a  zeal  for  the  timely  rescue  of  their  fellows,  deter¬ 
mined  upon  a  scheme  that  should  arrest  the  downward  course  of 
things  and  lead  him  back  to  a  position  of  honour  once  more,  and 
as  if  inspired  with  a  clear  forecast  of  what  an  enormous  factor 
public  opinion  was  about  to  be  in  the  making  or  marring  of  success 
in  every  line  of  things,  adopted  boldly  as  their  motto  that  watch¬ 
word  of  liberty  and  progress  under  which  we  fightto-day — “Habenda 
ratio  valetudinis  ” — “  We  must  attend  to  the  public  welfare.” 

One  who  means  to  go  right  must  keep  to  the  proper  definitions 
-of  the  words  he  uses.  What  then  is  pharmacy  ?  It  is  not  a 
science — nor  a  trade,  nor  a  profession — nor  yet  a  mixture,  nor  a 
compound  of  these.  As  our  words  become  better  defined  our 
ideas  are  more  refined,  industrial  activities  less  wasted,  and 
business  more  prosperous.  Pharmacy  is  an  art — stick  to  this  idea, 
there  is  more  in  it  than  appears  on  the  surface,  much  more.  It  is 
“the  art  of  choosing,  compounding,  and  dispensing  medicines”; 
cherish,  I  say,  this  definition,  let  no  sophistry  cheat  you  of  it. 
With  the  public  there  is  much  in  a  name,  and  it  is  to  be  regarded 
as  a  hopeful  sign  that  everywhere  the  members  of  the  craft  seem 
to  be  awakening  to  the  fitness  of  the  title  “pharmacist”  to 
designate  their  calling.  This  is  a  word  that  has  come  to  stay,  and 
to  flourish  amongst  us,  an  expressive  one,  not  too  long  and 
thoroughly  comprehensive.  He  who  practises  the  art  of 
“pharmacy”  is  a  “pharmacist,”  and  his  place  of  business  is  a 
“  pharmacy.”  This  is  on  all  fours  with  what  has  long  been 
recognised  with  respect  to  another  artist  and  sister  art ;  there  is  the 
art  of  “  surgery,”  the  artist  in  “  surgery”  is  a  “  surgeon,”  and  the 
place  where  his  business  is  carried  on  is  known  as  a  “surgery.” 
Surely  in  looking  back  upon  the  history  of  pharmacy  in  Great 
Britain  for  the  last  fifty  years,  we  cannot  fairly  be"  dissatisfied 
with  the  progress  that  has  been  made  in  the  amelioration 
of  our  lot.  Few  have  the  leisure,  and,  perhaps,  fewer  still  the  in¬ 
clination,  to  make  the  survey  ;  would  they  but  do  so,  our  advance 
to-day  on  towards  what  all  of  us  desire  would  be  greatly 
accelerated.  The  vulgar  notion  that  “history  repeats  itself”  is 
no  more  correct  than  most  other  vulgar  catchwords  are,  but  there 
is  an  underlying  truth  from  which  the  notion  has  arisen  and 
which  it  serves  to  cover  up ;  the  same  principles  of  justice  and 
goodness  are  always  in  danger  of  being  obstructed  by  the  same 
principles  of  personal  greed  and  other  impulses  of  evil  which 
change  their  dress,  but  not  their  nature,  with  circumstances,  and 
that  conjunction  of  the  good  and  the  bad  gives  rise  to  similar  re¬ 
sults  at  different  epochs  ;  the  same  causes  work  the  same  results 
by  different  means.  From  1840  to  1852  there  was  an  immense 
amount  of  prejudice  and  heavy  obstruction  to  be  overcome  before 
the  Legislature  would  sanction  a  Bill  to  give  a  distinguishing  name 
to  those  amongst  us  who  were  wise  enough  to  wish  for  it.  From 
1852  to  1868  obstruction  became  active  rather  than  passive,  and 
attempts  to  checkmate  the  cause  of  progress  were  made  again  and 
again  under  various  pretexts,  which  fortunately  had  to  come  to 
grief  because  of  their  hollowness.  However,  a  partial  success 
awaited  these  when  the  decisive  action  was  fought  out  in  the 
lobbies  of  the  House  of  Commons,  which  led  to  the  passing  of  the 


Pharmacy  Amendment  Act.  The  result  was  a  compromise,  or  we 
should  have  got  nothing  at  all.  The  proposed  Bill  that  would 
have  incorporated  the  whole  trade  into  one  recognised  body  with 
one  title,  and  retained  the  Minor  examination  as  one  necessary  for 
the  assistant’s  qualification  only  was  degraded  into  a  Poison 
Bill,  and  made  or  maintained  the  old  rift,  the  two  classes  being 
still  recognised  as  Pharmaceutical  Chemist  or  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  according  as  one  chose  to  pass  the  Major  or  rest 
content  with  the  Minor. 

What  seems  to-day  the  chief  desideratum  is,  that  recognising 
these  lessons  from  the  immediate  past,  we  should  close  up  our 
ranks,  discard  agitation  that  is  started  from  time  to  time  on  Minor 
issues,  and  see  to  spreading  abroad  amongst  the  laity  a  more 
accurate  knowledge  of  who  and  what  we  are,  for  what  sort  of 
service  it  is  that  we  are  compelled  by  law  to  pass  an  onerous  and 
an  expensive  course  of  study,  and  a  series  of  examinations  in 
various  branches  of  knowledge  before  being  allowed  to  practise  as 
pharmacists.  Everywhere  about  us  there  are  signs  that  the 
chemist,  as  he  is  still  called,  is  rising  in  popular  estimation ;  let 
him  but  stand  well  upon  his  own  true  and  proper  dignity  and 
endeavour  to  dispel  the  ignorance  that  still  lurks  chiefly  amongst 
the  effeminate  portion  of  mankind — male  and  female  alike — teach 
them  by  precept  and  by  practice  that  it  is  for  their  peculiar 
convenience  and  welfare  that  he  has  been  trained,  and  has 
had  set  upon  him  the  hall  mark  of  authority  by  the 
Legislature.  In  small  matters,  as  well  as  in  greater  ones,  let  him 
keep  this  aspect  of  his  position  before  them  analloyed  by  petty 
trading  matters,  so  as  to  show  that  he  is  not  a  universal  com¬ 
petitor  with  grocers  and  drapers,  barbers  and  oilshop  keepers,  and 
all  the  rest  of  tradesmen,  then  the  next  Parliamentary  move  may 
be  expected  to  be  a  far  more  satisfactory  one  than  those  that  have 
gone  before.  So  far  as  the  business  of  a  pharmacist  goes,  it  is 
entirely  of  a  retail  character.  The  B.P.  is  a  compilation  of  data 
by  which  we  are  to  diagnose  the  genuine  character  of  the  articles 
of  materia  medica  which  we  are  compelled  to  obtain  through 
wholesale  sources,  and  of  formula  to  direct  us  as  to  the  compound¬ 
ing  in  small  quantities  of  those  that  we  are  expected  to  prepare 
for  ourselves.  A  neglect  of  these  considerations  has  often  landed 
men  in  peculiar  difficulties,  and  tended  to  bring  upon  some  of  the 
formulae  very  unjust  criticism,  e.g.,  a  discussion  is  started  in  the 
journals  on  liq.  strychnin*  hyd.  After  a  lively  battle pr o  and  con  for 
some  weeks  it  suddenly  leaks  out  that  the  original  objector  was  a 
wholesale  manufacturer,  who  found  that  a  formula  given  to  direct 
a  pharmacist  to  make  two  ounces  for  his  own  dispensing  counter 
was  not  quite  applicable  for  the  preparation  and  storage  of  a  hogs¬ 
head.  We  often  see  in  print  the  terms  “retail  pharmacy,” 
“  wholesale  pharmacy,”  “  high-class  pharmacy,”  and  so  on,  which 
is  all  rubbish.  Pharmacy  can  be  neither  high  nor  low,  it  is  always 
more  or  less  pure  or  mixed,  mixed  often  with  incompatibilities. 
“Wholesale  pharmacist”  is  a  misnomer,  “retail  pharmacist” 
pleonastic.  The  word  “pharmacy”  is  not  an  old  and  ugly 
one,  but  a  real  beauty,  in  its  full  health  and  vigour,  as  is  the  art 
itself  to  which  the  word  rightly  applies  ;  we  are  responsible  for  the 
maintenance  of  its  health  and  loveliness  ;  we  are  the  body  of  men 
to  whom  the  Pharmacy  Acts  primilarily  apply,  and  responsible 
alike  for  their  present  observance  and  future  amendment.  It 
follows  from  what  has  been  already  said  that  beyond  all  men  a  phar¬ 
macist  must  be  a  free  man,  uncast  in  any  special  mould.  This  brings 
us  to  the  subject  of  education,  another  idea  about  which  there  exists 
a  sad  fardel  of  muddleheadedness  at  the  present  day.  To  fit  us 
for  the  business  of  life  we  are  compelled  to  acquire  a  certain  large 
amount  of  general  knowledge,  wrongly  termed  education,  for 
education  is  not  the  acquirement  of  knowledge  ;  and  afterwards 
we  go  in  for  a  more  accurate  knowledge  still  of  various  sciences 
around  which  the  art  of  pharmacy  revolves,  or  which  touch  its 
widening  circumference  at  various  points.  All  this  tends  to  educa¬ 
tion,  but  one’s  education  itself  is  the  outcome  of  these  advantages, 
the  resultant,  so  to  speak,  of  the  various  forces  thus  gathered  up 
to  act  and  react  in  our  destined  sphere  to  enable  one  to  stoop  with 
ease  and  rise  with  dignity  in  the  practice  of  a  noble  craft,  able  to 
use  and  to  enjoy  life  to  its  maximum  extent  because  of  the  ability 
given  us  in  education  to  adapt  ourselves  harmoniously  to  all  our 
environment.  So  that  bugbear  of  being  “too  highly  educated,” 
as  it  is  sometimes  foolishly  put,  melts  into  thin  air ;  there 
is  no  such  thing  as  being  “  highly  educated,”  it  is  proficiency 
or  non-proficiency  that  is  involved  in  the  idea  of  education  ;  there 
is  nothing  high  nor  low  in  education  no  more  than  in  the  art  of  phar¬ 
macy.  Strict  or  lax — good  or  bad — are  the  only  terms  applicable. 

( To  be  continued. ) 


Feb.  6,  1897J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


105 


PHARMACEUTICAL  SOCIETY 


MEETING  OF  THE  COUNCIL. 


WEDNESDAY,  FEBRUARY  3,  1897. 


Present  : 

Mr.  Walter  Hills,  President. 

Mr.  John  Harrison,  Vice-President, 

Messrs.  Allen,  Atkins,  Bateson,  Bottle,  Carteighe,  Corder, 
Gostling,  Grose,  Hampson,  Martindale,  Newsholme,  Park,  Savory, 
Storrar,  and  Young. 

The  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  were  read  and  confirmed. 


The  Late  Mr.  Geo.  Nind. 

The  President  said  he  regretted  to  announce  the  death  at  an 
advanced  age  of  one  of  the  Divisional  Secretaries,  Mr.  Geo.  Nind, 
of  Wandsworth.  He  had  not  the  pleasure  of  his  personal 
acquaintance,  but  he  knew  him  to  be  very  loyal  to  the  Society, 
and  an  excellent  divisional  secretary.  He  would  also  remind 
the  Council  of  two  interesting  little  presents  which  Mr.  Nind 
made  to  the  Society  in  1888.  One  a  water-colour  sketch  of  the 
Old  Clock  House,  West  Hill,  Wandsworth,  the  former  residence 
of  Jacob  Bell,  and  the  other  a  bundle  of  staves  from  the  shrubbery 
of  the  same  house,  showing  the  interest  he  took  in  the  early  history 
of  the  Society.  They  would  all  regret  his  loss. 


Election  of  Students. 

The  following,  having  passed  the  First  examination  and 
tendered  their  subscriptions  for  the  current  year,  were  elected 
‘  ‘  Students  ”  of  the  Society  : — 


Ashdown,  William  Percy  C.  ;  Brighton. 
Avery,  Edward  John  ;  London. 

Bartlet,  Alexander ;  Turriff. 

Bennett,  William  Chaplin  ;  Bristol. 
Brown,  William  Charles  ;  Birmingham. 
Chapman,  Frank  ;  Aylesbury. 
Charnock,  Fred  ;  Bury  St.  Edmunds. 
Clegg,  Harry  Brook  ;  London. 

Davis,  Charles  ;  Biverhead. 

Davison,  Miller  ;  Durham. 

Deal,  William  Henry  ;  Southampton. 
Donaldson,  Robert  Muir ;  Edinburgh. 
Dowdy,  Sidney  Ernest ;  Kennington. 
Elgar,  John  Butler  ;  Fakenham. 

Evans,  Arthur  E.  ;  Moretonhampstead. 
Francis,  James  B.  ;  Milford  Haven. 

Gill,  Josiah  ;  Melton  Mowbray. 
Gwilliam,  John  Everall ;  Warminster. 
Hill,  Philip  Robert ;  Weymouth. 
Howorth,  Christian  W.  ;  Plumstead. 

Wilkinson,  Alfred 


Hunt,  Frederick  ;  Chichester. 
Illingworth,  Thomas  B.  ;  Chorley. 
Jarvis,  John;  London. 

Jeffery,  George  Golder  ;  Tring. 

J enkins,  Herbert ;  Cricklewood. 

Mogg,  Ernest  Hubert ;  Wells,  Som’t. 
Morris,  Evelyn  Harry  ;  Peterborough. 
Pashley,  E.  F.  Cuthbert  ;  Harrogate. 
Pirn,  Ernest  Henry  ;  Pontypridd. 
Rapson,  Florence  Helena  ;  Bungay. 
Riley,  Alfred  ;  Bradford. 

Roach,  William  Frederick  ;  Swindon. 
Sharpe,  Ernest  T.  ;  Loughborough. 
Shea,  William  A.  L.  ;  Brighton. 

Skeat,  Charles  ;  Plymouth. 

Smith,  Henry  Llewellyn  ;  Dorking. 
Teale,  John  Oliver  ;  Rhyl. 

Thompson,  Sidney  Cooke ;  King’s  Lynn. 
Turner,  Alfred  William  ;  Lydney. 
Wadsworth,  George  Russell ;  Halifax, 
■ates  ;  Dartmouth. 


Restoration  to  Register. 

The  name  of  the  following  person,  who  has  made  the  required 
declaration,  and  paid  a  fine  of  one  guinea,  was  restored  to  the 
Register  of  Chemists  and  Druggists  : — 


The  Lot  for  the  Next  Council. 

The  lot  having  been  taken  in  the  usual  way  to  determine  the 
seven  members  of  the  Council  who  shall  retire  in  May  next,  the 
following  names  were  drawn : — Messrs.  Carteighe,  Corder, 
Gostling,  Harrison,  Martindale,  Park,  Savory. 

The  following,  wbo  remained  in  by  lot  last  year,  now  retire  by  rota¬ 
tion  : — Messrs.  Allen,  Atkins,  Bottle,  Grose,  Hampson,  Southall, 
and  Young. 

The  following  seven  remain  in  office  another  year  Messrs. 
Bateson,  Cross,  Hills,  Johnston,  Newsholme,  Storrar,  and  Symes. 


George  Henry  Nutt,  Binstead,  I§le  of  Wight. 

Several  persons  were  restored  to  their  former  status  in  the 
Society  upon  payment  of  the  current  year’s  subscription  and  a 
nominal  restoration  fee  of  one  shilling. 


Registrar’s  Report. 

The  Registrar’s  report  on  the  numerical  strength  of  the  Society 
was  laid  on  the  table.  It  is  printed  at  pp.  106,107. 

The  President  moved  that  this  report  be  entered  on  the  minutes . 
and  published  in  the  Journal. 


Election  of  Members. 

The  following  having  passed  the  Major  examination  and  tendered 
their  subscriptions  for  the  current  year,  were  elected  “Members” 
of  the  Society  : — 


Bowen,  Edgar  Cecil ;  London. 
Brigham,  Edwin  Beal ;  London. 
Brown,  Charles  ;  Northallerton. 
Crombie,  James  ;  Glasgow. 


Knight,  William  Arthur  ;  Leicester. 
Nicholson,  John  Gordon  ;  Carnoustie. 
Sargeant,  Frederick  P.  ;  Chorley. 
Senter,  George  ;  Edinburgh. 


Wilson,  Thomas  ;  Burntisland. 


Election  of  Associates  in  Business. 


The  following,  having  passed  the  Minor  examination,  being  in 
business  on  their  own  account,  and  having  tendered  their  subscrip¬ 
tions  for  the  current  year,  were  elected  ‘  ‘Associates  in  Business  ”  of 
the  Society  : — - 


Atkins,  William  ;  Newcastle-on-Tyne. 
Bevan,  Edward  ;  Swansea. 

Blarney,  John  ;  Falmouth. 

Bolsover,  John  Thomas  ;  Rotherham. 


Havard,  Henry  Lewis  ;  Swansea. 
Neale,  Charles  Albert ;  London. 
Parry,  Arthur ;  Llanrwst. 

Robb,  James  ;  Leith. 


Election  of  Associates. 

The  following  having  passed  the  Minor  examination,  and 
tendered  their  subscriptions  for  the  current  year,  were  elected 
“Associates  ”  of  the  Society  : — 


Crawhall,  Thomas  Currah  ;  Stanhope. 
Ford,  Jessie  ;  Denhead. 

Golightly,  Alfred  Welch  ;  Sunderland. 
Griffiths,  Benjamin  ;  Cardiff. 
Horsfield,  Jessie  Agnes  ;  Rotherham. 
J  ones,  Sidney  Clifford  ;  Camberwell. 
Matz,  Max ;  Manchester. 

Oliver,  John  ;  Bilston. 


Owen,  Thomas  P. ;  Blaenau  Festiniog. 
Pickering,  William  C.  ;  Northampton. 
Ramsaj7, William  Christopher  ;  Dundee. 
Roberts,  Rees  ;  Blaenau  Festiniog. 
Simpson,  Dundas  ;  Shotts. 

Simpson,  Gilbert ;  Galashiels. 

Thomas,  Penry  Sidney  ;  Talgarth. 
Thomas,  William  Henry  :  Bristol. 


Report  of  Finance  Committee. 

The  report  of  this  Committee  was  read  by  the  Secretary.  It  was 
of  the  usual  character,  and  recommended  various  accounts  for 
payment. 

The  President  (as  Chairman  of  the  Committee)  moved  the 
adoption  of  the  report  and  recommendations,  which  he  said  com 
tained  nothing  needing  special  comment. 

The  resolution  was  at  once  agreed  to. 


Report  of  Benevolent  Fund  Committee. 

The  report  of  this  Committee  stated  that  only  one  application- 
for  relief  was  under  consideration,  being  a  case  which  had  been 
adjourned  for  further  information,  and  certain  letters  having  been 
read  the  application  was  not  entertained. 

The  Secretary  reported  the  death,  on  January  13,  of  Elizabeth 
Wilks,  of  Bromyard,  aged  75,  who  was  elected  an  annuitant  in 
1872. 

The  Vice-President,  in  moving  the  adoption  of  the  report,  said 
so  far  as  his  experience  of  the  Benevolent  Fund  was  concerned,  his 
position  on  the  present  occasion  was  unique,  there  being  no  grant 
whatever  proposed  by  the  Committee.  There  were  only  two  cases 
before  the  Committee,  one  of  which  was  not  considered  to  come 
within  the  sphere  of  their  operations,  and  in  the  other 
case  certain  formal  matters  were  not  complete.  He  should  hardly 
fulfil  his  duty  fully  and  completely  if  he  stopped  at  this  point ;  but 
felt  that  he  ought  to  state  that  there  were  four  other  cases  of 
which  notice  had  been  given,  but  the  formal  matters  in  reference 
to  them  not  being  completed  they  did  not  come  before  the 
Committee.  There  were  now  already  five  cases  to  deal  with  next 
month,  and  probably  others  would  turn  up,  so  that  he  hoped  it 
would  not  go  forth  to  the  country  that  the  Benevolent  Fund 
Committee  had  nothing  to  do.  As  emphasising  the  great  good 
that  the  Fund  did  he  would  recall  the  fact  that  they  had  just 
received  notice  of  the  death  of  an  annuitant  who  had  been  on  their 
books  for  twenty-five  years.  It  said  something  for  the  Fund  that 


106 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  6,  1897 


REGISTRAR’S  REPORT. 

MEMBERS,  ASSOCIATES,  AND  STUDENTS  OF  THE  SOCIETY  FOR  THE  YEAR  1896. 


Life  Compounders. 

Annual  Subscribers. 

Members. 

Associates 

Members. 

Associates 

Associates 

in 

in 

not  in 

Students. 

Pharm. 

Chem.  and 

Business. 

Pharm. 

Chem.  and 

Business. 

Business. 

Chemists. 

Druggists. 

Chemists. 

Druggists. 

Number  in  1895  . . 

247 

7 

27 

1357 

582 

1652 

,,  restored,  1896 

7 

5 

11 

,,  elected,  1896 . 

ii 

1 

4 

53 

17 

127 

... 

... 

258 

8 

31 

1417 

604 

1790 

Deaths,  Secessions,  etc.  . . 

8 

2 

... 

83* 

35* 

139* 

... 

... 

Total  Strength  of  the  Society  ... 

250 

6 

31 

1334 

569 

1651 

984 

843 

-  . 

1895  . 

247 

7 

27 

1357 

582 

1652 

961 

802 

1896  . 

250 

6 

31 

1334 

569 

1651 

984 

846 

Increase  . 

3 

4 

23 

44 

Decrease... 

i 

... 

23 

13 

1 

... 

... 

COMPARATIVE  STATEMENT  OF  THE  NUMERICAL  STRENGTH  OF  THE  SOCIETY 

FOR  5  YEARS:  1892-96. 


MEMBERS.— PHARMACEUTICAL  CHEMISTS. 


1892 

1893 

1894 

1895 

1896 

Restored  to  Membership 

21 

12 

6 

10 

7 

Elected  ,, 

72 

62 

62 

51 

53 

(Total  additions) 

93 

74 

68 

61 

60 

Deaths,  Secessions,  etc.  . 

135* 

89* 

76* 

102* 

83* 

Increase  ... 

Decrease... 

42 

is 

8 

41 

23 

Total  Number  of  Annual  Members  ... 

1421 

1408 

1398 

1357 

1334 

MEMBERS.— CHEMISTS  AND  DRUGGISTS. 


1892  1893 

1894 

1895 

1896 

Restored  to  Membership 

4 

1 

6 

3 

5 

Elected  ,,  . 

62 

37 

21 

15 

17 

(Total  additions) 

66 

38 

27 

18 

22 

Deaths,  Secessions,  etc. 

31* 

35 

30 

39 

35* 

Increase 

35 

3 

Decrease 

... 

3 

21 

13 

Total  Number  of  Annual  Members 

603 

606 

603 

582 

569 

ASSOCIATES  IN  BUSINESS. 


1892 

1893 

1894 

1895 

1896 

Restored  .  . 

36 

19 

11 

14 

11 

Elected 

175 

182 

165 

159 

127 

(Total  additions)  ... 

211 

201 

176 

173 

138 

Deaths,  Secessions,  etc . . 

108* 

100* 

126* 

115 

139* 

Increase 

103 

101 

50 

58 

Decrease  ...  . 

... 

... 

... 

... 

i 

Total  Number  of  Annual  Associates  in 

Business  ... 

1443 

1544 

1594 

1652 

1651 

ASSOCIATES  NOT  IN  BUSINESS. 


1892 

1893 

1894 

1895 

1896 

Increase 

... 

23 

Decrease 

Total  Number  of  Associates 

ii 

24 

is 

19 

— 

not  in  Business 

1019 

995 

980 

961 

984 

STUDENTS. 


Increase 

Decrease 

1892 

1893 

1894  1895 

1896 

140 

14 

8 

17 

44 

Total  Number  of  Students 

797 

8111 819 

802 

84i 

LIFE  COMPOUNDERS. 


1892. 

1S93. 

1894. 

1895. 

1896. 

Members  Pharmaceutical  Chemists  ... 

222 

232 

241 

247 

250 

Increase  . 

36 

10 

9 

6 

3 

Members  : — Chemists  and  Druggists 

6 

6 

7 

7 

6 

Increase  ... 

4 

1 

Decrease . 

•  r  « 

... 

i 

Associates  in  Business . 

14 

23 

25 

27 

31 

Increase . .  . . 

14 

9 

2 

2 

4 

*  Some  of  these  paid  the  life  composition  fee. 


Feb  6,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


107 


ANALYSIS  OF  EXAMINATIONS  FOR  THE  YEAR,  1896. 


FIRST  EXAMINATION. 


Number  of  Candidates 
during  the  Year. 

Number  of  successful 
Candidates  during 
the  Year. 

Number  of  Rejections 
during  the  Year. 

Number  of 
Examinations  during 
the  Year. 

Average  number 
of  Candidates  at  each 
Examination. 

Average  number 
of  Rejections  at  each 
Examination. 

Percentage  of 
Rejections. 

1533 

704 

829 

4 

383  25 

207-25 

54-07 

Number  of  Certificates  received  in  lieu  of  the  First  Examination  ...  .  ...  125 


MAJOR,  MINOR,  AND  MODIFIED  EXAMINATIONS. 
ENGLAND  AND  WALES. 


Examinations. 

Number  of 
Candidates  during 
the  Year. 

Number  of  Success¬ 
ful  Candidates 
during  the  Year. 

Number  of 
Rejections  during 
the  Year. 

Number  of 
Examinations 
during  the  Year. 

Average  Number 
of  Candidates 
at  each  Meeting. 

Average  Number 
of  rejections 
at  each  Meeting. 

Percentage  of 
Rejections. 

Major . 

Minor . 

Modified  . 

Ill 

793 

One  Candidate  p 

55 

260 

resented  himself  a 

56 

533 

nd  passed. 

4 

4 

27-75 

198-25 

14-00 

133-25 

50-45 

67-21 

SCOTLAND. 


Examinations. 

Number  of 
Candidates  during 

Number  of  success¬ 
ful  Candidates 

Number  of 
Rejections  during 

Number  of 
Examinations 

Average  Number 
of  Candidates 

Average  Number 
of  rejections 

Percentage  of 
Rejections. 

the  Year. 

during  the  Year. 

the  Year. 

during  the  Y  ear. 

at  each  Meeting. 

at  each  Meeting. 

Major . 

19 

6 

13 

4 

4-75 

3-25 

6S-42. 

Minor . 

656 

243 

413 

4 

164-00 

103-25 

62-95 

THE  REGISTERS  OF  PHARMACEUTICAL  CHEMISTS  AND  CHEMISTS  AND  DRUGGISTS,  1896. 


Additions  during  the  year : — 

Number  of  persons  who  have  passed  the — 

Minor  „  . 

Major  „  . . .  61* 

Modified  „  . 

Number  of  persons  restored  to  the  Register  on  payment  | 

of  a  fine .  ) 

Number  of  persons  registered  on  payment  of  the> 
registration  fee,  having  been  in  business  before  1 
August  1,  1868 . J 


503 

1 

17 


o 


523 


Erasures  during  the  year : — 

Deaths  .  245 

Erased  at  the  request  of  registered  persons  themselves  . .  4 


Erased  by  the  Registrar  in  pursuance  of  the  provision  set  ^ 
forth  in  Section  10  of  the  Pharmacy  Act,  1868,  after  I 
sending  two  registered  letters,  to  which  no  answer  has  f 


been  received . ) 

Increase  of  numbers  on  the  Register .  88 


523 


*  These  having  already  been  included  in  the  number  who  passed 
the  Minor,  do  not  increase  the  numbers  on  the  Register. 


Number  of  Pharmaceutical  Chemists  on  the  Register,  December  31st,  1896  »  M  •  2,253 

Chemists  and  Druggists  ...  .-  . .  12,913 

- 15.166 


108 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb  6,  1897 


they  kept  aged  persons  in  comfortable  circumstances  for  twenty- 
five  years,  and  was  a  strong  reason  why  it  should  receive  support. 

The  President,  in  putting  the  resolution,  said  he  should  like  to 
call  attention  to  a  donation  of  four  guineas  towards  the  Benevolent 
Fund,  which  was  collected  at  a  smoking  concert  held  at  The  Chemists’ 
Club  a  few  days  ago.  The  money  was  sent  to  the  Secretary  bj 
Mr.  H.  H.  Robins.  They  were  glad  to  receive  the  money  and  also 
glad  to  know  that  interest  was  taken  in  the  Fund  in  every  direction. 

The  Report  was  adopted. 


Library,  Museum,  School,  and  House  Committee. 

Library. 

The  report  of  the  Librarian  had  been  received,  including  the 
following  particulars 


Attendance 

Total. 

Highest. 

Lowest. 

Average. 

December  . . . .  _  _  - 

[Day . 

[  Evening . 

..  359 

..  6S 

28 

12 

4 

0 

14 

4 

Tear  1896 . 

1  Day . 

1  Evening  . 

.4307 

.1312 

31 

20 

0 

0 

15 

6 

Circulation  of  Books.  Total. 

Town. 

Country. 

Carriage  paid. 

December . . 

.  221 

Ill 

110 

£1 

8s.  2  Id. 

Year  1896  . 

.  2071 

1096 

975 

£12  18s,.  Ojd. 

Donations  to  the  Library  had  been  announced  (Pharm.  Joum., 
January  23,  p.  74),  and  the  Committee  had  directed  that  the 
usual  letters  of  thanks  be  sent  to  the  respective  donors. 


Museum. 


The  Curator’s  report  had  been  received,  and  included  the  fol¬ 
lowing  particulars  : — 


Attendance. 

Total. 

Highest. 

Lowest. 

Average. 

December . 

/Day . 

• '  \  Evening  . 

. .  459 
,.  45 

41 

10 

3 

1 

14 

2 

Year  1896... 

j  Day  . 

.4915 

42 

4 

18 

t  Evening  .... 

..  409 

22 

0 

15 

Several  donations  had  been  received  {Pharm.  Joum.,  January  23, 
p.  74),  and  the  Committee  directed  that  the  usual  letters  of  thanks 
be  sent  to  the  respective  donors.  The  Curator  laid  upon  the  table 
a  copy  of  the  ‘  Report  of  Proceedings,  with  the  papers  read  at  the 
•Glasgow  meeting  of  the  Museums  Association  in  1896.’ 

The  Curator  had  reported  the  receipt  of  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Rutherford  Hill,  announcing  that  the  Royal  College  of  Physicians, 
Edinburgh,  had  finally  ratified  the  transference  of  their  Materia 
Medica  Museum  to  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain, 
and  that  the  Scoresby-Jackson  Materia  Medica  collection  had 
been  purchased  for  £45,  in  accordance  with  the  arrangement  made 
by  Mr.  Ewing  on  behalf  of  the  Society. 

The  President,  in  moving  the  adoption  of  the  report  and  re¬ 
commendation,  said  the  work  of  the  Committee  had  been  of  the 
general  routine  character,  and  the  only  thing  of  which  he  need 
refer  was  the  particulars  relating  to  the  valuable  addition  to  the 
Materia  Medica  Museum  in  Edinburgh.  The  £45  mentioned  had 
been,  to  a  very  great  extent,  provided  by  voluntary  contributions 
from  their  friends  in  the  north,  so  that  the  Society  would  only 
pay  a  small  portion  of  it.  The  collection  was  very  valuable  and 
unique.  * 

The  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted. 

Report  of  “First”  Examination. 

January,  1897. 

The  following  report  on  the  examination  was  presented  : — 

Candidates. 

_ _ 'v - - - - 

/  V. 

Examined.  Passed.  Failed, 

324  165  159 

Fifteen  certificates  by  approved  examining  bodies  were 
received  in  lieu  of  the  Society’s  “First”  examination. 


Mr.  Storrar  asked  leave  to  say  a  word  of,  personal  explanation 
in  connection  with  the  examinations.  At  the  meeting  of  the  Council 
in  December,  when  the  President  moved  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  Ex¬ 
aminers  he  took  the  opportunity  of  saying  a  word  or  two  with 
regard  to  Professor  Geddes,  and  in  the  Society’s  Journal  he  was 
reported  to  have  said  that  the  Board  in  Edinburgh  had  worked 
more  harmoniously  than  it  had  ever  done  before.  Some  of  the 
examiners  in  the  north  took  exception,  he  thought  quite  rightly, 
to  that,  and  felt  considerably  hurt  and  annoyed.  He  certainly 
did  not  intend  to  make  any  such  remark,  and  did  not  think  he  did. 
He  did  not  blame  the  reporters,  because  he  no  doubt  spoke  indis¬ 
tinctly,  and  possibly  the  English  as  spoken  in  Fife  was  not  so 


easily  understood  by  them  as  that  spoken  in  Bloomsbury  Square. 
He  would  simply  say  that  he  had  no  intention  whatever 
of  insinuating  that  there  was  any  disagreement,  either  now  or  at 
any  other  time  in  the  Board  of  Examiners  in  the  north. 
What  he  wanted  to  say  was  this,  that  the  successful  working 
of  the  change  made  in  the  composition  of  the  Examining 
Board  depended  a  good  deal  on  the  tact  and  courtesy  of  the 
incoming  teacher  examiners,  and  he  certainly  thought  they  were 
much  indebted  to  Professor  Geddes  and  Dr.  Gibson  for  making  that 
change  a  success.  They  worked  most  amicably  together  with  their 
own  examiners,  and  he  was  sure  the  whole  Board  not  only  worked 
well  together  now,  but  always  had  done  so. 


Benevolent  Fund  Dinner. 

The  President  said  he  might  inform  those  members  of  the 
Council  who  were  not  on  the  Benevolent  Fund  Committee  that  the 
Dinner  Committee  had  met  and  made  certain  arrangements  in 
connection  with  the  forthcoming  decennial  Benevolent  Fund  Dinner. 
It  had  been  resolved  that  the  Dinner  should  be  held  on  Tuesday, 
the  18th  of  May,  at  7  o’clock,  at  the  Victoria  Hall,  Hotel  Cecil, 
that  the  price  for  tickets  should  be  one  guinea,  and  that 
as  on  former  occasions  the  expenses,  other  than  those  covered  by 
the  money  received  for  the  tickets,  should  be  borne  by  the  Fund. 
They  would  also  be  glad  to  hear  that  it  had  been  arranged 
to  have  the  services  of  the  Mei'ster  Glee  Singers  to  render  sweet 
melody  on  that  occasion,  which  might  help  to  open  their  hearts. 
He  was  sure  the  Council  would  be  anxious  to  have  a  successful 
Dinner.  They  would  have  a  large  company,  and  he  trusted  that 
the  festival  would  result  in  a  large  addition  to  the  Benevolent 
Fund.  The  decennial  Dinner  this  year  happened  to  come  on  the 
Diamond  Jubilee  of  the  Queen’s  reign,  and  no  doubt  during  the 
coming  spring  and  summer  a  large  number  of  their  country  friends 
would  be  visiting  London  and  taking  part  in  some  of  the  festivities 
that  would  be  going  on.  He  hoped  they  would  see  more  of  their 
country  friends,  and  that  if  they  were  coming  to  London  to  take 
part  in  what  was  going  on  in  connection  with  the  Queen’s  Jubilee 
that  they  would  so  arrange  that  the  time  of  their  visit  should 
include  May  18. 

General  Purposes  Committee. 

The  Council,  as  usual,  went  into  committee  to  consider  the 
report  of  this  Committee,  which  dealt  with  legal  matters  only. 
On  resuming,  the  report  and  recommendations  were  adopted,  and 
special  resolutions  were  passed  authorising  the  Registrar  to  take 
proceedings  against  certain  persons  named  therein. 


FIRST  EXAMINATION  RESULTS. 


A  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Examiners  for  England  and  Wales 
was  held  on  Tuesday,  February  2. 

Certificates  by  approved  examining  bodies  were  received  from 
the  undermentioned  in  lieu  of  the  Society’s  examination  : — 


Allen,  Archibald  C.  ;  Lichfield. 

Banks,  Sydney  Joseph  ;  St.  Neots. 
Clarke,  John  ;  Rotherham. 

Gent,  Francis  R.  ;  Middlesborough. 
Harris,  Frank  Vincent ;  Paignton. 
Moore,  Francis  Howard  ;  Blackpool. 
Oakley,  Sydney  E.  ;  London. 

Williams,  George 


Pellow,  Howard  J ames  ;  Exeter. 
Perkins,  Geo.  Mitchelson  ;  Evesham. 
Porteous,  James  P. ;  Grange-over-Sands. 
Reader,  Henry  George  ;  Reigate. 
Russell,  George  H.  ;  Burton-on-Trent. 
Tilley,  Ernest  Alfred  ;  Reading. 

Wilkie,  John  M.  ;  Montrose. 

Wynne ;  Dolgelly. 


The  report  of  the  College  of  Preceptors  on  the  examination,  held 
on  January  12,  was  received. 

324  candidates  had  presented  themselves  for  examination,  of 
whom  159  failed. 

The  following  165  passed,  and  the  Registrar  was  authorised  to 
place  their  names  upon  the  Register  of  Apprentices  or  Students 
Andrews,  Bertram,  L.  M.  ;  Royston. 

Ashkanazy,  Albert  W.  ;  Dartford. 

Avery,  Charles  W.  ;  Hemel  Hempstead. 

Balfour,  Andrew  Common  ;  Jedburgh. 

Barrass,  Matthew  H.  ;  Shotley  Bridge. 

Barron,  William  John  ;  Turriff. 

Bazley,  Bertie  William  ;  Gloucester. 

Birkett,  Thomas  Gilbert  ;  Ulverston. 

Bishop,  William  Booth  ;  Turriff. 

Blanchflower,  Arthur  F. ;  Gt.  Yarmouth. 

Bowen,  John  Arthur  ;  Llandyssul. 

Brown,  W.  A.  P.  ;  Bishop  Au  ckland. 


Bullock,  'lhomas  London  ;  Liverpool. 
Burr,  Harold  ;  Tottenham. 

Burton,  Harry  Osborne  ;  Liverpool. 
Butler,  Wm.  Morgan  ;  Tenby. 

Caison,  James  Howatson  ;  Ayr. 

Cook,  James;  Dumfries. 

Cooper,  George  Paterson  ;  Leith. 
Craig,  Edwin  Forbes  ;  Aberdeen. 
Cressey,  David  Edward  ;  Billingliay. 
Culbert,  William  Spencer  ;  Glasgow. 
Gumming,  James ;  Kirkcaldy. 

Curtis,  Herbert  N.  Robt.  ;  Brighton. 


Feb.  6,  1897J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


109 


Dales,  Joseph  Wardle  ;  Louth. 

Davies,  Ralph  Cecil ;  Milford  Haven. 
Denton,  Norwood ;  Pontefract. 

Dodd,  David  ;  Manchester. 

Douglas,  Mary  Anne  T. ;  Edinburgh. 
Dow,  James  ;  Huntly. 

Dow,  John  Roy  ;  Rothes. 

Dunbar,  James  ;  Dufftown. 

Earlam,  Ernest ;  Frodsham. 

Eaton,  Harry  Oswald  ;  Leeds. 

Edwards,  Robert  John  ;  Wrexham. 
Elvery,  Herbert  Fred.  ;  Southampton. 
Ferguson,  Alexander  Sim  ;  Dollar. 
Ferrier,  James ;  Laurencekirk. 
Fieldgate,  Fredk.  Ward  ;  Colchester. 
Fouracre,  Robert ;  London. 

Fox,  Ernest  Nicholl ;  Liverpool. 

Freke,  Alice ;  London. 

Geake,  Henry,  jun. ;  Dundee. 

Glasscock,  John  Laybank  ;  Norwich. 
Godson,  George  Frederick  ;  Lincoln,  i 
Gowans,  Duncan  Stewart ;  Hawick. 
Grant,  Peter  James  ;  Gran  town. 

Green,  Harold  Walter  ;  Birmingham. 
Gregory,  Joseph  Day  kin  ;  Mansfield. 
Hadley,  John  Arnold  ;  Birmingham. 
Haines,  James  Hunt ;  Birmingham. 
Hardy,  Digby  Wrangham  ;  Malton. 
Harker,  George  C.  ;  Richmond,  Yorks. 
Hartley,  William  James  ;  Blackpool. 
Hay,  James  Alfred  ;  Bebside. 

Hazelby,  Thomas  Weaver  ;  Swaythling. 
Henry,  Alexr.  McLaren  ;  Wishaw. 
Heslop,  C.  W.  B.  ;  Newcastle-on-Tyne. 
Hicks,  Joseph  ;  Edinburgh. 

Hirst,  Harold  C.  ;  High  Ackworth. 
Hirst,  Joseph  Luther  ;  Slaithwaite. 
Hodges,  Francis  Sully  ;  Bristol. 

Howse,  Leonard  Augustus  ;  Croydon. 
Huntbach,  Herbert ;  Preston. 

Hunter,  Harry  ;  Sheffield. 

Husbands,  Frederick ;  Stapleford. 
Hutcheon,  James ;  Turriff. 

Hymans,  Herbert ;  London. 

Jobling,  Edward  ;  Sunderland. 

Jones,  Daniel  Thomas  ;  Swinton. 

Jones,  Edgar  Alfred  ;  Ripley. 

Jukes,  Bernard  C.  ;  Wellingborough. 
Kendrew,  William  Holme  ;  Southport. 
Kennedy,  Herbert  William  ;  Aberdeen. 
Kenington,  Robert  Barker  ;  Grantham. 
Kermode,  JohnW.  ;  Castletown,  I.M. 
Lewis,  William  M.  ;  Pembroke  Dock. 
Leyshon,  Thomas  St.  Leger ;  Spalding. 
Lindsay,  John  ;  Montrose. 

Low,  John  Hill ;  Fraserburgh. 

Lowis,  John  William  ;  Bedale. 

Luke,  Cecil  B. ;  Stonehouse,  Devon. 
McCabe,  Aubrey  Joseph  ;  Sunderland. 
McCaig,  Robert ;  Dumfries. 

McCartney,  Walter ;  Darwen. 
MeConnachie,  John  ;  Keith. 

McGregor,  James  ;  Cullen. 

McIntosh,  Finlay ;  Pitlochry. 

March,  Fredk.  William  ;  Thrapston. 
Massey,  Joseph  ;  Manchester. 

Matthew,  Arthur  ;  Rochdale. 

Melbourn,  Newell  Evens  ;  London. 
Metcalfe,  William  Edward  ;  Keighley. 
Miller,  Donald  George  ;  London. 

Young,  David  Ait 


Mills,  Edward  ;  Denbigh. 

Murray,  John  Macfarlane ;  Edinburgh. 
Newboult,  Robert ;  Bradford. 
Nicholson,  William ;  Glasgow. 

Nicoll,  Thomas  ;  Edinburgh, 

Paterson,' William  John  ;  Elgin. 
Pattullo,  James  Watson  ;  Edinburgh. 
Pearce,  Andrew  Hingstone ;  Horwich. 
Peberdy,  Tom  Cooke  ;  Leicester. 

Pirie,  Robert  Corsane  ;  Arbroath. 
Pitchford,  Amy  C.  W.  ;  London. 
Pritchard,  Walter  ;  Carnarvon. 

Rae,  John  ;  Templand. 

Ramsay,  Robert  Sparks  ;  Dundee. 

Rees,  David  Andrew  ;  London. 

Reid,  Clifton  Harold  ;  Desford. 
Reynolds,  Frank  ;  Droitwich. 

Rice,  Thomas  James  ;  Birmingham. 
Robertson,  Alexander  ;  Partick. 
Robertson,  William  John;  Betchworth. 
Selby,  William  Tordiff ;  Edinburgh. 
Sharp,  Murray ;  Dunfermline. 

Shaw,  Duncan  William  ;  Edinburgh. 
Shaw,  Samuel ;  Whaley  Bridge. 

Shearer,  John  Alexander  ;  Fraserburgh. 
Shepherd,  Harry  ;  Newcastle-on-Tyne. 
Shiels,  Henry  B.  ;  Ayr. 

Sim,  William  ;  Strichen. 

Simpson,  Francis  Ernest  ;  Bloxham. 
Sizer,  Charles  Henry  ;  Hull. 

Slaney,  Charles  Newnham  ;  Deal. 
Smart,  Agnes  ;  Edinburgh. 

Smith,  Harry ;  Stokesley. 

Smith,  James  Sidney  ;  Truro. 

Smith,  Mark  Elkington  ;  Louth. 

Smith,  Sydney  ;  West  Bridgford. 
Southern,  Lewis  ;  Nottingham. 
Stewardson,  A.  ;  Newcastle-on-Tyne. 
Strang,  Duncan ;  Callander. 

Temperton,  Harry  ;  Long  Sutton. 
Thomas,  Wilfred  John  Ladd  ;  Begelly. 
Thomson,  Charles  Samson  ;  Ayr. 
Thomson,  Thomas  ;  Selkirk. 

Thwaits,  George  Rose  ;  Edinburgh. 
Tinker,  George  ;  Holmfirth. 

Townley,  Tiburtus  ;  Tarporley. 

Trattles,  William  Ernest ;  Whitby. 
Turner,  David  ;  Auchtermuchty. 
Verrall,  Ada  ;  Swanboro’. 

Walmsley,  William  Ewart  ;  Halifax. 
Walters,  Gwilym  Jenkin  ;  Treherbert. 
Warren,  Pierce  Harold  ;  Derby. 
Watkins,  Ernest  Arthur  E.  ;  Bwlch. 
Watson,  David ;  Arbroath. 

Watt,  William  Hamilton  ;  Glasgow. 
Webster,  Digby  ;  Chester. 

West,  David  ;  Fraserburgh. 

Whitehead,  John  William  ;  Burnley. 
Wiley,  Harold  ;  West  Hartlepool. 
Williams,  Harold  John  ;  Glasgow. 
Williams,  Josiah  Thos.  D. ;  Bradford. 
Willson,  Harry  Briggs  ;  Peterborough. 
Wilson,  George ;  Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 
Wilson,  William  S.  ;  Stratford-on-Avon. 
Wood,  Harry  Mayall ;  Hanley. 

Wood,  William  ;  Uttoxeter. 

Woodhead,  Stanley  ;  Newcastle,  Staffs. 
Woolley,  George  C.  ;  Burton-on-Trent. 
Wormald,  John  E.  ;  Luddenden  Foot. 
Yates,  Francis  Harold  ;  Blackpool, 
en  ;  Dunfermline. 


The  questions  set  at  this  examination  were  published  in  the 
Pharmaceutical  Journal  for  January  16,  p.  49. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  centres  at  which  the  examination 
was  held,  showing  the  number  of  candidates  at  each  centre,  and 
the  result: — 


Candidates.  Candidates. 


Examined,  j 

Passed. 

Failed. 

Examined. 

Passed 

Failed. 

Aberdeen  . 

22 

15 

7 

2 

5 

Birmingham . 

15 

11 

4 

15 

8 

7 

Brighton . 

4 

2 

2 

Lincoln . - . . . . 

6 

5 

1 

Bristol . . . 

3 

i 

2 

23 

9 

14 

Cambridge . . .  .. 

1 

i 

0 

26 

12 

14 

Canterbury  . . 

I 

i 

0 

Manchester . 

24 

12 

12 

Cardiff! . . 

3 

i 

2 

Newcastle-on-Tyne  .... 

13 

8 

5 

Carlisle  . . . 

12 

3 

9 

•2 

1 

1 

Carmarthen  . . . . . 

9 

6 

3 

Norwich  . . . . 

5 

2 

3 

Carnarvon  . . 

2 

1 

1 

17 

8 

9 

Cheltenham  . .  „  _ . 

2 

1 

1 

4 

1 

3 

Darlington . . 

7 

5 

2 

Penzance . . 

i 

1 

0 

Dundee  . 

10 

6 

4 

Peterborough _ _ _ 

7 

4 

3 

Edinburgh . 

37 

21 

10 

Plymouth . . . 

5 

1 

4 

Exeter . 

1 

0 

1 

Sheffield  . 

5 

2 

3 

Glasgow  . . 

18 

8 

10 

i 

0 

1 

Hull” . 

3 

1 

2 

3 

2 

1 

Inverness  . 

5 

2 

3 

York  ...1 . 

3 

1 

2 

PARLIAMENTARY  NOTES  AND  NEWS- 


The  Companies  Bill  has  re-entered  the  parliamentary  arena, 
having  been  read  a  first  time  in  the  House  of  Lords  on  the  1st 
instant.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  it  will  not  progress 
strictly  in  accordance  with  the  precedent  set  last  Session  ;  for 
there  are  many  difficulties  to  face,  and  reference  to  a  Select  Com¬ 
mittee  appears  to  be  a  reasonable  way  of  getting  those  difficulties 
dealt  with.  The  purification  of  commercial  methods  is  no  light 
undertaking,  but  if  the  Government  has  any  real  desire  to  grapple 
with  the  unhealthy  conditions  created  by  the  Companies  Acts,  the 
task  is  a  long  way  from  the  impossible.  But  it  is  just  possible 
that  the  Bill  introduced  last  Monday  by  Earl  Dudley  on  behalf 
of  the  Board  of  Trade,  is  only  one  of  those  “dummy”  items 
which  go  to  make  up  a  sessional  programme,  and  merely  represents 
the  redemption  of  a  pledge  given  in  the  Queen’s  Speech.  The 
second  reading  of  the  Bill  has  not  yet  been  fixed,  and  meanwhile, 
one  is  rather  anxious  to  see  history  repeat  itself  by  the  agency  of 
Lord  Herschel,  who,  it  will  be  remembered,  last  Session  gave 
notice  of  his  intention  to  move  for  the  insertion  of  a  clause  pro¬ 
tecting  personal  professional  titles. 


Mr.  Mundella  has  given  notice  that  he  intends  to  ask  the 
President  of  the  Board  of  Trade  when  it  is  proposed  to  introduce 
the  Bill  of  last  year  which  rendered  the  use  of  metric  weights  and 
measures  permissible  in  this  country.  One  would  imagine  that  so 
mild  a  Bill  as  that  referred  to  would  not  arouse  any  serious  oppo¬ 
sition,  but  the  sturdy  patriotism  of  the  member  for  King’s  Lynn, 
which  conceives  the  greatness  of  the  empire  to  be  inseparably 
associated  with  the  English  quart,  will  certainly  make  itself  heard, 
and  there  are  higher  authorities  than  Mr.  Bowles  who  are  prepared 
to  oppose  the  introduction  of  the  metric  system  on  weightier 
grounds. 

Early  Closing  ought  to  succeed  this  Session  if  the  number  and 
activity  of  the  members  in  the  House  who  follow  the  cult  were  any 
criterion  of  success.  There  is,  however,  so  much  lack  of  unanimity 
among  them  as  to  methods  that  it  is  doubtful  if  any  practical 
result  can  ensue.  At  the  present  moment  there  are  three  sects  of 
early  closers  in  the  House,  and  three  Bills.  First,  there  is  "Sir 
John  Lubbock’s  Shops  (Early  Closing)  Bill,  the  provisions  of  which 
are  pretty  well  known  to  chemists  by  this  time.  It  is  down  for 
second  reading  on  February  10,  and  has  been  honoured  by  three 
“blocking”  notices.  Then  there  is  the  Shops  Bill  evolved  by 
Mr.  Burns,  Sir  Charles  Dilke,  and  Mr.  Davitt,  which  regulates 
the  closing  hour  for  every  day  in  the  week,  and  seeks  to 
remedy  certain  sins  of  omission  in  the  Factory  Acts.  This 
Bill  is  also  awaiting  the  second  stage,  and,  like  its  rival, 
labours  under  the  disadvantage  of  three  “  blocks.”  Mr.  Duncome 
is  the  high  priest  of  the  third  party,  and  has  charge  of  a  Bill  to 
provide  one  half -holiday  a  week  for  all  shop  assistants.  This 
measure  is  at  present  unopposed,  and  thus  stands  in  a  rather  more 
favourable  position  than  its  fellows.  Its  second  reading  was  tabled 
for  the  3rd  instant,  but  it  was  not  reached.  With  this  division  of 
forces,  the  interests  of  shop  assistants  are  not  likely  to  advance 
very  rapidly. 


110 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb  6  1897. 


THE  STUDENTS’  PAGE. 


THE  FLOWERS  OF  FEBRUARY. 

""  Many  of  the  plants  enumerated  for  January  may  still  be 
looked  for  in  February.  In  the  following  list  the  names 
italicised  are  those  of  plants  used  in  medicine.  It  includes 
plants  that  have  been  seen  in  flower  during  February  during 
mild  winters,  but  many  of  them,  if  the  present  inclement  weather 
continues,  may  not  be  found  in  flower  until  March,  or  in  the 
north  even  later.  Wild  Flowers  :  Ranunculus  ficaria,  Helleborus 
fceiidus,  Viola  hirta,  Potentilla  fragrariastrum,  Beilis  perennis, 
Tussilago  farfara,  Primula  vulgaris,  Lamium  purpureum,  Nepeta 
glechoma,  Yinca  minor,  Daphne  laureola,  Mercurialis  perennis, 
Corylus  avellana,  Ulmus  campestris,  Narcissus  pseudo-narcissus, 
•Garden  Flowers  :  Eranthis  hyemalis,  Helleborus  purpurascens, 
Anemone  hepatica  and  A.  angulosa,  Arabis  alpina,  Saxifraga  crassi- 
folia,  S.  sancta  and  S.  burseriana,  Pyrus  japonica ;  Cornus  mascula, 
Pulmonaria  officinalis,  Rosmarinus  officinalis,  Vinca  major,  Erica 
carnea,  Forsythia  suspensa,  Mandragora  vernalis,  Galanthus  nivalis, 
Narcissus  obvallaris,  Hyacinthus  azureus.  Forced  and  Greenhouse 
Flowers  :  Bielytra  spectabilis,  Pelargonium  sp. ,  Barosma  crenulata, 
Cineraria  sp.,  Azalea  sp.,  Nicotiana  tabacum,  Capsicum  sp.,  Solanum 
jasminoides,  Primula  sinensis,  etc.,  Cyclamen  sp.,  Plumbago  rosea. 
Euphorbia  splendens  and  E.  jacquinkeflora,  Dendrobium  nobile, 
Gonvallaria  majalis,  Hyacinthus  sp.,  Tulipa  sp.,  Aloe  plicatilis, 
A.  arborescens,  A.  succotrina,  Eucharis  amazonica,  Narcissus  sp. 

Lamium  album. — This  plant  may  generally  be  found  in  flower 
early  in  the  year  on  sheltered  hedgebanks.  It  affords  an  excellent 
illustration  of  the  characters  of  the  Labiate,  and  its  flowers  are 
large  enough  to  examine  easily.  The  stem  is  square,  the  leaves 
are  alternately  opposite  (decussate),  and  cordate-ovate,  with  a 
crenate-serrate  margin.  The  flowers  are  arranged  in  axillary  cymes 
(vertieillasters).  The  corolla  is  gamopetalous  (he. ,  the  petals  united), 
irregular,  ringent  (wide  open),  the  stamens  four,  two  longer  than  the 
other  two,  didynamous,  the  calyx  campanulate,  and  containing  four 
pyrenes  (one  seeded  half -carpels),  surrounding  the  base  of  the  style, 
which  readily  falls  off.  In  other  words,  the  ovary  is  divided  into  four 
segments,  each  containing  one  seed.  The  inflorescence  is  somewhat 
puzzling,  since  it  is  irregularly  developed.  It  is  composed  of  two  or  more 
sessile  groups  of  three  flowers  (cymes ),  in  each  of  which  the  central  one 
opens  first  and  the  two  lateral  buds  subsequently.  Owing  to  the 
crowded  growth,  however,  the  inner  lateral  flower-bud  is  often  not 
developed,  and  thus  the  inflorescence  seems  to  consist  of  flowers 
irregularly  arranged.  The  stem  is  quadrangular,  and  owes  its 
firmness  to  a  formation  of  thickened  cells  (collenchyma)  in  the 
angles  (see  Green’s  *  Botany,’  p.  309,  fig.  675),  which  may  be  easily 
seen  under  the  microscope,  if  a  thin  transverse  slice  is  taken  off 
with  a  razor.*  The  method  in  which  this  flower  is  fertilised  by 
insects  is  explained  fully  in  Lubbock’s  ‘British  Wild  Flowers  in 
Relation  to  Insects,’  p.  143-146.  The  character  of  the  ovary 
should  be  especially  noted,  since  this  distinguishes  the  Labiate 
from  the  Scrophulariaceae,  which  have  also  irregular  flowers  with 
didynamous  stamens. 


NOTES  ON  THE  B.P. 

Blither. — Compare  the  action  of  sulphuric  acid  on  excess  of 
alcohol  (as  in  making  ether)  with  the  action  of  alcohol  on  excess  of 
sulphuric  acid.  In  both  cases  ethyl  hydrogen  sulphate  is  first 
formed  : — 

C2H60H  +  H2S04  =  C2H5HS04  +  H20. 

Whfen  excess  of  alcohol  is  present,  this  reacts  with  the  ethyl 
hydrogen  sulphate  to  form  ether  and  sulphuric  acid  :  — 

C2HBHS04  +  C2HB0H  =  (C2H5)20  +  H2S04. 

This  regeneration  of  sulphuric  acid  explains  why  a  limited  quan¬ 
tity  of  acid  is  capable  of  converting  such  a  large  quantity  of 
alcohol  into  ether.  The  action,  however,  becomes  gradually  slower, 
and  eventually  stops,  owing  to  the  accumulation  of  water,  produced 
as  shown  in  the  first  equation.  A  secondary  reaction  also  takes 
place  between  the  alcohol  and  sulphuric  acid,  the  mixture  blacken¬ 
ing  owing  to  the  oxidation  of  alcohol,  while  the  sulphuric  is 
reduced  to  sulphurous  acid.  Some  of  this  latter  acid  distils  over 
with  the  ether  and  is  neutralised  and  removed  as  calcium  sulphite 
by  agitation  with  the  slaked  lime.  On  the  other  hand,  when 

*  The  hairs  on  the  stem  are  three-celled,  and  may  be  compared  with  those  of 
Gapsella  bursa-pastoris,  which  has  one-celled  hairs  with  a  glandular  base,  and 
stellate  hairs  on  the  same  leaf. 


excess  of  sulphuric  acid  is  present,  the  ethyl  hydrogen  sulphate  is 
decomposed  at  the  higher  temperature  to  which  the  mixture  is 
heated,  ethylene  and  sulphuric  acid  being  formed  : — 

C2H5HS04  =  C2H4  +  H2S04. 


The  commercial  methylated  ether,  prepared  from  methylated 
spirit,  contains  some  methyl  oxide,  derived  in  an  analogous  manner 
from  the  methyl  alcohol  contained  in  the  wood  naphtha  used  in 
methylation.  Methyl  oxide  is  a  gas  at  ordinary  temperature,  hence 
methylated  ether  begins  to  boil  at  a  lower  temperature  than  pure 
ether  (ethyl  oxide). 

Note  that  although  ether  is  a  very  light  fluid  its  vapour  is  very 
much  heavier  than  air.  The  molecular  weight  of  ether  (he.,  the 
relative  weight  of  its  molecules  in  the  state  of  gas  compared  to 
molecules  of  the  standard  (hydrogen  as  2)  is  74  [(C2H5)20  =  74].  By 
Avogadro’s  hypothesis  equal  volumes  of  gases  at  the  same  tem¬ 
perature  and  pressure  contain  the  same  number  of  molecules. 
Now  the  molecule  of  ether  (m.  wt.  74)  is  37  times  heavier  than  the 
hydrogen  molecule  (m.  wt.  2),  and  the  vapour  density  of 
ether  is  37.  Air  is  14-44  times  heavier  than  hydrogen  (determined 
directly  by  weighing  known  volumes  of  the  two  gases).  Ether 


vapour  will  therefore  be  rather  more  than  2  4  times 


heavier  than  air. 


Alcohol  Amylicum. — Normal  amyl  alcohol, 

CH3  -  CH2  -  CH2  -  CH2  -  CH2(  OH), 


is  contained  in  small  quantities  in  fusel  oil.  Two  of  its  possible 
seven  isomers,  namely,  iso-butyl  carbinol, 

gg>CH-CH2-CH2(OH), 

C  H 

and  active  amyl  alcohol,  Aj£5jj>CH  — CH2(OH),  are,  however,  the 

chief  constituents.  Note  that  these  are  both  primary  alcohols,  i.e., 
contain  the  CH2OH  group.  The  term  ‘  ‘  active”  applied  to  the  latter 
alcohol  refers  to  its  power  of  rotating  a  ray  of  polarised  light,  this 
action  being  due  to  the  asymmetric  carbon  atom  (marked  with  an 
asterisk  in  the  formula).  This  is  called  “  asymmetric  ”  because  it 
is  combined  with  four  different  groups  or  elements — in  this  case,  C2H5, 
CH;j,  H,  and  CH2OH  (carbinol).  Small  quantities  of  propyl  and 
butyl  alcohols  and  other  substances  are  also  present.  The  student 
is  recommended  to  read  a  good  account  of  alcohol  and  fermenta¬ 
tion,  such  as  that  in  Roscoe  and  Schorlemmer’s  ‘  Organic 
Chemistry.  ’ 

Alumen. — Solution  of  potassium  hydrate  precipitates  aluminium 
hydrate,  the  precipitate  re-dissolving  in  excess  to  form  potassium 
aluminate.  Compare  this  with  the  behaviour  of  chromium  and 
ferric  salts  towards  KOH  :  ferric  hydrate  is  insoluble  in  excess  of 
KOH  ;  chromium  hydrate  dissolves  in  the  cold  to  form  a  potas¬ 
sium  compound  similar  to  the  one  formed  by  aluminium  hydrate, 
but  the  chromium  hydrate  is  re-precipitated  on  boiling  the  solution. 

Alumen  Exsiccatum. — If  alum  be  overheated  in  drying,  some 
oxysulphate  is  produced,  and  the  dried  product  does  not  dissolve 
completely  in  water. 

Ammonium  Bromidum. — Production  of  a  yellow  colour  (free 
bromine)  on  moistening  with  dilute  sulphuric  acid  indicates 
presence  of  ammonium  bromate.  A  similar  reaction  will  be  more 
fully  dealt  with  under  potassium  iodide. 

Ammonii  Garbonas. — Carbamic  acid,  whose  ammonium  salt  forms 
one  of  the  constituents  of  the  official  Ammonii  Carbonas,  is  a  very  in¬ 
teresting  body  on  account  of  its  relations  to  carbonic  acid  and  urea. 

Carbonic  acid  CO<jQ  forms  two  amides  CO<^qj|-  and  CO<j^-g2 

by  replacement  of  one  or  both  its  hydroxyl  groups  with  the  amide 
group,  NH2.  The  first  is  carbamic  acid,  its  acid  properties  being 
dependent  upon  the  presence  of  the  (OH)  group  (hydroxyl)  associ¬ 
ated  with  the  (CO)  group  (carboxyl).  If  the  hydrogen  be  replaced 
by  NH4,  we  therefore  get  ammonium  carbamate,  CONH2'ONH4. 
The  second  amide,  carbamide,  is  the  well-known  body  urea. 

Ammonii Nitras. — When  heated  it  is  resolved  into  nitrous  oxide 
and  water  NH4N03  =  N20  +  2HaO.  Nitrous  oxide  for  inhalation  as 
an  anaesthetic  must  be  carefully  freed  from  nitric  oxide,  a  little 
of  which  is  formed  when  ammonium  nitrate  is  heated.  This  is 
done  by  passing  the  gas  through  solution  of  ferrous  sulphate  which 
retains  the  nitric  oxide,  forming  the  black  compound,  which  is 
met  with  in  the  ordinary  test  for  nitrates  with  FeS04and  H2S04. 


Feb.  6,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


Ill 


Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


LONDON:  SATURDAY,  FEBRUARY  6,  1897. 


THE  COUNCIL  MEETING. 

A  T  the  opening  of  the  meeting  the  President  announced 
the  death  of  Mr.  George  Nind,  who  was  for  many  years  a 
stauticli  supporter  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  and  latterly 
■occupied  the  position  of  Divisional  Secretary  for  the  Parlia¬ 
mentary  Division  of  Wandsworth  (see  Obituary,  p.  120). 

Upon  taking  the  lot  to  ascertain  which  seven  members  of 
Council  would  retire  from  office,  the  result  showed  that  the 
members  to  remain  upon  the  Council  are  Messrs.  Bateson, 
Cross,  Hills,  Johnston,  Newsholme,  Storrar,  and  Symes. 

The  additions  to  the  Society  comprised  9  Members,  24 
Associates,  and  41  Students. 

The  Registrar’s  report  of  the  number  of  Members,  Asso¬ 
ciates,  and  Students  connected  with  the  Society,  the  results 
•of  the  examinations  in  1896,  and  upon  the  Registers  of  Phar¬ 
maceutical  Chemists  and  Chemists  and  Druggists  was  pre¬ 
sented,  but  did  not  lead  to  any  comment. 

The  report  of  the  Finance  Committee  was  also  adopted 
without  any  further  reference  to  it  than  the  President’s 
•remark  that  it  contained  nothing  unusual. 

The  report  of  the  Benevolent  Fund  Committee  was  of  an 
exceptional  character,  inasmuch  as  it  did  not  recommend 
any  grants,  the  only  application  made  since  the  last  meet¬ 
ing  of  Council  not  having  been  entertained,  and  the 
only  incident  in  connection  with  the  Fund  was  the  death 
of  Elizabeth  Wilks  at  the  age  of  75.  In  speaking  of  the 
unique  character  of  this  month’s  report  the  Vice-President 
remarked  that  it  must  not  be  regarded  as  a  precedent  for 
the  future,  since  there  are  several  applications  to  be 
considered  so  soon  as  the  formalities  in  connection  with 
them  have  been  completed.  He  also  referred  to  the  fact 
■of  the  annuitant  lately  deceased  having  been  in  receipt 
of  an  income  from  the  Benevolent  Fund  for  the  last 
twenty-five  years,  as  a  proof  of  the  good  service  that 
could  be  rendered  in  keeping  aged  and  necessitous  persons  in 
comfortable  circumstances.  No  stronger  reason  for  giving 
general  support  to  the  Benevolent  Fund  could  well  be  found. 
The  President  endorsed  that  view  of  the  matter  and  ex¬ 
pressed  his  gratification  at  being  able  to  call  attention  to  an 
instance  of  interest  in  the  Benevolent  Fund,  from  the  receipt 
of  a  donation  of  four  guineas,  forwarded  by  Mr.  Robins, 
the  money  having  been  collected  ou  the  occasion  of  a  smoking 
concert  recently  held  at  the  Chemists’  Club. 

In  the  report  of  the  Library,  etc.,  Committee,  the  chief 
circumstances  mentioned  were  the  final  ratification  of  the 
transfer  of  the  Materia  Mediea  Museum  of  the  Royal  College 
of  Physicians,  Edinburgh,  to  the  Pharmaceutical  Society, 
and  the  purchase  of  the  Scoresby- Jackson  collection  of 
Materia  Mediea.  A  very  valuable  addition  has  thus  been  made 
to  the  Museum  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  in  Edinburgh, 
the  cost  of  which  has  been,  to  a  great  extent,  met  by  volun¬ 
tary  contributions  from  Scottish  members. 

After  the  report  of  the  results  of  examinations  had  been 
read,  Mr.  Storrar  mentioned  that  the  report  of  his  remarks 
in  regard  to  Professor  Geddes  at  the  December  meeting  of 
Council  did  not  convey  the  intention  he  had  in  speaking 
on  that  occasion,  and  some  members  of  the  Examining 
Board  had,  as  he  thought  justly,  felt  hurt  by  it.  He  wished 


to  explain  that  he  did  not  intend  to  insinuate  that  there 
had  ever  been  any  disagreement  in  the  Board  of  Examiners ; 
but  merely  to  say  that  the  successful  working  of  the  change 
made  in  the  composition  of  the  Examining  Board  depended 
a  good  deal  on  the  tact  and  courtesy  of  the  ihcoming  outside 
examiners,  and  to  express  obligation  to  Professor  Geddes 
and  Dr.  Gibson  on  that  ground. 

The  report  of  the  General  Purposes  Committee  on  legal 
matters  was  considered,  as  usual,  privately,  and  the  Council 
afterwards  adopted  its  recommendations,  besides  authorising 
the  Registrar  to  take  proceedings  in  various  cases  which  had 
been  reported. 

Before  the  conclusion  of  the  general  business  the 
President  informed  the  members  of  Council  that  the 
Committee  appointed  to  make  arrangements  for  the  forth¬ 
coming  decennial  Benevolent;  Fund  Dinner  had  decided  that  the 
Dinner  should  take  place  on  Tuesday,  May  18  next,  at  7  p.m. 
in  the  Victoria  Hall  of  the  Hotel  Cecil.  He  also  intimated 
that  the  services  of  the  Meister  Glee  Singers  had  been  secured 
for  that  occasion,  an  attraction  which  might  help  to  open  the 
hearts  of  the  company,  and  he  trusted  that  country  friends 
coming  to  London  to  take  part  in  the  festivities  with  which 
the  Queen’s  sixty  years’  reign  will  be  celebrated  will  so 
arrange  their  visit  as  to  include  May  18,  and  that  they  would 
also  be  present  at  the  Benevolent  Fund  Dinner. 

PHOTOGRAPHY  IN  COLOURS. 

The  production  of  coloured  photographs  by  the  direct 
action  of  light  is  an  ever-promised  but,  up  to  the  present, 
not  realised  development  of  the  pictorial  art.  The  latest 
approach  to  this  result  has  been  obtained  by  M.  Villedieu 
Chassagne,  of  Paris,  who  has  developed  a  process  origin¬ 
ally  suggested  by  Dr.  Adrian  Dansao.  An  ordinary 
negative  is  taken  and  immersed  in  a  special  solution  before 
developing  and  fixing  in  the  usual  manner.  The  finished 
negative  and  prints  from  it  do  not  differ  in  appearance  from 
other  negatives  or  prints,  but  on  treatment  of  the  prints 
with  blue,  green,  and  red  solutions  respectively,  they 
take  up  the  appropriate  colours  in  the  appropriate  parts, 
the  three  colours  blending  to  give  all  varieties  of  hue. 
Specimens  so  prepared  are  on  view  at  the  rooms  of 
the  Society  of  Arts,  and  amongst  others  before  whom  the 
whole  process  has  been  demonstrated,  at  King’s  College,  are 
Sir  Henry  Trueman  Wood,  Professor  Thomson,  Mr. 
Herbert  Jackson,  Captain  Abney,  and  other  prominent 
scientists  and  photographers. 

Amongst  the  negatives  treated  at  the  demonstrations 
were  some  taken  by  those  gentlemen,  and  a  print  from 
one  showed  with  perfect  distinctness  the  colours  of  a  bunch 
of  flowers  Sir  Henry  had  bought  at  Covent  Garden  on  his 
way  to  the  College.  The  composition  of  the  four  solutions 
is  as  yet  a  secret,  but  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  one  first 
used  acts  as  a  mordant  and  in  some  way  alters  the  nature  of 
the  film,  so  that  it  becomes  capable  of  exercising  a  selective 
action,  as  it  were,  upon  the  colours  employed.  The  coloured 
solutions  appear  to  contain  aniline  dyes,  and  they  are  probably 
of  varying  degrees  of  acidity  or  alkalinity.  Tne  prints,  after 
treatment  with  the  mordant  and  washing,  are  immersed  first 
in  the  blue,  then  in  the  green,  and  finally  in  the  red  solu¬ 
tion,  the  reactions  that  occur  resulting  in  the  production  of 
the  different  intermediate  tints.  The  finished  prints  are 
wonderful  productions,  and  the  new  process  indicates  a  marked 
advance  in  the  colouring  of  photograph®,  though  the  colora¬ 
tion  is  not  produced  by  the  direct  action  of  light. 


112 


PHARMACEUTICAL  journal. 


[Feb.  6,  1897 


ANNOTATIONS. 


The  Association  Generate  Pharmaceutigue  de  Belgique  is 
a  national  organisation,  membership  of  which  is  open  to  every 
Belgian  pharmacist  who  is  willing  to  pay  a  subscription  of  two 
francs.  It  was  formed  between  thirty  and  forty  years  ago  for  the 
purpose  of  uniting  the  pharmacists  of  the  country  in  the  attempt 
to  secure  better  laws  for  pharmacy.  But  during  the  past  year  the 
Association  has  been  re-organised  with  a  view  to  developing  the 
scientific  side  of  the  profession.  The  President  is  Professor  Ranwez 
and  the  Secretary  is  M.  Duyk,  both  of  whom  have  had  the  advantage 
of  a  special  scientific  training.  Professor  Ranwez  occupies  the  chair 
of  Pharmacy  in  the  University  of  Louvain  and  is  an  enthusiastic 
worker.  M.  Duyk  practises  as  a  pharmacist  in  Brussels. 

The  Eighth  International  Pharmaceutical  Congress,  to  be 
held  at  Brussels  this  year,  during  August,  is  being  promoted  by 
the  Association  Generale  de  Belgique,  and  at  that  Congress  it  is 
proposed  to  bring  forward  for  discussion  matters  of  direct 
pharmaceutical  interest,  rather  than  technical  chemical  subjects 
as  at  the  Congress  in  1885.  The  Congress  has  the  support  of  the 
Belgian  Government  and  professors  of  the  different  Belgian 
universities,  and  it  is  hoped  to  secure  a  representative  gathering 
of  pharmacists  for  the  occasion.  As  stated  last  week,  readers  de¬ 
siring  further  information  should  apply  to  M.  Duyk,  102, 
Chaussee  de  Wavre,  Brussels,  who  will  also  be  glad  to  hear  from 
the  secretaries  of  all  British  pharmaceutical  associations  which  may 
be  interested  in  the  approaching  Congress.  We  shall  publish  a 
list  of  the  questions  to  be  discussed  in  next  week’s  J ournal. 

Dr.  R.  Robert,  who  has  for  ten  years  occupied  the  position  of 
Professor  of  Pharmacology  at  the  University  of  Dorpat,  has  re¬ 
signed  his  chair  in  order  to  accept  an  appointment  that  has  been 
offered  to  him  of  director  of  a  sanitary  establishment  in  Germany. 
His  departure  from  Dorpat  has  given  rise  to  expressions  of  con¬ 
siderable  regret  in  the  local  newspapers,  not  only  on  account  of 
the  successful  influence  he  exercised  as  a  teacher,  but  equally  so 
because  of  the  social  popularity  he  had  gained. 

Death  of  Dr.  Hans  Hermann  Julius  Hager. — The  German 
papers  record  the  death  of  this  notability  of  the  pharmaceutical 
world  at  the  advanced  age  of  89.  In  early  life,  after  leaving 
school,  he  was  four  years  as  pupil  in  an  “  apotheke”  in  Salzwedel, 
and  even  during  that  period  commenced  the  literary  work  by 
which  he  afterwards  became  famous.  In  recognition  of  the  merit 
of  his  various  publications  he  was  excused  his  assistant  examina¬ 
tion.  On  passing  his  qualifying  examination  he  took  a  business  at 
Fraustadt,  which  he  carried  on  with  the  assistance  of  a  pupil  for 
seventeen  years.  He  then  removed  to  Berlin  and  devoted  himself 
entirely  to  scientific  and  literary  pursuits  in  connection  with  phar¬ 
macy.  The  number  of  works  he  produced  was  very  considerable, 
and  several  of  them  were  translated  into  various  languages.  His 
services  to  the  art  were  recognised  not  only  in  Germany,  but  in 
other  countries,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  an  honorary 
member  of  thirteen  pharmaceutical  societies. 

The  Death  of  Sir  Spencer  Wells  in  his  seventy-ninth  year 
is  reported  from  Cap  d’ Antibes.  The  eminent  surgeon  entered 
on  his  medical  career  through  the  gateway  of  apprenticeship,  at 
Barnsley,  Yorkshire,  and  after  spending  twelve  months  with  a 
parish  doctor  at  Leeds  and  subsequently  working  in  the  Anato¬ 
mical  School  at  Dublin,  he  went  to  St.  Thomas’s  Hospital,  London. 
Becoming  a  member  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  in  1841  he 


next  entered  the  Navy  as  assistant-surgeon,  and  gained  experience 
during  the  Crimean  war.  Ultimately  he  settled  in  practice  in 
London,  gradually  acquired  a  reputation  as  a  specialist  in  the 
diseases  of  women,  and  proved  the  practicability  of  ovariotomy. 
He  was  created  a  baronet  in  1884  for  his  distinguished  services  to 
the  medical  profession  and  to  humanity,  and  during  the  same  year 
became  President  of  the  Council  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons. 

The  Swansea  Chemist’s  Bankruptcy,  referred  to  briefly,  last 
week,  is  the  subject  of  a  letter  received  from  Mr.  John  Davies, 
chemist  and  druggist,  of  that  town,  in  which  he  says  the  “former 
proprietor  ”  of  the  business,  mentioned  but  not  named  in  the  note, 
was  his  brother,  who  is  now  dead.  Further,  he  declares  that  all  the 
statements  made  by  the  bankrupt  and  accepted  by  the  Registrar  as 
correct,  were  totally  incorrect  and  misleading.  We  have  great 
pleasure  in  publishing  this  disclaimer,  and  much  regret  that 
anything  published  in  the  Journal  should  appear,  even 
inadvertently,  to  reflect  upon  the  conduct  of  a  deceased 
chemist,  who  is  described  as  having  been  an  honour¬ 
able  and  straightforward  man,  but  the  whole  of  the 
statements  in  our  note  were  made  public  by  the  bankrupt  at  his 
public  examination,  reports  of  which  appeared  in  the  local  news¬ 
papers  and,  lacking  information  to  the  contrary,  there  was  no 
reason  for  assuming  those  reports  to  be  incorrect.  It  may  be 
worth  while  observing  in  regard  to  matters  of  interest  to  chemists 
and  druggists  reported  in  local  newspapers,  that  we  have  no 
means  of  testing  the  accuracy  of  these  reports,  and  it  would  be 
well  in  the  case  of  any  inaccuracy  appearing  in  the  published 
reports  for  the  individualsjchieflv  interested,  or  the  local  secre¬ 
taries  for  the  respective  districts,  to  communicate  the  true  state 
of  affairs  to  the  editorial  department  of  the  Journal  at  once, 
and  thus  prevent  further  publication  of  the  errors. 

Saffron  from  Eastern  Countries  will  be  regarded  with  dis¬ 
favour  if  a  report  appearing  in  the  Daily  Neivs  should  be  confirmed. 
According  to  the  Vienna  correspondent  of  that  paper,  the  Sanitary 
Council  of  Constantinople  has  resolved,  on  account  of  the  plague,  to 
prohibit  pilgrimage  from  India  and  Persia  to  Kherbela,  a  favourite 
place  of  burial  with  the  Shiites  and  other  Indian  sects.  It  is  said 
to  be  the  custom  for  the  bodies  of  wealthy  Shiites  to  be  laid  aside 
until  a  caravan  leaves  for  Kherbela,  and,  the  report  proceeds,  “  the 
dead  are  sown  up  in  carpets  with  large  quantities  of  saffron  to 
preserve  them.  At  Kherbela  the  bodies  are  buried,  and  carpets- 
and  saffron  are  sold  to  European  dealers.”  Saffron  may  not  beany 
the  worse  for  this  treatment,  but  most  people  would  prefer  it  in 
its  virgin  freshness. 

The  Anatomy  of  Ipecacuanha  has  been  studied  by  Dr.  Albert 
Schneider,  who  publishes  the  result  of  a  comparison  made  by  him¬ 
self  of  the  histological  features  of  Rio  and  Carthagena  roots 
(Journal  of  Pharmacology,  iv.,  1).  These  results  lead  him  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  is  possible,  not  only  to  distinguish  powders 
prepared  from  the  two  varieties  of  ipecacuanha,  but  also  to  detect 
the  presence  of  a  comparatively  small  percentage  of  Carthagena 
powder  when  present  as  an  adulterant  of  Rio  powder.  It  is  said 
to  be  necessary  to  make  at  least  ten  examinations  before 
formulating  a  conclusion  as  to  whether  or  not  the  adultera¬ 
tion  exists,  but  it  appears  extremely  doubtful  whether  even 
then  anyone  would  be  safe  in  deciding  the  matter  on  such  evidence 
as  Dr.  Schneider  considers  sufficient.  Thus,  he  states  that  “the 
presence  of  single  discoid  starch-grains  having  a  diameter  of  from 
17y  to  23jU  indicates  the  presence  of  the  Carthagena  powder,”  and 
this  statement  is  printed  in  italics  to  render  it  more  emphatic. 
But  the  starch-grains  of  Carthagena  ipecacuanha  can  hardly  be 


Feb.  6,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


113 


termed  discoid,  nor  do  they  show  such  markings  as  appear  in  the 
illustration  given  by  the  author.  The  correct  shape  of  the  grains, 
which  are  in  reality  somewhat  angular,  was  portrayed  by  Greenish 
two  years  ago  (Ph.  J.,  liv.,  690),  and  the  same  work  showed  that 
they  attain  a  size  of  17m  to  22m,  the  size  being  greatly  dependent 
upon  the  age  of  the  root.  Dr.  Schneider’s  conclusions  appear, 
therefore,  to  be  based  on  insufficient  grounds.  It  is  somewhat  re¬ 
markable,  too,  that  he  does  not  refer  to  the  work  of  either  Ranwez 
or  Greenish. 


The  Proposed  Attfield  Testimonial  was  referred  to  in  the 
Journal  for  November  14  last.  We  have  now  received  a  circular 
from  Mr.  John  Moss,  in  which  it  is  suggested  that  an  illu¬ 
minated  album  containing  an  alphabetical  list  of  the  names  of 
as  many  as  possible  of  his  past  students  and  admirers  of  his  work 
should  be  presented  to  Dr.  Attfield,  and  stating  that  Professor 
Herkomer,  R.A.,  has  volunteered  to  do  a  plate  of  Dr.  Attfield 
by  his  new  method,  so  that  the  Committee  will  be  enabled  to 
present  a  signed  proof  engraving  on  India  paper  to  everyone  who 
subscribes  ten  shillings  to  the  testimonial  fund.  The  Chairman  of 
the  Committee  is  Mr.  Charles  Umney,  and  the  Secretary  Mr.  J ohn 
Moss,  who  will  be  glad  to  receive  signatures  of  those  who  have 
benefited  by  the  teaching  or  writings  of  Dr.  Attfield,  either  ac¬ 
companied  by  subscriptions  to  the  fund  or  not,  at  39,  Tressillian 
Road,  St.  John’s,  London,  S.E. 


A  Record  in  Quinine  has  been  established  by  the  latest  drop  in 
the  price  of  that  article,  sulphate  warranted  to  answer  the  British 
Pharmacopoeia  tests  having  been  offered  in  one  hundred-ounce  tins 
at  eightpence  per  ounce  for  the  foreign,  or  three-halfpence  more  for 
Howards’.  Foreign  makers  reduced  their  price  to  the  extent 
of  twopence  per  ounce,  but  Howards  and  Son  one  penny  per  ounce 
only.  We  are  informed  by  Messrs.  Wright,  Layman  and  Umney 
that  the  sudden  reduction  was  due  to  the  action  of  some  manufac¬ 
turers  in  Paris  and  Milan,  who  are  not  within  the  Convention,  and 
that  within  a  few  hours  of  the  drop  being  announced  prices  again 
advanced,  though  considerable  sales  at  the  reduced  rates  had  mean¬ 
while  been  effected. 


Higher  Research  in  Chemistry  in  its  relation  to  manufactures 
is  to  be  further  encouraged  by  the  foundation  of  one  or  more 
Fellowships,  tenable  at  the  City  and  Guilds  of  London  Institute. 
The  Leathersellers  Company  is  providing  the  necessary  funds,  a 
grant  of  £150  a  year  being  offered  for  the  purpose.  The  amount 
of  the  grant  attached  to  each  Fellowship  will  be  determined  by 
the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Institute,  regard  being  had  as  far 
as  practicable  to  the  nature  of  the  research,  the  time  required 
to  complete  it,  and  the  merits  of  the  candidate,  subject 
in  all  things  to  the  approval  of  the  Company.  The  Fellow¬ 
ships  are  confined  to  natural-born  British  subjects,  who  have  com¬ 
pleted  a  full  three  years’  course  of  instruction  in  the  Chemical  De¬ 
partment  of  the  Central  Technical  College,  or  who  are  otherwise 
duly  qualified  in  the  methods  of  chemical  research  in  its  relation 
to  manufactures.  They  will  be  tenable  for  part  of  a  year  or  a 
whole  year,  and  may  be  renewed  for  a  second  or  third  year,  all 
researches  by  Fellows  being  carried  out  at  the  Central  Technical 
College.  Applications  for  Fellowships  must  be  addressed  to  the 
Honorary  Secretary  of  the  Institute,  Gresham  College,  E.C. 

Diet  and  Medicine  in  China  serve  a  writer  in  the  Cornhitt 
Magazine  as  a  topic.  He  remarks  that  the  commonly  received 
opinion  that  the  Chinese  as  a  nation  habitually  feed  on  rats  and 
mice  is  quite  erroneous,  though  in  the  city  of  Canton  “spatchcock  ” 


rats — that  is,  rats  split  open  and  dried — are  commonly  sold  in  the 
streets  for  edible  purposes.  Boiled  rat  is  supposed  to  be  good  for 
rheumatism  and  chills,  and  also  to  make  the  hair  grow  more 
rapidly.  The  flesh  of  camels,  donkeys,  and  goats  is  regularly 
eaten,  without  much  regard  being  had  to  the  manner  in  which  the 
animals  meet  their  death  ;  birds’  nests  of  gelatinous  nature  and 
sea  slugs  are  invariably  present  at  first-class  Chinese  feasts,  and 
human  milk  is  hawked  about  for  sale  in  Amoy,  old  men 
being  the  purchasers.  Turtles’  sinews  are  considered  good 
for  pains  in  the  joints,  and  in  Nanking  there  is  a  local  custom  of 
chewing  horses’  sinews.  The  skin  and  bones  of  deceased  elephants 
are  kept  for  the  Emperor’s  consumption  when  unwell,  and  His 
Majesty’s  father  is  said  to  have  been  cured  of  some  malady  by 
means  of  donkey’s  skin,  whilst  ground  rhinoceros  horn  is  con¬ 
sidered  to  be  of  great  therapeutic  virtue.  Sharks’  fins  are  nearly 
always  given  with  a  big  dinner,  and  castor  oil  is  said  to  be  some¬ 
times  used  in  cookery.  Wild  Manchurian  ginseng  is  described 
worth  its  weight  in  gold.  It  is  used  as  a  food  tonic,  and  mar¬ 
vellous  “repairing”  qualities  are  attributed  to  it. 

Chinese  Ideas  of  Chemistry,  Anatomy,  and  Physiology  were 
exceedingly  primitive  until  late  years.  Air  was  supposed  to  per¬ 
meate  the  body  through  imaginary  tubes,  and  physicians  confined 
their  diagnosis  almost  entirely  to  feeling  the  pulse,  which  was 
supposed  to  show  ^pventy-two  separate  indications.  Rabies  in  dog 
or  man  is  now  treated  with  a  tisane,  taken  hot,  composed  of 
ginseng  and  a  variety  of  other  herbal  remedies.  Cantharides  is 
used  by  some  Chinese  doctors  for  hydrophobia,  but  red  bamboo 
root,  Geranium  nepalense,  and  ginseng  are  prescribed  in  preference. 
Cholera  is  also  treated  with  a  special  mixture  of  herbs  taken 
along  with  rice  spirit,  Aconitum  variegatum  being  administered 
when  the  hands  and  feet  show  great  coldness,  and  Carica  papaya 
if  they  are  shrivelled.  Water  is  swallowed  through  a  stale  tobacco 
pipe  to  counteract  the  effects  of  cobra  bite,  shed  snake-skins  are 
used  for  eye  medicines,  and  wasp  stings  are  cured  with  raw  taro. 
The  lily  bulb  is  used  for  lung  diseases,  petrified  crabs  for  heart 
disease,  oyster-shell  dust  for  itchy  irritations,  mumps,  and 
certain  swellings  allied  to  rickets.  “  Toads’  eyebrows  ”  are 
claimed  to  be  effectual  for  provoking  sneezing,  and  thus  clearing 
the  head.  The  favourite  way  of  committing  suicide  is  by  swallow¬ 
ing  opium,  and  arsenic  is  chiefly  used  for  murder. 


“  The  Gas  Companies  of  the  United  Kingdom,”  observes  the 
Pall  Mall  Gazette,  are  of  course  like  Caesar’s  wife,  but  it  is  sug¬ 
gested  that  it  would,  nevertheless,  be  a  relief  to  hear  some  satis¬ 
factory  explanation  of  certain  startling  figures,  the  accuracy  of 
which  should  be  indubitable,  as  they  come  straight  from  the  pages  of 
a  Government  publication.  These  figures  contrast  the  average  con¬ 
sumption  by  the  householder  and  the  street  lamp  of  gas  supplied  by 
gas  companies  with  that  of  municipal  authorities.  The  annual 
average  consumption  by  the  private  consumer  of  gas  supplied  by 
companies  is,  it  appears,  as  much  as  49,100  cubic  feet,  whereas  of 
that  supplied  by  local  authorities  it  is  only  28,100  cubic  feet.  In 
other  words,  the  average  consumer  who  uses  companies’  gas  burns 
nearly  twice  as  much  as  the  consumer  who  is  supplied  by  local 
authorities.  Although  this  difference  is  surprisingly  great,  it  is 
thought  it  may  be  accounted  for  on  the  ground  that  London,  which 
probably  has  richer  householders  and  larger  shops  than  other  parts 
of  the  kingdom,  is  companies’  ground.  ‘ 1  But  can  this  also  apply  to- 
the  street  lamps  ?  The  public  lamps  supplied  by  companies  burn 
17,190  cubic  feet  of  gas,  whereas  those  burning  municipal  gas  only 
consume  14,970  cubic  feet.  How  is  this  ?  Will  some  gas  com¬ 
pany  enlighten  our  darkness  ?  ” 


114 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb  6,  1897 


LITERARY  NOTES. 


Kelly’s  London  Medical  Directory  for  1897,  the  ninth 
edition,  contains  542  pages  as  against  519  in  the  edition  for  1896, 
but  it  is  pointed  out  in  the  preface  that  the  expansion  is  due,  as  in 
the  past,  to  the  greater  fulness  of  the  entries  rather  than  to  an 
increase  in  the  number  of  medical  men  practising  in  London  and 
its  suburbs.  As  usual,  the  names  and  addresses  in  the  directory 
are  followed  by  statements  of  qualifications  and  particulars  of  con¬ 
tributions  to  medical  literature.  This  section  is  very  complete, 
and  correspondingly  useful.  Much  information  is  also  given 
rqgpecting  the  General  Medical  Council,  the  various  examining 
bodies  granting  medical  diplomas  and  degrees,  the  Local 
Government  Board,  Lunacy  Board,  Metropolitan  Asylums 
Board,  societies  of  various  kinds,  and  many  other  matters 
of  direct  interest  to  physicians,  surgeons,  and  pharmacists. 
Every  London  pharmacist  at  least,  should  find  it  advantageous  to 
possess  a  copy  of  the  book,  which  is  published  at  a  moderate 
price  (6s.  6 cl.)  by  Messrs.  Kelly  and  Co.,  Limited,  182,  High 
Holborn,  W.C. 


Lean’s  ‘  Royal  Navy  List  ’  is  a  bulky  volume  of  nearly  five 
hundred  pages,  which  ought  to  be  perused  with  great 
interest  at  the  present  time  by  many  readers,  in  view 
of  the  increased  attention  devoted  generally  to  the  matters 
of  which  it  treats.  Amongst  other  matters  it  gives  details 
of  the  war  and  meritorious  services  of  naval  officers, 
of  which  there  is  no  other  public  record  whatever,  the  dates 
of  all  commissions  from  first  entry  to  the  present  time  and  retire¬ 
ments,  also  the  dates  of  birth  of  admirals,  captains,  and  officers  of 
Royal  Marines.  In  addition  official  details  are  recorded  here  of  acts 
of  gallantry  for  which  various  officers  have  received  the  Victoria 
Cross,  Albert  Medal,  and  medals  of  the  following  societies,  viz., 
Royal  Humane,  Royal  National  Life-Boat,  Shipwrecked  Mariners’, 
Lloyd’s,  and  Liverpool  Shipwreck  and  Humane.  Under  the  names  of 
the  ships  are  placed  the  battles  in  which  those  ships  have  taken 
part,  the  same  as  the  battles  are  placed  on  the  colours  of  a  regi¬ 
ment.  In  the  retired  lists  will  be  found  a  very  large  number  of 
the  Civil  appointments  held  by  officers,  and  at  the  foot  of  each 
page  are  the  decorations  and  causes  of  special  promotion,  given  in 
full.  The  list  is  published  quarterly  at  the  price  of  7 s.  6 cl. ,  and 
each  quarter  it  is  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  new  matter,  the 
pages  being  open  to  any  information  of  interest  to  officers,  and 
every  class  of  officers  being  dealt  with  in  the  same  way.  There  is 
good  ground  for  the  claim  that  there  is  no  work  of  the  same  kind 
published  of  so  exhaustive  a  character  for  any  other  profession,  for 
the  editor,  Colonel  Lean,  appears  to  have  done  his  best  to  turn  out 
a  perfect  ‘Navy  List.’  The  publishers  are  Messrs.  Witherby  and 
Co.,  326,  High  Holborn,  W.C. 


The  Feeding  of  Infants  is  a  matter  of  growing  importance, 
and  Dr.  Edmund  Cantley’s  work  on  ‘  The  Natural  and  Artificial 
Methods  of  Feeding  Infants  and  Young  Children’  (J.  and  A. 
Churchill,  London,  7 s.  6 d.),  is  a  welcome  addition  to  the  literature 
of  the  subject.  The  work  is  designed  to  give  a  description  of  the 
present  state  of  our  knowledge  in  this  direction,  sufficiently 
concise  for  the  busy  medical  practitioner  and  the  overworked 
student,  yet  adequate  for  the  purpose.  Comprehensive  chapters 
on  the  physiological  processes  involved  in  lactation  and  on  the 
physiological  chemistry  of  infantile  dietetics  are  followed  by 
remarks  on  the  management  of  breast  feeding,  the  characters 
and  composition  of  human  milk,  and  the  contra-indications  to 


breast  feeding,  together  with  the  methods  of  weaning.  Next  in 
order  comes  the  study  of  cow’s  milk,  its  composition  and  characters',, 
its  supply  from  one  cow  only  or  otherwise,  and  the  preparation  from 
cow’s  milk  of  a  fluid  resembling  human  milk.  This  introduces  the- 
whole  question  of  the  management  of  artificial  feeding,  and  after 
referring  to  the  micro-organisms  in  milk  and  methods  employed1 
for  their  destruction,  the  author  shows  what  effects  are  produced 
by  heat  and  attenuants  on  the  curdling  of  milk,  a  matter  of  extreme 
importance.  The  remaining  chapters  deal  with  subsidiary 
methods  of  preparing  the  milk  of  cows  and  other  animals  for  the- 
food  of  infants,  proprietary  foods,  the  diet  after  weaning,  the- 
transmission  of  disease  by  breast  milk,  the  feeding  and  growth  of 
infants,  and  other  matters,  whilst  an  appendix  is  devoted  to 
the  preparation  of  suitable  foods  for  infants  and  children  and 
other  useful  information.  Altogether  the  book  is  a  most 
excellent  one  and  deserving  of  careful  consideration. 


“Exposures  of  Quackery”  is  the  title  selected  by  the  Editor 
of  Health  News  for  two  small  paper-covered  volumes  containing 
reprints  of  articles  that  have  appeared  in  the  pages  of  that 
publication.  Vigorous  in  style,  though  perhaps  a  little  free  at 
times  in  his  statements  of  facts,  the  author  has  produced  matter 
which  will  be  productive  of  much  good  if  he  can  induce  the  general 
public  to  read  and  digest  it.  It  is  to  be  feared,  however,  that  the 
habit  of  self-medication  has  gained  too  firm  a  hold  on  the  people 
of  this  country  for  any  loosening  of  the  bonds  to  be  effected  yet 
awhile.  But  meanwhile  no  harm  can  be  done  by  pegging  away 
continually.  The  volumes  are  published  at  Is.  each  by  the  Savoy 
Press,  Ltd.,  115,  Strand,  W.C. 


The  Botanist’s  Pocket  Book,  by  W.  R.  Hayward  (George  Bell 
and  Sons,  London  and  New  York),  is  so  well  known  to  botanists 
as  the  most  compact  and  handy  British  flora  for  reference  when 
botanising  at  a  distance  from  home,  that  this  latest  reprint  of  the 
book  needs  only  to  be  made  known  to  the  few  who  have  not 
already  heard  of  it.  Since  November,  1872,  when  the  first  edition 
appeared,  there  have  been  seven  re-issues.  Unfortunately  the 
work  was  stereotyped,  and  consequently  subsequent  additions  have 
had  to  be  inserted  in  the  appendix,  and  there  has  been  no  chance 
for  the  author  to  bring  it  up  to  date  (as  regards  names  and 
arrangement  of  species)  with  the  ‘  London  Catalogue  ’  and  Bentham 
and  Hooker’s  ‘  Genera  Plantarum.’  To  those  who  dislike  the  constant 
change  of  names  the  retention  of  the  old  and  well-known  names, 
used  twenty  years  ago,  will  be  welcome  rather  than  otherwise,  hut  it 
is  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  publishers  have  not  permitted 
the  author  to  recast  the  whole  work.  Now  that  a  definite 
rule  has  been  laid  down  and  accepted  by  the  majority  of 
botanists  for  the  retention  of  the  first  name  with  a. 
correct  description  published  since  1753,  the  work 
might  well  have  been  brought  into  accord  with  the  rule. 
This  would  have  ensured  a  still  larger  circulation  than  the  work 
has  at  present,  and  it  may  be  hoped  that  in  the  next  issue,  which 
should  at  the  present  rate  occur  in  three  years’  time,  the  work  will 
be  recast  on  a  sound  basis,  and  that  the  appendix  of  additions, 
which  now  includes  twenty-six  pages,  will  be  intercalated  in  the 
body  of  the  text.  The  additions  in  the  present  volume  consist  of 
six  new  plants,  one  of  which,  Carex  rhyncophysa,  is  by  a  printer’s 
error  spelt  rhyncophasa.  It  may  be  suggested  to  the  author  that 
the  analysis  of  the  genera  would  be  more  convenient  to  the  botanist 
if  placed  at  the  head  of  each  natural  order.  A  lapsus  calami  that 
should  also  be  amended  occurs  under  My  osurus  minimus,  “spikes 
slender,”  the  inflorescence  being  a  one-flowered  scape. 


Feb.  6,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


115 


JflEETIflGS  Op  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIETIES 

— — — ♦ - 

London  Institution,  Monday,  January  25. — Professor  C. 
V.  Boys,  F.  R.S. ,  whose  work  in  the  minutiae  of  physical  pheno¬ 
mena  is  so  well  known,  occupied  a  very  interesting  hour  in  re¬ 
vealing  to  a  large  audience  the  existence  and  behaviour  of 

Capillary  Ripples. 

It  is  not  an  easy  thing  to  compress  within  the  space  of  sixty 
minutes  the  record  of  as  many  months  of  patient  research,  but  by 
a  judicious  suppression  of  scientific  explanation  Professor  Boys 
was  able  to  give  a  fair  idea  of  what  to  the  popular  mind  is  a  quite 
unsuspected — because  unseen — property  in  liquids.  After  dwell¬ 
ing  for  a  short  time  on  the  visible  examples  of  wave  motion, 
ranging  from  the  quarter  of  a  mile  long  Atlantic  “  roller  ”  to  the 
tiny  wavelets  in  a  glass  or  cup  of  water,  the  Professor  proceeded 
to  show  that  the  law  as  to  the  relation  between  the  length  of 
waves  and  their  rate  of  progress  does  not  hold  good  for  extremely 
short  waves.  It  has  been  found  that  the  rate  of  progression  of  waves 
is  directly  proportional  to  the  square  of  their  length,  i.  e. ,  twice 
the  length  means  four  times  the  rate.  But  when  one  comes  to 
deal  with  wave  lengths  of  one-tenth  of  an  inch,  observation  reveals 
a  reversal  of  the  law.  In  point  of  fact  the  slowest  wave  movement 
seems  to  be  attained  when  the  wave  length  is  about  three  centi¬ 
metres.  Below  that  point,  in  the  case  of  water,  experiment  shows 
that  the  smaller  the  wave  the  greater  the  rate  of  movement.  The 
reason  seems  to  be  that  in  the  large  waves  the  principal  factors  are 
the  force  of  gravitation  and  the  property  of  buoyancy  ;  the  one 
tending  to  pull  down  the  crests,  and  the  other  to  fill  up  the 
hollows.  Capillarity — or  that  contractile  power  of  the  surface 
film  of  a  liquid — can  have  very  little  scope  in  such  cases.  In  very 
small  waves  or  ripples,  however,  capillarity  is  everything  and 
gravity  practically  inoperative. 

The  ripples  on  the  surface  film  of  a  liquid  move  with  ,such 
rapidity  that  they  are  ordinarily  not  visible  to  the  human  eye. 
They  are  started  by  the  slightest  movement,  and  dart  all  over  the 
surface.  To  reveal  them  it  is  necessary  to  have  recourse  to 
mechanical  devices.  If  a  dish  of  mercury  be  taken  (and  one  prefers 
mercury  because  it  reflects  light  from  its  surface  better  than 
water)  and  placed  upon  a  heavy  metal  disc  which  is  suspended  in 
a  suitable  manner,  accidental  ripples  occasioned  by  passing  traffic 
and  similar  causes  are  avoided,  and  one  is  free  to  make  the  ripples 
under  conditions  favourable  for  observation.  A  tuning  fork  is  now 
taken,  and  attached  to  the  prong  is  a  glass  style,  which  is 
adjusted  so  as  to  just  touch  the  surface  of  the  mercury.  The  light 
from  an  electric  arc  lamp  is  directed  upon  the  liquid,  and  the 
reflected  rays  are  passed  through  a  condenser,  and  so  to  the 
screen.  If  now  the  tuning  fork  be  gently  tapped  the  mercurial  sur¬ 
face  will  be  agitated  in  ripples  around  the  circular  point  of  the 
glass  style.  As  yet,  however,  no  movement  is  seen  on  the  screen. 
Why  ?  Because  the  surface  is  oscillating  at  the  rate  of  200  a 
second— far  too  rapidly  for  human  sight  to  detect. 

But  suppose  a  rotating  disc  having  a  series  of  apertures 
is  placed  between  the  reflected  beam  and  the  screen  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  intercept  the  light  200  times  a  second,  then  when  the 
movements  of  the  wheel  and  the  ripples  coincide,  the  phenomenon 
will  be  rendered  visible  and  the  ripples  will  be  seen  as  though  they 
were  motionless.  (This  was  very  beautifully  demonstrated,  and 
the  screen  showed  a  series  of  concentric  rings  around  the  stimu¬ 
lating  point. )  A  lower  toned  fork  gives  a  rather  larger  wave  and 
somewhat  slower,  and  on  putting  two  vibrating  styles  on  the 
surface  of  the  liquid  attached  to  forks  of  differing  tones  the 
resulting  ripples  interfere  one  with  another,  producing  radiating 
bands  of  absolute  stillness  at  the  point  of  interference.  Thus  the 
ripples  behave  precisely  like  waves  of  light  and  sound  waves.  The 
curious  thing  is  that  though  the  ripples  cannot  be  seen  by  unaided 
sight,  the  interference  rays  are  visible.  Reflection  may  be 
shown  by  floating  in  the  mercury  a  slip  of  thin  glass,  such  as 
is  used  for  covering  microscopic  specimens.  The  capillary  ripples 
strike  against  the  edge  of  the  glass  and  are  reflected  and,  as 
you  can  see,  give  rise  to  the  interference  bands,  where .  the 
advancing  waves  meet  or  intercept  the  reflected  waves.  It  will 
be  observed,  too,  that  a  “shadow”  is  thrown  by  the  slip, 
be.,  behind  the  obstruction  there  are  no  ripples,  or  at  ieast  only  a 
few  faint  ones,  and  they  are  caused  by  the  vibration  imparted  to 
the  glass  slip  by  the  advancing  ripples.  The  edges,  however,  do 
not  cast  sharp  shadows,  and  it  may  be  distinctly  seen  that  there 


is  a  tendency  in  the  waves  to  curl  round  the  corner  a  little,  exactly 
in  the  same  manner  as  waves  of  light  are  known  to  do. 

The  lecturer  closed  an  all  too  short  discourse  with  the  exhibition 
of  a  series  of  very  beautiful  photographic  slides  of  the  various 
phases  of  capillary  phenomena — slides  which  would  themselves 
well  occupy  an  evening  in  describing. 


Linnean  Society  of  London,  Thursday,  January  21. — 
Mr.  C.  B.  Clarke,  Vice-President,  in  the  chair. — Messrs.  Robert 
Barnes  and  F.  G.  Sinclair  were  admitted  Fellows  of  the  Society. 

Fossil  Antlers. 

Dr.  John  Lowe,  F.L.S.,  exhibited  some  fossil  antlers  of  Cervus 
elaphus  of  unusually  large  size  from  Southern  Fen,  Cambridge. 
The  dimensions  given  were : — Length  along  outside  curve, 
R.  42-6  in.  ;  L.  41  in.  Circumference  above  burr,  R.  11  6  ;  L.  11. 
Greatest  inside  width  37  in.,  at  top  32  6.  With  these  were  also 
exhibited  various  fragments  of  implements  and  weapons 
which  had  been  discovered  in  proximity,  showing  that 
the  animal  had  lived  contemporaneously  with  man. — Dr. 
H.  O.  Forbes  referred  to  similar  antlers  of  great  size  which 
had  been  discovered  in  Lancashire  during  the  cutting  of  the  Man¬ 
chester  Ship  Canal,  and  which  were  preserved  in  the  Liverpool 
Museum. — Mr.  J.  E.  Darting  showed  drawings  of  large  antlers 
found  at  Bourne  End  in  1894  during  the  construction  of  the  new 
viaduct  over  the  Thames,  and  at  Boston,  Lincolnshire,  in  1895,  by  a 
man  ploughing.  It  was  remarkable  that  while  the  antlers  of  Red 
Deer  at  the  present  day  showed  a  marked  deterioration  in  size  and 
weight  when  compared  with  those  obtained  in  a  fossil  state  in 
England,  this  was  not  the  case  with  Roe  Deer.  He  had  seen  no 
fossil  horns  of  the  Roe  which  were  superior  in  size  to  those  of  the 
same  species  procurable  at  the  present  time  in  Scotland.  The 
reason  for  this  had  not  been  explained. 

Peculiar  Markings  on  Shells. 

Mr.  Horace  Monckton,  F.L.S.,  exhibited  specimens  of  a  common 
freshwater  mollusc,  Limncea  peregrd,  collected  by  him  at  the 
Howietoun  Ponds,  Selkirkshire,  showing  a  variation  from  the 
normal  type  in  being  more  or  less  banded.  The  banding  was  in 
every  case  confined  to  the  last  whorl  of  the  shell,  and  often  to  the 
outer  portion  of  the  whorl,  although  in  one  or  two  cases  it  was 
arrested  before  reaching  the  mouth  of  the  shell.  Mr.  Monckton, 
after  describing  the  position  and  nature  of  the  ponds  referred  to, 
was  inclined  to  attribute  the  variation  in  question  to  the  abundance 
of  food  supplied  for  the  Salmonidce  reared  there,  and  to 
the  absence  of  lime  from  the  water. — Mr.  B.  B.  Wood¬ 
ward,  F.L.S.,  exhibited  a  similar  variation  in  shells  of 
Limncea  stagnalis,  wherein  the  banding  wTas  longitudinal — a 
peculiarity  which  had  been  recorded  by  Mr.  T.  D.  Cockerell. 
— Sir  James  Maitland,  Bart.,  gave  the  results  of  an  analysis 
which  had  been  made  of  the  water  at  Howietoun  and  Craigend, 
with  a  view  to  determine  the  bearing  it  might  have  on  the  growth 
of  fish  and  variation  in  the  shells  of  the  Mollusca  referred  to. 

Eczema  caused  by  Hyacinths. 

The  Secretary  read  a  letter  from  Mr.  J.  Y.  Johnson,  of  Fun¬ 
chal,  Madeira,  commenting  upon  Dr.  D.  Morris’s  exhibition 
(November  5)  of  raphides  composed  of  oxalate  of  lime  in  the  bulbs  of 
hyacinths,  the  handling  of  which  had  produced  a  form  of  eczema. 
Mr.  Johnson  mentioned  a  parallel  case  in  Richardia  cethiopica,  a 
beautiful  aroid  known  to  gardeners  as  the  Lily  of  the  Nile.  The 
laundresses  at  Funchal  had  tried  to  utilise  the  starch  obtainable 
from  the  corms,  but  complained  of  the  irritation  in  the  hands  pro¬ 
duced  by  it,  which,  on  examination,  was  found  to  result 
from  the  presence  of  numerous  needle-shaped  raphides,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  hyacinth-bulbs  referred  to.  Dr.  G. 
Elliott  Smith  read  a  paper  on  “  The  Origin  of  the 
Corpus  callosum  ;  a  comparative  study  of  the  Hippocampal  region 
of  the  Cerebrum  of  Marsupialia  and  certain  Cheiroptera.”  Tie 
author  entered  into  a  detailed  comparison  of  the  portion  of  the 
brain  named  in  Perameles  nasuta  and  Nyctophilus  timoriensis,  and 
showed  that  the  latter  presents  one  of  the  lowest  known  terms  in  the 
Eatherian  series.  The  paper  was  criticised  by  Dr.  St.  George 
Mivart,  Dr.  Keith,  Dr.  Robinson,  and  Prof.  Howes. — On  behalf 
of  Dr.  J.  Gilchrist  a  paper  was  read,  “On  the  Minute  Structure 
of  the  Nervous  System  of  the  Mollusca.” 


116 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


'[Feb.  6,  1897 


Royal  Institution,  Friday,  January  29. — Professor  J*  C. 
Bose,  D.Sc. ,  Professor  of  Physical  Science  in  the  Presidency 
College  of  Calcutta,  delivered  a  lecture  which,  though  it  bore  the 
title  of — 

“The  Polarisation  of  the  Electric  Ray,” 

might  more  accurately  have  been  described  as  treating  of  the 
physical  properties  of  electric  waves  (see  page  102).  The  lecture 
theatre  was  filled  with  the  members  of  the  Institution  and  their 
friends,  and  among  those  attracted  by  the  reputation  of  Professor 
Bose’s  special  work  in  physics  were  Lord  Rayleigh,  Professor  Syl- 
vanus  Thompson,  and  Professor  Dewar.  The  historic  lecture  table 
was  crowded  with  apparatus  and  accessories,  which  aroused  a  very 
considerable  amount  of  curiosity  and  interest  by  reason  of  their 
novelty — the  Professor’s  radiator  and  receiver  representing  the 
very  latest  advance  in  the  domain  of  electrical  science. 


Royal  Institution,  Monday,  February  1. — Sir  James 
Crichton-Browne,  M.D.,  F.R.S.,  Treasurer  and  Vice-President, 
in  the  chair. — At  a  general  monthly  meeting  the  following  were 
elected  members  : — Mr.  Alfred  Louis  Cohen,  Mrs.  Delaforce,  Sir 
Charles  A.  Elliott,  K.C.S.I.,  LL.D.,  Mr.  John  Lawson  Johnston, 
Dr.  A.  Liebmann,  Mr.  T.  George  Longstaff,  Mr.  Howard  Marsh, 
F.R.C.S. ,  the  Rev.  E.  G.  C.  Parr,  M.A.,  Mr.  Charles  Rose,  and 
Mr.  Edward  P.  Thompson.  The  special  thanks  of  the  members 
were  returned  to  Sir  Frederick  Abel,  Bart.,  K.C.B. ,  for  a  donation 
of  £50,  and  to  Mr.  J.  Wolfe  Barry,  C.B. ,  for  a  donation  of  £25  to 
the  fund  for  the  promotion  of  Experimental  Research  at  Low 
Temperatures. 


THE  WORLD  Op  PHARMACY. 

- ♦ - - 

BUSINESS  MEETINGS. 


Liverpool  Chemists’  Association,  Thursday,  January  28. 
— Mr.  A.  C.  Abraham,  President,  in  the  chair. — The  annual  report 
was  presented  by  the  Secretary,  Mr.  H.  O.  Dutton,  and  the 
Treasurer’s  statement  by  Mr.  John  Bain,  both  showing  a 
satisfactory  state  of  affairs  as  regards  the  work  and  monetary 
condition  of  the  organisation.  Votes  of  thanks  were  passed  to  the 
officers — Secretaries  and  Treasurer — to  whose  exertions  in  a  great 
measure  the  well-being  of  the  Association  was  due.  The  seven 
retiring  members  of  the  Council,  Messrs.  Bain,  Buck,  Cowley,  Davies, 
Thompson,  Wardleworth,  and  Wokes,  were  re-elected,  with  the  addi¬ 
tion  of  Mr.  Prosper  H.  Marsden,  Teacher  of  Pharmacy  at  University 
College.  The  usual  votes  of  thanks  were  accorded  to  the  officers 
relinquishing  their  posts  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Alexander, 
seconded  by  Mr.  P.  H.  Marsden.  A  communication  had  been 
received  from  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Brussels,  asking  for 
delegates  from  the  Liverpool  Chemists’  Association  to  be  appointed 
to  attend  a  congress  or  pharmaceutical  conference  to  be  held  in 
Brussels  during  the  coming  summer.  As  no  date  was  mentioned 
and  the  particulars  given  were  somewhat  vague,  it  was  decided  to 
leave  the  matter  over  until  more  definite  information  was  forth¬ 
coming,  the  President  remarking  that  if  any  members  wished  to 
be  accredited  as  delegates  he  should  be  glad  to  receive  their  names. 

Inaugural  Address. 

Mr.  A.  C.  Abraham,  who  remarked  that  it  was  nearly  ten  years 
since  he  had  the  honour  of  occupying  the  chair  before  as  President, 
said  he  would  endeavour  to  deal  shortly  with  a  few  matters  of 
public  interest  such  as  were  often  brought  up  at  the  meetings  in 
the  early  days  of  the  Association.  The  subjects  dealt  with 
included  the  new  water  supply  of  Liverpool ;  the  dangers  attend¬ 
ing  the  use  of  water  gas  in  the  city ;  the  advantages,  from  a 
sanitary  point  of  view,  of  the  introduction  of  electric  lighting ; 
and  the  establishment  of  a  complete  course  of  pharmaceutical 
education  by  the  University  College  authorities.  The  Phar¬ 
maceutical  Society,  Mr.  Abraham  pointed  out,  has  for  years 
been  aiming  at  a  compulsory  curriculum,  with  the  object  of 
raising  the  educational  standard  of  the  profession,  but  its  Council 
had  always  felt  that  it  could  not  go  to  Parliament  and  ask  for  the 
needful  powers  unless  it  could  show  that  there  were  sufficient 
schools  in  the  country  in  the  control  of  independent  public  bodies 


ready  to  supply  the  necessary  educational  facilities  for  such  a 
curriculum.  The  establishment  of  the  Liverpool  University  College 
lectures  rendered  the  aspirations  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
and  those  who  agreed  with  it  more  easy  of  attainment.  Neverthe¬ 
less,  whilst  he  welcomed  this  addition  to  local  educational 
facilities,  he  had  no  desire  to  forget  the  good  work  which  had  been 
done  by  the  private  school  conducted  in  their  midst,  under  the- 
auspices,  to  a  certain  extent,  of  the  Association. 


Plymouth,  Devonport,  Stonehouse  and  District 
Chemists’  Association,  Wednesday,  January  27. — Mr.  G. 
Breeze  in  the  chair. — The  Secretary  (Mr.  Jas.  Cocks)  opened 
a  discussion  by  offering  a  new  suggestion  for  a  scheme  for  aug¬ 
menting  the  funds  of  the 

The  Benevolent  Fund, 

in  which  ladies  were  to  take  a  prominent  part,  as  suggested 
in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  of  December  24.  After  a  long- 
discussion  it  was  decided  to  defer  the  same  to  a  subsequent 
meeting ;  meanwhile  the  local  secretaries  were  requested  to  try 
and  redouble  their  energies  in  obtaining  additional  subscriptions 
for  the  same. 

New  Cheap  Rate  for  London  Parcels. 

This  matter  was  brought  forward  by  Mr.  J.  Harvey  Bailey,  and 
Curtiss’  tender  to  the  members  of  the  Association  was  accepted  at 
2s.  6 d.  per  month  for  parcels  under  twelve  pounds  from  London, 
one  only  from  the  same  house,  but  as  many  as  the  chemist  likes- 
from  different  houses  daily ;  above  that  weight,  2s.  3d.  per  cwt. 
after  deducting  the  twelve  pounds. 

Appointment  of  New  Committees. 

Mr.  Maurice  being  indisposed,  Mr.  Cantle  read  a  paper  by  the 
former  on  “  C.A.M.W.A.L.”  A  small  Committee  was  formed,  con¬ 
sisting  of  Messrs.  Maurice,  Maitland,  Cocks,  Barge,  and  Park,  to 
consider  the  same. — The  Secretary  reported  that  owing  to  the 
rapid  increase  of  the  duties  of  the  Association,  the  members  of  the 
General  Committee  found  that  they  had  not  the  necessary  time  to 
devote  to  educational  and  trade  matters.  Two  special  Committees 
were  then  formed  : — 

Trade. — Hie  Chairman  and  Secretary  (ex  officio),  Messrs.  Bailey,  Park,  Roper, 
Martin- Johnson,  and  Condy  U’Ren. 

Educational. — The  Chairman  and  Secretary  (ex  officio),  Messrs.  O.  A.  Reade, 
J.  R.  Johnson,  J.  D.  Turney,  R.  F.  Roper,  and  J.  A.  Buckley. 

Mr.  Park  moved  the  following  resolution  : — 

“  That  this  Association,  whilst  approving  of  the  work  already  accomplished  by 
the  P.A.T.A.,  reaffirms  its  confidence  in  its  aims  and  objects,  and  hopes  it -wilt 
receive  still  greater  support  from  the  retail  trade  in  the  immediate  future.” 

This  was  seconded  by  Mr.  Barge,  and  carried  unanimously. 

- — The  President  (Mr.  G.  Breeze)  announced  that  he  and 
the  Secretary  (Mr.  Jas.  Cocks)  would  attend  the  supper  of  the 
Exeter  Chemists’  Association  on  the  following  night.  It  was 
unanimously  resolved  that  a  fraternal  message  be  presented  to 
them,  with  hopes  that  they  would  long  be  a  centre  of  usefulness 
and  benefit  to  the  trade. 


Exeter  Association  of  Chemists  and  Druggists,  Thurs¬ 
day,  January  28. — Mr.  J.  Hinton  Lake,  President,  in  the  chair. — 
Mr.  P.  F.  Rowsell  (the  honorary  secretary)  stated  that  at  the 
recent  annual  meeting  it  was  proposed  that  the  Association  should 
elect  an  honorary  solicitor,  and  the  name  of  Mr.  C.  R.  M.  Clapp 
was  mentioned.  It  was  thought  very  desirable,  as  many  other 
associations  had  their  honorary  solicitors,  that  they  should  have 
theirs,  and  Mr.  Clapp  was  considered  to  be  a  suitable  gentleman 
for  the  office.  Mr.  Lake  and  himself  had  waited  on  Mr.  Clapp, 
who  expressed  the  pleasure  with  which  he  would  accept  the  office, 
provided  he  was  appointed  by  the  Association.  Mr.  Clapp,  if 
elected,  would  give  them  advice  on  any  point  of  the  Pharmacy 
Act,  and  in  the  event  of  a  case  being  taken  up,  he  would  naturally 
be  instructed. — Mr.  J.  Bartleet  (Heavitree)  said  he  had  great- 
pleasure  in  moving  that  Mr.  Clapp  be  elected. — Mr.  E.  Lemmon 
seconded  the  resolution,  which  was  carried  unanimously. — Mr. 
Rowsell  reported  that  he  had  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  W.  S.. 
Glyn-Jones,  the  Secretary  of  the  Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Asso¬ 
ciation,  drawing  attention  to  the  following  resolution  which  hia 
Council  had  recently  passed  : — 

“  That  the  Council  regrets  to  notice  the  action  by  the  Charles  A.  Vogeler  Com¬ 
pany  in  relation  to  the  chemists  of  Bradford,  and  recommends  the  various 
local  associations  connected  with  the  P.  A.  T.  A.  to  convey  to  this  firm  their 
disapproval  of  the  action  it  has  taken.” 


Feb.  6,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAI 


117 


Mr.  Glyn-Jones  had  also  stated  in  the  letter  that  he  would  be  glad 
if  the  Exeter  Association  would  take  the  earliest  opportunity  of 
sending  an  expression  of  opinion  to  the  Vogeler  Company  in  refer¬ 
ence  to  their  action.  He  was  confident  that  if  the  various  local 
associations  who  were  heartily  supporting  them,  were  to 
forward  resolutions  condemning  the  action  taken  by  this  company, 
that  it  would  have  a  salutary  effect,  not  only  upon  them,  but  upon 
all  proprietors  who  were  apt  to  ignore  the  decided  feeling  which  was 
being  shown  by  the  trade  in  favour  of  the  movement. — Mr.  Rowsell 
said  he  did  not  think  it  was  necesssary  for  him  to  explain  what 
the  action  of  the  Vogeler  Company  had  been;  they  had  learnt  it 
from  the  trade  journals.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  he  thought  it  was 
their  duty  to  pass  a  resolution,  such  as  was  suggested  in  Mr.  Glyn- 
Jones’  letter.  It  had  been  passed  by  similar  associations 
throughout  the  country,  and  some  of  those  wholesale  pharmacists 
who  worked  in  a  very  high-handed  sort  of  way  needed  to  have  the 
matter  pointed  out  to  them,  and  to  be  told  what  the  feeling  of 
chemists  was  on  the  subject. — Mr.  E.  Lemmon  moved  that  the 
suggested  resolution  be  passed.  This  was  seconded  by  Mr.  E.  F. 
Stone,  seconded  by  Mr.  J.  Bartleet  and  Mr.  Vinden,  and 
carried  unanimously. — It  was  decided  that  at  the  next  meeting  of 
the  Association  the  question  of  the  desirability  of  extending  the 
operations  of  the  Association,  so  as  to  include  the  surrounding 
district,  be  considered. 

The  Annual  Dinner. 

The  dinner  of  the  Association  immediately  followed  the  meeting. 
The  President  (Mr.  J.  Hinton  Lake)  occupied  the  chair,  and  was 
supported  by  the  Right  Worshipful  the  Mayor  of  Exeter  (Mr.  R. 
Pope),  the  Sheriff  of  Exeter  (Mr.  T.  Wilson),  Mr.  A.  W.  Clayden, 
M.A.  (Principal  of  the  Exeter  Technical  and  University  Extension 
College),  Mr.  T.  Linscott,  J.  P.,  Mr.  George  Breeze,  J.  P.  (President 
of  the  Plymouth,  Devonport,  Stonehouse  and  District  Chemists’ 
Association),  and  many  others.  The  toast  of  the  evening,  that  of 
“  The  Exeter  Association  of  Chemists  and  Druggists,”  was 
proposed  by  the  Chairman,  who  said  the  objects  of  the  Association 
were  briefly  told  in  the  three  words  ‘  ‘  Sociability,  trade,  education.  ” 
He  then  proceeded  to  give  a  historical  account  of  the  progress  of 
the  Association,  and  explained  at  length  what  it  had  done  in  the 
matter  of  providing  facilities  for  technical  education.  Local  chemists 
were  urged  to  impress  upon  their  pupils  the  advantage  of  acquiring 
the  needful  technical  training  for  passing  the  Minor  examination  in 
Exeter. — Mr.  E.  Lemmon  and  Mr.  J.  Bartleet  acknowledged  the 
toast. — Mr.  P.  F.  Rowsell  next  gave  “The  City  of  Exeter,” 
and  the  Mayor,  the  Sheriff,  and  Mr.  Clayden  responded,  the  last- 
mentioned  explaining  the  local  educational  arrangements  for  phar¬ 
maceutical  students.  The  toast  of  “The  Visitors,”  proposed  by 
Mr.  D.  Reid,  was  responded  to  by  Mr.  Geo.  Breeze,  J.P.,  who 
said  the  Plymouth  Association  were  desirous  of  expressing  their 
cordial  feeling  of  friendship  towards  the  members  of  the  Exeter 
Association.  The  Exeter  Association  had  evidently  entered  upon 
a  good  work,  and  was  doing  that  work  in  an  energetic  manner. 
They  felt  that  these  associations  of  chemists  and  druggists  were 
very  much  needed,  more  especially  at  the  present  time,  when  they 
could  not  but  feel  that  the  trade  was  being  terribly  crippled  by 
various  opposing  forces.  They  felt  that  the  need  of  combination 
was  more  than  ever  required  amongst  chemists  and  druggists,  and 
they  were  pleased  to  find  that  chemists  and  druggists  themselves 
were  beginning  to  realise  that  fact.  Within  the  past  three  or  four 
37ears  a  large  number  of  associations  had  been  established,  and  he 
found  there  were  now  between  forty  and  fifty  local  associations  of 
chemists  and  druggists.  He  looked  upon  that  as  an  omen  of  good. 
Those  associations  must  be  of  very  great  benefit ;  they  enabled 
them  to  meet  together,  they  enabled  them  to  talk  over  matters 
affecting  the  trade  and  act  wisely  and  discreetly.  Not  only  that, 
they  enabled  them  to  give  facilities  for  the  education  of  the  rising 
members  of  their  associations  by  forming  classes  and  schools,  and 
getting  specimens  for  them  which  no  single  individual  could  possibly 
a  ccumulate.  — Mr.  J.  Cocks  also  replied.  He  said  he  should  like  to  see 
the  Exeter  Association  extended  so  as  to  include  the  surrounding 
towns,  such  as  Tiverton  and  Crediton.  The  Plymouth  Association 
was  particularly  anxious  to  extend  also,  that  they  might  join 
hands  with  Penzance  and  Exeter. — Songs  and  recitations  were  given 
during  the  evening  by  Messrs.  Wynne  Tighe,  H.  W.  Gadd,  J.  W. 
Lake,  A.  Guest,  Jackson,  Donald  Wilson,  and  H.  J.  Stanbury. 
Mr.  Guest  presided  at  the  piano,  and  the  gathering  separated 
with  the  singing  of  “Auld  Lang  Syne”  and  “God  Save  the 
Queem” 


Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,  Thursday,  January  28. 
— Mr.  Charles  Morley,  President,  in  the  chair. — The  attendance 
at  this  meeting  was  very  meagre,  owing  probably  to  the  fact  that 
the  Chemists’  Club  “smoker”  was  being  held  at  the  same  time.. 
After  the  preliminary  business  had  been  dispatched,  Mr.  J.  C. 
Hyslop  read  an  interesting  and  instructive  paper  on — 

Popular  Pharmacy. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  paper  the  President,  in  the  course  of  his 
remarks,  said  there  was  one  thing  about  Mr.  Hyslop’s  paper  which 
they  were  bound  to  notice,  and  that  was  the  love  he  bears  for  the 
calling  he  follows,  the  calling  of  pharmacy.— Mr.  W.  Moore,  A.I.C., 
wished  to  know  how  the  public  may  be  taught  the  meaning  of  tho 
word  “  pharmacist,”  as  he  believed  many  people  hardly  know  who 
or  what  that  individual  is. — Mr.  S.  Summer,  while  of  opinion  that 
the  title  “pharmacy”  is  a  good  one,  did  not  agree  with  Mr.  Hyslop 
as  to  its  popularity.  He  thought  “  drug  store  ”  more  popular  at  the 
present  time.  He  quite  approved  the  remarks  in  the  paper  on  ‘ 1  neat¬ 
ness.” — Mr.  George  Roe  thinks  the  pharmacist  is  a  most  useful  indi¬ 
vidual,  who,  however,  does  not  always  realise  the  responsibility  of  the 
position  he  occupies.  The  good  opinion  of  the  “  ordinary  man  ” 
he  believes  is  increasing  in  favour  of  the  chemist’s  shop,  and  a 
well-known  physician  had  stated  that  he  did  not  know  of  any 
position  to  which  there  is  so  much  responsibility  attached  as  to  a 
dispenser  of  medicines. —  Mr.  Hyslop,  after  replying  to  the 
remarks  made,  said  that  magistrates  were  now  beginning  to 
recognise  the  importance  of  the  chemist  or  “pharmacist,” 
inasmuch  as  they  had  recently  decided  that  an  article  sold  by  a 
chemist  is  a  drug,  while  the  same  article  sold  by  a  grocer  is  not. 
— Mr.  A.  R.  Melhuish  moved  and  Mr.  C.  E.  Robinson  seconded 
a  vote  of  thanks  to  Mr.  Hyslop,  which  was  carried  by  accla¬ 
mation. 


Brighton  Junior  Association  of  Pharmacy,  Wednesday, 
January  27.— Mr.  W.  H.  Andrews  read  a  paper  on  Sponge, 
in  which  he  dealt  very  fully  with  the  natural  and  commercial  his¬ 
tory  of  this  very  interesting  commodity,  remarking  that  although 
it  was  an  article  of  everyday  use  with  almost  everybody,  very  few 
really  knew  what  it  was. — Mr.  Howes  next  read  a  paper  on  the 
new  illuminant,  Acetylene,  and  also  gave  a  practical  illustration 
of  the  preparation  of  that  gas  from  calcium  carbide  and  water, 
the  light  obtained  being  used  to  project  numerous  lantern  slides 
upon  a  screen. 


Edinburgh  Chemists’  Assistants’  and  Apprentices’ 
Association. — Friday,  January  29,  Mr.  James  McBain,  Presi¬ 
dent,  in  the  chair. — Mr.  John  R.  Thompson  read  the  following 
paper  on  the — 

Determination  of  Mercury  in  Ammonio-Mercuric  Chloride. 

Some  time  ago  my  attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that  com¬ 
mercial  ammonio-mercuric  chloride  of  mercury  varies  in  composi¬ 
tion.  An  examination  of  five  samples  from  different  sources  gave 
the  following  results. 

Percentage  of  Hg 
determined  as  Hg2Cl2- 

A  =  .  7153 

B  =  .  - .  71-56 

C  =  .  73-05 

D  =  . .  75-01 

E  =  . . . .  76-80 

In  course  of  the  analysis  I  discovered  that  the  method  of  deter¬ 
mining  the  mercury  as  metal  was  open  to  error,  even  when  much 
care  was  exercised  in  the  details  of  the  process.  There  was  loss 
in  drying  the  metallic  mercury,  and  at  this  stage  the  loss  of  even 
a  small  quantity  works  out  to  a  large  error  in  the  percentage. 
Determination  as  sulphide,  though  less  defective,  also  failed  to  give 
concordant  results,  although  free  sulphur  was  thoroughly  removed 
by  washing  with  carbon  bisulphide.  I  next  tried  the  method  of 
determining  the  same  samples  by  reduction  to  subchloride, 
Hg2Cl2,  and  weighing.  For  this  purpose  I  employed  a  solution  of 
potassium  hypophosphite  acidified  with  hydrochloric  acid,  instead 
of  the  phosphorous  acid  which  is  generally  used.  By  this  means 
reduction  is  ensured,  as  the  phosphorous  acid  is  newly  liberated. 
The  details  of  the  process  are  as  follow  : — A  weighed  quantity  of 
Ammonio-mercuric  chloride  is  dissolved  in  hydrochloric  acid  in  a 
precipitating  beaker.  To  this  the  acidified  solution  of  potass  um 
hypophosphite  is  added,  when  a  precipitate  of  Hg2Cl2  is 
almost  immediately  thrown  down.  This  is  set  aside  for  twelve 
hours,  washed  by  decantation  with  hot  water  till  free  o 


118 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  6.  1897 


chloride  pressed,  dried  at  100°  C.  till  constant,  and  weighed.  This 
method  gives  good  results,  and  has  advantages  over  the  other  two. 
The  manipulation  is  much  simpler,  no  combustion  or  sulphuretted 
hydrogen  apparatus  being  required.  The  method  should  recom¬ 
mend  itself  to  retail  pharmacists,  as  it  could  be  performed  at  the 
dispensing  counter  without  much  experience  in  manipulation,  and 
it  meets  that  desideratum  in  a  pharmacy  of  being  cleanly.  It  may 
be  noted  that  while  the  Pharmacopoeial  standard  is  77 '5  per  cent, 
of  metallic  mercury,  none  of  the  samples  reached  this  amount,  the 
highest  being  76 '8  per  cent. — A  most  exhaustive  and  interesting 
lecture  was  then  delivered  by  Mr.  George  Senter  on— 

“The  Chemistry  of  Sugars.” 

In  this  he  reviewed  the  history  of  the  subject,  and  explained  fully 
by  diagrams  and  experiments  the  various  steps  by  which  a  know¬ 
ledge  of  the  constitution  of  the  sugars  had  been  reached,  and  how 
members  of  this  important  group  of  organic  substances  had  been 
produced  synthetically. 

School  of  Pharmacy  Students’  Association,  Friday, 
January  22. — Mr.  Bernard  Jealous  read  a  paper  on  the 

Life  of  Robert  Boyle. 

Commencing  with  a  brief  account  of  the  position  of  chemistry  as  a 
science  before  the  seventeenth  century,  biographical  details  con¬ 
cerning  Boyle  were  then  given,  following  which  came  an  account  of 
his  “  New  Experiments,  Physico-Mechanical,  touching  the  Spring 
of  Air  and  its  Effects,”  and  of  the  pump  which  Boyle  called  his 
“  Pneumatical  Engine.”  The  paper  concluded  with  a  detailed 
and  interesting  statement  of  the  position  which  Boyle  occupies  in 
the  history  of  chemistry. 


Newcastle  on-Tyne. — Wednesday,  January  27. — A  large 
number  of  chemists  met  to  discuss  the  desirabilty  of  forming  a  local 
association.  Mr.  T.  Maltby  Clague  was  voted  to  the  chair  for 
the  evening  and  opened  the  proceedings  by  reading  letters  of 
apology  for  absence  and  sympathy  with  the  movement  from  Messrs. 
B.  S.  Proctor,  W.  R.  Riddle,  G.  Foggan,  G.  Weddell,  W.  Sarsfield, 
J.P. ,  F.  R.  Dudderidge,  and  congratulatory  letters  from  Mr.  C.  J. 
Park,  Plymouth,  Member  of  Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society, 
Mr.  A.  H.  Waddington,  local  secretary  for  Bradford,  Mr.  S.  Norman 
Pickard,  Secretary  of  the  Bradford  and  District  Chemists’  Associa¬ 
tion,  Mr.  Harry  Hutton,  Leamington,  and  Mr.  R.  H.  Bell,  local  and 
associationsecretaryfor  Sunderland.  These  cheery  fraternal  greetings 
evoked  much  good  feeling.  Continuing,  Mr.  Clague  emphasised 
the  need  of  association,  and  dwelt  on  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
the  enterprise  and  the  paramount  necessity  for  some  measure  at 
least  of  self-denying  support  for  a  common  good. — After  a  free 
and  general  conversation,  all  of  which  was  favourable  to  the 
scheme,  Mr.  Lancelot  Arrowsmith  proposed,  and  Mr.  J.  D. 
Rose  seconded — 

“That  an  Association  be  formed  for  the  advancement  of  scientific,  educational, 
and  trade  interests  and  the  promotion  of  social  intercourse.” 

In  the  discussion  which  followed  Messrs.  Merson  and  Duncan 
declared  themselves  against  the  too  great  prominence  of  scientific 
subjects,  and  Mr.  Kerse  gave  a  historical  summary  of  past  efforts  at 
sustaining  associations  in  Newcastle,  and  argued  that  the  error 
had  been  made  of  excluding  trade  topics.  Ultimately  the  resolution 
was  unanimously  passed  on  the  terms  above  reported.  It  was 
decided  to  admit  to  membership  all  registered  chemists  and  drug¬ 
gists  in  the  district  and  their  assistants,  and  all  wholesale  druggists 
and  their  employes ;  apprentices  of  registered  chemists  to  be 
admitted  to  associateship. 

The  following  officials  were  appointed  : — 

Secretary. — Mr.  G.  N.  Merson,  Newcastle. 

Treasurer. — Mr.  W.  Kerse,  Newcastle. 

Vice-Presidents. — Mr.  J.  Robinson,  Stanley  ;  Mr.  A.  E.  Owen,  Newcastle. 

The  Secretary  was  instructed  to  write  and  ask  Mr.  G.  Foggan, 
of  Bedlington,  to  accept  the  position  of  President.  The  following 
gentlemen  were  appointed  on  the  Committee  : — Messrs.  Clague, 
Rose,  Weddell,  Ridley,  Peacod,  Duncan,  Milner,  and  Gibson. 


Duboisine  Sulphate  in  Paralysis  Agitans.— Mendell  and 
Francotte  have  found  the  sulphate  of  duboisine  to  be  a  useful 
sedative  in  paralysis  agitans.  From  three  to  five  granules,  each 
containing  l/200th  grain  of  duboisine,  may  be  given  each  day,  or 
hypodermic  injections  of  l/300th  grain  may  be  employed. — Therap. 
(Jar..  [3],  xii.,  620,  after  Journ.  des  Practs. 


LEGAL  INTELLIGENCE. 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  COURT  OF  APPEAL. 


Milk  of  Sulphur  Prosecution. 


The  case  of  Sandys  v.  Simpson  came  before  Mr.  Justice  Wright 
and  Mr.  Justice  Bruce  in  the  Divisional  Court,  on  Monday  last, 
upon  a  case  stated  by  the  Justices  of  Heanor  in  the  county  of 
Derby.  It  appeared  that  at  the  Petty  Sessions  held  at  Heanor 
on  October  26  last,  an  information  was  preferred  by  Henry  Stair 
Sandys  against  a  chemist  and  druggist  named  David  Osborne 
Simpson,  for  that  he  (the  respondent),  did  on  August  18,  1896, 
at  Heanor,  sell  to  one  Joseph  Hewitt,  to  his  prejudice,  a  certain 
drug,  namely,  “  precipitated  sulphur,”  which  was  not  of  the 
nature,  substance  and  quality  of  the  article  demanded  by  the 
purchaser,  in  that  it  contained  46  per  cent,  of  sulphate  of  lime. 
The  appellant,  Mr.  H.  S.  Sandys,  is  an  inspector  of 
Weights  and  Measures  for  the  county  of  Derby,  charged 
with  the  execution  of  the  Sale  of  Food  and  Drugs  Act,  1875,  under 
Section  6  of  which  the  information  was  laid.  When  the  matter 
was  before  the  Justices,  on  the  charge  being  read  over  to  the 
respondent,  he  did  not  plead  guilty  or  not  guilty,  but  before  any 
evidence  was  given,  admitted  selling  the  article  complained  of, 
namely,  milk  of  sulphur,  and  stated  that  when  he  was  weighing  it. 
he  informed  Joseph  Hewitt  that  he  had  two  preparations  of  the 
article,  viz.,  “  milk  of  sulphur”  and  “  precipitated  sulphur.”  The 
respondent  offered  to  change  the  article,  and  to  supply  Hewitt 
with  precipitated  sulphur,  which  he  designated  as  ‘  ‘  the  pure,” 
but  Hewitt  insisted  on  being  supplied  with  the  article  that  the 
respondent  was  in  the  act  of  weighing,  viz. ,  milk  of  sulphur,  and 
he  was  accordingly  served  with  milk  of  sulphur.  The  respondent 
further  stated  that  milk  of  sulphur  was  a  preparation  he 
had  sold  for  forty  or  fifty  years,  and  that  it  was  what 
his  customers  usually  expected  to  be  supplied  with.  He 
also  stated  that  it  was  his  custom  to  keep  pure  precipitated 
sulphur  for  medicinal  purposes,  but  that  he  was  seldom  asked  for  it 
and  his  customers  had  repeatedly  returned  it  to  him  when  supplied 
to  them,  and  asked  that  they  might  instead  be  supplied  with  milk 
of  sulphur,  which  was  the  article  he  (the  respondent)  at  first 
thought  Hewitt  required.  The  respondent  further  made  the  fol¬ 
lowing  statement :  “I  rather  sealed  my  own  doom  in  that  I  used 
a  printed  precipitated  sulphur  label  without  writing  on  it  ‘  milk 
of  sulphur,’ but  I  had  used  up  all  the  ‘milk  of  sulphur’  labels 
a  few  weeks  ago,  and  being  in  a  hurry  and  not  very  well  that  day  I 
put  this  ‘precipitated  sulphur’  label  on  in  mistake.”  It  was 
proved  that  Hewitt  was  the  County  Inspector  and  was  at  Heanor 
on  August  18,  1896.  Hewitt,  acting  on  the  appellant’s  direc¬ 
tions,  that  day  went  to  the  respondent’s  shop  and  asked 
for  half  a  pound  of  precipitated  sulphur.  Hewitt  duly  notified 
to  the  respondent  his  intention  to  have  the  article  analysed  by  the 
public  analyst,  and  offered  to  divide  it  into  three  parts  in  accord¬ 
ance  with  Section  14  of  the  Statute,  and  duly  divided  it  into  three 
parts,  delivering  one  part  to  the  respondent.  The  requirements 
of  the  Statute  were  complied  with,  and  upon  one  of  the  parts  being 
analysed  by  the  public  analyst  it  was  found  to  contain  46  per  cent, 
of  sulphate  of  lime.  The  appellant  alleged  that  the  article  supplied 
and  sold  by  the  respondent  to  Hewitt  was  not  of  the  nature,  sub¬ 
stance,  and  quality  of  the  article  demanded  by  Hewitt,  who  on 
cross-examination  denied  the  allegation  that  the  respondent  had 
offered  whilst  weighing  the  milk  of  sulphur,  or  at  any  other  time, 
to  supply  precipitated  sulphur,  or  to  change  it.  The  respondent 
was  not  sworn,  nor  was  any  evidence  called  on  his  behalf.  The 
information  was  heard  before  four  justices  of  the  peace,  and  was 
dismissed  on  the  decision  of  the  majority.  The  grounds  of  the 
majority  for  dismissing  the  information  were  that  the  respondent 
was  well  known  to  them  as  a  most  respectable  and  honest  trades¬ 
man,  and  they  fully  believed  his  statement,  notwithstanding  the 
evidence  given  by  Hewitt. 

Mr.  Hextall  appeared  in  support  of  the  appeal. 

The  respondent  was  not  represented. 

Mr.  Justice  Wright  said  he  should  think  very  likely  the  Justices 
were  wrong  in  this  case,  but  they  had  a  right  to  go  wrong  if  they 
could  reconcile  it  with  their  consciences.  At  any  rate  that  Court 
could  not  set  them  right. 

Mr.  Justice  Bruce  concurred. 

Appeal  dismissed  without  costs. 


Feb.  6,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


119 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


A  Panegyric — The  Other  Side. 

Sir, — Mr.  John  Hick,  of  London,  doubtless  thinks  he  deserves 
the  thanks  of  all  British  pharmacists  for  his  noble  defence  of  Mr. 
Martindale  and  his  book,  and  especially  for  the  example  he  sets  in 
regard  to  the  “brilliancy”  of  his  “logic.”  His  penultimate 
sentence  containing  the  remark  aconitine  was  in  the  very  best 
possible  taste.  He  is  surprised  at  you,  and  not  surprised  at  Mr. 
Martindale.  I  am  surprised  at  Mr.  Hick.  I  should  like  to  know 
if  he  ever  tried  to  make  boroglyceride  according  to  the  very  meagre 
instructions  given  in  the  ‘  Extra  Pharmacopceia,’  and  I  should 
like  to  know  what  sort  of  a  product  he  got.  I  have  a  great 
respect  for  Mr.  Martindale  (that  cunning  artificer  in  drugs),  who 
is  admittedly  facile  princeps  as  the  exponent  of  elegant  pharmacy. 
I  have  a  great  respect  for  the  ‘  Extra  Pharmacopoeia  ’  also.  Many 
a  weary  search  through  back  volumes  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal 
and  the  Chemist  and  Druggist  has  that  most  excellent  and  com¬ 
pendious  pharmaceutical  cyclopaedia  saved  me,  but  we  cannot  get 
.away  from  the  fact  that  the  working  details  it.  gives  for  the  pre¬ 
paration  of  boroglyceride  are  inadequate.  Now  let  us  look  into  the 
matter  in  a  slightly  more  logical  manner  than  Mr.  Hick  has 
done.  Mr.  Martindale  is  hurt  at  a  certain  remark, 
namely,  “  You  must  not  look  upon  Martindale  as  an 
infallible  guide,  or  you  may  be  led  astray.”  Readers  will  no 
-doubt  have  noted  the  cautious  courtesy  of  the  answer,  ‘  ‘  you  may 
be  led  astray,”  not  “you  will  be  led  astray.”  The  contingency  of 
being  led  astray  is  a  corollary  to  the  assumption  of  infallibility,  so  the 
matter  resolves  itself  into  the  infallibility  or  otherwise  of  “  Martin- 
dale.”  Mr.  Martindale  in  his  letter,  ante  p.  80,  says: — “I  am 
not  infallible,  but  I  hold  that  the  ‘  Extra  Pharmacopceia  ’  is  more 
nearly  free  from  errors  than  most  works  of  the  kind  that  have 
been  published,”  a  statement  with  which  we  all  most  cordially 
agree.  It  will  be  observed  that  Mr.  Martindale  admits 
his  fallibility,  ergo,  there  was  no  necessity  for  Mr. 
Hick’s  outburst  of  indignation,  unless  it  were  that  he  wished  to 
place  on  record  another  eulogium  of  the  ‘  Extra  Pharmacopceia.  ’ 
I  hope  there  is  no  slip  in  this  train  of  reasoning,  because  it  is 
meant  as  an  object-lesson  to  Mr.  Hick,  who  has  evidently  let  his 
fetish  worship  run  away  with  his  logic.  It  must  not  be  supposed 
that  I  am  endeavouring  to  emulate  Don  Quixote ;  all  that  is  in¬ 
tended  is  to  give  a  fair  show  to  an  official  who,  after  expressing 
regret  for  inadvertently  hurting  someone’s  feelings,  has  to  submit 
to  have  an  innuendo  slung  at  him  as  in  the  letter  at  p.  100. 

Leith,  February  1,  1897.  George  Coull. 


Sir, — In  your  last  issue  Mr.  Hick  appears  to  say  that  we  are 
more  indebted  to  Mr.  Martindale  for  the  information  published  in 
the  ‘  Extra  Pharmacopceia  ’  than  to  any  other  living  pharmacist. 
No  doubt ;  but  in  the  same  way  one  might  say  we  are  more 
indebted  to  any  other  compiler  for  the  information  con¬ 
tained  in  his  book  than  to  any  other  living  person.  In  either 
case  it  seems  to  me  one’s  indebtedness  to  the  mere  com¬ 
pilers  of  the  results  of  the  labours  of  others  is  determined  upon  the 
payment  of  the  price  demanded  for  their  respective  publications, 
-and  is  an  indebtedness  of  an  entirely  different  order  to  that  felt 
towards  successful  workers  in  the  domain  of  original  research, 
whether  they  hail  from  the  laboratories  of  London,  Germany,  or 
-elsewhere. 

January  31,  1897.  Borax  (78/40). 

Sir, — I  have  frequently  been  indebted  to  the  staff  of  the  Phar¬ 
maceutical  Journal  for  the  kindness  they  have  shown  in  giving 
information  which  from  time  to  time  I  have  had  occasion  to 
require,  and  for  the  very  evident  trouble  they  have  taken  to  make 
that  information  as  complete,  explicit,  and  serviceable  as  possible, 
and,  personally,  I  was  very  pleased  to  see  that  in  their  reply  to 
Associate  {ante,  p.  60)  re  boroglyceride,  they  were  not  so  overawed 
by  the  “omniscience”  of  Mr.  Martindale  as  to  depart  from  what 
appears  to  be  their  general  rule.  Mr.  Hick,  in  his  letter, 
waxes  sarcastic.  It  is,  unfortunately,  too  often  the  habit 
of  great  minds  to  treat  with  contempt  the  best  efforts  of  their 
lesser  brethren,  but  he  unbends  in  so  far  as  to  volunteer  the 
assertion  that  “  the  present  generation  of  pharmacists  is  more 
indebted  to  Mr.  Martindale  for  the  information  published  in  the 
*  Extra  Pharmacopoeia  ’  than  to  any  other  living  pharmacist,” 
from  which  dictum  ordinary  mortals  may  be  allowed  to  differ. 
Primarily,  I  should  not  think  the  ‘  Extra  Pharmacopoeia  ’ 


a  book  par  excellence  for  chemists ;  it  devotes  very  little 
space  .to  the  modus  operandi  of  preparations,  whilst  it 
enters  rather  fully  into  therapeutical  details  :  it  presents  a 
large  amount  of  information  in  a  concise  and  handy  form,  though 
the  bulk  of  that  is  not,  I  should  say,  the  outcome  of  original 
work  on  the  part  of  the  author,  but  rather  a  resumd  of  the  work 
and  observations  of  others  ;  how  much  labour  is  involved  in  verifi¬ 
cation,  I  know  not.  Comparisons  are  proverbially  odious,  and  I 
have  no  desire  to  be  accused  of  throwing  dirt  at  my  superiors,  but 
I  am  conscious  of  no  feeling  of  gratitude  towards  the  ‘  Extra  Phar¬ 
macopoeia  ’  that  would  lead  me  to  ignore  the  fact  of  our  great 
indebtedness  for  present  knowledge  of  pharmacy,  to  the  work 
of  Attfield,  Ince,  and  Proctor,  to  that  reliable  friend  Squire’s 
‘Companion,’  and  also  to  the  pages  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal. 

February  2,  1897.  Free-Thinker  (78/41). 


The  Benevolent  Fund. 

Sir, — I  have  read  with  great  interest  in  this  week’s  Journal  Mr. 
Kemp’s  appeal  on  behalf  of  the  Benevolent  Fund.  Apart  alto- 
together  from  the  reason  put  forth  for  a  special  effort  being  made 
this  year,  I  do  not  think  (die  Fund  receives  the  support  it  ought  to 
from  the  body  of  chemists  and  druggists  throughout  the  country  ; 
but  when  an  occasion,  such  as  is  now  approaching,  affords  the 
opportunity,  there  is  every  probability  of  an  appeal  receiving  more 
support  than  when  made  under  ordinary  circumstances.  We  sub¬ 
scribe  willingly  to  funds  having  for  their  object  the  relief  and 
assistance  of  harassed  and  unfortunates  away  from  our  shores,  why 
should  we  not  more  willingly  give  what  we  can  to  support  and  help 
those  of  our  own  calling  who,  perhaps,  through  no  fault  of  their 
own,  have  had  to  drink  the  bitter  cup  of  adversity  ?  That  some 
organised  plan  would  be  the  most  advantageous  goes  without  say¬ 
ing.  For  a  meeting  to  be  called  and  a  resolution  passed,  agreeing 
“  that  a  general  united  effort  be  made  all  over  the  country  to  place 
the  Fund  on  a  secure  basis,  and  that  all  local  secretaries  be  asked 
to  co-operate  in  the  work,”  might  serve  the  purpose.  I  am  quite 
satisfied  a  great  response  would  be  the  result  of  such  an 
appeal,  and  that  local  secretaries  all  over  the  country  would  do 
their  best  to  celebrate  in  this  fashion  the  “Diamond  Jubilee 
of  our  Gracious  Queen.”  Some  such  idea  would  receive  the 
support  of — 

February  2,1897.  William  L.  Currie, 

Local  Secretary  for  Glasgow. 


Sir, — Mr.  Kemp’s  appeal  for  a  special  effort  this  year  in  the 
interest  of  the  Benevolent  Fund  cannot  but  meet  with  very  general 
approval.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  Council  contemplate  some¬ 
thing  of  the  kind,  and  I  am  sure  that  those  engaged  in  local 
secretary  work  throughout  the  country  will  do  their  utmost  to 
augment  this  most  deserving  Fund.  It  is  not  my  intention  to 
discuss  Mr.  Kemp’s  scheme,  but  to  support  him  in  urging  the 
desirability  of  adopting  some  special  means  this  memorable  year 
of  adding  to  the  capital  of  the  Fund,  or  of  providing  a  surplus  to 
enable  the  Council,  for  a  few  years  at  any  rate,  to  give  relief  in  a 
greater  number  of  cases  to  others  than  annuitants.  Whatever 
plan — having  this  object  in  view — may  be  agreed  upon  will,  I  am 
convinced,  meet  with  hearty  support  and  co-operation. 

Liverpool,  February  2,  1897.  Jno.  Smith. 

Sir, — I  have  great  pleasure  in  endorsing  all  Mr.  Kemp  says  in 
his  appeal  for  aid  to  the  Benevolent  Fund,  and  I  hope  he  will 
stick  to  his  text  till  it  is  carried  out.  But  there  is  another  thing 
the  Society  may  do  in  this  sixtieth  year  of  Her  Most  Gracious 
Majesty’s  reign — that  is,  by  an  act  of  grace  put  the  chemists  and 
druggists  who  hold  the  Modified  certificates  on  the  same  footing  in 
relation  to  the  Society  as  those  of  their  brethren  who 
were  in  business  before  the  passing  of  the  Pharmacy  Act, 
1868,  and  so  remove  the  one  thing  which  makes  the 
Society  so  unpopular  amongst  us  who  hold  that  quali¬ 
fication.  This  need  not  cause  any  jealousy  amongst  our  Minor 
brethren,  as  they  can,  if  they  like,  go  in  for  the  Major,  and  so 
become  pharmaceutical  chemists  as  well  as  members'.  Not  so  wuth 
us  ;  the  “  First,”  Minor,  and  Major  examinations  form  an  impass¬ 
able  barrier  against  it.  It  may  not  be  generally  known  that  the 
youngest  modified  man  must  be  close  upon  fifty  years  old,  as  the 
Act  fixed  the  age  for  the  Modified  examination  at  21  years  in  1868, 
and  as  that  is  29  years  ago  I  cannot  be  far  out  on  that  point. 
If  the  Society  have  not  the  power  to  do  this  of  themselves,  I 
feel  sure  if  there  is  a  member  on  the  Council  who  has  any 
sympathy  with  us,  he  will  have  but  little  trouble  in 


120 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL, 


[Feb.  6,  1897 


bringing  the  matter  before  her  Majesty’s  Privy  Council  and 
getting  their  consent  to  it.  It  cannot  be  thought  that  a  lot  of 
men  who  have  been  in  the  business  for  thii'ty  years,  and  are  now 
getting  grey  from  old  age,  would  be  other  than  an  acquisition  to 
the  Society.  Anyhow,  I  trust  that  this,  the  dream  of  my  life, 
will  not  be  allowed  to  pass  unnoticed,  and  that  before  this  memor¬ 
able  year  of  Her  Majesty’s  reign  has  passed  away,  I  shall  be  a 
member  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain.  It  seems 
strange  that  the  Secretary  should  still  announce  that  the  Board  of 
Examiners  will  meet  to  conduct  the  Modified  exam.  Surely  there 
are  no  candidates  at  fifty  years  old. 

February,  2,  1897.  A  Modified  Man  (78; 37). 


The  Keeping  Qualities  of  Essence  of  Lemon. 

Sir, — It  may  interest  most  of  your  readers  and  all  those  who  are 
oncerned  in  the  sale  or  use  of  essential  oils  in  general,  and  of 
essence  of  lemon  in  particular,  to  know  that  the  long- 
credited  belief  that  any  essence  will  go  “  turpy  ”  after  the 
first  season  or  so  is  absolutely  unfounded,  as  far  as  it 
applies  to  the  pure  and  natural  article.  Like  everyone 
else  we  had  no  choice  but  to  give  credence  to  these 
erroneous  assertions,  so  much  so  as  they  were  corrobo¬ 
rated  year  after  year  by  our  personal  experience ;  indeed,  the 
representatives  of  some  Sicilian  houses  go  so  far  as  to  assure  us 
that  the  purer  the  essence  of  lemon  the  sooner  it  will  turn  “turpy”  ! 
This,  however,  is  not  confirmed  by  the  results  of  our  lengthened 
investigations,  and  we  are  now  in  a  position  to  prove  that  pure  and 
natural  essence  of  lemon,  such  as  is  extracted  from  the 
fruit,  can  be  kept  good  and  fresh  under  proper  conditions, 
namely,  the  exclusion  of  air,  light,  and  heat,  for 

at  least  three  years,  and  that  it  is  only  the  spurious  and 
adulterated  article  that  will  sooner  or  later  become  “  turpy,”  the 
lapse  of  time  depending  upon  the  extent  of  the  adulteration.  We 
shall  be  pleased  to  fully  satisfy  any  of  your  readers  that  essence  of 
lemon  extracted  in  1893-4  and  in  1894-5  has  kept  to  this  day 
perfect  in  aroma,  flavour,  and  odour,  without  any  smell  of  turpen¬ 
tine  whatever.  The  two  parcels  just  referred  to  have  been,  since 
their  landing  (and  are  still)  under  official  control :  which  circum¬ 
stance  is  of  itself  conclusive  evidence  of  the  truth  of  our  statement. 

London,  February  3,  1897.  Typice  and  King. 


The  Journal  and  its  Students’  Page. 

Sir, — Kindly  allow  me  to  add  my  testimony  to  many  others  to 
the  excellent  “Students’  Page”  introduced  recently  into  the 
Journal.  Every  student  will,  I  am  sure,  find  it  a  great  boon, 
especially  that  portion  dealing  with  the  study  of  the  B.  P. ,  explaining 
as  it  does  the  why  and  wherefore  of  the  different  processes  of  the 
B.P.  Those  who  have  done  the  Minor  will,  when  reading  it, 
doubtless  wish  that  it  had  appeared  in  their  students’  days,  but 
will  read  it  nevertheless  with  no  less  interest.  As  one  of  your 
correspondents  remarked,  no  student  can  now  say  there  is  nothing 
to  interest  him  in  the  official  organ. 

Exeter,  January  31,  1897.  F.  S.  Hickman. 


Sir,— The  “Students’  Page”  has  been  a  happy  hit,  and  is 
widely  appreciated.  If  you  would  consider  favourably,  and  adopt 
the  suggestion  of  your  correspondent  “Qualified,”  to  devote  some 
space  to  the  “Major”  studies,  you  would  add  to  the  obligation  of 
your  readers.  A  series  of  notes  systematically  arranged  would  be 
useful,  not  only  to  “Major”  students,  but  to  many  others  who 
desire  to  refresh  or  increase  their  knowledge  of  the  subject.  If 
the  “Major”  could  be  taken  at  two  separate  examinations,  I  am 
sure  it  would  have  far-reaching  and  beneficial  results  to  the  trade 
and  in  loyalty  to  the  Pharmaceutical  Society. 

Liverpool,  February  2,  1897.  Jno.  Smith. 


PUBLICATIONS  RECEIVED. 


Lean’s  Royal  Navy  List  for  January,  1897.  By  Lieut. -Colonel 
Francis  Lean.  Pp.  476.  Price  7 s.  6 d.  London  :  Witherby 
and  Co.,  326,  High  Holborn,  W.C.  1897.  From  the  Publishers. 

Kelly’s  London  Medical  Directory  for  1897.  Pp.  542.  Price 
6s.  6 d.  London  :  Kelly  and  Co.,  Limited,  High  Holborn,  W.C. 
1897.  From  the  Publishers. 

Exposures  of  Quackery.  By  the  Editor  of  “Health  News,” 
2  vols.  Is.  each.  London  :  The  Savoy  Press,  Ltd.,  115,  Strand, 
W.C.  From  the  Editor. 


ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 


[Queries  addressed  to  the  “  Editorial  Department ,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  W.C.,"' 
will  be  replied  to  in  the  Journal  as  early  as  possible  after  receipt,  but  the  Editor 
cannot  undertake  to  reply  to  them  through  the  post,  nor  is  it  always  possible  to  publish 
answers  the  same  week.  Questions  on  different  subjects  should  be  written  on  separate 
slips  of  paper,  each  of  which  should  bear  the  sender’s  name  or  initials.  Readers 
requiring  working  formulae  for  special  preparations,  and  intimating  their  wants  to  the. 
Editor,  will  be  assisted  as  far  as  may  be  practicable.  The  word  “parts,"  when  used  in- 
formulae,  invariably  indicates  parts  by  weight.  Anonymous  queries  will  be  ignored .] 


Specimen  Identified.- — It  is  a  specimen  of  Selagiuella  Jcraus - 
siana,  A.  Br. — [Reply  to  A.  R. — 74/44.] 


Acid.  Phos.  Conc. — The  note  in  your  interleaved  B.P.  is  un¬ 
doubtedly  incorrect.  \Reply  to  S.  H. — 78/33.] 

Sale  of  Cocaine. — -As  a  poisonous  vegetable  alkaloid  cocaine 
must  be  treated  in  accordance  with  Part  I.  of  the  Schedule  of 
Poisons.  \_Reply  to  Cocaine. — 78/23.] 

Ball  Report.- — The  report — which  by  the  way  you  do  not  quote 
quite  correctly,  as  the  gentleman  you  name  is  not  described  ther  e 
as  honorary  secretary — appeared  as  furnished  to  us.  Early  intima¬ 
tion  of  the  event  appeared  in  our  pages,  and  we  are  informed,  on 
making  inquiries  with  regard  to  your  complaint,  that  four 
hundred  circulars  were  sent  out  locally. — [ Reply  to  John  Onion.], 

Water  Gas.- — This  gas  is  prepared  by  passing  steam  over  heated 
coke  kept  at  a  constant  temperature.  As  a  result  a  mixture  of 
hydrogen  and  carbon  monoxide  is  obtained,  and  this  is  passed 
through  petroleum  spirit  to  make  it  yield  a  luminous  flame. 
[ Reply  to  A.  W.  H. — 77/40.] 


Micro-Photographs. — These  are  simply  ordinary  positives,  so- 
minute  in  size  as  to  require  the  use  of  a  lens  or  microscope  to 
render  their  details  visible.  The  pictures  photographed,  instead 
of  being  simply  reduced  to  some  standard  plate  size,  are  reduced  to  a 
very  minute  degree.  They  must  be  taken  by  the  collodion  process, 
on  a  fine-grained  film,  and  what  especial  difficulty  there  is  arises  in 
connection  with  the  operation  of  focussing  the  image.  There  is  no 
special  book  on  the  subject.  {Reply  to  Micro-Photo. — 77/23.] 

Several  letters  and  answers  to  queries  are  unavoidably  held  over 
and  some  anonymous  correspondents  are  referred  to  the  notice  at' 
the  head  of  this  column.  Other  communications  ha  ve  been  delayed i 
through  being  addressed  to  5,  Serle  Street,  instead  of  17, 
Bloomsbury  Square,  and  others  again  are  written  on  both  sides  of 
the  paper,  contrary  to  our  rule. 


OBITUARY. 

Nind. — On  January  26,  at  Wandsworth,  George  Nind,  Pharmaceu¬ 
tical  Chemist  and  Member  of  the  Society.  Mr.  Nind’s  connec¬ 
tion  with  the  Society  dates  from  the  early  forties,  and  his- 
loyalty  to  its  interests  endured  throughout  life.  He  had  for 
several  years  occupied  the  position  of  Divisional  Secretary  for 
the  Parliamentary  Division  of  Wandsworth,  and  was  pleased  to 
have  the  opportunity  of  showing  his  deep  interest  in  pharmacy 
by  the  performance,  con  amore,  of  the  services  connected  with 
the  position.  There  was  about  Mr.  Nind  an  old-world  spirit  of 
devotion  to  the  craft,  and  loyalty  to  those  who  were  working  for 
its  advancement,  which  commanded  the  respect  of  all  those  who. 
knew  him.  It  may  interest  pharmacists  to  know  that  the 
Society  was  indebted  to  Mr.  Nind  for  a  water-colour  sketch  of 
Jacob  Bell’s  house  at  Clapham — the  Old  Clock-House — and  for 
other  souvenirs  of  the  former  residence  of  the  ‘  ‘  Member  for 
St.  Albans.”  Aged  78. 

Burn. — On  January  27,  at  460,  Collyhurst  Road,  Thomas  Burn, 
Chemist  and  Druggist.  Mr.  Burn  was  an  .Associate  of  the 
Society,  with  which  he  had  been  connected  for  more  than  twenty- 
five  years.  Aged  51. 

Hunt. — On  January  27,  William  Hunt,  Pharmaceutical  Chemist, 
of  Camberwell  Green,  S.E.  Mr.  Hunt  had  been  a  member 
of  the  Society  since  1853.  Aged  68. 


COMMUNICATION S,  LETTERS, etc., have  been  received  from 

Messrs.  Ashton,  Austen  ;  Blythe ;  Clague,  Coull,  Currie ;  Davies,  Dennis,  Dodridge, 
Duyk;  Evans;  Fidden ;  Hampson,  Hartness,  Hickman,  Hill,  Hogg;  Jones; 
Lindsay;  Miller,  Moss,  Myers;  Nursaw;  Oldham,  Onion;  Reynolds,  Reeve. 
Robins;  Sargeant,  Scupham,  Smith ;  Thomson ;  Umney;  Wyatt. 


Feb.  13,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


121 


THE  OINTMENTS  OF  THE  B.P. 


BY  E.  W.  LUCAS. 


The  directions  for  the  preparation  of  several  of  the  official  oint¬ 
ments  not  yielding  very  satisfactory  results,  I  was  led  during  the 
autumn  of  last  year  to  commence  a  few  experiments  with  a  view  to 
their  improvement.  It  is  not  proposed,  however,  in  this  short 
paper  to  deal  with  each  ointment  separately,  except  in  one  or  two 
instances. 

The  ointments  may  be  divided  into  two  classes: — (A)  Those  con¬ 
taining  medicaments  intended  for  absorption,  such  as  aconitine  ; 
(B)  those  used  as  dressings  for  wounds  or  sores,  of  which  boric 
acid  ointment  may  be  taken  as  a  type. 

Class  A  requires  a  basis  having  a  melting  point  about  95°  F. , 
capable  of  being  readily  absorbed  when  rubbed  into  the  skin,  and, 
while  having  well-marked  preservative  properties,  free  from  any 
tendency  to  set  up  irritation. 

Prepared  lard  containing  3  minims  of  oil  of  cloves  to  each  ounce 
is  suggested  as  fulfilling  all  the  conditions  enumerated.  This  basis, 
which  might  be  called  adeps  odoratus,  is  a  whiter  preparation  than 
the  official  benzoated  lard,  blander,  and  endowed  with  better 
keeping  properties. 

Class  B  also  requires  a  non-irritant  basis,  the  melting  point  of 
which  should  not  be  lower  than  115°  F.,  so  as  .to  avoid  the  in¬ 
convenience  caused  by  the  ointment  softening  and  soaking  into  the 
bandages,  and  not  higher  than  120°  F. ,  on  account  of  the  difficulty 
experienced  in  spreading  very  hard  ointments  on  lint,  etc. 

A  mixture  of  solid  hydrocarbons  completely  liquefying  within 
the  limits  of  temperature  before  mentioned  would  appear  to  be  the 
most  suitable  for  the  purpose,  and  such  a  mixture  might  be  known 
as  unguentum  petrolei  or  unguentum  simplex.  Following  out 
this,  the  ointments  might  be  classified  as  follows  : — 


Class  A. 

*Ung.  Aconitines .  2  per  cent. 

*  ,,  Atropinse  .  . .  2  ,, 

,,  Belladonnae . — . .  10  ,, 

,,  Chrysarobini  . 5  ,, 

,,  Gallse  „  _ .  20  ,, 

„  „  c.  Opio . .  .  10  ,, 

„  Iodi .  3  „ 

,,  Potassii  Iodidi  .  15  „ 

,,  Staphisagrise  ...._ . 33  ,, 

*  ,,  Veratrinae  _.....  _.... ..  2  ,, 


*  Ung.  Aconitine s,  Ung.  Atropince,  Ung.  Veratrince. — These  ointments  should  be 
made  to  contain  8  per  cent,  of  oleic  acid,  in  which  the  alkaloid  may  be  dissolved 
by  aid  of  gentle  heat. 

Class  B. 


Ung.  Acidi  Borici  . . . 

15  per  cent 

* 

11 

Acidi  Carbolici . 

5  „ 

11 

Acidi  Salicylici . . . _ 

4  „ 

11 

Calaminse  . . . . . 

10  „ 

n 

Cantharidis  ...... . . . . . . 

15  „ 

11 

Eucalypti  . 

10 

11 

Glyc.  Plumbi  Subis . . . 

10  „ 

it 

Hydrarg.  Ammon . . . 

10 

it 

„  Iodid . 

5 

it 

,,  Nit.  Dil . 

33  „ 

1  J 

,,  Ox.  Rubri . . . 

10  „ 

3) 

,,  Subchlor . . 

10 

n 

Iodoformi  . 

10  „ 

11 

Plumbi  Subacetatis . 

5  „ 

11 

,,  Carbonatis . . 

10 

It 

j  j  Iodidi  •  •*■»••••»»«•••  •  •  •  •  •  • 

10  „ 

11 

Sulphuris  . 

10 

11 

,,  Iodidi  . 

5  » 

11 

Zinci  . 

15  ,, 

11 

Zinci  Oleati  . . 

50  „ 

*  Ung.  Acidi  Carbolici. — If  an  equivalent  quantity  of  liquefied  carbolic  acid, 
containing  10  per  cent,  of  water,  is  used,  there  is  less  tendency  to  crystallisation 
on  keeping.  Glycerin  would  do,  but  requires  a  larger  quantity  for  solution  of 
the  acid. 


Vol.  LVII1.  (Fourth  Series,  Vol.  IV.).  No.  1390. 


The  ointments  not  included  in  the  above  list  are  those  of 
spermaceti,  mercury  (simple  and  compound),  mercuric  nitrate, 
tar  and  resin.  These  may  be  prepared  as  follows 

Unguentum  Cetacei. 


Take  of— 

Spermaceti .  1  part. 

Soft  White  Paraffin .  4  parts. 

Melt  and  stir  until  cold. 


Unguentum  Hydrargyri. 


Take  of— 

Mercury  . . . . .  1  part. 

Anhydrous  Wool  Fat .  1  part. 


Stir  together  until  mercury  globules  are  no  longer  visible  to  the  naked  eye. 

Note.— As  this  ointment  is  largely  used  for  inunction,  the  change  would  be 
found  advantageous. 

Unguentum  Hydrargyri  Nitratis. — The  directions  for  this  oint¬ 
ment  should  read  as  follow  : — 

Dissolve  the  mercury  in  the  nitric  acid  without  the  aid  of  heat,  agitating 
gently  from  time  to  time.  Melt  the  lard  in  the  oil  and  raise  to  a  temperature  of 
about  380°  F.  Pour  into  an  earthenware  vessel  previously  made  hot,  capable  of 
holding  ten  times  the  quantity,  and  when  the  mixture  has  fallen  to  about  350°  F. 
add  by  degrees  the  cold  mercury  solution,  stirring  briskly  with  a  wooden  spatula 
to  promote  disengagement  of  the  fumes.  Keep  stirred  until  cold.  If  these 
directions  are  closely  followed  a  pale  lemon-coloured  ointment  will  result,  which 
only  acquires  a  slight  orange  tint,  even  after  keeping  for  several  months. 

Much  controversy  has  taken  place  regarding  the  preparation  of 
this  ointment,  but  I  feel  emboldened  to  write  with  a  certain  amount 
of  confidence  on  the  matter,  as  the  firm  of  John  Bell  and  Co.  have 
had  a  considerable  reputation  ior  its  manufacture  for  several 
generations.  In  fact  there  hangs  in  the  counting-house  in  Oxford 
Street  an  engraving,  published  in  1842,  of  a  water-colour  drawing 
by  W.  Hunt,  representing  the  interior  of  the  old  laboratory,  with 
a  porter  named  Simmons  as  the  central  figure,  actually  engaged  in 
stirring  a  batch  of  nitrate  of  mercury  ointment,  as  witnessed  by 
the  label.  It  is  moreover  traditional  that  the  same  J ohn  Simmons 
was  permitted  by  Jacob  Bell  to  take  a  fee  of  half-a-crown  from 
each  assistant  whom  he  initiated  into  the  mystery  of  making  the 
ointment. 


Unguentum  Picis. 

Take  of— 

Stockholm  Tar 
Hard  Paraffin  . . 

4  parts. 

1  part. 

Melt  together  and  stir  until  nearly  cold. 

Unguentum  Besince. 

Take  of — 

8  parts. 

4  ,, 

Hard  Paraffin  . 

Soft 

3  ,, 

15  „ 

Melt  the  resin,  yellow  wax,  and  hard  paraffin  ;  add  the  soft  paraffin,  and  stir 
until  cold. 

KINKELIBAH. 

Inquiries  have  been  made  of  late  concerning  an  African 
remedy  bearing  the  above  name,  and  which  has  been  stated  to  be 
“  the  only  good  remedy  for  the  hsematuric  bilious  fever  which  is  so 
fatal  to  Europeans  in  West  Africa  ”  (Public  Opinion ,  August  9, 
1895),  but  which  seems  to  occur  equally  in  Eastern  Tropical  Africa, 
where  it  is  desired  to  try  the  value  of  the  remedy.  In  Public 
Opinion  kinkelibah  is  referred  to  Combretum  glutinosum,  Guill.  et 
Perr.,  but  by  Dr.  E.  Heckel,  in  1891,  it  was  referred  to  a  new 
species,  Combretum  raimbaulti,  Heck.  (B  Apert.  de  Pharm.,  1891, 
p.  216,  fig.  p.  252).  From  his  description  of  the  plant  the  following 
account  is  taken  : — • 

The  name  kinkelibah  is  used  by  the  Susa  people,  from  Rio 
Nunez  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Sierra  Leone.  By  the  Woloft 


122 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  13,  1897. 


people  it  is  called  “sekhaou”  and  “  khassaou,”  and  sometimes 
“  lakhass.  ” 

It  is  abundant  in  the  Rio  Pongo  district,  and  is  found  in 
Dubreka  and  Mellacore,  but  does  not  seem  to  occur  at  Sierra 
Leone,  although  found  opposite  to  Free  Town.  It  occurs  also  in 
the  Island  of  Conakry,  and  abundantly  on  the  plateau  of  Thies> 
on  the  railway  from  Daka  to  St.  Louis,  preferring  stony  and  sandy 
ground  near  the  rivers,  but  never  occurring  on  marshland  reached 
by  salt  or  brackish  water.  It  flowers  in  May  and  June  (which  is 
probably  the  best  time  to  collect  it).  The  stem  attains  a 
decimetre  in  diameter,  and  at  this  age  the  trunk  becomes 
white,  and  is  thus  easily  recognised  amongst  the  surrounding  trees. 
The  leaves  are  used  in  the  form  of  decoction  made  by  boiling  four  gr. 
of  the  leaves  (one  drachm)  in  250  gr.  of  water  (about  eight  ozs. ) 
for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  in  a  covered  vessel.  The  resulting  liquid 
should  be  of  a  clear  yellow  colour  and  bitter  ;  if  it  is  brownish 
t  is  too  strong  and  must  be  diluted  until  the  yellow  colour  is 
obtained.  The  above  quantity  is  a  single  dose,  and  should  be 
taken  at  the  onset  of  the  attack  ;  half  the  dose  should  be  re¬ 
peated  in  ten  minutes,  and  again  after  the  lapse  of  another  ten 
minutes.  The  vomiting  produced  soon  stops,  and  then  ceases 
altogether.  The  decoction  is  taken  during  four  days  in  a  quantity 
not  exceeding  1|  litre  per  day.  No  food  should  be  taken  whilst 
the  eyeballs  remain  of  yellowish  colour,  which  usually  lasts  for 
three  days.  On  the  fourth  day  very  little  nourishment  of  a  light 
character  at  frequent  intervals  should  be  given.  M.  Raimbault 
gave  raw  eggs  beaten  up  with  brandy  or  rum. 

If  the  bowels  are  confined  during  the  attack  a  purgative  is  given 
with  advantage.  On  the  fourth  day  80  centigrammes  (about  12 
grains)  of  sulphate  of  quinine  are  given  together  with  the 
kinkelibah,  and  the  dose  is  diminished  every  day,  whilst  the 
kinkelibah  is  continued  so  long  as  there  is  gastric  trouble  of  a 
bilious  character.  It  is  recommended  to  Europeans  to  take  a 
glass  of  the  decoction  every  morning  fasting,  as  a  means  of 
acclimatisation.  In  a  paper  published  in  the  ‘  Notizbl.  des  Konigl. 
bot.  Gart.  und  Mus.  zu  Berlin,’  June  10,  p.  151,  by  Professor  A. 
Engler,  the  kinkelibah  is  identified  as  Combretum  cdtum,  Guill.  et 
Perr,  which  is  also  identical  with  G.  micranthum,  G.  Don.  He 
remarks  that  it  is  easily  recognised  by  its  small  flowers  and  four 
winged  fruits  only  eight  m.m.  in  diameter. 

The  plant  was  recently  found  by  Mr.  G.  L.  Scott-Elliot  on  the 
laterite  hills  behind  Sierra  Leone,  at  an  altitude  of  about  600 
metres.  It  is  therefore  easily  obtainable,  and  if  its  reputation  proves 
to  be  well  founded,  it  would  be  worth  cultivation  in  the  eastern 
districts  of  Tropical  Africa.  Professor  Engler  suggests  that  it  is 
worth  inquiry  whether  the  somewhat  similar  species  occurring  in 
East  Africa  are  likely  to  produce  the  same  remedial  effects.  These 
species  are  G.  brunneum,  Engl.,  in  Djurland,  and  C.  schwnanni  in 
Buiti.  The  examination  of  kinkelibah  by  Prof.  Schlagdenhauffen 
showed  it  to  contain  20  "80  per  cent,  of  tannin  and  potassium 
nitrate,  but  no  constituent  likely  to  stop  vomiting  was  detected. 


Sodium  Tellurate  as  an  Anti-Sudorific  in  Phthisis. — By 
destroying  the  toxines  which  provoke  perspiration,  tellurate  of 
sodium,  according  to  Joguet  and  Neisser,  acts  as  an  efficient  anti- 
sudorific.  The  initial  dose  of  the  salt  is  2  centigrammes  per  diem, 
which  may  be  gradually  increased  to  5  centigrammes  if  benefit  is 
not  obtained  with  the  smaller  dose.  It  should  not  be  given  above 
this  dose,  or  digestive  disturbances  may  result.  It  may  be  given 
in  pills  or  in  the  following  mixture  : — Tellurate  of  sodium,  10  to  20 
centigrammes ;  alcohol,  50  per  cent. ,  50  grammes  ;  a  teaspoonful 
to  be  taken  morning  and  evening  in  sweetened  water. — Rev.  de 
Therap.,  Ixiii. ,  629. 


PRACTICAL  RADIOGRAPHY. 


IV.— THE  CROOKES’  TUBES. 

We  now  come  to  the  consideration  of  the  Crookes’  tubes  for 
radiography,  and  it  is  as  well  that  we  should  consider  first  the 
question  whence  come  the  X  rays  ?  It  is  acknowledged  generally 
that  when  a  tube  is  exhausted,  the  positive  or  anodic  discharge 
will  follow  all  the  windines  or  turns  of  the  tube  till  it  reaches  the 

cathode.  This  is  well 
shown  by  a  very  pretty 
experiment  of  Crookes 
and  confirmed  by 
Bertin,  and  which  is 
shown  in  Fig.  1.  In 
this  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  three  positive  elec¬ 
trodes  or  anodes  +  being 
connected  with  the  coil, 
give  off  three  dis¬ 
charges  which,  irre¬ 
spective  of  the  position 
of  the  anodes,  curve 
round  to  the  cathode. 

On  the  other  hand,  the 
this  case  from  a  concave  surface,  proceed 
in  straight  lines  which,  crossing  or  coming  to  a  focus  again, 
diverge,  as  shown  in  Fig.  2.  Now,  it  is  obvious  from  this  that 
the  cathode  discharge  obeys  to  some  extent  the  ordinary  laws  of 
light,  and  therefore  we  have  to  consider  these,  and  supposing 
we  assume  our  cathode  to  be  a  reflecting  surface  we  have 
in  the  case  of  a  plane  cathode  each  point  of  its  surface  prac¬ 
tically  a  source  of  a  rectilinear  wave  or  propagation,  and 
consequently  we  get  a  diffusion  or  divergent  beam,  just  as  we 


Fig.  1. 
cathode  discharge  in 


\ 


get  with  a  fairly  large  source  of  light,  and  therefore  we  get 
parallax.  If,  however,  we  use  a  concave  cathode  we  have  following 
the  well-known  laws  of  light  an  actual  focus  F  in  Fig.  3  from 
which  again  we  get  divergent  rays.  If  now  we  place  at  the  focus 
of  the  rays  a  plane  surface,  we  shall  have  rays  given  off  according 
to  the  well-known  law  that  the  angle  of  reflection  is  equal  to  the 
angle  of  incidence,  and  it  is  now  generally  acknowledged  that  the 
X  rays  have  their  origin  in  the  anti-cathode  surface,  which  may  or' 
may  not  be  the  anode.  We  may  represent  the  path  of  the  rays  by 
Fig.  3. 

The  forms  of  tubes  differ  a  great  deal,  but  it  has  been  proved 
that  the  so-called  “  focus  ”  tube  gives  the  sharpest  results.  In 
Fig.  4  will  be  found  a  very  large  number  of  tubes,  this  diagram 
having  been  copied  from  Nature ,  and  of  these  the  only  ones  we 
need  note  at  length  are  No.  1,  the  original  form  of  Crookes’  tube 
and  No.  32  Rontgen’s  tube,  many  of  these  tubes  are  of  more 
value  for  experimental  show  purposes  than  for  radiography,  as  they 


Feb.  13,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


123 


do  not  all  give  equally  sharp  definition  either  on  the  photographic 
plate  or  fluorescent  screen. 

Dr.  Eder,  of  Vienna,  has  been  trying  some  special  forms  of 
tubes,  and  one  in  particular  made  by  Greiner  and  Friedrichs,  of 
Stutzerbach,  has  been  specially  designed  for  fluorescent  screen 


Forms  of  tube  used  for  the  production  of  kathode  and  X-rays.  1,  2,  Crookes 
tube ;  3,  S6guy  tube ;  4,  Wood  tube  ;  5,  S6guy  tube ;  6,  Chabaud  and  Hur- 
muzescu  tube  ;  7,  S6guy  tube  ;  8,  “  Focus  ”  tube  ;  9,  Seguy  tube  ;  10,  d’ Arson val 
tube  ;  11,  Seguy  tube  ;  12,  Puluj  tube  ;  13,  Seguy  tube  ;  14,  d’Arsonval  tube  ; 
15,  Le  Roux  tube  ;  16,  17,  18,  Seguy  tubes  ;  19,  Rufz  tube  ;  20,  Crookes’  tube  ; 
21,  22,  23,  S4guy  tubes  ;  24,  Rontgen  tube  ;  25,  Brunet-Seguy  tube  ;  26,  27, 
*Le  Roux  tubes  ;  28,  Colardeau  tube  ;  29,  Seguy  tube  ;  30,  Colardeau  tube  ; 
31,  S6guy  tube  ;  32,  Rontgen  tube. — Illustration  reproduced  from  Nature 

work,  and  is  constructed  of  black  manganese  glass  with  a  white 
glass  window,  Fig.  5,  the  idea  of  this  being  the  suppression  of  the 
fluorescence  of  the  glass,  which  is  troublesome.  Eder  and  Valenta, 
who  have  carried  out  a  series  of  exhaustive  experiments  on  radio¬ 
graphy,  use  a  spark  gap  in  the  connection  to  the  tube  as  shown  in 
Fig.  6.  Another  very  quick  acting  tube  is  that  shown  in  Fig.  7, 
made  by  H.  Frister,  23,  Lindenstrasse,  Berlin  S.  W.  ;  another  good 

form  which  may  be  used  with 
any  kind  of  generator,  is 
Fig.  8,  and  either  one  or  both 
concave  plates  may  be  the 
cathode.  W.  Watson  and  Son, 
of  High  Holborn,  have  intro¬ 
duced  a  form  of  tube  which  they  call  the  “  Penetrator,”  Fig.  9, 
which  gives  unusually  clear  and  brilliant  results,  and  one  of  the 
principles  of  its  construction  is  said  to  be  the  employment  of  a 
small  quantity  of  metal,  which  occludes  any  residual  gas,  the 


vacuum  being  thus  controllable,  but  its  efficiency  is  also  probably 
due  to  the  peculiar  form  of  the  anticathode. 

For  lecture  experiments,  Puluj’s  tube  shown  in  Fig.  10  is  ex¬ 
tremely  taking,  as  it  contains  a  screen  of  mica  covered  with  a 
fluorescent  material  which  glows  with  an  intense  blue  luminescence  ,* 
its  efficiency  for  screen  and  photographic  work  is  not  so  great  as 
others,  and  it  could  possibly  be  improved  by  making  the  cathode 
concave  of  small  radius. 

A  few  hints,  possibly,  as  to  the  best  method  of  using  the  Crookes’ 
tube  may  not  be  out  of  place,  and  they  should  be  held  by  means 
of  a  Wolff’s  holder,  and  the 
wires  from  the  coil  should 
be  coiled  spirally  so  as  to 
form  fairly  resistant  coils, 
and  not  be  allowed  to  touch 
each  other,  the  tube,  or 
table,  as  otherwise  the  spark 
will  for  preference  take  the 
path  of  least  resistance  in 
preference  to  going  through 
the  tube. 

It  is  advisable  when  pur¬ 
chasing  Crookes’  tubes  to 
always  state  the  length  of  spark  that  the  coil  will  give,  because  it 
is  possible  to  obtain  a  vacuum  so  high  that  the  electric  current, 
cannot  pass,  and  therefore  no  X  rays  will  be  generated.  And  by 
use  the  vacuum  is  always  increased,  and  therefore  a  tube  which  has 
been  working  well  may  by  constant  use  emit  less  of  the  X  rays.  The. 


simplest  way  to  tell  whether  a  tube  is  working  well  is  to  examine 
the  discharge  within  the  tube,  and  outside  with  a  fluorescent  screen, 
in  the  latter  case  noting  the  distance  from  the  coil  at  which  the 
screen  luminesces.  In  the  interior  of  the  tube  the  slightest  trace 
of  blue  colour  proves  that  the  vacuum  is  too  low.  It  is  possible 


to  improve  a  tube  very  much  when  the  vacuum  is  low  by  the 
following  plan.  Connect  the  tube  up  to  the  discharging  points  of 
the  coil,  separating  these  by  about  an  inch,  and  switch  on  the 
current.  Possibly  the  spark  will  leap  across  the  air  gap  between 
the  dischargers,  in  preference  to  going  through  the  tube  ;  if  it  does- 
not  the  tube  must  be  worked  till  the  spark  does  pass  between  the 
discharging  points.  This  means  that  the  vacuum  has  been  raised 


Fig.  5. 


124 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  13,  1897 


Fig.  9. 


til]  the  spark  will  the  more  easily  pass  through  the  dischargers 
than  the  tube.  If  the  spark  passes  readily  between  the  dischargers 
at  an  inch,  separate  them  slightly  till  the  spark  goes  through  the 

tube,  the  distance  be" 
tween  the  dischargers 
may  then  be  said  to  be 
the  expression  of  the 
vacuum  of  the  tube, 
that  is  to  say  if  the 
distance  is  3  inches  the 
tube  is  most  suitable 
for  a  3 -inch  coil.  As 
a  rule  it  is  advisable  to  keep  on  working  in  this  way  till  the 
spark  will  more  readily  pass  between  the  dischargers  when 
separated  by  a  distance  of  4  to  6  inches  than  through  the  tube. 
Care  must  be  exercised  all  the  time  not  to  allow  the  tube  to  get 
too  hot  and  with  the  focus  pattern,  if  the  anticathode  gets  red  hot, 
the  current  should  be  switched  off  for  a  little  time. 

When  by  constant  use  the  vacuum  gets  too  high,  the  current  of 
electricity  cannot  pass  through  the  tube,  or  only  with  difficulty, 
and  the  result  is  that  X  rays  are 
generated  only  in  small  quantity. 

The  cause  of  this  is  supposed  to  be 
the  occlusion  of  the  residual  gas 
by  the  electrodes  or  anticathode, 
and  this  occurs  more  generally 
when  platinum  is  used  than  with 
aluminium.  The  remedy  for  this  is 
to  heat  the  tube  with  a  spirit  flame.  An  ordinary  spirit  lamp 
should  be  used,  but  the  flame  should  be  a  big  one,  at  least  four 
inches  in  height,  and  the  tube  being  held  in  a  test-tube  holder 
should  be  rotated  evenly  and  quickly  in  the  flame,  so  that  it  gets 
uniformly  hot.  A  little  experience  is  required  as  to  the  exact 
degree  of  heating  required,  but  as  the  tube  can  always  be  tested, 
it  is  not  a  difficult  matter.  It  has  been  stated  that  when  the 
vacuum  gets  too  high  it  may  be  lowered  by  reversing  the 
direction  of  the  current,  but  we  have  not  found  this  so  useful  as 
heating  the  tube. 

The  next  article  will  treat  of  the  fluorescent  screen  and  plates 
for  radiography,  and  the  series  will  conclude  with  the  names 
and  addresses  of  wholesale  firms  from  whom  all  the  necessary 
apparatus  may  be  obtained. 


Fig.  10. 


POPULAR  PHARMACY.* 

BY  J.  C.  HYSLOP. 

(  Concluded  from  page  10  f  ) 

In  practical  matters,  good  pill-making  and  neat  powder-folding 
will  ever  serve  as  the  outward  and  visible  sign  of  the  pharmacist’s 
inward  grace  in  the  eyes  of  the  British  public. 

It  is  piteous  to  see  the  badly -wrapped  seidlitz  powder,  the  loose 
penny  boxes  of  pills,  the  restful  pharmacist  merging  into  the 
restless  shopkeeper — handing  over  the  counter  his  packages  of 
drugs  bought  by  the  gross,  and  folded  in  a  loose  and  clumsy 
manner  by  no  one  knows  who.  Epsom  salts  procured  ready 
packed  are  never  clean,  and  as  people  usually  want  a  dose  only  for 
their  penny,  the  packing  of  these  at  one’s  own  dispensing  depart¬ 
ment  will  become  one  of  the  most  economical  and  successful 
advertisements  that  one  could  wish  for.  So  may  a  penny 
box  of  pills  suffice  to  carry  one’s  name  far  and  wide 
if,  added  to  a  neat  and  not  too  wordy  a  label,  the 
contents  be  what  in  honour’s  name  they  ought  to  be,  so  got 
up  as  to  proclaim  its  own  peculiar  nature  as  far  as  possible.  Comp. 


*  Beport  of  paper  read  before  the  Chemists’  Assistants'  Association. 


rhubarb  pills  will  always  command  a  ready  sale  everywhere  if  the 
smell  of  the  English  oil  of  peppermint  pervades  them,  and  if  they 
are  not  either  too  soft  or  too  hard  ;  leave  out  half  the  proportion 
of  glycerin  from  the  B.P.  formula,  and  prepare  sec.  art.,  no  pill  can 
beat  this  in  the  estimation  of  all  classes.  There  is  another  popular 
pill,  the  pil.  rufi.  This  will  never  fail  to  command  a  good  sale  if 
only  the  fair  patient  can  see  the  nature  of  what  she  is  taking,  and 
this  is  accomplished  best  by  coating  them  with  Martindale’s 
varnish  (gum  juniper,  1  part ;  absolute  alcohol,  2  parts).  They 
must  be  prepared  at  your  own  pharmacy,  follow  strictly  the  B.  P. , 
but  dry  the  saffron  yourself  and  powder  it  in  a  warm  mortar,  use 
first-class  myrrh,  and  reduce  this  to  a  coarse  powder,  and  if  good 
friable  “aloes  socot.”  cannot  be  got,  use  the  watery  extract,  which 
is  not  so  liable  to  “give ’’with  thermal  and  hygroscopic  change, 
keep  the  ‘  ‘  species  ”  ready  mixed  in  a  condition  of  coarse  powder, 
and  when  required  to  prepare  a  few  dozen  use,  instead  of  treacle 
and  glycerin,  the  smallest  possible  quantity  of  simple  syrup,  beat 
into  a  hard  mass,  to  be  at  once  divided  into  the  requisite  sized 
pills  and  coated  in  the  manner  described  in  the  ‘  Extra  Pharma¬ 
copoeia,’  p.  352.  If  a  “  chemist”  means  to  secure  popular  favour 
he  must  well  cultivate  the  art  of  pill-building  and  decorating. 
The  less  he  meddles  with  sugar-coated  or  pearl- coated  produc¬ 
tions  the  better,  for  all  except  in  special  cases  his  coverings  should 
be  restricted  to  three,  the  merest  sprinkle  of  lycopodium,  silver  leaf, 
or  sandarach,  he.,  gum  juniper  varnish.  If  the  sale  of  pills  increases 
so  much  that  it  becomes  inconvenient  to  prepare  them  on  the  pre¬ 
mises,  the  wholesale  pill  manufacturers  may  be  taken  advantage  of, 
but  if  you  fall  into  the  trap  of  discontinuing  the  honest  face  article 
for  the  white  faced  marbles  that  look  and  smell  alike,  and  that 
often  will  keep  for  ever  in  a  patient’s  inside  as  well  as  in  your  own 
drawers — they  are  baked  so  hard  in  the  manufacture — your  pros¬ 
perity  will  dwindle  away  with  no  hope  of  recovery.  The  lotions 
and  other  external  applications  should  be  well  attended  to. 
Remember  that  what  is  intended  to  be  applied  to  an  open  wound 
ought  to  be  every  bit  as  unadulterated  as  what  passes  into  the 
stomach.  Hence  all  lotions  for  patients,  whether  rich  or  poor, 
should  be  prepared  with  distilled  water,  good  and  fresh,  as  well  as 
mixtures  should.  Carbolated  oil  must  be  prepared  with  pure  oil 
of  olives  and  pure  anhydrous  carbolic  acid.  So  must  ointments  be 
prepared  of  the  best  ingredients  and  never  stored  in  old  porcelain 
pots  the  insides  of  which  are  discoloured  by  long  usage,  nor  when 
being  made  neglected  to  be  kept  properly  stirred  until  they  are 
really  finished. 

For  these,  amongst  other  reasons,  we  should  prepare  all  the 
ointments  we  possibly  can,  and  those  that  must  be  purchased 
ready  made  should  be  carefully  scrutinised,  both  because  the 
public  will  keenly  judge  these  if  we  do  not,  and  also  because  of 
the  carelessness,  amounting  sometimes  to  fraud,  allowed  in  their 
preparation  by  unskilled  hands,  sheltered  by  the  vulgar  old  notion 
that  they  are  only  external  applications. 

To  gain  popular  favour  it  is  necessary  to  keep  a  good  all-round 
stock  of  packets  of  all  things  in  general  request  that  will  not 
deteriorate.  But  it  is  unwise  to  keep  liquid  preparations, 
especially  oils,  and  also  certain  dry  goods  ready  packed,  for  people 
Somewhat  like,  as  a  rule,  to  see  the  attentive,  gingerly 
man  filling,  corking,  and  folding  before  their  eyes ;  besides, 
it  is  what  grocers  and  stores  cannot  do,  and  we  explain 
to  the  people  paranthetically  the  importance  of  all  these 
being  freshly  bottled,  and  when  we  have  a  chance  we  show 
them  the  citrate  of  magnesia  all  gone  wrong  because  it  was  corked 
up  tight  in  a  bottle  that  had  an  infinitesimal  amount  of  moisture 
in  a  crevasse  at  the  bottom,  and  you  can  explain  blandly  that  of 
course  this  was  not  handled  by  a  chemist.  It  is  for  us  as  business 
men  to  educate  the  public  to  a  fairer  estimation  of  our  relations  to 
them.  There  is,  as  Dr.  Rentoul  has  so  well  put,  “A  greedy  public 
with  their  debauched  truckling  for  everything  cheap,  which  should 
not  be  pandered  to  ” ;  but  it  is  another  and  a  better  public 
that  we  are  called  upon  to  woo  in  the  interests  of  pharmacy. 
As  a  business  man,  the  pharmacist  can  be  quite  as  cute  and  as 
accurate  in  the  keeping  of  his  accounts  as  any  man,  without 
climbing  down  to  the  level  of  a  mere  tradesman.  He  is  not  a 
shiftless  man,  but  one  of  ready  resource,  with  fixed  principles  of 
conduct,  which  he  will  find  means  of  some  kind  for  carrying  out. 
Is  he  somewhat  lamb-like  or  sheepish  in  the  eyes  of  many?  Well, 
let  them  look  to  it,  for  he  can  cultivate  if  needs  be  the  cunning  of 
a  fox  or  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent,  and  it  is  only  by  turning 
traitor  to  his  true  connections  and  becoming  thoroughly  asinine 
that  he  runs  the  least  risk  of  being  devoured  by  the  lions  and  tigera 
of  commercial  rapacity. 


Feb.  13,  1897J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


125 


LIVING  TISSUES  AS  CHEMICAL  REAGENTS.* 

BY  ROBERT  B.  WILD,  M.D.,  M.SC. 

lion.  Physician  to  the  Manchester  and  Salford  Hospital  for  Skin  Diseases.  Assistant 
Lecturer  on  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics  in  the  Oicens  College. 

There  are  so  many  topics  of  mutual  interest  to  the  pharmacist 
and  the  physician,  that  in  choosing  a  subject  upon  which  I  might 
address  you — and  I  hope  interest  you — the  difficulty  was  rather  to 
decide  which  of  several  tempting  themes  I  should  take  up. 

I  felt,  however,  that  to  address  an  audience  such  as  this  upon 
the  pharmaceutical  aspect  of  drugs  would  be  only  presumption  in 
me,  while  the  purely  therapeutic  side  of  the  question  would  only 
weary  you. 

There  seemed,  however,  a  common  ground  upon  which  I  might 
venture  to  tread,  and  that  is  the  borderland  of  physical  and 
biological  science  where  chemistry  and  physiology  meet,  and 
where  it  is  impossible  even  now  to  say  whether  the  phenomena 
resented  to  us  are  entirely  chemical  phenomena,  or  whether  we 
ave  something  more;  a  “something”  which  the  accumulated 
knowledge  of  mankind  has  hitherto  failed  to  elucidate,  but  to 
which  we  apply  the  term  “  vital  ”  as  a  cloak  to  veil  our  ignorance. 

Our  knowledge  of  the  properties  of  living  tissues  is  acquired 
largely  by  experiments  ;  in  these  we  submit  the  tissue  to  an 
artificial  environment,  one  or  more  factors  of  which  can  be  altered 
at  will,  and  the  effects  of  such  alteration  noted. 

Amongst  these  variable  factors  not  the  least  important  is  the 
submitting  the  living  tissue  to  the  action  of  certain  chemical 
substances  (or  drugs)  so  as  to  study  the  effects  produced,  with  a 
view  of  obtaining  a  better  knowledge  of  the  manner  in  which  drugs 
act  as  curative  agents  in  the  treatment  of  disease. 

It  is  to  certain  aspects  of  this  experimental  pharmacology  that  I 
now  wish  to  direct  your  attention.  I  do  not  pretend  to  any¬ 
thing  more  than  to  bring  to  your  notice  a  few  of  the  simpler 
methods  and  instruments  employed,  the  character  and  meaning  of 
the  graphic  records  obtained  by  these  methods,  and  to  point  out 
the  practical  utility  of  this  work  in  the  study  of  the  properties 
of  drugs,  both  new  and  old. 

Where  Chemistry  and  Physiology  Meet. 

As  our  knowledge  of  the  physiological  processes  of  living  matter 
becomes  fuller  and  more  exact,  it  becomes  increasingly  evident, 
firstly,  that  the  ultimate  processes  concerned  in  the  growth,  main¬ 
tenance,  and  decay  of  living  organisms  are  chiefly,  if  not  wholly,  of 
a  chemical  nature.  Secondly,  that  those  deviations  from  normal 
physiological  processes,  which  manifest  their  presence  to  us  by  so 
many  and  various  symptoms,  and  which  we  call  disease,  are  in 
most  cases  due  to  alterations  in  the  normal  chemical  processes,  or 
to  the  introduction  of  new  and  abnormal  chemical  reactions. 
Thirdly,  that  the  use  of  drugs  in  the  treatment  of  disease  is  in  each 
case  a  chemical  experiment,  in  which  a  chemical  reagent  is  intro¬ 
duced  into  the  body  for  the  purpose  of  restoring  the  abnormal 
chemical  processes  of  disease  to  the  normal  chemical  processes  of 
health. 

W e  can  illustrate  this  in  the  very  simplest  case  when  a  man 
swallows  a  quantity  of  a  mineral  acid  and  we  administer  the 
chemical  antidote — an  alkali — to  combine  with  the  acid  and  render 
it  harmless.  To  take  a  step  further,  we  know  that  without  being 
swallowed  excess  of  acid  may  be  present  in  the  stomach  from 
changes  taking  place  inside  the  body,  and  well-marked  symptoms 
of  stomach  disturbance  are  thereby  produced ;  we  can  often  remove 
these  symptoms  rapidly  and  completely  with  a  dose  of  alkali  just 
as  we  did  when  the  acid  had  been  introduced  from  without. 

To  take  another  step,  we  know  that  under  certain  conditions  a 
complex  organic  acid — uric  acid— whose  chemical  constitution  is 
well  known  and  which  is  normally  present  in  the  body  in  small 
quantities,  is  formed  in  large  excess.  The  uric  acid  may  be  excreted 
in  the  urine  or  arrested  in  the  urinary  passages,  giving  rise  to  the 
diseased  conditions  known  as  gravel,  stone  in  the  kidney  and  stone 
in  the  bladder,  or  the  acid  may  combine  with  the  soda  of  the  blood 
and  form  a  salt,  which,  deposited  in  certain  parts  of  the  body,  causes 
those  symptoms  which  we  call  gout.  With  the  knowledge  that  the 
potassium  or  lithium  salts  of  uric  acid  are  more  soluble  than  the 
sodium  salt,  we  may  treat  these  conditions  successfully  by  giving 
alkaline  salts  of  lithia  or  potash  which  are  then  excreted  in  the 
urine,  combined  with  the  uric  acid  which  is  thus  removed  from 
the  body. 

In  these  processes  of  treatment  we  endeavour  by  means  of 


chemical  reactions  to  remove  injurious  substances  from  the  body 
or  to  render  them  harmless  after  they  have  been  formed.  We  are, 
however,  only  treating  the  results  of  disease,  and  we  may  go  further 
back  and  try  to  strike  at  the  root  of  the  disease  by  preventing 
their  formation.  This  is  the  ideal  of  therapeutics,  but  to  carry  it 
out  we  require  to  know  how  and  where  these  abnormal  chemical 
substances  are  produced  in  the  body.  Very  much  of  this  know¬ 
ledge  is  still  wanting,  but  each  step  we  take  brings  us  nearer  to 
the  living  cells  of  the  individual  tissues  of  the  body  or  living 
parasitic  organisms  contained  in  it,  as  the  source  during  their 
metabolic  processes  of  these  injurious  substances.  By  metabolic 
processes  we  mean  the  chemical  changes  in  composition  which  the 
living  cell  undergoes  during  its  genesis,  growth,  functional  activity, 
decay,  and  death.  Whether  this  living  cell  be  a  part  of  the  body 
or  a  parasitic  organism,  it  absorbs  certain  substances  from  the 
organic  fluids  in  which  all  the  tissues  are  bathed.  These  are 
decomposed  by  the  complex  proteid  molecule,  to  which,  when 
living,  we  give  the  name  of  “protoplasm,”  and  those  products  of 
the  decomposition  not  of  use  to  the  living  cell  are  returned  to  the 
surrounding  fluid,  and  in  many  cases  act  as  poisons  to  other  cells 
if  not  promptly  removed  or  if  abnormal  in  their  composition.  For 
example,  certain  cells  in  the  body  may  produce  by  their  meta¬ 
bolism  uric  acid  instead  of  urea  from  the  nitrogenous  ingredients 
of  the  food,  or  the  tetanus  bacillus  growing  in  the  body  may 
produce  a  poison  or  toxin  which  acts  upon  the  nerve  cells  in  a 
similar  manner  to  strychnine. 

Our  information  regarding  the  action  of  chemical  substances ; 
whether  drugs,  or  toxins,  or  the  normal  constituents  of  the  body, 
upon  the  tissues  is  still  very  imperfect,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of 
experiment  in  these  cases  ;  as  a  foundation  for  our  knowledge  we 
require  to  reduce  the  problem  to  its  simplest  form  and  study  the 
action  of  our  drugs,  not  upon  the  whole  complex  fabric  of  the 
animal  body,  but  first  upon  the  isolated  simple  tissues,  both  in  a 
healthy  and  a  diseased  condition.  This  is  what  we  are  endeavour¬ 
ing  to  do  by  experimental  pharmacology. 

The  Use  of  Tissues  as  Tests  for  Organic  Principles. 

In  studying  these  subjects  many  side  issues  present  themselves  ; 
one  is  the  point  upon  which  I  wish  to  concentrate  our  attention 
at  present,  viz.,  that  the  action  of  some  chemical  substances  is  so 
marked  and  characteristic,  and  produces  such  constant  effects 
upon  the  living  tissues,  that  we  can  use  the  tissue  as  a  test  for  the 
chemical  substance  itself. 

This  is  true  not  only  for  simple  things,  but  also  for  such  complex 
bodies  as  some  of  the  alkaloids  and  other  complicated  organic 
principles  of  active  drugs,  and  the  sensibility  of  the  tissues  is  so 
great  that  even  the  most  minute  quantities  inappreciable  to 
ordinary  chemical  tests  will  produce  their  characteristic  effects. 
We  all  know  that  a  thousandth  part  of  a  grain  of  atropine  will  in 
some  cases  dilate  the  pupil  of  the  eye  for  several  days  after  its 
introduction  into  the  conjunctival  sac,  and  a  minute  quantity  of 
anhydrous  hydrocyanic  acid  will  convert  a  healthy  animal  into  a 
corpse  in  a  marvellously  short  space  of  time.  That  infinitesimal 
quantities  of  other  drugs  are  equally  poisonous  to  simple  tissues, 

I  hope  to  show  you  by  a  few  experiments  ;  and  the  question  is  of 
some  importance,  as  it  has  been  objected  to  the  chemical  view  of 
the  action  of  drugs  that  the  quantity  introduced  into  the  body  is 
too  small  to  act  chemically  upon  such  an  enormous  mass  of  cells  as 
a  human  being. 

In  considering  the  reaction  between  a  drug  and  a  tissue,  we  may 
measure  the  result  in  terms  of  the  drug  or  in  terms  of  the  tissue. 
For  example,  we  may  administer  the  drug  and  examine  the  ex¬ 
cretions  to  ascertain  whether  we  can  recover  the  drug  in  its  original 
or  in  a  changed  form,  or  whether  some  of  it  has  been  entirely  used 
up  in  the  body,  as,  for  instance,  when  we  give  benzoic  acid  by  the 
mouth  and  recover  it  from  the  urine  as  hippuric  acid,  or  when  we 
administer  a  measured  dose  of  alcohol  and  recover  only  a  small 
portion  of  it  from  the  excretions,  the  remainder  being  accounted 
for  by  the  C02  and  H20  produced  by  its  oxidation.  On  the  other 
hand  we  may  measure  the  reaction  in  terms  of  the  tissue  by  noting 
what  effect  a  drug  has  upon  the  functions  of  the  tissue  under  in¬ 
vestigation  ;  for  this  purpose  only  certain  tissues  are  available,  and 
the  most  convenient  is  the  contractile  tissue,  which  lends  itself 
to  experiment  particularly  well.  The  nervous,  digestive,  and  ex¬ 
cretory  tissues  are  also  available,  but  are  less  easy  to  demonstrate 
in  the  time  at  our  disposal. 

Of  the  contractile  tissues  we  use  three  forms,  the  voluntary 
muscle,  the  heart  muscle,  and  the  involuntary  muscle,  which  sur¬ 
rounds  the  small  arteries.  Many  animals  may  be  used,  but  the 


*  Epitome  of  an  address  delivered  to  the  M  mchester  Pharmaceutical  Association. 


126 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb  13,  1897 


frog  and  the  tortoise  are  in  practice  most  convenient,  as  in  these 
easily  obtained  cold-blooded  animals  the  tissues  live  for  a  consider¬ 
able  time  after  the  animal  is  dead,  and  the  risks  and  fallacies 
which  at  times  underlie  vivisection  experiments  are  avoided. 
Recently  killed,  warm-blooded  animals  can  also  be  used,  but  are 
much  more  difficult  to  work  with,  and  unsuitable  for  demonstra¬ 
tion  experiments.  [Several  experiments  were  performed,  showing 
the  action  of  various  drugs  upon  heart,  muscle,  and  vessels,  the 
tracings  obtained  from  them  explained,  and  diagrams  exhibited, 
showing  the  action  of  a  number  of  drugs  upon  the  tissues.  The 
various  forms  of  apparatus  used  for  the  experiments  were  shown 
and  described.  ] 

I  have  tried  to  show  you  how  we  may  utilise  the  vital  properties 
of  living  tissues  as  tests  for  the  active  principles  of  drugs,  how,  for 
example,  we  may  prepare  from  a  crude  drug,  say  a  decoction,  and 
ascertain  whether  it  contains  any  active  ingredient ;  if  so,  we  may 
proceed  to  separate  this  active  constituent  by  the  use  of  various 
reagents  or  solvents,  testing  each  step  of  the  process  by  applying 
the  test  of  the  living  tissue,  which  will  keep  us  informed  as  to 
where  our  active  ingredient  is  or  whether  it  has  been  decomposed 
or  rendered  inactive  by  our  chemical  operations.  In  this  way  we 
may,  I  think,  look  for  brilliant  results  in  the  future  by  the  com¬ 
bined  work  of  the  scientific  pharmacist  and  the  pharmacologist. 

The  Growth  and  Extension  of  Bacteriology. 

During  the  last  fifteen  years  the  discovery  of  the  tubercle 
bacillus  by  Koch  has  been  followed  by  the  rapid  growth  and 
extension  of  the  science  of  bacteriology  and  the  relegation  of  one 
disease  after  another  to  the  class  of  germ  diseases.  In  the  early 
part  of  this  period  we  reached,  I  believe,  the  deepest  depth  of 
scepticism  regarding  the  therapeutic  value  of  drugs.  Indeed, 
when  it  was  believed  that  the  germs  directly  caused  the  disease 
it  naturally  followed  that  the  only  rational  treatment  was  to  kill 
the  germs.  Now  germs  and  their  spores  are  very  resistant 
organisms,  much  more  so  than  the  more  specialised  tissues  of  the 
higher  animals,  so  that  the  problem  of  how  to  apply  a  drug  so  as 
to  destroy  the  disease  germs  without  injuring  the  living  tissues  of 
the  patient  appeared  incapable  of  solution,  in  spite  of  the  crowd 
of  new  antiseptic  drugs  introduced  with  the  hope  that  some  might 
have  a  selective  action  upon  the  germs.  No  other  plan  of  treat¬ 
ment  appeared  likely  to  be  of  use,  and  therapeutics  as  an  art  in 
these  forms  of  disease  seemed  likely  to  be  limited  to  hygienic  and 
expectant  measures. 

Since  then,  knowledge  has  increased,  the  germ  no  longer 
occupies  the  same  position.  The  chemical  substances — toxins — 
which  are  produced  by  the  growth  of  the  germs  in  an  albuminous 
soil  are  believed  to  be  the  essential  factors  in  the  production  of  the 
disease.  To  illustrate  my  meaning,  we  may  suppose  a  man  to 
drink  a  fermenting  saccharine  fluid  and  to  become  intoxicated  ;  we 
■find  that  fluid  to  contain  the  cells  of  Toruli,  the  yeast  plant,  and 
we  may  say  that  the  yeast  plant  caused  the  intoxication ;  this 
would  represent  the  earlier  views  of  the  action  of  germs.  Later 
on,  we  may  find  that  the  yeast  plant  produces  alcohol  from  a  suit¬ 
able,  i.e.,  a  saccharine,  soil,  and  that  the  alcohol,  and  not  the 
yeast  plant  itself  causes  the  intoxication. 

This  altered  view  of  the  mode  of  action  of  germs  brings  us  back 
to  the  belief  in  the  utility  of  drugs,  for  it  again  introduces 
chemical  action  as  the  pathogenic  factor.  The  action  of  the 
poison  being  chemical,  drugs  whose  action  is  also  chemical  may  be 
useful  in  many  ways,  e.g.,  they  may  so  alter  the  soil  that  the 
metabolism  of  the  germ  no  longer  produces  the  toxin  ;  to  illustrate 
by  our  alcohol  simile,  they  might  so  alter  the  sugar  as  to  make  it 
unfermentable.  Again,  they  may  neutralise  or  decompose  the 
toxin  so  as  to  make  it  no  longer  toxic.  To  return  to  the  alcohol,  we 
may  conceive  of  its  being  oxidised  to  acetic  acid.  Or  they  may 
so  alter  the  composition  of  the  tissues  as  to  render  them  insus¬ 
ceptible  to  the  poisonous  action  of  the  toxin.  Here,  again,  we  know 
that  in  certain  conditions  of  the  body  alcohol  only  produces 
intoxication  when  taken  in  very  large  quantities. 

These  illustrations  are,  I  think,  sufficient  to  show  that  once  it  is 
conceded  that  the  disease-producing  action  of  germs  is  chemical, 
cur  faith  in  the  possibilities  of  drug  therapeutics  is  restored. 

At  the  present  day  we  are  passing  through  a  phase  of  thera¬ 
peutic  progress  which  seems  to  me  to  be  essentially  transitory  in  its 
nature — a  half-way  house,  as  it  were,  between  the  pharmacy  of  the 
past  and  the  pharmacy  of  the  future. 

Animal  Extracts  and  Antitoxins. 

Two  classes  of  drugs  are  attracting  great  attention,  the  extracts 
from  animal  organs  and  the  class  of  antitoxins.  Into  the  nature 


of  these  bodies  I  cannot  here  enter,  but  that  we  have  in  some  of 
them  very  active  chemical  substances  no  one  can  doubt  who  has 
seen  the  effect  of  thyroid  gland  in  myxoedema  or  the  profound 
bodily  reaction  which  takes  place  in  a  tubercular  patient  who  has 
received  a  fraction  of  a  milligramme  of  tuberculin.  The  question 
arises  as  to  the  nature  of  the  active  ingredient  in  these  prepara¬ 
tions.  Is  it  alkaloidal  ?  Is  it  a  ferment  ?  Is  it  an  albumose  ? 
Much  work  has  already  been  done  and  is  doing,  but  I  do  not  think 
the  problem  is  yet  solved. 

Until  our  knowledge  increases  we  are  compelled  to  administer 
the  crude  substance,  be  it  a  thyroid  gland,  a  pancreatic  extract,  or 
the  serum  from  the  blood  of  a  horse  or  an  ass.  This  is  not  a  satis¬ 
factory  condition  of  things,  first  because  the  dosage  is  uncertain 
and  variable,  second  because  we  are  giving  many  other  substances 
besides  the  unknown  active  ingredient,  and  some  of  these  sub¬ 
stances  may  be  positively  injurious.  We  are,  in  fact,  repeating 
over  again  our  experience  with  vegetable  drugs  before  the  dis¬ 
covery  and  isolation  of  alkaloids,  glucosides,  and  other  active 
principles.  What  is  required  is  experimental  work  on  the  isola¬ 
tion  of  the  active  principles  in  these  animal  extracts  and  anti¬ 
toxins,  so  as  to  avoid  the  uncertain  and  roundabout  method  of  their 
administration. 

The  great  difficulty  is  the  want  of  chemical  tests  and  processes 
by  which  the  active  ingredient  may  be  identified.  To  produce  a 
satisfactory  result  the  pharmacist  and  the  pharmacologist  must 
work  together.  The  former  brings  his  chemical  knowledge  and 
technical  manipulative  skill  to  separate  the  complex  substance  into 
simpler  ones,  each  of  which  in  turn  must  be  tested  and  identified 
by  its  action  on  the  living  tissues.  In  this  way,  and  I  venture  to 
think  in  this  way  only,  can  real  progress  be  made.  I  anticipate 
in  the  future  that  we  shall  obtain  substances  as  exact,  certain,  and 
reliable  in  their  action,  and  as  convenient  in  their  use,  as  the 
vegetable  alkaloids,  which  it  is  suggestive  to  remember  are  them¬ 
selves  the  products  of  the  metabolism  of  vegetable  protoplasm. 

There  is  still  one  point  to  which  I  wish  to  refer,  and  it  is  that 
the  discovery  and  use  of  these  new  substances  does  not  necessarily 
lessen  the  importance  of  our  older  drugs  of  proved  value,  and 
whose  use  at  present  rests  so  largely  on  empirical  knowledge.  For 
if  we  suppose  that  an  animal  extract  or  an  antitoxin  produces  a 
definite  chemical  effect  in  the  body,  it  by  no  means  follows  that  no 
other  chemical  substance  will  produce  the  same  or  a  similar  effect. 
Should  we  discover  and  prepare  from  the  parasite  of  malaria  some 
antitoxin  which  will  prevent  or  cure  ague,  we  shall  probably  find 
that  what  we  have  gained  is  an  explanation  of  the  at  present  un¬ 
known  mode  of  action  of  quinine,  and  it  is  quite  conceivable  that 
quinine  may  still  remain  in  practice  the  better  and  more  convenient 
remedy.  Experimental  inoculations  of  serum  for  the  cure  of 
syphilis  are  already  reported,  yet  I  have  no  doubt  that  mercury  will 
still  cure  syphilis  as  well  as  it  used  to  do,  and  may  prove  the  better 
and  safer  weapon. 

The  Pharmacist  as  a  Biologist. 

I  have  wandered  somewhat  from  the  strict  text  of  may  subject, 
but  I  have  done  so  in  order  to  emphasise  the  fact  that  I  believe 
there  is  a  great  future  before  the  profession  of  pharmacy. 
Bacteriological  work  is  not  for  the  practising  medical  man,  it  is 
work  for  which  the  training  and  education  of  the  pharmacist 
particularly  fits  him,  and  I  do  not  see  why  he  should  not  prepare 
remedies  from  bacterial  cultures  as  well  as  from  the  bark  of 
trees  or  the  bodies  of  animals,  or  why  he  should  not  examine 
a  water  for  typhoid  bacilli  as  well  as  a  stomach  for  arsenic.  In 
order  to  take  up  this  work  the  pharmacist  of  the  future  must  be 
more  of  a  biologist  than  in  the  past ;  he  must  not  only  look  to  the 
test-tube,  but  also  use  the  living  tissues  as  his  reagents,  and  to  his 
work  in  the  future  I  look  for  the  provision  of  accurate  remedies  of 
definite  power  with  which  to  cure  or  prevent  disease,  and  convert 
the  art  of  medicine  into  the  science  of  therapeutics. 


Methyl  Violet  for  Boils,  Carbuncles,  and  Anthrax. — 
Trenite  has  recently  recommended  the  use  of  y3/3-metliyl  violet  for 
boils,  etc.  Fifteen  minims  of  a  2  per  mille  solution  is  injected  into 
the  boil  ;  pain  disappears  in  a  few  hours  and  cure  is  generally 
complete  in  two  days.  Should  true  carbuncle  or  anthrax  be  pre¬ 
sent,  the  necrotic  area  should  be  slit  open  by  means  of  a  bistoury  or 
tenotome,  and  all  necrotic  matter  removed  before  the  injection  is 
made.  The  cavity  is  afterwards  packed  with  iodoform  gauze 
which  has  been  soaked  in  a  solution  of  hot  sodium  chloride. — 
Therap.  Gaz.  [3],  xii.,  615,  after  Journ.  des  Practs. 


Feb.  13,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


127 


PHARMACEUTICAL  SOCIETY. 

DONATIONS  TO  THE  LIBRARY  AND  MUSEUM. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Library,  Museum,  School  and  House  Com¬ 
mittee,  held  on  Wednesday,  the  10th  inst. ,  the  Librarian  presented 
the  following  report  of  donations  : — 

To  the  Library  (London). 

War  Office  : — Army  Medical  Department,  Report  for  the  year  1S95. 

Koloniaal  Museum,  Haarlem Nuttige  Indische  planten,  door  Dr.  M.  Greshoff, 
Afl.  3,  1896. 

Messrs.  T.  and  G.  Peckolt,  Rio  de  Janeiro : — Historia  das  plantas  medicinaes  e 
uteis  do  Brazil,  6°  fasciculo,  1S96. 

Ecole  superieure  de  pharmacie  de  Paris : — Des  Acanthacdes  medieinales,  par  G. 
Dethan,  1896. 

Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Ireland  : — Calendar,  1897. 

The  following  donations  were  reported  by  the  Curator 
To  the  Museum  (London). 

Mr.  L.  Wray,  Junr.,  Curator  of  the  Museum,  Perak  : — Specimens  of  Castor  Oil  Seed 
used  in  cooking  by  the  Malays  ;  Gutta-percha  from  Dichopsis  clarkiana : 
specimen  of  “  Membuloh  ”  grass,  used  for  flatulency. 

Messrs.  Schimmel  and  Co.  : — Specimen  of  Cardamoms  from  Calcutta,  “Camphor 
seed  ”  ;  wood,  leaves  and  fruit  of  the  West  Indian  Sandal- wood  Tree  ;  Mexican 
Lign  Aloe  Wood;  Guiana  Lign  Aloe  Wood  ;  Marapass  (Roccella  uiontagnei ) 
from  Bombay  ;  and  Mexican  Valerian  Root. 

Mr.  J.  Moss,  F.I.C.,  etc.,  London  : — Specimen  of  stems  of  Cactus  graadiflorus. 

Messrs.  Potter  and  Clarke,  London  : — Specimen  of  flower  of  Cactus  graadiflorus. 

Messrs.  W.  J.  Bragg  and  Co.,  Liverpool : — Specimens  of  Sicupira  Seed,  Catuaba 
Bark,  and  Fruits  of  Pilocarpus  micropliyllus. 

Mr.  R,  T.  Baker,  F.L.S.,  Technological  Museum,  Sydney  Five  packets  of  Seeds. 


EVENING  MEETING  IN  LONDON. 


An  evening  meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  at  17,  Bloomsbury 
Square,  on  Tuesday  last,  the  President,  Mr.  Walter  Hills,  in  the 
chair,  and  an  illustrated  lecture  was  delivered  on 

FOSSIL  PLANTS. 

BY  A.  C.  SEWARD,  M.  A. 

Mr.  Seward  said  the  subject  of  fossil  plants  must  to  a  large 
extent  be  a  very  dry  and  uninteresting  one  to  the  majority  of  the 
audience,  but  the  reason  he  had  chosen  it  wras  that  it  was  a  subject 
on  which  personally  he  felt  a  great  amount  of  interest,  and  there¬ 
fore  he  thought  he  had  a  better  chance  of  interesting  other  people. 
It  had  long  been  known  that  the  remains  of  animals  and  plants 
occurred  in  some  abundance  in  the  rocks  of  different  ages  which 
went  to  make  up  the  earth’s  crust,  but  probably  few  were  aware 
of  the  real  nature  and  extent  of  the  science  of  fossil  plants.  In 
comparatively  recent  years  the  study  of  fossil  plants  had  become 
a  subject  of  some  importance,  and  one  which  offered  a  very  wide 
field  for  further  work  and  investigation  for  those  who  were  minded 
to  take  it  up.  He  would  try  to  give  some  very  general  view  of  the 
whole  subject,  not  attempt  to  describe  anything  in  detail,  but 
rather  to  point  out  some  of  the  general  bearings  and  lines  along 
which  those  who  were  interested  in  the  subj ect  might  attempt  to  work. 
In  the  first  place,  he  would  try  to  give  some  general  idea  as  to  the 
manner  in  which  plants  during  the  history  of  the  earth  had  come 
to  be  preserved  in  a  fossil  state  embedded  in  the  rocks  which  made 
up  the  solid  crust  of  the  earth.  At  the  outset  some  idea  ought  to 
be  formed  of  what  the  nature  of  a  fossil  plant  really  was,  and  how 
it  had  come  to  be  preserved  as  a  fossil.  He  must  begin  by  point¬ 
ing  out  very  briefly  certain  facts  familiar  to  many  as  to  the  way 
in  which  the  rocks  composing  the  greater  part  of  the  earth’s  crust 
had  been  formed.  To  find  out  how  certain  things  had  happened 
in  the  past,  and  arrive  at  the  explanation  of  certain  phenomena, 
one  must  study  what  was  going  on  before  one’s  eyes.  The  first 
view  showed  a  lake,  into  which  had  been  carried  a  large 
amount  of  different  kinds  of  sediment.  Naturally,  as  the  river 
flowed  into  a  large  sheet  of  water,  and  its  velocity  was  checked,  it 
would  deposit  its  burden  of  gravel  close  to  the  place  where 
it  entered,  and  a  little  further  on  coarse  sand,  and 
still  further  on  it  the  lighter  mud.  In  that  way  a  large 
amount  of  material  was  constantly  being  laid  down  on  the 
floor  of  the  sea  or  lake  ;  all  this  material  had  been  worn  off 
the  surface  of  the  ground.  This  constant  wear  and  tear  of  the  sur¬ 
face  of  the  earth  had  been  going  on  ever  since  the  earth  was  suffi¬ 
ciently  cool  to  allow  water  to  remain  on  its  surface.  A  great  many 


of  the  strata  which  made  up  the  earth’s  crust  were  nothing  but  old 
sediments  which  were  laid  down  on  the  floor  of  the  sea  or  lake  and 
represented  so  much  material  worn  off'  the  surface  of  the  earth. 

The  Power  of  Running  Water. 

The  next  view  shown  on  the  screen  was  that  of  one  of  the  canons 
of  Colorado,  and  illustrated  the  wonderful  power  that  running 
water  had  in  wearing  down  the  surface  of  the  ground.  A  stream  of 
water  running  through  a  country  clad  with  vegetation  would  carry 
with  it  to  its  destination  trunks  of  trees  and  all  kinds  of  plants.  Not 
only  would  it  carry  down  to  the  sea  a  considerable  quantity  of  inorganic 
matter,  but  also  samples  of  animals  and  plants  which  inhabited 
the  particular  region  through  which  it  passed.  The  fragments  of 
trees  and  plants  carried  by  the  water  and  embedded  in  the  soil 
in  time  formed  the  fossils  of  a  future  geological  age.  These  fossils 
embedded  in  the  rocks  were  all  that  we  had  to  tell  us  of  the  nature 
of  the  vegetation  and  the  animal  life  which  existed  during  the 
various  epochs  of  the  earth’s  history.  After  the  sediments  he  had 
spoken  of  had  been  spread  out  on  the  floor  of  the  ocean  or  lake 
they  became  hardened  and  solidified  and  then  upheaved  above  the 
sea  level.  Some  views  were  next  exhibited  of  sections  taken  across 
various  parts  of  the  country,  mostly  in  the  Alps,  showing  the  magni¬ 
tude  and  the  effects  of  some  of  the  upheavals  which  had  taken  place. 
It  would  simplify  the  illustration  of  his  lecture  if  special  attention 
were  paid  to  one  or  two  particular  periods  in  the  history  of  the 
earth.  At  the  oldest  periods  of  the  earth’s  history  they  found 
certain  rocks  which  contained  no  recognised  remains  of  animals  or 
plants.  Passing  on  they  came  to  a  great  thickness  of  slate  and 
other  kinds  of  rock,  principally  in  Wales  and  parts  of  Scotland, 
which  contained  the  remains  of  the  oldest  plants  and  animals  ; 
and  so  passing  on  they  came  to  the  higher  types  of  plants,  till 
finally  they  got  at  the  very  top  to  the  first  appearance  of  man. 
Just  a  little  lower  than  this  they  found  the  first  appearance  of 
flowering  plants  ;  so  that  flowering  plants,  like  ourselves,  were 
organisms  of  quite  recent  growth.  He  wished  to  call  attention 
specially  to  the  carboniferous  rocks,  because  it  was  in  rocks 
at  that  stage  of  the  earth’s  history  that  they  found  the 
best  and  most  serviceable  beds  '  of  coal  ;  and  it  was  on 
an  examination  of  these  rocks  that  they  found  by  far  the  most 
interesting  examples  of  fossil  plants.  Some  idea  must  first  be 
formed  of  what  was  meant  when  speaking  of  a  fossil  plant. 

The  Term  “Fossil.” 

The  term  “  fossil  ”  was  used  somewhat  frequently  in  a  loose  sense ; 
one  heard  the  name  applied  to  living  human  beings,  but  “  fossil  ” 
used  in  its  scientific  sense  wras  something  which  had  been  preserved 
or  embedded  in  the  earth  by  natural  means.  It  was  not  necessarily 
something  which  had  undergone  any  considerable  change.  One 
sometimes  associated  the  idea  of  a  fossil  with  something  that  had 
been  turned  into  stone,  but  it  was  not  necessarily  so.  In  the  fen 
country,  for  instance,  the  remains  of  plants  and  stems  of 
trees  which  had  undergone  very  little  alteration  indeed  were  often 
dug  up,  and  these  were  essentially  fossils.  The  particular  state 
or  condition  in  which  a  plant  was  found  embedded  in  the  ground 
had  nothing  to  do  with  its  being  a  fossil  or  not ;  it  was  essentially 
a  fossil  as  long  as  it  had  come  there  by  natural  agencies.  Fossil 
plants  might  be  spoken  of  as  being  preserved  by  two  methods, 
either  by  incrustation  or  petrification.  Incrustation  meant  that 
the  fragment  of  a  plant  had  been  covered  up  by  some  material, 
and  at  a  subsequent  period  the  plant  had  decayed  by  natural  pro¬ 
cesses  and  had  left  a  mould  embedded  in  the  material  which 
incrusted  it.  Petrification  applied  to  such  cases  as  those  in  which 
the  substance  of  the  plant  had  been  actually  permeated  with  some 
preserving  material,  very  frequently  water  containing  silica  or 
carbonate  of  lime.  As  an  illustration  of  fossils  preserved  by  incrus¬ 
tation,  a  view  of  the  dripping  well  at  Knaresborough  was  displayed. 
The  water  flowing  over  the  bank  into  the  well  was  charged  with 
carbonate  of  lime.  When  evaporation  took  place  the  water  lost  a 
certain  amount  of  its  solvent  power,  and  the  carbonate  of  lime 
was  thrown  down  as  a  deposit.  In  that  part  of  the  country  the 
natives  suspended  various  articles  underneath  the  dripping  water, 
which  very  soon  became  covered  over  by  the  incrustation  of  car¬ 
bonate  of  lime.  The  substance  of  the  various  articles  so  suspended 
— old  hats,  birds’  nests,  and  the  like — soon  decayed,  but  their  form 
remained.  The  next  picture  showed  a  piece  of  porous  calcareous 
rock,  the  same  as  at  Knaresborough,  having  on  its  surface  a  number 
of  well-defined  impressions  of  leaves,  showing  the  central  and 
lateral  veins.  In  this  case  the  substance  of  the  leaves 
had  been  entirely  removed ;  all  that  was  left  was  simply 


[Feb.  13,  1897 


128 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


a  neat  impression  of  the  leaf  surface  impressed  on  the  surrounding 
rock  when  in  a  soft  condition.  That  was  one  of  the  forms  in 
which  records  of  ancient  plant  life  were  preserved  to  them.  It 
very  frequently  happened  that  when,  for  example,  the  stem  of  a 
plant,  or  any  other  part,  was  carried  down  by  water  it  eventually 
became  water-logged  and  sank  into  a  mass  of  sand  or  mud.  After 
a  while  the  sand  became  somewhat  hardened,  and  the  piece  of  tree 
trunk,  or  whatever  it  was,  rotted  away  and  left  a  hollow  space  in 
the  sand  forming  a  mould.  After  a  while  sand  was  introduced 
into  the  mould  by  running  water,  and  in  that  way  a  cast  was  taken 
in  the  sand  of  the  mould.  In  other  words,  there  was  a  perfect 
reproduction  of  that  form  of  plant  in  the  sand.  A  view  was  next 
show  n  of  the  cast  of  a  huge  root  of  a  tree  measuring  from  one 
tip  to  another  about  twenty-nine  feet.  This  fossil  was  found 
some  six  or  seven  years  ago  in  a  stone  quarry  near  Bradford,  and 
was  of  one  of  the  trees  which  lived  during  the  coal  period.  Impres¬ 
sions  were  also  found  of  the  external  surfaces  of  plants,  and  an 
illustration  was  shown  of  such  a  fossil  found  near  Johannesburg. 

Coal  Seams  as  Records. 

The  coal  seams  themselves  and  the  rocks  associated  with  them 
afforded  a  tremendous  amount  of  valuable  material,  which  had 
rendered  it  possible  to  reconstruct  with  a  considerable  degree  of 
accuracy  the  vegetation  which  covered  a  large  portion  of  the 
Northern  Hemisphere  during  the  period  when  the  forests  grew 
which  afterwards  became  converted  into  coal.  A  map  was  then 
shown  displaying  the  various  coal-fields  in  the  United 
Kingdom,  including  the  recently  discovered  coal-field  at 
Dover.  Some  people  were  in  the  habit  of  speaking 
of  the  study  of  fossil  plants  as  a  useless  study,  but 
sometimes  it  was  of  extreme  practical  value.  When 
borings  were  made  some  years  ago  at  Shakespeare’s  Cliff,  Dover, 
core  was  brought  up  in  which  were  fragments  of  fossil  plants.  It 
was  thought  by  some  geologists  that  the  coal  contained  in  the  fossil 
plants  that  were  brought  up  was  probably  coal  belonging  to  some 
recent  geological  period,  and  therefore  of  very  little  value.  But 
on  examining  them  they  were  found  to  be  exactly  the  same  as 
some  of  the  plants  of  the  typical  coal-fields,  and  it  was  found 
possible  to  exactly  determine  the  age  of  the  coal.  An  examination 
of  the  characteristics  of  the  common  and  better-known  plants 
which  were  in  the  forests  forming  the  seams  of  coal  afforded  an 
illustration  that  in  some  instances  it  was  possible  to  study,  not 
merely  their  external  surface,  but  sometimes  to  examine  the 
most  minute  internal  structures  with  as  much  accuracy  and 
detail  as  in  the  case  of  the  living  plant.  There  was  next  shown 
on  the  screen  small  spores,  less  than  one-eighth  of  an  inch  in 
diameter,  which  had  been  picked  out  with  the  needle  from  a  piece 
of  coal.  In  some  coal  was  seen  little  dots  on  the  surface,  which 
when  examined  under  the  microscope  was  found  to  have  the 
form  of  spores  of  some  of  the  extinct  plants  which  grew  in  the 
forests  of  the  coal  period,  and  some  of  them  agree  very  closely 
indeed  with  the  spores  of  some  of  our  living  plants.  On  taking  a 
piece  of  coal  from  Bradford  and  grinding  it  down  by  means  of  a 
special  machine  until  it  was  almost  transparent,  one  saw  in  some 
of  the  sections  a  dark-coloured  mass,  and  scattered  through  it  a 
number  of  bright  orange-coloured  lines  which  sometimes  took 
the  form  of  compressed  circles.  On  examining  such  a 
piece  of  coal  under  the  microscope  it  was  found  that  the  orange- 
coloured  lines  were  simply  a  number  of  spores  of  plants  which  had 
been  cut  through,  showing  that  the  coal  was  very  largely  made  up 
of  a  mass  of  these  spores.  Anyone  who  had  attempted  to  collect 
fossil  plants  from  the  rubbish  heaps  of  collieries  in  the  North  of 
England  must  have  noticed  specimens  which  were  apparently 
stems  showing  a  distinctly  I’ibbed  surface.  When  they  were  first 
discovered,  probably  more  than  one  hundred  years  ago,  it  was 
thought  that  they  had  the  impression  of  a  stem  which  had  its 
surface  marked  by  regular  ribs  and  grooves.  Comparatively  re¬ 
cently  it  was  found  that  the  original  opinion  was  quite  wrong.  In 
the  coalfields  of  Lancashire  and  Yorkshire  are  frequently  found 
hai’d  pieces  of  calcareous  rock  lying  about  here  and  there  in  the  coal 
which  on  examination  were  found  to  contain  a  large  number  of 
plant  fragments  which  had  been  petrified,  that  was  to  say  little 
pieces  of  plants,  the  substance  of  which  had  been  thoroughly 
permeated  by  a  solution  of  silica  or  carbonate  of  lime.  By  grind¬ 
ing  down  thin  pieces  from  these  hard  nodules  in  the  coal,  and 
examining  these  sections  under  the  microscope,  one  found  that  the 
plant  tissues  had  been  preserved  in  the  most  wonderful  perfec¬ 
tion. 


Microscopical  Examination  of  Fossil  Plants. 

By  applying  microscopical  examination  to  these  plants  a  very 
great  deal  had  been  made  out  with  regard  to  the  structure  and 
relationship  of  distinct  plants.  In  many  of  these  nodules  found  in 
the  coal  there  had  been  discovered  twigs  of  branches  showing  a 
characteristic  structure.  A  diagram  was  shown  of  one  of 
these  twigs  as  seen  under  the  microscope.  In  the  centre 

was  a  wide  pith,  surrounding  which  there  were  a  number  of 
projecting  points,  each  of  these  being  the  inner  end  of  a  bundle 
of  woody  tissues,  each  separated  by  a  band  of  much  more  delicate 
tissue.  The  bark  of  the  twig  had  come  off  before  the  plant  had 
had  time  to  become  petrified.  It  was  from  specimens  of  this  kind 
that  it  was  first  discovered  that  the  ribbed  stems  were  not 
impressions  of  the  outer  surface  of  the  plant,  but  were  simply  the 
casts  of  the  hollow  pith  of  the  plant,  the  ribbed  and  grooved 
appearance  being  simply  due  to  the  sand  being  pressed  against 
the  concave  space  and  the  projecting  ribs  of  wood 

separating  the  more  delicate  bands  of  tissue.  The  delicate 
bands  would  decay  more  rapidly  than  the  hard  parts. 
This  formed  an  illiistration  of  how  the  microscopical 
study  of  petrified  fragments  threw  light  on  these 
specimens  of  plants,  which  were  preserved  only  by  incrustation. 
This  plant  had  been  called  calamite  because  its  ribbed  appearance 
suggested  a  comparison  with  certain  reeds.  Since  the  microscope 
had  been  used  it  had  been  found  that  the  calamite  was  a  near 
relation  to  the  common  horse-tail.  This  calamite  he  described  as 
gigantic  because  it  occasionally  reached  a  height  of  100  feet, 
which  was  very  much  higher  than  any  of  the  living  equisetums, 

which  were  never  more  than  5  or  6  feet  in  height.  It  was  an 

extremely  interesting  fact  that  the  forests  of  this  period  were 
composed  of  trees  of  quite  a  different  order  to  those  we  had  now  ; 
the  flowering  plants,  and  oaks,  elms,  etc.,  had  not  at  that  time 
come  into  existence.  Not  only  had  it  been  possible  to  study  the 
minute  structure  of  the  stems  and  roots  of  the  calamite,  but  its 
fructification  had  been  made  out  in  great  detail. 

Comparison  of  Extinct  and  Living  Species. 

Those  who  are  at  all  familiar  with  the  living  equisetums  would 
know  that  they  had  spores  of  only  one  kind,  but  the  old  calamite 
had  in  some  cases  spores  of  two  kinds,  which  was  of  some  interest 
botanically.  In  comparing  the  extinct  calamite  with  the  living 
horse-tail  it  was  interesting  to  note  that  the  former  differed  enor¬ 
mously  in  size  and  strength  from  the  latter.  But  in  spite  of  these 
differences  the  resemblance  between  the  two  was  exceedingly 
striking,  so  that  one  must  bear  in  mind  in  thinking  about  many  of 
these  plants  that  they,  though  in  themselves  quite  insignificant 
and  apparently  uninteresting,  had  a  much  more  interesting  history 
than  our  oaks  and  other  trees.  There  was  next  exhibited  on  the 
screen  a  picture  of  some  stumps  of  trees  with  their  roots  attached, 
which  were  found  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Glasgow  some  few 
years  ago.  There  some  of  the  rocks  belonged  to  the  carboniferous 
period,  and  these  fossil  stumps  of  trees  were  found  in  digging  in 
the  Victoria  Park.  The  diameter  of  one  was  about  2  feet,  and 
they  were  stumps  of  trees  known  as  the  Lepidodendron,  a  distinct 
tree  from  the  calamite.  It  was  closely  allied  to  such  plants  as  our 
club  mosses.  The  next  slide  represented  a  thin  section  magnified 
of  a  small  twig  of  one  of  the  Lepidodendron  trees.  In  the  centre  the 
pith  consisted  of  a  number  of  comparatively  small  and  delicate 
cells,  surrounding  which  was  a  compressed  band  of  wood.  It  was 
interesting  to  notice  that  the  section  happened  to  cut  through  a 
piece  of  the  petrified  twig  at  a  point  where  the  mass  of  wood  had 
given  off  a  piece  to  supply  a  lateral  branch.  It  was  possible  to 
study  almost  in  as  much  detail  and  thoroughness  the  structure  of 
the  extinct  plant  as  it  was  in  the  case  of  the  living  plant. 
There  was  next  shown  an  illustration  of  a  fungus  which  was 
found  in  the  tissues  of  the  Lepidodendron.  Many  were  familiar 
with  the  fact  that  our  larger  forest  trees  were  attacked  by  various 
kinds  of  parasitical  fungi,  which  ate  into  their  substance  and  drew 
their  supplies  of  food  from  the  source  which  was  prepared  by  the 
tree  for  its  own  use.  So  in  the  fossil  trees  there  were  distinct 
traces  of  parasitical  fungi.  In  connection  with  this  fact  it  should 
be  mentioned  that  about  ten  years  ago  a  distinguished  professor  of 
botany  in  Paris  pointed  out  that  from  an  examination  of  some 
sections  of  petrified  plants  belonging  to  the  coal  period,  he  had 
found  distinct  traces  of  the  ravages  of  bacteria. 

Petrified  Bacteria. 

A  few  years  ago  another  French  botanist  found  what  he 
said  were  the  petrified  bacteria  themselves.  The  bacteria 


Feb.  13,  18S7] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


129 


which  were  originally  there  had  decayed,  but  the  spaces 
left  by  them  had  been  filled  in  by  silica,  preserving  their 
form  intact.  Many  people  were  sceptical  as  to  the  accuracy 
of  the  statement  that  it  was  possible  to  find  traces  of  fossil  bacteria, 
but  it  seemed  quite  probable  that  they  really  had  been  found. 
The  result  of  an  examination  the  lecturer  had  made  a  few 
years  ago  showed  that  the  resemblance  of  these  fossil  bacteria  to 
the  modern  bacteria  was  very  striking.  Just  as  he  had  pointed 
out  in  the  case  of  calamite  that  the  equisetum  was  the  nearest 
living  representative,  so  in  the  case  of  the  larger  Lepidodendron 
they  had  the  club  moss  as  probably  the  nearest  living  repre¬ 
sentative.  The  next  illustration  was  that  of  an  attempt  to  restore 
in  the  form  of  a  picture  a  part  of  a  forest  of  the  coal  period. 
In  detail,  of  course,  the  restoration  was  inaccurate, 
but  on  the  whole,  so  far  as  one  could  tell,  it  was  fairly  so. 
One  striking  feature  about  a  forest  of  this  period  was 
the  absence  of  anything  like  bright  flowers  ;  there  were  no  flower¬ 
ing  plants  in  existence.  The  most  highly  organised  plants  which 
existed  then  were  plants  closely  allied  to  our  cone-bearing  trees. 
Passing  on  from  the  carboniferous  period  to  some  of  the  more 
recent  periods,  he  next  called  attention  to  the  Triassic  period,  to 
which  the  red  rocks  of  Cheshire  belonged.  It  was  from  these  rocks 
that  the  supply  of  rock-salt  was  obtained.  On  examining  the  flora 
of  this  period,  and  comparing  them  with  the  flora  of  the  preceding 
carboniferous  period,  important  differences  were  found.  In  the 
first  place,  some  of  the  more  striking  plants  of  the  coal  period  had 
disappeared  ;  calamite  had  gone,  and  Lepidodendron  had  ceased  to 
exist,  but  the  calamite  was  replaced  at  this  time  by  a  plant  still 
more  like  the  living  horse-tail  than  was  the  plant  of  the  coal  field. 
Another  difference  was  the  much  greater  abundance  in  this 
particular  period  of  sago  palms  or  Cycads,  which  were  comparatively 
rare  now.  As  fossils  one  found  them  very  widely  distributed,  and 
they  formed  a  conspicuous  feature  of  the  Triassic  period. 

Fossil  Cycads. 

The  next  speciman  shown  on  the  screen  was  that  of  a  Cycad 
found  two  years  ago  in  one  of  the  quarries  of  Portland.  The 
rocks  on  which  Portland  stood  belonged  to  the  J urassic  period, 
which  was  a  good  deal  later  than  the  Triassic  period,  and  of 
course  still  more  recent  than  the  Carboniferous  period.  The 
rocks  which  formed  some  of  the  cliffs  of  Whitby  and  Scar¬ 
borough  also  belonged  to  this  period.  The  term  Jurassic  was 
derived  from  the  occurrence  of  this  rock  in  the  Jura.  In 
these  rocks  a  large  number  of  fossil  plants  belonging  to  the 
Cycads  were  found.  The  lecturer  then  proceeded  to  minutely 
compare  the  fossil  Cycads  with  specimens  of  the  living 
plants  at  the  Kew  Gardens.  In  dealing  with  fossils,  one  often 
found  a  well-preserved  stem  without  any  trace  of  leaves  attached 
to  it ;  the  leaves  were  found  in  the  surrounding  rock,  but  it  was 
found  impossible,  except  in  certain  cases,  to  correlate  the  leaves 
with  the  stem,  and  it  was  difficult  to  piece  together  the  fragments 
and  to  know  which  formed  parts  of  the  same  plant.  These  fossil 
Cycads  were  strong  evidence  in  favour  of  supposing  that  at  one 
time  the  climate  of  this  part  of  the  world  was  more  tropical 
than  it  is  at  present.  Just  before  the  period  at  which  chalk 
was  formed  they  found  plants  belonging  to  what  was  known 
generally  as  the  Wealden  period.  A  diagram  w'as  then 
exhibited  showing  the  extent  of  the  rocks  of  the  Wealden 
period,  from  which  it  appeared  that  over  what  was  now  the  south 
of  England  and  north  of  France  there  was  a  large  lake  extending 
into  Belgium  and  Germany.  Rivers  carried  into  that  lake  masses 
of  mud  and  sand  and  pieces  of  all  kinds  of  plants  which  had 
fallen  into  the  river.  By  examining  these  Wealden  rocks  one  was 
able  to  some  extent  to  re-construct  the  vegetation  which  existed 
at  that  time,  though  it  was  often  very  difficult  to  piece  the  different 
fragments  together.  In  putting  together  in  this  way  the  different 
fragments  of  vegetation  that  were  found,  one  was  able  to  restore 
to  some  extent  the  general  character  of  the  flora  of  this  particular 
>eriod.  One  particular  fact  about  this  flora  was  the  absence  of  the 
ligher  types  of  plants,  such  as  the  oak,  elm,  birch,  and  so  forth ;  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  this  period  was  of  particular  interest,  because  there 
was  reason  to  believe  that  it  was  about  this  time  that  the  highest 
class  of  plants  came  into  existence,  and  that  they  were  developed 
in  some  way  from  pre-existing  plants.  When  they  reached  the 
rocks  about  the  age  of  the  chalk,  they  found  for  the  first  time  in 
the  history  of  the  earth  fragments  of  leaves  similar  to  those  belong¬ 
ing  to  the  highest  class  of  plants. 

Flowers  Preserved  in  Amber, 

Some  diagrams  were  next  shown  of  examples  of  well-preserved 


flowers  which  were  found  preserved  in  amber.  These  pieces  of 
amber  were  found  in  most  abundance  in  the  north  of  Germany,  and 
were  simply  so  much  resin  which  had  exuded  in  a  soft  state  from 
wounded  and  cut  surfaces  of  cone-bearing  trees  which  existed 
over  a  large  part  of  northern  Europe  in  the  so-called  Tertiary 
period.  This  amber  was  another  means  by  which  plants 
had  been  preserved  as  fossils.  Everyone  was  familiar  with  the 
case  of  insects  in  amber,  but  perhaps  few  were  so  familiar  with 
the  occurrence  of  fragments  of  flowers  so  preserved.  They  next 
came  to  the  superficial  strata  of  gravel,  sand  and  clay,  which 
formed  a  covering  over  a  large  part  of  the  north  and  middle  of 
England  and  the  north  of  Europe  generally.  These  rocks  were 
formed  during  the  so-called  Glacial  period,  when  there  was  reason 
to  believe  that  ice  existed  over  a  large  part  of  the  north  of 
Europe.  Just  before  that  ice  age  began  plants  agreeing  very 
closely  indeed  with  arctic  plants  extended  clown  to  the  middle  of 
England,  and  some  of  them  had  left  their  traces  in  the  sand  and 
gravel  which  were  formed  at  the  beginning  of  the  Glacial  period. 
An  examination  of  these  fossils  enabled  some  light  to  be  thrown 
on  the  development  of  plant  families,  but  it  also  threw  a  very  in¬ 
teresting  light  on  the  conditions  of  climate  which  obtained  during 
the  past  periods  of  the  earth’s  history. 

He  would  not  conclude  without  mentioning  by  far  the  most  im¬ 
portant  but  interesting  facts  which  had  been  discovered  in  recent 
times  by  a  minute  study  of  petrified  fossil  plants.  The  calamite 
and  the  Lepidodendron  were  in  many  respects  closely  allied  with 
their  living  representatives,  but  from  rocks  of  the  same  age,  as 
well  as  from  rocks  of  a  different  age,  petrified  plants  had  been 
found  whose  structure  was  such  as  to  show  that  they  combined  in 
themselves  characteristics  which  one  now  found  in  distinct  and 
separate  groups  of  plants.  These  distinct  plants,  which  were  often 
spoken  of  as  synthetic  plants,  were  of  interest,  because  they 
showed  the  way  to  unravelling  the  most  fascinating  problems  of 
plant  development.  It  was  from  these  extinct  plants  of  the  coal 
period  that  they  had  learnt  recently  so  much  as  to  the  lines  along 
which  plant  devolution  or  plant  development  seemed  to  have 
worked  during  past  ages. 

List  of  Lantern  Slides 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  lantern  slides  used  by  Mr.  Seward 
to  illustrate  his  lecture  : — 

1.  Sediment  deposited  on  the  floor  of  a  lake. 

2.  Canons  of  Colorado. 

3.  Tropical  forest  and  stream  of  water. 

4.  Illustration  of  the  folding  and  contacting  of  strata, 

5.  Incrusting  spring  at  Knaresborough. 

6.  Impressions  of  leaves  in  calcareous  rock. 

7.  Cast  in  sandstone  of  large  root  from  the  coal-measures. 

S.  Map  showing  the  distribution  of  coal-fields  in  Britain. 

9.  Spores  in  coal. 

10.  Spores  in  coal  seen  in  section. 

11.  Cast  of  a  calamite. 

12.  Section  of  a  twig  of  a  calamite. 

13.  The  fruits  of  a  calamite. 

14 

X^*  »J  >  J  >J  i) 

15.  Equisetum  plant. 

1(3.  Fossil  tree  stumps  and  roots  (Lepidodendron)  in  rocks  in  Victoria  Talk 
Glasgow. 

17.  Lepidodendron  twig,  showing  minute  internal 'structure. 

18.  Fossil  fungus. 

19.  Lycopodium. 

20.  Restoration  of  vegetation  of  coal  forests. 

21.  Restoration  of  triassic  vegetation. 

22.  Fossil  cycad  stem  from  Portland. 

23.  Sections  showing  structure  of  the  fossil  cycad. 

24.  Living  cycads  in  the  tropical  house,  Kew. 

25.  Illustrations  of  Wealden  fossil  plants. 

26.  Plants  in  amber. 

27.  Fossil  arctic  plants  in  England. 


Vote  of  Thanks. 

The  President  said  the  frequent  and  hearty  applause  during  the 
lecture,  and  at  its  close,  showed  how  much  it  had  been  appreciated 
by  the  audience.  It  had  been  a  most  interesting  and  instructive 
lecture,  and  he  was  sure  the  thanks  of  all  present  would  be  most 
heartily  accorded  to  Mr.  Seward.  It  was  always  satisfactory  to 
hear  some  one  speaking  who  was  thoroughly  interested  in  his 
subject,  as  they  were  all  convinced  Mr.  Seward  was,  by  the  way  he 
attacked  his  diagrams  and  brought  out  their  special  points. 

The  vote  of  thanks  was  passed  with  acclamation. 

Mr.  Seward,  in  returning  thanks,  said  he  felt  that  his  subject 
was  a  very  dull  one,  but,  as  lie  had  said  at  the  commencement,  it 
was  one  in  which  he  was  deeply  interested.  He  also  wished  to 
return  thanks  to  the  operator,  who  had  so  skilfully  thrown  the 
pictures  on  the  screen. 


130 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb  13>  18ii7. 


THE  STUDEHTS’  PAGE. 


ON  DISPENSING  EMULSIONS. 

The  pharmaceutical  student  and  young  dispenser  often  appears 
to  regard  an  emulsion  as  one  of  the  most  difficult  preparations 
that  he  can  be  required  to  produce  ;  the  very  name  is  a  bugbear  to 
him.  And  yet  with  a  little  care  and  a  little  practice  emulsions  really 
present  in  the  great  majority  of  instances  no  serious  difficulty.  No 
amount  of  reading  or  verbal  instruction  can  teach  that  which  he 
may  learn  by  a  little  practice  and  a  few  failures. 

An  emulsion  is  an  intimate  mixture  of  water  with  a  solid  or 
liquid  with  which  it  is  immiscible,  such  intimate  mixture  being 
effected  by  the  agency  of  a  third  substance.  A  perfect  emulsion 
should  possess  the  following  qualities  : — It  should  not  exhibit  the 
substance  emulsified  in  particles  large  enough  to  be  distinguish¬ 
able  by  the  naked  eye  ;  it  should  be  capable  of  being  diluted  with 
water  without  the  separation  of  such  particles,  the  substance 
emulsified  being  uniformly  diffused  through  the  water  ;  if,  on 
standing,  a  creamy  layer  should  separate,  this  should  be  easily 
diffused  through  the  liquid  on  shaking.  All  these  properties  are 
possessed  by  milk,  which  may  be  cited  as  an  example  of  a  typical 
emulsion,  butter-fat  being  in  this  case  uniformly  diffused  through 
an  aqueous  medium  by  means  of  a  third  substance,  viz. ,  casein. 
Milk  exhibits  no  particles  of  butter-fat  visible  to  the  naked  eye ;  it 
will  bear  dilution  with  water  without  such  separation  taking  place, 
and  although  on  standing,  a  cream  will  separate,  that  cream  can 
be  diffused  through  the  liquid  by  shaking.  And  as  milk  exhibits, 
when  examined  under  the  microscope,  minute  globules  of  fat 
diffused  through  an  aqueous  liquid,  so  a  perfect  emulsion  should 
exhibit  globules  of  about  the  same  size  diffused  through  the  aqueous 
liquid. 

Gum  acacia  is  to  be  regarded  as  the  emulsifier  par  excellence,  and 
the  student  should  make  himself  familiar  with  its  use.  He  must 
remember  that  as  a  general  rule  an  oil  requires  one-fourth  its 
weight  of  acacia  for  emulsification.  Let  him  try  his  hand  first 
of  all  with  simple  emulsions  of  fixed  oils,  such  as  almond  or 
olive,  and  when  he  is  convinced  of  his  ability  to  make  these 
without  risk  of  failure,  he  may  attack  others  that  require  a  little 
more  care. 

Emulsions  of  fixed  oils  with  acacia  can  be  made  in  two  ways, 
viz. ,  either  by  mixing  the  dry  powdered  acacia  with  the  oil  and 
adding  at  once  a  definite  quantity  of  water,  or  by  making  a 
mucilage  with  the  gum  and  adding  the  oil  gradually.  The  former 
method  is  the  better  and  should  be  practised  first.  For  this 
purpose  the  acacia  should  be  in  very  fine  powder ;  for  making  fresh 
mucilage  it  is  preferable  to  use  it  in  coarse  powder,  in  which  form 
it  is  supplied  by  some  of  the  wholesale  druggists.  Remembering 
that  a  fixed  oil  requires  a  fourth  of  its  weight  of  powdered 
acacia,  let  the  student  measure  half  an  ounce  of  almond  oil  into 
a  dry  mortar  (taking  care  that  the  mortar  is  quite  dry),  and  add  to 
it  one  drachm  of  powdered  gum  acacia.  Mix  these  by  a  little 
trituration  and  add  at  once  two  drachms  of  water.  Continue  the 
trituration  now  rapidly  and  lightly  until  a  thick  white  or  nearly 
white  cream  is  produced  and  no  oil  globules  are  visible  ;  this  part 
of  the  operation  is  complete  in  about  a  minute  ;  the  emulsion  of 
the  oil  has  been  effected  and  requires  now  only  to  be  dilutee^  with 
Avater  added  in  successive  portions,  small  at  first,  larger  afterwards, 
to  the  required  volume.  Carefully  adhere  to  the  proportions  of 
oil,  water,  and  gum  stated  ;  they  are  necessary  to  ensure  success. 
Do  not  unnecessarily  triturate  after  emulsification  has  been 
effected  ;  it  can  do  no  good  and  may  do  harm.  Be  very  careful 
that  both  pestle  and  mortar  are  quite  dry  ;  otherwise  the  powdered 
gum  will  form  hard  lumps  with  any  moisture  present.  Judge  of 
the  emulsification  of  the  oil  by  the  creaminess  of  the  product  and 
the  manner  in  which  it  adheres  to  the  pestle. 

Practise  next  the  second  method  of  producing  an  emulsion  of  a 
fixed  oil  with  acacia  by  making  a  mucilage  with  coarsely  powdered 
acacia  and  water,  and  adding  the  oil  to  it.  Proceed  as  follows  : — - 
Weigh  one  drachm  of  powdered  acacia  into  a  dry  mortar,  add  two 
drachms  of  water,  and  make  into  a  smooth  mucilage  by  trituration. 
It  is  preferable  to  make  the  mucilage  fresh,  as  when  just  prepared 
it  emulsifies  better  than  after  it  has  been  kept  some  time.  Add 
to  this  mucilage  a  few  drops  only  of  the  oil ;  triturate  until 
the  oil  is  emulsified  but  not  longer ;  then  add  a  few  more 
drops  and  triturate  again.  The  oil  should  then  be  added  in 
successive  portions  of  about  twenty  to  thirty  minims,  and  each 
portion  should  be  emulsified  before  another  is  added.  .  When 


the  mixture  becomes  thick,  as  it  will  after  the  addition  of  about 
two  drachms  of  oil,  it  should  be  thinned  by  a  few  drops  of  water  and 
the  addition  of  oil  proceeded  with.  After  three  drachms  of  oil  have 
been  added,  a  further  addition  of  Avater  will  probably  be  necessary. 
Take  care  not  to  let  the  emulsion  become  pasty ;  it  should  be  a 
uniform  smooth  cream.  If  properly  made  it  may  be  diluted  Avith 
water  added  in  portions  to  form  a  milky  fluid.  From  this  milky 
fluid  a  cream  w'ill  rise  on  standing  as  cream  separates  from  milk, 
but  this  cream  may  easily  be  diffused  through  the  liquid  by  agita¬ 
tion.  This  simple  emulsification  of  fixed  oil  with  acacia  by  these 
tAvo  methods  should  be  practised  before  proceeding  to  emulsions 
that  are  not  quite  so  easy. 


NOTES  ON  THE  B.P. 

Antimonii  Oxidum.—  When  the  oxychloride,  formed  by  pouring 
the  acid  chloride  solution  into  water,  is  boiled  with  sodium  carbo 
nate,  carbon  dioxide  is  evolved  and  antimonous  oxide  obtained, 
the  antimonous  carbonate  being  unstable.  This  is  in  accordance 
Avith  the  weakly  basic  character  of  antimony.  Compare  antimony 
with  arsenic  (which  is  even  a  Aveaker  base)  and  bismuth.  This 
official  oxide  is  the  antimono«,s  oxide,  Sb203.  Antimony  forms,  like 
arsenic,  two  series  of  salts.  Antimom'c  oxide,  Sb205,  may  be  present 
in  the  official  oxide  if  the  latter  be  overheated  in  drying.  Its 
presence  is  detected  by  its  insolubility  Avhen  boiled  with  water 
and  excess  of  cream  of  tartar  with  Avhich  antimonous  oxide  com¬ 
bines  to  form  soluble  tartar  emetic. 

Antimonimn  Nigrum  Purificatum. —  The  solubility  of  arsenic 
sulphide  in  ammonia,  which  offers  a  means  of  purifying  black 
antimony,  is  sometimes  made  use  of  in  analysis  for  the  separa¬ 
tion  of  the  two  sulphides.  Compare  the  solubility  of  the  two 
sulphides  in  hydrochloric  acid. 

Antimonium  Sidphuratum. —  The  production  of  this  depends 
upon  the  capacity  of  antimony  oxides  and  sulphides  to  unite 
with  alkaline  oxides  and  sulphides  to  form  soluble  salts, 
the  antimonites  and  antimonates  and  thio-antimonates,  etc. 
The  acids  corresponding  to  these  salts,  which  would  be 
formed  by  adding  HC1  or  H2S04  to  their  solutions,  are 
unstable  and  decompose — the  oxygen  acid  into  Avater  and  anti¬ 
mony  oxide  and  the  sulphur  acid  into  hydrogen  sulphide  and 
antimony  sulphide.  The  free  sulphur  causes  the  production  of 
antimom'c  sulphide  from  the  antimonous'  sulphide  (black  anti¬ 
mony)  employed.  Arsenic  and  tin  form  similar  soluble  double 
compounds,  and  this  property  is  utilised  in  analysis  to  separate  the 
sulphides  of  As,  Sb,  and  Sn  from  the  other  sulphides  (Hg,  Pb, 
etc.)  precipitated  by  H.2S  from  acid  solutions,  which  do  not  form 
similar  compounds,  and  are  not,  therefore,  soluble  in  ammonium 
sulphydrate. 

Antimonium  Tartar  alum. — The  aqueous  solution  gives  a  pre¬ 
cipitate  of  oxychloride  with  HC1.  The  quantitative  test  for 
purity — weighing  the  Sb.2S3  precipitated  by  H3S — is  not  so  easily 
carried  out  as  the  Amlumetric  test  with  iodine  solution,  which  is 
based  upon  the  conversion  of  antimonows  salt  to  antimom'c  salt. 

Aqua.—  With  the  exception  of  chloroform  and  cherry-laurel 
waters,  the  Aqute  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  may  be  regarded  as 
innocuous  aromatic  vehicles  for  the  administration  of  more  potent 
remedies.  It  is  not  necessary  to  remember  the  proportion  of 
aromatic  drug  employed,  but  every  student  should  prepare  a  small 
quantity,  say  of  aqua  cinnamomi,  for  himself  and  compare  his 
distillate  with  a  product  obtained  by  agitating  water  with  the 
essential  oil  of  the  same  drug.  The  latter  method  yields  a  prepara¬ 
tion  inferior  in  aroma  to  the  water  prepared  by  distillation.  The 
waters  calling  for  special  mention  are  : — 

Aqua  Ghloroformi,  a  solution  of  one  part,  by  volume,  of  chloro¬ 
form  in  two  hundred  of  distilled  water.  This  is  a  useful  vehicle 
partly  on  account  of  its  SAveet  taste  and  carminative  action,  but 
more  especially  because  of  the  antiseptic  properties  of  chloroform. 
A  mixture  containing,  e.g.,  ext.  ergot,  liq.  Jfi.  in  each  dose  will 
keep  quite  good  with  chloroform  water  as  the  vehicle,  but  rapidly 
becomes  mouldy  in  a  feAv  days  if  made  up  with  plain  water. 

Argentum  Purificatum. — Lead  and  copper  are  the  usual  impuri¬ 
ties.  Solution  in  nitric  acid  yields  nitrate  of  silver.  Excess  of 
ammonia  added  to  this  solution  should  yield  a  clear  colourless 
fluid,  the  soluble  ammonio-nitrate  (metallo-amine)  of  silver  being 
formed.  A  colour  Avould  indicate  copper,  which  also  forms  a  soluble 
double  compound  Avith  ammonia,  having  a  deep  blue  colour.  Any 
lead  present  woiild  be  indicated  by  a  turbidity  due  to  precipitation 
of  lead  hydrate. 


pEB  13,  189?] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


131 


Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


A  Weekly  Record  of  Pharmacy  and  Allied  Sciences. 


ESTABLISHED  1841. 


Circulating  in  the  United  Kingdom,  France,  Germany, 
Austria,  Italy,  Russia,  Switzerland,  Canada,  the 
United  States,  South  America,  India, 
Australasia,  South  Africa,  etc. 


Editorial  Office:  17,  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.C. 
Publishing  and  Advertising  Office :  5,  SEQLE  STREET,  W.C. 


LONDON  :  SATURDAY,  FEBRUARY  13,  1897. 


ARMY  COMPOUNDERS  AS  PUBLIC  DISPENSERS. 

About  two  years  ago  we  had  occasion  to  direct  attention 
to  the  unsatisfactory  nature  of  a  change  in  the  Local 
Government  Board  regulations  respecting  the  qualifications 
of  dispensers  in  certain  unions  and  parishes,  by  which  per¬ 
mission  was  given  for  compounders,  duly  qualified  in  accord¬ 
ance  with  the  Regulations  of  the  Army  Medical  Staff  Corp-, 
to  he  employed  in  the  more  public  capacity.  The  effect  of 
that  change  was  to  put  army  compounders  on  an  equal  footing 
for  this  purpose  with  Licentiates  or  qualified  Assistants  of 
the  Society  of  Apothecaries,  or  persons  registered  under  the 
Pharmacy  Acts,  and  considering  the  exceedingly  limited 
amount  of  knowledge  required  on  the  part  of  army  com¬ 
pounders,  this  appeared  to  us  manifestly  unfair  and,  from  a 
public  point  of  view,  decidedly  impolitic.  The  slight 
nature  of  the  requirements  in  the  case  of  army 
compounders  may  he  judged  from  the  fact  that 
qualification  to  compound  medicines  may  be  obtained,  in 
accordance  with  the  Regulations  of  the  Army  Medical  Staff 
Corps,  by  non-commissioned  officers  and  privates  who  have 
had  six  months’  training  and  instruction  in  the  surgery  of  a 
military  hospital.  The  instruction  given  covers  a  knowledge 
of  (a)  Latin  names  and  words,  and  the  symbols  used  in  pre¬ 
scriptions  and  on  the  printed  labels  used  in  a  dispensary  ;  (b) 
the  appearance,  taste,  odour,  and  dose  of  the  B.P.  drugs ;  (o) 
the  official  preparations  of  those  drugs,  their  composition  and 
dose,  and  the  quantities  of  their  ingredients ;  \d)  poisons, 
their  names,  characters,  and  dangerous  doses,  and  antidotes  or 
other  remedial  measures  to  be  adopted  in  cases  of  poisoning ; 
(e)  reading  and  making  up  prescriptions,  labelling,  and 
the  mode  of  administration  of  the  remedies  ordered ; 
(/)  the  names  and  proper  care  of  surgical  instruments 
and  other  appliances  ;  (g)  the  preparation  of  returns,  requisi¬ 
tions,  and  other  documents  of  like  character. 

The  six  months’  course  of  training  is  supplemented  by  an 
examination,  concerning  which  we  could  obtain  no  particulars 
at  the  time  referred  to,  but  at  last,  by  the  courtesy  of 
Surgeon-Major  Bedford,  we  have  been  enabled  to  find  the 
desired  information  in  the  Standing  Orders  for  the  Army 


Medical  Staff.  The  examination  regulations  as  there  stated 
arc  simple  in  the  extreme,  indeed  almost  archaic  in  their 
simplicity,  and  even  though  the  test  is  preceded  by  a  com¬ 
pulsory  curriculum,  it  is  difficult  to  express  any  degree 
of  satisfaction  with  the  regulations  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  qualification  of  public  dispensers.  Briefly, 
the  officer  commanding  the  Medical  Staff  Corps  in  a 
district  is  directed  to  arrange  for  the  examination  of 
eligible  candidates  for  the  appointment  of  compjunder 
of  medicines  by  a  board  of  medical  officers,  and  to 
instruct  the  examiners  to  submit  to  the  candidates  “four” 
comprehensive  questions  under  each  of  the  seven  heads 
specified  above  as  constituting  part  of  the  course  of  instruc¬ 
tion.  The  questions — twenty-eight  in  all,  he  it  remembered — 
are  to  be  so  framed  as  to  “  thoroughly  test  the  candidate’s 
knowledge  of  the  uses  and  doses  of  medicine,  and  the 
composition  and  modes  of  preparation  of  the  principal 
formulas  of  the  British  Pharmacopoeia.”  In  addition,  his 
acquaintance  with  the  peculiarities  and  best  modes  of  pre¬ 
serving  the  various  drugs  are  to  be  practically  tested  ;  as 
well  as  his  thorough  knowledge  of  the  appearance  and 
doses  of  poisons,  their  actions  and  antidotes  ;  his  aptitude  in 
pharmacy  and  compounding,  and  his  knowledge  of  the 
names,  uses,  care,  etc.,  of  surgical  instrument  s  and  appliances. 
It  is  not  quite  clear  from  the  Regulations  whether  the 
twenty-eight  questions  cover  the  whole  of  the  ground  specified, 
but  whether  that  be  the  case  or  not,  matters  wear  an  equally 
unsatisfactory  aspect.  Even  assuming  that  the  brief  course 
of  training  is  sufficient  for  turning  out  expert  compounders 
and  dispensers  (which  we  doubt),  and  that  the  examination, 
if  conducted  by  competent  practical  pharmacists,  is  a  fair 
test  of  a  man’s  capacity  as  a  compounder  and  dispenser, 
what  is  to  be  said  of  the  appointment  of  a  board  of 
medical  officers  to  conduct  such  an  examination  1  How  are 
men  without  any  practical  knowledge  of  a  subject  properly 
to  examine  others  in  that  subject!  And  that  this  re¬ 
presents  the  position  of  the  average  medical  man  with  regard 
to  pharmacy  is  undeniable  at  a  time  when  medical  students 
find  less  and  less  time  to  devote  to  the  study  of  drugs  and 
their  preparation  in  suitable  forms  for  administration, 
whilst  it  seems  most  improbable  that  a  board  of  army 
medical  officers  should  consist  of  experts  in  pharmacy. 
Of  course,  those  in  authority  doubtless  regard  such 
make-shift  compounders  as  sufficiently  qualified  to  dispense 
medicines  for  soldiers,  though  it  might  seem  that  there  is 
little  reason  for  discrimination  in  this  direction  in  the  case 
of  the  defenders  of  our  Empire.  The  War  Office  does  as  it 
likes  in  this  matter,  but  it  is  our  business  to  protest 
strongly,  in  the  public  interest,  against  the  employ¬ 
ment  of  men  with  miserably  inadequate  qualifications 
in  public  dispensaries.  Such  individuals  compete  on 

unequal  terms  with  properly  qualified  and  more  suitable 
men,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  sufficient  reason  why 
even  paupers  should  be  experimented  upon  by  amateur  dis¬ 
pensers,  masquerading  as  professionals.  Public  money  should 
be  spent  exclusively  in  the  public  interest  and,  it  may 
be  suggested,  such  procedure  as  objection  is  taken  to  here 
is  not  always  consonant  with  the  provision  of  snug 
berths  for  retired  soldiers.  Moreover,  it  is  rather  late  in 
the  day  to  assume  that  the  united  wisdom  of  pharmacists, 
medical  men,  and  legislators  has  been  in  the  past, 
and  is  yet,  at  fault  in  requiring,  for  the  public  safety, 
that  distributors  of  medicine  should  know  something 
more  than  the  merely  mechanical  details  of  their  craft. 


132 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  13,  1897 


ANNOTATIONS. 


The  Evening  Meeting  (see  p.  127)  was  well  attended,  despite  the 
somewhat  unpromising  nature  of  the  topic  selected  by  Mr.  Seward 
for  his  lecture,  and  those  present  were  fully  rewarded  for  their 
attendance  by  the  excellent  entertainment  provided.  After  all, 
the  lecturer  always  counts  for  much  more  than  his  subject,  and  in 
the  present  instance  what  might  have  been  an  intolerably  dull  dis¬ 
quisition  was  in  reality  a  bright  and  attractive  address.  The  illus¬ 
trations,  too,  of  which  there  was  a  goodly  number,  were  excellent, 
and  added  much  to  the  success  of  the  meeting.  So  far,  Mr.  Hills 
has  been  very  fortunate  in  the  subjects  explained  and  discussed  at 
meetings  of  the  Society  during  his  Presidency,  and  the  latest 
addition  to  the  series,  for  the  organisation  of  which  he  is  mainly 
responsible,  was  in  no  wise  inferior  to  its  predecessors. 

A  Case  under  the  Medicine  Stamp  Duty  Acts,  reported  on 
p.  136,  is  of  considerable  importance  to  chemists  and  druggists, 
as  illustrating  once  more  the  enormous  extent  of  the  powers 
conferred  on  the  responsible  authorities  by  the  Acts.  It  has  been 
repeatedly  pointed  out  and  cannot  be  too  clearly  understood  that 
in  many  cases  where  exemption  of  medicinal  preparations  from 
stamp  duty  is  enjoyed,  this  exemption  must  be  regarded  by  retailers 
as  a  concession  and  not  as  a  legal  right.  The  only  exemptions 
under  the  Acts  are  the  following  (vide  Calendar  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society,  p.  168) : — 

All  Medicilial  Drugs  Whatsoever  which  shall  be  uttered  or  vended  entire,  with¬ 
out  any  Mixture  or  Composition  with  any  other  Drug  or  Ingredient  whatso¬ 
ever.  Ginger  and  Peppermint  Lozenges  or  any  other  Article  of  Confectionery 
unless  the  Person  vending  the  same  shall  vend  the  same  as  Medicines  or  as 
beneficial  for  the  Prevention,  Cure,  or  Belief  of  any  Distemper,  Malady, 
Ailment,  or  Disorder  incident  to  or  in  anywise  affecting  the  Human  Body 
All  artificial  Mineral  Waters,  and  all  Waters  impregnated  with  Soda  or 
Mineral  Alkali,  or  With  Carbonic  Acid  Gas,  and  all  Compositions  in  a  liquid 
or  solid  State  to  be  used  for  the  Purpose  of  compounding  or  making  any  o 
the  said  Waters. 

Cough  mixtures,  fever  mixtures,  and  bronchitis  mixtures,  so 
labelled,  are  therefore  as  fully  liable  to  payment  of  stamp  duty— if 
the  Inland  Revenue  authorities  choose  to  enforce  the  Acts  to  the 
full  extent — as  medicines  labelled  with  definite  recommendations 
for  the  relief  or  cure  of  disease.  But  by  the  courtesy  of  the 
authorities,  whose  conciliatory  attitude  has  been  most  marked,  and 
their  desire  not  to  interfere  unduly  with  trade,  it  has  been 
customary  to  permit  a  certain  laxity  in  the  matter.  It  must  be 
remembered,  however,  that  the  right  remains  at  any  time  to  with¬ 
draw  any  concessions  that  have  been  granted,  and  in  the  case  now 
under  notice  it  appears  to  have  been  felt  that  the  privilege  of  sell¬ 
ing  certain  preparations  unstamped  had  been  somewhat  abused. 
There  is  no  doubt  whatever  that  the  Inland  Revenue  authorities 
were  quite  within  their  rights  in  pressing  the  matter,  and  this  case 
should  serve  as  a  useful  illustration  of  the  desirability  of  making 
the  best  of  the  facilities  offered  by  these  authorities  without 
exceeding  reasonable  limits. 


The  Calendar  op  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  op  Ireland 
for  1897  is  issued  in  the  now  familiar  style,  and  shows  that  the 
total  strength  of  the  Society  in  December,  1896,  was  1483,  including 
527  pharmaceutical  chemists,  169  members,  305  chemists  and 
druggists,  406  registered  druggists,  62  associate  druggists,  and  14 
assistants  to  pharmaceutical  chemists.  The  total  number  con¬ 
nected  with  the  Society  in  December,  1895,  was  1451,  an  increase 
of  32  having  thus  taken  place  during  the  past  year.  The  increase 
was  in  the  classes  of  pharmaceutical  chemists  (26),  and  registered 
druggists  (27),  a  slight  falling  off  being  indicated  in  each  of  the 


other  classes.  The  financial  statement  for  the  year  ending 
September  30  shows  a  balance  due  by  the  Bank  of  Ireland  of 
£78  10*\  od. ,  as  against  £170  1.3-v.  6 d.  due  at  the  beginning  of  the 
year.  The  accounts  of  the  Pharmaceutical  School  of  Chemistry, 
connected  with  the  Society,  show  a  balance  of  £2  16#.  3d.,  and 
those  of  the  associated  Pharmaceutical  School  of  Botany  and 
Materia  Medica  a  balance  of  £21  5*-.  1 1  d. 


The  Process  op  Colour  Photography,  briefly  described  in  last 
week’s  Journal,  is  described  by  Captain  Abney,  who  witnessed  the 
experiments  referred  to,  as  a  very  remarkable  one.  Writing  to 
Nature ,  he  observes  that  he  went  as  a  sceptic  and,  after  reading 
what  he  says,  one  inclines  to  the  belief  that  the  late  president  of 
the  Royal  Photographic  Society  is  somewhat  of  a  sceptic  yet. 
According  to  his  account  a  specially  prepared  gelatin  plate  is  ex¬ 
posed,  and  the  negative  developed  and  fixed  in  the  ordinary  way. 
A  positive  on  a  similar  plate,  or  a  silver  print  on  specially  pre¬ 
pared  albuminised  paper  is  next  taken  from  this  negative,  and 
brushed  copiously  over  wi  th  a  colourless  liquid,  probably  a 
mordanting  solution  containing  albumin  and  salt.  The  blue, 
grass-green,  and  crimson-red  dyes — all  in  solution  and  mixed 
writh  some  other  ingredient  besides  water — are  then  applied  in 
turn.  This  colouring,  it  is  stated,  must  be  done  in  daylight. 
The  finished  positive  or  print  presents  a  picture  in  colours,  un¬ 
derlying  which  is  the  dark  brown  silver  image. 


Why  the  Image  Takes  up  the  Colours  Selectively  is  more 
than  Captain  Abney  can  understand.  The  success  of  the  process, 
he  says,  does  not  depend  upon  the  inventor’s  manipulation,  as 
negatives  were  taken  by  Sir  H.  T.  Wood,  quite  independently  of 
him,  though  on  prepared  plates.  Still,  the  expert  witness  of  all 
this  expresses  himself  as  somewhat  sceptical,  and  says  he  will  not 
be  satisfied  till  he  gets  some  plates  that  have  been  promised  him 
by  the  inventor,  and  taken  negatives  of  certain  test  objects  which 
will  be  unknown  to  M.  Chassagne.  “If  he  can  reproduce  their 
colours  it  will  have  to  be  without  any  reference  to  the  amounts  of 
silver  which  ordinarily  indicate  the  colour  in  the  original,  for  in 
the  negatives  sent  every  colour  will  be  represented  by  approxi¬ 
mately  an  equal  density.”  At  the  same  time  Captain  Abney  freely 
acknowledges  that  if  the  process  is. thoroughly  genuine,  it  must  be 
a  great  success,  and  it  will  have  to  be  investigated  in  a 
properly  scientific  manner.  Publication  of  the  details  now  secret 
is  promised  as  soon  as  a  patent  is  applied  for. 

The  Study  op  Experimental  Teratology  has  been  carried  on 
for  so  me  time  past  in  Paris  by  M.  Darreste,  and  the  Medical  Pres 
states  that  he  has  succeeded  in  establishing  some  curious  facts  in 
this  interesting  but  somewhat  obscure  subject.  Among  other 
things,  he  has  been  able  to  show  that  almost  any  abnormal  con¬ 
ditions  acting  on  eggs  in  the  early  days  of  development  can 
lead  to  the  production  of  malformations,  a  large  number  of  such 
having  been  produced  by  shaking  the  eggs  in  a  machine  specially 
devised  by  M.  Darreste.  In  the  case  of  mammals  the  effect  of 
injuring  the  embryo  in  situ  is  most  commonly  to  cause  abnormali¬ 
ties  of  the  amnion,  a  condition  which  leads  secondarily  to  the 
formation  of  various  malformations.  Referring  to  the  important 
part  which  abnormalities  of  the  amnion  play  in  the  production  of 
malformations  in  mammalia,  Dr.  Councilman  asserts  that  there  is 
no  scientific  foundation  for  the  belief,  and  no  proof,  that  maternal 
impressions  can  have  any  effect  on  the  developing  embryo.  All 
malformations  seen  in  man  are,  he  contends,  met  with  in  the  lower 
mammalia,  in  whom  the  influence  of  impressions  cannot  be  sup¬ 
posed  to  have  much,  if  any,  influence. 


Feb.  13,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


133 


The  School  of  Pharmacy  Students’  Dinner  will  bake  place,  as 
already  announced,  on  Friday,  February  26,  at  the  Holborn 
Restaurant,  but  in  place  of  the  Duke’s  Salon,  it  has  been  found 
necessary  to  engage  the  Queen’s  Hall,  which  has  greater  seating 
accommodation.  The  chair  will  be  taken  by  the  Dean,  Professor 
Greenish,  and  a  large  attendance  is  expected,  and  we  under¬ 
stand  that  a  capital  programme  has  been  drawn  up  among  the 
students.  Tickets,  price  5  s.,  may  still  be  obtained  of  the  Honorary 
Secretary,  Mr.  T.  P.  Tebbutt,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  W.C. 

The  British  Association  Meeting  will  be  held  at  Toronto  during 
August  next,  and  already  the  local  arrangements  are  gradually 
taking  shape.  The  Governments  of  Canada  and  of  Ontario,  to¬ 
gether  with  the  Toronto  City  Council,  have  promised  sums  which 
will,  it  is  believed,  fully  suffice  for  all  expenses.  Con¬ 
cessions  will  be  granted  by  various  steamship  companies 
to  members  of  the  Association  attending  the  meeting, 
and  it  is  anticipated  that  the  numbers  attending  will  be  largely  in 
excess  of  any  meeting  held  in  Great  Britain.  Excursions  will  be 
arranged  to  various  parts  of  Canada,  and  many  prominent 
scientific  men  are  expected  to  attend  from  the  United  States,  whilst 
the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science  is  to 
meet  at  Detroit,  at  such  a  time  that  the  members  may 
visit  their  British  co-workers  at  Toronto,  and  invitations  to  attend 
have  been  accepted  by  the  Society  of  American  Naturalists,  and 
the  American  Psychological  Association.  A  writer  in  Nature  says 
it  is  confidently  believed  that  the  Toronto  meeting  will  have  very 
largely  an  international  character,  and  Canadians  are  reported  to 
be  prepared  to  leave  nothing  undone  which  will  make  the  meeting 
a  success  from  every  point  of  view. 

Duelling!  in  German  Universities  is  described  in  the  current 
number  of  the  Strand  Magazine  by  an  English  student,  whose 
connection  with  British  pharmacy  is,  we  understand,  far  from 
remote,  and  those  interested  in  the  study  of  relics  of  barbarism 
will  find  much  to  interest  them  in  this  record  of  the  crude  manner 
in  which  “honour”  can  be  satisfied  in  the  Fatherland.  Scars  on 
the  face  are  frequent  results  of  duels,  and  so  deeply  grounded  is 
this  insensate  custom  of  duelling  that  encounters  with  the  sword  are 
systematically  provided  for,  and  German  students  are  said  to  hasten 
and  welcome  the  moment  when  they  can  receive  a  scar.  The  ex¬ 
cellent  photographs  illustrating  the  article  have  been  taken  at 
Marburg,  and  presumably,  therefore,  the  university  of  that  town 
has  been  the  scene  of  many  of  the  incidents  referred  to. 

The  Chemists’  Assistants’  Association  Annual  Dinner  will 
be  held  in  the  King’s  Hall,  Holborn  Restaurant,  London,  on 
Thursday,  March  4,  at  8  p.m.  The  President,  Mr.  Charles  Morley, 
will  take  the  chair,  and  expects  to  be  supported  by  Mr.  Walter 
Hills,  President  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  Mr.  John  Harrison, 
Vice-President  of  the  Society,  Dr.  Symes,  President  of  the  British 
Pharmaceutical  Conference,  Sir  William  Broadbent,  Dr.  Mac- 
naughton  Jones,  and  other  prominent  pharmacists  and  medical 
men.  Tickets  (5s.  each)  may  be  obtained  of  the  Council  and 
Stewards,  or  of  Mr.  A.  Ralph  Melhuish,  116,  St.  John’s  Street, 
E.C.  The  list  of  Stewards  is  a  very  representative  one,  and  the 
dinner  ought  to  be  a  great  success. 

Coca  Wine  and  its  Dangers  served  the  British  Medical  Journal 
as  a  text  last  week,  but  it  is  difficult  to  see  where  the  claim  of  that 
paper  for  further  restriction  to  be  placed  on  the  sale  of  such 
wine  comes  in.  The  first  argument  employed  is  that  “coca  wine 
and  other  medicated  wines  are  largely  sold  to  people  who  are  con¬ 
sidered,  and  consider  themselves,  total  abstainers.”  But  the  term 


“  wine”hasa  wdl-deii  nod  in  caning,  and  there  is  no  deception  practised 
in  thematter ,  soif  abstainers  choose  to  take  stimulants  and  prefer  them 
in  a  comparatively  disagreeable  form,  why  should  other  people  bo 
restricted  in  their  use  of  medicated  wines?  Then  it  is  stated,  appa¬ 
rently  as  a  grievance,  that  ‘  ‘  originally  coca  wine  was  made  from  coca 
leaves,  but  it  is  now  commonly  a  solution  of  thealkaloid  ina  sweetand 
usually  strongly  alcoholic  wine,”  and  “not  long  ago  a  physician 
reported  that  he  had  experienced  considerable  inconvenience  from 
taking  a  glass  of  standardised  (sic.)  coca  wine  which  he  had  mis¬ 
taken  for  an  innocuous  beverage.”  Apparently  this  medical  writer 
assumes  that  coca  wine  made  from  the  leaves  contains  no  alcohol, 
and  that  the  leaves  contain  no  cocaine.  This,  at  least,  is  the 
logical  deduction  from  his  arguments.  As  a  matter  of  fact  coca 
wine  is  now  prepared  by  both  methods,  wine  containing  alcohol 
being  used  in  every  case,  and  no  attempt  being  made  to  disguise 
the  fact.  Anyone,  therefore,  who  resorts  to  the  use  of  such  pre¬ 
parations  does  so  with  his  eyes  open  so  far  as  the  presence  of 
alcohol  is  concerned.  The  real  danger  is  in  the  continued  use  of 
cocaine,  and  the  possibility  of  risk  in  this  direction  is  intensified 
by  the  varying  strengths  of  the  coca  wines  on  the  market,  some 
containing  as  much  as  half  a  grain  to  the  ounce,  and  others 
as  little  as  one-hundredth  of  a  grain.  A  preparation  of  this  nature 
being  in  active  demand,  the  obvious  remedy  for  the  existing  state 
of  affairs  might  be  to  make  coca  wine  official  in  the  next  British 
Pharmacopoeia.  But,  so  far  as  the  presence  of  alcohol  is  concerned, 
total  abstainers  must  not  expect  to  enjoy  the  exhilarating 
effects  of  wine  without  also  experiencing  a  fall  from  grace. 


A  National  Physical  Laboratory  is  suggested  by  a  correspon¬ 
dent  of  the  Birmingham  Daily  Post  to  be  a  probable  outcome  of  the 
report  presented  to  the  British  Association  at  Liverpool  on  this  sub¬ 
ject,  as  Lord  Salisbury  is  said  to  have  consented  to  receive  a  deputa¬ 
tion  of  eminent  men  of  science  to  discuss  the  question,  on  Tuesday 
next,  when  the  desirability  of  a  considerable  extension  of  Kew 
Observatory,  at  Richmond,  will  be  urged.  The  work  of  the 
laboratory  would  comprise  the  comparison  of  standards  of  length, 
weight,  gravity,  etc.,  commercial  testing,  and  other  physical 
researches,  most  of  which  is  at  present  carried  on  only  at  the 
Berlin  Reichsanstalt. 


The  Chemical  Inactivity  of  the  Rontgen  Rays  was  the 
subject  of  a  paper  by  Messrs.  Dixon  and  Baker,  published  some 
time  ago  (see  Ph.  J.,  Oct.  3,  1896,  p.  290).  The  results  then 
obtained  were  entirely  negative,  and  an  account  of  an  attempt  to 
detect  some  action  of  the  rays  on  chemical  processes,  by  A.  de 
Hemptinne,  published  in  the  December  number  of  the  Zeitschrift 
fur  physikalische  Chemie,  and  summarised  in  Nature,  confirms 
those  results.  No  effect  could  be  detected  in  the  case  of  experi¬ 
ments  on  the  conductivity  of  electrolytes  in  aqueous  solution,  the 
hydrolysis  of  ethereal  salts  by  acids,  and  the  combination  of 
chlorine  with  hydrogen  and  carbon  monoxide  ;  whilst  solutions  of 
silver  nitrate  in  alcohol,  and  of  mercuric  chloride  and  ammonium 
oxalate  in  water,  which  are  decomposed  by  light,  gave  only  minute 
and  uncertain  traces  of  change  when  exposed  to  the  Rontgen  rays. 


The  Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association  will  be  the  sub¬ 
ject  of  discussion  at  three  meetings  to  be  held  next  week  :  On 
Tuesday,  February,  16,  at  the  Clarendon  Rooms,  Granby  Street, 
Leicester,  at  8.39  p.m.,  Mr.  T.  Howard  Lloyd  in  the  chair;  on 
Wednesday,  February  17,  at  the  Royal  Hotel,  Grimsby,  at  3  p.m.  ; 
and  on  Thursday,  February  18,  at  the  Imperial  Hotel,  Hull,  at 
8.30  p.m.  Mr.  W.  S.  Glyn-Jones  is  expected  to  be  present  at 
each  meeting  to  explain  the  present  position  of  affairs, 


134 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL* 


.Feb.  13,  1897 


(MEETINGS  Op  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIETIES 

- ♦ - 

Chemical  Society. —  Thursday,  February  4,  Mr.  A.  G. 
Vernon  Harcourt,  F.R.S.,  President,  in  the  chair. — The  distin- 

fuished  physicist,  Lord  Rayleigh,  at  this  meeting  treated  the 
ellows  of  the  Chemical  Society  and  a  large  number  of  visitors  to 
a  lecture  on — 

The  Oxidation  of  Nitrogen, 

which  was  beautifully  illustrated  by  experiments.  Long  before 
eight  o’clock  the  lecture  room  was  invaded  by  members  for  the 
purpose  of  examining  the  apparatus  which  was  arranged  on  the 
bench  all  ready  for  action.  Inquisitive  minds  were  invited  to  be 
careful  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  apparatus  by  a  placard  bear¬ 
ing  the  words  “Dangerous  :  do  not  touch,”  in  letters  large  enough 
to  have  been  read  with  ease  from  the  other  side  of  Piccadilly. 
Naked  wires  were  no  doubt  lurking  about,  and  the  placard  thus 
conspicuously  displayed  was  evidently  to  prevent  scenes  that 
might  have  detracted  from  interest  of  the  lecture.  Curiosity 
having  been  satisfied  the  benches  soon  became  filled  up,  and  then, 
after  the  transaction  of  routine  business,  Lord  Rayleigh  stepped  up 
to  the  platform,  the  apparatus  for  the  absorption  of  gases  having 
meanwhile  been  set  working.  Lord  Rayleigh  thus  commenced 
his  lecture,  weirdly  accompanied  by  the  whir  of  a  dynamo 
and  the  fantastic  flickering  of  flame  in  a  huge  glass  globe, 
exhibiting  under  the  electric  influence  the  pretty  but  somewhat 
uncanny  phenomenon  of  fluorescence.  The  lecturer  at  the  outset 
recounted  an  experiment  performed  by  Davy,  in  which  the  nitro¬ 
gen  dissolved  in  water  on  oxidation  yielded  nitric  acid,  and  re¬ 
acted  very  perceptibly  on  litmus  paper.  Davy’s  experiment  was 
performed  with  two  cups  of  gold  connected  with  the  two  poles  of 
a  battery  of  100  elements.  After  ten  minutes’  working  they 
showed  strong  acid  reaction,  and  both  nitrous  and  nitric  acid  were 
found.  Lord  Rayleigh  repeated  this  experiment  in  a  modified 
form.  Instead  of  two  gold  cups  he  used  a  block  of  paraffin,  in 
which  two  holes  or  cavities  were  made.  The  holes  were  kept 
covered  with  glass  shades.  In  this  experiment,  however,  he 
found  no  reaction  with  litmus.  His  next  experiment  was  with  a 
large  glass  globe,  having  a  capacity  of  five  or  six  gallons,  inverted, 
and  supplied  with  large  platinum  electrodes.  He  finds  that  every 
increase  in  the  size  of  the  vessel  is  accompanied  by  an  increase  in 
the  absorption  of  gases,  and  he  attributes  this  to  the  larger  surface 
of  alkaline  solution  which  is  kept  running  over  the  internal  surface 
of  the  globe.  Everything  is  introduced  into  this  globe  through  an 
india-rubber  bung  in  the  neck  of  the  inverted  globe. 
There  are  two  tubes  for  the  current  from  the  alterna¬ 
ting  current  dynamo,  one  for  the  fountain  of  alkaline 
water,  one  for  drainage,  and  two  for  the  gases  introduced. 
This  experiment  was  in  operation  all  the  time  Lord  Rayleigh  was 
speaking.  Between  the  two  massive  platinums  there  was  an  arc 
of  flame  from  the  burning  gases,  and  against  a  white  screen  the 
red  fumes  of  nitrogen  peroxide  could  be  distinctly  seen.  It  is 
necessary  that  the  platinums  should  be  massive  as  they  might 
otherwise  fuse,  though  it  is  essential  they  should  be  very  hot.  The 
absorption  by  the  alkali  is  very  complete,  but  it  is  necessary,  in 
oi’der  to  get  rid  of  the  oxides  as  they  are  formed,  that  the  alkali  be 
renewed  occasionally.  If  the  nitrogen  and  oxygen  are  in  the  right 
proportions,  the  rate  of  the  absorption  of  gases  is  about  21  litres 
per  hour.  The  only  fear  of  the  experiment  going  wrong  is  failure 
of  the  fountain.  The  lecturer,  looking  at  the  apparatus,  made  a 
mental  calculation  as  to  the  electric  power  then  at  work,  and  put 
it  down  at  about  one  horse  power. — Professor  Armstrong  was  the 
first  to  speak,  and  made  some  remarks  on  the  conditions  to  which 
the  platinums  in  the  globe  were  exposed.  He  also  stated  that  Lord 
Rayleigh  was  rapidly  becoming  an  accomplished  chemist. — Pro¬ 
fessor  Ramsay  also  spoke,  and  the  President  went  at  some  length 
into  the  question  of  the  absorption  of  the  gases. — Professor 
MacLeod  mentioned  that  in  an  experiment  by  Cavendish,  potas¬ 
sium  nitrate  was  said  to  be  produced.  An  experiment  by  himself, 
however,  showed  that  nitrite  was  decidedly  present.  In  looking 
over  the  list  of  Fellows  of  the  Chemical  Society,  he  thought  the 
present  occasion  appropriate  to  mention  that  Lord  Rayleigh  was 
not  yet  a  Fellow.  — The  second  paper  was  on — 

An  Improved  Apparatus  for  Steam  Distillation. 

BY  F.  E.  MATTHEWS,  PH.D. 

He  described  two  pieces  of  apparatus  which  were  practically 
automatic,  one  for  the  distillation  of  liquids  lighter  than  water. 


and  the  other  for  liquids  heavier  than  water.  The  diagrams  will 
explain  the  action  of  the  ingenious  apparatus. 

Diagram  I. — A  contains  water  and  the  liquid  to  be  distilled. 
The  steam  and  volatile  liquid  pass  into  the  aperture  marked  at  C, 
and  both  condense  in  D  and  drop  into  B,  nearly  filled  with  water. 


Fig.  1. — For  Liquids  heavier  than  Water. 

As  the  volatile  body  collects  in  B,  the  surplus  water  runs  back 
through  A  into  A,  and  this  goes  on  continuously  as  long  as  it  is 
necessary  to  keep  up  the  distillation. 

Diagram  II. — A  contains  the  liquid  to  be  distilled.  The  vapour 
passes  through  B  into  the  condenser  C,  collects  on  the  surface  of 


Fig.  2. — For  Liquids  lighter  than  Water 

the  water  in  G,  and  drives  the  latter  back  through  the  tube  F  into 
A.  D  and  E  show  the  amount  of  liquid  collected. 

The  following  papers  were  also  read  : — “  Researches  in  the  Stil- 
bene  Series,  I.,”byJ.  J.  Sudborough,  Rh.D.  ;  “Diortho  Substi¬ 
tuted  Benzoic  Acids,  III.,  Hydrolysis  of  Substituted  Benzamides,” 
by  J.  J.  Sudborough,  Ph.D. ,  P.  G.  Jackson,  and  L.  L.  Lloyd. 


Lemon  Juice  in  Ophthalmia  Neonatorum. — Szawelski  (Gaz. 
Lekarska)  endorses  Penard’s  statement  that  the  instillation  of  a 
few  drops  of  lemon  juice  into  the  infant’s  eyes  immediately  after 
birth  is  an  excellent  means  of  preventing  purulent  ophthalmia,— 
B,  M.  J.  Epit.,  2/96/72, 


Feb.  13, 1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


135 


THE  WORLD  Op  PHARMACY. 

- + - - 

BUSINESS  MEETINGS. 


Liverpool  Pharmaceutical  Students’  Society,  Thurs¬ 
day,  February  4. — Mr.  John  Jones,  President,  in  the  chair.— Mr. 
Morgan  drew  attention  to  a 

.  Prescription 

lie  had  had  to  dispense  containing  phenol,  1  gramme  ;  /3-naphthol, 
5  grammes  ;  salol,  5  grammes  ;  powdered  rhubarb,  2  grammes. 
This  was  to  be  made  into  powders,  but  they  became  moist  when 
•made  with  one  sample  of  /3-naphthol,  but  not  with  another.  He 
wished  to  know  the  cause  of  the  deliquescence,  and  why  it  should 
mot  have  occurred  with  both  samples.  It  might  have  been  due, 
Mr.  H.  Wyatt,  jun.,  suggested,  to  one  of  the  /3-naphthols  contain¬ 
ing  a-naphthol,  which  was  more  soluble  and  of  a  lower  melting  point 
than  the  /S  variety.  —The  President  exhibited  a  dried 

Coffee  Plant 

with  fruit  from  Liberia,  and  asked  if  any  member  who  had  had 
experience  of  foreign  prescriptions  could  tell  him  what  “tinctura 
ferri  pomati  ”  was,  as  he  had  had  to  supply  it  to  a  German  ship’s 
medicine  chest. — Mr.  Wyatt  informed  him  it  was  made  from  an 
extract  obtained  by  acting  on  metallic  iron  with  sour  apple  juice, 
and  was,  if  he  remembered  aright,  official  in  the  German  Pharma¬ 
copoeia,  at  any  rate  he  would  find  formula  for  it  in  Dorvault’s 
‘L’Officine’  and  in  Jourdan’s  ‘Pharmacopoeia  Universalis.’ — A 
paper  on 

Ferns 

was  then  read  by  Miss  E.  M.  Wood,  a  lady  who  has 
frequently  favoured  the  students  with  papers  on  botanical 
subjects,  and  who  is  well  known  in  Liverpool  as  an  authority  on 
the  local  flora.  The  general  characteristics  according  to  which 
ferns  were  classed,  their  method  of  reproduction  and  the  chief 
representatives  found  in  Great  Britain  were  rapidly  touched  upon 
and  illustrated  by  a  fine  collection  of  herbarium  specimens,  mostly 
of  Miss  Wood’s  own  collection.  Of  those  to  be  found  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood  of  Liverpool,  Osmunda  regcdis,  the  king 
fern ;  Botrychium  lunaria,  moonwort ;  Ophioglossum  vulgatum, 
adder’s  tongue ;  Lastrcea  filix-mas,  male  fern ;  A  thyrium  filix- fcemina, 
lady  fern;  Asplenium  ruta-muraria,  Wallrue ;  A.  marinum,  sea 
spleenwort  ;  and  of  course  Pteris  aquilina,  the  common  brake  were 
'described  and  exhibited,  as  was  also  a  drawing  of  a  fossil  maiden¬ 
hair  fern  from  the  Teiliana  Quarries,  Sphenopteris  teiliana,  dis¬ 
covered  by  Miss  Wood.  At  the  close  of  an  exceedingly  interesting 
paper,  a  vote  of  thanks  was  accorded  Miss  Wood  on  the  motion  of 
Mr.  Frank  Walker,  seconded  by  Mr.  T.  S.  Wokes. 


Edinburgh  District  Chemists’  Trade  Association, 

Friday,  February  5.- — Mr.  John  Bowman,  President,  in  the  chair. 
— Mr.  C.  A.  Macpherson  explained  his  proposal  to  institute 

A  Scheme  of  Exchange 

among  the  members  of  the  Association  for  out-of-the-way  proprie¬ 
tary  articles  and  rare  drugs  or  chemicals.  Great  inconvenience 
and  delay  was  sometimes  caused  by  a  difficulty  in  procuring  these 
articles,  sometimes  from  London  or  direct  from  the  makers. 
Considerable  loss  was  also  incurred  by  having  to  purchase  an 
original  bottle  or  package  when  perhaps  only  a  small  quantity  was 
required  for  a  prescription,  which  was  only  once  dispensed.  He 
thought  there  must  be  a  large  stock  of  these  articles  lying  practically 
useless  on  the  shelves  of  many  pharmacies  in  the  district,  and  his 
proposal  was  that  members  should  send  a  note  of  such  articles 
as  they  had  in  their  possession,  so  that  he  might  prepare  a  list  that 
could  be  issued  with  the  monthly  billets  to  all  the  members.  In 
■this  way  anyone  having  a  prescription  for  any  of  these  articles 
would  know  where  it  could  be  procured.  That  would  be  a  con¬ 
venience  to  the  member  who  wanted  the  articles,  and  it  would 
also  be  a  relief  to  many  who  would  gladly  get  rid  of  superfluous 
stock  in  this  way.  Of  course  it  would  have  to  be  understood  that 
no  member  would  put  upon  the  list  any  article  that  was  not  in  a 
saleable  condition,  or  that  he  would  not  himself  be  justified  in 
selling  to  the  public.  There  might  be  difficulties  in  the  details  of 
the  plan,  but  he  moved  that  it  be  remitted  to  the  Committee  to 
carry  out  the  scheme  and  institute  such  an  exchange.  The 


suggestion  met  with  the  unanimous  approval  of  the  meeting,  and 
the  motion,  being  seconded  by  Mr.  Forret,  was  agreed  to.  The 
Secretary,  Mr.  C.  F.  Henry,  said  he  would  willingly  undertake 
the  work  of  trying  to  make  the  exchange  a  success. 


Midland  Pharmaceutical  Association,  Tuesday,  Feb¬ 
ruary  2. — Mr.  Gibson,  President,  occupied  the  chair. — Dr.  T. 
Wilson  read  a  paper  on — - 

Doctors  and  Medicine  Men. 

In  the  course  of  his  remarks  he  said  that  an  interchange  of 
opinions  and  thoughts  between  the  members  of  the  medical  pro¬ 
fession  and  of  that  Society  could  hardly  fail  to  promote  good 
feeling  and  a  better  understanding.  Chemists,  like  doctors, 
followed  a  calling  which  partook  of  the  nature  of  a  profession  as 
well  as  of  a  trade  ;  in  the  chemist’s  case  no  doubt  the  trade 
element  was  more  prominent,  but  it  was  always  to  the  fore  with 
the  medical  man,  too,  enforced  by  that  objectionable  rule  of 
advanced  civilisation  which  expected  twenty  shillings  in  the 
pound,  even  by  those  whom  it  was  the  custom  to  sneer  at  as 
scientific  and  learned — and  therefore  of  bad  business  habits 
or  of  no  business  aptitude  at  all.  If  they  could  confine  themselves 
to  the  professional  aspect  of  their  work,  there  would  then  only  be 
room  for  friendly  rivalry  and  good-natured  simulation  in  their 
attempts  to  promote  the  good  of  mankind.  Unfortunately,  how¬ 
ever,  the  business  element  was  thrust  upon  them  all,  and  that  it 
was  which  brought  out  the  lower  part  of  their  nature,  and  led  their 
two  callings  into  occasional  jealousy  of  each  other’s  proceedings. 
He  traced  the  history  of  the  two  professions,  and  said  that  the 
practice  of  medicine  might  be  divided  thus — (1)  the  great  mass  of 
general  practitioners,  including  the  physician,  surgeon,  ob¬ 
stetrician  ;  (2)  the  pharmacist  ;  (3)  the  specialist  ;  (4)  the 

large  class  of  more  or  less  skilled  nurses ;  (5)  the  many 
kinds  of  base  imitations,  such  as  medical  botanist,  medical 
galvanist,  cancer  curer,  patent  pill  manufacturer  or  vendor, 
botanic  physician,  and  finally  the  peripatetic  mountebank  who 
flaunted  his  quakery  in  the  market  places,  sometimes  with  a 
gilded  chariot,  sometimes  with  a  worn-out  tin  tray,  as  his  place 
of  business.  All  those  various  classes  had  their  prototypes  in  very 
early  stages  of  civilisation,  and  their  evolution  could  be  traced 
down  the  stream  of  time.  He  traced  in  an  interesting  manner  the 
development  and  practice  of  the  medicinal  man  in  several  nations, 
and  observed  that  chronologically  the  medicine  man  was  evolved 
before  the  priest  among  various  tribes.  Later  the  medicine  man  and 
the  priest  were  practically  the  same,  but  with  the  rise  and  improved 
culture  of  the  priesthood  came  greater  knowledge  of  medicinal 
agents,  which  gradually  ceased  to  be  regarded  as  acting  supernatur- 
ally,  and  among  the  early  Egyptians  medicine  was  practised  by  an  in¬ 
ferior  order  of  the  priests.  The  two  classes,  priest  and  medicine  man, 
both  foreshadowed  the  physician,  but  the  latter  only  to  the  extent 
of  using  the  same  means.  One  of  the  leading  theories  of  the 
medicine  man’s  treatment  of  disease  was  to  render  the  body  of 
his  patient  obnoxious  in  some  way  to  the  invading  spirit,  and  as 
one  result  of  that  idea  the  impression  seemed  to  have  arisen 
that  the  efficacy  of  medicine  bore  a  distinct  relation  to 
its  disgusting  nature.  That  impression,  too,  was  not  confined 
to  the  early  or  even  mediaeval  times,  but  was  common  even  in  this 
latter  end  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Having  dealt  in  detail  with  the 
progress  of  medicine  among  the  ancients,  he  said  that  in  our  owTn 
country  the  growing  influence  of  the  universities  had  given  a  great 
impetus  to  the  improvement  of  the  study  and  practice  of  medicine, 
in  common  with  other  departments  of  knowledge.  By  the  end 
of  the  twelfth  century  the  profession  had  been  separated  into 
two  divisions — physician  and  surgeon,  and  about  the  same 
time  some  members  of  it  began  to  specially  devote  themselves 
to  the  composition  of  medicine.  The  chemists  and  druggists,  as  they 
came  to  be  called,  were  late  to  organise  themselves,  and  not  until 
1841  did  they  form  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain.  The 
Society  was  incorporated  two  years  later  by  charter,  and  in  1852 
the  Pharmacy  Acts  were  passed  to  regulate  the  business  and  quali¬ 
fications  of  chemists  and  druggists.  Since  that  time  the  calling 
had  enjoyed  a  position  in  some  respects  analagous  to  the  profession 
of  medicine.  If  the  apothecary  of  the  time  of  Shakespeare  could 
be  brought  back,  and  could  have  shown  to  him  the  present-day 
stocks  and  places  of  business,  and  have  explained  to  him  the 
methods  and  science,  he  (Dr.  Wilson)  fancied  he  would  think  him¬ 
self  mistaken.  At  any  rate,  if  the  divine  William  was  not  grossly 
libellous  in  his  description  of  the  apothecary  of  his  day,  the  condi- 


136 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  13, 1897 


tions  had  so  changed  for  the  better  that  their  imagined  visitor 
would  hardly  be  able  to  recognise  his  calling.  Perhaps,  however,  the 
poet  was  in  error  after  all,  and  was  really  describing  the  medical 
botanist,  or  the  botanic  physician  of  those  days.  The  history  of 
medicine,  as  of  all  other  branches  of  learning,  told  that  from  an 
elementary  beginning,  with  which  grains  of  truth  were  scattered 
among  bushels  of  error,  knowledge  gradually  increased  with  the 
ages,  and  successive  races  and  generations  of  men  were  able  to 
separate  some  of  the  wheat  from  the  chaff  of  the  erudition  which 
was  handed  on  to  them. 


Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Ireland  (Council  Meeting), 
Wednesday,  February  3. — Mr.  W.  F.  Wells,  jun.,  President 
in  the  chair.- — The  report  of  Dr.  Duffey,  the  Lord  Lieutenant 
Visitor,  stated  that  during  the  year  95  candidates  presented 
themselves  at  the 

Preliminary  Examination, 

two  of  whom  were  women,  and  51  passed.  The  results  seemed  to 
show  that  the  apparent  improvement  in  the  general  preliminary 
education  of  the  candidates  shown  in  his  report  for  last  year  had 
not  continued.  As  in  former  years  the  optional  subject  selected 
by  the  majority  of  the  candidates  was  chemistry,  and  next 
came  French ;  but  the  majority  of  the  candidates  displayed 
discreditable  ignorance  of  that  language.  He  suggested  that 
elementary  chemistry  should  be  made  a  compulsory  subject  of  the 
Preliminary  examination.  For  the  Licence  examination  sixty- 
five  candidates  presented  themselves,  of  whom  thirty-two  were 
successful.  The  largest  number  of  failures  was  in  chemistry.  The 
report  was  referred  to  the  Law  Committee. 

The  L.G.B.  and  Drug  Contracts. 

A  letter  from  the  Local  Government  Board  of  Ireland  stated  that 
they  had  the  letter  of  the  Council  on  the  subject  of  the  way  in 
which  the  drug  contracts  for  Granard  Poor  Law  Union  had  been 
given  under  consideration. — The  President  referred  to  an  article 
in  the  Medical  Press  condemning  what  it  described  as  the  “  middle¬ 
man”  arrangement,  which  was  being  adopted  for  the  supply  of 
drugs  to  workhouses. 

The  Untruthful  Statement  in  “  Truth.” 

On  the  subject  of  a  statement  in  Truth  newspaper,  relative  to 
the  examinations  of  the  Irish  Pharmaceutical  Society,  and  of 
which  its  Council  had  complained,  the  letters  of  Mr.  Bremridge, 
Registrar  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain,  to  Mr. 
Ferrall,  Registrar  of  the  Irish  Society,  of  December  4,  1896,  and 
January  2,  1897,  were  read. — The  President  said  he  "had  hoped 
that  they  would  have  got  a  reply  stating  what  now  appeared  to  be 
the  truth,  namely,  that  the  statement  complained  of  was  not  made 
in  the  offices  of  the  British  Society  and  by  a  responsible  official, 
as  the  editor  of  Truth  said.  The  grievance  the  Council  had  to 
complain  of  was  that  the  Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of 
Great  Britain  had  not  acknowledged  that  its  official  had  made 
a  mistake.  A  proper  apology  should  have  been  sent  or  a  with¬ 
drawal  of  the  statement.  The  British  Registrar  talked  about 
fraternal  feeling,  but  he  did  not  see  how  it  could  exist.  They 
knew  now  who  were  their  friends,  and  that  they  had  very  little  to 
look  for  from  the  British  Society,  which  allowed  them  to  be  stabbed 
in  the  back  in  that  manner.  The  editor  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
J ournal  had  made  a  pretty  strong  personal  attack  (sic )  on  him 
(Mr.  Wells)  ;  but  the  editor  of  that  journal  was  himself  in  a  fog 
about  the  matter.  His  (Mr.  Wells’)  only  public  statements  were 
the  letter  he  wrote  to  that  journal  on  the  subject  in  question,  and 
the  report  of  his  interview  with  the  representative  of  the  Dublin 
Evening  Telegraph.  What  the  editor  attributed  to  him  he  must 
have  seen  in  another  Dublin  paper,  but  not  a  single  word  of  what 
the  editor  took  exception  to  was  uttered  by  him  (Mr.  Wells). 

Miscellaneous  Business. 

A  donation  was  received  from  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of 
Great  Britain  and  their  Calendar  for  1897,  and  on  the  motion  of  the 
Vice-President,  seconded  by  Mr.  Grindley,  thanks  were  voted  to 
the  donors.  The  subject  of  giving  gold  and  silver  medals  for 
the  best  answering  at  the  Licence  Examinations  of  each  year  was 
referred  to  a  committee  with  a  view  to  the  carrying  of  the  plan 
into  effect. 


SOCIAL  MEETINGS- 

Brighton  Junior  Association  of  Pharmacy,  Wednes¬ 
day,  February  3. — The  usual  fortnightly  “social  and  musical” 
evening  of  the  above  Association  took  place  at  the  headquarters  of 
the  Association,  Newburgh  Hall,  Cannon  Place.  There  was  a 
large  number  of  members  and  friends  present,  proving  the  popu¬ 
larity  of  these  socials,  and  under  the  very  genial  chairmanship  of 
the  President,  Mr.  A.  T.  Jeeves,  a  very  pleasant  evening  was 
spent  by  all.  Mr.  C.  A.  Blarney  (the  Hon.  Sec.)  was  responsible  for 
the  programme,  the  arrangements  for  which  he  carried  out  in  his 
usual  very  creditable  manner. 

Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,  Thursday,  February  4. 
— The  second  “Cinderella”  dance  of  the  season  was  held  in  the 
Dorset  Hall  Portman  Rooms,  Baker  Street,  W.  When  Bacon’s 
quadrille  band  struck  the  chord  for  the  first  dance  there  was  rather 
a  thin  room,  but  as  the  evening  progressed  the  number  of  dancers 
increased  considerably,  until  the  hall  was  well  filled.  Dancing 
was  kept  up  with  much  vigour  until  12  o’clock,  Mr.  C.  W.  Martin 
having  added  much  to  the  enjoyment  of  all  present  by  the  efficient 
manner  in  which  he  discharged  the  duties  of  M.C. 

Plymouth,  Devonport,  Stonehouse  and  District 
Chemists’  Association,  Wednesday,  February  3. — Mr.  J. 
Harvey  Bailey  in  the  chair. — At  the  annual  smoking  concert  in 
connection  with  the  Junior  Section  a  large  company  was  present, 
numbering  about  seventy,  and  a  capital  programme  was  rendered. 
Songs  were  given  by  Messrs.  Andrews,  Bogan,  Doddridge,  Harris, 
Hill,  Johnson,  Crabb,  Aylesward,  Weeks,  Webb,  and  Yoe  (in 
character),  banjo  solos  by  Mr.  Reynolds,  readings  _  by  Messrs. 
Luxton  (Exeter)  and  Bernard  Mervyn.  Great  credit  is  due  to  the 
Committee  for  the  admirable  arrangements  and  the  successful 
manner  the  entertainment  passed  off.  The  Committee  consisted  of 
Messrs.  H.  C.  Cautle,  E.  T.  Cocks,  E.  Green,  E.  A.  Hodge,  W.  A. 
Shakerley,  and  J.  A.  Buckley,  Hon.  Sec.  It  was  decided  to  hand 
the  balance  over  to  the  Seniors  towards  the  new  rooms. 


LEGAL  INTELLIGENCE. 


PROCEEDINGS  UNDER  THE  MEDICINE  STAMP  ACT. 


Prosecution  of  a  Chemist. 

At  the  Lambeth  Police  Court  on  Monday,  Mr.  R.  Willson,  a 
chemist  carrying  on  business  at  52,  New  Kent  Road,  was  sum¬ 
moned  before  Mr.  Hopkins,  at  the  instance  of  the  Board  of  Inland 
Revenue,  for  having  sold  by  retail  a  mixture  contrary  to  the 
Statute. 

Mr.  Dennis  (barrister)  appeared  for  the  prosecution,  and  said  the 
revenue  authorities  allowed  a  certain  amount  of  latitude  to 
chemists  as  to  the  manner  in  which  they  should  be  allowed  to 
label  their  compounds,  but  in  this  case  they  felt  that  the  defen¬ 
dant  had  gone  considerably  beyond  the  mark,  and,  therefore,  they 
felt  bound  to  bring  these  proceedings.  The  label  used  by  the 
defendant  on  the  bottle  produced  bore  the  following  words 
“  Willson’s  Cough,  Fever,  and  Bronchitis  Mixture,”  and  this 
description,  it  was  contended,  brought  him  within  Section  2  of  the 
Act  of  George  III. 

Mr.  Wm.  Spears,  a  messenger  attached  to  Somerset  House, 
deposed  to  going  to  the  defendant’s  shop  in  December  last,  and 
purchasing  a  bottle  of  the  mixture  which  he  now  produced.  He 
thought  it  was  the  defendant  who  supplied  him  with  the  mixture, 
but  could  not  say  for  certain. 

Defendant :  I  submit  that  the  evidence  of  the  witness  puts  an 
end  to  the  case.  It  has  been  held  in  an  action  brought  by  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  that  the  actual  vendor  was  the  person 
liable. 

In  the  course  of  some  further  argument,  the  defendant  contended 
that  this  was  nothing  short  of  a  case  of  blackmailing  on  the  part 
of  a  public  body,  which  did  not  know  its  business.  They  had, 
he  said,  offered  to  forego  these  proceedings  if  he  would  pay  them 
a  fine  of  one  pound  and  say  nothing  about  it,  but  he  declined  to 
have  anything  to  do  with  their  suggestions  of  a  compromise,  on 
the  ground  that  if  he  had  done  anything  wrong,  he  would  stand 
by  it  in  a  Court  of  Justice  for  the  benefit  of,  and  as  a  warning  to 
other  chemists. 

His  Worship  said  the  words  of  the  Statute  were  very  wide,  and 


Feb.  13,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


137 


the  question  he  had  to  consider  was  as  to  whether  or  not  the 
defendant  could  get  outside  it.  As  the  things  stood  at  present  it 
was  difficult  to  see  how  he  could  do  so. 

The  defendant  saidhe  claimed  no  proprietary  right  over  the  article, 
nor  did  he  represent  it  as  a  curative  agent  for  any  particular  malady, 
And,  therefore,  it  could  not  he  suggested  that  it  was  a  patent  medi¬ 
cine  within  the  meaning  of  the  Act.  In  his  opinion  the  Board  of 
Revenue  was  a  disgrace  as  a  public  body,  and  was 
bringing  .these  petty  prosecutions  against  chemists  simply 
for  the  purpose  of  wasting  the  public  funds.  If  he  had  paid  the 
£1  that  was  demanded,  nothing  would  have  been  heard  of  this  case; 
but  he  had  declined  to  have  anything  to  do  with  the  Board. 

His  Worship  said,  the  whole  question  to  be  considered  was  as  to 
whether  or  not  the  defendant  had  rendered  himself  liable  under  the 
Section  of  the  Act  by  holding  out  to  the  public  that  his  preparation 
was  capable  of  the  cure  or  relief  of  disease.  Upon  the  evidence 
before  him  he  was  quite  satisfied  that  the  defendant  had  infringed 
the  Act  by  the  use  of  the  labels  complained  of,  and  therefore  he 
should  impose  a  penalty  of  40s. ,  together  with  2s.  costs. 

In  reply  to  defendant,  Mr.  Hopkins  said  he  could  appeal. 


Parliamentary  notes  and  news. 


Corporate  Benevolence- — The  question  of  Sir  John  Brunner, 
to  which  we  referred  last  week  ( ante,  Sup.,  p.  120),  no  doubt  raised 
the  hopes  of  his  constituents  in  anticipation  of  good  things.  But 
hope  in  this  instance,  as  in  most  others  in  this  world,  told  a 
flattering  tale,  for  Mr.  Balfour  has  brutally  dispelled  the  bright 
visions  of  corporate  donations  of  recreation  grounds  and  scientific 
institutes,  by  declining  to  take  up  Sir  John’s  proposal.  The  matter 
would  raise  interesting  but  intricate  questions,  said  the  Leader  of 
the  House,  but  he  could  not  advise  the  Commons  to  embark  upon 
the  discussion  of  such  questions.  The  ‘  ‘  limited  owners  ”  which 
the  member  for  Northwich  had  in  mind,  may,  if  they  wish,  overcome 
the  difficulty  in  much  the  same  way  as  the  directors  of  “  Camwal” 
did  when  they  wanted  to  support  the  Pharmaceutical  Benevolent 
Fund. 


Opium  is  a  kind  of  red  rag  to  many  worthy  persons  in  these 
islands,  for  they  see  in  it  the  potent  agent  of  human  demoralisa¬ 
tion.  These  anti-opium  crusaders  were  strong  enough  some  time 
ago  to  involve  the  country  in  an  Opium  Commission,  with  an 
expenditure  of  several  thousand  pounds,  and  they  are  still  actively 
at  work  in  and  out  of  Parliament  to  check  the  traffic  in  narcotic 
drugs.  Those  who  sympathise  with  these  views  will,  therefore,  be 
particularly  interested  to  learn  from  Mr.  Chamberlain’s  reply  to 
Mr.  H.  J.  Wilson  (Holmfirth)  that  the  Ceylon  Government  has 
recently  prohibited  the  importation  of  hemp  drugs  into  Ceylon, 
and  has  doubled  the  import  duty  on  opium,  which  is  now  two 
rupees  per  lb.  The  action  of  the  Ceylon  Government  has  the 
approval  of  our  own  Colonial  Secretary. 


Mr.  Lloyd-George  (Carnarvon)  will,  on  the  Civil  Service 
•estimates,  call  attention  to  the  congestion  of  work  at  the  Local 
Government  Board,  and  he  intends  to  move  a  resolution  expressive 
of  the  desirability  of  removing  the  congestion.  Perhaps  Mr.  Lloyd- 
George  has  overlooked  or  forgotten  that  an  Inter-Departmental 
Committee  is  now  engaged  in  investigating  the  matter. 


The  Tuberculosis  Commission  has  overwhelmed  itself  with 
evidence  during  the  last  few  weeks,  and  is  constrained  to  suspend 
its  sittings  for  a  time  to  allow  for  the  digestion  of  the  mass  of 
facts  already  accumulated.  On  re-assembling  about  the  beginning 
of  April,  it  is  hoped  to  arrange  for  the  Scotch  and  Irish  authorities 
on  agriculture  to  give  their  views  on  the  subject.  Meanwhile 
some  of  the  Commissioners  will  visit  the  continental  capitals  for 
the  purpose  of  inquiring  into  the  methods  there  adopted  for  the 
inspection  of  meat,  and  the  precautions  taken  for  ensuring  the 
purity  of  food  and  drink  sources.  Perhaps  these  are  some  of  the 
things  they  do  so  much  better  beyond  the  Channel. 


The  Order  Paper  for  Wednesday,  10th,  presented  the  curious 
phenomenon  of  having  all  three  Early  Closing  Bills  tabled  for 
second  reading.  Neither  succeeded  in  attaining  the  coveted 
Stage,  though  Mr.  Duncombe  and  Sir  Charles  Dilke  were  both  in 
their  places  expectant  and  in  readiness. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


All  Articles,  Letters,  Notices,  and  Reports  Intended  for 
publication  in  the  Journal,  Books  for  Review,  and  com¬ 
munications  respecting  Editorial  matters  generally, 
must,  be  Addressed  “Editor,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square, 
London,”  and  not  in  any  case  to  individuals  supposed 
to  be  connected  with  the  Editorial  Staff.  Communica¬ 
tions  for  the  Current  Week’s  Journal  should  reach  the 
Office  not  later  than  Wednesday,  but  news  can  be  Re¬ 
ceived  by  Telegraph  until  4  p.m.  on  Thursday. 

Any  Instructions  from  Members,  Associates,  and  Students  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society,  with  reference  to  the  transmission  of  the  Journal,  should  be  sent  to 
the  Secretary — Mr.  Richard  Bremridge, — 17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  London. 

Business  communications— including  advertisements,  orders  for  copies  of  the 
Journal,  and  instructions  from  Subscribers  respecting  transmission  of 
same— must  be  addressed  to  the  Publishers,  5,  Serle  Street,  Lincoln’s  Inn, 
London.  Cheques  and  money  orders  should  be  made  payable  to  “Street 
Brothers.” 

Correspondents  who  wish  notice  to  be  taken  of  their  communications  must 
write  in  ink,  on  one  side  of  the  paper  onlj»,  and  should  authenticate  the 
matter  sent  with  their  names  and  addresses — of  course  not  necessarily  for 
publication.  No  notice  can  be  taken  of  anonymous  communications. 

Drawings  for  illustrations  should  be  executed  twice  the  desired  size  ;  clem 
sharp  lines  being  drawn  with  a  pen  and  liquid  Chinese  ink.  Shading  by 
washes  is  inadmissible.  Photographs  can  be  utilised  in  certain  cases. 

Names  and  Formulae  should  be  written  with  extra  care,  all  systematic  names 
of  plants  and  animals  being  underlined,  and  capital  letters  used  to  commence 
generic  hut  not  specific  names. 

Reprints  of  articles  cannot  be  supplied  unless  authors  communicate  with 
the  Editor  before  publication. 


The  Benevolent  Fund. 

Sir, — May  I  be  allowed  (if  not  too  late)  to  suggest,  as  it  is  tfie 
sixtieth  year  of  Her  Majesty’s  reign,  that  ladies  be  invited  to 
attend  the  Dinner  in  May  next,  as  it  has  been  suggested  to  ask 
them  to  collect  for  the  Fund.  It  may  induce  them  to  do  so  if  they 
know  that  the  amount  so  collected  will  be  presented  by  them  to 
the  Chairman  on  the  occasion. 

Greenwich,  February  8.  A.  J.  Brown. 

Divisional  Secretary. 


Sir, — The  financial  position  of  this  Fund  having  been  lately 
prominently  before  the  subscribers,  and  the  difficulty  of  meeting 
the  demands  upon  it  officially  announced  ;  the  occasion  would 
appear  to  have  arisen  for  the  Council  to  reconsider  the  step  taken  a 
few  years  since,  when  the  incomes  of  the  annuitants  were  in¬ 
creased.  It  seems  fairly  evident  that  this  increase  was  hardly 
justified  by  the  position  of  the  Fund;  nor  is  the  condition  of  our 
calling  such  that  we  can  hope  for  more  than  a  temporary  augmen¬ 
tation  of  the  Fund,  whatever  efforts  are  put  forth.  It  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  it  is  (or  should  be)  only  those  whose  families 
are  unable  to  support  them  who  come  upon  the  Fund, 
to  such  the  income  formerly  granted  insured  their  being  taken  in 
and  cared  for  by  someone  ;  and  in  the  presence  of  the  number  of 
candidates  this  is  all  those  who  administer  the  Fund  are  justified 
in  providing.  I  have  sufficient  faith  in  the  generosity  of  the 
present  annuitants  to  believe  they  would  prefer  to  enjoy  a 
charity  shared  by  as  many  as  possible  of  those  equally  necessitous 
— even  though  their  own  incomes  were  slightly  reduced.  I  note 
at  the  last  Council  meeting  that  no  movement  was  made  to  elect 
an  annuitant  to  fill  the  death  vacancy  then  announced,  although 
the  case  of  Mr.  Tonkin  Young,  who  so  nearly  succeeded  on  the 
last  occasion,  must  be  sufficiently  pressing. 

Plymouth,  February  9,  1897.  R.  F.  Roper. 


The  Ginkgo  Tree. 

Sir, — In  your  “Annotations”  you  recently  recorded  the  discovery 
of  “  spermatozoids  ”  in  the  pollen  grain  of  the  above  tree.  I 
daresay  many  of  your  readers  know  that  there  is  a  very  fine 
specimen  growing  in  Kew  Gardens.  I  think  it  will  interest  vour 
botanical  students  to  enumerate  some  points  in  this  tree,  which  for 
myself  have  for  some  years  been  regarded  as  forming  an  epitome  of 
the  development  of  our  flora.  It  is  indigenous  to  Japan,  whilst 

f  eologically  it  may  be  traced  almost  unaltered  to  the  coal  series. 

ts  leaves  have  the  furcation  of  the  fern,  one  of  its  names 
is  Salisburia  adiantifolia  j  botanically  it  is  a  coniferous  tree,  its 
habit  is  that  of  a  deciduous  tree,  approaching  the  pear,  etc. 
In  winter,  viewed  in  profile,  the  appearance  of  the  lateral  branches 


138 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  13,  1897 


recalls  both  coniferous  and  pear  trees.  Personally,  I  have  derived 
much  pleasure  from  reading  your  short  annotation.  In  winter 
there  are  several  interesting  characters  noticeable  in  our  forest 
trees,  e.g.,  the  young  beech  with  its  upper  branches  reminding 
us  of  the  palm  fronds  ;  many  of  the  elms,  again,  may  be  seen  more 
or  less  excurrent.  These  all  suggest  transitional  types  of  the  same 
species.  Of  course  the  Lombardy  poplar  stands  as  the  criminal 
stands  to-day  amongst  his  fellows,  the  survival  of  an  atavic  form. 
Its  rhomboid  leaves  approach  the  ginkgo  more  than  any  other 
leaves  I  know  in  their  venation. 

Dulwich,  January  30,  1897.  J.  Barker  Smith. 


Sweating  the  Dispenser. 

Sir, — In  an  annotation  in  the  Journal  for  January  30,  page  93,  a 
guardian  of  Camberwell  Parish  says  a  dispenser  could  turn  out 
five  hundred  bottles  a  day,  I  suppose  on  the  same  lines  as  a  beer 
bottler  sets  to  his  work,  till  the  barrel  is  empty,  then  commences 
on  another.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  how  many  dozen  a 
day  each  bottler  fills  at  a  firm  like  Foster’s,  where  there  is  no 
danger  of  a  mistake,  the  different  kinds  of  beer  being  kept  in 
separate  cellars.  This  is  not  so  in  a  dispensary,  where  poisons  are 
on  the  left  and  right  of  the  dispenser.  Ought  the  state  of 
things  spoken  of  be  allowed  in  an  institution  where  money 
is  no  object,  or  at  least  ought  not  to  be,  if  the  cure  of  the  patients 
is  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  being  spent.  That  it  exists  in 
an  infirmary  under  the  control  of  a  Government  department 
spending  thousands  of  pounds  annually  in  combating  with  disease 
is  an  anomaly.  Visiting  one  of  these  institutions  to  see  “  How  it 
was  done,”  I  saw  the  dispenser  with  a  tray  full  of  bottles  before 
him  for  all  kinds  of  mixtures,  not  all  stock,  as  is  supposed. 
Being  curious  I  waited  to  see  how  the  dispensing  was  done  ;  there 
was  mist,  potass,  iodid.,  mist,  acid  c.  nux  vom.,  mist., 
acid.  c.  tarax.,  mist,  quinse  c.  ferro,  powders  of  antipyrin 
calomel,  pulv.  ipecac,  co.,  etc.  To  my  intense  surprise 
there  was  neither  scales  nor  measures  used  for  any  of  them, 
the  ingredients  being  guessed  and  the  bottles  passed  to  a  pauper 
inmate  to  fill  with  water.  Asking  why  this  was  so  I  was  informed 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  get  through  the  work  in  any  other 
way  !  Passing  through  the  other  departments  of  the  institution  I 
found  the  carpenter  at  work  in  his  shop  making  a  door ;  he  was 
carefully  using  rule  and  square  to  bring  his  work  into  shape. 
Further  on  I  found  the  plumber  repairing  some  utensils  ;  he  again 
was  using  his  tools  with  the  utmost  care  to  make  the  utensils  fit 
into  their  frames.  There  was  no  hurry  in  either  case.  The 
baker  was  also  weighing  his  flour,  yeast,  etc.,  for  the  bread. 
All  working  with  ease  compared  with  the  dispenser.  So  I 
concluded  tbat  food,  doors,  and  utensils  were  of  more  importance 
in  their  preparation  than  the  medicines  for  the  sick  and  dying 
patients  !  The  prescriptions  must  be  made  up  to-day  regardless 
of  the  number,  the  doors  and  utensils  can  wait  till  to-morrow.  If 
dispensers  are  expected  to  do  impossibilities,  what  results  can  be 
had  from  their  work  ?  Are  there  are  no  chemists  and  druggists 
with  a  sufficient  love  for  their  fellow-creatures  willing  to  become 
guardians  of  the  poor  and  see  that  the  sick  poor  get  their  prescrip¬ 
tions  properly  dispensed,  and  that  their  brothers  in  pharmacy,  the 
dispensers,  are  not  sweated  ? 

February  2,  1897.  Anti-Sweater  (78/38). 


Check  Tills — A  Want. 

Sir, — Perhaps  some  of  your  numerous  readers  might  suggest 
some  simple  mode  of  converting  an  ordinary  cash  till  into  that  of 
a  check  one.  I  am  sure  it  could  be  done  by  some  easy  yet 
ingenious  arrangement,  and  with  little  expense.  The  suggestion 
may  awaken  some  of  the  latent  talent  of  mechanism  which,  I  am 
sure,  many  of  our  brethren  possess.  Failing  this,  some  one  might 
give  their  experience  of  the  existing  check  tills,  stating  whether 
they  find  them  thoroughly  effectual,  and  which  make  they  con¬ 
sider  the  best. 

February  1,  1897.  Inquirer  (78/31). 


Ancient  Pharmacy. 

Sir, — For  the  first  mention  of  drugs  one  must  turn  to  the  oldest 
literature  of  the  world  or  such  literary  remains  as  have  been 
brought  to  light  in  the  form  of  monument,  clay  tablet,  hieroglyph, 
etc. ,  of  the  earliest  civilisations  of  which  any  record  exists.  The 
Jewish  scriptures,  while  of  no  mean  antiquity,  cannot,  of  course, 
compare  in  age  with  the  literature  of  earlier  nations — the  Egyptian, 
the  Chaldsean,  the  Assyrian,  the  Aryan,  and  others.  In  the 
ancient  records  of  all  these  races  there  are  references  to  the  heal¬ 


ing  art.  The  Rig  Veda,  of  India,  the  Ebers  Papyrus,  of  Egypt, 
and  Assurbanipal’s  Clay  Tablets  (or  “  library  of  bricks,”  as  they 
have  been  termed),  at  Nineveh,  are  some  of  the  best  known,  but 
hardly  a  year  passes  now  without  some  valuable  addition  being 
made  to  our  knowledge  of  the  old-world  civilisations.  With  regard 
to  the  drugs  of  the  Bible,  Mr.  Casson’s  remark  that  many  of  the 
translations  are  misleading,  doubtless  holds  good  in  respect  of  the 
authorised  version,  but  these  defects  have  largely  disappeared  in 
the  revised  version.  To  cite  a  single  instance  only  :  The  “  cam- 
hire  ”  of  the  authorised  version  is  now  correctly  rendered  “  henna, 
owers,”  Lawsonia  inermis — source  of  the  well-known  oriental  dye, 
and  a  plant  of  much  fragrance. 

Among  the  interesting  Bible  drugs  not  mentioned  by  Mr. 
Casson  may  be  named  the  mandrake  or  love  apple  (Mandragora. 
officinalis),  a  reputed  cure  for  sterility,  and  balm  of  Gilead,  an  oleo- 
resinous  product  of  Balsamodendron  opobalsamum,  a  veritable 
panacea  of  the  ancients.  In  Coverdale’s  translation,  1536,  known 
as  the  Treacle  Bible,  “balm”  was  rendered  “triacle,”  “Is  there 
no  triacle  in  Gilead,  is  there  no  physition  there  ”  ?  The  apocryphal 
books  are,  perhaps,  even  richer  than  the  canonical  ones  in  refer¬ 
ences  to  the  healing  art.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  author  of 
‘  Ecclesiasticus  ’  must  have  been  a  physician.  The  book  is  so  full 
of  medical  allusions,  a  collection  of  them  would  indeed  make  a 
very  good  “  Health  Manual.”  A  few  of  them  may  be  quoted  : — 

“  Learn  before  thou  speak, 

And  have  a  care  of  thy  health  or  ever  thou  be  sick." 

“  Better  is  a  poor  man  being  sound  and  strong  of  constitution 
Than  a  rich  man  that  is  plagued  in  his  body.” 

“  Be  not  insatiable  in  any  luxury, 

And  be  not  greedy  on  the  things  that  thou  eatest.” 

“  Healthy  sleep  cometh  of  moderate  eating, 

He  riseth  early  and  his  wits  are  with  him." 

“  The  pain  of  wakefulness  and  colic 

And  griping,  are  with  an  insatiable,  man." 

“  Because  of  surfeiting  many  have  perished, 

But  he  that  taketh  heed  shall  prolong  his  life.”' 

“  The  Lord  created  medicines  out  of  the  earth, 

And  a  prudent  man  will  have  no  disgust  at  them." 

“  Honour  a  physician  according  to  thy  need  of  him  with  the  honours  due 
unto  him." 

“  The  skill  of  the  physician  shall  lift  up  his  head, 

And  in  the  sight  of  great  men  he  shall  be  admired." 

“  There  is  a  time  when  in  his  very  hands,  is  the  issue  for  good.” 

The  story  of  ‘  Tobit,’  another  of  the  uncanonical  books,  has  an 
interesting  reference  to  some  cases  of  healing.  This  is  not  a  col¬ 
lection  of  maxims  like  ‘  Ecclesiasticus,’  but  a  simple  work  of 
Jewish  fiction.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  to  find  magic  intro¬ 
duced  into  the  narrative.  The  patients  are  a  woman  who  was 
possessed  of  a  devil  and  a  man  who  had  become  blind  by  the 
formation  of  “  white  films  ”  over  his  eyes.  The  remedies  employed 
were  no  less  curious  than  the  diseases,  being  furnished  by  the 
internal  organs  of  a  fish.  “  Touching  the  heart  and  the  liver,  if  a 
devil  or  an  evil  spirit  trouble  any,  we  must  make  a  smoke  thereof 
before  the  man  or  the  woman,  and  the  party  shall  be  no  more 
vexed.  But  as  for  the  gall,  it  is  good  to  anoint  a  man  that  hath 
white  films  in  his  eyes,  and  he  shall  be  healed.”  And  with  these 
primitive  medicines  Sarah  and  Tobit  were  duly  cured  of  their 
respective  complaints. 

Brighton,  February  2,  1897.  C.  S.  Ashton. 

The  Regulation  of  Prices. 

Sir, — Many  letters  having  been  written  on  the  question  of 
cutting  prices,  may  I  ask  you,  Mr.  Editor,  to  kindly  find  space  for 
the  following  letter  in  your  valuable  J ournal  ?  I  am  of  opinion 
that  it  rests  with  the  Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  and 
with  them  alone,  to  stop  the  absurd  cutting  of  prices,  and  I  should 
suggest  the  following  course  : — I  am  convinced  that  if  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society  raised  the  standard  of  the  Preliminary  examination 
to  a  sufficiently  high  grade  as  would  compel  the  future  pharmacist 
to  have  had  a  thorough  middle-class  education,  and  it  compelled 
the  would-be  apprentice  to  pass  that  examination  prior  to  the 
commencement  of  his  apprenticeship,  the  whole  matter  of  absurd 
cutting  would  soon  die  out.  I  should  suggest  as  a  good  standard 
the  equivalent  of  the  Junior  Cambridge  or  Oxford  Local  Examina¬ 
tions.  The  result  of  this  would  be  a  large  dimiuation  in  the 
number  of  pharmacists  by  the  obtrusion  of  the  uneducated  section, 
thus  putting  a  better  class  of  men  in  the  business,  who  would 
appreciate  the  difference  between  a  profession  or  professional  trade 


Feb.  13,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


189 


and  ordinary  trade,  with  the  result  that  prices  would  soon  go  up  to 
a  fair  scale  for  professional  work,  such  as  dispensing,  and  also  for 
the  sale  of  drugs.  Also  the  educated  chemist  would  not  coun¬ 
tenance  being  employed  by  a  company  or  unqualified  man  who 
depends  on  a  qualified  man  joining  him  to  keep  his  shop  open.  A 
little  diverging  from  the  question,  it  might  not  appear  to  all  that 
it  is  only  by  the  qualified  men  being  untrue  to  themselves  that 
these  concerns  keep  open.  If  qualified  men  refused  to  associate 
with  them  they  could  not  continue  their  business.  As  regards 
quack  nostrums,  I  would  venture  to  say  that  the  result  of  my 
proposal  would  be  that  before  long  chemists  would  combine  and 
refuse  to  sell  them  at  all,  with  the  result  that  by  their  being  dis¬ 
countenanced  by  the  pharmacist  and  the  medical  profession  and 
relegated  to  their  proper  sphere — the  grocers  and  fancy  tradesmen 
— they  Avould  soon  die  out  as  I  firmly  believe  that  all  the  advertis¬ 
ing  in  the  world  is  not  so  good  an  advertisement  for  them  as  the 
vending  of  them  by  pharmacists.  As  regards  these  quack 
nostrums,  I  would  exclude  from  my  hypothesis  such 
articles  as  synthetical  proprietary  remedies  and  proprietary 
articles  used  only  at  the  dispensing  counter,  which  are  introduced 
to  the  medical  profession  by  good  pharmacists,  and  may  find  favour 
as  a  distinct  advance  in  pharmacy,  although  they  often  become 
dead  stock  to  the  pharmacist ;  there  are  disadvantages  to  which  we 
must  bow.  I  refer  in  my  hypothesis  to  the  ordinary  preparation 
which  the  pharmacist  of  to-day  simply  retails  over  his  counter 
intact  at  a  small  profit  like  an  ordinary  tradesman  :  that 
should  not  find  a  place  in  his  shop  at  all.  Certainly  occasionally  a 
medical  man  orders  a  preparation  of  which  he  is  totally  ignorant 
concerning  its  composition,  but  I  am  pleased  to  say  it  is  the  excep¬ 
tion  and  not  customary,  as  the  majority  of  the  medical  profession 
recognise  that  by  it  they  not  only  are  promoting  the  sale  of  an 
article  antagonistic  to  their  profession,  but  are  displaying  their 
own  incompetency. 

Kilbum,  N.  W. ,  February  3,  1897.  George  W.  Ray. 


Sir, — The  wisdom  of  joining  any  special  movement  depends 
upon  the  probability  of  its  success.  Has  any  voluntary  combina¬ 
tion  for  trade  purposes  ever  succeeded  amongst  chemists  ?  The 
two  chief  effects  I  see  from  the  present  attempt  are,  the  perpetual 
advance  of  wholesale  prices,  and  the  proprietors’  desire  to  cut  out 
the  middle  man  and  to  deal  direct  with  the  retailer,  inducing  him 
to  overstock  on  what  he  calls  best  terms  for  quantity.  What  does 
the  average  chemist  want  with  five  or  even  two  pounds’ 
worth  of  everybody’s  nostrums  ?  This  arrangement  benefits  the 
cutter  chiefly,  possibly  a  few  men  with  surplus  cash  also,  but  the 
small  man  is  further  handicapped  thereby.  To  him,  like  the 
minimum  cutting  price,  it  is  a  delusion  and  a  snare.  The  only 
satisfactory  arrangement  that  can  be  made  is  to  put  all  retailers 
upon  equal  terms,  quite  independent  of  quantity.  This  could 
easily  be  accomplished  by  the  proprietors  having  one  definite  price 
to  the  wholesale  and  another  for  retailers,  and  this  latter  price  the 
same  that  the  middle  house  would  charge  them.  There  would  then 
be  little  or  no  inducement  to  deal  direct.  It  is  infinitely  more 
convenient  for  the  average  chemist  to  get  all  his  proprietary  goods 
from  one  source,  and  in  quantities  suitable  to  his  requirements.  In 
my  estimation  the  proprietors  of  specialties  take  it  too  much  as  a 
matter  of  fact  that  pharmacists  must  supply  their  articles  on 
demand.  It  is  true  the  majority  of  retailers  seem  not  only  to 
second  this  state  of  affairs,  but  by  their  conduct  to  say  they  are 
quite  incapable  of  carrying  on  their  business  on  personal  and 
independent  lines,  justifying  their  tactics  by  the  excuse  that  they 
must  do  as  their  neighbours  do. 

Undoubtedly  advertisements  make  a  demand  for  proprietary 
articles ;  but  as  a  pharmacist  I  protest  against  the  theory  that 
makes  me  a  mere  distributor  of  other  people’s  goods,  and  in 
practice  I  object  to  be  such,  except  at  good  remuneration. 
Therefore  (with  the  exception  of  the  jubilee  year,  when  I  did  a 
little  sensational  advertising)  for  the  twenty-five  years  I  have 
been  in  business  here  I  have  refused  to  cut  patents  beyond  allowing 
the  medicine  stamp  or  its  equivalent  to  cash  customers  only,  off 
those  articles  which,  when  that  is  done,  still  leave  a  profit  of 
about  3 d.  in  the  shilling.  All  those  Is.  1  \d.  proprietaries,  the 
wholesale  price  of  which  has  been  raised  beyond  10s.  6 d.  a  dozen,  I 
refuse  to  stock.  The  list  is  getting  a  long  one.  When  I  came 
into  this  district  there  were  four  chemists,  now  there  are  seventeen 
including  three  stores.  I  believe  I  am  the  only  one  that  continues 
to  get  anything  like  full  prices.  The  question  of  substitution 
does  not  enter  into  the  matter.  My  customer  hears  my  explana¬ 
tion  and  is  free  to  take  what  I  suggest,  or  to  go  elsewhere  for  what  I 


do  not  keep.  In  the  long  run  I  am  sure  I  lose  neither  money, 
self-respect,  nor  the  goodwill  of  my  customer.  If  the  pharmacist 
is  to  advance  in  the  estimation  of  the  public  it  will  not  be  by 
cultivating  an  increase  in  the  sale  of  quack  medicines. 

When  behind  every  chemist’s  dispensing  counter  there  is  a  well- 
furnished  pharmaceutical  laboratory,  in  which  are  made  nearly  all 
the  preparations  in  his  shop  ;  when  the  still,  the  balance,  the 
microscope,  etc.,  are  as  constantly  and  familiarly  handled  by  him 
as  the  pestle  and  mortar  ;  then,  perhaps,  the  public,  both  medical 
and  lay,  will  see  in  him  something  beyond  a  storekeeper  or  even  a 
dispenser  of  physicians’  prescriptions.  The  apprentice  or  assist¬ 
ant  may  then  prepare  for  his  examinations  without  feeling  it  will  be 
so  much  time  and  money  wasted.  Let  every  man,  opening  a  new 
business  or  purchasing  an  old  one,  invest  an  extra  hundred  pounds 
in  that  way,  some  portion  of  which  might  be  saved  from  elaborate 
show  cases  and  expensive  window  fittings.  He  will  never  regret 
it.  Using  to  its  full  capacity  that  method,  may  he  not,  Sir,  find,  to 
a  great  extent,  the  key  to  the  success  of  the  “  historic  houses  ”  of 
London  and  the  provinces,  which  are  at  once  the  envy  and  admira¬ 
tion  of  every  aspiring  pharmacist. 

Upper  Tooting,  S.  W.,  February  6,  1897.  Jno.  Ingham. 


A  Personal  Complaint. 

Sir, — In  your  report  of  the  Midland  Pharmaceutical  Ball,  it 
states  that  “the  general  arrangements  were  admirably  carried  out 
by  Mr.  Charles  Thompson  and  Mr.  J.  C.  Mackenzie.”  On  a  circular 
sent  to  me  by  the  latter  gentleman,  after  it  was  over,  Mr.  Thomp¬ 
son’s  name  appears  as  “Hon.  Sec.,  Ball  Committee,”  and  is  signed 
by  him  at  the  end.  Therefore  I  concluded,  and  think  I  am  right 
in  presuming,  he  did  act  as  such  and  therefore  is  responsible  for 
the  position.  I  find  upon  referring  to  the  annual  report  that  there 
are  only  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  members  of  the  Association  ; 
therefore,  if  four  hundred  circulars  were  sent  out  locally,  how  is 
it  the  Hon.  Sec. ,  whose  establishment  is  not  half  a  mile  from  mine, 
omitted  to  send  one  to  me  ?  My  grievance  is  not  that  I  have 
missed  the  opportunity  of  attending  the  ball,  but,  as  a  member  of 
the  Association,  I  feel  that  as  a  matter  of  right,  not  to  say  of 
courtesy  and  friendliness,  I  should  have  received  one  of  those  pre¬ 
cious  four  hundred  circulars.  Perhaps  Mr.  Thompson  will  kindly 
explain  why  I  was  allowed  to  stand  out  in  the  cold  and  left  to 
grumble  at  his  “  admirable  arrangements.” 

Birmingham,  February  5,  1897.  John  Onion. 


Gtjaiacum  Resin. 

Sir, — I  can  corroborate  Mr.  Smith’s  “  note  on  Guaiacum  Resin” 
(ante  p.  101).  In  July  last  when  making  tr.  guaiaci  am.,  curiosity 
prompted  me  to  weigh  the  residue  which,  I  found,  amounted  to* 
180  grs.  (=  13*7  p.c.)  from  3  oz.  Christison  (on  Jahn’s  analysis) 
gives  “  11*7  of  bark,  wood  and  impurities”  as  the  percentage  of 
insoluble  matter.  Mr.  Smith  is  wrong,  however,  in  giving  the 
B.  P.  credit  for  noting  “  the  limit  of  insoluble  debris  in  benzoin,” 
as  it  does  not  even  mention  the  presence  of  foreign  matter. 
Squire’s  ‘  Companion  ’  and  other  extra-official  works  do  so  but 
without  limitation.  I  endorse  his  suggestion. 

Glasgow,  February  6,  1897.  Thomas  Dunlop. 

*„*  In  fairness  to  Mr.  Smith,  it  must  be  pointed  out  that,  according  to  the  B.P. 
benzoin  is  “soluble”  in  rectified  spirit  and  in  solution  of  potash,  that  is  to 
say  practically  entirely  soluble.- — [Editor  Ph.  J.] 

Help  for  Major  Students. 

Sir, — By  the  introduction  of  a  page  for  Major  students,  as- 
suggested  by  Mr.  Smith,  I  am  sure  you  will  bring  into  the  Society 
a  large  number  at  present  taking  no  interest  in  it.  A  Minor  man 
feels  he  would  like  to  proceed  further  with  his  study  but  the  fact 
of  having  to  be  away  from  business  for  some  six  months  makes  him. 
give  up  the  idea  of  doing  so,  with  the  result  that  he  never  gets  any 
further.  I  myself  have  found  numerous  points  which  could  easily 
be  explained  in  such  a  page.  It  is  disgraceful  to  see  so  few 
candidates  entering  for  the  examination,  and  I  think  the  Society 
should  do  all  in  their  power  to  induce  Minor  men  to  take  the  final, 
which  not  only  gives  a  more  professional  standing,  but  induces  men 
to  support  the  Society. 

Plymouth,  February  7,  1897.  J.  Arthur  Buckley. 

Sir, — I  desire  to  add  my  testimony  to  that  of  others  in  regard  to 
the  Pharmaceutical  Journal,  which  I  find  not  only  interesting  as  a 
medium  of  trade  news  but  also  useful  in  many  other  ways.  I  trust- 
you  will  see  your  way  to  add  a  “Major  Page”  to  the  already 


140 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL, 


[Feb.  13,  1897 


popular  “Students’  Page,”  which  would  be  a  very  great  boon- 
indeed,  because  one  has  not  always  the  means  nor  the  time  to 
attend  classes.  Your  Law  and  Parliamentary  Intelligence  is 
quite  up  to  date,  and  I  am  especially  pleased  to  learn  that  the 
Early  Closing  Bill  is  once  more  to  the  front,  as  well  as  the  Half- 
Holiday  Bills,  which  also  aim,  though  in  a  less  degree,  at  the 
shortening  of  hours.  It  may  interest  you  to  know  that  in  this 
district,  where  there  are  three  chemists,  the  third  and  I  endeav¬ 
oured  to  get  No.  2  to  close  earlier,  but  without  effect,  so  you  see 
unless  by  Act  of  Parliament  it  will  scarcely  be  possible  to  obtain 
shorter  hours.  I  also  wish  to  ask  your  assistance  in  regard  to  two 
or  three  queries  which  I  subjoin. 

February  8,  1897.  W.  W.  (80/15). 

***  As  has  already  been  stated  the  needs  of  Major  students  are  being  borne  in 
mind,  and  matter  of  special  interest  to  them  will  appear  shortly.  Meanwhile, 
we  shall  be  glad  to  receive  practical  suggestions  as  to  suitable  directions 
in  which  assistance  may  profitably  be  given. — [Editor,  Ph.  J.] 


The  Preliminary  Examination. 

Sir, — I  notice  at  Plymouth  five  candidates  presented  themselves 
for  examination  re  the  Preliminary,  and  only  one  passed.  This  is 
far  and  away  the  worst  record  of  any  of  the  whole  lists  of  towns. 
I  am  anxious  to  know  if  there  is  any  cause  for  this  other  than  the 
students  being  behind  their  fellows  in  general  knowledge.  I  am 
told  there  is,  and  that  is  my  reason  for  asking  for  an  impartial  in¬ 
quiry.  I  was  told,  the  day  of  the  examination,  the  room  was  not 
ready  and  they  had  to  wait  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  which  time  was 
taken  out  of  the  time  allowed  for  arithmetic.  Now,  this  can  be 
easily  ascertained.  If  the  boys’  papers  were  good  with  this  one 
exception,  and  it  be  found  their  time  was  short,  then  I  think  their 
ease  should  be  re-considered.  I  have  no  personal  knowledge  of  it 
myself,  but  was  told  on  the  day  by  one  that  has  failed  that  he  felt 
sure  he  did  all  well  except  arithmetic,  for  which  he  had  no  time. 
I  hold  if  they  started  a  quarter  of  an  hour  later  they  should  con¬ 
clude  a  quarter  of  an  hour  later,  giving  full  time  to  each  subject. 

Bodmin,  February  5,  1897.  Richard  T.  Cardell. 

***  The  Superintendent  of  Examinations  for  the  Plymouth  District  informs 
us  that,  though  the  room  was  not  ready  when  he  arrived,  it  was  ready  at  11  a.m. , 
and  the  envelopes  were  opened  and  papers  delivered  at  that  time,  according 
to  the  rules  ;  consequently  the  candidates  were  allowed  the  full  time.  More¬ 
over,  it  is  pointed  out,  that  if  the  candidates  had  been  delayed  a  quarter  of  an 
hour,  which  they  were  not,  it  is  very  strange  that  the  time  should  have  been 
deducted  from  that  available  for  answering  the  arithmetic  paper,  on  which 
work  is  not  commenced  until  12.30  p.m.,  as  it  is  the  Latin  paper  which  is  given 
out  at  11  a.m.  This  statement  of  facts  is  supported  by  letters  received  from 
ar-Plymouth  candidate  and  from  the  manager  of  the  premises  where  the 
examination  was  held,  and  seems  effectually  to  dispose  of  the  complaint 
voiced  by  our  correspondent.— [Editor,  Ph.  /.] 


Business  Ways  that  are  Dark. 

Sir, — The  other  day  I  received  a  parcel  by  post.  The  contents 
were  packets  of  cachous.  I  could  not  understand  what  it  meant, 
seeing  I  had  never  ordered  such.  However,  there  followed  in  a 
day  or  (;wo  a  letter  enclosing  invoice  for  same,  requesting  I  would 
give  the  goods  a  prominent  place  on  my  counter.  Now,  after  being 
in  business  over  thirty  years,  this  “  Sam  Slick  ”  way  of  doing 
business  did  not  agree  with  my  notions  of  free  trade,  so  I  resented, 
and  returned  the  lot  to  await  my  orders  when  wanted.  This  is 
another  Yankee  notion  come  over  the  water,  and  I  would  like  to 
ask  the  British  chemists  not  to  submit  to  this  mode  of  doing  busi¬ 
ness.  If  they  do,  all  independent  spirit  will  be  sapped  out  of 
them.  The  chains  are  tightening  now,  and  we  will  soon  be  all 
tied  houses  to  enterprising  Americans.  This  new  cachou  company 
has  mistaken  the  character  of  the  British  chemist ;  as  a  rule,  we 
are  above  the  “soda  fountain”  business — the  mainstay  of  the 
American  pharmacist,  and  we  can  understand  the  usefulness  of 
a  display  of  cachous  on  the  counter  of  a  drug  store.  Long  may  we 
be  spared  from  such  a  necessity,  and  I  ask  my  fellow  chemists  to 
put  their  foot  down  on  the  “  sale  and  return  ”  business.  It  never 
pays  in  the  long  run,  and  causes  disputes  and  heartburnings. 
February  6,  1897.  “  Anti-Soft  Sawder  ”  (79/41). 

OBITUARY- 

Dadley.— On  January  13,  Elijah  Dadley,  Chemist  and  Druggist, 
of  Nottingham.  Aged  69. 

Miller.— On  January  27,  Charles  Stewart  Miller,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  of  Hampton  Wick.  Aged  69. 

Stevenson. — On  January  27,  William  Stevenson,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  of  Todmorden,  Lancs.  Aged  68. 

Lewls. — On  January  27,  John  Phillip  Lewis,  Chemist  and  Druggist, 
late  of  Crawford  Street,  London.  Aged  54. 


ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 


Mustard  Seeds. — Black  mustard  seeds  contain  myrosin  and 
potassium  myronate  (sinigrin) ;  white  mustard  seeds  contain 
myrosin  and  sinalbin.  Refer  to  Maisch’s  1  Materia  Medica  ’  or 
‘  Pharmacographia  ’  for  information  on  such  points  as  this. 
[Reply  to  S.  H.— 78/27.] 


Liq.  Strontii  Bromid. — Solutions  of  the  lactate,  bromide,  and 
iodide  of  strontium  are  prepared  in  France  of  a  strength  of  100 
grammes  to  500  grammes  of  water,  but  we  are  unable  at  the 
moment  to  trace  any  official  formula  for  liqour  strontii  bromidi. 
[Reply  to  C.  E.  T. — 80/29.] 


Air-Bubbles  in  Slides. — If  you  follow  Cole’s  slow  or  exposure 
method  of  mounting  in  balsam,  as  described  in  the  latest  edition 
of  ‘  Modern  Microscopy,’  you  are  not  likely  to  be  troubled  with 
air-bubbles.  In  cases,  however,  where  bubbles  do  appear,  you  can 
easily  get  rid  of  them  by  leaving  the  slides  in  a  slow  oven  for  a 
short  time.  A  small  air  oven  gives  as  good  results  as  anything. 
Refer  to  note  on  page  1007  of  the  Journal  for  June  10,  1893. 
[Reply  to  E.  D.— 78/28.] 


School  of  Pharmacy. — There  is  no  school  connected  with  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  except  that  at  17,  Bloomsbury  Square, 
London,  and  the  school  prizes  are  only  available  to  those  who  study 
there.  The  Council  examination  prizes,  however,  may  be  competed 
for  by  anyone  who  was  an  Associate  of  the  Society  at  the  time  of 
passing  the  Major  examination.  Refer  to  the  Society’s  Calendar 
for  details.  [Reply  to  Pharmacognosy. — 78/26.] 

Poultry  Powder. — The  sample  you  send  is  not  at  all  like  the 
formula  we  gave  ;  in  fact,  your  stuff  contains  no  definite  chemical 
salts,  it  appears  to  be  chiefly  a  “meal”  powder.  The  principal 
ingredients  are  pea  meal  and  buckwheat  meal.  That  the  addition 
of  two  teaspoonfuls  to  a  pound  of  food  will  really  make  the  poultry 
lay  is  problematical.  Probably  it  may  exert  a  suggestive  influence 
on  the  minds  of  the  hens,  or  of  their  owners.  There  is  little  doubt 
that  a  condimental  powder  containing  carbonate  of  calcium,  i.  e. , 
oyster  shells,  and  sulphates  of  iron  and  sodium  has  a  beneficial 
action,  giving  good  coloured  yolks  and  thick  hard  shells.  This  we 
have  proved  by  practical  experience.  Pea  meal  itself  mixed  in 
liberal  proportion  with  hot  mash  of  middlings  is  an  excellent 
egg-promoting  food,  probably  from  its  richness  in  nitrogenous 
matter. — [Reply  to  G.  M. — 78/17.] 

British  Pharmaceutical  Conference. — The  late  G.  F.  Schacht 
suggested,  on  the  occasion  of  a  meeting  at  Bristol  in  August, 
1852  (see  Pli.  J.  [1],  xii.,  123),  that  the  annual  meetings  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  should  be  held  at  the  various  towns  of  im¬ 
portance  where  the  members  resided.  Subsequently,  the  idea  that 
pharmaceutical  meetings  should  be  held  annually  in  different  locali¬ 
ties  cropped  up  from  time  to  time,  and  ten  years  later  letters  on  the 
subject  were  published  by  R.  Reynolds,  H.  B.  Brady,  and  G.  F. 
Schacht  (see  Ph.  J.  [2]  iv.,  504,  562,  and  563),  whilst  in  1863  the 
circular  (see  Ph.  J.  [2],  v.,  58)  was  issued  calling  the  first  meeting 
at  Newcastle-on-Tyne,  where  the  Conference  was  duly  inaugu¬ 
rated  on  September  2  in  that  year  (see  Ph.  J.  [2],  v.,  145).  A 
brief  account  of  these  matters  is  given  in  Bell  and  Redwood’s 
‘  Progress  of  Pharmacy,’  pp.  219,  220,  and  316,  but  for  fuller  par¬ 
ticulars  you  must  refer  to  our  early  volumes  specified  above. 
[Reply  to  R.  W.  M.— 79/27.] 


Staining  and  Mounting  Micro-Objects. — For  information 
respecting  hardening  and  fixing  reagents,  stains,  clearing  agents, 
and  mounting  media,  you  cannot  do  better  than  refer  to  Squire’s 
*  Methods  ana  Formulae  ’  (Churchill,  3s.  6 d. ),  whilst  Cross  and 
Cole’s  ‘Modern  Microscopy’  (Bailliere,  3s.  6d.)  is  very  good  for 
directions  regarding  manipulation,  etc.  [Reply  to  H.  O. — 80/2.] 


COMMUNICATIONS,  LETTERS, etc., have  been  received  from 

Messrs.  Alikins,  Arnott,  Austen,  Barnes,  Bedford,  Betts,  Brown,  Buckley, 
Butler,  Cardell,  Chaplin,  Chaston,  Clark,  Coley,  Cracknell,  Davis,  Dawson, 
Dunlop,  Duyk,  Ennals,  Gibbs,  Gibson,  Hill,  Hills,  Hudson,  Hunt,  Ingham, 
Jacks,  Jackson,  Keif,  Kerr,  King,  Kirkby,  Kitchin,  Lasham,  Mackie,  McKnight, 
Mair,  Melliuish,  Moss,  Oldham,  Onion,  Ough,  Owen,  Palmer,  Passingham,  Pollard, 
Roberts,  Robins,  Roper,  Scott,  Seward,  Shepherd,  Stacey,  Stainer,  Turner, 
Typke,  Umney,  Walker,  Woodward. 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


141 


20.  1897] 


i  Co 


/THE  ALLEGED  CONVERSION  OF  CINCHONINE 
\  19  pr:  r  ;  p*TO  CINCHONIDINE. 


BY  DR.  B.  H /  PAUL  AND  A.  J.  COWNLEY. 


- epter  tainAcl  by  many  chemists  as  to  cinchonine  being 
stereoI'SQQaerigl^iHfcinchonidine,  and  quinine  with  quinidine,  have 
not  hitherto  resulted  experimentally  in  the  conversion  of  the  one 
alkaloid  into  the  other.  When  cinchonine  is  treated  with  acids  it 
is  said  to  be  converted  into  various  isomers,  but  not  into  cincho¬ 
nidine.  In  experimenting,  however,  as  to  the  action  of  alkalies  on 
the  cinchona  alkaloids,  Herren  W.  Koenigs  and  A.  Husmann  claim, 
in  a  paper  recently  read  before  the  German  Chemical  Society 
(Berichte,  xxix.,  2185),  to  have  converted  cinchonine  into  cinchoui- 
dine  by  the  long  continued  action  of  boiling  amyl-alcoholic  potash. 
It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  this  would  be  a  very  important 
chemical  fact  if  it  could  be  substantiated. 

The  method  adopted  by  the  authors  was  to  treat  4  grammes  of 
cinchonine  for  from  15  to  16  hours  with  2  grammes  of  potash  dis¬ 
solved  in  120  cubic  centimetres  of  amylic  alcohol.  After  the 
action,  the  bases  were  removed  from  the  amylic  alcohol  with 
hydrochloric  acid,  and  the  bases  obtained  by  precipitation  with 
soda  were  dissolved  in  the  least  possible  quantity  of  boiling 
alcohol.  After  cooling,  about  1  gramme  of  unaltered  cinchonine 
crystallised  out.  The  mother  liquor  was  neutralised  with  hydro¬ 
chloric  acid,  the  alcohol  expelled,  and  after  dilution  with 
water  to  150  C.c. ,  5  grammes  of  Rochelle  salt  were  added.  The  sepa¬ 
rated  tartrate  was  decomposed  with  soda,  and  the  alkaloid  crystal¬ 
lised  from  weak  alcohol.  In  this  way  0 ’2  gramme  of  base  was  obtained, 
which,  according  to  the  authors,  had  the  melting  point,  rotatory 
power,  and  composition  of  cinchonidine.  An  organic  analysis  gave 
numbers  corresponding  to  the  formula  for  cinchonidine,  C19H22N20. 
A  considerable  part  of  the  cinchonine  is  also  said  to  be  con¬ 
verted  into  bases  which  are  soluble  in  ether.  Knowing  from  expe¬ 
rience  when  dealing  with  the  cinchona  alkaloids  of  the  great  diffi¬ 
culty  in  separating  one  cinchona  alkaloid  from  another  in  order  to 
obtain  an  alkaloid  of  perfect  purity,  we  were  somewhat  sceptical  as 
to  the  result  being  a  conversion  of  one  alkaloid  into  the  other, 
more  especially  as  Koenig  and  Husmann  merely  claim  to  have  con¬ 
verted  5  per  cent,  of  the  cinchonine  into  cinchonidine.  Also  the 
methods  described  for  identification  of  the  alkaloid  are  not  very 
discriminating,  especially  in  attempting  to  identify  the  alkaloid 
from  the  results  of  the  percentage  of  carbon  and  hydrogen  obtained 
in  an  organic  analysis. 

For  the  purpose  of  examining  the  statement  of  Koenigs  and 
Husmann  we  have  carried  out  the  treatment  of  cinchonine  with 
potash  exactly  in  the  manner  described  by  them.  Four  grammes 
of  pure  cinchonine  were  dissolved  in  120  C.c.  of  amylic  alcohol 
containing  2  grammes  of  actual  KHO,  and  the  solution  boiled  for 
seventeen  hours.  The  alcoholic  solution  was  then  extracted  with 
hydrochloric  acid  and  the  acid  liquor  shaken  up  with  ether  and 
soda  in  order  to  obtain  the  bases  soluble  in  ether  described  by  the 
authors.  The  ether  would  probably  also  remove  a  little  cinchoni¬ 
dine  if  present.  The  bases  which  were  insoluble  in  ether  were'  treated 
with  boiling  alcohol,  cooled,  and  filtered.  In  this  way  we  obtained 
three  fractions: — (1)  soluble  in  ether;  (2)  soluble  in  alcohol ;  (3) 
insoluble  in  alcohol.  The  portion  soluble  in  ether  amounted  to 
0-105  gramme,  and  was  chiefly  amorphous,  with  a  few  crystals.  It 
was  converted  into  neutral  sulphate  and  diluted  with  water  to  10 
cubic  centimetres.  It  gave  no  precipitate  of  tartrate  of  cinchoni¬ 
dine  from  that  dilution,  and  the  crystals  from  ether  proved  to  be 
unaltered  cinchonine.  The  portion  soluble  in  alcohol  amounted  to 
0'47  gramme.  It  was  similarly  treated,  but  it  gave  no  precipitate 

Vol.  LVIII.  (Fourth  Series,  Vol.  IV.).  No.  1391. 


of  cinchonidine  tartrate  from  an  aqueous  solution  of  70  C.c.  The 
fraction  insoluble  in  alcohol  when  converted  into  a  salt  gave  no 
cinchonidine  tartrate  from  a  dilution  of  130  C.c. 

From  these  results  it  is  apparent  that  we  were  unsuccessful  in 
our  endeavour  to  corroborate  Koenigs  and  Husmann’s  statement 
as  to  the  possibility  of  converting  cinchonine  into  cinchonidine  by 
the  action  of  dilute  potash.  On  the  supposition  that  the  base 
obtained  by  them  was  really  cinchonidine,  it  must  be  presumed 
that  the  cinchonine  operated  upon  had  not  been  sufficiently  puri¬ 
fied.  It  is  well  known  to  quinologists  that  the  cinchona  alkaloids 
are  vei’y  prone  to  form  double  compounds  with  each  other,  either 
as  alkaloids  when  separating  from  various  solvents,  such  as  ether 
and  alcohol — the  latter  being  used  by  the  authors — or  as  salts 
from  aqueous  solutions.  Cupreine,  for  instance,  which  we  isolated 
from  Remijia  pedunculata  forms  a  compound  with  quinine,  viz., 
homoquinine,  which  reacts  whether  as  an  alkaloid  or  as  a  salt, 
differing  in  many  respects  from  either  cupreine  or  quinine  respec¬ 
tively,  and  is  only  separable  in  the  manner  we  have  previously 
described  (Pharm.  Joum.  [3],  xv.,  221  and  401).  For  the  pure 
cinchonine  used  in  our  experiments  we  are  indebted  to  Mr.  W.  G. 
Whiffen,  of  the  firm  of  Messrs.  Whiffen,  of  Lombard  Road,  Battersea. 


FERROUS  PHOSPHATE. 

BY  E.  J.  EVANS, 

Pharmaceutical  Chemist. 

Two  years  ago  I  was  induced,  after  reading  the  paper  on  the 
above  preparation  by  Mr.  G.  Coull,  B.Sc. ,  to  experiment  with  a 
view  to  improving  the  percentage  of  hydrated  ferrous  phosphate  in 
this  preparation. 

The  first  experiments  were  made  with  B.P.  proportions,  and 
yielded  very  disappointing  results,  but  I  found  by  adopting  some 
modifications  in  the  process  from  time  to  time  that  the  percentage 
gradually  increased  and  led  me  to  believe  that  ultimately  a  pure 
salt  might  be  made.  One  of  the  first  points  which  was  observed 
in  the  washing  of  the  precipitated  ferrous  phosphate  was  that  pro¬ 
longed  washing  invariably  made  the  percentage  less,  and  decanta¬ 
tion  was  much  preferable  to  washing  the  precipitate  on  the  calico 
filter. 

An  experiment  to  prove  how  many  decantations  were  necessary 
established  the  fact  that  after  standing  twenty-four  hours  the  first 
decantation  contains  over  80  per  cent,  of  the  sulphate  of  sodium 
formed,  and  that  a  second  decantation  yielded  a  phosphate  of  iron 
which  gave  no  precipitate  with  barium  chloride.  It  was  also  found 
that  further  decantations  deteriorated  the  resulting  salt. 

In  another  experiment,  to  determine  whether  the  preparation 
should  be  squeezed  strongly  in  calico  after  the  second  decantation 
and  then  dried  on  the  water-bath,  or  whether  it  should  be  poured 
in  a  thin  layer  on  the  water-bath  and  dried,  the  result  showed  1  per 
cent,  in  favour  of  the  former,  but  extended  trials  are  required  for 
confirmation.  The  powders  obtained  were  light  blue  in  the  first 
and  dark  blue  in  the  other. 

The  degree  of  temperature  to  which  the  water-bath  was  raised 
had  also  an  influence  on  the  salt,  and  that  the  temperature  of 
100°  F.  to  be  the  most  suitable.  Ferrous  sulphate  was  first  tried 
until  a  preparation  containing  80  per  cent,  of  hydrated  ferrous 
phosphate  was  obtained.  Ferrous  chloride  wae  then  tried,  the 
idea  being  that  sodium  chloride  could  be  more  easily  washed  out 
than  sodium  sulphate. 

The  difficulty,  however,  in  this  case  was  that  the  ferrous  chloride 
had  to  be  prepared,  and  that  it  was  not  so  easy  to  calculate  its 
strength  and  the  quantities  required. 


142 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  20.  1897. 


The  results  showed  preparations  from  80  per  cent,  to  90  per  cent, 
hydrated  ferrous  phosphate,  and  it  is  possible  that  had  I  made  the 
same  number  of  experiments  with  the  chloride  as  was  made  with 
the  sulphate,  better  results  would  have  been  obtained. 

Even  the  recently  precipitated  ferrous  phosphate  shows  ferric 
impurity. 

Ferrous  acetate  was  also  tried  instead  of  sulphate,  the  reason 
for  the  adoption  of  this  salt  was  that  alcohol  might  be  used  as  a 
oon-oxydisable  solvent  of  the  alkaline  acetate  formed. 

The  preparation  of  this  salt  in  the  pure  state  was  found  to  be  a 
difficult  matter,  and  after  two  or  three  experiments  was  dropped 
for  similar  reasons  to  that  of  the  chloride.  Therefore,  later 
(experiments  were  made  with  ferrous  sulphate  or  ferrous  ammo¬ 
nium  sulphate,  either  alone  or  with  sodium  acetate  or  sodium 
bicarbonate. 

One  disadvantage  the  bicarbonate  has  is  the  C02  given  off  when 
mixing  the  two  solutions,  i.e. ,  ferrous  sulphate  and  sodium  phos¬ 
phate,  together  with  the  sodium  bicarbonate,  and  the  same  applies 
when  ferrous  ammonium  sulphate  is  used. 

I  select  three  comparative  experiments  to  show  the  method 
•employed  and  the  results  obtained 

1.  FeS047H20 .  10  grammes. 

Na2HP0412H20 .  10  „ 

Each  salt  was  dissolved  in  150  C.c.  cold  water,  then  mixed  in  a 
flask,  stoppered  and  well  shaken,  left  two  days,  then  the  clear 
solution  decanted  in  an  atmosphere  of  CH4  gas  (coal  gas),  and  the 
flask  filled  up  with  water,  well  shaken,  allowed  to  settle,  decanted 
again,  then  transferred  to  a  calico  filter,  squeezed  strongly,  trans¬ 
ferred  to  a  water-bath,  heated,  not  exceeding  120°  F. 

•246  gramme  required  44  C.c.  KCr04,  1  '94  gramme  to  litre. 

=  90  '8  per  cent,  hydrated  ferrous  phosphate. 

•249  gramme  required  45 '5  C.c.  KCr04,  1‘94  gramme  to  litre. 

=  91  '7  per  cent.  Fe32P048H20. 

2.  Na2HP0412H20 .  10  grammes. 

NaHCOs  .  2 

(NH4)2Fe(S04)2eH20  . .  12  ’’ 

Same  process  as  1. 

98  per  cent.  Fe32P04SH20. 

Kept  in  stoppered  bottle  and  analysed  fourteen  days  after— 

90’8  per  cent.  Fe32P048H20. 

2.  (NH4)2Fe(S04)26H20  .  12  grammes. 

NaA  .  2 

jtfaoHP0412H20  .  10 

Same  process,  but  kept  two  days  longer  in  flask  before 
decanting — 

96  -8  per  cent.  Fe32P048H20. 

,A  week  later,  kept  meanwhile  in  open  capsule — • 

92-9  per  cent.  Fe32P048H20. 

These  results  would  seem  to  show  that  the  hydrated  ferrous 
phosphate  rapidly  deteriorates  in  strength,  but  this  is  not 
altogether  the  reason  for  the  differSnce  in  results. 

It  is  quite  possible  that  the  bulk  of  the  powder  was  not  dried 
throughout  to  the  same  extent,  and  that  a  small  amount  of 
moisture  had  remained  in  it.  A  sample  made  three  months  ago, 
and  kept  since  in  a  stoppered  bottle,  shows  very  little  change. 

I  find  that  the  washing  by  decantation  is  more  easily  done  if 
two  or  three  days  is  allowed  for  the  precipitate  to  settle ;  the 
water  clears  very  rapidly  for  the  second  decantation. 

The  quantity  of  ferrous  phosphate  obtained  is  about  one-half 
the  theoretical  quantity,  however,  this  may  be  accounted  for  from 
the  small  quantities  used. 


I  would  suggest  the  following  formula  as  suitable  for  the 
next  B.P. : — 

Iron  Ammonium  Sulphate  . . . . .  12  parts. 

Or  Iron  Sulphate .  8  ,, 

Phosphate  of  Sodium .  10  ,, 

Sodium  Acetate  .  2  ,, 

Distilled  Water . 600  ,, 

Dissolve  the  iron  salt  in  150  parts  of  the  distilled  water,  and  the 
phosphate  and  acetate  of  sodium  in  another  150  parts,  mix  the 
solutions  together  in  a  vessel  or  flask  fitted  with  air-tight  cork,  and 
of  such  capacity  that  these  solutions  when  mixed  should  fill  it. 
Well  shaken  for  some  time,  then  set  aside  in  a  dark  place  for  two 
to  four  days,  decant  the  clear  solution,  fill  the  vessel  with  remainder 
of  water,  and  after  standing  twelve  hours,  decant  the  supernatant 
liquid,  transfer  precipitate  to  a  calico  filter,  squeeze  strongly,  and 
put  the  precipitate  on  to  a  water-bath  heated  not  exceeding  100“ 
F. ,  stirring  meanwhile  with  a  glass  rod. 

The  resulting  powder  should  be  kept  in  a  stoppered  bottle  free 
from  light,  and  should  contain  at  least  90  per  cent,  of  hydrated 
ferrous  phosphate  (Fe32P04,8H205). 

Tests. — Soluble  in  acids,  insoluble  in  water.  BaCl2  should  not 
give  a  precipitate  with  it  when  dissolved  in  HC1.  Should  require 
of  K2Cr207  standard  solution  sufficient  to  correspond  with  90  per 
cent,  hydrated  ferrous  phosphate. 

The  solution,  treated  with  tartaric  acid  and  ammonium  mag¬ 
nesian  mixture,  should  give  a  crystalline  precipitate.  This 
dissolved  in  dilute  HC1  and  sodium  acetate  added  should  yield 
with  a  standardised  uranium  solution  equal  to  13  per  cent.  P206. 


A  SIMPLE  METHOD  OF  WATER  ANALYSIS. 

A  Simple  Method  of  Water  Analysis,  especially  designed  for  the  use  of 
•  Medical  Officers  of  Health.  By  John  C.  Thresh,  M.D.,  D.Sc.,  etc.  Pp.  47. 

Price  2s.  04.  London :  J.  and  A.  Churchill.  1897. 

This  little  work  is  specially  intended  for  medical  officers  of 
health,  who  in  “rural  districts  find  it  impossible  to  efficiently  dis¬ 
charge  their  duties  without  some  knowledge  of  water  analysis 
.....  as  cases  are  almost  daily  arising  in  which  a  medical 
officer  desires  to  know  something  of  the  character  of  a  water,  and 
he  is  well  aware  that  it  is  useless  recommending  his  authority  to 
send  a  sample  to  an  analyst,  so  that  unless  he  himself  can  under¬ 
take  the  work  it  must  remain  undone.”  The  methods  described 
are  such  as  can  be  carried  out  by  non-experts  with  the  simplest 
possible  apparatus,  so  that  the  analysis  may  be  conducted  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  well  or  other  source  of  supply,  and  even  on 
so  small  a  quantity  as  a  pint  of  the  water.  The  chemical 
reagents  used  are  kept  in  a  compressed  form  as  soloids, 
which  have  been  prepared  for  the  author  by  Messrs.  Bur¬ 
roughs,  Wellcome,  and  Company,  and  have  been  found  to  be 
exceedingly  uniform  in  composition  and  in  every  way  satisfactory. 
For  the  determination,  for  example,  of  chlorine  a  soloid  of  potas¬ 
sium  chromate  is  added  to  70  C.c.  of  the  water  under  examination, 
then  soloids  of  silver  nitrate  until  the  red  coloration  is  obtained. 
As  each  soloid  of  silver  nitrate  corresponds  in  its  indication  to  two 
grains  of  chlorine  per  gallon,  the  amount  of  chlorine  in  the  water 
is  very 'readily  ascertained.  In  the  same  way  the  other  factors  of 
use  in  judging  of  the  potability  of  a  sample  of  water  from  its 
chemical  side  are  determined  by  the  addition  of  the  respective 
soloid  reagents.  In  this  manner  are  estimated  free  ammonia,  chlorine, 
nitrates,  nitrites,  hardness,  lead,  zinc,  iron,  copper,  and  oxygen 
absorbed. 

With  the  exception  of  the  test  for  free  ammonia  which  is  apt  to 
be  very  fallacious  when  the  Kessler  re-agent  is  added  to  the  water 
direct  the  use  of  soloids  in  water  analysis  is  very  ingenious.  Com¬ 
parisons  made  by  this  simple  method  with  the  ordinary  methods 


Feb.  20,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


143 


of  water  analysis  show  the  results  obtained  to  be  fairly  concordant. 
Twenty-two  examples  are  given  as  a  guide,  and  an  opinion  is 
expressed  from  the  data  as  to  the  suitability  of  each  water  for 
domestic  purposes  which  will  be  of  service  to  those  unfamiliar  with 
the  deductions  to  be  drawn  from  the  analytical  results. 

Ur.  Thresh,  however,  has  not  much  faith  either  in  chemical  or 
bacteriological  examination  of  water,  for  “  bacteriology,  like  chemis  - 
try,  may  tell  us  something  of  impurity  and  hazard,  but  neither  can 
be  depended  upon  to  determine  with  certainty  whether  a  water  is 
actually  injurious  to  health.”  “It  is  far  more  important  to 
examine  the  source  of  a  water  than  to  analyse  it.”  In  other  words, 
then,  in  deciding  the  question  as  to  the  potability  of  a  water,  the 
sanitary  inspector  is  of  far  more  importance  than  the  analyst, 
whether  chemical  or  bacteriological.  Although  we  are  in  accord 
with  Dr.  Thresh  as  to  the  futility  of  the  bacteriological  examina¬ 
tion  of  a  water  as  is  usually  carried  out  by  merely  counting  the 
number  of  colonies  per  cubic  centimetre  of  the  water  without 
regard  to  their  pathogenic  import,  we  yet  think  that  a  chemical 
examination  judiciously  conducted  is  of  great  importance,  and  for 
this  reason  we  believe  this  work  will  be  of  great  use  to  medical 
officers  of  health  who,  on  account  of  the  supineness  of  their  local 
authority,  are  unable  to  consult  more  efficient  experts. 


CHAPTERS  IN  PHYSICAL  SCIENCE. 

Short  Studies  in  Physical  Science  :  Mineralogy,  Chemistry,  and  Physics.  By 
Vaughan  Cornish,  M.Sc.  Pp.  230,  illustrated.  Price  5s.  London  :  Sampson 
Low,  Marston  and  Company,  Limited,  Fetter  Lane,  Fleet  Street,  E.C.  1897. 

With  the  advance  of  science  and  increasing  specialisation  of 
exact  knowledge  of  phenomena,  a  wider  field  presents  itself  for 
writers  who  are  capable  of  thoroughly  digesting  the  numerous 
explanations  of  apparently  complicated  arrays  of  facts, 
and  presenting  the  resulting  condensations  to  a  public 
with  limited  leisure  to  consider  'matters  regarded,  rightly 
or  wrongly,  as  being  far  outside  the  ordinary  range  of 
everyday  life.  Mr.  Vaughan  Cornish  has  had  much  experience  in 
this  direction  and  his  varied  contributions  to  the  scientific  press, 
now  reprinted  in  book  form,  have  appealed  to  a  wide  circle  of 
interested  readers.  That  they  are  all  well  deserving  of  publication 
in  this  more  permanent  form  is  beyond  doubt,  and  much  good  is 
likely  to  accrue  from  readers  of  these  attractively  written  essays 
being  tempted  to  investigate  the  matters  treated  of  for  them¬ 
selves.  The  chapters,  each  of  which  is  complete  in  itself,  are  six¬ 
teen  in  all,  and  he  who  has  read  and  mastered  the  whole  will 
possess  a  fairly  comprehensive  grasp  of  the  wide  scope  of 
the  physical  science  of  to-day.  In  the  section  on  “Mineralogy” 
are  chapters  on  crystals,  mineral  synthesis,  diamond  mining  and 
diamond  making,  the  subject  of  crystallography  being  brought  well 
up  to  date  by  a  summary  of  Moissan’s  important  work.  Under 
the  heading  of  “Chemistry”  we  are  treated  to  disquisitions  on 
elements  and  atoms,  chemical  classification,  chemical  symbolism 
and  organic  chemistry,  chemical  activity,  chemical  manufacture, 
and  food.  The  author  is  thus  enabled  practically  to  cover  the 
whole  ground  from  the  time  of  Lavoisier  down*  to  the  present 
day.  The  final  section,  on  “Physics,”  treats  of  artificial  cold, 
phosphorescent  bodies,  the  magnet,  aether,  and  the  Rdntgen  rays, 
concluding  with  chapters  on  great  astronomers  and  natural 
philosophy.  It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  the  book  deals  very 
comprehensively  with  all  the  problems  and  discoveries  of  import¬ 
ance  in  physical  science  that  occupy  a  prominent  share  of  atten¬ 
tion  at  the  present  time,  and  it  may  be  stated  that  whilst  the 
subject  matter  of  the  essays  has  been  well  selected,  their  style  is 
excellent,  and  they  will  well  repay  perusal  by  both  past  and  present 
students  of  physical  science. 


THE  PROFESSION  OF  PHARMACY 

From  an  Assistant’s  Point  of  View.* 

BY  W.  MAKEPEACE  LOCKE. 

On  the  evening  of  Wednesday,  February  20,  1895,  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  reading  a  concise  account  of  the  “  Profession  of 
Pharmacy  ”  from  an  apprentice’s  standpoint.  That  effort  embodied 
the  life  history  of  a  very  dear  friend  of  mine,  who  about  a  year 
previous  had  gone  “to  swell  the  ranks  above.”  Extracts  had  been 
taken  from  his  well-kept  diary,  and  were  elaborated  by  me  with 
the  purpose  of  exposing  certain  anomalies  which  existed  in  those 
days  in  the  “  profession.” 

Looking  back  to  the  time  when  the  paper  was  written  and  re¬ 
reading  the  article  itself,  I  am  forced  to  admit  that  it  had  many 
flaws — flaws  which  even  now  make  me  blush.  Notwithstanding 
this  fact  I  am  here  again  to-night,  after  a  lapse  of  nearly  two  years, 
to  see  old  and  well-known  faces  and  to  present  to  you  the  same 
subject  under  a  new  aspect.  Although  not  now  a  member  of  the 
profession  of  pharmacy,  it  yet  occupies  a  very  warm  corner  of  my 
heart,  and  I  can  look  back  with  extreme  pleasure  at  the  many 
pleasant  evenings  I  have  spent  within  these  walls. 

The  subject  we  have  to  discuss — this  profession  of  pharmacy — 
is  very  wide,  presenting,  as  it  does,  so  many  points  of  view,  and  I 
would  at  this  stage  humbly  ask  permission  to  reproduce  for  you 
the  other  aspects  of  the  case  for  delivery  on  future  occasions. 
This,  I  trust,  you  will  grant. 

Those  of  you  who  were  present  two  years  ago,  the  first  time  the 
Association  had  met  in  this  hall,  may  perhaps  remember  some  of 
the  selections  from  the  diary.  Bottle  washing,  syphon  carrying, 
window  cleaning  ;  harsh  words,  stormy  scenes,  vengeful  vows  ; 
this  is  the  life  of  the  apprentice  chemist.  For  him  the  profession 
has  no  bright  side,  he  longs  for  release  from  his  troubles. 

This  is  then,  in  a  few  words,  the  gist  of  my  last  paper,  and  well 
do  I  remember  the  opinion  of  the  meeting  on  that  occasion,  that 
“while  the  conditions  of  apprenticeship  were  too  frequently 
highly  unsatisfactory  and  as  a  rule  capable  of  much  improvement, 
especially  in  regard  to  time  for  study,  many  of  these  so- 
called  menial  occupations  formed  an  essential,  though  perhaps 
unpleasant,  part  of  a  complete  training  in  practical  pharmacy.” 
One  of  the  members  who  took  part  in  the  after  discussion  stated 
as  his  opinion  that  I  personally  would  modify  my  ideas  on  the 
subject.  Although  at  that  time  I  denied  even  the  remote  possi¬ 
bility  of  doing  so,  I  am  bound  to  confess  that  now  my  views  are 
altered.  In  justice  to  his  prediction,  let  me  say  that  my  belief 
at  present  is  that  these  various  menial  duties  do  constitute  a  very 
necessary  part  of  the  training  of  the  embryo  pharmacist ;  but  let 
me  also  point  out  the  fact  that  my  outlook  is  distinctly  different, 
calling  forth,  consequently,  a  change  of  opinion.  As  apprentices 
we  groaned  under  the  heavy  yolk,  making  as  much  outcry  as  we 
dared ;  as  assistants  we  conveniently  forget  those  times  ;  and  as 
masters  they  are  but  specks  on  the  horizon  of  the  past. 

Yes  !  as  assistants  we  have  come  through  the  trying  fire  of  ap¬ 
prenticeship,  and,  eager  to  leave  it  behind,  thrill  with  pleasure  in 
our  new  capacity. 

From  this  new  capacity,  therefore,  we  shall  analyse  the  “pro¬ 
fession  of  pharmacy,”  and  conduct  our  investigations  in  every 
direction,  tabulate  our  results  with  a  strict  regard  for  truth,  and 
yet  treat  the  matter  in  the  highest  possible  spirit.  Keeping  these 
remarks  then  well  in  view,  no  offence  can  possibly  be  taken  where 
none  is  intended  ;  and  If  at  times  the  shoe  do«s  pinch  it  is  simply 
the  result  of  an  awakened  conscience ;  for  I  would  ask  you  to 
remember  that  the  material  for  this  essay  has  be  been  gathered 
principally  from  various  districts  of  England  and  Ireland,  and  that 
only  a  few  scraps  are  Scotch. 

First,  then,  it  is  obvious  to  all  that,  from  the  points  of 
view  of  the  assistant  and  apprentice,  a  profession  pharmacy  cer¬ 
tainly  is  not;  and  no  candid  apprentice,  no  candid  assistant  even, 
has  been  found  to  assert  that  it  is.  The  “professional  ”  view  is 
only  in  vogue  with  a  certain  class  of  the  employers,  who,  after  all, 
are  no  better  than  their  neighbours.  Even  from  their  look  out,  1 
fail  to  see  any  difference  between  the  chemist’s  business  and  any 
other,  except  that  it  embraces  a  host  of  trades  under  a  single 
designation.  Barber’s  utensils,  confectioner’s  goods,  grocer  s 
specialties,  and  tobacconist’s  luxuries  all  are  found,  as  a  rule,  in 
chemists’  shops.  This  state  of  things  is  distinctly  unprofessional 
and  simply  points  to  a  huge  monopoly,  a  grand  contrivance  for  the 
coining  of  money  and  the  principle  of  aggrandisement  carried  to 
excess.  _ 

*  Taper  read  before  the  Edinburgh  Chemists’  Association. 


144 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL, 


[Feb.  20,  1897 


There  is,  however,  little  laughable  in  the  “  profession,”  beyond 
the  sarcasm  of  the  term.  At  the  same  time,  as  a  means  of  liveli¬ 
hood  it  is  distinctly  good,  and  to  a  man  with  brains  and  capital 
still  leads  on  to  fortune.  But  one  must  be  up  to  date  and  keep  an 
eye  on  one’s  neighbours  in  the  “profession,”  for  in  pharmacy,  as  in 
everything  else,  the  weakest  go  to  the  wall.  I  would  boldly  say, 
“Away  with  all  false  sentiment.”  Call  a  spade  a  spade,  and. 
pharmacy  a  vocation,  a  business,  a  calling,  a  trade,  anything,  in 
fact,  but  a  “profession.”  All  labour  is  honourable.  A  rose  by 
any  other  name  would  smell  as  sweet,  and  if  one  man  likes  to  call 
his  shop  a  “  pharmacy  ”  and  himself  a  pharmacist,  when  the  man 
with  the  same  qualifications  and  more  brain,  perhaps,  calls  his 
place  a  ‘  ‘  drug  store  ”  and  himself  a  druggist,  I  would  not  spend 
ten  seconds  in  arguing  which  man  was  wrong  and  which  was 
right,  for,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  neither  is  wrong  if  neither  is  right. 
Discussion  is  silly,  puerile,  unworthy  of  being  given  time  for 
ventilation,  for  ventilation  would  not  advance  the  matter  one  whit. 

This  leads  us  to  the  consideration  of  the  second  part  of  the  sub¬ 
ject,  “  Pharmacy,  from  an  assistant’s  point  of  view.” 

Here,  again,  we  are  beset  with  difficulties,  different  methods, 
different  opinions,  and  different  assistants;  each  one  with  his 
little  peculiarity.  But  at  one  fell  swoop  we  can  divide  the  assist¬ 
ants  into  two  great  classes  :  those  who  are  qualified,  and  those 
who  are  unqualified ;  and  of  these,  I  shall  ask  you  to  study  with 
me  first,  the  “great  unqualified,”  taking  as  a  type  a  newly- 
fledged  ex-apprentice. 

On  most  points,  his  ideas  of  pharmacy  are  simply  those  of  his 
late  employer,  making  due  allowance,  of  course,  for  his  special 
modifications.  He  has  hardly  yet  had  time  to  recover  from  the 
stings  and  insults  which  had  been  heaped  on  him  during  these 
long  years  ;  and  now,  with  much  bitterness  of  spirit,  he  seeks  an 
appointment  where  he  shall  be  tolerably  recompensed,  and  at  the 
same  time  get  a  few  hours  to  devote  to  private  study,  to  prepare, 
in  a  word,  for  the  Minor  Examination  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society.  Let  us  follow  him  on  his  quest ;  and  as  we  walk  along, 
we  have  ample  opportunity  to  study  him  physically,  mentally, 
and  morally. 

Rather  under  twenty  years  of  age,  face  pale  but  interesting, 
eyes  small  and  deep-set,  head  bowed  down,  shoulders  bent,  knees 
not  over-strong,  these  are  the  features  we  grasp  almost  at  a  glance. 
Add  to  this  a  generally  shabby  attire,  an  attire  which  has  evidently 
seen  better  days,  and  we  complete  the  physical  picture  of  one  who 
is  but  the  ghost  of  his  former  self.  Long  hours,  hard  and  incessant 
labour,  and  insufficient  exercise,  at  the  time  when  the  human 
machine  needs  a  little  oil,  have  wrought,  with  deadly  effect,  havoc 
on  all  the  systems  of  his  body.  What  he  requires  is  a  holiday,  re¬ 
curring  at  regular  intervals,  the  shorter  the  better.  Among 
chemists’  employes,  I  fancy,  this  is  a  consummation  devoutly  to  be 
wished. 

Mentally  healthy,  his  brain  is  stored  with  knowledge  of  divers 
kinds,  and  if  these  be  used  aright,  he  will  in  time  be  in  a  position 
to  render  himself  a  valuable  ally  of  the  physician.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  he  puts  his  knowledge  to  an  improper  or  illegal  use,  he  is 
equally  fit  to  associate  with  criminals  and  to  enjoy  a  pension  from 
the  State  for  the  rest  of  his  natural  life.  Thus  what  he  requires 
is  a  real  friend,  a  guiding  hand,  to  repress  his  evil  habits  and 
passions,  and  to  encourage  his  good  qualities,  so  that  he  may  ulti¬ 
mately  blossom  out  as  an  honourable  member  of  Society. 

His  essentially  moral  condition  we  shall  defer  to  a  more  con¬ 
venient  season,  for  he  has  now  stopped  suddenly  to  pull  his  jacket 
straight  and  make  sundry  small  improvements  in  his  personal 
appearance ;  then,  evidently  satisfied,  he  boldly  enters  a  spacious 
establishment  bearing  the  sign  of  the  “mortar  and  pestle.”  Here 
we  may  imagine  him  undergoing  a  severe  cross-examination  at  the 
hands  of  the  proprietor  with  regard  to  age,  habits,  sobriety,  and 
remuneration ;  finally  he  is  installed  as  junior  unqualified 
assistant  at  the  princely  salary  of  eighteen  shillings  per  week,  no 
prospect  of  a  “  rise,”  work  to  begin  at  once.  With  regard  to 
time  for  study,  Mr.  Pharmacist  would  arrange  about  that  after 
the  present  pressure  of  business  was  relieved.  What  cared  he 
though  the  course  of  classes  was  just  beginning?  He  was  satisfied, 
let  the  junior  wait.  Truly  this  is  a  selfish  world  ! 

For  some  little  time,  then,  all  goes  well.  But  friendly  political 
discussions  arise  between  the  qualified  and  unqualified  hands ; 
friendly  political  discussions  give  place  to  angry  political  dis¬ 
cussions,  angry  political  discussions  to  angry  personal  discussions, 
and  from  angry  personal  discussions  it  is  but  a  step  to  blows. 
Discontent  has  eaten  its  way  in,  rebellion  has  invaded  the  pharma¬ 
ceutical  sanctity  of  the  place  and  now  reigns  supreme.  But  what 


does  Mr.  Pharmacist  say  ?  Oh,  well  he  takes  a  middle  course, 
pleads  with  each  in  turn,  and  patches  up  the  matter  ;  for  in  truth 
lie  is  in  possession  of  a  cheap  working  piece  of  humanity  and  does 
not  wish  to  part  with  him.  Begone  !  all  ye  who  practise  this 
vice  ;  for  what  a  baneful  effect  it  has  on  young  untutored  minds. 

Our  junior,  owing  to  necessity,  for  want  stared  him  in  the  face, 
had  contracted  for  wages  which  he  deemed  inadequate  to  his 
needs.  He  feels  himself  thoroughly  oppressed  with  labour,  and 
thinks  he  is  entitled  to  rectify  the  balance  of  things  by  what  may 
be  fitly  termed  “  Private  compensation,”  for  which  his  position 
affords  him  admirable  facilities  ;  for  is  not  the  labourer  worthy  of 
his  hire  ? 

This  little  game,  which  comes  under  the  category  of  the 
“consistent  central  principle”  (to  be  explained  hereafter),  does 
not  continue  for  an  indefinite  period  ;  for  being  caught  in  the  act, 
a  few  stern  words  are  uttered  by  his  employer,  and  as  a 
consequence,  our  friend,  weeping  bitterly,  departs  for  a  healthier 
clime,  to  roam  in  pastures  new. 

We  cannot  do  otherwise  than  regret  that  the  career  of  such  a 
promising  young  man  was  so  suddenly  cut  short ;  ah,  where  was 
the  guiding  hand  ?  What  brought  him  to  such  a  pass  ?  Shall  I 
tell  you  ? 

It  was  the  example  set  by  his  superiors,  and  such  an  example 
will  occur  further  on.  This,  gentlemen,  is  no  fiction,  and  is  rather 
abridged  than  overdrawn. 

If  you  can  imagine  to  yourselves  a  young  man,  a  newly-fledged 
ex-apprentice  as  before,  steadfastly  resisting  all  temptation, 
pursuing  his  studies  with  might  and  main,  and  at  the  same  time 
performing  his  daily  work  as  a  chemist’s  junior  unqualified  assis¬ 
tant,  you  have  a  likeness  in  your  minds  of  the  next  character  I 
wish  to  introduce. 

Let  us  suppose  that  as  a  result  of  his  diligent  study,  he  has 
passed  his  examination  with  flying  colours,  and  that,  by  recom¬ 
mendation,  he  has  obtained  an  honourable  and  fairly  lucrative 
post.  He,  too,  during  his  apprenticeship  has  had  his  full  share  of 
dirty  work  ;  he,  too,  during  the  time  of  his  junior  assistantship 
(that  most  unenviable  post)  has  had  his  trials  and  cares.  These 
facts,  however,  are  kept  in  the  background,  carefully  screened 
from  mortal  eyes  ;  he  looks  upon  them  as  a  horrible  nightmare  of 
the  past.  What  cares  he  now  for  these  odious  reminiscences,  as 
long  as  he  receives  his  salary  at  the  appointed  time  ?  As  he  thus 
fondly  thinks  of  the  hard  cash,  visions  of  a  magnificent  business 
establishment,  ideas  of  marriage,  retirement,  and  a  life  of  slothful 
ease  spent  in  the  bosom  of  his  family  crowd  upon  his  mind  until, 
fairly  intoxicated  with  delight,  he  rudely  falls  from  his  lofty 
perch  and  awakens  to  the  stern  necessities  of  everyday  life.  Oh  ! 
foolish  man,  cease  thy  day-dreaming,  have  done  building  castles  ; 
rain  is  impending. 

What  is  it,  I  ask,  but  this  afore-mentioned  “consistent  central 
principle,”  in  which  self  is  ever  to  the  front,  that  causes  his 
master,  when  insolvent,  to  set  aside  his  assets  for  his  own  use  and 
enjoyment  ? 

According  to  his  own  reasoning  his  master  is  not  guilty  of  what 
is  foolishly  called  fraud,  for  how  could  he  save  himself  (and  it  is 
his  sacred  duty  to  save  himself)  from  unaccustomed  poverty  and 
pain  except  by  the  abstraction  of  so  much  of  his  own  property  as 
he  may  consider  needful  to  his  future  maintenance  and  establish¬ 
ment  in  a  position  of  enhanced  prosperity  and  comfort  ? 

To  his  poor  dependents,  all  this  is,  as  you  may  imagine,  exceed¬ 
ingly  comforting.  Thrown  out  of  employment,  thrown  out  of 
house  and  home,  without  bread  to  eat,  without  money  to  buy  it, 
his  ambition  unsatisfied,  his  lofty  dreams  dispelled,  surely  pharmacy 
is  not  for  him. 

Again  must  I  tell  you,  gentlemen,  that  this  is  no  mere  fabrica¬ 
tion  ;  every  word  is  truth.  It  would  be  easy  for  me  to  lay  hands 
on  the  parties,  but,  for  obvious  reasons,  we  shall  “  let  sleeping 
dogs  lie.” 

Now,  with  such  an  example  from  a  master,  how  can  we  wonder 
that  the  embryo  pharmacist  is  not  all  he  should  be ;  but  if  em¬ 
ployers  recognised  the  responsibility  of  training  up  young  minds, 
many  dissolute  lives  would  thereby  be  spared.  Not  but  that  some 
are  incorrigible  ;  only,  I  think,  a  little  gentleness  is  required,  and 
a  little  trouble  to  find  the  proper  method.  I  venture  to  say  that 
any  inconvenience  would  be  amply  repaid. 

And  now,  as  a  change,  allow  me  to  trace  the  career  of  the  suc¬ 
cessful  assistant.  Why  does  the  new  youth,  just  out  of  his  teens, 
from  the  isolated  village,  add  to  the  problem  of  centralisation  in 
cities  by  taking  an  express  single  ticket  to  town  ?  Why,  but  for 
experience  ?  His  one  aim,  now-  that  his  term  of  apprenticeship  is 


Feb.  20,  1897J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


145 


* 


I 


over,  is  to  enter  an  establishmement  where  the  arts  of  window 
cleaning  and  bottle  washing  will  be  exchanged  for  a  knowledge 
of  the  correct  forms  of  address  at  the  counter,  the  most  approved 
methods  of  dispensing,  and  the  intricacies  of  modern  book-keep¬ 
ing.  Contemporaneously  with  the  acquisition  of  all  this  and 
more,  a  kind  of  evolution  may  be  noted  in  the  subject  of  our  re¬ 
marks.  What  may  be  termed  physical  metamorphosis  gradually 
takes  place,  and  the  erstwhile  rugged  son  of  Albion  gives  place  to 
the  sleek,  suave,  and  urbane  man  of  the  world.  I  do  not  say  this 
is  taught  him  as  part  of  his  profession,  but  granted  our  subject  has 
average  intelligence,  a  slight  ambition,  and  a  seeing  eye,  this  change 
is  not  long  in  taking  place.  He  pays  more  attention  to  his  head  ; 
he  is  better  groomed  than  hitherto.  He  exchanges  the  turn-down 
“  Shakespeare”  for  the  high  “Monte  Carlo”  or  other  fashionable 
collar,  and  his  neckwear  generally  becomes  irreproachable.  His 
boots  are  lighter  than  formerly,  and  square  toes  are  superseded  by 
those  more  or  less  pointed.  A  smart  morning  coat  is  found  in 
place  of  the  former  jacket,  and  unmentionables  of  a  light  fancy 
tweed  are  worn  in  place  of  the  heavy  Scotch  of  former  days.  The 
most  up-to-date  hard  felt  hat  (on  Sunday  the  stove-pipe)  is  worn 
instead  of  the  Glengarry  or  Balmoral  cap  with  which  he  came  to 
town.  A  pair  of  gloves  and  a  cheap  showy  stick  complete  his 
equipment.  A  taste  for  the  “  weed”  is  developed,  and  it  may  be 
taken  for  granted  that  his  liquid  sustenance  is  not  confined  to  tea, 
coffee,  cocoa,  and  soda  water.  Naturally  the  gaieties  of  the  city 
appeal  forcibly  to  him  after  the  dulness  of  his  native  place,  so  that 
in  the  foregoing  rapid  generalisation  of  his  concomitants  we  have 
the  assistant  as  he  appears  a  year  or  so  after  coming  to  adorn  the 
profession  of  pharmacy  in  the  city.  I  might  almost  say  that 
this  evolution  is  a  necessary  part  of  his  pharmaceutical  ex¬ 
perience,  so  regularly  is  it  exhibited  by  the  individual. 
From  the  stand-point  of  the  young  man  of  this  type,  the 
profession,  of  which  I  see  many  honoured  representatives 
.gathered  round  me  to-night,  offers  numerous  advantages.  The 
successful  assistant  is  alive  to  the  fact  that,  to  be  prosperous  in 
business  necessitates  a  comprehensive  and  not  merely  a  superficial 
knowledge  of  human  nature,  counter  routine,  and  tricky  ways. 
Well  does  he  know  that  the  man  who  pleases  his  employer  most  is 
the  unblushing  liar,  the  brazen-faced  automaton,  and  the  con¬ 
scienceless  commission-collecting  counterman.  His  conception  of 
business  is  easily  found,  for  it  simply  is  another  branch  of  the 
same  old  “consistent  central  principle.”  It  is  to  buy  every 
article  for  as  much  as  possible  less  than  its  value  and  to  sell  it  for 
as  much  as  possible  more.  Now,  of  course,  uniformly  to  effect 
this  double  object  he  must  clearly  have  always  two  opposite  sets 
of  statements  and  arguments  ready  for  production  and  assertion. 
To  do  this  convincingly  and  well  requires  extreme  versatility, 
readiness  of  resource,  presence  of  mind,  and  a  certain  appearance 
of  genuine,  hearty,  earnest  uprightness.  This  combination  of 
powers  constitutes  true  business  ability,  and  to  the  enviable  assis¬ 
tant  is  worth  a  fortune.  All  the  actions,  then,  of  the  successful 
assistant  are  pervaded  by  the  same  spirit  and  worked  on  the  same 
useful  principle. 

This  is,  after  all,  very  nearly  the  truth.  In  many  places  it  is 
understood  that  business  consists  in  foisting  upon  you  something 
you  don’t  want,  something  you  don’t  need,  something  you  did  not 
ask  for.  In  others  it  consists  of  taking  two,  three,  or  four 
“  grades  ”  of  goods  from  the  same  box,  at,  of  course,  graded  prices. 
It  consists  of  offering  as  B.P.  preparations  colourable  imitations 
thereof  in  many  instances,  and  in  never,  never,  never  letting  a 
customer  go  without  getting  him  (or  her,  as  the  case  may  be)  to 
buy  something,  the  bigger  the  better.  This  last  is  of  supreme 
importance.  Certain  proprietary  articles  are  pushed,  in  season 
and  out  of  season,  for  this  little  trouble  and  that  great  ailment, 
are  palmed  off  on  unsuspecting  “Juggins”  with  the  idea  of  making 
hay  while  the  sun  shines,  and  keeping  always  in  view  the  same 
‘  ‘  consistent  central  principle.  ” 

That  colourable  imitations  are  sold  is  well  known  to  you  all,  and 
to  illustrate  the  best  colouring  agent,  which,  I  believe,  seldom 
fails,  I  cannot  do  better  than  read  to  you  a  short  poem  which 
appeared  in  the  Chemist  and  Druggist  of  September  12,  1896. 

It  is  headed  “Not  Official.” 

“  I  built  a  bridge  of  fancies” — of  the  “asinoram  ”  class — 

And  watched  the  long  procession  adown  my  structure  pass 
I  noted  the  dyspeptic,  the  suffering,  and  the  hale, 

The  nervous  hypochondriac,  the  rosy  and  the  pale  ; 

And  I  thought  “  What  is  the  secret  that  has  the  most  avail, 

The  most  important  factor  that  shall  scarcely  ever  fail 
To  help  the  anxious  pharmacist  along  his  devious  way, 

To  keep  the  B.P.  strengths  all  right,  his  honest  doubts  allay, 


Enrich  the  pale  infusion  and  the  tincture  that  looks  thin, 

To  fortify  the  essence  that  has  no  kola  in, 

Enhance  the  rare  elixir  and  give  the  liquor  strength?” 

I  dwelt  on  all  these  mysteries,  and  thought  until  at  length 
■  I  went  across  that  bridge  myself,  in  quest  of  one  I  knew, 

A  man  of  great  experience,  and  years  not  a  few, 

An  expert  in  the  mystic  art  of  mortar,  retort,  still, 

Alembic,  blowpipe,  crucible — (his  Christian  name  was  Bill) — 

To  put  the  burning  questions  to  this  ancient  man  of  skill. 

And  when  at  last  I  found  him,  by  a  large  steam  jacket  pan — 

Like  some  old  Rosicrucian  looked  this  venerable  man — 

I  poured  out  all  my  queries  on  his  poor  devoted  head. 

His  eye  began  to  twinkle,  but  never  word  he  said, 

Till  as  I  grew  more  eloquent,  and  begged  him,  for  the  sake 

Of  “  Auld  Lang  Syne  ”  and  all  the  rest,  he  would  the  trouble  take 

From  the  storehouse  of  his  knowledge  such  secrets  to  entrust, 

He  winked  the  other  eye  and  said,  “  My  friend,  try  sacchar.  ust.” 

All  this,  then,  comes  under  the  category  of  “business.”  Time 
does  not  permit  me  to  present  to  you  any  further  idea  on  the  sub¬ 
ject  from  an  assistant’s  point  of  view.  Many  other  aspects,  I 
fancy,  will  suggest  themselves  to  you  as  they  do  to  me,  but  I  have 
already  touched  on  a  few  typical  cases,  all  of  which  are  full  of 
suggestiveness,  even  to  the  ordinary  mind. 

Apprentices  will  here  find  ample  food  for  reflections  ;  assistants, 
perchance,  may  not  despise  the  lessons  to  be  learned ;  and  I  would 
ask  employers,  with,  however,  due  deference  to  their  mature 
years,  to  lend  an  ear  and  profit  by  the  examples  herein  set  forth. 

Lastly,  therefore,  let  us,  as  before  arranged,  tabulate  our  results 
with  truthfulness  and  lightness  of  spirit  withal ;  let  us  set  forth 
side  by  side  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  experienced  by 
assistants  ;  let  us  follow  that  up  by  drawing  our  conclusions,  and 
over  our  conclusions  let  us  draw  the  veil. 

First,  then,  from  the  assistant’s  point  of  view,  pharmacy  is 
clearly  not  a  “  profession,”  secondly,  to  the  unqualified  assistant, 
our  first  example,  pharmacy  has  been  a  stone  of  collision  on  two 
heads,  physically  and  morally  ;  it  rests  with  himself  to  make  it  so 
mentally ;  thirdly,  to  the  qualified  assistant  pharmacy  may  be  a 
shipwreck  on  the  sea  of  life,  or  it  may  be,  on  the  other  hand,  but 
the  stepping-stone  to  fortune  and  happiness,  at  the  expense,  how¬ 
ever,  of  conscience  ;  these  are  the  chief  results  at  which  we  arrive, 
and  the  time  has  come  for  drawing  conclusions. 

With  your  permission,  however,  I  shall  frame  these  myself,  as  it 
is  just  possible  you  may  disagree  with  me  on  certain  points-. 

The  lot  of  the  average  chemist’s  assistant,  like  the  policeman’s, 
is  not  a  happy  one,  a  manager’s  place  is  to  be  preferred  ;  however, 
assistants  will  always  be  in  demand,  and  assistants  will  always  be 
in  evidence,  until  that  joyful  day  arrives  when  every  man  will  be 
deemed  equal  with  his  neighbour,  when  there  will  be  no  more  class 
distinctions,  no  caste  questions,  no  superiors  or  inferiors.  It  is 
perfectly  plain  that  this  state  of  serfdom  or  assistantship  is 
necessary  in  this  age,  where  capital  is  pitted  against 
labour,  but  it  is  as  plain  that  this  state,  for  experience’  sake, 
is  as  necessary ;  at  once,  therefore,  we  take  a  hopeful  view 
of  the  assistant.  Without  these  years  he  would  not  be  fitted  for 
paddling  his  own  canoe  when  he  has  finally  triumphed  at  the 
“  Square  ”  in  London  or  “  The  Rooms  ”  here  in  Edinburgh  at  the 
great  quarterly  separations  of  the  sheep  from  the  goats.  Experi¬ 
ence  then  is  the  justification  for  the  existence  of  the  assistant 
to-day  ;  and  that  experience,  necessarily,  in  different  cases,  varies 
considerably.  Again,  without  mentioning  the  mere  money¬ 
making  aspect  of  the  exercise  of  the  profession,  there  is  the 
knowledge  that  the  chemist,  in  the  estimation  of  the  public,  is 
second  only  to  the  medical  man  or  the  priest.  His  influence  is 
often  tremendous  in  many  districts,  and  that  to  more  than  a  few 
aspiring  young  fellows  counts  far  more  than  a  fat  bank  account. 

The  fact  also  that  in  pharmacy  one  may  fairly  be  said  to  be  in 
the  scientific  world,  if  not  very  far  in,  is  also  not  without  its 
important  aspect ;  and  in  this  connection  I  might  say  that 
pharmacists  as  a  body  might  secure  to  themselves  a  higher 
recognition  to  their  scientific  attainments  if  they  were  to  make  use 
more  of  the  advances  of  science  in  the  realms  bordering  on  pharmacy 
proper.  Every  chemist  ought  to  be  a  practical  photographer, 
every  chemist  should  be  conversant  with  water  and  urine  analysis 
every  chemist  should  be  able  to  prepare  and  mount  specimens  foi 
the  microscope.  The  poison  cupboard  also  should  have  his  special 
attention,  and  it  should  be  a  matter  of  duty  with  him  to  stir  up 
within  his  fellow  pharmacists  a  profound  respect  for  the  law  as  it 
relates  to  him,  and  in  combination  with  each  other  seek,  by  giving 
voice  in  the  proper  quarter,  to  have  placed  in  that  cupboard  such 
other  articles  capable  of  destroying  human  life  as  are  at  present 
without.  In  this  world,  where  the  only  true  knowledge  is  that 
gained  by  experience  and  experiment  (and  I  here  speak  of,  and 


146 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  20,  1897 


include,  every  department  of  science),  the  pharmacist  by  virtue  of 
his  knowledge  has  large  obligations  to  fulfil.  His  responsibility  is 
heavy,  and  as  a  scientist,  however  humble,  he  should  see  to  it  that 
he  does  his  part  in  sweeping  away  the  mass  of  ignorance  and  super¬ 
stition  that  abounds  on  every  side. 


CRYSTALLOGRAPHY.* 

BY  H.  MARSTON  MORGAN. 

The  word  crystal,  derived  from  the  Greek  krustallos  and  Jcruos, 
meaning  ice,  was  used  by  the  ancients  for  crystallised  silica  or 
quartz  in  allusion  to  the  then  accepted  idea  that  this  substance 
was  ice  rendered  permanently  solid  by  the  action  of  intense  cold. 
In  A.  d.  1672  Rome  de  Lisle  published  his  ‘  Essay  on  Crystallo¬ 
graphy,’  but  the  honour  of  being  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the 
science  is  given  to  the  Abbe  Rene- Just  Hatiy.  He  was  born  at 
St.  Just  in  what  is  now  called  the  department  of  Oise,  and  amongs 
other  works  published  his  essay  on  the  ‘  Structure  of  Crystals,’  in 
1784,  and  also  his  ‘  Treatise  on  Mineralogy’  and  his  ‘  Treatise  on 
Crystallography,’  both  in  1822,  the  year  of  his  death. 

It  is  historically  interesting  that  the  idea  of  a  crystal  being  ice 
permanently  solid  was  accepted  by  Paracelsus,  and  was  not  criti¬ 
cised  until  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

The  various  mineral  substances  of  which  the  crust  of  the  earth 
is  composed  have  been  recognised  and  classified  according  to  their 
crystalline  forms.  For  a  long  time  the  external  form  was  the  most 
essential,  but  now  this  idea  has  partially  given  way  to  the  examina¬ 
tion  of  the  regular  internal  structure. 

If  ordinary  homogeneous  substances  be  examined  physically,  they 
are  found  to  be  equal  in  their  hardness,  elasticity,  etc. ,  but  crys¬ 
tals  differ  from  this,  and  this  is  one  of  the  fundamental  principles 
of  crystallography.  The  distribution  of  physical  properties  is 
equal  along  all  parallel  directions,  while  with  certain  exceptions  it 
is  unequal  along  directions  which  are  not  parallel.  A  glass  model 
of  a  crystal  may  be  made,  but  it  is  not  a  crystal,  because  it  lacks 
the  necessary  internal  structure. 

Matter  is  composed  of  a  number  of  ultimate  particles  called 
atoms,  which  are  always  in  a  state  of  intense  vibration  and 
separated  from  each  other  by  distances  vastly  greater  than  their 
own  diameter.  The  chemical  molecule  is  taken  as  the  unit  of  sub¬ 
stance,  because  we  cannot  imagine  it  to  be  divided  without  altera¬ 
tion,  but  we  must  take  it  that  all  crystal  molecules  in  the  same 
crystalline  substance  must  be  identical  in  shape,  size,  and  in  the 
distribution  of  forces  ;  for  different  substances  they  must  be 
naturally  of  different  shape,  while  for  the  same  substance  under 
different  conditions  they  may  or  may  not  be  different.  The  reasons 
of  crystals  taking  more  than  one  geometrical  form  I  will  refer  to 
under  the  term  of  the  “  habit  of  crystals.” 

Many  substances  show  physically  that  they  do  not  possess  any 
regularity  of  molecular  structure  whatever ;  such  substances  are 
termed  amorphous.  Substances  only  known  in  the  amorphous  state 
are  usually  of  an  indefinite  chemical  composition  such  as  coal,  amber, 
etc.  And  under  certain  conditions  usually  crystalline  bodies  may 
assume  the  amorphous  form  by  accelerating  their  rate  of  solidifi¬ 
cation  ;  for  example,  many  silicates,  when  fused  and  rapidly 
cooled,  form  glass.  The  real  difference  existing  between 
amorphous  and  crystalline  bodies  is  therefore  internal  and  mole¬ 
cular.  A  fragment  of  quartz  and  a  fragment  of  glass  may  appear 
the  same,  but  in  the  former  the  elasticity  is  equal  in  parallel 
directions,  and  different  in  directions  not  parallel,  molecular 
arrangement  in  the  one  is  regular,  in  the  other  quite  irregular. 

Certain  chemical  substances  do  not  possess  the  power,  or 
perhaps  it  would  be  better  to  term  it  the  crystallising  force  to  a 
sufficient  extent  to  allow  their  form  to  be  examined,  for  example 
the  turquoise.  The  molecular  forces  which  tend  to  produce  a 
regular  internal  structure  in  matter  as  it  slowly  solidifies  exert 
themselves  in  varying  degrees,  both  in  different  substances  under 
the  same  conditions,  and  in  the  same  substances  under  different 
conditions.  Then  again,  certain  metallic  sulphides  rarely  possess 
well-defined  crystalline  forms,  those  occurring  in  the  massive 
state  in  huge  lumps  which  rarely  show  any  trace  of  crystal  planes, 
while  other  substances  always  occur  in  beautifully  distinct  forms, 
for  instance,  carbonate  of  calcium  and  quartz. 

The  Method  of  Growth. 

Crystals,  unlike  living  organisms,  always  grow  by  deposition 
of  matter  externally,  and  the  fresh  deposit  exactly  covers  the 

*  Paper  read  before  the  School  of  Pharmacy  Students’  Association. 


crystal  already  formed,  shaping  itself  to  the  angles  and  planes,  and'’ 
becoming  as  it  were  lost  in  appearance  ;  thus,  no  limit  can  be  set 
down  for  the  size  of  a  crystal  as  long  as  the  material  and  favourable 
conditions  remain. 

The  most  beautiful  forms  of  crystals  are  found  naturally 
amongst  minerals,  the  results  of  exceeding  slow  changes  constantly 
occurring  within  the  earth.  The  ordinary  methods  of  the  forma¬ 
tion  of  crystals  are  well  known  to  you  all ;  it  is  invariably  found! 
that  crystals  deposited  from  a  cold  dilute  solution  are  finer  im 
geometrical  value  and  of  larger  size  than  those  from  strong  solutions. 
Water  is  probably  the  most  general  menstruum,  and  from  such  a 
solution  of  salts  crystals  are  usually  obtained.  Fusion  and  slow 
cooling  may  be  employed  in  many  cases,  for  instance,  sulphur  and 
bismuth. 

Crystals  may  be  also  formed  by  the  sublimation  and  subsequent 
condensation  of  the  volatile  particles  upon  a  cooler  surface.  Iodine 
and  arsenic  are  well-known  examples.  That  crystals  owe  their 
form  to  a  certain  regularity  of  internal  structure  is  shown  by  their 
mode  of  formation  and  the  examination  of  peculiarities  attending 
their  fracture.  The  tendency  of  crystals  to  split  in  certain, 
definite  directions,  called  cleavage,  is  a  certain  indication  of 
regular  structure,  while  the  optical  properties  of  many,  and  mode! 
of  expansion  by  heat  point  to  the  same  conclusion.  Every 
crystallisable  body  invariably  assumes  one  of  its  own  characteristic- 
forms,  or  some  form  directly  derived  from  it,  or  related  to  it  by  some- 
simple  law,  and  these  forms  are  classified  under  six  systems. 

The  plane  surfaces  bounding  a  crystal  are  termed  faces  ;  when, 
two  contiguous  faces  intersect,  an  angle  is  formed.  The  faces,, 
edges,  angles  of  a  most  perfect  crystal  have  equal  faces,  edges,  and. 
angles  opposite  to  them,  and  if  the  middle  points  of  the  opposite- 
faces,  edges,  or  angles  be  joined  by  straight  lines,  the  point  at- 
which  these  lines  intersect  will  be  the  centre  of  the  crystal,  and 
the  lines  drawn  through  this  point  the  axes. 

The  same  substance  may  assume,  under  different  sets  of  circum¬ 
stances  as  at  high  or  low  temperatures,  two  different  crystalline- 
forms,  and  then  the  substance  is  termed  dimorphous.  Sulphur 
and  carbon  furnish  examples.  Another  case  is  presented  by 
calcium  carbonate  in  the  two  modifications  calc  spar  and  arrago- 
nite,  both  chemically  the  same,  but  physically  different.  Another 
example  is  presented  by  mercuric  iodide,  which  has  two  distinct- 
forms  and  also  two  distinct  colours.  The  contrast,  however,  is- 
not  so  marked  as  the  modification  existing  between  diamond  and 
graphite. 

The  Habit  of  Crystals. 

The  different  forms  of  crystals  are  produced  by  the  various 
arrangements  of  the  molecules  of  which  the  crystals  are  composed,, 
and  there  are  but  few  exceptions  in  which  a  crystal  varies  to  any 
large  extent ;  the  crystallising  medium  has  also  to  be  considered. 
A  graphic  illustration  of  the  molecular  structure,  as  well  as  the 
habit  of  crystals,  may  be  advantageously  employed.  If  the! 
physical  molecules  be  represented,  say,  by  round  steel  balls,  it  is 
easily  seen  how  by  the  same  arrangement  it  is  possible  to  produce 
different  forms. 

To  illustrate  this  by  an  experiment  mentioned  by  Hr.  Williams 
and  based  upon  the  well-known  figures  of  Haiiy  : — 

If  we  represent  the  physical  bodies  by  shot,  a  square  of  such 
bodies  arranged  in  parallel  rows  may  be  taken  as  a  starting  point, 
and  then  by  piling  others  upon  them  as  cannon  balls  are  piled,  a- 
symmetrical  four-sided  pyramid  is  produced.  If  the  shot  be  made 
to  cohere  by  dipping  them  in  shellac,  a  similar  pyramid  may  be 
built  up  on  the  other  side  of  the  base,  thus  forming  the  regular 
octahedron.  Again,  if  successive  horizontal  and  vertical  layers  be 
taken  away  equally  from  each  of  the  six  solid  angles  of  the  octa¬ 
hedron,  this  form  is  seen  to  gradually  develop  into  the  cube,  while 
the  interior  structure  remains  unchanged.  Finally,  we  may  use 
each  of  the  six  faces  of  the  cube  as  the  base  for  the  erection  of  a. 
quadratic  pyramid,  and  thus  the  dodecahedron  is  formed,  with  a 
structure  like  that  which  produced  the  other  two  figures.  Such 
models  as  these  admirably  illustrate  how  differences  of  habit  may 
result  from  the  same  molecular  arrangement,  as  well  as  how  the 
lanes  of  one  form  may  replace  the  edges  or  angles  of  another.  We 
ave  only  to  conceive  of  the  shot  as  too  small  to  be  visible,  and 
the  surface  produced  by  any  layer  becomes  a  crystal  plane. 

Most  probably  the  presence  of  impurities  in  the  solution  from 
which  the  crystal  grows  plays  an  important  part  in  conditioning 
the  habit.  For  example,  sodium  chloride  will  crystallise  in  octa- 
hedra  instead  of  in  cubes  when  crystallised  from  a  solution  con¬ 
taining  hydrate  of  potassium  ;  alum  and  sulphate  of  magnesia  are 
also  affected  in  a  similar  way.  Again,  it  rarely  occurs  that  the 


Feb  20,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


147 


concentration  of  the  mother  liquor  is  the  same  on  all  sides  of  the 
crystal,  hence  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  crystal  grows  quicker 
on  the  side  with  the  greater  density,  and  thus  the  regularity  of 
form  is  often  completely  disguised. 

The  System  of  Crystallography. 

The  systems  of  classification  depend  upon  the  length  and 
relative  positions  of  the  axes  of  the  crystal.  Those  in  which  three 
axes  intersect  at  right  angles  are  termed  orthometric,  and  when 
the  angles  caused  by  their  intersection  are  oblique  they  are  called 
clinometric. 

The  Monometric,  Regular,  or  Cubic  System. — These  crystals  have 
three  equal  axes  placed  at  right  angles  to  each  other,  and  in  this 
class  are  included  the  forms  the  regular  octahedron  and  the 
rhombic  dodecahedron.  Very  many  substances,  both  simple  and 
compound,  assume  this  form,  the  most  important  being  diamond, 
common  salt,  iodide  of  potassium,  the  alums,  fluorspar,  sulphides 
of  the  metals,  the  garnet,  etc. 

The  Dimetric,  Quadratic,  Tetragonal,  or  Prismatic  Pyramidal  Sys¬ 
tem. — These  are  symmetrical,  about  three  axes  at  right  angles  to 
each  other.  Of  these,  however,  two  only  are  of  equal  length,  and 
the  third  unequal.  The  most  important  forms  are  the  right  square 
prism  and  the  right  square  based  octahedron.  Examples  may  be 
seen  in  native  stannic  oxide  and  ferrocyanide  of  potassium. 

The  Hexagonal  System  has  four  axes,  three  of  which  are  equal, 
lie  in  the  same  plane,  and  cut  each  other  at  an  angle  of  60°.  The 
fourth  axis  may  be  longer  or  shorter  than  the  other  three,  it  cuts 
them  at  their  common  point  of  intersection  at  a  right  angle.  Zinc, 
zinc  oxide,  silica,  camphor,  etc. ,  are  examples  of  this  form. 

The  Rhombic  System  has  three  axes  of  unequal  length  placed  at 
right  angles  to  each  other.  Chlorides  of  lead,  barium,  mercury 
and  copper,  nitrates  of  ammonium,  and  many  other  substances 
adopt  this  rhombic  system. 

The  Monoclinic  System  has  three  axes  of  unequal  length,  one  of 
the  axes  stands  at  right  angles  to  the  plane  of  the  other  two, 
which  are  inclined  to  one  another  at  different  angles  in  different 
crystals.  Sulphur,  hydrated  sodium  chloride,  etc.,  crystallise  in 
this  manner. 

The  Triclinic  System  has  three  axes,  no  one  of  which  makes  a 
right  angle  with  either  of  the  other  two.  Compai’atively  few  sub¬ 
stances  crystallise  according  to  this  system,  among  the  chief  may 
be  mentioned  copper,  manganese,  and  iron  sulphates  containing 
five  molecules  of  water  of  crystallisation.  Potassium  and  silver 
dichromates,  boric  acid,  and  grape  sugar. 

I  might  add,  in  conclusion,  that  the  angles  of  crystals  are 
measured  by  an  instrument  called  a  goniometer,  and  the  method 
adopted  is  by  the  reflection  of  light  along  the  axes  of  a  crystal  and 
measured  by  a  revolving  graduating  plate.  The  instrument  is 
somewhat  complicated,  but  a  surface  of  l/100th  part  of  an  inch  in 
length,  if  perfect  and  brilliant,  will  be  sufficiently  large  to  be 
accurately  measured  by  the  reflecting  goniometer. 


EIGHTH  INTERNATIONAL  PHARMACEUTICAL  CONGRESS, 

BRUSSELS,  AUGUST  14  to  19,  1897. 


Questions  to  be  Discussed. 

1.  In  the  actual  state  of  science,  is  it  not  advisable  to  enforce 
in  all  drugs  and  medicines  a  normal  quantity  of  active  principles  ? 

2.  Is  it  not  necessary  to  unify  the  modes  of  analysis  of  medicine 
and  of  their  active  principles  ?  If  so,  what  are  the  best  ways  of 
doing  so  ? 

3.  As  a  question  of  public  safety,  what  are  the  best  regulations 
of  the  practice  of  pharmacy. 

4.  From  a  bacteriological  point  of  view,  what  is  the  best  system 
of  analysis  of  drinking  water  ?  How  far  can  the  methods  actually 
known  be  relied  upon  ? 

5.  Has  the  chemist  the  right  of  preparing  and  selling  organic 
essences  and  the  substances  employed  in  organotherapy  ?  Which 
are  the  best  ways  of  assuring  the  chemist  of  the  value  of  these 
substances,  and  also  of  serums  ? 

6.  Show  the  best  ways  of  encouraging  the  manufacture  of  new 
medicines.  Is  it  possible  in  patents  to  amalgamate  the  protection 
of  private  trade  and  public  good?  Would  it  not  be  preferable  for 
the  chemist  to  sell  them  and  the  doctor  to  prescribe  them  under 
names  more  appropriate  to  their  composition  ? 

7.  Prepare  the  plan  of  a  programme  of  pharmaceutical  studies. 


METRIC  MEASURES  AND  OUR  OLD  SYSTEM.* 

BY  FREDERICK  TOMS. 

( Concluded  from,  page  69.) 

In  regard  to  measures  of  capacity,  as  well  as  weights,  these  in 
the  French  system  are  based  on  the  metre  and  its  derivatives  ;  and 
with  both  there  is  a  close  approximation  to  the  11  :  10  ratio. 
Nevertheless  it  would  be  futile  to  attempt  to  apply  this  ratio  in 
such  instances,  because  our  English  weights  and  our  measures  of 
capacity  are  not  divisible  by  11,  although  the  land-measures  are. 

There  are  certain  points  of  similarity,  however,  between  the  two 
systems,  which  will  be  easy  to  recollect  if  half  a  kilogramme  be 
taken  as  the  basis  of  our  new  pound,  and  half  a  dekalitre  as  the 
basis  of  our  new  gallon. 

The  kilogramme  is  equal  in  weight  to  a  litre  of  distilled  water  ; 
and  the  new  gallon  of  5  litres  would  thus  weigh  10  new  pounds.  So 
this  measure  would  assimilate  with  our  old  gallon,  the  weight  of 
which  is  10  of  our  present  pounds. 

Having  thus  obtained  our  basis,  the  gallon  could  be  divided  into 
4  quarts,  or  8  pints,  or  32  gills,  and  so  on,  in  exactly  the  same 
manner  as  our  existing  English  measures  ;  and  multiples  of  the  new 
measures  could  likewise  be  formed  in  similar  fashion  by  taking 
2  gallons  as  equal  to  1  peck  (which  would  be  exactly  the  same  as  a 
dekalitre)  ;  while  4  pecks  would  make  1  bushel,  and  so  on,  in  like 
manner  as  at  present. 

For  the  heavier  weights,  the  French  tonne,  of  1000  kilogrammes, 
would  be  very  nearly  the  same  as  our  present  ton,  and  the  new  ton 
would  be  divided  into  20  hundredweights,  each  represented  by  1Q0 
of  the  new  pounds,  which  could  be  called  the  “  cental  ”  if  so  pre¬ 
ferred.  For  the  lighter  weights,  the  half- kilogramme  (which  in 
common  French  parlance  is  still  called  by  the  old  name  of  livre> 
from  libra,  a  pound)  would  be  our  new  pound,  and  be  divided  into 
16  ounces,  as  at  present.  This  ounce  is  almost  exactly  the  same 
weight  as  our  present  troy  ounce,  and  the  same  as  our  avoirdupois 
ounce  used  to  be  before  the  pound  was  reduced  to  7000  grains.  In 
former  times,  avoirdupois,  troy,  and  apothecaries’  ounce  were  alike, 
the  difference  in  the  pound  being  merely  in  the  number  of  ounces 
and  we  should  do  well  to  revert  to  that  arrangement. 

If  it  be  thought  desirable  to  divide  the  ounce  into  grains,  there 
are  two  methods,  either  of  which  might  be  adopted,  and  each  has 
some  advantages.  The  first  is  to  divide  the  ounce  into  480  grains 
(like  the  present  troy  and  apothecaries’  ounce),  and  follow  the 
present  subdivisions  into  drams,  pennyweights,  etc.,  without  any 
fraction,  bat  the  gramme  would  be  equal  to  15  36  grains.  The  other 
method  is  to  divide  the  ounce  into  500  grains,  in  which  event  16  of 
these  grains  would  be  exactly  equivalent  to  the  French  gramme  ; 
but  then  the  drams  would  contain  a  fraction  of  a  grain. 

The  new  measures  might  readily  be  accepted  in  place  of  our  old 
measures,  because  the  mode  of  applying  them  would  be  the  same 
as  hitherto  ;  but  endless  confusion  and  heartburnings  would  be  sure 
to  result  from  an  attempt  to  compel  the  untaught  population  to  use 
tenths  and  hundredths  of  a  kilogramme  or  dekalitre,  instead  of 
following  the  ancient  practice  of  dealing  in  pounds  and  ounces^ 
quarts  and  pints.  Far  better  would  it  be  to  legalise  and  define  the 
new  meaning  of  old  and  familiar  words,  which  would  certainly  con¬ 
tinue  to  be  used  by  the  great  mass  of  the  people. 


APPENDIX. 

(Not  read  with  the  paper .) 

Since  the  foregoing  paper  was  written,  there  has  been  introduced 
into  the  House  of  Commons,  under  the  auspices  of  Mr.  Ritchie  and 

*  Paper  read  at  the  meeting  of  the  British  Association  for  the  Advance¬ 
ment  of  Science,  held  at  Liverpool  in  September,  1896. 


148 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  20,  1897 


Mr.  Balfour,  “  A  Bill  to  Legalise  the  Use  of  Weights  and  Measures 
of  the  Metric  System.”  At  the  commencement  of  the  paper  brief 
allusion  is  made  to  this  fact,  but  it  has  not  been  found  necessary  to 
alter  the  paper  in  other  respects. 

The  new  Bill  does  not  appear  to  advance  a  general  adoption  of 
the  metric  system  much  more  than  the  Weights  and  Measures  Act 
which  was  passed  eighteen  years  ago.  Sect.  21  of  the  Statute  of 
1878  enacted  that  “  a  contract  or  dealing  shall  not  be  invalid  or 
open  to  objection  on  the  ground  that  the  weights  or  measures 
expressed  or  referred  to  therein  are  weights  or  measures  of  the 
metric  system  ” ;  and  the  Schedule  to  that  Act  gave  a  list  of  metric 
equivalents  to  the  Imperial  weights,  and  vice  versd.  Much  the 
same  is  said  and  done  in  the  proposed  new  measure ;  and  it  may  be 
of  service,  for  purposes  of  reference,  to  state  the  nature  of  the  Bill, 
and  therefore  the  clauses  are  here  printed  in  full : — 

A  Bill  to  Legalise  the  Use  op  Weights  and  Measubes 
op  the  Metbic  System. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Queen’s  most  Excellent  Majesty,  by  and  with 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Lords  Spiritual  and  Temporal,  and 
Commons,  in  this  present  Parliament  assembled,  and  by  the 
authority  of  the  same,  as  follows  : — 

1.  Use  of  Metric  Weights  and  Measures  in  Trade  ;  41  and  42  Viet, 
c,  49.  —  (1.)  Notwithstanding  anything  in  the  Weights  and 
Measures  Act,  1878,  the  use  of  a  weight  or  measure  of  the  metric 
system  in  trade  shall  be  lawful,  and  nothing  in  Section  19  of  that 
Act  shall  make  void  any  contract,  bargain,  sale  or  dealing  by  reason 
only  of  its  being  made  or  had  according  to  weights  or  measures  of 
the  metric  system. 

(2.)  A  person  using  or  having  in  his  possession  a  weight  or  measure 
of  the  metric  system  shall  not  by  reason  thereof  be  liable  to  any 
fine. 

(3  )  For  the  Third  Schedule  to  the  Weights  and  Measures  Act, 
1878,  shall  be  substituted  the  Schedule  to  this  Act. 

2.  Verification  of  Copies  of  Metric  Standards, — Section  38  of  the 

Weights  and  Measures  Act,  1878,  is  hereby. repealed,  and  the  Board 
of  Trade  shall  verify  copies  of  metric  standards  in  the  same  manner 
as  if  they  were  copies  of  Board  of  Trade  standards,  and  the  provisions 
of  that  Act  relating  to  the  verification  of  local  standards  shall  apply 
accordingly.  , 

3.  Local  Metric  Standards. — In  Section  40  of  the  Weights  and 
Measures  Act,  1878,  the  expression  “  local  standards  of 
weights  and  measures  ”  shall  include  local  metric  standards,  and 
the  provisions  of  that  Act  relating  to  local  standards  shall  apply 
accordingly. 

4.  Short  Title. — This  Act  may  be  cited  as  “The  Weights  and 
Measures  (Metric  System)  Act,  1896,”  and  may  be  cited  with  the 
Weights  and  Measures  Acts,  1878  to  1893. 

Besides  the  above  enacting  clauses,  there  is  a  loDg  Schedule 
giving  the  equivalents  of  Metric  and  Imperial  Weights  and  Measures 
in  two  forms,  viz.,  from  Metric  to  Imperial,  and  from  Imperial  to 
Metric.  Of  these  a  portion  is  hereafter  quoted ;  and  an  extra 
column  is  added  thereto  for  the  purpose  of  showing  what  differences 
would  be  effected  in  the  English  equivalents  of  French  measures,  if 
our  basis  was  slightly  altered,  so  as  to  accord  exactly  with  the 
metric  base. 

The  figures  given  in  the  Schedule  differ  a  little  from  those  which 
have  hitherto  been  published  in  scientific  books,  as  well  in  the 
1878  Act,  and  likewise  on  cards  dated  from  the  Board  of  Trade 
Standards  Office  in  October,  1890,  and  issued  by  the  Queen’s 
Printers.  For  example,  the  equivalents  of  the  metre  are  thus 
given : — 


Length  of  Metre  Inches.  Feet.  Yards. 

In  the  Schedule  of  the  Bill  ....  39-37012  .  ..  3-2S0S4333  ....  1-09361444 
In  the  Board  of  Trade  Card  ....  39-37079  ....  3-28089917  ....  1-09363306 

Sach  differences,  however,  are  immaterial  as  regards  the  method 
suggested  in  the  foregoing  paper,  because  the  proposed  new 
measures  would  be  based  upon  a  definite  portion  of  the  metre  itself 
(the  new  yard  being  exactly  ten-elevenths  of  the  metre),  and,  what¬ 
ever  may  be  the  comparative  dimensions  of  our  existing  yard,  the 
new  one  suggested  in  its  place  would  give  the  following  propor¬ 
tions  : — 


Length  of  Metre  Inches.  Ftet.  Yards. 

In  the  Proposed  New  System .  39-6  .  3-3  .  1-1 

Besides  the  differences  mentioned  above,  there  are  a  few  discrep¬ 
ancies  in  the  Bill,  mostly  arising  from  typographical  errors,  and 
these  have  been  corrected  in  the  following  quotations  where 
apparent.  In  condensing  the  Schedule,  many  of  the  multiples  or 
subdivisions  are  here  omitted,  especially  where  they  are  mainly 
repetitions  of  the  same  figures  with  different  positions  of  the  decimal 
point. 

Measubes  op  Length  and  Abea. 


The  following  are  some  of  the  most  material  equivalents  in  the 
conversion  of  French  measures  into  English : — 


Linear  Measures. 

Metre . . . ■ 

Dekametre  (10  metres). . . . 
Hectometre  (100  metres). . 

Kilometre  (1000  metres)  .. 
Myriametre  (lO, 000  metres) 


Equivalents  stated  in 
the  Government  Bill. 

39"37012 inches  .... 
3-2084338  feet  .... 
1-09361444  yards  ,. 
10-9361444  „ 

109-361444  „ 

1093-61444  „ 

0-62137  mile . 

6  2137  miles . . 


New  Equivalents 
suggested  in  this  Paper. 

39  -6  new  inches. 

3  3  ,,  feet. 

IT  ,,  yards. 

11  yards,  or  2  poles. 

110  ,,  J  furloDg. 

1100  ,,  5  furlongs. 

0"6'25  mile. 

6'25  miles. 


Square  Measure. 


Sq.  Metre . . .  1T959926 sq. yards’ 

Are  (100  sq.  metres) .  119-59926  ,,  „ 

10  Ares  (1000  sq.  metres)  ..  1195-9926  ,,  ,, 

Hectare  (100  ares,  or  10,000  (  11959-926  „  „ 

sq.  metres)  (  2-47106  acres 


1-21  sq.  yards. 

121  sq.  yds.,  or  4  sq  poles. 
40  sq.  poles,  or  1  rood. 
400  ,,  or  10  roods.. 

2 '5  acres. 


As  regards  the  conversion  from  English  measures  into  French,  it 
will  suffice  to  give  the  following  examples  : — 


Linear  Measure, 

Inch . 

Foot . . . . . 

Yard  . . 

Pole  (5J  ya  ds) . 

Chain  (22  yards)  . 

Furlong  (  0  chains  or  220 

yards) . 

Mile  (i760  yards) . 

Square  Measure. 
Perch  (301  sq.  yards)  ...... 

Bood  (40  perches) . 

Acre  (4840  sq.  yards)  .. . .  _ 
Square  Miie  (640  acres)  .... 


Equivalents  stated  in  the 
Government  Bill. 
25-39997222  millimetres 
0-30479967  metres  ..  .. 

0  914399  . . 

5-02919  „ 

20  116778  „ 

201-16778  . . 

1-60934224  kilometres.. 


25-29280  sq.  metres  .... 
10  11712  ares  ......... 

0-40468  hectare  . 

258  99824454  heotares 


New  Equivalents 
suggested  in  this  rapes; 
25-2525  millimet  es. 
0-30303  metre. 

0-90909  „ 

5  0  metres. 

20 

200  „ 

1-6  kilometres; 


25 "0  sq.  metres. 

10  ares. 

0  4  hectare,  or  40  arese 
256  hejiarec. 


With  regard  to  land  measures,  the  following  comparative  table 
may  show  the  results  with  more  precision : — 


English  Land  Measures. 

5}  yards  square,  or  1  square  perch  =  \ 
“301  square  yards.  / 

11  yards  square,  or  4  square  perches  I 
=  121  square  yards.  J 

1  square  cnain,  or  484  square  yards  ( 
=  jtjth  of  acre.  ) 

1  rood  =  40  square  perches. 

4840  square  yards,  or  1  acre. 

10  roods,  or  2J  acres. 

1  square  furlong,  or  10  acres. 

1  square  mile  =  640  acres. 

Measubes 


French  Land  Mbasuues. 

{5  metres  square,  or  a  quarter  of  ai3 
are  =  25  square  metres. 

10  mettes  square,  or  1  are  =  100 
square  metres. 

20  metres  square,  or  400  square 
metres  =  4  ares. 

1000  square  metres,  or  10  ares. 

4000  squale  metres,  or  U'4  hectare. 
10,000  ,,  ,,  or  1  hectare. 

400  ares,  or  4  hectares. 

256  hectares. 

Capacity. 


In  the  French  system,  the  nomenclature  used  for  measures  o§ 
cipacity  is  uniform,  whether  employed  for  liquids  or  for  coin  and 
other  dried  goods  ;  but  in  England  we  often  use  different  names  for 
measures  of  equal  dimensions.  Thus,  a  bushel  is  equal  to  light 


Feb.  20,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


149 


■gallons  ;  bnt  we  do  not  say  a  bushel  of  beer,  wine,  or  water,  though 
■we  say  a  bushel  of  wheat.  The  principal  measures  in  the  two 
systems  are  as  follows  : — 

Equivalents  stated  Proposed  New 

Measures  of  Capacity.  in  the  Bill.  Equivalents. 


dot  over  the  i ;  and  mistakes  are  likely  to  arise  from  the  dot  being 
omitted  or  overlooked. 

Countries  that  have  Adopted  the  Metric  System. 

The  countries  in  which  the  metric  system  has  been  introduced, 
and  the  dates  of  introduction  of  most  of  them,  are  as  follows : — 


T/itre=l  cubic  decimetre. .  < 

Dekalitre  (10  litres) . 

Hectolitre  (100) 

Kilolitre  (1000  litres)  _ 


1  -75985  pints  .... 
0  879925  quart.. .. 
2 '195-81  gallons  .. 
2 '74976  bushels  .. 
27'4976  „ 


1*6  pints,  or  0'8  quart, 
or  0'2  gallon. 

2'0  gallons,  or  1  peck. 

2 '5  bushels,  o-  29  galls. 
25 '0  ,,  or  200  galls. 


The  new  gallon,  of  half  a  dekalitre,  may  be  divided  into  4  quarts^ 
or  5  litres,  or  8  pints,  or  10  “chopines”;  but  the  'ch opine  ”  does 
not  occur  in  the  Bill,  as  it  is  not  a  recognised  measu.e,  although  in 
popular  use  in  France  as  representing  half  a  litre. 

The  following  are  the  principal  English  measures  of  capacity  and 
-their  present  metric  equivalents  ;  to  which  are  appended  the  corre¬ 
sponding  proportions,  if  our  English  base  were  modified  as  proposed 
in  the  paper : 


Mea-ui  cs  of  Carac’ty 

Pint  (4  gills) . 

•Quart  (i  pints)  . 

Gallon  (4  quarts) . 

Peck  (2  gallons)  . 

-Bushel  (4  pecks) . 


Present  Equivalents. 

0-55823  lities  . 

1-13646  „  . 

4-5458547  . . 

9  09171  „  . 

3-63668  dekalitres . 


Proposed  Equivalents. 
0-625  litres. 

1-25  „ 

5 

10  litres,  or  1  dekalitre. 
4  dekalitres. 


Conversion  of  Metric  into  English  Weights. 

The  weights  are  proposed  to  be  derived  exactly  from  the 
anetric  base.  Let  the  kilogramme  be  divided  into  32  ounces. 

6  of  which  should  constitute  the  new  metric  pound ;  and  the 
new  ounce  would  then  be  almost  identical  with  the  existing  troy 
ounce.  The  generality  of  the  population  would  not  require  smaller 
divisions  than  the  half  and  quarters  of  an  ounce ;  but,  if  further 
subdivision  should  be  considered  desirable,  there  are  two  alternative 


methods,  each  of  which  possesses  some  slight  advantage  over  the 
other.  One  method  is  to  divide  the  ounce  into  480  grains  (similar 
to  the  present  troy  ounce)  when  all  subdivisions  could  remain  as  at 
pr  esent,  and  would  run  as  follows  : — 


15360  grains  =  one  kilogramme. 

7680  „  =  half  kilogramme,  or  new  pound. 

480  ,,  =  oDe  ounce,  bting  the  16th  p?rt  of  the  avoirdupois  pound,  or 

12  th  part  of  troy  or  apothecaries’  pound. 

.240  ,,  =  half  an  ounce — same  number  as  pennies  in  a  monetary  pound 

or  pennyweights  in  a  troy  pound. 

■60  „  =  apothecaries’  drachm,  of  3  scruples. 

30  ,,  =  avoirdupois  dram,  16  to  the  ounce. 

24  ,,  =  pennyweight  (20th  part  of  troy  ounce)  ;  originated  at  a  time 

when  an  ounce  of  silver  was  worth  20  pence. 

20  ,,  =  scruple  (24th  part  of  apothecaries’  ounce). 


Of  course,  tenths  of  the  kilogramme,  or  fifths  of  the  pound,  could 
•also  be  used  if  thought  desirable. 

In  the  second  method,  the  ounce  might  be  divided  into  500 
grains,  in  which  case  there  would  be  subdivisions  of  the  half  and 
-quarters,  as  well  as  fifths  and  tenths  of  an  ounce  ;  while  16  grains 
would  be  exactly  equal  to  1  gramme,  and  conversions  from  one  to 
the  other  would  accordingly  be  very  easily  made.  In  such  case 
there  would  be  the  following  similarities  of  number  in  the  divi¬ 
sions  : — 


16  grains  =  1  gramme, 

16  drams  =  1  ounce. 

16  ounces  =  1  pound. 

500  grains  =  1  ounce. 


301  gTalns  =  1  dram. 

30|  grammes  =  1  ounce. 

16,000  grains  =  1  kilogramme. 

500  grammes  =  1  pound. 


Why  the  avoirdupois  “  dram  ”  is  spelt  without  the  ch,  and  the 
apothecaries’  “  drachm  ”  with  those  letters,  I  am  unable  to  say ;  but 
they  are  thus  spelt  in  the  Bill  and  in  the  Board  of  Trade  cards,  and 
they  have  the  advantage  of  distinguishing  the  one  from  the  other. 
In  both  Bill  and  card,  the  French  word  “  gramme  ”  is  contracted  to 


-“gram.”  This  is  advantageous  in  one  respect,  especially  as  shorten¬ 
ing  the  word  in  kilogram,  centigram,  etc. ;  but  if  “  gram  ”  is  used 
alone  there  is  a  liability  to  error  in  writing  and  printing,  as  the 
-only  difference  (when  written)  between  “  gram  ”  and  “  grain  ”  is  the 


Argentine  Republic  (1887). 

Mexico  (1884). 

Austria-Hungary  (1876). 

Netherlands  (1820). 

Belgium. 

Norway  (1878). 

Brazil  (1862). 

Peru  (1860). 

Bulgaria. 

Portugal. 

Chile. 

Roumania  (1876). 

Colombia  (1857). 

San  Domingo. 

Costa  Rica. 

Servia  (1875). 

Denmark. 

Spain  (1859). 

Ecuador  (1857). 

Sweden  (1879). 

France. 

Switzerland  (1873). 

Germany  (1872). 

Turkey  (1882). 

Greece  (1832). 

United  States  (1866). 

Hayti. 

Uruguay  (1864). 

India  (Bengal),  1871. 

Venezuela  (1857). 

Italy. 

In  many  of  these  countries  the  metric  system  is  compulsory ;  In 
others,  as  in  the  United  States,  its  use  is  authorised  though  not 
compulsory ;  and  in  some  instances  other  systems  are  also  in  vogue, 
especially  in  South  America,  where  the  old  Spanish  weights  and 
measures  are  still  employed.  Even  in  France  itself  there  is  the 
“  systeme  usuel,”  or  old  style  of  nomenclature,  in  which  the 
measures  are  stated  in  pouces  or  inches,  pieds  or  feet,  livres  or 
pounds,  and  so  on ;  but  instead  of  the  foot  being  divided  into  twelve 
inches,  as  formerly,  the  new  arrangement  had  but  ten  divisions,  and 
the  transition  was  consequently  rendered  very  difficult. 

A  Postscript. 

It  possibly  may  save  some  trouble  to  students  of  this  subject  if 
two  other  methods  for  converting  metres  into  yards  are  briefly 
alluded  to.  To  those  who  compare  the  metric  and  English  systems, 
the  first  method  readily  suggests  itself,  and  is  likely  to  mislead 
persons  who  only  look  at  it  superficially.  Thus,  if  the  metre  were 
divided  into  40  inches,  in  such  case  the  length  of  the  yard  would 
be  equal  to  nine-tenths  of  a  metre,  or  9  decimetres ;  the  foot  would 
be  3  decimetres ;  4  inches  would  be  a  decimetre,  and  the  inch  would 
be  exactly  a  quarter  of  a  decimetre. 

This  seems  remarkably  simple  at  the  first  glance,  owing 
to  the  absence  of  decimal  fractions ;  but  the  simplicity  is 
fallacious,  and  the  absence  of  fractions  ceases  with  the  inches 
The  conversion  of  metres  into  furlongs,  miles,  acres,  etc., 
would  be  productive  of  an  interminable  repetition  of  decimals. 
Thus,  100  metres  would  be  equivalent  to  111-111,  etc.,  yards, 
and  1600  metres,  instead  of  being  an  exict  mile,  would  be 
1777-777,  etc.,  yards  ;  while  the  square  measures  would  be  still  worse. 
In  short,  by  the  11  lOths  process,  described  in  the  foregoing  paper, 
the  metre  would  be  equal  to  a  yard  and  one-tenth ;  by  the  10-9ths 
process,  here  alluded  to,  the  metre  would  be  equivalent  to  a  yard 
and  one-ninth,  and  would  prove  practically  unmanageable. 

A  much  preferable  plan  would  be  to  divide  the  metre  into  36 
parts,  and  apply  our  present  names  thereto.  The  principal  dis¬ 
advantage  would  be  that  the  small  measurements,  which  are  more 
in  use  than  any  other  ( [i.e .,  the  inches,  feet,  and  yards),  would  all  be 
considerably  longer  than  they  now  are,  as  each  of  them  would  be 
increased  by  about  one-tenth.  But  larger  measures  would  fall  in 
well  with  the  metric  code,  as  the  yards  being  exactly  equivalent  to 
metres,  their  number,  in  comparison  with  poles,  furlongs  and  miles, 
chains,  roods,  acres,  etc.,  would  be  the  same  as  are  given  in  metres 
in  the  column  of  “  new  equivalents  ”  stated  in  the  table  on  page  148. 


150 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb  20.  1897. 


THE  STUDEHTS’  PAGE. 


ON  DISPENSING  EMULSIONS. 

It  may  be  be  assumed  that,  following  the  directions  given  on 
page  130,  the  student  has  overcome  the  preliminary  difficulties 
that  attend  the  production  of  a  satisfactory  emulsion  of  fixed  oil  with 
acacia,  and  he  should  now  proceed  to  emulsify  other  drugs  with 
the  same  emulsifier.  Balsam  of  copaiba  is  a  suitable  one  to  ex¬ 
periment  with.  It  can  be  emulsified  by  either  of  the  methods 
given  for  fixed  oils,  but  the  second,  in  which  the  acacia  is  first 
converted  into  mucilage,  is  to  be  preferred,  especially  if  the  balsam 
is  rather  viscid.  The  directions  given  in  the  previous  article 
should  be  followed,  and  should  result  in  the  production  of  a  milk- 
white  emulsion.  Liquid  extract  of  male  fern  can  similarly  be 
emulsified  with  mucilage  of  acacia,  but  if  the  quantity  of  water 
ordered  is  comparatively  large  it  is  well  to  use  half  a  drachm  of 
acacia  (gum)  for  each  drachm  of  liquid  extract.  Balsam  of  Peru 
makes  an  excellent  emulsion  when  treated  in  the  same  way  ; 
in  this  case  one-fourth  of  its  weight  of  acacia  is  sufficient 
In  point  of  fact,  as  the  student  by  this  time  will  have  gathered, 
fixed  oils,  oleo-resins,  and  balsams  can,  generally  speaking,  be 
emulsified  with  one-fourth  their  weight  of  acacia  ;  the  first-named 
by  either  the  dry  gum  or  the  mucilage  method,  the  last  two  pre¬ 
ferably  by  the  mucilage  method. 

Volatile  oils  are  not  quite  so  amenable  as  fixed  oils  ;  they  require 
rather  more  careful  treatment.  Oil  of  turpentine  affords  a  very 
good  example  ;  it  can  be  emulsified  with  one-fourth  of  its  weight 
of  acacia,  which,  in  this  case,  must  first  be  converted  into  muci¬ 
lage.  Weigh  two  drachms  of  acacia,  and  convert  it  into  a  smooth 
mucilage  in  the  mortar  with  half  an  ounce  of  water.  Measure  one 
fluid  ounce  of  oil  of  turpentine,  and  add  a  few  drops  to  the  muci¬ 
lage.  Triturate  until  emulsified  ;  then  add  a  few  more  drops,  and 
triturate  again.  It  may  now  be  added  in  quantities  of  about 
twenty  to  thirty  minims,  being  careful  to  emulsify  each  portion 
before  another  is  added.  From  time  to  time,  as  the  emulsion 
thickens,  a  few  drops  of  water  should  be  added.  Should  the 
mixture  in  the  mortar  assume  the  appearance  of  large  globules  of 
emulsified  turpentine,  separated  by  thin  films  of  turpentine  that 
refuse  to  emulsify,  as  it  will  after  the  addition  of  about  four  or 
five  drachms  of  turpentine,  the  addition  of  water  is  indicated,  and 
a  small  quantity  will  usually  restore  the  emulsion.  After  the 
emulsion  has  been  effected  the  dilution  with  water  must  be  care¬ 
fully  proceeded  with  ;  at  first  small  quantities  should  be  added, 
but  as  the  emulsion  is  thinned  it  may  be  diluted  more  boldly. 

All  volatile  oils  may  be  emulsified  in  this  way,  but  if  the  propor¬ 
tion  of  oil  to  water  in  the  mixture  is  large  use  a  larger  proportion 
of  acacia,  say  twice  as  much,  i  e. ,  half  the  weight  of  the  oil  taken, 
as  directed  for  liquid  extract  of  male  fern. 

Hydrocarbon  oils,  such  as  adepsine  oil,  may  be  treated  in  the 
same  way.  Solid  paraffins,  such  as  vaseline,  also  yield  satisfactory 
emulsions  with  acacia,  though  they  give  a  little  trouble.  The 
student  should  try  the  following  one  : — Put  half  an  ounce  of  vaseline 
into  a  dry  mortar,  add  two  drachms  of  finely  powdered  acacia, 
and  mix.  Now  add  at  once  four  drachms  of  water,  and  triturate 
until  the  mixture  first  assumes  a  granular  condition,  and  finally 
becomes  perfectly  smooth,  after  which  the  addition  of  water  may 
be  proceeded  with  ;  or  the  water  may  be  added  to  the  mixed  vaseline 
and  acacia  in  successive  small  quantities,  in  which  case,  however, 
more  trituration  is  necessary.  From  this  emulsion,  as  from  others, 
a  cream  will  separate  on  standing,  especially  if  much  water  has 
been  added,  but  this  cream  can  be  diffused  through  the  water  by 
agitation.  Vaseline  can  also  be  emulsified  by  adding  it  gradually 
to  the  mucilage,  previously  prepared,  but  in  this  case  it  will 
separate  more  readily. 

Acacia  may  also  be  employed  for  the  emulsification  of  solid 
animal  fats  and  waxes.  These  should  be  melted  and  poured  into 
a  previously  heated  mortar  ;  the  powdered  acacia  should  then  be 
incorporated,  and  the  emulsion  made  with  boiling  water.  Let  the 
student  try  the  following  emulsion  : — Melt  half  an  ounce  of  yellow 
wax  in  a  small  porcelain  capsule,  and  pour  it  into  a  mortar,  which, 
with  its  pestle,  has  been  previously  heated  with  boiling  water. 
Incorporate  half  an  ounce  of  finely-powdered  acacia,  and  add  at 
once  one  ounce  of  boiling  water.  Triturate  until  the  emulsion  is 
formed,  and  when  the  mixture  has  cooled  proceed  to  dilute  it 
with  water. 


The  student  will  now  have  acquired  some  proficiency  in  the  use 
of  acacia  as  an  emulsifier.  He  must  not,  however,  imagine  that 
this  is  the  only  agent  that  may  be  or  should  be  used  to  produce  an 
emulsion,  and  it  is  proposed  in  a  succeeding  note  to  deal  with 
emulsions  prepared  with  other  emulsifiers  than  acacia. 


NOTES  ON  THE  B.P. 

Aqua  Destillata.— Note  the  directions  to  reject  the  first  portion, 
which  would  contain  nearly  all  the  ammonia  and  some  of  the 
carbon  dioxide  present  in  spring  water.  The  reason  for  discon¬ 
tinuing  the  collection  before  the  whole  of  the  water  has  been  dis¬ 
tilled  may  be  easily  demonstrated  by  evaporating  some  water  to 
dryness  in  a  dish  and  gently  heating  the  saline  residue.  This 
darkens,  owing  to  the  charring  of  organic  matter,  and  gives  off 
unpleasant  odours.  The  starch  and  potassium  iodide  test  is  to 
detect  nitro?<s  acid.  This  liberates  iodine  if  present  in  very  minute 
quantities,  the  nitrous  acid  being  reduced  to  nitric  oxide.  The 
formation  of  more  than  a  faint  yellow  coloration  with  Nessler’s 
reagent  (alkaline  potassio-mercuric  iodide)  would  indicate  the 
presence  of  an  undesirable  quantity  of  ammonia. 

Aqua  Laurocerasi. — The  proportion  of  HCN,  *1  (l/10th)per  cent, 
in  the  standardised  product  should  be  carefully  remembered.  It 
is,  therefore,  l/20th  the  strength  of  acidum  hydrocyanicum 
dilutum.  The  body  amygdalin,  which  yields  the  hydrocyanic  acid, 
is  a  typical  member  of  the  class  of  substances  known  as  glucosides. 

Argenti  Nitras. — Solution  of  nitrate  of  silver  and  hydrochloric 
acid  form  silver  chloride  and  nitric  acid, 

AgN  03  +  HC1  =  AgCl  +  HNO,. 

The  filtrate,  therefore,  leaves  no  residue  when  evaporated.  This 
distinguishes  pure  nitrate  from  “toughened  caustic,”  which 
leaves  a  white  residue  of  potassium  salt  after  similar  treatment. 

Argenti  Oxidum. — Moist  silver  oxide  absorbs  carbon  dioxide, 
forming  carbonate.  It  is,  therefore,  desirable  to  wash  and  dry  the 
precipitate  as  quickly  as  possible.  Potassium  and  sodium  hydrate 
precipitate  silver  oxide  from  solution  of  the  nitrate,  as  well  as 
calcium  hydrate,  but  the  excess  of  calcium  salt  is  said  to  be  more 
quickly  removed  by  washing.  Silver  hydrate  (which  might  be 
expected  to  be  produced)  is  not  stable,  but  decomposes  into  oxide 
and  water — 

2AgN  03  +  Ca2(  HO )  =  Ca2(N03)  +  Ag20  +  H20. 

Oxide  of  silver  is  easily  reduced  to  metallic  silver  by  heat  or 
contact  with  organic  matter.  Absence  of  effervescence  when 
dissolved  in  nitric  acid  shows  absence  of  metallic  silver  or 
carbonate. 

Arsenii  Iodidum. — Note  the  inconsistency  in  the  official  dosage 
of  this.  The  liquor  arsenii  et  hyd.  iodid.  contains  ‘  ‘  about  1  grain 
in  100,”  and  may  be  (and  actually  is)  given  in  doses  up  to  30 
minims.  This  quantity  would  contain  nearly  |  grain  of  Asl3, 
although  the  official  dose  is  l/30th  grain.  The  latter  is  undoubtedly 
wrong.  AsI3  is  a  very  weak  compound,  decomposed  by  boiling 
with  water  into  hydriodic  and  arsenious  acids.  The  halogen  com¬ 
pounds  of  phosphorus  are  decomposed  in  an  analagous  manner  by 
mere  contact  with  water,  PBr»  yielding  hydrobromic  and  phos¬ 
phorous  acids  1 

PBr3  +  3H-OH  =  3HBr  +  P(OH)3. 

Beberince  Sulphas. — This  was  introduced  as  a  febrifuge,  but  the 
low  price  of  quinine  has  left  very  little  room  for  its  use.  The 
absence  of  ash  when  ignited  in  air  distinguishes  it  at  once  from  the 
red  iron  scale  preparations.  Note  the  disagreeable  fishy  odour 
given  off  during  ignition. 

Bismuthum. — Bismuth,  like  antimony,  does  not  form  normal 
salts  soluble  in  neutral  aqueous  solution.  Unless  considerable  ex¬ 
cess  of  acid  be  present  an  insoluble  oxysalt  is  produced.  For 
medicinal  use  the  insoluble  oxy nitrate  and  oxycarbonate  are  given 
either  as  powder,  pill,  or  suspended  in  aqueous  vehicles.  The 
large  quantity  of  acid  necessary  to  dissolve  these  oxysalts  to 
normal  salts  rendered  it  impossible  to  give  bismuth  in  solution 
until  its  property  of  forming  soluble  double  compounds  with 
alkali  salts  of  organic  acids  was  discovered.  Citrate  of  bismuth 
and  ammonium  is  one  of  these  compounds  :  it  affords  the  physician 
the  means  of  giving  bismuth  in  neutral  or  alkaline  aqueous 
solution. 


PHARMACEUTICAL  journal, 


151 


'  Feb.  20,  1897] 


Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


A  Weekly  Record  of  Pharmacy  and  Allied  Sciences. 


ESTABLISHED  1841. 


Circulating  in  the  United  Kingdom,  Prance,  Germany, 
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Editorial  Office :  17,  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.C. 
Publishing  and  Advertising  Office :  5,  SERLE  STREET,  W.C. 


LONDON  :  SATURDAY,  FEBRUARY  20,  1897. 


THE  INNER  STRUCTURE  OF  MATTER. 

As  far  back  as  1863,  Otto  Graham  suggested  that  the 
solid,  liquid,  and  gaseous  conditions  of  matter  probably 
always  exist  in  every  liquid  or  solid  substance,  one  pre¬ 
dominating  over  the  others,  and  the  results  of  researches 
conducted  by  Professor  W.  Spring  ( Bulletin  de  VAcademie 
de  Belgique)  and  by  Professor  W.  C.  Roberts-Austen, 
Chemist  and  Assayer  to  the  Mint,  have  fully  confirmed  that 
hypothesis,  demonstrating  the  continuity  of  the  three  states 
of  matter,  and  explaining  why  that  continuity  exists.  Gases, 
as  is  well  known,  are  conceived  as  consisting  of  molecules 
continually  moving  in  all  directions,  the  velocity  of  this 
movement  being  increased  by  raising  the  temperature. 
Liquids  are  also  assumed  to  be  composed  of  molecules 
which  are  capable  of  moving  about  freely,  though  less  rapidly 
than  in  the  case  of  gases.  At  the  “critical  point  ”  where 
matter  passes  from  the  caseous  to  the  liquid  state,  or  the  re¬ 
verse,  it  combines  the  properties  of  the  gas  with  those  of  the 
liquid, and  it  has  lately  been  proved,  Prince  Kropotkin  points 
out  in  the  Nineteenth  Century ,  that  mechanical  laws  which 
hold  good  for  gases  are  as  fully  applicable  to  liquid  solutions, 
as  if  they  really  contained  gaseous  molecules.  Apparently 
there  is  no  substantial  difference  between  #the  inner  structure 
of  a  gas  and  that  of  a  liquid,  what  difference  there  is  being 
one  of  degree  only,  in  the  relative  freedom,  mobility,  and 
speed  of  molecules,  and  perhaps  in  the  size  of  the  particles. 

But  even  in  seemingly  inert  masses  of  metal  and  other 
solid  bodies  the  molecules  are  not  devoid  of  motion,  and 
metallurgical  experiments  prove  conclusively  that  these 
minute  particles  of  matter  never  cease  to  move  about,  chang¬ 
ing  place  indefinitely  and  entering  into  new  and  varied 
combinations.  The  study  of  alloys  has  afforded  the 
necessary  evidence  required  to  convert  a  supposition  into 
certainty.  Alloys,  of  course,  are  compound  metals,  and  they 
combine  the  characteristics  of  merely  physical  mixtures  and 
chemical  compounds.  They  are  totally  different  in  their 
properties  from  the  component  metals,  usually  vann¬ 
ing  in  colour,  hardness,  resistance  to  electric  currents,  and 
melting  point.  Thus,  when  tin,  lead,  and  bismuth  are  mixed 


rapidly  with  mercury,  after  being  as  finely  divided  as  possible, 
the  temperature  is  reduced  to  14°  F.,  a  freezing  mixture 
being  thus  produced.  A  mixture  of  bismuth,  lead,  tin,  and 
cadmium  fuses  in  boiling  water,  though  tin  alone,  the  most 
readily  fusible  of  the  four  metals,  does  not  melt  below 
446°.  The  addition  of  a  minute  trace  of  tellurium  to 
bismuth  so  changes  its  aspect  that  it  might  be  taken  for  a 
totally  distinct  elementary  body.  Similarly,  gold  is  coloured 
purple  by  the  addition  of  aluminium  and  green  by  the  ad¬ 
dition  of  zirconium,  whilst  the  presence  of  thallium  causes  it 
to  lose  half  its  strength,  and  a  trace  of  silicon  causes  it  to 
soften  in  the  flame  of  a  candle.  Bismuth  in  copper  destroys 
its  electric  conductivity,  and  iron  can  be  obtained  in  all  sorts 
of  conditions,  from  the  pure  metal,  soft  as  copper,  to  chrome 
steel  shells  which  will  pierce  nine-inch  armour  plates,  backed 
by  eight  feet  of  solid  oak,  without  their  points  being  de¬ 
formed.  “  A  block  of  an  alloy  is  thus  quite  a  wo  Id,  almost 
as  complicated  as  an  organic  cell.”  Moreover,  a  close  resem¬ 
blance  has  been  shown  to  exist  between  molten  alloys 
and  solutions  of  salts  in  water  and  other  solvents,  the  same 
complicated  physical  and  chemical  phenomena  being  pro¬ 
duced  by  dissolving  one  metal  in  another,  or  by  mixing  two 
molten  metals,  as  when  a  salt  is  dissolved  in  water  or  the 
latter  mixed  with  alcohol.  The  physical  properties  of  the 
metal  used  as  a  solvent,  observes  Kropotkin,  are  entirely 
altered  as  the  molecules  of  the  dissolved  metal  travel,  as  if 
they  were  in  a  gaseous  state,  amidst  its  own  molecules. 
“  Some  of  them  are  dissociated  at  the  same  time,  and  new 
chemical  compounds  of  an  unstable  nature  are  formed,  only 
to  be  destroyed  and  reconstituted  again.  In  a  word, 
all  laws  based  on  the  assumption  of  a  nearly  gaseous 
mobility  of  molecules  and  atoms,  which  have  been  found  to 
be  applicable  to  solutions  of  salts  in  water,  can  be  fully 
applied  to  molten  alloys  as  well.” 

But  the  question  remained  whether  the  mobility  of  the 
molecules  disappears  or  not  when  an  alloy  is  solidified,  and 
to  this  the  answer  is  supplied  by  Spring’s  experiments.  He 
has  been  able  to  weld  small  cylinders  of  steel,  aluminium, 
bismuth,  cadmium,  copper,  tin,  lead,  gold,  and  platinum,  by 
simply  pressing  them  together  by  means  of  a  hand-vice,  after 
their  ends  had  been  carefully  planed  true  to  l/2500th  of  an 
inch.  Whether  the  cylinders  consisted  of  the  same  or  differ¬ 
ent  metals,  they  were  invariably  found  to  be  solidly  welded 
to  each  other,  after  remaining  under  pressure  for  a  few 
hours.  If  at  the  same  time  they  were  heated  to  a  tempera^ 
ture  very  remote  from  their  fusion  temperature,  all  traces  of 
the  joint  disappeared,  and  when  the  united  cylinders  were 
subsequently  torn  asunder  by  means  of  a  porverful  machine, 
quite  new  tearing  surfaces  were  produced.  Real  alloys  can 
thus  be  formed  by  simple  contact,  interpenetration  of  the 
molecules  of  the  two  component  metals  taking  place,  though 
both  remain  perfectly  solid  meanwhile,  and  “  the  great 
puzzle  of  plasticity  in  the  most  solid  rocks  and  the  most 
brittle  metals  thus  ceases  to  be  a  puzzle.”  Alloys  have  also 
been  prepared  by  pressing  together  fine  filings  of  different 
metals  and,  finally,  Spring  has  proved  that  metals  in  the  solid 
state  evaporate  from  their  surfaces,  just  as  camphor  evaporates. 
It  was  previously  known  that  rods  of  lead,  steel,  or  glass  will 
become  permanently  bent  if  left  resting  on  their  two  ends 
only  for  a  considerable  time  ;  and  that  solid  lead,  copper,  or 
steel  under  pressure  will  “  flow  ”  through  an  opening,  exactly 
in  the  same  way  as  clay, which  reproduces  the  flow  of  a  vein  of 
water  thiough  the  same  opening.  Adding  to  these  facts 


152 


PHARMACEUTICAL  journal. 


[Feb.  20.  1897 


the  phenomena  observed  by  Professor  Spring— which  show 
that  the  superficial  molecules  of  a  solid  piece  of  metal  enjoy 
the  same  mobility  as  if  that  surface  were  in  the  liquid  state, 
.and  can  as  easily  be  freed  from  cohesion  with  their  neigh¬ 
bours  and  projected  into  space,  as  if  they  were  gaseous  mole¬ 
cules — Graham’s  broad  generalisation  of  thirty-four  years  ago 
is  clearly  verified,  and  enables  the  required  explanation  of 
these  recently  noted  phenomena  to  be  furnished.  A  decisive 
proof  of  the  hypothesis,  which  has  been  practically  lost 
sight  of  for  many  years,  was  furnished  by  Professor 
Roberts-Austen,  who#  was  at  one  time  a  co-worker  with 
Graham,  when  he  announced  in  a  lecture  before  the  Royal 
Society  twelve  months  ago  that  gold  can  diffuse  through 
lead  cylinders,  and  as  Kropotkin  pertinently  points  out,  it 
would  now  appear  that  metals  “probably  are  never  quiescent, 
-and  fully  deserve  that  the  methods  so  fruitful  for  the  study 
<of  living  beings  should  be  applied  to  them  and  their  alloys.” 


A  THEORY  OF  VEGETABLE  ANTITOXINS. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal,  held  at 
'Calcutta  on  January  6,  a  “Theory  of  Vegetable  Antitoxins  ” 
was  presented  by  Surgeon-Captain  H.  A.  Cummins,  I  M.S. 
who  believes  that  an  analogous  process  may  take  place 
'■naturally  in  plants  to  that  which  results  in  the  formation  of 
antitoxins  in  animals.  So  far  as  he  knows,  no  satisfactory 
explanation  has  yet  been  given  as  to  the  origin  or  use  in  the 
plant  of  the  majority  of  substances,  chiefly  of  a  toxic  nature, 
•produced  as  the  result  of  the  secondary  products  of  metas¬ 
tasis.  That  these  poisons  are  lethal  to  the  organisms  in  the 
soil,  and  primarily  produced  by  their  irritation  of  the  plant 
by  entering  it  and  causing  fermentation,  seems  to  him  a 
simple  explanation.  He  points  out  how  colouring  matters 
may  gain  admission  to  the  plants’  vascular  system,  also 
dhat  the  cells  exercise  an  absorptive  or  destructive 
•Influence  in  the  case  of  the  colouring  matter  absorbed 
by  hyacinths.  Moreover,  he  dwells  upon  the  symbiosis 
which  takes  place  between  certain  fungi  and  the  roots  of 
green-leaved  plants,  and  suggests  that  from  analogy  we  may 

•  conclude  that  there  may  be  a  similar  relation  between  bacteria 
and  the  roots  favourable  or  otherwise  to  the  plants  concerned. 

There  is  also  the  possibility  of  entrance  by  the  stomata.  If 
•the  protoplasm  is  seen,  in  the  fermentative  processes  of 
metastasis  in  planfs  and  animals,  to  act  similarly  in  each  case, 
it  may  be  inferred  that  under  favourable  conditions  antitoxins 
maybe  formed  in  plants  as  in  animals  by  any  matter  capable 

•  of  stimulating  the  cells  in  the  required  manner.  From  a 
consideration  of  these  and  many  other  circumstances,  it 
-seems  to  Dr.  Cummins  almost  certain  that  organisms  do  gain 
admission  to  the  vascular  systems  of  plants.  The  irritation 
which  they  produce  on .  the  cells  probably  leads  to  the 
formation  of  antitoxins,  and  amongst  these  antitoxins  may 
be  included  many  of  the  alkaloids  and  other  plant 
principles  which  are  constantly  employed  as  medicinal 
'•remedies,  and  for  other  purposes.  These  may  exist  in 
7the  plant  in  the  form  in  which  we  know  them,  or  in 
.-such  a  state  that  a  very  slight  change  by  the  action  of  a 
ferment  is  capable  of  converting  them  into  substances 
capable  of  protecting  the  cells  or  into  their  known  condition. 
Further,  it  is  urged,  from  what  is  known  of  the  peculiarities 
of  protoplasm  in  different  species,  it  seems  quite  possible  for 
one  kind  of  protnphyte  to  produce  toxins  having  different 
•characters  in  different  plants. 


ANNOTATIONS 


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are  requested  to  communicate  with  the  Editor  or  Publishers  with¬ 
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necessary  arrangements.  It  is  hoped  on  this  occasion  to  produce 
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point  of  view,  and  to  this  end  readers  are  requested  to  co-operate. 

The  Eighth  International  Pharmaceutical  Congress  will  dis¬ 
cuss  the  questions,  a  list  of  which  appears  at  p.  147,  during  the  six 
days,  August  14  to  19  inclusive.  Anyone  interested  in  pharmacy  will 
be  entitled  to  become  a  member  and  participate  in  the  proceedings, 
on  payment  of  a  subscription  of  ten  francs.  Individuals  or  asso¬ 
ciations  contributing  towards  the  expenses  of  the  Congress  will  be 
entitled  to  election  as  honorary  members,  and  will  receive  all 
papers  published  in  connection  with  the  Congress.  The  French 
language  will  be  employed  as  far  as  possible,  and  sections  will  be 
formed  to  deal  with  matters  that  cannot  well  be  considered  by  the 
Congress  as  a  whole.  Three  prizes  are  offered  for  papers  on 
scientific  and  practical  questions  of  pharmaceutical  interest,  and 
three  more  for  papers  on  professional  interests.  A  list  of  twenty 
suitable  topics  for  papers  will  be  sent  on  application  to  the  General 
Secretary,  M.  Maurice  Duyk,  102,  Chaussee  de  Wavre,  Brussels, 
who  will  also  be  glad  to  furnish  any  other  information  that  may 
be  desired  respecting  the  arrangements  for  the  Congress. 

The  School  of  Pharmacy  Dinner  will  be  held  at  the  Holborn 
Restaurant  on  Friday  next,  at  7  p.m.,  Professor  Greenish  in  the 
chair.  There  is  already  every  prospect  of  a  most  successful 
reunion  of  past  and  present  “  Square  ”  students,  but  this  final 
notice  is  published  in  the  hope  that  many  others  who  have  as  yet 
neglected  to  secure  tickets  will  hasten  to  communicate  with  the 
Honorary  Secretary — Mr.  T.  P.  Tebbutt,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square, 
W.C. — who  will  be  glad  to  find  room  for  more. 

Penny  in  the  Slot  Electricity  is  the  latest  mechanical 
development,  according  to  the  Daily  Telegraph,  a  London  company 
having  undertaken  to  supply  electricity  for  an  eight-candle  power 
incandescent  lamp,  during  six  hours,  to  any  consumer  prepared  to 
drop  the  most  popular  coin  of  the  realm  into  a  specially  devised 
machine.  The  light  can  be  turned  on  or  off  as  desired,  and  some 
of  the  machines  are  so  made  that  thirty-six  pennies  can  be  dropped 
in  at  the  same  time,  and  the  meter  will  then  continue  to  work  until 
full  value  in  electricity  has  been  rendered.  In  the  case  of  gas  similar 
arrangements  have  proved  very  successful  in  London,  leading  to 
the  use  of  that  illuminating  agent  in  many  cases  where  it  would 
not  otherwise  have  been  employed.  If,  therefore,  electricity  can 
be  supplied  on  similar  lines,  its  use  in  small  houses  may  be  expected 
to  increase  rapidly. 

The  Manna  of  the  Israelites  has  been  supposed  to  be  the 
sap  of  a  tamarisk  ( Tamarix  gattica-mannifera),  exuded  under  the 
influence  of  a  parasite,  but  more  recently  it  has  been  stated  by 
Kerner  that  an  edible  lichen  (Lecanora  esculenta,  Pall. )  should  be 
regarded  as  the  true  manna.  Writing  in  Science  Gossip,  M.  J. 
Teesdale  refers  to  this  statement,  and  after  giving  an  illustrated 
description  of  the  lichen  and  several  allied  species,  concludes  by 
observing  that  it  is  much  more  probable  that  the  actual  food  of  the 


Feb.  20,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


153 


Israelites  consisted  of  the  exudation  still  known  as  manna  than 
of  the  dry  and  insipid  lichen.  Edible  lichens  have  been  used 
as  food,  when  no  other  food  was  to  be  obtained,  in  Asia 
Minor,  Algiers,  and  elsewhere.  When  ground  into  flour,  bread 
has  been  prepared  from  them,  which  was  pronounced  little 
inferior  to  wheat  bread,  but  another  account  of  the  same 
manna  was  to  the  effect  that  it  was  hard,  inodorous,  and 
insipid.  French  soldiers  have  used  edible  lichens  as  provender  for 
their  horses  in  the  Sahara,  and  this  curious  natural  product  has 
doubtless  served  as  food  for  both  men  and  animals  in  several 
countries.  Sweet  gummy  mannas  are  yielded  by  various  species 
of  Alhagi,  as  well  as  by  the  tamarisk,  the  exudation  in  the  latter 
case  being  consequent  upon  punctures  by  the  Coccus  manniparus, 
Ehr.  It  is  doubtful  if  the  evidence  offered  by  the  author  will 
carry  conviction  either  one  way  or  the  other,  but  the  paper 
is  useful  for  the  information  given  concerning  several  of  these 
gummy  exudations  known  under  the  term  “  manna.” 

The  Chemists’  Exhibition  is  to  be  held  this  year  in  Covent  Garden 
Theatre,  London,  the  space  required  being  greatly  in  excess  of 
that  occupied  in  former  years.  The  exhibition  will  remain  open 
during  five  days,  August  16  to  20  inclusive,  and  will  thus  follow 
closely  on  the  Conference  at  Glasgow.  The  arrangements  are 
much  the  same  as  last  year,  only  on  a  much  more  extensive  scale, 
and  full  particulars  may  be  obtained  of  the  Manager,  42,  Bishops- 
gate  Without,  London,  E.C. 

The  Chemistry  of  Tea  was  the  subject  of  an  exhaustive  lecture 
before  the  Society  of  Arts  on  Wednesday,  February  10,  the  lecturer 
being  Mr.  David  Crole,  who  has  had  practical  experience  of  the  sub¬ 
ject,  both  as  a  chemist  and  as  a  planter  in  Assam.  The  object  of 
the  lecture,  a  full  report  of  which  appears  in  the  Society’s  Journal 
for  February  12,  is  apparently  an  attempt  to  secure  the  improve¬ 
ment  of  the  fragrant  leaf  by  inducing  manufacturers  to  resort 
less  to  rule-of-thumb  methods.  A  better  knowledge  of  chemistry 
seems  to  be  required  in  this  industry  as  in  so  many  others. 

The  Nansen-Sverdrup  Expedition  records  are  partially  dis¬ 
closed  to  the  public  this  week,  but  the  complete  results  of  the  ex¬ 
pedition  from  a  scientific  point  of  view  will  not  be  published  for 
some  time  to  come.  Already,  however,  we  know  that  the  formerly 
mysterious  ice  realm  of  the  North  Polar  area  is  to  a  very  great  ex¬ 
tent  brought  within  the  limits  of  positive  knowledge.  The  Arctic 
basin  is  now  known  to  be  a  broad,  pear-shaped  gulf,  2500  miles 
long,  and  900  miles  broad  at  its  entrance  between  Greenland  and 
Norway,  widening  to  2000  miles  at  its  nearly  blind  Behring  Strait 
end.  Prince  Kropotkin,  in  the  current  issue  cf  the  Nineteenth 
Century,  gives  a  clear  account  of  the  oceanic  currents  in  this 
gulf,  and  shows  that  the  polar  basin  is  a  real  continuation 
of  the  deep  trough  of  the  North  Atlantic,  its  water  being  in  as 
regular  circulation  as  that  of  other  oceans,  and  heat  and  cold  as 
regularly  exchanged  there  as  in  the  Atlantic  or  Pacific.  The 
warm  current  from  the  Atlantic  is  still  felt  under  the  85th  degree 
of  latitude,  but  it  is  found  underneath  the  cold  current,  its  greater 
salinity  rendering  it  the  denser  of  the  two,  although  it  retains 
there  a  temperature  of  about  one  degree  Fahrenheit  above  freezing 
point.  The  result  is  that  the  Arctic  Ocean  is  prevented  from 
freezing  in  its  depths  and  becoming  a  terrible  reservoir  of  cold. 

The  Drug  and  Chemical  Trade  of  Japan,  according  to  the 
Board  of  Trade  Journal,  which  quotes  from  the  Japan  Weekly 
Mail,  has  advanced  in  proportion  to  the  progress  in  other  lines  of 
industry.  Pills,  ointment,  powders,  and  similar  preparations,  in 
addition  to  the  so-called  kaden  myoyaku  (patent  drags  ranged  under 


the  title  of  hereditary  family  secrets),  included  only  140  varieties 
twenty  years  old,  but  since  the  stamp  duty  was  enforced  in  1886, 
a  considerable  change  has  come  about  in  the  drug  trade.  The 
“  hereditary  family  secret  drugs”  have  been  gradually  superseded, 
and  drugs  compounded  after  the  foreign  style  have  appeared  in 
large  numbers.  “  Quinine  bitters  ”  is  described  as  having  enjoyed 
a  remarkable  popularity  for  about  two  years,  and  at  present  every 
druggist  of  note  has  among  his  list  of  drugs  one  or  more  com¬ 
pounded  with  quinine  bitters  “for  restoring  the  disorders  of  the 
digestive  organs.”  Indeed,  drugs  of  this  description  are  now  said 
to  be  very  numerous,  there  being  at  least  forty  varieties,  and  even 
“  hair  restorer”  has  run  to  five  or  six  varieties  in  Japan. 

The  Foreign  Trade  of  the  United  Kingdom  for  the  month 
ending  January  31  last  shows  an  increase  in  imports  over  the  corre¬ 
sponding  period  in  1896,  and  a  decrease  in  exports,  both  of  British 
and  Irish  produce  and  manufactures,  and  of  foreign  and  colonial 
merchandise.  The  following  are  the  figures  : — 


1897. 

1896. 

Increase 

Decrease 

Per  cent.. 

Imports . 

£ 

39,975,668 

£ 

38,473,856 

11,146,491 

4,806,3S4 

£ 

1,501,812 

£ 

3*9 

Exports  (Home  Produce,  etc.)  . . 
Exports  (Foreign  and  Colonial) 

19,762,378 

4,177,82. 

1,384,11! 

628,55! 

6-5 

13-1 

Alarmist  critics  will  probably  contend  that  these  figures  all  indi¬ 
cate  a  retrograde  tendency,  whilst  optimists  will  point  with 
satisfaction  to  the  fact  that  we  are  receiving  more  goods  in 
exchange  for  a  smaller  output,  and  the  statistics  will  doubtless  be 
so  manipulated  as  to  present  what  is  apparently  a  clear  case  on 
both  sides.  But  after  all  there  does  seem  to  be  something  in  the 
argument  that  increasing  imports  and  decreasing  exports  may 
alike  betoken  extra  prosperity  amongst  the  people  at  large,  who, 
though  doing  less  work,  receive  better  pay  and  have  more  to 
spend  on  imported  luxuries. 

Our  Trade  with  British  Possessions  is  greatly  improved  from, 
the  protectionist  point  of  view,  the  value  of  exports  from  the 
United  Kingdom  having  risen  from  £70,001,524  in  1895  to 
£83,934,874  in  1896,  whilst  the  imports  show  a  decrease  from 
£95,530,210  in  1895  to  £93,323,263  in  1896.  That  is  to  say,  our  ex¬ 
ports  to  British  Possessions  show  an  increase  for  the  past  year  of 
£13,933,350,  and  our  imports  from  there  a  decrease  of  £2,206,947. 
The  United  States  and  most  other  American  countries  sent  us  more 
goods  than  formerly  in  1896,  and  the  same  was  the  case  with  France, 
Belgium,  Roumania,  Germany,  and  other  European  countries,  ex¬ 
cept  Russia,  Turkey,  and  Greece,  which  sent  less  during  1896  than, 
the  previous  year.  On  the  other  hand,  exports  to  Germany,  France, 
and  all  other  European  countries,  except  Spain,  Italy,  Austria, 
and  Turkey,  increased  last  year.  Readers  interested  in  these  facts 
will  find  details  in  the  Board  of  Trade  J ournal  for  F ebruary. 

Medicated  Pencils  are  described  by  Mazurier  (Bull.  Commer., 
xxv.,  33),  which  appear  to  be  crayons  composed  of  salts  con¬ 
taining  water  of  crystallisation.  They  are  prepared  by  crushing 
the  crystals  to  coarse  powder,  spreading  this  out  on  an  iron  or 
copper  plate,  and  heating  it  until  dehydrated.  The  masses  are  then 
reduced  to  fine  powder,  and  water  is  added  drop  by  drop,  the 
mixture  being  massed  until  of  a  pilular  consistence.  The  mass  is 
quickly  rolled  out  to  the  prescribed  length  on  a  marble  slab,  and 
allowed  to  dry  in  the  air.  In  half  an  hour  the  pencils  will  be  found 
to  be  dry  and  hard,  and  indistinguishable  from  those  cast  in  a 
mould.  Crayons  of  alum,  copper  or  iron  sulphate,  and  silver 
nitrate  may  readily  be  prepared  in  this  manner. 


154 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


|  Feb  20  1897 


PARLIAMENTARY  NOTES  AND  NEWS- 


Return  Tickets. — Mr.  Macdona,  the  Conservative  member  for 
the  Rotherhithe  Division  of  Southwark,  and  whose  name  will  be 
familiar  to  chemists  on  account  of  his  attempt  some  two  years  ago 
to  draw  Parliamentary  attention  to  carbolic  acid  poisoning,  has 
identified  himself  with  another  useful  movement  by  introducing  a 
Bill  to  make  railway  return  tickets  available  during  the  year  of 
their  issue.  It  is  to  be  hoped  this  tilt  against  the  railway  com¬ 
panies  may  be  mors  successful  than  the  honourable  gentleman’s 
almost-forgotten  effort  to  move  the  Privy  Council  in  the  direction 
of  scheduling  carbolic  acid  as  a  poison  within  the  meaning  of  the 
Pharmacy  Act,  1868,  but  it  is  doubtful,  seeing  that  the  second 
reading  is  not  till  J  une  2. 


Vaccination,  as  was  hinted  some  time  back  in  these  pages, 
is  going  to  furnish  plenty  of  work  to  Ministers  during 
question  time.  Mr.  Logan  and  his  colleagues  in  the  House, 
who  champion  the  right  of  parents  to  a  free  choice  in  the 
question  of  the  inoculation  of  their  children,  are  still  plying 
the  President  of  the  Local  Government  Board  with  interroga¬ 
tions  as  to  when  the  recommendations  of  the  .,  Royal  Commis¬ 
sion  are  likely  to  be  put  into  practice.  The  latest  querist  is 
General  Ruksell  (Cheltenham).  In  reply  to  that  gentleman  last 
week,  Mr.  Chaplin  gave  a  very  plausible  reason  for  delaying 
amendment  of  the  Vaccination  Acts.  He  pointed  out  that  among 
the  various  things  recommended  by  the  Commission  was  the  further 
investigation  into  the  effects  of  storing  vaccine  in  glycerin— a 
method  which  Dr.  Copeman,  one  of  the  Board’s  inspectors,  had 
found,  by  experiment,  to  be  worthy  of  consideration.  Acting  upon 
this  recommendation,  Dr.  Thorne  Thorne  and  Dr.  Copeman  had 
been  sent  to  Paris,  Brussels,  Berlin,  Dresden,  and  Cologne  to  elicit 
information  as  to  the  preparation,  storage,  and  distribution  of 
glycerinised  calf  lymph,  as  well  as  the  results  attending  its  use. 
Naturally  some  time  must  elapse  before  the  information  obtained 
can  be  collated  and  presented  as  a  report,  but  Mr.  Chaplin  further 
showed  the  improbability  of  legislation  on  Vaccination  this  year 
by  reminding  the  House  that  any  important  change  in  the  lymph 
supply  must  necessarily  bring  about  a  very  considerable  modifica¬ 
tion  in  the  system  of  public  vaccination. 


Registration  of  Firms. — This  Bill,  which  is  designed  to  dis¬ 
close  “who’s  who”  in  commercial  associations,  was  brought  in  by 
Sir  Stafford  Northcote,  and  Sir  J.  Leng  on  the  5th  instant,  and 
will  appear  on  the  paper  for  second  reading  on  March  17.  The 
registration  is  proposed  to  be  effected  under  Board  of  Trade  rules 
by  the  Registrar  of  Joint  Stock  Companies,  and  the  statements 
registered  would  be  available  for  public  inspection  on  payment  of 
a  small  fee.  Such  a  measure  would  be  a  very  valuable  adjunct  to 
an  amended  Companies  Act. 


The  Midwives  Registration  Bill,  now  awaiting  second  reading, 
though  not  exactly  pharmaceutical,  will  be  of  interest  to  chemists, 
and  a  brief  description  of  its  provisions  may  not  be  out  of  place. 
The  object  of  the  Bill  is  to  enable  the  public  to  distinguish  between 
competent  and  incompetent  midwives,  and  the  promoters  seem 
sanguine  that  the  discerning  public  will  naturally  choose  the  com¬ 
petent  practitioner.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  Bill  proposes 
to  call  into  existence  a  midwives  board  to  be  constituted 
by  the  General  Medical  Council,  and  to  consist  of  three 
nominees  each,  of  the  Royal  College  of  Physicians,  Royal 
College  of  Surgeons,  the  Society  of  Apothecaries,  and  of  the 
Incorporated  Midwives’  Institute,  with  six  persons  appointed  by 
the  Privy  Council.  This  Board  is  to  make  rules  and  regulations, 
subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Medical  Council,  for  examining. and 
registering  candidates,  and  for  maintaining  discipline  amongst 
registered  midwives. 


Practice  is  not  Protected,  but  the  use  of  the  title  “midwife” 
is  prohibited  in  very  much  more  explicit  terms  than  is  the  title 
“chemist”  by  the  Pharmacy  Act,  1868.  An  unregistered  woman 
implying  that  she  is  registered  becomes  liable  on  summary 
conviction  to  a  fine  not  exceeding  £5,  and — admirable 
draughtmanship — it  is  provided  that  the  cost  of  prosecuting 
the  offender  shall  be  borne  by  the  county  fund  of  the  district  in 
which  the  prosecution  takes  place.  One  omission  may  be  indicated 
however — no  specific  prosecutor  is  mentioned.  That  this  is  a  very 


serious  error  is  shown  by  the  experience  obtained  under  the  17th 
Section  of  the  Pharmacy  Act,  1868.  What  is  anybody’s  business  is 
nobody’s  business,  and  unless  there  is  some  inducement,  local 
authorities  will  not  be  keen  in  burdening  the  county  funds  with 
the  cost  of  vindicating  a  title. 


The  Midwives  Board  is  to  be  authorised  to  levy  registration 
and  examination  fees  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Medical 
Council,  and  is  empowered  to  use  its  income  in  defraying  the 
expenses  of  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  the  Bill.  The  subtle 
minds  which  evolved  the  Bill  were,  however,  impressed  with  the 
possibility  of  expenditure  exceeding  revenue — a  circumstance  not 
unknown  in  examining  and  registering  bodies — and  to  meet  such  an 
eventuality  it  is  provided  that  any  deficiency  shall  be  supplied  from 
the  local  county  funds  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  registered 
mid  wives  in  the  particular  county.  Nor  is  this  the  only  service 
which  the  public  is  to  render  in  return  for  the  privilege  of  engaging 
(and  paying  for)  registered  midwives. 


Every  Local  Sanitary  Authority  in  England  and  Wales — for 
the  Bill  proposes  to  leave  out  Scotland  and  Ireland — is  to  be  charged 
with  the  duty  of  exercising  supervision  over  the  midwives,  to 
report  irregularities  of  practice,  and  to  furnish  the  Registrar  of 
the  Board  with  notification  of  the  death  or  removal  of  registered 
persons.  Altogether  the  Bill  is  calculated  to  be  a  great  success — 
for  the  Board,  which,  secure  against  deficiencies,  will  be  free  to 
develop  its  actual  and  vicarous  functions  unvexed  by  that 
“  eternal  want  of  pence,”  which  is  said  to  militate  against  public 
men.  Whether  the  local  authorities,  medical  men,  or  the  public 
stand  to  benefit  very  much  by  the  measure  may  be  open  to 
question. 

The  Companies  Bill  passed  its  second  reading  in  the  House  of 
Lords  on  the  11th  inst.,  and  has  been  referred  to  the  Select  Com¬ 
mittee  of  last  Session,  which  has  been  re-appointed  for  the  purpose. 
All  this  is  in  accordance  with  the  anticipations  expressed  in  these 
columns.  It  is  noticeable  that  the  “  title  ”  clause  has  not  yet 
re-appeared,  but  no  doubt  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  will  take  an 
opportunity  of  approaching  the  Committee  on  the  subject. 


The  Dangers  of  Calcic  Carbide,  and  especially  of  the 
imported  variety  of  the  substance,  have  been  very  fully  set  forth 
in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  in  the  notes  on  Professor  Lewes’ 
lecture  on  “  Illuminants  ”  {ante,  p.  65).  These  dangers  can  no 
longer  be  ignored,  for  they  grow  with  the  growth  of  the  demand 
for  carbide,  and  it  is  quite  opportune  for  Mr.  Kearley  to  ask  the 
authorities  what  steps  are  being  taken  to  regulate  its  storage.  We 
would  advise  the  honourable  gentleman  to  insert  “conveyance 
and  ”  before  “  storage,”  for  a  sea  voyage  is  very  trying  to  a  sub¬ 
stance  so  sensitive  to  moisture,  and  the  generation  of  phosphoretted 
hydrogen  would  not  be  surprising  in  a  foreign  sample  carelessly 
packed.  In  default  of  better  provision  for  safety,  Mr.  Kearley 
suggests  that  Clause  14  of  the  Petroleum  Act  be  applied  to  carbide. 

A  National  Physical  Laboratory  was  the  subject  concerning 
which  a  deputation,  including  Lord  Lister  and  other  scientists, 
waited  upon  Lord  Salisbury  at  the  Foreign  Office  on  Tuesday,  the 
idea  being  to  induce  the  Government  to  find  funds  for  the  founda¬ 
tion  and  maintenance  of  such  a  laboratory.  Professor  Riicker 
intimated  that  the  initial  outlay  would  be  £30,000,  and  the 
annual  cost  of  maintenance  £5000.  Lord  Salisbury,  in  reply, 
said  the  subject  was  not  second  in  importance  to  any  that 
he  knew  of,  but  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  was  absent 
at  an  important  Committee,  and  he  could  not  pledge  him 
in  his  absence,  though  he  thought  he  could  assure  them  of 
Sir  M.  Hicks-Beach’s  sympathy.  Professor  Rucker  had  omitted 
two  important  words  which  appeared  in  the  printed  state¬ 
ment  before  him.  The  amounts  named  were  those  required 
“at  first”  as  being  more  urgent  and  at  once  necessary  to  meet 
the  exigencies  of  the  case.  Thus  a  growing  vista  of  possible 
expense  was  opened,  and  he  had  known  modest  movements  started 
with  thousands  and  ending  in  millions.  A  duty  which  the  State 
had  always  acknowledged  was  that  of  standardising,  and  the  legis¬ 
lation  for  stopping  adulteration  was  really  a  branch  of  that 
standardising  work.  He  threw  out  as  a  suggestion  that  instead  of 
asking  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  to  pledge  himself  to  outlay 
to  which  no  bounds  were  set,  some  limited  scheme  of  standardising 
should  be  pressed  upon  the  State,  and  the  question  of  general 
research  reserved  or  allowed  to  depend  on  private  munificence. 


Feb.  20.  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


155 


THE  WORLD  Op  PHARMACY. 

■ - ♦ - — 

BUSINESS  MEETINGS. 


School  of  Pharmacy  Students’  Association,  Friday, 
February  5.—?  Mr.  Wilfrid  Lean  in  the  chair. —  Mr.  S.  C. 
Hovenden  read  a  paper  on — - 

Artificial  Light. 

He  showed  that  one  of  the  most  primitive  forms  of  illumination 
was  the  rush  light,  which  was  made  by  dipping  the  stem  of  a  rush 
in  a  cauldron  of  melted  fat,  and  obtaining  a  thick  coating  of  fat 
round  the  rush,  which  formed  the  wick.  The  rush  light  was 
succeeded  by  the  tallow  candle,  the  fat  used  being  beef  and 
mutton  suet,  and  the  wick  made  of  cotton  ;  there  were  numerous 
objections  to  this.  1.  The  low  melting  point  of  the  tallow  and  its 
oily  nature.  2.  Irritating  fumes  produced  due  to  the  glycerin  in 
the  tallow  being  decomposed  and  yielding  acrolein.  Candles  are  now 
chiefly  composed  of  stearic  acid,  which  is  one  of  the  constituents 
of  tallow  and  other  fats  ;  it  has  a  higher  melting  point  than  tallow, 
namely,  159°  F.,  and  the  gases  produced  by  the  destructive  dis¬ 
tillation  of  stearic  acid  in  the  flame  of  the  candle  burn  with  a 
brighter  flame  than  those  produced  from  tallow.  Those  candles 
known  as  “  Composite”  consist  of  a  mixture  of  stearic  and 
palmitic  acids.  The  wicks  of  candles  were  a  great  source  of  trouble 
at  first,  since  the  cotton  wicks  showed  a  great  tendency  to  stand  up 
above  the  body  of  the  candle  till  they  came  in  contact  with  the  air. 
One  method  to  obviate  the  long  wicks  was  to  soak  them  in  solution 
of  nitre  so  that  they  provided  their  own  oxygen,  but  if  the  solution 
were  slightly  too  strong  the  wick  disappeared  in  the  fat,  and  the 
flame  was  extinguished.  Another  method,  invented  by  Messrs. 
Palmer,  of  London,  was  to  have  a  thin  bismuth  wire  running 
through  the  wick,  which  fused  at  its  end;  forming  a  small  knob 
and  causing  the  tip  of  the  wick  to  bend  and  come  in  contact  with 
the  air.  The  cottons  of  the  wick  are  now  plaited  together  and  the 
wick  tends  to  bend  naturally.  Candles  have  been  generally 
succeeded  by  lamps,  colza  or  a  variety  of  petroleum  oil  being 
burnt  in  them,  though  a  primitive  lamp  was  at  one  time  used  con¬ 
sisting  of  a  bowl  of  rancid  olive  oil,  the  wick  being  kept  afloat  by 
passing  through  a  cork  or  some  other  buoyant  substance.  In  all 
the  flames  mentioned  above  the  light  is  due  to  the  incandescence 
of  carbon  particles  liberated  by  the  decomposition  of  various 
hydrocarbons  in  the  flame,  and  in  ordinary  coal-gas  flame  the 
light  is  likewise  due  to  this,  but  we  can  have  it  derived  from  the 
incandescence  of  other  bodies  heated  in  atmospheric  gas  burners,  an 
example  of  this  being  the  Welsbach  mantle,  consisting  of  zirconia 
or  thoria,  with  a  small  percentage  of  ceria. 


School  of  Pharmacy  Students’  Association,  Friday, 
February  12. — Mr.  Wilfrid  Lean  in  the  chair. — Papers  were  read 
by  Messrs.  Morgan  and  Smith  on  “Crystallography”  and  “Our 
Mother  Tongue  ”  respectively.  Discussions  followed  each  paper, 
in  which  the  Chairman,  Secretaries,  Messrs.  Matthews,  Morgan, 
Nelson,  Perredes,  and  Tebbutt  took  part. 


Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,  Thursday,  February  11. 
— Mr.  Charles  Morley,  President,  in  the  chair.— The  item  down 
on  the  programme  for  this  meeting  was  ‘  ‘  Short  Papers  by 
Members,”  and  the  first  communication  took  the  form  of  some 
Suggested  Improvements  in  the  Rules  of  the  C.A.A. 
tendered  by  Mr.  Walter  A.  Tasker,  one  of  the  new  members 
elected  at  the  commencement  of  the  Session.  His  first  suggestion, 
on  the  acceptance  of  anonymous  papers,  was  put  forward  on 
the  grounds  that  it  would  probably  induce  many  of  the  younger 
members  to  submit  communications  to  the  Association,  and  thus 
the  interest  of  those  who  being  shy  would  otherwise  remain  silent, 
would  be  strengthened.  This  idea  was  strongly  condemned  by 
the  President  and  several  other  members,  their  reasons  being  that 
communications  to  which  the  authors  were  either  afraid  or  ashamed 
to  append  their  names  would  be  better  appreciated  if  they 
remained  unread,  save  by  the  authors  themselves.  A  few  sugges¬ 
tions  for  the  comfort  of  members,  particularly  those  fresh  from  the 
provinces,  were  received  with  more  favour,  although  it  was 
generally  agreed  that  smoking  at  meetings  as  recommended  by 
Mr.  Tasker,  while  being  appreciated  by  some,  would  probably  be  a 
source  of  annoyance  to  others,  and  therefore  it  would  not  be  wise  to 


establish  the  practice.  The  formal  introduction  of  new  members  to* 
the  President  at  the  meetings  was  suggested  as  being  a  means  where- 
by  older  members  could  make  their  acquaintance,  and  by  a  few 
friendly  words  help  to  make  their  first  meeting  more  enjoyable. 
This  idea  was  thought  to  be  a  good  one.  The  retention  of  members 
was  next  considered,  Mr.  Tasker’s  suggestions  receiving  the 
approval  of  most  of  the  members  present,  the  principal  idea  being 
that  by  the  payment  of  a  nominal  or  a  life  subscription  a  man  who 
having  once  become  a  member  might,  when  not  residing  in  London, 
still  retain  his  membership,  and  consequently  his  interest  in  the 
Association.  The  establishment  of  a  “Bureau  d’Emploi,”  while 
being  fully  acknowledged  to  be  an  excellent  suggestion,  was 
thought  by  the  President  and  others  to  be  hardly  practicable,  at 
any  rate  under  the  present  conditions  of  the  Association.  The 
advisability  of  forming  a  “  trade  section”  on  the  lines  of  a  trade 
union  to  protect  the  interests  of  assistants  was  rather  doubted  by 
Mr.  C.  Morley,  Mr.  C.  E.  Robinson  and  others,  the  opinion  being 
expressed  that  there  are  very  few  professions  or  businesses  in  which, 
the  relations  between  masters  and  assistants  are  so  good  as  in> 
pharmacy.  The  suggested  formation  of  a  branch  of  the  “Galen* 
Lodge  ”  for  chemists’  assistants  was  heartily  approved,  and  a  sug¬ 
gestion  that  a  member  of  the  Galen  Lodge  be  invited  to  read  a 
paper  on  the  subject  during  the  next  session  will  probably  be 
considered  by  the  Council.  In  submitting  these  suggestions,  Mr. 
Tasker  laid  no  claim  to  originality,  but  offered  them  in  the  hope 
that  they  might  be  favourably  considered  by  the  members  and 
Council,  and  that  as  a  result  the  Association  would  increase  in. 
usefulness  and  popularity. 

A  short  paper  was  then  read  by  Mr.  S.  Summers  on  the 
Life  and  Work  of  Dr.  William  Harvey. 

It  was  most  interesting,  and  delivered  in  a  very  pleasing  manner.. 
Commencing  with  Dr.  Harvey’s  birth  at  Folkestone  in  the  year  1578, 
Mr.  Summer  gave  a  brief  outline  of  his  career  as  a  student  at  King’s 
School  Canterbury,  Cambridge  University,  and  at  the  famous 
School  of  Physic  at  Padua  under  the  renowned  anatomist  Fabri- 
cuss,  where  he  took  his  M.D.  degree  in  1602.  Returning  to- 
England,  he  took  the  M.D.  degree  at  his  old  University,  and* 
shortly  afterwards  was  admitted  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  College  of 
Physicians,  and  in  1609  was  appointed  to  the  staff  of  St.  Bartho¬ 
lomew’s  Hospital,  his  duties  being,  as  he  quaintly  expressed  them, 
“to  attend  the  hospital  one  day  in  the  weeke  at  leaste 
through  the  yeare,  or  oftener  as  neede  should  requyer,  and 
to  prescribe  only  such  medicines  as  should  doe  the  poore  good  with¬ 
out  regard  to  the  pecuniary  interests  of  the  apothecarey.”  In  1615' 
he  was  appointed  Lumeleian  Lecturer  to  the  Royal  College  of 
Physicians,  and  in  the  following  April  delivered  at  the  college  in 
Knightrider  Street  the  series  of  lectures  setting  forth  his  ideas 
with  regard  to  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  the  notes  of  which, 
occupying  ninety-six  pages  of  closely-written  matter,  are  preserved 
in  the  British  Museum.  In  1618  he  became  Physician  Extra¬ 
ordinary  to  James  I.,  and  ten  years  later  his  work  on  the  circula¬ 
tion  was  first  published  at  Frankfort.  During  the  year  1642  he  left 
London  in  attendance  on  Charles  I. ,  and  was  present  at  the  Battle 
of  Edgehill,  after  which  he  resided  for  a  time  at  Oxford,  taking 
his  M.D.  degree  in  1642,  and  becoming  Warden  of  Merton  College 
in  1645.  Harvey  built  the  library  for  the  College  of  Physicians  in 
1654,  in  recognition  of  which  his  statue  was  erected  outside  the 
College.  He  died  in  1657  and  was  buried  at  Hempstead,  an  oration 
being  delivered  in  his  memory  every  year.  Mr.  Summer  exhibited  a 
copy  of  the  first  English  edition  of  Harvey’s  great  work  which  was 
published  in  1653,  a  fellow  copy  of  which  was  sold  in  1892  by 
auction  for  £40  10s.  He  gave  a  general  description  of  the  book 
and  the  work  of  Harvey,  concluding  with  a  passage  from  Lachary 
Wood’s  Preface,  which  is  a  quotation  from  Galen,  “The  cunning 
of  Nature  in  the  fabrick  of  man’s  body  is  so  great,  that  though 
great  men  have  diligently  and  constantly  searched  after  it,  have 
they  not  found  it  all  out.” 

Dispensing  Query. 

After  the  President  had  commented  on  the  paper,  Mr. 
Summers  said  that  recently  he  had  been  asked  to  prepare  a 
six-ounce  mixture  in  which  half  a  drachm  of  essence  of  lemon 
was  prescribed.  He  wished  to  know  what  should  be  dis¬ 
pensed  in  such  a  case.  Several  members  thought  the  oil  of 
lemon  of  the  B.P.  was  the  correct  thing  to  dispense,  but  the 
President  seemed  inclined  to  think  that  it  should  be  oil  of  lemon 
in  spirit,  the  same  proportion  to  be  used  as  in  the  case  of  essence 
of  peppermint  of  the  B.P.  Mr.  Summers  said  he  held  the  same 
opinion  as  the  President,  and  prepared  the  mixture  accordingly. 


156 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  20,  1897 


Brighton  Junior  Association  of  Pharmacy,  Wednes¬ 
day,  February  10. — A  lecture  on  the  “History  of  Tea”  was 
delivered  by  Mr.  P.  M.  Short,  who  described  the  methods  of 
cultivation  and  preparation  of  tea  in  Ceylon.  After  giving  a 
graphic  description  of  the  laying  out,  draining,  planting,  etc.,  of 
the  plantations,  he  explained  the  various  operations  through  which 
the  leaf  has  to  pass  before  it  is  ready  for  the  teapot. 

Midland  Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,  Wednes¬ 
day,  February  10. — Mr.  F.  H.  Alcock  read  a  paper  before  the 
members  of  the  Midland  Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,  at  the 
Exchange,  Birmingham,  on 

The  Life  of  a  Plant. 

By  a  series  of  well-prepared  slides,  which  were  worked  by  Mr.  J. 
Davis,  Summer  Lane,  Mr.  Alcock  traced  the  life  of  a  plant  from  its 
birth  to  its  final  decay.  In  all  there  were  thirty-nine  slides, 
among  the  more  important  being  illustrations  of  the  volvox- 
globatar,  specimens  of  the  diatoms,  cells  and  spores  of  the 
lycopodium,  hairs  of  the  cotton,  and  glandular  hairs  of  several 
plants,  including  the  drosera.  A  number  of  illustrations  showing 
the  great  division  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  followed,  and  included 
the  pine,  clematis,  maple,  marestail,  sarsaparilla,  and  rush. 
Sections  of  the  various  kinds  of  tissue  were  also  exhibited, 
in  eluding  starch  cells,  stomata,  pollen,  seaweeds,  and  the  common 
moss.  Alternation  of  generations  occupied  some  little  time,  and 
concluded  with  the  reproduction  of  the  chief  types  of  plants.  A 
brief  discussion  followed  the  reading  of  the  paper,  and  at  the 
conclusion,  a  vote  of  thanks  was  passed  to  Mr.  Alcock. 


Edinburgh  Chemists’,  Assistants’,  and  Apprentices’ 
Association,  Friday,  February  12. — Mr.  James  McBain, 
President,  in  the  chair. — Mr.  George  Sinclair  read  a  paper  on 
“Progress  in  Pharmacy,”  which  was  followed  by  Mr.  W.  Make¬ 
peace  Locke’s  paper  on  “The  Profession  of  Pharmacy,  from  an 
Assistant’s  Point  of  View,”  which  appears  at  page  143.  The 
reading  of  the  papers  was  followed  by  a  discussion,  taken  part  in 
by  Messrs.  Brand,  Currie,  Hill,  Kidd,  Locke,  Lunan,  McBain, 
Macpiierson,  Reid,  and  Sinclair. 


Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association  (Leicester), 
Tuesday,  February  16. — Mr.  T.  Howard  Lloyd  in  the  chair.- — A 
meeting  of  the  chemists  of  Leicester  and  district  was  held  in  the 
Clarendon  Rooms,  Grandy  Street,  Leicester,  for  the  purpose  of 
hearing  an  address  from  Mr.  W.  S.  Glyn- Jones  as  to  the  aims  and 
objects  of  the  Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association,  and  to 
discuss  the  advisability  or  otherwise  of  forming  a  local  chemists’ 
association.  The  Chairman  having  explained  the  object  of  the 
meeting,  said  they  all  realised  the  importance  of  trying  to  bring 
about  a  better  state  of  things  in  respect  to  the  profits  on  the  sale 
of  proprietary  articles,  and  the  P.A.T.A.  seemed  to  have  come  for¬ 
ward  in  the  nick  of  time  with  an  excellent  suggestion  of  how  it 
was  to  be  done.  Some  chemists  were  perhaps  in  that  happy 
position  that  they  were  more  or  less  independent  of  the  sale  of 
proprietary  articles,  and  could  afford  to  decline  to  sell 
them,  but  he  thought  the  majority  of  chemists  would 
be  very  glad  to  see  a  better  state  of  things  prevail 
in  regard  to  the  profits  on  proprietary  articles.  The  manner  in 
which  those  articles  were  advertised  so  impressed  them  upon  the 
minds  of  the  public  that  they  believed  all  that  was  said  of  them. 
Therefore,  he  did  not  think  they  could  look  for  relief  by  selling 
their  own  “  substitutes,”  but  must  try,  by  combination,  to  realise 
larger  profits  on  those  articles. — Mr.  Glyn-Jones,  in  the  course  of 
his  address,  said  chemists  had  the  remedy  in  their  own  hands,  and 
he  believed  when  their  numbers  had  sufficiently  increased  and 
large  proprietors  saw  that  they  were  determined  in  their  opposition 
to  the  present  system  of  business,  they  would  have  no  difficulty  in 
achieving  the  object  they  had  in  view. — Mr.  Thirlby  moved  the 
following  resolution  : — 

“That  this  meeting  of  chemists  residing  in  Leicester  and  the  neighbourhood 
cordially  approve  of  the  aims  and  objects  of  the  P.A.T.A.,  and  pledges  itself 
to  support  it  in  every  possible  way.” 

He  thought  it  was  most  unfortunate  that  they  had  no  associa¬ 
tion  in  Leicester,  and  it  behoved  the  chemists  of  the 
town  to  help  the  P.A.T.A.  in  its  good  work. — Mr.  Berridge 
seconded,  remarking  that  he  did  not  see  how  any  chemist  could  do 
other  than  sympathise  with  the  aims  and  objects  of  the  P.A.T.A. 
—Mr.  White  did  not  think  they  need  trouble  about  the  prices  of 
proprietary  articles,  but  should  rather  direct  their  attention  to  try 


and  stop  the  cutting  of  drugs.  With  regard  to  the  show  cards  of 
patent  medicines,  he  made  it  a  rule  to  exhibit  the  show  card  of 
no  firm  unless  he  received  a  guinea  a  year  for  so  doing.  At  the 
present  time  he  had  thirteen  show  cards  in  his  shop,  for  which  he 
received  thirteen  guineas  per  annum.  He  thought  if  chemists 
generally  would  adopt  the  same  rule  they  would  do  some  good.— 
Mr.  Goodess  supported  the  proposition. — Mr.  Clarke  was  not 
sure  whether  they  were  adopting  a  wise  course,  and  thought  the 
question  of  dealing  with  proprietary  articles  was  one  that  should 
be  approached  with  great  carefulness.  After  further  discussion 
the  proposition  was  carried,  and  a  small  committee  was  formed  with 
the  view  of  forming  a  local  association. 

Western  Chemists’  Association  (London),  Wednesday, 
February  17. — Mr.  J.  W.  Taplin,  President,  in  the  chair.— Mr. 
R.  H.  Parker  opened  a  debate  on—  / 

W ill  Legislation  Help  Pharmacy  ? 

He  contended  that  parliamentary  legislation  will  not  greatly 
assist  pharmacy,  and  that  pharmacists  must  look  to  themselves  if 
they  desire  to  improve  their  position  as  a  body.  Little  sympathy 
is  to  be  expected  from  the  House  of  Commons  so  long  as  the  direct 
representation  of  pharmacy  in  the  House  is  so  small,  and  especially 
while  there  are  so  many  representatives  in  Parliament  who  are  directly 
interested  in  opposing  the  passing  of  any  pharmaceutical  legisla¬ 
tion.  Referring  to  the  practice  of  dispensing  by  doctors,  Mr.  Parker 
quoted  the  remarks  of  Dr.  Rentoul,  M.P. ,  on  the  subject,  who 
holds  that  no  chemist  is  properly  qualified  to  prescribe  for  the 
slightest  ailments,  but  that  medical  practitioners  are  both  quali¬ 
fied  and  have  a  legal  right  to  dispense  their  own  prescriptions. 
While  influential  Members  of  Parliament  hold  such  opinions  Mr. 
Parker  thinks  there  is  not  much  hope  for  any  beneficial  legisla¬ 
tion  in  that  direction.  Speaking  of  the  Pharmacy  Act,  he 
said  all  impartial  persons  would  admit  that  the  spirit  of 
the  Act  is  against  company  pharmacy,  yet  they  knew  how 
it  is  interpreted  by  the  legal  mind.  Then,  with  reference  to  recent 
legal  decisions  in  connection  with  the  arsenical  soap  and  other 
cases,  the  decisions  of  the  various  magistrates  had  been  ridiculous 
in  the  extreme,  and  had  brought  to  mind  the  old  saying,  that  ‘  ‘  the 
lawisahass.”  From  remarks  made  by  coroners  it  would  seem 
they  are  ever  ready  to  kick  the  chemist  whenever  he  is  in  any  way 
involved  in  a  case  brought  before  them,  even  though  no  direct 
evidence  against  him  is  produced.  The  coroner  often  censures 
the  chemist,  who  perhaps  has  supplied  a  soothing  mixture  for 
a  child  that  subsequently  dies,  and  he  as  much  as  says  “We 
will  let  you  off  this  time,  but  don’t  do  it  again.”  Mr.  Parker 
thinks  that  if  the  future  prospects  of  pharmacy  depend 
upon  the  fostering  efforts  of  legislation,  the  outlook  is  poor 
indeed.  The  future  development  of  pharmacy  and  the  success 
of  the  pharmacist  rest  with  the  profession,  individually  and 
collectively,  and  the  most  important  factor  to  attain  this  object  is 
education.  The  secret  of  the  success  of  such  countries  as  Germany 
and  Japan  lies  in  that,  and  the  man  who  knows  his  business  and 
keeps  abreast  with  the  times  in  educational  and  other  matters  will 
be  amply  rewarded,  independent  of  what  legislative  enactments 
may  be  in  force.  It  is  necessary  to  utilise  legislation  for  the  pre¬ 
vention  of  fraud,  but  pharmacists  must  keep  a  sharp  look  out  that 
other  people  do  not  run  Bills  through  Parliament  that  will  be 
detrimental  to  pharmacy.  In  conclusion,  Mr.  Parker  said  that 
legislation  will  not  help  pharmacy  much,  but  fortunately  by  sound 
education  and  friendly  intercourse  pharmacists  can  help  themselves 
without  its  assistance. 

Mr.  J.  C.  Hyslop,  whose  duty  it  was  to  oppose  Mr.  Parker, 
found  himself  to  be  very  much  in  accord  with  the  opinions  ex¬ 
pressed  by  him  ;  still,  he  thought  the  paper  bristled  too  much  with 
pessimism.  Coroners,  he  agreed,  treat  chemists  very  unfairly,  and 
overstep  their  duties  again  and  again,  but  if  the  chemist  would 
stand  upon  his  dignity  and  when  attacked  would  defend 
himself,  and  at  the  same  time  point  out  to  the  coroner 
that  his  duty  is  not  to  find  out  or  prove  the  guilt  of 
anyone,  but  simply  to  discover  the  cause  of  death,  Mr.  Hyslop 
thought  he  would  soon  be  brought  to  his  senses.  In  regard  to  legis¬ 
lation,  he  was  of  opinion  that  it  is  not  evenly  balanced  as  between 
pharmacists  and  the  public,  as  the  latter  get  too  much  advantage 
and  the  pharmacist  too  little.  Those  who  handle  drugs  and 
poisons  ought  all  to  be  placed  on  the  same  basis,  and  should  be 
thoroughly  educated  men  as  well  as  legally  qualified,  and  a  name 
should  be  given  them  to  indicate  that  they  are  really 
important  to  the  public  welfare. — Mr.  Warren  agreed  with  most 
of  the  remarks  previously  made.  With  regard  to  coroners  he 


Feb.  20,  1807] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


157 


thought  pharmacists  should  stand  up  for  themselves  ;  the  most 
inoffensive  and  upright  pharmacist  may  be  attacked  for  the  exer¬ 
cise  of  his  legitimate  duties,  but  if  they  will  stand  upon  their  dignity 
-coroners  will  begin  to  understand  that  chemists  are  not  a  lot  of 
worms  to  be  trodden  on  without  protest.  It  is  not  good  to  depend 
too  much  upon  legislation.  Pharmacists  have  powers  to  improve  the 
education  of  the  coming  members  of  the  craft,  and  in  that  way  get 
■legislation  to  consolidate  them  as  a  body.— Mr.  Andrews  questioned 
-very  much  if  legislation  and  the  Pharmacy  Act  of  1868  has  benefited 
pharmacy.  He  thought  pharmacists  on  the  whole  do  not  hold  a 
very  much  higher  position  than  they  did  previous  to  that  Act,  and 
that  legislation  had  a  tendency  to  make  people  rest  upon  what 
they  had  done  instead  of  steadily  progressing.  Education  will 
improve  the  pharmacist  if  it  does  not  improve  pharmacy.- — Mr. 
Tallin  did  not  agree  that  legislation  has  not  done  much  for 
pharmacy.  He  said  he  believed  it  has  done  much  to  improve  the 
-character  and  position  of  pharmacists. 

Mr.  Parker,  in  replying,  agreed  that  the  educational  side  of 
legislation  has  been  very  beneficial  to  pharmacy.  Also  that  only 
those  who  are  qualified  should  be  allowed  to  handle  drugs.  He 
ithought,  with  regard  to  coroners,  that  the  Pharmaceutical  Council 
should  make  it  known  that  they  would  take  into  consideration  any 
case  where  a  coroner’s  inquest  was  held,  and  to  prepare  the 
chemist  to  go  through  with  the  ordeal.  The  consolidation  of 
chemists,  he  thought,  is  very  desirable. 


SOCIAL  MEETINGS. 


Aberdeen  and  North  of  Scotland  Society  of  Chemists 
sand  Druggists,  Tuesday,  February  9. — At  the  annual  assembly 
held  in  the  Trades  Hall  Buildings,  Belmont  Street,  the  first  half 
*of  the  entertainment  took  the  form  of  a  concert,  under  the  chair¬ 
manship  of  Mr.  James  Clark,  pharmaceutical  chemist,  Union 
-Street,  who  in  a  few  appropriate  sentences  bade  the  company 
welcome.  The  various  artists  rendered  their  several  songs  with 
marked  ability.  Promptly  at  ten  o’clock  the  company  adjourned 
ito  the  large  hall,  where  dancing  was  engaged  in  by  about  seventy 
couples  till  2.30  a.m.  Messrs.  Bremner  and  Leslie  courteously  and 
efficiently  discharged  the  duties  of  M.C.’s.  Stewart’s  Quadrille 
Band  supplied  excellent  music.  The  assembly  was  much  enjoyed. 
Air.  J.  Cruickshank  for  the  Senior  Society,  and  Mr.  C.  Philip  for 
the  J unior  discharged  the  duties  of  Secretaries. 


Birkbeck  Institution,  Saturday,  February  13. — The  students 
connected  with  this  institution  held  a  most  successful  conversa¬ 
zione,  which  was  attended  by  considerably  over  a  thousand  people. 
Every  preparation  had  been  made  for  the  entertainment  of  the 
visitors,  there  being  no  lack  of  things  to  interest  and  instruct  from 
-the  moment  of  entering  the  large  hall,  where  the  Hon.  Mr.  Justice 
Bruce  (Vice-President  of  the  Institution),  supported  by  the 
Principal  and  Council,  held  a  reception,  until  the  time  of  leaving 
at  11  p.m.  The  programme  comprised  a  variety  of  means  of 
entertainment  to  suit  all  dispositions.  For  those  of  a  scientific 
turn  of  mind  there  were  lectures  on  “Liquid  Jets,”  by  R.  S. 
Olay,  B.A.,  B.Sc.  ;  the  “  Phenomena  of  Combustion,”  by  j.  Wood¬ 
ward,  B.A.,  F.I.C..  F.C.S.  ;  on  “Insect-Eating  Plants,”  by  A.  B. 
Rendle,  M.A. ,  B.Sc.  ;  “Flat-irons  and  the  Spheroidal  State,”  by 
F.  J.  Cheshire,  who  at  the  conclusion  of  the  lecture  plunged  his  hand 
into  molten  lead  to  illustrate  the  ancient  custom  of  “Ordeal  by  Fire.” 
“‘Acetylene,  the  Latest  Illuminant,”  by  F.  Gossling,  B.Sc.,  F.C.S. ; 
and  the  “  Birth  of  a  Crystal,”  by  G.  F.  Harris,  F.G.S.  In  addition 
to  the  lectures,  numerous  experiments  were  performed  in  the 
laboratories,  such  as  the  liquefaction  of  oxygen  and  air,  the  melt¬ 
ing  of  metal  without  heat,  freezing  a  metal  in  a  red-hot  vessel, 
■etc. ,  etc.  There  were  also  concerts  and  dramatic  entertainments, 
musical  sketches,  displays  of  animated  photographs,  and  demon¬ 
strations  with  the  Rontgen  X  rays.  By  means  of  the  electrophone 
visitors  were  enabled  to  hear  a  variety  of  performances  taking 
place  in  London,  and  by  the  aid  of  the  latest  Edison-bell  phono¬ 
graph  tfiey  could  listen  to  speeches,  songs,  etc. ,  by  leading  politi¬ 
cians  and  singers.  In  the  exhibition  were  shown  pictures,  Post 
'Office  telegraphic  instruments,  engineering  models,  a  motor  car  at 
work,  glass-blowing  by  a  professional  glass-blower,  the  Wimshurst 
electrical  influence  machine,  and  the  new  system  for  connecting 
lightships  with  shore  stations.  Refreshments  were  not  overlooked 
■by  the  Executive  Committee,  and,  in  fact,  nothing  seemed  to  have 
"been  neglected  in  order  to  ensure  for  everyone  a  very  pleasant 
:and  profitable  evening. 


LEGAL  INTELLIGENCE- 


Hunyadi  Janos  and  Uj  Hunyadi  Waters. 

The  action  of  Saxlehner  v.  the  Apollinaris  Company,  which  has 
been  for  some  time  pending,  came  before  Mr.  Justice  Kekewich  for 
trial  on  Tuesday,  February  16.  Mr.  Warmington,  Q.C.,  Mr. 
Neville,  Q.C.,  and  Mr.  Sebastian  appeared  for  the  plaintiff,  and  Sir 
Frank  Lockwood,  Q.C.,  Mr.  Warrington,  Q.C.,  and  Mr.  John  Cutter 
for  the  defendants. 

Mr.  Warmington,  in  opening  the  case,  said  it  was  an  action  to 
restrain  the  defendants  from  passing  off  mineral  water  other  than 
the  produce  of  the  plaintiff’s  springs  as  Hunyadi  Janos,  and  he  must 
give  a  short  history  of  the  facts  out  of  which  the  proceedings  arose, 
because  he  thought  a  scheme  must  have  been  devised  some  ten 
years  ago,  which  came  into  operation  in  March  last.  The  present 
plaintiff'  was  Mrs.  Saxlehner,  widow  and  successor  of  Andreas 
Saxlehner,  who  died  in  1889.  He,  in  1863,  purchased  certain 
estates  near  Buda-Pesth,  and  shortly  afterwards  sunk  wells  and 
placed  upon  the  market  the  mineral  water  thence  obtained,  to  which 
he  gave  the  title  Hunyadi  Janos,  being  the  name  of  a  Hungarian 
hero  who  flourished  in  the  thirteenth  century,  and  which  was  a 
purely  fancy  word  as  applied  to  mineral  water,  and  had  never 
before  been  so  used.  The  trade  rapidly  developed,  and  in  1869 
or  1870  the  water  was  introduced  into  England  and  sold  in 
considerable  quantities  by  several  agents.  A  trade  mark  was 
registered  in  Buda-Pesth,  with  the  portrait  and  name  Hunyadi 
Janos,  and  the  water  was  exclusively  known  in  the  United  King¬ 
dom  under  that  name.  In  1875  Mr.  Steinkopf,  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  defendant  company,  entered  into  negotiations  with  Mr. 
Saxlehner  with  a  view  to  that  company  being  the  sole  importers 
into  the  United  Kingdom  of  the  Hunyadi  Janos  water,  and  in 
1876  an  agreement  for  ten  years  was  concluded  (subsequently 
extended  until  March  25,  1896,  when  it  was  terminated  by  notice 
from  the  Apollinaris  Co.),  under  which  the  defendant  company 
became  the  sole  importers  and  agents  for  Great  Britain  and  her 
colonies  and  foreign  possessions  for  the  sale  of  Mr.  Saxlehner’s 
produce.  The  learned  counsel  read  several  particulars  of  the 
agreement  in  question,  which  made  it  clear  that  the  words  “Hun¬ 
yadi  Janos”  only  applied  to  the  produce  of  the  Saxlehner’s 
springs.  In  June,  1876,  the  defendant  company  registered  two 
trade  marks,  the  only  difference  in  them  being  the  language  in 
which  they  appeared,  which  were  simply  a  reproduction,  with 
slight  variations,  of  the  original  mark  registered  in  1863  by  Mr. 
Saxlehner,  and  it  was  used  as  a  conspicuous  part  of  the  label  under 
which  the  water  was  sold  all  over  the  world  by  the  defendant  com¬ 
pany.  These  trade  marks  were  also  registered  in  America,  but 
there  Mr.  Saxlehner  was  registered  as  the  owner.  Under  these 
trade  marks  the  defendant  company  pushed  the  trade,  and  expended 
large  sums  in  advertising  the  water.  In  January,  1885,  proceedings 
were  taken  by  the  defendant  company  against  another  company  called 
the  Anglo-Hungarian  Mineral  Water  Co.,  Ltd.,  and  in  that  action 
Mr.  J.  C.  Prince,  then  managing  director  of  the  defendant 
company,  made  an  affidavit,  in  which  he  said  that  the  only  mineral 
water  known  in  England  under  the  name  of  Hunyadi  Janos 
was  the  produce  of  the  springs  of  Mr.  Andreas  Saxlehner,  the  sole 
right  to  sell  which  in  the  United  Kingdom  was  in  the  Apollinaris 
Company.  In  that  action  a  perpetual  injunction  was  granted,  and 
an  agreed  sum  paid  for  costs  ;  the  ground  for  the  action  being  the 
sale  by  the  defendants  to  that  action  of  a  water  bearing  a  label  de¬ 
scribing  it  as  Rakoczy,  with  the  addition  of  the  word  “Janos,” 
which  was  alleged  and  held  by  the  Court  to  be  likely  to  deceive 
the  public.  But  the  present  defendants  subsequently  acquired  the 
property  on  which  the  Rakoczy  springs  were  situated,  and  were 
now  seeking  to  foist  it  on  the  public,  associated  with  the  name  of 
Hunyadi.  In  1887  proceedings  were  taken  by  the  Vichy  Co.  to 
expunge  the  Apollinaris  Co.’s  trade  marks  from  the  register,  and 
in  December,  1890,  the  Court  of  Appeal  made  an  order  expung¬ 
ing  the  marks,  one  of  the  grounds  being  that  the  Apollinaris 
Co.  could  not  be  the  owners  of  the  marks,  the  real  proprietor 
being  Mr.  Saxlehner.  Meantime,  in  1887,  an  action  was  com¬ 
menced,  and  was  still  pending  before  Mr.  Justice  Stirling,  in 
which  various  questions  were  raised  as  to  the  respective  rights 
of  Mr.  Saxlehner  and  the  Apollinaris  Co.  under  the  agreement  of 
1876.  It  was  not  necessary  to  go  into  that  action  in  detail,  but 
about  the  same  time  the  defendant  company  began  their  attempt 
to  filch  the  reputation  of  Mr.  Saxlehner,  the  first  step  being  to 
register  a  new  trade  mark  of  their  own,  which  they  called  a  “  mark 
of  selection,”  consisting  of  a  red  diamond,  and  thenceforward  they 


158 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  20,  1897 


endeavoured  by  advertisements,  circulars,  etc. ,  first  to  confuse  the 
genuine  Hunyadi  Janos  water  with  other  Hungarian  mineral 
waters,  and  finally  to  attach  the  reputation  which  it  had  obtained 
to  any  water  which  they  might  sell  under  their  red  diamond  mark. 
A  large  number  of  these  circulars,  letters,  invoices,  and  advertise¬ 
ments  were  read  showing  the  gradual  attempts  made  by  the 
defendant  company  in  the  direction  indicated.  Mr.  Warmington 
then  proceeded  to  narrate  what  had  taken  place  in  Hungary, 
beginning  with  the  acquisition  by  Mr.  Steinkopf,  on  behalf  of  the 
defendant  company,  of  a  small  piece  of  ground  on  which  were 
situated  the  Rakoczy  springs,  and  including  a  statement  of  the 
trade  mark  law  of  Hungary,  and  of  the  pi'oceedings  taken  by  the 
present  plaintiff  to  expunge  various  marks  from  the  register  which 
interfered  w  ith  her  trade  mark  Hunyadi  Janos,  one  of  such  mis¬ 
leading  marks  being  Uj  Hunyadi,  registered  by  Mr.  Steinkopf  in 
Pesth.  The  result  of  all  these  proceedings  was  that  no  one  in 
Hungary  could  sell  any  mineral  under  the  name  of  Hunyadi  Janos, 
except  the  plaintiff.  In  1895  an  amending  Act  was  passed  in  Hun¬ 
gary  cancelling  the  prohibition  in  the  previous  Act  of  trade  marks 
consisting  of  words  or  names,  and  Messrs.  Prince  and  Steinkopf 
then  registered  a  company  in  Hungary  called  the  Uj  Hunyadi,  in 
which  Air.  Prince  held  1194  shares  out  of  2000,  and  a  company  under 
a  similar  name  in  England,  and  then  again  registered  trade  marks  in 
Hungary,  of  which  the  words  Uj  Hunyadi  were  the  principal 
feature.  The  plaintiff  again  took  proceedings,  and  in  August,  1896, 
judgment  was  given  cancelling  all  such  marks.  Coming  back  to  Eng¬ 
land,  the  defendants,  in  1895,  gave  twelve  months’ notice  to  terminate 
the  agreement  on  March  25,  1S96,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year 
1895  the  defendants  began  to  prepare  for  their  course  of  action 
when  the  agreement  was  determined,  and  in  November,  1895,  they 
issued  an  advertisement  headed  “Hungarian  Aperient  AVater,” 
in  which  they  informed  the  trade  that  they  had  given  notice  to 
terminate  their  contract  with  Mr.  A.  Saxlehner,  the  proprietor  of 
the  Hunyadi  Jano  spring;  that  they  had  arranged  to  supply 
aperient  water  drawn  from  springs  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Buda- 
Pesth,  called  the  Uj  Hunyadi  springs,  that  such  water  would 
bear  the  trade  mark  “Apenta,”  and  that  they  were  confident  such 
water  would  be  superior  in  every  respect  to  any  similar 
water  now  offered  for  sale,  and  that  it  would  be  sup¬ 
plied  on  terms  which  would  defy  competition.  Further 
advertisements  of  a  like  character  followed,  in  some  of  which  it 
was  stated  that  the  springs  were  the  property  of  the  Uj  Hunyadi 
Co.,  Limited,  of  Buda-Besth,  and  that  the  water  was  bottled 
under  the  supervision  of  the  Royal  Hungarian  Chemical  Institute, 
Ministry  of  Agriculture,  which  was  untrue,  and  a  label  they 
sought  to  register  in  Hungary  bearing  that  statement  was  refused 
on  that  very  ground.  On  October  1,  1895,  an  application  was 
made  to  the  public  authority  of  Buda-Pesth  by  the  agent  of  Mr. 
Steinkopf  for  permission  to  call  the  springs  hitherto  known  as 
Rakoczy  and  Stephania  by  the  name  of  Uj  Hunyadi,  the  result  of 
which  appeared  to  be  that  such  permission  would  have  to  be 
obtained  from  the  Minister  of  Commerce,  and  that  no  application 
had  been  made.  The  last  event  which  happened  at  Buda-Pesth  in 
connection  with  the  matter  was  the  seizure  on  February  5  last,  by 
plaintiff,  of  sundry  bottles,  corks,  and  capsules  on  the  premises  of 
the  defendant  company,  bearing  the  words  Uj  Hunyadi.  This 
was  not,  however,  a  final  decision,  further  proceedings  being  still 
"pending.  Having  shortly  referred  to  one  or  two  of  the  leading 
eases  on  the  subject,  Mr.  Warmington  made  a  few  remarks  on  the 
defence  set  up  on  the  other  side,  and  then  at  Mr.  Lockwood’s 
suggestion  read  letters  which  had  passed  quite  recently  between 
the  solicitors,  in  which  the  defendants,  on  January  27  last, 
expressed  their  intention,  in  consequence  of  recent  decisions  in 
Hungary,  to  give  up  the  use  of  the  word  Hunyadi  on  their  labels. 

Mr.  Justice  Kekewich  remarked  that  in  view  of  this  offer,  it 
seemed  as  if  he  had  to  try  the  action  simply  for  the  sake  of 
deciding  the  question  of  costs. 

Mr.  Warmington  said  he  could  not  quite  admit  that,  and  after 
some  further  discussion  the  case  was  adjourned. 


On  Wednesday  the  case  was  continued,  and  several  witnesses 
were  called  on  behalf  of  the  plaintiff,  including  M.  Richter,  the 
manager  of  plaintiff  s  business  in  Buda-Pesth,  Mr.  Michael  Car- 
teighe,  Mr.  J.  J.  Snook,  trading  as  Wilcox  and  Co.,  Mortimer 
Street,  formerly  of  Oxford  Street,  and  also  as  Gabriel  Jozeau, 
Haymarket,  their  evidence  going  to  show  the  identification  of 
Saxlehner’ s  mineral  water  by  the  name  of  Hunyadi  Janos  and  the 
possibility  of  the  public  being  deceived  by  the  defendants’  labels. 


Dr.  Darvai,  a  legal  gentleman  fromBuda-Pesth,  was  next  called  to 
prove  the  law  of  trade  marks  in  Hungary,  and  the  various  judg¬ 
ments  given  there.  • 

Sir.  F.  Lockwood  objected  to  the  admissibility  of  a  good  deal  of 
this  evidence,  and  his  Lordship  said  he  thought  the  objection  valid* 
but  it  would  be  safer  to  let  the  evidence  be  given. 

Mr.  Walter  Hills,  and  Mr.  Hy.  Hillier,  Manager  to  Messrs, 
Allen  and  Hanburys,  also  gave  evidence  as  to  the  association  of  the 
name  Hunyadi  Janos  with  Saxlehner’s  produce,  and  the  further 
hearing  was  again  adjourned. 


Caffeine  Iodol. — Not  the  least  remarkable  attribute  of  iodo¬ 
form  is  the  number  of  “substitutes  ”  that  it  has  called  into  exist¬ 
ence.  Among  these  we  must  now  class  caffeine  iodol,  alight  grey,, 
odourless,  tasteless  powder,  almost  insoluble  in  ordinary  solvents. 
It  is  prepared  by  the  reaction  of  equivalent  weights  of  caffeine  and 
iodol  in  alcoholic  solution.  In  addition  to  being  used  externally 
for  all  the  purposes  to  which  iodoform  is  put,  it  is  also  prescribed 
internally  instead  of  potassium  iodide.  Pham.  Ze.it.,  xli. ,  49/. 

SopiUM  Chlorate  in  Uterine  Cancer. — As  a  palliative  in  the 
treatment  of  cancer  of  the  uterus,  Duvrac  has  found  sodium 
chlorate  of  service.  It  is  given  internally  in  the  following  mix¬ 
ture  Sodium  chlorate,  5  drachms  ;  syrup  of  orange  flowers, 
8  drachms;  distilled  water,  3  ounces.  Mix.  From  two  to  eight 
tablespoonfuls  to  be  taken  daily,  commencing  with  the  smaller 
dose  and  gradually  increasing  up  to  the  maximum.  Local  appli¬ 
cations  are  also  made  with  the  following  powder Sodium 
chlorate,  bismuth  subnitrate,  of  each  2J  drachms ;  iodoform, 
1  drachm.  Mix.  A  small  quantity  of  this  is  applied  on  a  tampon 
to  the  cervix.  It  is  also  applied  on  strips  of  sterilised  tailatan 
impregnated  with  1  part  iodoform,  20  parts  sodium  chlorate,  and 
20  parts  glycerin.  Lastly,  a  vaginal  douche  of  a  quart  of  boiled 
water  having  in  solution  150  grains  of  sodium  chlorate  in  solution, 
is  used  once  daily.  Under  tliis  treatment  metrorrhagia  and  foetid 
discharge  disappear  almost  completely,  and  pain  ceases,  the 
appetite  and  general  health  improve,  and  patient  enjoys  compara¬ 
tive  comfort.  The  effect  of  the  treatment  is,  unfortunately,  only 
palliative,  the  course  of  the  disease  being  unchecked  in  the  deeper 
tissues,  which  cannot  be  reached  by  the  local  dressings.  B.  M.  J . 
Epit. ,  2/96/70,  after  Wien  Med.  Pre-sse. 

Peroxide  of  Hydrogen  in  Oto-rhinology. — In  treatment  of 
various  affections  of  the  nose  and  ears,  Gelle  (Soc.  Franc,  de  Baring.,, 
Ot.  and  Phin.)  finds  that  peroxide  of  hydrogen  is  an  excellent  disin¬ 
fectant,  and  at  the  same  time  a  reliable  haemostatic.  In  epitaxis, 
whether  traumatic,  surgical,  or  idiopathic,  a  plug  of  absorbent, 
cotton  freely  moistened  with  peroxide  is  an  efficient  memos  tat.  In 
the  ear  peroxide  is  an  excellent  disinfectant ;  it  removes  pus 
almost  at  once,  and  after  surgical  operations  rapidly  renders  the 
seat  of  operation  bloodless. — Bullet.  Gen.  de  Therap.,  cxxxi.,  336. 

Morphine  Hydrochloride  as  Antidote  to  Potassium  Cyanide. 

■ — From  experiments  on  white  mice  Heim  finds  that  hypodermic 
injections  of  the  alksdoi dal  salt  have  a  distinct  inhibitory  action  on 
the  poison,  and  under  favourable  circumstances  may  prove  a 
valuable  antidote.  This  action  is  attributed  to  the  formation  of 
oxy dimorphine  and  Prussian  blue  from  the  action  of  the  iron  and 
alkali  present  in  the  blood. — Munch.  Med.  Woch.,  xliii. ,  861. 

Sodium  Bicarbonate  for  Common  Colds. — Dr.  Bulkley  (Med* 
Record)  finds  bicarbonate  of  soda  to  be  an  infallible  remedy  for  a 
common  cold.  Twenty  to  thirty  grains  are  given  in  water  every 
half  hour  for  three  doses,  and  a  fourth  dose  an  hour  after  the  third. 
Two  to  four  hours  are  then  allowed  to  elapse,  and  the  four  doses 
may  then  be  repeated  as  above.  If  necessary  in  another  two. 
hours  the  doses  may  be  again  repeated. 

Whale  Oil  in  Acne. — Whale  oil  possesses  remarkable  pene¬ 
trating  powers,  and  according  to  Boeck  appears  to  act  to  some 
extent  as  a  bactericide.  He  has  found  the  following  ointment^  of 
service  in  the  treatment  of  acne  : — Powdered  camphor,  30  to  50; 
salicylic  acid,  30  to  50  ;  sulphur,  10 ;  zinc  oxide,  2  ;  whale  oil,  12 
parts  ;  medicinal  soap,  1  part. — The  ointment  is  applied  every 
night,  and  washed  oft' in  the  morning. — Ind.  Med.  Cliirurg.  Rev., 
iv.,  225,  after  Edin.  Med.  Joum. 


Feb.  20,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


159 


EXTRACTS  FROM  CONSULAR  REPORTS- 


“Molasses  Mull,”  a  new  cattle  food,  is  described  by  Consul 
Powell  in  a  very  interesting  Foreign  Office  report  for  January, 
1897.  He  says,  the  method  of  fattening  cattle  and  sheep  by  feed¬ 
ing  with  molasses  has  for  a  few  years  past  been  largely  experimented 
on  by  agriculturists  in  Germany.  One  of  the  difficulties  which  had 
to  be  overcome  was  that  of  obtaining  the  raw  molasses  with  50  per 
cent,  of  sugar  remaining  in  it,  in  consequence  of  the  molasses 
being  subjected  to  a  further  process  for  the  extraction  of  the  sugar 
after  passing  out  of  the  original  manufactory.  Another  question 
•of  even  more  moment  was  the  difficulty  of  finding  a  proper  medium 
with  which  to  mix  the  molasses,  in  order  to  counteract  the  purging 
■effect  which  molasses  alone,  or  in  conjunction  with  some  other 
feeding  stuff's,  exercises  on  cattle  when  fed  with  it,  even  in  small 
■quantities.  It  is  found  that  the-  molasses  (which  have  at  present 
been  in  the  German  market)  contain  injurious  salts  which  are 
prejudicial  to  the  health  of  beasts.  The  latter  difficulty  has 
apparently  been  met  (although  some  are  of  a  contrary  opinion) 
by  a  mixture  of  molasses  with  a  dust  (mull)  obtained  from  the 
moss-turf  (peat).  The  dust,  or  “  mull,”  is  obtained  from  the  moss- 
turf  by  being  torn  up  or  teased  out  by  a  machine  for  making  moss- 
litter,  called  a  “  Wolf.”  It  is  taken  from  the  upper  strata  of  high- 
lying  peat  moors,  and  consists  largely  of  the  dried  but  non- 
decomposed  fibre  of  the  Sphagnum  cuspidatum  and  the  Eriophorum 
Xatifolium.  The  acids  contained  in  the  moss-turf,  more  especially 
the  humic  acids,  neutralise  the  salts  of  proteine  of  potassium  held 
by  the  molasses  and  render  them  harmless,  the  action  of  the  mull 
being  to  counteract  the  severe  purging  caused  by  the  molasses 
alone,  which  is  the  chief  objection  to  its  use  as  fodder.  It  is 
recommended  by  experts  that  molasses-mull  fodder  should  first  be 
given  in  very  small  quantities  increased  to  the  following 
amounts  : — - 


For— 

Quantity. 

Fattening  Cattle  . 

Per  head  daily 

6  lbs. 

Milking  Cows . .  . . 

Morses  . 

5  „ 

3  ,, 

Sheep  for  fattening  . . 

n  i, 
i  ,, 

Sheep . . 

Pigs . 

Per  100  lbs.  live  weight. 

i ,, 

British  and  German  Trade  with  the  Niger  Coast  Pro¬ 
tectorate.  —  Consul-General  Moor,  in  his  report  for  the  year 
1895-96,  gives  some  very  interesting  statistics  in  relation  to  the 
import  and  export  trade  of  the  Protectorate,  which  tend  to  show 
that  the  United  Kingdom  has  up  to  the  present  maintained  the 
foremost  position  in  the  exportation  of  general  merchandise  and 
especially  drugs  and  medicines,  in  which  her  trade  has  steadily 
increased,  while  Germany’s  trade  in  these  articles  has  decreased. 
In  perfumery,  however,  the  German  trade,  although  not  so  large 
as  the  British,  has  increased,  while  the  latter  has  decreased.  The 
trade  in  mineral  waters  and  soap  has  gradually  increased  with 
both  countries,  Britain  heading  the  list  in  soap  by  over  eight 
thousand  pounds  value.  The  appended  table  will  show  at  a 
glance  the  trade  positions  of  the  two  countries  with  the  Pro¬ 
tectorate  during  the  years  1S92-93,  1893-94*  and  1895-96,  the 
year  commencing  April  1,  and  ending  March  31. 

Free  Impotts  into  the  Niger  Coast  Protectorate. 


Articles. 

V  2  -g 
<3  o 
& 

1892-93. 

1893-94. 

1895-96. 

o  M 

O  kH 

Qnty. 

Value. 

Qnty. 

Value 

Qnty. 

Value. 

Pkgs. 

£ 

s. 

d. 

Fkg*. 

£ 

s . 

A. 

[Pkgs. 

£> 

s. 

cl. 

Drugs  and  medicines 

U.  K. 

480 

3047 

0 

11 

571 

3592 

3 

1 

740 

4037 

15 

9 

Ger. 

11 

19 

n 

5 

16 

52 

16 

3 

8 

11 

i 

9 

Scientific  instruments 

U.  K. 

103 

1(35 

i 

3 

41 

323 

4 

7 

34 

274 

4 

1 

Ger. 

1 

(5 

0 

0 

1 

11 

17 

10 

Mineral  waters  . 

U.  K. 

1038 

1328 

1 

2 

1570 

1874 

10 

5 

2091 

2118 

4 

11 

Ger. 

66 

50 

12 

9 

97 

74 

10 

2 

121 

109 

17 

2 

Perfumery  . 

U.  K. 

310 

813 

19 

]o 

252 

595 

9 

1 

513 

527 

5 

9 

Ger. 

24 

165 

1 

5 

76 

158 

9 

10 

82 

344 

V 

1 

Photo,  materials  .... 

U.  K. 

38 

171 

3 

4 

37 

209 

17 

4 

64 

334 

3 

3 

Ger. 

1 

11 

4 

0 

1 

3 

16 

0 

1 

4 

3 

10 

Soap  . 

U.  K. 

53,042 

5750 

19 

0 

75,592 

9216 

4 

11 

87,262 

8817 

3 

1 

Ger. 

912 

65 

9 

1 

1333 

93 

14 

5 

1901 

102 

2 

5 

*  The  statement  of  quantity  and  country  whence  imported  is  not 
reported  for  1894-95. 


All  Articles,  Letters,  Notices,  and  Reports  Intended  for 
publication  In  the  Journal,  Books  for  Review,  and  com¬ 
munications  respecting  Editorial  matters  generally, 
must,  be  Addressed  “Editor,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square, 
London,”  and  not  in  any  case  to  Individuals  supposed 
to  be  connected  with  the  Editorial  Staff.  Communica¬ 
tions  for  the  Current  Week’s  Journal  should  reach  the 
Office  not  later  than  Wednesday,  but  news  can  be  Re¬ 
ceived  by  Telegraph  until  I  p.m.  on  Thursday. 


The  Benevolent  Fund. 

Sir,— May  I  be  allowed  to  suggest  that  to  celebrate  the  sixtieth 
year  of  Her  Majesty’s  reign  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  take  steps 
to  abolish  this  Fund,  and  as  the  old  annuitants  die  off  to  increase 
the  annuity  of  those  that  are  left  by  sharing  the  deceased’s  por¬ 
tion  until  the  annuitants  and  the  Fund  are  all  gone  ?  For  one  to  have 
the  prospect  of  working  at  our  calling  until  they  are  sixty  or  seventy 
with  the  prospect  of  becoming  annuitants,  or  leaving  their  families  to 
do  so,  is  certainly  very  cheering,  and  another  comforting  consoling 
thought  is  the  fact  of  having  a  mansion  prepared  for  us,  eternal  in 
the— suburbs.  If  instead  of  raising  a  fund  to  wipe  off  debts  on 
hospitals  and  other  charitable  institutions,  they  would  abolish 
them,  they  would  know  the  debts  would  be  for  ever  gone,  but  as 
long  as  money  can  be  obtained  to  perpetuate  the  system  of  con¬ 
science  quietening,  and  the  thriftless  and]  improvident  know  they 
can  obtain  relief,  so  long  shall  we  keep  in  our  midst  workhouses 
and  other  forms  of  so-called  charities.  What  we  ought  as  a  body 
to  aim  at  is  that  we  shall  be  paid  for  our  services  as  servants  in 
other  departments  of  the  State,  and  if  we  cannot  be  recognised  as 
such  and  receive  a  pension,  let  us  see  to  it  that  we  are  paid  by  the 
public  in  such  a  way  that  we  can  not  only  make  a  living  for  ourselves 
now,  but  make  a  provision  for  our  old  age  ourselves.  To  this  end, 
if  instead  of  emulating  the  cutters,  the  qualified  men  sought  by 
combination  to  get  a  proper  remuneration  for  their  services,  and 
not  make  themselves  the  tools  of  the  capitalist  to  cut  the  ground 
from  under  their  own  feet,  then  they  ought  to  be  able  to  look 
forward  for  a  peaceful  retirement  at  the  age  of  sixty,  and  not  h a \  o 
to  rely  upon  any  Benevolent  Fund,  supported  by  their  willing  and 
unwilling  brethren.  In  other  branches  of  labour  or  profession 
there  are  recognised  prices  to  charge,  and  why  chemists  do  not 
combine  in  their  own  interests  instead  of  cutting  one  another  is 
the  surprise. 

Torquay,  February  IS,  1897.  W.  J.  Rawling. 

“Business  Ways  that  are  Dark.” 

Sir,— I  also  received  a  box  by  post  containing  packets  of  cachous 
the  same  as  “Anti-Soft  Sawder.”  As  I  had  not  ordered  them  and 
never  receive  goods  on  sale  or  return,  I  sent  a  postcard,  requesting 
threepence  in  stamps  to  be  sent  for  the  return  of  the  cachous  they 
had  taken  the  liberty  to  send  me.  I  received  them  by  return. 
Similar  packets  were  sent  to  the  grocers. 

February  13,  1897.  -A-  J.  P.  S.  (81/3). 


Sir, — I  was  very  pleased  to  see  in  your  last  week’s  Journal  a 
letter  signed  “  Anti-Soft  Sawder.”  I  myself  had  a  parcel  of  cachous 
sent  me  per  post  with  the  request  that  I  would  exhibit  them  on  the 
counter,  but  I  resented  the  impudence  by  returning  them  at  once. 

Worksop,  February  16,  1897.  G.  W.  Jones. 


The  Keeping  Qualities  op  Essence  of  Lemon. 

Sir,— I  am  in  a  position  to  confirm  the  statement  put  forward  by 
Messrs.  Typke  and  King  in  your  issue  of  February  6  that  “  natural 
essence  of  lemon  will  keep  good  for  a  considerable  time,”  More- 
over,  it  will  do  so  though,  no  special  care  be  taken  to  exclude  light, 
etc.  In  February,  1890,  I  had  the  opportunity  offered  by  Messrs. 
Chas.  Southwell  and  Co.,  importers  of  lemons  for  confectionery 
purposes,  to  collect  myself  several  ounces  of  oil  from  Messina  fi  nit. 
Since  then  this  oil  has  been  kept  corked  in  a  green  glass  bottle, 
and  to-day  it  possesses  a  finer  aroma  and  flavour  than  even  that  of 
one  of  the  best  known  Palermo  brands  of  this  season  s  shipment 
(1896-7).  I  enclose  samples  for  your  inspection.  As  I  have  not 
met  with  any  imported  essence  that  has  the  same  keeping  properties 
as  that  of  my  own  extraction,  I  am  forced  to  believe  that  adultera¬ 
tion  is  generally  practised  and  to  expect  the  de\  elopment  more  or 


160 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL, 


[Feb.  20,  1897 


less  of  the  “  turpy  odour.”  The  specific  gravity  of  my  essence 
examined  to-day  was  -862  at  15°  C.  ;  its  optical  rotation  viewed  in 
a  200  M.m.  tube  +123°. 

London,  February  10,  1897.  H.  H.  Robins. 


Check  Tills. 

Sir,— In  reply  to  “  Inquirer,”  I  beg  to  say  that  I  have  had  an 
O’Brien’s  check  till  in  use  for  two  years,  and  can  confidently 
recommend  it  as  possessing  great  advantages  over  the  ordinary 
old-fashioned  till.  First,  one  never  has  any  doubt  but  that  what 
has  been  put  in  the  till  can  be  accounted  for.  Secondly,  if  any 
mistake  arises  in  giving  change,  it  can  always  be  detected  by 
comparing  the  cash  in  the  till  with  the  entries  on  the  slip.  Thirdly, 
if  an  account  has  been  paid  which  has  not  been  credited,  it  can 
always  be  traced  by  turning  up  the  cash  slip  for  the  particular 
day  on  which  the  amount  was  paid.  Fourthly,  at  the  end  of  the 
day  one  has  invariably  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  the  cash 
in  the  till  corresponds  with  the  total  of  cash  slip.  Fifthly,  it  is  as 
a  till  much  more  convenient  for  giving  change,  as  there  are  com¬ 
partments  for  gold,  large  silver,  small  silver,  and  coppers. 
Sixthly,  it  is  an  ornament  to  the  counter.  In  short,  it  supplies  a 
want,  and  no  “up  to  date”  business  man  should  be  without  one. 

Faringdon,  February  15,  1897.  W.  R.  Cook. 


Sir,— In  reply  to  “Inquirer’s”  letter  of  last  week,  we  recom¬ 
mend  him  to  purchase  “O’Brien’s  Self-Closing  Check  Till.”  We 
have  six  assistants  behind  our  front  counter,  and  never  have  any 
difficulty  with  change  or  balancing.  The  price  is  so  moderate 
that  we  do  not  consider  it  worth  while  attempting  to  convert  an 
ordinary  cash  till  into  a  check  one. 

Wrexham,  February  17, 1897.  Francis  and  Co. 


“A  Personal  Complaint.” 

Sir, — In  reply  to  Mr.  John  Onion’s  complaint  in  your  last  issue, 
the  ball  circulars  were  sent  to  the  stewards  and  guarantors  in 
December  last  for  distribution.  I  regret  he  has  found  it  necessary 
to  trouble  you  with  so  trivial  a  matter.  If  he  had  written,  or 
called  upon  me  on  his  way  to  the  city,  I  could  soon  have  satisfied 
his  sensitive  mind  that  I  have  no  desire  to  be  anything  but 
courteous  and  friendly  to  any  member  of  the  Midland  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Association.  However,  I  shall  be  round  his  district 
collecting  subscriptions  for  the  Benevolent  Fund  shortly,  and  will 
give  him  a  call. 

Birmingham,  February  16,  1897.  Char.  Thompson. 


ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 


New  Pharmacopoeia. — It  is  said  to  be  expected  about  the  end 
of  the  current  year.  [ Reply  to  Assistant. — 80/31.] 


Sediment  in  Tincture. — This  is  a  somewhat  unnecessary 
question.  Any  insoluble  sediment  should  certainly  be  filtered 
put.  [ Reply  to  S.  H. — 81/6.] 


Cultivated  Flowers. — Johnson’s  ‘Gardeners’  Dictionary,’  by 
Wright  and  Dewar  (Bell  and  Son),  and  Sutherland’s  ‘Hardy 
Herbaceous  and  Alpine  Flowers  ’  (Blackwood  and  Son),  or  perhaps 
Cassell’s  ‘  Familiar  Garden  Flowers,’  may  serve  your  purpose. 
Please  put  your  name  in  full  if  you  should  write  again. 
[Reply  to  E.  C.  E. — 75;30.] 


Plants  Identified. — (a)  Mnium  undulatum;  (/S)  Conidia  of 
Nectria  cinnabarina;  (y)  probably  a  young  specimen  of  Pellia 
calycina;  (5)  Mercurialis  perennis.  Use  numbers  to  distinguish 
specimens  instead  of  letters  next  time,  and  send  older  specimens  of 
such  plants  as  the  third.  [ Reply  to  ipvrov. — 79/42.] 

Botanist’s  Pocket  Book. — As  the  work  is  printed  from  stereo¬ 
types,  the  major  portion  of  it  is,  of  course,  the  same  as  in  previous 
reprints.  The  additions  constituting  what  is  new  in  the  latest 
reprint  are  contained  in  a  supplementary  page  at  the  end  of  the 
book.  [ Reply  to  H.  D.  K. — 80/24.] 

Hop  Bitters. — Concentrated  infusion  of  chamomile,  3  ounces ; 
concentrated  infusion  of  buchu,  2  ounces  ;  concentrated  infusion 
of  hops,  8  ounces  ;  concentrated  infusion  of  gentian,  3  ounces ; 
glycerin,  3  ounces  ;  water  recently  boiled  and  cooled  to  make 
48  fluid  ounces.  Mix.  [Reply  to  D.  A. — 80/10.] 


Preservation  op  Herbarium  Specimens.— A  solution  of  mer¬ 
curic  chloride,  2  grs.,  in  methylated  spirit,  1  oz.,  does  not  show. 
In  tropical  climates  double  this  strength  is  usual.  A  strong,  de¬ 
colorised  tincture  of  quassia  will  prevent  the  attacks  of  most- 
insects,  but  not  necessarily  of  all,  and  it  will  not  prevent  the 
appearance  of  mould.  [Reply  to  H.  R.  M. — 80/34.] 

Use  of  a  Still. — The  terms  of  the  Act  are  very  wide  in  their 
scope,  an  Excise  duty  of  ten  shillings  being  imposed  1  ‘  on  every 
person  .  .  .  who  keeps  or  uses  any  still  or  retort.”  The  Commis¬ 
sioners  are  empowered  to  grant  exemption  from  duty  in  the  case 
of  stills  or  retorts  kept  or  used  for  chemical  experiments,  and  you. 
should  make  application  for  such  exemption  through  the  nearest, 
excise  officer.  [Reply  to  Retort — 81/8.] 


Dulcified  Spirit  of  Salt. — This  is  a  very  old  formula  ;  under 
the  name  of  “  Spiritus  salis  dulcis,”  it  was  official  in  the  Edinburgh- 
Pharmacopoeia.  It  was  prepared  from  hydrochloric  acid,  1  part ;; 
rectified  spirit,  3  parts.  The  mixed  liquids  are  digested  together, 
for  several  days,  then  distilled,  the  distillation  being  repeated: 
three  or  four  times.  The  preparation  is  still  sometimes  asked  for- 
in  the  London  wholesale  trade.  Its  medicinal  action  is  somewhat.- 
similar  to  that  of  spiritus  chloroformi.  [Reply  to  Student. — 78/7.]) 


OBITUARY. 


Nurthen. — On  January  28,  Frederick  Richard  Nurthen-, 
Pharmaceutical  Chemist,  Strand,  London.  Aged  54. 

Brown. — On  February  2,  Charles  Hills  Brown,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  St.  Peter’s  Park  London,  W.  Aged  61. 

Huggins. — On  February  3,  George  Thomas  Huggins,  Pharmaceu.- 
tical  Chemist,  Barnet,  Herts.  Aged  71. 

Kay. — On  February  8,  Thomas  Wilkinson  Kay,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  Blackpool.  Aged  36. 

Southwell. — On  February  8,  Charles  Henry  Southwell,  Phar¬ 
maceutical  Chemist,  Boston.  Aged  49. 

Downie. — On  February  9,  Henry  Downie,  Chemist  and  Drug¬ 
gist,  Newcastle-on-Tyne.  Aged  67. 

Johnston. — On  February  13,  at  No.  24,  Rubislaw  Terrace,  Aberdeen,, 
Isabella  Farquhar  Stuart,  wife  of  Jchn  Johnston,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  and  Member  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Council,  45,  Union, 
Street,  Aberdeen. 


PUBLICATIONS  RECEIVED. 


Short  Studies  in  Physical  Science.  By  Vaughan  Cornish j, 
M.Sc.  Pp.  230.  Illustrated.  Price  5s.  London :  Sampson, 
Low,  Marston  and  Co.,  Fetter  Lane,  E.C.  1897. 

Bericht  uber  das  Jahr  1896.  Herausgegeben  im  Januar,  1897- 
No.  142.  Pp.  191.  Darmstadt :  E.  Merck. 

The  Tutorial  Chemistry.  Part  I.  Non-Metals.  By  G.  H. 
Bailey,  D.Sc.  (Lond. ),  Ph.D.  (Heidelberg).  Edited  by  William 
Briggs,  M.A.  Pp.  226.  Price  3-s.  6 d.  London  :  W.  B.  Clive,, 
13,  Booksellers  Row,  Strand,  W.C.  From  the  Publishers. 

Aids  to  the  “Study  of  Bacteriology,”  by  T.  H.  Pearmain. 
and  C.  J.  Moor,  M.A.  Pp.  159.  Price  3s.  6d.  London, 
Bailliere,  Tindall  and  Co.,  King  William  Street,  Strand.  From 
the  Publishers. 

Guy’s  Hospital  Reports.  Edited  by  E.  C.  Perry,  M.  A. ,  M.  D. , 
and  W.  H.  A.  Jacobson,  M.A.,  M.Ch.  Vol.  lii. ,  being  vol.  xxxvii. 
of  the  third  series.  Pp.  230.  Price  10s.  6 d.  London,  J.  and 
A.  Churchill,  Great  Marlborough  Street.  1896.  From  the- 
Publishers. 

Herbal  Simples  approved  for  Modern  Uses  of  Cure.  By 
W.  T.  Fernie,  M.D.  Second  edition.  Pp.  652.  Price  6s; 
Bristol :  John  Wright  and  Co.  1897. 

Elementary  Bandaging  and  Surgical  Dressing.  By  Walter 
Pye,  F.R.C.S.,  and  G.  Bellingham  Smith,  F.R.C.S.  Seventh, 
edition.  Pp.  218.  Price  2s.  Bristol :  John  Wright  and  Co.. 
1896. 


COMMUNICATIONS,  LETTERS, etc. .have  been  received  from 

Messrs.  Bird,  Buckley,  Cantwell,  Chattaway,  Cook,  Coull,  Cox,  Crinon,  Cruick- 
shank,  Davis,  Dilworth,  Dixon,  Dunlop,  Fisher,  Gibson,  Hill,  Hills,  Hogg,  Hunt, 
Jones,  Ker,  Lord,  Moore,  Paine,  Philip,  Rawling,  Robins,  Robinson,  Rose,  Rudd, 
Russell,  Skinner,  Sowray,  Thompson,  Tocher,  Waddington,  Wilkie. 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


161 


Mj>\ 


TH^JMONTH.” 

97  /  ♦ .  ■ 

The  /citeijftitution  of  pilocarpine,  as  elabo- 
Piloearpine.*-* -rated  Hardy  and  Calmels,  is  doubted  by 
\/ /: ru  A  Kmidsen  ( Ber.  Deutsehen  Phann. 
Gesdlsch. ,  04G.»>Efardv  and  Calmels  have  claimed  that, 

starting  from  pyridine  lactic  acid,  which  they  state 
is  obtained  by  the  action  of  boiling  water  on  pilocarpine,  they 
were  enabled  to  produce  pilocarpidine,  and  this,  on  methylation, 
was  converted  into  pilocarpine.  Hence  they  concluded  that  the 
pilocarpine  molecule  must  be  produced  from  trimethylamine  and 
pyridine  lactic  acid.  Knudsen  has  failed  to  synthesise  pilocarpine 
on  these  lines.  Starting  from  picoline  a-lactic  acid,  the  higher 
homologue  of  pyridine  lactic  acid,  he  could  in  no  instance  effect 
the  synthesis  of  pilocarpine  or  pilocarpidine.  He  considers,  there¬ 
fore,  that  the  views  of  Hardy  and  Calmels  as  to  the  constitution  of 
pilocarpine  must  be  incorrect,  and  that  their  work  on  the 
jaborandi  alkaloids  needs  revision  (Ber.  Derut.  Pliarm.  Ges., 
G,  164).  Following  up  Knudsen’s  results,  E.  Merck  ( Merck's 
Ber.,  1896)  has  examined  the  action  of  methyl  iodide  on 
pilocarpidine  (Harnack),  but  was  unable  to  produce  pilo¬ 
carpine,  as  stated  by  Hardy  and  Calmels ;  he  merely  obtained 
an  isomer  of  pilocarpine,  which  is  distinct  from  that  base  in  being 
insoluble  in  water.  In  this  connection  it  must  be  remembered 
that  the  pilocarpidine  of  the  French  chemists  does  not  agree  in 
character  with  that  of  Harnack  and  Merck  (Paul  and  Cownley, 
Pli.  J. ,  57,  1 ).  It  is  evident  from  these  contrary  statements  that 
there  is  still  much  work  to  be  done  in  order  to  elucidate  the  nature 
and  constitution  of  the  jaborandi  alkaloids. 

The  increasing  use  of  dimethyl  ketone  as  a 
Assay  solvent  in  analytical  and  technical  operations 
of  renders  it  a  matter  of  some  concern  that  an 

Acetone.  accurate  method  should  be  available  for  deter¬ 
mining  its  strength.  Existing  analytical 
methods  are  based  on  the  iodoform  reaction,  but  commercial  ace¬ 
tone  generally  contains  other  bodies  that  respond  to  that  reaction, 
one  sample  examined  by  L.  F.  Kebler  containing  6  per  cent,  of 
material  (higher  ketones  ?)  that  possessed  a  boiling  point  of  80°  C. 
and  above,  yet  proved  on  analysis  by  the  usual  methods  to  contain  20 
per  cent,  of  iodoform-yielding  substances.  The  specific  gravity  is  not 
a  trustworthy  guide,  since  a  number  of  products  are  formed  during 
the  destructive  distillation  of  the  acetates,  which  possess  practically 
the  same  specific  gravity  as  acetones.  The  boiling  point  is  a  factor 
of  considerable  value,  but  some  allowance  must  be  made  even  for 
that  constant.  Kebler’s  modified  assay  process  is  as  follows  — 
Place  20  C.c.  of  Stpiibb’s  alkaline  potassium  iodide  solution  in  a  flask , 
add  10  C.c.  of  1  to  2  per  cent,  aqueous  solution  of  acetone  and 
the  excess  of  sodium  hypochlorite  solution  (about  4  normal),  then 
close  the  flask  and  shake.  Next  acidify  with  hydrochloric  acid,  add 
the  excess  of  decinormal  sodium  thiosulphate  solution,  and  after 
allowing  to  stand  a  few  minutes,  add  starch  indicator  and  re-titrate 
the  excess  of  sodium  thiosulphate.  The  relation  of  the  sodium  hypo¬ 
chlorite  solution  to  the  sodium  thiosulphate  solution  being  known, 
the  percentage  of  acetone  can  readily  be  calculated.  Thus  10  C.c. 
of  acetone  solution  containing  1  Gm.  of  the  solution  to  be  analysed 
required  14-57  C.c.  of  Nx0'806  sodium  hypochlorite  solution, 
which  formed  14 '57  C.c.  of  iodine  solution  of  same  strength,  or 

14-57 x 0-806 x 0-1265 x 0-07612  ,  .  .  „ 

■ - — r - .  ■  — -  =  amt.  of  acetone  =  11-307  p.c. 

1  Gm.  of  solution 

The  method  is  represented  to  yield  satisfactory  results  for  ordinary 
work,  the  difficulty  that  lies  in  the  end  reaction  being  overcome  by 
having  present  a  larger  excess  of  the  active  agent  to  bring  about 
the  complete  reaction. — Am.  Journ.  Pliarm.,  lxix.,  65. 

Vop.  LVIII,  (Fourth  Series,  Yog  IV. ).  No.  1392, 


The  part  played  physiologically  by  the 
Castoreum  castor  pouches  is  not  yet  clearly  established, 

du  but  it  is  generally  accepted  that  they  consti- 

Gardon.  tute  part  of  the  reproductive  organs  of  the 
beaver,  and,  as  J.  Gal  points  out,  their  weight 
and  the  nature  of  their  contents  may  therefore  be  expected  to 
vary  according  to  the  condition  of  the  animal  at  the  time  it  is 
killed.  He  gives  the  formula,  p  =  ( P — 6)  14,  as  probably  repre¬ 
senting  the  relation  of  the  weight  of  the  fresh  pouches,  p,  to  that 
of  the  animal,  P,  and  quotes  the  following  figures  in  support  of  it 


No. 

Animal  captured. 

Weight  of  animal. 

Weight  of  fresh  pouches. 

1  . . . . 

March  24,  1895. 

11  kilos. 

37  grammes. 

2 

July  12,  1895. 

15  „ 

135 

3  .... 

October  S,  1895. 

7  ,, 

13 

4  .... 

November  13,  1S95. 

22  „ 

215 

0  .... 

October  27, 1896. 

12  „ 

84 

The  fresh  castoreum,  weighing  16 '3  Gm.,  furnished  by  the  fifth 
specimen,  was  yellowish  white,  of  characteristic  odour,  and  had  a 
density  of  0-85.  It  contained  4-3  per  cent,  of  albuminoid  sub¬ 
stances,  and  yields  0 '25  per  cent,  of  ash. 

Results  of  Analysis. 


Loss  at  100°  . 

Extracted  by  ether . 

,,  ,,  alcohol  .... 

„  water . 

,,  „  acetic  acid 

Residue  . 


7-9 
SS-4 
0-8 
o-i 
o-t> 
2 -2 


ioo-o 


The  figures  previously  obtained  by  Lehmann  for  German,  Russian 
and  -Canadian  castoreum  respectively,  were  : — 

For  the  ether  extract  .  7 -4  2-5  S"2 

,,  ,,  alcoholic  ,,  .  69-7  64‘3  41-3 

but  the  marked  differences  between  those  and  Gal’s  figures  is 
probably  due  to  the  age  of  the  products  examined  and,  possibly, 
to  a  total  alteration  in  the  nature  of  the  secretion.  The  presence 
of  castorine  and  carbolic  acid  was  not  indicated  in  the  fresh 
specimen,  though  the  Gardon  beavers  feed  on  willow  bark.— 
Comptes  rendus,  exxiv. ,  246. 

Crude  commercial  cumarin  may  be  purified 
Purification  by  repeated  crystallisation  from  alcohol,  or  by 
Of  the  following  process,  describedbyE.  Claassen : — 

Cumarin.  The  cumarin  is  placed  in  a  capacious  copper 
distilling  vessel  or  a  good  Bohemian  flask, 
petroleum  spirit  of  low  specific  gravity  is  added,  and  after  the  still 
has  been  connected  with  a  condenser,  the  liquid  is  heated  to  boil¬ 
ing  point  and  kept  boiling  for  five  or  ten  minutes.  The  still  having 
been  removed  from  the  source  of  heat,  the  liquid  is  poured  in  a 
warm  bottle,  and  on  cooling,  crystals  of  cumarin  separate.  The 
crude  cumarin  is  again  treated  with  petroleum  spirit,  and  the  pro¬ 
cess  repeated  until  it  is  exhausted.  Any  cumarin  remaining  in 
solution  in  the  spirit  may  be  removed  by  shaking  out  with  5  per 
cent,  sodium  hydrate  solution,  and  subsequently  precipitating 
with  hydrochloric  acid. — Pliarm.  Review',  xv.,  28. 

P.  Regnard  and  T.  Schloesing  have  examined 
Argon  the  gases  obtained  from  a  litre  of  blood, 

in  the  and  found  that  they  contained  20 -4  C.c.  of 

Blood.  nitrogen  and  argon,  the  latter  gas  accounting 
for  0"419  C.c.  of  the  mixture.  In  addition  to 
satisfying  themselves  that  argon  is  dissolved  in  the  blood,  they 
state  that  if  there  is  an  increase  in  the  amount  of  nitrogen  present 
there  will  also  be  an  increase  in  the  amount  of  argon. — Comptes 
rendus,  exxiv.,  302. 


162 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Fee.  27,  1897. 


This  plant  belongs  to  the  natural  order 
Monsonia  Geraniacese,  and  to  the  same  section  as 
Ovata.  Geranium.  It  might  therefore  be  expected  to 
•  possess  astringent  properties,  like  those  of 

Geranium  maculatum,  the  alum  root  of  the  United  States,  and  it  is 
interesting  to  note  that  a  tincture  of  Monsonia  ovata ,  prepared  with 
rectified  spirit  (2£  ozs.  to  the  pint),  has  been  used  with  very  great 
success  in  the  treatment  of  dysentery  by  J.  Maberly,  M.R.C.S.,  who 
publishes  a  long  record  of  cases  that  should  go  far  to  prove  the 
mxlicinal  efficacy  of  this  little  known  drug.  It  is  an  annual 
plant,  growing  in  the  Yaal  River  district  and  probably 
elsewhere  in  South  Africa.  It  must  be  collected  in  January  or 
February,  and  seeds  have  been  brought  to  England  in  the  hope  that 
the  plant  maybe  successfully  raised  here. — Lancet,  February  6,  368. 

W.  F.  Lowe  has  recently  examined  oysters 
CoppeP  containing  copper  in  considerable  quantity,  a 
in  single  oyster  yielding  0‘04  Gm.  of  the  metal. 

OystePS.  Some  of  the  oysters  were  light  blue  in  colour 

and  others  dark  olive-green,  copper  being 
found  in  both.  They  were  obtained  from  the  Mumbles,  near 
Swansea.  Professor  W.  A.  Herdman,  Avriting  on  the  same  subject, 
quotes  results  obtained  by  Dr.  Charles  Kohn,  who  has  determined 
the  amounts  of  both  copper  and  iron  present  in  various  kinds  of 
oysters,  by  electrolytic  methods.  The  green  Marennes  oyster  con¬ 
tained  about  0'4  Mgm.  (0'006  grain)  of  copper,  and  that  is  thought 
by  Professor  Herdman  to  be  the  normal  amount  present  in  all 
oysters,  white  or  green,  and  due  to  the  hsemocyanin  of  the  blood. 
Dr.  Thorpe,  hoAvever,  finds  that  the  green  Falmouth  oysters  each 
contain,  on  the  average,  0'023  grain  of  copper,  which  falls  to  the 
normal  amount  (O’OOG  grain)  on  re-laying  in  another  locality. — 
Mature,  lv,,  366. 

A  modification  of  Saul’s  method  of  sterilising 
Sterilisation  catgut  is  advocated  by  R.  C.  Larrabee,  who 
Of  summarises  the  process  as  follows  : — Wind  the 

Catgut.  gut  in  a  single  layer  on  pieces  of  large  glass 
tubing,  then  place  the  latter  in  a  tightly- 
stop  ered  flask,  fitted  with  a  condenser  consisting  of  a  glass  tube 
at  least  five  feet  long  and  penetrating  the  cork.  Use  Saul’s 
solution — absolute  alcohol,  850  ;  carbolic  acid,  50  ;  water,  100 — and 
boil  for  forty-five  minutes  on  a  water-bath.  For  the  largest  sizes 
of  gut  an  hour  is  safer,  and  for  the  smallest  half  an  hour  will 
suffice.  Finally,  remove  the  condenser,  and  close  the  flask  with  a 
sterilised  stopper,  leaving  the  sterilised  catgut  in  the  solution  used. 
Or,  the  solution  may  be  poured  off,  and  a  sterilised  cotton  stopper 
inserted,  the  catgut  then  being  preserved  dry. — Boston  Med,  and 
Sunj.  Journ,,  cxxxvi.,  86. 

Hesse  found  that  cholera  bacilli  undergo 
Micro  organisms  deterioration  in  raw  milk,  and  when  kept  at 
in  a  temperature  of  37°  C.  are  entirely  destroyed 

Milk.  within  twenty-two  hours.  Caro  and  Schotte. 

lins,  on  the  other  hand,  showed  that  anthrax 
bacilli  flourish  abundantly  in  milk  and  fully  maintain  their  viru¬ 
lence,  and  the  last-named  obseiwer  has  more  recently  observed  that 
diphtheria  bacilli  find  an  exceptionally  satisfactory  material  for 
growth  and  multiplication  in  fresh  milk,  though  in  sterilised  milk 
their  growth  is  less  marked. — Cent.  f.  Baht.,  and  Nature,  lv.,  301. 

T.  Paul  and  B.  Kronig  find  that  the  differ - 
Bacteria  and  ent  salts  of  a  poisonous  metal,  such  as  mercury, 
Chemical  are  not  equally  deadly  to  the  spores  of  the 
Reagents.  anthrax  bacillus,  those  which  are  electrolyti- 
cally  dissociated  to  the  greatest  extent  being 
most  active  under  otherwise  similar  conditions.  Thus,  a  solution 
of  mercuric  chloride  contains  many  more  mercury  ions  that  one 


of  mercuric  cyanide  of  the  same  concentration,  and  is  correspond¬ 
ingly  more  deadly,  but  the  addition  of  sodium  chloride  to  the  first 
solution  diminishes  the  number  of  mercury  ions,  and  causes  a 
marked  loss  of  bactericidal  power.  The  addition  of  salt  to  in¬ 
crease  the  solubility  of  mercuric  chloride  is  therefore  the  reverse 
of  advantageous  in  preparing  antiseptic  solutions.  Silver  salts 
yield  similar  results,  the  nitrate,  chlorate,  etc.,  which  are  dis¬ 
sociated  into  their  ions  to  a  considerable  and  approximately 
equal  extent  in  aqueous  solution,  having  nearly  the 
same  bactericidal  action,  while  the  addition  of  sodium 
thiosulphate  or  potassium  cyanide,  with  which  the  silver 
ions  combine  to  form  complex  ions,  practically  destroy  the 
bactericidal  power  altogether.  This  power,  in  the  case  of  solutions 
of  bases  or  acids,  depends,  on  the  Avhole,  on  the  strength  of  the 
base  or  acid — that  is,  on  its  degree  of  electrolytic  dissociation. 
Silver  nitrate  exerts  its  maximum  power  when  dissolved  in  50  per 
cent,  alcohol,  but  in  the  case  of  mercuric  chloride  the  maximum 
occurs  at  25  per  cent.  Solutions  of  either  salt  in  absolute  alcohol 
are  practically  without  effect  on  anthrax  spores. — Zeit.  f.  phys, 
Chem.,  through  Nature,  lv.,  328. 

M.  B.  Renault  has  long  worked  at  the  indi- 
FoSSil  cations  of  bacteria  found  in  geological  strata, 

BaetePia.  and  now  publishes  the  general  result  of  his 

observations  in  a  paper  illustrated  with  a  large 
number  of  drawings.  As  might  be  expected  from  their  simple 
structure,  bacteria  appear  to  ha\re  been  co-eval  with  the  first  appear¬ 
ance  of  organic  life  on  the  earth,  the  coccoid  form  being  apparently 
earlier  than  the  bacillar.  Indications  of  their  presence  are  found 
in  bone,  teeth,  scales,  and  coprolites,  as  well  as  abundantly  in 
vegetable  tissues,  the  spores  and  sporanges  of  ferns  appearing  to 
have  been  especially  subject  to  their  attacks.  The  species  are,  as 
a  rule,  distinct  from  those  at  present  in  existence. — Ann.  des 
Sciences  Naturelles  ( Botanique),  1896,  p.  275. 

Dr.  V.  Peglion  describes_in  Malpighia  (1896, 
Bacterial  p.  556)  a  disease  which  attacks  the  stem  of  the 
Diseases  Of  hemp,  causing  disintegration  of  the  tissues.  It 
Plants.  appears  to  be  produced  by  an  organism  of  the 
nature  of  a  bacillus  embedded  in  mucilage,  and 
closely  resembling  B.  cuboniana,  a  parasite  of  the  mulberry.  In 
Bulletin,  No.  12,  for  1896,  of  the  Division  of  Vegetable  Physiology 
of  the  U.S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  Mr.  E.  F.  Smith  states 
that  several  species  of  Solanaceae— the  potato,  the  tomato,  and 
the  egg-plant,  Solanum  melongena — are  attacked  by  a  disease 
which  he  calls  “brown-rot,”  due  to  a  hitherto  undescribed  pai’asite, 
which  he  names  Bacillus  Solanacearum.  It  closely  resembles  B. 
tracheiphilus  and  the  form  known  as  “Kramer’s  bacillus,”  but 
differs  in  several  characters  from  both.  In  the  Revue  Mycologique 
for  1896,  M.  E.  Roze  has  described  several  bacteria  which  cause 
diseases  in  the  cultivated  potato,  viz.,  Micrococcus  nuclei,  M. 
imperatoris,  M.  pellwcidus,  always  found  associated  with  the 
“scab,”  M.  albidus,  and  M.  flavidus. 

The  very  important  discovery  in  the  mode  of 
Fertilisation  .  impregnation  in  some  Gymnosperms  made  by 
in  the  two  Japanese  botanists,  Professor  S.  Ikeno  and 
Gymnosperms.  Dr.  S.  Hirase,  which  was  recently  referred  to  in 
our  pages,  supplies  a  most  interesting  link  be¬ 
tween  this  section  of  Phanerogams  and  the  higher  Cryptogams.  Dr. 
Hirase  (Botanische s  Gentralblatt,  lxix.,  1897,  p.  33)  has  discovered 
that  in  Ginkgo  biloba  (Salisburia  adiantifolia )  impregnation  is 
effected  by  antherozoids  formed  within  the  pollen-tube.  The  tAvo 
nuclei  resulting  from  the  final  division  of  the  generative  nucleus  of 
the  pollen-tube  are  converted,  before  entering  the  oosphere,  into 
motile  antherozoids,  resembling  those  of  the  higher  Cryptogams, 


Feb.  2 7,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


163 


but  differing  somewhat  in  form.  They  are  ellipsoidal,  8‘2/.t  long 
by  49/j  broad,  and  contain  in  the  centre  a  nucleus, 
entirely  surrounded  by  cytoplasm.  The  main  body  con¬ 
sists  of  a  head  composed  of  three  spiral  coils,  and  a 
slender  tail ;  to  the  former  are  attached  numerous  cilia.  As  soon 
as  the  antherozoids  have  escaped  through  the  apex  of  the  pollen- 
tube,  they  enter  the  oosphere  with  a  rapid  twisting  motion. 
Attraction  spheres  were  observed  accompanying  the  final  division 
of  the  pollen-tube  nucleus.  Professor  Ikeno  [Bot.  Centrally. ,  lxix. , 
p.  1)  has  made  a  similar  observation  respecting  the  mode  of 
impregnation  in  another  Gymnosperm,  Cycas  revoluta.  The 
antherozoids  are  here  somewhat  larger  than  in  Ginkgo  ;  the  main 
body  is  composed  of  four  coils,  to  which  are  attached  a  large 
number  of  cilia ;  but  the  swarming  motion  was  not  actually 
detected ;  the  nucleus  is  surrounded  by  cytoplasm.  They  are  found 
in  pairs  in  the  extremity  of  the  pollen-tube,  and  result  from  the  bi¬ 
partition  of  the  generative  nucleus.  Professor  Ikeno  states  that  the 
structure  of  the  male  and  female  organs  in  Ginkgo  biloba  and  Cycas 
revoluta  at  the  time  of  impregnation  differs  from  that  observed  in 
any  other  Gymnosperm  in  this  respect  ;  that  while,  in  the  latter, 
the  pollen-tube  penetrates  deeply  into  the  archegone,  in  the  two 
species  under  discussion  it  never  reaches  the  archegone  itself,  but 
remains,  at  the  time  of  impregnation,  at  some  considerable 
distance  from  it.  It  would  therefore  be  impossible  for  the  pollen- 
tube-nuclei  to  impregnate  the  oosphere  without  being  previously 
transformed  into  motile  antherozoids.  Fertilisation  is  then 
rendered  possible  by  the  copious  excretion  of  a  watery  fluid  by 
the  archegone  at  the  time  of  impregnation.  Further  details  of 
this  most  interesting  discovery  are  promised  by  both  observers. 

Mr.  J.  L.  Williams  records,  in  the  Journal  of 
Bees  Botany  (1897,  p.  8),  the  singular  effect  pro- 
Intoxieated  by  duced  on  certain  humble  bees  by  the  honey 
Honey.  of  some  flowers  with  a  very  crowded  capitular 
inflorescence  belonging  to  the  order}  Com-  . 
posit ai  and  Dipsacacete,  especially  Centaurea  scabiosa,  Carduus 
nutans ,  and  Scabiosa  succisa.  The  phenomena  produced  on  the 
bees  were  those  of  intoxication,  raising  the  legs  convulsively  in 
the  air,  turning  on  their  backs,  and  rolling  about  helplessly.  In 
so  doing,  their  bodies  became  thickly  covered  with  pollen,  to  the 
promotion  of  the  pollination  of  the  flowers  in  question.  As  a 
rule  the  bees  rapidly  recovered  from  the  intoxicating  effects,  and 
were  eager  to  renew  the  experiment ;  but  in  one  instance  the 
insect,  which  had  been  shut  up  all  night  in  a  vasculum  with 
flower-heads  of  Centaurea  scabiosa,  showed,  the  next  morning,  the 
greatest  aversion  to  being  placed  again  in  the  way  of  temptation. 
The  species  which  showed  the  greatest  tendency  to  succumb  to 
temptation  was  the  neuter  of  Bombus  lapidarius. 

Observations  made  on  a  variety  of  flowers — 
HOW  FlowePS  Dahlia  variabilis  (single),  (Enothera  biennis, 
Attract  Lobelia  Erinus,  Delphinium  Ajacis,  Ipomaza 
Insects.  purpurea,  Centaurea  cyanus,  Digitalis  purpurea 
—have  led  Professor  F.  Plateau  to  dissent  from 
Darwin’s  conclusion  that  the  chief  attraction  of  insect#  to  flowers 
is  in  their  bright  colour.  In  the  case  of  the  dahlia  and  other  Com¬ 
posite,  the  removal  of  the  conspicuous  ray-florets  had  very  little 
effect  in  diminishing  the  number  of  insects  which  visited  them  ; 
these  flowers  cannot,  therefore,  play  the  part  of  signals  cr  banners 
assigned  to  them  by  Darwin.  The  result  was  the  same  in  other 
flowers  when  the  conspicuous  part  of  the  corolla  was  removed. 
Covering  up  the  flower  with  leaves  also  had  but  little  hindering 
effect  on  the  visits  of  insects,  which  must  be  attracted  to  the 
flowers  chiefly  by  some  other  sense,  probably  that  of  smell. — Bull. 
Acad.  B.  Sciences  Belgique,  1895  and  1896. 


According  to  C.  Wehmer,  the  fungus  which 
Rotting  most  commonly  causes  the  rotting  of  fruits 

Of  is  Penicillium  glaucum.  In  apples  and  pears 

Fruits.  this  is  accompanied  by  Mucor  pyriformis, 
and  in  the  case  of  medlars  the  latter  is  much 
the  most  common  fungus.  In  lemons,  oranges,  and  other  tropical 
and  sub-tropical  fruits,  P.  glaucum  is  associated  with  two  other 
closely  allied  species,  P.  itaUcum  and  olivaceum.  In  plums  Mucor 
racemosus  was  also  observed.  In  grapes  Penicillium  glaucum  and 
Botrytis  cinerea  are  the  most  common  fungi.  It  is  the  latter 
species  which  forms  the  grey  tufts  on  walnuts. — Beitrdge  zur 
Kenntniss  einheimischer  Pilze,  1896. 

Mr.  G.  Murray  records  some  remarkable 
Reproduction  observations  on  the  mode  of  propagation  of 
Of  Marine  certain  pelagic  diatoms  collected  off  the  coast 
Diatoms.  of  Scotland,  chiefly  belonging  to  the  genera 
Biddulphia,  Coscinodiscus,  and  Choitoceros.  In 
Biddulphia  mobUiensis  “  cysts  ”  were  observed  within  the  parent 
cell,  with  only  slightly  silicified  membrane,  and  destitute  of  the 
characteristic  spines.  These  cysts  appear  to  have  the  power  of 
dividing  and  multiplying  before  assuming  the  characteristic  parent 
form.  A  similar  phenomenon  was  observed  in  Coscinodiscus 
concinnus,  but  in  this  species  the  protoplasm  divides  before  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  the  “cysts,”  two  of  which  were  found  within  the  same 
parent  frustule,  differing  from  one  another  in  form  and  in  the 
width  of  the  girdle-zone.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  the  young 
colonies  of  Coscinodiscus  in  “packets”  of  eight  or  sixteen;  this 
being  apparently  the  result  of  further  binary  division  within  the 
frustules,  which  are  found  accompanying  them  in  an  empty  state. 
The  membranes  of  these  young  colonies  are  only  very  slightly 
silicified,  or  not  at  all ;  and  they  are,  therefore,  capable  of  increase 
ing  in  size.  A  similar  formation  of  “packets  ”  of  eight  or  sixteen 
young  individuals  within  the  parent  frustule  was  observed  in 
several  species  of  Chcetoeeros. — Proc.  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh , 
1896,  p.  207. 

Hen’  J.  Griiss  states  that  when  barley  gen 
Germination  minates  the  solution  of  the  celhwalls  of  the 
Of  endosperm  commences  in  the  neighbourhood  of 

Barley.  the  seutellum,  and  advances  thence  towards  the 
apex  of  the  grain,  most  actively  in  the  outer4 
part ;  but  there  is  a  small  portion  of  the  apex  which  usually  remains 
intact.  The  cell-walls  are  not  dissolved,  but  corroded.  Congo- 
red  stains  intact  walls  an  intense  red,  while  those  that  have  beerl 
affected  assume  only  a  slight  light-red  tint.  The  starch-grains  are 
attacked  only  after  the  corrosion  of  the  cell- wall,  and  first  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  seutellum.  Diastase  may  be  produced  spon  ¬ 
taneously  in  the  endosperm  of  seeds  that  have  not  germinated) 
and  from  which  the  embryo  has  been  removed. —Wochenschrift  fiii‘ 
Brauerei,  1896. 

According  to  Professor  A.  Hansgirg,  flowers 
Protection  may  be  classified  under  four  types  as  regards 

Of  Pollen  the  mode  of  protection  of  the  pollen  against 

from  Rain.  rain,  viz: — (1)  Flowers  which  close  their 
perianth  in  rainy  weather,  so  as  to  prevent  the 
entrance  of  rain  drops,  without  any  change  in  the  position  of  the 
flower ;  (2)  flowers  with  erect  flower-stalk,  which  curves  in  wet 
weather  so  as  to  alter  the  position  of  the  opening  of  the  corolla  and 
prevent  the  access  of  rain  to  the  pollen  and  nectar  ;  (3)  flowers  in 
which  the  same  purpose  is  served  by  the  curving  of  the  stalk  of 
the  entire  inflorescence  ;  (4)  flowers  which  are  erect  and  open  in 
fine  weather)  but  during  rain  both  close  their  perianth  and  at  the 
same  time  protect  the  pollen  by  a  curving  of  the  flower-stalk.  ■—* 

0 ester reichische  Bot.  Zeitschrift,  1896,  p.  357. 


164 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  27,  1897 


TBE  PLOUGH  COURT  PHARMACY. 

In  the  account  recently  published  of  the  old  firm  of  Godfrey 
— tracing  the  origin  of  the  term  “  chemist  and  druggist  ’  in  its 
present  application— incidental  mention  was  made  of  some  other 
important  pharmaceutical  establishments  that  were  in  existence 
about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and,  among  them,  the 
one  situated  in  Plough  Court,  Lombard  Street,  ha^,  for  several 
reasons,  especial  historic  interest.  The  house  in  which  the  business 
was  formerly  carried  on,  from  about  1730  until  1873,  was  reputed  to 
have  been,  at  an  earlier  period,  the  birthplace  of  the  poet  Alexander 
Pope;  it  has  been  a  very  important  centre,  from  which  the  great 


social  influences  of  the  Society  of  Friends  have  been  exercised  ;  one 
of  the  proprietors  of  the  business  was  the  founder  of  chemical 
works  which  probably  rank  among  the  oldest  in  the  Kingdom 
and,  at  a  later  date,  another  proprietor  became  the  first  President 
of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society. 

The  old  premises  in  Plough  Court— represented  by  the  accom¬ 
panying  illustration — consisted  of  three  houses,  which  were  built  on 
the  site  formerly  occupied  by  a  house  bearing  the  sign  of  the 
Golden  Fleece”  and  by  the  mansion  of  Sir  Nicholas  Raynton,  both 
of  which  were  destroyed  by  the  great  fire  in  1666.  From  documents 
in  the  possession  of  the  Haberdashers’  Company,  the  house  No.  2 
appears  to  have  been  partly  built  and  first  occupied,  soon  after  that 


time,  by  Nathaniel  Pope,  citizen  and  salter,  who  there  carried  on 
the  business  of  a  linen  draper :  it  subsequently  passed  into  the 
hands  of  several  members  of  a  family  named  Osgood,  who  were 
engaged  in  the  same  line  of  business. 

The  first  pharmaceutical  occupant  of  the  premises  in  Plough 
Court  was  Silvanus  BevaD,  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  who 
had  previously  carried  on  business  as  an  apothecary  in  Cheapside. 
The  date  of  his  removal  to  Plough  Court  is  uncertain,  but  the  entry 
in  Kent’s  London  Directory,  published  in  1736: 

“Sylvanus  and  Timothy  Bevan,  Apothecaries,  Lombard  Street” 

shows  that  he  was  then  located  there  with  his  brother  and  partner, 

Timothy  Bevan.  Their  admission  to  the  freedom  of  the  Society  of 

Apothecaries  is  recorded  at  Apothecaries  Hall  as  follows  : — 

1715.  July  5th —“Silvanus  Bevan,  Apprentice  of  Thomas  Mayleigh, 
having  Eerved  7  years  and  paid  a  fine  of  £6  9s  for  ye  remainder  of  his 
time  acco  dinar  to  ye  order  of  Court  of  A'sist’.,  was  Examined, 
approved,  sworne,  and  made  free.” 

173!.  6th  Apri\ — “  Timothy  Bavin  hiving  paid  a  fine  of  £25  and  40’. 
to  the  Card  in,  wis  puriuint  to  an  or  ter  of  last  C  uirfc  of  Assists., 
examine!,  approved,  aid  sworn,  and  made  free  by  Redemption.” 

The  arms  of  the  Society  of  Apothecaries  were  displayed  in  the  shop 
window  on  a  pane  cf  glass  which  has  been  p  eserved  as  a  relic  of 
the  oil  pi  a^rn’cy. 


Apothecaries  were  then  the  only  persons  having  a  recognised 
qualification  to  practise  pharmacy  as  freemen  of  the  Company  in¬ 
corporated  under  Royal  Charter  by  James  the  First,  in  1617,  as  the 
Society  of  the  Art  and  Mystery  of  Pharmacopolites  of  the  City  of  Lon¬ 
don.  The  conditions  on  which  that  qualification  was  obtainable 
were  service  of  an  apprenticeship  of  not  less  than  seven  years  to 
an  apothecary  or  the  payment  of  a  fine,  and,  in  either  case  the 
pissing  of  gn  examination  as  to  knowledge,  skill,  and  science  in 
the  art.  The  Society  of  Apothecaries  was  empowered  to  regulate 
the  practice  of  pharmacy  and  its  charter  provided  that  no  un¬ 
qualified  person  should  keep  an  apothecary’s  shop  or  practice  “  the 
faculty  of  an  apothecary”  in  London,  or  within  seven  miles 
around  the  city.  But  even  within  those  limits  the  Society’s 
jurisdiction  was  imperfectly  enforced,  for  many  persons  without 
the  qualification  kept  shops  as  druggists  for  the  sale  of  drugs, 
pharmaceutical  preparations  and  dispensing  physicians’  prescrip¬ 
tions,  while  others  engaged  in  similar  business  described  themselves 
as  “  cbymists.”  The  extent  of  the  competition  to  which  apothe- 


Feb.  27,  1897J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL* 


caiies  were  thus  subjected  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that; 
shortly  after  the  Plough  Court  establishment  was  founded  there 
were,  according  to  the  London  Directory,  only  nine  apothecaries’ 
shops  between  Holborn  and  Aldgate,  while  there  were,  within  tfce 
same  area,  no  less  than  thirty-nine  druggists’  shops,  and  two 
chymists.  Eighteen  of  these  shops  were  within  half  a  mile  of 
Plough  Court  and  three  of  them  were  in  Lombard  Street. 

At  that  time  the  business  of  an  apothecary  was  not  confined  to  the; 
making  of  pharmaceutical  preparations  and  the  dispensing  of  medi¬ 
cines  ;  it  also  included  the  prescribing  of  medicine  and  the  medical 
practice  carried  on  by  apothecaries  without  recognised  medical 
qualification,  had  been,  for  a  very  long  time,  as  much  a  source  of 
discord  as  the  druggists’ competition  was  then  becoming.  In  both 
respects  a  vigorous  contest  wa3  being  carried  on— with  regular 
medical  practitioners  who  objected  that  apothecaries  encroached 
upon  theirprivileges— and  also  with  druggists,  who  were  denounced 
by  the  apothecaries  as  being  incompetent  to  perform  the  functions 
of  a  pharmacist.  Recriminations  on  these  and  other  grounds  were 
freely  indulged  in  on  ail  sides  without  doing  much  more  than 
demonstrate  the  want  of  suitable  regulation  of  the  practice  of 
medicine  and  of  the  practice  of  pharmacy  as  professional  occupations 
requiring  special  knowledge  and  technical  skill  on  the  part  of 
those  engaged  in  them.  But  while  the  apothecaries  urged,  in  the 
interests  of  the  public,  the  desirability  of  a  guarantee  for  the 
competence  of  every  person  authorised  to  practise  pharmacy,  they 
also  sought,  in  their  own  interest,  to  extend  the  scope  of  their 
medical  practice. 

Those  were  the  conditions  prevailing  during  the  time  that  the 
Plough  Court  Pharmacy  was  carried  on  by  Silvanus  and  Timothy 
Bevan,  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  they  took  part  in  the  struggle 
going  on.  From  the  fact  that  their  successors  were  not  apothe¬ 
caries,  but  are  described  in  the  directories  of  the  time  either  as 
“  druggist  ”  or  as  “  chymist,”  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  prevailing 
tendency  was  for  the  business  to  develop  in  the  purely  pharma¬ 
ceutical  direction. 

The  pharmacy  cf  the  period  when  the  Plough  Court  establishment 
was  founded  had  not  advanced  much  beyond  the  primitive  charac¬ 
ter  represented  in  the  earlier  editions  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  of 
the  Royal  College  of  Physicians  in  London.  The  medi¬ 
cines  then  in  use  were  chiefly  galenical  preparations, 
among  which  the  species  and  electuaries,  including  diascor- 
dium,  mithridate,  and  theriaca,  may  be  mentioned  as  charac¬ 
teristic.  Contemporaiy  writings  show  that,  in  connection 
with  the  preparation  of  medicine,  the  utility  of  chemical  knowledge 
was  beginning  to  be  appreciated,  but  the  only  “  chymical  medicines” 
in  the  Pharmacopoeia  of  1721  were  a  few  preparations  of  iron,  anti¬ 
mony  and  mercury,  some  salts  and  distilled  products  such  as  Spirits, 
volatile  and  empyreumatic  oils.  The  official  list  of  materia  medica 
was  very  extended,  'comprising  more  than  a  thousand  articles 
derived  from  plants,  more  than  a  hundred  of  animal  origin,  and 
nearly  the  same  number  of  mineral  origin.  The  Pharmacopoeia 
of  1746  bears  evidence  of  some  improvements  having  been  made, 
though  the  general  character  of  pharmacy  remained  unaltered. 

Another  circumstance  characteristic  of  the  period  now  referred  to 
was  the  large  trade  in  medicinal '  specifics,  some  of  which  were 
prepared  after  the  prescriptions  of  physicians,  as  in  the  case  of  Dr- 
Mead’s  remedy  for  the  bite  of  a  mad  dog  and  Sir  Hans  Sloane’s  eye 
salve,  while  others  were  made  the  subject  of  patents,  like  Dr.  Bate¬ 
man’s  pectoral  drops  and  Dr  James’  fever  powder.  The  first  patent 
for  a  medicinal  preparation— --sal  oleosum  volatile — was  granted  in 
1711  to  Timbth^  Bjfield.  But  proprietary  medicines  of  a  similar 
kind  were  so  numerous  that  in  1748  a  list  of  more  than  two  hundred 
of  them  was  published  in  the  Gentleman' s  Magazine ,  under  the  title 


of  “  Pharmacopoeia  Empirica,”  with  the  prices  at  which  they  were 
sold,  the  names  aud  addresses  of  the  proprietors  and  the  ailments 
they  were  said  to  cure,  so  that  “persons  who  could  not  afford  the 
expense,  or  might  not  care  to  be  governed  by  the  advice  of  the 
physician  and  apothecary,  might  know  where  to  apply  on  occasion 
for  an  appropriate  remedy.” 

The  preparations  included  in  that  list  were  in  very  few  instances 
patented,  but  chiefly  secret  nostrums  which  were  often  freely  adver¬ 
tised  in  newspapers  by  the  proprietors— sometimes  surgeons  or 
apothecaries— with  the  object  of  inducing  patients  to  consult  them 
personally.  The  trade  carried  on  in  such  articles  became  so  exten¬ 
sive  that  in  1783  the  Government  considered  them  to  be  “  very 
proper  objects  of  taxation.”  The  Act  of  Parliament  passed  for  that 
purpose  imposed  an  ad'valarsni  stamp  duty  on  such  medicines,  and 
requ’red  vendors  to  take  out  an  annual  licence  unless  they  had  served5  a 
regular  apprenticeship  to  a  surgeon,  apothecary,  druggist  of  chcihllt. 

Before  passing  from  this  stage  in  the  history  of  the  Plough  Uourt 
Pharmacy,  some  incidents  may  be  mentioned  which  throw  interesting 
side-lights  upon  the  manners  of  the  time,  as  well  as'  the  relation¬ 
ships  and  position  held  by  the  proprietors  of  the  business.  Both  of 
the  first  partners  were  twice  married.  Silvanus  Bevan’s  first  'wife 
was  Elizabeth,  daughter  cf  Daniel  Quare,  citizen  and  clockmaker 
of  Exchange  Alley.  The  marriage  took  place  in  1715  at  the  Friends 
Meeting-house  in  White  Hart  Court,  Gracechurch  Street,  and  was 
attended  by  a  great  number  of  persons  of  rank,  as  well  as  relations 
and  friends,  probably  in  consequence  of  Q  rare  being  well 
known  as  clockmaker  to  the  Queen.  William  Penn  is  said  tc 
have  been  present  on  the  occasion,  and  the  marriage  certificate  bears 
among  other  signatures  that  of  Sarah,  Duchess  of  Marlborough 
The  following  account  cf  the  ceremony  is  taken  from  a  letter  written 
at  the  time  by  a  lady  who  was  present :  “  Y°  Prince  and  Princesse 

and  moust  of  jc  quality  was  invited,  and  thay  gave  them  some  hopes 
of  honouring  them  with  there  company  till  y°  night  before,  and 
then  they  sent  word  j*  thay  could  not  come,  r.or  none  cf  yc  quality- 
which  had  places,  becaues  of  ye  Actt  which  obliges  them  to  go  into¬ 
ne  meeting— but  thare  several  of  je  quality  yt  had  no  places. 
yc  Dutchess  of  Marlbourow  was  thare  and  yc  Lord  Finch, }e  Lady 
Oartwrite,  y°  Yenetion  Ambascior  and  his  lady,  and  a  lady  that  is 
governess  to  ye  young  Princesses,  hous  name  I  have  forgot,  and 
several  other  persons  of  distinction.  Thay  desired  y*  yc  meeting 
might  be  put  cf  till  one  of  je  clock,  which  was  don. 

“  Accordingly  from  thence  we  went  to  Skiner’s  Hall,  where  we- 
dined,  they  gave  a  very  Splendid  dinner  as  could  b?,  and  y'c  quality 
was  mightily  pleased  both  with  ye  ceremony  of  ye  mam  ge  and  thare 
entertainment,  as  to  yc  young  cuple  they  came  of  very  well.  Ye 
bridegroom  spoke  very  hansomly  and  y®  bride  better  than  could  be 
expected  before  so  great  an  ascembley.  I  had  ye  honour  to  wate  or* 
them  home  at  night.” 

Silvanus  Bevan’s  second  wife  was  Martha,  daughter  of  Gilbert 
Healhcote,  cf  Culthorpe,  Derby.  He  had  no  children  who  survived 
him  and,  on  retiring  from  the  business,  about  17G4,  was  succeeded 
by  bi3  brother. 

Timothy  Bevan  married  first  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  David  Barclay, 
and  afterwards  Hannah,  daughter  of  Joseph  Gurney  and  widow  of 
Nathaniel  Springall,  of  Norwich.  Of  his  three  sons  the  eldest— 
Silvanus— became  a  partner  in  the  barking  firm  of  Barclay,  Bevan, 
and  Go.  ;  the  second— Timothy  Paul-  -became  his  father’s  partner, 
and  the  youngest— Joseph  Gurney  Bevan— succeeded  to  the  business 
in  Plough  Court  after  the  retirement  of  his  father,  about  1775, 
and  is  described  in  the  London  directories  of  the  time  as  “Druggist 
and  Chymist.” 

Joseph  Gurney  Bevan  possessed  a  vast  influence  in  the  councils 
of  the  Society  of  Friends  ;  he  was  a  man  of  great  learning  and  very 


166 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  27,  1897 


scrupulous  in  the  discharge  of  obligations.  While  conducting  the 
Hough  Court  establishment  he  had  one  night  a  week  to  do  duty  as 
Chief  Constable  ana  he  was  extremely  particular  in  fulfilling  all 
the  disagreeable  duties  of  the  post,  because  he  feared  a  substitute 
might  employ  physical  force  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty.  On  those 
occasions  supper  was  served  at.  an  earlier  hour  and  he  u3ed  to 
attend  at  the  station  house  clad  in  a  huge  white  greatcoat  and 
furnished  with  classical  works  for  midnight  reading.  He  continued 
to  manage  the  Plough  Court  Pharmacy  until  1794  when  it  passed  into 
the  hands  of  Samuel  Mildred,  brother  of  a  banker  in  an  adjoining 
Street. 

Within  the  sixty-four  years  that  had  elapsed  since  the  founda¬ 
tion  of  the  Plough  Court  establishment,  the  druggists  and 
chemists  in  London  had  become  nearly  ten  times  as  numerous  as 
apothecaries,  who  were  for  the  moab  part  engaged  in  medical 
practice  and,  with  seme 
few  exceptions,  had  ceased 
to  be  merely  pharmacists. 

Adam  Smith,  writing  in 
1775,  spoke  of  the  apothe¬ 
cary  as  being  then  “  the 
physician  to  the  poor  at 
all  times,  and  to  the  rich 
whenever  the  distress  or 
danger  is  not  very  great.” 

But  for  many  years  after¬ 
wards  the  Society  cf 
Apothecaries  was  without 
any  power  of  conferring 
medical  qualification  and 
the  power  of  regulating 
the  practice  of  pharmacy 
vested  in  it  by  the  charter 
of  1617,  had  been  practi¬ 
cally  lost,  for  long  before 
the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  the  oompoundirg 
sf  medicine  and  the  dis¬ 
pensing  of  physicians’  pre¬ 
scriptions  was  generally 
carried  out  by  druggists 
and  pharmacists.  They 
had  no  recognised  quali¬ 
fication  and  the  only 
available  means  of  phar¬ 
maceutical  education  was 
apprenticeship  of  about 
seven  years’ duration,  com¬ 
menced  at  the  age  of 
fourteen  or  fifteen,  with  a  premium  of  two  or  three  hundred  pounds. 
The  few  regularly  qualified  apothecaries  who,  during  the  latter  part 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  adhered  exclusively  to  the  practice  of 
pharmacy  were,  frcm  the  nature  of  their  business,  described  as 
diuggists  or  chemists  and  not  by  the  term  apothecary,  which  was 
then  understood  to  mean  a  practitioner  of  medicine.  Thus  the 
earlier  proprietors  cf  the  Plough  Court  Pharmacy,  Thomas  Paytherus, 
who  founded  the  house  of  Savory  and  Moore  in  1796,  his  successor, 
John  Savory,  as  well  as  Charles  James  Payne,  afterwards 
the  second  President  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  William 
Randall,  of  Southampton  and  several  others  carried  on  business  as 
chemists  and  druggists,  though  they  were  regularly  qualified  apothe¬ 
caries.  V arlous  other  changes  had  also  taken  place  in  connection  with 
*n:dicine  and  pharmacy,  as  shown  bythe  ‘LcndonPharmacopoeia’of 


1788.  The  number  of  officially  recognised  drugs  had  been  very 
much  reduced,  most  of  the  complex  alexipbarmic  preparations 
formerly  in  use  had  been  excluded  and  many  chemical  products 
had  been  brought  into  use  as  medicinal  agents.  With  increased 
simplicity  of  material  and  formulae  a  more  systematic  nomenclature 
was  adopted  and  the  benefits  arising  from  chemical  inquiries  were 
being  more  fully  acknowledged.  Since  the  time  of  Robert  Boyle,  when 
the  dreams  of  the  alchemists  began  to  be  replaced  by  a  more  rational 
study  of  natural  phenomena,  chemistry  had  made  great  progress  and, 
on  the  Continent,  many  pharmacists  had  contributed  to  its  advance. 
Among  the  number  Kunkel,  Lemery,  the  brothers  Geoffroy,  Neu¬ 
mann,  and  Margraff  had  become  especially  distinguished  by  their 
chemical  researches,  during  the  period  when  the  phlogiston 
theory  was  generally  accepted  and,  subsequently,  when  that  theory 
was  being  superseded,  Sohcele,  Klaproth,  Yauquelin  and  Proust 

took  a  prominent  position 
among  the  founders  of 
modern  chemistry.  Up  to 
that  time  no  British  phar¬ 
macist  had  acquired  simi¬ 
lar  distinction  ;  but  in  the 
first  decades  of  the  present 
century  the  history  of  the 
Plough  Court  Pharmacy 
furnishes,  in  more  than  one 
instance,  demonstration  of 
the  possibility  of  combin¬ 
ing  the  prosecution  of 
abstract  scientific  wo;  k 
with  the  ordinary  business 
occupations  appertaining 
to  the  ^practice  of  phar¬ 
macy. 

During  the  period  that 
Joseph  Gurney  Bevan  was 
the  head  of  the  Plough 
Court  establishment,  Wil¬ 
liam  Allen,  the  son  'of  a 
silk  manufacturer  in  Spital- 
fields,  was  placed  with 
him  in  consequence  of  a 
taste  he  had  shown  for 
chemical  and  other  pur¬ 
suits  connected  with  medi¬ 
cine  and  in  order  to  afford 
him  opportunity  for  study. 
While  in  that  position 
he  *  attended  various 
courses  of  lectures  de¬ 
livered  at  the  medical  schools  and  acquired  a  practical  knowledge 
of  chemistry.  He  subsequently  became  a  partner  in  the  business 
and,  as  its  head  for  nearly  fifty  years,  also  occupied  a  distinguished 
position  a3  a  scientific  teacher  and  investigator,  besides  being  a 
leading  promoter  of  many  important  philanthropic  undertakings. 

At  an  early  age  William  Allen  commenced  the  practice  of  keeping 
a  diary,  in  which  important  transactions  were  recorded  with  much 
precision.  Many  of  the  entries  in  this  diary  furnish  interesting 
information  concerning  the  Plough  Court  business  and  the  various 
other  pursuits  in  which  he  was  engaged  throughout  his  life.  The 
first  mention  of  Plough  Court  in  the  diary  is  in  1793.  Before  that 
time,  while  young  Allen  was  residing  with  his  parents,  several 
entries  showj  that  he  was  deeply  interested  in  the  movement 
then  commencing  In  regard  to  the  abolition  of  the  Slave 


WILLIAM  ALLEN, 


Feb.  27,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


Trade  and  in  tfce  efforts  then  being  made  by  Wilberforce, 
William  Pitt,  C.  J.  Fox,  and  Burke.  At  a  later  period 
William  Allen  became  actively  associated  with  Wilberforce  and 
Thomas  Clarkson  in  this  work,  as  a  member  of  the  Committee  of 
the  Society  for  the  Abolition  of  the  Slave  Trade,  originally  formed 
in  1783  by  William  Dillwyn,  George  Harrison,  Samuel  Hoare, 
Thomas  Knowles,  M.D.,  John  Lloyd,  and  Joseph  Woods. 

After  taking  up  his  residence  at  Plough  Court,  much  time  was 
devoted  to  the  study  of  chemistry  and  other  scientific  subjects, 
attending  lectures  at  Gay’s  and  St.  Thomas’s  Hospitals  and  the 
meetings  of  scientific  societies.  In  conjunction  with  several 
friends,  including  Arthur  Arch,  Joseph  Fox,  Luke  Howard,  Henry 
Lawson,  W.  H.  Pepys,  William  Phillips,  and  Samuel  Woods, 
a  society  was  formed  for  mutual  improvement  under  the 
name  of  the  “  Askesian  ”  and  meetings  were  held  at 
Plough  Court  twice  every  month  during  the  winter  season. 
Astley  Cooper,  Dr.  Babington,  A.  Tillocb,  Joseph  Woods,  Jun.,  and 
several  others  afterwards  joined  this  Society,  which  continued  for 
some  twenty  years.  The  second  meeting  of  the  Society  was  in 
March,  1796.  A  year  before  that  time  William  Allen  had  entered 
into  partnership  with  Samuel  Mildred,  the  business  being  carried  on 
under  the  style  of  Mildred  and  Allen,  Druggists  and  passages  in 
the  diary  appear  to  show  that  a  laboratory  was  established  at 
Plaistow  for  the  manufacture  of  chemical  products. 

Towards  the  end  of  1796,  William  Allen  married  Mary  Hamilton, 
and  though  her  death,  during  the  following  year,  was  a  severe  afflic¬ 
tion,  he  was  soon  afterwards  actively  engaged  with  his  friend 
William  Phillips  in  carrying  out  a  previously  formed  project  for  the 
amelioration  of  the  state  of  the  poor,  which  proved  to  be  of  very 
great  benefit  for  several  years  afterwards  in  relieving  the  distress 
caused  by  the  war,  when  “  there  was  a  dismal  scarcity  of  provision  s 
— bread  fifteen  pence  the  quartern  loaf.” 

During  the  next  three  years  business  anxieties  interfered  to  some 
extent  with  the  prosecution  of  study  and  scientific  work,  but  several 
entries  show  that  meanwhile  great  progress  was  being  made  in 
carrying  out  chemical  and  physical  experiments  with  his  friend 
Pepys,  on  their  own  account,  as  well  as  for  Dr.  Fordyce  and  others 

About  this  time  Richard  Phillips,  the  son  of  a  printer  in  Lom¬ 
bard  Street,  became  a  pupil  of  William  Allen  at  Plough  Court 
and  there  acquired  the  knowledge  of  chemistry  and  pharmacy, 
which  he  afterwards  displayed  as  critic  of  the  London 
Pharmacopoeias  of  1809  and  1815  and  in  various  other  capacities. 
A  younger  pupil,  William  West,  after  leaving  Plough  Courb  and 
settling  as  a  pharmacist  at  Leeds  became  an  active  member 
of  the  Philosophical  and  Literary  Society  and,  as  its  honorary 
secretary,  took  part  in  the  formation  of  the  British  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Science  in  1831.  Both  he  and  Richard 
Phillips  were,  like  William  Allen  himself,  subsequently  elected 
Fellows  of  the  Royal  Society. 

On  the  retirement  of  Samuel  Mildred  in  1797,  Allen  took  into 
partnership  his  friend,  Luke  Howard,  who  had  previously  been 
in  business  for  about  two  years  as  a  retail  chemist  in  Fleet  Street 
Luke  Howard  had  served  an  apprenticeship  to  Oliver  Sims,  a  druggist 
at  Stockport,  and  since  then  had  been  for  some  time  engaged  in  the 
establishment  of  a  large'  wholesale  druggist  in  Bishopsgate  Street, 
probably  the  firm  of  Kirk,  Hearons,  and  Bright.  The  style  of  the 
firm  then  adopted  was  Allen  and  Howard,  the  Plough  Court  estab¬ 
lishment  being  under  the  management  of  William  Allen,  while  the 
laboratory  at  Plaistow  was  directed  by  Luke  Howard  with  the 
assistance  of  Joseph  Jewel),  who  had  been  for  some  time  pre- 
\iously  employed  at  Plough  Court  and  had  shown  great  capacity 
for  conducting  chemical  operations. 

(To  be  continued.') 


107 


NOTES  AND  FORMULAE. 


(Specially  Compiled  for  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal. ) 


Mentholated  Crayons. 

Menthol  and  chloral  hydrate,  of  each  1  part ;  cacao  butter, 
2  parts  ;  spermaceti,  4  parts.  Melt  the  last  two  ingredients,  add 
the  chloral  and  the  menthol,  and  run  into  a  suitable  mould. — 
Pharm.  Zeit .,  xli. ,  505. 


Preparation  of  Bismuth  Iodogallate. 

Subnitrate  of  bismuth,  30 ‘4  grammes,  dissolved  in  100  grammes 
of  nitric  acid,  and  to  the  solution  500  C.c.  of  warm  water 
is  added.  To  this  is  added  with  constant  agitation  a  clear  solu¬ 
tion  of  16 '6  grammes  of  potassium  iodide  and  1 8  '8  grammes  of 
gallic  acid  in  300  C.c.  of  distilled  water.  The  precipitate 
collected,  washed  with  a  saturated  solution  of  gallic  acid,  and  dried 
— Journ.  de  Pharm.  d’ Anvers,  lii. ,  326,  after  Nouv.  Bern. 


To  Stain  the  Ringworm  Fungus. 

Adamson  recommends  the  following  method  for  permanently 
staining  trichophyton: — 1.  Soak  the  hair  in  a  5  to  10  per  cent,  solu¬ 
tion  of  caustic  potash  for  ten  to  thirty  minutes  on  a  slide.  2.  Wash 
in  15  per  cent,  alcohol  in  water.  3.  Dry  on  slide,  and  in  the  case 
of  scales  fix  by  passing  through  the  flame.  4.  Stain  in  aniline 
gentian  violet  (made  in  the  usual  way,  by  adding  a  few  drops  of 
saturated  alcoholic  solution  of  gentian  violet  to  aniline  water)  fifteen 
to  sixty  minutes.  5.  One  to  five  minutes  in  Gram’s  iodine  solution. 
6.  Decolorise  in  aniline  oil  two  to  three  hours  or  longer.  7.  Remove 
superfluous  aniline  oil  by  blotting  paper,  and  mount  in  Canada 
balsam. — Clasg.  Med.  Journ.,  xlvi. ,  236,  after  Brit.  Journ.  Derm. 


Hasmatogen. 

According  to  Hertel,  ivhen  fresh  ox-blood,  in  the  presence  of  a 
trace  of  caustic  soda  solution,  is  shaken  with  freshly-precipitated 
ferric  hydrate,  a  trace,  amounting  to  about  0  '02  per  cent,  of  the 
whole,  is  dissolved  by  the  blood,  aiyl  remains  in  definite  combina¬ 
tion  with  it.  This  preparation  he  calls  hasmatogen  Hertel.  It  is 
essential  that  the  blood  should  be  as  fresh  as  possible.-  Pharm. 
Zeit.  fur  Bus-s. ,  xxxv. ,  500. 


Caramel  in  Fluid  Extracts. 

According  to  El  Monitor  caramel,  as  a  colouring  agent  in  fluid 
extracts,  may  be  detected  by  adding  an  excess  of  solution  of  sub¬ 
acetate  of  lead,  filtering,  removing  the  lead  from  the  filtrate  with 
dilute  sulphuric  acid,  again  filtering,  when,  if  caramel  bo  present, 
the  clear  liquid  is  brown  ;  otherwise  it  is  nearly  colourless. 


Pharmacy  of  Iodol. 

Iodol  Collodion :  Iodol,  1  ;  ether,  5  ;  collodion,  10  parts.  For 
covering  open  or  suppurating  wounds.  Alcoholic  Glycerole  of  Iodol : 
Iodol,  I;  alcohol,  16;  glycerin,  14  or  34  parts.  Iodol  Lanolin: 
Iodol,  5  or  10 ;  lanolin,  95  or  90  parts.  Iodol  Vaselin :  Iodol,  1  to 
2  parts;  vaselin,  10  parts.  Iodol  Ether:  Iodol,  10  to  20  parts; 
ether,  20  to  80  parts. — Pharm.  Central.,  xxxviii.,  475, 


Test  for  Vanillin. 

To  a  solution  supposed  to  contain  vanillin  add  a  few  drops  of  a 
1  per  cent,  solution  of  ferrous  sulphate,  and  then  bromine  water, 
drop  by  drop.  Vanillin  gives  a  bluish-green  colour,  turning  yellow 
after  a  time. — II  Bollettino  Chimico-Farmaceutico. 


168 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb  27,  1S97 


THE  CASE  FOR  THE  P.A.T.A. 

BY  WILLIAM  JOHNSTON. 

Pharmaceutical  Chemist  and  Assistant  Secretary  to  the  P.A.T.A. 

Amongst  the  reasons  for  the  existence  of  the  Proprietary  Articles 
Trade  Association,  perhaps  the  first  in  order  is  the  fact  that  there 
is  no  other  convenient  rallying  point  for  the  retailers  of  this 
country  to  meet  and  take  counsel  together  for  the  protection 
of  their  everyday  trade  interests.  Some  of  our  trade  interests, 
and  all  of  our  educational  and  scientific  interests  are  well  looked 
after  “  in  another  place,”  but  it  is  difficult  to  make  one  machine  do 
everything,  and  impossible  to  make  it  do  everything  well.  In 
particular,  some  agency  should  attend  to-  the  needs  of  that 
despised,  though  not  necessarily  despicable  part  of  our  business — 
the  trade  in  proprietary  articles,  and  it  is  a  fact  that  there  is  no 
agency  in  Great  Britain,  other  than  the  Proprietary  Articles  Trade 
Association,  both  willing  and  able  to  do  that,  with  any  chance  of 
success.  Except  in  the  better  class  of  pharmacies,  the  stocking  of  a 
large  number  of  proprietary  articles  is  an  absolute  necessity — not 
f  ir  their  own  sakes  solely  or  intrinsically,  but  for  what  the  sale 
leads  up  to.  Supposing  the  average  chemist — the  kind  composing 
the  bulk  of  the  craft — were  to  say,  “I  will  charge  full  price  for 
-al  1  these  articles,”  in  most  neighbourhoods  he  would  simply  drive 
bis  customers  into  “bottom  price”  shops.  Or,  supposing  he 
adopted  the  drastic  method  of  “boycotting”  the  whole  of 
them  the  effect  would  be  much  the  same.  A  chemist 
who  adopts  such  methods  may  be  a  very  brave  man,  but 
it  would  be  a  ruinous  policy  to  adopt  in  most  cases.  I  know  very 
well  he  could  persuade  his  customers  to  have  his  own  preparation 
twenty  times  in  the  hundred,  but  how  about  the  other  80  per 
cent.?  It  won’t  do  to  drive  them  to  the  shop  of  the  “cutter,” 
because  when  they  go  there  they  will  be  tempted  to  buy  other 
things  which  the  chemist  would  like  to  supply. 

Some  retailers  inform  me  that  they  now  refuse  to  stock  a  “  few  ” 
of  the  worst  specimens  of  cut  goods.  Almost  all  agree,  however, 
that  it  would  not  be  possible  to  treat  everything  like  that  with  im¬ 
punity.  This  being  the  case,  unless  a  chemist  has  a  good  dis¬ 
pensing  connection  in  a  wealthy  neighbourhood,  or  has  a  private 
income,  he  is  practically  compelled  to  compete  with  the  stores  by 
cutting.  And  how  unsatisfactory  that  is  !  How  vexing  and 
galling  to  sell  bottle  after  bottle  of  stuff  at  a  halfpenny  profit  or 
no  profit  at  all !  Truly  a-  protective  association  was  needed,  and 
without  doubt  the  existence  of  the  P.A.T.A.  is  justified,  no  less  by 
the  facts  enumerated  than  by  the  measure  of  success  it  has  already 
achieved.  Meantime  those  who  are  working  for  the  movement 
are  straining  every  nerve  to  haiten  it  forward,  and  to  get  more 
important  articles  on  the  protected  list. 

Another  reason  for  the  existence  of  the  Association  is  the  con¬ 
sideration  that  if  the  prices  f.of  advertised  proprietaries  were 
levelled  up  to  one  uniform  rate  the  main  body  of  chemists 
would  be  more  likely  to  get  their  fair  share  of  the  trade  in  drugs. 
Do  away  with  the  object  lesson  of  cut  “patents,”  etc.,  and  you 
!es  en  the  undue  influence  which  capitalists  and  others  have  exer- 
•  cis  :d  on  the  public  mind  through  the  pernicious  system. 

Objections  to  joining  the  Association  have  been  raised  in  the 
columns  of  the  J ournal  and  at  meetings.  The  more  important  of 
these  may  be  replied  to  in  order. 

(a)  “  I  do  not  believe  in  trades  unionism.”  When  analysed,  that 
resolves  itself  into,  “  I  do  not  believe  in  unity  of  action  or  in  com¬ 
bination,  either  for  defence  or  attack but  what  helpless,  disjointed 
units  we  should  be  in  national  and  municipal  life  if  that  principle 
were  applied  all  round.  Why  should  the  reasonable  grievances 
of  traders  be  excluded  from  benefit  that  may  accrue  by  com¬ 
bination  ?  For  my  part  I  can  see  nothing  wrong  and  everything 
right  in  concerted  action  against  the  big  cutters,  who  care  for 
no  interests  save  their  own. 

(b)  “Ido  not  approve  of  any  artificial  forcing  up  of  prices.” 
This  is  very  plausible,  but  the  P.A.T.A.  only  aims  at  preventing 
the  cutters  from  forcing  prices  down  below  those  fixed  by  the 
owners  of  protected  articles  and  duly  advertised  to  consumers. 

(c)  “  You  cannot  profitably  interfere  with  the  laws  of  supply  and 
demand.”  The  laws  of  supply  and  demand  are  in  many  instances 
brutally  cruel  in  their  operation  and,  whenever  they  are  so,  they 
certainly  should  be  resisted.  In  the  present  instance  it  is  both 
desirable  and  possible  to  resist. 

( d )  “I  sell  very  few  patents.  I  do  not  care.  I  am  not  going  to 
join.  Jt  is  too  late  in  the  day.”  But  it  is  not  too  late.  There 
is  nothing  to  prevent  proprietors  from  completely  altering  the 
face  of  tl.jngs  if  they  choose  ;  many  of  them  are  simply  waiting  to 
be  convinced  that  the  trade  really  wants  protection,  and  there¬ 


fore  it  should  be  apparent  that  it  is  our  duty  to  help  in  con- 
vincing  them. 

(e)  “  I  do  not  want  to  encourage  quackery.  I  am  not  going  to 
join.”  Now,  even  if  supporting  the  P.A.T.A.  meant  “encouraging 
quackery,”  this  would  still  be  a  very  pedantic  position  to  take  up ; 
but  the  P.A.T.A.  does  not  promote  quackery.  When  traders 
band  themselves  together  to  obtain  reasonable  profits  on  things 
they  are  virtually  obliged  to  deal  in,  it  does  not  follow  that  they 
are  believers  in  and  promoters  of  the  use  of  such  things,  but  only 
that  they  are  sensible  business  men.  Besides,  proprietary 
medicines  are  not  the  only  articles  touched  by  the  Association. 
The  list  includes  foods  and  toilet  articles  ;  whilst  it  is  quite  likely 
it  will  include  photographic  articles  before  long.  Candidly,  I 
think  chemists  and  druggists  ought  not  to  be  quite  so  ready  to  cry 
“quack.”  Granted  that  some  advertised  nostrums  pretend  to 
cure  almost  every  ailment  under  the  sun  with  unblushing  effron¬ 
tery,  there  yet  remain  a  great  many  that  are  really  good  in  their 
way  for  simple  ailments.  Most  of  them  were  originated  by  phar¬ 
macists,  though  in  many  instances  they  may  now  be  owned  by  out¬ 
siders.  And  how  about  our  own  preparations  ?  We  do  not  con¬ 
sider  them  quack  nostrums,  but  I  fear  they  would  be  so  labelled  (I 
mean  the  secret,  advertised  ones)  by  the  majority  of  medical  men. 

(/)  “I  do  not  want  protection.  I  protect  myself  by  selling  my 
own  things  on  every  possible  occasion*”  This  is  a  specimen  of 
another  class  of  irreconcilables  who  will  hear  of  no  compromise 
whatever.  He  is  a  stalwart,  stiff-backed  individual,  and  is  entitled 
to  a  certain  amount  of  respect,  yet  I  must  differ  from  him  about 
the  wisdom  of  his  policy.  W e  will  assume  that  he  has  thoroughly 
mastered  the  art  of  substitution,  and  can  sell  without  offending  ; 
there  is  still  this  difficulty  to  contend  with — there  are  hundreds  of 
times  when  he  has  no  chance  to  substitute,  either  through  pressure 
of  business  or  persistence  of  customer.  What  an  immense  advan¬ 
tage  to  the  retailer  to  have  a  guaranteed  profit  to  fall  back  upon  in 
such  cases  !  There  is  no  valid  reason  why  we  should  neglect  to 
reap  some  benefit  from  the  immense  amount  of  advertising  that 
is  constantly  being  carried  on  at  no  cost  to  us.  This  class  of 
objectors  is  also  a  very  small  one.  Eight  out  of  ten  substi tutors 
stay  their  hand  when  an  article  goes  on  the  protected  list. 
They  reason  that  if  a  proprietor  goes  out  of  way  to  guarantee  a 
real  profit,  he  is  entitled  to-  a  considerable  share  of  retail  good¬ 
will,  and  they  are  thus  able  to  make  a  harmonious  blend  of  self- 
interest,  esprit  de  corps,  and  fair  play. 

(g)  “  When  I  have  bought  anything  and  paid  for  it,  I  have  a 
right  to  do  as  I  like  with  it,  without  interference  from  any  associa¬ 
tion.”  Quite  so,  always  provided  you  bought  it  without  any  con¬ 
ditions  attached  to  the  purchase.  That  makes  all  the  difference. 
When  a  protected  article  is  purchased  from  a  wholesale 
house  by  a  retailer,  the  latter  knows  very  well  that  the 
makers  insist  on  certain  anti-cutting  conditions,  and  that  those 
conditions  have  to  be  agreed  to  equally  by  the  retail  trade  and 
by  the  wholesaler.  There  is  no  hardship  on  the  retailer  in  that, 
because  he  need  not  buy  the  goods  unless  he  likes. 

(h)  “  I  will  not  join  yet,  because  you  have  got  so  few  really  big 
things  on  the  list.”  This  is  not  a  very  valid  reason  for 
holding  aloof,  and  the  situation  in  that  particular  respect 
would  be  laughable  did  it  not  exhibit  such  a  painful  want 
of  common  sense.  On  the  one  hand  the  big  manufacturer  says, 
“  I  will  not  protect  till  I  see  if  the  retailers  join  this  P.A.T.A.  in 
anything  like  numbers.”  On  the  other  the  stand-off  retailer  says, 
“  I  will  not  join  till  the  big  manufacturer  does.”  And  there  they 
would  stand  staring  each  other  in  the  face  in  what  would  be  a 
stupid  deadlock  were  it  not  for  the  action  of  more  enterprising 
individuals  on  both  sides.  If  the  retail  side  will  but  continue  to 
lead  the  way  the  manufacturers  (who,  after  all,  have  the  most  at 
stake)  will  follow.  Several  have  already  said  so.  I  will  not  go  so  far 
as  to  say  that  it  is  mean  to  hold  aloof  and  let  others  bear  all  the  work 
and  expense,  but  at  the  same  time  it  cannot  be  called  a  generous 
thing  to  reap  an  undoubted  advantage,  and  not  stir  one  little 
finger  in  return. 

(i)  “  I  object  to  the  raising  of  the  wholesale  prices  of  some  of  the 
protected  things.  I  charge  full  price  for  everything,  so  I  now  get 
less  profit  rather  than  more.”  This  is  the  only  argument 
against  us  in  which  there  is  any  body  or  substance.  It  is  not  in 
any  degree  a  fatal  objection  and  those  who  raise  this  objection 
should  remember  that  the  P.A.T.A.  is  not  responsible  for  the  rise 
in  prices.  Unfortunately  many  retailers  are  urging  manufacturers 
on  to  raise  their  wholesale  prices ;  but  though  the  aim  is  right, 
the  method  is  wrong  and  not  for  one  moment  to  be  compared 
with  protection,  for  general  advisability. 


Feb.  27,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


169 


THE  CASE  AGAINST  THE  P.A.T.A. 

BY  JOHN  INGHAM, 

Pharmaceutical  Chemist. 

The  proverb  which  bids  us  take  the  bull  by  the  horns,  has  its 
opposite  in  that  which  advises  us  to  let  sleeping  dogs  lie,  or  in 
that  which  warns  us  of  the  folly  of  stirring  up  a  hornet’s  nest. 
They  all  contain  a  moral  of  very  wide  application.  I  think  it  may 
be  opportunely  applied  to  the  policy  of  the  P.A.T.A.,  especially 
as  enunciated  in  the  second  clause  of  its  rides.  The  object  of  the 
rule  is  thus  expressed  ‘  ‘  to  take  such  steps  as  the  Association  may 
be  advised  are  legal  to  deal  with  extreme  cutting  of  prices,  to 
give  advice  and  to  render  assistance,  to  its  members  in  preventing 
substitution.”  That  object  is  very  legitimate  and  worthy  of  com¬ 
mendation.  The  advantages  aimed  at  by  the  Association  have 
been  so  wTell  put  forth  and  explained  by  Mr.  Glyn- Jones,  that  few 
can  come  to  any  other  conclusion  than  that  they  are  most  desirable. 
The  evil  it  wishes  to  combat  is  rampant  and  demoralising  in  the 
highest  degree  to  the  best  interests  of  pharmacy. 

Freely  admitting  that  the  sale  of  proprietary  articles  forms  a 
large  and  important  part  of  the  chemist’s  business  and  that  it 
must  necessarily  remain  so,  I  have  never  been  enlightened  enough 
to  think  it  should  be  made  a  prominent  part,  nor  do  I  see  the 
wisdom  of  selling  proprietary  articles  at  or  about  cost  price. 
I  hold  a  strong  opinion  that  a  very  large  number  of  them  might 
be  given  up  without  pecuniary  loss  to  the  pharmacist,  who  has 
boundless  resources  to  fill  up  these  blanks  if  he  be  a  master  in  his 
art.  It  is  not,  therefore,  with  the  object  of  the  Association  that 
I  am  here  concerned,  but  rather  with  the  wisdom  and  the  ethics 
of  the  modus  operandi. 

The  work  so  far  done  seems  to  concentrate  itself  on  the  one 
object  of  compelling  manufacturers  of  proprietary  articles  to 
■compel  retail  vendors  to  do  what  their  common  sense  should  in¬ 
duce  them  to  do  for  their  own  advantage  as  well  as  for  the  general 
good  of  their  craft,  viz. ,  to  sell  at  a  reasonable  profit.  That 
method  is  unconstitutional  and  altogether  opposed  to  the  per¬ 
manent  principles  of  free  trade.  It  is  far  too  late  to  think  of 
monopolising  the  sale  of  the  goods  in  question,  and  druggists 
cannot  expect  any  special  favour  over  that  part  of  their  business. 
So  far  as  I  can  see  no  pecuniary  advantage  has  yet  accrued  to 
anyone  from  the  Association’s  tactics.  Here  is  the  point  when  one 
begins  to  question  the  wisdom  or  otherwise  of  attempting  any¬ 
thing  on  these  lines.  The  agitation  is  simply  bringing  more  and 
mere  to  the  front  that  part  of  the  chemist’s  business  which  should 
be  kept  in  the  background.  It  is  really  stirring  up  a  hornet’s  nest 
and  waking  the  sleeping  dogs.  It  is  rousing  to  further  action  and 
more  strenuous  opposition  the  latent  resources  of  the  extreme 
cutters,  whether  they  be  company  stores  or  qualified  chemists. 
It  has  been  well  said  that  the  very  existence  of  cutters  depends 
upon  their  under-selling.  That  is  only  part  of  the  truth,  for  it 
is  self-evident  that  their  very  ability  to  sell  at  all  depends  upon 
the  traitors  in  our  own  camp.  The  under-selling  of  cutters  will 
not  be  stopped  by  the  withdrawal  of  a  few  dozen  patent  medicines 
from  their  lists,  for  it  is  not  from  that  class  of  goods  they  make 
their  chief  profits.  However,  allowing  for  argument’s  sake  that 
they  come  into  line  with  the  proprietors’  conditions  and  agree  to 
sell  the  restricted  articles  at  a  fixed  price,  what  would  be  the 
result  ?  It  would  make  matters  worse,  for  their  profits  being 
enlarged,  they  would  be  increasing  their  chance  of  success,  or 
using  the  profits  to  reduce  still  further  their  charges  for  dispensing 
and  drugs.  Not  only  is  the  method  of  attack  unconstitutional, 
but  it  has  within  itself  the  essence  of  weakness,  and  therefore  of 
failure,  by  reason  of  its  impracticability.  The  attempt  to  bring 
the  greater  part  of  15,000  chemists  to  one  mind  on  the  subject  is 
Utopian  in  the  highest  degree.  The  success  that  has  attended 
the  Association  so  far  as  numbers  are  concerned  is  greater  than 
might  have  been  expected  :  but  when  a  certain  point  has  been 
reached  in  business  or  any  movement  of  a  voluntary  nature, 
we  all  know  how  difficult  and  slow  a  further  advance  is.  The 
P.A.T.A.  will  be  no  exception  to  the  rule.  The  great  object 
of  proprietors  is  to  have  their  goods  distributed  by  as  many 
retailers  as  possible :  it  matters  not  to  them  whether  the  distri¬ 
butors  be  chemists,  grocers,  or  booksellers.  They  want  distri¬ 
butors  everywhere  so  that  the  public  may  find  them  close  at  hand 
and  obtain  their  articles  in  the  remotest  village  with  the  least 
possible  trouble.  With  this  end  in  view  the  makers  have  spent 
immense  sums  in  advertisements.  There  are  many  reasons  why 
the  chemists  have  been  and  still  are  their  best  agents,  but  they  are 
not  essential.  Those  who,  by  lavish  distribution  of  hand-bills 


and  prominent  exhibition  of  goods,  have  increased  their  local 
sales,  must  not  forget  that  nearly  every  sale  of  a  proprietary 
medicine  takes  the  place  of  some  Pharmacopoeia  preparation  that 
would  have  been  more  profitable. 

Admitting  for  a  moment  that  the  coercive  policy  of  the  Associa¬ 
tion  is  successful, .  that  maybe  every  vendor  and  manufacturer- 
joins  it,  would  the  result  be  any  credit  or  advantage  to  chemists  as 
a  body  of  educated  men?  Certainly  not.  If  each  side  were 
faithful  to  the  agreement,  proprietors  would  have  such  a  whip- 
hand  over  the  trade  that,  by  doubling  the  intensity  of  their 
advertisements,  the  chemist  would  become  more  and  more  a  dis¬ 
tributor  of  packed  goods  and  proprietary  articles.  That  policy 
will  not  succeed.  Two  or  three  thousand  may  join  the  Associa¬ 
tion,  but  they  will  never  be  able  to  induce  a  large  percentage 
of  proprietors  to  boycot  the  bulk  of  the  trade  and  all  the  other 
channels  through  which  their  goods  circulate.  If  they  did  so 
they  would  find  a  large  falling  off  in  their  sales  consequently, 
one  by  one  they  would  withdraw  from  the  position  and  place 
their  articles  upon  the  open  market.  The  same  will  happen  in 
the  retail  section  of  the  Association,  for  those  wrho  have  made  a 
connection  by  extreme  cutting  will  find  many  of  their  customers 
cease  to  come  to  them  when  they  are  no  longer  cheaper  than  their 
neighbours.  They,  too,  would  withdraw,  and  in  the  course  of  a 
few  years  the  society  would  collapse.  The  necessity  of  with¬ 
holding  supplies  from  men  who  will  not  keep  the  agreement  would 
be  a  source  of  constant  annoyance  to  wholesale  houses,  and  the 
difficulty  of  detecting  transgressors  would  be  insurmountable 
without  the  employment  of  many  paid  detectives.  I  do  not  desire 
to  appear  as  an  advocate  for  proprietors  of  specialties ;  they 
are  well  able  to  take  care  of  themselves,  but  I  wish  to  point  out 
that  the  attempt  to  coerce  them  to.  enforce  a  minimum  retail 
price  is  unjust.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  they  have  had 
no  part  in  bringing  about  the  present  condition  of  things.  The 
necessity  for  the  agitation  is  due  entirely  to  the  folly  of  chemists 
themselves.  Proprietors,  it  is  true,  have  in  many  cases  taken 
advantage  of  the  position  and  said,  if  chemists  are  such  fools  as  to 
give  their  profits  to  the  public,  they  might  as  well  have  more 
themselves.  Hence,  the  advance  in  the  prices  of  so  many  articles. 
The  most  chemists  can  legitimately  ask  for  is  that  they  shall  con¬ 
tinue  to  advertise  the  retail  price  of  their  preparations,-  and  to 
supply  on  terms  which  make  it  worth  chemists  while  to  stock  and 
sell  them.  If  they  will  not  do  this  the  only  sensible  and  honour¬ 
able  .plan  of  cutting  is  to  cut  the  articles  altogether. 

Extreme  cutting  is  like  many  other  evil  things,  and  the  least 
publicity  given  to  it  the  better.  It  is  one  of  those  phases  in  the 
evolution  of  pharmacy  that  must  have  its  day.  The  true  remedy 
for  the  present  unsatisfactory  state  of  affairs  can  only  be  found  by 
every  pharmacist  feeling  that  he  is  one  of  a  corporate  body  whose 
honour  and  dignity  is  tainted  by  every  mean  action  of  his  own. 
When  amongst  us  there  exists  that  sense  of  duty  and  obligation 
to  others  which  animated  the  founders  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  and  enabled  them  to  look  with  kindly  eyes  upon  the  affairs 
of  their  neighbours  as  well  as  their  own,  when  no  qualified 
chemist  can  be  found  who  will  sell  his  services  to  company 
stores  or  cutting  chemists,  then  we  may  begin  to  feel  that  the 
desired  object  is  near  at  hand. 

In  days  gone  by  if  a  man  opened  a  shop,  he  expected  to 
build  up  a  business  in  a  straightforward  way  by  his  own  merits. 
Now  the  boom  of  every  new  man  is  “Patent  medicines  at  store 
prices,”  And  an  attempt  to  undersell  all  around  him. 

Is  it  for  that  young  men  are  spending  their  money  and  giving 
years  to  study  for  stiff  examinations  ?  It  should  not  be  so,  for  I 
am  convinced  that  the  true  remedy  for  this  and  other  trade  abuses 
lies  not  in  regulations  and  interference  of  associations,  whether 
legal  or  otherwise,  but  entirely  in  our  own  hands. 

“  Follow  Light  and  do  the  Right, 

For  man  can  half  control  his  doom." 


Method  of  Determining  Minute  Quantities  of  Nitrites.  — - 
Zambelli  recommends  the  following  colorimetric  method  for 
determining  nitrites.  A  reagent  is  made  by  dissolving  2  grammes 
of  sulphanilic  acid  and  2  grammes  of  phenol  in  50  C.c.  of  equal 
parts  of  sulphuric  acid  and  water.  A  measured  quantity  of  the 
solution  to  be  tested  is  placed  in  a  fiask,  and  2  or  3  C.c.  of  the 
above  solution  added.  In  ten  to  fifteen  minutes  the  solution  is 
made  just  alkaline  with  ammonia  ;  if  nitrous  acid  be  present  a 
yellow  coloration  will  be  produced.  This  colour  is  matched  by 
repeating  the  reaction,  using  a  standard  solution  of  silver  nitrite. — 
Jown,  §0C,  Ohm.  Ind.,  XV.,  617,  after  Monit,  Sckntif 


170 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  27,  1897. 


PRACTICAL  PH  ARM  ACOG  RAPH  Y. 

STRUCTURAL  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  SOME 
IMPORTANT  DRUGS. 

ACONITI  FOLIA. 

Aconite  Leaves. — Feuilles  d’Aconit  Napel. — Eturmhutkraut. 

Macroscopic  Characters. — The  fresh  leaves  and  flowering  tops 
of  Aconitum  napellus  are  collected  from  plants  cultivated  in  Britain 
when  the  flowers  are  beginning  to  expand,  i.e.,  about  the  end 
of  May  or  the  beginning  of  June.  At  this  time,  before  the 
formation  of  seeds,  the  part  of  the  plant  above  ground  is  richest 
in  alkaloid,  the  leaves  when  dried  containing  about  0‘3  per 
cent.,  and  the  flower-buds  about  0'4  per  cent.  The  plant 
flowers  earlier  than  other  species  of  aconite,  and  is  characterised 
by  the  shallow  or  semicircular  hood  or  upper  sepal  of  the  blue 
calyx.  The  flowers  are  usually  arranged  in  a  simple  raceme,  but 
during  wet  seasons  a  few  lateral  bi'anches  are  given  off.  These  are 
never  incurved  or  distorted.  The  two  lateral  sepals  are  broadly 
obovate  and  obtuse,  and  the  lower  two  are  elliptic-lanceolate  and 
obtuse.  Two  of  the  petals  form  hammer-shaped  tubular  nectaries 
which  are  hidden  in  the  helmet-shaped  sepal,  and  normally  there 
are  also  three  very  small  linear  petals,  distinguished  from  the  pale 
filaments  of  the  numerous  stamens  by  their  blue  colour.  The  leaves 
are  stalked,  roundish  in  general  outline,  and  divided  down  to  the 
leafstalk  into  three  segments,  of  which  the  lateral  two  are  again 
divided  nearly  to  the  leafstalk,  thus  making  five  principal  divisions, 
which  are  wedge  shaped  at  the  base.  Each  of  these  again  is 
sub -divided  twice  or  thrice  into  nearly  opposite  linear,  tapering,  acute 
segments,  of  which  the  lowest  are  the  longest,  and  these  segments 
are  somewhat  spreading. 

Microscopic  Characters. — The  epidermis  of  the  leaf  consists  of 
sinuate  tabular  cells,  those  on  the  upper  side  being  comparatively 
large,  whilst  those  on  the  under  side  are  smaller,  with  thicker 
and  more  acutely  sinuate.  Stomata  occur  on  the  under  side  only. 
A  single  layer  of  palisade  cells  is  found  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
mesophyll,  and  spongy  parenchyma  in  the  lower  portion. 

ACONITI  RADIX. 

Aconite  Root. — Racine  d’Aconit. — Sturmliutwurzel. 

Macroscopic  Characters. — The  root  of  Aconitum  napellus  should 
be  collected  from  plants  cultivated  in  Britain.  As  the  root 
is  in  perfection  in  the  autumn,  it  is  best  collected  during 
October  and  should  then  be  crowned  with  the  scales  of  an 
undeveloped  leaf-bud.  The  carefully  dried  root  is  from  6  to 
11  Cm.  long  and  2  Cm.  in  diameter  at  the  thickest  part,  and  its 
shape  is  that  of  an  elongated  cone,  tapering  very  gradually. 
It  is  dark  brown  in  colour  externally  and  marked  with  the 
scars  of  broken-off  rootlets,  whilst  internally,  the  root  is  white  or 
greyish- white,  consisting  mainly  of  uniform  parenchymatous 
cells  loaded  with  starch  granules.  When  the  root  is  trans¬ 
versely  cut  and  the  fresh  surface  examined  with  a  lens, 
the  large-celled  pith  is  seen  to  be  divided  from  the 
bark  by  a  narrow  irregular  line— the  cambial  zone — which 
gives  it  the  appearance  of  a  star  with  five  to  seven  rays,  and  at 
each  angle  of  the  figure  thus  formed  occurs  a  vascular  bundle. 
The  cuticle  is  found  only  at  the  tips  of  the  tubers  and  on  adjoining 
parts  of  the  roots  ;  elsewhere  it  is  replaced  by  brown  paren¬ 
chymatous  cells,  part  of  the  primary  bark. 

Microscopic  Characters. — Aconite  is  one  of  the  rare  dicotyle¬ 
donous  roots  which  retain  their  endodermis  in  spite  of  increasing 
thickness.  It  occurs  as  a  single  layer  of  brown,  thin-walled  cells, 
and  is  situated  near  the  periphery  of  the  root.  The  cells  are  tan¬ 
gentially  elongated,  with  radial  dividing  walls,  and  separate  the 
thin  primary  or  outer  bark  from  the  much  more  extensive  secondary 
or  inner  bark.  The  parenchyma  of  the  primary  bark  also  consists 
of  tangentially  elongated  cells,  the  walls  of  which  are  pitted,  but 
it  contains  in  addition  scattered  yellow  schlerenchymatous  cells. 
The  parenchyma  immediately  within  the  endodermis  is  of  the 
same  character  as  that  of  the  primary  bark,  and  also  contains 
stone  cells  which,  however,  are  colourless.  Proceeding  inwards, 
the  parenchymatous  cells  become  smaller  and  roundish-polygonal 
in  shape.  They  are  also  seen  to  be  arranged  radially  and  at  last 
become  replaced  by  the  smaller  roundish-polygonal  elements  of  the 
pith  and  the  bast  rays.  The  sieve  tubes  are  arranged  in  this  latter 
tissue  concentrically,  but  irregularly  scattered,  and  are  easily  dis¬ 
tinguishable  in  transverse  sections,  as  though  small,  they  are 


characterised  by  strong,  sloping  sieve  plates.  At  each  angle  of 
the  star-shaped  pith  is  a  vascular  bundle,  and  these  bundles  are 
connected  with  each  other  by  the  cambium  layer.  The  woody 
portion  of  the  bundles  consists  for  the  greater  part  of  parenchyma 
with  intercellular  spaces.  The  pith  consists  of  large-celled  poly¬ 
hedral  parenchyma,  and  like  the  parenchyma  of  the  secondary  bark 
contains  an  abundance  of  starch  grains. 

The  Powder  is  somewhat  yellowish,  and  almost  odourless,  with  a. 
sharp  burning  taste.  It  consists  largely  of  starch,  of  which  the 
grains  are  small  and  joined  together.  On  treatment  with  potash 
solution  all  the  tissues  are  easily  distinguished,  more  particularly 
the  stone  cells,  vessels  with  reticulated  and  spiral  thickenings, 
and  those  with  bordered  pits.  Especially  characteristic  are  frag¬ 
ments  from  the  region  of  the  endodermis. 

AMYGDALA. 

Almonds. — Amandes. — Mandeln. 

Macroscopic  Characters. — The  fruit  of  Primus  amygdcdus,  Baillon, 
from  which  almonds  are  obtained,  is  a  drupe,  differing  from  the 
plum  in  having  a  velvety  surface  and  firm  flesh,  besides  splitting 
open  when  mature  and  exposing  the  stone  or  endocarp.  In  out¬ 
ward  appearance,  form  and  structure,  sweet  and  bitter  almonds 
are  alike,  and  there  are  several  commercial  varieties  of  both.  In 
general,  sweet  almonds  are  larger  than  bitter,  whilst  the  Jordan  or 
Malaga  almond  is  longer  and  narrower  in  proportion  than  other 
varieties.  On  one  edge  of  the  seed,  near  the  narrow 
end,  occur  the  remains  of  the  funiculus  or  seed-stalk 
which  extends  half  way  down  the  seed  to  the  point  of 
attachment  to  the  shell  or  ovary.  Maceration  in  warm  water 
enables  the  testa  or  brown  outer  coat  of  the  seed  to  be  readily 
removed,  the  translucent  white  tegmen  or  inner  coat  coming  away 
at  the  same  time,  and  the  raphe  may  then  be  clearly  distinguished 
as  a  line  extending  from  the  end  of  the  funiculus  at  the  narrow 
part  of  the  seed,  to  the  broader  end  where  the  circular  chalaza  is 
visible.  From  the  chalaza  a  number  of  veins  radiate.  A  trans¬ 
verse  section  of  the  seed  shows  it  to  consist  of  two  large 
exalbuminous  cotyledons,  and  on  splitting  these  apart  the  radicle 
is  found  projecting  slightly  from  the  pointed  end  of  the  seed. 

Microscopic  Characters.— Inside  the  characteristic  epidermal 
layer  of  irregular,  finely  pitted,  brown  cork  cells  is  found  the  outer 
seed  coat,  consisting  of  roundish-polygonal,  brown-walled  cells, 
part  of  which  are  somewhat  thickened  and  lignified,  with  numerous 
pits,  the  rest  being  thin-walled  and  unlignified,  and  partially 
collapsed.  Bundles  of  spiral  vessels  occur  in  this  tissue,  accompanied 
by  numerous  cells  containing  single  and  clustered  crystals  of  calcium 
oxalate.  The  inner  seed  coat  consists  of  two  layers :  the  outermost  of 
numerous  rows  of  cells  so  closely  compressed  that  they  can  hardly 
be  distinguished ;  the  other  a  single  row  of  polygonal  cells  with 
colourless  walls,  and  containing  oily  and  proteid  matter.  The 
cotyledons  consist  of  thin-walled,  polygonal  parenchyma,  and 
occasionally  traces  of  woody  bundles  may  be  detected.  The  cells 
are  rich  in  oil,  granular  proteid  matter,  and  sugar. 

AMYLUM. 

Starch. — Fecules. — Starke. 

Macroscopic  Characters. — The  principal  starches  used  in  pharmacy 
are  those  of  wheat,  Triticum  sativum;  maize,  Zea  mays;  and 
rice,  Oryza  sativa.  As  found  in  commerce  they  occur  as  fine, 
white,  inodorous  powders,  or  in  masses  of  irregular  shape,  which 
are  readily  reduced  to  powder. 

Microscopic  Characters. — The  grains  of  wheat  starch  are  very 
variable  in  size,  the  larger  ones  measuring  from  30m  to  36m  in 
diameter,  and  the  smaller  from  8m  to  9m-  Both  larger  and  smaller 
granules  may  occasionally  be  met  with.  The  larger  forms 
are  single,  flattened  or  lens -shaped,  and  when  lying  flat  appear 
round  or  somewhat  kidney-shaped,  with  a  central  hilum  sur¬ 
rounded  by  faint  concentric  striae,  but  when  standing  on  edge 
they  appear  spindle-shaped,  and  the  hilum  and  striae  are  of 
course  invisible.  The  smaller  granules  are  also  for  Z  the 
most  part  single,  and  spherical  or  oval,  but  amongst  them 
may  occur  compound  grains  consisting  of  two  or  three  small 
granules.  Maize  starch  granules  are  more  uniform  in  size, 
measuring  from  10m  to  25m  in  diameter.  They  are  round  or  polygonal 
with  rounded  angles,  and  generally  have  a  very  distinct  star-shaped 
hilum  but  no  strite.  Rice  starch  is  also  very  uniform  in  size,  but 
much  smaller  than  maize,  the  granules  not  exceeding  6m  to  8m  in 
diameter.  They  are  polygonal,  and  frequently,  though  not  always, 
show  a  conspicuous  hilum.  In  reality  they  are  the  fragments  of  large 
oval  compound  grains,  such  as  may  occasionally  be  found  intact. 

{To  he  continued.) 


Feb.  27,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


171 


Vj  .  '* 

I.  Aconiti  Folia. -A,  Leaf;  B,  Flower;  C,  D,  Stamens  (all  J  uat.  size).  II.  Aconiti  Folia  (after  Vogl) — A,  transverse  section  upper  epidermis ;  6  lower 
epidermis;  p,  palisade  tissue  ;  sp  .spongy  parenchyma  with  spiral  vessels  (x  200).  III.  Aconiti  Radix  -A  (nat.  size) i;  B, .^"sveise  t 


after?  Tschirch  and  Oesterlo. 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  27,  18S7 


PHOTOGRAPHY  IN  NATURAL  COLOURS. 

The  stir  caused  by  the  publication  of  Chassagne’s  process  in 
natural  colour  photographs  has  not  been  confined  to  photographic 
circles.  Details  of  this  process  have  already  been  published  in 
the  Journal  {ante,  pp.  Ill  and  132),  and  it  is  therefoi’e  only  neces¬ 
sary  to  proceed  to  look  into  it  a  little  more  closely. 

The  first  thing  that  strikes  the  observer  is  that  the  plates  are  said 
to  be  specially  prepared,  and  the  question  is  What  is  this  special 
preparation  ?  It  is  admitted  that  the  negatives  are  like  ordinary 
negatives,  and  therefore  it  cannot  be  far  wrong  to  assume  that 
this  preliminary  preparation  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  sensi¬ 
tising  for  colour,  because  if  it  is  not  this,  it  is  obvious  that  we  can¬ 
not  possibly  obtain  anything  like  a  correct  reproduction  of  the 
colours,  and  for  this  reason.  If  we  photograph  a  bright  yellow  cross 
on  a  blue  ground,  the  yellow  will  photograph  black  and  the  blue 
white  in  the  print,  and  it  would  be  impossible  to  make  the  black 
cross  in  any  way  represent  the  luminosity  of  bright  yellow,  no 
matter  how  much  dye  was  absorbed. 

The  discovery,  or  rather  the  most  curious  part  of  the  discovery, 
s  how  to  cause  the  silver  image  to  select  just  the  correct 
amount  of  dye  to  simulate  the  natural  colours  of  the  objects. 
Three  dyes  are  used,  first  a  blue,  then  a  yellowish  green,  and 
finally  a  red.  Captain  Abney  has  suggested  that  the  secret  solu¬ 
tion  which  is  used  to  fcathe  the  plate  or  print  prior  to  dyeing  may 
be  albumin  and  salt,  and  it  would  be  interesting  to  know  the 
reason  of  this  assumption.  If  this  were  the  case,  it  is  obvious 
that  the  medium  would  permeate  the  whole  film,  and  if  Abney’s 
idea  is  that  the  albumin  is  coagulated  by  the  dye,  then  the  whole 
of  the  film  would  be  stained. 

It  seems  far  more  probable  that  the  secret  solution  is  a 
salt  of  some  kind  which  so  acts  on  the  silver  salt  as  to  enable 
it  to  form  a  lake  with  the  dye,  and  it  would  possibly  be  worth 
while  to  try  some  of  the  colourless  salts — for  the  solution  is  colour¬ 
less — that  are  used  in  dyeing.  Take,  for  instance,  such  a  salt  as 
stannic  chloride ;  might  not  some  tin  salt  be  precipitated  on  the 
silver  which  would  act  as  a  mordant  for  the  dye  ?  If  this  is  the 
case,  it  yet  remains  to  be  explained  how  the  colours  are  selected, 
because  one  would  assume  that  the  first  dye  would  be  deposited 
everywhere,  and  this  being  blue,  why  does  the  yellow  show  up 
alone,  and  why  in  other  places  the  red  ?  Of  course  it  is  quite 
possible  that  the  one  is  acid,  another  alkaline,  and  the  third 
neutral  in  reaction. 

The  opinion  of  one  who  has  seen  both  results  and  solutions  is 
that,  at  a  guess,  the  colours  of  the  dyes  are  those  of  methylene  blue, 
a  mixture  of  naphthol  yellow  and  naphthol  green,  and  cochineal 
red  respectively.  The  results  cannot  be  said  to  be  vivid,  and 
have  far  more  the  appearance  of  prints  stained  with  aqueous  solu¬ 
tions  of  dyes,  a  very  old  method  of  colouring  prints,  but  we  are 
still  face  to  face  with  the  statements  of  Sir  H.  Trueman  Wood  and 
Captain  Abney  that  no  brush  was  used  and  that  the  silver  appears 
somehow  endowed  with  the  power  of  selective  absorption  of  the 
colours. 

An  extremely  interesting  process,  which  has  attracted  very  little 
notice  in  England,  is  that  proposed  by  Vallot  in  1892.  He  suggested 
a  mixture  of  “  poudre  d’aniline  ”  (?  aniline  red  or  ponceau),  Victoria 
blue,  and  turmeric  in  alcohol,  on  which  paper  was  floated  and  then 
exposed  under  a  coloured  transparency  for  three  or  four  days  to 
sunlight,  when  all  the  colours  of  nature  were  obtained.  The 
idea  of  this  was  that  the  coloured  light  would  bleach  all  the  dyes 
that  were  not  approximately  of  the  same  colour. 

Another  process,  suggested  by  M.  Graby,  is  described  in  the 
Bulletin  Beige  de  Photographic,  the  plan  adopted  being  to  immerse 
gelatino-chloride  paper  in  a  4  per  cent,  solution  of  hydrochloric 


acid,  and  then  expose  to  daylight  till  it  turns  violet,  he.,  till  the 
violet  silver  subchloride  is  formed.  It  is  then  dried  and  immersed 
in  a  1  per  cent,  solution  of  bichromate  of  potash,  and  expose  to 
light,  when  dry  again  till  the  whole  of  the  gelatin  has  become  in¬ 
soluble.  Finally,  it  is  immersed  in  a  bath  of— 


Water . _ . . .  70  C.cm. 

Nitric  Acid  . . .  5  Drops. 

Mercuric  Nitrate .  2  C.e. 

Hydrochloric  Acid  .  3  C.c. 

Sulphuric  Acid  .  1  C.c. 

Chromic  Acid .  1 -5  G. 

Soda  Alum  .  3  G. 


and  exposed  whilst  damp.  To  obviate  this,  which  is  a  difficulty, 
the  paper  is  treated  with  hydrochloric  acid  and  bichromate, 
exposed  and  immersed  in  mercuric  nitrate  and  dried,  exposed  and 
immersed  in  acetate  of  lead,  and  transferred  like  a  carbon  print. 

According  to  M.  Graby  this  process  is  quite  different  to  that- 
of  Lippmann’s  interferential  colours,  and  blue  is  formed  by  the- 
retention  of  the  chlorine  by  the  subchloride,  red  is  formed  by 
some  of  the  chlorine  being  given  up,  whilst  yellow  is  formed  by  the 
bleaching  of  the  red  and  blue  subchlorides,  and  the  combination 
of  the  chromic  acid  with  the  silver,  which  is  fixed  by  the  acetate 
of  lead.  This  explanation  is  ingenious,  and  the  method  may  be 
tested  shortly,  but  the  one  essential,  good  daylight,  has  been 
wanting  for  some  time. 

It  should  be  pointed  out  that  this  proeess  is  somewhat  on  the  lines 
of  the  experiments  of  Poitevin  and  Becquerel,  who  used  silver 
subchloridc,  but  more  nearly  approaches  that  of  Kopp,  who. 
soaked  paper  in  chloride  of  zinc  and  sulphuric  acid,  dried  it,, 
and  then  in  a  mixture  of  potassium  bichromate,  cupric  sulphate, 
and  mercuric  nitrate,  and  very  good  results  are  attainable  by  this 
process. 

UN’GUENTUM  IIYDRARGYRI  NITRATIS* 

BY  P.  W.  SQUIRE. 

When  the  formula  of  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia  and  that 
of  the  British  Pharmacopoeia  are  compared,  certain  differences  will 
be  noted  in  the  following  details  : — 

1.  The  nature  of  the  fat. 

2.  The  relative  quantity  of  nitric  acid. 

3.  Manipulation. 

1.  Regarding  the  fat. — The  U.S.P.  employs  lard  oil,  whilst  the 
B.P.  uses  a  mixture  of  lard  and  olive  oil. 

About  fourteen  years  ago  Reichard  published  a  series  of  experi¬ 
ments  following  the  U.S.P.  formula  of  that  date,  but  using  differ¬ 
ent  kinds  of  fat.  The  fats  used  were  (1)  castor  oil,  (2)  neat’s  foot 
oil,  (3)  linseed  oil,  (4)  vaselin,  (5)  cosmoline,  (6)  oleic  acid,  (7)  sweet 
almond  oil,  (8)  lard  oil,  (9)  cotton-seed  oil,  (10)  lard,  (11)  lard  and 
lard  oil,  (12)  lard  and  cotton-seed  oil,  (13)  lard  and  sweet  almond 
oil,  (14)  castor  oil  and  sweet  almond  oil,  and,  lastly,  butter. 

After  tabulating  the  results,  he  summed  up  as  follows  : — It  is- 
the  author’s  opinion  that  the  present  base  for  citrine  ointment, 
lard  oil,  though  not  being  perfect  in  all  respects,  has  the  fewest, 
objectionable  features,  and  that  its  adoption  is  a  decided  step 
towards  perfection. 

Considering  the  variety  of  fats  and  mixtures  of  fat  which  were 
tried,  it  is  curious  to  note  that  a  mixture  of  lard  and  olive  oil, 
which  has  been  official  in  this  country  for  fifty  years,  does  not. 
appear  in  the  fist.  In  U.S.P.  lard  was  ordered  until  1880,  since 
that  date  lard  oil  has  been  used.  I  prefer  the  mixture  of  lard  and 
oil.  The  action  with  nitric  acid  takes  place  at  a  lower  temperature 
with  the  lard  oil,  but  the  resulting  colour  is  somewhat  darker, 
otherwise  there  is  not  much  to  choose  between  them. 


Feb.  27,  1897] 


PKARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


173 


2.  Quantity  of  acid  : — The  relative  quantity  of  acid  employed  in 
TJ.S.P.  has  remained  at  the  same  since  1870,  but  that  of  B.P.  has 
been  altered  considerably.  The  proportions  in  B.P.  1864  were 
somewhat  in  excess  of  that  selected  for  U.S.P.  1870  and  1880,  but 
this  quantity  was  increased  25  per  cent,  in  B.P.  1867,  and  adopted 
in  B.P.  1885. 

5.  The  manipulation  : — U.S.P.  treats  the  lard  oil  with  part  of 
the  nitric  acid,  previous  to  the  addition  of  the  solution  of  nitrate 
•of  mercury.  By  the  B.P.  method  the  acid  solution  of  nitrate  of 
mercury  is  added  to  the  ointment  basis  without  any  previous  treat¬ 
ment  with  acid. 

The  temperature  at  which  effervescence  takes  place  varies  con¬ 
siderably  with  the  mixtures  (1)  nitric  acid  and  lard  oil,  (2)  nitric 
-acid,  lard,  and  olive  oil,  (3)  acid  solution  of  nitrate  of  mercury  and 
lard  oil,  (4)  acid  solution  of  nitrate  of  mercury,  lard,  and 
olive  oil.  With  No.  1  the  action  is  slight  at  100°  C. 
<2J2°  F. ),  and  brisk  at  110°  C.  (230°  F. )  ;  with  No.  2 
the  brisk  action  takes  place  at  about  120°  C.  (248°  F. )  ; 
with  No.  3  it  occurs  about  90°  C.  (194°  F.),  and  with  No.  4  at  95°  C. 
(203°  F.).  It  is  clear  that  the  action  takes  place  at  a  much  lower 
temperature  with  3  and  4  than  with  1  and  2,  but  the  higher  tem¬ 
perature  does  not  matter  so  much  in  the  case  of  1  and  2,  because  the 
mercuric  salt  is  not  present.  It  is  important,  however,  that  the 
temperature  should  be  kept  as  low  as  possible  after  the  addition 
of  the  mercuric  solution,  when  the  tendency  to  blacken  increases  as 
the  temperature  rises  ;  the  change  will  occur  even  if  the  ointment 
be  kept  at  100°  C.  (212°  F.)  for  anything  like  an  hour,  and  possibly 
in  much  less  than  this  time.  The  advantage  of  treating 
the  fat  with  nitric  acid  instead  #  of  with  solution 
of  nitrate  of  mercury,  is  that  in  the  former  case  the 
temperature  required  to  produce  the  effervescence  is  not 
allowed  to  affect  the  mercuric  nitrate,  that  being  added  afterwards 
at  a  much  lower  temperature,  and,  therefore,  the  process  is 
safer. 

But  a  satisfactory  ointment  can  be  made  by  the  latter  method,  if 
the  temperature  be  kept  as  low  as  possible,  and  there  is  no  advan¬ 
tage,  but  rather  the  reverse,  in  using  a  high  temperature.  As  a 
very  high  temperature  has  been  suggested,  I  made  the  experiment  of 
allowing  the  action  between  the  nitrate  of  mercury  solution,  lard  and 
oil  to  take  place  at  110-120°  C.,  to  which  it  quickly  rises,  even  on  a 
water-bath,  and  then  increased  the  heat  up  to  150°  C.  no  further 
action  ensued,  but  the  mixture  darkened  in  colour.  When  using 
the  B.P.  method  the  mercuric  nitrate  solution  should  be  added 
to  the  melted  fats  when  both  are  at  a  temperature  between 
80°  (176°  F. )  and  90°  C.  (194°  F. ),  but  not  above  90°  C. 
(194°  F.),  and  the  mixture  heated  on  a  water-bath.  The  action  will 
commence  between  90°  C.  (194°  F. )  and  95°  C.  (203°  F.),  and  vrill 
run  up  quickly  to  110°  C.  (230°  F.)  or  even  120°  C.  (248°  F.)  ;  effer¬ 
vescence  should  be  allowed  to  continue  for  about  ten  minutes,  and 
then  the  product  should  be  removed  from  the  water-bath  and 
stirred  till  cold.  The  advantage  of  a  water -bath  is  that  no  greater 
temperature  than  100°  C.  can  be  applied,  but  any  other  appliance 
fulfilling  the  same  condition  would  no  doubt  answer  equally  well.  If 
the  ingredients  be  at  100°  C.  (212°  F.)  when  the  mercuric  solution  is 
added  as  directed  in  B.P.  1885,  the  temperature  will  run  up 
vapidly  to  much  higher  than  120°  C. ,  and  the  appearance  of  the 
ointment  is  very  likely  to  be  damaged.  An  alternative  method, 
and  one  which  has  answered  very  well  in  my  laboratory,  is  to 
use  the  ingredients  in  the  proportions  given  in  the  B.P.  formula, 
but  treating  the  mixture  of  lard  and  oil  with  half  the  nitric  acid 
previous  to  the  addition  of  mercury.  The  lard  and  oil  should  be 
beated  to  100°  C.  (112°  F. )  and  the  nitric  acid  added.  The  heat 
should  then  be  gradually  raised  until  bri  k  effervescence  takes 


place.  Effervescence  will  commence  about  105°  C.  (221°  F. ),  but 
not  briskly  until  it  reaches  120°  C.  (248°  F. ),  when  the  heat  should 
be  turned  off.  Chemical  action  will  then  raise  the  temperature 
several  degress,  but  this  will  not  matter.  When  the  effervescence 
has  ceased,  allow  the  product  to  cool  to  60°  C.  (140°  F.),  then  add 
at  the  same  temperature  the  mercury,  which  has  been  dissolved  in 
the  remaining  half  of  the  nitric  acid,  and  stir  the  product  until  cold. 

It  is  important  that  the  ingredients  should  be  diligently  stirred 
whilst  the  effervescence  is  proceeding,  otherwise  the  contents  may 
be  ejected  from  the  vessel.  .  .  .  .  ,  _ 


NOTE  ON  VINUM  COLCHICI.* 

BY  R.  C.  COWLEY. 

The  principal  constituents  present  in  colchicum  corm  are 
colchicin,  fatty  oil,  resins,  and  starch  ;  the  latter  being  abundantly 
present. 

It  is  frequently  stated  in  text  books  on  materia  medica 
and  pharmacy  that  the  colchicin  may  be  extracted  with  either 
spirit  or  acetic  acid. 

Considering  the  large  amount  of  literature  published  on 
colchicum,  it  has  been  a  matter  of  surprise  to  me  that  no  one 
appears  to  have  investigated  the  relative  solvent  action  of  these 
menstrua. 

The  only  preparation  now  official  in  which  acetic  acid  is  em¬ 
ployed  is  the  acetic  extract,  although  acetum  colchici  had  a  place 
in  the  Pharmacopoeias  of  the  London,  Edinburgh,  and  Dublin 
Colleges.  These  preparations  appear  to  have  been  looked  upon 
by  some  authorities  as  unreliable. 

It  occurred  to  me  that  if  the  alkaloid  was  more  soluble  in  acetic 
acid  than  in  alcohol,  an  acetic  extract  would  be  a  very  suitable 
substance  to  employ  in  making  vinum  colchici,  in  a  somewhat 
similar  way  to  that  ordered  in  making  ipecacuhana  wine  of 
the  Pharmacopoeia  ;  the  product  of  hydrolysis,  if  any  should  occur, 
being  colchicein,  a  substance  which  is  apparently  no  less  active 
medicinally  than  colchicin. 

The  sample  of  the  corms  employed  in  my  investigations  was  a 
very  fine  one,  all  the  pieces  having  a  yellowish  exterior,  and  in 
transverse  section  was  nearly  white. 

I  prepared  a  number  of  solutions  from  the  drug. 

No.  1  was  made  by  macerating  the  powdered  corm  in  strong 
acetic  acid  for  twenty-four  hours,  then  diluting  to  B.P.  strength 
and  macerating  for  six  days  longer. 

No.  2  was  made  with  diluted  acetic  acid,  macerating  for  seven 
days.  Both  were  now  evaporated  down  on  a  water-bath  to  an 
extract.  This  'extract  was  macerated  in  sherry  of  17  per  cent, 
alcoholic  strength.  | 

No.  3  was  made  according  to  the  Pharmacopoeia. 

No.  4  was  a  proof  spirit  solution  made  by  maceration  as  last. 

The  percentage  of  alkaloid  was  found  to  be  as  follows  : — 

No.  1  .  ... . . -041 

No.  2 . . . _ .  047 

No.  3 .  ‘041 

No.  4 . -058 

In  colour,  the  first  two  are  considerably  darker  than  the  B.P. 
product,  No.  2  being  darker  than  No.  1.  Before  experimenting,  I 
was  inclined  to  believe  that  the  acetic  extract  method  would 
yield  a  product  much  richer  in  alkaloid  than  that  prepared  by  the 
B.P.  method,  but  the  above  results  show  there  is  very  little 
advantage  gained,  and  further  that  a  proof  spirit  menstruum 
extracts  more  alkaloid  under  the  same  conditions  than  acetic  acid 
or  sherry  does.  . 

*  Read  before  the  Liverpool  Chemists’  Association 


174 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  27.  1897 


THE  BOTANICAL  INSTITUTE  AND  GARDEN  AT 
MARBURG. 

BY  W.  HARRISON  MARTINO  ALE. 

The  botanical  institute  and  gardens  form  one  of  the  most 
interesting  features  of  the  University  buildings,  and  for  that  matter 
of  the  town  of  Marburg. 

The  Institute  is  surrounded  entirely  by  the  lovely  garden,  and 
will  claim  our  attention  first,  to  take  a  stroll  in  the  garden  after¬ 
wards. 

Built  in  1875,  surrounded  by  dark  green  foliage,  the  red  sand¬ 
stone  of  which  it  is  composed  shows  up  to  perfection  its  Gothic 
style,  still  the  beautiful  building  has  for  long  been  too  small  to 
accommodate  the  influx  of  students  from  home  and  across  the 
seas.  For  this  reason  since  the  taking  of  the  accompanying  photo¬ 
graph — in  the  summer  of  last  year — a  new  wing  almost  as  large  as 
the  edifice  seen  has  been  added  to  the  east  end — that  is  to  the 
end  of  the  auditorium  (now  microscopical  laboratory),  which 
forms  the  right-hand  portion  of  the  building  in  the  picture  ;  the 
photograph,  therefore, 
does  by  no  means 
credit  to  the  present 
size  of  the  building. 

In  order  to  under¬ 
stand  the  doings  at 
the  Institute  we  must 
first  know  the  pre¬ 
siding  professors — 

Professor  Arthur 
Meyer  and  Professor 
Kohl — and  it  is  indeed 
out  of  the  question  to 
say  which  is  the  more 
genial  of  these  two 
popular  professors. 

We  will  visit  them 
seriatim. 

Professor  Meyer'  is 
characterised  by  a 
very  subtle  humour 
combined  with  a 
beaming  smile.  I  re¬ 
cently  had  an  hour’s 
very  pleasant  conver¬ 
sation  with  him,  during  which  he  told  me  many  things  concerning 
the  improvements  now  in  progress  in  the  enlarged  Institute. 

The  new  wing  will  contain  an  Auditorium  with  160  places,  and 
the  old  Auditorium,  as  already  stated,  will  be  converted  into  a 
Microscopical  Laboratory,  in  which  40  places  will  be  arranged  for 
Practical  Botanical  Microscopy,  and  the  Microscopic  Examination 
of  foods  and  drugs. 

Above  the  new  Auditorium  will  be  Departments  for  Physiologi¬ 
cal-  physical  Investigation ,  and  for  the  “  Pharmocognostic  ”  (materia 
medica)  collection — founded  by’jProfessor  Wigand,  who  died  here  in 
1886. 

The  whole  of  the  ground  floor  of  the  principal  building,  with  ex¬ 
ception  of  a  room  set  apart  for  preparation  of  lecture  specimens 
and  experiments,  is  to  be  devoted  to  the  Botanical  Collection. 

Above,  the  professors’  sanctum  and  separate  laboratories  for 
advanced  students  in  botanical  research,  for  practical  investiga¬ 
tion  of  bacteria  and  fungi,  and  for  physiological  examination  of 
the  same. 

The  Professor  mentioned  that  he  was  having  his  “Directions” 
(by  which  the  students  work  in  the  “  Microscopische  Practicum”), 


printed,  in  place  of  the  copying  press  hitherto  made  use  of.  It  is  a 
certain  assumption  that  these  “  Directions  ”  will  be  utilised  in  other 
universities  in  the  same  measure  as  the  Professor’s  ‘  Pharmacog- 
nosie  ’  is  used.  He  hopes  to  obtain  another  three  or  four  thousand 
marks  in  addition  to  the  six  thousand  that  have  recently  been 
spent  on  laboratory  plant,  and  he  was  of  opinion  that  Government 
control — providing  the  Government  be  good — which,  of  course, 
Germany’s  is,  was  better  than  any  other  supervision. 

In  America,  he  said,  a  community  of  a  probably  business-like 
turn  of  mind  arranged  a  curriculum,  and  that  curriculum  had  te 
be  “  got  through,”  probably  term  after  term,  without  taking  into 
consideration  the  requirements  of  the  moment — the  smartest 
business  man  probably  obtained  this  post.  In  Germany,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  Science  Investigator  receives  his  appointment  by 
virtue  of  these  investigations— services  in  science  rendered— and  is 
then  at  liberty  to  arrange  his  course  of  lectures  and  practical  work 
as  he  thinks  fit,  and  to  suit  them  to  the  advancement  science  may 
have  taken  at  any  particular  epoch,  or  which  other  influences  may 

indicate,  at  his  own 
free  will. 

A  good  teacher 
must,  he  remarked,  of 
necessity  beone  skilled 
in  original  research, 
and  the  science  of 
bacteriology  must, 
without  doubt  fall 
under  the  sway  of  the 
science  of  botany. 

Professor  Meyer  re¬ 
quires  three  or  four 
semesters’  work  from 
a  student  for  gradua¬ 
tion,  providing  he 
works,  has  acquired 
the  “methods,”  has 
produced  a  good 
“  arbeit,”  and  is  com¬ 
petent  to  enter  the 
scientific  world  as  a 
reliable  botanist  — 
capable  of  carrying 
on  research. 

All  pharmaceutical,  as  well  as  chemical  and  zoological  students 
who  graduate  are  required  to  take  a  course  of  practical  microscopy 
in  the  Institute. 

As  to  lectures,  next  semester  the  Professor  reads  “  General 
Botany”  daily  7  a.m.  ;  “  Physiological  and  Biological  Demonstra¬ 
tions  in  the  Garden”  with  the  living  plants  one  day  a  week  j 
“  Classification  of  Angiosperms”  one  day  ;  besides  superintending 
“  Practica”  and  daily  work  in  the  Institute  by  advanced  students. 
Let  us  now  visit  Professor  Kohl,  an  almost  next-door  neighbour  of 
the  Professor  we  have  just  left,  on  the  ReuthofFstrasse,  overlooking 
the  beautiful  Latin  Valley,  one  of  the  steepest  hills  in  Marburg. 

Besides  being  a  distinguished  botanist,  Professor  Kohl  has  done 
some  marvellous  work  in  photography  and  microphotography,  and 
is  President  of  the  Photographic  Club. 

He  reads  next  semester,  “  Algae  and  Lichen es  ;  ”  “  Chemical- 
physical  Processes  in  the  Vegetable  Cell  ”  ;  “  Exercises  in  Recog¬ 
nition  of  Plants  in  Connection  with  the  Excursions.”  Each  one 
day  a  week,  and  conducts  the  excursions  in  the  surrounding  hills. 
At  this  point  must  be  mentioned  his  excellent  work  on  the  Flora 
of  the  District. 


THE  BOTANICAL  INSTITUTE,  MARBURG. — SOUTH  AND  WEST  SIDES. 


Feb.  27, 1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


175 


The  garden  is  watered  by  a  canal  from  the  river,  and  is  indeed 
a,  garden  the  town  may  be  proud  of,  doing  great  scientificand  agri- 
_  -cultural  service. 

It  contains  some  beautiful  trees,  and  was  arranged  1810-1814  by 
Professor  Wenderoth  ;  its  present  form,  however,  is  greatly  due  to 
Professor  Wigand,  to  whom  a  statue  is  erected  by  former  pupils  in 
the  garden. 

The  North  American  water  pest  ( Elodea  canadensis)  unfortu¬ 
nately  ousts  contemporaries  from  the  lake  in  the  garden,  which  is 
•divided  into  two  parts,  a  systematically  arranged  and  a  geogra¬ 
phically  classified  portion. 

In  the  former  the  German  flora  is  completely  represented,  and 
in  the  latter  North  America  is  well  to  the  fore.  Especially  notice¬ 
able  are  the  marsh  cypress  ( Taxodium  distichium),  two  tulip  trees 
( Liriodendron ),  magnolias,  a  large  specimen  of  Aristolochia  sipho, 
■etc. 

The  glasshouses,  in  the  east  end  of  the  garden,  include  a 
Victoria  regia  house,  departments  for  foreign  plants,  ferns,  cacti, 
nepenthe  var.,  cephalot^us,  sarraceina,  and  other  insectivorous 
members. 

The  Edelweiss  and  other  alpine  flora,  are  all  to  be  found  in  an 
^especially  cool  corner,  and  if  you  will  glance  again  at  the  photo¬ 
graph  you  will  notice  a  bold  creeper  on  the  south  side.  This  is  the 
Bignonia  grandiflora — the  Uncle  Tom’s  Cabin — famed  trumpet  ash. 
Here,  however,  the  shoots,  which  grow  out  at  right  angles  to  the 
wall,  are  not  trimmed  off  annually  as  is  the  case  at  Glebe  Cottage, 
Winch elsea,  for  example  ;  these  outstretching  arms,  a  couple  of 
metres  long,  or  almost  so  offering  you  so,  temptingly  seven  or  eight 
beautiful  orange-red  trumpet  flowers,  cannot  fail  to  attract  the 
most  half-hearted  lover  of  flowers. 


VISIT  TO  A  PARISH  DISPENSARY. 


T  has  been  thought  that 
the  readers  of  the  Journal 
would  like  to  know  what 
progress  has  been  made 
in  dispensing  for  the  poor 
since  Dickens  wrote  of  the 
parish  doctor’s  servant, 
who,  in  the  absence  of 
her  master,  gave  a  patient 
some  medicine,  and  on  the 
doctor’s  return,  in  answer 
to  his  query  if  anyone  had 
called,  she  said,  “Only 
old  So-and-So  ;  I  gave  him 
Fig.  1. — Counterfor  Preparing  Galenicals.  &  bottle  of  picalilly ,  as  he 

had  red  cabbage  last  time  and  it  did  not  suit  him,”  these  names 
being  on  the  jars  containing  the  stock  mixtures  usually  supplied 
to  the  patients. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  dispensing  was  not  all  that  could  be 
desired,  and  to  remedy  this  state  of  affairs  the  Local  Government 
Board  issued  an  order  in  1871  authorising  guardians  of  the  poor 
to  establish  dispensaries  for  the  supply  of  medicines. 

This  was  done,  one  or  more  dispensary  being  opened,  according 
to  the  size  and  needs  of  the  parish.  These  dispensaries  have  gone 
on  improving  ever  since,  until  to-day  they  are  certainly  not  behind 
a  modern  pharmacy,  that  is  to  say,  if  they  are  all  conducted  on  the 
same  lines  as  the  one  I  visited. 

I  called  in  to  see  the  South  St.  Pancras  Dispensary,  which  is 


situated  in  Clarendon  Square,  Somers  Town,  in  the  midst  of  a 
densely  populated  district.  It  was  about  11  a.m. ,  and  I  found 
everything  going  on  as  busy  as  a  hive  ;  in  fact,  they  were  so  busy 
that  I  thought  I  had  better  postpone  my  visit  to  a  more  convenient 
season.  But  Mr.  Miller,  the  dispenser,  said  there  was  nothing 
like  the  present  time,  and  kindly  allowed  me  to  look  over  the 
establishment. 

The  patients  were  sitting  in  the  waiting-room,  those  waiting  for 
their  medicine  at  one  end,  and  those  waiting  to  see  the  medical 
officers  at  the  other,  everything  being  conducted  in  a  regular  and 
orderly  fashion.  There  are  five  medical  officers,  one  due  every 
hour  from  9  a.m.  until  1  o’clock.  The  district  dispensed  for 
extends  from  Oxford  Street  to  Primrose  Hill,  thence  vid  the 
Regent’s  Canal  to  King’s  Cross,  along  King’s  Cross  Road  to  Clerken- 
well  Prison,  crossing  again  at  an  angle  to  the  Oxford  Music  Hall. 
In  the  dispensary  everything  was  in  good  order,  a  condition  abso¬ 
lutely  necessary  where  so  much  work  has  to  be  done.  The 


Fig.  2. — Tlie  Distributing  Counter. 


prescriptions  are  taken  in  at  one  end  of  the  counter,  and  are  given 
out  at  the  other  end  through  openings  similar  to  a  booking  office  at 
a  railway  station  (see  Fig.  2). 

I  was  most  agreeably  surprised  to  see  a  great  variety  of  prescrip¬ 
tions,  as  I  had  expected  to  find  a  great  similarity.  There  were 
mixtures,  pills,  powders,  ointments,  plasters,  suppositories,  cap¬ 
sules — in  fact,  every  variety  of  pharmaceutical  preparation  and 
dressing,  all  free  and  no  stint.  When  necessary,  steam  kettles, 
inhalers,  etc.,  are  lent  out,  the  dispenser  always  hoping  to  see  them 
again  !  Patients  are  fitted  with  trusses  and  every  other  kind  of 
surgical  appliance. 

The  average  number  of  prescriptions  is  close  upon  one  hundred 
daily,  and  as  most  of  the  patients  are  supplied  with  sufficient 
medicine  to  last  a  week,  it  will  give  some  idea  of  the  quantity 
consumed.  Looking  round  the  dispensary  I  was  astonished  to  see 
the  completeness  of  the  stock  fittings  and  apparatus.  There  was 
apparatus  for  testing  urine,  including  a  microscope  for  examining  the 
deposits.  I  found  a  hydrometer  for  testing  the  strength  of  the 
spirits.  Port  wine,  brandy,  gin,  and  whiskey  are  supplied  by  the 
Guardians  when  these  stimulants  are  ordered  by  the  doctor.  The 
dispenser  is  held  responsible  for  their  being  of  proper  strength 
and  they  are  examined  every  six  months  by  the  stocktaker,  who 


176 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  27,  1897 


also  takes  stock  of  the  drugs,  chemicals,  instruments,  etc.,  and 
reports  to  the  Guardians  as  to  their  condition.  There  was  a 
balance  for  taking  the  specific  gravity  of  the  liquids  as  they  are 
received  into  stock  from  the  contractors ;  also  wash  bottles, 
burettes,  in  fact  everything  necessary  for  properly  conducting  a 
pharmacy.  After  the  medical  officers  have  gone  things  get  a  little 
quieter,  only  the  patients  who  are  visited  at  their  own  homes 
dropping  in  for  their  medicine  in  the  afternoon ;  this  gives  the 
dispenser  time  to  look  over  his  stock  and  prepare  for  to-morrow. 
Fig.  1  shows  the  counter  where  the  tinctures,  pills,  plasters,  etc., 
are  made.  Here  were  arranged  a  row  of  glass  jars  with  tinctures 
in  process  of  maceration ;  in  one  I  saw  four  pints  of  tr.  nucis  vom., 
in  others  tr.  lavand.  co.,  tr.  digitalis,  tr.  rhei,  tr.  catechu,  etc.. 
There  was  a  percolater  with  tr.  zingib.  fort. ,  another  with  lin. 
bellad.  Everything  is  prepared  in  strict  conformity  with  the  B.P., 


Fig.  3. — Closed  Fire  for  Ointment  Making. 

and  not  on  the  principle  that  anything  is  good  enough  for  a 
pauper,  as  some  imagine.  There  were  glass  jars  containing  solu¬ 
tions  automatically  prepared  by  an  original  and  ingenious 
device  of  Mr.  Miller’s,  a  description  of  which  may  be 
useful  to  those  of  our  readers  who  have  to  prepare  them 
on  a  large  scale.  The  substance  to  be  dissolved,  say 
ammon.  carb.,  is  placed  in  the  stopper  of  a  sixty-ounce 
drying  bottle,  the  bottom  of  the  stopper  is  covered  with  gauze.  The 
bottle  is  filled  with  distilled  water.  On  adjusting  the  stopper,  so 
that  the  water  reaches  the  ammon.  carb.,  a  solution  is  prepared  in 
a  few  hours  without  labour.  The  same  process  may  be  used  for 
other  substances,  including  gum  acacia.  The  large  jars  in  Fig.  1 
contain  aq.  menth.  pip.,  aq.  camph.,  liquor  calcis,  infusion  of 
gentian,  infusion  of  senega,  etc. 

Fig.  3  shows  the  closed  fire  where  the  ointments  are  made  ;  the 
insurance  company  making  it  a  condition  in  the  policy  that  no 
ointments  shall  be  made  on  an  open  fire. 

The  guardians  are  to  be  highly  commended  for  their  wisdom  in 
making  such  provisions  for  the  sick  poor  of  their  parish,  and  we 
hope  that  those  of  our  readers  who  are  guardians  will  see  that  the 
same'  state  of  affairs  exists  in  their  parishes  and  unions,  and  that 
none  but  registered  chemists  and  druggists  shall  have  the  making 
and  dispensing  of  the  medicine. 


LEGAL  HINTS  FOR  PHARMACISTS. 

“  ’Tis  not  in  mortals  to  command  success,”  and  chemists,  like 
other  specialists,  are  perhaps  less  likely  to  hit  the  golden  mark 
than  other  men,  for  their  scientific  training  must  necessarily  have 
a  tendency  to  withdraw  their  minds  from  ordinary  mundane  con¬ 
ditions  and  duties.  But  chemists,  in  common  with  Cato  and  other 
mortals  before  and  since,  can  deserve  success,  and  one  of  the  first 
steps  in  that  direction  is  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  and 
regulations  affecting  their  calling ;  of  the  imposts  and  taxes 
incident  not  only  to  their  position  as  workers  in  an  ancient  and 
honourable  craft,  but  as  citizens  of  a  great  empire.  There  is  a 
difficulty,  however,  in  this  first  step  arising  from  the  mass  of  more 
or  less  meaningless  verbiage  in  which  laws  and  regulations  are 
wrapped.  One  cannot  expect  men  in  business  to  go  through  each 
enactment  on  the  Statute  Book  and  sift  the  grain  of  wheat  it  may 
contain  from  the  bushel  of  legal  chaff  which  it  is  sure  to  provide. 
In  this  connection  there  seems  to  be  legitimate  scope  for  the 
epitomiser,  and  perhaps  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  cannot  more 
usefully  contribute  to  the  well-being  of  registered  men  than  by 
presenting  in  a  comprehensive  form  the  gist  of  the  more  im¬ 
portant  regulations  affecting  them. 

To  take  first  the  important  subject  of 

Methylated  Spirit 

in  so  far  as  it  affects  or  is  likely  to  affect  the  retail  chemist.  This 
is  one  of  the  Inland  Revenue  licences  appropriated  to  the  Imperial 
Account,  and  the  conditions  regulating  the  retailing  and  use  of 
the  spirit  are  imposed  by  a  special  section  of  the  Spirits  Act, 
1880,  supplemented  by  general  orders  of  the  Board  of  Inland 
Revenue. 

General  Observations. — No  person  who  is  a  distiller  or 
rectifier  of  spirits,  or  who  holds  a  beer,  spirit,  or  sweets  licence, 
can  obtain  a  licence  to  retail  methylated  spirit,  but  the 
fact  of  a  chemist  holding  an  excise  licence  to  cover  the  sale  of 
such  spirituous  preparations  as  “  coca  wine”  would  not  be 
a  bar  to  his  being  authorised  to  retail  methylated  spirit. 
The  licence  duty  is  10s.  per  annum,  and  must  be  renewed 
on  October  1  each  year,  as  long  as  the  retailing  con¬ 
tinues.  It  is  well  to  be  particular  as  to  renewal,  for  the  penalty 
for  retailing  without  a  licence  is  £50,  and  the  Revenue  authorities 
deal  hardly  with  transgressors.  It  is  noteworthy,  too, 
that  infancy — which  oft  times  operates  so  successfully  as 
a  defence  in  our  Courts  of  Law,  cannot  be  urged  with  any  effect 
in  a  breach  of  the  Revenue  Laws.  The  licence,  although  a 
personal  thing  may,  under  certain  conditions,  be  transferred — - 
always  provided  that  notice  is  given  to  the  Board,  and  that  the 
transferee  is  not  within  the  official  category  of  prohibited  persons* 
One  licence  does  not  cover  more  than  one  set  of  premises. 

Inspection  of  Premises. — Before  a  licence  is  granted,  the 
premises  of  the  prospective  licencee  must  be  entered  by  the  super¬ 
visor  or  other  official,  and  surveyed.  The  survey  must  take  place 
in  the  presence  of  the  retailer,  who  is  required  to  indicate  the 
place  or  places  in  which  he  intends  to  keep  or  sell  the 
spirit.  This  is  important,  for  if,  afterwards,  any  unauthor¬ 
ised  rearrangement  is  made,  and  the  retailer  thoughtlessly 
keeps  or  sells  in  any  but  the  licensed  place  or  places,  he  becomes 
liable  to  a  fine  of  £50  with  forfeiture  of  spirit  and  licence.  The 
licensed  premises  are  always  open  to  entry  by  an  officer  of  Revenue 
between  sunrise  and  sunset,  and  such  officer  may  purchase  samples 
of  spirit  for  investigation.  Obstruction  to  this  portion  of  an  officer’s 
duties  carries  the  usual  fine  of  £50.  Stock  is  also  periodically 
checked,  and  a  retailer  may  be  required  to  keep  a  stock  account  in 
the  manner  prescribed  by  the  Board. 

Prohibitions. — Having  obtained  his  licence  the  retailer  should 
make  himself  acquainted  with  the  things  he  must  not  do — a  species 
of  official  commandments,  and  it  will  be  convenient  to  give  these  ira 
tabular  form  : — 

(а)  Must  not  sell  between  the  hours  of  10  p.m.  on  Saturday  and  S  a.m.  on  the 
following  Monday.  Penalty  £100  for  each  offence. 

(б)  Must  not  sell  or  possess  methylated  spirit  containing  any  essential  oil  or 
flavouring  matter,  or  which  does  not  contain  three-eighths  of  one  per  cent,  of 
mineral  naphtha. 

(c)  Must  not  possess  at  any  one  time  a  greater  quantity  of  spirit  than  fifty 
gallons,  and  must  not  sell  to  any  one  person  a  quantity  exceeding  one  gallon. 

(d)  Must  not  receive  methylated  spirit  from  any  person  except  an  authorised 
methylator  or  retailer.  In  the  latter  case  the  quantity  must  not  exceed  one; 
gallon  at  a  time. 

Ordering. — If  a  chemist  merely  desires  to  keep  a  small  stock,  it 
will  be  much  more  convenient  for  him,  assuming  that  he  is  not  aji 
•authorised  user  of  unmineralised  spirit,  to  buy  in  quantities  of  ones 
gallon  or  less  from  another  licensed  retailer,  for  this  method  will 


Feb.  27,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


177 


obviate  the  use  of  a  requisition  book  and  consequent  formalities. 
But  if  the  chemist  aspires  to  not  only  retail  methylated  spirit, 
but  to  supply  brother  retailers,  he  must,  having  picked  upon 
his  authorised  methylator,  obtain  a  requisition  hook  from  the 
supervisor  of  his  district,  and  order  in  the  form  there  prescribed. 
He  must  order  in  five-gallon  lots,  and  for  his  own  protection  should 
see  that  the  consignment  is  in  perfect  order.  In  the  first  place  it 
should  be  accompanied  by  a  “  permit,”  and  must  be  in  accordance 
with  the  quantity  mentioned  in  the  requisition.  No  vessel  in  the 
consignment  must  contain  less  than  a  reputed  quart,  and  each 
vessel  must  be  distinctly  labelled  with  the  words  “  Methylated 
Spirit.”  The  mention  of  these  points  may  seem  trivial,  but  it 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  acceptance  of  a  lot  not  quite  in 
order  may  place  the  retailer  in  a  difficulty,  for  the  methylator  is 
not  permitted  to  accept  the  return  of  any  portion  of  the  spirit 
without  special  permission  in  that  behalf. 

Use  of  Methylated  Spirit. — A  retailer  of  methylated  spirt 
does  not  require  any  special  permission  to  use  the  spirit — which  is 
understood  to  be  the  mineralised  spirit — in  the  manufacture  of 
soap,  compound  camphor,  aconite  and  belladonna  liniments,  but 
if  he  should  desire  to  employ  ordinary,  i.e.,  unmineralised  spirit,  for 
use  in  any  art  or  manufacture,  he  can  only  do  so  by  obtaining  the 
sanction  of  the  Board  of  Inland  Revenue.  This  is  not  a  difficult 
matter.  In  the  first  instance  the  application  should  be  addressed 
to  the  supervisor  of  the  district,  and  the  applicant  should  state  the 
situation  of  his  premises,  describe  particularly  the  purpose  for 
which  he  requires  the  spirit,  and  intimate  the  probable  quantity 
per  year  he  is  likely  to  want.  If  this  quantity  is  less  than  fifty 
gallons,  there  need  be  no  question  of  bond  beyond  the  applicant’s 
personal  undertaking  to  use  the  spirit  solely  for  the  purpose 
described.  The  presence  of  a  still  on  the  premises,  however, 
will  render  the  authorities  impervious  to  any  personal  under¬ 
taking,  and  in  such  a  case  a  bond  will  be  required  for  the 
proper  use  of  the  spirit.  A  bond  is  also  necessary  where  the 
annual  quantity  used  is  more  than  fifty  gallons.  Having  received 
the  requisite  sanction,  a  retailer  may  obtain  and  keep  for  use 
ordinary  methylated  spirit,  notwithstanding  that  he  stocks 
mineralised  spirit  for  trade  purposes,  but  the  two  kinds  of  spirit 
must  be  scrupulously  kept  apart.  The  formality  of  ordering 
unmineralised  spirit  is  similar  to  that  already  described  for 
mineralised  spirit.  The  requisition  book  with  its  counterfoils 
must  be  carefully  preserved  for  production  when  required.  And 
they  will  be  demanded  at  least  four  times  a  year,  for  the  officers 
are  officially  instructed  to  visit  all  users  once  every  quarter,  and 
may  at  any  time  show  their  zeal  by  more  frequent  visitations. 

It  being  so  easy  to  obtain  for  legitimate  purposes  a  supply  of 
ordinary  methylated  spirit,  there  should  be  no  temptation  for  any 
person  to  attempt  the  purification  of  the  mineralised  variety,  but 
should  there  be  such  a  misguided  individual,  it  is  well  that  he 
should  know  that  the  act  renders  him  liable  to  a  heavy  penalty. 
Purification  of  the  ordinary  spirit  or  its  use  in  the  manufacture  of 
absolute  alcohol  is  also  rigorously  prohibited. 

So  far  we  have  only  dealt  with  the  regulations  affecting  retailers 
of  spirit.  But  there  are  chemists  in  business  who  do  not  retail  and 
do  not  wish  to  retail  the  spirit,  but  who,  nevertheless,  have 
frequent  occasions  for  using  the  ordinary  or  unmineralised  kind, 
either  for  experimental  purposes  or  for  use  in  certain  pharmaceu¬ 
tical  processes.  Bearing  in  mind  the  fact  that  no  person  is  per¬ 
mitted  to  receive  unmineralised  spirit  without  sanction,  the  first 
step  is  to  send  to  the  Board  of  Inland  Revenue  and  obtain  that 
sanction.  If  it  is  a  question  of  using  the  spirit  in  a  preparation 
which  is  not  official  in  the  B.P.,  the  special  formula  should  be  sent 
to  the  Board.  The  same  process  holds  good  if  the  spirit  is  proposed 
to  be  employed  in  the  compounding  of  certain  medicines.  The 
reason  is  perfectly  obvious,  for  the  use  of  methylated  spirit  on 
which  there  is  no  duty,  as  a  substitute  for  dutiable  spirit  is  a 
matter  touching  the  Imperial  purse,  and  must  necessarily  be 
placed  beyond  temptation.  No  person  may  prepare,  or  even 
attempt  to  prepare,  or  sell  any  methylated  spirit,  either  as 
a  beverage  or  as  an  ingredient  in  a  beverage  ;  nor  may  he 
possess  or  sell  any  article  capable  of  being  used  in  any  way 
as  a  beverage  or  medicinal  drink  in  the  preparation  of  which 
methylated  spirit  or  any  of  its  derivatives  has  been  used.  Non- 
compliance  with  any  of  these  conditions  is  visited  with  a  fine  of 
£100  for  each  offence  and  other  contingent  inconveniences.  There 
is,  however,  a  relaxation  of  these  conditions  so  far  as  the  manu¬ 
facture  of  sulphuric  ether,  chloroform,  and  chloral  hydrate  is  con¬ 
cerned,  but  the  Board’s  authority  must  be  first  obtained. 

Still  with  all  the  formidable  array  of  penalties  which  flanks  the 


law  relating  to  methylated  spirit  the  Board  has  no  desire  to 
exercise  its  undoubted  autocratic  powers  in  a  tyrannical  manner, 
and  it  has  on  many  occasions  given  evidence  of  its  recognition  of 
the  difficulties  which  chemists  are  apt  to  meet  with  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  their  calling.  There  is  really  no  occasion  for 
anyone  to  run  the  slightest  risk,  if  in  cases  of  doubt  reference  is 
made  to  Somerset  House ;  and  it  *  will  be  found,  as  it  has  been  in 
the  case,  inter  alia,  of  substituting  methylated  spirit  for  alcohol  in 
the  preparation  of  vegetable  extracts,  that  the  authorities  there 
are  not  indisposed  to  make  reasonable  concessions,  which  are 
consistent  with  the  efficient  administration  of  the  great 
branch  of  the  public  service  under  their  charge.  The 
moral  appears  to  be,  do  not  assume  an  independence  of  action 
in  relation  to  Somerset  House,  no  matter  how  conscious  you  may 
be  of  the  rectitude  of  your  motives. 

Note. — The  law  relating  to  methylated  spirit  is  applicable  to 
the  whole  of  the  United  Kingdom. 

Finish. — Closely  allied  to  methylated  spirit  is  the  preparation 
styled  “  Finish.”  This  may  be  made  by  any  person  authorised  to  re¬ 
ceive  methylated  spirit,  and  by  dissolving  in  every  gallon  of  spirit 
not  less  than  three  ounces  of  gum  resin — usually  shellac.  When  so, 
prepared,  “  Finish  ”  may  be  sold  without  licence.  The  article 
must  not  be  purified  or  altered  except  by  the  addition  of  more 
gum  resin  or  colouring  matter,  and  this  prohibition  is  fortified  by 
a  penalty  not  exceeding  £200  for  each  offence. 

{To  be  continued.) 


NATURAL  HISTORY  NOTES. 

So  many  members  of  the  craft  are  interested  in  various  branches' 
of  practical  natural  history,  such  as  botany,  geology,  entomology, 
horticulture,  etc.,  that  it  seems  desirable  periodically  to  devote 
some  space  in  the  Journal  to  the  discussion  of  topics  of 
general  interest  in  these  subjects.  In  this  project  both  the- 
indulgence  and  the  co-operation  of  readers  are  claimed,  since  to 
render  the  notes  of  value,  dependence  must  be  placed  in  great 
measure  upon  communications  from  those  interested  in  the  various 
subjects.  Pharmacists,  and  in  particular  those  who  are  so  fortunate 
as  to  be  situated  in  rural  districts,  have  often  abundant  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  observation  and  collection,  the  records  of  which  cannot 
fail  to  be  of  interest  to  their  less  happily  situated  colleagues.  The 
aim  is  not  to  reproduce  in  these  columns  abstruse  and  learned 
dissertations,  but  it  is  rather  intended  to  confine  attention  to  facts 
of  general  interest,  such  as  may  be  within  the  scope  of  all  the 
members  of  the  craft. 

From  his  training,  the  pharmacist  is  eminently  fitted  to  become 
an  observant  naturalist,  and  that  he  is  often  able  to  attain  distinc¬ 
tion  in  the  various  branches  of  animal  and  vegetable  biology,  which 
can  be  followed  in  this  country,  is  evidenced  oy  the  prominent  part 
taken  by  many  pharmacists  in  the  various  learned  societies  devoted 
to  this  branch  of  science.  Not  only  do  his  tendencies  often  lead 
him  to  interest  himself  in  these  matters,  but  the  public  at  large, 
and  particularly  the  more  intelligent  part  of  it,  repair  to  him  for 
advice  and  instruction  in  the  following  of  their  hobbies  in  this; 
direction. 

Botany  and  entomology  in  their  various  branches  are  necessarily 
the  two  sciences  which  will  occupy  the  greater  part  of  his  attention, 
and  are  in  fact  so  dependent  on  each  other  that  a  good  botanist 
cannot  fail  to  acquire  some  acquaintance  with  the  insect  world, 
nor  can  an  entomologist  be  ignorant  of  the  plants  upon  which  his 
insects  are  so  largely  dependent.  In  these  remarks  attention  is 
confined  to  the  practical  worker ;  the  collector,  as  such,  will 
probably  find  a  better  outlet  for  his  superfluous  energy  in  the 
acquirement  of  potsherds  or  postage  stamps.  Any  communications 
and  observations  intended  for  comment  in  the  Journal  should  be 
addressed  to  the  Editor,  headed  “  Natural  History  Notes.” 

Over-Collecting.— In  his  position  as  adviser  to  beginners  in 
collection,  no  naturalist  should  lose  an  opportunity  of  impressing 
upon  the  neophyte  the  evil  of  over-collecting.  Let  the  collection, 
for  some  seasons  at  least,  be  confined  to  the  actual  gatherings  of 
the  beginner.  “  Exchanging  ”  is  a  necessary  evil  in  both  botany 
and  entomology ;  it  may  be  necessary  to  obtain  a  complete  collection 
for  scientific  purposes,  but  to  the  average  field  naturalist  is  scarcely 
needful  at  first.  Every  specimen  in  the  herbarium  or  cabinet 
should  afford  its  fortunate  owner  some  pleasant  recollection  of  its 
capture,  or  throw  a  definite  light  on  the  life  history  of  the  plant 
or  insect  that  it  represents,  and  a  carefully  compiled  note-book 
should  be  kept  recording  the  date  and  other  particulars  of  each 
fresh  object  acquired. 

{To  be  continued.) 


178 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  27,  1897 


THE  STUDENTS’  PAGE. 


ON  DISPENSING  EMULSIONS. 

In  the  previous  notes  on  dispensing  emulsions  (ante,  pp.  130  and 
150)  the  use  of  acacia  in  emulsifying  fixed  oils,  volatile  oils,  oleo- 
resins,  and  soft  paraffin  was  fully  entered  into.  If  the  student 
has  followed  the  instructions  there  given  he  will  have  succeeded  in 
producing  satisfactory  emulsions  with  one  of  each  of  those  classes 
of  drugs.  As  was  pointed  out  in  the  concluding  paragraph  of  the 
latter  of  those  notes,  acacia  is  not  the  only  agent  that  may,  or 
should,  be  used  to  produce  an  emulsion,  and  it  is  proposed  now  to 
deal  with  emulsifiers  other  than  acacia.  Of  these,  yolk  of  egg 
may  be  taken  first. 

Yolk  of  egg  may  be  regarded  as  a  natural  emulsion  of  egg  fat. 
It  has  the  property  of  emulsifying  several  times  its  volume  of 
many  fixed  and  volatile  oils,  is  easy  to  manipulate,  and  yields 
emulsions  that  are  more  compatible  with  acids,  salts,  alcohol,  etc. , 
than  are  those  prepared  with  acacia.  The  principal  disadvantage 
lies  in  its  proneness  to  decomposition,  emulsions  made  with  egg 
yolk  without  the  addition  of  any  preservative  keeping  good 
for  a  comparatively  short  time  only. 

The  Use  of  Yolk  of  Egg. 

To  be  certain  of  producing  a  good  emulsion  the  egg  must  be 
quite  fresh  and  the  yolk  alone  is  to  be  used.  Crack  the  shell  of  a 
fresh  egg  about  •  the  middle  by  a  smart  blow  on  the  edge  of  a 
spatula,  the  opposite  edge  of  the  spatula  resting  on  the  counter. 
Insert  the  thumb-nail  into  the  crack  and,  holding  the  egg  upright 
and  over  a  measure,  break  the  shell  across  into  two  nearly  equal 
portions,  so  that  the  yolk  is  caught  in  the  lower  half,  part  of  the 
white  falling  into  the  measure.  Carefully  transfer  the  yolk  now 
from  one  half-shell  to  the  other,  and  back  again,  freeing  it  thus 
as  completely  as  possible  from  the  white.  Then  throw  it  into  the 
mortar  and  triturate  lightly  with  the  pestle.  Now  measure  a  fluid 
ounce  of  oil  of  turpentine  and  add  it  gi'adually  to  the  egg-yolk, 
triturating  after  each  addition  and  thinning  the  emulsion  with 
a  little  water  if  necessary.  When  the  emulsification  has  been 
effected,  the  mixture  may  be  diluted  with  water,  and  should  then 
be  strained  through  muslin ;  any  other  ingredients  that  may  be 
ordered  should  be  added  last.  Such  emulsions  of  turpentine 
with  yolk  of  egg  thicken  somewhat  and  improve  in  appearance 
by  keeping  ;  in  this  case  the  turpentine  acts  as  a  preservative. 

Yolk  of  egg  is  the  acknowledged  emulsifier  for  spermaceti  and 
appears  to  be  the  best.  The  student  should  prepare  a  spermaceti 
emulsion  by  the  following  method  : — Take  two  drachms  of  sper¬ 
maceti  and  reduce  it  in  a  mortar  with  the  aid  of  a  little  rectified 
spirit  to  the  finest  possible  powder.  Allow  the  spirit  to  dry  off, 
and  add  now  the  yolk  of  a  fresh  egg,  separated  from  the  white  as 
directed  above.  Triturate  until  an  emulsion  is  produced,  which 
may  then  be  diluted  and  strained  through  coarse  muslin.  Care 
must  be  taken  not  to  allow  the  spermaceti  to  form  hard  lumps. 

Paraldehyde,  a  refractory  drug,  may  also  be  emulsified  with  the 
yolk  of  egg,  one  egg-yolk  sufficing  for  about  an  ounce  of  par¬ 
aldehyde.  For  solid,  fats,  such  as  marrow,  which  is  sometimes 
ordered  as  an  emulsion,  yolk  of  egg  is  the  best  emulsifier.  In  such 
a  case  the  egg-yolk  should  be  raised  to  a  temperature  of  about  45° 
to  59°  C. ,  and  the  melted  fat  at  a  temperature  of  50°  to  60°  C. , 
gradually  added.  The  emulsion  should  be  diluted  with  water  at 
the  former  temperature,  and  stirred  till  cold. 

Soaps  and  Potash  as  Emulsifiers. 

The  next  emulsifier  to  which  the  student’s  attention  should  be 
directed  is  soap.  This  body  possesses  considerable  emulsifying 
properties,  but  for  obvious  reasons  is  in  many  cases  unsuitable,  and 
is  certainly  inadmissible  for  internal  use,  unless  specially  ordered 
by  the'  physician.  The  official  turpentine  liniment  is  such  a  soap 
emulsion,  which  can  be  diluted  with  water  to  form  a  fluid  emul¬ 
sion  ;  the  student  should  prepare  a  few  ounces  of  turpentine  lini¬ 
ment  according  to  the  directions  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  and  dilute 
it,  when  made,  with  water. 

Like;  soap,  solution  of  potash  is  sometimes  used  as  an  emulsifier 
for  certain  oils  and  oleo-resins,  but,  like  soap,  its  unauthorised 
addition  to  a  mixture,  especially  to  one  intended  for  internal 
administration,  is  inadmissible.  An  official  instance  of  the  use  of 
this  emulsifier  is  to  be  found  in  the  mistura  olei  ricini,  in  which 
six  drachms  of  castor  oil  are  emulsified  by  one  drachm  of  solution 
of  potash.  This  mixture,  and  the  best  mode  of  making  it,  has  been 
the  subject  of  much  controversy.  Apparently  a  slight  variation  in 


the  composition  of  the  castor  oil  influences  the  resulting  emulsion, 
different  samples  of  the  oil  yielding  good  or  indifferent  results  by 
the  same  treatment.  Squire  recommends  the  following  as  a  good 
method  : — Mix  intimately  in  a  mortar  the  oils  with  the  syrup  and 
add  half  the  quantity  of  solution  of  potash,  then  gradually  the 
remainder  of  the  solution  of  potash  previously  mixed  with  the 
orange  flower  water.  The  student  should  prepare  the  official 
quantity  by  both  this  and  the  official  method. 

In  such  a  case  the  solution  of  potash  owes  its  emulsifying  proper¬ 
ties  to  the  soap  which  it  forms  partly  by  combination  with  the 
free  fat-acids  present  in  the  oil,  and  partly  by  double  decomposition 
with  other  glycerides  of  the  oil,  yielding  soap  and  glycerin. 

Balsam  of  copaiba  is  a  drug  that  is  frequently  ordered  in  con¬ 
junction  with  solution  of  potash.  In  this  case  the  potash  will  effect 
the  emulsification  of  the  balsam,  and  an  elegant  mixture  will  be 
produced.  For  this  purpose  agitation  in  a  bottle  is  preferable  to 
trituration  in  a.  mortar.  The  student  should  proceed  as  follows  : — 
Measure  two  drachms  of  solution  of  potash  into  an  eight-ounce 
bottle  and  dilute  it  with  half  an  ounce  of  water.  Cork  the  bottle 
and  shake  so  as  to  moisten  the  sides  of  the  bottle,  and  thus  prevent 
as  far  as  is  possible  the  subsequent  adhesion  of  the  balsam  to  the 
glass.  Now  weigh  into  the  bottle  half  an  ounce  of  balsam  of 
copaiba,  taking  care  that  it  fall  directly  into  the  dilute  alkali. 
Cork  again  and  shake  vigorously  until  emulsification  is  co'tnplete. 
Here  the  oleo-resin  contains  volatile  oil  and  a  resin  that  possesses  the 
characters  of  an  acid.  This  acid  resin  combines  with  the  alkali  to 
form  a  soap  by  which  the  emulsification  of  the  remainder  of  the 
resin  and  the  volatile  oil  is  effected. 

Although  in  this  case  solution  of  potash  produces  a  good  emulsion 
with  the  balsam,  the  student  must  carefully  remember  that  if  the 
choice  of  emulsifier  is  left  to  him,  solution  of  potash  must,  on 
account  of  its  distinct  medicinal  properties,  be  avoided;  his  choice 
should  certainly  fall  on  acacia. 

Tragacanth,  Quillaia  and  Other  Emulsifying  Agents. 

The  use  of  tragacanth  has  frequently  been  advocated  as  an 
emulsifier,  but  possesses  little  to  recommend  it.  The  student 
should  prepare  the  following  emulsion  of  turpentine  with 
tragacanth  and  compare  it  with  the  one  made  previously  with 
acacia.  Introduce  half  an  ounce  of  turpentine  into  a  perfectly 
dry  4  oz.  bottle  ;  add  to  it  ten  grains  of  powdered  tragacanth,  and 
diffuse  this  through  the  turpentine  by  shaking,  add  now  about 
two  ounces  of  water  and  shake  vigorously,  and  then  dilute  to  four 
ounces.  The  turpentine  will  be  diffused  through  the  mucilage, 
and  if  the  emulsion  is  kept,  will  rise  as  a  cream  to  the  surface,  but 
may  be  diffused  again  by  shaking.  But  the  sub-division  of  the  oil 
will  have  been  much  less  completely  accomplished  than  with 
acacia,  for  the  globules  will  probably  be  visible  to  the  naked  eye. 
Tragacanth  is,  however,  often  employed  with  advantage  to  pre¬ 
vent  “  the  creaming  ”  of  an  acacia  emulsion  by  imparting  greater 
viscosity  to  the  mixture. 

Tincture  of  quillaia  made  by  macerating  one  part  of  quillaia 
bark  in  four  parts  of  rectified  spirit,  possesses  to  a  remarkable 
degree  the  property  of  emulsifying  fixed  or  volatile  oils,  tars, 
resins,  etc.  As,  however,  this  preparation  has  a  distinct 
physiological  action,  its  addition  to  an  emulsion  intended 
for  internal  use  cannot  be  regarded  as  justifiable,  and 
therefore,  unless  ordered,  tincture  of  quillaia  should  be 
used  only  for  external  remedies ;  this  unfortunately  limits 
the  applicability  of  what  would  otherwise  be  a  most  valuable 
emulsifying  agent,  for  emulsions  made  with  quillaia  are  more  com¬ 
patible  with  acids,  alcohol,  glycerin,  etc.,  than  any  others.  Let 
the  student  confirm  this  property  of  tincture  of  quillaia  by  emulsi¬ 
fying  creosote  in  the  following  way : — Put  a  drachm  of  creosote 
into  a  two-ounce  bottle,  add  a  drachm  of  tincture  of  quillaia, 
shake  and  add  an  ounce  of  water,  shake  well  and  dilute  to  two 
ounces.  The  creosote  will  be  completely  emulsified,  and  though 
the  oil  will  separate  again  on  standing  it  will  form  a  creamy 
layer  that  can  be  easily  diffused  through  the  liquid.  Many  similar 
drugs  can  be  emulsified  in  this  way  with  the  greatest  ease  and 
rapidity. 

Other  emulsifiers  have  been  prepared  and  used,  such  as  casein, 
mucilage  of  Irish  moss,  condensed  milk,  etc.,  but  they  are  but 
little  employed  and  possess  no  special  advantages. 

The  dispenser  is  also  frequently  called  upon  to  produce  present¬ 
able  mixtures  with  resins  or  tinctures  containing  resins  or  similar 
bodies  and  water. 

Resins  can  frequently  be  diffused  through  water  by  the  use  of 
simple  or  compound  tragacanth  powder,  but  more  elegant  mix¬ 
tures  are  often  produced  by  dissolving  the  resin  in  spirit  and  pour- 


Feb.  27,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


179 


ing  the  tincture  thus  produced  into  water  previously  mixed  with 
mucilage  of  acacia.  The  same  method  of  procedure  should  be 
adopted  for  all  tinctures  containing  resins  or  bodies  which,  when 
precipitated  by  water,  have  a  tendency  to  form  clots  or  unsightly 
mixtures.  In  this  class  quinine  and  camphor  must  not  be  for¬ 
gotten.  They  are  both  amenable  to  treatment  with  acacia. 

The  student  should  practise  the  use  of  mucilage  in  such  cases  as 
the  following  :  Take  a  drachm  of  mucilage,  dilute  it  with  an  ounce 
of  water  and  introduce  into  a  four-ounce  bottle  ;  shake  it  so  as  to 
moisten  the  sides  of  the  bottle.  Add  now  a  drachm  of  compound 
tincture  of  benzoin,  and  shake  again  ;  dilute  to  four  ounces.  The 
resin  will  be  diffused  through  the  water  in  a  state  of  fine  division. 
Tincture  of  Indian  hemp,  tolu,  etc. ,  may  be  treated  in  the  same 
way. 

The  fact  cannot  be  too  strongly  impressed  on  the  student  that 
when  the  choice  of  an  emulsifier  is  left  to  his  discretion,  he  should 
choose  an  emulsifier  to  which  no  objection  can  be  taken,  on  account 
of  its  medicinal  action.  In  nine  cases  out  of  ten  acacia  will  answer. 
There  are  comparatively  few  emulsions  that  can  be  better  prepared 
by  other  emulsifiers. 


THE  FLOWERS  OF  FEBRUARY. 

The  Ranunculaceous  plants  in  flower  this  month  form  a  very 
instructive  series  if  compared  together,  and  serve  to  throw  light 
upon  the  apparent  want  of  agreement  in  the  characters  of  the 
several  genera.  The  plants  are  as  follow  : — Ranuncuhis  ficaria, 
Eranthis  hyemalis,  Anemone  hepatica,  Helleborus  niger,  II.  viridis, 
H.  faetidus,  and  Clematis  indivisa.  Thus,  if  we  compare  the  roots, 
R.  ficaria  has  fig-shaped  tubers,  whence  its  specific  name  Ficaria  ; 
Eranthis  has  an  irregular  tuber,  sometimes  approaching  a  rhizome 
in  form,  and  the  hellebores  have  a  distinct  rhizome.  The  plant 
rarely  ripens  seed  in  this  country,  but  gives  rise  to  axillary  tubers, 
an  interesting  account  of  the  development  of  which  is  given 
in  Shirley  Hibberd’s  ‘Field  Flowers,’  pp.  17-19.  With 
respect  to  leaves,  which  in  this  family  are  usually  radiate  or 
pedate-veined  and  divided  into  segments,  the  R.  ficaria  has 
a  cordate  leaf,  in  which  the  space  between  the  radiate 
veins  is  filled  up  with  parenchyma,  and  the  same  is  the  case 
with  the  Hepatica ;  Eranthis,  on  the  other  hand,  is  divided 
into  segments,  like  the  aconite,  whence  its  name  of  winter  aconite. 
In  the  hellebores  the  leaves  are  also  radiate -veined,  and  consist  of 
three  segments,  divided  down  to  the  petiole,  of  which  the  two 
lateral  are  again  divided,  but  not  so  far  as  the  petiole,  so  as  to  form  a 
distant  resemblance  to  a  bird’s  foot,  whence  the  name  pedate, 
applied  to  the  leaves  of  this  genus.  In  Clematis  the  lateral  lobes 
are  not  usually  divided,  but  the  central  lobe  is  prolonged  and 
bears  lateral  lobes,  so  that  the  leaf  assumes  a  pinnate  foim.  In 
this  genus  the  leaves  are  opposite,  and  the  plants  are  woody 
climbers,  forming  an  exception  in  these  respects  to  the 
rest  of  the  family.  The  bracts  of  A.  hepatica  are  small, 
three  in  number,  and  placed  so  close  to  the  coloured 
calyx  that  they  might  easily  be  mistaken  for  sepals  were 
it  not  that  on  pulling  them  off  they  are  seen  to  be  situated  below 
the  thalamus  and  on  the  peduncle.  In  several  other  species,  e.g., 
A.  pulsatilla,  the  peduncle  elongates  after  flowering,  and  separates 
the  fruit  by  several  inches  from  the  involucre  of  bracts.  In  Eran¬ 
this  the  involucre  also  looks  like  a  calyx,  only  that  the  bracts  are 
divided,  and  there  are  both  sepals  and  petals  in  addition.  In 
Helleborus  faetidus  there  is  a  gradual  transition  from  the  leaves  to 
the  bracts,  the  petiole  becoming  dilated  and  the  lamina  reduced 
until  the  upper  bracts  consist  of  nothing  but  the  dilated  petiole. 
Nature  here  reveals  why  the  bracts  of  Helleborus  niger  differ  so 
much  in  shape  from  the  leaves.  In  H.  viridis,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  bracts  consist  of  the  lamina  reduced  in  size,  the  petiole  not 
being  developed  at  all. 

In  Clematis  there  are  no  bracts  and  no  petals,  only  a  coloured 
calyx.  The  calyx  in  Eranthis,  Anemone,  Helleborus  and  Clematis 
forms  in  each  case  the  conspicuous  and  coloured  part  of  the 
flower,  but  in  Ranunculus  the  calyx  is  small  and  inconspicuous. 
In  R.  ficaria  the  petals  have  a  triangular  scale  or  nectary  which 
secretes  honey,  in  Eranthis  this  scale  is  enlarged  so  as  to  form  a 
semi-tubular  petal,  and  in  Helleborus  a  tubular  petal,  the  petals 
being  reduced  in  size,  and  almost  hidden  by  the  stamens.  In 
Anemone  and  Clematis  petals  are  not  developed.  In  Ranuncuhis 
the  fruit  consists  of  achenes  (one-seeded  indehiscent  carpels)  which 
in  Anemone  pulsatilla  and  some  other  species,  as  well  as  in  Clematis, 
are  furnished  with  long  hairy  tails,  but  in  Eranthis  and  Helleborus 
each  carpel  contains  several  seeds,  and  opens  when  ripe,  thus 
forming  a  follicular  fruit.  In  all  the  above  plants,  however,  the 


apocarpous  ovary  and  numerous  hypogynous  stamens  character¬ 
istic  of  the  order  may  be  observed.  The  development  of  two  of 
the  petals  into  spurred  nectaries  in  Aconite,  and  of  five  into 
spurred  petals  in  Aquilegia,  may  be  observed  in  May,  when  the 
other  common  abnormal  flowers  of  this  order  can  be  examined. 


NOTES  ON  THE  B.P. 

(  Continued  from  page  150. ) 

Bxsmuthum  Purificatum. — The  solution  in  nitric  acid  evapo¬ 
rated  to  a  low  bulk  deposits  crystals  of  normal  bismuth  nitrate, 
Bi3(NOa).  The  impurities  remain  almost  entirely  in  the  mother- 
liquor,  which  should  yield  no  evidence  of  arsenic  when  Marsh’s  test 
is  applied.  It  is  evaporated  with  hydrochloric  acid  to  remove 
nitric  acid,  which  would  interfere  with  some  of  the  subsequent 
tests.  Any  copper,  silver,  lead,  or  iron  occurring  as  impurities 
would  then  be  in  the  form  of  chlorides  together  with  bismuth 
chloride  and  excess  of  HC1.  On  adding  ammonia  to  this,  bismuth 
hydrate  would  be  precipitated,  copper  revealing  its  presence  by 
a  coloration,  due  to  the  formation  of  a  deep  blue  ammonio  salt. 
Silver  chloride,  which  is  soluble  to  some  extent  in  strong  hydro¬ 
chloric  acid,  is  precipitated  but  redissolved  by  excess  of  ammonia, 
and  must  therefore  be  looked  for  in  the  ammoniacal  filtrate  in 
the  usual  manner — neutralisation  of  the  ammonia  by  nitric  acid. 
Lead  is  detected  .by  the  formation  of  insoluble  lead  sulphate  when 
diluted  sulphuric  acid  is  added,  and  iron  by  ferrocyanide  of 
potassium.  Tellurium  and  selenium,  two  non-metals  belonging  to 
the  sulphur  group,  sometimes  occur  as  impurities.  They  form 
gaseous  hydrogen  compounds,  H2Te  and  H2Se,  analagous  to  H2S, 
which  possess  a  more  intolerable  odour  even  than  sulphuretted 
hydrogen.  When  bismuth  salts  containing  these  impurities  are 
administered,  these  hydrogen  compounds — hydrogen  telluride  and 
selenide — are  formed  in  the  stomach  and  impart  to  the  breath  of 
the  patient  a  most  unpleasant  odour.  If  present  in  bismuth, 
tellurous  acid,  H2Te03,  and  selenious  acid,  H2Se03  (analagous  to 
sulphurous  acid,  H2S03),  wrill  be  formed  by  solution  of  the  impure 
metal  in  nitric  acid.  On  adding  sodium  sulphite  to  the 'acid 
solution  (after  separating  most  of  the  bismuth  nitrate  and  re¬ 
placing  nitric  by  hydrochloric  acid)  the  H2S03  formed  reduces 
the  corresponding  selenious  and  tellurous  acids,  selenium  and 
tellurium  being  thrown  down  in  the  elemental  state,  the  former 
as  a  red  and  the  latter  a  black  precipitate.  The  H2SO:4  is  con¬ 
verted  into  H2S04  by  the  oxygen  taken  from  H2Te03  and  H2Se03. 

Borax. — Boric  anhydride  B.203  resembles  phosphoric  anhydride 
in  combining  with  different  proportions  of  water  to  form  acids :  — 
(i.)  B20h  +  H20  =  2HB02  (metaboric  acid). 

(ii. )  B263  +  3H20  =  2H3B03  (boric  acid). 

When  boric  acid  is  neutralised  with  an  alkali  we  do  not  get  the 
normal  borate,  but  water  is  eliminated,  and  a  metaborate  formed, 
(i.)  H,B03  +  NaH0  =  NaH2B03  +  H20. 

(ii.)  NaH2B03  =  NaB02  +  H2Ch 
Borax  may  be  regarded  as  a  compound  of  sodium  metaborate  with 
boric  anhydride,  (NaB02)2B20310H20,  or  metaboric  acid  (NaB02)2 
(HB0.2)29H20.  When  solution  of  borax  is  treated  with  a  strong  acid, 
normal  boric  acid  is  formed,  the  metaboric  acid  taking  up  water  : — 

hbo2+h2o  =  H3B03. 

The  use  of  borax  beads  in  qualitative  analysis  is  due  to  the 
fused  borax  containing  metaboric  acid  or  anhydride.  When  a 
metallic  salt  is  fused  in  a  borax  bead,  on  platinum  wire,  the  boric 
anhydride  being  non-volatile,  displaces  the  acidulous  radicle  with 
which  the  metal  was  combined,  and  forms  with  the  resulting  oxide 
compounds  which  have  a  distinctive  colour  in  the  following  cases  : 
cobalt,  copper,  chromium,  iron,  and  manganese. 

Calcii  Carbon  as  Precipitata. — If  alumina  or  ferric  oxide  be 
present  the  carbonate  dissolved  in  nitric  acid  will  contain 
aluminium  and  ferric  nitrates  as  well  as  Ca2NO_.  Addition  of 
solution  of  lime  will  then  precipitate  Al26(IIO)  or  Fe.,6(HO).  The 
carbonic  acid  must  be  previously  expelled  by  boiling,  or  a  precipi¬ 
tate  of  calcium  carbonate  will  be  obtained. 

•  Ca2HO  +  C02  =  CaC03  +  H„0. 

Calcii  Phosphas. — Absence  of  effervescence  when  dissolved'  in 
nitric  acid  shows  absence  of  carbonate.  On  adding  excess  of 
sodium  acetate,  to  replace  free  nitric  by  acetic  acid,  oxalate  of 
ammonium  precipitates  oxalate  of  calcium  and  perchloride  of  iron 
ferric  phosphate.  Entire  solubility  in  dilute  hydrochloric  acid 
excludes  silica,  and  the  phosphate  of  calcium  re-precipitated  by 
ammonia  should  be  insoluble  in  caustic  potash  (alumina  is  soluble) 
and  weigh  nearly  the  same  as  the  original  quantity  taken. 


180 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  27,  1897 


THE  PHARMACEUTICAL  SOCIETY’S  BENEVOLENT  FUND. 

LETTER  FROM  THE  PRESIDENT. 


To  the  Editor  oj  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal. 

Sir, — The  Benevolent  Fund  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  forms 
the  prominent  feature  in  the  present  issue  of  the  Society’s  Journal, 
which  will  be  sent  to  everyone  on  the  Register  of  Chemists  and 
Druggists.  The  decennial  festival  dinner  in  support  of  the  Fund 
will  be  held  in  May,  and  I  therefore  venture  to  advocate  its  claims 
upon  all  who  are  in  any  way  associated  with  the  practice  of  phar¬ 
macy.  There  is  little  doubt  that  during  the  present  year, 

The  Diamond  Jubilee  of  Our  Queen, 

appeals  in  support  of  many  deserving  objects  will  be  made  to  every 
class  of  Her  Majesty’s  subjects,  but  I  hold  that  no  object  more 
worthy  of  the  support  of  pharmacists  could  be  brought  prominently 
under  their  notice  during  this  eventful  year.  I  may  also  remind 
my  friends  that  the  votes  for  donations  made  by  firms  in  1887 
lapse  this  year.  No  department  of  the  Society’s  work  is  more 
generally  approved  by  all  registered  persons  than  that  of 

The  Benevolent  Fund, 

though  the  pecuniary  support  hitherto  received  is  inadequate,  and 
far  below  what  might  reasonably  be  expected.  Criticisms  there 
are  from  time  to  time  as  to  some  of  the  details  connected  with  its 
administration,  but  I  venture  to  affirm  that  there  is  no  fund  which, 
judged  by  the  infinitesimal  expenses  attaching  to  its  management 
as  well  as  by  the  care  and  catholicity  of  its  distribution,  is  more 
worthy  of  hearty  and  ungrudging  support.  The  Council  cordially 
appreciates  the  loyal  and  persevering  efforts  to  increase  the 
resources  of  the  Fund  which  are  made  by  local  secretaries  and 
others,  and  we  hope  that  during  the  present  year  those  efforts  will 


be  crowned  with  more  than  usual  success.  I  trust  that  our  more 
wealthy  friends  will  continue  their  support  by  liberal  donations  on 
the  occasion  of 

The  Approaching  Festival, 

and  that  all  will  contribute  to  the  best  of  their  power.  Appeals 
for  local  objects  will  be  specially  prominent  this  year,  but  let  the 
Fund,  established  for  the  aid  of  our  distressed  comrades,  have  a 
good  share  of  our  liberality.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  whilst 
many  appeal?  are  rightly  addressed  to  and  may  be  reason¬ 
ably  supported  by  all  classes  of  the  community,  the  claims  of  our 
Benevolent  Fund,  which  exists  exclusively  for  the  benefit  of 
chemists  and  druggists,  can  be  urged  upon  those  only  who 
directly  or  indirectly  are  associated  with  our  calling.  The  most 
satisfactory  way  of  assisting  the  Fund  is  to  give 

An  Annual  Subscription, 

and  I  would  specially  appeal  to  my  younger  brethren,  assistants, 
apprentices,  and  students  to  make  it  a  matter  of  duty  to  send  an 
annual  contribution,  however  small  at  first,  and  to  continue  that 
habit  unasked  and  with  regularity.  It  is  unnecessary  for  me  here 
to  refer  in  detail  to  what  has  been  done  in  the  past  to  lighten  the 
burdens  of  our  less  fortunate  brethren  or  their  representatives,  as 
such  information  may  be  obtained  from  other  columns  in  the 
Journal  or  from  the  Calendar  of  the  Society.  The  record  of  the 
good  work  accomplished  by  our  Benevolent  Fund  is  one  in  which 
all  contributors  may  feel  gratification  ;  let  us  endeavour  to  make 
it  still  more  worthy  of  our  Society  and  of  our  common  calling. 

17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  W.G.  Walter  Hills. 

February  %/f.,  1897.  President. 


THE  SPECIAL  APPEAL  FOR  THE  BENEVOLENT  FUND. 

DONATIONS  AND  SUBSCRIPTIONS. 


In  response  to  the  admirable  suggestion  of  the  local  secretary 
for  Manchester,  which  appeared,  in  our  correspondence  columns  on 
p.  99,  the  Council  of  the  Manchester  Pharmaceutical  Association 
unanimously  resolved,  at  a  meeting  held  last  week, 

“That,  as  a  fitting  way  of  commemorating  the  completion  of 
the  sixtieth  year  of  the  reign  of  Her  Most  Gracious  Majesty  the 
Queen,  this  Council  forms  itself  into  a  local  committee  (with  power 
to  add  to  its  number)  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  large  increase 
of  subscriptions  and  donations  to  the  Benevolent  Fund  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society.” 

Every  member  of  the  Council  subsequently  promised  permanent 
Increased  subscriptions  or  a  donation— in  no  case  less  than  double 
last  year’s  subscription. 

It  was  further  resolved  — 

“  That  Mr.  Harry  Kemp  be  appointed  to  act  as  Secretary  of 
this  Committee.” 

As  a  practical  way  of  beginning  operations,  each  member  pre¬ 
sent  promised  a  donation  or  an  increased  annual  subscription  to 
the  Fund — in  every  case  equal  to  or  more  than  equal  to  double 
his  last  year’s  contribution. 

Up  to  the  time  of  going  to  press  we  had  received  notice  of  the 


following  donations,  distinct  from  and  in  addition  to  the  usual 
annual  subscriptions 


£  s.  d. 

Bates,  F.  W . 1  1  0 

Blackburn,  A.  E .  1  I  0 

Blyton,  Jno . . .  0  10  6 

Carter,  W .  0  10  6 

Gibson  (Robt.)  and  Sons  .  5  5  0 

Johnstone,  Chas.  A .  5  5  0 

Kemp,  H .  1  1  0 

Lane,  Wm .  : .  1  1  0 

Pidd,  A.  J .  1  1  0 

Reynolds,  R.  J . . .  1  1  0 

Westmacott,  G.  H .  1  1  0 

Wild,  Jno . . .  0  10  6 

Woolley,  Geo.  8 .  10  10  0 

Woolley,  Herman  . .  10  10  0 

Yates,  E . 0  10  (i 

Kirkby,  Wm .  1  1  0 

Young,  J.  R.  . .  1  1  0 

Howie,  W.  L . „ .  10  10  0 


£53  11  0 


The  following  have  permanently  doubled,  or  more  than  doubled, 
their  previous  annual  subscriptions  to  the  Fund  : — Swinn,  Chas.  ; 
Travis,  H.  A.  ;  Walton,  J.  W. 

Further  lists  will  be  published  as  particulars  come  to  hand,  and 
it  is  hoped  that  other  districts  will  follow  the  good  example  set  by 
Manchester. 


Feb.  27.  1897  ] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


181 


Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


A  Weekly  Record  of  Pharmacy  and  Allied  Sciences. 

ESTABLISHED  1841. 

Circulating  in  the  United  Kingdom,  France,  Germany, 
Austria,  Italy,  Russia,  Switzerland,  Canada,  the 
United  States,  South  America,  India, 
Australasia,  South  Africa,  etc. 

Editorial  Office:  17,  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.C. 
Publishing  and  Advertising  Office :  5,  SEtyLE  STREET,  W.C. 


LONDON  :  SATURDAY,  FEBRUARY  27,  1897. 


THE  BENEVOLENT  FUND. 

In  calling  attention  to  this  result  of  British  pharma¬ 
ceutical  organisation,  which  has  been  so  long  a  means  of 
affording  useful  assistance  to  many  deserving  persons,  little 
can  be  said  that  has  not  already  been  repeatedly  stated  on 
similar  occasions.  In  every  occupation  misfortune  will 
befall  some  of  its  members  and  opportunity  will  be  afforded 
for  a  practical  application  of  the  principle  that  every  man  is  a 
■debtor  to  his  calling.  The  business  of  the  chemist  and  druggist, 
in  all  the  varied  modifications  determined  by  locality,  is  no 
exception  to  the  rule,  either  as  regards  the  contingency  of 
disaster,  or  the  duty  of  providing  relief  which  falls  upon 
those  who  are  more  fortunate.  Hence  the  establishment  of  a 
Benevolent  Fund  was  naturally  one  of  the  great  objects  con¬ 
templated  by  the  founders  of  the  Society  as  desirable  features 
of  the  pharmaceutical  organisation,  that  was  confirmed,  more 
than  half  a  century  ago,  by  the  grant  of  a  Royal  Charter  of 
Incorporation. 

Since  that  time,  the  beneficent  influence  of  the  Fund  has 
been  extended,  so  that  all  persons  registered  as  Chemists  and 
Druggists  sre  as  much  entitled  to  receive  assistance  in  case 
of  need  as  members  or  associates  of  the  Society.  The  Bene¬ 
volent  Fund  has  therefore  a  catholic  character  which  should 
commend  it  to  every  member  of  the  trade  and  be  regarded  by 
each  one  as  constituting  a  claim  to  support.  That  this  claim 
has  been  freely  recognised  by  many  is  evident  from  the  fact 
that  the  invested  capital  of  the  Fund,  largely  derived  from 
donations  and  legacies,  now  amounts  to  £28,647  2*'.  5 d.  The 
income  from  that  invested  capital,  together  with  annual 
subscriptions,  amounting  in  1896  to  more  than  £1710,  has 
provided  means  for  the  payment  of  annuities  aiid  the 
grant  of  money  in  cases  of  emergency,  by  which  a  vast 
amount  of  good  has  been  done.  There  are  at  the  present 
time  no  less  than  forty-five  annuitants,  most  of  whom  are  in 
receipt  of  £50  a  year,  the  total  amount  paid  in  that  way  last 
year  being  £2232  10s.,  besides  the  grants  for  temporary  assist¬ 
ance  amounting  to  £563. 

But  on  comparing  the  list  of  subscribers  to  the  Benevolent 
Fund  with  the  Register  of  Chemists  and  Druggists,  there  is 
-evidence  that  the  number  of  subscribers  is  far  from  being  so 
large  as  the  inherent  merits  of  the  Fund  should  secure.  In 
view  of  this  circumstance,  the  President  has  this  week 
made  a  special  appeal  to  all  members  of  the  trade,  setting 
forth  the  reasons  for  making  the  Benevolent  Fund  a  matter 
of  general  and  continuous  support.  Mr.  Walter  Hills’ 
letter  will  be  found  on  the  opposite  page,  and  we  commend 


it  to  the  careful  consideration  of  every  one  who  will  this 
week  receive  the  Journal.  As  anticipating  the  response  to 
this  appeal  that  may  be  expected  from  all  parts  of  the 
country,  we  have  also  great  pleasure  in  drawing  attention 
to  the  substantial  result  of  efforts  made  by  Mr.  Harry  Kemp, 
the  Local  Secretary  for  Manchester,  in  pursuance  of  the 
scheme  recently  suggested  by  him  (see  ante,  p.  98),  which 
was  supported  for  Glasgow  and  Liverpool  by  Mr.  Currie  and 
Mr.  J.  Smith  (see  ante,  p.  119).  The  letter  in  which  the 
local  secretaries  of  these  three  cities  appeal  to  their  colleagues 
to  follow  up  the  beginning  already  made  by  Manchester,  by  a 
personal  appeal  at  every  place  of  business  in  their  several 
localities,  ought  to  furnish  any  stimulus  that  may  be  requisite 
for  making  a  very  considerable  addition  to  the  resources  of 
the  Benevolent  Fund  and  we  hope  to  be  able  next  week  to 
publish  corresponding  lists  from  Glasgow  and  Liverpool. 


INDIVIDUALISM  AND  SOCIALISM  IN  PHARMACY. 

Civilised  man  is  both  an  individual  and  a  social  being  and 
at  his  best  probably  represents  a  happy  mean  between 
individualism  and  socialism — two  apparently  irreconcilable 
tendencies.  For  to  be  of  the  utmost  value  as  a  unit  of 
society  a  man  must  develop  as  an  individual  to  the  fullest 
possible  extent,  while  the  status  of  the  social  body  in  turn  is 
regulated  by  the  average  individuality  of  its  members.  As 
the  Dean  of  Ripon  has  recently  pointed  out,  the  social 
unit — whether  nation,  municipality,  or  parish — should  do 
whatever  it  can  do  better  than  the  individual ;  whilst  the 
latter  ought  to  be  left  to  do  whatever  he  can  accomplish  best 
by  himself.  Where  the  line  is  to  be  drawn  between  indi¬ 
vidualistic  and  socialistic  action  must,  of  course,  be  deter¬ 
mined  by  the  needs  of  the  particular  case.  No  hard  and 
fast  rule  can  be  laid  down  in  this  matter,  as  circumstances 
will  necessarily  shape  themselves  differently  under  varying 
conditions. 

In  the  case  of  pharmacy  it  is  not  difficult  to  decide  where 
the  dividing  line,  or  perhaps  it  would  be  better  to  say  the 
blending  point,  is  situated.  The  education  and  business 
training  of  the  individual  are  essentially  matters  for  that 
individual  himself  to  look  after  primarily.  But  as  develop¬ 
ment  proceeds  it  clearly  becomes  the  duty  of  the  social  unit 
— the  whole  pharmacentical  body  in  the  present  instance — 
to  encourage  the  acquisition  of  satisfactory  education  and 
technical  training  by  providing  proper  facilities  to  that  end 
and  deciding  within  what  limits  instruction  should  be  im¬ 
parted,  a  fixed  minimum  being  the  basis  of  any  scheme  that 
may  be  carried  into  effect.  Just,  however,  as  a  horse  may 
be  dragged  to  a  pond  but  cannot  be  compelled  to  drink, 
so  the  acquirement  of  knowledge  is  primarily  vested  in 
the  individual  chiefly  concerned.  The  same  is  the  case 
with  regard  to  the  improvement  of  business  capacity  and,  so 
far  as  concerns  the  maintenance  of  existence,  the  normal 
individual  must  invariably  be  dependent  upon  his  own 
efforts  throughout  his  career :  the  exceptionally  endowed 
individual  may  thus  secure  and  maintain  an  enviable  posi¬ 
tion  unaided,  except  indirectly,  by  the  social  fore  es  atwork 
around  him. 

But  in  pharmacy,  as  elsewhere,  the  average  individual  must 
needs  rest  content  with  few  or  only  minor  advantages, 
unless  he  takes  part  in  one  or  more  of  those  movements  of 
aggregation  by  which  the  activity  of  the  social  spirit  is  con¬ 
tinually  being  manifested.  And  his  privileges  may  be  ex¬ 
pected  to  increase,  his  position  to  improve,  in  proportion  to 


[Feb.  27,  1897. 


1-8&- 


PHARMACEUTICAL  J0UAL.N7I 


the  unanimity  with  which  the  social  movements  in  which 
he  takes  part  are  supported  by  other  individuals  who  are 
similarly  situated  to  himself.  To  take  as  an  example  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society — the  only  survivor  of  the  various 
political  and  social  movements  that  have  from  time  to 
time  agitated  British  pharmacy — it  has  been  able 
to  maintain  an  unbroken  and  successful  existence 
for  more  than  half  a  century,  simply  because  of  the 
unanimity  with  which  a  majority  of  the  best  educated  indi¬ 
viduals  in  pharmacy  have  supported  it. 

The  position  of  the  craft  would  have  been  vastly  inferior  to 
what  it  is  to-day  had  not  the  Society  or  some  kindred  body 
existed  to  represent  it  in  emergencies  and  protect  its  privileges 
in  times  of  danger,  whilst  steadily  keeping  in  view  the 
elevation  of  the  social  unit  and  striving  continually  to  main¬ 
tain  it  in  the  front  rank  as  an  organised  body.  "What 
more  might  have  been  done,  had  the  Society  been  fully 
instead  of  partially  representative  of  the  craft  during  bygone 
years,  can  only  be  conjectured ;  but  this  much  is  clear,  that  it 
rests  with  the  chemists  and  druggists  of  Groat  Britain  at 
the  present  day  to  enable  it  to  accomplish  many  things 
that  are  yet  to  be  achieved.  To  strive  after  wrhat  is 
clearly  unrealisable  would  be  absurd  ;  but  to  neglect  oppor¬ 
tunities  of  securing  what  is  feasible  in  the  way  of  worldly 
advantage  is  folly,  and  all  who  have  the  good  of  phar¬ 
macy  at  heait  should  continue  to  hope  and  work  together 
that  lost  ground  may  be  recovered  and  fresh  positions  won 
by  securing  the  adherence  and  active  sympathy  of  those  who 
yet  remain  outside  the  ranks  of  the  Society. 


TBE  PURITY  OF  FOOD  AND  DRUGS. 

We  have  been  favoured  with  a  copy  of  the  Bill  to  con¬ 
solidate  and  amend  the  law  relating  to  the  sale  of  food  and 
drugs,  which  has  been  prepared  and  brought  in  by  Mr. 
Kearley,  Sir  James  Woodhouse,  Mr.  Horace  Plunkett, 
Mr.  Lambert,  Mr.  Jeffreys,  Mr.  Nichol,  Mr.  Channing, 
Mr.  Lough,  and  Mr.  Maurice  Healy.  In  this  Bill  the  term 
“  drug  ’’  is  defined  to  mean  “  any  substance,  vegetable,  animal 
or  mineral  used  in  the  composition  or  preparation  of  medicines, 
whether  for  external  or  internal  use,”  and  it  is  proposed  that 
every  conviction  for  an  offence  under  the  “  Act  ”  shall  carry 
with  it  a  penalty  “  not  exceeding  twenty  pounds  ”  for  a  first 
offence,  “  not  less  than  five  pounds  and  not  exceeding  fifty 
pounds  ”  for  a  second  offence,  “  not  less  than  twenty  pounds 
and  not  exceeding  one  hundred  pounds  ”  for  a  third  or  subse¬ 
quent  offence,  an  alternative  in  the  last-mentioned  case,  in  the 
discretion  of  the  justice  hearing  the  case,  being  “imprisonment 
with  or  without  hard  labour  for  a  period  not  exceeding  three 
calendar  months.”  Further,  where  any  person  is  convicted  of  a 
second  or  any  subsequent  offence  against  the  “  Act,”  it  is 
proposed  that  the  court  or  justices  before  whom  such  person 
is  convicted,  may,  in  addition  to  any  penalty  inflicted  under 
the  preceding  section,  order  that  “  a  notice  of  the  facts 
be  affixed  in  such  form  and  manner  and  for  such 
period,  not  exceeding  twenty-one  days,  as  the  court  may 
order,  to  any  premises  occupied  by  that  person,”  such  facts 
to  be  also  advertised  in  newspapers,  and  the  person  con¬ 
victed  to  pay  all  costs.  Detailed  reference  to  the  Bill  must 
be  deferred,  but  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  appointment 
of  a  Board  of  Reference  is  suggested,  upon  which  shall  be  a 
person  nominated  by  the  Pharmaceutical  Society.  Local 
pharmaceutical  associations  will  do  well  to  devote  a  little 
consideration  to  this  Bill. 


ANNOTATIONS. 


A  Record  Number  of  the  Journal  was  aimed  at  in  the  prepa¬ 
ration  of  this  special  issue — which  has  a  larger  circulation  than 
that  of  any  other  paper  addressing  the  chemists  and  druggists  of 
Great  Britain — and  we  trust  that  readers  will  appreciate  the  efforts 
which  have  been  made.  The  hearty  co-operation  of  numerous 
friends  has  enabled  us  to  produce  a  copy  of  the  Journal  which 
should  appeal  to  everyone  in  pharmacy,  whether  mainly  interested 
in  the  professional  or  the  trade  side  of  the  craft.  Students  young 
and  old  are  here  catered  for  no  less  than  practising  pharmacists, 
and  matters  of  direct  interest  to  the  busy  tradesman  receive  equal 
attention  with  those  that  especially  attract  the  scientific  pharmacist. 

The  Students’  Page  has  this  week  doubled  itself,  and  this 
opportunity  may  be  taken  of  stating  that  the  communications 
received  respecting  the  notes  and  short  articles  that  are  being 
published  under  that  head  reveal  the  fact  that  current  text-books 
for  pharmaceutical  students  are  sadly  lacking  in  essential  details. 
We  have  fortunately  been  able  to  supply  a  crying  need,  and 
rejoice  accordingly.  Advanced  students  also  receive  attention  in 
this  number,  the  series  now  commenced  on  “Practical  Pharmaco- 
graphy  ”  being  especially  designed  to  supply  information  not 
readily  attainable  by  students  at  present.  Notes  explanatory  of 
familiar  and  yet  comparatively  unknown  operations  in  analytical  work 
will  appear  later,  together  with  articles  on  such  difficult  points  in 
other  subjects  as  may  be  found  by  experience  to  require  explanation. 


The  Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association  once  more  has 
its  case  stated  (p.  168),  on  this  occasion  by  Mr.  William  Johnston, 
the  Assistant-Secretary.  The  article  by  Mr.  Glyn-Jones,  which 
appeared  in  these  pages  a  few  weeks  ago  (ante,  p.  23),  was  inserted 
in  order  that  many  chemists  and  druggists  throughout  the  country, 
who  were  somewhat  in  the  dark  about  the  anti-cutting  agitation, 
might  have  the  matter  placed  fairly  before  them.  The  advantage 
of  that  step  has  been  fully  proved,  and  on  the  present  occasion  it 
is  believed  that  many  others  who  are  directly  interested  in  the 
movement  will  learn  for  the  first  time  exactly  what  the  P.A.T.A. 
is,  and  is  doing.  It  is  very  necessary  that  everything  affecting  the 
interests  of  chemists  and  druggists  as  a  body  should  be  clearly 
understood  by  all,  and  with  that  idea  in  view  a  considerable 
amount  of  space  has  been  devoted  to  the  proceedings  of  the 
P.A.T.A.  for  some  time  past. 


The  Opposition  Case  is  stated  (p.  169)  by  Mr.  John  Ingham, 
of  Upper  Tooting,  who  recently  contributed  an  excellent  letter 
(ante,  p.  139)  on  the  subject.  The  views  he  advocates  are  those 
held  by  many  thoughtful  pharmacists,  and  therefore  deserving  of 
every  consideration  at  the  hands  of  the  leaders  of  the  New  Crusade. 
We  purposely  abstain  from  comment  on  the  opinions  expressed  on 
either  side,  in  the  belief  that  the  matter  is  essentially  one  for 
careful  consideration  and  settlement  by  retail  chemists  and  drug¬ 
gists— the  parties  chiefly  interested.  But  on  one  point  it  is  quite 
safe  to  speak,  and  that  is  with  regard  to  the  remarkable  outburst 
of  interest  taken  in  this  absorbing  topic  locally. 

Local  Pharmaceutical  Associations  have  been  powerfully 
affected  by  the  activity,  of  Mr.  Glyn-Jones  and  his  colleagues,  and 
if  no  other  permanent  result  be  attained  but  the  awakening  of  a 
spirit  of  union  in  numerous  centres  all  over  the  country,  a  useful 
purpose  will  have  been  served.  Active  associations  have  been 
excited  to  renewed  exertions,  passive  ones  rendered  active,  and 


Feb.  27,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


183 


moribund  ones  endowed  with  a  new  lease  of  life,  whilst  in  several 
centres  where  pharmaceutical  associations  formerly  did  not  exist; 
that  lack  is  now  supplied.  An  article  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
P.A.T.A.,  showing  the  extent  to  which  local  associations  have 
profited  by  the  consideration  of  the  latest  economic  problem  in 
pharmacy  is  unavoidably  deferred  for  publication  later. 


“A  Druggist’s  Misfortune,”  the  Bournemouth  newspapers 
head  their  reports  of  a  very  unusual  incident  which  occurred  last 
week,  at  the  sitting  of  the  Bournemouth  County  Court,  under 
Judge  Philbrick,  in  the  Boscombe  Assembly  Room.  It  appears 
that  during  the  hearing  of  a  case  his  Honour  was  interrupted  by  a 
loud  and  continued  knocking  just  underneath  the  windows  of  the 
room  in  which  the  Court  were  sitting,  and  the  Judge  at  once  sent 
a  bailiff  of  the  Court  to  warn  the  persons  creating  the  nuisance  to 
stop.  This  was  done,  but  the  knocking  was  re-commenced  in  a 
few  minutes  and,  losing  patience,  the  J udge  sent  for  the  delinquent, 
a  lad  who  had  been  hammering  the  blind-irons  attached  to  the 
front  of  the  Southern  Drug  Co.’s  shop.  As  he  proved  to  have 
acted  under  the  instructions  of  the  manager,  that  individual  was 
in  turn  sent  for  and  threatened  with  forty-eight  hours’  imprison¬ 
ment.  After  being  kept  in  the  Court  for  a  short  time,  however, 
the  judicial  heart  relented  and,  after  promising  not  to  do  it  again, 
the  unlucky  manager  was  permitted  to  depart. 

The  Idea  of  a  National  Physical  Laboratory  is  not  viewed 
with  much  favour  by  the  Times,  which  commends  Lord  Salisbury’s 
expression  of  opinion  that  the  best  way  to  approach  the  Chan¬ 
cellor  of  the  Exchequer  is  not  by  expatiating  upon  the  magnitude 
of  the  field  opened  up  to  the  State,  wThen  once  it  embarks  upon 
pure  research,  but  by  pressing  upon  it  the  duty  of  some  concrete, 
practical  and  definitely  measureable  extension  of  functions  which 
it  already  discharges.  The  suggestion  that  the  State  should 
undertake  the  systematic  accurate  determination  of  physical  con¬ 
stants,  etc.,  is  happily  described  as  our  old  friend,  “  the  endow¬ 
ment  of  research,  alias  the  research  of  endowment,”  in  its  most 
audacious  form,  which  is  ‘  ‘  as  bad  for  science  as  it  is  for  the 
State.” 


Professor  Rucker,  who  talked  much  of  what  is  done  in  Ger. 
many,  is  accused  by  the  Times  of  following  the  example  of  most 
people  who  deal  with  this  question,  and  taking  from  the  German 
system  j  ust  what  suited  him.  It  is  insisted  that  Germany  does 
not  endow  research  in  the  manner  contemplated  here,  and  only 
stimulates,  encourages,  and  rewards  original  investigations  on  a 
practical  basis  and  as  the  outcome  of  practical  success.  “  Germany 
does  not  build  national  laboratories  in  the  void  and  set  men  to 
look  for  things  that  £  may  be  useful  ’  when  people  are  taught 
them.”  No  !  She  begins  at  the  beginning,  training  her  manu¬ 
facturers  and  organising  her  universities  upon  a  thoroughly 
practical  system  which  is  in  touch  at  every  point  with  the  com¬ 
mercial  needs  of  the  people.  National  laboratories  are  set  up  later, 
“to  co-ordinate  and  harmonise  private  and  public  efforts,  to  supply 
wants  which  are  actually  felt,  and  to  give  information  specially 
demanded.” 


British  Universities,  it  is  contended,  do  not  turn  out  the  right 
sort  of  men,  and  our  manufacturers  do  not  demand  the  right  sort 
of  information.  The  universities  cram  men  with  book  knowledge, 
and  test  it  by  everlasting  examinations.  As  a  result  they  turn 
out  pedagogues  very  competent  to  cram  and  examine  in  their 
turn,  but  possessing  neither  ability  nor  inclination  to  deal  with 
the  application  of  science  to  affairs.  In  Germany,  on  the  other 


hand,  science  training  deals  with  things,  not  only  with  books,  it 
places  its  men  according  to  the  ability  they  display  in  conducting 
actual  investigations  and  solving  practical  problems  for  themselves. 
When  those  men  leave  college  they  gladly  enter  the  laboratories  of 
manufacturers,  where  they  are  entirely  at  home  and  immediately 
useful,  and  manufacturers  are  equally  glad  to  have  them,  and  to 
pay  them  for  research  conjoined  with  practical  direction  of  existing 
processes.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  therefore,  that  British 
manufacturers  who  try  book-made  men  of  science  find  them  upon 
the  w'hole  of  less  use  than  intelligent  foremen,  and  we  are  forced 
to  the  conclusion  that,  if  Germany  be  really  pushing  us  out  of 
markets  in  which  success  depends  upon  the  continuous  application 
of  science  to  affairs,  the  reason  is,  as  recently  stated  in  this  J ournal, 
“  lack  of  enterprise,  disinclination  to  depart  from  old-fashioned 
habits,  unsatisfactory  business  methods,  and  support  of  fads.” 

Mr.  George  Herbert  Murray,  C.B.,  who  succeeds  Sir  Alfred 
Milner  as  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Inland  Revenue,  on  the 
appointment  of  the  latter  as  High  Commissioner  for  South  Africa, 
has  been  for  some  time  past  a  principal  clerk  in  the  Treasury.  He 
has  also  served  in  the  Foreign  Office,  as  secretary  to  the  Commis¬ 
sion  for  negotiating  a  new  commercial  treaty  with  France,  and  as 
secretary  to  the  Royal  Commission  on  Trade  (1885),  in  addition  to 
acting  as  private  secretary  to  Sir  Charles  Dilke,  Mr.  Gladstone, 
and  Lord  Rosebery. 


Carbolic  Acid  Tempers  Steel  Tools,  according  to  the 
Engineer,  which  quotes  from  a  French  source.  M.  Levat,  who  re¬ 
commends  its  use  for  this  purpose,  tempered  one  cold  chisel  in 
water,  and  another  in  a  solution  of  carbolic  acid,  after  both  had 
been  heated  to  a  cherry  red.  The  chisels  were  then  set  to  work  on 
extra  hard  wrought  iron,  and  it  was  found  that  the  one  tempered 
in  water  became  notched  after  a  short  time,  whilst  the  one 
tempered  in  carbolic  acid  remained  perfectly  intact.  A  second 
test  was  made  with  two  puddled  steel  bars,  which  were  heated  to 
white  heat  and  tempered  in  water  and  carbolic  acid  respectively. 
The  bar  tempered  in  carbolic  acid  showed  a  much  finer  fracture, 
which  reflected  like  a  mirror  when  filed,  and  its  carbon  contents 
were  not  increased,  butinthe  bending  test  itshowed  more  elasticity 
and  pliability  than  the  other,  while  its  hardness  made  it  more 
suitable  for  tools. 


An  Institute  for  Teaching  Botany  is  badly  needed  in  London, 
and  it  is  satisfactory  to  find  that  there  is  some  hope  of  such  an 
institute  being  established  in  connection  with  the  Royal  Botanic 
Gardens.  Mr.  William  Martindale  is  taking  a  characteristically 
active  part  in  urging  the  claims  of  London  to  possess  a  Botanical 
Teaching  Institute,  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  Royal 
Botanic  Society  will  establish  itself  more  firmly  and  show  a  better 
reason  for  its  existence,  if  it  lends  its  aid  to  the  furtherance  of  the 
scheme  to  be  proposed  at  the  meeting  on  Saturday  afternoon.  In 
connection  with  this  matter  Mr.  W.  Harrison  Martindale’s  description 
of  the  Botanical  Institute  and  Garden  at  Marburg  (see  p.  174) 
possesses  especial  interest.  In  this  direction,  as  in  some  others, 
Germany  leads  the  way,  and  perhaps  for  once  it  might  be  well, 
as  Mr.  William  Martindale  urges,  to  copy  German  methods. 


The  Chemists’  Assistants’  Association  holds  its  nineteenth 
annual  dinner  on  Thursday  next,  March  4,  the  place  of  entertain¬ 
ment  being  the  King’s  Hall,  Holborn  Restaurant,  and  the  time 
8  p.m.  Mr.  Charles  Morley,  President  of  the  Association,  will 
take  the  chair,  and  is  promised  the  support  of  a  number  of  pro¬ 
minent  pharmacists  and  medical  men  on  the  occasion.  Mr.  A.  R. 


184 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  27,  1897 


Melhuish,  one  of  the  honorary  secretaries  of  the  dinner  committee, 
writes  to  say  that  the  committee  has  arranged  a  good  musical  pro¬ 
gramme,  and  is  sparing  no  efforts  to  ensure  a  successful  and  enjoy¬ 
able  evening.  He  also  asks  that  those  who  have  not  yet  secured 
tickets  should  be  reminded  that  they  may  obtain  them  by  apply¬ 
ing  to  any  of  the  stewards. 

“  Electrical  Currents  in  the  Human  Body”  was  the  subject  of 
an  interesting  lecture  at  Toynbee  Hall,  by  Professor  Victor 
Horsley,  on  Saturday  last.  The  lecturer  pointed  out  that  the  man 
to  whom  we  are  most  indebted  for  the  practical  application  of 
electricity — at  any  rate  of  being  the  discoverer  of  the  fundamental 
principles — was  Michael  Faraday,  who  was  not  a  physiologist,  but 
dealt  with  the  phenomena  of  electricity  in  dead  materials, 
such  as  metals.  Professor  Horsley  then  proceeded  to  explain, 
by  means  of  a  few  simple  experiments,  the  actual  position  of 
affairs  with  regard  to  the  existence  of  electricity  in  the 
living  body.  Owing  to  ignorance,  he  said  the  subject  had  un¬ 
fortunately  been  selected  by  fraudulent  quacks  in  order  that  they 
might  the  more  easily  plunder  their  victims.  Apart  from  this, 
however,  although  the  subject  had  not  yet  been  anything  like 
mastered,  still  the  vast  amount  of  progress  which  had  been  made 
in  connection  with  it  during  the  last  few  years,  demonstrated  to 
the  full  that  the  study  of  electricity  in  the  human  body  will  occupy 
an  important  part  in  medical  science  in  years  to  come. 

The  Universal  Trade  Association  is  an  anti-cuttng  organisa¬ 
tion,  having  its  headquarters  in  Detroit,  Mich.,  U.S.A.  It  is 
described  as  a  corporation  consisting  of  retail  druggists  for  the 
purpose  of  manufacturing  and  selling  “patent  labels,”  to  be 
employed  on  proprietary  preparations.  The  control  of  these  labels 
in  the  United  States  is  to  be  delegated  to  an  association  of  retail 
druggists,  called  the  United  Trade  Society,  which  is  to  be 
empowered  to  carry  into  effect  the  plan  devised  to  prevent  cutting. 
Thus,  it  is  proposed  that  manufacturers  shall  purchase  the  labels, 
which  are  numbered  consecutively,  and  attach  them  to  their  pack¬ 
ages.  The  profits  arising  from  the  sales  of  the  labels  are  to  be  divided 
amongst  the  druggists,  and  the  system  is  to  be  worked  by  a 
central  bureau.  Any  goods  bearing  the  labels  found  in  the  pos¬ 
session  of  cutters  may  be  “  taken  up  ”  by  agents  of  the  Society 

nd  returned  to  the  manufacturer,  who  must  redeem  them. 
Finally,  the  Society  will  from  time  to  time  publish  the  names  of 
all  manufacturers  and  wholesalers  supporting  it.  The  best  that 
can  be  said  of  this  plan  is  that  it  is  ingenious  ;  the  worst,  that  it  is 
too  complicated  to  be  workable.  Indeed,  it  appears  doubtful 
whether  anyone  striving  his  utmost  to  devise  the  most  involved 
system  possible  could  have  excelled  the  organisers  of  the  U.T.A. 
in  ingenuity. 

Ammonium  Sulphocyanide  is  not  Poisonous. — According  to 
Dr.  Heffter,  who  has  tested  the  sulphocyanide  used  in  photography 
for  its  alleged  toxic  properties,  and  has  declared  them  absent. 
On  the  Continent,  observes  the  Photographic  News,  one  of  the 
chief  reasons  for  what  Dame  Quickly  terms  “  an  old  abusing  of 
God’s  patience  and  the  King’s  English  ”  is  the  perverse  manner  in 
which  foreign  druggists  refuse  sulphocyanide  of  ammonium  for 
the  toning  bath,  “  because  it  is  a  poison.”  As  might 
have  been  expected  from  a  careful  German  savant,  Dr. 
Heffter  proceeded  cautiously,  experimenting  at  first  with  animals 
before  testing  the  substances  on  his  own  body.  Cats  and 
rabbits  had  various  sulphocyanides  injected  in  large  doses  into  the 
blood  and  introduced  into  the  stomach,  and  as  they  took 
no  harm  Dr.  Heffter  boldly  and  safely  swallowed  a  gramme  of 
ammonium  sulphocyanide.  Of  course,  the  experiments  were  con¬ 


fined  to  the  sulphocyanide  ordinarily  used  in  photography,  and  did 
not  extend  to  the  sulphocyanides  of  lead,  barium  and  mercury, 
which,  containing  for  their  base  metals  noxious  to  human  health, 
are  more  or  less  poisonous. 

The  Decennial  Festival  Dinner  in  aid  of  the  Benevolent  Fund 
will  be  held  at  the  Hotel  Cecil,  Strand,  W.C.,  on  Tuesday,  May  18, 
1897.  It  will  take  the  place  of  the  usual  dinner  of  the  members  of 
the  Pharmaceutical  Society  and  their  friends,  and  the  chair  will 
be  taken  by  Mr.  Walter  Hills,  the  President  of  the  Society.  A 
preliminary  list  of  Stewards  will  be  found  in  our  advertisement 
pages,  and  we  are  desired  to  state  that  the  Committee  will  be  glad 
to  receive  the  names  of  any  gentlemen  who  may  be  willing  to  act 
in  that  capacity.  The  liability  of  each  Steward  on  this  occasion  is 
limited  to  the  price  of  one  dinner  ticket,  and  inability  to  attend 
need  not  prevent  anyone  from  guaranteeing  to  contribute  a  guinea. 
Indeed,  the  more  people  who  purchase  tickets  and  do  not  attend 
the  dinner  the  greater  will  be  the  extent  to  which  the  Fund  will 
benefit.  Mr.  Richard  Bremridge  will  be  glad  to  receive  applica¬ 
tions  for  tickets  at  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  W.C. 

A  Picture  of  American  “  Pharmacy”  is  given  by  the  Bulletin, 
of  Pharmacy,  which  describes  how  an  enterprising  New  York 
druggist  has  recently  purchased  a  third  store,  of  which  he 
proposes  to  make  a  first-class  pharmacy.  These  are  a  few  of  the 
enticements  he  is  about  to  offer  the  public  :  Telephone,  messenger 
service,  postage  stamps,  private  letter  boxes,  American  express 
money  orders,  American  express  call,  carriage  call,  theatre  ticket 
agency,  Journal  and  World  advertisements,  time-tables,  bulletin 
guides,  etc.  This,  it  is  observed,  is  broad-gauge  enterprise,  and 
the  question  is  asked  whether  it  is  deserved  by  the  public  ? 

The  X  Rays  can  now  penetrate  through  any  diameter  of  the 
throat  and  abdomen,  according  to  an  article  in  the  Deutsche  Medi~ 
cinische  Wochenschrift,  describing  experiments  carried  out  by 
Doctors  Schjerning  and  Kranzf elder  in  the  medical  section  of  the 
German  War  Ministry.  Hittorf  tubes,  constructed  for  sparks  of 
15  to  20  Cm.  length,  were  employed  in  the  experiments,  and  less, 
perfect  images  were  obtained  by  passing  the  X  rays  in  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  the  transverse  diameter  of  the  chest  and  the  pelvic  basis. 
The  exposure  was  comparatively  short,  but  this  was  due  more  to> 
the  greater  intensity  of  the  rays  than  to  an  increase  in  the  sensi¬ 
bility  of  the  plates.  Exposures  of  twenty  and  thirty  minutes 
sufficed  for  the  skull  and  the  pelvis,  whilst  radiographs  of  the  hand 
required  only  half  a  minute  to  two  minutes,  and  those  of  the- 
elbow  and  the  leg  joints  from  two  to  ten  minutes.  The  fluorescent, 
screen  employed  allowed  the  movements  of  the  heart  and 
diaphragm  to  be  observed. 

A  Fluorescent  Screen,  combining  the  maximum  of  efficiency' 
with  the  minimum  of  cost,  has  hitherto  been  a  great  desideratum 
in  X  ray  work.  Tungstate  of  calcium  is  low  in  price,  but  pos¬ 
sesses  the  disadvantage  of  low  efficiency,  and  better  fluorescent 
substances,  like  barium  and  potassium  platinocyanide,  are  expen¬ 
sive.  Dr.  Melckebeke,  however,  recommends  the  double  fluoride 
of  ammonium  and  uranium  (Ur202Fl24  NH4F1),  obtained  by  pour¬ 
ing  a  solution  containing  one  part  of  ammonium  fluoride  into  one 
containing  two  parts  of  uranium  nitrate.  The  crystalline  deposit, 
formed  is  washed  writh  cold  water  on  a  filter  and  dried.  The 
brighter  fluorescence  of  this  compound  permits  of  a  considerable 
curtailment  of  the  exposure  ordinarily  required  for  the  X  rays,  and 
by  the  use  of  screens  coated  with  the  double  fluoride,  one  experi¬ 
menter,  using  ordinary  appliances,  has  been  able  to  reduce  the  ex¬ 
posure  from  sixty  to  five  minutes  in  radiographing  the  human  luuu/d. 


Feb.  27,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


185 


LITERARY  NOTES. 


In  ‘Tutorial  Chemistry’  (Parti.,  Non-metals),  by  Dr.  G.  H. 
Bailey,  the  treatment  adopted  by  the  author  differs  somewhat  from 
that  adopted  in  most  elementary  text-books  on  the  same  subject ; 
and  on  examination  one  finds  in  this  evidence  that  the  writer,  from 
his  own  standpoint,  is  endeavouring  to  meet  deficiences  in  existing 
elementary  text-books.  The  book  impresses  one  as  having  been 
written  by  a  teacher  in  personal  contact  with  beginners,  on  account 
of  the  endeavours  made  in  many  places  to  explain  difficulties 
which  constantly  afflict  the  chemical  tyro.  One  is  very  glad  to 
find  proofs  constantly  given  for  the  formulae  used  for  the  various 
substances  dealt  with,  as  well  as  direct  experimental  proof 
in  concrete  form.  The  chapters  on  Air,  Waters,  and  Fuels  maybe 
particularly  commended  for  the  interesting  material  they  contain, 
and  cannot  fail  to  interest  the  student  by  showing  him  how  a  know¬ 
ledge  of  chemistry  furnishes  an  explanation  of  many  of  the  pheno¬ 
mena  of  his  daily  life.  A  useful  chapter  is  given  at  the  end  on 
Chemical  Calculations,  in  which,  among  other  things,  the  reciprocal 
relation  of  the  volume  of  1  gramme  to  the  weight  of  1  litre  of  hydro¬ 
gen  is  clearly  set  forth,  showing  the  student  how  he  should  use  the  one 
or  the  other  constant,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  problem  to  be 
solved.  The  desirability  of  this  is  so  obvious  that  one  is  surprised  to 
find  how  seldom  the  explanation  is  given  in  elementary  works.  The 
information  given  in  the  book  is  accurate,  and  written  in  a  clear 
and  easy  style.  We  have,  however,  noted  an  obvious  misprint  on 
p.  62  of  ferrous  sulphide  for  NiS,  and  on  p.  152  the  error  that 
“Bone-ash  is  obtained  by  the  dry  distillation  of  bones.”  The 
term  sulphate  of  lime  is  used  in  several  places,  and  no  mention  is 
made  of  the  origin  of  the  metre,  only  its  equivalent  in  inches  being 
given. 


*  The  Progress  of  Medical  Chemistry,’  as  described  by  Dr. 
J.  L.  W.  Thudichum  in  a  reprint  of  articles  published 
in  the  M ediccU  Press,  is  somewhat  unintelligible  to  ‘  ‘  mere 
chemists.”  Having  read  the  book,  one  can  hardly  feel 
that  chemistry  would  have  progressed  less  had  it  never  been 
written.  The  analysis  of  various  gummy  precipitates  produced  by 
the  addition  of  such  reagents  as  lead  acetate  to  various  animal 
fluids  seems  to  have  furnished  Dr.  Thudichum  with  opportunities 
for  constructing  empirical  formulae,  from  which  he  derives 
much  satisfaction.  Certain  other  persons  have,  however, 
objected  to  these,  but  Dr.  Thudichum  dismisses  these 
people  (p.  27)  as  “  mere  chemists  who  ....  make  demands 
which,  if  accepted,  would  make  any  effectual  study  of  biological 
chemistry  impossible.”  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  the  “mere 
chemist  ”  is  not  wanted,  since  it  appears  that  he  is  inconveniently 
particular  concerning  the  purity  of  substances  he  subjects  to 
analysis.  To  make  this  clearer,  Dr.  Thudichum  avoids  terms  used 
in  common  chemistry  as  much  as  possible.  For  instance,  on  p.  89, 
we  have:  “The  polybenzoylic  esters  are  the  more  labile,  the  spano- 
benzoylic  esters  however,  the  less  deciduous  chemical  compounds,” 
and  Chapter  VII.  is  devoted  to  some  derivatives  of  “  New  Emunc- 
tory  Cohols.”  With  regard  to  these  it  appears  (p.  89)  that  “during 
chemolysis  with  soda  a  portion  of  urochrome  ester  becomes  at  last 
quite  insoluble  in  boiling  alkali ;  it  is  not  changed.  It  is  thus 
seen  that  as  the  research  progresses  it  increases  in  complication  ” 
—a  conclusion  with  which  everyone  will  agree.  Another 
peculiarity  of  Dr.  Thudichum  is  the  use  of  the  term  “  Atomic 
Weight  ”  for  what  is  commonly  regarded  as  “  Molecular  Weight” 
— thus  the  atomic  weight  of  the  substance  C4H7N30  -2H20  is  149, 
and  of  another  C70H140N2Oa,  1216.  The  contents  of  the  book  are 


mainly  contentious,  largely  personal  and  monotonous  to  read  :  the 
monotony  is  relieved,  however,  by  an  occasional  incursion  into  the 
domain  of  “  Punch.”  For  we  find  Chapter  IX.  devoted  to  “  Sup¬ 
posed  Carbohydrates  as  supposed  sources  of  fatty  Acids  from 
Urine,  and  a  New  Mode  of  obtaining  an  unearned  Increment  of 
Literary  Reputation  by  Mock  Research  ”  ;  and  Chapter  XVI.  to 
“  A  Shady  Side  of  Biological  Science — the  Ghosts  of  Spurious  Re* 
searches,”  which  affords  some  illustration  of  the  fertility  of  brain 
in  material  as  well  as  psychic  products. 


‘  Memoranda  ’  is  the  modest  and  unpretentious  title  of  an  ex¬ 
cellent  little  book  published  by  Messrs.  Hearon,  Squire  and  Francis, 
of  38,  Southwark  Street,  S.E.,  at  the  price  of  two  shillings.  It 
includes  a  well-arranged  alphabetical  list  of  remedies,  “princi¬ 
pally  ex-pharmacopoeial  and  new  to  medicine  ”  ;  similar  lists  of 
photographic  chemicals,  the  doses  and  uses  of  unofficial  drugs  and 
chemicals,  animal  preparations,  antitoxin  serums,  select  pharma¬ 
ceutical  preparations,  liquid  extracts,  and  oleates.  There  are  also 
numerous  tables  embodying  much  useful  information,  a  list  of 
medical  terms,  a  capital  index,  and  several  blank  pages  for  notes. 

‘  Useful  Notes  for  Everyday  Practice  ’  is  a  booklet  on  some¬ 
what  similar  lines,  but  compiled  especially  for  the  use  of  members 
of  the  medical  profession,  by  Messrs.  Allen  and  Hanburys,  Limited, 
London.  It  contains  articles  on  the  treatment  of  disease  by  thera¬ 
peutic  serums,  and  the  therapeutics  of  animal  extracts,  together 
with  notes  on  dieting,  etc.,  in  various  morbid  conditions,  informa¬ 
tion  respecting  poisons  and  their  antidotes,  and  so  forth. 

‘The  Medical  Annual  and  Practitioner’s  Index’  is  a  most 
useful  work  of  reference  for  medical  men.  It  has  now  reached 
its  fifteenth  year  of  publication,  and  contains  more  than  seven 
hundred  pages,  occupied  for  the  most  part  by  articles  contributed 
by  leading  practitioners.  A  therapeutic  review  of  the  past  year 
is  followed  by  a  handy  dictionary  of  new  remedies  and  a  dictionary 
of  new  treatment  in  medicine  and  surgery.  Then  come  between 
forty  and  fifty  important  articles  on  special  diseases  ;  lists  of  new 
inventions,  improvements  in  pharmacy,  and  dietetic  articles,  par¬ 
ticulars  concerning  asylums,  training  institutions,  homes  of  various 
descriptions,  societies,  medical  and  scientific  newspapers,  etc.,  etc. 
Altogether,  it  is  a  most  conveniently  arranged  work,  and  one  that 
becomes  more  and  more  indispensable  as  years  roll  on.  It  is  pub¬ 
lished  by  Messrs.  J.  Wright  and  Co.,  Bristol,  at  Is.  6 d.  net. 

‘  Herbal  Simples  Approved  for  Modern  Uses  of  Cure,’  by 
Dr.  W.  T.  Fernie,  has  increased  in  bulk  considerably  since  its 
first  publication,  eighteen  months  ago,  there  being  more  than  two 
hundred  extra  pages  in  the  second  edition,  just  published.  It  is  inte¬ 
resting  to  read  in  the  preface  to  this  edition  the  author  s  pleasantly 
worded  and  amusing  criticisms  of  the  critics  of  the  original  work, 
and  satisfactory  to  find  that  “  certain  botanical  mistakes  pointed 
out  with  authority  by  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  have  been  duly 
corrected.”  To  this  extent,  therefore,  the  book  is  now  better  than 
it  was  before,  excellent  as  it  was  at  the  outset,  and  it  must  be 
added  that  descriptions  are  now  included  of  fifty  additional 
simples.  Beyond  this,  the  author  advances  a  higher  claim  than 
has  been  made  hitherto  for  the  paramount  importance  of  the: 
whole  subject.  Without  discussing  this  claim,  it  may  be  said  that 
the  book  is  an  excellent  summary  of  the  subject  of  which  it  treats, 
and  should  be  in  the  hands  of  everyone  interested  in  that  subject* 
Despite  the  greatly  increased  size  of  the  book,  the  publishers 
Messrs.  John  Wright  and  Co.,  of  Bristol— have  produced  the  new 
edition  at  a  very  slightly  advanced  cost,  the  price  now  being  6*. 


186 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  27,  1897 


‘  Aid*  to  Bacteriology,’  by  Messrs.  T.  H.  Pearmain  and  C.  G. 
Moor,  is  small  and  compact,  and  altogether  well  adapted  for  what 
may  be  regarded  as  its  main  object — that  of  serving  as  a  primer 
for  the  use  of  those  who  are  entering  upon  the  serious  study  o^ 
the  subject.  It  will  doubtless  surprise  many  to  find  what  a  mass 
of  useful  information  is  crowded  into  the  one  hundred  and 
fifty  pages  of  this  book,  but  it  is  also  satisfactory  to  note 
that  the  matter  is  well  arranged  and  of  an  extremely  practical 
nature.  The  introduction  constitutes  a  model  essay  on  microbes  and 
their  peculiarities,  and  this  is  succeeded  by  descriptions  of  the 
apparatus  and  methods  employed  in  bacteriological  research, 
together  wdth  details  concerning  the  preparation  of  nutrient 
media,  in  which  superfluous  words  will  be  difficult  to  find.  The 
subsequent  chapters  deal  with  the  methods  of  the  spread  of  disease, 
disinfection,  immunity,  etc.  ;  characters  of  the  chief  pathogenic 
organisms  ;  micro-organisms  other  than  bacteria  ;  products  of  the 
metabolism  of  organisms ;  the  bacteriological  examination  of  wrater, 
air,  and  soil ;  and  the  characters  of  some  commonly  occurring 
pathogenic  and  non-pathogenic  organisms  not  described  in  the 
earlier  chapters.  F or  medical  students  and  chemists  in  particular, 
therefore,  here  may  be  found  bacteriology  in  a  nutshell.  The  price  of 
the  book  is  3s.  6 cl. ,  and  the  publishers  are  Messrs.  Bailliere,  Tindall 
and  Cox,  King  William  Street,  Strand,  London. 

‘  Economic  Plants,’  the  valuable  work  on  the  useful  plants 
of  the  Dutch  East  Indies  by  D.  M.  Greshoff  has  reached  its  third 
part.  The  plants,  of  which  the  botany,  chemistry,  and  useful 
properties  are  fully  discussed,  are  Hernandia  peltata,  Meissn.  ;  Calo- 
phyllum  inophyllum,  Linn.  ;  Eurycoma  longifolia,  Jack.  ;  Euchresta 
Horsfiddii,  Benn.  ;  Derris  elliptica,  Benth.  ;  Pterocarpus  indicus, 
Willd.  ;  Barringtonia  speciosa,  Forst.  ;  Styrax  benzoin,  Dryand  ; 
Ccesalpinia  sappan,  Linn.  ;  and  Cedrela  serrata,  Royle.  The  illus¬ 
trations  are  life-size,  andthe  treatment  is  exhaustive,  the  most  recent 
publications  in  other  countries  having  evidently  been  consulted. 

‘Elementary  Bandaging  and  Surgical  Dressing’  is  a  book 
that  should  need  little  to  be  said  in  its  favour,  since  it  has  now 
reached  its  seventh  edition.  Originally  written  by  the  late 
Walter  Pye,  F.R.C.S.,  it  has  been  revised  and  in  part  re-written 
by  Mr.  G.  Bellingham  Smith,  of  Guy’s  Hospitol.  Concerning 
bandages,  splints,  etc.,  and  their  application,  the  dressing  of 
wounds,  burns,  and  scalds,  and  the  treatment  in  the  first  instance 
of  accidents  and  emergencies,  as  much  information  is  imparted 
here  as  is  likely  to  be  required  by  all  but  surgical  experts,  and 
even  they  might  do  worse  than  carry  a  copy  of  the  book  in  their 
pockets.  It  is  profusely  illustrated,  and  has  been  adopted  by  the 
St.  John  Ambulance  Association.  It  is  published  at  2s.  by  Messrs. 
John  Wright  and  Co.,  of  Bristol. 

‘  The  Proceedings  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Associa¬ 
tion  ’  continues  to  be  the  best  summary  of  the  year’s  wTork  in 
pharmacy  and  allied  subjects,  published  in  the  English  language. 
That  the  excellent  abstracts  of  papers  continue  to  be  regarded 
as  the  most  important  part  of  this  portly  volume  seems  to  be  in¬ 
dicated  by  the  fact  that  more  than  two-thirds  of  it  is  devoted  to 
them.  Our  American  cousins  are  noted  for  their  exceptional  skill 
in  compiling  and  editing  works  of  reference,  and  the  Committee  on 
Publication  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  con¬ 
tinues  to  keep  to  the  front  in  that  respect. 

‘  The  Wonders  of  the  Microscope,’  by  Edward  Poulson,  is  a 
slight  production  of  sixty  pages,  published  by  Messrs.  Houlston 
and  Sons,  Paternoster  Buildings,  E.C.,  at  the  nominal  price  of 
fourpence.  The  author  has  attempted  to  combine  the  study  of 
theology  and  that  of  Natural  History  with  but  imperfect  success. 


PARLIAMENTARY  NOTES  AND  NEWS- 


The  Patent  Office  still  seems  to  be  a  legitimate  target  for 
complaints,  though  it  harbours  no  Deputy  chaff- wax  now,  and  the 
days  of  the  Hanapers  are  past.  Captain  Phillpotts  (Torquay) 
charges  it  with  fostering  foreign  monopolies,  and  instances  the  case 
of  the  trade  in  aniline  dyes.  The  gallant  captain  is  instructed 
that  a  foreigner  can,  by  taking  out  a  patent  in  England,  prevent  a 
process  from  being  carried  out  in  this  country, .though  he  is  under 
no  obligation  to  exercise  it  here  himself.  The  result  is  that  the 
grant  of  letters  patent  in  such  a  case  is  equivalent  to  the  grant  of 
a  monopoly — an  open  market  in  Great  Britain,  and  no  competition. 
This  is  a  very  serious  thing,  and  the  thanks  of  the  trading  com¬ 
munity,  and  especially  that  portion  of  it  engaged  in  the  chemical 
trade,  are  due  to  Captain  Phillpotts  for  questioning  the  President 
of  the  Board  of  Trade  on  the  subject.  In  reply,  reference  was 
made  to  Section  22  of  the  Patents  Act  1883,  as  being  all  sufficient, 
and  the  country  must  perforce  put  up  with  the  hardship  the 
member  for  Torquay  complains  of,  for  there  is  no  intention  at  the 
Board  of  Trade  to  move  for  an  alteration  in  the  law. 

Admiral  Field,  the  hon.  and  gallant  Member  for  Eastbourne, 
has  been  much  distressed  to  learn  that  a  London  theatre  is  offer¬ 
ing  for  the  public  entertainment  a  piece  founded  upon  certain 
amiable  weaknesses  of  England’s  greatest  naval  hero.  In  the 
opinion  of  Admiral  Field  such  entertainments  are  calculated  to 
bring  the  Naval  Service  into  disrepute  by  holding  up  to  public 
derision  the  personality  of  famous  officers.  He  therefore  rebuked 
the  Lord  Chamberlain  for  passing  such  a  play,  and  asked  whether 
it  was  proposed  to  withdraw  the  licence  now  that  the  full  gravity 
of  the  case  had  been  pointed  out.  Naturally,  the  question  was 
responded  to  by  a  direct  negative,  for  the  Public  Censor  had  been 
unable  to  find  anything  objectionable  in  the  book  of  words  sub¬ 
mitted  to  him.  Thereupon  the  Admiral  solemnly  gave  notice  that 
he  would  bring  the  subject  up  for  further  consideration  when  the 
House  came  to  deal  with  the  Lord  Chamberlain’s  salary.  One  feels 
impelled  to  ask  whether  the  Society  of  Apothecaries  or  the  Phar¬ 
maceutical  Society  might  not,  with  equal  show  of  reason,  ask  for 
an  injunction  to  restrain  the  production  of  “Romeo  and  Juliet”  on 
the  ground  that  the  art  and  mystery  of  medicine  and  pharmacy 
embodied  in  the  person  of  the  apothecary  in  that  tragedy  is  not 
presented  in  a  reputable  light ! 

Calcium  Carbide. — In  reply  to  Mr.  Kearley,  the  Home  Secre¬ 
tary  has  given  an  assurance  that  the  dangers  attending  the 
storage  and  conveyance  of  this  substance  have  been  occupying  the 
serious  attention  of  his  Department  for  some  months.  As  a  result 
of  the  consideration  accorded  to  the  subject  by  the  Inspectors  of 
Explosives,  it  is  intended  to  take  advantage  of  Clause  14  of  the 
Petroleum  Act,  and  apply,  by  an  Order  in  Council,  the  provisions 
of  the  Act  to  Carbide.  It  was  intimated  also  that  a  memorandum 
would  be  issued  to  local  authorities  suggesting  the  precautions  to 
be  adopted  for  minimising  the  risk  attaching  to  storage.  No  one 
should  be  disposed  to  object  to  this  substance  being  placed  under 
supervision,  but  it  is  a  moot  point  whether  the  provisions  of  a 
notoriously  defective  Petroleum  Act  will  be  quite  effective  when 
applied  in  such  a  case.  The  Home  Office  Memorandum  will  be 
awaited  with  some  interest. 

The  Petroleum  Committee  has  been  practically  re-constituted, 
and  will  recommence  its  labours  at  an  early  date.  The  evidence 
to  be  taken  will  chiefly  relate  to  the  construction  of  petroleum 
lamps. 


Feb.  27,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL, 


187 


IWEETIflGS  Of  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIETIES 

- » - 

Chemical  Society,  Thursday,  February  18. — Mr.  A.  G. 
V ernon  Harcourt,  F.  R.  S. ,  President,  in  the  chair. — The  first  paper 
by  T.  S.  Dymond  and  F.  Hughes  was  on 

The  Oxidation  of  Sulphurous  Acid  by  Potassium 
Permanganate. 

Experiments  by  the  authors  on  this  subject  led  them  to  believe 
that  there  was  something  more  than  sulphuric  acid  produced  on 
oxidising  sulphurous  acid  by  potassium  permanganate.  The 
apparatus  used  was  that  employed  by  Dunstan  and  Dymond  for 
the  titration  of  nitrites,  and  as  oxygen  is  a  source  of  error, 
the  water  used  in  all  the  experiments  was  boiled  in  order  to 
get  rid  of  dissolved  oxygen.  A  crystallised  substance 
was  obtained  from  the  oxidised  solution  after  the  removal 
of  sulphuric  acid  and  manganese  oxide.  It  was  difficult  to  obtain 
pure,  but  it  was  eventually  proved  to  be  an  intermediate  product, 
viz.,  dithionic  acid,  S205.  Further  search  for  other  products  gave 
negative  results.  It  appears  that  in  titrating  sodium  sulphite  the 
conditions  of  dilution,  temperature,  and  acidity  have  no  influence 
whatever  on  the  amount  of  permanganate  volumetric  solution  re¬ 
quired  for  oxidation.  Sodium  sulphite,  0’4  gramme,  was  used  in 
every  case,  and  it  was  found  that  the  permanganate  used  remained 
uniformly  at  about  18'8  C.c.  Any  slight  difference  in 
some  of  the  experiments  was  attributed  by  Mr.  Dymond, 
who  read  the  paper,  to  oxygen,  perhaps  accidentally 
present.  Under  certain  conditions  sulphuric  acid  only  is 
formed.  The  President  referred  to  the  influence  of  the  oxygen 
of  the  water,  and  also  manganese  sulphate  in  the  process  of 
oxidation,  and  Dr.  Alexander  Scott,  of  the  Davy-Faraday 
Laboratory,  inquired  if  manganic  salts  had  been  tried.  Mr. 
Dunstan  also  spoke. 

Dr.  Collie  next  followed  with  a  paper  on 

The  Production  of  Pyridine  Derivatives  from  Ethylic-/3- 

Amido  Crotonate. 

This  was  a  paper  dealing  with  the  substances  formed  from  aceto- 
acetic  ether,  which  condenses  in  all  sorts  of  curious  ways,  and  is 
interesting  as  being  the  starting  point  of  alkaloids.  Many  different 
substances  have  been  obtained  from  the  amido  compounds  of  aceto- 
acetic  ether,  and  acids  have  been  produced  by  saponifying  them, 
two  of  the  acids  producing  oxypyridine  compounds.  Dr.  Collie 
stated  that  the  production  of  various  isomeric  bodies  was  one  of 
the  chief  points  in  his  paper.  Dr.  Forster,  after  the  reading  of 
the  paper,  placed  a  few  formulas  on  the  board,  and  drew  attention 
to  an  analogy  which  seemed  to  exist  between  some  camphor 
bodies  and  some  of  the  substances  described  by  Dr.  Collie.  This 
was  the  thin  end  of  the  wedge  for  a  little  conversation  on 
camphor,  and  Dr.  Kipping  somewhat  diffidently  inquired  if  he 
might  be  permitted  to  introduce  a  few  words  on  the  constitution 
of  this  substance.  After  Dr.  Collie’s  reply  a  large  proportion  of 
the  audience  withdrew  to  the  coffee-room. 

Mr.  Dunstan  was  then  called  upon  in  the  absence  of  the  author 
to  read  the  paper  on 

SODAMIDE  AND  SOME  OF  ITS  SUBSTITUTION  DERIVATIVES, 

by  A.  W.  Titherley,  M.Sc.,  Ph.D.  He  read  it  quickly  as  usual, 
and  in  abstract.  Sodamide,  which  has  the  formula  NaNH2,  was 
described,  as  well  as  its  action  on  certain  oximes  whereby  a  series  of 
sodium  derivatives  is  obtained.  Acetoxime  and  sodamide  give 
rise  to  this  reaction  : — - 

(CH3)?CNOH  +  NaNH2  =  NII:)  +  (CH3),CNONa. 

Sodium  benzamide  and  formamide  can  iikewise  be  produced.  These 
salts  dissolve  in  alcohol,  and  with  alcoholic  solution  of  silver 
nitrate  produced  silver  salts.  Further  results  will  be  communicated 
later  on. 

Rubidamide, 

by  the  same  author,  was  also  read.  This  substance  is  obtained  by 
heating  rubidium  in  ammonia  gas.  Its  composition  was  rather 
difficult  to  determine,  on  account  of  its  highly  deliquescent  nature. 
The  determination  of  the  ammonia,  however,  shows  that  its  formula 
is  RbNH.,.  This  substance  has  been  compared  with  sodamide, 
potassamide,  and  lithamide.  The  melting  points  stand  thus 


Sodamide,  NaNH2 .  155°  C. 

Potassamide,  KNH2 .  270°-272°  C. 

Rubidamide,  RbNH2  .  2S5°-2S7°  C. 

Lithamide,  LlNH2  . . 3S0°-400<J  C. 


Great  difficulty  was  experienced  in  determining  the  melting  point 
of  lithamide.  Rubidamide  is  decomposed  by  water  and  also  by 
alcohol,  and  there  is  thus  an  exact  parallel  between  the  amides  of 
the  alkali  metals. — Mr.  Bloxam  and  Dr.  Rideal  spoke.  The  last 
paper  read  was  “  On  the  Spectographic  Analysis  of  Some  Com¬ 
mercial  Samples  of  Metals,  of  Chemical  Preparations,  and  Minerals 
from  the  Stassfurt  Potash  Beds,”  by  W.  N.  Hartley,  F.R.S.,  and 
H.  Ramage.  This  is  a  continuation  of  work  already  done  speci¬ 
fying  the  metals  found  spectroscopically  in  earths  and  commercial 
metals.  Alkali  metals,  etc.,  are  present  in  steel,  but  chromium 
and  nickel  are  removed  in  the  process  of  manufacture.  The  authors 
prove,  and  they  took  particular  care  to  do  so,  that  the  various 
elementary  impurities  in  the  substances  examined  actually  existed 
and  were  not  merely  accidental,  and  they  suggest  that  the  exami¬ 
nation  of  railway  metals  on  these  lines  might  be  productive  of 
some  good. — Dr.  Rideal  said  that  he  had  confirmed  the  presence 
in  commercial  aluminium  of  calcium,  and  attributed  it  to  bauxite. 
—Before  the  papers  were  read  the  President  announced  the  elec¬ 
tion  of  the  following  officers  and  Council : — ■ 

President. — Professor  Dewar,  M.A.,  F.R.S. 

Vice-Presidents. — Professor  Ramsay,  Ph.D.,  F.R.S.  ;  Professor  Emerson 
Reynolds,  F.R.S.  ;  Mr.  Horace  T.  Brown,  F.R.S. 

Council.— Messrs.  Haycock  and  Messel,  and  Dr.  T.  K.  Rose. 

Dr.  F.  D.  Chattaway  was  elected  an  Auditor. 

It  was  also  announced  that  the  Longstaff  Medal  had  been 
awarded  to  Professor  William  Ramsay  for  his  late  scientific  achieve¬ 
ments. 

The  following  papers  were  taken  as  read  : — “  Dissociation  Pres¬ 
sure  of  Alkyl  Ammonium  Hydrosulphides,”  by  J.  Walker,  D.Sc., 
and  J.  S.  Lumsden,  Ph.D.  “Supposed  Condensation  of  Benzol 
with  Ethyl  Alcohol  :  a  correction,”  by  F.  R.  Japp,  LL.D.,  F.R.S. 
“  The  Viscosity  of  Mixtures  of  Miscible  Liquids,”  by  T.  E.  Thorpe, 
LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  J.  W.  Rodger. 


Society  of  Arts.  Wednesday,  February  24. — There  was  a 
large  attendance  at  this  meeting,  the  special  attraction  being  the 
reading  of  a  paper  on — - 

The  Production  of  Colour  by  Photographic  Methods, 
by  Sir  Henry  Trueman  Wood,  Secretary  of  the  Society,  who,  in 
introducing  the  paper,  stated  that  instead  of  dealing  merely  with 
a  single  method  he  should  endeavour  to  submit  a  brief  resume  of  the 
whole  question  of  colour  photography.  He  then  described  the  present 
method  of  dealing  with  the  “negative,”  showing  the  utter  unsuita¬ 
bility  of  present  processes  for  producing  pictures  in  colour,  or  any¬ 
thing  beyond  pictures  in  light  and  shade.  He  also  touched  upon 
the  efforts  made  by  numerous  scientists  to  discover  the  process  of 
producing  colours,  from  1782  until  the  present  time,  and  expressed 
the  opinion  that  the  process  which,  at  all  events  theoretically,  most 
nearly  realises  the  idea  of  producing  colours  by  the  direct  action 
of  light  is  that  of  Professor  G.  Lippmann,  who  first  exhibited  photo¬ 
graphs  by  his  process  in  1891.  The  idea  was  first  thought  out  by 
Lord  Rayleigh,  but  Prof.  Lippmann  was  the  first  to  realise  the  idea  in 
practice.  He  placed  a  transparent  sensitive  film  in  immediate  con¬ 
tact  with  a  mirror,  the  mirror  being  composed  of  mercury.  He  found 
that  light  of  any  colour  falling  on  the  film,  passing  through  it  and  re¬ 
flected  back  along  the  same  line  by  the  mercury  mirror,  produced 
in  the  film  a  series  of  strata,  because  there  were  points  in  the  path 
of  each  ray  of  light  where  the  waves  cancelled  and  re-inforced  each 
other.  Where  they  cancelled  one  another  there  was  no  chemical 
action  ;  where  they  re-inforced  one  another  the  chemical  action 
was  increased.  Thus  he  obtained,  by  the  action  of  light,  a 
structure  capable  of  showing,  when  illuminated  by  white  light, 
light  of  the  same  colour  as  had  produced  it.  Experiments  proved 
the  truth  of  his  theories,  and  after  some  time  M.  Lippmann  was 
able  to  produce  not  only  an  image  of  the  solar  spectrum,  but  also 
actual  camera  pictures  from  coloured  objects,  which,  when 
illuminated  by  white  light,  gave  back  the  colours  of  Nature. 
Unfortunately,  they  are  by  no  means  easy  of  production,  nor  are 
they  capable  of  reproduction,  as  ordinary  photographs  are.  They 
can  be  seen  by  the  naked  eye,  but  are  only  visible  as  coloured 
pictures  when  viewed  at  a  certain  angle.  Looked  at  directly,  or 
by  transmitted  light,  they  show  no  colour  at  all.  The  experiments 
of  Mr.  Ives  were  next  dealt  with,  his  idea  being  that  if  several 
pictures  could  be  taken,  each  showing  the  proper  tone  and  grada¬ 
tion  of  one  of  the  primary  colour  sensations,  and  these  pictures 
could  be  combined  into  one,  a  picture  with  all  the  colours  of  Nature 
would  result.  Chassagne’s  and  other  interesting  processes  were 
also  described. 


188 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb  27.  18^7 


THE  WORLD  Op  PHARMACY. 

- + — - 

BUSINESS  MEETINGS. 


Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,  Thursday,  February  18: 
Mr.  C.  Morley,  President,  in  the  chair. — There  was  an  exception¬ 
ally  large  attendance  to  hear  the  following  lecture  on — • 

THE  THERAPEUTICS  OF  EMERGENCIES. 

BY  H.  MACNAUGHTON- JONES,  M.D.,  M.A.O.',  M.CH.,  F.R.C.S.I.  AND  E. 

The  Ethics  oe  Counter  Prescribing. 

When  you  did  me  the  honour  of  asking  me  to  deliver  a  lecture 
before  your  Association  I  hesitated  before  giving  my  assent  for 
two  good  reasons.  In  the  first  place  I  was  doubtful  of  my  being 
able  to  spare  the  necessary  time  to  prepare  a  lecture  on  any  sub¬ 
ject  which  would  repay  this  Association  for  listening  to  it,  and,  in 
the  second,  I  was  doubtful  of  my  ability  to  so  handle  the  subject  I 
should  select  as  to  present  it  to  you  in  a  new,  and  at  the  same  time 
a  practical,  light.  I  knew  that  since  I  had  first  addressed  you 
various  other  well-known  medical  authorities  had  brought  before 
your  consideration  many  topics  of  medical  interest  indirectly 
touching  on  your  professional  calling.  I  have  now,  as  I  have  had 
all  my  life,  a  rooted  objection  to  lecture  for  the  mere  sake  of  lec¬ 
turing,  and  I  believe  only  in  an  ultimate  result  from  any  effort  to 
impart  information  which  gives  the  listeners  some  practical,  and, 
may  I  say,  some  portable,  form  of  knowledge  ready  to  hand  in 
emergency  without  reference  to  any  encyclopsedia  or  text-book. 
There  are  certain  facts  connected  with  the  everyday  work  of  each 
of  us  which  require  to  be  tabled  in  the  tablet  of  memory  without 
any  necessity  of  looking  for  them  second-hand  in  a  work  of  refer¬ 
ence.  Though  we  cannot  carry  with  us  in  our  cerebral  convolutions 
an  “  Enquire  within  upon  everything,”  we  should  have  there  for 
ready  consultation  an  “  Enquire  within  upon  some  things,”  which 
all  of  us  must  expect  in  the  natural  course  of  events 
to  be  brought  some  time  or  other  in  contact  with.  If 
I  succeed  to-night  in  fixing  even  a  few  useful  and 
practical  facts  on  your  memories,  the  knowledge  of  which 
may  possibly  enable  you  in  sudden  emergency  to  relieve  suffering, 
to  anticipate  more  serious  consequences,  or  even  to  save  an  organ 
or  a  life,  I  shall  be  amply  repaid  for  any  trouble  this  lecture  may 
have  caused  me.  And  here  let  me  say,  that  it  is  no  formally  pre¬ 
pared  effort  on  my  part — I  simply  had  no  time  for  this.  I  was 
working  in  Berlin  when  your  invitation  reached  me,  and  I  was  then, 
and  have  been  since,  employing  all  my  spare  time  in  fulfilling  some 
literary  engagements  I  was  bound  to  complete.  You  must,  there¬ 
fore,  extend  to  me  your  charitable  consideration  in  listening  to 
these  somewhat  informal  suggestions. 

The  Influence  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Training. 

You  have  had,  I  understand,  several  lecturers  of  repute  here  who 
have  dealt  with  topics  of  pathological  and  therapeutical  interest 
bearing  on  different  organs  of  the  body,  and  your  attention  has 
been  occupied,  not  only  with  subjects  of  a  general  physiological 
nature,  but  with  such  special  organs  as  the  eye,  the  ear,  ancf  the 
larynx.  And  judging  by  the  programmes  of  the  subjects  treated  here, 
which  I  have  seen  from  time  to  time,  one  cannot  fail  to  be  struck 
with  the  wide  range  of  investigation  and  research  which  is  included 
in  the  syllabus  of  your  discussions  and  yearly  courses  of  lectures. 
There  is  a  fair  inference  to  be  drawn  that  pharmaceutical  assis¬ 
tants,  at  least  in  this  metropolis,  form  a  body  of  highly  intelligent 
and  capable  men,  whose  general  information  on  matters  entirely 
outside  the  region  of  the  art  they  are  trained,  and  profess  to 
practise,  tends  to  give  them  broad  and  liberal  views,  not  only  with 
regard  to  that  art  itself,  but  to  all  scientific  and  social  questions 
relating  thereto.  Nor  can  there  be  any  greater  testimony  to  your 
careful  training,  the  education  you  have  received  towards  developing 
exactness  in  your  methods  and  experiments,  and  the  caution  with 
which  all  your  manipulative  procedures  are  conducted,  than  the 
fact  that  out  of  the  millions  of  prescriptions  daily  dispensed 
throughout  the  country,  it  is  the  rarest  thing  to  have  any  mistake 
in  manipulation,  any  error  of  judgment  in  compounding,  or  mis¬ 
direction  as  to  the  use  and  application  of  the  remedy.  I  say  this 
here,  not  in  the  least  from  any  desire  to  please  or  flatter,  but  from 
an  honest  appreciation  on  my  own  part  of  what  I  owe  to  the 
pharmacist  in  the  exactitude  and  care  with  which  prescriptions, 


demanding  fine  subdivision  of  dangerous  remedies  and  their  per¬ 
fect  combination,  are  dispensed.  Nor  am  I  the  less  appreciative 
from  the  fact  that  several  years  of  my  early  life  were  spent  in  the 
acquisition  of  that  same  method  of  compounding,  the  drudgery  of 
which  apprenticeship  I  have  never  had  any  reason  to  regret.  I 
only  refer  to  these  traits  which  the  calling  of  the  pharmacist  is 
specially  calculated  to  develop  in  order  to  urge  that  the  very 
qualities  that  are  essential  to  make  you  good  pharmacists 
are  also  those  which  are  most  likely  to  find  you  ready  in 
the  emergency  of  sudden  accident  or  illness,  calm  and  resource¬ 
ful  in  the  face  of  unexpected  difficulty,  and  which  are  at  the 
same  time  preventive  of  rash  meddling  and  fussy  interference. 
Such  lectures  as  you  have  had  in  your  Association  must,  I  take 
it,  have  excited  your  interest  and  directed  your  attention  more  or 
less  to  the  causation  of  disease,  and  the  relation  which  the  physio¬ 
logical  action  and  dosage  of  drugs  bears  to  its  cure.  Indeed,  you 
would  be  unworthy  of  being  regarded  as  intelligent,  not  to  say 
thoughtful,  men  if  it  were  otherwise.  Your  special  concern  in 
these  subjects  as  pharmacists  must  surely  centre  round  their 
particular  relationship  to  the  application  of  that  knowledge 
imparted  to  you  in  your  pharmaceutical  capacity.  Otherwise,  I 
should  see  but  little  advantage  in  the  instruction  which  it  is 
possible  to  convey  in  a  single  lecture  on  such  matters. 

The  Title  of  the  Lecture. 

Now,  there  are  a  few  things  I  wish  to  say  with  regard  to  the 
title  of  the  subject  matter  of  this  lecture.  It  is  all  very  well  as 
long  as  one  glides  along  on  good  solid  ice,  keeping  a  safe  and 
reasonable  distance  from  treacherous  water.  Only  the  foolhardy 
run  the  risk  of  immersion  by  encroaching  upon  the  thin  crust  of 
the  interdicted  area.  So  it  is  with  regard  to  certain  vexed  ques¬ 
tions — the  wise  and  prudent  avoid  them.  Still,  it  must  frequently 
happen,  that  advance  in  any  direction,  whether  it  be  in  science  or 
in  art,  in  a  calling  or  an  exercise  of  athletic  skill — witness  our 
Rugby  football — is  only  to  be  acquired  by  an  exhibition  of  that 
very  foolhardiness  and  rashness  which  the  more  cautious  avoid 
and  condemn.  And  incidentally  let  me  ask,  for  a  moment 
leaving  thecbeaten  track,  is  it  not  well  occasionally  to  remember 
and  recognise  the  fact  that  “rashness,”  even  to  the  point  of 
foolhardiness,  and  sometimes  beyond  this,  has  been  the  quality 
of  all  others  to  which  the  progress  of  the  human  race,  of 
civilisation,  and  of  our  own  empire,  owe  the  most?  That  is, 
that  rashness  and  daring,  combined  with  audacity,  which  the 
world  generally  counts  as  such,  a  rashness  in  which  all  considera¬ 
tions  of  self  and  self-interest  are  forgotten,  and  only  the  enthu¬ 
siasm — fatalism  and  fanaticism,  if  you  will — of  the  devotee  remains. 
But  such  thoughts  would  entice  us  widely  apart  from  the  sub¬ 
ject  we  are  considering.  Indeed,  touching  on  recent  events,  they 
would  carry  us  with  the  “Fram”  to  the  North  Pole,  with  a  few 
unarmed  Englishmen  to  the  Impi  entrenchment  of  the  Matabele, 
and  take  us,  not  without  some  sad  reflections,  somewhere  near  the 
sources  of  the  Nile.  While  on  the  other  hand,  speaking  of 
medical  occurrences,  they  would  bear  us  back  to  such  acts  as  that 
of  the  Boston  dentist,  Horace  Wells,  which  directly  led  to  the 
application  of  ansesthesia  ;  to  the  bold  innovation  of  the  Kentucky 
surgeon,  Benjamin  MacDowell,  which  led  up  to  our  modern 
abdominal  surgery  in  women  ;  and,  referring  to  more  strictly 
scientific  and  social  gains,  to  Franklin  and  his  kite,  and  Stephenson 
and  the  “  Coo.” 

Dangers  of  Counter  Prescribing. 

To  return  to  my  subject,  let  me  at  once  state  that,  using  the 
term  in  its  ordinary  sense,  I  do  not  approve  of  pharmacists  “pre¬ 
scribing.”  It  is  incontrovertible  that  there  must  be  elements  of 
danger,  at  times  of  considerable  danger,  attached  to  such 
prescribing,  no  matter  how  simple  such  prescription  may  be.  A 
dose  of  Epsom  salts,  given  in  certain  conditions,  may  indirectly 
lead  to  the  death  of  a  patient,  but  then,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
same  may  be  said  of  a  mutton  chop,  as  Sir  Thomas  Watson  pointed 
out.  It  all  depends  upon  the  circumstances  in  which  the  Epsom 
salts  or  chop  are  given.  To  induce  diarrhoea  in  a  person  sickening 
for  typhoid  fever  may  have  disastrous  consequences,  while  to  give 
prematurely  a  mutton  chop  to  the  same  patient  in  a  condition  of 
convalescence  may  be  equally  dangerous.  Nor  can  we  get  out  of 
the  difficulty  by  assuming  that  the  advised  remedy  is  harmless. 
The  negative  results  of  such  action  may  be  as  hurtful  as  those 
positive  consequences  I  have  just  referred  to.  Delay  in  doing 
the  right  thing  is  often  as  serious  to  the  patient  as  indiscreet  haste. 
More  deplorable  still  is  that  ignorance  which  prompts  the 
administration  at  the  wrong  time,  or  under  contra-indicating 


Feb.  27,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


180 


circumstances,  some  unsuitable  drug.  And  it  must  be  always 
borne  in  mind  that  some  of  the  most  fatal  of  acute  diseases  are 
ushered  in  by  the  sudden  appearance  of  symptoms  which  may  not 
in  themselves  appear  to  be  serious,  and  which  can  be  closely 
simulated  by  those  that  are  of  every-day  occurrence  in  the  case  of 
transient  affections  of  comparatively  little  moment.  Even  of  still 
greater  importance  is  the  fact  that  it  is  just  in  this  class  of  affec¬ 
tions  that  a  false  step  can  never  be  retraced,  and  that  any  delay  in 
the  application  of  the  right  remedy  may  be  fatal. 

Its  Abuse  and  Consequences. 

I  see  no  excuse  whatever,  either  as  a  matter  of  expediency  or  in 
the  light  of  philanthropy,  for  that  class  of  prescribing  which 
affords  a  pretext  to  mean  and  penurious  people  of  obtaining  quasi¬ 
medical  advice  by  buying  a  bottle  of  physic,  or  patent  medicine, 
over  the  counter.  It  is,  as  a  rule,  a  shabby  method  of  evading  the 
necessity  of  paying  the  doctor,  and  if  successful  defrauds  a  hard- 
worked  professional  man  of  that  which  should  by  right  find  its  way 
into  his  pocket.  Be  it  remembered,  too,  that  the  poor  and  impecu¬ 
nious  are  not  the  greatest  sinners  in  this  respect.  The  wealthy 
stockbroker,  and  the  wife  of  the  rich  city  merchant,  are  common 
offenders,  and  they  are  just  the  persons  that  the  pharmacist  finds 
the  greatest  difficulty  in  refusing,  though  he  knows  that  they  are 
trying  to  obtain  an  equivalent  for  proper  medical  advice  on  the 
cheapest  possible  terms.  Such  seekers  in  search  of  information 
generally  come  fresh,  with  addled  brains,  from  the  study  of  some 
domestic  work  on  medicine,  or  more  orthodox  medical  encyclopedia. 
Nothing  is  harder  for  the  chemist’s  assistant  than  to  evade  the 
cross  fire  of  “my  lady’s”  or  “Mr.  Midas’”  questions  as  to  what 
is  good  for  this  or  that  condition,  or  under  what  circumstances 
such  and  such  a  patent  medicine  may  be  taken.  Nay,  I  confess 
that  it  is  well  nigh  impossible  and  contrary  to  all  his  interests  to 
expect  him  to  do  so.  The  question  is  a  wide  one,  involves  many 
issues  and  interests,  and  has  to  be  viewed  from  a  broad  and  liberal 
standpoint,  for  in  it  the  public,  as  well  as  the  pharmacist  and 
doctor,  are  interested.  I  maintain  that  the  medical  profession,  in 
its  present  struggle  for  existence  amidst  gross  and  unblushing 
hospital  abuses,  cheap,  so-called  philanthropic  enterprises,  public 
dispensaries,  clubs,  friendly  and  benevolent  societies,  and  all  the 
other  avenues  by  means  of  which  ways  are  found  to  deprive  the 
struggling  practitioner  of  his  livelihood,  is  now  more  than  ever 
justified  in  regarding  with  a  jealous  eye  any  further  inroads  that 
threaten  to  cripple  its  resources  and  imperil  its  ethical  relations  to 
the  public.  At  the  same  time,  of  this  be  sure,  that  the  medical 
profession  as  a  body  will  never  allow  any  selfish  interests  to  stand 
between  its  sense  of  what  is  right  and  the  duty  it  owes  to  the 
State  and  the  public. 

Duty  and  Privilege  of  the  Pharmacist. 

I  hope  that  by  this  time  you  are  not  rehearsing  to  yourselves 
the  story  of  Balaam  and  Balak  while  listening  to  some  of  these 
observations  on  the  question  of  “  counter-prescribing.”  But  if 
you  should  be  mentally  linking  my  personality  with  that  of  that 
inoffensive  animal  who  was  the  source  of  Balaam’s  discomforture, 
you  will  also  kindly  bear  in  mind  a  well-known  fable  which 
indicates  what  results  are  likely  to  follow  when  that  same  animal 
is  alternately  ridden,  carried,  or  driven,  to  suit  the  interest, 
bias,  or  prejudice  of  any  individuals  or  class  of  the  community. 
I  quite  admit  that  it  is  well  nigh  impossible  to  draw  the  line 
and  say  where  the  privilege  and  duty  of  the  pharmacist  cease, 
beyond  which  his  liberty  of  action  must  be  curtailed.  I  admit 
further  that  the  whole  tendency  of  modern  thought,  despite  trades 
unionism  and  caucases,  is  in  the  direction  of  individual  freedom  of 
action.  The  liberty  to  do  that  which  is  right  must  ultimately 
prevail,  no  matter  how  vigorous  maj  be  the  attempt,  however 
well-meaning,  to  curtail  and  imperil  tne  right  of  such  independent 
action,  the  motive  springs  of  which  are  transparently  pure  and 
right.  What  would  be  said  of  the  man  casually  left  in  charge  of  the 
Humane  Society’s  appliances,  who  hesitated  to  use  them  to  save  a 
ife,  because  the  authorised  servant  of  the  Society  was  absent  ? 
What  should  we  say  of  the  railway  subordinate  who,  in  the  ac¬ 
cidental  absence  or  sudden  illness  of  the  signalman,  hesitated  to 
turn  the  points  in  view  of  an  approaching  collision  ?  And  what 
would  be  said  of  a  pharmacist’s  assistant  who  waited  for  the 
coming  of  the  doctor,  in  the  face  of  a  recent  suicidal  act  of  poison¬ 
ing,  to  administer  the  antidote  which  he  had  ready  to  hand? 
It  is,  then,  not  a  question  whether  any  such  right  of  action 
serves,  or  is  contrary  to,  this  or  that  interest.  It  resolves  itself 
simply  into  the  higher  and  wider  issue  of  the  best  interests  of  the 


State  and  the  public,  and  the  inherent  right  and  duty  of  every 
individual  to  serve  these.  To  what  end  have  we  public  lectures 
on  health,  ambulance  courses,  popular  works  on  health  by  dis¬ 
tinguished  physicians,  and  popular  journals  on  health  and  disease, 
written  for  the  railway  bookstall  ?  Are  not  all  these  cheap  methods 
of  educating  the  people  how  to  doctor  themselves  without  the  aid 
of  either  pharmacist  or  physician  ?  This  they  are,  thanks  to  all 
these  means,  always  doing,  and  in  daily  increasing  numbers, 
since  the  competition  in  educating  and  training  amateur  doctors, 
both  male  and  female,  has  become  so  great. 

Object  of  the  Lecture. 

So  far  as  my  remarks  to-night  are  concerned,  I  wish  it  to  bo  clearly' 
understood  that  I  am  referring  only  to  those  instances  of  absolute 
emergency,  where  there  is  no  immediate  medical  assistance  at 
hand,  and  where  the  delay  necessary  in  procuring  it  may  be 
fraught  with  serious  consequences  to  the  sick  or  injured  person. 
I  have  deliberately  chosen  the  title  of  ‘  ‘  The  Therapeutics  of 
Emergencies  ”  in  order  to  point  out  certain  conditions  under  which 
the  pharmacist  is  justified  in  affording  aid  to  a  person  who  is  taken 
suddenly  ill,  or  is  accidentally  injured.  I  am  not  dealing  with  the 
giving  of  prescriptions  for  ordinary  ailments.  How  far  it  will 
ever  be  possible  to  prevent  or  restrain  what  is  called  “counter¬ 
prescribing  ”  it  is  not  my  place  to  inquire.  I  fear  that  the  “pick- 
me-up”  of  the  early-morning-man-about-town,  the  “comforting 
cordial”  of  the  phlegmatic  woman,  the  “liver  tonic”  of  the  irri¬ 
table  dyspeptic,  the  dinner  pill  of  the  over-eating  gourmand,  the 
worm  powder  for  the  puling  child,  the  liniment  for  the  “back¬ 
ache,”  and  a  thousand  and  one  patent  combinations  with  their 
widely  advertised  “miraculous”  effects,  will  ever  be  had  and 
recommended  for  the  asking.  On  the  other  hand,  I  maintain  that 
it  is  no  part  of  the  pharmacist’s  work  to  usurp  the  prerogative  of 
the  medical  practitioner,  and  convert  the  chemist’s  shop  into  a 
consulting  room  or  surgery. 

Correlation  of  Medicine  and  Pharmacy. 

And  there  is  another  strong  point  with  regard  to  this  question, 
and  that  is  the  correlative  trust  and  sympathy  that  should  exist 
between  this  great  outpost  of  medicine  and  medicine  itself.  Phar¬ 
macy  has  ever  been,  and  always  must  be,  the  active  commissariat 
in  the  advance  of  medical  science.  By  and  through  your  calling 
we  carry  the  attack  into  the  enemy’s  country.  You  furnish  our 
transports,  you  are  always  in  our  van,  and  ever  adapting  your¬ 
selves  to  the  difficulties  which  beset  our  invading  columns.  There¬ 
fore,  it  is  that  each  should  look  mutually  to  the  other  for  loyal 
support,  and  an  inviolable  offensive  and  defensive  alliance.  The 
interests  of  both  are  best  served  by  such  a  cordial  understanding, 
and  anything  that  tends  to  weaken  it,  or  to  create  distrust,  jealousy 
or  angry  feeling  on  either  side,  is  greatly  to  be  deprecated  by  both. 
Let  me  now  briefly,  in  the  time  at  my  disposal,  cite  as  illustra¬ 
tions  of  these  introductory  comments  some  common  contingencies 
which  will  serve  to  exemplify  their  force  and  application.  I  select 
some  in  which  the  pharmacist,  in  the  unavoidable  absence  of  the 
doctor,  may  be  called  upon  to  give  temporary  assistance  or  advice 
as  regards  the  best  thing  to  be  done  at  the  moment,  or  to  be  left 
undone,  pointing  out  in  a  few  of  these  the  danger  that  may  attend 
any  meddlesome  or  injudicious  interference,  no  matter  how 
apparently  justifiable  such  action  may  appear  to  be. 

It  will  be  my  endeavour  to  show  that  “masterly  inactivity,” 
pending  well-directed  and  decisive  medical  action  coming  from  the 
responsible  quarter,  is  often  infinitely  the  safest  course  for  the 
chemist  to  pursue. 

In  the  time  at  my  disposal  I  shall  have  to  be  rather  hurried  in 
the  comments  I  make  on  some  of  these  contingencies.  As  I  had 
not  time  to  write  these  hints  and  suggestions,  it  is  my  intention  to 
put  these  together  in  a  small  booklet  of  three  or  four  pages,  and  to 
send  a  copy  to  each  member  of  the  Association,  and  then  you  will 
have  them  ready  to  hand  for  reference. 

Remarks  on  Various  Emergencies. 

Dr.  Macnaughton- Jones  then  proceeded  to  discuss  those 
accidents  to  the  eye  which  are  of  more  common  occurrence. 
He  pointed  out  that  such  wounds  as  stabs  with  sharp 
instruments,  or  gunshot  wounds,  might,  before  being  sent  to 
the  doctor,  have  such  a  mydriatic  as  atropine  instilled ;  at 
the  same  time  he  showed  that  in  certain  wounds  the  use  of  a 
mydriatic  is  dangerous,  and  that  therefore  the  best  thing  to  do 
in  such  cases  is  simply  to  occlude  the  eye  with  a  little  cotton¬ 
wool  and  light  bandage,  and  send  the  case  straight  for  medical 
advice.  To  drop  atropine  into  the  uninjured  eye,  so  as  to 


...  190 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  27, 1897. 


anticipate  sympathetic  trouble,  was  often  useful.  He  entered 
into  the  dangers  of  the  indiscriminate  use  of  heat  and  cold 
applied  to  the  eye,  pointing  out  the  serious  consequences  that  may 
arise  from  the  application  of  either  in  certain  cases.  The  value  of 
the  magnet  in  removing  steel  particles  resting  on  the  cornea  of  the 
eye  was  touched  on,  as  also  the  best  means  of  removing  foreign 
bodies  from  under  the  upper  eyelid.  All  other  cases  of  injury 
should  be  sent  immediately  for  medical  advice.  In  the  instance 
of  lime  entering  the  eye,  a  weak  solution  of  vinegar  should  be 
used  to  thoroughly  wash  out  the  particles,  and  a  little  castor  oil 
and  atropine  subsequently  dropped  in,  while  an  alkaline  wash 
should  be  employed  immediately  for  any  corrosive  acids.  Dr. 
Macnaughton-  Jones  dwelt  on  the  imprudence  of  any  attempts  to 
remove  foreign  bodies  from  the  ear,  the  only  safe  thing  to  do  being 
to  syringe  the  ear,  and  that  not  too  forcibly.  No  effort  at  extrac¬ 
tion  should  be  made.  The  danger  of  poulticing  an  ear,  or  of 
trifling  with  ear-ache,  especially  in  the  case  of  children,  was 
insisted  upon.  Warm  fomentations,  and  the  use  of  cocaine,  were 
allowable. 

Foreign  bodies  in  the  nose  should  not  be  interfered  with  by  the 
pharmacist.  The  value  of  cold,  through  exciting  reflex  action,  in 
checking  bleeding  from  the  nose,  was  well  known.  Both  matico 
and  hydrastis  were  useful,  by  plugging  the  nostrils  with  dossils  of 
cotton-wool  saturated  with  the  tincture  and  extract,  in  checking 
the  bleeding  temporarily,  but  in  old  people,  and  those  who  are 
“bleeders,”  medical  advice  should  be  had  at  Once. 

For  burns  and  scalds,  immediate  exclusion  of  the  air  by  wrapping 
the  part  in  cotton-wool  was  the  principal  thing  to  secure.  Lint 
saturated  with  lime-water  and  oil,  and  a  little  Friar’s  balsam,  is  an 
old  and  valuable  application. 

A  scalp  wound  was  best  attended  to  by  a  doctor  at  once,  but  a 
pharmacist  might  safely  disinfect  it  and  cut  the  hair. 

The  temporary  adjustment  of  a  wound  in  the  throat  was  all  that 
can  be  achieved  before  a  doctor  arrives.  The  head  should  be  well 
depressed  oh  the  chest,  and  kept  in  that  position. 

A  matchbox  is  always  at  hand,  wherewith  to  make  a  light 
finger  splint  for  a  wounded  finger,  and  a  cork  wrapped  in  lint 
placed  in  the  palm  of  the  hand  and  the  fingers  bound  firmly  over 
it  will  temporarily  arrest  bleeding  from  the  palm. 

The  lecturer  showed  the  advantage  of  flexion  of  the  joints  in 
checking  bleeding  from  these,  and  of  the  graduated  compress 
made  with  a  small  piece  of  cork  and  pads  of  lint  gradually 
increasing  in  size,  for  arresting  bleeding  from  a  blood-vessel. 

Shock  and  collapse  were  what  had  to  be  feared  from  wounds  of 
the  abdomen.  Collapse  must  be  treated  by  an  injection  of  brandy 
into  the  bowel,  or  a  subcutaneous  injection  of  ether. 

A  kick  in  the  testicle,  or  other  injury  there,  caused  severe  shock 
and  often  bleeding.  A  capital  suspensory  bandage  might  be  made 
out  of  a  pocket-handkerchief  folded  triangular-wise,  and  ice  might 
be  applied  to  the  injured  part. 

The  care  with  which  hot  'baths  should  be  Recommended,  espe¬ 
cially  in  the  case  of  children,  and  the  importance  of  the  tempera¬ 
ture,  was  insisted  upon. 

If  a  person  came  complaining  of  bleeding  from  a  tonsil,  after  its 
removal,  in  the  absence  of  the  doctor  a  good  mixture  to  sip  was  of 
tannic  acid,  with  gallic J  acid,  in  the  proportion  of  three  parts  of 
the  former  to  one  of  the  latter  (360  grains  and  120  grains,  in  a  few 
ounces  of  water) ;  half  a  teaspoonful  to  a  teaspoonful  of  this  to  be 
slowly  sipped. 

If  a  child  should  be  brought  with  a  scald  in  the  glottis  from 
Sucking  the  pipe  of  a  kettle,  send  immediately  to  a  surgeon. 
Tracheotomy  may  be  required. 

In  the  case  of  frost-bite,  the  important  point  to  recollect  was  to 
raise  the  temperature  very  slowly,  hence  the  value  of  cold  friction, 
as  with  show  and  with  alcohol.  There  should  be  no  indiscreet 
haste. 

The  lecturer  then  showed  artificial  limbs  which  had  been  rapidly 
put  up  in  splints  extemporised  from  the  sides  of  old  millinery 
boxes,  and  rolls  of  straw,  wadding,  and  strips  of  old  flannel.  He 
strongly  advised  every  pharmaceutical  assistant  to  take  out  a 
Course  of  “  first  aid  ”  lectures 

The  various  methods  of  applying  artificial  respiration  in  the  case 
of  drowning  were  referred  to,  and  Sylvester’s  method  demonstrated. 

The  relative  advantages  of  various  caustics,  preference  being 
given  to  nitric  acid  applied  with  a  pointed  stick  into  the  cavity 
made  by  the  tooth,  was  entered  into  in  dealing  with  bites  of  a 
dog  suspected  to  be  mad.  Many  dogs  were  accused  of  hydro¬ 
phobia  who  were  as  sane  as  his  hearers. 

The  mode  of  reducing  a  jaw  dislocated  from  yawning  was 


humorously  described.  The  application  of  a  roller  to  the  chest  for 
broken  ribs,  and  the  extreme  care  with  which  insensibility  from 
apoplexy,  from  alcoholic  poisoning,  or  from  opium  must  be  distin¬ 
guished,  were  fully  discussed. 

In  a  case  of  suicidal  hanging  use  artificial  respiration  until  the 
doctor  arrives. 

The  ambiguous  nature  of  such  symptoms  as  costiveness,  colicky 
pains  in  the  abdomen,  and  other  apparently  simple  abdominal 
troubles  was  forcibly  impressed  on  his  listeners  by  Dr.  Mac¬ 
naughton- Jones,  and  the  risk  of  mistaking  such  simple  cases  when 
intestinal  obstruction  or  strangulated  hernia  were  present  was  not 
to  be  forgotten.  The  lecture  concluded  with  a  reference  to  the 
use  of  the  stomach  pump  and  syphon  stomach  tube,  and  the 
poisons  in  which  the  use  of  both  was  justifiable  or  contra-indicated, 
while  those  poisons  in  which  time  in  the  application  of  the  anti¬ 
dote  was  everything  were  touched  upon. 


Exeter  Dispensary,  Saturday,  February  20. — At  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  subscribers  and  friends  of  the  Exeter  Dispensary, 
Mr.  R.  Y.  Turner,  the  assistant  dispenser,  was  appointed  resident 
dispenser  and  secretary  in  the  place  of  the  late  Mr.  R.  Challice  at 
a  salary  of  £200  per  annum,  and  Mr.  A.  Sayer  and  Mr.  Stone  were 
appointed  as  assistants  at  a  salary  of  £85  per  annum. — The  full 
Committee  recommended  that  Mr.  Sayer  be  the  second  dispenser, 
and  that  he  be  expected  in  due  course  to  qualify  himself  ;  also  that 
Mr.  Stone  be  third  dispenser.  The  Committee  further  recom¬ 
mended  that  an  allowance  to  Mrs.  Challice,  the  widow  of  the  late 
resident  dispenser  and  secretary,  of  £25  a  year  be  granted,  to  be 
voted  annually  by  the  General  Court  of  Governors. — 
The  Rev.  H.  W.  McGrath  moved,  and  Mr.  J.  Carter 
seconded  the  adoption  of  the  report,  but  Mr.  H.  Michel- 
more  thought  it  was  a  serious  matter  to  take  £25  a  year 
out  of  the  funds  of  the  Institution  when  they  were  requiring  extra 
support,  and  he  moved  an  amendment  that  no  grant  be  made,  this 
being  seconded  by  Mr.  A.  O.  Sellefant.  —  Mr.  H.  Gadd,  J.P. 
(Vice-President  of  the  Exeter  Association  of  Chemists  and 
Druggists)  said  they  wanted  to  regard  Mr.  Challice’s  services  with 
the  greatest  feeling  of  kindness.  Mr.  Challice  had  received  until 
comparatively  recently  what  he  (Mr.  Gadd)  considered  a  small 
salary.  For  the  last-  ten  years  Mr.  Challice’s  salary  had,  he 
admitted,  been  fairly  generous.  If  Mr.  Challice  had  applied  for 
an  increase  a  few  years  ago  he  Avould  have  had  it,  but  he  went  on 
without  doing  so,  and,  consequently,  the  Committee  did  not  think 
he  needed  one.  Mrs.  Challice  was  forty-eight  years  of  age,  and  of 
two  daughters  had  one  who  was  afflicted,  and,  he  presumed,  would 
not  be  able  to  do  anything  to  earn  a  livelihood.  It  might  be  said 
that  Mr.  Challice  ought  out  of  his  salary  to  have  made  provision 
for  his  widow  and  family.  Probably  Mr.  Challice  ought  to  have 
done  so,  but  he  was  in  a  peculiar  position  for  a  benevolent-hearted 
man,  and  he  (Mr.  Gadd)  knew  that  (Mr.  Challice 

could  not  keep  his  hand  out  of  his  pocket  when 

distress  came  before  him,  and  that  was  the  sole  reason 
why  he  had  not  done  anything  for  his  widow  and  family. 
He  suggested  that  instead  of  an  annuity,  three  years’  salary — £600 
— should  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  trustees  to  see  that  the  money 
was  judiciously  expended,  and  that  Mrs.  Challice  had  an  oppor¬ 
tunity  of  securing  a  livelihood  and  caring  for  her  children  in  a  way 
desired.  He  further  suggested  that  by  selling  out  the  £9548 
Consols  and  making  equally  safe  and  more  profitable  investments 
the  £600  could  be  secured.  A  long  discussion  followed,  the 
majority  of  the  speakers  being  in  favour  of  a  grant, 
whilst  others  did  not  think  any  funds  should  be  made 
out  of  this  charity  money. — Mr.  Alderman  Jones,  J.P. ,  said  Mr. 
Challice  had  been  a  faithful  servant  for  fifty  years.  He  was  injured 
in  the  service  of  the  Institution,  and  if  he  had  applied  the 
Committee  would  have  given  him  a  pension.  He  (Mr.  Jones) 
could  not  think  that  now  the  subscribers  would  allow  the  widow 
to  go  to  the  workhouse.  The  Committee  had  asked  their  legal 
adviser  whether  the  annuity  could  be  legally  voted,  and  under¬ 
stood  that  if  approved  by  all  the  subscribers  it  could  be  paid.  — 
Mr.  W.  Wreford  thought  there  was  a  great  deal  in  favour  of 
making  a  payment  in  a  lump  sum.  It  would  probably  be  more 
beneficial  and  preferable  to  an  annuity  involving  a  discussion 
every  year.  He  considered,  however,  that  £250  or  £300  would  be 
a  handsome  sum  to  give. — Mr.  Michelmore  eventually  withdrew  his 
amendment  in  favour  of  Mr.  Gadd,  who  proposed  that  £300 be  voted  to 
Mrs.  Challice.— Mr.  J.  A.  Loram  seconded  Mr.  Gadd’s  amendment. 
Mr.  Challice  began  in  1862  with  £72  a  year  as  an  assistant  dispenser ; 
1865  his  salary  was  raised  to  £120  with  residence;  in  1871  to  £150 ;  in 


Feb.  27,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


191 


1874  to  £175  ;  and  in  1884  to  £200  with  residence  since  1865.  The 
meeting  must  do  an  act  of  simple  justice  to  the  widow  and 
daughters.  There  was  a  time  when  Mrs.  Challice  would  have  been 
in  a  better  position,  but  owing  to  loss  of  money  in  the  Liberator 
and  other  societies  she  was  now  in  straitened  circumstances. — 
In  the  course  of  further  discussion,  Dr.  Woodman,  as  one  of  the 
consulting  staff  of  the  Dispensary,  said  he  hoped  the  meeting 
would  not  let  it  go  forth  to  the  public  that  the  Institution,  after 
having  the  life-blood  of  a  man,  as  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Challice,  could 
turn  the  widow  into  the  streets  or  the  workhouse. — Mr.  Gadd’s 
amendment  was  eventually  carried  by  an  overwhelming  majority, 
only  four  hands  being  held  up  against  it,  and  the  report  as 
amended  was  adopted. 


Ulster  Pharmaceutical  Association,  Thursday,  Febru¬ 
ary  18,  Mr.  W.  Prott  in  the  chair. — A  musical  and  literary  meeting 
of  the  members  was  held  in  the  “  I.O.F.”  Chambers,  5,  Royal 
Avenue,  Belfast,  when  a  large  and  representative  gathering  of  both 
pharmaceutical  chemists  and  chemists  and  druggists  of  Belfast  and 
vicinity  were  present.  The  programme  for  the  evening’s  entertain¬ 
ment  was  of  a  very  attractive  nature.  A  sumptuous  tea  was  served 
at  eight  o’clock  ;  after  which  Mr.  George  Camlin  read  a  most  ex¬ 
cellent  paper,  entitled,  “AChemist’s  Life,”  andan  excellent  musical 
programme  was  then  gone  through,  each  item  being  enthusiasti¬ 
cally  received. 


Plymouth,  Devonport,  Stonehouse  and  District 
Chemists’  Association, — Wednesday,  February  17.—  J.  H 
Bailey,  Vice-President,  in  the  chair.  At  a  special  general  meeting, 
held  at  the  Foresters’ Hall,  a  motion  was  passed  to  rescind  the  recent 
contract  for  parcels  with  Messrs.  Curtis  from  London,  owing  to  a 
misunderstanding,  and  a  fresh  one  made  with  The  Globe  to 
members  of  the  Association  as  follows  : — 2s.  per  month  for  parcels 
under  12  lbs. ,  one  only  from  the  same  house  daily,  but  the  number 
unlimited  from  different  houses;  above  12  lbs.,  2s.  3  d.  per  cwt.,  not 
deducting  the  former  but  including  it  in  the  cwt.  The  Special 
Sub-Committee  appointed  to  consider  correspondence  re  C.A.M. 
W.A.L.  brought  forward  a  resolution,  which  was  adopted  and 
forwarded  to  the  Secretary  at  Bristol.  The  Secretary  of  the  Trade 
Section,  Mr.  Condy  U‘Ren,  gave  the  result  and  list  of  replies,  to  a 
circular  sent  out  to  members,  re  the  New  Trade  Section  recently 
formed,  which  was  considered  very  satisfactory,  and  the  committee 
were  requested  to  proceed  with  the  same,  as  a  preliminary  drawing 
up  a  few  rules,  etc.,  to  be  confirmed  at  a  general  meeting 
subsequently. 


Liverpool  Pharmaceutical  Students’  Society,  Thurs¬ 
day,  February  18. — Mr.  John  Jones  in  the  chair. — Among  the 
miscellaneous  communications,  which  are  always  a  strong  point 
Avith  the  “students,”  Mr.  Pierson  mentioned  that  of  late  he  had  been 
devoting  some  time  to  experimenting  with  menthol,  in  order  to 
arrive  at  the  most  presentable  method  of  administering  it  in  com¬ 
bination  with  other  medicines  in  mixture  form.  His  results  were, 
that  if  it  be  dissolved  in  spirit  and  then  diluted  with  thin  muci¬ 
lage,  the  menthol  soon  separates  ;  if  dissolved  in  olive  oil  and  then 
emulsified  with  gum  acacia  a  smooth  mixture  can  be  obtained, 
and  if  rubbed  up  with  powdered  gum  alone,  and  then  the  liquid 
menstruum  added  by  degrees,  a  good  mixture  is  the  result. — Mr. 
Prosper  II.  Marsden  said  that,  at  the  Liverpool  Royal  Infirmary, 
in  their  menthol  mixture  consisting  of — 


Menthol  . . .  5i. 

Tinct.  Card.  Co .  3i. 

Aq.  Chlorof.  . ad.  Jxx. 


The  addition  of  S.V.R.  §i.  was  necessary  to  get  a  clear  mixture. 
A  root  found  in  a  sample  of  Spigelia  root  was  shown  by  Mr. 
Griffiths  with  a  request  that  it  should  be  identified,  if  possible,  by 
the  members.  According  to  Mr.  P.  H.  Marsden,  it  was  the 
Carolina  pink,  Phlox  Carolina,  N.O.  Polemoniaceae.  A  prescription 
containing  plumb,  acet.,  pii.  ;  zinc,  sulph.,  ,fss.,  to  be  divided  into 
twelve  powders,  had  been  dispensed  by  the  President  recently, 
who  found  that  a  pasty  mass  was  formed  on  rubbing  the  ingredients 
together.  When  dried  separately  on  a  water-bath  and  then  mixed, 
the  ingredients  did  not  react  and  remained  pulverulent.  The 
lecture  on 

Engravers  and  Engraving, 

subsequently  delivered  by  Dr.  J.  R.  Logan,  proved  to  be,  as  was 
anticipated,  of  an  extremely  interesting  nature.  In  mentioning 


the  various  styles  and  branches  of  the  art,  the  lecturer  illustrated 
his  remarks  by  means  of  wood,  steel,  and  copper  plate  examples 
of  the  fine  line,  etching,  mezzotint,  and  aquatint  methods,  all  of 
which  illustrations  were  in  the  best  of  artistic  style  and  taste. 


Bradford  and  District  Chemists’  Association,  Tues¬ 
day,  February  16.— Mr.  Dunn  in  the  chair.— Mr.  W.  Gardner, 
Head  Master  of  the  Chemical  Department  of  the  Bradford  Tech¬ 
nical  School,  lectured  to  the  members  of  the  above  Association  on 

Modern  Alchemy. 

In  opening  his  lecture  he  referred  briefly  to  the  early  history  of 
alchemy,  when  it  was  associated  with  magic  and  physic.  When 
it  became  a  separate  science  an  experimental  era  was  inaugurated, 
and  matter  was  believed  to  be  one  elemental  principle,  with  four 
partially  interchangeable  forms— earth,  air,  fire,  and  water. 
Proceeding  to  review  the  efforts  to  discover  a  method  of  effecting 
the  transmutation  of  metals,  which  was  one  of  the  chief  objects  of 
alchemy  for  centuries,  he  pointed  out  that  there  was  a  germ  of 
truth  in  the  idea.  Modern  chemists  believe  that  many  metals 
which  are  at  present  treated  as  elements  are  not  elements  at  all, 
and  that  in  the  future  all  known  substances  may  be  found  to  be 
merely  different  manifestations  of  one  element.  At  the  same  time 
it  is  extremely  unlikely  that  anything  in  the  nature  of  trans¬ 
mutation  of  metals  will  ever  be  found  practicable.  In  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  alchemy  degenerated  into  mere 
charlatanism  and  imposture. 

Undoubtedly,  observed  the  lecturer,  the  most  sti’iking  result 
of  modern  chemical  research  has  been  the  synthetical  or  artificial 
production  of  natural  products.  In  every  direction  the  chemist,  not 
content  with  probing  into  Nature’s  secrets  by  the  mere  analysis  of  her 
products,  has  attempted  to  rival  her  in  the  actual  economic  produc¬ 
tion  of  many  valuable  articles  which  until  lately  were  considered 
to  contain  some  vital  organic  principle,  the  result  of  some  pecu¬ 
liar  vital  force,  which  it  would  always  defy  the  art  of  man  to 
reproduce.  Only  quite  recently  it  was  thought  that  substances 
which  were  the  product  of  organic  life,  either  animal  or  vegetable, 
were  essentially  distinct  in  a  chemical  sense  from  the  solids, 
liquids,  and  gases  which  constituted  inanimate  nature.  Thus 
chemistry  was  divided  into  the  organic  and  inorganic  branches. 
The  synthetical  production  of  such  essentially  organic  products  as 
acetic  acid,  oxalic  acid,  and  alcohol  has,  however,  effectually 
broken  down  this  distinction,  and  now  the  terms  organic  and 
inorganic  were  retained  merely  as  terms  of  convenience.  Many  of 
the  most  notable  triumphs  of  synthetical  chemistry,  many  of  the 
striking  examples  of  modern  alchemy,  have  been  won  in  the  field 
of  colour  chemistry,  which  was  closely  related  with  the  dyeing- 
industry. 

Before  proceeding  to  deal  with  this  branch,  Mr.  Gardner  con¬ 
sidered  briefly  the  various  methods  of  producing  and  enriching 
gas  for  illuminating  purposes.  The  economical  application  of 
heat  in  manufacturing  processes  has  made  great  strides  of  late 
years,  and  in  the  opposite  direction,  by  the  application  of  extreme 
cold,  Dewar  and  other  workers  have  obtained  marvellous  results.  It 
is  not  possible  to  foresee  the  ultimate  results  of  investigations 
carried  on  at  such  extremely  low  temperatures  as  200°  C.  below 
zero,  but  it  is  probable  that  new  light  may  be  thrown  on  many 
questions  of  great  theoretical  interest,  such  as  the  nature  of 
chemical  affinity.  It  has  already  been  established  that  under 
these  conditions  almost  all  bodies  emit  a  fluorescent  light 
after  being  excited,  while  even  the  most  chemically  active 
substances  appear  incapable  of  entering  into  chemical  union 
with  other  bodies.  Again,  a  considerable  measure  of  success 
has  attended  recent  attempts  to  produce  gems  artificially. 
The  composition  of  gems  is,  of  course,  readily  ascertained  by 
analysis,  and  a  French  chemist,  Moissan,  has  succeeded  by 
the  application  of  great  heat  and  pressure  in  preparing  artificial 
rubies  sufficiently  large  for  jewelling  watches,  and  diamonds  which 
can  be  employed  for  cutting  and  polishing  natural  gems,  arming 
the  heads  of  drills,  etc.  It  is,  however,  improbable  that  stones 
of  sufficient  size  to  form  valuable  gems  will  be  produced  by  the 
present  methods. 

In  perhaps  no  industry  have  the  advances  due  to  chemical 
discoveries  been  more  marked  than  in  the  art  of  dyeing. 
The  developments  have  been  largely  due  to  the  production, 
by  artificial  means,  of  a  vast  number  of  colouring  matters 
from  coal  tar,  a  few  of  them  identical  with  dyes  which  exist 
naturally  in  certain  plants,  but  the  greatest  number  being 
absolutely  new  products.  After  showing  a  large  number  of 
experiments  to  exhibit  the  manner  of  preparing  various  dyes, 


192 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  27,  1897 


Mr.  Gardner  went  on  to  say  that  many  of  the  essences  and 
alkaloids  which  impart  to  natural  products  their  peculiar  flavour, 
smell,  or  medicinal  properties  have  also  been  made  by  laboratory 
reactions.  Tea  and  coffee  owed  their  value  as  beverages  largely 
to  the  presenfce  of  an  alkaloid  known  as  theobromine  or  caffeine, 
and  within  the  last  few  months  this  has  been  for  the  first  time 
synthetically  produced.  Just  as  there  are  many  artificial  dyes 
which  have  no  prototypes  amongst  natural  products,  so  there  are 
now  several  artificial  substances  which  have  been  found  of  great 
value  medicinally.  Among  such  are  antipyrine,  antifebrine, 
etc. ,  and  it  is  interesting  to  remember  that  medicine  owes 
these  drugs  to  the  colour  industry,  because  they  were  first  pro¬ 
duced  in  those  monumental  examples  of  the  value  of  technical 
education— the  great  colour  works  of  Germany. 

The  physiological  action  of  drugs  is  largely  dependent  upon 
and  governed  by  their  chemical  constitution,  though  physical 
properties,  such  as  solubility  and  volatility,  were  also  very  im¬ 
portant.  As  an  example  of  the  influence  of  chemical  constitution, 
the  antiseptic  and  poisonous  properties  of  certain  aromatic  deriva¬ 
tives  was  considered.  Thus  phenol  (CgH5'OH)  is  both  powerfully 
antiseptic  and  an  irritant  poison,  and  resorcinol  (C8H4(OH)2)  more 
active  in  both  respects.  On  the  other  hand  the  three  cresols 
(CJL'CHvOH)  while  equally  antiseptic  are  much  less  poisonous, 

•meta-cresol  B  4v xOH  (3)  ^av’nS  the  least  lethal  action.  The 

poisonous  action  is  still  further  diminished  by  the  intro¬ 
duction  of  a  sitlpho  group  (S03H),  while  the  antiseptic  effect 
is  increased  by  substituting  iodine  for  hydrogen  in  the  molecule. 
For  this  reason  the  di-iodo-cresol  sulphonic  acid  is  coming  into 
extensive  use.  In  many  manufacturing  processes  enormous 
economies  due  to  chemical  research  have  been  effected.  The  appli¬ 
cation  of  chemistry  to  hygiene  and  sanitation  is  daily  bearing  the 
noble  fruit  of  increased  health  and  happiness  to  thousands,  while 
the  value  of  chemistry  to  the  agriculturist  in  connection  with  the 
proper  nutrition  of  crops  has  at  last  been  settled  on  a  secure  basis. 
In  the  midst  of  all  these  well- won  triumphs,  however,  it  must  be 
remembered  that  in  many  directions  the  boundaries  of  knowledge 
lurve  been  advanced  little  since  mediaeval  times,  and,  as  Lord  Salis¬ 
bury  has  said,  “We  live  in  a  small  oasis  of  knowledge  surrounded 
by  a  vast  unexplored  desert  of  impenetrable  mystery.  ” 


Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association  (Hull),  Thurs¬ 
day,  February  18. — Mr.  W.  Stanning  in  the  chair. — The  chemists 
of  Hull  and  district  met  to  cpnsider  the  aims  and  objects  of  the 
Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association,  and  amongst  those  present 
were  Mr.  Glyn-Jones,  Mr.  A.  Sheffield,  Mr.  C.  B.  Bell  (Hon.  Sec. 
and  Treasurer),  Mr.  B.  M.  Stoakes,  Mr.  H.  W.  Hammond,  Mr. 
Thomas  Marshall  (Beverley),  Mr.  Charles  Hobson  (Beverley), 
Mr.  A.  Markham,  Mr.  A.  Crowther,  Mr.  James  E.  Dealing  (Goole), 
Mr.  L.  S.  Selle,  Mr.  W.  Attley,  Mr.  F.  E.  Lambert,  Mr.  Thomas 
Henny,  Mr.  E.  Howarth  Earle,  Mr.  G.  R.  Foulston,  Mr.  W.  H. 
Walton,  Mr.  H.  Schofield,  Mr.  J.  Richardson,  Mr.  J.  Oldham, 
and  others.  Letters  of  regret  for  absence  were  read  from  Mr. 
Ryley,  Mr.  Hoyles,  and  Mr.  Saltmer. 

"The  Chairman  said  he  was  very  pleased  to  see  such  a  good 
muster  of  chemists,  not  only  of  Hull,  but  also  from  a  distance. 
He  thought  their  presence  was  a  sign  that  the  intolerant  state  of 
affairs  at  present  existing  should  be  put  an  end  to.  Other  towns 
had  expressed  their  opinions,  and  they  thought  it  only  right  the  che¬ 
mists  in  this  wide  district  of  Yorkshire  should  have  an  opportunity 
of  expressing  their  opinions  on  the  question  of  the  terms  of  sales 
of  proprietary  articles.  One  thing  he  thought  was  rather  a  weak¬ 
ness,  and  that  was  the  action  taken  up  by  some  of  the  largest  pro¬ 
prietary  article  manufacturers,  such  as  Mr.  Beecham,  and  also 
Mr.  Owbridge,  of  Hull.- — Mr.  Glyn-Jones  then  proceeded  to 
explain  the  position  of  the  Association,  after  which  Mr.  Richard¬ 
son  moved  : — 

“  That  this  meeting  of  the  chemists  in  Hull  and  district  desires  to  express  its 
hearty  approval  of  the  object  of  the  P.A.T.A.,  and  pledges  itself  to  support  it 
in  every  way  possible." 

He  said  they  were  pretty  well  all  in  the  same  box  as  regards  this 
matter,  and  he  hoped  all  would  avail  themselves  of  the  very  valu¬ 
able  machinery  which  was  within  their  grasp  to  deal  with  it.  It 
was  high  time  something  was  done  to  alter  the  state  of  affairs  they 
had  been  suffering  from. 


Mr.  Earle  seconded  the  motion.  He  referred  to  the  wisdom  of 
pointing  out  the  difference  between  the  proprietors  who  had 
placed  their  articles  upon  the  list,  and  those  who  were  thoroughly 
in  favour  of  the  scheme. — Mr.  Sheffield  asked  how  the  P.A.T.A. 
proposed  to  deal  with  the  wholesale  houses  which  had  not  joined 
the  Association,  and  had  no  intention  of  doing  so. — Mr.  Richard¬ 
son  desired  to  know  how  the  co-operative  stores  would  be  affected. — 
Mr.  Foulston  expressed  himself  in  favour  of  having  face  prices. 
He  did  not  know  whether,  in  supporting  the  P.A.T.A.,  they 
would  be  supporting  an  Eldorado  on  a  bubble.  If  it  was  an 
Eldorado,  what  was  it  going  to  do  for  them  ?  He  did  not  think 
it  was  possible  to  coerce  the  proprietors.  They  should  fight  the 
“  patent  medicine  men  ”  in  every  way.  They  were  the  enemies  of 
the  chemists  from  beginning  to  finish.  For  showing  goods,  chemists 
should  insist  on  payment.  '  It  seemed  to  him  that  the  present 
methods  of  the  P.  A.  T.  A.  would  not  benefit  the  drug  trade. 

Mr.  Hobson  argued  that  the  Association  was  more  likely  to  aid 
the  proprietors  to  obtain  enhanced  prices  than  to  aid  the  chemists 
in  getting  enhanced  profits. — Mr.  Hammond  thought  the  effect  of 
the  movement  would  be  to  make  the  cutting  stores  raise  their 
prices.  That  would  open  the  eyes  of  the  public. 

Mr.  Hearing  thought  the  trade  had  not  sufficient  backbone. 
The  majority  of  chemists  at  Goole  favoured  this  Association. 

Mr.  Walker  said  that  since  he  adopted  the  practice  of  speaking 
plainly  to  customers,  he  had  not  lost  a  single  one,  whilst  he  got  a 
little  more  profit  on  patent  medicines.  He  thought  the  time  would 
soon  come  when  they  would  get  the  face  value. 

Mr.  Glyn-Jones  dealt  with  the  various  points  raised  in  the  dis¬ 
cussion,  and  said  he  did  not  think  they  need  have  the  least  fear 
that  the  proprietors  would  ever  go  to  the  stores,  or  that  the  stores 
would  support  the  proprietors  unless  they,  like  the  chemists,  were 
able  to  make  a  profit. 

The  motion  was  carried  with  but  one  dissentient. 

Mr.  Stoakes  proposed  : — 

“  That  this  meeting  desires  to  convey  to  the  various  proprietors  of  proprietary 
articles  the  advisability  of  their  adding  their  articles  to  the  ijrotective  list, 
and  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Hull  Association  be  asked  to  convey  this  resolu¬ 
tion  to  the  leading  proprietors.” 

He  said  chemists  were  all  aware  of  the  very  powerful  position 
that  the  makers  of  these  proprietaries  held,  and  if  they  were  able 
to  bring  them  upon  the  side  of  the  Association  a  great  deal  of 
work  would  be  done.  As  it  was  they  were  all  heartily  sick  of  the 
proprietary  article  trade  as  it  had  been  conducted  of  late  years.— 
Mr.  Sheffield  seconded  the  motion,  which  was  carried  unani¬ 
mously.  ...  .  ..  _ 

Mr.  Lambert  moved — 

“  That  the  Hull  Chemists’  Association  be  requested  to  ask  that  it  be  the  local 
executive  for  the  P.A.T.A.  in  the  Hull  district.” 

Mr.  Walton  seconded  the  motion,  and  it  was  also  passed  without 
opposition. 


Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association. — Election  of 
Council,  March,  1897- — The  following  is  a  list  of  candidates  for  the 
retail  section  : — 

Barnes,  W.  R.,  Upton  Manor,  London. 

Cocks,  J.,  8,  Edgscumbe  Street,  Stonehouse,  Devon. 

Cooper,  A.,  80,  Gloucester  Road,  South  Kensington,  London. 

Davies,  J.  T.,  13,  Walter  Road,  Swansea. 

Garrett,  T.  P.,  33,  Commercial  Street,  Newport. 

Groves,  R.  H. ,  Market  Place,  Blandford. 

Hessell,  J.,  143,  Highgate  Road,  London. 

Jones,  W.,  2,  High  Street,  Birmingham. 

Pickard,  S.  N.,  74,  Manningham  Lane,  Bradford. 

Rowsell,  F.,  74,  High  Street,  Exeter. 

Seely,  H.  W.,  14,  Southgate,  Halifax. 

Spyer,  N.,  13,  Gledhow  Terrace,  South  Kensington,  London. 

Warren,  F.  W.,  340,  Harrow  Road,  London. 

Williams,  J.,  Broadfield,  Davenport,  Manchester. 

Wokes,  T.  8.,  Grassendale,  Liverpool. 

Voting  papers  will  be  issued  to  members  on  or  about  March  2,  and 
the  election  will  take  place  the  week  following. 


Feb.  27,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


193 


SOCIAL  MEETINGS. 

Brighton  Junior  Association  of  Pharmacy,  Wednes¬ 
day,  January  17. — Mr.  Williamson  in  the  chair. — This  was  a 
musical  and  social  evening.  The  programme  was  carried  out 
under  the  direction  of  Messrs.  T.  Little  and  Beckwith,  and  was 
admirably  sustained  by  Messrs.  A.  J.  Davies,  Day,  W.  Lauder, 
Colway,  J.  King,  0.  Hebb,  Little,  and  Beckwith. 

Nottingham  and  Notts.  Chemists’  Association,  Tues¬ 
day,  February  23. — The  annual  dinner  of  the  Nottingham  and 
Notts.  Chemists’  Association  was  held  at  the  Albert  Hotel,  Derby 
Road,  Nottingham,  Mr.  R.  FitzHugh,  President  of  the  Associa¬ 
tion,  occupying  the  chair,  and  Mr.  A.  Middleton  (Vice-President) 
and  Mr.  J.  Wilford  (Hon.  Treasurer)  the  vice-chairs.  It  was  a 
very  successful  and  pleasant  little  function,  among  those  also 
present  being  Messrs.  A.  Eberlin  (Hon.  Sec.),  A.  C.  Vallance,  J. 
R.  Spencer,  Parkhouse,  Gill,  Hare,  Jackson,  W.  Widdowson,  A. 
Beilby,  S.  Cook,  J.  Radford,  R.  Beverley,  E.  Gascoyne,  Brown, 
Allum,  Clark,  F.  R.  Sargeant,  W.  H.  Smith,  E.  E.  Turton,  J 
Davis,  Freeman,  Roberts,  Shacklock,  Dudley,  Smith,  Ball,  R 
Widdowson,  J.  P.  Bailey,  S.  Parr,  Wilford,  Junr.,  etc.  The 
loyal  toasts  were  given  from  the  chair,  and  enthusiastically 
honoured. — Mr.  F.  R.  Sargeant  proposed  the  toast  of 

The  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain. 

He  said  he  felt  it  to  be  a  great  honour  to  propose  the 
toast.  If  he  had  been  asked  to  submit  the  toast  ten  years 
ago,  he  should  have  said  something  after  this  style:  “You  had 
better  get  somebody  else,”  and  would  have  simply  thrown 
mud  in  the  face  of  the  Pharmacentical  Society.  But  some 
people  had  to  be  touched  through  their  pockets,  and  it  was  in  that 
way  that  he  was  first  led  to  see  the  usefulness  and  value  of  the 
Pharmaceutial  Society.  Ten  years  ago  a  proposal  was  made 
that  their  Association  should  establish  a  dispensing  class,  and  he 
thought  something  like  three  years  elapsed  before  anything 
came  of  it.  They  were  short  of  funds,  or  for  some  reason  or 
other  the  finance  Committee  did  not  feel  disposed  to  launch 
the  scheme,  but  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  gave  them  a 
handsome  grant  of  twenty-five  guineas.  That  led  him  to 
believe  that  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  did  take  an  interest 
in  junior  and  kindred  societies,  and  gave  them  some  help  in  order 
to  make  them  flourish.  When  they  came  to  look  at  what  the 
Society  was  founded  for,  he  did  not  think  it  had  fallen  short  of  its 
ideal.  The  Society  was  founded  in  1841  for  the  purpose  of  ad¬ 
vancing  chemistry  and  pharmacy,  promoting  a  uniform  system  of 
education  amongst  those  who  carried  on  the  business  of  chemist 
and  druggist,  and  lastly  to  provide  a  fund  for  the  relief  of  dis¬ 
tressed  members  and  associates  of  the  Society  and  for  their  widows 
and  orphans.  With  regard  to  the  Society  in  Edinburgh,  no  one 
would  say  a  word  against  the  Society  in  that  particular.  The 
Society  had  gone  as  far  as  it  possibly  could  in  that  direction. 
They  had  now  examinations  which  kept  out  of  their  ranks 
men  who,  by  their  lack  of  education,  were  unfit  to  become 
chemists.  And  then  it  had  shown  its  interest  in  other  societies, 
while  the  Benevolent  Fund  was  in  a  fairly  flourishing 
condition,  and  it  did  a  great  deal  of  good  to  those  who  needed  its 
benefits.  In  the  matter  of  protection  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
had  done  as  much  as  it  could  for  them.  If  it  had  not  done  more 
it  was  the  fault  of  chemists,  because  they  had  not  supported 
it  more  loyally.  The  Society  prosecuted  grocers  and  others  who 
would  sell  poisons,  and  in  that  direction  it  had  done  as  much  as  it 
possibly  could.  The  great  point  was  this — that  as  a  body,  they 
did  not  support  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  as  they  ought  to  do.  He 
believed  there  were  fifty-five  or  sixty  chemists  in  business  there,  and 
he  thought  he  was  right  in  saying  that  only  twenty-five  supported 
the  Pharmaceutical  Society.  What  could  a  society  do  in  legal  and 
parliamentary  matters  when  it  had  not  greater  support  behind  it 
than  that.  If  it  could  say  it  had  the  general  body  of  chemists 
behind  it,  then  he  was  perfectly  sure  it  could  do  more  than  it  did. 
He  thought  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  was  the  best  body  they  could 
support  in  England.  This  was  the  diamond  jubilee  of  the  Queen, 
and  he  should  like  every  chemist  in  Nottingham  to  become  sub¬ 
scribers  to  the  Society,  and  also  that  every  chemist  who  subscribes 
to  the 

Benevolent  Fund 

should  double  his  subscription.  One  suggestion  he  would 
like  to  make  to  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  and  that  was 
that  when  a  young  man  went  up  for  his  examination  in  six 
subjects,  supposing  he  passed  four  of  them  he  was  a  ploughed 


man,  whereas  in  the  medical  profession  the  student  could  go 
up  for  the  others.  He  thought  that  was  very  hard.  He 
begged  to  couple  with  the  toast  the  name  of  a  gentleman  who  was 
far  more  burning  in  his  enthusiasm  for  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
than  he  was.  He  referred  to  Mr.  Bolton,  the  local  secretary. 

Mr.  Bolton,  in  replying,  said  his  task  had  been  made  very  easy  that 
night  because  of  the  speech  of  his  friend,  Mr.  Sargeant.  On  behalf 
of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  as  its  local  representative,  he  thanked 
Mr.  Sargeant  for  his  eloquent  speech  on  behalf  of  the  Society.  Mr. 
Sargeant  had  spoken  of  the  education  of  the  Society.  The  only  mis¬ 
take  of  that  Society  lay  in  the  fact  that  it  was  something  like  thirty 
years  before  its  time.  It  laid  down  in  1852  this  fact  :  that  every 
young  man  entering  in  their  business  should  receive  a  proper  tech¬ 
nical  instruction  to  fit  him  for  their  trade.  They  now  saw  that  the 
demand  the  Society  then  made  was  quite  right.  That  was  neither 
the  time  nor  the  place  to  go  through  the  leading  facts  in  the  history 
of  the  Society  to  prove  that  it  was  worthy  of  their  support.  There 
was  just  one  thing  he  would  like  to  refer  to,  however.  One  of  the 
leading  features  of  the  Society  was  that  it  had  stood  up  for  the 
protection  of  the  interests  of  the  chemists  and  druggists  in  the 
country  ;  it  had  never  been  behind  in  that  matter,  and  such  had 
been  the  justice  and  fair  dealing  for  which  it  had  stood  up,  that 
it  had  always  had  at  its  back  some  of  the  most  respected 
men  in  the  House  of  Parliament.  It  was  acknowledged  on  ■  all 
sides  that  last  year  was  a  very  barren  year  as  to  political  benefits 
to  the  community,  but  during  that  year  there  were  four  Bills 
brought  forward  of  the  very  greatest  importance  to  chemists 
and  druggists.  He  wished  to  point  them  out  so  that  those  who 
asked  : 

“What  is  the  Good  of  the  Society?” 
might  see  that  the  Society  had  been  a  very  useful  organisa¬ 
tion  to  the  trade,  and  had  prevented  laws  from  being 
placed  on  the  Statute  Book  that  would  have  been  very 
derogatory  to  them  as  a  body.  Of  the  four,  the  first  and 
foremost  was  the  law  relating  to  the  adulteration  of  drugs, 
the  second  referred  to  weights  and  measures,  the  third  was 
in  reference  to  the  sale  and  storage  of  petroleum,  and 
the  last  and  most  important  of  all  was  the  registration 
of  limited  liability  companies.  In  all  these  questions  the  Society 
came  to  the  front  in  the  interests  of  their  trade.  The  Pharmacy 
Act  was  made  abortive  in  consequence  of  the  decision  in  the 
Higher  Court  that  a  company  could  do  what  a  single  individual 
could  not.  They  all  knew  that  a  Bill  came  before  the  House,  and 
that  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  obtained  the  assistance  of  the 
British  Medical  Council  and  the  Veterinary  College  of  Surgeons 
with  the  object  of  getting  added  to  that  Bill  a  clause  which  was  of 
the  greatest  importance,  the  clause  being  to  protect  their  personal 
professional  titles  from  abuse  by  irresponsible  and  impersonal 
limited  liability  companies.  That  clause  was  backed  by  no  other 
than  Lord  Herschell  himself.  It  passed  the  second  reading,  and 
was  sent  to  a  Select  Committee.  Some  of  their  friends  began  to 
say  it  would  never  become  the  law  of  the  country,  but 
what  did  they  find?  Already  in  the  present  Parliament 
the  Bill  had  been  read  a  second  time,  and  had  been  referred  to 
the  same  Seleco  Committee,  so  that  it  stood  exactly  where  it  did 
in  the  last  Session.  If  they  only  supported  the  Society  by  becom¬ 
ing  members  and  subscribing  liberally,  and  giving  it  their  moral 
support,  then  it  would  be  able  to  take  up  such  harmful  questions 
as  he  had  referred  to,  and  with  strengthened  power,  be  able  to 
prevent  them  getting  on  to  the  Statute  Book.  There  was  one 
little  point  he  would  like  to  refer  to.  Those  of  them  who  saw  the 
Pharmaceutical  Journal 

would  probably  have  noticed  an  admirable  editoral  article 
on  army  dispensers.  A  school  had  been  formed  by  the  Army 
Service  Corps,  wherein  men  could  pass  an  examination  of  the 
most  simple  kind,  and  in  the  most  rudimentary  manner,  after  the 
least  possible  training.  Andnotonly  was  Tommy  Atkins  going  to  be  a 
dispenser  to  his  brother  soldiers  after  the  smallest  instruction,  but  a 
claim  was  being  made  to  the  Local  Government  Board  on  his  behalf 
that  he  might  be  admitted  as  dispenser  to  Boards  of  Guardians. 
They  could  all  see  what  a  serious  thing  it  would  be  to  flood  the 
country  with  men  totally  unfitted  to  fulfil  those  duties.  If  chemists 
did  not  support  their  Society,  the  result  was  that  it  was  not  able 
to  do  the  work  which  they  expected  of  it,  and  in  future  years  there 
would  be  a  deal  of  complaining  that  so  little  in  this  directi  -n  had 
been  accomplished.  With  regard  to  the  Benevolent  Fund,  last 
year  the  Society  paid  £2795  in  grants  and  annuities.  This  year 
was  the  diamond  jubilee  of  Her  Majesty,  and  they  were  anxious 
that  something  should  be  done  on  the  lines  foreshadowed  by  Mr. 


194 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  27,  1897 


Sargeant.  He  was  glad  to  hear  that  gentleman  was  so  enthusiastic, 
because  he  (Mr.  Bolton)  had  received  that  day  from  the  central 
authority  in  London  a  few  very  important  sheets  of  paper  which  set 
forth  the  advantages  of  that  Fund.  He  had  no  doubt  that  Fund 
would  always  receive  the  utmost  sympathy  from  chemists  in 
Nottingham.  This  year  he  hoped  they  would  be  able  to  do  more 
than  they  had  done  in  the  past  to  support  a  fund  about  whose  use¬ 
fulness,  value,  and  needs  there  was  no  question,  because  every 
pound  given  to  it  went  to  the  object  for  which  it  was  devoted. 
Nothing  was  used  for  clerical  or  printing  expenses  or  for  salaries, 
so  that  he  hoped  they  would  remember  that  charity  began  at  home. 
He  thanked  them  very  much  for  the  way  in  which  they  had  re¬ 
ceived  the  toast. 

Mr.  A.  C.  Yallance  proposed  “  The  Nottingham  and  Notts. 
Chemists’  Association,”  which  he  described  as  a  pattern  associa¬ 
tion  for  the  way  in  which  it  looked  after  the  interests  of  chemists 
and  pharmacists.  He  thought,  however,  that  the  Association  did 
not  pay  sufficient  attention  to  the  social  side  of  their  calling. 

The  President  first  replied  to  the  toast.  He  said  he  had  been 
President  of  the  Association  for  the  last  fifteen  or  sixteen  years, 
and  he  hoped  the  chemists  of  the  town  would  make  the  Association 
a  greater  success  than  it  had  been  in  the  past,  and  he  for  one 
would  be  most  happy  to  help  carry  out  any  suggestion  that  would 
tend  to  bring  that  desired  end  about. 

Mr.  J.  Wilford,  Treasurer,  remarked  that  the  Association  was  in 
a  flourishing  state  financially,  the  classes  kept  up  in  numbers,  and 
the  young  men  got  a  splendid  education  at  University  College. 

Mr.  A.  Eberlin,  the  Hon.  Secretary,  also  acknowledged  the 
toast.  He  said  he  took  it  that  the  primary  function  of  their  Asso¬ 
ciation  was  education.  He  could  assure  them  that  this  year  they 
had  exceeded  anything  they  had  done  before.  The  Association 
was  in  a  most  flourishing  condition  as  regarded  its  educational 
matters.  The  classes  had  been  well  attended ;  the  numbers 
exceeded  those  of  any  previous  year,  and  the  reports  he  had 
received  from  the  College  authorities  were  of  the  most  encouraging 
nature.  Somebody  had  referred  to  their  Association  as  the  pattern 
Association,  and  he  thought  as  regarded  educational  matters  it 
was  undoubtedly  the  pattern  Association.  He  thought  no  provincial 
town  had  an  association  in  which  there  were  educational  advantages 
such  as  they  possessed  in  Nottingham.  Frequently  he  received 
requests  from  kindred  associations  for  details  as  to  their  manner 
of  working,  and  it  seemed  to  him  that  theirs  was  looked  upon 
as  the  most  flourishing  Association  in  the  provinces  on  educa¬ 
tional  matters.  He  wished  he  could  say  the  same  as  regarded 
their  apprentices  generally.  He  did  not  wish  to  harp  in  a 
pessimistic  tone,  but  he  should  like  to  see  a  greater  number  of 
them  members  of  the  Chemists’  Association.  He  would  suggest 
that  the  best  way  of  promoting  his  health,  would  be  to  reply  to 
the  notice  they  received  from  him  as  soon  as  they  could.  That 
would  be  far  better  than  drinking  his  health,  and  it  would  not 
only  promote  it,  but  prolong  his  life. 

Other  toasts  followed. 


LEGAL  INTELLIGENCE. 

PROCEEDINGS  UNDER  THE  PHARMACY  ACT. 


Prosecution  at  Airdrie. 

At  the  Sheriff  Court  House,  Airdrie,  on  Friday,  19th  inst., 
the  cases  of  Bremridge  v.  David  Lees,  and  John  E.  Miller  came 
before  Sheriff  Mair  at  a  pleading  diet  in  Chambers. 

Mr.  Robert  Watt,  solicitor,  Airdrie,  instructed  by  Mr.  P. 
Morison,  S.S.C.  Edinburgh,  prosecuted,  and  Mr.  Brock,  of 
Messrs.  Brock  and  Ballantyne,  solicitors,  Glasgow,  appeared  for 
the  defence. 

Defendant  David  Lees  was  charged  with  selling,  in  the  shop  of 
Dr.  Arthur,  1,  High  Street,  Airdrie,  laudanum  on  two  occasions 
and  Powell’s  balsam  on  a  third  occasion  to  an  agent  of  the 
Registrar. 

Defendant  appeared,  and  on  his  behalf  Mr.  Brock  made  a 
lengthy  statement,  objecting  to  the  relevancy  of  the  complaint  on 
several  grounds,  which  were  repelled  by  the  Sheriff  ;  a  question  as 
to  the  quantity  of  opium  sold  being  reserved  to  be  dealt  with  if 
necessary  on  the  merits. 

Defendant  then  pleaded  not  guilty,  and  the  case  was  adjourned 
to  Monday,  March  1,  for  trial. 

On  the  case  against  JohnE.  Miller  being  called,  a  medical  certifi¬ 
cate  was  produced,  certifying  that  he  was|too  ill  to  attend,  and  the 


case  was  adjourned  till  May  7.  He  was  charged  with  selling  a 
belladonna  plaster  in  the  shop  of  Dr.  Arthur,  1,  High  Street, 
Airdrie,  to  an  agent  of  the  Registrar. 

PROCEEDINGS  UNDER  THE  FOOD  AND  DRUGS  ACT. 


The  Sale  of  Adulterated  Glycerin. 

At  the  Birmingham  Police  Court,  on  the  19th  inst.,  Frank  Clent, 
of  No.  1,  Cooksey  Road,  was  summoned  for  selling  glycerin  not  of 
the  substance  and  quality  demanded.  The  prosecution  was  con¬ 
ducted  by  Mr.  Hiley  (assistant  Town  Clerk),  on  behalf  of  the  Health 
Department,  and  Mr.  Philip  Baker,  solicitor,  defended. 

Mr.  Hiley  informed  the  Bench  that,  so  far  as  he  was  aware,  that 
was  the  first  prosecution  in  Birmingham  with  reference  to  adul¬ 
terated  glycerin,  and  there  were  two  summonses  issued  against 
two  persons  Avho  were  wholesale  druggists,  charging  them  with 
selling  glycerin  largely  adulterated  with  dilute  glucose  syrup. 
About  the  end  of  January  the  inspector  under  the  Food  and  Drugs 
Act  found  a  considerable  number  of  penny  bottles  of  glycerin  being 
sold  in  small  shops,  and  inquiries  revealed  the  fact  that  the  article 
was  in  many  instances  supplied  by  the  defendant.  On  February  4 
a  dozen  bottles  were  purchased  at  defendant’s  shop,  and  on  the 
article  being  analysed  it  was  found  to  contain  a  large  percentage 
of  syrupy  sugar,  which,  instead  of  possessing  healing  properties, 
had  no  medicinal  value  whatever.  Each  of  the  bottles  was  labelled 
“Pure  Glycerin.”  After  the  summons  was  issued  defendant 
called  at  the  Health  Department,  and  admitted  he  knew  the 
glycerin  was  adulterated,  and  asked  that  the  proceedings  might 
be  stopped. 

Annie  Bennett  spoke  to  purchasing  a  dozen  bottles  of  glycerin 
from  defendant,  for  which  she  paid  Id. 

Inspector  Jones  and  Chief  Inspector  Parker  deposed  to  conversa¬ 
tions  they  had  with  defendant.  Parker  said  that  defendant  told 
him  he  knew  the  glycerin  was  adulterated.  Others  were  doing  it, 
he  said,  and  he  was  forced  to  do  so. 

Dr.  Hill,  the  city  analyst,  said  that  the  sample  he  received  from 
Jones  proved,  on  analysis,  to  contain  45  per  cent,  of  dilute  glucose 
syrup,  or  syrup  of  stai'ch  as  it  was  called.  Glycerin  should  con¬ 
sist  of  a  sugar  extracted  from  fats  and  oil  mostly  by  steam,  or  in 
soap  making  as  a  by-product.  It  was  a  pure  syrup,  and  was  a  drug 
endowed  with  active  medicinal  properties.  It  was  used  as  a 
medicine  itself,  and  as  a  vehicle  for  other  medicines.  Nearly  one 
half  of  the  sample  he  analysed  consisted  of  the  starch  he  had  men¬ 
tioned,  which  was  a  sugar  artificially  manufactured  by  chemical 
means  from  common  starch.  It  possessed  no  medicinal  proper¬ 
ties,  and  was  not  a  drug  in  any  way.  Glycerin  in  its  general  form 
was  not  explosive.  That  described  by  him  in  his  analysis  would 
not  be  injurious.  It  would  only  have  half  its  proper  value. 

Mr.  Baker  :  Concerning  the-  value,  is  it  a  fact  that  it  would  be 
very  difficult  to  sell  a  bottle  of  pure  glycerin  at  a  penny  ? 

Dr.  Hill :  Glycerin  is  cheap  enough,  about  8 d.  a  pound.  It  is 
not  a  question  of  cost  with  me,  it  is  a  question  of  purity. 

Mr.  Baker  asked  the  magistrates  to  deal  leniently  with  defen¬ 
dant,  who,  since  the  proceedings  were  taken  against  him,  had  had 
the  misfortune  to  have  his  shop  and  uninsured  stock  destroyed  by 
fire. 

Mr.  Ryland  (Chairman  of  the  Bench)  said  that  although  that 
might  be  the  first  case  brought  forward,  they  could  not  look  upon 
it  as  the  first  case  of  adulteration.  Even  people  possessed  of  no 
chemical  knowledge  must  know  they  must  not  supply  articles 
adulterated  like  the  one  in  question.  A  penalty  of  £5  and  costs 
was  imposed. 

The  defendants  in  the  second  case  were  George  Turley  and 
Edward  Law,  trading  as  Turley  and  Co.,  wholesale  druggists,  59, 
Edgbaston  Street.  The  charge  in  this  case  was  that  of  selling 
glycerin  containing  40  per  cent,  of  glucose  syrup,  and  the 
defendant  Turley,  who  appeared,  pleaded  guilty. 

The  purchase  of  a  dozen  bottles  on  January  28  was  proved,  and 
Dr.  Hill  certified  that  the  glycerin  contained  40  per  cent,  of 
glucose  syrup. 

Defendant  asked  permission  to  make  a  statement,  and  said  that 
during  the  last  twelve  months  the  price  of  glycerin  had  gone 
nearly  from  £40  to  £80  per  ton.  People  who  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  getting  a  certain  size  bottle  for  one  penny  for  years- 
demanded  a  similar  one  now.  When  the  price  increased  they 
sent  out  half-sized  bottles,  but  the  people  would  not  have  them, 
and  their  travellers  said  that  as  other  people  were  "selling  the 
adulterated  article  they  would  have  to  do  so  if  they  were  to 


Feb.  27,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


195 


keep  their  trade  together.  The  article  in  question  was  never 
bought  for  medicinal  purposes,  but  only  for  rubbing  on  the  hands. 
Glucose  was  one  of  the  most  harmless  preparations  in  the  world. 

Mr.  Ryland  said  that  what  defendant  said  showed  that  the 
glycerin  was  adulterated  to  make  it  saleable  at  the  price. 

Mr.  Carter  (Justice’s  Clerk)  remarked  that  it  was  extraordinarily 
difficult  to  make  some  people  understand  the  Food  and  Drugs  Act. 
In  that  case  the  defendant  was  giving  himself  away. 

Defendant :  These  bottles  should  have  been  labelled  *  ‘  Glycerin 
Compound,”  and  then  it  would  have  prevented  me  being  here.  I 
have  been  in  the  trade  twenty-five  yeai’s,  and  I  have  never  been 
summoned  before,  and  samples  have  been  taken  from  my  place 
many  times.  Under  the  circumstances,  I  ask  you  to  deal  as 
leniently  with  me  as  you  can. 

Mr.  Ryland  :  This  may  be  the  first  time  you  have  been  found 
out,  but  it  is  not  the  first  time  of  adulteration.  Therefore  you 
will  have  to  pay  £5  and  costs.  I  think  you  will  do  well  to  get  a 
copy  of  the  Food  and  Drugs  Act  and  read  it  through. 

HIGH  COURT  OF  JUSTICE. 

Hunyadi  Janos  and  Uj  Hunyadi  Waters. 

On  the  hearing  of  the  action  of  Saxlehner  v.  the  Apollinaris  Co. 
being  resumed  on  Thursday  last,  the  following  gentlemen  were 
called  as  witnesses,  Mr.  Charles  Joseph  Rees,  of  Gray’s  Inn  Road  ; 
Mr.  Thomas  Hudson,  of  Liverpool  ;  Mr.  Thomas  F.  Abraham 
(Clay  and  Abraham),  Mr.  James  Thomson,  Mr.  Robert  Buchanan, 
managing-partner  of  the  Glasgow  Apothecaries  Co.  ;  Mr.  Adam 
Gibson,  wholesale  chemist,  Edinburgh  ;  Mr.  Augustus  W.  Orr, 
Dublin ;  Mr.  Thompson,  of  Thacker  and  Hobbs ;  and  Mr. 
Samuel  Parker  Boyd,  of  Boyd  and  Boyd.  The  effect  of 
these  gentlemen’s  evidence  was  that  “Apenta”  might  be 
passed  off  and  accepted  as  Hunyadi  J anos  water  previously  sold 
jjy  the  Apollinaris  Co.  Mr.  H.  D.  Skinner  then  deposed  to  having 
visited  thirteen  different  towns  in  the  United  Kingdom,  where 
he  had  obtained  from  chemists  bottles  of  “Apenta”  in  response 
to  his  request  for  “Hunyadi  Janos”  water. 

Sir  Frank  Lockwood,  in  opening  the  case  for  the  defendants, 
sketched  at  considerable  length  their  relationships  with  the  late 
Mr.  Saxlehner,  after  first  correcting  a  mistaken  impression  of  Mr. 
Richter,  the  plaintiff’s  manager,  that  the  cost  of  defendants’ 
springs  in  Buda-Pesth  was  100,000  florins,  it  being  400,000  florins, 
the  purchase  being  made  in  the  open  market  and  with  the  full 
knowledge  of  Mr.  Saxlehner.  He  indignantly  repudiated  the 
suggestion  that  there  had  been  a  deeply-laid  plot,  dating  back  to 
1876,  to  take  the  contract  from  Mr.  Saxlehner  and  to  convert  it  to 
defendants’  personal  ends.  The  hardship  of  this  suggestion  was 
the  more  keenly  felt  by  the  defendants,  seeing  that  they  spent 
not  less  than  £39,000  in  advertising  the  plaintiff’s  water,  and 
thereby  converting  an  absolutely  insignificant  trade  into  one  of 
world- wide  renown.  Not  a  tittle  of  evidence  had  been  given  to 
show  that  after  defendants  ceased  to  take  plaintiff’s  water  her 
previous  profits  were  diverted  to  them.  There  was,  in  1885,  a 
dispute,  followed  by  proceedings,  between  the  defendant  company 
and  Saxlehner  as  to  the  quality  of  the  water,  and  in  1887  a  judg¬ 
ment  was  given  in  respect  of  a  Hunyadi  water  called  Arpas.  Until 
the  alteration  of  the  law  in  Hungary  in  1895-6  there  were  any 
number  of  springs  used  and  waters  sold  there  under  as  many 
names  with  the  prefix  Hunyadi,  and  time  after  time  Saxlehner 
tried  but  failed  to  get  them  off  the  register,  until  the  amended  law 
placed  him  in  possession ;  and  but  for  the  defendant  com¬ 
pany’s  action  there  could  be  no  doubt  a  similar  result  would  have 
followed  here,  and  plaintiff  would  have  been  unable  to  say  that  for 
twenty  years  he  held  a  monopoly  in  the  water  in  this  country. 
As  to  the  defendants’  registration  of  the  trade  mark,  when  it  was 
discussed  between  them  and  Saxlehner,  whilst  they  insisted 
on  their  right  and  at  first  refused  to  transfer  it  to  his  name, 
eventually  they  consented  to  that  course.  And  to  show  their  bond 
fides,  when  efforts  were  in  1888  about  to  be  made  in  New  York  to 
dissolve  injunctions  granted  against  some  of  these  “Hunyadi” 
waters,  defendants  asked  Saxlehner  to  join  in  or  bear  the  expense 
of  contesting  the  cases  in  support  of  their  mutual  interests,  but  he 
declined.  The  dissolution  of  these  injunctions  being  allowed  to 
pass  unopposed,  operated  in  defendant’s  mind  in  introducing  their 
diamond  mark. 

Mr.  J ustice  Kekewich  here  intimated  that  the  learned  counsel 
need  not  further  deal  with  that  part  of  the  case,  as  he  was  satisfied 
there  was  no  substantial  ground  for  complaining  of  the  use  of  that 
mark. 

Sir  F.  Lockwood  said  this  mark  had  been  used  by  defendants 


from  1887,  with  regard  to  five  waters,  and  from  1890  on  four  others ; 
the  total  sales  being  355,000  bottles,  demonstrating  the  ground¬ 
lessness  of  the  charge  that  the  defendants’  was  a  fraudulent  con¬ 
spiracy.  As  further  proof  of  the  real  feeling  of  the  defendants,  he 
pointed  to  the  fact  that  when  in  1891  ’  Mr.  Justice  Romer  gave  a 
decision  with  reference  to  Hungarian  Aperient  Waters,  they 
withdrew  all  the  show  cards  they  had  issued  bearing  those  words, 
circularised  their  customers,  and  from  that  time  had  not  used  the 
phrase  in  their  advertisements  ;  they  also  put  on  their  Diamond 
Star  label,  a  note  that  it  was  simply  to  indicate  that  the  water  so 
sold  was  imported  by  the  Apollinaris  Company  ;  and  for  taking  pro¬ 
ceedings  at  Saxlehner’s  request,  against  persons  using 
the  word  “Hunyadi”  the  Hungarian  Courts  actually 
fined  them  as  “stiff-necked  litigants.”  He  should  prove 
that  the  springs  from  which'  '  defendants  draw  their 
water  were  in  tbe  same  district,  and  possessed  all  the  quali¬ 
ties  of  the  plaintiff’s,  and  some  which  were  superior,  The  whole 
operations  of  the  defendant  company  were  open  and  above  board, 
and  when  the  Hungarian  Courts,  On  an  ex  parte  application, 
expunged  their  names  from  the  register  in  that  country,  after  a 
short  time  for  consideration,  they  offered  to  withdraw  the  use  of 
the  word  here,  and  by  that  offer  they  'still  loyally  stood.  The 
“  Apenta  ”  label  was  expressly  designed  to  prevent  mistakes,  and 
he  submitted  that,  being  absolutely  distinct  from  the  plaintiff’s, 
the  defendants  were  entitled  to  use  it?*  ‘ 

Mr.  Julius  Prince,  the  former  seotetary,  and  now  a  director  of 
the  defendant  company,  was  then  called,  and  after  giving  certain 
evidence,  the  further  hearing  was  adjourned  to  Tuesday. 

When  the  case  was  resumed  on  Tuesday  last,  the  court  was  filled 
with  chemists  and  druggists,  some  fifty  of  whom,  it  was  rumoured, 
had  been  subpoenaed  to  speak  to  other  Hungarian  waters  having 
for  some  years  been  sold  in  this  country  as  “  Hunyadi,”  and  that 
the  get-up  of  the  defendants  was,  of  such  a  character  as  plainly 
to  distinguish  it  from  that  of  the  plaintiff. 

Mr.  Julius  Prince,  the  defendants’  managing  director,  having 
given  evidence  as  to  the  circumstances  under  which  they  acted, 
and  the  efforts  they  made  by  the  issue  of  30,000  circulars  to 
explain  their  position,  and  the  adoption  of  the  word  “Hunyadi” 
as  one  common  to  the  trade  and  used  on  a  number  of  Hungarian 
waters  sold  in  the  United  Kingdom, 

Sir  Frank  Lockwood  called  what  he  afterwards  described  as 
wholesale  and  retail  samples  of  a  mass  of  evidence  as  to  the  sale  of 
Hungarian  waters  as  “  Hunyadi”  and  the  adoption  and  probable 
effect  of  the  defendants’  diamond  trade-mark. 

The  gentlemen  called  included  Mr.:  T.  H.  W.  Idris,  who  said 
among  other  things  that  he  had  heard  of  customers  who  bought 
“Hunyadi”  ab  a  lower  price  than  his  firm  charged,  but  on 
investigation  they  found  it  was  nob  “Hunyadi  Janos,”  which  was 
the  only  kind  his  firm  sold. 

Mr.  Thomas  Best,  of  Henrietta  Street,  Cavendish  Square,  Mr. 
Sloper  (Randall,  Sloper,  and  Co.),  of  Southampton,  and  Mr.  Alex¬ 
ander  Bottle,  Dover.  The  latter  gentleman  said  that  if  a  customer 
applied  for  “  Hungarian  bitter  water  ”  he  should  supply  “  Hun¬ 
yadi  J&nos,”  because  that  was  the  original  water. 

Dr.  James  Welsh,  of  Dublin;  Mr.  W.  Page,  of  Ramsgate;  Mr. 
Andrew  Morrison,  of  Glasgow;  and  Mn  John  Ray,  manager  to 
Taylor’s  Drug  Company,  of  High  Holborn,  who  had  had  twenty 
years’  experience  in  the  mineral  water  trade,  were  also  called,  and 

Sir  Frank  Lockwood,  in  summing  up  the  defendants’  case,  said 
that  as  owners  of  springs  in  the  same  district  as  Saxlehner’s,  finding 
the  competition  in  what  they  regarded  as  a  word  common  to  the 
trade,  they  in  self-defence  adopted  it,  as  identifying  their  water, 
and  in  the  belief  that  they  were  entitled  to  use  it  in  connection 
with  what  had  become  recognised  as  their  diamond  trade  mark. 
He  did  not  hesitate  to  attribute  to  Saxlehner’s  influence  over  the 
authorities  in  Hungary  their  decision  ex  parte  to  grant  him  the 
exclusive  use  of  the  word  in  that  district,  but  when  the  dafendant3 
heard  of  this  they  altered  their  label,  which  was  now  so  distinctive 
from  the  plaintiff’s  as  justified  his  submission  that  it  was  not 
calculated  to  mislead. 

Mr.  Justice  Kekewich  intimated  that  he  should  grant  a  limited 
injunction  restraining  the  use  of  the  word  “  Hunyadi,”  but  invited 
Sir  Frank  to  address  himself  to  the  question  of  an  inquiry  as  to 
damages. 

Sir  Frank  Lockwood  submitted  that  no  damages  having  been 
either  pleaded  or  proved,  his  lordship  would  nob  enlarge  the  relief 
asked  for.  0  .  1 

Mr.  Warrington  having  been  heard  on  the  same  side, 


196 


PJTARMACEUT I  CAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  27,  1897 


Mr.  Warmington,  in  reply,  on  his  lordship  suggesting  that  he 
proposed  to  deal  somewhat  severely  with  the  matter  of  costs,  sub¬ 
mitted  that  the  plaintiff  was  driven  to  this  litigation  in  order  to 
protect  her  own  interests.  He  had  not  concluded  his  address 
when  the  Court  rose  for  the  day. 

On  Wednesday  Mr.  Warmington  continued  his  argument  in 
reply,  with  a  view  to  showing  that  the  plaintiff  was  entitled  to 
the  full  costs  of  the  action,  and  cited  several  decisions  of  the 
House  of  Lords  to  show  that  he  was  justified  in  the  course  he  had 
pursued  in  opening  the  case,  and  in  the  evidence  he  bad  adduced. 
He  also  urged  that  the  plaintiff  was  entitled  to  an  account  of 
profits,  for  which  he  cited  Lever  v.  Goodwin,  the  sunlight  soap 
case. 

Mr.  Warrington  having  made  some  comments  on  the  cases  cited 
in  reply  by  Mr.  Warmington,  his  lordship  reserved  judgment. 

CORONER’S  INQUEST. 

The  Unrestricted  Sale  of  Chlorodyne. 

The  Manchester  City  Coroner  held  a  lengthy  inquiry  on  Feb¬ 
ruary  23,  touching  the  death  of  Annie  Salter,  sixteen  years  of  age, 
small  ware  weaver  of  Maple  Street,  Hulrne,  Manchester.  On 
February  20  the  girl  purchased  three  pennyworth  of  chlorodyne, 
saying  she  wanted  it  for  a  cough.  On  the  following  Monday  she 
was  found  lying  in  bed,  unconscious,  and  died  at  the  Royal 
Infirmary  from  chlorodyne  poisoning.  An  open  verdict  was 
returned,  and  the  Coroner,  commenting  upon  the  purchase  of  the 
poison  by  the  deceased,  said  if  the  sale  of  chlorodyne  had  been 
stopped  long  ago  many  lives  would  have  been  saved.  If  it  was  to 
be  used  at  all,  it  ought  to  be  sold  with  the  utmost  caution,  and 
never  to  children.  It  had  been  the  opinion  of  coroners  for  years 
that  the  free  sale  of  chlorodyne  ought  to  be  stopped. 


NEW  REMEDIES. 

[ Inventors  and  manufacturers  are  invited  to  submit  specimens  of 
novelties,  descriptive  notices  of  which  will  be  inserted  for  the  informa¬ 
tion  of  readers  of  the  Journal.  Whenever  possible,  illustrative  blocks 
adapted  to  the  width  of  the  Journal  columns  should  accompany  the 
particulars  sent.  Address  :  Editorial  Department,  17,  Bloomsbury 
Square,  W.C.\ 


Chelidonine  Salts  as  Anodynes. — Chelidonine  phosphate  and 
chelodine  sulphate  are  colourless  crystalline  salts  easily  soluble  in 
water  ;  the  tannate  is  a  whitish  yellow  powder  almost  insoluble  in 
water,  soluble  in  spirits  of  wine.  It  contains  53 -5  per  cent,  of 
pure  alkaloid.  These  chelidonine  salts  are  recommended  for  alvine 
pain,  and  as  a  sedative  in  ulceration  of  the  stomach  in  place  of 
opiates.  The  dose  is  from  10  to  20  centigrammes. — Ph.  Zeit., 
xlii.,  107. 


Fumitory  in  Skin  Diseases. — The  aqueous  extract  of  Fumaria 
parvijlora  is  recommended  in  doses  of  0  '5  to  2‘0  Gm.  as  a  specific 
for  leprosy,  cancer,  eczema,  and  similar  diseases.  It  acts  as 
a  laxative  and  as  diuretic. — Ph.  Zeit.,  xlii.,  107. 


Monol  ;  Calcium  -Permanganate. — Bordas  suggests  “monol” 
as  a  synonym  for  calcium  permanganate,  which  he  finds  to  be  an 
antiseptic  and  germicide  more  powerful  than  the  corresponding 
potassium  salt.  We  cannot  regard  the  synonym  as  necessary  ;  the 
chemical  name  of  the  salt  is  not  indefinite  as  monol  is,  nor 
unwieldy  as  are  those  of  some  synthetic  bodies  where  an  abbreviated 
and  terse  name  is  a  necessity  for  lay  use. 


Bismuth  Tribromophenol  as  an  Antiseptic. — Cumston  states 
that  of  all  the  groups  of  antiseptics,  bismuthum  tribrompheny- 
licum,  or,  as  it  is  also  termed,  “xeroform,”  is  recognised  as  the 
most  active,  first,  because  it  contains,  besides  49  per  cent,  of 
oxide  of  bismuth,  50  per  cent,  of  triobromophenol,  while  other 
products  only  contain  from  10  to  20  per  cent,  phenol  cresol,  or 
naphthol ;  and,  secondly,  tribromophenol  is  more  antiseptic  than 
phenol.  It  is  a  fine  yellow  neutral  powder,  which  does  not  decom¬ 
pose  when  exposed  to  light ;  its  odour  is  slightly  carbolic,  it  is 
tasteless,  and  does  not  irritate  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  diges¬ 
tive  tract.  The  author  strongly  recommends  this  substance  to  the 
profession  as  a  safe  and  sure  antiseptic,  and  in  many  respects 
superior  to  iodoform  or  other  powders  of  tbis  class. — Bos.  Med.  and 
Sur.Jour.,  cxxxvi.,  37.  ... 


NEW  IDEAS. 


Vinolia  Sachet 

Sffi/anckau,  (^r 

LONDRES  KCW-YORK 


PERFUMES  AND  TOILET  ARTICLES. 

Messrs.  Blondeau  et  Cie,  of  Malden  Crescent,  evidently 
intend  to  keep  pace  with  the  times,  and  are  constantly  adding- 
novelties  to  their  list.  During  the  comparatively  few  years  this 
firm  has  been  established  they  have  come  to  the  front,  and  mean 
to'  stay  there  if  one  may  judge  by  the  care,  ingenuity,  and  taste 
devoted  to  their  productions.  One  of  their  latest  methods  for 
publicity  is  to  present  free  to  buyers  of  one  gross  of  perfumes  a 

specially  designed  display 
counter  card  holding  three 
dozen  tiny  samples  of  the 
different  odours,  which  can 
be  retailed  at  3d.  or  given 
away  to  customers  when 
thought  advisable.  Vinolia 
Sachets,  comprising  six¬ 
teen  different  kinds,  each 
in  an  elegant  envelope, 
printed  in  subdued  tints, 
and  bearing  a  small  artistic 
vignette,  are  amongst  the 
latest  novelties.  A  smaller 
size  of  the  well-known  Vestal  Vinolia  Soap,  three  tablets  in 
a  box,  and  retailing  at  4s.  (id. ,  has  recently  been  added  for 
the  convenience  of  those  not  requiring  the 
larger  size.  As  our  readers  are  aware,  Messrs. 

Blondeau  supply  some  of  their  preparations 
in  decorated  porcelain  vases  ;  these  can  now 
be  obtained  without  lettering,  so  that  when 
the  contents  have  been  used  the  vases  are 
more  suitable  for  ornamental  purposes.  A  i§j 
further  concession  to  the  convenience  of  Ife 
consumers  is  that  the  Blondeau  Perfumes 
are  supplied  with  sprinklers  instead  of 
stoppers.  There  are  now  thirty-six  varieties 
in  this  series,  and  amongst  the  most  popu¬ 
lar  are  white  rose,  violette  cle  parmes,  and  wood 
violet.  For  those  who  require  an  antiseptic 
dentifrice  Messrs.  Blondeau  provide  a  Carbolic 
Tooth  Powder  in  (id.  and  Is.  patent  metal  boxes.  Violet  Powder- 
in  a  new  style,  put  up  in  J-lb.  tins,  to  retail  at  Qd.,  and  anew 
series  of  cheap  Toilet  Soaps,  six  in  a  box,  and  retailing  at  2d.  a 
tablet,  each  with  an  embossed  figure  of  Britannia,  are  also 
amongst  recent  additions.  The  latest  novelty  is  Savon  Violette- 
de  Parmes  ;  both  box  and  wrapper  are  tastefully  decorated  with 
floral  device,  printed  in  violet,  and  forming  a  welcome  addition 
to  the  Favourite  Perfume  Soaps. 


. 


LACTOMALTINE. 

A  special  feature  of  this  preparation  is  that  combined  with  tho 
well-known  properties  of  malt  extract  are  incorporated  milk  and 
cream,  thus  forming  what  the  makers  describe  as  “an  ideal  flesh¬ 
forming  food,”  containing,  they  claim,  all  the  elements  necessary 
to  make  a  “nutritious,  palatable,  and  strengthening”  preparation, 
which  surpasses  cod-liver  oil  preparations  by  reason  of  its  efficacy 
and  stability,  the  fats  of  the  milk  and  cream  replacing  the  oil. 
The  Lactomaltine  Company,  whose  address  is  35,  Snow  Hill, 
London,  E.C.,  also  places  it  on  the  market  in  conjunction 
with  hypophosphites.  Both  preparations  are  well  made  and 
presentable.  The  get-up  of  the  packages  is  also  attractive, 
and  the  sticky  corks  in  the  uniquoly-misshapen  bottles  are  neatly 
covered  with  celluloid  caps. 


CHEAVIN’S  MICROBE-PROOF  FILTERS. 

The  filtering  medium  employed  by  the  Fulham  Pottery  and 
Cheavin  Filter  Co.,  Ltd.  ,  is  in  the  form  of  “  candles  ”  or  bougies, 
which  are  composed  of  a  kind  of  unglazed  porcelain  of  very  fine 
texture.  They  can  be  used  as  drip  filters  or  as  pressure  filters  by 
suitable  connections  with  a  supply  tap.  An  examination  has  been 
made  of  one  of  the  former,  having  a  capacity  of  2g  gallons,  and  fitted 
with  five  filtering  tubes.  This,  when  kept  continually  filled  with 
ordinary  tap  water,  delivered  filtered  water  at  the  rate  of  six 
pints  per  twenty-four  hours.  The  filter  effects  a  complete- 


Feb.  2?,  1837] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


197 


separation  of  even  the  most  minute  suspended  particles— yielding, 
for  instance,  a  colourless  filtrate  when  finely  divided  ultramarine  is 
suspended  in  the  water.  Experiments  on  a  pressure  filter  con¬ 
taining  one  filtering  tube  gave  the  following  results.  The  water 
pressure  being  equal  to  a  column  of  mercury  16  inches  in  height, 
filtered” water  was  delivered  at  the  rate  of  three  pints  per  hour.  The 
mechanical  parts  of  these  pressure  filters  are  well  made  and  finished, 
and  easily  removed  and  replaced  after  cleansing.  With  regard  to 
its  sterilising  power  the  following  experiments  were  conducted 
with  the  pressure  filter.  The  filtering  tube  was  boiled  in  water 
for  one  hour,  afterwards  being  replaced  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
avoid  risk  of  contamination.  The  water,  delivered  at  a  pressure 
equal  to  16  inches  of  mercury,  was  then  turned  on,  and  1  C.c.  of  the 
filtrate  added  to  separate  gelatin  culture  tubes  at  the  following 
intervals 

(1)  One  minute  after  turning  water  on 

(2)  One  hour  ,,  ,,  ,, 

(3)  Two  hours  ,,  ,,  ,, 

The  tubes  were  then  incubated  for  five  days  at  37°  C. ,  and  all 
gave  negative  results.  A  fourth  gelatin  tube  inoculated  with 
unfiltered  water  from  the  same  supply  was  turbid,  and  showed 
abundant  evidence  of  the  presence  of  micro-organisms. 


COD-LIVER  OIL  WITH  HYP0PH03PHITE3. 

Pharmaceutical  skill  is  displayed  to  advantage  in  the  excellent 
emulsion  prepared  by  Messrs.  J.  Robinson  and  Co.,  of  Norwich. 
It  is  of  agreeable  odour  and  taste,  and  not  too  thick  to  pour 
easily.  Yet  the  emulsion  contains  66  per  cent,  of  cod-liver  oil. 
Everything  combines,  therefore,  to  recommend  the  Norfolk 
Emulsion  of  Cod  Liver  Oil  with  Hypophosphites  as  a  first-class 
pharmaceutical  preparation,  likely  to  be  of  great  benefit  by  reason 
of  its  tonic  and  nutritive  properties. 


TOILET  SOAPS  AND  PERFUMERY. 

Of  the  making  of  soaps,  and  converting  them  into  toilet  soaps, 
there  is  no  end,  but  the  fact  that  each  fresh  lot  of  specimens  ex¬ 
amined  seems  in  some  respect  uncommon  and  therefore  attractive 
would  appear  to  prove  that  in  this  direction,  as  in  others,  competi¬ 
tion  is  decidedly  healthful.  French  soaps  are  usually  most 
attractive,  but  those  prepared  by  Messrs.  Bergmann  and  Co. ,  of 
Dresden,  are  not  likely  to  suffer  by  any  amount  of  comparison. 
The  Almond  Soap  and  Lily-Milk  Soap  may  be  singled  out  for 
special  reference,  whilst  the  firm  is  also  to  be  warmly  commended 
on  the  excellence  of  its  extract  Double  d’Opoponax.  Mr.  L.  Brager, 
of  13,  Grindlay  Street,  Edinburgh,  is  the  British  agent. 


COCA-KOLA  WINE. 

A  combination  of  the  properties  of  coca,  kola,  and  quinine  is 
offered  by  Messrs.  Potter  and  Clarke,  of  Artillery  Lane,  E. ,  in 
their  Coca-Kola  Wine  ;  which  is  attractively  put  up  in  half-pint 
bottles  to  retail  at  one  shilling  each.  The  wine  possesses  all  the 
elegance  usually  associated  with  the  firm’s  preparations,  and 
appears  to  be  at  least  as  good  as  anything  of  its  kind  on  the 
market. 


CYMRALIS  WATER, 

Natural  mineral  waters  of  home  production  should  be  widely 
patronised  if  possessing  sufficient  merit,  and  the  Cymralis  Water 
seems  to  meet  every  requirement  of  a  pure  table  water.  It  is  of 
exceptional  organic  purity,  contains  a  small  proportion  of 
mineral  constituents,  and  is  very  slightly  alkaline.  The  water  is 
also  aerated  to  the  right  degree,  and  is  in  no  degree  inferior  to 
foreign  natural  mineral  waters.  The  proprietors  are  Messrs. 
R.  Ellis  and  Son,  Ruthin,  North  Wales. 


AUTOSPRAYS  ANH  AUTOCLAVES. 

The  Medico-Hygienic  Inventions  Company,  Limited,  of  63, 
Queen  Victoria  Street,  E.C.,  has  quite  recently  been  formed  for 
the  purpose  of  introducing  to  pharmacists  and  the  medical  profes¬ 
sion  such  new  inventions,  etc.,  as  represent  the  progress  of  modern 


science,  especially  in  its  relation  to  the  healing  art.  A  good  begin¬ 
ning  has  been  made  xvith  two  distinct  novelties,  viz. ,  Monnet’s  Auto¬ 
sprays  and  Trillat’s  Autoclave  for  disinfection  by  formaldehyde 
vapour,  the  patent  rights  over  the  United  Kingdom  for  both  which 
inventions  have  been  secured  by  the  Company.  Mr.  Michael 
Carteighe  is  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  the  other  members 
being  Messrs.  Robert  W.  Greeff,  Gustave  Pertsch,  and  Heinrich 
Helbmg  (Managing  Director).  The  Company  looks  for  support 
chiefly  amongst  chemists  and  the  medical  profession,  to  whom  the 
advantages  of  its  products  specially  appeal,  and  they  invite  appli¬ 
cation  from  chemists  who  are  willing  to  become  sub-agents.  The 
autosprays  are  solutions  of  active  medicaments  in  a  liquid  of  low 
boiling-point,  and  are  contained  in  glass  tubes  having  capillary 
outlets,  through  which  the  liquid  is  capable  of  being  forced  by  the 
elastic  tension  of  its  own  vapour.  When  nob  in  use,  the  orifice  of 
the  tube  is  closed  by  an  ingeniously-constructed  metallic  cap, 
which  effectually  prevents  loss  by  evaporation.  On  removing  the 
cap  and  inverting  the  tube  a  jeb  of  liquid  issues  as  a  fine  spray, 


Monnet’s  “ Autospray”  in  Use. 


which  may  be  directed  against  any  surface  or  into  any  cavity 
requiring  medication.  The  solvent  evaporates  immediately,  leaving 
the  medicament  (be  it  iodoform,  carbolic  acid,  menthol  or  other 
drug)  distributed  in  a  uniform  layer  and  finely  divided  condition 
on  the  surface  which  has  been  exposed  to  the  action  of  the  auto¬ 
spray.  The  solvent  is  practically  uninflammable  ;  a  stream  of  ib 
may  even  be  directed  through  a  gas-flame  without  danger.  A 
great  number  of  substances  readily  lend  themselves  to  the  method ; 
amongst  those  actually  in  use  may  be  mentioned  collodium,  carbolic 
acid,  corrosive  sublimate,  creolin,  eucalyptol,  iodine,  ichthyol, 
iodoform,  naphthol,  oil  of  mustard,  resorcin,  salicylic  acid,  etc. 
The  autospray  is  evidently  more  cleanly  than  the  time-honoured 
lotion  or  ointment,  and  the  ease,  readiness,  and  rapidity  with 
which  ib  may  be  applied  are  obvious  advantages. 

The  second  novelty  pioneered  by  this  company  is  the  autoclave, 
an  apparatus  for  the  disinfection  of  rooms  and  houses  after  infec¬ 
tious  diseases  by  Trillat’s  system  of  disinfection  by  formaldehyde 
vapour.  It  is  a  well-established  fact  that  formaldehyde,  the  germi¬ 
cide  which  rivals  mercuric  chloride  in  its  inhibitory  influence  on 
pathogenic  organisms,  acts  to  the  greatest  advantage  when  em¬ 
ployed  in  the  state  of  vapour.  Indeed,  powerful  as  the  disinfectant 
properties  of  the  commercial  solution  are  known  to  be  they  do  not 
compare  with  the  germicidal  power  of  this  agent  when  in  the 
gaseous  condition.  Hitherto  disinfection  of  rooms  has  been  brought 
about  either  by  diffusing  formaldehyde  solution  in  the  form  of  spray  or 
by  generating  it  in  the  apartment  by  the  partial  oxidation  of  methy- 
lic  alcohol  in  a  specially  constructed  lamp.  Both  of  these  methods  are 
open  to  serious  disadvantages  in  practice,  nor  is  the  evaporation  of 
the  solution  more  satisfactory  on  account  of  the  tendency  of  the 
formaldehyde  to  polymerise  on  heating.  The  Autoclave,  however, 
in  conjuction  with  the  special  liquid,  now  overcomes  these  diffi¬ 
culties,  and  affords  an  abundant  supply  of  gaseous  formaldehyde 
free  from  aqueous  vapour  and  the  solid  para  compound.  The  prin¬ 
ciple  of  its  action  depends  on  the  fact  that  when  commercial  formal¬ 
dehyde  solution  is  heated  in  a  closed  vessel  with  a  water-retaining 
salb,  such  as  calcium  chloride,  under  a  pressure  of  45  to  60  lbs.  to 
the  square'  inch,  pure  formaldehyde  vapour  is  freely  disengaged. 


198 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  21,  1897 


The  apparatus  manufactured  in  England  by  the  Medico-Hygienic 
Inventions  Company  consists  of  a  strong  copper  vessel  (capable 
of  withstanding  a  pressure  of  150  lbs.  to  the  square  inch),  sup¬ 
ported  on  a  stand,  and  furnished  with  a  stop-valve,  thermometer, 
pressure  gauge,  and  removable  cover,  the  latter  being  secured 
by  bolts  and  a  rubber  ring.  Attached  to  the  stop-valve  is  three 
or  four  feet  of  fine  copper  tube  of  about  1/16  in.  bore,  the 
object  being  to  insert  this  in  the  keyhole  of  the  apartment.  The. 
following  is  the  usual  method  of  disinfecting  a  room  on  Trillat’s 
system  :  —The  Autoclave  having  been  filled  to  about  two-thirds  with 
the  patented  solution  formochlorol  (commercial  formaldehyde  solu¬ 
tion  and  calcium  chloride),  the  cover  is  screwed  down,  the  petro¬ 
leum  vapour  lamp  lighted  beneath  the  apparatus,  and  the 
exit  tube  inserted  in  the  keyhole  of  the  door  of  the  apart¬ 
ment  to  be  disinfected.  In  about  half  an  hour’s  time 
the  guage  indicates  a  pressure  of  50  to  60 lbs.,  the  stop- valve  is 
then  opened  and  the  gaseous  formaldehyde,  as  a  blue  vapour, 
passes  into  tho  room.  After  the  expiration  of  an  hour  or  more, 
or  when  the  evolution  of  vapour  ceases,  the  tube  is  withdrawn, 
the  keyhole  stopped,  and  the  formaldehyde  allowed  to  act  on  the 
objects  in  the  room  for  the  space  of  five  or  six  hours.  Disin¬ 
fection  may  then  be  considered  to  be  complete  and  the  room 
cleared  by  free  ventilation.  Formaldehyde  vapour  has  been  sho  vn 
by  repeated  experiments  on  the  Continent  to  be  most  thorough  in 
its  effects,  for  with  the  exception  of  a  few  very  resistant  non- 
pathogenic  organisms  all  disease- producing  bacteria  are  destroyed 
by  ib.  Under  Trillat’s  system  the  whole  of  the  operations  can  be 
conducted  from  the  outside,  so  that  the  attendant  is  not  compelled 
to  enter  an  infected  apartment,  nor  need  the  furniture  of  the  room 
even  be  disturbed.  Ordinary  materials,  all  dyes  in  common  use, 
metal?,  &c  ,  are  not  affected  or  injured  in  any  way  by  the  action 
of  formaldehyde  during  the  disinfecting  process. 


OBITUARY. 


Bradley. — On  February  14,  Edwin  Sylvester  Bradley,  Chemist 
and  Druggist,  Ashbourn.  Mr.  Bradley  had  been  a  member  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  since  1869,  and  for  the  last  twelve  years 
had  devoted  a  great  deal  of  time  to  the  public  service,  being  Chair¬ 
man  of  the  Ashbourn  Urban  District  Council  and  of  several  com¬ 
mittees  of  that  body,  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Guardians,  and  of 
the  Gas  Company.  He  also  represented  Ashbourn  on  the  County 
Council,  was  one  of  the  esteemed  assistants  of  the  Grammar 
School,  and  also  a  member  of  the  Governing  Body  of  the  School. 
For  well  nigh  a  century  and  a  half  the  family  of  Bradley  has  been 
associated  with  not  only  the  trade,  but  every  good  work  in  Ash¬ 
bourn,  so  that  the  news  of  Mr.  Bradley’s  death  caused  widespread 
sorrow,  reference  being  made  to  the  sad  event  at  all  the  places  of 
worship  in  the  town .  The  funeral  took  place  on  Wednesday,  the 
17th  inst.,  amidst  universal  regret.  Aged  57. 

Howe. — On  February  16,  Joseph  Mason  Howe,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  Egremont,  Cumberland.  Aged  50. 

Taylor. — On  February  17,  John  Taylor,  chemist  and  druggist, 
Ipswich.  Death  occurred  rather  suddenly  at  Blakenham, 
where  he  had  gone  for  a  day’s  fishing.  Shortly  before  five 
o’clock  he  packed  his  fishing  tackle  and  started  along  the  tow- 
path  towards  Claydon  Station,  but  had  not  proceeded  far  when 
he  began  to  stagger.  A  man  ran  to  his  assistance,  but  he 
gradually  sank  to  the  ground  and  died.  An  inquest  was  held, 
and  a  verdict  returned  in  accordance  with  the  medical  evidence, 
that  death  was  due  to  syncope  of  the  heart.  Aged  72. 


PUBLISHERS’  NOTICE. 


COVERS  FOR  BINDING. 

Cloth  gilt-lettered  covers  for  binding  the  half-yearly  volume  of 
the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  are  Supplied  by  the  Publishers,  at 
a  charge,  including  postage,  of  Is.  6d.  each. 


All  Orders  and  Remittances  should  be  Sent  to  the 
Publishers,  5,  Serle  Street,  London,  W.G 


NOTICES  TO  CORRESPONDENTS. 


All  Communications  foi1  the  Journal  must,  be  Addressed  to 
the  Editor,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  London,  and  not  in 
any  case  to  individuals  supposed  to  be  connected  with 
the  Editorial  Staff ;  no  responsibility  can  be  accepted 
unless  this  rule  be  observed.  Communications  for  the 
Current  Week’s  Journal  should  reach  the  Office  not  later 
than  Wednesday,  but  news  can  be  Received  by  Telegraph 
until  4  p.m.  on  Thursday. 

Advertisements  and  orders  for  copies  of  the  Journal  must  be  addressed  to 
the  Publishers,  5,  Serle  Street,  Lincoln’s  Inn,  London.  Choques  and  money 
orders  should  be  made  payable  to  “  Street  Brothers.” 

Correspondents  should  write  in  ink,  on  one  side  of  the  paper  only,  and  must 
authenticate  the  matter  sent  with  their  names  and  addresses— of  course 
not  necessarily  for  publication.  No  notice  can  bo  taken  of  anonymous 
communications. 

Drawings  for  illustrations  should  be  executed  twice  the  desired  size  ;  clean 
sharp  lines  being  drawn  with  a  pen  and  liquid  Chinese  ink.  Shading  by 
washes  is  inadmissible.  Photographs  can  be  utilised  in  certain  cases. 

Names  and  Formulas  should  be  written  with  extra  care,  all  systematic  names 
of  plants  and  animals  being  underlined,  and  capital  letters  used  to  commence 
generic  but  not  specific  names. 

Reprints  of  articles  cannot  be  supplied  unless  authors  communicate  with 
tho  Editor  before  publication. 


LETTERS  TO  THE  EDITOR. 


Help  for  the  Benevolent  Fund. 

Sir, — -In  furtherance  of  the  appeals  which  have  already  appeared 
in  tho  Pharmaceutical  Journal  (pages  198  and  119)  we  would  take 
the  opportunity  afforded  by  the  special  issue  to  press  home  the 
claims  of  the  Benevolent  Fund,  on  every  one  connected  with  the 
trade — employers,  assistants,  and  apprentices — and  to  again  urge 
in  connection  therewith,  the  special  fitness  of  this  present  year 
for  a  big  effort  to  obtain  increased  subscriptions  or  donations  to 
this  charity.  We  would  suggest  that  local  secretaries  should  solicit 
the  assistance  of  their  brother  chemists,  so  that  personal  appeal 
may  be  made  at  every  place  of  business  and  the  necessities  of  the 
Fund  be  duly  set  forth.  We  are  satisfied  that  only  good  can  result 
from  the  adoption  of  such  measures.  Where  there  is  no  local 
eecretary,  surely  some  energetic  and  sympathetic  chemist  will  rise 
to  the  occasion  and  make  it  his  special  duty. 

(Signed)  Wm.  L.  Currie, 

Local  Secretary  for  Glasgow. 

John  Smith, 

Local  Secretary  for  Liverpool. 

February  A),  1S97.  Harry  Kemp, 

Local  Secretary  for  Manchester. 


Sir,— I  consider  that  I  am  quite  sufficiently  taxed — 2 l-v.  to  the 
Society  and  2s.  6 d.  to  the  Benevolent  Fund  per  annum — but 
perhaps  others  would  subscribe  if  the  Fund  was  administered 
differently.  On  the  principle  that  “  those  who  will  not  work, 
neither  shall  they  eat,”  I  would  say,  those  who  will  not  contribute, 
neither  shall  they  participate  or  be  eligible  for  assistance  or 
support  out  of  the  Fund.  The  2s.  6 d.  per  annum  is  within  the 
reach  of  any  willing  subscriber,  and  yet  as  each  voting  paper 
comes  round  we  find  about  half  of  the  “  recommended  candidates 
or  applicants”  are  those  whose  records  of  subscriptions  to  the 
Society  or  Fund  are  “blank.”  Never  in  all  the  days  of  their 
prosperity  have  they  considered  it  worth  while  to  contribute  a 
humble  2s.  6 cl.  per  annum,  and  yet  when  the  dark  days  come  upon 
them,  they  fly  for  help  to  the  very  Fund  which  for  so  many  years 
they  have  ignored.  It  is  not  fair  to  the  old  subscribers  that  they 
should  be  cold-shouldered  to  make  room  for  those  who  have  never 
subscribed,  but  if  every  chemist  will  send  his  mite,  this  Fund  will 
lie  greatly  assisted,  and  we  shall  all  have  a  title  to  its  benefits  of 
which  we  may  or  may  not  need  to  avail  ourselves.  But  while 

A.  B.  and  C.  stand  an  equal  chance  of  becoming  an  annuitant,  when 
only  A.  has  lifted  a  finger  to  help  on  the  Benevolent  Fund,  which 

B.  and  0.  have  ignored,  it  seems  to  me  to  offer  little  inducement 
to  would-be  subscribers,  and  rather  a  recommendation  to  keep  .tho 
subscription  in  one’s  pocket. 

Portsmouth, February  20,  18971  Herbert  II.  Bailey. 

Sir, — For  some  little  time  the  question  of  how  best  to  celebrate 
this  glorious  reign  of  Her  Most  Gracious  Majesty  the  Queen,  with 
special  reference  to  the  Benevolent  Fund,  has  been  engaging  the 
attention  of  my  brother  local  and  divisional  secretaries  in  the 


Fbb.  27,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


199 


Midlands.  And  it  is  thought  that  the  annual  supper  (held  in 
May)  of  the  Midland  Pharmaceutical  Association  should  be 
altered  to  a  Benevolent  Fund  Dinner,  to  which  ladies  be  invited 
to  be  present.  A  special  meeting  of  the  Council  is  to  be  held  at 
an  early  date  to  consider  the  matter.  In  the  meantime  we  shall 
be  glad  if  the  wholesale  houses  and  those  gentlemen  in  the  dis¬ 
trict  who  propose  to  give  a  special  subscription  or  donation  will 
communicate  their  views  to  Mr.  F.  J.  Gibson  (president  of  the  Mid¬ 
land  Pharmaceutical  Association),  Wolverhampton,  or  to 

Birmingham,  February  22,  1897.  Charles  Thompson. 

Local  Secretary. 


Solubility  of  Iodine  in  Cod-Liver  Oil. 

Sir, — Can  you  give  me  any  information,  or  refer  me  to  any 
book,  on  the  subject  of  the  solubility  of  iodine  in  cod  liver  oil  V 
Does  it  combine  chemically  with  the  oil  or  only  dissolve  in  it, 
and  does  the  solution  keep  unchanged  ?  If  any  of  your  corre¬ 
spondents  will  give  their  experience,  I  shall  be  extremely  grateful, 
as  I  have  had  to  prepare  some,  and  find  it  variable  in  its  keep¬ 
ing  properties. 

Ventnor,  February  20,  1897.  M.  Gibson. 


A  Minor  Man’s  Grievance. 

Sir,— A  brother  in  “  trade” — call  it  what  you  like,  a  “  trade  ”  it 
is — when  talking  on  matters  pharmaceutical  the  other  week,  gave 
me  some  rather  startling  facts  concerning  the  manner  in  which 
pharmacy  is  conducted  in  the  West  of  Scotland.  He  has  some¬ 
where  about  fifteen  years’  experience,  and  having  passed  his  Minor 
exam. ,  lie  sought  out  fresh  fields  and  pastures  new,  with  a  good 
object  in  view,  viz.,  better  salary.  He  applied  to  various  whole¬ 
sale  houses  for  a  change,  but  met  with  no  good  results.  He  was 
plainly  told  that  qualified  men  were  not  much  in  demand  in 
the  west,  as  the  bulk  of  the  dispensing,  etc.,  was  in  the  hands  of 
the  medical  men  who  kept  open  shop  (with  few  exceptions)  with 
unqualified  assistants.  Having  failed  to  attain  his  object,  he 
thereafter  looked  out  for  a  suitable  place  to  open  a  business  on  his 
own  account,  and  here  again  arose  the  same  barrier.  Now,  what 
inducement  has  any  young  man  got  to  enter  the  pharmaceutical 
line  at  all  ?  If  company  concerns  (as  we  hear)  are  knocking  things 
all  to  sticks  in  England,  then  these  doctors’  shops  are  the  bane  of 
contention  in  Scotland,  and  to  whom  have  we  to  look  for  redress  ? 
Apparently  neither  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  nor  the  General 
Medical  Council  is  much  inclined  to  interfere,  and  what  object 
has  the  Glasgow  and  West  of  Scotland  Pharmaceutical  Association 
in  view  ? 

February  23,  1897.  An  A.  Ph.  S.  (82/28). 

*x*  The  capacity  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  to  deal  with  the  evils  referred  to, 
must  depend  upon  the  extent  to  which  it  is  a  co-partnership  of  the  trade. 
If  that  were  more  generally  the  case  the  interests  of  chemists  and  druggists 
might  he  protected  even  more  effectually  than  those  of  the  medical  profession 
can  he  protected  by  the  General  Medical  Council.— [Editor,  P./.] 


On  Check  Tills. 

Sir,— The  very  best  till  of  the  present  day  is  the  “  National 
Cash  Register,”  No.  79.  You  press  the  button  ;  it  does  the  rest, 
as  follows  : — Displays  the  amount  of  customer’s  purchase  ;  prints 
a  type- written  receipt,  which  is  dated  and  numbered ;  adds  the 
total  up  as  fast  as  the  money  is  taken  ;  keeps  a  duplicate  record  of 
every  transaction  on  a  separate  roll  inside.  It  keeps  assistants 
careful  in  handling  the  cash.  The  easiest  and  quickest  till  to  use 
after  the  first  three  or  four  days.  It  settles  all  disputes,  such  as 
wrong  change,  etc.  It  costs  £50.  and  is  worth  three  times  the 
amount. 

Torquay,  February  23,  1897.  E.  A.  Holloway. 


A  Case  of  Impersonation. 

Sir, — A  few  weeks  ago  I  engaged  an  assistant  to  manage  a 
branch  business.  I  engaged  him  as  a  qualified  chemist,  and  found 
the  name  given  on  the  Register  for  1896,  the  address  being  a 
large  dispensing  house  in  the  West-end.  I  accidentally  discovered 
that  he  was  not  a  qualified  man,  and  that  he  was  impersonating 
his  brother,  who  had  passed  the  Minor  but  was  now  in  a 
foreign  land.  Inquiries  at  the  registered  address  showed  that  the 
qualified  brother  had  left  this  large  establishment  some  seven  or 
eight  years,  but  no  alteration  had  taken  place  in  the  address.  It 
seems  to  me  radically  wrong  that  a  man  should  be  allowed  to  use 
an  address  which  he  has  left  for  so  long  a  period,  and  I  think  some 
standing  rule  ought  to  be  adopted  in  this  and  similar  houses,  that 
all  assistants  leaving  should  immediately  give  notice  of  change  of 


residence  to  the  Registi’ar.  E  vidently  the  annual  communications 
from  the  Society  had  been  forwarded  to  some  known  address  by  a 
friend  at  court.  Such  communications  should,  I  contend,  be  re¬ 
turned  to  the  Society,  and  ought  to  be  plainly  marked  on  wrapper 
In  case  of  removal  return  to  sender.  Failing  this,  I  propose 
that  the  Society  should  send  a  clerk  round  to  all  the  large  London 
establishments  previous  to  the  publication  of  the  Register  to  find  out 
all  such  cases,  and  that  the  provincial  local  secretaries  should  have 
the  responsibility  of  doing  so  in  their  districts.  I  have  no  doubt 
there  are  numerous  cases  of  impersonation  going  on  in  the  country, 
and  I  think  that  to  avoid  such  cases  some  means  of  identification, 
such  as  height,  appearance,  etc. ,  should  be  taken  when  successful 
candidates  get  their  certificates.  If  the  statements  of  a  former 
assistant  I  had  are  to  be  relied  upon,  a  certain  chemist  in  a  provincial 
town  is  now  carrying  on  business  in  his  name,  the  latter  being 
qualified.  I  may  say  I  have  no  means  of  proving  this  case,  but 
only  repeat  the  statement  made  to  me  as  an  argument  in  favour  of 
some  means  of  identification. 

London ,  February  23,  1897.  Chas.  J.  Rees. 

*V*  Our  correspondent’s  suggestion  would  very  considerably  increase  the  expense 
involved  in  the  maintenance  of  a  Register,  the  whole  of  which  is  now  borne  by 
subscribers  to  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  though  as  matter  serving  tli 
general  interests  of  the  trade,  it  should  be  a  charge  on  all  registered  personso 
—[Editor,  P.J. ] 


Nitrous  Acid  in  Aqua  Destillata. 

Sir, — In  your  latest  and  most  useful  departure,  the  “Students’ 
Page,”  which,  to  use  a  hackneyed  expression,  supplies  a  long-felt 
want,  I  observe  it  is  stated  last  week  that  the  starch  and 
potassium  iodide  test  is  to  detect  nitrous  acid  in  aqua  destillata. 
That  is  so,  but  in  a  note  communicated  to  the  Edinburgh 
Chemists’  Assistants’  and  Apprentices’  Association  {Ph.  J.  [3], 
xx.,  415)  I  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  addition  of  a  few  drops 
of  acetic  acid  would  be  advantageous,  as  the  test  would  then 
detect  nitrites  as  well.  The  present  U.S.P.  test  is  for  nitrites, 
and  not  for  nitrous  acid  alone,  and  it  seems  desirable  that  we 
should  copy  their  example.  This  note  is  meant  merely  as  a 
slight  amplification  of  your  remarks  under  aqua  destillata  on  the 
Students’  Page. 

Leith,  January  22,  1897.  George  Coull, 


The  Alleged  Conversion  of  Cinchonine  into  Cinciionidine. 

Sir, — As  soon  as  information  of  Koenigs  and  Husmann’s 
important  paper  on  this  subject  arrived  at  Howards  and  Sons 
factory  I  repeated  there  the  experiment  described,  using  perfectly 
pure  cinchonine,  and  obtained  the  same  yield  of  cinchonidine — 5 
per  cent.  I  cannot  understand  why  Dr.  Paul  and  Mr.  Cownley 
were  unable  to  effect  the  transformation ;  their  fractionation  of  the 
product  before  attempting  to  precipitate  the  cinchonidine  tartrate 
should  not  affect  the  result,  and  in  other  respects  they  appear  to 
have  followed  Koenigs’  method.  The  cinchonine  I  used  was  pre¬ 
pared  from  bisulphate,  free  from  all  other  alkaloids,  even  from 
hydrocinchonine  ;  it  was  crystallised  from  alcohol,  and  the  alkaloid 
left  in  the  mother  liquor,  made  into  neutral  hydrochloride,  gave  no 
precipitate  with  Rochelle  salt  at  the  same  strength  used  for  pre¬ 
cipitating  the  cinchonidine  afterwards  produced.  Cinchonidine 
tartrate  began  to  precipitate  a  few  seconds  after  Rochelle  salt 
was  added  to  the  solution  obtained  by  Koenigs’  process,  and  the 
alkaloid  obtained  from  it  by  soda  was  purified  by  conversion  into 
tetrasulphate.  This  crystallised  readily  from  10  per  cent,  solution 
in*  alcohol,  and  that  fact  alone  is  almost  enough  to  prove  its 
identity. 

Stratford,  near  London,  E. ,  G.  E.  Shaw, 

February  23,  1897. 


Ferrous  Phosphate. 

Sir, — Without  wishing  to  appear  hypercritical,  I  should  like  to 
point  out  what,  from  a  commercial  point  of  view,  may  be  looked 
upon  as  a  serious  objection  to  Mr.  E.  J.  Evans’  suggested  formula 
for  ferri  phosphas.  The  present  B.P.  proportions  are  almost  theo¬ 
retically  correct ;  therefore  it  seems  wasteful  to  increase  the  quan¬ 
tity  of  sodium  phosphate  in  the  manner  proposed.  Further,  rever¬ 
sion  to  the  use  of  sodium  acetate  in  place  of  the  bicarbonate 
appears  to  be  a  retrograde  step,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  Howie 
has  very  completely  shown  the  loss  of  ferrous  phosphate  that 
resulted  from  using  the  1867  process,  owing  to  the  solubility  of  the 
ferrous  salt  in  acetic  acid.  Mr.  Evans’  process  evidently  makes  an 
excellent  product,  but  it  is  not  an  economical  one.  When 
we  have  a  subject  for  investigation  in  the  Conference  Blue  List 


200 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Feb.  27,  1897 


entitled,  “  Tlie  Utilisation  of  Waste  Products  in  Pharmacy,”  it 
behoves  us  to  take  every  available  opportunity  of  indicating  how 
waste  may  be  avoided,  although  we  may  not  be  able  to  utilise  the 
waste  product. 

Leith,  February  20,  1897.  Georue  Coull, 


The  Amateur  Prbscriber  at  it  Again. 

Sir, — They  are  at  it  again  ;  this  time  there  is  a  pair  of  them. 
One  is  a  party,  male  or  female,  presumably  the  latter,  who  writes 
under  the  pen-name  of  ‘  ‘  Aunt  Miranda  ;  ”  the  other  is  a  lady  called 
Mrs.  Minnie  L.  Dowie.  My  wife  takes  in,  or  takes  out,  a  publica¬ 
tion  called  Woman’s  Life,  and  sometimes  when  my  gigantic  intellect, 
wearied  with  the  labours  of  the  day,1  requires  a  rest,  I  pick  it  up 
to  discover  the  very  latest  way  of  eating  bananas,  and  whether  or 
not  there  is  any  prospect  of  the  crinoline  coming  in  again.  In  the 
issue  of  February  13  1  came  across  the  following  gem  “  A  good 
depilatory  is  ‘  Depilene,’  and  may  be  .safely  used  and  re-used,  and 
one  of  the  best  is — • 

Calcium  . .  6  draolims. 

Auripigmentum . .. . .  |  drachm. 

Amylum  .  6  drachms,” 

There  can  he  no  doubt  that 1  ‘  Aunt  Miranda  ”  has  not  the  faintest 
ghost  of  an  idea  what  these  three  ingredients  are.  “  Minnie  ”,  in  the 
Weekly  Scotsman  of  Feb.  20,  also  has  a  cacSethes  for  prescrib-. 
ing  metals,  but  her  taste  is  more  exclusively  alkaline.  In  answer 
to°a  correspondent’s  query  regarding  the  taking  out  of  marking 
ink  stains  from  linen,  she  recommends  trying  the  following  : — - 
“  Dissolve  1  07..  potassium  in  4oz.  water  ;  and  with  a  camel’s-hair 
brush  .  .  .  ,”  etc.  In  all  human  probability  the  first  formula 

was  for  calcium  oxide,  and  the  second  for  potassium  cyanide.  But 
supposing  that  by  some  mischance  the  querist  got  possession  of 
1  oz.  potassium  and  dissolved  it  in  4  oz.  water,  the  question — whether 
‘ 1  Minnie”  would  be  responsible  or  not  for  the  inevitable  injury  to  her 
fair  correspondent’s  features — might  form  a  most  interesting  subject 
for  a  law-plea.  I  think  it  high  time  that  the  legislature  made  it 
penal  for  these  amateur  prescribers  to  scatter  their  mischievous 
recipes  broadcast  through  the  country. 

February  22,  1897.  Locul. 


ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 


[Queries  addressed  to  the  “  Editorial  Department,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  W.C.,” 
will  be  replied,  to  in  the  Journal  as  early  as  possible  after  receipt,  but  the  Editor 
cannot  undertake  to  reply  to  them  through  the  post,  nor  is  it  always  possible  to  publish 
answers  the  same  week.  Questions  on  different  subjects  should  be  written  on  separate 
slips  of  paper,  each  of  which  should  bear  the  sender’s  name  or  initials.  Readers 
requiring  working  formula  for  special  preparations,  and  intimating  their  icants  to  the 
Editor,  will  be  assisted  as  far  as  may  bepracticablc.  The  word  “parts,"  when  %ised  in 
formulas,  invariably  indicates  parts  by  weight.  A  nonymous  queries  will  be  ignored.] 


Removing  Inkstains  from  Paper. — The  composition  of  ink 
is  so  variable  at  the  present  day  that  it  is  difficult  to  advise  you  as 
to  what  to  use,  the  more  so  since  your  paper  seems  to  be  of  a 
delicate  texture.  In  some  cases  the  prolonged  application  of  a 
paste  of  citric  acid  gives  good  results,  but  it  is  apt  to  leave  the 
paper  brittle.  If  the  document  is  a  valuable  one  you  should  make 
some  experiments  on  a  similar  piece  of  paper  first.  You  might  try 
citric  acid.  If  the  ink  is  solely  an  iron  gallotannate  one  you  will 
probably  succeed.  [ Reply  to  Scribo. — 78,43.] 

Ferric  Salicylate. — The  colour  of  the  solution  of  ferric  sali¬ 
cylate  depends  greatly  on  the  degree  of  dilution  of  both  the  iron 
salt  and  the  salicylate.  When  both  are  very  dilute  the  colour  is  a 
bright  purple,  hut  if  stronger  solutions  are  used  it  is  deep  red. 
You  may  obtain  the  salt  by  mixing  salicylic  acid  with  excess  of 
freshly  precipitated  ferric  hydrate,  then  allowing  to  stand  in  a 
warm  place  for  forty-eight  hours,  then  filtering  off  the  solution, 
evaporating  to  a  syrupy  consistence,  and  scaling.  W e  have  not 
been  able  to  obtain  the  salt  in  a  crystalline  form,  nor  are  we  aware 
that  it  has  been  obtained  in  that  state.  As  it  appears  to  be  soluble 
in  acetone,  you  might  try  crystallising  it  from  that  medium.  Pre¬ 
sumably  the  formula  is  Fe2(C7H503)6.  [Reply  to  Minerals.— 79/3.] 

Fruit  and  other  Cordials. — You  will  find  recipes  for  these  in 
Cooley’s  ‘  Cyclopaedia  of  Practical  Receipts,’  edited  by  W.  North, 
published  by  J.  and  A.  Churchill.  The  articles  you  name  are 
enumerated  under  the  head  of  Liqueurs,  vol.  II.,  pp  973  to  976. 
You  can  borrow  the  work  from  the  Pharmaceutical  Society’s 
Library.  [Reply  to  D.  A. — 80/10.] 


Disposing  of  Old  Clean  Corks.— Probably  these  can  be  re¬ 
worked  for  some  technical  purpose,  if  you  have  enough  of  them 
you  will  very  likely  be  able  to  get  a  price.  Send  a  fair  sample  to 
Messrs.  Bussey  and  Co.,  200,  High  Street,  Boro,  S.E. ,  or  to  the 
London  Cork  Company,  Limited,  50  and  52,  Haymerle  Road, 
Peckham,  S.E.,  and  state  how  much  of  the  bulk  you  have. 
Possibly  some  linoleum  makers  would  buy  of  you  if  you  have 
plenty,  say  some  tons.  [Reply  to  L.  O.— 79/36.] 

Paste  for  Labels  on  Tins. — (a)  Flour,  8  ounces  ;  sugar, 
4  ounces  ;  boiling  water,  q.s.  to  make  a  stiff  paste.  While  hot 
add  powdered  corrosive  sublimate,  2  drachms.  Stir  until  nearly 
cool.  Label  “Poison.”  (b)  Shellac,  2  ounces;  borax,  1  ounce  ;  water, 
16  ounces.  Boil  together  until  shellac  is  dissolved.  In  either  case 
the  surface  of  the  metal  should  be  freed  from  oil  by  rubbing  with  a 
cloth  moistened  in  a  solution  of  ammonia.  [Reply  ffiH.  W.— 79/13. ] 


Oil  of  Spike. — True  oil  of  spike  is  obtained  from  Lavan¬ 
dula  spica,  a  native  of  maritime  Southern  France,  where  its  dis¬ 
tillation  is  an  important  industry.  “Spike”  is  the  corruption  of 
“aspic,”  the  colloquial  French  term.  Much  of  the  commercial 
spike  oil  is  little  more  than  turpentine  flavoured  with  the  genuine 
“  essence  d’ aspic.”  [Reply  to  J.  II.  S. — 79,37.] 

Delivery  of  Journal. — We  are  glad  to  have  the  details  of  your 
complaint  as  to  the  non-delivery  of  the  Journal,  and  hope  to  hear 
from  you  again,  in  case  of  any  similar  failure  in  delivery.  [Reply  to 
Member. — 81/2.] 

Acidity  of  Moorland  Water. — The  amount  of  acid  that  will 
be  volatilised  in  the  steam  generated  in  a  boiler  at  20  lbs.  pressure 
will  be  infinitesimal  when  dealing  with  even  an  “  acid  ”  moorland 
water.  The  action  of  the  water  will  be  far  more  serious  to  the 
boiler  itself  than  to  any  other  part  of  the  system  employed.  You 
should  accurately  titrate  the  acidity  of  the  water  from  time  to 
time  by  means  of  standard  alkali,  and  then  add  milk  of  lime  in 
such  quantity  per  gallon  as  is  indicated  by  the  titration,  or  slightly 
in  excess  of  that  quantity.  Give  preference  to  logwood  as  an 
indicator,  since  the  acid  of  moorland  water  seems  most  sensitive 
to  that.  [Reply  to  Humic  Acid. — 80/36.] 

Mould  on  Extract. — Any  vegetable  extract  is  liable  to  become 
mouldy  if  exposed  to  moisture  and  warmth.  The  pot  cannot  have 
been  properly  closed.  [Reply  to  S.  H. — 80/30.] 

Hop  Ale  Syrup  for  Aeration. — Essence  of  hop  ale,  2  ounces  ; 
soluble  essence  of  ginger,  1|  ounces  ;  syrup,  9  pounds.  Mix. 
“  Syrup  ”  the  bottles  in  the  usual  way  before  charging.  If  you 
want  to  make  a  fermented  hop  ale  add  5  gallons  of  water  to  the 
above  quantity  of  syrup,  and  ferment  with  a  little  compressed 
yeast. — [Reply  to  D.  A.,  82/15.] 

Tonic  Syrup. — For  a  general  tonic  you  cannot  do  better  than 
use  ferri  et  quinime  citras.  The  following  will  give  you  a  tonic 
syrup  which  is  both  elegant  in  appearance  and  palatable  : — 
Citrate  of  iron  and  quinine,  40  grains ;  simple  elixir,  B.  P.  C. , 
4  fluid  ounces  ;  simple  syrup,  4  fluid  ounces.  Mix.  Dose  :  One 
tablespoonful  for  an  adult,  a  dessert  spoonful  for  a  child. 
[Reply  to  W.  W. — 80/16.] 

Petroleum  Emulsion. —  Liquid  vaseline,  4  ounces  ;  powdered 
gum  acacia,  2  ounces  ;  glycerin,  1  ounce  ;  calcium  hypophosphite, 
72  grains  ;  sodium  hypophosphite,  72  grains  ;  orange  flower  water 
to  produce  15  fluid  ounces.  Add  the  acacia  to  the  oil  in  a  mortar, 
mix  and  add  at  once  5  ounces  of  orange  flower  water,  rub  well 
until  an  emulsion  is  formed ;  then  add  the  hypophosphites 
dissolved  in  2£  ounces  of  orange  flower  water,  to  which  the 
glycerin  has  been  added.  [Reply  to  W.  W. — 80/16.] 

CORRECTION. 

Dr.  Matthew’s  Steam  Distillation  Apparatus. — In  the  second 
illustration  of  this  apparatus,  on  page  134,  the  condenser  tube  D 
should  have  been  represented  as  dipping  into  the  liquid  G. 


COMMUNICATIONS,  LETTERS, etc., have  been  received  from 

Messrs.  Adams,  Arnott,  Atkins,  Bailey,  Barker,  Bennett,  Bilson,  Bird,  Blythe, 
Clarke,  Cocks,  Coull,  Cowley,  Cownley,  Eberlin,  Farr,  Francis,  Gibbs,  Gibson, 
Glyn-Jones,  Goodall,  Hill,  Hogg,  Holloway,  Ingham,  Jones,  Kemp,  Kirkpatrick, 
Macfie,  Macnaughton-Jones,  Martindale,  Miller,  Morgan,  Potter,  Ranken,  Rees, 
Righton,  Shaw,  Simpson,  Sowerby,  Tasker,  Tayler,  Thompson,  Wardleworth, 
Wood,  Wyleys, 


March  6,  1897] 


201 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


THE  PROD0CJION  OFf  AMPHORJN  jjCHINA. 

BY  AUGUsVb£E\  M.A. , 

Corresiiondih^pftfethbcr  of  the  Pharmaceu/ical  Society. 

\  S*  / 

The  camphor  tree,  CiSt^anj/b^um^  camphor#,  Nees  et  Eberm,  is 
indigenous  to  Japan,  Formbaft,  and  thtf*8  central  and  southern 
provinces  of  China.  It  has  been  known  to  the  Chinese  from  ancient 
times,  but  apparently  until  300  or  400  years  ago  only  as  a  valuable 
timber  tree. 

The  camphor  first  in  use  was  undoubtedly  the  Malay 
camphor,  and,  as  Hanbury  says  (‘ Pharmacographia,’  p.  511),  “at 
what  period  and  at  whose  instigation  the  Chinese  began  to  manu¬ 
facture  camphor  from  the  camphor  laurel  is  not  known.”  Hanbury 
further  states  that  “  the  camphor  of  European  commerce  is  pro¬ 
duced  in  Formosa  and  in  Japan,  and  we  have  no  evidence  that  any 
is  now  manufactured  in  China,  although  very  large  trees,  often 
from  8  to  9  feet  in  diameter,  are  common  ;  for  instance,  in  Kiangsi, 
and  camphor  wood  is  an  important  timber  in  the  Hankow  market.’ 
The  latest  references  to  camphor  production  (‘  Index  Florae 
Sinensis,’  ii.,  p.  371)  further  would  confirm  this,  viz.,  “  Kwang- 
tung,  common  around  Pakhoi,  but  not  utilised  (Playfair).”  Again, 
“Dr.  Henry  states  that  the  wood  is  much  used  in  Central  China, 
but  no  camphor  is  extracted.” 

Until  a  few  years  ago,  then,  no  camphor  was  produced  on  the 
mainland  of  China,  but  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  camphor 
industry  has  been  started  in  China,  and  that  there  are  signs  that 
it  will  become  important.  This  is  all  the  more  noteworthy,  as 
Formosa  has  become  Japanese  territory,  and  it  seemed  likely  that 
camphor  would  become  an  entirely  Japanese  article,  not  a  desirable 
contingency  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Japanese  Government  is 
striving  to  establish  a  monopoly  in  the  production  of  camphor  in 
Formosa,  and  has  no  doubt  in  contemplation  the  creation  of  a 
large  revenue  by  enhanced  prices  in  the  future. 

For  a  history  of  the  vicissitudes  of  the  camphor  trade  in  Formosa 
itself  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  Chinese  I. M.  Customs’  ‘Decen¬ 
nial  Reports  for  1882-91,’  pp.  439,  466.  En  passant,  this  is  a  most 
valuable  work  for  all  questions  connected  with  Chinese  commerce, 
the  history  of  the  treaty  ports,  etc.  It  is  replete  with 
information  of  all  kinds,  and  is  illustrated  with  maps,  plans,  and 
diagrams. 

Growth  of  the  Chinese  Camphor  Industry. 

The  growth  of  the  camphor  industry  on  the  mainland  of  China 
is  shown  by  the  following  facts  taken  from  various  China  Customs’ 
Yellow-books.  From  the  ‘  List  of  Chinese  Medicines,’  misc. 
series,  No.  17,  which  gives  details  of  the  trade  in  drugs  of  all 
kinds  for  the  year  1885,  it  appears  that  camphor  was  unknown  as 
a  product  of  the  mainland,  except  in  the  single  province  of 
Chekiang,  there  being  the  small  export  that  year  from  Ningpo  of 
25  piculs.  Ningpo  exported  32  piculs  in  1889,  40  piculs  in  1890, 
and  none  since  apparently.  The  Customs’  ‘  Trade  Reports  ’  for 
the  different  years  show  the  gradual  appearance  of  camphor  pro¬ 
duction  in  other  parts.  Kowloon  exported  88  piculs  in  1888,  106 
piculs  in  1892,  87  piculs  in  1893.  This  was  conveyed  in  junks,  and 
its  provenance  is  doubtful,  but  it  was  perhaps  from  the  province  of 
I^wangsi.  Canton  exported  122  piculs  in  1893,  37  piculs  in  1894, 
and  237  piculs  in  1895.  This  is  Kwangsi  camphor.  The  Pakhoi 
Trade  Report  for  1894  states  that  the  first  record  of  the  article  was 
in  1892  ;  in  1893  the  export  was  23  piculs,  which  increased  to 
128  piculs  in  1894,  and  “it  comes  from  Lu-chuan,  near  Yii-lin- 
chou,  and  is  likely  to  grow  in  importance,  as  plantations  in  that 
and  other  places  in  the  neighbourhood  are  coming  to  the  bearing 
age.”  In  the  Pakhoi  Trade  Report  for  1895,  the  export  is  given 

Vol.  LVIII.  (Fourth  Series,  Yol.  IV.).  No.  1393. 


as  596  piculs,  and  the  writer  says  that  this  gratifying  increase  is 
due  to  the  extended  cultivation  in  Kwangsi.  In  Formosa  only 
old  and  enormous  camphor  trees  are  utilised,  and  I  am  inclined  to 
doubt  of  the  existence  of  camphor  plantations  in  Kwangsi  ;  the 
camphor  produced  is  more  likely  to  be  from  old  forest  trees.  The 
Chinese  at  any  rate  did  not  plant  any  trees  with  a  view  to  the 
manufacture  of  camphor. 

Export  of  Camphor  from  China. 

In  1895  the  exports  of  camphor  from  different  Chinese  ports 
was  : — Foochow,  187  piculs  ;  Amoy,  668  piculs;  Canton,  237  piculs; 
Kowloon,  68  piculs,  and  Pakhoi,  596  piculs.  In  the  Fukien 
province  there  aue  large  forests  and  camphor  trees  abound.  Some 
years  ago  a  party  of  Japanese  went  into  the  interior  of  Fukien  to 
manufacture  camphor,  but  nothing  came  of  this  attempt.  The 
Foochow  export  is  probably  the  product  of  this  province, 
but  that  of  Amoy  is  doubtful,  as  it  may  be  Formosan  camphor 
smuggled  over  to  the  mainland  in  junks.  The  export  of  the  other 
three  ports  is  produced  in  the  Kwangsi  province,  and  this  will 
probably  grow  into  large  figures  if  camphor  continues  high  enough 
in  price  to  encourage  the  Chinese  in  its  manufacture. 

To  sum  up,  the  production  of  camphor  on  the  mainland  of 
China  is  an  affair  of  the  last  few  years.  It  began  in  Chekiang,  but 
has  practically  ceased  in  that  province.  In  Kwangsi  it  commenced 
a  short  time  ago,  and  promises  to  develop  into  importance.  The 
Fukien  product  is  only  trifling  so  far. 


NOTE  ON  GLYCERINUM  AMYLI. 

BY  JOHN  HENRY  PEARSON. 

For  some  time  past  I  have  had  occasion  to  make  glycerinum 
amyli  according  to  the  instructions  of  the  British  Pharmacopoeia, 
and  have  found  that  after  a  time  the  glycerin  and  water  separate 
from  the  mass.  I  have  invariably  used  wheat  starch,  although  the 
Pharmacopoeia  admits  of  the  use  of  wheat,  maize,  or  rice,  and  does 
not  in  this  particular  instance,  or  indeed  in  any  instance  in  the 
official  preparations  of  starch,  state  which  should  be  used,  although 
it  is  known  that  different  products  are  obtained  when  different 
starches  are  used.  The  preparation  was  introduced  many  years 
ago  by  the  late  Mr.  Schacht,  of  Clifton,  and  I  am  informed  that  he 
usually  used  arrowroot,  although  in  his  instructions  ( Pharm .  J oum . 
[2],  viii. ,  210)  he  does  not  state  what  variety  of  starch  powder 
should  be  used.  The  formula  of  the  present  Pharmacopoeia 
is  apparently  based  upon  the  work  of  Mr.  W.  Willmott, 
which  is  recorded  under  the  title  of  “  Notes  on  Plasma,” 
in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  [3],  ix.,  815,  but  here,  again,  the 
kind  of  starch  is  not  specially  alluded  to.  Mention  is  made  of  the 
proneness  to  deliquescence  of  this  preparation,  which  is  the  great 
fault  I  have  to  find  with  it  when  used  as  a  base.  Now  it  seemed 
to  me  that  the  remedy  was  to  be  found  in  a  method  suggested  by 
Mr.  Boa  (Pharmaceutical  Journal  [3],  xii.,  682)  for  obviating  a 
similar  evil  which  attached  to  confectio  sulphuris,  namely,  the 
addition  of  a  minute  quantity  of  powdered  tragacanth.  I  have 
made  experiments  with  this  in  view,  and  find  that  it  is  worthy  of 
recognition  and  a  place  in  the  official  formula,  for  it  is,  in  my 
opinion,  an  undoubted  success.  The  mass  remaining  homogeneous 
and  inseparable,  while  batches  which  have  “gone  wrong  ha\e 
been  brought  to  their  proper  condition  by  the  addition  of  a 
judicious  quantity  of  tragacanth,  this  amount  being  dependent 
upon  the  uses  to  which  the  preparation  is  put  by  the  prescribei. 
For  my  purpose  the  use  of  one  grain  per  ounce  of  finished  product 
was  a  sufficient  quantity. 


202 


PH  ARM  AOEU  TIC  AL  JOURNAL. 


[March  6,  1897 


THE  DETERMINATION  OF  ALKALOIDS.* 

NOTES  ON  SOME  OF  THE  PHARMACOPCEIAL  PROCESSES. 

BY  E.  H.  FARR,  F.C.S.,  AND  R.  WRIGHT,  F.C.S. 

In  treating  of  this  subject,  we  intend  to  confine  our  remarks 
chiefly  to  the  determination  of  the  morphine  in  opium  and  its 
preparations,  merely  touching  on  certain  other  methods  of 
alkaloidal  assay. 

In  the  analysis  of  a  drug  like  opium,  containing  as  it  does  so 
many  alkaloidal  and  other  substances,  it  must  naturally  be  a 
matter  of  difficulty  to  isolate  and  determine  the  precise  proportion 
of  any  single  constituent  present,  and  it  is  not  to  be  expected 
that  any  process  can  be  devised  to  which  no  objection  can  be 
raised. 

The  process,  now  official,  has  been  subjected  to  much  criticism, 
and  not  infrequently,  also,  decried  in  certain  quarters  as  inaccu¬ 
rate.  For  our  own  part  we  are  inclined  to  think  that  for  general 
pharmaceutical  use  no  better  process  has  yet  been  published,  and 
we  make  this  statement  after  comparing  it  with  many  others. 

For  pharmaceutical  use  a  process  should  be  as  simple  as  possible 
whilst  retaining  a  fair  degree  of  accuracy.  Both  these  conditions 
are  fulfilled  by  the  official  process,  but  we  think  that  in  the  next 
edition  of  the  British  Pharmacopoeia  it  might  be  somewhat 
amended,  and  thus  made  slightly  more  accurate. 

We  will  now  consider  the  various  steps  of  the  process  and 
certain  precautions  necessary  to  ensure  the  best  results  being 
obtained. 

In  the  first  place  14  grammes  of  powdered  opium  and  6  grammes 
of  freshly-slaked  lime  are  rubbed  into  a  smooth  and  uniform  paste, 
with  40  cubic  centimetres  of  water,  then  100  cubic  centimetres 
more  water  added,  and  the  mixture  stirred  occasionally  for  half  an 
hour,  to  facilitate  the  reaction  of  the  lime  with  the  various  con¬ 
stituents  of  the  opium. 

In  the  next  place  104  cubic  centimetres  are  filtered  off,  that 
volume  of  filtrate  being  supposed  to  represent  10  grammes  of 
opium  after  the  action  of  the  lime.  In  contact  with  lime,  morphine 
forms  a  soluble  compound,  whilst  most  of  the  other  alkaloids 
present  do  not,  and  the  acid  constituents  form  insoluble  lime  com¬ 
pounds.  The  filtrate,  therefore,  should  contain  the  whole  of  the 
morphine  with  small  proportions  of  the  other  alkaloids,  and  a 
little  extractive  matter  amounting  in  all  to  30  or  40  per  cent,  of 
the  opium  used.  Of  course  these  soluble  matters  increase  the 
volume  of  liquid,  and  for  that  reason  104  cubic  centimetres  are 
taken  instead  of  100.  Naturally  the  exact  amount  would  vary 
with  different  samples  of  opium,  but  it  would  be  superfluous  to 
determine  the  precise  volume  in  each  case,  as  the  variation  is  not 
important  so  far  as  our  experience  goes. 

After  the  measured  quantity  of  104  cubic  centimetres  is  placed 
in  the  bottle  4  gx-ammes  of  ammonium  chloride,  50  cubic  centi¬ 
metres  of  ether,  and  11  cubic  centimetres  of  rectified  spirit  are 
added,  and  the  mixture  shaken  at  intervals  during  half  an  hour, 
then  set  aside  for  twelve  hours.  The  ammonium  chloride  decom¬ 
poses  the  morphine  compound  with  formation  of  calcium  chloride 
and  ammonium  hydrate,  and  liberation  of  morphine.  Any  of  the 
other  alkaloids  present  are  dissolved  out  by  the  ether,  together 
with  traces  of  morphine,  whilst  the  presence  of  the  rectified  spirit 
in  the  aqueous  layer  enables  the  morphine  to  assume  more  readily 
the  crystalline  form.  The  proportion  of  alcohol  must  not  be  too 
high,  because  in  that  case  more  morphine  would  be  retained  by 
the  mother  liquor,  though  at  the  same  time  the  crystals  produced 
would  be  larger. 

After  standing  for  twelve  hours  the  ethereal  layer  is  removed 
and  the  contents  of  the  bottle  rotated  with  a  further  quantity  of 

*  Read  before  the  Chemists’  Assistants'  Association  (see  p.  218). 


20  cubic  centimetres  of  ether  to  ensure  the  removal  of  all  bodies 
soluble  in  that  liquid.  Finally  the  crystals  of  morphine  are  col¬ 
lected  on  counterpoised  filters,  washed  with  a  little  distilled  water 
and  then  di’ied,  first  by  pressing  between  filter  paper,  then  at  a 
gentle  heat,  and  finally  at  96°  to  100°  C.,  until  it  ceases  to  lose 
weight,  when  the  product  is  supposed  to  be  anhydrous. 

The  opium  used  should  be  in  very  fine  powder,  though  this  is  not 
stated  in  the  official  directions.  We  have  found  that  a  loss  occurs, 
amounting  sometimes  to  as  much  as  5  per  cent,  of  the  morphine 
present,  when  opium  in  coarse  powder  has  been  used. 

Though  morphine  is  supposed  to  become  anhydrous  when  dried 
at  100°  C.  until  constant,  and  Squire  states  so  in  his  ‘  Companion  to 
the  B.P.,’  such  is  by  no  means  the  case  with  the  morphine  obtained 
in  the  B.P.  assay  process,  though  it  may  be  so  where  the  alkaloid 
has  been  deposited  from  a  solution  containing  a  higher  proportion 
of  alcohol  (some  large  crystals  of  morphine  prepared  by  one  of  us 
in  that  way  became  anhydrous  when  dried  in  the  water-oven  for 
1  \  hours).  Dott  has  recently  called  attention  to  this  fact  in  a  note 
published  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  and  we  can  fully 
corroborate  his  statement.  Different  samples  operated  upon  by  our¬ 
selves  and  dried  in  the  water-oven  until  constant  lost  the  following 
further  percentage  when  heated  for  an  hour  at  110°  C.  : — 1  '60,  5 ’44, 
5  84,  5-93,  6-50,  174,  6’61,  5’31. 

The  dried  morphine  invaluably  contains  some  impurity,  and  will 
never  neutralise  the  theoretical  amount  of  standard  acid. 

There  is,  as  we  have  already  stated,  a  loss  of  morphine  in  the 
mother  liquor  and  ether  from  which  it  has  been  precipitated.  This 
loss  amounts  on  an  average  to  1  gramme  for  every  100  cubic  centi¬ 
metres  of  filtrate  operated  upon. 

We  shall  presently  show  that  if  the  foregoing  sources  of  error  be 
eliminated  from  the  process  it  will  yield  results  very  closely 
approximating  to  those  afforded  by  the  best  of  other  published 
processes.  We  will  now  consider  the  case  of  extract  of  opium. 
This  preparation,  consisting  as  it  does  of  the  soluble  portion  of 
about  twice  as  much  opium,  may  be  assayed  like  the  drug,  using, 
however,  but  half  as  much  to  the  same  quantities  of  other 
ingredients,  and  first  dissolving  the  extract  in  a  portion  of  the 
water. 

In  the  assay  of  the  liquid  preparations  of  opium,  new 
factors  come  into  operation,  and  any  process  for  the  determination 
of  morphine  in  those  preparations  must  take  into  consideration  the 
amount  of  extractive  matter  present,  and  the  proportion  removed 
on  treatment  with  the  lime.  Naturally  these  will  vary  in  different 
samples,  so  that  any  figure  based  upon  them  could  be  only  an 
average,  and  must  not  be  looked  upon  as  a  constant  quantity. 

Some  years  since  we  published  a  modification  of  the  B.P.  pro¬ 
cess,  adapted  for  the  determination  of  the  morphine  in  tincture  of 
opium,  but  we  have  since  found  that  the  results  yielded  by  it  are 
slightly  too  high,  owing  to  the  liquid  taken  for  analysis  repre¬ 
senting  more  than  its  own  volume  of  the  original  tincture,  from 
insufficient  allowance  being  made  for  the  loss  of  volume  caused  by 
removal  of  extractive  matter  on  treatment  with  lime.  With  a 
slight  modification  to  correct  that  error  it  yields  excellent  results, 
and  would  be  equally  applicable  to  the  assay  -of  the  liquid 
extract  of  opium. 

The  details  are  as  follow  : — Take  80  cubic  centimetres  of  ther 
tincture  and  evapoi'ate  by  a  gentle  heat  until  the  volume  is  reduced 
to  about  20  cubic  centimetres  ;  mix  this  thoroughly  in  a  mortar 
with  3  grammes  of  freshly-slaked  lime,  and  dilute  with  water  to 
85  cubic  centimetres,  stirring  occasionally  during  half  an  hour ; 
then  filter  into  a  4-oz.  bottle  having  a  wide  mouth  fitted  with  an 
accurately-ground  stopper,  50  cubic  centimetres,  add  2  grammes 
of  ammonium  chloride,  30  cubic  centimetres  of  ether  and  5  cubic 


March  6,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


203 


centimetres  of  alcohol ;  shake  well  at  intervals  during  half  an 
hour,  then  set  aside  for  twelve  hours.  Next  remove  the  ethereal 
layer  by  means  of  a  pipette,  rotate  the  contents  of  the  bottle  with 
a  further  15  cubic  centimetres  of  ether,  and  when  the  latter  has 
completely  separated,  remove  it  as  before  by  means  of  a  pipette 
and  filter  through  counterpoised  filter  papers  placed  one  in  the 
other.  Wash  the  filter  with  a  little  ether,  and  then  let  the  residual 
ether  evaporate  from  the  paper.  Next  collect  the  whole  of  the 
crystals  on  the  inner  paper,  rinsing  the  last  portions  out  of  the 
bottle  and  washing  the  crystals  with  morphinated  water  until  the 
washings  are  colourless.  Dry  the  crystals,  at  first  by  pressure 
between  folds  of  filtering  paper,  then  at  a  gentle  heat,  and  finally 
at  110°  C.  for  an  hour,  then  weigh. 

Take  ’3  gramme  of  the  crystals  and  dissolve  in  a  slight  excess  of 
jjj  sulphuric  acid  and  titrate  back  with  jtj  soda  solution,  using 
litmus  paper  to  indicate  the  end  reaction. 

To  the  amount  of  pure  anhydrous  morphine  in  the- total  amount 
of  the  crystals,  as  indicated  by  the  titration,  add  ’05  gramme, 
representing  the  average  amount  of  morphine  lost  in  the  process. 
The  combined  weights  multiplied  by  two  will  be  the  percentage 
of  morphine  in  the  liquid. 

We  append  a  table  showing  the  relative  results  by  the  process 
just  given  in  comparison  with  those  afforded  by  Dott’s  and  by 
Teschemacher  and  Smith’s  processes  on  five  different  samples  of 
tincture  of  opium. 


Process  followed. 


Percentage  of  morphine  found  in  the 
samples. 


• 

A 

B 

C 

D 

E 

Modified  B.  P.  Process.. . . 

1-06 

1-03 

1-10 

1-02 

1-05 

Teschemacher  and  Smith’s  ......... 

1-04 

1-02 

1-08 

1-00 

1-03 

Dott’s . . 

1-01 

1-01 

1-09 

1-01 

1-06 

The  Drying  oe  Alkaloids. 

The  question  has  been  recently  raised  as  to  the  drying  of 
alkaloids  by  the  heat  of  boiling  water.  Hitherto  this  has  been 
the  only  official  process,  but  it  has  been  shown  that  in  the  case  of 
morphine  at  least  the  temperature  thus  obtained  is  not  sufficient  to 
ensure  the  expulsion  of  all  the  water.  In  the  case  of  the  alkaloids 
of  cinchona  and  the  salts  of  quinine,  however,  perfect  desiccation 
may  be  obtained,  though  this  is  accomplished  by  no  means  so 
rapidly  as  when  the  air  bath  At  a  higher  temperature  is  used.  In 
the  case  of  alkaloidal  residues  and  extractive  matters,  a  great 
deal  depends  upcn  the  way  in  which  the  drying  is  carried  out. 
If  the  round-bottomed  dishes  in  general  use  are  employed,  and 
care  be  nob  taken  to  prevent  it,  the  alkaloidal  or  extractive 
matter  collects  at  the  bottom  of  the  dish  in  a  dense  fused  mass, 
and  desiccation  under  these  conditions  will  take  place  very  slowly. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  a  dish  with  a  flat  bottom  be  employed, 
the  substance  spreads  itself  out  in  a  thin  film  over  a  large  sur¬ 
face,  and  desiccation  is  rapid,  rarely  taking  more  than  two  hours. 

The  following  results  obtained  on  determination  of  quinine  in 
citrate  of  iron  and  quinine  will  show  admirably  the  contrast : — 


Weight  at  the  end  of  each  hour  when 
dried  in  the  hot  water  oven. 

vY  eight  after  being  heated 
1  hour  in  the  hot  air 
bath  at  120°  C. 

1  hr. 

2  hrs. 

3  hrs.  1  4  hrs. 

1 

5  hrs. 

6  hrs. 

In  flat  dish  . . 

•447 

•442 

•442  j 

•442 

In  round  dish 

•409 

•446 

•443  |  -442 

1 

•441 

•441 

•441 

Quininas  Sulphas. 

Mr.  Cownley,  in  a  recent  paper  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal, 
has  pointed  out  the  fact  that  the  official  sulphate  of  quinine  is  very 


unstable  and  gradually  loses  water  of  crystallisation  on  exposure 
to  the  air,  until  but  two  molecules  are  retained,  when  it  becomes 
constant.  He  also  stated  that  when  the  anhydrous  salt  is  exposed 
to  the  air  it  rapidly  absorbs  two  molecules  of  water.  We  take 
this  opportunity  of  corroborating  his  facts  and  supporting  most 
emphatically  his  contention  that  the  sulphate  with  two  molecules 
of  water  should  replace  the  one  now  official  in  the  B.P. 

As  an  instance  of  the  rapidity  with  which  anhydrous  sulphate  of 
quinine  re-absorbs  water,  we  may  mention  that  1  gramme  of  the 
salt  exposed  to  the  air  by  one  of  us  in  the  laboratory  absorbed 
•015  gramme  in  seven  minutes,  so  that  it  must  be  cooled  in  a  desic¬ 
cator,  and  weighed  as  quickly  as  possible. 

Quinin.e  Hydrochloras. 

This  salt  when  dried  is  even  more  hygroscopic  than  the  sulphate 
In  six  minutes  a  quantity  of  ’026  gramme  of  the  anhydrous  salt 
exposed  to  the  air  gained  ’017  gramme,  and  in  three  hours  it  had 
resumed  its  original  weight  with  two  molecules  of  water. 


THE  TEACHING  OF  BOTANY. 

On  the  Desirability  op  Establishing  an  Institute  for  the 
Teaching  of  Botany  in  the  Royal  Botanic  Gardens.* 

BY  W.  MARTINDALE,  F.C.S.,  F.  I.  INST. 

I  gather  from  a  short  history  published  in  our  Quarterly  Record 
No.  36,  1888,  by  the  late  Secretary,  Mr.  W.  Sowerby,  that  the 
Royal  Botanic  Gardens  were  permanently  established  by  Royal 
Charter  in  1839,  on  the  present  site,  and  that  a  Scotsman,  Mr. 
R.  Marnock,  who  had  been  Curator  of  the  Sheffield  Botanic 
Gardens,  became  the  Society’s  Curator,  and  laid  out  the  grounds.’ 
Since  then,  through  many  vicissitudes,  it  has  been  truly  said  that 
the  Royal  Botanic  Gardens  have  done  more  for  Botanical  teaching 
than  any  other  in  Britain,  by  supplying  medical  and  other  schools 
of  London  with  living  specimens.  On  examining  Mr.  Marnock’s 
work,  one  is  struck  with  the  admirable  plan  he  adopted  in  laying 
out  the  classified  plants  in  natural  orders  grouped  together 
according  to  their  affinities,  as  well  as  by  the  arrangement  of  the 
trees  and  shrubs  in  groups  which  enabled  the  student  to  com¬ 
prehend  systematic  botany  with  greater  facility  than  would  be  the 
case  in  stiffly  arranged  parallel  beds.  In  the  graceful  plots,  in 
varying  patterns,  representing  the  natural  orders,  he  attempted  to 
convey  to  the  student  by  their  size  the  comparative  number  of 
species  which  belonged  to  each  order,  thus  the  importance  of  the 
orders  which  were  capable  of  being  so  displayed  was  seen  at  a 
glance. 

My  personal  recollections  of  the  Gardens  extend  back  to  the  year 
1863,  when  in  the  early  mornings  of  that  spring  and  summer  I 
attended  the  lectures  and  demonstrations  of  our  late  revered  member 
of  the  Council,  Professor  Bentley,  who  for  many  successive  years 
gave  courses  of  instruction  on  structural  and  systematic  botany  in 
connection  with  the  Pharmaceutical  Society.  This,  I  understand, 
is  the  nearest  approach  to  systematic  scientific  teaching  that  has 
been  attempted'  in  the  Gardens.  Bentley  had  a  love  for  his  sub¬ 
ject,  and  inspired  the  same  in  his  students.  I  began  early  the 
study  of  field  botany  as  an  amateur,  and,  as  it  is  necessary  for  my 
calling,  I  felt  the  need  of  systematic  instruction  afterwards. 

Botany  is  essentially  a  practical  science,  it  requires  specimens 
to  teach  it,  and  in  place  of  dissecting  the  often  half-withered 
specimens  at  some  distance  from  where  they  have  been  grown,  the 
student  could  best  utilise  them  by  receiving  his  instruction,  es¬ 
pecially  on  systematic  and  structural  botany,  in  an  institute  which 
might,  for  example,  be  established  in  these  Gardens.  He  would 
here  see  in  great  variety  numerous  plants  for  further  study  in  their 
natural  condition.  Typical  specimens  are  a  necessity  for  study, 
and  it  is  the  search  for  these  and  the  more  or  less  rare  species 
which  grow  wild  that  creates  the  love  for  the  science  and  adds  the 
charm  to  field  botany.  Who,  as  a  botanist,  has  not  in  his  botanical 
rambles  made  life-long  friendships  ?  And  as  the  season  now 
approaches  many  will  join  in  going  to  explore  the  “  bank  where 
the  wild  thyme  blows.”  My  memory  clings  to  an  excursion  made 
with  a  friend  to  Highgate  Wood  a  little  later  in  the  year  than 
this,  in  which  we  found  Euphorbium  lathyris  and  other  to  us  then 
unknown  plants.  We  in  imagination  crossed  the  Rubicon  at  the 

Read  before  the  Royal  Botanic  Society  (see  p.  217), 


204 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Maech  6,  1897 


bottom  of  the  wood,  and  returned  laden  with  a  vasculum  filled  with 
botanical  spoils. 

The  utility  of  the  science  of  botany  is  universal,  and  the  study 
of  it  should  be  more  especially  necessary  to  the  agriculturist, 
gardener,  colonist  and  emigrant,  medical  and  veterinary  practi¬ 
tioner,  and  to  the  pharmacist,  but  the  teaching  of  the  science  in 
London  has  latterly  been  more  neglected  than  it  was  even  thirty 
years  ago,  the  reason  of  this  being  that  for  the  medical  examina¬ 
tions,  more  especially  those  of  the  Conjoint  Board,  botany  is  not 
such  an  essential  subject  as  it  was  formerly,  a  very  elementary 
knowledge  being  all  that  is  necessary  for  any  but  tne  university 
and  pharmaceutical  examinations. 

*■  Among  the  institutions  in  London  teaching  botany  there  are 
those  of  the  Royal  College  of  Science  (South  Kensington), 
University  College,  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  King’s  College, 
the  Royal  Veterinary  College,  the  Birkbeck  and  Polytechnic 
Institutes,  the  several  medical  schools  of  the  hospitals,  and  a 
number  of  private  schools,  but,  except  in  the  first  few  mentioned, 
there  is  little  efficient  teaehi«g  dorm,  a»d  none  of  them  have 
gardens  attached ;  therefore  their  facilities  for  teaching  are 
limited.  It  is  true  that  at  the  Physic  Gardens,  Chelsea,  there  are 
a  dozen  lectures  given  during  the  summer  annually,  but  the  scope 
of  their  work  is  limited.  These  gardens  grow  most  herbaceous 
plants  well,  with  the  exception  of  some  of  the  Rosacece  and  Cruci- 
ferse. 

This  leads  to  the  reflection,  Why  are  our  Royal  Botanic  Gardens 
not  more  utilised  for  teaching  purposes — I  mean  the  systematic 
teaching  by  lectures,  demonstrations,  and  classes — as  well  as  for 
botanical  investigations,  for  which  they  are  so  well  adapted  ? 

I  have  visited  several  of  the  celebrated  botanic  gardens  of  the 
world,  that  of  Mr.  Thomas  Hanbury  at  Mortola,  Sir  Francis  Cook’s 
at  Montserrat,  near  Cintra  ;  the  late  Asa  Gray’s  in  connection  with 
Harvard  University ;  the  Acclimatisation  Gardens  in  the  Bois  de 
Boulogne,  and  the  Jardin  des  Plantes,  Paris,  as  well  as  the 
botanical  gardens  at  Lisbon,  Edinburgh,  Glasgow,  and  Oxford,  not 
including  Chatsworth  and  Wilhelmshohe,  which  may  be  taken  as 
purely  ornamental  gardens,  but  I  was  most  impressed  with  those 
at  Marburg,  in  connection  with  the  university.  Here,  when  I 
took  my  son  to  enter  as  a  student,  I  noticed  the  admirable  manner 
in  which  the  teaching  of  botany  in  its  various  branches  is  carried 
out  in  the  German  University  system.  The  completeness  of  their 
scientific  and  technical  training  is  in  many  respects  worthy  of  our 
admiration  and  imitation.  It  is  to  be  regretted,  therefore,  that 
with  the  excellent  beginning  our  Gardens  had,  the  Royal  Botanic 
Society  has  not  more  fully  embraced  the  opportunities  for  scientific 
teaching. 

This  leads  me  to  the  consideration  of  our  proposal  to  establish 
an  institute  for  the  teaching  of  botany,  as  well  as  for  the  promotion 
of  botanical  research,  in  the  Gardens,  particulars  of  which  I 
submit. 

Minute  of  a  Scheme  for  Establishing  an  Institute  for 
the  Teaching  of  Botany  in  the  Royal  Botanic  Gardens. 

With  the  opportunity  afforded  by  a  renewal  of  the  lease  of  the 
Gardens,  the  Council  of  the  Royal  Botanic  Society  is  endeavouring 
to  resuscitate  one  of  its  functions,  which  in  some  degree  from 
want  of  funds  has  hitherto  been  imperfectly  performed,  that  of 
Education. 

According  to  its  Charter  its  main  object  was  : — “  The  promotion 
of  Botany  in  all  its  branches,  and  its  application  to  Medicine, 
Arts  and  Manufactures,  etc.,”  and  the  Charter  was  granted  for 
“  promoting  the  said  science  of  botany,”  which  of  necessity 
includes  education. 

The  Council  therefore  hopes  to  establish  an  “Institute  of 
Botany”  in  conjunction  with  its  functions  as  Botanical  Gardens, 
entirely  or  partly  under  its  own  control,  as  may  hereafter  be 
decided  upon. 

The  Botanical  Institute  to  be  established  would  be  similar  to 
those  on  the  Continent,  and  the  work  done  would  be  similar  to 
that  performed  by  the  establishments  in  Edinburgh,  Dublin, 
Oxford,  and  Cambridge,  in  connection  with  the  Botanic  Gardens 
there,  which  institutions  are  under  the  control  of  the  respective 
Universities.  In  Germany,  Switzerland,  and  Holland,  several  of 
these  Institutes  are  affiliated  with  their  Universities,  and  they  are 
nearly  always  attached  to  or  surrounded  by  Botanic  Gardens,  so 
that  students  of  the  Institutes  have  the  most  ample  opportunity 
of  studying  plants  in  the  living  state.  The  Institute  at  Marburg 
is  surrounded  by  such  gardens  and  conservatories,  and  similar 
Institutes  with  gardens  attached  exist  in  Paris  (in  connection 
with  the  Jardin  des  Plantes),  in  Berlin,  and  at  Dorpat,  Amsterdam, 


Leyden,  Groningen,  as  well  as  many  others,  not  forgetting  that  at 
Genoa,  founded  by  Mr.  Thomas  Hanbury,  and  that  in  Paris  in 
connection  with  the  Ecole  Superieure  de  Pharmacie. 

The  functions  of  the  Institute  would  be: — (I.)  On  the  purely 
scientific  side,  the  practical  teaching  of  botanical  science  in  its 
various  branches,  more  especially  in  connection  with  vegetable 
physiology,  anatomy,  histology,  and  pathology,  as  well  as  con¬ 
ducting  scientific  research  on  botanical  subjects. 

(II.)  On  the  economic  and  technical  side,  the  diagnosis  of  the 
diseases  and  parasites  of  plants  ;  the  estimation  and  the  value  of 
timbers  and  their  selection  in  regard  to  resistance  to  strain, 
moisture  and  decay  ;  the  study  of  vegetable  fibres,  their  strength, 
fineness  and  the  methods  of  cleaning  and  preparing  them  from  a 
commercial  point  of  view ;  the  methods  of  separating  and  gathering 
indiarubber  and  gutta-percha,  and  collecting  them  as  free  from 
extraneous  matter  as  possible ;  and  the  same  in  regard  to  gums, 
resins,  and  drugs.  These  are  points  of  great  economic  interest  to 
the  colonist  and  emigrant. 

(III. )  The  study  of  grasses  and  cereals,  as  well  as  of  cruciferous 
and  leguminous  plants  for  the  guidance  of  agriculturists  ;  and 
of  horticulture  in  its  various  branches  for  the  gardener  and  fruit¬ 
grower. 

(IY.)  The  study  of  the  tea  and  coffee  plants,  as  well  as  of 
arboriculture  generally,  would  also  form  part  of  the  curriculum  of 
the  Institute.  The  enormous  colonial  interest  in  these  subjects 
increases  yearly,  and  they  are  of  great  importance  to  the  whole  of 
the  British  Empire. 

(Y.)  Bacteriology  as  a  separate  study  would  probably  not  be 
within  its  scope,  except  so  far  as  it  concerns  botanical  research, 
the  diseases  of  plants,  and  agriculture. 

A  special  function  of  the  Institute  would  be  the  teaching  of 
vegetable  physiology — the  study  of  living  plants,  and  the  working 
of  a  physiological  laboratory  for  botanical  investigation  to  aid  and 
to  meet  the  practical  requirements  of  the  colonist,  the  agriculturist, 
the  gardener,  and  the  merchants  who  deal  in  tea,  coffee,  tobacco, 
timber,  drugs  and  vegetable  products  generally. 

The  Royal  Botanic  Gardens  have  at  the  present  a  museum, 
lecture  theatre,  and  small  library  and  herbarium,  which  would  form 
the  nuclei  of  larger  collections  in  connection  with  the  proposed 
Institute. 

Their  easy  accessibility  from  the  railway  stations  and  medical 
schools,  and  their  central  and  open  position  in  Regent’s  Park, 
render  the  site  of  the  Royal  Botanic  Gardens  unique  for  the 
purpose  of  plant  culture,  and  the  study  of  plant  life  by  those  who 
have  to  pursue  other  studies  simultaneously. 

The  need  of  a  Botanical  Institute  for  the  purpose  above  men¬ 
tioned  is  greatly  felt  by  colonists  and  those  intending  to  emigrate, 
who  now  go  to  Germany  in  considerable  numbers  to  obtain  instruc¬ 
tion.  Many  of  these  might  profitably  spend  a  session  at  a 
Botanical  Institute  if  such  existed  in  or  near  London,  as  few  of 
them  emigrate  before  they  are  of  age. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  London,  whose  wealth  in  great  measure 
is  dependent  on  its  importation  and  distribution  of  products  from 
the  vegetable  kingdom,  offers  little  opportunity  for  the  educational 
study  of  the  plants  from  which  these  are  obtained. 

Kew  may  be  referred  to  as  offering  such  opportunities,  yet  they 
do  not  teach  at  Kew,  but  require  trained  workers,  such  as  a 
teaching  Institute  might  supply. 

The  functions  of  the  proposed  Institute  would  not  be  the  same 
as  those  of  the  Imperial  Institute,  any  more  than  of  Kew.  The 
Imperial  Institute  undertakes  the  investigation  of  products  ;  prac¬ 
tical  botany  and  the  study  of  plant  life  are  not  within  the  scope  of 
its  work. 

London,  as  the  great  centre  of  the  Empire,  with  its  enormous 
population  and  capital,  is  not  like  a  small  university  town  depend¬ 
ing  on  its  students  only,  so  that,  if  once  established,  the  Council  of 
the  Royal  Botanic  Society  has  every  reason  to  believe  that  the 
Botanical  Institute  would  be  an  educational  success.  The  medical, 
pharmaceutical,  and  scientific  schools  would  doubtless  supply 
many  of  its  students. 

Botany  originally  had  its  foundation  on  pharmacy,  it  was  to 
define  accurately  the  plants  for  use  by  the  herbalist  and  physician 
that  it  sprang  into  the  position  of  a  science,  and  originally  the 
Botanical  Gardens  were  known  as  Physic  Gardens.  Naturally, 
therefore,  pharmacists  take  great  interest  in  Botany,  and  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  has  been  a  liberal  subscriber  to  the  Royal 
Botanic  Gardens  since  their  foundation. 

Eventually,  the  Council  of  the  Royal  Botanic  Society  hopes  that  if 
such  a  Botanical  Institute  be  founded,  it  will  become  affiliated 


March  6,  1897J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


205 


with  the  London  University,  and  be  recognised  as  one  of  the 
teaching  schools  in  connection  with  the  reconstructed  university, 
but  whether  the  London  University  be  reorganised,  or  not,  the 
Botanical  Institute  would  still  have  a  valuable  field  of  labour,  as 
have  all  the  other  institutions  that  it  is  proposed  to  affiliate  to  the 
University. 

As  an  example  of  the  need  for  the  better  study  of  botany,  how 
few  agriculturists  know  the  grasses  of  their  pastures  ;  they  are  in 
fact  left  to  the  birds  or  Nature  to  sow,  or  to  the  survival  of  the 
fittest,  which  in  many  cases  means  the  most  unfit,  or  as  they  are 
generally  called,  weeds.  To  combat  this,  the  agriculturist  requires 
to  know  what  grasses  will  form  his  best  fodder.  Little  has  been 
done  in  this  respect  in  this  country  compared  with  what  has  been 
done  in  Canada,  the  United  States,  Belgium,  Holland,  and 
Germany,  and  even  by  the  Portuguese  at  Busaco. 

The  appointment  of  Director,  Special  Lecturers,  Demonstrators, 
etc.,  are  matters  of  detail. 

I  have  received  letters  from  several  eminent  botanists  and 
professors  expressing  sympathy  with  the  scheme. 

Mr.  Thomas  Hanbury  writes  from  Mortola,  February  24 : — - 
“  In  answer  to  yours  of  the  20th  enclosing  minute  of  a  scheme  for 
establishing  a  botanical  institute  in  connection  with  the  Royal 
Botanic  Society,  I  would  say  that  so  far  as  I  am  able  at  this 
distance  to  judge,  the  plan  appears  to  me  to  be  admirable,  and 
worthy  of  active  support  from  all  those  who  desire  to  see  proper 
facilities  given  in  London  for  additional  botanical  teaching.  The 
Botanical  Institute  I  built  at  Genoa  five  years  ago  proves  a 
complete  success,  and  is  used  by  about  110  students  on  the  average.” 

Professor  Arthur  Meyer  writes  from  Marburg,  February  18 
(Translation): — “I  am  pleased  that  you  are  about  to  give  the 
Science  of  Botany  a  new  status  in  London.  The  plan  you  develop 
in  the  scheme  you  sent  me  is  very  good,  only  under  the  heading  of 
‘Functions — Scientific’  in  conjunction  with  practical  teaching,  I 
should  mention  ‘  Scientific  Research,’  for  the  reason  that  a  good 
Teacher  must  in  every  case  be  an  Investigator,  and  in  accordance 
with  this  a  few  words  concerning  ‘  Scientific  Research  ’  should 
be  added.  This  addition  would  not  cause  the  Institute  to  change 
its  aim,  which  should  principally  be  that  of  Teaching.  I  should 
be  very  pleased  if  you  would  send  me  a  copy  of  the  scheme  in  its 
finished  form,  a-  I  take  a  very  great  interest  in  the  matter.” 

The  functions  of  the  Institute  such  as  I  have  suggested  would 
in  no  way  interfere  with  the  gardens  fulfilling  the  social  objects  of 
the  Society,  and  of  being,  according  to  the  Charter,  “extensive 
botanical  and  ornamental  gardens  within  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
the  metropolis.” 

In  conclusion,  I  have  not  mentioned  the  subject  of  examinations, 
a  fact  that  a  friendly  critic  pointed  out  with  approval,  as  he  con¬ 
demned  the  working  for  mere  examinations  as  being  a  failure ; 
still,  although  it  is  not  contemplated  that  our  educational  work 
should  be  for  that  object  alone,  yet  no  doubt  our  curriculum  would 
be  obliged  to  adapt  itself  to  the  requirements  of  some  of  the 
examining  bodies. 

Neither  have  I  mentioned  finance,  but  I  think  the  wealth  of 
London,  for  example,  the  City  merchants  and  companies,  by  setting 
“  their  heads  and  purses  together  (the  two  great  forces  of  civilised 
humanity)  ”  should  come  to  our  aid,  and  that  a  Government  grant 
might  also  be  obtained,  if  the  scheme  be  trustworthy  and  properly 
supported. 

In  this  year  we  commemorate  the  longest  reign  of  any  British 
sovereign,  that  of  Her  Most  Gracious  Majesty,  our  Patron.  With 
Her  Majesty  here  Flora  jointly  reigns,  and  annually  our  queen  of 
flowers,  Victoria  regia,  makes  a  magnificent  display. 

Established  almost  contemporaneously  with  the  accession  of  our 
beloved  sovereign,  this  Society  has  enjoyed  her  patronage  from  the 
first,  and  in  commemoration  of  the  late  Prince  Consort,  the  most 
illustrious  of  our  past  Presidents,  I  think  the  establishment  of  an 
Albert  Institute  of  Botany,  a  project  which  would  have  been  after 
his  own  heart,  would  be  a  fitting  culmination  of  the  work  the 
Society  has  been  doing  during  the  six  decades  of  Her  Majesty’s 
reign. 


Iodine  Vasol  “Hell”  is  a  new  iodine  preparation  for  external 
use,  containing  7  per  cent,  of  iodine  organically  combined.  It 
produces  a  mild  and  prompt  iodine  action  without  the  local 
irritation  which  results  from  the  use  of  iodine  tincture.  Disagree¬ 
able  odour  and  soiling  of  the  linen  are  also  avoided.  Favourable 
results  from  the  preparation  are  reported  from  medical  quarters. — 
Zeitsch.  d.  cdlg.  oester.  Apoth.  Ver.,  li.,  53. 


PHARMACEUTICAL  SOCIETY 


MEETING  OF  THE  COUNCIL. 

WEDNESDAY,  MARCH  3,  1897. 


Present  : 

Mr.  Walter  Hills,  President. 

Messrs.  Allen,  Atkins,  Bateson,  Bottle,  Carteighe,  Corder 
Cross,  Gostling,  Grose,  Hampson,  Martindale,  Park,  Savory 
Symes,  and  Young. 

In  the  absence  of  Mr.  Harrison,  the  Vice-chair  was  taken  by  Mr. 
Hampson. 

The  minutes  of  the  last  meeting  were  read  and  confirmed. 

The  President  said  he  had  received  a  letter  from  the  Vice- 
President  regretting  his  inability  to  be  present  that  day  on  account 
of  a  slight  attack  of  influenza.  He  was  sorry  to  say  that  the  same 
cause  was  keeping  Mr.  Newsholme  away.  He  might  also  refer  to 
the  sad  bereavement  which  since  the  last  meeting  had  befallen 
their  colleague,  Mr.  Johnston,  of  Aberdeen.  He  was  sure  every 
one  deeply  sympathised  with  him  in  the  greatest  sorrow  which 
could  happen  to  any  man. 


The  Late  Mr.  Schacht. 

The  President  read  a  letter  he  had  received  from  Mrs.  Schacht, 
dated  February  9,  in  which  she  expressed  her  heart-felt  apprecia¬ 
tion  of  the  very  kind  message  of  sympathy  with  herself  and  family 
lately  sent  by  the  Council.  She  apologised  for  the  delay  in  writing, 
but  said  she  could  not  allow  any  hand  but  her  own  to  do  so.  This 
gave  him  the  opportunity  of  saying  that  at  the  meeting  of  the 
General  Purposes  Committee  on  the  previous  evening  there  was  a 
very  general  desire  expressed  that  they  should  have  on  the  walls  of 
the  Council  Chamber  a  portrait  of  their  departed  and  honoured 
friend.  One  of  their  colleagues  was  in  a  position  to  say  that  there 
was  a  very  good  portrait  in  existence,  of  which  a  replica  could  be 
obtained  for  a  comparatively  moderate  sum.  Two  gentlemen  had 
kindly  undertaken  to  put  the  matter  in  operation,  and  he  thought 
it  very  probable  that  a  number  of  Mr.  Schacht’s  friends  would 
like  to  join  in  the  movement.  He  therefore  mentioned  the 
matter  in  public,  and  had  no  doubt  there  would  be  an  immediate 
and  hearty  response. 


Election  of  Members. 

Pharmaceutical  Chemists. 

The  following,  having  passed  the  Major  examination  and 
tendered  their  subscriptions  for  the  current  year,  were  elected 
“  Members”  of  the  Society  : — 

Daniels,  Herbert  Joseph  ;  Dartford.  i  Morgan,  Henry  Brunt ;  Waterloo. 
Ellington,  Charles  Sampson  ;  Sutton.  |  Tunbridge,  Francis  F.  A.  ;  London. 

Chemists  and  Druggists. 

The  following,  who  were  in  business  before  August  1,  1868, 
having  tendered  their  subscriptions  for  the  current  year,  were 
elected  “  Members”  of  the  Society 

Armitage,  Nathaniel ;  Leeds.  |  Sewelson,  David  ;  Manchester. 

Poulson,  Edward  ;  London.  '  Smith,  John  Fi'ederick  ;  Coed  Poeth. 

Uttley,  William ;  Hull. 


Election  of  Associates  in  Business. 

The  following,  having  passed  the  Minor  examination,  being  in 
business  on  their  own  account,  and  having  tendered  their  subscrip¬ 
tions  for  the  current  year,  were  elected  “Associates  in  Business”  of 
the  Society : — 


Brown,  Sidney  S. ;  South  Molton. 
Ellul,  Lawrence  ;  Malta. 

Ferguson,  John  ;  Perth. 

Ferriday,  Alfred  James  ;  Liverpool. 
Gregory,  William  Joseph  ;  Ware. 
Harsant,  Frank  Worsley ;  Epsom. 
Homer,  Thomas  William  ;  Leeds. 

Wilson,  Wl 


Kelly,  John  Waterson  ;  Liverpool. 
Leighton,  Thomas  Taylor  ;  Leyton. 
Nurthen,  Frederick  William  ;  London. 
O'Dell,  John  Denis  ;  Hull. 

Roberts,  Robert ;  Carnarvon. 
Shepherd,  Joseph  Henry  ;  Woodville. 
Sutherland,  Alexander ;  Baltasound. 
l  ;  Langlaagte. 


Election  of  Associates. 

The  following,  having  passed  the  Minor  examination  and 


206 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[March  6,  1897 


gendered  their  subscriptions  for 
‘‘Associates  ”  of  the  Society  : — 

Anderson,  James ;  Dundee. 

Buckley,  James  Arthur  ;  Blackpool. 
Elkingtcn,  Charles  John  ;  Rugby. 

Sturrock,  James  N. 


the  current  year,  were  elected 

Lennox,  James ;  Edinburgh. 

Long,  James  Christmas  ;  Boscombe. 
Saunders,  Alfred  Woods  ;  Maldon. 

Law ;  Linlithgow. 


Election  of  Students. 

The  following,  having  passed  the  First  examination  and 
tendered  their  subscriptions  for  the  current  year,  were  elected 
“  Students  ”  of  the  Society 


and  it  might  be  mentioned  that  the  will  bequeathing  the  legacy 
was  made  many  years  ago,  when  the  deceased  was  quite  a  young 
man. 

The  President  said  he  was  very  pleased  to  hear  what  Mr. 
Carteighe  had  said  with  regard  to  their  late  friend  Mr.  Thomas.  He 
(the  President)  had  not  had  the  pleasure  of  anything  more  than  a 
slight  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Thomas,  and  was,  therefore,  all  the 
more  pleased  to  think  that  one  who  was  so  well  known  amongst 
them  had  been  mentioned  in  this  kind  way  by  Mr.  Carteighe  who 
knew  him  so  well. 

Report  of  Benevolent  Fund  Committee. 

The  report  of  this  Committee  included  a  recommendation  of 
grants  to  the  amount  of  £32  in  the  following  cases  : — 


Abrey,  Richard  B.  Henry  ;  Battersea. 
Alexander,  Thomas  B.  ;  South  Shields. 
Allen,  Archibald  Clive  ;  Lichfield. 
Andrews,  Bertram  L.  M.  ;  Royston. 
Balfour,  Andrew  Common  ;  Jedburgh 
Bazley,  Bertie  William  ;  Gloucester. 
Burton,  Harry  Osborne  ;  Liverpool. 
Chaff,  Thomas  Waycott ;  Paignton. 
Curtis,  Herbert  N.  R.  ;  Brighton. 
Davies,  Ralph  Cecil ;  Milford  Haven. 
Delves,  Charles  Broughton  ;  Exeter. 
Dodd,  David ;  Manchester. 

Douglas,  Mary  Ann  T.  ;  Edinburgh. 
Elvery,  Herbert  F.  ;  Southampton. 
Evans,  John  Richard  ;  Brierley  Hill. 
Glascock,  John  Laybank  ;  Norwich. 
Griffin,  Alfred  Buckle  ;  London. 
Hackett,  John  ;  Shepherd's  Bush. 
Hartley,  William  James  ;  Blackpool. 
ITowse,  Leonard  Augustus  ;  Croydon. 
Hymans,  Herbert ;  London. 

Jackson,  Herbert ;  Grimsby. 

Jones,  John  Lee  ;  Ebbw  Vale. 

Williams,  Josiah  1 


Kermode,  John  William  ;  Castletown. 
Low,  John  Hill ;  Fraserburgh. 
McCartney,  Walter  ;  Darwen. 
McGregor,  James  ;  Cullen. 

Melbourn,  Newell  Ewens  ;  London. 
Miller,  Donald  George  ;  London. 
Molson,  Algernon  Heauley  ;  Sleaford. 
Perkins,  George  Mitchelson  ;  Evesham. 
Phillips,  Ivor  Reginald  ;  Abergavenny. 
Ramsay,  Robert  Sparks  ;  Dundee. 
Reynolds,  Frank  ;  Droitwich.  " 

Shaw,  Samuel ;  Whaley  Bridge. 

Siggers,  Clement ;  Colchester. 

Simpson,  Francis  Ernest ;  Bloxham. 
Snow,  Harris  Charles  ;  Maldon. 

Strang,  Duncan  ;  Callander. 

Tanner,  William  Edward  ;  Cheltenham. 
Thomson,  Charles  Samson  ;  Ayr. 

Th waits,  George  Rose  ;  Edinburgh. 
Verrall,  Ada ;  Swanboro'. 

Warren,  George  Hope  ;  Bournemouth. 
Webster,  Digby ;  Chester. 

Wilkie,  John  Matthew  ;  Montrose, 
rm as  D. ;  Bradford. 


The  names  of  the  following  persons,  who  had  severally  made  the 
required  declarations,  and  paid  a  fine  of  one  guinea,  were  restored 
to  the  Register  of  Chemists  and  Druggists 

Thomas  Wokes  Carlton,  High  Road,  East  Finchley,  N. 

Thomas  Watts  Coslett,  IT,  Jamaica  Row,  Birmingham. 

James  Hood  Thomson,  51,  Beaconsfield  Terrace,  Northampton. 

Several  persons  were  restored  to  their  former  status  in  the 
Society  upon  payment  of  the  current  year’s  subscription  and  a- 
nominal  restoration  fee  of  one  shilling. 


A  former  Pharmaceutical  Chemist  member  (aged  69),  who  had  a  grant  ast 
year,  and  whose  position  is  now  worse  than  it  was  then.  (Oxford.) 

The  widow  (aged  64)  of  a  registered  Chemist  and  Druggist,  whose  husband  died 
in  January.  She  is  now  recovering  from  the  effects  of  an  operation,  and  hopes 
later  to  be  able  to  obtain  a  situation.  (London.) 

A  Chemist  and  Druggist  member  (aged  71),  and  subscriber  to  the  Fund.  Was 
in  business  for  twenty-five  years  but  had  to  give  up  in  1891.  (Mabletliorpe.) 

The  widow  of  a  registered  Chemist  and  Druggist  (aged  56)  who  has  had  four 
previous  grants,  the  last  in  October,  1895.  (London.) 

One  case  was  deferred  for  further  information,  and  three  others  the  Committee 
declined  to  entertain. 

Mr.  Bottle  (as  Chairman  of  the  Committee)  moved  the  adoption 
of  the  report  and  recommendations.  There  was  nothing  calling 
for  any  special  comment  in  the  cases  which  came  before  the  Com¬ 
mittee. 

The  motion  was  at  once  carried  unanimously. 


Library,  Museum,  School,  and  House  Committee. 

Library. 

The  report  of  the  Librarian  had  been  received,  including  the 
following  particulars  : — 


Attendance 

January . '{Evening':::::: 

Circulation  of  Books.  Total. 
January .  204 


Total. 

Highest. 

367 

23 

106 

14 

Town. 

Country. 

101 

103 

Lowest.  Average. 
3  14 

2  6 
Carriage  paid. 

£1  7s.  10pi. 


Donations  to  the  Library  had  been  announced  ( Pharm ,  Joum., 
February  13,  p.  127),  and  the  Committee  had  directed  that  the 
usual  letters  of  thanks  be  sent  to  the  respective  donors. 

The  Committee  had  recommended  that  Collin’s  ‘  Guide  Pratique 
pour  la  Determination  des  Poudres  Officinales  ’  be  purchased  for  the 
Library  in  London. 

Museum. 


The  Curator’s  report  had  been  received,  and  included  the  fol¬ 
lowing  particulars 


Attendance.  Total.  Highest.  Lowest.  Average. 


Report  of  Finance  Committee. 

The  Secretary  read  the  report  of  this  Committee,  which  was  of 
the  usual  character,  recommending  various  sums  for  payment. 

The  President,  in  moving  the  adoption  of  this  Report,  said  there 
was  nothing  calling  for  special  comment.  It  would  be  noticed  that 
a  statement  was  given  of  the  expenditure  of  the  North  British 
Branch  during  the  year  1896.  All  he  had  to  say  with  regard  to  that 
was  that  they  were  much  indebted  to  their  friends,  the  Executive 
in  the  North,  for  the  careful  way  in  which  they  had  managed  the 
finances  of  the  Society.  With  reference  to  the  Benevolent  Fund,  they 
had  among  the  donations  a  legacy  of  £100  left  by  the  will  of  their 
late  esteemed  friend  Mr.  Thomas.  There  was  a  subscription 
of  twenty  guineas  from  the  Pharmacy  Club,  as  well  as  a  subscription, 
£2 15s.  4c?.,  collected  at  the  Annual  Supper  of  the  Students  attending 
the  classes  at  the  Royal  Dispensary,  Edinburgh,  sent  by  Mr. 
William  Duncan,  and  also  £3  collected  at  a  conversazione  of  the 
Glasgow  Pharmaceutical  Association,  and  forwarded  by  Mr.  Laing, 
of  Glasgow.  These  indications  of  the  interest  taken  in  the 
Benevolent  Fund  by  various  classes  of  chemists  and  under  various 
circumstances  were  very  gratifying. 

Mr.  Carteighe  said  he  was  quite  sure  the  Council  would  be  glad 
to  receive  the  donation  from  the  Executors  of  the  late  Mr.  Thomas, 
it  having  been  sent  free  of  legacy  duty.  Mr.  Thomas  was  a 
Divisional  Secretary,  and  formerly  a  pupil  in  the  Society’s  School. 
Although  they  were  very  thankful  for  the  legacy,  he  thought  it 
would  have  been  a  good  thing  for  pharmacy  if  he  had  been  spared 
for  some  years  to  exercise  the  considerable  amount  of  abibty  which 
he  possessed  in  its  behalf.  Mr.  Thomas  was  attached  to  the 
Society  and  had  been  left  by  his  father  in  well-to-do  circumstances, 


.TaT1,ln™  /Day .  547  40  8  .  21 

January . \  Evening  .  41  8  1  2 

Several  donations  had  been  received  {Pharm.  Journ.,  February 
13,  p.  127),  and  the  Committee  had  directed  that  the  usual  letters 
of  thanks  be  sent  to  the  respective  donors. 

The  Secretary  read  the  report  of  this  Committee,  which  con¬ 
tained  nothing  but  routine  matters. 

The  President  moved  the  adoption  of  the  report  and  recom¬ 
mendations,  which  was  at  once  agreed  to. 


The  Annual  Meeting. 

It  was  resolved  that  the  56th  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Society  be 
held  on  Wednesday,  May  19,  at  12  o’cl  ck. 

It  was  also  resolved  that  the  preparation  of  the  annual  report  be 
referred  to  the  Library,  Museum,  School  and  House  Committee. 


The  Sale  of  Calcium  Carbide. 

The  President  said  a  paragraph  had  appeared  in  the  daily  press 
stating  that  certain  regulations  were  being  made  with  regard  to 
the  storage  of  calcium  carbide,  and  the  Secretary  had  that 
morning  received  a  letter  from  the  Home  Office  which  he  would 
read. 

The  Secretary  accordingly  read  a  letter  which  had  been 
received  from  Colonel  Majendie,  dated  March  2,  enclosing  a  copy 
of  an  order  in  Council  (see  p.  212)  which  would  be  published  in  the 
London  Gazette  on  that  evening.  With  regard  to  the  memorandum 
which  the  Department  proposed  to  send  to  local  authorities  on 
application,  copies  had  not  yet  been  received  from  the  printers, 
but  one  should  be  forwarded  as  soon  as  received. 


March  6,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


207 


The  President  added  that  the  memorandum  referred  to  in 
Colonel  Majendie’s  letter  was  a  document  which  was  to  be  supplied 
by  the  Home  Office  to  local  authorities  on  application,  giving  in¬ 
structions  how  the  order  was  to  be  carried  out.  They  were 
promised  a  copy  of  that  in  a  few  days. 

Mr.  Symes  asked  if  the  idea  in  applying  to  the  Home  Office  was 
to  ascertain  whether  the  regulations  which  applied  to  the  storage 
of  large  quantity  of  this  substance  would  apply  equally  to  such 
small  quantities  as  might  be  kept  by  chemists. 

The  President  said  he  could  hardly  answer  the  question  at  the 
moment ;  he  merely  wished  to  let  the  Council  know  that  informa¬ 
tion  had  been  sent  from  the  Home  Office,  and  the  order  in 
Council  had  been  furnished,  but  as  it  had  only  just  been  received, 
he  had  not  had  time  to  look  into  it,  and  further  information  would 
soon  be  forwarded. 

Mr.  Symes  said  he  hoped  that  the  point  he  had  mentioned  would 
be  kept  in  view.  The  Petroleum  Acts  contained  certain  regulations 
which  contemplated  the  storage  of  large  quantities,  and  he  believed 
that  on  representations  being  made  some  slight  modifications  were 
introduced  in  favour  of  chemists  and  druggists,  enabling  them  to 
keep  small  quantities  of  benzine  which  would  otherwise  come 
within  the  Act.  He  hoped  the  same  good  offices  would  be  invoked 
in  this  case  if  necessary,  so  that  unnecessary  inconvenience  might 
not  be  experienced  by  chemists. 

The  President  said  the  point  mentioned  by  Mr.  Symes  should 
not  be  forgotten. 


The  International  Congress  at  Brussels. 

The  President  read  a  letter  which  he  had  received  from  M. 
Duyk,  acquainting  him  with  the  fact  that  the  Association  Generale 
Pharmaceutique  de  Belgique  were  organising  the  Eighth  Inter¬ 
national  Pharmaceutical  Congress,  to  be  held  in  the  month  of 
August  next,  at  Brussels,  on  the  occasion  of  the  50th  anniversary 
of  the  foundation  of  that  Society.  The  letter  stated  that  the 
Belgian  Pharmaceutical  Association  numbered  more  than  700 
members,  and  was  one  of  the  most  ancient  professional  societies 
in  that  country.  The  writer  begged  him  to  use  all  his  influence 
with  his  colleagues  and  the  pharmacists  of  this  country  generally 
to  induce  them  to  participate  in  the  Congress.  There  seemed  to 
be  some  little  doubt  in  his  (the  President’s)  mind  as  to 
whether  this  could  rightly  be  styled  the  Eighth  Inter¬ 
national  Congress  of  Pharmacy.  The  Seventh  Congress 
was  held  at  Chicago,  and  at  its  close,  a  Committee, 

of  which  Mr.  Carteighe  was  a  member,  was  appointed  to 
make  arrangements  for  the  holding  of  the  Eighth  Congress. 
He  had  asked  Mr.  Carteighe  if  he  had  been  approached 

on  the  matter,  and  he  understood  that  he  had  not.  He  did  not 
wish  to  throw  any  cold  water  on  what  would  be  no  doubt  a 
very  interesting  meeting,  more  or  less  of  an  international  char¬ 
acter,  but  on  the  question  of  official  recognition  he  thought  he 
should  rather  wait  to  hear  what  Mr.  Carteighe  had  to  say  on 
the  matter.  At  the  same  time  he  was  quite  sure  that 

their  best  wishes  went  with  their  pharmaceutical  brethren 
wherever  they  were,  and  he  took  this  opportunity  of 

carrying  out  the  wishes  of  the  writer  of  the  letter, 
in  making  known  to  his  colleagues,  and  through  the  press  to  the 
pharmacists  of  this  country  generally,  that  there  would  be  a 
Congress  in  August  in  Brussels,  and  to  that  Congress  all  pharma¬ 
cists  were  invited,  and  that  a  very  cordial  welcome  awaited  them 
there.  He  also  wished  to  congratulate  the  Belgium  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society  on  their  fiftieth  anniversary. 

Mr.  Carteighe  said  many  of  them  had  received  a  printed 
circular  with  reference  to  this  Congress,  which  he  confessed 
he  did  not  quite  understand.  He  did  not  wish  to  say  any  more 
than  that  he  hoped  their  friends  in  Belgium  would  have  a  suc¬ 
cessful  meeting,  and  he  knew  that  they  would  do  all  in  their  power 
to  make  it  a  success.  So  far  as  he  knew  and  had  been  able  to  learn 
the  Committee  of  the  Seventh  Congress  had  not  been  approached 
in  regard  to  the  next  meeting,  and  in  that  sense  the  Congress  to 
be  held  in  August  was  not  the  ordinary  successor  of  the  Seventh. 
It  was  usual  in  all  such  cases  for  representatives  from  one  or  two 
different  parts  of  the  world  to  write  to  the  President  of  the  Stand¬ 
ing  Committee  to  make  suggestions  as  to  the  holding  of  the  next 
meeting.  It  appeared  that  there  was  just  a  little  confusion  among 
their  Belgian  friends,  and  he  simply  wished  to  put  himself  right 
as  being  one  of  the  Committee,  by  saying  that  this  Congress  had  not 
been  organised  on  any  formal  offer  sent  from  Brussels,  but  never¬ 
theless  lie  wished  them  every  success.  The  Presidents  of  the 
various  organisations  in  different  parts  of  the  world  were  a  little 


sensitive  on  matters  of  routine,  and  it  might,  therefore,  save  any 
friction  if  he  mentioned  what  he  did. 

Dr.  Symes  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  British  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Conference  was  also  fixed  for  the  month  of  August,  and  he 
hoped  that  it  would  not  be  spoilt  by  the  fact  of  the  Congress  in 
Brussels  being  held  in  the  same  month. 

Mr.  Carteighe  observed  that  the  International  Pharmaceutical 
Congress  was  started  with  very  much  the  same  objects  as  the 
British  Pharmaceutical  Conference.  There  had  been  a  meeting  at 
Paris,  Breslau,  Vienna,  London,  Brussels,  and  St.  Petersburg. 
The  invitation  from  Milan  was  withdrawn  at  the  last  moment  with 
the  permission  of  the  Standing  Committee  of  the  Sixth  Congress. 

General  Purposes  Committee. 

The  Secretary  read  the  portion  of  this  report  which  dealt  with 
the  examinations  (see  page  210).  It  stated  that  the  Committee 
recommended  the  report  of  the  Sub-Committee  for  adoption.  This 
report  recommended  (a)  That  the  First  examination  of  the  Society 
be  discontinued  after  June,  1900,  and  that  there  be  substituted  in 
lieu  thereof  the  production  of  certificates  of  approved  examining 
bodies  covering  a  wider  area  of  preliminary  knowledge.  ( b )  That 
after  1898  the  fee  payable  in  respect  of  the  qualifying  examination 
be  ten  guineas,  (c)  That  the  modified  bye-laws  submitted  by  the 
Sub-Committee  for  carrying  these  changes  into  effect  be  read  a 
first  time  at  the  Council  Meeting  on  the  following  day. 

The  President  said  it  would  be  remembered  that  last  year  a 
resolution  was  passed  by  the  Executive  of  the  North  British 
Branch  to  the  effect  that  the  time  had  arrived  for  making  the  First 
examination  a  more  efficient  test  of  a  candidate’s  general  know¬ 
ledge.  This  resolution,  being  sent  to  the  Council,  was  referred 
to  the  General  Purposes  Committee,  which  delegated  its  considera¬ 
tion  tq^i  sub-committee,  which,  having  gone  very  carefully  into 
the  subject,  reported  last  evening  to  the  General  Purposes  Com¬ 
mittee  to  the  effect  which  had  just  been  read.  The  report  dealt 
practically  with  two  subjects,  the  First  examination  and  the  fee 
payable  in  respect  of  the  qualifying  examination,  and  on  each  of 
these  he  would  say  a  few  words.  The  third  suggestion 
as  to  the  bye-laws  was  merely  the  carrying  into  effect  of 
the  other  two.  With  regard  to  the  Preliminary  examina¬ 
tion,  there  was  a  general  consensus  of  opinion  that  the  time  had 
come  when  it  should  be  taken  in  hand  and,  being  of  such  import¬ 
ance — though  he  believed  most  persons  were  agreed  about — it  would 
be  well  to  say  a  few  words  upon  it.  In  the  first  place,  he  would 
refer  to  some  words,  probably  written  by  Jacob  Bell,  which 
appeared  in  an  editorial  paragraph  in  the  Pharmaceutical  J ournal 
so  long  ago  as  January  1,  1848.  The  Preliminary  was  then  called 
the  classical  examination,  and  the  writer  of  the  article  said,  “  The 
object  of  this  examination  is  to  ascertain  whether  the  candidate 
has  acquired  that  elementary  knowledge  which  is  essen¬ 
tial  as  a  ground  work  of  the  education  of  the  phar¬ 
maceutical  chemist.”  Then  after  making  some  apology  for 
what  he  considered  the  comparatively  moderate  character  of 
the  existing  examination,  which  was  then  perfectly  voluntary,  in 
very  elementary  Latin  and  arithmetic,  he  concluded  with  the 
following  words,  to  which  he  wished  to  draw  special  attention  : 
“  We  hope  that  it  will  in  process  of  time  be  found  practicable  and 
expedient  to  extend  the  course  of  study  required  for  this  examina¬ 
tion,  feeling  persuaded  that  an  elementary  acquaintance  with 
physics  and  mathematics  is  of  great  importance,  and  that  some 
knowledge  of  modern  languages  might  be  added  with  advantage. 
These  views  had  been  endorsed  from  time  to  time  by  thoughtful 
members  of  the  calling  ever  since,  and  as  far  as  his  experience  went 
the  Council  had  never  forgotten  the  subject ;  but  it  was  a  matter 
in  which  it  was  desirable,  if  possible,  that  the  opinion  of  the  whole 
body  should  be  unanimous.  The  examination  was  now  generally 
regarded  as  inadequate,  and  for  several  reasons.  Education  had 
advanced  in  every  class  of  life,  and  it  was  highly  important  that 
the  general  education  of  the  pharmacist  should  bt  kept  up  to  the 
level  of  modern  requirements.  The  qualifying  examination  had 
also  in  recent  years  become  more  thorough  and  extended,  and 
there  were  large  numbers  of  failures.  It  seemed  to  the  C  ommittee 
very  hard  that  young  men  should  be  led  into  taking  up  a  calling 
for  which  they  were  utterly  unfit,  and  that  it  would  be  much  kinder 
to  let  them  know  by  the  nature  of  the  Preliminary  examination  that 
a  very  considerable  amount  of  knowledge  was  required  befoie 
they  could  obtain  the  qualification  necessary  to  carry  on 
business.  This  matter  had  been  specially  before  the  1  harma- 
ceutical  World  for  the  last  three  or  four  years,  and  in  1895, 
when  there  was  a  special  meeting  of  the  Society  to 


203 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[March  6,  1897 


consider  some  alterations  in  the  bye-laws,  the  general  conversation 
turned  mainly  on  the  question  of  the  Preliminary  examination, 
though  it  was  not  then  dealt  with.  Again,  in  1891,  at  a  meeting  of 
the  Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,  a  unanimous  vote  was  passed, 
after  a  long  and  interesting  discussion,  that  the  scope  of  the 
Preliminary  examination  might  well  be  extended.  There  had 
also  been  discussions  in  Scotland  at  which  similar  resolutions 
had  been  passed,  besides  the  resolution  which  he  had 
already  mentioned,  which  had  led  to  the  present  inquiry.  He  might 
also  infer  from  the  public  utterances  of  the  Government 
Visitor  of  their  examinations  that  they  had  his  sympathies  in  the 
matter.  In  his  report  in  March,  1895,  I)r.  Stevenson  said  a  large 
number  of  candidates  presented  themselves  who  had  but  a  very 
defective  education,  and  in  March,  1896,  he  said  that  the  weak¬ 
ness  in  Latin  and  arithmetic  of  some  candidates  even  who  passed, 
manifested  itself  at  the  later  and  more  important  qualifying  ex¬ 
amination.  All  this  showed  that  there  was  a  feeling  abroad 
that  the  present  Preliminary  examination  was  not  up  to  the  re¬ 
quirements  of  modern  times,  and  he  might  also  refer  to  the 
numerous  letters  which  had  appeared  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal 
during  the  last  few  years.  There  were  two  ways  of  dealing  with 
this  examination,  it  could  be  made  more  stringent  in  the  present 
subjects,  or  the  scope  might  be  widened.  The  first 
was  soon  brushed  aside  by  the  Sub-Committee,  feeling 
that  though  it  might  keep  a  few  more  doubtful  men  out,  it 
would  not  do  what  was  really  desired — attract  young  men  of  better 
general  education  into  the  calling.  There  was  a  general  consensus 
of  opinion  as  to  the  advisability  of  widening  the  area  of  the 
examination,  but  when  they  came  to  matters  of  detail  there  was 
not  quite  the  same  agreement.  He  thought,  however,  that  the 
Committee  had  adopted  a  wise  course,  considering  what  was 
required  by  other  bodies  ;  it  was  decided  that  the  examination  for 
general  education  required  by  the  General  Medical  Council  was 
the  one  which  would  best  meet  the  case.  The  fresh  subjects  which 
it  would  introduce  were  Euclid  (first  three  books),  algebra  (simple 
equations),  and  a  modern  foreign  language.  This  examination 
could  not  only  be  recommended  on  its  merits,  but  by  adopt¬ 
ing  it  the  young  men  who  passed  it  would  be  in  a  position, 
if  they  desired,  to  enter  the  medical,  dental,  or  veterinary  profes¬ 
sions,  and  the  Institute  of  Chemistry,  without  having  to  pass  a  pre¬ 
liminary  examination  in  arts.  He  was  lately  informed  that  a  large 
number  of  young  pharmacists  made  inquiries  at  the  General 
Medical  Council  on  this  point,  and  he  found  that  up  to  a  certain 
time  the  Preliminary  examination  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
was  recognised  pro  tanto  for  the  medical  preliminary,  but  it  would 
no  longer  be  recognised  in  any  way.  It  was  obviously  impossible 
to  conduct  an  examination  in  six  subjects  on  one  day,  and  the 
Committee  therefore  thought  it  would  be  wise  for  the  Society  to 
at  once  give  up  conducting  its  own  Preliminary  examination,  and 
hand  over  the  duty  to  properly  constituted  bodies,  whose  special 
function  it  was  to  conduct  such  examinations.  The  College  of 
Preceptors  carried  out  four  such  examinations  yearly,  two  in 
June  and  December  in  London,  Birmingham,  Bristol,  Leeds, 
Liverpool,  and  at  other  centres  as  required ;  and  in  March  and 
September  at  a  very  large  number  of  centres.  He  had  before  him 
a  paper  showing  that  at  Christmas  last  these  examinations  were 
held  at  over  one  hundred  centres,  and  there  would,  therefore,  be 
no  insuperable  difficulty  in  the  way  of  young  men  getting 
examined.  The  question  would,  of  course,  be  raised,  though  not 
probably  in  that  room,  whether  the  game  was  worth  the  candle. 
He  would  say,  in  the  first  place,  that  it  was  not  fair  to  induce  young 
men,  deficient  either  in  mental  power  or  education,  to  apprentice 
themselves  to  a  calling,  only  to  find  later  on  that  they  were  unable  to 
obtain  the  qualification  which  the  law  prescribed.  Even  in  the  Pre¬ 
liminary  about  50  per  cent,  usually  failed,  and  the  same  might  be 
said  of  the  Minor ;  and  a  considerable  number,  therefore,  after 
trying  in  vain  to  pass  the  examination,  remained  unqualified 
assistants  to  the  end  of  their  days.  If  the  result  of  the  proposed 
change  was  to  induce  a  better  class  of  men  to  enter  the  calling,  and 
so  encourage  better  education  amongst  those  who  proposed  to  enter 
pharmacy,  he  thought  the  failures  in  the  qualifying  examination 
would  very  soon  diminish  in  number.  On  the  Continent  the 
standard  of  preliminary  knowledge  required  was  much  higher  than 
in  England.  In  France  anyone  who  wished  to  become  a  first-class 
pharmacien  had  to  pass  a  very  high-class  examination  which 
included  English,  mathematics,  algebra,  physics,  etc.  In  Germany 
before  a  young  man  could  enter  for  the  assistants’  examination, 
he  had  to  go  through  a  three  years’  curriculum  in  one  of  the 
gymnasia,  and  in  Russia  the  standard  of  preliminary  education 


required  was  equivalent  to  the  matriculation  examination  for  the 
London  University ;  in  fact,  in  the  case  of  Professor  Greenish, 
the  authorities  at  Dorpat  would  not  receive  the  matriculation 
certificate  of  the  London  University,  showing  how  stringent  they 
were.  With  regard  to  Scotland,  he  held  the  College  of  Preceptors 
were  prepared  to  conduct  examinations  there  if  desired,  but  there 
were  several  other  bodies  who  undertook  this  duty  whose 
certificates  were  accepted  by  the  General  Medical  Council,  so  that 
there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  the  way  of  their  Scotch 
brethren.  He  need  hardly  say  that  there  were  various 
examinations  accepted  other  than  those  of  the  College  of 
Preceptors.  He  had  in  his  hand  a  long  list  of  those 
accepted  by  the  Medical  Council,  and  of  course  the  Council 
would  accept  them  also.  It  was  not  proposed  that  this 
alteration  should  come  into  force  until  after  June,  1900,  because 
it  would  not  be  fair  to  interfere  with  the  interests  of  any 
young  men  who  had  already  entered  the  calling.  Passing  now  to 
the  second  recommendation,  that  after  1898  the  fee  payable  by 
candidates  on  entering  for  the  qualifying  examination  should 
be  ten  guineas,  the  Committee  had  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  as  this  included  not  only  the  examination  fee  itself, 
but  also  registration  for  life,  five  guineas  was  altogether 
inadequate.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  majority 
were  content  with  the  Minor  examination,  and  of  those  who  passed 
it  about  four-fifths  were  not  in  any  way  connected  with  the  Society, 
and  did  nothing  to  support  it.  At  the  same  time  they  were  regis¬ 
tered  for  life,  and  their  interests  were  looked  after  by  the  Society 
as  well  as  those  of  its  members  and  Associates.  Every  prosecu¬ 
tion  instituted  by  the  Society  in  accordance  with  the  Act  of  Parlia¬ 
ment  and  in  fulfilment  of  a  public  duty  was  more  or  less  an 
advantage  to  all  those  on  the  Register,  but,  unfortunately,  most 
of  them  were  not  connected  with  the  Society,  and  it  was  only  fair, 
therefore,  that  the  fee  should  be  raised  to  the  sum  mentioned. 
In  the  medical  profession  there  was  a  registration  fee  for  life  in 
addition  to  all  the  examination  fees,  and  in  the  legal  profession  a 
considerable  sum  had  to  be  paid  annually.  He  hoped  he  had  said 
sufficient  to  show  generally  what  were  the  feelings  of  the  Sub- 
Committee  and  the  General  Purposes  Committee  with  regard  to 
the  point.  The  number  of  new  bye-laws  looked  rather  formidable, 
but  he  had  called  attention  to  practically  the  only  two  points 
which  required  special  consideration.  In  the  matter  of  the  Pre¬ 
liminary  examination  he  took  the  greatest  possible  interest,  and  he 
was  exceedingly  glad  that  it  had  fallen  to  his  lot  to  move  that  the 
amended  bjm-laws  be  read  a  first  time. 

Mr.  Carteighe,  in  seconding  the  resolution,  said  he  did  so  with 
great  pleasure,  because  he  had  been  associated  with  the  subject 
very  intimately  for  the  last  fifteen  years.  He  had  had  opportunities 
of  addressing  his  brethren  throughout  different  parts  of  the 
United  Kingdom  a  few  years  ago  when  the  question  of  whether 
education  was  worth  the  candle  was  frankly  discussed.  He  had 
succeeded  in  showing  at  every  meeting  he  attended  that  education 
did  pay  in  a  purely  commercial  aspect.  If  there  was  any  opposi¬ 
tion  to  a  change  of  this  kind  it  would  be  by  those  who  were  unable 
to  appreciate  the  fact  that  it  was  not  possible  in  these  days  to  suc¬ 
ceed  in  any  calling  in  life  without  a  fair  amount  of  education.  The 
raison  d’etre  of  their  calling  was  that  they  should  possess  an  amount 
of  technical  knowledge  superior  to  that  of  their  customers.  It  was 
due  to  those  who  were  upon  the  Register  that  those  who  came  after 
them  should  have  the  requisite  knowledge.  The  students  were 
required  to  have  an  elementary  knowledge  of  chemistry,  physics, 
and  botany,  and  it  was  absolutely  impossible  for  anyone  to  com¬ 
prehend  the  most  elementary  text-books,  unless  his  preliminary 
knowledge  was  greater  than  the  three  subjects  at  present 
required,  viz.,  Latin,  arithmetic,  and  English.  The  fatal 
objection  to  the  old  Preliminary  examination  was  that  youths 
imagined  that  they  could  be  crammed  for  it,  and  it  was 
obvious  that  the  smaller  the  number  of  subjects  the  easier  it 
was  to  cram  for  an  examination.  The  object  of  the  Preliminary 
examination  was  to  see  that  the  candidate  had  general  knowledge 
of  the  ordinary  school  subjects,  and  if  he  had  not  that  knowledge 
he  had  better  not  come  into  pharmacy.  He  did  not  look  despond- 
ingly  on  the  future  of  pharmacy  ;  though  no  doubt  the  number  of 
retail  pharmacies  in  which  a  large  business  was  done  was  smaller 
than  it  was  thirty  years  ago  ;  still,  from  his  own  experience,  he 
must  say  that  the  prospects  of  the  registered  chemist  and  druggist 
were  distinctly  better  than  they  were  thirty  years  ago.  He  believed 
the  average  income  of  a  chemist  to  be  better,  though  he  could  not 
prove  it,  and  he  believed  there  was  a  good  professional  livelihood 
to  be  made  in  the  future  as  in  the  past,  notwithstanding  the 


March  6,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


209 


amount  of  competition  by  companies,  by  the  young  man  who 
entered  the  calling  with  proper  preliminary  training,  and  who  was 
willing  to  work.  The  opinions  of  all  thoughtful  men  went  to  show 
that  the  best  test  of  preliminary  knowledge  should  be  a  wide  one, 
and  not  exact  too  great  an  amount  of  knowledge  of  each  subject ; 
in  fact  to  adopt  as  far  as  possible  the  tests  of  those  subjects  that 
would  be  taught  in  ordinary  schools.  The  next  point  was  that  there 
had  been  until  recent  years  a  strong  tendency  on  the  part  of 
corporations  to  retain  all  the  power  in  their  own  hands  with  regard 
to  the  Preliminary  examination,  as  well  as  the  others.  This  had 
been  generally  abolished  now,  and  in  future  regulations  in  regard 
to  universities  he  had  no  doubt  it  would  be  made  a  disqualification 
that  a  body  like  theirs,  which  carried  out  technical  examinations, 
should  also  be  able  to  examine  in  arts.  The  Apothecaries 
Company  was  the  latest  survival  of  the  Medical  Corporations  to 
have  a  Preliminary  examination,  but  that  he  believed  was 
either  going  or  gone.  Then,  again,  it  was  a  mere 
farce  to  say  that  the  Society  conducted  the  Pre¬ 
liminary  examinati  m  even  now,  because  it  was  really  being 
done  by  the  College  of  Preceptors,  and  it  was  now  proposed 
not  to  pass  it  on  to  that  body  specially,  but  to  all  the  examining 
bodies  which  did  that  kind  of  work.  It  might  be  said  that  the 
number  of  these  bodies  was  not  large,  but  practically  they 
could  get  any  amount  of  that  kind  of  work  done  if  they 
had  sufficient  candidates.  In  Scotland,  the  Institute  of  Scot¬ 
land,  which  was  a  body  corresponding  to  the  College  of 
Preceptors,  was  actually  doing  the  same  kind  of  work,  and  gave 
facilities  for  examinations  practically  all  over  Scotland. 
It  would  be  recognised  by  the  Government  that  the  Society  had 
done  a  wise  thing  when  they  ceased  to  interfere  with  the  general 
education  of  the  candidates,  and  accepted  the  certificates  of 
bodies  specially  chartered  to  do  this  particular  kind  of  work. 
The  list  of  subjects  looked  formidable,  but  was  only  what  any 
pharmacist  would  think  ought  to  be  added  to  the  existing 
three.  In  Ireland  elementary  chemistry  was  included  in  the 
Preliminary  examination,  which  was  far  superior  to  the  English 
examination,  and  if  they  succeeded  in  getting  a  high  standard 
of  candidates,  they  were  to  be  congratulated  in  the  course 
they  were  pursuing.  In  choosing  the  subjects  of  the 
examination  it  was  considered  desirable  to  make  it  of  such  a 
character  that  the  certificate  when  obtained  would  enable  the 
recipient  to  pass  the  portals  of  other  professions  in  addition  to 
their  own.  The  time  had  gone  by  when  they  could  afford  to 
sit  in  a  pharmacy  and  watch  other  people  working  for  them. 
They  had  now  to  work  for  themselves,  and  that  being  so, 
in  the  interests  of  humanity  they  ought  to  insist  that  those 
who  were  going  to  fight  the  battle  of  life  on  this  field  should 
be  properly  equipped  for  the  combat.  As  to  the  fee  for  the  quali¬ 
fying  examination,  he  advocated  many  years  ago  the  payment  of  a 
registration  fee,  and  tried  to  persuade  his  then  chief,  Mr.  Sandford,  to 
impose  one,  but  was  not  successful.  It  appeared  to  him  that  everyone 
coming  on  the  Register  ought  to  contribute  to  the  expense  of 
conducting  pharmaceutical  affairs.  A  registration  fee  of  five 
guineas  was  exacted  by  the  General  Medical  Council,  and  he 
thought  they  had  a  right  to  ask  the  same.  A  great  deal  of  the 
past  work  of  the  Society  had  been  of  advantage  to  all  registered 
men,  and  so  would  be  its  work  in  the  future.  He  could  imagine 
many  questions  arising,  in  which  the  Pharmacy  Acts  would  be 
involved,  which  would  put  the  Society  to  great  expense, 
and  all  those  who  benefited  by  its  action  ought  to  contri¬ 
bute  in  some  measure  to  that  expenditure.  But  apart  from 
all  that,  the  name  of  every  man  on  the  Register  was 
published  annually,  and  he  was  protected  in  many  ways, 
for  which  some  acknowledgment  might  fairly  be  asked. 
If  they  valued  their  calling  cheaply,  they  would  themselves  be 
valued  cheaply.  He  appealed  to  all  thoughtful  men  throughout 
the  country  who  took  an  interest  in  the  future  of  pharmacy  to 
forget  their  early  struggles  ;  and  he  would  impress  upon  all  those 
who  raised  the  cry  of  cui  bono  that  it  was  for  the  young  men  to 
decide  these  questions. 

Mr.  Hampson  supported  the  new  bye-laws  in  their  entirety,  and 
regretted  that  the  Scotch  members  were  not  there,  because  he  was 
sure  they  would  have  heartily  supported  the  resolution.  He  looked 
upon  the  increasing  of  the  fee  as  a  necessity  in  view  of  the  greater 
responsibilities  of  the  Society  and  the  need  for  the  sinews  of  war  to 
be  strengthened. 

.  Mr.  Martindale  also  supported  the  resolution,  especially  with 
regard  to  the  part  relating  to  the  Preliminary  examination.  He 
did  not  think  that  the  proposed  increase  in  the  fees  was  a  very 


harsh  matter  when  they  considered  what  was  being  done  in  other 
bodies.  The  effect  would  be  that  the  candidates  would  come 
better  prepared  for  the  examination,  and  the  fee  being  ten  guineas 
they  would  not  care  to  leave  much  to  chance.  The  examinations 
under  the  present  system  scarcely  paid  their  way,  as  although  the 
fees  received  would  cover  the  expense  of  the  examiners,  there  was 
not  much  left  for  the  larger  buildings  that  had  been  required,  so 
that  the  additional  charge  for  the  qualifying  examination  was  a 
fair  and  just  one.  It  might  be  thought  that  they  would  be  shutting 
out  men  from  coming  into  the  trade,  but  the  numbers  who  came 
up  for  examination  negatived  that  idea.  Even  the  public  cried 
out  that  there  was  a  chemist  at  every  corner. 

Mr.  Symes  said  he  thoroughly  approved  of  the  proposed  altera¬ 
tions.  He  might  refer  to  the  fact,  which  might  perhaps  be  lost  sight 
of,  that  several  other  bodies  besides  the  College  of  Preceptors  held 
examinations,  so  that  under  the  new  bye-laws  the  facilities  offered 
would  be  quite  as  great  as  at  present.  He  could  not  conceive 
there  being  any  real  opposition  to  this  proposal.  It  was  well 
known  that  men  who  knew  a  great  deal  about  one  or  two  sub¬ 
jects  were  not  those  who  succeeded  best,  but  rather  good  business 
men  with  a  good  all-round  knowledge.  It  was  obvious  that  as 
their  examination  had  remained  practically  the  same  for  fifty 
years,  while  in  every  other  direction  large  advances  had  been 
made,  they  were  much  behind  the  times,  and  unless  some 
improvement  were  introduced  pharmacists  would  lose. the  confidence 
which  the  public  had  hitherto  reposed  in  them  as  educated  men. 
He  heartily  approved  of  discontinuing  the  Preliminary  examination 
on  their  .own  account.  It  had  often  been  his  lot  to  officiate  as 
superintendent,  and  his  experience  was  that  those  who  passed  were 
generally  boys  fresh  from  school,  whilst  older  men  came  up  again 
and  again  and  sometimes  did  not  pass  at  all.  It  was  quite  clear 
that  this  examination  should  be  passed  immediately  on  leaving  school, 
and  should  be  regarded  as  the  conclusion  of  the  scholastic  period, 
rather  than  as  a  portion  of  the  professional  training.  With  regard  to 
the  increased  fee,  it  was  well  known  that  he  advocated  that  every 
man  who  passed  the  examination  should  become  a  member  of  the 
Society,  and  should  pay  an  increased  fee  in  consideration  of  his 
membership.  He  wanted  every  man  who  qualified  as  a  pharmacist 
to  come  into  closer  connection  with  the  working  of  the  Society, 
and  to  feel  that  the  work  done  by  it  was  not  merely  for  the  sake 
of  its  own  members,  but  for  the  benefit  of  the  craft  at  large. 

Mr.  Atkins  wished  to  record  his  emphatic  support  of  the  pro¬ 
posed  alterations,  which  he  thought  were  necessary  to  keep  them 
on  at  all  parallel  lines  with  the  movement  of  education  outside. 
The  Society  would  become  fossilised  if  it  did  not  move  forward. 
They  had  the  credit,  which  he  thought  they  deserved,  among 
the  traders  of  the  country  of  being  the  most  educated,  and  it 
would  be  a  most  disastrous  thing  if  they  sacrificed  that  position. 
He  thoroughly  agreed  with  widening  the  area  rather  than  in¬ 
creasing  the  depth  of  the  subjects  touched  upon.  The  only  thing 
he  would  join  issue  with  Mr.  Carteighe  upon  was  his  optimistic 
views  of  the  prospects  of  the  trade.  He  believed  the  initial  test 
which  they  now  proposed  to  strengthen  was  a  most  merciful 
thing,  and  it  was  only  right  to  inform  candidates  generally, 
that  only  those  who  were  educated  in  every  sense,  both  educa¬ 
tionally  and  technically,  could  enter  the  business. 

Mr.  Allen  also  supported  the  resolution,  and  spoke  of  his  experi¬ 
ences  when  superintending  the  Preliminary  examinations,  at  which 
the  schoolboy  was  conspicuous  by  his  absence,  the  majority  being 
men  of  over  twenty-one,  who  were  hopelessly  puzzled  by  the 
simple  questions  put  before  them.  The  effect  of  passing  the  new 
bye-laws  would  be  to  compel  the  Preliminary  examination  to  be 
gone  in  for  at  the  schoolboy  stage.  If  they  wanted  to  know 
whether  the  Preliminary  examination  as  now  conducted  was  suffi¬ 
cient  they  had  only  to  ask  their  own  students,  who  would  one  and 
all  say  that  if  they  had  been  compelled  to  pass  the  proposed 
examination  they  would  have  been  better  able  to  understand  their 
after  studies. 

Mr.  Bottle  said  on  no  occasion  had  he  felt  greater  satisfaction 
than  he  had  now  in  supporting  a  resolution  for  a  proposed  amend¬ 
ment.  He  looked  upon  the  widening  of  the  Preliminary  examina¬ 
tion  as  being  the  best  thing  they  could  introduce  in  the  interests 
of  the  candidates.  It  would  not  only  give  them  an  advantage  in 
their  progress  in  pharmacy,  but  it  also  opened  the  door  to  them  in 
dentistry  and  veterinary. 

The  President  said  he  did  not  wish  to  curtail  the  discussion, 
though  he  was  glad  to  find  that  it  had  been  all  on  one  side,  every¬ 
one  agreeing  that  the  proposed  changes  were  wise  and  prudent. 
He  was  glad  Mr.  Symes  had  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 


210 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[March  6  1897 


College  of  Preceptors  was  not  the  only  body  whose  examinations 
would  be  available  to  candidates.  With  regard  to  the  point  raised 
by  the  same  gentleman  as  to  compulsory  membership,  it  could 
not  be  effected  by  bye-law,  and  he  feared  there  would  be  some 
difficulty  in  getting  power  from  Parliament  to  carry  it  out.  But 
apart  from  that,  his  view  was  that  if  a  better  educated  class  of 
young  men  were  induced  to  enter  the  calling  they  would  be 
likely  to  support  the  Society  which  had  done  so  much  in  the  past 
to  promote  education  in  its  widest  form,  and  that,  as  time  went  on, 
a  larger  and  larger  proportion  of  those  who  passed  would  become 
loyal  supporters  of  the  Society.  They  might  be  assured  that 
whether  the  qualified  men  subscribed  their  guineas  or  not,  the 
Council  would  go  on  trying  to  do  their  best  in  the  public  interest, 


and  with  that  public  interest  was  involved  the  interest  of  every 
man  on  the  Register.  In  conclusion  he  moved  formally  that  the 
amended  bye-laws  be  read  the  first  time  in  accordance  with  the 
provisions  of  the  Charter. 

The  motion  was  carried  unanimously. 

The  Council  then  went  into  Committee  as  usual  to  consider  the 
legal  portion  of  the  Committee’s  report.  This  included  a  report 
from  the  solicitor  as  to  matters  in  hand,  and  recommended  proceed¬ 
ings  in  certain  other  cases  which  had  been  reported  to  the  Com¬ 
mittee. 

On  resuming,  the  report  and  recommendations  of  the  Committee 
were  adopted,  and  special  resolutions  were  passed  authorising  the 
Registrar  to  take'  proceedings  against  the  parties  named. 


PROPOSED  NEW  BYE  -  LAWS. 


Present  By e= Laws. 

Stat.  11.  All  persons  who  shall  tender  themselves  to”  the 

1852,  Examiners  for  examination  in  accordance  with  the  Charter 

sec' vm'  and  the  Statute,  1852,  or  the  Act,  1868,  shall  be  examined 
in  their  knowledge  of  the  Latin  language,  in  English 
Grammar  and  Composition,  and  Arithmetic,  which  Exami¬ 
nation  shall  be  called  the  First  Examination.  Such  of  the 
said  persons  as  shall  desire  Certificates  of  competent  skill 
and  qualification  to  be  registered  as  Chemists  and  Drug¬ 
gists  under  the  Act,  1868,  shall  be  examined  in  or  produce 
certificates  of  having  previously  passed  in  the  First  Exami¬ 
nation,  and  having  been  registered  as  Apprentices  or 
Students,  and  shall  be  examined  in  the  translation  and 
dispensing  of  Prescriptions,  in  Botany,  in  Materia  Medica, 
in  Pharmaceutical  and  General  Chemistry,  Physics  and 
Posology,  and  in  their  knowledge  of  the  law  relating  to  the 
sale  of  Poisons,  which  examination  shall  be  called  the  Minor 
Examination  ;  and  such  of  the  said  persons  as  shall  desire 
Certificates  of  competent  skill  and  qualification  to  exercise 
the  business  or  calling  of  Pharmaceutical  Chemists  shall 
produce  Certificates  of  having  been  previously  registered 
as  Chemists  and  Druggists,  and  shall  be  examined  in  more 
extended  knowledge  of  Bo'  any,  Materia  Medica,  Chemistry, 
and  Physics,  or  any  two  of  them,  which  examination  shall 
be  called  the  Major  Examination. 


Act  1868,  12.  All  persons  who  shall  tender  themselves  to  the  Ex- 

see.  vi.  aminers  for  examination,  under  the  provisions  of  the  Act, 
1868,  excepting  only  those  specified  in  the  next  following 
Bye-law,  shall  be  examined  in  the  Minor  Examination. 


Act  1868,  13.  All  persons  entitled  to  be  registered  as  Chemists  and 

sec.  iv.  Dmggists  on  passing  a  modified  examination,  who  shall 
tender  themselves  to  the  Examiners  for  examination  under 
the  provisions  of  the  Act,  1868,  shall  pass  the  Modified 
Examination,  which  the  Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society,  with  the  consent  of  the  Privy  Council,  have 
•  declared  to  be  in  their  case  sufficient  evidence  of  skill  and 
competency  to  conduct  the  business  of  a  chemist  and 
Druggist,  as  the  same  is  set  out  in  the  Schedule  hereto,  or 
such  other  modified  examination  as  may  in  like  manner  be 
declared  such  sufficient  evidence. 


Act  1868,  14.  The  Examiners  may  grant  or  refuse  to  such  persons 

sec.  vi.  ag  }iave  tendered  themselves  for  the  First  Examination,  the 
Minor  E  xamination,  and  the  Maj  or  E  xamination  respectively, 
as  in  their  discretion  may  seem  fit,  Certificates  of  com¬ 
petent  skill  and  knowledge  and  qualification  ;  and  lists  of 
such  persons  shall  be  delivered  by  the  Examiners  to  the 
Registrar. 


Charter,  15.  All  persons  shall,  before  registration  as  Apprentices 
Act  1868 ’  or  Students,  pay  a  fee  of  Two  Guineas  and  pass  the  First 
aec.  vii.  ’  Examination,  whereupon  they  shall  be  registered  as 
Apprentices  or  Students* 


Proposed  Bye=Laws. 

11.  Prior  to  July,  1900,  persons  desiring  certificates  of  competent 
skill  and  qualification  to  be  registered  as  Chemists  and  Druggists 
under  the  Act  1868,  shall  be  examined  in  their  knowledge  of  the 
Latin  language,  in  English  Grammar  and  Composition,  and 
Arithmetic,  which  Examination  shall  be  called  the  First  Examina¬ 
tion.  Persons  intending  to  present  themselves  for  this  Examination 
shall  give  to  the  Registrar  notice  in  that  behalf  and  pay  a 
fee  of  Two  Guineas  not  less  than  14  days  prior  to  the  day  which 
has  been  appointed  for  the  holding  of  the  said  Examination. 
All  persons  who  pass  the  said  Examination  shall  be  registered  as 
“Apprentices  or  Students.”  After  June,  1900,  persons  desiring 
the  said  certificates  of  competent  skill  and  qualification  under  the 
Act  1868,  shall  deliver  to  the  Registrar  on  behalf  of  the  Board  of 
Examiners  a  certificate  of  having  passed  an  Examination  in  English 
Grammar  and  Composition,  in  the  Latin  language,  and  in  one 
modern  foreign  language,  and  also  in  Algebra,  Arithmetic  and 
Euclid,  conducted  by  any  or  either  of  the  examining  bodies  which 
shall  have  been  previously  approved  for  the  purpose  by  such 
regulations  as  are  specified  by  the  last  preceding  Bye  Law,  and 
shall  pay  a  fee  of  Two  Guineas,  whereupon,  if  the  Board  of 
Examiners  shall  so  see  fit,  they  shall  be  registered  as  Apprentices 
or  Students. 


12.  Persons  intending  to  present  themselves  to  the  Examiners  for 
examination  in  accordance  with  the  Charter  and  the  Statute,  1852, 
or  the  Act,  1868,  and  having  been  registered  as  Apprentices  or  Stu¬ 
dents,  shall  be  examined  in  the  translation  and  dispensing  of  prescrip¬ 
tions,  in  Botany,  in  Materia  Medica,  in  Pharmaceutical  and  General 
Chemistry,  Physics  and  Posology,  and  in  their  knowledge  of  the 
law  relating  to  the  sale  of  poisons,  which  Examination  shall  be 
called  the  Minor  Examination. 


13.  Persons  desiring  certificates  of  competent  skill  and  quali¬ 
fication  to  exercise  the  business,  or  calling,  of  Pharmaceutical 
Chemists  shall  produce  bo  the  Registrar  evidence  of  having  been 
previously  registered  as  Chemists  and  Druggists,  and  shall  be 
examined  in  more  extended  knowledge  of  Botany,  Materia  Medica, 
Chemistry,  and  Physics,  or  any  two  of  them,  which  Examination 
shall  be  called  the  Major  Examination. 

14.  Persons  who  shall  tender  themselves  to  the  Examiners  for 
Examination,  under  the  provisions  of  the  Act  1868,  excepting  only 
those  specified  in  the  next  following  Bye  Law,  shall  be  examined  in 
the  Minor  Examination. 


15.  Persons  entitled  to  be  registered  as  Chemists  and  Druggists 
on  passing  a  modified  Examination,  who  shall  tender  themselves 
to  the  Examiners  for  examination  under  the  provisions  of  the  Act 
1868,  shall  pass  the  Modified  Examination,  which  the  Council  of 
the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  with  the  consent  of  the  Privy  Council, 
have  declared  to  be  in  their  case  sufficient  evidence  of  skill  and 
competency  to  conduct  the  business  of  a  Chemist  and  Druggist, 
as  the  same  is  set  out  in  the  Schedule  hereto,  or  such  other 
modified  Examination  as  may  in  like  manner  be  declared  such 
sufficient  evidence. 


Mabch  6,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


211 


Stat. 
1852, 
sec.  viii. ; 
Act  1868, 
sec.  vii. 


Stat. 
1852, 
sec.  x. ; 
Act  1868, 
sec.  vii. 


Stat. 
1852, 
sec.  x.; 
Act  1S68, 
sec.  vii. 


Charter, 
line  253. 


Charter, 
line  253. 


Act  1868 
sec.  vii. 


Charter, 
line  253. 


AH  1868, 
sec.  vii. 


16.  All  persons  desiring  registration  as  Assistants  under 
the  Statute,  1852,  or  as  Chemists  and  Druggists  under  the 
Act,  1868,  excepting  those  named  in  the  next  following 
Bye-law,  shall  pay  a  fee  of  Five  Guineas  if  previously  regis¬ 
tered  as  Apprentices  or  Students,  or  otherwise  a  fee  of 
Seven  Guineas,  and  pass  the  Minor  Examination,  where¬ 
upon  they  shall  he  registered  accordingly. 


1 7.  All  persons  entitled  to  be  registered  as  Chemists  and 
Druggists  on  passing  a  modified  examination,  and  desiring 
so  to  be  registered,  shall  pay  a  fee  of  One  Guinea  and  pass 
the  Modified  Examination,  whereupon  they  shall  be  regis¬ 
tered  accordingly. 

18.  All  persons  desiring  registration  as  Pharmaceutical 
Chemists  under  the  Statute,  1852,  shall  pay  a  fee  of  Three 
Guineas  if  previously  registered  as  Chemists  and  Druggists 
by  virtue  of  having  passed  the  Minor  Examination,  or 
otherwise  a  fee  of  Ten  Guineas  and  pass  the  Major  Exami¬ 
nation,  whereupon  they  shall  be  registered  accordingly. 


19.  All  persons  intending  to  present  themselves  for 
examination  in  the  First  Examination  shall  give  to  the 
Registrar  notice  in  writing  of  their  intention  in  that  behalf 
not  less  than  fourteeen  clear  days  prior  to  the  day  which 
has  been  appointed  for  the  holding  of  the  said  examination. 


20.  All  persons  intending  to  present  themselves  for 
examination  in  the  Major,  the  Minor,  or  the  Modified 
Examination,  shall  give  to  the  Registrar  notice  in  writing 
of  their  intention  in  that  behalf  on  or  before  the  fifteenth 
day  of  the  month  immediately  preceding  that  in  which 
the  Examination  is  to  take  place. 

i  21.  All  notices  of  intention  to  attend  for  examination 
shall  be  to  attend  on  the  next  occttsion  of  the  Examination 
being  held,  and  all  fees  in  respect  of  examination  and 
registration  shall  be  payable  on  the  giving  of  notice  of 
intention  to  attend  for  examination,  and  in  no  case  shall 
any  fee  paid  in  accordance  with  the  Bye-laws  be  remitted 
or  returned. 


22.  No  person  shall  be  admitted  to  the  Major  or  the  Minor 
Examination  who  shall  not  have  attained  the  full  age  of 
fwenty-one  years,  nor  unless  he  shall  satisfy  the  Examiners 
that  for  three  years  he  has  been  registered  and  employed 
as  an  apprentice  or  student,  or  has  otherwise  for  three 
years  been  practically  engaged  in  the  translation  and 
dispensing  of  prescriptions.  Persons  who  have  passed  the 
Minor  Examination  at  least  three  months  previously  may 
be  admitted  to  the  Minor  Examination,  and  all  other 
persons  desirous  of  passing  the  Major  Examination  may 
make  application  to  the  Board  of  Examiners  for  special 
leave  in  that  behalf. 


23.  Persons  who  have  attended  and  failed  to  pass  an 
examination  shall  not  be  entitled  to  attend  on  any  future 
occasion  within  an  interval  of  three  months  therefrom, 
nor  unless  and  until  they  shall  have  given  renewed  notice 
of  intention  to  attend  an  examination,  and  shall  have  paid 
fees  as  follows  : — 

(a)  In  respect  of  a  Major  Examination,  Two  Guineas  ; 

(b)  In  respect  of  a  Minor  Examination,  Three  Guineas  ; 

( c)  In  respect  of  a  First  Examination,  One  Guinea  ; — 

in  cases  of  renewed  notices  for  examinations  to  be  held  before 
the  expiration  of  one  year,  computed  from  the  first  day  of 
the  month  wherein  the  Examination  was  held  in  respect  of 
which  the  original  fee  was  paid.  In  all  other  cases  fees  of 
amounts  corresponding  with  the  fees  paid  on  the  original 
notice  shall  be  paid. 


16.  The  Examiners  may  grant  or  refuse  to  such  persons  as  have 
tendered  themselves  for  the  Minor  Examination  and  the  Major 
Examination  respectively,  Certificates  of  competent  skill  and 
knowledge  and  qualification  ;  and  lists  of  such  persons  shall  be 
delivered  by  the  Examiners  to  the  Registrar. 


17.  All  persons  desiring  registration  as  Chemists  and  Druggists 
shall  in  respect  of  an  examination,  to  take  place  prior  to  the  end 
of  1898,  pay  a  fee  of  Five  Guineas,  arid  shall  in  respect  of  an 
examination,  to  take  place  after  1898,  pay  a  fee  of  Ten  Guineas, 
and  shall  in  either  case  pass  the  Minor  Examination  or  the  Modified 
Examination,  whereupon  they  shall  be  registered  accordingly. 

18.  Persons  desiring  registration  as  Pharmaceutical  Chemists 
under  the  Statute,  1852,  shall  pay  a  fee  of  Three  Guineas  and 
pass  the  Major  Examination,  whereupon  they  shall  be  registered 
accordingly. 


19.  Persons  intending  to  present  themselves  for  examination  in 
the  Major,  the  Minor,  or  the  Modified  Examination,  shall  give  to 
the  Registrar  notice  in  writing  of  their  intention  in  that  behalf  on 
or  before  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  month  immediately  preceding 
that  in  which  the  Examination  is  to  take  place. 


20.  All  notices  of  intention  to  attend  for  examination  shall  be  to 
attend  on  the  next  occasion  of  the  Examination  being  held,  and  all 
fees  in  respect  of  examination  and  registration  shall  be  payable  on 
the  giving  of  notice  of  intention  to  attend  for  examination,  and  in 
no  case  shall  any  fee  paid  in  accordance  with  the  Bye  Laws  be 
remitted  or  returned. 


21.  All  persons  shall,  at  the  time  of  giving  notice  of  intention  to 
present  themselves  for  the  Minor  Examination  satisfy  the  Registrar 
that  they  have  attained  the  full  age  of  twenty-one  years,  and  have 
been  registered  as  “  Apprentices  or  Students,”  and  that  they  have 
for  three  years  been  practically  engaged  in  the  translation  and 
dispensing  of  prescriptions. 


22.  Persons  who  have  attended  and  failed  to  pass  an  examina¬ 
tion  shall  not  be  entitled  to  attend  on  any  future  occasion  unless 
and  until  they  shall  have  given  renewed  notice  of  intention  to 
attend  an  examination,  and  shall  have  paid  fees  as  follows : — 

fa)  In  respect  of  a  Major  Examination,  Two  Guineas  ; 

(b)  In  respect  of  a  Minor  Examination,  or  a  Modified  Examina¬ 

tion,  Three  Guineas  ; 

(c)  In  respect  of  a  First  Examination,  One  Guinea  ; — • 

in  cases  of  renewed  notices  for  examinations  to  be  held  before  the 
expiration  of  one  year,  computed  from  the  first  day  of  the  month 
wherein  the  Examination  was  held,  in  respect  of  which  the  original 
fee  was  paid.  In  all  other  cases,  fees  of  amounts  corresponding 
with  the  fees  paid  on  the  original  notice  shall  be  paid. 


212 


PHARMACEUTICAL  journal. 


[March  6,  1897 


PARLIAMENTARY  NOTES  AND  NEWS- 


Early  Closing  Legislation  seems  as  far  off  as  ever.  This 
session 'has  been  specially  fortunate  for  private  members,  who  have 
had  their  Tuesdays  and  Wednesdays  untouched  by  Ministers.  Yet 
the  promoters  of  the  Early  Closing  Bills  have  derived  no  advan¬ 
tage  therefrom.  Even  the  unopposed  Half-Holiday  Bill  of  Mr. 
Duncombe  fails  to  reach  a  second  reading.  Despairing  of  carrying 
his  measure  through  in  the  orthodox  manner,  Sir  J ohn  Lubbock 
has  given  notice  that  on  March  23  he  will  •  call  attention  to  the 
excessively  long  hours  of  labour  in  shops,  and  will  move  a  reso¬ 
lution  in  relation  thereto. 


Calcium  Carbide  will  on  April  1  next  become  subject  to  the 
provisions  of  the  Petroleum  Act,  1871,  and  no  person  after  that 
date  may  keep  carbide  unless  he  is  licensed  in  that  behalf  by 
the  local  authority  of  his  district  (see  next  column).  The 
“local  authority”  in  the  City  of  London  would  be  the  Lord 
Mayor  and  Court  of  Aldermen,  and  in  Greater  London 
the  London  County  Council,  as  the  legitimate  heritors 
of  the  functions  of  the  Metropolitan  Board  of  Works. 
In  provincial  boroughs,  the  mayor,  aldermen,  and  burgesses  acting 
in  council  are  empowered  to  grant  licences,  and  in  places  other 
than  boroughs  the  local  Improvement  Commissioners  or  trustees, 
or  local  board,  would  become  the  legal  licensing  authority.  Where 
there  is  no  mayor,  or  commissioners,  or  board  as  aforesaid,  appli¬ 
cation  for  a  licence  under  the  Petroleum  Act  would  have  to  be 
made  to  the  justices  in  petty  sessions.  In  Scotland,  places  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Police  Commissioners,  or  bodies  acting  as 
commissioners,  are  subject  to  the  licensing  authority  of  those 
commissioners;  places  not  within  such  j urisdiction  have  a  “local 
authority”  in  two  or  more  justices  of  the  peace  sitting  as 
judges  in  the  Justice  of  Peace  Court.  It  is  curious  to  note  that 
any  harbour  within  the  jurisdiction  of  an  harbour  authority  is,  for 
the  purposes  of  the  Petroleum  Act,  wholly  subject  to  the  harbour 
authority,  though  the  place  may  be  part  of  a  borough  or  may  be 
within  the  sphere  of  a  “  local  authority.”  The  licence  to  keep  may 
cost  anything  up  to  five  shillings,  and  the  “authority  ”  granting  the 
same  may  attach  such  conditions  as  they  may  deem  fit  in  the  in¬ 
terest  of  public  safety.  It  would  be  as  well  for  chemists  and 
druggists  to  consult  the  Petroleum  Act,  1871,  which  is  printed  in 
the  Society’s  Calendar  for  1897  (2s.  of  the  Secretary). 


There  will  be  Difficulties  in  giving  effect  to  the  Order  in 
Council,  owing  to  inherent  defects  in  the  Act  of  1871.  Local 
authorities  may  be  indifferent,  or  may  be  sufficiently  wise  to  know 
that  calcium  carbide  cannot  be  treated  like  inflammable  oils,  and 
they  may  therefore  object  to  apply  the  Act.  Well,  there  is  no  power 
to  compel  them  to  do  so.  True,  the  Board  of  Trade  may  make  the 
regulations  in  the  case  of  a  defaulting  harbour  authority,  but  that 
would  not  help  matters  much.  There  is  some  ground  for  believing, 
too,  that  proceedings  under  the  Summary  Jurisdiction  Acts  not 
infrequently  result  in  what  is  equivalent  to  fining  the  prosecuting 
body.  What  authority  cares  to  spend  several  pounds  of  the  rate¬ 
payers’  money  in  prosecuting  a  person  for  an  offence  which  the 
magistrates  may  estimate  at  Is.  and  costs  ? 


Mr.  Herbert  Lewis  (Flint  Boroughs)  is  proposing  to  call  the 
attention  of  the  Attorney-General  to  the  recent  decision  by  which 
the  House  of  Lords  upheld  the  sacred  right  of  an  individual  to 
form  himself  into  a  corporate  body  for  the  purpose  of  taking  over 
his  own  business.  Mr.  Lewis  no  doubt  means  well,  but  he  must 
be  of  an  exceptionally  sanguine  nature  if  he  expects  any  very  satis¬ 
factory  results  to  accrue  from  his  appeal  to  the  Government  to 
check  the  abuses  arising  under  the  present  Companies  Acts. 


Adulteration.— In  reply  to  Mr.  Killbride  the  President  of  the 
Local  Goverment  Board  has  announced  that  the  prospects  of 
introducing  a  Goverment  Bill  dealing  with  adulteration  depends 
upon  the  progress  of  public  business.  The  Goverment  Bill  would 
be  a  comprehensive  one,  dealing  with  the  whole  question  of 
adulteration. 


Companies  Bill. — The  Select  Committee  held  its  first  meeting 
on  the  1st  inst. ,  and  having  elected  its  Chairman,  settled  various 
points  of  procedure.  It  is  evidently  going  to  perform  its  duties  in 
a  very  leisurely  fashion,  for  the  next  meeting  is  three  weeks  hence, 
and  it  is  not  proposed  to  meet  much  oftener  than  once  in  three 
weeks.  This  looks  very  much  like  a  shelving  of  the  subject  for 
another  Session. 


THE  SALE  OF  CALCIUM  CARBIDE. 


ORDER  IN  COUNCIL. 


At  the  Court  at  Windsor,  the  26th  day  of  February,  1897. 

Present : 

The  Queen’s  Most  Excellent  Majesty  in  Council. 


Whereas  it  is  provided  by  the  Petroleum  Act,  1871,  that  Her 
Majesty  may,  from  time  to  time,  make,  revoke,  and  vary  Orders 
in  Council  directing  that  the  said  Act  or  any  part  thereof  shall 
apply  to  any  substance,  and  that  the  said  Act  or  the  part  thereof 
specified  in  any  such  Order  shall,  during  the  continuance  of  the 
Order,  apply  to  such  substance,  and  shall  be  construed  and  have 
effect  as  if  such  substance  had  been  included  in  the  definition  of 
petroleum  to  which  that  Act  applies,  subject  to  the  following 
qualifications : — • 

1.  The  quantity  of  any  substance  to  which  this  Act  is  directed 
by  Order  in  Council  to  apply  which  may  be  kept  without  a  licence, 
shall  be  such  quantity  only  as  is  specified  in  that  behalf  in  such 
Order,  or  if  no  such  quantity  is  specified,  no  quantity  may  be  kept 
without  a  licence. 

2.  The  label  on  the  vessel  containing  such  substance  shall  be 
such  as  may  be  specified  in  that  behalf  in  the  Order. 

And  whereas  the  Petroleum  Act,  1879,  and  the  Petroleum 
(Hawkers)  Act,  1881,  are  to  be  construed  as  one  with  the  Petroleum 
Act  of  1871,  and  may,  together  with  such  Act,  be  cited  as  the 
Petroleum  Acts,  1871  to  1881. 

And  whereas  carbide  of  calcium  presents  dangers  similar  to 
those  presented  by  petroleum. 

Now,  therefore,  in  pursuance  of  the  above-mentioned  provisions 
of  the  Petroleum  Act,  1871,  Her  Majesty  is  pleased,  by  and  with 
the  advice  of  Her  Privy  Council,  to  order  and  prescribe  that  the 
under-mentioned  parts  of  the  Petroleum  Acts,  1871  to  1881,  shall 
apply  to  the  said  substance,  carbide  of  calcium,  in  the  same 
manner  as  if  the  said  substance  were  Petroleum,  to  which  the  Acts 
apply,  viz.  : — 

The  whole  of  the  Petroleum  Acts,  1871  to  1881,  except : — 

(а)  So  much  of  Section  6  of  the  Petroleum  Act,  1871,  as  specifies 
the  nature  of  the  label  to  be  on  the  vessel,  in  lieu  of  which  the 
label  shall  be  as  hereinafter  provided. 

(б)  So  much  of  Section  7  of  the  Petroleum  Act,  1871,  as  relates 
to  the  exemption  from  such  Section  of  small  quantities  under  cer¬ 
tain  specified  conditions',  and  no  quantity  of  carbide  of  calcium 
may  be  kept  except  in  pursuance  of  such  licence  as  in  the  said 
Section  7  is  provided. 

(c)  So  much  of  Section  11  of  the  Petroleum  Act,  1871,  as  relates 
to  the  testing  of  samples  taken  by  an  Officer  of  the  Local  Authority 
under  the  powers  conferred  by  such  Section. 

(d)  So  much  of  the  Petroleum  Act,  1879,  as  relates  to  the  testing 
of  Petroleum. 

(e)  So  much  of  the  Petroleum  Act,  1881,  as  relates  to  the  Hawk¬ 
ing  of  Petroleum. 

The  label  on  the  vessel  containing  the  said  carbide  of  calcium 
shall  bear  in  conspicuous  characters  the  words  ‘  ‘  Carbide  of  Cal¬ 
cium  :  Dangerous  if  not  kept  dry,”  and  with  the  following 
caution  : — “  The  contents  of  this  package  are  liable,  if  brought 
into  contact  with  moisture,  to  give  off  a  highly  inflammable  gas,” 
and  with  the  addition — 

(a)  In  the  case  of  a  vessel  kept,  of  the  name  and  address  of  the 
consignee  or  owner. 

(b)  In  the  case  of  a  vessel  sent  or  conveyed,  of  the  name  and 
address  of  the  sender. 

(c)  In  the  case  of  a  vessel  sold  or  exposed  for  sale,  of  the  name 

and  address  of  the  vendor.  The  Order  shall  come  into  effect  on 
April  1,  1897.  0.  L.  Peel. 


Mabcji  6,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


213 


Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


A  Weekly  Record  of  Pharmacy  and  Allied  Sciences. 


ESTABLISHED  1841. 


Circulating  in  the  United  Kingdom,  France,  Germany, 
Austria,  Italy,  Russia,  Switzerland,  Canada,  the 
United  States,  South  America,  India, 
Australasia,  South  Africa,  etc. 

Editorial  Office:  17,  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.C. 
Publishing  aqd  Advertising  Office :  5,  SEQLE  STREET,  W.C. 


LONDON:  SATURDAY,  MARCH  6,  1897. 


THE  COUNCIL  MEETING. 

Last  Wednesday  both  the  Vice-President  and  Mr. 
Newsholme  were  prevented  from  being  present  at  the  meet¬ 
ing  of  Council  by  attacks  of  influenza,  and  on  mentioning 
the  cause  of  their  absence  the  President  also  referred  to  the 
bereavement  which  has  befallen  Mr.  Johnston,  as  calling 
for  the  sympathy  of  his  colleagues.  The  President  then 
read  a  letter  received  from  Mrs.  Schacht  expressing  her 
appreciation  of  the  kind  message  sent  to  her  from  the 
Council.  At  the  same  time  he  showed  a  photograph  of  a 
portrait  of  Mr.  Schacht  from  which  a  replica  could  be 
obtained  for  a  moderate  sum,  to  meet  the  desire  expressed 
that  such  a  portrait  should  be  added  to  the  collection  now 
hanging  on  the  walls  of  the  Council  chamber. 

The  additions  to  the  Society  comprised  nine  Members, 
twenty-two  Associates  and  forty-seven  Students. 

The  report  and  recommendations  of  the  Finance  Com¬ 
mittee  were  adopted  without  comment,  except  by  the 
President,  who  pointed  out  that  a  legacy  of  £100  had  been 
left  by  the  late  Mr.  Harrv  Alma  Thomas  to  the  Benevolent 
Fund,  that  the  Pharmacy  Club  had  sent  a  subscription  of 
twenty  guineas,  Mr.  William  Duncan  a  subscription  of 
£2  15s.  4 cl.,  collected  at  the  annual  supper  of  the  students 
attending  classes  at  the  Royal  Dispensary,  Edinburgh,  and 
that  Mr.  Laing  had  sent  £3  collected  at  a  conversazione  of 
the  Glasgow  Pharmaceutical  Association,  all  gratifying 
indications  of  the  interest  taken  in  the  Benevolent  Fund. 

Mr.  Carteighe  mentioned  that  the  legacy  was  left  by  the 
late  Mr.  Thomas  in  a  will  made  many  years  ago,  when  he 
was  quite  a  young  man. 

On  the  recommendation  of  the  Benevolent  Fund  Com¬ 
mittee,  four  grants,  amounting  in  all  to  £32,  were  ordered 
to  be  paid. 

Reference  was  made  to  a  communication  from  the  Home 
Office  on  the  storage  of  calcium  carbide,  and  the  order  in 
Council  therein  mentioned  will  be  found  on  the  opposite 
page.  A  memorandum  of  instructions  will  be  issued  by  the 
department  for  the  guidance  of  local  authorities. 

Dr.  Si  mbs  expressed  a  hope  that  in  regard  to  any  regula¬ 
tions  made  for  keeping  calcium  carbide  the  Council  would 


exert  its  influence  to  secure  for  chemists  such  modifications 
as  were  made  in  the  case  of  benzine. 

In  connection  with  the  proposed  International  Pharmaceu¬ 
tical  Congress  at  Brussels,  the  President  mentioned  the 
receipt  of  a  letter  from  the  President  of  the  Executive  Com¬ 
mittee,  Dr.  Fernand  Ranwez,  and  the  Secretary  General, 
M.  Duyk,  stating  that  the  Congress  is  to  be  held  in  August 
next  in  connection  with  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
General  Pharmaceutical  Association  of  Belgium,  and  expres¬ 
sing  a  hope  that  the  Society  would  take  part  in  the  Congress. 
A  question  was  raised  as  to  whether  the  Committee  appointed 
at  Chicago  to  make  arrangements  for  the  next  international 
congress  had  been  communicated  with  on  the  subject,  and 
Mr.  Carteighe,  who  is  a  member  of  that  Committee,  stated 
that  he  was  not  aware  of  any  step  in  that  direction,  but 
thought  there  might  be  some  little  confusion  amoDg  their 
Belgian  friends  on  the  point. 

A  portion  of  the  report  of  the  General  Purposes  Com¬ 
mittee  was  read,  stating  that  the  report  of  the  Sub- Commit¬ 
tee  appointed  to  consider  the  subject  of  the  Preliminary  ex¬ 
amination  had  been  approved,  and  was  recommended  for 
adoption  by  the  Council.  It  recommended  that  the  first  ex¬ 
amination  of  the  Society  should  be  discontinued  after  June, 
1890,  and  that  there  should  be  substituted  in  lieu  of  it  the 
production  of  certificates  of  approved  examining  bodies 
covering  a  wider  area  of  preliminary  knowledge.  This  re¬ 
commendation  provides  in  a  satisfactory  manner  for  the  re¬ 
moval  of  objections  which  have  long  been  urged  against  the 
defective  character  of  the  Preliminary  examination  which 
has  hitherto  been  the  first  step  towards  pharmaceutical 
qualification. 

Another  recommendation  was  that  after  1898  the  fee  pay¬ 
able  in  respect  of  the  qualifying  examination  should  be  ten 
guineas.  This  change  has  been  recommended  from  con¬ 
sideration  of  the  circumstance  that  the  fee  payable  on  passing 
the  qualifying  examination  provides  for  registration  of  in¬ 
dividuals  during  their  life  as  well  as  for  the  actual  examina¬ 
tion,  and  consequently  that  the  persons  benefited  by  regis¬ 
tration  should  contribute  to  the  cost  of  the  work  it  involves. 

Both  these  recommendations  will  probably  meet  with  very 
hearty  approval,  as  being  calculated  to  promote  the  best 
interests  of  registered  chemists  as  educated  members  of  a 
body  in  whom  the  public  can  have  confidence.  The  remarks 
of  the  several  members  of  Council  who  spoke  in  reference 
to  these  recommendations  did  not  in  any  way  partake  of  the 
nature  of  a  discussion,  but  rather  indicated  a  perfect 
unanimity  of  opinion  as  to  the  desirability  of  the  changes 
recommended  (see  p.  207).  In  accordance  with  that  general 
agreement,  the  draft  of  necessary  modifications  in  the  Society’s 
bye-laws,  submitted  by  the  sub-Committee,  wras  read  a  first 
time,  and  the  other  recommendations  were  adopted. 


BENEVOLENT  FUND  SPECIAL  APPEAL. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Manchester  District  Committee  de¬ 
sires  us  to  say  that  a  further  list  of  donations  to  the  Benevolent 
Fund,  promised  as  a  result  of  the  special  appeal,  particulars  of 
which  appeared  with  a  preliminary  list  in  last  week’s 
Journal  (p.  180),  will  be  published  next  week.  We  are 
glad  to  learn,  also,  that  a  meeting  of  assistants  and  appren¬ 
tices  is  to  be  held  in  Manchester,  on  Wednesday  evening 
next,  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  committee  to  further  the 


214 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Mabch  6.  1897 


same  object.  Lists  have  not  yet  been  received  from  Glasgow 
and  Liverpool,  though  we  hope  to  be  able  to  announce  the 
arrival  of  such  in  an  early  issue.  Meanwhile  we  shall  be  glad 
to  notify  extra  subscriptions  and  donations  from  individuals 
in  any  other  districts  than  those  mentioned. 

THE  TEACHING  OF  BOTANY. 

An  Institute  for  Teaching  Botany,  on  the  lines  suggested 
by  Mr.  William  Martindalk  (see  p.  203),  should  prove  of 
national  importance  to  the  people  of  the  greatest  colonising 
country  the  world  has  ever  seen.  Lor  though  the  Royal 
Gardens  at  Kew  can  supply  scientific  and  technical  informa¬ 
tion  of  the  kind  required  by  colonists  and  travellers  to  a 
practically  unlimited  extent,  no  means  are  provided  there  for 
systematic  instruction  in  botany,  even  on  the  purely  economic 
side.  Experts  may  find  at  Kew  everything  they  require  to 
facilitate  research  in  botanical  subjects  and  their  work  be  bene¬ 
fited  accordingly,  but  ordinary  students  in  any  branch  of  the 
science  are  not  at  home  there,  and  find  it  difficult  to  assimi¬ 
late  even  a  limited  quantity  of  the  good  things  provided. 
Moreover,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  more  direct  educational 
facilities  could  be  provided  at  the  Royal  Gardens,  such  a 
development  being  quite  outside  their  scope. 

But  the  Royal  Botanic  Gardens  accomplish  much  from 
a  directly  educational  point  of  view,  some  seven  hundred 
students  making  use  of  the  facilities  they  offer,  whilst 
nearly  sixty  thousand  specimens  from  living  plants  are  dis¬ 
tributed  to  students  and  teachers  annually,  and  already  the 
Royal  Botanic  Society’s  Gardens  serve  as  the  source  of 
specimens  for  the  numerous  teaching  bodies  in  London.  But 
there  seems  a  sufficient  opening  for  a  new  teaching  institute 
in  connection  with  the  Gardens,  which  need  not  in  any  way 
trespass  on  ground  that  is  now  efficiently  covered  by  exist¬ 
ing  teaching  bodies.  Lor,  if  the  work  of  tuition  can  be 
performed  on  the  spot  better  than  in  places  some  distance 
removed  from  the  Gardens,  there  seems  to  be  no  sufficient 
reason  why  even  elementary  botany  should  not  be  taught 
there,  as  it  must  be  preferable  to  study  the  subject  practically 
in  the  midst  of  suitable  living  material,  rather  than  to  cram 
it  in  college  class  rooms  or  from  books  alone. 

On  the  economic  and  technical  side,  however,  the  chief 
value  of  the  projected  scheme  seems  to  lie.  Lor  though  study 
and  research  in  vegetable  physiology,  anatomy,  histology 
and  pathology  are  essential,  yet  they  are  already  more  or  less 
suitably  provided  for  elsewhere.  On  the  other  hand,  in  this 
country,  it  is  not  easy  to  gain  instruction  respecting  the 
diseases  of  plants,  the  value  of  timbers,  the  preparation  of 
vegetablefibres,  and  the  collection  of  indiarubber,  gutta-percha, 
gums,  resins,  and  drugs.  Nor  do  the  needs  of  agriculturists 
and  arboriculturists  receive  anything  like  the  amount  of  atten¬ 
tion  they  deserve.  Everything,  therefore,  seems  to  favour 
the  idea  that  a  British  institute  for  the  teaching  of  botany, 
if  properly  established  and  equipped,  should  prove  a  great 
success,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  it  ought  to  be 
situated  in  or  near  London,  whilst  of  the  limited  number  of 
places  that  might  be  available  for  the  desired  purpose,  the 
Royal  Botanic  Society’s  Gardens  appear  to  possess 
exceptional  advantages.  Much  will  require  to  be  done,  of 
course,  before  the  project  can  be  regarded  as  even  fairly 
on  the  way  to  realisation,  but  there  seems  to  be  sufficient 
force  behind  the  movement  to  go  far  towards  overcoming 
all  initial  difficulties.  Mr.  Martindalk,  in  particular,  appears 
to  be  very  much  in  earnest  about  the  matter,  and  when  he 
takes  a  thing  in  hand  he  is  not  apt  to  let  it  languish. 


ANNOTATIONS. 


The  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  which 
is  this  year  to  be  held  on  Wednesday,  May  19,  will  be  the  fifty- 
sixth  occasion  of  the  Council  meeting  the  Members  to  discuss  the 
previous  year’s  work  and  its  results,  and  the  fifty-fifth  similar 
meeting  held  at  No.  17,  Bloomsbury  Square.  As  the  decennial 
dinner  on  behalf  of  the  Benevolent  Fund  will  be  held  at  the  Hotel 
Cecil  on  the  previous  day,  it  may  be  anticipated  that  the  annual 
meeting  will  be  much  more  largely  attended  than  usual,  especially 
in  view  of  the  important  changes  effected  and  proposed  by  the 
present  Council  during  its  year  of  office. 

Evening  Meetings  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  will  be  held 
both  at  London  and  Edinburgh  next  week,  this  being  rather  an 
unusual  occurrence.  At  Bloomsbury  Square,  on  Tuesday,  Mr. 
John  C.  Umney  will  read  a  paper  on  “  The  Commercial  Varieties 
of  Fennel  and  their  Essential  Oils,”  and  it  will  be  interesting  to 
know  whether  he  has  found  any  such  difference  in  the  oils  as  he 
has  already  shown  to  exist  in  those  extracted  from  English  and 
Indian  dill  fruits.  A  paper  will  also  be  read  by  Mr.  William 
Martindale on  “The  Preservatives  of  Pharmacopceial  Preparations.” 
At  this  meeting  the  chair  will  be  taken  by  the  President,  Mr. 
Walter  Hills,  at  the  usual  time,  eight  o’clock. 

The  Edinburgh  Meeting  .will  be  presided  over  by  Mr.  J.  Laid- 
law  Ewing,  the  popular  Chairman  of  the  Executive  of  the  North 
British  Branch.  A  paper  on  “Essence  of  Ginger”  will  be  read 
by  Mr.  W.  S.  Glass,  and  a  “  Note  on  a  Sample  of  Scammony,”  by 
Mr.  T.  W.  Thomson.  Recent  additions  to  the  Museum  and 
Library  will  be  exhibited  and  referred  to  by  the  Assistant-Secre¬ 
tary,  Mr.  J.  Rutherford  Hill,  as  far  as  time  may  permit.  The  time 
of  assembly  in  this  case  is  nine  o’clock,  an  hour  later  than  in 
the  case  of  the  London  meeting. 

If  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  could  do  all  that  writers  in 
daily  newspapers  credit  it  with  power  to  do,  there  would  be  slight 
reason  to  trouble  about  the  few  things  it  could  not  do.  But  all- 
powerful  though  the  Society  may  appear  to  uninformed  pressmen, 
it  does  not  yet  take  precedence  of  Health  Committees  in  suppres¬ 
sing  public  nuisances  other  than  the  illegal  sale  of  poison.  The 
necessity  of  this  disclaimer  is  caused  by  the  comments  of  a  writer 
in  the  Birmingham  Daily  Mail,  who  seems  to  have  a  curiously 
exaggerated  idea  of  the  extent  to  which  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
can  interfere  with  the  retailing  of  medicaments. 

Small  Shopkeepers  in  the  Huckster  Line,  he  correctly 
observes,  cannot  be  prevented  from  doctoring  the  poorer  classes 
with  cheap  pills,  as  even  the  Birmingham  Health  Committee  has 
no  power  to  interpose  unless  the  medicine  is  not  of  the  substance 
and  nature  demanded.  “  This  is  where  the  difficulty  comes  in,” 
he  continues.  “  The  manufacturers  of  these  cheap  pills  make  no 
pretence  as  to  their  quality.  They  are  credited  with  possessing 
great  curative  powers,  and,  in  short,  are  said  to  cope  with  every 
affliction,  from  corns  to  broken  legs.”  Unfortunately,  in  this 
country  exceptional  latitude  is  given  to  the  vendors  of  quack 
medicines,  whereas  on  the  Continent  none  but  a  properly  qualified 
medical  man  is  allowed  to  prescribe  for  a  patient.  But  in  England 
the  small  huckster  is  permitted  to  thrust  on  ignorant  people  any 
of  the  cheap  and  nasty  nostrums  he  may  be  vending,  and  it  is 
difficult  to  see  on  what  ground  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
can  be  expected  to  interfere,  aS  suggested,  or  how  it  should 
take  the  matter  in  hand  and  prevent  further  mischief.  The 
persons  who  can  best  prevent,  mischief  in  this  direction  are  the 


March  6,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


215 


people  who  encourage  the  sale  of  quack  remedies  by  purchasing 
and  using  them.  Until  such  persons  are  content  to  abstain  from 
doctoring  themselves  it  is  quite  hopeless  to  endeavour  to  stem  the 
flood  of  rubbishy  and  often  injurious  physic. 


The  Students’  Page  shares  the  fate  of  much  other  interesting 
matter  this  week,  in  being  displaced  by  the  extra  numerous  and 
lengthy  reports  of  different  societies  and  associations,  although 
the  present  number  contains  four  extra  pages.  But  oppor¬ 
tunity  will  thus  be  afforded  for  the  more  perfect  digestion  of  the 
large  supply  of  excellent  mental  pabulum  provided  for  our  student 
readers  last  week.  It  ought  hardly  to  be  necessary  at  the  present 
day  to  devote  so  much  space  in  a  weekly  publication  to  such  infor¬ 
mation  as  we  are  now  providing  for  students,  and  especially 
junior  students,  but  there  is  little  doubt  that  text-books  for 
pharmaceutical  students  are  remarkably  lacking  at  the  present 
time  in  the  matter  of  details  that  are  not  generally  available.  In 
connection  with  almost  every  department  of  knowledge  having  a 
direct  bearing  on  pharmacy,  there  seems  to  be  room  for  a  good 
practical  text-book.  Failing  the  production  of  such  aids,  how' 
ever,  and  in  the  hope  of  inducing  young  students  to  acquire  a 
more  thorough  knowledge  of  the  principles  upon  which  pharmacy 
is  based,  space  will  be  found  in  the  Journal  for  what  is  required, 
as  frequently  and  regularly  as  circumstances  will  permit. 


The  Notes  on  Practical  Pharmacography  undoubtedly  fill  an 
important  gap,  and  already  the  complimentary  references  made 
in  relation  thereto  have  been  many.  The  idea  upon  which  the 
notes  are  based  is  that  of  supplementing  existing  text-books,  and 
as  far  as  possible  bringing  the  subject  up  to  the  level  of  present- 
day  knowledge.  To  this  end  the  best  sources  of  information 
accessible  are  being  freely  drawn  upon,  and  the  work  of  Holmes, 
Squire,  Vogl,  Moeller,  Tschirch,  Oesterle,  Planchon,  Collins  and 
others  utilised  as  far  as  possible.  It  would  obviously 
be  impracticable  to  quote  authorities  for  every  statement  that  is 
made,  but  the  utmost  care  is  being  taken  to  accept  nothing  except 
upon  good  authority,  and  to  verify  the  statements  made  as  far  as 
possible.  Not  least  among  the  advantages  offered  by  this  series 
will  be  the  gradual  completion  of  what  may  fairly  be  regarded  as 
a  pharmacographic  atlas,  such  as  has  long  been  a  desideratum  in 
this  country.  Germany  and  France  are  well  supplied  with  such 
atlases,  but  enterprise  has  been  lacking  to  furnish  British  pharma¬ 
cists  with  similar  aids.  The  illustrations  of  drugs  are  prepared  by 
a  skilled  artist  under  careful  supervision  by  an  acknowledged 
authority  in  organic  materia  medica,  and  the  histological  drawings 
are  reproductions  of  those  by  leading  pharmacognosists. 


The  Students’  Dinner  held  last  week  should  prove  an  excel¬ 
lent  advertisement  to  the  School  of  Pharmacy.  It  was  the  first 
occasion  on  which  a  School  Dinner,  properly  so  called,  had  been 
held,  and  as  such  was  a  great  success,  one  of  the  most  striking 
things  in  connection  with  it  being  the  representative  character  of 
the  assembly.  The  students  of  to-day,  of  course,  turned  up  in  force, 
together  with  the  whole  of  the  School  Staff,  but  there  werealso  present 
honoured  representatives  of  the  students  of  the  earliest  days,  and 
of  the  older  teachers,  in  addition  to  members  of  prominent 
city  firms  and  many  of  the  officials  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society.  Excellent  speeches  were  delivered  by  several  of  the 
students,  giving  promise  of  fine  oratorical  displays  in  the  not  far 
distant  future.  On  the  whole  the  change,  by  which  the  annual 
dinner  has  come  to  be  that  of  the  School  of  Pharmacy  rather  than 
of  the  Pharmaceutical  Football  Club  only,  must  be  described  as 


not  the  least  attractive  of  those  that  have  taken  place  during  the 
past  twelve  months. 


The  Bristol  Pharmaceutical  Association  is  desirous  of  culti¬ 
vating  the  social  side  of  pharmacy,  and  to  that  end  intends  to  hold 
a  dinner  on  Wednesday,  March  10.  The  tastefully  got -up  circular 
announcing  that  event  has  been  sent,  it  is  believed,  to  every 
chemist  in  Bath,  Clevedon,  and  Weston-super-Mare,  as  well  as 
Bristol,  but  in  case  anyone  has  been  inadvertently  overlooked,  the 
Honorary  Secretary,  Mr.  B.  Keen,  wishes  it  to  be  understood  that 
all  members  of  the  craft  will  be  welcome.  Tickets  (4s.  6d.  each) 
may  be  obtained  on  application  to  him  at  90,  Park  Street,  Bristol. 


Death  of  Mr.  Arthur  Tyrer. — The  deepest  regret  will  be  felt 
by  all  friends  of  Mr.  Thomas  Tyrer  at  the  unspeakably  sad  acci¬ 
dent  which  has  resulted  in  the  loss  of  his  second  son  at  the  early 
age  of  twenty  years.  Mr.  Arthur  Tyrer  was  studying  at  Marburg, 
and  had  been  engaged  in  an  investigation  of  Chelidonium  majus, 
which  is  now  attracting  some  attention  on  account  of  its  medi¬ 
cinal  properties.  The  result  of  this  research  was  to  have  formed 
the  subject  of  his  “arbeit”  or  thesis,  which  would  have  been 
presented  on  taking  his  degree.  A  few  days  ago,  howeimr, 
whilst  swimming  in  the  river  Lahn  with  some  fellow  students, 
he  suddenly  called  out  that  he  had  the  cramp,  and  before 
assistance  could  reach  him  he  sank  and  was  drowned.  The  river 
is,  of  course,  much  swollen  at  this  time  of  the  year,  and  the  body 
had  not  been  recovered  when  the  latest  intelligence  arrived.  The 
deceased  was  a  very  promising  student,  and  great  hopes  were 
centred  in  him  by  his  father,  who  now  finds  them  dashed  in  a 
manner  that  must  render  him  the  object  of  universal  sympathy  in 
pharmaceutical  and  chemical  circles. 


Dispenserships  in  the  Naval  Medical  Service  are  now,  we 
understand,  to  be  open  to  persons  holding  the  licence  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Ireland  to  act  as  pharmaceutical 
chemists.  The  decision  cannot,  however,  be  carried  into  effect 
until  an  Order  in  Council  has  authorised  the  change.  We  are 
given  to  understand  that  appointments  under  the  new  regulations 
will  be  made  by  open  competition,  and  that  such  competitions  will 
be  conducted  by  the  Civil  Service  Commissioners. 


The  Proprietary  Articles  Association  is  already  supported 
by  many  grocers,  and  is  now  extending  its  sphere  of  operations  to 
dealers  in  photographic  materials.  At  the  instigation  of  the 
Photographic  Dealer,  a  meeting  attended  by  prominent  members 
of  the  trade  was  held  at  Anderton’s  Hotel,  Fleet  Street,  E.C.,  on 
Wednesday  afternoon  last,  and  it  was  then  decided  to  take  steps 
to  form  a  photographic  branch  of  the  P.  A.  T.  A.  For  some  time 
past  Messrs.  R.  and  J.  Beck,  Limited,  and  the  Thornton-Pickard 
Manufacturing  Company  have  done  their  best  to  prevent  cutting  ; 
and  more  recently  Messrs.  W.  Butcher  and  Son  have  followed 
their  example  in  striving  to  maintain  retail  prices.  Apparently, 
the  makers  of  medicines,  druggists’  sundries,  etc.,  are  not  the  only 
ones  who  are  feeling  the  reaction  due  to  the  reduction  of  retailers’ 
profits. 


The  Postmaster-General  is  to  have  an  opportunity  of  proving 
the  legality  or  otherwise  of  demanding  return  postage  on  un¬ 
delivered  newspapers  when  returned  to  the  senders,  the  Strand 
Newspaper  Company  having  decided  to  fight  the  matter  as  one  of 
principle.  This  is  only  one  of  the  numerous  ways  in  which  news¬ 
paper  proprietors  are  continually  being  unnecessarily  worried  by 
the  postal  authorities,  who  are  apt  to  pose  too  much  as  dictators. 


216 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Maech  6,  1897 


LITERARY  NOTES. 


The  *  Proceedings  oe  the  Chemists’  Assistants’  Association  ’ 
for  1895-96  is  just  published,  and  contains  the  papers  and  discus¬ 
sions  of  the  past  session,  together  with  full  particulars  of  all  the 
meetings,  lists  of  members,  patrons,  officers,  etc.  The  hundred 
pages  thus  occupied  show  what  a  power  for  the  improvement  of 
pharmacy  the  Association  continues  to  be,  and  that  it  yet  remains 
as  vigorous  as  ever.  Moreover,  it  is  in  a  healthy  financial  position, 
and  thus  well  able  to  afford  the  luxury  of  furnishing  its  members 
with  a  complete  record  of  the  year’s  work.  It  is  published  by  the 
Association  at  half-a-crown. 


Squibb’s  ‘  Epiiemeris  ’  appears  so  rarely  nowadays  that  one  is 
apt  to  forget  its  existence  and  overlook  the  useful  part  it  has 
played  in  the  past.  The  issue  for  January,  1897,  serves  therefore 
as  a  useful  reminder  on  both  points.  More  than  250  pages  are 
devoted  to  recent  developments  in  materia  medica,  pharmacy, 
therapeutics,  and  collateral  information,  the  monographs  being 
arranged  in  alphabetical  order  so  that  reference  is  greatly 
facilitated.  Even  the  Rontgen  rays  find  a  place  here,  in  a 
well-illustrated  article,  and  every  one  who  may  be  privileged  to 
receive  a  copy  of  the  work  should  find  it  of  great  value.  It  is 
published  by  the  Messrs.  Squibb,  at  Brooklyn,  New  York. 


Von  Sudthausen’s  ‘  Guide  for  the  Use  of  Doctors  and  Apothe¬ 
caries  ’  is  a  capital  pronouncing  dictionary  of  medical  and  phar¬ 
maceutical  terms.  There  are  two  volumes — English-German  and 
German -English — and  all  the  terms  are  conveniently  classified. 
The  English  equivalents  halt  occasionally,  but  not  to  the  extent 
of  rendering  them  unintelligible,  though  they  are  somewhat 
amusing  at  times,  and  those  who  may  have  occasion  to  dispense 
German  prescriptions  or  read  German  medical  and  pharmaceutical 
books  and  papers  will  find  the  work  of  considerable  use.  It  is 
published  by  Eduard  Besold,  of  Leipsic,  at  five  shillings. 


‘  Knowledge  ’  for  March  opens  with  an  attractive  illustrated 
account  of  Nansen’s  voyage,  and  altogether  offers  a  rare  treat  to 
naturalists,  amongst  the  other  contributions  being  articles  on  the 
Victorian  Era  in  geography,  the  origin  of  some  domestic  animals, 
the  vegetation  of  Australia,  the  chemistry  of  the  stars,  and  the 
life-history  of  the  common  tiger  beetle.  The  names  of  the  writers 
are  those  of  experts  in  their  respective  subjects,  and  a  cheaper 
record  of  current  science— popular  and  yet  exact — would  be 
difficult  to  find. 


‘  Natural  Science  ’  is  more  advanced  in  style,  but  equally 
interesting  in  its  subject  matter.  In  the  March  number,  Dr. 
Alfred  Russel  Wallace  treats  of  ‘  ‘  The  Problem  of  Instinct  ”  ;  Pro¬ 
fessor  Anton  Fritsch  of  “  Fresh- water  Biological  Stations”;  and 
H.  M.  Bernard  of  “The  Light-Sensations  of  Eyeless  Animals”; 
whilst  various  writers  deal  with  the  topic* of  “  Human  Evolution.” 


‘  Science  Gossip  ’  seems  to  have  settled  down  fairly  after  its  many 
vicissitudes,  and  comes  out  fresher  than  ever,  month  by  month. 
The  inevitable  Nansen  article  appears  on  the  first  page  of  the 
March  issue,  and  a  rare  feast  is  afforded  for  all  lovers  of  Nature 
in  the  varied  communications  on  biological  subjects. 


MEETINGS  Of  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIETIES 

- ♦ - 

Linnean  Society  of  London,  Thursday,  February  18. — 
Dr.  D.  H.  Scott,  F.R.S. ,  Vice-President,  in  the  chair. — Sir 
William  Roberts,  Mr.  J.  M.  Lowson,  and  Mr.  W.  H.  Betts  were 
admitted,  and  the  Hon.  Charles  Ellis  and  Mr.  G.  E.  Lodge  were 
elected  Fellows  of  the  Society. 

A  Wren’s  Nest  in  a  Rook’s  Body. 

Mr.  J.  E.  Harting  exhibited  under  a  glass  case  the  nest  of  a  wren 
built  of  moss  in  the  dried  body  of  a  rook  which  had  been  hung  up 
as  a  scare-crow  in  Gloucestershire.  Similar  instances  of  the  kind 
had  been  recorded  (‘  Essex  Nat.,’  ii.,  205,  and  iii. ,  25).  He  called  to 
mind  the  nest  of  a  swallow  in  the  dead  body  of  an  owl  mentioned 
by  Gilbert  White,  and  referred  to  other  cases  which  had  been 
collected  by  a  former  president  of  the  Society  (Bishop  Stanley, 

‘  Hist.  Birds’).  For  instances  of  nests  of  the  hoopoe  placed  in  the 
desiccated  bodies  of  unburied  men  he  referred  to  the  experience 
of  Pallas  in  Russia  and  of  Swinhoe  in  China. 

Morphology  and  Anatomy  of  some  Nymph.eace^e. 

On  behalf  of  Mr.  D.  T.  Gwynne  Vaughan,  Dr.  D.  H.  Scott 
gave  the  substance  of  a  paper  on  the  Morphology  and  Anatomy  of 
certain  Nymphceacece.  Dealing  first  with  the  embryonic  leaves,  he 
showed,  by  the  aid  of  lantern-slides,  a  series  of  transitional  forms 
between  the  earliest  leaf,  which  is  acicular,  and  those  of  the  mature 
plant.  As  regards  the  vascular  system,  the  whole  central  region  of 
the  rhizome  in  Victoria  regia  was  shown  to  be  permeated  by  a  number 
of  separate  bundles  irregularly  anastomosing  ;  the  more  peripheral 
bundles  appearing  to  be  arranged  in  a  definite  manner,  forming  a 
limiting  zone,  the  outermost  phloem-strands  of  which  do  not  run  in 
a  vertical  but  in  an  obliquely  horizontal  direction.  In  Nymphcea  and 
other  genera,  the  vascular  system  is  not  limited  by  such  a  peripheral 
zone.  Nothing  corresponding  to  a  plerome  could  be  distinguished  in 
the  apex  of  the  mature  rhizome  of  Nymphcea  or  of  the  floating 
shoots  of  Cabomba  aquatica.  In  those  species  of  Victoria,  Nymphcea, 
and  Nuphar  which  were  examined,  and  also  in  Cabomba  aquatica 
and  Ndumhium  speciosum,  the  adventitious  roots  do  not  arise  in¬ 
discriminately  upon  the  vascular  bundles  scattered  in  the  ground- 
tissue  of  the  rhizome,  but  are  borne  upon  some  which  appear  to 
be  specially  set  apart  for  that  purpose,  and  form  a  structure  es¬ 
sentially  similar  to  a  stele,  which  reaches  the  greatest  perfection  in 
Victoria  regia.  In  species  of  Nymphcea  which  produce  many  roots 
at  each  leaf -base  the  root-bearing  stele  is  perfectly  constituted,  but 
in  others,  and  in  Nuphar,  the  vascular  bundles  are  few  in  number, 
and  are  not  arranged  with  sufficient  regularity  to  constitute  a 
stele,  although  they  bear  exclusively  the  adventitious  roots.  In 
Nelumbium  speciosum  the  seedling  was  shown  to  be  remarkable  on 
account  of  the  complete  abortion  of  the  primary  root,  and  also  on 
account  of  the  complexity  exhibited  by  the  vascular  system  in  the 
earliest  or  epicotyledonary  internode.  The  rhizomes  of  Nymphcea 
Jlava  and  N.  tuberosa  bear  a  number  of  small  tubers  on  stalks,  or 
stolons,  of  varying  length,  'wherein  the  vascular  system  exhibits  a 
polystelic  arrangement,  the  bundles  being  grouped  around  three 
to  five  different  centres  to  form  so  many  steles,  consisting  of  three 
or  four  bundles  each.  When  the  tubers  which  are  borne  at  the 
ends  of  these  primary  stolons  germinate,  they  give  rise  to  a  number 
of  narrow  secondary  stolons,  which  in  turn  produce  new  rhizomes 
at  their  extremities. 

The  Adhesive  Discs  of  Ercilla  Spicata. 

Mr.  J.  H.  Burrage  read  a  paper  on  the  adhesive  discs  of  Ercilla 
spicata,  Moq.  He  showed,  with  the  aid  of  lantern-slides,  that  the 
adhesive  organs  were  developed  endogenously  immediately  above 
the  axils  of  the  leaves,  and  that  each  was  made  up  of  a  mass  of 
parenchyma  with  a  central  plate  of  tracheids  in  connection  with 
the  bundles  of  the  stem  at  the  base  of  the  disc.  It  appeared  also 
that  hairs  which  force  their  way  into  the  crevices  of  the  support 
are  formed  from  a  special  layer  of  columnar  cells  beneath  the 
epidermis,  resulting  in  the  exfoliation  of  the  latter.  After  a  time 
the  walls  of  the  cells  in  the  external  layers  of  the  discs  become 
suberized,  a  periderm  being  eventually  formed  from  a  definite 
cambium  just  outside  the  vascular  plate.  It  was  further  shown 
that  while  absolute  contact  was  necessary  for  complete  develop¬ 
ment,  discs  of  various  sizes  might  occur  some  distance 
from  the  support,  possibly  stimulated  to  growth  by  a  moist 
environment.  It  was  found  that  a  few  discs  gave  rise  to  small 


March  6,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


217 


roots,  and  as  the  walls  of  the  cortical  cells  were  invariably  suberized’ 
they  could  not  act  in  a  normal  manner.  While  there  was  no 
evidence  to  show  that  they  were  anything  but  climbing  organs,  a 
comparison  with  parasite  suckers,  such  as  those  of  Guscuta, 
suggested  the  possibility  that  the  discs  were  not  far  removed  from 
acting  parasitically. 


Royal  Botanic  Society,  Saturday,  February  27. — Mr. 
Birkett  in  the  chair. — A  large  number  of  Fellows  and  visitors 
were  present  at  this  meeting  to  hear  a  paper  read  by  Mr. 
William  Martindale  on  the  advisability  of  founding  an 
Institute  in  connection  with  the  Royal  Botanic  Society  for  the 
purpose  of  teaching  systematic  botany  (see  page  203). — The  Chair¬ 
man,  when  calling  upon  Mr.  Martindale  to  read  his  paper, 
expressed  the  opinion  that  if  the  scheme  could  possibly  be  carried 
out  it  would  redound  much  to  the  honour  of  the  Society.  At  the 
conclusion  of  the  paper  Mr.  Birkett  spoke  very  favourably  of  the 
scheme  brought  forward  by  Mr.  Martindale.  The  subject,  he  said, 
was  one  of  very  great  interest,  and  one  which  might  possibly  be 
carried  out  if  Fellows  of  the  Society  and  other  gentlemen  interested 
in  botany  would  take  it  up  warmly,  but  it  was  one  of  those  things 
which  require  three  or  four  strong-minded  people  to  work  at 
heart  and  soul,  as  it  cannot  be  carried  through  without. 
He  had  great  pleasure  in  proposing  a  vote  of  thanks 
to  Mr.  Martindale  for  the  excellent  way  in  which  he  had 
brought  the  subject  before  them. — Mr.  Pembroke  Stephens,  Q.C., 
referring  to  the  fact  that  there  were  present  in  the  room  a  number 
of  eminent  scientists  practically  interested  in  the  matter,  said  the 
subject  was  one  which  for  some  time  had  been  under  the  considera¬ 
tion  of  the  Society,  but  it  had  been  through  the  energy  and  pains 
which  Mr.  Martindale  had  put  to  it  that  it  had  been  brought  into 
practical  shape.  The  Council  would  now  be  very  glad  to  launch 
the  idea,  and  to  be  assisted  by  the  views  and  advice  of  those  who 
are  interested.  If  some  step  could  be  taken  of  a  practical  nature 
to  collect  opinions  and  to  obtain  information,  it  would  be  a  very 
desirable  outcome  of  that  day’s  proceedings.  The  Council  would 
therefore  be  glad  to  hear  the  views  of  anyone  interested  in  the 
subject. — Dr.  Scott,  of  Kew,  thought  the  scheme  which  Mr.  Mar¬ 
tindale  had  sketched  was  one  which  would  at  once  command  the 
sympathies  of  botanists  generally.  He  considered  that  at  present 
there  was  great  need  in  London  for  a  botanical  institute. 
With  regard  to  the  question  of  teaching,  he  was  of  opinion  that 
there  could  be  no  doubt  whatever  as  to  the  great  desirability  of 
botanical  teaching  being  conducted  where  original  research  may 
be  carried  out  on  the  spot,  and  no  place  was  more  suitable  for  the 
purpose  than  the  Gardens  of  the  Society.  Teachers  of  botany  in 
London  constantly  felt  very  painfully  the  want  of  a  garden  in 
which  to  give  practical  instruction  to  the  students.  While  his 
entire  sympathy  was  with  the  plan,  which  he  believed  would  be  of 
the  greatest  possible  advantage  if  the  teaching  take  a  practical 
direction,  Dr.  Scott  thought  that  in  establishing  such  an  institu¬ 
tion  great  care  would  have  to  be  exercised  so  as  not  to  enter 
into  any  undesirable  competition  with  the  existing  institutions. — 
Professor  Oliver,  University  College,  re-echoed  very  heartily  the 
opinions  expressed  by  Dr.  Scott.  He  believed  that  botanists,  not 
only  those  in  the  Metropolis,  but  others  in  university  towns, 
would  hear  with  great  pleasure  of  the  progressive  movement  pro¬ 
posed  by  Mr.  Martindale.  He  thought  that  botanists  generally 
would  willingly  assist  the  scheme,  not  only  in  a  platonic  manner, 
but  by  active  operations,  and  would  be  glad  to  form  themselves  into 
an  unofficial  committee  to,  if  so  desired,  confer  with  the  Society  on 
any  practical  suggestions. — Mr.  G.  W.  Bell  thought  Professor 
Oliver’s  suggestion  to  form  an  unofficial  committee  for  the  purpose 
of  carrying  out  the  scheme  to  be  a  very  good  one. — Professor 
Henslow,  of  St.  Bartholomew’s  Hospital,  agreed  with  all  that  had 
been  said  by  Mr.  Martindale  and  the  other  speakers  as  to  the 
usefulness  of  a  botanic  institute,  but  to  establish  such  an 
institution  would  involve  the  expenditure  of  a  great  amount  of 
money,  and  he  questioned  whether  a  sufficient  number  of  students 
could  be  found  to  employ  the  necessary  staff  of  teachers. 
Botanists  of  the  old  days  were  mostly  medical  men,  but  from 
what  he  knew  of  the  present  medical  students  they  would 
learn  exactly  what  they  were  obliged  to  learn  and  not  one 
item  more,  and  he  did  not  believe  they  would  take  advantage 
of  a  botanic  institute.  He  doubted  whether  they  would 
et  many  lady  students  even,  except,  possibly,  a  few  teachers, 
ut  apart  from  that,  there  would  be  the  question  as  to  how  the 
overlapping  of  other  existing  institutions  could  be  got  over. — 
Mr.  E.  M.  Holmes,  Curator  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society’s 


Museums,  did  not  believe  there  would  be  any  great  difficulty  in 
procuring  students,  he  was  of  opinion  that  many  men  who  were 
thinking  of  going  abroad  as  agriculturists  would  gladly  take 
a  course  of  training  in  practical  botany  before  leaving  England. 
Commercial  men  too,  he  knew,  would  be  very  glad  in  many  cases 
to  send  their  young  pupils  to  an  institute  where  they  could  gain  a 
practical  knowledge  of  the  plants  used  in  their  particular  business. 
From  the  number  of  applications  he  was  continually  receiving  for 
botanical  information  he  felt  quite  sure  there  was  a  good  opening 
for  teaching  of  that  sort.  He  thought  it  would  be  a  great  pity  if 
the  Council  could  not  see  their  way  to  establish  an  institute. — Pro¬ 
fessor  Greenish,  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  added  his  testi¬ 
mony  to  that  of  Mr.  Martindale  and  others  who  had  spoken  in 
favour  of  the  scheme.  Both  from  a  teacher’s  point  of  view, 
and  also  as  an  old  student,  he  was  strongly  of  opinion  that 
it  was  highly  desirable  for  a  botanical  institute  to  be  situated 
where  suitable  material  can  readily  be  obtained  for  the  pur¬ 
poses  of  instruction. — Professor  Sydney  Ringer  did  not  agree 
with  Professor  Henslow  in  thinking  that  students  will  only 
take  just  a  sufficient  amount  of  trouble  in  order  to  acquire  the 
necessary  knowledge  to  pass  the  examinations  and  no  more.  He 
thought  if  the  Gardens  of  the  Botanic  Society  were  better  developed 
students  would  come.  As  a  practical  man,  he  advised  the 
Council  to  begin  carefully  the  work  of  establishing  a  bettef  system 
of  teaching  botany  in  the  Gardens  and  to  gradually  extend  their 
operations. — Mr.  M.  Carteigiie,  after  remarking  that  what  botany 
he  knew  was  acquired  in  the  Society’s  Gardens  and  Museum,  re¬ 
ferred  to  the  large  number  of  petty  institutions  in  London  where 
botany  is  supposed  to  be  taught,  and  said  he  thought  if  the  Council 
could  establish  an  institute  for  the  teaching  of  practical  botany  it 
would  probably  absorb  all  the  feeble  teaching  he  had  mentioned. 
Had  he  been  asked  twenty  years  ago  if  there  was  room  for  such  an 
institution  he  would  have  said  “  No,”  but  biology  of  itself  is  an 
intellectual  work  that  commends  itself  to  the  nation,  and  there  is 
an  interest  growing  up  amongst  the  public  at  large  in  the 
subject,  and  apart  from  that,  the  training  involved  in  the 
research  itself  is  second  to  none  in  fascination,  and  at 
the  same  time  of  benefit  to  mankind.  On  the  ground  of  original 
research  in  this  particular  subject,  an  endeavour  should  be  made 
to  establish  a  technicum,  and  if  men  were  put  in  who  were  capable 
of  making  original  research,  he  believed  they  would  attract  a  large 
number  of  pupils  ;  but  whether  they  did  or  whether  they  did  not, 
if  they  were  able  to  turn  out  good  work  only,  he  was  of  opinion 
the  public  at  large  would  support  it.  People  were  beginning  to  find 
that  there  is  a  great  deal  of  good  in  knowing  about  botany.  Mr. 
Carteighe  thought  it  a  disgrace  that  in  London  there  should  be 
no  means  of  obtaining  that  particular  kind  of  knowledge  which 
is  capable  of  being  obtained  at  the  Botanic  Gardens,  and 
if  the  Council  went  boldly  to  the  public  with  a  workable  scheme 
they  would  be  supported. — Mr.  Rubinstein,  Professor  Farmer, 
and  Dr.  Boxall  also  spoke  favourably  of  Mr.  Martindale’s  scheme, 
reference  being  made  to  the  progress  Germany  had  made  in  this 
direction. — The  Chairman  then  announced  that  the  matter  would 
be  adjourned  to  be  considered  by  the  Council,  and  stated  that  if 
any  gentlemen  interested  in  the  subject  would  like  to  be  appointed 
on  the  committee  to  work  the  scheme,  they  would  be  glad  to 
receive  their  names. 


Royal  Institution,  Monday,  March  1.— Sir  James  Crichton- 
Browne,  M.D.,  F.R.S.,  Treasurer  and  Vice-President,  in  the  chair. 
— At  the  General  Monthly  Meeting  the  following  were  elected 
Members: — Mr.  F.  J.  Beaumont,  Major  C.  T.  Blewitt,  R.A.,  Mr. 
J.  F.  L.  Brunner,  Mr.  James  Cadett,  Mr.  J.  C.  Carter,  Mr.  John 
Cohen,  Mrs.  Thomas  Collier,  Mr.  J.  G.  Craggs,  Mr.  T.  Donaldson, 
Mr.  Henry  Edmunds,  Mrs.  Henry  Edmunds,  Mr.  G.  S.  Elliot, 
Mr.  W.  A.  Frost,  F.R.C.S.,  Mr.  W.  T.  Garnett,  J.P.,  Mr.lH.  A. 
Harben,  Dr.  F.  Hewitt,  Mr.  F.  W.  Hildyard,  Mrs.  George  King, 
Mr.  H.  Leitner,  the  Rev.  J.  D.  Parker,  Mr.  E.  M.  Preston,  Mr. 
J.  M.  Richards,  Colonel  G.  Sartorius,  Mr.  F.  H.  Schwann,  Dr. 
W.  R.  Smith,  Mr.  H.  A.  Stern,  Mr.  C.  J.  Stewart,  Mr.  G.  L. 
Stewart,  Mrs.  A.  D.  Waller,  and  Mrs.  J.  Lawson  Walton. 

Peronine,  a  New  Morphine  Derivative. — Merck  has  intro¬ 
duced  the  chlorhydrate  of  the  benzylic  ester  of  morphine,  under 
the  name  of  peronine,  as  a  substitute  for  codeine.  In  therapeutic 
action  it  ranks  between  morphine  and  codeine,  and  is  specially 
serviceable  in  the  spasmodic  cough  of  phthisis.  The  dose  is  from 
two  to  four  centigrammes  in  pills  or  in  tea, — Bull.  Commerc.} 
xxv.,  38. 


218 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[March  6,  1897 


THE  WORLD  OF  PHARMACY. 

- ♦ - - 

BUSINESS  MEETINGS. 


Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,  Thursday,  February  25. 
—Mr.  C.  Morley,  President,  in  the  chair. — Mr.  E.  H.  Farr  read  a 
paper  entitled — • 

Notes  on  Some  of  the  Pharmacopceial  Processes  for  the 
Determination  of  Alkaloids, 

by  E.  H.  Farr,  F.C.S.,  and  R.  Wright,  F.C.S.  (see  p.  202).  At  the 
conclusion  of  the  paper  the  President  opened  the  discussion  by  re¬ 
marking  that  this  was  a  very  opportune  time  for  bringing  the 
subject  of  the  present  notes  forward  in  view  of  the  forthcoming  revi¬ 
sion  of  theB.P. — Mr.  F.  C.  J.  Bird  said  that  the  authors  were  well 
qualified  from  their  long  experience  to  treat  on  the  subject  of  alka- 
loidal  assay.  When  assay  processes  were  first  introduced  they 
rendered  great  service  in  showing  defects,  but  that  certain  pre¬ 
parations,  like  those  of  nux  vomica,  for  instance,  though  made 
from  standard  extracts,  might  yet  be  of  different  strengths.  Then, 
too,  a  sample  of  opium  might  be  assayed  by  the  B.P.  process 
and  yield  one  result,  but  when  a  different  process  was 
followed,  and  “any  trustworthy  method”  was  permissible,  quite 
a  different  result  might  be  obtained.  He  considered  the  use 
of  morphinated  water  a  very  great  improvement.  He  had  tried 
Messrs.  Farr  and  W right’s  published  process  on  several  occasions 
in  comparison  with  that  of  Teschemacher  and  Smith  and  obtained 
very  concordant  results.  He  wished  to  know  whether  Messrs. 
Farr  and  Wright  had  had  any  experience  with  Fliickiger’s  process. 
— Mr.  Robinson  inquired  whether  the  presence  of  a  small  propor¬ 
tion  of  glycerin  in  an  extract  of  opium  would  interfere  with  its 
assay.— Mr.  Moore  was  glad  to  see  that  titration  of  the  morphine 
was  advocated,  as  he  considered  it  very  necessary  to  do  so.  He 
had  experienced  the  advantage  of  using  flat-bottomed 
dishes  for  drying  extractives,  etc.,  and  some  time  since 
had  tried  to  get  some  nickel  dishes  of  that  shape 
from  an  apparatus  firm.  They  stated  that  they  had  often 
had  inquiries  for  them,  but  that  the  makers  were  in  the  habit 
of  making  them  round,  and  did  not  seem  disposed  to  make  them 
of  any  other  shape. — Mr.  Guver  inquired  whether  Mr.  Farr 
had  ever  tried  aluminium  dishes,  because  they  could  be  had  with 
flat  bottoms. — In  reply,  Mr.  Farr  said  that  with  reference  to  Mr. 
Bird’s  remarks  as  to  difference  of  strength,  of  course  the  other  alka¬ 
loids  present  in  opium  and  the  brucine  in  the  nux  vomica  had  their 
physiological  effect,  and  two  standardised  preparations  of  either 
opium  or  nux  vomica  might  not  have  the  same  physiological 
effect,  owing  to  the  variable  proportions  of  those  alkaloids  present. 
With  reference  to  Fliickiger’s  process,  they  had  tried  it  on  three  of 
the  samples,  and  the  results  afforded  by  it  were  much  lower  than  by 
the  other  three.  Samples  A,  B,  and  C  were  the  samples  in  question, 
and  proportion  of  morphine  indicated  was  as  follows :  A,  '762 ; 
B,  ‘787  ;  C,  '870.  The  presence  of  a  small  proportion  of  glycerin 
was  of  no  importance  in  the  assay  of  opium  preparations,  as 
morphine  was  not  very  soluble  in  it. 


Plymouth,  Devonport,  Stonehouse  and  District 
Chemists’  Association  (Junior  Section),  Wednesday,  Feb¬ 
ruary  24. — Mr.  Geo.  Breeze,  J.P.,  President,  in  the  chair.— A 
lecture  was  given  in  the  Plymouth  Technical  School  by  Dr.  W. 
Cheyne  Wilson  on  the 

Rontgen  Rays. 

There  was  a  splendid  attendance  numbering  about  130,  including 
about  forty  ladies.  Amongst  those  present  were  Messrs.  C.  J. 
Park,  J.  Cocks,  J.  Burns  Brown,  B.A.,  B.Sc.  ;  Cantle,  E.  A. 
Hodge,  J.  A.  Buckley,  A.  D.  Breeze,  F.  W.  Hunt,  C.  T.  Weary, 
J.  Harvey  Bailey,  J.  R.  Johnson,  H.  D.  Davey,  etc.  After  showing 
electrical  experiments  which  led  up  to  the  discovery  by  Professor 
Rontgen,  the  lecturer  placed  about  sixty  photographs  on  the  screen 
illustrating  the  surgical  and  medical  use  of  the  rays,  which  have 
been  tried,  though  as  yet  unsuccessfully  in  cases  of  consumption 
and  cancer.  Knowing  that  the  bacillus  of  the  former  are  killed  by 
heat,  it  was  thought  that  by  applying  the  rays  for  a  short  time 
each  day  to  the  patient’s  chest  they  would  kill  the  bacteria,  but  up 
to  the  present  no  success  has  been  obtained.  In  cancer  the  few 
cases  that  have  been  tried  have  been  relieved  for  a  short  time  by 


reducing  the  swelling,  thus  allowing  the  patient  to  breathe  more 
freely,  but  each  case  has  proved  fatal.  What  the  so-called  X  rays 
really  are  has  not  yet  been  ascertained,  but  Dr.  Wilson  expressed 
the  opinion  that  they  are  modifications  of  light  or  vibrations  of 
ether,  moving  so  rapidly  that  they  are  not  visible  to  the  naked  eye, 
though  they  can  be  demonstrated  by  special  means. 


Brighton  Junior  Association  of  Pharmacy,  Wednes¬ 
day,  February  24. — Mr.  C.  G.  Yates  in  the  chair. — A  debate  took 
place  on  the 

Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association, 

being  opened  by  Mr.  W.  Howes,  who  moved  the  following  resolu¬ 
tion  : — 

“That  this  Association  approves  and  wishes  to  support  the  objects  of  the 
Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association.” 

In  the  course  of  his  remarks  Mr.  Howes  said  he  quite  agreed  with 
the  movement,  and  wished  it  every  success,  and  thought  that  it 
would  prove  a  great  benefit  to  chemists,  but  at  the  same  time  he 
was  afraid  that  the  advantage  would  not  be  permanent,  as  the 
P.A.T.A.  was  bound  to  fail  ultimately  by  reason  of  the  middle¬ 
man.  By  this  he  meant  that  a  man  could  buy  a  large  quantity 
of  the  protected  articles  at  the  minimum  wholesale  price  and 
supply  them  to  retailers  at  a  fraction  above  that  price  without 
their  signing  the  usual  agreement,  and  that,  therefore,  they 
could  sell  them  below  the  minimum  retail  price  fixed  under 
the  P.A.T.A.  rules,  and  he  was  afraid,  therefore,  that  this 
would  prove  the  cause  of  the  failure  of  the  whole  scheme. 
Chemists  should  refuse  to  stock  any  preparation  which  did  not 
bear  an  adequate  profit,  and  in  the  case  of  the  majority  of 
proprietary  articles  the  profit  is  certainly  not  sufficient. — Mr. 
A.  T.  Jeeves  thought  the  P.A.T.A.  a  useless  and  superfluous 
organisation,  organised  by  manufacturers  and  owners  of  proprietary 
medicines,  etc. ,  to  suit  their  own  ends,  to  put  a  trifle  better  profit  on 
the  articles  in  order  to  tempt  the  chemist  to  push  the  sale  of  them 
instead  of  his  own  preparations.  With  regaid  to  the  agreements 
not  to  sell  below  the  stated  minimum  prices,  he  considered  that 
they  were  useless. — Mr.  Feltwell  spoke  in  support  of  the  motion, 
and  said  the  remarks  of  the  introducer  in  regard  to  middlemen 
would  not  stand  at  all.  The  plan  would  not  work,  as  supplies 
would  be  refused  a  second  time.  But  even  if  the  P.A.T.A.  fails  in 
its  primary  object,  it  would  have  done  an  enormous  amount  of 
good  work  in  causing  chemists  to  combine,  and  it  should  be  sup¬ 
ported  on  that  account.  Messrs.  A.  H.  Cubit,  C.  A.  Blamey,  and 
C.  G.  Yates  also  spoke,  the  last  mentioned  observing  that  it  was 
quite  natural  for  everyone  to  feel  that  they  would  like  to  do  as  they 
pleased  as  regarded  the  prices  at  which  they  sold  goods,  but  should 
we  not  rather,  to  further  our  own  interests  and  those  of  the  trade 
in  general,  make  one  in  a  combination  to  effect  the  desired  end  ? 
One  of  the  great  results  of  the  work  of  the  P.A.T.A.  was  the  com¬ 
bination  of  the  trade,  and  several  new  chemists’  associations  have 
been  formed  in  consequence  of  it. — The  motion  was  then  put  to 
the  meeting  and  carried  by  a  very  large  majority. 


Edinburgh  Chemists’,  Assistants’,  and  Apprentices’ 
Association,  Friday,  February  26. — Mr.  J.  McBain,  President, 
in  the  chair. — The  first  paper  read  was  by  Mr.  Alexander  Suther¬ 
land  o*n — 

Accuracy. 

The  author  said  we  who  live  in  “the  foremost  files  of  time” 
were  “the  heirs  of  all  the  ages.”  Yet  it  was  common  to 
brand  much  of  the  work  and  record  of  the  past  as  inaccurate, 
and  to  scoff  at  our  heritage.  His  purpose  was  to  sug¬ 
gest  that  all  should  so  study  accuracy  in  adding  their 
portion  of  work  to  the  total  of  the  past  that  their  heirs  might  find 
no  inaccuracy  therein.  He  gave  several  examples  of  how  large 
numbers  of  people  might  be  wholly  misled  by  even  a  small  in¬ 
accuracy  of  statement,  and  how  a  single  inaccuracy  might  shake  a 
reader’s  confidence  in  the  whole  of  what  was  otherwise  a  true 
record  of  really  good  work.  In  recording  original  work  there 
were  three  different  ways  in  which  there  must  be  accuracy: — 
First,  there  must  be  accuracy  in  preliminary  knowledge. 
They  must  have  a  thorough  grasp  of  the  elementary 
principles  involved  in  the  work  in  hand  ;  without  this  accurate 
work  was  impossible.  Secondly,  there  must  be  accuracy 
in  their  methods  and  manipulat  on.  This  was  illustrated  by 
reference  to  the  question  of  percentage  solutions.  Thirdly  they 
must  be  studiously  accurate  in  the  interpretation  and  recording  o 


March  6, 1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


219 


results.  Then  if  somebody  read  the  record  and  said  that  X  did 
that  a  hundred  years  ago,  and  Y  did  that  a  thousand  years  ago, 
if  their  work  was  accurately  done,  they  would  have  all  the  glory, 
and  would  not  trouble  themselves  a  bit  about  being  anticipated 
by  X  and  Y.  Quite  a  lot  of  their  modern  ideas  and  of  their  modern 
work  was  “  made  on  the  Continent”  ages  ago,  and  the  only  credit 
they  could  have  was  that  they  had  taken  the  ideas  and  tried  to 
make  them  accurate. 

The  next  paper  was  by  Mr.  George  Lunar,  on 

The  Specific  Gravities  of  the  B.P.  Preparations. 

The  author,  in  an  exhaustive  and  elaborate  paper,  explained  the 
theory  on  which  the  method  of  determining  specific  gravities  is 
based,  and  the  precautions  to  be  observed  in  the  manipulations  and 
deductions  so  as  to  ensure  accuracy.  He  pointed  out  that  with 
three  exceptions  condensation  took  place  in  preparing  all  the  dilute 
acids,  liquors,  and  spirits  of  the  Pharmacopoeia.  The  exceptions 
were  liquor  ferri  acetatis  and  spiritus  chloroformi,  in  which  cases 
no  change  of  volume  occurred,  and  liquor  ammonia  where  there 
was  an  actual  expansion  of  0  "46  per  cent.  He  suggested  that  this 
ready  and  useful  physical  method  of  determining  purity  might  be 
greatly  extended  to  liquids  as  well  as  solids,  and  it  was  to  be 
expected  that  this  would  be  done  in  the  forthcoming  Pharmacopoeia. 

Aberdeen  Junior  Chemists’  Association,  Friday, 
February  26. — This  being  “Magazine  Evening,”  the  following  three 
papers  were  read  by  the  Editor,  Mr.  Douglas  : — (1)  “  Suggestions 
for  the  Future.”  This  paper  set  forth  some  good  suggestions  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Committee  and  Association  of  next  session.  (2) 
“  Tobacco  Smoking.”  The  writer  treated  both  sides,  for  and 
against  smoking  ;  showing  its  ills  and  merits.  (3)  “  Suggestions 
for  Increasing  the  Popularity  of  the  Association.”  The  writer 
gave  a  brief  account  of  the  very  successful  session  now  almost 
closed,  at  the  same  time  pointing  out  some  new  methods  of  working 
the  Association,  and  the  adoption  of  his  suggestions  would  add 
much  to  the  Association’s  attraction  for  the  embryo  chemists.  All 
three  papers  received  a  good  discussion. 


Liverpool  Chemists’  Association,  Thursday,  February 
25. — Mr.  A.  C.  Abraham,  President,  in  the  chair. — Mr.  T.  E". 
Lescher,  son  of  Mr.  F.  Harwood  Lescher,  and  Mr.  Charles  Sharp, 
F.L.  S.,  were  elected  to  membership.  An  interesting  communi¬ 
cation  respecting  balsam  of  copaiba  was  made  by  Mr.  Michael 
Conroy,  who  said  it  was  his  wish  to  direct  attention  to  the 
large  number  of  factitious  samples  of  balsam  which  had  recently 
come  under  his  notice.  Of  the  adulterated  samples  but 
few  came  from  copaiba-producing  districts,  and  in  these 
cases  the  adulterant  was  generally  a  fixed  oil,  easily 
detected  by  its  causing  the  residue  left  on  evaporation  to 
be  pasty  and  not  easily  powdered,  as  the  genuine  balsam  residue 
should  be.  In  performing  this  test  care  should  be  taken  that  all 
the  essential  oil  is  evaporated  thoroughly,  or  the  result  with  the 
residue  is  apt  to  be  misleading  ;  however,  after  a  few  experiments 
with  a  genuine  sample,  there  should  be  no  difficulty  with  the  test, 
which  is  most  reliable.  Other  samples  he  had  examined  were 
entirely  factitious,  being  made  of  common  resin  and  oil  of  turpen¬ 
tine,  and  being  offered  at  little  more  than  half  the  market  value  of 
genuine  balsam.  They  responded  to  the  evaporation  test  and  those 
of  the  Pharmacopoeia,  but  their  true  nature  was  readily  detected  by 
their  odour,  particularly  when  gently  warmed.  Some  samples,  again, 
offered  at  3  d.  or  4  d.  per  lb.  below  the  market  value  of  true  copaiba  bal¬ 
sam,  were  mixtures  of  genuine  balsam  and  more  or  less  of  the  factitious 
article  previously  mentioned.  These  samples  were  the  most  diffi¬ 
cult  to  detect,  in  fact,  if  the  adulteration  be  kept  within  certain 
limits  an  expert  even  would  easily  be  deceived.  These  balsams 
are  generally  shipped  from  Hamburg  to  this  country,  and  it  is  as 
well  for  buyers  to  be  on  their  guard  against  them. —In  the  discus¬ 
sion  following,  the  President  observed  that  Mr.  Conroy  had 
rendered  them  a  valuable  service  by  bringing  this  important  item 
before  them.  The  tests  for  balsam  of  copaiba  had  always  appeared 
to  him  to  be  somewhat  open  to  criticism,  and  the  balsams 
under  notice  seem  to  have  been  adulterated  with  gurgun 
balsam  ;  at  least  they  gave  him  that  impression.  Had 
Mr.  Conroy  tested  for  gurgun  balsam?  An  interesting  point 
about  this  communication  was  that  the  only  adulterants  found  in 
the  copaiba  from  South  America  were  fixed  oils,  whilst  all  the 
factitious  samples  were  of  continental  origin. — Mr.  Cowley 
wished  to  know  if  Mr.  Conroy  had  employed  the  American  test, 
consisting  in  dissolving  the  balsam  in  acetic  acid,  adding  nitric 


acid,  and  warming,  when  a  purple  colour  would  be  formed  if 
gurgun  balsam  were  present.  Were  not  the  physical  constants  of 
use  in  determining  the  presence  of  adulterants?  The  resin 
adulteration  should  show  a  high  acid  number  Mr.  Prosper  H. 
Marsden  thought,  and  the  specific  gravity  might  be  observed  as  a 
guide. — Mr.  Conroy,  in  replying,  said  he  had  not  met  with  gurgun 
balsam  as  an  admixture  in  copaiba  for  many  years.  At  one  time  it 
was  a  very  common  adulterant.  The  test  mentioned  by  Mr.  Cowley 
he  had  not  tried,  and  as  for  the  physical  constants  he  would  say 
that  nothing  was  more  variable  than  copaiba,  for  good  Maranham 
yielded  about  30  per  cent,  volatile  oil,  whilst  Para  contained  70  per 
cent.,  the  resin  necessarily  varying  proportionately,  hence  with 
such  a  wide  difference  it  was  impossible  to  rely  upon  the  specific 
gravity,  etc. ,  as  trustworthy  guides. — Mr.  J.  Smith,  local  secretary 
of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  pleaded  for  the  Benevolent  Fund 
and  the  movement  in  connection  therewith  in  celebration  of  the 
Queen’s  record  reign. — The  matter  was  referred  to  the  Council 
for  consideration  as  to  the  best  means  for  attaining  the  objects 
Mr.  Smith  desired. — A  paper  was  then  read  by  Mr.  Cowley  on 
“Vinum  Colchici.”  This  appeared  in  last  week’s  Journal,  page  173. 


Bradford  and  District  Chemists’  Association,  Tues¬ 
day,  March  2. — A  lecture  on  “  Australia,”  with  lime-light  illus¬ 
trations,  was  delivered  before  the  members  of  the  above  Associa¬ 
tion  by  Mr.  A.  J.  Bray,  of  Leicester,  who  has  spent  some 
considerable  time  in  the  Australian  Colonies.  He  gave  a  very 
interesting  account  of  the  rise  and  development  of  the  various 
districts,  and  the  industries  peculiar  to  the  different  parts  of  the 
Continent,  illustrating  his  remarks  with  views  of  the  early  and 
present  condition  of  some  of  the  principal  towns,  typical  views  of 
gold  mining,  sheep  and  cattle  farming,  and  the  prolific  vegetation 
found  there. 


Midland  Pharmaceutical  Association  Trade  Com 
mitee,  Monday,  March  1. — Mr.  W.  Jones  in  the  chair. — The 
following  resolution  was  passed  : — 

“  That  this  Committee  having  considered  the  recent  circular  of  Messrs.  Elliman 
re  their  new  size  of  embrocation,  are  of  opinion  that  the  adoption  of  such  a 
course,  especially  after  the  firm’s  many  years’  labour  in  the  opposite  direction 
will  tend  to  damage  not  only  the  well-known  reputation  of  the  firm’s  fair 
and  honourable  dealing,  but  will  also  induce  substitution  and  competition 
where  such  is  not  now  the  case,  and  they  hope  Messrs.  Elliman  will  see  the 
wisdom  of  placing  their  new  size  at  once  under  their  protection  scheme,  or 
withdrawing  it  altogether.” 

The  Committee  also  had  under  consideration  the  carriage  of 
small  parcels  from  London,  and  they  hope  to  be  able  to  make 
satisfactory  arrangements  with  the  carriers  for  the  benefit  of 
members. 


SOCIAL  MEETINGS- 


School  of  Pharmacy,  Friday,  February  26. — The  Students’ 
Annual  Dinner  was  held  in  the  Queen’s  Room,  Holborn 
Restaurant,  which  was  filled  to  its  utmost  limit  by  “  passed  ” 
and  present  students  from  the  “  Square,”  who  had  assembled 
to  partake  of  an  excellent  dinner.  In  previous  years  this  event 
has  been  connected  with  the  Pharmaceutical  Football  Club, 
but  on  this  occasion  it  was  thought  advisable  not  to  confine  it 
to  the  Club,  but  by  associating  the  dinner  with  the  School, 
thus  to  include  the  whole  of  the  students.  The  result  proved  to 
be  highly  satisfactory,  the  affair  being  a  great  success.  The  Dean 
of  the  School,  Professor  Greenish,  occupied  the  chair,  amongst 
those  present  being  the  President,  Mr.  Walter  Hills,  Mr.  Michael 
Carteighe,  Dr.  B.  H.  Paul,  Dr.  J.  Attfield,  Messrs.  R.  Hamp- 
son,  J.  Ince,  E.  M.  Holmes,  J.  T.  Humphrey,  T.  H.  W .  Idris, 
G.  B.  Francis,  J.  C.  Hyslop,  J.  Moss,  A.  C.  Wootton,  T.  Morley 
Taylor,  R.  G.  Guyer,  F.  C.  J.  Bird,  J.  0.  Braithwaite,  and 
many  others.  The  spur  tables  were  presided  over  by  Messrs. 
R.  Bremridge,  Matthews,  Robinson,  Tebbutt,  Dr.  Lapworth,  Pro¬ 
fessor  J.  Norman  Collie,  and  Professor  J.  Reynolds  Green. 
— After  dinner  Professor  Greenish  proposed  “  The  Queen,”  the 
toast  being  enthusiastically  responded  to  amid  musical  honours. 
He  then  called  upon  Mr.  M.  Carteighe  to  propose  the  toast  of  the 
evening,  “  The  School  of  Pharmacy.” — In  the  course  of  a  bright 
and  witty  speech,  Mr.  Carteighe  gave  a  brief  history  of  the 


220 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[MARCH  6,  1897 


School  from  its  commencement,  describing  the  difficulties 
encountered  by  those  who  were  anxious  to  make  the  School 
thoroughly  efficient  for  the  training  of  technical  pharmacists,  and 
dwelt  at  considerable  length  on  the  importance  of  a  thorough 
pharmaceutical  education,  mentioning  as  a  proof  that  the  School 
of  Pharmacy  has  been  extremely  successful  in  this  direction,  the 
fact  that  since  its  establishment  many  distinguished  men  had  been 
turned  out  from  the  School,  two  of  whom  were  present  at  the 
dinner,  in  the  persons  of  Ur.  Paul  and  Mr.  Joseph  Ince.  He  knew  that 
in  referring  to  Mr.  Ince  he  was  not  saying  that  which  was  strictly 
true,  but  although  he  was  not  in  the  School,  he  was  of  it.  After 
referring  to  the  changes  made  in  the  School  during  the  past  year, 
the  speaker  expressed  his  belief  that  as  a  result  of  the  change,  men 
will  be  produced  in  the  future  who  will  be  in  the  same  position  in 
regard  to  pharmacy  as  the  university  men  are  in  regard  to  medicine. 
He  saw  no  reason  why  in  the  future  the  School  should  not  be 
affiliated  with  the  new  Teaching  University  of  London,  and  every¬ 
one  who  attended  the  complete  course  at  the  School  be  in  touch 
with  the  various  degrees  which  that  body  will  corfer. 

Mr.  Carteighe,  speaking  of  the  teaching  staff  of  the  School, 
mentioned  first  the  name  of  Professor  J.  Reynolds  Green,  observ¬ 
ing  that  the  Council  knew  to  their  cost  what  a  great  interest  he 
took  in  his  particular  department,  the  biological  operations  of  the 
School  having  led  to  an  enoi’mous  increase  in  various  forms  of 
expense,  and  when  it  came  to  the  establishment  of  a  histological 
laboratory,  Mr.  Carteighe  humorously  remarked,  ‘  ‘  My  !  you 
should  have  seen  the  faces  of  some  of  our  colleagues  on 
the  Council.”  Nevertheless  they  formed  the  laboratory  and 
it  had  been  of  great  service  to  the  students.  Referring 
to  Professor  Greenish,  Mr.  Carteighe  said,  “  He  is  one  of  our 
own  boys,  and  I  am  very  proud  of  him  ;  I  am  proud  of  him 
because  he  has  gone  abroad,  and  by  studying  there  has  learnt 
something  of  importance  and  is  free  from  that  insular  prejudice 
which  so  often  characterises  men  educated  in  this  country.”  With 
regard  to  Professor  Collie  he  had  some  difficulty  in  saying  all  he 
would  like  to  say  about  him.  He  had  heard  him  lecture,  had  seen 
him  in  the  laboratory,  and  had  seen  him  working  his  blow-pipe. 
Whatever  Professor  Collie  did,  he  had  a  way  of  imparting  instruc¬ 
tion  which  indicated  that  there  are  few  things  he  does  not  know. 
Speaking  of  the  newly-appointed  demonstrators,  Ur.  Lapworth  and 
Messrs.  Ashby  and  Frye,  and  their  old  friends,  Mr.  Wilson  and 
Mr.  Williams,  he  thought  he  was  justified  in  saying  that  with  the 
assistance  of  these,  the  energy  of  the  pupils,  and  the  enthusiasm 
the  professors  put  into  their  work  the  Council  have  every  reason 
to  hope  that  the  opportunities  for  acquiring  real  knowledge  are 
certainly  now  to  be  attained  in  17,  Bloomsbury  Square.  The  toast 
was  then  heartily  responded  to. 

Professor  Greenish, in  reply,  thankedMr.  Carteighe  forthe kindly 
way  in  which  he  had  referred  to  those  connected  with  the  School 
of  Pharmacy.  No  one  had  taken  more  interest  in  the  progress  of 
the  School  than  the  ex-President.  When  certain  changes  were 
introduced  in  the  histological  department,  no  doubt  the  councillors 
did  pull  a  long  face  over  it,  but  if  it  would  be  any  consolation  to 
the  present  President,  Mr.  Hills,  he  (Mr.  Greenish)  might  say  that 
very  probably  in  the  future  there  will  be  something  wanted  which 
Will  compel  them  to  pull  longer  faces,  it  being  necessary  that  the 
education  of  the  pharmacists  should  be  carried  further  thanithas  been 
in  the  past,  and  therefore  it  is  desirable  and  necessary  that  the 
School  should  be  properly  equipped.  The  Council  up  to  the 
present  had  never  hesitated  to  equip  it  properly,  and  he  had  no 
doubt  that  although  they  might  pull  a  long  face,  the  necessary  im¬ 
provements  would  be  made.  The  School  staff  had  their  hearts 
in  the  work  and  they  all  did  their  very  best  for  the  students — 
In  the  name  of  his  colleagues  he  thanked  them  heartily  for  the 
enthusiastic  way  in  which  they  had  received  the  toast. 

Mr.  E.  A.  Umney,  in  replying  on  behalf  of  the  students,  said  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  in  founding  the  School  and  since  had 
always  had  at  heart  the  perfection  of  pharmaceutical  education, 
as  a  result  it  was  only  necessary  to  look  around  to  see  that  those 
who  hold  the  foremost  positions  in  the  pharmaceutical  world  are 
in  most  instances  *  ‘  Square  ”  men. 

Mr.  F.  A.  Upsher  Smith,  Bell  Scholar,  in  proposing  “The  Phar¬ 
maceutical  Society,”  referred  to  the  past  history  of  the  Society 
and  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  organised.  Comparing  the  pro¬ 
gress  made  by  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  since  its  formation  in 
1841  with  its  sister  societies,  the  Society  of  Apothecaries,  which 
was  incorporated  in  1617,  the  College  of  Physicians,  1518,  and 
the  College  of  Surgeons,  1460,  Mr.  Smith  thought  there  was  very 
much  hope  for  the  younger  Society.  It  was  with  great  pleasure 


he  asked  those  present  to  drink  to  its  success.  The  toast  was 

cordially  received,  the  President  replying. 

Mr.  Hills  expressed  his  thanks  for  the  kind  way  in  which 
the  toast  had  been  proposed  and  received,  and  said  he  was 
exceedingly  glad  to  meet  the  present  scholars  of  the  School  on  that 
occasion,  because  he  was  one  of  the  old  scholars,  although  he 
feared  he  was  not  a  distinguished  one.  He  had  been  raised  to  a 
position  which  he  felt  his  unworthiness  to  occupy,  but  he  would 
yield  to  no  one  in  his  desire  to  promote  the  higher  education  ol 
pharmacists.  His  predecessor  had  referred  to  the  time  when 
certain  expenses  were  suggested  with  regard  to  the  histological 
laboratory,  and  in  doing  so  had  turned  to  him  as  though  he  was 
one  of  those  who  objected  to  it.  He  thought  his  colleagues  would 
bear  him  out  when  he  said  that  he  was  not  one  who  kicked  at  that 
expense.  He  was  of  opinion  that  no  money  of  the  corporate  body 
could  be  better  spent  than  in  the  promotion  of  real  and  sound 
education.  Sometimes  it  was  asked,  “  What  is  the  use  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  ?  ”  He  did  not  propose  to  answer  that 
question  in  full,  as  he  did  not  think  the  gentlemen 
present  wanted  to  be  told  that.  One  result  of  doing 
away  with  the  Society  would  be  to  relieve  the  President  and 
one  or  two  others  of  a  great  deal  of  work.  With  respect  to  educa¬ 
tion,  it  seemed  to  him  that  their  predecessors  had  not  the  diffi¬ 
culties  to  contend  with  that  those  of  the  present  generation  have 
to  meet.  In  the  last  generation,  if  a  man  had  integrity,  honesty, 
industry,  and  common-sense  business  abilities,  he  made  a  very  fair 
income,  but  now  something  else  is  required.  He  thought  that  the 
School  of  Pharmacy  is  now  in  a  more  hopeful  position 
than  it  has  been  at  any  previous  time,  and  he  hoped 
that  next  year  it  will  be  in  a  still  more  satisfactory 
position,  seeing  that  the  School  is  being  worked  on  the 
right  lines  and  in  the  right  direction.  Nowadays  more  is 
required  than  the  old  qualities  of  industry,  integrity,  etc. ,  and 
he  believed  that  in  the  future  the  knowledge  gained  at  the  School 
will  be  of  considerable  commercial  value  to  the  students,  and 
the  question  of  success  will  not  depend  so  much  as  to  whether 
they  get  a  halfpenny  more  or  a  halfpenny  less  for  some  proprietary 
article,  but  will  depend  on  those  sciences  on  which  the  art  of 
pharmacy  is  founded,  and  on  the  fact  that  a  man  is  a  better  and 
more  able  pharmacist  than  his  neighbours.  He  would  also  urge 
upon  all  the  necessity  of  supporting  the  Benevolent  Fund,  and 
asked  his  young  friends  present  not  only  to  make  the  best  use  of 
their  time  while  at  the  School  of  Pharmacy,  but  to  be  loyal  to  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society,  as  it  had  done  good  work  in  the  past,  and 
is  capable  of  doing  good  work  in  the  future. 

Ur.  J.  Attfield  then  proposed  the  toast  of  “  The  Old  Students, 
which  was  drunk  with  enthusiasm,  Mr.  Frederick  Bascombe  re¬ 
sponding.  Professor  Green,  in  a  humorous  speech,  gave  the  toast 
of  “The  Students’  Association,”  Mr.  Ashby  and  Mr.  Wilson 
replying. — Professor  Collie,  while  proposing  “The  Football  Club, 
made  several  observations  as  to  the  practical  use  of  sport  of  all 
kinds.  Mr.  Matthews  replied,  and  Mr.  Wilfred  Lean  afterwards 
proposed  the  health  of  the  Chairman,  which  was  received  with 
musical  honours  and  briefly  responded  to.  Uuring  the  evening  an 
excellent  musical  programme  was  carried  out  by  Messrs.  Rubeck, 
Smorthwaite,  Epton,  Pettinger,  Tebbutt,  E.  Umney,  and  Lean. 
The  proceedings  terminated  with  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  Secretary, 
Mr.  Tebbutt. 


Cambridge  Pharmaceutical  Association,  Friday,  Feb¬ 
ruary  26. — The  President,  Mr.  Alderman  Beck,  F.C.S.,  in  the 
chair. — A  smoking  concert  was  held  at  the  Prince  of  Wales’  Hotel, 
there  being  a  good  attendance  of  members  and  friends. — Mr.  E. 
Wethered,  of  Pembroke  College,  delighted  the  audience  with  his 
remarkably  able  conjuring.  The  trick  with  the  ring  and  pill-boxes, 
being  most  appropriate  for  the  occasion,  caused  much  merriment. 
The  solution  of  a  half-crown  in  a  tumbler  of  water  and  the  subse¬ 
quent  finding  of  the  same  in  a  lemon,  freshly  cut,  was  equally 
interesting  and  extraordinary,  as  was  also  the  trick  with  a  shilling 
and  envelopes  made  out  of  the  covers  of  a  weekly  paper.  Several 
tricks  with  cards  were  successfully  performed.  The  programme 
included  songs  by  Messrs.  H.  Uewhurst,  A.  L.  Peel,  A.  F.  Heald, 
whose  rendering  of  the  “  Soldier’s  Song  ”  was  much  appreciated, 
A.  G.  Peck,  E.  Moss,  Moore,  and  Greef.  A  banjo  duet  by  Messrs. 
Lockhart  and  Marshall  was  much  enjoyed.  Mr.  C.  J.  Smart  also 
gave  a  recitation.  Votes  of  thanks  to  the  Chairman,  the  performers, 
and  the  Hon.  Sec.,  Mr.  E.  Saville  Peck,  concluded  a  most  enjoy¬ 
able  evening. 


March  6,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


221 


Edinburgh  Pharmacy  Students’  Supper,  Friday,  Feb¬ 
ruary  26.- — Mr.  William  Duncan,  Principal,  in  the  chair. — The 
Ninth  Annual  Supper  of  the  Pharmacy  Students  connected  with 
the  Royal  Dispensary  School  of  Pharmacy  took  place  in  the  West 
End  Cafe,  Princes  Street.  Messrs.  W.  G.  Mackenzie  and  C.  M. 
German  acted  as  croupiers.  About  80  were  present,  including 
Messrs.  J.  Laidlaw  Ewing,  P.  Boa,  D.  MacLaren,  George  Coull, 
J.  R.  Hill,  etc.  The  loyal  toast  being  duly  honoured,  the  Chairman 
proposed  “  The  Pharmaceutical  Society  and  the  Boards  of 
Examiners,”  which  was  replied  to  by  Mr.  J.  Laidlaw  Ewing, 
Chairman  of  the  N.  B.  Executive  and  of  the  Board  of 
Examiners  for  Scotland.  In  his  reply  Mr.  Ewing  drew 
special  attention  to  the  claims  of  the  Benevolent  Fund, 
.and  the  effort  that  was  being  made  in  connection  with  the 
Diamond  Jubilee  of  Queen  Victoria’s  reign.  On  a  happy  sugges¬ 
tion  of  the  Chairman  a  collection  for  the  Fund  was  immediately 
.taken,  amounting  to  £2  15s.  4 d.,  and  later  in  the  evening  a 
gentleman  handed  another  sum  of  10s.  to  Mr.  Hill  for  the  Fund. 
The  other  toasts  were  “The  Pharmaey  Students,”  proposed  by 
Mr.  D.  MacLaren  and  acknowledged  by  the  Chairman  ;  “  The 
Ladies,”  proposed  by  Mr.  W.  E.  Pilgrim  and  acknowledged  by 
Mr.  P.  Boa;  and  the  “Chairman  and  Croupiers,”  proposed  by 
Mr.  G.  Coull  and  acknowledged  by  the  Chairman.  In  the  course 
■of  the  evening  Messrs.  Haley,  Gilchrist,  and  England,  on  behalf  of 
their  fellow-students,  presented  to  Messrs.  Duncan,  Mackenzie, 
And  German,  respectively,  a  silver  tea-urn,  a  silver  ink-stand,  and 
.a  gold  pencil  case,  as  a  token  of  esteem.  With  vocal  and  instru¬ 
mental  music  and  recitations,  a  most  enjoyable  evening  was  spent, 
.and  the  end  of  the  programme  was  reached  at  1  a.m. 


NEW  REMEDIES. 


[The  notes  given  under  this  heading  embody  recent  suggestions  in 
Aherapeutics.  They  cover  both  new  drugs  and  preparations,  and  old  ones 
under  new  aspects.  The  word  "parts”  is  used  to  represent  parts  by 
weight,  both  for  solids  and  liquids .] 


Cacodyl  Compounds  for  Therapeutic  Use. — Acidum  caco- 
-dylicum  (dimethyl-arsenic  acid),  As(CH.3)20(0H),  forms  odourless, 
oblique,  rhombic  prisms  which  are  easily  soluble  in  water  and 
alcohol,  and  which  melt  at  200°  C.  Sodium  cacodylicum, 
As(CH;!).2ONa,  is  an  amorphous  white  powder,  soluble  in  water, 
and  is  recommended  in  place  of  the  usual  arsenic  compounds. 
Doses  of  025  centigramme  internally,  or  10  centigrammes  sub- 
cutane  are  well  borne. — Pharm.  Zeit.,  xlii.,  106. 


Benzacetin  as  an  Anti-Neuralgic  and  Anodyne  (phenacetine- 
‘carbonic  acid,  or  acetamidosalicylic  acid). — Occurs  in  colourless 
•crystalline  needles,  difficult  to  solve  in  water,  easily  soluble  in 
alcohol ;  melting  point  205°  C.  Benzacetin  forms  salts  with  bases 
which  are  easily  soluble  in  water,  such  as  lithium  benzacetin.  Both 
the  pure  benzacetin  and  the  lithium  salts  are  promptly  effective 
for  neuralgia.  Doses  of  0'5  to  1  '0  Gm.  are  ordered  for  sleepless¬ 
ness  and  nervous  excitement. — Pharm.  Zeit.,  xlii.,  107. 


Creosote  in  the  Treatment  of  Pleuro-Peritoneal  Tuber¬ 
culosis  in  Children. — Thoma  has  given  the  following  enemata 
for  the  treatment  of  pleuro-peritoneal  tuberculosis  in  children.  At 
the  outset  each  enema  contained  150  grammes  of  emulsified  cod- 
liver  oil  and  0’5  gramme  of  creosote,  but  after  from  eight  to  ten 
days  1  gramme  of  creosote.  In  the  first  case  Thoma  gave  in  the 
-course  of  a  few  days  1  5  gramme  creosote  ;  diarrhoea  ensued,  and 
the  enemata  had  to  be  discontinued.  After  a  few  weeks  it  is  as 
well  to  suspend  the  treatment  for  five  or  six  days  and  begin  again. 
The  taste  of  the  creosote  did  not  appear  to  be  noticed  by  the 
children  ;  the  appetite  was  at  first  slightly  impaired,  but  subse¬ 
quently  improved.  By  this  method  it  is  possible  to  reKeve  the 
-/disorder  of  the  bowels  so  frequent  in  this  illness.  Thoma  states 
in  conclusion  that  it  is,  of  course,  inexpedient  to  generalise  from 
,two  cases  as  given  in  his  experience,  especially  as  the  children  were 
not  very  ill  and  were  treated  promptly  ;  but  keeping  in  mind  the 
comparatively  short  duration  of  the  treatment  and  the  necessity 
for  preserving  the  appetite  and  the  digestive  functions  as  unim¬ 
paired  as  possible,  it  appears  that  enemata  of  cod-liver  oil  and 
creosote  are  well  tolerated  and  give  good  results. — Lancet,  i.,  97, 
159. 


LEGAL  INTELLIGENCE. 


PROCEEDINGS  UNDER  THE  PHARMACY  ACT. 


Prosecution  at  Airdrie. 

At  the  Sheriff  Court  House,  Airdrie,  on  Monday,  March  1,  the 
case  of  Bremridge  v.  David  Lees,  came  before  Sheriff  Mair  for  trial 
(see  ante,  p.  194). 

Mr.  T.  B.  Morison,  advocate,  Edinburgh,  and  Mr.  R.  Watt, 
solicitor,  Airdrie,  appeared  for  the  prosecutor,  and  Mr.  Brock, 
writer,  Glasgow,  for  the  defendant. 

Before  witnesses  were  called  Mr.  Brock  asked  the  Sheriff  to 
amend  the  complaint  in  accordance  with  his  ruling  at  the  pleading 
diet,  so  that  the  words  “recited  Act”  should  read  “the  Phar¬ 
macy  Act,  1868.”  The  Sheriff  declined  to  make  the  alteration. 

Mr.  Brock  then  produced  a  medical  certificate  to  show  that  one 
of  his  witnesses  for  the  defence  was  seriously  ill,  and  his  absence 
would  prejudice  his  client’s  defence. 

Mr.  Morison  said  he  would  not  found  his  case  on  anything 
the  witness  could  speak  to,  and  his  absence  would  make  no 
difference. 

The  Sheriff  declined  to  adjourn  the  case. 

J.  Rutherford  Hill  deposed  that  he  was  instructed  by  the 
Registrar  to  make  enquiry  and  institute  proceedings  in  this  case. 
He  produced  the  Register  of  Chemists  and  Druggists  for  1896  to 
prove  that  David  Lees,  the  defendant,  was  not  duly  registered. 
He  also  produced  the  two  bottles  of  laudanum  and  the  bottle 
of  Powell’s  balsam  mentioned  in  the  complaint.  These  he 
had  analysed  and  found  about  two  fluid  drachms  of 
laudanum,  equivalent  to  about  8  grains  of  opium,  in  each  of  the 
two  bottles,  and  in  the  Powell’s  balsam  of  aniseed  not  less  and 
probably  more  than  0T  grain  of  morphine,  equal  to  1  grain  of 
opium.  All  three  bottles  were  duly  labelled  poison,  and  had  on 
them  the  address  of  the  seller.  There  was  a  recorded  case  in  which 
2  fluid  drachms  of  laudanum  had  proved  fatal  to  an  adult.  One 
grain  of  opium  had  killed  an  aged  person.  One-sixtieth  of  a  grain 
of  opium  had  killed  a  child.  In  cross-examination,  Mr.  Hill  said 
it  was  not  correct  to  describe  laudanum  as  not  containing  opium, 
it  was  practically  a  solution  of  opium  in  proof  spirit.  What  was 
not  dissolved  consisted  almost  entirely  of  inert  matter  and  impurities 
which  got  mixed  with  the  opium  in  the  process  of  gathering  it.  If 
the  proof  spirit  were  evaporated  off,  what  remained  could  be  pretty 
accurately  described  as  purified  opium.  It  would  be  most  mislead¬ 
ing  to  say  laudanum  contained  no  opium.  He  had  not  attempted 
to  ascertain  the  ingredients  of  balsam  of  aniseed  other  than  the 
morphine,  which  he  had  carefully  separated  in  the  solid  state.  He 
thought  some  of  the  other  ingredients  were  liquorice,  balsam  of 
tolu  and  oil  of  anise.  It  was  not  a  patent  medicine,  and  he  was 
surprised  to  hear  that  any  one  at  this  time  of  day  should  think  it 
was.  It  was  a  proprietary  medicine  and  for  that  reason  bore  a 
government  stamp  as  provided  by  the  Medicine  Stamp  Act. 

Mr.  Brock  attempted  to  make  the  witness  produce  confidential 
correspondence  passing  between  witness  and  the  Registrar  and  the 
local  Secretary,  Mr.  Harvie,  to  support  his  opinion  that  the  prosecu¬ 
tion  was  not  in  the  public  interest  but  merely  a  piece  of  personal 
animus  between  Mr.  Harvie  and  Dr.  Arthur,  in  whose  shop  the 
poisons  were  sold. 

Mr.  Morison  objected  to  any  such  evidence,  and  the  Sheriff 
refused  to  allow  it. 

Alexander  Spence  and  Joseph  Tait  proved  the  sale  of  the  poisons 
by  the  accused. 

Mr.  Morison  said  that  was  his  case. 

Mr.  Brock  said  he  had  now  to  state  three  objections  as  a  bar  to 
this  case  being  sustained.  He  could  not  rightly  state  these 
objections  till  he  saw  the  evidence  against  him.  His  first  objection 
was  that  the  prosecutor  must  attend  and  produce  his  evidence 
,  that  he  had  been  duly  appointed  as  Registrar,  and  the  date  of  his 
'  appointment.  Secondly,  the  complainer  said  the  offence  was  com¬ 
mitted  at  or  near  the  shop,  but  it  was  proved  that  it  was  committed 
in  the  shop.  The  locus,  therefore,  was  not  correctly  stated,  and 
that  had  been  held  fatal  in  a  case  of  day  poaching,  where  the 
offence  was  said  to  have  been  committed  at  or  near  a  wood. 
Thirdly,  the  Register  produced  was  not  properly  authenticated  as 
correct  as  the  original  Register  specified  in  the  Act,  and  was, 
therefore,  of  no  use  as  evidence. 

The  Sheriff  repelled  all  three  objections. 

For  the  defence  Mr.  Scotland,  burgh  assessor,  was  called  to  prove 


222 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[March  6,  1897. 


that  the  tenant  of  the  shop  1,  High  Street,  was  Dr.  Arthur,  and  the 
proprietrix,  his  wife,  Mrs.  Arthur. 

Mr.  Thomas  Hart  registered  chemist,  deposed  that  he  had 
always  regarded  Powell’s  balsam  as  a  patent  medicine.  He 
thought  all  medicines  bearing  the  Goverment  stamp  were  patent 
medicines.  In  cross-examination  he  said  he  had  never  seen  or 
heard  of  letters  patent  for  Powell’s  balsam,  and  he  admitted  that 
he  had  no  clear  idea  of  the  difference  between  a  proprietary  and 
a  patent  medicine. 

Mr.  John  Harvie,  chemist  and  local  secretary,  Airdrie,  said  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society.  Shown  a  bottle 
bearing  his  name  and  the  words  “  Astringent  mixture,”  he  said 
it  was  not  a  proprietary  medicine.  He  declined  to  state  its  con¬ 
tents.  Powell’s  balsam  was  a  proprietary  but  not  a  patent  medicine. 

Mr.  Brock  :  Your  assistants  are  unqualified ;  are  they,  Mr. 
Harvie  ? 

Mr.  Morison  :  I  object  to  this  question,  and  to  the  whole  line  of 
interrogation  by  which  Mr.  Brock  has  repeatedly  attempted  to 
drag  in  the  affairs  of  third  parties  to-day.  These  have  no  bearing 
whatever  on  this  case,  and  we  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with 
them  here. 

Mr.  Brock  :  I  am  entitled  to  show,  my  Lord,  that  this  is  not  a 
bond-fide  prosecution  but  persecution  by  Mr.  Harvie,  who  has  been 
making  offensive  charges  against  Dr.  Arthur  in  connection  with 
medicines  supplied  to  the  hospital  in  his  capacity  as  a  town 
councillor,  and  has  been  boasting  of  what  he  would  do  to  Dr.  Arthur. 

The  Sheriff :  I  refuse  to  allow  these  questions  to  be  put.  Any 
amount  of  animus  will  make  no  difference  in  the  case  of  a  charge 
of  this  kind. 

Dr.  Arthur  said  Lees  was  an  apprentice  with  him,  and  had  been 
about  a  year  at  the  business.  He  had  always  wished  to  have  a 
qualified  assistant  to  keep  his  shop,  but  he  had  found  it  quite 
impossible  to  get  one.  He  was  five  or  six  times  in  the  shop  every 
day,  and  his  medical  assistant  would  be  as  often  in,  and  he  thought 
that  was  quite  sufficient  supervision.  He  thought  he  must  have 
been  in  the  shop  when  the  laudanum  was  sold.  Laudanum  did 
not  contain  opium,  and  was  not  a  preparation  of  opium.  You 
might  as  well  say  that  cheese  was  a  preparation  of  milk,  or  that 
beer  was  a  preparation  of  hops.  Powell’s  balsam,  he  thought,  was 
a  patent  medicine,  and  it  was  so  described  in  the  invoices  of  the 
wholesale  house  who  supplied  him.  Mr.  McAdam,  of  the  Glasgow 
Apothecaries’  Company,  had  told  him  it  was  impossible  to  get  a 
qualified  assistant  for  him. 

Mr.  Morison  then  asked  for  a  conviction  Dr.  Arthur  was  per¬ 
fectly  aware  of  the  requirements  of  the  Pharmacy  Acts,  and  this 
was  an  open  and  flagrant  defiance  of  the  law.  He  therefore  asked 
for  the  full  penalty  and  costs. 

Mr.  Brock  said  the  prosecution  had  miserably  failed  and  he 
pressed  now  all  his  objections.  Looking  to  the  Act  of  1868  he  said 
no  charge  could  be  made  against  a  doctor’s  assistant,  and  he  held 
that  all  the  judges  were  wrong  on  this  point.  He  therefore  asked 
that  the  charges  be  found  not  proven. 

The  Sheriff  said  the  case  was  an  important  one.  Fortunately 
most  of  the  arguments  for  the  defence  had  already  been  disposed  of 
by  authority  which  could  not  be  disputed.  He  would  not  person¬ 
ally  express  any  view  as  to  the  policy  of  the  Pharmacy  Acts. 
Having  cited  the  judgments  in  the  English  Courts  and  in  Tomlin¬ 
son’s  case  in  the  Scotch  Courts,  he  said  that,  though  he  had  grave 
doubts  as  to  what  was  the  real  interpretation  of  the  Pharmacy  Act, 
1868,  he  could  not  in  face  of  these  decisions  come  to  any  other 
conclusion  than  that  the  offences  charged  were  relevant  and  had 
been  clearly  proved.  This  was  the  first  case  of  a  doctor’s  assistant 
that  had  been  before  him,  and  he  thought  it  would  be  sufficient  to 
impose  a  penalty  of  5s.  for  each  of  the  first  two  offences,  and  10s. 
for  the  third  offence,  with  £2  for  expenses. 

Mr.  Brock  intimated  that  the  case  would  be  appealed  to  the  High 
Court  of  Justiciary. 


Police  Prosecution  under  Section  17. 

At  Bow  Street  Police  Court  on  Saturday  last,  before  Mr.  Lush- 
ington,  Joseph  Wallace,  homoeopathic  practitioner,  of  4,  Albany 
Terrace,  Regent’s  Park,  and  Arthur  Russell  Salsburjq  bookseller, 
Oxford  Street,  were  summoned  for  selling  a  poisonous  drug  to  a 
person  unknown  to  them  without  inquiry,  without  labelling  it  as  a 
poison,  and  without  being  registered  under  the  Pharmacy  Act. 
Mr.  Bodkin  prosecuted  for  the  Treasury,  and  Mr.  Young  defended. 

Mr.  Bodkin  said  that  in  consequence  of  information  received  a 
detective  was  sent  by  the  Treasury,  on  November  16,  to  visit  the 
defendant  Wallace  at  his  house  in  Albany  Terrace,  Regent’s  Park, 


where  a  medical  periodical  was  published,  devoted,  among  other 
things,  to  the  recommendation  of  “  Wallace’s  Specifics.”  The  one 
in  respect  of  which  these  summonses  were  issued  was  known  as 
Specific  No.  1.  Detective-sergeant  Boswell  told  Wallace  he  was 
investigating  a  case  of  death  said  to  be  caused  by  taking  this 
specific.  Wallace  supplied  him  with  a  bottle  of  the  medicine, 
after  affixing  a  medicine  duty  stamp  and  a  label  bearing  the  word 
“Poison.”  On  January  12  Detective-sergeant  Allum  went  to  the 
house  of  the  same  defendant  and  asked  for  a  bottle  of  the  same 
mixture,  saying  he  had  been  sent  by  a  chemist.  He  was  supplied 
without  inquiry  with  one  of  the  bottles,  on  which  there  was  no 
poison  label.  The  bottles  were  handed  to  Dr.  Luff,  one  of  the 
official  analysts  to  the  Home  Office,  and  he  found  that  the  prepara¬ 
tion  contained  a  considerable  proportion  of  aconitine,  the  quantity 
present  being  such  that  one-sixth  of  the  contents  of  the  bottle 
might  probably  prove  fatal,  and  a  whole  bottle  would  mean  almost 
certain  death.  At  any  rate  the  contents  of  the  bottles  were  such 
as  to  bring  the  medicine  within  the  scope  of  the  Act. 

Francis  Boswell,  a  detective-sergeant  in  the  S  Division,  stated 
that  on  November  16,  in  company  with  Sergeant  Dixon,  he  went 
to  Wallace’s  house.  Witness  told  him  he  was  a  detective-sergeant, 
and  asked  him  if  he  was  a  proprietor  of  Wallace’s  No.  1  specific, 
which  was  supposed  to  have  caused  the  death  of  a  gentleman  in 
London.  Mr.  Wallace  said  he  very  much  regretted  the  gentle¬ 
man’s  death.  He  stated  that,  theoretically,  it  was  a  poison,  but 
practically  not.  Mr.  Wallace  denied  that  anyone  had  died  from 
drinking  his  specifics,  and  said  it  was  more  probable  the  man  had 
died  from  taking  other  drugs,  and  that  he  had  probably  drunk 
something  in  mistake  for  rum.  Deceased  had  drunk  Wallace’s 
specific  in  mistake  for  rum  and  afterwards  died. 

Detective-sergeant  Allum,  of  the  S  Division,  stated  that  on 
January  12  he  went  to  Mr.  Wallace’s  house  and  asked  for 
Wallace’s  No.  1  specific.  Mr.  Wallace  at  once  handed  him  a 
bottle  of  the  specific,  for  which  witness  paid.  It  was  not  labelled 
“  Poison.” 

Formal  evidence  was  given  to  show  that  Mr.  Wallace  is  not  a 
member  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society. 

Dr.  Arthur  Luff,  one  of  the  official  analysts  to  the  Home  Office, 
stated  that  he  received,  on  January  15,  a  bottle  from  Detective- 
sergeant  Boswell.  It  contained  a  fluid  ounce  of  brownish  liquid. 
He  tested  it  in  various  ways,  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it 
contained  aconitine.  The  equivalent  of  one-sixth  of  an  ounce  of 
tincture  of  aconite  had  proved  a  fatal  dose,  and  he  had  found  that 
this  specific  and  tincture  of  aconite  produced  identical  effects. 
Aconitine  was  probably  the  most  active  poison  known. 

Mr.  Young,  for  the  defence,  said  the  preparation  was  not 
considered  a  poison.  Aconitine  was  present,  but  only  in  infinitesimal 
quantities.  The  defendant  Wallace  was  a  homoeopathic  chemist, 
and  said  it  was  against  his  principles  to  employ  such  a  drug  except* 
in  the  most  minute  proportions. 

Mr.  John  B.  Coppock,  of  Preston,  analyst  to  the  Lancashire 
County  Council,  said  it  would  require  about  thirteen  bottles  of  this 
mixture  to  provide  a  fatal  dose.  He  was  of  opinion  that  one  bottle 
would  not  do  an  adult  any  harm. 

Mr.  Lushington  said  it  was  evident  from  the  evidence  of  Dr. 
Luff  that  the  mixture  contained  more  than  an  infinitesimal  quantity 
of  poison.  It  had  been  suggested  that  Mr.  Wallace  might  get  out* 
of  that  difficulty  by  making  the  mixture  a  patent  medicine. 
Possibly  he  might  do  so,  but  in  that  case  he  would  have  to  make  a 
disclosure  as  to  what  the  medicine  was  composed  of.  Until  that 
was  done,  it  was  his  duty  -to  label  every  bottle  “  poison,”  and  to 
make  an  entry  in  a  proper  book  of  the  persons  to  whom  he  sold  it. 
Mr.  Wallace  would  be  fined  £5  and  £10  10s.  costs  on  the  first 
summons,  and  £5  and  2s.  costs  on  the  second.  The  Magistrate 
ordered  Salsbury  to  pay  £2  10s.  with  respect  to  each  of  the  two 
summonses. 


OBITUARY. 


Howard. — On  February  4,  George  Howard,  chemist  and  druggist, 
Hooley  Hill,  Lancs.  Aged  55. 

Sanson.- — On  February  24,  Edwin  Sanson,  chemist  and  druggist, 
Barrow-in-Furness.  Aged  60.  Mr.  Sanson  was  one  of  the 
oldest  tradesmen  in  Barrow,  and  in  1887  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  Town  Council,  retiring  from  office  in  1890,  without- 
seeking  re-election.  The  funeral  took  place  on  Friday,  Febru¬ 
ary  26,  and  was  largely  attended  by  tradesmen  and  the  lead¬ 
ing  men  of  the  town. 


March  6,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL* 


223 


LETTERS  TO  THE  EDITOR. 


Solubility  of  Iodine  in  Cod-Liver  Oil. 

Sir, — In  reply  to  Mr.  Gibson’s  inquiry  about  cod-liver  oil  and 
iodine,  the  oil  contains  large  but  somewhat  variable  quantities  of 
unsaturated  fatty  acids,  which  more  or  less  readily  combine  with 
the  free  iodine.  Unless  the  iodine  is  in  excess  of  the  amount 
required  by  these  acids,  the  colour  will  be  discharged.  The  fact 
that  cod-liver  oil  will  absoi’b  the  iodine  is  not  a  very  serious 
matter  from  the  therapeutical  standpoint,  though,  of  course,  to  a 
pharmacist  who  desires  to  dispense  an  article  uniform  in  appear¬ 
ance  it  is  somewhat  annoying  to  find  the  brown  tint  disappearing. 
As  far  as  my  experience  goes,  the  only  remedy  lies  in  taking  the 
precaution,  if  possible,  of  always  using  the  same  oil  or,  at  any 
rate,  oil  of  the  same  quality,  and  also  to  stock  the  preparation  in 
dark  blue  bottles  with  as  little  exposure  to  the  light  as  possible. 

London ,  March  2,  1897.  R.  Glode  Guyer. 


Sir, —Shortly  before  leaving  Weymouth  and  practical  pharmacy 
I  made  some  experiments  on  the  combination  of  iodine  with  fatty 
•oils,  but  before  I  had  gone  very  far  my  notes  mysteriously  dis¬ 
appeared,  and  the  inquiry  came  to  a  sudden  end.  A  few  months 
later  I  was  at  the  Antipodes  among  the  kangaroos.  I  must  there¬ 
fore  trust  to  my  memory  for  the  little  information  I  can  give  to 
Mr.  Gibson.  My  attention  was  called  to  the  subject  by  observing 
that  a  solution  of  iodine  in  carbon  bisulphide  and  olive  oil  was 
gradually  losing  colour,  which,  indeed,  finally  disappeared  under 
the  influence  of  diffused  light,  the  containing  vessel  being  full  and 
well  corked.  Several  other  oils  were  found  to  exhibit  the  same 
reaction,  but  not  all  with  the  same  intensity.  Almond  oil  was  the 
best,  then  came  olive,  cod-liver,  and  castor.  The  carbon  bisul¬ 
phide  having  been  evaporated  by  a  very  gentle  heat  aided  by  a 
current  of  air,  the  oils  proved  tasteless  so  far  as  iodine  was  con¬ 
cerned.  Chloroform  was  tried,  and  proved  as  effective,  as  the 
bisulphide  was  not  so  easily  got  rid  of.  I  cannot  remember  the 
proportions  I  employed,  but  perhaps  4  grs.  of  iodine  to  the  fluid 
ounce  would  be  near  the  mark.  A  curious  property  of  these 
solutions,  or,  more  correctly,  combinations,  was  the  fact  that  when 
heated  carefully  by  water-bath  to  a  moderate  temperature,  say 
120°  F.,  the  iodine  was  thrown  out  of  combination  and  the  colour 
restored.  Whether  if  left  to  itself  for  a  time,  greater  or  less,  the 
solution  would  have  recovered  its  colour  I  had  not  an  opportunity 
of  ascertaining.  I  think  not.  I  found  that  prolonged  keeping  (for 
two  months  perhaps)  developed  a  little  colour,  which  I  attributed 
to  oxidation  through  imperfect  corking.  It  would  be  interesting 
to  have  these  points  cleared  up  by  Mr.  Gibson  if  he  has  the  time, 
or  possibly  by  the  Research  Laboratory  officials. 

Poole,  March  2,  1897.  Thos.  B.  Groves. 


Unguentum  Hydrargyri  Nitrates. 

Sir,— Anything  that  comes  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  P.  W.  Squire 
deserves  to  be  regarded  with  the  utmost  respect,  and  I  have 
therefore  read  with  great  interest  his  communication  on  the  above 
subject  in  your  issue  of  the  27th  ult.  It  was,  I  believe,  at  my 
suggestion,  made  some  fourteen  years  ago,  that  the  directions  for 
preparing  this  ointment  were  modified  in  the  1885  B.P.  The  1867 
edition  directed  the  acid  solution  of  mercury  to  be  added  to  the 
lard  and  oil  while  both  were  “hot,”  the  temperature  being 
increased  till  the  necessary  frothing  took  place.  I  proposed,  in 
■order  to  ensure  uniformity  in  the  ointment,  that  the  temperature 
be  definitely  fixed  at  212°  F.,  and  this  was  done.  The  experience 
of  many  years  has,  however,  convinced  me  that  the  specifying  of 
the  temperature  was  unnecessary,  because  the  temperature  must 
always  rise  considerably  above  212°  F.  before  sufficient  frothing 
takes  place.  It  really,  therefore,  does  not  matter  very  much 
whether  the  solution  of  nitrate  of  mercury  be  added  when  the 
fats  are  a  few  degrees  under,  or  for  that  matter  a  few  degrees 
over  212°  F. 

It  is  a  question,  regarding  which  difference  of  opinion  may  exist, 
as  to  what  ought  to  be  the  nature  of  this  ointment,  and  doubtless 
every  pharmacist  must  in  the  end  be  guided  by  his  own  judgment. 
Taking  the  history  of  the  ointment  as  my  guide  I  have  for  myself 
concluded  that  it  ought  to  be  as  nearly  neutral  as  possible  : 
Certainly  that  it  ought  not  to  be  excessively  acid.  It  was  re¬ 
commended  in  the  old  dispensatories  as  an  eye  ointment,  and 
clearly  no  eye  could  possibly  receive  any  benefit  from  the  application 
of  an  ointment  containing  a  considerable  percentage  of  free  nitric 


acid.  If  we  grant  this  condition  there  need  be  no  difficulty  about 
temperature,  for  it  stands  to  reason  that  the  higher  the  temperature 
employed  the  less  free  acid  will  there  be  in  the  ointment.  I  noticed 
this  very  clearly  in  my  experiments  fifteen  years  ago,  and  ever 
since  I  have  used  a  fairly  high  temperature,  in  no  case  certainly 
lower  than  211°  F. 

It  will  be  gathered  from  these  remarks  that  there  are  some 
points  on  which  I  differ  from  Mr.  Squire.  I  do  not  find  for  instance, 
and  never  have  found,  that  a  high  temperature  during  the  process 
darkens  the  ointment.  I  have  repeatedly  made  it  at  a  very  high 
temperature,  using  an  oil  bath  for  example,  and  since  Mr.  Squire’s 
article  appeared  I  have  made  several  experimental  batches  at  from 
300°  F.  to  350°  F.,  and  in  every  case  the  colour  and  consistency  are 
simply  perfect.  I  admit  that  prolonged  heating  will  decompose 
the  ointment,  but  decomposition  should  not  take  place  so  long  as 
there  remains  any  free  nitric  acid,  and  long  before  the  acid  is  driven 
off  it  is  perfectly  certain  that  all  frothing  or  “  effervescence  ”  must 
have  ceased, 

Nor  do  I  agree  with  Mr.  Squire’s  suggested  process.  I  have 
always  held  that  the  U.S.P.  process — adding  the  mercuric  nitrate 
solution  after  the  ointment  has  cooled— was  bad,  and  Mr.  Squire’s 
is  not  much  better.  An  ointment  so  prepared  must  be,  from  the 
very  nature  of  the  case,  exceedingly  acid ;  it  is,  in  fact,  an  oint¬ 
ment  of  mercuric  nitrate  plus  free  nitric  acid.  No  doubt  citrine 
ointment  always  does  contain  some  free  acid,  but,  as  I  have  already 
said,  the  less  it  contains  the  better ;  with  this  proviso,  however, 
that  an  absolutely  neutral  ointment  is  not  to  be  desired,  inasmuch 
as  its  keeping  properties  would  be  very  poor,  and,  moreover,  such 
an  ointment  could  not  be  satisfactorily  made  by  the  present 
method.  An  ointment  prepared  according  to  Mr.  Squire’s  process 
looks  very  well,  and,  I  should  say,  will  keep  very  well,  but  it  is,  I 
think,  too  acid.  I  have  made  quite  a  large  number  of  samples 
during  the  last  two  days,  and  I  have  estimated  the  percentage  of 
free  nitric  acid  in  three  of  these.  Taking  the  mean  of  three  deter¬ 
minations,  in  each  case  I  find  that  a  sample  of  ointment  prepared 
by  Mr.  Squire’s  process  contains  3 '78  per  cent,  of  real  nitric  acid  ; 
a  B.P.  ointment  contains  3*0  per  cent.,  and  an  ointment  prepared 
at  an  initial  temperature  of  300°  F.  contains  2d  per  cent.  Person¬ 
ally,  I  prefer  the  last  of  the  three. 

Mr.  Squire  thinks  “  it  is  important  that  the  temperature  should 
be  kept  as  low  as  possible  after  the  addition  of  the  mercuric  solu¬ 
tion  ”  ;  but  here  again  I  disagree.  The  temperature  should  be 
sufficiently  high  to  cause  free  frothing  after  the  mercuric  solution 
is  added.  Were  the  mercuric  nitrate  solution  a  neutral  one,  or 
even  only  slightly  acid,  his  suggestion  might  be  adopted,  but  with 
a  strongly  acid  solution,  such  as  is  employed,  the  result  could  not 
but  be,  in  my  opinion,  very  unsatisfactory. 

With  all  deference,  therefore,  I  submit  that  the  adoption  of  the 
suggestion  put  forward  by  Mr.  Squire  would  be  a  retrograde  step. 

Hawiclc,  March  2,  1897.  Thos.  Maben. 


Adulterated  Saffron. 

Sir, — I  have  just  seen  a  sample  of  croci  stig.  (not  my  own, 
luckily)  certified  by  analyst  to  contain  36  per  cent,  of  BaS04,  and 
find  him  correct.  This  was  obtained  from  a  city  house  of  first-class 
repute,  and  my  note  may  induce  brother  pharmacists  to  look  up 
their  stock. 

March  1,  1897.  Verb.  Sap  (83/14). 


The  P.A.T.A. 

Sir, — In  opening  the  case  for  the  P.A.T.A.  Mr.  Johnston  intro¬ 
duces  the  “  average  chemist — the  kind  composing  the  bulk  of  the 
craft  ” — and  makes  him  dance  to  music  which  is  of  his  own  (Mr.  J.’s) 
setting,  and  which,  I  believe,  the  average  chemist  cannot  follow. 
Mr.  Johnston  says,  “  I  know  very  well  that  he  could  persuade  his 
customers  to  have  his  own  preparations  twenty  times  in  the  hun¬ 
dred,  but  how  about  the  other  80  per  cent.  ?  ”  Does  this  mean  that 
the  average  chemist  has  a  number  of  preparations  of  his  own, 
representing  so  many  of  the  advertised  nostrums,  and  that  he  is 
able  to  sell  his  own  when  another  is  asked  for  to  the  extent  of  20 
per  cent,  of  all  orders  for  proprietary  articles  ?  Or  does  it  mean 
that  the  average  chemist  covers  the  whole  of  the  ground  with  his 
substitutes  (imitations  would  be  a  better  word),  tackles  even  “  th* 
worst  specimens  of  cut  goods,”  but  fails  in  four  cases  out  of  every 
five  ?  In  either  case  I  deny  that  those  composing  the  bulk  of  the 
craft  are  such  a  herd  of  imitators.  Will  your  readers  allow  Mr. 
J ohnston’s  type  of  the  average  chemist  to  pass  unchallenged  ? 

March  1,  1897.  Midlothian  (83/14). 


224 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[MARCH  6,  1897. 


On  Check  Tills. 

Sir, — I  can  endorse  the  remarks  made  by  two  correspondents  in 
the  Journal  re  “  O’Brien’s  Check  Till,”  as  the  most  suitable  one  in 
the  market  at  present  for  chemist’s  use.  I  see  another  correspondent 
has  brought  before  your  notice  the  “  National  Cash  Register,” 
which,  he  says  is  perfection.  I  quite  agree  with  him,  but  the  cost 
is  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  its 
use.  I  would  not  be  surprised  any  day  at  seeing  introduced  by 
some  American  firm  a  till  on  the  principle  of  the  “National  Cash 
Register,”  at  say  £10.  I  do  not  write  without  experience  of  each 
of  the  above  tills,  as  in  the  last  pharmacy  I  was  in  there  were  two 
“  National  Cash  Registers”  at  the  counter  and  an  O’Brien  at  the 
compounding  department. 

Belfast ,  March  1,  1897.  Saml.  Hogg. 


Sir, — Referring  to  a  letter  signed  “E.  A.  Holloway”  in  last  week's 
admirable  issue,  I  beg  to  say  that  £50  appears  to  me  quite  an  un¬ 
necessary  price  to  pay  for  a  check  till,  as  I  have  been  using  for 
more  than  two  years  one  made  by  T.  O’Brien,  Liverpool  (for  which 
I  paid  the  modest  price  of  £3),  and  I  find  it  answers  every  purpose 
for  checking  required  in  a  chemist’s  business,  being  worked  with 
ease  and  rapidity.  I  observe  this  till  is  advertised  in  the  Journal 
of  February  27,  and  also  that  Mr.  O’Brien  sends  it  on  trial  for 
fourteen  days.  “  Enquirer  ”  can  therefore  try  one  without  risk. 

Exeter ,  March  1,  1897.  J.  Bartleet. 


Sweating  the  Dispenser. 

Sir, — In  reply  to  a  letter  signed  “Anti-Sweater,”  I  hope  you 
will  kindly  give  me  space  for  a  few  remarks.  I  agree  with  him 
that  we  are  worked  too  hard  and  the  pay  is  inadequate,  but  I  must 
take  exception  to  his  explanation  of  how  the  work  is  done.  I  have 
been  dispenser  at  several  large  institutions  in  London  for  the  last 
fourteen  years,  and  nine  of  those  years  have  been  divided  between 
three  of  the  largest  infirmaries.  I  have  always  weighed  or 
measured  every  powder  or  liquid,  and  have  never  met  with  any 
dispenser  who  guessed.  As  your  correspondent  says  he  visited  one 
of  these  institutions  (infirmaries)  to  see  “  how  it  was  done,”  he 
must  have  made  a  very  unhappy  choice,  and  I  think 
in  fairness  to  us  all  he  ought  to  give  the  name  of  the 
infirmary  where  such  gross  negligence  existed.  If  the  dis¬ 
penser  has  no  self-respect,  where  was  the  medical  superintendent, 
whose  duty  it  is  to  see  after  this  department,  and  what  price  the 
Government  inspector  ?  I  am  sure  if  the  Local  Government  Board 
were  acquainted  with  the  facts  of  the  case  they  would  soon  cause 
an  inquiry  to  be  made,  and  someone  would  suffer.  I  should  be 
glad  to  know  if  the  dispenser  in  question  is  a  lady,  one  of  the 
Army  qualification,  or  a  qualified  chemist.  I  am  no  novice  at  the 
work,  and  yesterday  dispensed  360  prescriptions.  The  Editor  has 
my  name  and  address,  and  is  at  liberty  to  give  it  to  “Anti- 
Sweater,”  and  if  he  would  come  and  see  me  at  any  time  in  hours 
(9  to  6)  I  should  be  glad  to  prove  to  him  that,  although  we  (as  quali¬ 
fied  chemists)  are  so  inadequately  paid,  yet  the  dispensing  is 
carried  out  conscientiously. 

February  16,  1897.  “  Dispenser  ”  (81/35). 


Holiday  Science. 

Sir, — The  very  sensible  proposals  made  under  the  heading 
“Natural  History  Notes”  in  your  special  issue  are  I  think  cal¬ 
culated  to  improve  the  personal  interest  taken  in  the  Journal.  It 
has  occurred  to  me  before  now  that  it  would  be  interesting  if  members 
of  the  trade  could  be  induced  to  communicate  to  you  the  names  of 
the  subjects  and  special  departments  of  these  which  interest 
them  in  matters  scientific  (or  even  literary  and  artistic)  outside 
as  well  as  directly  bearing  on  pharmacy.  By  sending  to  you 
under  one  cover  as  many  separate  cards — p.c.  size — and  each 
with  separate  address,  as  represent  the  subjects  presently  and 
actively  interesting  the  subscriber,  you  might  find  time  to  assort 
these  and  communicate  the  results  in  one  form  or  another  to  your 
readers.  In  order  to  protect  contributors  it  might  be  as  well  to 
stipulate  that  a  corner  of  the  card  should  be  cut  off  when  it  was 
desired  to  remain  anonymous,  adopting  at  the  same  time  a  nom  de 
‘ plume  ;  while  those  who  were  disposed  to  be  active  or  helpful,  if 
occasion  arose,  might  attach  the  word  “active  ”  to  theirs.  If  this 
suggestion  approves  itself  to  you,  I  think,  considering  the  very 
intelligent  interest  manifested  in  philological  subjects  on  a  recent 


occasion,  that  you  should  make  the  range  of  subjects  include  as 
large  a  field  as  possible  in  literature,  science,  and  art. 

March  1,  1897.  “  ScoTcn  Chemist”  (83/12). 

***  We  are  always  glad  to  receive  suggestions  from  readers,  and  to  learn  the 
nature  of  the  information  that  interests  them  more  particularly.  Accord¬ 
ingly,  communications  of  the  nature  suggested  will.be  gladly  received. 
[Editor,  P.J. ] 


ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 


Copra.— This  is  the  name  given  to  the  dried  kernels  of  the  coco 
nut.  [ Reply  to  Pharmacist. — 81/21.] 


Poor  Law  Dispensership. — Apply  to  the  Secretary,  Local 
Government  Board,  Whitehall,  S.W.  [  Reply  to  J.  F. — 82/36.] 


Minor  Examination. — You  must  be  twenty-one  years  old  before- 
presenting  yourself  for  this  examination.  [Reply  to  R.  C. — 82/38.  ] 


Book  on  Decimals. — We  do  not  know  the  book  you  mentions, 
[Reply  to  S.  H.— 83/8.] 


Pereira  Medal.— There  is  no  practical  test  imposed  in  the 
examination.  [Reply  to  W.  A.  K. — 83,3.] 


Names  of  Surgeons. — We  cannot  undertake  to  give  recom¬ 
mendations  in  such  cases.  Ask  your  local  medical  man.  [Reply/ 
to  G.  A.  T.— 83,24.] 


Edison-Lalande  Battery. — The  paragraph  you  quote  contained 
an  obvious  mistake  ;  it  should  have  specified  six  Edison-Lalande. 
cells,  not  one.  [Reply  to  Volta. — 80/23.] 


Metol. — This  is  the  sulphate,  hydrochlorate  or  oxalate  of 
mono-methyl-para-amido-meta-cresol,  which  has  the  formula — 
C6H3OHCH3NHCH3.  [Reply  to  W.  B.  L.— 81/5.] 

Milk  Preservative.— If  anything  has  been  added  to  milk  for 
preservative  purposes,  the  seller  will  be  liable  to  prosecution  under 
the  Sale  of  Food  and  Drugs  Acts.  The  only  plan  that  can  safely 
be  resorted  to  is  to  sterilise  the  milk  and  preserve  it  in  sealed; 
bottles.  [Reply  to  Lactis. — 82/4.] 


Jalapin. — The  information  you  require  is  given  in  Squire’s; 
1  Companion,’  the  ‘  Extra  Pharmacopoeia,’  Attfield’s  ‘  Chemistry,2 
and  other  works  of  reference,  some  one  of  which  you  ought  to  have, 
access  to.  Our  space  must  be  reserved  for  information  that  is  not. 
so  readily  available.  [Reply  to  S.  H.— 81/26.] 

[Several  Answers  to  Queries  are  unavoidably  held 

over.] 


CORRECTIONS. 

Benevolent  Fund  List. — The  Secretary  desires  us  to  notify' 
the  following  corrections  in  the  Local  List  of  Subscriptions  and 
Donations  received  during  1896,  prepared  by  him  and  published 
with  last  week’s  Pharmaceutical  Journal 

Lockerbie,  James,  is  of  Edinburgh,  not  Dumfries. 

Nuthall,  Edwin  (Norwich).  The  name  was  mis-spelt  NuttalL 

Williams,  Stephen,  is  of  Hove,  not  Bristol. 

Woolley,  S.  W.,  London,  5s.  This  name  was  omitted. 

Coca-Kola  Wine. — Messrs.  Potter  and  Clarke  point  out  that 
the  bottles  containing  this  wine  are  Apollinaris  Pints,  and  contain 
almost  a  pint  each  instead  of  half  a  pint  as  stated  last  week.  The 
wine  can  be  sold  without  a  licence. 


PUBLICATION  RECEIVED. 


Tannalbin.  Pp.  16.  Knoll  and  Co.,  Chemische  Fabrik,  Lud- 

WIGSHAFEN,  a/Rh. 


COMMUNICATIONS,  LETTERS, etc., have  been  received  from 

Messrs.  Austen,  Barrass,  Bartleet,  Baxter,  Bird,  Brawn,  Buckley,  Bullivant, 
Clarke,  Coats,  Cowley,  Cummings,  Farr,  Faulkner,  Forret,  Glyn-Jones,  Goodall, 
Groves,  Guyer,  Harris,  Henry,  Hill,  Hogg,  Jones,  Keen,  Kemp,  Knight,  Maben„ 
Macaulay,  Moore,  Moultrie,  Nuthall,  Pearson,  Philip,  Pike,  Potter,  Smith 
Thompson,  Waddington,  Warrell. 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


225 


March  13,  J897J 


THE  COMMERCIAL  VA1 


lAL  OILS. 


C.  UMNEY. 


37  ft 

[ETIES  OF  FENNEL  AND 

BY, 4  d? 

In  a'  coSn^tmiciiti-Oiv  ma$Wro  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Con¬ 
ference  at  ihv(*'j6b(|},  <\fyo(Pharrn.  Journ.  [4],  iii.,  91),  I  gave  the 
principal  characfjbf?ToF  Japanese  fennel  and  its  essential  oil.  I  also 
noted  some  comparisons  between  this  particular  variety  and  the 
French  and  Indian  fennels  and  their  essential  oils. 

A  specimen  of  the  Japanese  fennel  fruit  had  been  previously 
examined  and  reported  upon  by  Mr.  Holmes  ( Pharm .  Journ.  [3], 
x. ,  262),  who  stated  that  it  had  a  taste  at  first  strongly  resembling 
that  of  anise. 

The  shipment,  reported  on  at  Liverpool,  was  described  as 
“anise”  by  the  firm  of  drug  brokers  who  offered  it  for  sale.  The 
smallness  of  the  fruit  was  misleading  to  a  casual  observer,  and  it 
was  not  surprising  that  the  fruits  were,  in  the  hurry  of  business, 
mistaken.  • 

Mr.  Kirkby  subsequently,  in  a  letter  to  the  Ph.  J.  [4],  iii.,  175, 
expressed  doubt  as  to  whether  the  mis-naming  was  wholly  to  be 
attributed  to  this  cause,  and  he  questioned  whether  it  was  not 
rather  due  to  a  nearer  approach  than  usual  to  the  anise  odour. 
He  also  recorded  observations  on  a  sample  obtained  from 
a  shipment  of  Roumanian  seeds  which  he  had  examined,  and 
which  agreed  in  every  particular  as  to  form  and  structure  with 
fennel,  the  average  length  being  4  Mm. ,  and  the  odour  decidedly 
anise  like.  He  concluded  his  letter  with  the  question,  “  Is  there 
a  variety  of  fennel  having  a  small  fruit,  and  having  a  more  pro¬ 
nounced  anise  odour  than  the  larger  kind  usually  found  in 
commerce  ?  ” 

As  so  many  varieties  of  large  and  small  fennel  exist,  and  as  the 
genus  from  which  the  fruits  are  obtained  is  a  very  widely  distri¬ 
buted  one,  I  thought  that  considerable  differences  were  not 
improbable,  and  with  the  object  of  making  a  comparison  of  all 
obtairable  varieties,  I  have  procured  fruits  from  as  many  countries 
as  possible,  and  from  them  distilled  the  essential  oils. 

The  principal  use  for  fennel  is  as  an  ingredient  in  compound 
liquorice  powder,  for  which  purpose  it  is  included  in  the  British 
Pharmacopoeia,  and  for  this  the  demand  is  considerable. 

It  is  also'  official  in  the  Pharmacopoeias  of  Austria,  Bel¬ 
gium,  Denmark,  Holland,  France,  Germany,  Hungary,  Norway, 
Italy,  Portugal,  Russia,  Spain,  Sweden,  Switzerland,  and  the 
United  States. 

While  the  oil  is  unofficial  in  the  British  Pharmacopoeia,  and  is 
but  little  used  in  this  country,  it  nevertheless  finds  a  place  in  all 
the  pharmacopoeias  enumerated  (the  Italian  only  excepted),  and  is  in 
considerable  demand  on  the  Continent  of  Europe.  It  is  used  in 
the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia  in  place  of  the  fruits  in  compound 
liquorice  powder  to  obviate  the  difficulty  that  is  experienced  in 
grinding  fennel  rich  in  essential  oil  to  fine  powder,  unless  it  be 
operated  upon  with  the  sulphur  and  sugar  placed  under  suitable 
millstones. 

The  descriptions  of  the  fruits  differ,  and  whilst  the  German 
Pharmacopoeia  III.  describes  the  fruit  as  about  8  Mm.  long) 
doubtless  intended  to  be  the  Saxon  variety,  the  United  States 
Pharmacopoeia  says  4  to  8  Mm. ,  and  the  British  Pharmacopoeia 
from  1/5  to  2/5  inches,  which  would  include  almost  all  the 
varieties,  both  small  and  large,  many  of  which  would  be 
excluded  by  the  description  of  the  German  Pharmacopoeia. 
The  principal  source  of  the  oil  distilled  in  Germany  is  not  how¬ 
ever  the  Saxon  fruits,  because  their  fine  appearance  causes  them 
to  realise  a  price  for  druggists’  use,  out  of  proportion  to  their 
essential  oil  value,  unless,  as  sometimes  happens,  the  crop  is 

Von.  LVHI.  (Fourth  Series,  Yol.  IV.).  No.  1394. 


sufficiently  plentiful  to  compete  in  price  with  those  of  Galicia, 
Southern  Russia,  and  Roumania. 

Fennel  is  indigenous  to  the  countries  bordering  the  Medi¬ 
terranean,  but  extends  to  Britain  on  the  north  and  to  Persia  and 
India  on  the  south,  and  China  and  Japan  in  the  east ;  with  the 
exception  of  India,  these  countries  fall  within  25  degrees  of 
latitude  (30°  to  55°  N. ),  and  the  apparent  unsuitability  of  the 
hotter  climate  of  India  to  the  fruit  will  be  referred  to  subsequently. 
All  the  better  known  varieties  are  ascribed  to  F.  capillaceum,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Indian  fruit,  which  is  referred  to  F.  pan- 
morium,  D.  C.,  although  this  even  is  generally  regarded  as  a  variety 
only  of  F.  capillaceum.  The  Sicilian  variety  of  fennel  is  referred 
to  F.  piperitum,  and  the  Japanese  variety  cannot  be  definitely 
determined  until  the  plants  grown  from  them,  of  which  two  are 
exhibited,  are  more  fully  developed. 

The  fruits  vary  considerably  in  size,  the  smallest  (Japanese)  being 
about  3  to  4  Mm.  in  length,  whilst  the  largest  (the  Saxon)  are 
frequently  10  Mm.  in  length. 

The  first  table  shows  the  comparative  sizes  of  the  different 
varieties  of  fruits,  as  well  as  other  characters,  and  also  their 
respective  yields  of  essential  oil. 


Fennel  Fruits. 


Variety. 

Average 

length. 

Average 
length  of 
vittse 
in  transve 

Average 
breadth  of 
vittse 
rse  section 

Percentage 
of  oil. 

Odour  and  taste 
of  oil. 

Mm. 

Mm. 

Mm. 

1.  French  (sweet)  . . 

7-8 

•11 

•04  to  -05 

2-1 

Sweet,  anise¬ 
like,  and  fatty 

2.  ,,  (bitter)  . . 

4-5 

•18  to  -2 

•07  to  '08 

Not  distilled 

— 

3.  German  (Saxon). . 

8-10 

•2  to  "22 

"07  to  '08 

4-7 

Sweet  and  very 
camphoraceous. 

4.  Indian  . 

6-7 

•1 

•03  to  -04 

•72 

Sweet  and  anise¬ 
like 

5.  Russian  . 

4-5 

•2 

•04  to  -05 

4-8 

Very  camphor* 
aceous 

6.  Galician  . 

5-6 

•2  to  -22 

•08  to  '10 

4-4 

Very  camphor¬ 
aceous 

7.  Persian . 

6-7 

•15 

•05 

1:7 

Sweet  and  anise¬ 
like 

8.  Japanese  . 

3-4 

•15  to  -16 

•07  to  -OS 

2-7 

Very  sweet  and 
camphoraceous 

Description  op  Fruits. 

French  (sweet). — The  fruits  (Nos.  2  and  9)  are  oblong,  cylindrical, 
about  2  to  3  Mm.  in  width,  frequently  slightly  arched,  and  from 
7  to  8  Mm.  in  length,  very  prominent  ridges,  with  smooth  surfaces, 
and  a  pale  yellowish-green  colour. 

French  (bitter).- — The  fruits  (No.  5)  are  usually  only  about  4  to 
5  Mm.  long,  and  2  Mm.  in  width,  when  mature  scurfy  on  the 
furrows,  their  ridges  being  somewhat  less  prominent  and  colour 
darker  than  the  sweet  variety. 


1  2  345  6  7  S  9  10 


A. — Fennel  Fruits. — 1,  German;  2,  French  (curved  sweet)  ;  3,  Galician;  4r 
Russian;  5,  French  (hitter);  6,  Indian;  7,  Japanese;  8,  Persian;  9,  French 
(straight  sweet).  B.— Italian  Anise  Fruit.— (All  drawings  natural  size.) 

German. — The  fruits  (No.  1)  are  about  8  to  10  Mm.  in  length,  3  to 
4  in  width,  ovoid-oblong,  slightly  curved,  the  five  ridges,  on  each 
mericarp  very  conspicuous,  the  lateral  being  distinctly  the  largest. 
They  are  grown  principally  at  Lutzen-W eissenfels,  in  Saxony, 
and  also  in  Thuringia ;  and  though  partially  discontinued  some  few* 
years  ago,  the  cultivation  has  been  recently  increased  and  com¬ 
petition  entered  into  with  Galician  and  Roumanian  fruit. 

Indian. — The  fruits  (No.  6)  are  usually  more  oblong  and  slightly 


226 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Mabch  13,  1897 


shorter  on  the  average  than  the  French  variety,  being  generally 
from  6  to  7  Mm.  long,  straight,  and  browner  in  colour.  Very  large 
shipments  reach  this  country  from  Bombay,  but  the  fruits  are  as  a 
rule  much  mixed  with  stalks,  and  very  dry. 

Russian. — The  fruits  (No.  4)  are  usually  very  clean  and  free  from 
stalks,  etc.,  from  5  to  6  Mm.  long,  from  1|  to  2  Mm.  wide,  and 
the  mericarps  very  easily  detachable  from  one  another.  The  colour 
is  usually  brownish-green,  the  ridges  very  distinct.  The  fruits 
imported  from  Roumania  are  practically  the  same  as  this  variety. 

Galician. — The  fruits  (No.  3)  are  very  similar  to  the  Russian  and 
Roumanian  varieties,  very  clean,  about  4  to  5  Mm.  long,  from  1  to 
4  Mm.  wide,  the  mericarps  of  the  mature  fruits  easily  detachable 
from  one  another.  The  ridges  are  very  prominent. 

Persian. — The  fruits  (No.  8)  when  mature  are  about  6  to  7  Mm. 
long,  and  less  than  2  Mm.  in  width,  straight,  the  ridges  prominent, 
and  the  colour  very  green.  The  particular  shipment  which  has 
been  used  for  the  distillation  of  oil  contained  a  considerable  number 
of  stalks  and  immature  fruits,  and  was  shipped  to  London  from 
Busheir,  on  the  Persian  Gulf.  I  am  not  aware  that  any  previous 
shipment  has  been  made  from  Persia  to  London. 

J apanese. — The  fruits  (No.  7)  are  very  small,  about  the  size  of  anise, 
from  3  to  4  Mm.  long  and  from  2  to  3  Mm.  wide,  ovoid,  not  curved, 
and  of  a  pale  greenish-brown  colour.  They  have  no  hairs  such  as 
are  characteristic  of  anise  fruit.  The  shipment  of  those  previously 
reported  on  was  made  from  Yokohoma,  and  considerable  arrivals 
have  since  taken  place,  all  of  which  have  been  particularly  clean 
and  free  from  stalks. 

The  odour  and  tastes  of  the  fruits  show  certain  differences,  but 
as  they  are  entirely  dependent  on  the  essential  oils,  it  will  be 
more  convenient  to  refer  to  them  subsequently  after  treating  of 
those  bodies. 

Microscopic  Examination. 

Microscopic  examination  of  the  transverse  sections  of  the  fruits 
show  the  same  general  characters,  viz. ,  that  each  mericarp  has  five 
ridges,  varying  in  prominence,  some  more  obtuse  than  others,  with 
four  vittse  on  the  face  and  two  usually  on  the  commissure,  although 
occasionally  as  many  as  four,  all  surrounded  by  a  brown  tissue. 

French  (sweet). — Ridges  very  prominent,  notably  those  at  the 
extremity  of  the  commissure  ;  the  vittse  large,  the  length  of  each 
being  about  *11  Mm.,  and  the  breadth  about  -04  to  ‘05  Mm. 
The  pericarp  varies  from  ’12  Mm.  at  the  vittse  to  nearly  three 
times  that  thickness  at  the  ridges. 


Fennel  Fruits,  T.  S.— 1,  French  (bitter);  2,  Indian  ;  3,  Russian;  4,  French 
(•weet) ;  6,  German ;  7,  Japanese  ;  8,  Persian  ;  9,  Galician.  5,  Italian  Anise 
Fruit,  T.S.  (Highly  magnified). 

French  (bitter). — Mericarp  much  flattened,  nearly  twice  as  long 
at  the  commissure  as  broad,  the  ridges  at  the  commissure  pointedly 
prominent.  The  vittse  six  in  number,  arranged  similarly  to  the 
sweet  variety,  and  about  "2  to  ’22  Mm.  in  length,  and  "07  to 
•08  Mm.  in  width.  The  pericarp  is  somewhat  thick. 


German. — The  section  of  the  fruit  shows  prominent  ridges,  the 
vittse  frequently  duplicated,  seven  or  eight  in  number.  They  are 
very  large,  varying  from  ‘2  to  -22  Mm.  long  and  about  '07  to  ‘08 
Mm.  broad.  The  pericarp  is  very  evenly  distributed  round  the 
fruit,  and  about  '2  Mm.  in  thickness. 

Indian. — The  length  and  breadth  of  the  outline  of  each  section 
of  mericarp  is  practically  the  same,  the  ridges  less  prominent 
than  in  the  French  sweet  variety  and  the  vittse  very  small,  only 
about  -1  in  length  and  '04  in  width,  and  in  many  hardly  observable. 

Russian. — The  outline  of  the  section  of  mericarp  is  oblong,  the 
length  nearly  double  the  breadth,  as  in  the  bitter  French  variety. 
The  pericarp,  however,  is  very  thin,  and  readily  distinguishes  the 
two  varieties.  The  ridges  are  not  very  prominent,  the  vittse  about 
•2  Mm.  long,  about  '04  to  ‘05  wide. 

Galician. — The  section  shows  that  the  mericarp  is  nearly  twice 
as  long  as  broad,  the  ridges  fairly  prominent  and  the  vittse  very 
long.  They  vary  in  length  from  '2  to  ’22  Mm.  and  in  width  from 
•08  to  '10,  the  pericarp  being  even  and  of  practically  the  same 
breadth  as  the  vittse. 

Persian. — The  section  of  the  mericarp  shows  less  curved  surfaces 
and  the  outline  generally  more  angular  than  the  other  varieties, 
none  of  the  ridges  being  at  all  prominent.  The  vittse  are  six  in 
number,  the  size  of  each  being  about  '15  Mm.  long,  -05  broad,  and 
the  pericarp  very  regular  and  thick,  about  ‘2  Mm.  even  in  the 
thinnest  portions. 

Japanese. — The  characters  of  the  section  differ  from  those  of 
most  of  the  other  varieties,  most  nearly  approaching  the  bitter 
French  variety  in  outline,  being  oblong,  the  length  considerably 
more  than  the  breadth.  The  ridges  are  not  prominent,  the  vittse 
on  the  commissure  having  length,  ']  5  to  T6  Mm.,  and  breadth  from 
•07  to  '08  Mm. ,  the  others  slightly  smaller.  The  pericarp  is  very 
regular,  about  T5  to  "2  Mm.  in  width. 

Essential  Oils. 

The  proportion  of  oil  in  the  different  varieties  varies  very  con¬ 
siderably,  and  follows  very  closely  the  size  of  the  vittse,  the  highest 
yield  obtained  being  4*7  per  cent,  from  German  fruits,  the  lowest 
only  ’35  per  cent,  from  a  sample  of  Indian  fruits.  These  latter 
were  much  contaminated  with  stalks,  etc.,  and  the  yield  was 
equivalent  to  ’72  per  cent,  calculated  on  the  fruits  only  present. 
The  low  proportion  of  oil  yielded  by  the  Indian  'fruits  makes 
it  quite  clear  why  the  aroma  of  this  variety  is  comparatively  so  poor. 

The  principal  characters  of  the  essential  oils,  and  those  of  the 
features  which  are  of  the  greatest  importance,  as  bearing  more 
especially  on  the  composition  of  the  oils  and  consequently  the 
odour  and  taste  of  the  fruits,  are  included  in  the  second  table. 


Essential  Oils. 


Source. 

Sp.  gr. 

Optical  rotation 
in  a  tube  of 

100  Mm. 

Melting  point 
after 

solidification. 

Percentage 

of 

fenchone. 

Anise  . . . 

•983  at  20°  C. 

-  1 

15°'5  C. 

None. 

French  Fennel  (1)  . . 

•976  at  15°  C. 

+  16-0 

12-c’5  C. 

None. 

„  (2) 

•980  „ 

+  16-5 

ll°-7  C. 

•  None. 

Persian  Fennel . 

"977  ,, 

+  14 

ll°-2  C. 

3-4 

Indian 

•968  „ 

+  21 

8° ‘2  C. 

6-7 

J  apanese 

•975  ,, 

+15-5 

10°-0  C. 

10-2 

Saxon 

•974  „ 

+22 

6«'l  C. 

22-5 

(1)  l 

•966  „ 

+22 

4»-0  C. 

19-3 

Galician 

”  (2)  j 

■965  ,, 

+  20 

6°-2  C. 

18T 

Russian 

M  . 

•967  „ 

+  23 

4° -4  C. 

18-2 

Specific  Gravity. — This  varies  between  ‘965  and  ‘980  at  15°  C. 
The  specific  gravity  at  25°  of  anethol  is  *975,  and  the  specific 
gravity  of  those  oils  containing  relatively  the  largest  percentages 
of  anethol  are  the  highest,  one  of  the  oils  distilled  from  French 
fruits  having  as  high  a  specific  gravity  as  '980  at  15°  C.  The 
specific  gravity  at  19°  C.  of  fenchone  is  -94fi. 


March  13,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


227 


Optical  Rotation. — From  +6  to  +22  in  a  tube  of  100  Mm.  This 
difference  is  due  principally  to  the  variation  in  proportion  of  the 
terpenes  present,  pinene,  phellandrene.  Anethol  is  inactive  to 
polarised  light,  whilst  pure  fenchone  is  very  strongly  dextro¬ 
rotatory. 

Freezing  Point. — This  is  principally  influenced  by  the  proportion 
of  anethol  (m.p.  21°-22°  C. )  present,  but  fenchone,  when  kept  at  a  low 
temperature,  also  solidifies  to  a  mass  of  hard  crystals,  which  re¬ 
melt  at  6°  C. 

Fractionation  indicates  fairly  clearly  the  relative  proportions  of 
anethol  (b.p.  234°  C.),  fenchone  (b.p.  192-193°  C.),  and  terpenes  of 
lower  boiling  point.  The  proportion  boiling  above  225°  C.  is 
greatest  in  the  oils  distilled  from  French  fruits,  whilst  the  per¬ 
centage  boiling  below  220°  C.  is  greatest  in  those  containing  the 
most  fenchone,  viz.,  the  Saxon,  Russian,  Galician,  and  Japanese. 

Constituents. — The  principal  constituents  of  all  the  fennel  oils 
examined  to  which  reference  has  been  already  made  are  the  two 
terpenes,  pinene  and  phellandrene,  and  anethol  and  fenchone. 

The  two  terpenes  do  not  appear  to  affect  the  odour  or  taste  of 
the  oils.  Pinene  is  present  in  all  the  oils  examined,  and  phellan¬ 
drene  in  appreciable  quantity  in  the  Indian  and  French  varieties. 
Variation  in  the  relative  proportions  of  the  other  two  constituents? 
however,  causes  the  widest  and  most  material  difference,  for  whilst 
the  proportion  of  fenchone  varies  from  3  per  cent,  in  the  Persian 
oil  to  over  18  per  cent,  in  the  Galician  and  Russian  oils,  in  the 
French  oil  it  is  practically  absent. 

Fenchone  closely  resembles  its  isomeride,  camphor,  having  a 
similar  pungent  odour,  and  naturally  these  varying  percentages 
make  an  immense  difference  in  the  pungency  of  the  oil  (and  seeds), 
and  as  it  (fenchone)  is  reduced  by  sodium  and  alcohol  to  its 
corresponding  fenchyl  alcohol,  C10H17OH,  the  yield  being  quanti¬ 
tative,  the  proportion  present  is  easily  determined  by  this  means 
and  estimation  of  the  alcohol  by  the  acetylation  process.  All  the 
oils  examined  contain  anethol,  most  being  present  in  the  oils 
distilled  from  French  and  Persian  fruits,  of  which  the  high 
melting  point  after  solidification  and  the  proportion  boiling  above 
225°  C.  is  evidence. 

Having  reviewed  the  characters  of  many  of  the  commercial 
varieties  of  fruits,  one  is  better  able  to  consider  whether  any  real 
reason  exists  for  the  confusion  of  some  of  the  smaller  varieties  of 
fennel  fruits  with  anise  fruits  and  also,  which  is  more  important, 
to  form  an  opinion  as  to  the  most  suitable  for  pharmaceutical  use. 

F ord  and  Crow  (Pharm.  J ourn.  [3],  xviii. ,  342)  have  pointed  out  that 
Dr.  Porter  Smith  was  wrong  in  stating  that  the  Chinese  confound 
the  fruits  of  Pimpinella  dnisum  with  those  of  Fcenicvlum  capil- 
laceum ,  as  the  umbelliferous  aniseeds  are  not  known  in  Hong  Kong? 
but  the  name  that  star  anise  has  received  (eight-cornered  fennel) 
indicates  clearly  that  the  similarity  in  odour  between  it  and  fennel 
is  duly  recognised. 

Dymock  (‘Mat.  Med.  of  W.  India,’  308)  states  that,  according 
to  Mr.  M.  Sheriff,  fennel  and  anise  have  been  confounded  together 
in  Arabic  Persian  works  on  materia  medica,  and  although  the 
difference  in  the  seeds  is  evident  on  careful  scrutiny,  the  odour  of 
Persian  fennel  fruits  is  decidedly  closer  to  anise  than  any  of  the 
small  varieties  of  fruits  examined,  the  percentage  of  anethol  being 
very  high  and  the  fenchone  comparatively  low. 

The  oil  from  the  French  sweet  fennel  fruits  is  also  very  similar 
to  this  variety,  but  the  character  of  the  fruits  renders  confusion  of 
them  impossible.  The  oil  possesses  to  a  marked  extent,  in  addi¬ 
tion,  the  same  fatty  odour  which  is  present  in  oil  of  anise 
{Pimpinella  anisum ),  and  distinguishes  it  from  the  star  anise  oil 
( Illicium  anisatum). 

The  Indian  fruits  contain  so  little  oil  that  their  use  is  not 


recommended,  but  in  odour  the  oil  appears  to  stand  almost  midway 
between  that  of  the  Persian  and  Japanese  fruits.  It  seems 
probable  that  the  hot  climate  has  a  detrimental  effect  on  the 
proportion  of  oil,  and  in  consequence  the  odour  of  the  fruits. 

The  oils  of  the  Saxon,  Galician,  and  Russian  varieties  vary 
but  little  in  pungency,  and  this  is  due  to  similar  proportions  of 
fenchone,  and  slight  differences  only  in  the  percentage  of  anethol 
which  they  contain. 

The  Japanese  fruits  do  not  approach  so  nearly  as  French  or 
Persian  to  the  odour  of  anise,  although  less  pungent  than  the 
Saxon,  Galician,  and  Russian  varieties,  and  it  seems  clear  that  the 
misnaming  of  the  fruits  in  the  first  instance  was  solely  due,  as  I 
originally  stated,  to  their  resemblance  in  point  of  size  to  anise. 
Although  several  parcels  of  Japan  fennels  had  previously  been 
offered  at  drug  sales  in  London’asjanise,  during  the  last  few  months, 
the  consignments  have  been  correctly  catalogued  as  fennel. 

Reviewing,  then,  the  results  obtained,  I  am  of  opinion  that  the 
Russian,  Roumanian,  Galician,  Japanese  and  Saxon  varieties  are 
best  adapted  for  pharmaceutical  use,  with  a  preference 
for  the  last  named.  In  these  fennels  the  percentage  of  oil  is 
greatest,  the  flavour  more  decidedly  agreeable,  and  the  fenchone 
present  is  probably  not  without  marked  carminative  properties. 

These  fruits  answer  all  the  characters  as  to  size,  etc. ,  of  the  drug 
fennel  as  officially  described  both  in  the  British  and  United  State 
Pharmacopoeias. 

My  thanks  are  due  to  my  friend  Mr.  E.  W.  Lucas  for  the  photo¬ 
graphs  of  the  fruits  and  sections,  and  to  my  assistants,  Messrs. 
J.  O.  Braithwaite  and  R.  S.  Swinton,  for  help  in  the  microscopical 
and  experimental  portions  of  this  paper  respectively. 

ON  THE  PRESERVATIVES  OF  PHARMACOPCEIAL 

PREPARATIONS. 

BY  WILLIAM  MARTIN  DALE. 

In  the  work  of  compiling  formulas  for  the  use  of  medical  prac¬ 
titioners  and  pharmacists,  care  is  necessary  to  test  the  keeping  pro¬ 
perties  of  the  various  solutions  and  preparations,  and  having  prepared 
and  kept  a  number  of  these  preparations,  I  thought  a  few  notes  on 
them  might  prove  interesting.  They  are  purely  pharmaceutical, 
and  must  not  be  considered  as  having  bacteriological  importance. 

The  vehicle  mostly  used  for  the  internal  administration  of  medi¬ 
cines,  of  course,  is  water  in  some  form  or  other,  but  distilled  water 
alone  is  recognised  by  the  Pharmacopoeia,  and  probably  this,  as 
frequently  met  with,  is  more  defective  from  a  standard  of  purity 
than  most  preparations  in  the  Pharmacopoeia.  It  is  even  more 
prone  to  develop  minute  organisms  than  many  of  the  spring  waters 
that  are  to  be  met  with,  although  these  may  contain  inorganic 
salts,  which  render  them  unsuitable  as  solvents  and  vehicles  in 
which  to  administer  medicinal  preparations.  So  much  has  distilled 
water  obtained  this  evil  reputation  that  a  bacteriologist  of  emin¬ 
ence  is  reported  to  have  said  that  one  of  the  best  incubating  fluids 
was  a  certain  manufacturer’s  distilled  water. 

Various  means  have,  therefore,  been  adopted  for  sterilising  it 
and  rendering  it  aseptic  for  pharmaceutical  use,  such  as  keeping 
it  in  a  cool  place,  and  of  course  free  from  dust,  and  having  it 
recently  well  boiled  and  cooled.  The  best  and  only  method  to  be 
depended  upon,  however,  care  having  been  taken  to  select  a  good 
water  for  distillation,  as  well  as  to  refuse  the  firsfc  and  last  products, 
and  to  ensure  freedom  from  contamination  afterwards,  is  to  have 
it  freshly  distilled ;  in  fact  as  regards  the  whole  of  the  preparations 
of  the  Pharmacopoeia,  they  should  be  as  freshly  prepared  as 
possible,  and  the  use  of  preservatives  should  be  avoided  unless 
absolutely  necessary,  but  from  a  practical  point  of  view  we  cannot 


228 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Maech  13,  1897 


do  without  them.  For  example,  the  public  demand  for  pills  is 
now  that  they  must  be  well  preserved  and  look  nice,  although  they 
may  be  nsoluble. 

Alcohol. — The  most  common  preservative  used  officially  is  alcohol 
•in  one  form  or  another ;  it  is  true  it  is  not  used  solely  as  a  preserva¬ 
tive  but  as  a  solvent  ;  it  enters  more  or  less  into  the  composition 
of  nearly  all  our  tinctures,  liquid  extracts,  wines,  and  many  of  our 
official  solutions.  The  germination  of  most  of  the  micro-organisms 
■occurring  in  aqueous  solutions  of  vegetable  and  animal  substances 
is  inhibited  by  the  presence  of  20  per  cent,  by  volume  of  absolute 
alcohol,  but  it  is  inhibitory  only,  and  in  this  proportion  or  upwards; 
it  is  in  no  way  germicidal,  as  on  evaporation  the  ancesthetised 
germs,  if  I  may  so  term  them,  readily  take  up  life  and  propagate. 
This  applies  to  most  of  the  volatile  antiseptics,  in  fact,  few 
antiseptics  are  germicidal  except  those  that  are  destructive  to 
organic  tissues,  such  as  strong  mineral  acids,  alkalies,  and 
halogens.  Exceptions  to  this  are  cai’bolic  acid,  creasote,  and 
weak  solutions  of  corrosive  sublimate,  which  act  probably  by 
-coagulating  the  albuminous  substance  of  the  microbe.  Wines  I 
have  mentioned  ;  unless  fortified,  from  their  very  origin,  that  of 
fermentation,  they  are  too  weak  to  prove  of  useful  service  in 
pharmacy,  and  in  fact  medical  wines  are  anachronisms. 

Glycerin. — The  abuse  of  alcohol  has  led  those  who  take  extreme 
views  on  this  subject  to  endeavour  to  use  other  solvents  and  pre 
servatives  for  pharmaceutical  preparations.  Among  these,  avoiding 
•-ethylic  alcohol,  whose  physiological  properties  are  too  well  known,  * 
they  have  selected  glycerin,  which  is  but  another  alcohol  whose 
•action  physiologically  is  not  so  well  ascertained,  nor  is  it  so 
inhibitory  to.  the  development  of  micro-organisms.  Its  strong 
solvent  action  on  vegetable  extractives,  its  non-volatility,  and  its 
stability  in  other  respects  would  have  rendered  glycerin  a  usefu 
pharmacopceial  solvent,  but  although  it  has  been  tried  again  and 
again  and  was  made  official,  more  especially  in  preparing  some  o 
the  liquid  extracts  of  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia,  it  has 
not  met  with  general  acceptance.  It  nevertheless  has  a  curious 
preservative  action  over  some  inorganic  compounds  in  preventing 
oxidation.  For  example,  black  mercurial  lotion  can  be  preserved 
in  its  normal  black  colour  by  the  addition  of  5  per  cent,  by  volume 
of  glycerin,  but  I  find  that  10  per  cent,  of  mucilage  of  tragacanth 
will  produce  the  same  result,  and  have  the  advantage,  from  its 
viscosity,  of  holding  the  mercurous  oxide  well  suspended;  the 
addition  of  both  these  to  this  preparation  would  be  an  advan¬ 
tage.  It  has  further  been  suggested  that  glycerin  should  be 
used  to  preserve  sublimate  solution,  especially  the  official 
liquor  hydrargyri  perchloridi,  as  it  has  been  thought  necessary 
that  this  solution  requires  presei’ving,  from  the  chemical,  not, 
of  course,  from  the  biological  point  of  view.  But  both  glycerin 
•and  alcohol  added  to  this  solution,  especially  if  exposed  to  light, 
■cause  a  reduction  of  the  salt  and  deposition  of  mercurous  chloride, 
as  in  the  official  solution  of  the  Codex,  which  contains  10  per  cent, 
of  alcohol.  Notwithstanding  statements  to  the  contrary,  I  find 
that  a  simple  solution  of  mercuric  chloride  in  distilled  water,  or 
even  in  spring  waters  containing  supercarbonate  of  lime  in  solu¬ 
tion,  is  more  stable  than  it  is  with  a  preservative  added,  especially 
one  of  such  a  nature  as  chloride  of  ammonium  in  the  official  solu¬ 
tion.  This,  as  I  showed  so  long  ago  as  1870,*  instead  of  being  a 
preservative,  forms  a  double  salt  in  solution  (sal  alembroth  plus 
an  excess  of  chloride  of  ammonium),  and  the  solution,  if 
prepared  with  common  water  in  place  of  distilled  water, 
or  even  if  prepared  with  distilled  water  and  diluted,  throws  down 
a  quantity  of  one  of  the  white  precipitates  of  mercury.  To  such 


an  extent  is  this  the  case  that  I  found  in  preparing  a  pint  of  the 
official  solution  with  New  River  water  in  place  of  distilled  water, 
that  2-7  grains  of  this  precipitate  was  deposited,  thus  about  one- 
fourth  of  the  mercurial  salt  was  rendered  insoluble  in  preparing 
the  solution,  and  more  deposited  on  further  dilution  with  the 
water.  In  fact,  a  time  arrived  when  there  was  scarcely  a  trace  of 
mercury  salt  in  solution,  and  as  this  preparation  is  most  largely 
used  in  hospitals  where  common  water  is  always  used  to  dilute 
the  medicines,  it  leads  to  very  discrepant  results  therapeutically. 
It  has  also  been  suggested  that  chloride  of  sodium  should  replace 
chloride  of  ammonium  in  the  official  solution,  as  this  salt 
is  largely  used  in  making  the  sublimate  tablets  for  the 
convenience  of  surgeons’  use,  but  I  have  found  that  although 
sodium  chloride  helps  these  tablets  to  disintegrate  readily  it 
has  no  advantage,  in  fact  it  is  detrimental  to  the  keeping 
properties  of  the  solution.  I  have  here  two  specimens  prepared 
in  November,  1895,  with  water  from  the  Brighton  constant 
supply,  which  is  a  very  calcareous  water  ;  one  is  a  simple  solution 
of  the  perchloride,  and  the  other  has  an  equal  weight  of  pure 
chloride  of  sodium  added.  The  latter  you  will  observe  has  deposited 
much  more  than  the  former,  in  which  there  is  hardly  a  trace  of 
deposit.  This  strongly  illustrates  the  undesirability  of  tampering 
with  solutions  in  order  to  make  them,  as  we  consider,  more  stable, 
in  fact,  with  few  exceptions  no  preservative  should  be  added  to 
a  pharmacopceial  preparation  unless  the  label  indicates  boldly  that 
it  is  there.  While  on  the  subject  of  mercuric  salts,  I  should  like 
to  illustrate  the  importance  of  having  our  lime  water  of  full 
strength,  and  well  preserved. 

In  making  the  yellow  mercurial  lotion  of  the  B.P.,  which  has 
18  grains  of  sublimate  to  10  ounces  of  lime  water  ;  if  the  lime 
water  be  only  three-fourths,  or  from  keeping,  so  low  as  one-half  the 
pharmacopoeial  strength,  a  brick-red  preparation,  an  oxychloride, 
is  produced,  rather  than  the  yellow  mercuric  oxide. 

Acetic  Acid. — Of  other  preservatives,  which  are  also  solvents  used 
officially,  acetic  acid  of  varying  strengths  is  employed,  as  in  acetum 
cantharidis  and  acetum  scillse.  This,  as  I  notice  Professor 
Remington  recently  points  out,*  was  much  employed  in  the 
pharmacy  of  the  ancients,  sometimes  combined  with  honey  to  form 
oxymels,  of  which  we  have  inherited  both  the  vinegar  and  oxymel 
of  squill.  Acetic  acid  has  the  disadvantage,  however,  unless  in  a 
very  concentrated  form,  of  growing  micro-organisms  abundantly, 
and  the  fungi  and  animalcuke  developed  in  brown  vinegar  must  be 
well  known  to  all  of  you.  Acetic  acid,  therefore,  besides  being 
incompatible  with  alkalies,  is  not  a  good  preservative,  although  in 
some  cases  it  may  be  a  useful  solvent. 

Sugar. — Of  the  preservatives  used  officially  which  are  not  solvents, 
this  is  employed  most  extensively,  not  only  with  us,  but  in 
France  and  in  the  United  States ;  in  fact,  so  much  is  this  the 
case  in  France,  that  Mr.  Ince  once  remarked  in  this  room  that 
French  pharmacy  might  be  summed  up  in  the  one  word,  “  sugar.” 
On  account  of  its  palatability  it  of  course  meets  with  favour,  espe¬ 
cially  among  children.  It  enters  into  the  composition  of  all  the 
syrups  and  lozenges,  and  most  of  the  confections  and  powders,  and 
is  a  useful  preservative  from  oxidation  of  the  ferrous  preparations, 
such  as  the  saccharated  carbonate  of  iron,  mixture  of  iron,  Blaud’s 
pill,  and  iodide  of  iron  pill.  It  also  preserves  lime  in  solution,  as 
in  the  well-known  liquor  calcis  saccharatus,  of  a  strength  about 
sixteen  times  that  of  the  official  lime  water  ;  if  a  pure  marble  lime 
be  used,  I  find  as  much  as  1  ‘77  per  cent,  is  dissolved,  or  8  T6  grains 
in  a  fluid  ounce.  This  preparation  is  more  conveniently  made  by 
using  an  equivalent  weight  of  syrup,  i.  e. ,  three  ounces  in  place  of 
two  of  sugar,  and  adding  it  to  nineteen  ounces  of  distilled  water 


*  Pharmaceutical  Journal  [2],  vol.  xi.,  p.  544. 


American  Journal  of  Pharmacy,  March,  18P7,  p.  121. 


Makch  13,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


229 


containing  the  lime  in  suspension.  The  “caking”  which  is  apt 
to  occur  is  thus  avoided. 

Salicylic  Acid. — The  well-known  uses  antiseptically  of  this  for 
surgical  purposes,  although  prohibited  from  being  used  for  pre¬ 
serving  wines  in  France,  have  rendered  it  serviceable  in  preserving 
the  official  solution  of  hydrochlorate  of  cocaine,  which  contains 
1J  per  mille  of  the  acid,  with  10  per  cent,  of  the  cocaine  salt.  I 
find  that  this  solution,  even  if  diluted  with  four  times  its  volume 
of  water,  still  keeps  free  from  fungoid  growths.  The  use  of  this 
acid  might  be  objected  to  in  the  solution,  because  salicylic  acid 
forms  with  cocaine  an  indefinite  compound  rather  than  a  salt,  the 
so-called  salicylate  of  cocaine  ;  but  it  appears  not  to  throw  the 
hydrochloric  acid  out  of  combination,  and  has  proved  very  service¬ 
able  in  preserving  the  solution  of  this  cocaine  salt,  which  has  a  great 
tendency  to  develop  fungoid  growths.  The  salicylic  compound 
appears  to  be  allied  to  the  benzoic  compound,  benzoyl-ecgonine. 
It  forms  a  pasty  mass  which  has  not,  that  I  am  aware  of,  been 
studied.  If  any  defence  were  needed  for  using  a  preservative, 
perhaps  this  official  solution  of  cocaine  is  3,  typical  case.  The  use 
of  this  solution  of  salicylic  acid,  per  mille,  which  is  nearly 
saturated,  as  a  vehicle,  might  be  extended  to  other  solutions,  for 
example,  the  official  solution  of  sulphate  of  atropine,  but  I  have  not 
found  this  solution,  if  made  with  a  well-crystallised  salt,  prone  to 
grow  fungi.  Its  use,  however,  cannot  be  extended  to  the  hypo¬ 
dermic  injection  of  morphine  ;  if  a  solution  of  tartrate  of  morphine, 
1  in  12,  or  even  1  in  20,  be  prepared  in  it,  a  crystallised  salicylate 
of  morphine  separates.  16£  tartrate  keeps  well  alone. 

Of  the  salts  of  morphine  suitable  for  hypodermic  injection,  the 
tartrate  seems  to  be  now  favoured  ;  the  acetate  solution,  prepared 
by  dissolving  pure  morphine  in  just  enough  acetic  acid,  has  till 
lately  been  mostly  used,  but  it  has  the  objection  of  possessing  a 
tendency  to  decomposition  and  becoming  muddy  and  dark- 
coloured.  Still  I  have  two  solutions  here  over  18  years  old,  no 
extra  sterilising  precautions  were  taken  when  made  ;  they  are 
well  preserved  and  are  perfectly  transparent,  although  they  have 
slightly  changed  colour.  One  is  of  the  strength  of  1  grain  in 
6  minims,  which  I  advocated  in  a  paper  in  1870,*  the  other  is 
1  grain  in  12  minims.  A  small  dose  is  generally  preferred  for 
hypodermic  injection,  but  the  strength  of  1  grain  in  6  minims  is 
considered  now  to  be  dangerously  strong  in  the  hands  of  an  un¬ 
skilled  operator.  The  more  nearly  saturated,  however,  the 
aqueous  solution  of  any  salt  or  crystalline  principle  is,  the  better 
it  will  keep  ;  in  fact,  it  was  a  curious  argument  of  an  advocate  for 
spontaneous  generation  that  there  was  a  debatable  land  between 
that  of  crystallisation  and  the  germination  of  organisms  in  these 
solutions — that  is,  between  the  growth  of  crystals  and  of 
organisms  ;  this  applies  widely  in  pharmacy,  as  we  well  know, 
in  keeping  syrups  for  example.  A  nearly  perfect  syrup  consists 
of  two  parts  of  sugar  and  one  of  distilled  water ;  kept  at  a  uniform 
temperate  heat,  this  neither  crystallises  nor  grows  fungi  ;  and  our 
solid  medicinal  extracts  are  preserved  if  they  contain  no  excess  of 
moisture. 

Further,  these  remarks  especially  apply  to  the  official  solutions 
of  acetate  and  citrate  of  ammonium,  which  are  much  better  kept 
in  a  concentrated  form. 

The  salicylic  acid  solution  cannot  either  be  used  for  preparing 
the  hypodermic  injection  of  aponforphine  ;  a  1  per  cent,  solution 
of  the  hydrochlorate  of  apomorphine  prepared  in  it  gives  a 
quantity  of  a  crystalline  deposit. 

Hydrochlorate  of  apomorphine  in  aqueous  solution  rapidly 
develops  a  green  colour ;  this  has  been  attributed  to  the  influence 
of  ammonia  in  the  atmosphere,  but  although  a  drop  of  solution  of 

*  Pharmaceutical  Journal  [2],  vol.  xi.,  p.  480. 


ammonia  does  develop  the  green  colour  immediately,  it  is 
apparently  not  due  to  this  alone.  This  salt  is  now  prepared  much 
purer  than  formerly,  and  it  is  also  not  so  soluble.  The  official 
strength  of  the  hypodermic  injection,  1  grain  in  50  minims,  i.e.,  1 
in  45 ’5  parts,  of  camphor  water  is  not  held  in  solution  at  60°  F. 
Dott  gives  the  solubility  in  water  as  1  in  50 '89,  Squire  as  1  in  56  to  60. 
I  find  1  part  in  60  of  boiled  and  cooled  distilled  water  dissolves,  but 
turns  green  within  a  few  hours,  but  if  acidulated  with  a  trace  of 
hydrochloric  acid,  say  an  equal  weight  of  the  official  diluted 
hydrochloric  acid,  the  colour  is  preserved,  but  it  is  rendered  less 
soluble.  More  than  a  1  per  cent,  solution,  if  acidulated,  is  not 
certain  to  keep  free  from  crystals  at  the  variable  temperatures  to 
which  it  may  be  exposed,  and  less  than  the  quantity  of  acid  I 
have  named  does  not  keep  it  free  from  colour. 

Sulphurous  Acid. — A  trace  of  sulphurous  acid,  say  one-quarter 
per  cent.,  added  to  a  2  per  cent,  solution  of  the  apomorphine  salt 
keeps  the  solution  for  a  moderate  time,  but  not  indefinitely,  and 
the  use  of  such  a  deoxidising  agent  is  not  desirable,  as  its  action 
on  the  apomorphine  salt  is  not  clearly  understood.  Nevertheless, 
sulphurous  acid  is  largely  used  as  a  preservative  of  such  prepara¬ 
tions  as  orange  wine. 

Boric  Acid. — Of  the  preservatives  suggested  for  keeping 
apomorphine  injection,  boric  acid  has  been  mentioned,  but  this  I 
find,  in  a  solution  containing  2  per  cent,  of  each,  boric  acid  and 
hydrochlorate  of  apomorphine,  forms  an  opaque  white  jelly,  and 
even  with  1  per  cent,  of  each  a  curious  translucent  jelly  is  formed, 
quite  unsuitable  for  hypodermic  injection.  Boric  acid  has  been 
recommended  and  is  used  largely  for  preserving  solutions  for 
hypodermic  injection,  but  as  a  solution  of  it,  1  in  30  parts  of  water, 
which  is  nearly  saturated,  will  itself  develop  some  peculiar  fungi, 
I  can  see  little  advantage  in  employing  such  a  preservative 
pharmaceutically.  Mr.  Lee  has  mounted  a  specimen  of  a  torula 
which  has  been  grown  in  a  saturated  solution  of  boric  acid  in 
distilled  water. 

Camphor  Water. — The  same  remarks  apply  to  camphor  water, 
the  favourite  of  Raspail,  as  to  boric  acid.  It  is  a  weak  inhibitor, 
and  it  further  has  the  disadvantage  of  the  camphor  being  volatile. 
Camphor  water  is  official  as  the  solvent  of  atropine  in  the  solution 
of  sulphate  of  atropine,  but  oculists  complain  of  the  irritating 
action  of  camphor  on  the  eye. 

Chloroform. — The  addition  of  chloroform  to  vegetable  infusions 
and  other  aqueous  preparations  of  vegetable  and  animal  sub¬ 
stances  was  recommended  by  Mr.  J.  B.  Barnes*  in  the  proportion 
of  from  one-eighth  to  one-half  per  cent,  by  volume.  The  addition 
of  chloroform  as  an  inhibitory  in  suspended  pharmaceutical  opera¬ 
tions  is  of  great  service,  and  it  has  the  advantage  that  by  gently 
warming  the  solution  for  a  short  time  it  can  be  easily  dissipated, 
but  it  has  also  the  disadvantage  that  the  chloroform  evaporates  too 
easily  for  prolonged  preservation,  yet  I  have  tried  the  experiment 
of  preserving  fruit  (damsons)  in  stoppered  bottles,  adding  [about 
one  three-hundredth  part  of  their  weight  of  chloroform  to  them. 
The  preservation  was  complete,  but  the  flavour  of  the  chloroform 
was  not  dissipated  by  even  baking  the  fruit  in  pies. 

Hydrate  of  Chloral  has  been  used  as  possessing  similar  properties 
to  chloroform,  being  more  readily  soluble  and  less  volatile,  but  its 
taste  is  nauseous. 

Carbolic  Acid. — The  odour  and  flavour  of  this  most  powerful 
antiseptic  is  against  its  use  for  internal  administration,  excepting 
for  hypodermic  injections  ;  it  is  the  best  preservative  of  ergo  tin  in 
aqueous  solution.  Boric  acid  in  this  solution  fails ;  Mr.  Severn 
kindly  infected  for  me  three  solutions  of  ergotin  with  Penicillium 
glaucum  ;  No.  1,  without  preservative  added,  developed  in  forty* 

*  Pharmaceutical  Journal  [3],  voL  v.,  p.  441 


230 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[March  1?,  1897 


eight  hours ;  No.  2,  with  1  per  cent,  of  phenol  added*  is  un¬ 
developed  yet,  after  five  days  ;  No.  3,  with  2  per  cent,  of  boric 
acid,  developed  on  the  side  of  the  bottle,  just  above  the  surface  of 
the  liquid,  in  seventy-two  hours.  Creosote  also,  although  one  of 
the  best  preservatives,  as  its  name  indicates,  is  not  admissible, 
on  account  of  its  odour. 

Cherry  Laurel  Water. — This  is  recommended  in  France  for  pre¬ 
serving  hypodermic  injections.  So,  also,  are  the  distilled  waters 
of  meadow  sweet  and  eucalyptus.  I  am  not  aware  that 

Formaldehyde  has  been  much  used  pharmaceutically,  although  it 
has,  I  understand,  been  used  for  milk  preserving  for  some  time. 
Its  peculiar  action  on  gelatin  in  rendering  it  insoluble  would  tend 
to  prove  that  it  was  not  desirable  for  internal  administration,  as  it 
might  seriously  interfere  with  digestion. 

Hypophosphorous  Acid. — This  and  citric  acid  are  employed 
commercially  to  prevent  the  change  of  colour  of  the  ferrous 
syrups  ;  as  traces  only  are  needed,  it  may  be  considered  a  venial 
offence.  But  preservatives  are  sometimes  used,  or  are  added  even 
officially,  which  are  often  disadvantageous.  For  example  we  have 
two  arsenical  solutions  official,  one  acid  and  the  other  alkaline.  A 
simple  solution  of  arsenious  anhydride  in  water  of  the  same 
strength,  coloured  if  desired,  is  perfectly  stable.  It  would  be  com¬ 
patible  with  both  acids  and  alkalies,  and  might  take  the  place  of 
both  the  official  solutions. 

Carbonic  Acid. — This  in  solution  in  water  is  inhibitory  to  organic 
growths,  and  is  largely  used  in  preparing  carbonated  waters  and 
“Fluid  Magnesia,”  but  otherwise  it  is  not  of  much  service. 

Benzoic  Acid. — For  preserving  lard  and  some  official  ointments 
the  melted  fats  are  macerated  with  powdered  benzoin,  by  which 
means  they  obtain  an  agreeable  odour  and  become  impregnated 
with  benzoic  acid.  Both  these  tend  to  preserve  the  fats  from 
becoming  rancid.  But  in  using  these  fats  for  preparing  the  oint¬ 
ments  of  the  alkaloids,  apparently  some  change  takes  place  ;  they 
become  discoloured,  and  in  the  case  of  cocaine  we  know,  as  I  have 
before  mentioned,  a  comparatively  inert  compound  of  benzoyl- 
ecgonine,  etc. ,  is  formed,  so  that  the  use  of  benzoated  lard  is  to  be 
avoided  for  preparing  these  ointments. 

Paraffin  Basis. — Where  quick  absorption  is  not  required,  the 
preservative  action  of  the  soft  paraffins  renders  them  all  that  can 
be  desired,  as  also  is  oil  of  theobroma  for  suppositories. 

Aromatic  Waters  and  Essential  Oils.- — The  oils  of  clove,  cinnamon, 
peppermint,  and  many  others  are  preservatives ;  so  are  their 
aqueous  solutions,  but  I  can  only  mention  them. 

Heat  and  Cold. — A  gentle  heat  assists  the  incubation  of  nearly  all 
micro-organisms ;  a  greater  heat,  that  of  boiling  water  for  example,  is 
a  steriliser  ;  whereas  a  still  higher  temperature  is  a  disorganiser, 
and  is  destructive  to  all  organic  growths.  Cold,  on  the  contrary, 
the  freezing  point  of  water  and  below,  as  a  rule,  is  only  inhibitory 
to  the  development  of  the  lower  organisms,  their  vitality  is  but  sus¬ 
pended,  and  they  spring  into  life  again  with  the  first  application 
of  a  gentle  warmth.  It  may  appear  irrelevant  to  my  subject,  but 
the  important  bearing  preservatives  haveon  our  food  supplies,  includ¬ 
ing  frozen  meat,  makes  them  of  great  importance  commercially.  In 
fact,  in  viewing  the  pharmaceutical  aspect  of  preservatives,  I  have 
but  touched  the  fringe  of  the  subject  of  their  utility.  Without 
the  aid  of  boric  acid  and  other  preservatives,  many  of  our  articles 
of  daily  food  would  be  at  famine  prices.  In  such  a  condensed 
population  as  that  of  London,  it  would  now  be  almost  impossible 
to  supply  the  necessary  quantities  of  butter,  milk  and  fish  in  a 
fresh  condition.  We  have  long  been  dependent  to  a  great  extent 
on  the  importation  of  flour  and  corn.  The  same  has  now  become 
the  case  in  regard  to  our  animal  food  products. 


PRACTICAL  PHARMACOGRAPHY. 

STRUCTURAL  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  SOIRE  IMPORTANT  DRUCS 

AC  n  NIT  I  RADIX. 

Aconite  Root.— Eacine  d’Aconit. — Sturmhutwurzel. 


The  Powder  of  this 


Dill  Fruit. — Fr.  Fruits  d’Aneth. — Ger.  Dillenfriichte. 


Macroscopic  Characters. — The  dried  fruits  of  Peucedanum  graveo- 
lenSy  as  met  with  in  commerce,  may  be  of  British  or  Indian  origin, 
but  preference  should  be  given  to  the  former,  since  there  is  a 
difference  in  the  oil  yielded  by  the  two  fruits.  The  British  variety 
(Fig.  II. ,  A)  consists  mostly  of  the  separate  brown  meri carps,  which 
are  oval  in  shape  and  have  five  equidistant  filiform  ridges.  Of 


A1  A2  B1  B2  C 


Fig.  II. — Anethi  Fructus. — A,  British  fruit  (nat.  size)  ;  Al,  convex  side  of  rneri- 
carp  (magnified)  ;  A2,  flat  side  of  mericarp  (magnified) ;  B,  Indian  fruit  (nat.  size); 
Bl,  convex  side  of  mericarp  (magnified) ;  B2,  flat  siue  of  mericarp  (magnified)  ; 
C,  transverse  section  through  mericarp  (magnified). 

the  latter,  three  are  prominent  at  the  back  and  the  other  two  are 
merged  in  the  broad  thin  margin  or  wing.  Indian  dill  (Fig.  II.,  B) 
is  more  elliptical  in  form  than  British,  more  convex  at  the  back, 
and  looks  narrower  and  longer,  but  in  reality  there  is  very  little 
difference  in  size  between  the  two  varieties.  The  Indian  fruits  are 
often  stalked,  however,  and  their  mericarps  are  united.  In 
colour  also  they  are  paler  than  the  British  fruits  when  seen  in 
bulk,  whilst  their  taste  is  rather  more  pungent.  On  an  average,  dill 
fruits  are  about  3  to  4  Mm,  long  and  2  to  3  Mm.  broad. 

Microscopic  Characters. — The  pericarp  of  the  fruit  (Fig.  III.}  con¬ 
sists  of  thin-walled,  tabular,  tangentially-elongated  cells,  those  in 


March  13,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


231 


the  outer  rows  being  small  and  colourless.  The  inner  rows  con¬ 
sist  of  larger  cells,  which  are  brown  in  colour,  especially  those 
near  the  vittse  or  oil  receptacles.  The  endocarp  is  a  single 

VB 


Fig.  III.  Anethi  Fructus. —  Transverse  section  of  mericarp.  V  vitta ;  VB, 
vascular  bundle  ;  E,  endocarp  ;  End,  endosperm,  (x  Abt.  60.)  After  Berg. 

row  of  tangentially-elongated,  yellowish  cells,  which  are  very 
regularly  arranged  and  rectangular  in  transverse  section. 
Through  each’]  ridge  runs  a  strong  vascular  bundle,  and  large 
vittse  alternate  with  the  ridges,  whilst  two  occur  on  the  flat 
surface  or  commissure  of  each  mericarp.  The  endosperm  consists 
of  somewhat  thick-walled,  polygonal  cells,  which  contain  oil  and 
granular  proteid  matter. 

ANISI  FRUCTUS. 

Anise  Fruit.— Fr.  Fruits  d’Anis  vert.—  Ger.  Anis. 


Fig.  IV.  Anisi  Fructus. 
— A,  Russian,  B,  Maltese, 
(nat.  size) ;  C,  magnified ; 
D,  do.  longitudinal  section. 


Fig.  V.  Anisi  Fructus. 
Transverse  section 


Macroscopic  Characters.—  There  are  several 
commercial  varieties  of  the  dried  fruits  of 
Pimpinella  anisum — Maltese,  Alicant,  Ger¬ 
man,  Russian,  and  Chilian— differing  from 
each  other  in  size,  colour,  flavour,  and  rela¬ 
tive  freedom  from  impurity.  The  Maltese 
and  Alicant  fruits  are  larger  than  the  others, 
and  leave  a  more  acrid  and  bitter  after-taste. 
The  first-mentioned  is 
brownish-green  and  the 
second  yellowish -green  in 
colour,  whilst  the  German 
and  Russian  are  greyish- 
green.  The  Chilian  fruits 
are  mixed  with  much  foreign  matter,  so  that 
their  colour  is  not  readily  discernible,  and  the 
mericarps  are  generally  separated  more  or 
less.  The  average  size  of  anisi  fruits  is  about 
5  Mm.  long  and  2  Mm.  broad.  They  are 
mostly  undivided  and  attached  to  a  slender 
pedicel,  ovoid  in  form,  and  covered  with 
minute,  simple,  erect,  somewhat  adpressed  i  r  ch'Vud 

hairs  (Fig.  V.).  Each  mericarp  is  marked  by  oesterle. 
five  ridges,  two  of  which  are  lateral. 

Microscopic  Characters.  — The  structure  of  anise  fruit  resembles 
that  of  dill  and  other  umbelliferous  fruits,  but  the  numerous  short, 

cone-shaped  hairs 
developed  from 
the  epidermal 
layer  are  very 
characteristic,  as 
are  also  the  un¬ 
usually  numerous 
vittas  (Figs.  V. 
and  VI. ).  Of 
these  there  are 
sixteen  to  thirty 
in  each  mericarp, 
the  largest  oc- 

Fig.  VI.  Anisi  Fructus.— Transverse  section  of  meri  curring  in  the 
carp.  V,  vitta  ;  VB,  vascular  bundle  ;  E,  endocarp ;  End>  commissure.  A 
endosperm,  (x  Abt.  50.)  After  Tschirch  and  Oesterle.  further  "note¬ 
worthy  peculiarity  is  the  thickening  of  the  seed-coat  at  the  com¬ 
missure. 

The  Powder  is  greenish-brown,  with  characteristic  odour  and 
taste.  In  it  may  be  distinguished  (Fig.  VII. )  the  short,  conical, 
unicellular  hairs,  either  isolated  or  attached  to  fragments  of 
the  epidermal  layer ;  fragments  of  the  parenchyma,  scleren- 
chymatous  cells,  and  portions  of  vascular  bundles  from  the 
pericarp ;  and  small  pieces  of  the  seed-coat  and  endosperm, 
together  with  cluster  crystals  of«  calcium  oxalate  and  aleurone 
grains  from  the  cells  of  the  latter.  Traces  of  the  vittse  appear 


in  small  particles  and,  even  in  fine  powder,  fragments  may  some- 


Fig.  VII.  Anisi  Fructus. — 1.  Transverse  section  through  pericarp  and  seed- 
coat  ;  ep,  epidermis  ;  o,  vitta ;  en,  endodermis.  2.  Portion  of  epidermis,  showing 
hairs  and  stoma.  3.  Two  layers  of  parenchyma  from  seed-coat.  4.  Vittte,  as  seen 
in  longitudinal  section,  (x  Abt.  160.)  After  Moeiler. 

times  be  found  in  which  two  or  more  of  these  oil  receptacles  are 
united,  as  shown  in  the  illustration. 

ANISI  STELLATI  FRUCTUS* 

Star  Anise  Fruit.— Fr.  Anis  Etoile. — Ger.  Sternanis. 

Macroscopic  Characters.- — The  fruit  of  Ulicium  verum  is  about 
3  to  4  Cm.  in  diameter,  and  consists  of  eight  follicles  or  carpels, 
each  of  which  ends  in  a  straight  point  and  contains  a  single  seed. 


A  C 


Fig.  VIII.  Anisi  Stellati  Fructus. — A,  back ;  B,  Front ;  C,  curved  stalk  ; 
D,  carpel.  (All  natural  size.) 

These  follicles  are  arranged  horizontally  on  a  curved  footstalk  or 
peduncle,  and  touch  each  other  only  at  the  inner  margin.  They  are 
slightly  open,  showing  the  dark  brown  seeds  within  (Fig.  VIII.). 
The  fruits  of  Illicium  religiosum,  which  are  poisonous,  are  only  about 


232 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Mabch  13,  1897 


Cm.  in  diameter,  and  the  tips  of  their  carpels  are  incurved,  whilst 
the  stalks  are  not  curved.  The  seeds  in  this  species  are  yellowish- 


A  D  B  C 

Fig.  IX. — Anisi  Stellati  Fructus  (false). — A,  back ;  B,  front ;  C,  straight 
stalk  ;  D,  carpel.  (All  natural  size.) 

brown  and  more  exposed  than  in  Illicium  verum,  owing  to  the  carpels 
being  more  widely  open  than  in  the  latter  species  (cf.  Figs.  VIII. 
and  IX. ).  They  do  not  possess  any  anise  odour. 

Microscopic  Characters. — A  transverse  section  through  a  carpel 
(Figs.  X.  and  XI.)  shows  a  compact  outer  coat  of  irregularly 


S  B 


polygonal,  tabular  cells  with  sto¬ 
mata,  and  inside  this  a  layer  of 
loose  brown  parenchyma,  which  is 
strongly  developed  at  the  back  of 
the  carpel.  In  this  tissue  are  found 
vascular  bundles,  large  oil  cells,  and 
curiously  shaped  sclerotic  cells  or 
idioblasts,  which  also  occur  plenti- 
'  *  fully  in  the  fruit  stalks.  Along  the 
Fig.  .X.— -Anisi  Stellati  Fructus.  ventral  suture  the  parenchyma  is 

sclerotod,  and  the  smooth 
S,  stone  cells  lining  inner  walls ;  B,  inner  walls  of  the  carpel  near  the 
bast  cells  (magnified).  After  Tscbirch  opening  are  lined  with  closely  - 
and  Oesterle.  fitting,  almost  cubical  cells.  The 

cavity  of  the  carpel  occupied  by  the  seed  is  lined  with  palisade 
tissue.  Similar  b.ut  more  strongly  thickened  palisade  cells 
occur  in  the  outer  layer  of  the  seed-coat,  and  under  this  tissue  lies 
a  single  layer  of  cells  thickened  on  one  side.  Next  in  order, 
proceeding  inwards,  come  the  spongy  parenchyma  and  the 
inner  layer  of  the  seed-coat,  the  latter  containing  crystals 
of  calcium  oxalate.  The  upper  layers  of  spongy  paren¬ 
chyma  are  irregular  and  peculiarly  sclerotised.  The  endosperm 
consists  of  soft-celled,  oily  parenchyma,  which  contains  no  starch. 


1 

2 

VB 

3 

4 


Fig.  XI. — Anisi  Stellati  Fructus. — Section  through  wall  of  carpel.  O,  oil-cell ; 
VB,  vascular  bundles  ;  1,  epidermal  layer ;  2,  parenchyma,  containing  oil-cells  ; 
3,  schlerenchymatous  cells  ;  4,  ditto  lining  inner  wall ;  5,  layer  of  palisade  cells, 
lining  seed  cavity.  (Highly  magnified.)  After  Tschirch  and  Oesterle. 


The  Powder  is  yellowish-brown,  with  characteristic  odour  and 
taste.  The  bulk  of  it  consists  of  the  reddish-brown  parenchyma 
of  the  carpels  and  the  colourless  fragments  of  the  sclerenchymatous 
elements,  including  different  kinds  of  stone  cells — cubical  and 
staff-shaped  stone  cells  from  the  inner  lining  of  the  carpels,  sclero¬ 
tised  parenchyma,  stone  cells  from  the  seed-coat,  and  finally 
detached  sclerotic  cells  or  idioblasts  from  the  stalks.  In  very  fine 
powder  these  different  kinds  of  schlerenchymatous  cells,  on  account 
of  their  size,  are  seldom  found  whole.  The  prettily  marked, 
wavy  thickenings  of  the  cuticle  (Fig.  XII,,  1)  covering  the 
carpels  is  characteristic,  as  are  also  the  spongy  parenchyma  of 
the  seed-coat  and  the  prismatic  crystals  of  the:  inner  seed-coat 
(Fig.  XII.,  9  and  11). 


Fig.  XII. — Anisi  Stellati  Fructus. — 1.  Epidermis.  2.  Palisade  tissue  lining 
cavity  of  carpel.  3.  Stone  cells  lining  walls  of  carpel  near  opening.  4.  Ditto 
viewed  longitudinally.  5.  Parenchyma,  transverse  section.  6.  Ditto,  viewed 
longitudinally.  7.  Schlerenchymatous  tissue  from  seed-coat.  8.  Ditto  viewed 
transversely.  9.  Spongy  parenchyma  of  seed-coat.  10.  Palisade  tissue  of  seed- 
coat,  viewed  from  above.  11.  Inner  layer  of  seed-coat,  showing  prismatic 
crystals.  12.  Endosperm.  13.  Sclerotic  cell  or  idioblast  from  fruit  stalk,  (x  Abt. 
160.)  After  Moeller. _ 

PHARMACEUTICAL  SOCIETY 


EVENING  MEETING  IN  LONDON. 


At  the  evening  meeting  of  the  Society,  held  on  Tuesday,  the  9th 
inst. ,  the  President,  Mr.  Walter  Hills,  took  the  chair  at  8  o’clock. 

The  first  paper  read  was  on — 

The  Commercial  Varieties  of  Fennel  and  their  Essential  Oils, 
by  Mr.  John  C.  Umney.  The  paper  is  printed  at  page  225,  and 
gave  rise  to  the  following  discussion  : — 

The  President  said  he  had  referred  to  Hanbury’s  ‘  Pharmaco- 
graphia’  to  see  what  fennel  was  used  for,  but  as  far  as  he  could  see  it 
was  only  employed  for  compound  liquorice  powder ;  he  should  be  glad 
to  know  if  it  was  used  in  any  other  way  in  this  country.  Of 
course,  it  was  used  in  veterinary  practice  and  in  the  manufacture 
of  cordials.  Seeing  that  compound  liquorice  powder  was  now  so 
largely  used,  it  was  important  to  see  that  the  fennel  used  had  a 
due  proportion  of  the  essential  oil,  and  it  was  interesting  to  note 
that  that  proportion  seemed  to  vary  with  the  size  and  number  of 
the  vittae. 

Mr.  Chas.  Umney  said  this  paper  showed  clearly  that  wholesale 
druggists  had  been  in  the  habit  of  buying  the  very  worst  kind  of 
fennel  seeds,  for  at  the  last  auction  he  saw  a  ton  of  the  East  Indian 
variety  sold,  and  they  were  thought  rather  good,  though  it  was  now 


Maech  13.  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


233 


evident  that  they  contained  the  smallest  proportion  of  essential 
oil.  Probably  hot  climates,  such  as  that  of  India  and  Persia,  were 
not  so  well  suited  to  the  plant  as  a  more  northern  latitude.  He 
recently  saw  a  large  quantity  of  seed  sold  which  came  from  the 
Black  Sea,  probably  from  South  Austria  or  Russia  ;  they  were  very 
small,  and  until  quite  lately  passed  under  the  name  of  anise  in  the 
catalogues.  Seeing  that  the  specific  gravity  varied  as  much  as 
from  9-80  to  9-63,  it  was  evident  that  the  tests  for  the  oil  could  not 
be  quite  so  exact  as  one  would  like.  The  optical  characters  also 
seemed  to  vary  considerably,  and  it  was  remarkable  that  while  the 
Persian  only  rotated  14°,  the  Indian  rotated  20°.  During  the  last 
few  years  the  consumption  of  fennel  seeds  in  this  country  had  been 
enormous,  and  this  paper  gave  very  valuable  data  to  those  who 
wished  to  study  the  subject  further. 

Mr.  Holmes  said  they  were  much  indebted  to  Mr.  Umney  for 
this  paper,  which  contained  one  or  two  points  of  practical 
importance,  especially  in  view  of  the  new  pharmacopoeia.  So  far  as 
one  could  judge  from  the  figures  given,  if  anethol  were  desired  to  be 
given,  oil  of  anise  should  be  used,  but  if  something  different  were 
required,  an  oil  containing  a  large  proportion  of  fenchone  should 
be  employed.  The  sweet  French  oil  appeared  to  contain  prac¬ 
tically  no  fenchone,  but  nearly  all  anethol.  The  Saxon,  Russian,  and 
Galician  oils  appeared  to  contain  approximately  the  same  percentage 
of  fenchone  and  anethol,  and  the  highest  percentage  of  essential 
oil,  and  seemed  best  adapted  for  use  in  medicine.  There  were 
also  interesting  botanical  questions  arising  out  of  this  subject. 
On  the  table  there  were  specimens  of  the  large  fruited  sweet 
Bologna  fennel,  Foenicidum  piperitum,  and  the  bitter  French 
fennel,  and  also  the  Fceniculum  vulgare  which  was  cultivated 
in  this  country.  These  were  all  different  in  the  character  and 
outline  of  the  leaf ;  but  the  plants  Mr.  Braithwaite  had  grown 
from  Japanese  seed  corresponded  much  more  nearly  with  the 
F.  piperitum  than  with  the  large  sweet  fennel.  Botanists  knew 
that  the  fennel  which  was  often  found  growing  wild  near  the  sea 
was  very  different  in  leaf  to  that  which  was  cultivated,  the  seg¬ 
ments  of  the  leaves  being  shorter  and  more  succulent,  and  it  was 
evident,  therefore,  that  the  plant  was  very  variable.  These 
differences  were  not,  he  thought,  sufficiently  attended  to.  So  far 
as  he  could  gather  from  the  specimens  under  the  microscopes, 
there  were  two  main  groups,  one  the  Japanese,  which  had  several 
rows  of  oil-secreting  cells  (?)  round  the  vittse,  whilst  in  the  bitter 
French  there  were  two  or  three  rows,  and  in  the  Saxon  two, 
whilst  in  the  others  there  appeared  to  be  only  one  row.  This 
was  a  difference  in  structure  which  seemed  almost  to  indi¬ 
cate  a  distinct  species.  The  Saxon  seemed  almost  like  a 
hybrid  between  the  ordinary  fennel  and  the  F.  piperitum,  but  how 
far  further  investigation  would  show  that  to  be  the  case  he  could 
not  say.  The  Japanese  seemed  to  occupy  a  somewhat  anomalous 
position,  it  contained  10  per  cent,  of  fenchone,  and  its  melting 
point  was  10°  C.,  indicating  that  there  was  a  large  amount  of 
anethol,  and  would  therefore  have  a  strong  taste  of  anise,  which, 
taken  in  conjunction  with  its  small  size,  would  account  for  its 
coming  into  commerce  under  that  name. 

Mr.  Martindale  said  the  flavour  of  anise  and  fennel  oil  was  of 
very  great  service  in  aromatic  waters,  especially  with  children,  being 
sweet  and  not  pungent.  That  was  probably  due  to  the  absence  of 
fenchone  and  the  presence  of  anethol. 

Mr.  Braithwaite  said  the  Japanese  fennel  exhibited  was  from  seed 
sown  last  year ;  it  was  now  beginning  to  throw  up  a  flowering  stem 
and  it  would  probably  flower  in  June.  He  had  several  plants  of  the 
same  growth  under  shelter,  and  fifty  or  sixty  in  the  open,  which 
naturally  were  not  so  forward.  The  shape  of  the  leaf  in  the  seed¬ 
lings  when  they  first  germinated  was  more  like  that  of  a  carrot  than 
ordinary  fennel.  At  any  rate  there  was  none  of  that  filiform  leaf 
which  characterised  garden  fennel,  but  these  plants  were  as  yet 
only  in  an  immature  state,  and  one  could  hardly  tell  what  they  would 
look  like  when  they  grew  older.  When  he  first  examined  the  Japanese 
fennel  seeds  under  the  microscope  he  was  pleased  to  find  they  were 
different  to  any  others  he  had  then  seen,  but  he  had  since  found  that 
the  bitter  French  variety  was  almost  identical,  though  he  did  not  pro¬ 
fess  to  be  a  microscopist.  Still,  it  seemed  to  him  that  the  vittse  were 
constructed  on  the  same  lines :  In  each  the  secreting  cells  extended  on 
either  side,  forming  a  more  or  less  continuous  ring  surrounding 
the  inner  integuments.  The  Saxon  fennel,  also,  showed  a  some¬ 
what  similar  structure,  but  there  the  cells  formed  a  uniform  ring 
round  the  vittse,  whilst  in  the  Japanese  and  bitter  French  these 
cells  all  ran  towards  the  margin  of  the  seed,  or  nearly  so.  He 
had  been  looking  up  the  subject,  and  found  that  hardly  any  two 
descriptions  agreed,  so  that  it  appeared  as  if  plants  cultivated 


in  different  localities  varied  greatly  in  their  characteristics.  This 
was  quite  borne  out  by  the  present  paper,  and  it  would  appear  that 
fennel  was  partly  subject  to  the  influence  of  soil  and  climate,  as  was 
the  case  with  many  of  the  Umbelliferse.  Another  point  in  which 
the  Japanese  and  bitter  French  fennels  agreed  and  differed  from 
the  sweet  fennel  and  the  Saxon  was  the  appearance  of  the  costse  or 
ridges.  This  paper  showed  in  a  vivid  manner  what  interesting 
subjects  cropped  up  in  the  London  drug  market,  and  the  advantage 
of  keeping  a  sharp  eye  on  what  happened  there.  The  whole  thing 
had  arisen  from  the  fact  of  Japanese  fennel  being  introduced 
under  the  name  of  anise  seed,  though  it  did  not  require  very 
great  skill  to  distinguish  them,  and  it  was  quite  evident  that  Mr. 
Chas.  Umney  had  not  forgotten  what  he  learned  in  that  school 
about  materia  medica,  or  as  it  was  now  called,  pharmacognosy. 

Mr.  Lucas  said  it  was  quite  evident  that  the  Indian  variety  of 
fennel  ought  not  to  be  admitted  into  the  Pharmacopoeia,  and  he 
would  ask  Mr.  J.  C.  Umney  if  there  were  any  other  way  of  excluding 
it  than  by  the  size  of  the  vittse,  which  were  very  small,  about  one- 
quarter  that  of  any  of  the  other  varieties. 

Professor  Greenish  said  it  was  a  great  pleasure  to  listen  to  a 
paper  which  dealt  with  the  histology  of  a  drug,  as  well  as  its 
chemistry.  He  would  point  out  that  the  measurements  of  the 
vittse  given  in  the  table  referred  only  to  the  breadth  and  length  of 
the  transverse  section,  but  it  was  quite  easy  to  isolate  the  vittse 
from  the  fruit,  when  it  would  be  found  that  they 
were  of  an  elongated  form,  tapering  at  each  end,  and 
thus  it  followed  that  the  size  in  the  transverse  section 
would  vary  with  the  point  at  which  the  section  was  taken. 
It  would  be  well,  therefore,  to  note  in  the  table  that  the  section 
should  be  taken  at  some  particular  point  in  the  fruit.  Another 
point  well  worth  consideration  in  dealing  with  drugs  of  any  kind — 
bark,  seeds,  or  fruit — was  the  difference  found  in  different  speci¬ 
mens  taken  not  from  one  parcel,  but  from  different  parcels.  He 
had  examined  many  different  fennel  seeds,  Saxon,  Indian,  French, 
and  Japanese,  and  as  far  as  he  could  remember,  his  results  agreed 
very  fairly  with  those  obtained  by  Mr.  Umney.  A  remark  had 
been  made  that  in  some  seeds  there  appeared  to  be  several  rows  of 
secreting  cells  surrounding  the  vittse,  in  which  the  oil  was  pro¬ 
duced.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  these  vittse  were  surrounded 
in  their  younger  stages  by  only  one  row  of  secreting  cells,  and  the 
oil  was  secreted,  not  in  the  cell  itself,  but  in  the  wall  of  the  cell 
which  bordered  on  the  cavity,  so  that  there  would  not  appear  to 
be  any  possibility  of  more  than  one  row  of  secreting  cells.  The 
appearance  of  two  or  three  rows  was  probably  produced  by  the 
section  assuming  an  oblique  direction,  giving  a  view  under  the 
microscope  of  several  cells,  which  were  not  really  one  behind  the 
other,  but  one  above  the  other  in  the  fruit.  After  the  oil  had  been 
discharged  the  cells  collapsed  and  became  infiltrated  with  a  brown 
substance,  called  vittine,  which  made  the  cell  less  conspicuous 
even  than  before.  The  only  way  to  ascertain  whether  the 
Japanese  fennel  did  really  form  more  than  one  row  of  secreting  cells 
would  be  to  examine  the  fruit  in  the  younger  stages  of  growth. 

Dr.  Attfield  said  it  might  be  taken  for  granted  that  any  new  facts 
which  Mr.  Umney  had  brought  forward  would  be  carefully  con¬ 
sidered  by  the  compilers  of  the  Pharmacopoeia.  He  should  like  to 
ask  whether  the  seeds  and  oils  examined  represented  the  growths 
of  various  years  as  well  as  of  various  countries. 

Mr.  J.  C.  'Umney,  in  reply,  said  the  only  use  of  fennel  in  this 
country,  so  far  as  he  had  ascertained,  was  for  compound  liquorice 
powder.  On  the  Continent  it  was  used  largely  for  liqueurs.  The 
difference  in  the  rotatory  power  of  the  Persian  and  Indian  oils  was 
due  to  the  fact  there  was  more  anethol  in  the  Persian, 
and  that  having  no  rotatory  power  it  lessened  the  rota¬ 
tion  of  the  oil.  As  had  been  remarked  by  Mr.  Holmes,  there 
was  a  large  percentage  of  anethol  in  the  Japanese  fennel  oil ;  as 
far  as  could  be  ascertained  by  fractionation.  Some  showed  as  much 
as  75  per  cent. ,  whilst  in  some  of  the  Galician  and  Roumelian  it 
was  as  low  as  62  or  65  per  cent.  Professor  Greenish  had  remarked 
on  the  difficulty  of  cutting  sections  at  the  same  level  in  the  fruit. 
Of  course  this  was  an  important  point,  but  as  far  as  possible  fully 
grown  fruits  had  been  selected,  and  the  sections  taken  from  the 
middle,  in  order  that  the  sizes  might  be  as  nearly  as  possible  com¬ 
parable.  The  only  two  opportunities  he  had  had  of  distilling  the 
oil  from  different  seasons’  fruits  were  in  the  case  of  two  Galician 
and  two  French  samples.  In  the  former  case  the  results  were 
remarkably  similar,  and  in  the  latter  not  widely  different. 

The  President,  in  moving  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Mr.  Umney,  re¬ 
marked  that  if  Indian  fennel  did  not  yield  sufficient  oil  there  were 
other  parts  of  the  Empire — on  which  the  sun  never  set — in  which  it 


234 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


j  March  13,  1897 


could  be  grown  with  a  sufficient  percentage,  even  if  the  demand 
for  compound  liquorice  powder  should  become  still  greater.  He 
would  include  in  the  vote  of  thanks  Mr.  Lucas,  who  had  prepared 
the  microscopic  sections,  and  Professor  Greenish  who  had  shown  the 
lantern  slides. 


The  next  paper  was  read  by  Mr.  William  Martindale,  and 
consisted  of 

Notes  on  the  Preservatives  of  Pharmacopceial  Preparations. 

It  is  printed  at  page  227,  and  gave  rise  to  the  following 
discussion  : — 

The  President  said  the  subject  was  so  large  as  to  be  rather 
difficult  to  comment  upon,  and  he  must  confess  that  in  the  result 
he  felt  somewhat  bewildered  as  to  what  method  could  be  relied 
upon  except  either  heat,  or  cold,  or  absolute  purity. 

Mr.  Ince  said  the  ideas  now  prevalent  with  regard  to  the  pre¬ 
servation  of  medicinal  preparations  were  very  different  to  those 
formerly  current.  For  instance,  with  regard  to  distilled  water,  the 
plan  adopted  for  years  and  years,  especially  in  the  case  of  aromatic 
waters,  was  to  add  a  little  alcohol.  That  had  now  been  discarded, 
as  it  was  found  to  be  one  of  the  best  ways  of  promoting  decomposi¬ 
tion,  the  alcohol  becoming  converted  into  acetic  acid.  The  rule 
now  was  to  add  nothing  whatever  which  could  by  any  possibility 
change  the  chemical  or  therapeutical  character  of  the  preparation. 
The  only  feasible  method  of  securing  purity  in  distilled  water  was 
to  have  it  freshly  prepared  as  required,  and  the  same  rule  applied 
to  many  other  things,  particularly  to  mercurous  oxide.  There 
ought  to  be  a  well-understood  limit  to  the  meaning  of  the  word 
“  preservative.”  Some  people  seemed  to  think  that  it  meant  that 
a  particular  liquid  or  solid  might  be  kept  unchanged  through  the 
ages,  but  that  was  not  required.  Practically  a  reasonable  length  of 
time,  differing  with  different  preparations,  should  always  be  under¬ 
stood.  As  sugar  had  been  mentioned  in  connection  with  French 
pharmacy  and  his  own  name,  he  might  say  that  he  was 
sufficiently  French  to  recognise  the  extreme  value  of  sugar  as  a 
preservative.  He  might  mention  two  cases  as  illustrations,  one, 
confection  of  Cassia  fistula,  of  which  he  had  to  make  large  quantities 
at  one  time,  and  which  would  not  keep  beyond  a  fortnight,  at  the 
outside,  and  in  some  states  of  the  atmosphere  not  so  long,  and  the 
other  a  preparation  of  Iceland  moss,  both  of  which  kept  well  for  a 
considerable  time  when  a  certain  quantity  of  sugar  was  added. 
He  congratulated  Mr.  Martindale  on  his  paper,  and  particularly 
on  the  practical  illustrations  he  had  given  in  connection  with  it. 

Mr.  Sage  said  acetic  acid  was  an  excellent  solvent  in  many 
cases,  but  certainly  acetum  scillae,  acetum  colchici,  and  acetum 
ipecac,  did  not  keep  well.  Some  time  ago  he  had  to 
examine  a  number  of  acetse  which  had  all  gone  wrong,  having 
thickened  and  formed  a  jelly-like  mass,  though  they  were  obtained 
from  several  sources,  and  he  found  this  change  was  due  to  the 
Bacillus  xylimus,  which  formed  a  large  amount  of  cellulose  round 
each  individual  cell.  He  found  this  was  obviated  by  warming  to  a 
temperature  of  about  150°  F.  With  regard  to  distilled  water,  he 
did  not  think  it  was  so  bad  as  it  was  made  out,  and  the  fault  lay 
rather  with  the  retailer  than  the  manufacturer.  He  should  like  to 
know  whether  in  speaking  of  ointment  of  cocaine  Mr.  Martindale 
referred  to  the  muriate  or  the  pure  alkaloid.  He  believed  the 
ideal  preservative  of  the  future  was  formaldehyde,  the  use  of 
which  for  manufacturing  purposes  gave  the  best  results. 
In  the  milk  trade  it  was  largely  used,  the  addition  of  half 
a  pint  of  a  20  per  cent,  solution  to  a  churn  of  milk  being 
quite  sufficient  to  keep  it  for  eight  or  ten  days,  according 
to  the  weather,  and  in  that  proportion  it  was  practically  an  inert 
body.  It  was  only  in  a  strong  solution  that  it  formed  an  insoluble 
preparation,  which  was  put  on  the  market  as  a  dressing  under  the 
name  of  glucol. 

Mr.  Martindale  said  he  meant  the  pure  alkaloid  when  he 
referred  to  cocaine  ointment.  The  aceti  were  probably  prepared 
better  if  heated,  but  in  the  case  of  acetum  scillse  it  might  heighten 
the  colour.  He  still  had  a  very  poor  opinion  of  distilled  water,  the 
only  remedy  being  to  have  it  freshly  distilled. 

The  President  then  moved  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Mr.  Martindale, 
which  was  carried  unanimously. 


Holzine. — According  to  Aufrecht,  holzine,  a  newly  introduced 
antiseptic  liquid,  is  composed  of  menthol  andformic  aldehyde,  17 '5  ; 
methylic  alcohol,  81  5.  The  proprietor,  however,  states  that  the 
liquid  contains  from  60  to  70  per  cent,  of  formic  aldehyde. — Pharm. 
Zeit.,  xli.,  672. 


THE  SALE  OF  CALCIUM  CARBIDE. 


HOME  OFFICE  MEMORANDUM. 


With  a  view  to  assisting  Local  Authorities  in  dealing  with 
applications  for  licenses  to  keep  Carbide  of  Calcium,  the  following 
observations  as  to  the  character  and  prevention  of  the  risks 
attaching  to  such  keeping  have  been  drawn  up  : — 

1.  Carbide  of  Calcium  is  a  solid  substance  which,  while  not 
itself  inflammable,  evolves,  when  brought  into  contact  with 
moisture,  a  gas  (acetylene)  which  is  of  a  highly  inflammable 
character. 

2.  This  gas  when  mixed  with  air  or  when  under  even  slight 
compression  becomes  powerfully  explosive. 

3.  Carbide  of  Calcium,  unless  carefully  manufactured  from  suit¬ 
able  materials,  is  liable  to  contain  impurities  which,  when  the 
carbide  is  acted  on  by  water,  evolve  phosphoretted  or  siliciuretted 
hydrogen,  gases  which,  when  evolved  in  appreciable  quantities, 
would  render  the  acetylene  produced  liable  to  spontaneous 
ignition. 

4.  In  addition  to  the  risks  indicated  above,  acetylene  gas  is 
capable  of  forming  an  explosive  compound  when  brought  into 
contact  with  copper. 

5.  The  character  of  the  apparatus  to  be  used  in  connection  with 
the  production  of  acetylene  gas  from  Carbide  of  Calcium  is  inti¬ 
mately  connected  with  the  question  of  safety  ;  for  example,  grave 
risk  may  arise  from  the  heat  developed  by  a  too  rapid  conversion 
of  the  carbide  into  acetylene  gas  ;  or  from  the  apparatus  per¬ 
mitting  escape  or  leakage  of  gas  which  is  being  formed,  or  not 
allowing  a  free  passage  of  the  gas  from  the  generator  into  the 
holder  and  so  causing  excess  of  pressure  in  the  generator  or  other 
part  of  the  apparatus. 

6.  Risk  might  also  arise  if  proper  provision  were  not  made  for 
dealing  with  the  residue  of  the  Carbide  of  Calcium  which  has  been 
used  for  making  acetylene  gas  (viz.,  lime),  as  such  residue  might 
contain  Carbide  of  Calcium  which  has  escaped  decomposition. 

It  will  therefore  be  obvious  that  Local  Authorities,  in  granting 
licenses  for  Carbide  of  Calcium,  should  have  regard  to  the  fore¬ 
going  risks,  and  with  that  view  should  make  provision  : — 

(a.)  For  the  exclusive  use  of  hermetically  closed  packages  for 
the  keeping  and  conveying  of  Carbide  of  Calcium.* 

(b. )  The  adequate  ventilation  of  the  place  where  the  Carbide  of 
Calcium  is  present. 

(c. )  The  prohibition  of  any  powerful  compression  of  the  gas 
produced  in  the  apparatus  or  receptacles  employed. 

(d. )  The  keeping  and  use  of  pure  Carbide  of  Calcium  only,  and 
the  establishment  of  efficient  arrangements  for  the  sampling  and 
testing  of  the  Carbide. 

(e.)  The  exclusion  of  copper  from  all  vessels  or  apparatus  used 
with  or  for  Carbide  of  Calcium  and  the  gas  produced  therefrom. 

(/.)  The  use  only  of  an  apparatus  which  the  Local  Authority 
have  satisfied  themselves,  under  competent  advice,  is  of  a  safe  and 
suitable  character,  and  the  prohibition  of  the  employment  for  the 
manipulation  of  such  apparatus  of  any  person  other  than  a 
properly  instructed  and  capable  operator. 

(gr.)  The  safe  disposal  of  the  residue  and  the  prohibition  of  its 
introduction  into  sewers,  cesspools,  etc.,  unless  mixed  with  at 
least  ten  times  its  bulk  of  water. 

It  will,  in  all  cases,  be  for  the  Local  Authority  very  carefully  to 
determine  whether  the  premises  proposed  to  be  licensed  are 
themselves  suitable  for  the  purpose,  regard  being  had  to  the 
formidable  consequences  (from  fire  or  explosion)  which  might 
result  from  the  careless  or  imperfect  observance  of  any  of  the 
imposed  conditions,  especially  in  dwellings  or  in  places  or  premises 
where  large  numbers  of  persons  are  liable  to  assemble. 

VIVIAN  DERING  MAJENDIE,  Colonel, 
H.M.  Inspector  of  Explosives. 

*  The  9th  Section  of  the  Petroleum  Act  specifies  among  the  conditions,  which 
may  be  included  in  a  license  under  that  Act,  the  mode  of  carrying  within  the 
district  of  the  Licensing  Authority. 


Mabch  13,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


235 


Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


A  Weekly  Record  of  Pharmacy  and  Allied  Sciences. 


ESTABLISHED  1841. 


Circulating  in  the  United  Kingdom,  France,  Oermany, 
Austria,  Italy,  Russia,  Switzerland,  Canada,  the 
United  States,  South  America,  India, 
Australasia,  South  Africa,  etc. 

Editorial  Office:  17,  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.G. 
Publishing  ai\d  Advertising  Office :  5,  SERLE  STREET,  W.C. 


LONDON:  SATURDAY,  MARCH  13,  1897. 


PROPOSED  AMENDMENT  OF  THE  FOOD 
AND  DRUGS  ACT. 

The  Bill  introduced  by  Mr,  Kearley  to  consolidate  and 
amend  the  law  relating  to  the  Sale  of  Food  and  Drugs  bears 
upon  the  face  of  it  evident  indications  of  having  been 
inspired  by  the  Society  of  Public  Analysts.  The  draft  of  a 
Bill  prepared  by  the  Council  of  that  Society  some  two  years 
ago  has  probably  been  the  basis  upon  which  Mr.  Kearley’s 
Bill  has  been  constructed.  In  regard  to  its  most  important 
feature,  the  establishment  of  a  Board  of  Reference — competent 
to  consider  and  decide  the  various  questions  arising  in  the 
administration  of  the  law  for  preventing  fraudulent  and 
injurious  adulteration — there  cannot  be  any  doubt  as  to  the 
great  need  for  such  an  authority,  or  that  a  properly  con¬ 
stituted  Board  would  be  very  useful  from  every  point  of  view. 
But  while  Mr.  Kearley’s  Bill  is  entitled  to  approval,  so 
far  as  the  recommendation  of  such  a  Board  of  Reference  is 
concerned,  it  does  not  appear  to  be  the  better  for  the  mani¬ 
pulation  by  which  it  has  been  evolved  from  the  draft  of  the 
Society  of  Public  Analysts.  Some  of  the  definitions  in  the 
second  clause  are  far  from  being  satisfactory,  for  instance, 
that  of  the  term  “  drug”  as  meaning  any  substance  vegetable , 
■animal,  or  mineral  used  in  the  composition  or  preparation  of 
medicines.  Here  the  words  we  have  italicised  are  certainly 
open  to  objection  as  leaving  out  of  account  a  number  of 
substances  used  as  drugs  which  do  not  come  under  any  one 
of  the  three  classes.  Again,  the  definition  of  the  word 
Xi  butter  ”  seems  superfluous. 

The  penalties  to  be  imposed  and  the  proposed  advertise¬ 
ment  of  convictions,  either  in  newspapers  or  on  the  premises 
of  persons  convicted,  in  such  manner  as  the  Court  may  order, 
do  not  appear  to  be  inappropriate  in  cases  where  there  is  good 
Teason  for  the  conclusion  that  fraudulent  or  injurious 
adulteration  has  been  practised  deliberately,  but  there  is  no 
lack  of  evidence  that  a  conclusion  to  that  effect  may  some¬ 
times  be  arrived  at  without  sufficient  reason.  In  such 
instances  unmerited  hardship  might  be  inflicted  under  the 
influence  of  such  prejudices  as  are  not  unfrequently 
manifested  in  regard  to  the  subject  of  adulteration.  To 
take  the  case  of  such  an  article  as  coffee,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  community  have 
no  idea  of  attaching  to  this  word  the  meaning  that  a 
public  analyst  or  any  person  of  refined  taste  would  have.  In 


deciding  that  the  sale  of  a  brown  powder  consisting  chiefly  of 
chicory  is  an  offence  to  be  punished,  and  not  merely  a  necessary 
compliance  with  an  imperative  popular  demand,  the  circum¬ 
stances  of  the  sde  must  be  taken  into  account.  Without 
any  desire  to  defend  or  palliate  that  practice  of  adulteration 
which  is  said  to  be  a  form  of  competition,  it  may  be  con¬ 
tended  that  the  ex  cathedra  opinions  sometimes  put  forward 
as  to  what  articles  of  food  and  drink  should  be,  cannot  be 
accepted  as  the  basis  on  which  an  Adulteration  Act  is  to  be 
administered.  The  offences  described  in  the  fifth  clause  of  the 
Bill  do  not  very  materially  differ  from  those  in  the  existing 
Act,  but  there  is  a  very  proper  provision  that  absence  of 
prejudice  to  the  Inspector  purchasing  an  adulterated  article 
shall  not  be  a  good  defence  to  a  prosecution.  This  provision 
admits  the  paternal  nature  of  the  legislation  it  is  true,  but  there 
is  no  reason  for  attempting  to  conceal  a  fact  that  is  so  evident, 
especially  when  the  attempt  would  entail  risk  of  failure  in 
bringing  an  offender  within  the  scope  of  the  law.  The 
qualifications  introduced  by  the  use  of  the  words  “  injurious 
to  health”  and  other  corresponding  phrases  are  left  in  Mr. 
Kearley’s  Bill  as  they  stand  in  the  existing  Act  and,  in  all 
instances  where  they  apply,  the  services  of  the  Board  of 
Reference  would  be  required  to  decide  on  the  questions  raised 
in  regard  to  any  ingredient  added  to  or  abstracted  from  an 
article  of  food,  drink,  or  drug. 

The  proposed  constitution  of  the  Board  of  Reference  is 
somewhat  remarkable.  The  need  of  medical  and  chemical 
knowledge  is  admitb  d  by  the  proposal  that  two  of  its 
members  shall  be  nominated  by  the  General  Medical  Council 
and  the  Institution  of  Chemistry  respectively,  and  that  the 
principal  officer  of  the  Government  Laboratory  at  Somerset 
House  shall  be  a  member  of  the  Board.  Technical  interests 
are  also  considered  by  the  proposal  that  the  Local  Govern¬ 
ment  Board,  the  Board  of  Agriculture,  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society,  the  London  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  the  Associa¬ 
tion  of  Chambers  of  Commerce  of  the  United  Kingdom  shall 
each  nominate  a  member  of  the  Board,  but  why  the  Society  of 
Public  Analysts  should  nominate  two  members  of  the 
Board  is  not  so  easily  comprehensible.  As  the  Society  con¬ 
sists  chiefly  of  members  who  are  public  functionaries 
engaged  in  the  work  requisite  for  the  administration  of  the 
law,  they  would  be  in  almost  all  instances  more  or  less  con¬ 
cerned  in  the  prosecutions  instituted  and,  though  not 
exactly  interested  parties,  at  any  rate  in  such  a  position 
as  to  disqualify  them  from  acting  as  members  of  the 
Board  of  Reference.  Modesty  has  so  far  prevailed  in 
this  recommendation  that  it  is  suggested  the  Society  of  Public 
Analysts  shall  be  represented  by  only  one-fifth  of  the  Board, 
whereas  the  original  idea  was  that  the  Society’s  nominees 
should  constitute  one-half  of  the  Board,  and  it  may  be 
expected  that  when  the  matter  comes  to  be  considered  by  the 
House  of  Commons  a  further  elimination  of  the.  Society’s 
representatives  will  take  place.  This  is  probable  from  con¬ 
sideration  of  the  fact  that  the  kind  of  service  which  Public 
Analysts  would  be  able  to  render  as  members  of  the  Board 
would  be  fully  provided  by  the  Somerset  House  Chemist  and 
the  nominees  of  the  Institute  of  Chemistry  and  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society.  The  constitution  of  the  Board  of  Reference 
is  the  most  important  point  to  be  considered  in  regard  to 
amendment  of  the  Food  and  Drugs  Act,  because  it  is  probable 
that  it  would  in  reality  constitute  a  tribunal  for  the  decision 
of  almost  all  cases  of  prosecutions,  and  having  power  against 
which  there  would  appear  to  be  no  provision  for  appeal. 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Mabch  13,  1897 


236 


ANNOTATIONS 


The  Western  Chemists’  Association  of  London  has  been  first  in 
the  field  with  an  announcement  of  a  discussion  on  the  proposed  new 
bye-laws  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society.  This  discussion  will  take 
place  on  Wednesday  next,  March  17,  at  the  usual  place  of  meeting 
- — the  Westbourne  Restaurant,  Craven  Road,  W. — and  is  to  be 
opened  by  the  President  of  the  Association,  Mr.  J.  W.  Taplin. 
Members  and  Associates  of  the  Society  in  and  about  London  should 
find  this  an  excellent  opportunity  for  expressing  their  approval 
of  the  proposed  bye-laws,  and  so  strengthening  the  hands  of  the 
Council.  A  discussion  on  the  same  lines  will  take  place  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Cambridge  Pharmaceutical  Association  on  Friday, 
March  19. 


The  Abolition  of  the  Preliminary  Examination  is  not  a 
matter  that  should  require  much  consideration.  As  a  test  of 
ordinary  scholastic  education  for  persons  proposing  to  adopt 
pharmacy  as  a  profession,  the  examination  is  totally  inadequate. 
More  than  that,  it  is  capable  of  exercising  a  mischievous  influence, 
by  affording  a  basis  for  the  unfounded  supposition  that  pharmacy 
is  a  calling  requiring  but  a  slight  intellectual  outfit.  The  effects 
of  such  notions  as  this  are  apparent  on  all  sides,  and  the  sooner, 
therefore,  the  examination  is  abolished,  and’ pharmacy  put  upon  a 
similar  footing  to  other  professions  in  the  matter  of  preliminary 
education,  the  better  for  all  parties  concerned — the  public,  regis¬ 
tered  chemists,  and  candidates  for  qualification. 


The  Proposed  Fee  for  the  Minor  Examination  may  be 
regarded  as  being  equally  a  matter  of  course.  It  is  unreasonable 
that  a  minority  of  the  members  of  the  trade,  because  they  choose 
to  band  themselves  together  voluntarily  for  the  advancement  of 
their  calling,  should  be  called  upon  to  bear  the  expense  attending 
administration  of  the  Pharmacy  Act  while  the  majority  contribute 
nothing,  though  sharing  equally  the  incidental  benefits.  And  this 
fairly  represents  the  position  of  affairs  with  respect  to  the  registra¬ 
tion  of  chemists  and  druggists  and  the  administration  of  the 
Pharmacy  Acts  in  the  public  interest.  It  may  be  contended  then  that 
the  examination  fee  should  be  sufficient  to  cover  the  cost  of  the 
examinations,  of  maintaining  the  Register,  and  provide  ample 
means  of  meeting  the  cost  of  enforcing  or  supporting  the  Acts. 


The  Registered  Chemist  and  Druggist  at  present  secures 
advantage  at  no  cost  to  himself  and  furnishes  nothing  towards  the 
expense  of  administering  the  protective  sections  of  the  Pharmacy 
Acts.  The  best  possible  means  of  providing  for  these  registration 
and  administrative  expenses  would  be  the  payment  of  an  annual 
registration  fee  by  all  chemists  and  druggists,  but  failing  powers 
to  enforce  that,  resort  must  be  had  to  an  increase  in  the  amount 
of  the  qualifying  examination  fee,  which  is,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  also  a  life  registration  fee,  and,  even  with  the  increased 
amount,  exceedingly  cheap. 


A  Permanent  Defence  Fund,  for  the  protection  of  pharma¬ 
ceutical  interests  generally,  is  an  additional  desideratum,  and  such 
a  fund  can  only  be  accumulated  if  the  income  of  the  Pharma, 
ceutical  Society,  as  an  administrative  body,  is  fairly  in  excess  of 
its  expenditure.  There  is  no  reason  whatever  why  the  income  of  the 
Society  as  a  voluntary  association  of  pharmacists  should  be 
devoted  to  the  protection  of  outside  interests,  but  there  is  every 


reason  why  each  person  who  obtains  the  legal  qualification  should 
contribute  a  reasonable  amount  in  defence  of  that  qualification. 
Such  an  amount  each  person  will,  under  the  new  bye-laws,  be  called 
upon  to  pay,  and  that  is  nothing  but  what  common  justice 
demands.  Supporters  of  the  Society  will  be  required  to  pay  the 
increased  fee,  no  less  than  non-supporters,  and  their  annual 
subscriptions  in  addition.  They  will  still,  therefore,  occupy 
the  position  of  paying  more  in  proportion  towards  the 
advancement  of  pharmacy  than  their  fellows  wdio  disapprove  of 
union  in  self-defence. 


A  Pharmaceutical  Field  Night  is  the  term  that  seems  fitly  to 
apply  to  the  Evening  Meeting  on  Tuesday.  Both  Mr.  Umney  and 
Air.  Martirdale  dealt  with  points  of  great  practical  importance,  and 
the  meeting  more  nearly  approached  the  ideal  of  what  such  assem¬ 
blies  should  be  than  has  been  the  case  for  some  time  past.  The 
desirability  of  a  knowledge  of  the  histology  of  drugs  being 
possessed  by  pharmacists  should  be  manifest  to  all  who  study  Air. 
Umney’s  paper.  In  addition,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  observe  that  the 
screen  projections  from  sections  of  fruits,  which  were  exhibited 
during  the  evening,  indicated  the  desirability  of  a  more  practical 
acquaintance  with  the  details  of  photo-micrography  than  is 
generally  possessed. 


The  Pharmaceutical  Football  Club  has  been  able  to  arrange 
an  interesting  fixture  for  Saturday  afternoon,  March  20,  when  the 
past  and  present  students  of  the  School  of  Pharmacy  will  be 
matched  together.  The  “  Old  Boys  ”  team  has  been  got  together 
by  Air.  A.  F.  Surfleet,  and  will  include  many  regular  players  in 
the  “  Square  ”  teams  during  the  past  five  years.  The  match  will 
take  place  at  Wormholt  Farm,  Shepherd’s  Bush,  and  it  is  hoped 
that  many  old  students  and  friends  will  endeavour  to  be  present, 
as  the  occasion  promises  to  be  one  of  considerable  interest. 


A  Case  of  Substitution  is  reported  by  the  Times  of  India,  which 
is  curious  as  showing  to  what  legal  absurdities  an  apparently 
insignificant  transaction  in  a  chemist’s  shop  may  give  rise.  A  pre¬ 
scription  ordering  “  Cream  of  Malt  and  Cod-liver  Oil  ”  was  sent  to 
be  dispensed  in  Madras,  without  any  particular  preparation  being 
specified,  and  the  assistant  supplied  an  article  of  a  different  make 
to  that  which  the  patient  had  been  in  the  habit  of  taking.  Thereupon, 
the  customer  commenced  criminal  proceedings  against  the  assistant, 
and  succeeded  in  inducing  the  Presidency  Magistrate  to  convict 
the  defendant,  and  fine  him  Rs.  200.  An  appeal  to  the  High  Court, 
however,  resulted  in  the  conviction  being  promptly  and  properly 
quashed,  and  as  the  local  paper  remarks,  the  moral  of  the  case  is. 
that  when  a  man  wants  a  particular  preparation  he  should  always 
be  careful  to  specify  the  maker’s  name. 


The  Kinninmont  Prize,  consisting  of  a  gold  medal  and  books, 
will  be  offered  for  competition  in  Alay  or  June,  and  intending  com¬ 
petitors  must  send  in  their  names  to  the  Secretary,  Mr.  W.  L. 
Currie,  223,  Byres  Road,  Dowanhill,  Glasgow,  before  the  end  of 
April.  The  subjects  of  examination  are  botany,  magnetism  and 
electricity.  Assistants  in  Glasgow,  or  the  counties  of  Argyle, 
Ayr,  Bute,  Dumbarton,  Dumfries,  Kircudbright,  Lanark,  Renfrew, 
and  Wigtown  are  eligible  to  compete,  if  they  have  been  engaged 
in  the  district  for  the  six  months  previous  to  the  date  of  exami¬ 
nation,  or  others  who  have  served  their  apprenticeship  in  any  of 
the  places  named  but  have  removed  within  twelve  months  of  the 
date  of  examination. 


MARCH  13,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAI 


23  7 


The  Liverpool  Chemists’  Association  holds  its  annual  dinner 
on  Thursday  next,  March  18,  at  the  Adelphi  Hotel,  well  known 
to  those  who  attended  the  last  Conference.  Tickets  (5s.  each)  may 
be  obtained  of  Mr.  H.  0.  Dutton,  Rockferry.  From  Liverpool, 
also,  we  have  received  an  intimation  that  the  Major  Examination 
Courses  are  about  to  commence  in  the  School  of  Pharmacy, 
University  College.  Courses  have  been  arranged  in  chemistry, 
physics,  botany,  and  materia  medica. 


Local  Organisation  in  Pharmacy  continues  to  proceed  apace, 
and  it  is  satisfactory  to  note  that  towns  which  are  too  small  to 
carry  on  independent  associations  satisfactorily  are  uniting  their 
efforts  to  form  district  associations.  The  latest  indications  of  this 
tendency  are  forthcoming  from  districts  so  far  apart  as  Dundee 
and  North  Staffordshire.  The  Committee  of  the  Dundee  Chemists’ 
and  Druggists’  Association  is  appealing  to  all  members  of  the  craft 
in  some  fifteen  towns  in  the  district,  to  form  a  new  association 
covering  the  whole  of  the  county  of  Forfar  and  district.  A  merely 
nominal  subscription  has  been  decided  upon,  and  the  first  general 
meeting  and  annual  dinner  will  be  held  at  an  early  date.  The 
North  Staffordshire  and  District  Chemists’  Association  began 
operations  on  Thursday  last,  when  officers  were  elected,  and  a 
dinner  was  held  to  smooth  the  wheels.  Finally,  we  learn  that  an 
association  has  been  formed  at  Oxford,  as  a  result  of  the  activity 
of  the  P.A.T.A.  in  the  district. 


The  Late  Sir  Benjamin  Richardson  was  so  fortunate  as  to 
be  bound  apprentice  to  a  surgeon  in  a  country  district  in  Leicester¬ 
shire,  on  leaving  school.  That,  of  course,  was  the  regular  custom 
in  the  medical  profession  in  those  days,  and  had  a  good  deal  to 
recommend  it.  In  Sir  Benjamin’s  latest  work — ‘  Vita  Medica  ’ 
— which  has  just  been  published,  and  may  be  regarded  as  a 
retrospect  of  his  career,  he  repeats  what  he  often  said  during 
his  lifetime — that  this  method  of  introduction  to  the  pro¬ 
fession,  now  practically  abandoned,  was  the  best  that  could 
be,  and  ought  to  have  remained  untouched.  It  was,  he 
observed,  a  fruitful  source  of  income  to  all  respectable  prac¬ 
titioners,  and  kept  them  well  up  to  the  mark  ;  it  also  made  good 
openings  for  introductions  and  practice,  was  warmly  appreciated 
by  the  public  at  large,  cultivated  well  a  common  field,  and  effected 
a  sound  and  general  good.  “  The  chief  benefit  was  to  the  student 
himself,  for  he  learned  early  in  life  all  the  practical  branches  he 
afterwards  most  needed  ;  he  soon  acquired  as  ‘  the  young  doctor  ’ 
the  style  and  manners  of  the  medical  man  ;  he  learned  the  mode  of 
entering  the  sick-room,  and  of  conversing  with  the  sick  ;  he 
practised  naturally  the  true  etiquette  of  physic.  ”  And  no  one  can 
gainsay  that  these  are  advantages  the  lack  of  which  is  not  easily 
compensated  for. 


Army  Medical  Compounders  are  not  required  to  know  much  of 
what  a  dispenser  ought  to  know,  as  was  shown  in  these  pages  a 
few  weeks  ago  (ante,  p.  131),  and  it  would  appear  that  the 
authorities  are  slowly  beginning  to  realise  the  fact,  as  they  propose 
to  add  elementary  chemistry  to  the  list  of  subjects  in  which 
examination  will  be  compulsory  after  May  31  next.  But  the 
knowledge  of  chemistry  required  will  be  of  little  use  to  the 
individual  as  a  compounder  and  dispenser,  for  the  questions  to 
be  asked  must  be  within  the  limits  of  Harrison  and  Bailey’s 
‘  Chemistry  for  All,’  a  very  good  book  for  juveniles  but 
absolutely  useless  as  a  text-book  for  dispensers.  It  was 
written,  we  believe,  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  curious 
‘‘alternative”  first  stage  in  inorganic  chemistry  (theoretical)  of 


the  Science  and  Art  Department,  which  specifies  an  extremely 
limited  acquaintance  with  solution,  air,  water,  carbon,  sulphur, 
chlorine,  acids,  alkalies,  ammonia,  lime  and  clay,  lead,  iron, 
copper,  mercury,  sodium,  acetic  acid,  tartaric  acid,  fat  and  oils, 
sugar,  starch,  gluten,  and  spirit.  Presumably  four  “comprehen¬ 
sive”  questions  (vide  p.  131)  will  be  asked  about  all  these  things, 
that  being  the  number  in  each  subject  which  commends  itself  to  the 
intelligence  of  the  Army  Medical  Staff,  or  those  under  whom  they 
act.  But  why  should  pharmacists  learn  so  much  science,  if  so 
little  will  suffice  for  accurate  compounding  and  dispensing  ? 


East  India  Opium  is  the .  subject  of  a  recent  return  to  the 
House  of  Commons.  This  shows  that  during  tlje  year  1894-95, 
537,556  acres  of  land  was  under  poppy  cultivation  in  British  India, 
39,765  chests  of  opium  was  manufactured  in  the  Government 
factories,  and  68,834  chests  were  exported  to  China  and  other 
countries  from  India.  In  Central  India  and  Rajputana,  322,945 
acres  of  land  was  under  poppy  cultivation,  but  no  correct 
information  is  forthcoming  respecting  other  Native  States. 
Excise  opium  is  manufactured  for  local  consumption  in  India. 
It  is  packed  in  chests  containing  1  maund  and  20  seers  each,  and 
the  consistence  of  the  opium  when  manufactured  is  about  90°. 
Provision  opium  is  manufactured  at  a  consistence  of  75°  at  the 
Patna  (Behar)  Factory,  and  71°  at  theGhazipur  (Benares)  Factory, 
and  is  intended  for  export.  It  is  packed  in  chests,  each  of  which 
contains  1  maund,  28  seers  and  2  chittaks,  or  140^  lbs.  The 
Medical  opium  made  at  the  Patna  (Behar)  Factory  and  supplied  to 
the  Medical  Department,  and  to  Charitable  Medical  Institutions  in 
India,  is  not  included  in  the  figures  given  in  this  return.  The 
average  quantity  of  this  opium  annually  manufactured  during  the 
four  years  ending  with  1894-95  was— cake  opium  410  lbs., 
powdered  opium  677  lbs. 


Lieutenant  Dan  Godfrey,  who  has  during  so  many  years  contri¬ 
buted  towards  the  enjoyment  of  visitors  to  pharmaceutical  gather¬ 
ings,  has  been  the  recipient  of  a  handsome  and  gratifying  testimonial 
from  the  past  and  present  officers  of  the  Brigade  of  Guards,  on  the 
occasion  of  his  retirement  after  forty  years’  service  as  bandmaster 
of  the  Grenadier  Guards.  The  presentation,  which  consisted  of  a 
large  silver  salver  with  tea  and  coffee  service  and  kettle,  was  made 
at  the  Guards’  Club,  by  General  Prince  Edward  of  Saxe- Weimar. 


The  Bristol  Pharmaceutical  Association  Dinner,  a  detailed 
report  of  which  is  unavoidably  deferred  until  next  week,  along 
with  other  interesting  matter,  was  held  on  Wednesday  night  and 
is  described  as  having  been  a  great  success.  Mr.  B.  Allen,  Presi¬ 
dent  of  the  Association,  occupied  the  chair,  and  Mr.  Charles 
Townsend,  J.P.,  the  vice-chair.  The  toast  of  “The  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain”  was  proposed  by  Mr.  E.  Young 
and  ably  responded  to  by  the  Local  Secretary  for  Bristol,  Mr.  B. 
Keen,  who  spoke  at  some  length  and  much  to  the  purpose. 


Popular  Weeklies  publish  a  great  deal  of  rubbish,'  in  the  form 
of  special  articles  of  such  unutterable  foolishness  that  we  consider 
it  both  unnecessary  and  undesirable  to  refer  to  them  as  a  rule.  A 
copy  of  Cassell's  Saturday  Journal,  sent  by  a  correspondent,  con¬ 
tains  an  article  entitled  “  Dodges  in  the  Drug  Trade,”  which  is  in 
no  degree  more  remarkable  for  its  inaccuracies  than  other  similar 
effusions,  except  that  the  writer — if  he  knows  anything  of  the 
subject — has  betrayed  his  connection  with  the  family  of  Ananias 
more  palpably  than  is  usual  in  such  instances.  This  much  being 
said,  it  seems  unnecessary  to  comment  further  on  the  matter. 


238 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Mabch  13,  1897 


PHARMACEUTICAL  SOCIETY. 


DONATIONS  TO  THE  LIBRARY  AND  MUSEUM. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Library,  Museum,  School  and  House  Com¬ 
mittee,  held  on  Wednesday,  the  10th  inst.,  the  Librarian  presented 
the  following  report  of  donations  : — 

To  the  Library  (London). 

Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow  : — Proceedings,  vol.  27. 

T.  B.  Browne,  Limited,  London  : — ‘  The  Advertiser's  ABC,’  1897. 

Mr.  Joseph  Ince,  London  French’s  ‘  Art  of  Distillation,’  1653. 

American  Pharmaceutical  Association  : — Proceedings,  1896. 

Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,  London  : — Proceedings,  1895-96. 

University  of  Durham  : — Calendar,  1897. 

Mr.  J.  Barker  Smith,  London  : — 1  Quantitative  Estimation  of  Urine,’  1897. 
Botanical  Society,  Edinburgh ; — Transactions  and  Proceedings,  1894-96,  vol. 
20,  parts  2-3. 

Radcliffe  Library,  Oxford  : — Catalogue  of  Books  added  during  1896, 


The  following  donations  were  reported  by  the  Curator  : — • 

To  the  Museum  (London). 

The  Director,  Royal  Gardens,  Kew : — Leaves  of  Rhytidophyllum  tomentosum,  from 
Jamaica;  leaves  of  Rhus  juglandifolia,  from  Guayaquil. 

Professor  L.  Planchon,  Montpellier : — Authentic  specimens  of  the  root  of  Alkanna 
tinctoria ;  roots  of  Chrysobalanus  Icaco  and  Strychnos,  M'Boundou ;  stem  of  Acalypha 
Neo-Caledonica ;  barks  of  Richeria  grandis,  Tecoma  pentaphylla  and  Quercus 
coccifera ;  twigs  and  leaves  of  Combretum  Raimbaulti  ;  leaves  of  Orchis  militaris, 
adulterated  saffron ;  fruits  of  Angrcecum  fragrans,  Panda  oleosa,  Poga  oleosa, 
Quassia  africana,  and  Terminalia  mauritanica. 

Mr.  H.  Haensel,  Pima-on-the-Elbe  : — Specimens  of  Thuringian  Fennel  Fruits 
and  of  the  Oil  distilled  from  them,  Oil  of  African  Sandalwood,  and  Frejar  Oil ; 
Fruits  of  Amomum  Daniellii. 

Messrs.  Wright,  Layman,  and  Umney,  London  : — Specimen  of  adulterated 
Saffron  ;  Leaves  of  Zataria  multiflora  ;  and  the  specimens  of  the  Fennel  Fruits 
and  Oils  of  Fennel,  exhibited  at  the  Evening  Meeting. 

Mr.  J.  O.  Brathwaite,  London  : — The  Microscopic  Sections  of  Fennel  Fruits 
exhibited  at  the  Evening  Meeting. 

Mr.  H.  Collier,  Guy’s  Hospital : — Specimens  of  Esoga  Nuts. 

Mr.  J.  Moss,  F.I.C.,  London  : — Specimens  of  five  West  African  remedies. 


IWEETIflGS  Op  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIETIES 

- ♦ - 

Chemical  Society,  Thursday,  March  4. — Mr.  A.  G.  Vernon 
Harcourt,  F.R.S.,  President  in  the  chair. — In  many  respects  this 
meeting  was  an  exceptionally  interesting  one,  so  much  so  indeed 
that  the  new  unwritten  law  regarding  the  time  taken  by 
authors  to  say  all  they  had  to  say  in  half  an  hour  was  entirely 
forgotten  or  ignored,  and  Dr.  Sydney  Young,  the  first  con¬ 
tributor,  was  allowed  to  occupy  an  hour  and  a  quarter, 
Mr.  Heycock  being  another  transgressor  in  this  respect. 
Before  proceeding  to  the  papers  a  question  was  asked  by  Mr. 
C.  E.  Cassal  as  to  why  the  name  of  a  certain  candidate  was 
withdrawn  from  the  Ballot-List.  At  the  mention  of  the  candidate’s 
name,  everyone  of  course  looked  up  his  certificate,  and  it  was  at 
once  apparent  that  there  was  something  out  of  order,  for  it  read 
more  like  a  business  card  than  anything  else.  Mr.  Cassal  was 
informed  that  the  matter  had  been  settled  by  private  letter. 
Professor  Armstrong  put  in  a  few  words  and  then  the  matter 
dropped.  The  first  paper  was  on 

Some  Hydrocarbons  from  American  Petroleum, 
its  first  instalment  being  “Normal  and  Iso-Pentane,”  by  Sydney 
Young,  D.Sc.,  F.R.S.,  and  G.  L.  Thomas,  B.Sc.  Another  paper 
by  Dr.  Sydney  Young,  read  by  him  immediately  after  the  first,  was 
entitled  “  The  Vapour  Pressures,  Specific  Volumes,  and  Critical 
Constants  of  Normal  Pentane,  with  a  Note  on  the  Critical  Point.” 
Dr.  Young  had  no  difficulty  in  satisfying  at  least  the  chemical 
portion  of  his  audience  of  the  identity  of  iso-pentane  obtained  from 
petroleum  or  chemically  prepared.  The  physicists,  however,  were 
not  so  easily  convinced,  and  Professor  Armstrong  went  the  length 
of  saying  that  the  matter  had  not  been  proved.  American 
petroleum  is  a  very  complicated  mixture  of  hydrocarbons,  olefines, 
pentanes,  and  naphthenes,  and  Dr.  Young  mentioned  as  a  curious 
fact  that  the  aromatic  hydrocarbons  distil  before  their  true  boiling 
oints.  The  author  had  some  trouble  in  separating  the  naphthenes, 
ut  had  no  difficulty  with  the  aromatic  hydrocarbons,  pentanes, 
and  olefines.  A  diagram  of  the  distilling  apparatus  was  drawn  on 
the  board,  and  Dr.  Young  described  the  progress  of  the  oil  through 
a  dephlegmator  into  a  still-head,  the  temperature  of  which  was 
regulated  in  an  ingenious  way  by  means  of  a  revolving  spiral  or 
screw,  then  through  a  condenser  into  the  receiver. 


The  second  paper  was  chiefly  composed  of  figures,  and  those,  like 
railway  time  tables,  only  become  interesting  when  it  is  necessary 
to  consult  them.  In  the  discussion  which  followed  upon  these 
papers,  the  President  had  a  good  deal  to  say,  as  he  had  had  some 
experience  in  American  petroleum.  He  had  always  taken  the 
precaution  of  purifying  the  crude  material  first  of  all  with  sul¬ 
phuric  acid  and  caustic  soda,  and  he  thoroughly  agrees  with 
Dr.  Young  as  to  the  identity  of  iso-pentane  obtained  from  the 
natural  source  or  prepared  chemically.  He  could  detect  no  differ¬ 
ence  in  “illuminating”  experiments.  Professor  Thorpe  at  this 
stage  entered  the  room,  and  seemed  somewhat  surprised  when 
the  President  suddenly  asked  him  if  he  could  say  anything  on  'the 
subject.  As  the  Professor  has  done  work  in  this  direction,  how¬ 
ever,  he  soon  saw  how  matters  stood,  and  then  threw  in  his  vote 
with  the  chemists.  He  had  started  with  amylic  alcohol,  and  isolated 
the  iso-pentane  by  different  methods. — Dr.  Young,  in  answer  to  Pro¬ 
fessor  Thorpe’s  question  as  to  how  he  had  prepared  his  iso-pentane, 
said  he  had  done  so  by  means  of  the  copper-zinc  couple  and  amyl1 
iodide. — The  viscosity,  Professor  Thorpe  went  on  to  say,  was  abso¬ 
lutely  identical  in  all  his  experiments,  even  when  the  pentanes  had 
been  prepared  by  different  individuals,  and  By  different  methods ; 
therefore,  he  said,  they  were  not  dealing  with  two  different  sub¬ 
stances. — Dr.  Armstrong  could  not  understand  the  aromatic 
bodies  clinging  to  each  other  in  a  way  not  in  accordance  with  their 
boiling  points. — Dr.  Young  replied,  and  the  next  paper  was  taken. 

On  the  Freezing-Point  Curves  of  Alloys  Containing  Zinc, 
by  C.  T.  Heycock,  F.R.S.,  and  F.  H.  Neville.  It  is  unfortunate 
that  some  idea  of  the  personality  of  an  author  cannot  be  instilled 
into  a  report ;  suffice  it  to  say,  however,  that  Mr.  Heycock  held 
his  audience  spell-bound  for  the  best  part  of  an  hour,  and  he 
contrived  to  serve  up  a  dish  of  the  dry  bones  of  science  in  the 
most  savoury  manner  imaginable.  His  paper  commenced  with  a 
description  of  the  effect  of  zinc  when  added  to  certain  metals, 
depressing  the  freezing  point  in  some  cases.  The  freezing  point 
curve  of  an  alloy  of  zinc  and  cadmium,  and  of  tin  and  zinc  are  at. 
first  almost  the  same,  but  the  latter  afterwards  lies  above  that  of 
the  former,  and  so  on  with  other  metals,  such  as  aluminium  and 
bismuth.  Mr.  Heycock  can  discover  no  evidence  of  chemical 
products,  but  considers  that  they  are  simply  solutions.  Some  metals 
raise  the  freezing  point.  Silver,  gold  and  copper  do  so.  In  these  latter 
alloys,  however,  Mr.  Heycock  says  chemical  compounds  are  formed, 
and  that  it  is  not  altogether  improbable  that  we  should  have  the  for¬ 
mulae  AgZn,  AgZn2,  AgZn;}.  The  silver-zinc  alloy  at  a  high  tempera¬ 
ture — 300°  C.  or  higher — and  then  suddenly  cooled,  has  the  curious 
property  of  turning  a  red  or  pink  colour,  and  this  coloration  is  only 
superficial.  The  alloy  is  naturally  a  grey  colour,  just  like  silver  or 
zinc.  The  phenomenon,  Mr.  Heycock  has  proved,  is  not  brought 
about  by  oxidation,  and  he  is  quite  in  a  dilemma  as  to  what  the 
cause  of  it  is.  The  alloy  is  brittle  and  cannot  be  rolled.  The  next- 
paper  was  by  A.  H.  McConnell  and  E.  S.  Hanes  on— 

The  Oxides  of  Cobalt,  Cobalt  Dioxide,  Cobaltous  Acid, 

AND  COBALTITES. 

The  authors  state  that  they  have  made  some  investigations 
upon  the  action  of  various  oxidising  agents  on  the  three  known 
oxides  of  cobalt,  viz.  :  CoO,  Coa04,  and  Co203,  with  the  object  of 
determining  the  part  played  by  oxidation  in  the  technical  manu¬ 
facture  of  the  pigment  cobalt  blue.  Their  paper  is  a  critical 
review  of  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge  of  the  subject,  and 
the  evidence  they  bring  forward  shows  that  when  cobaltous 
hydrate  is  acted  upon  by  chlorine,  bromine,  hydrogen  peroxide, 
and  other  oxidising  agents,  a  new  oxide  of  cobalt  is  formed 
which  is  partially  soluble  in  water,  forming  cobaltous  acid, 
analogous  to  manganous  acid  present  in  the  manganites. 
This  cobalt  dioxide  and  cobaltous  acid  have  hitherto  been  re¬ 
garded  as  hypothetical  compounds.  The  authors  also  show  that 
when  the  oxidation  is  conducted  in  the  presence  of  an  alkali 
carbonate  or  acid  carbonate,  a  deep  green  solution  of  extraordinary 
colouring  power  is  obtained.  One  part  of  cobalt  can  be  easily 
detected  by  this  method  in  100,000  parts  of  water.  Mr.  McConnell 
who  read  the  paper,  handed  a  bottle  containing  the  delicate  green 
solution  to  the  President,  and  the  colour  was  distinctly  visible 
from  the  benches.  The  green  colour  is  due  to  potassium  or  sodium 
cobaltite,  according  to  the  alkali  employed.  These  new 
compounds,  or  rather  newly  discovered  compounds,  are  very 
unstable,  and  up  to  the  present  the  authors  have  not  been  able 
to  isolate  them.  But  from  analyses  of  this  green  solution 
they  show  that  cobaltous  acid  forms  alkali  cobaltites  on  the  type 
of  potassium  cobaltite,  to  which  they  assign  the  formula  K.2OCo02. 


March  13,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


239 


A  number  of  interesting  reactions  of  these  new  compounds  are 
described,  which  prove  that  the  views  put  forward  in  explanation 
of  this  green  colour  by  Mr.  R.  G.  Durrant,  M.A.,  in  two  recent 
papers  read  before  the  Society  are  altogether  untenable.  The 
last  paper  was  on 

A  New  Synthesis  in  tiie  Sugar  Group, 
by  H.  J.  H.  Fenton,  M.A.  The  author  gave  the  gist  of  his  paper 
very  briefly,  as  it  was  already  long  past  the  usual  hour  for  closing. 
It  appears  that  this  new  body  is  dihydroxymaleic  acid. — Among 
the  papers  taken  as  read  was  one  entitled  “  A  Synthesis  of  Citric 
Acid,”  by  W.  J.  Lawrence,  B.A.,  Ph.D. 


THE  WORLD  Op  PHARMACY. 

- 4 - - 

BUSINESS  MEETINGS. 


British  Pharmaceutical  Conference,  Wednesday, 
March  3. — Dr.  Symes,  President,  in  the  chair. — At  a  meeting  of 
the  Executive  Committee,  on  the  motion  of  the  President, 
seconded  by  Mr.  Atkins,  the  Secretary  was  requeestd  to  send  to 
the  widow  of  the  late  Mr.  Schacht  a  letter  of  condolence  and  an 
expression  of  the  deep  respect  and  admiration  in  which  her  hus¬ 
band  had  been  universally  held  by  the  officers  and  other  members 
of  the  Executive  of  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference. — A 
letter  was  read  from  Mr.  D.  Hooper,  resigning  his  position 
as  Colonial  Secretary  for  the  Presidency  of  Madras,  in  consequence 
of  his  departure  from  Ootacamund  for  Calcutta.  Mr.  Hooper 
was  cordially  thanked  for  his  services,  and  upon  his  nomina¬ 
tion,  Mr.  W.  E.  Smith,  of  Madras,  was  elected  as  his  successor. 
— The  following  gentlemen  were  appointed  as  a  Sub-Committee  to 
revise  the  Blue  List  previous  to  its  distribution  amongst 
members  : — Professor  Greenish,  Messrs.  Bird,  Moss,  Naylor,  and 
J.  C.  Umney. — An  application  was  received  from  the  Liverpool 
Pharmaceutical  Students’  Association  to  be  supplied  annually 
with  a  copy  of  the  Year-Book.  It  was  decided  to  grant  the 
request. — A  circular  was  read  from  an  International  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Congress  to  be  held  at  Brussels  in  August,  inviting  the 
co-operation  of  members  of  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference, 
The  President  was  requested  to  acknowledge  its  receipt,  and  to 
express  the  sympathy  of  the  Executive  with  the  objects  of  the 
proposed  Congress. — Nine  gentlemen,  having  been  duly  nominated, 
were  elected  bo  membership. 


Liverpool  Pharmaceutical  Students’  Society,  Thurs¬ 
day,  March  4. — Mr.  John  Jones,  President,  in  the  chair. — Mr. 
R.  C.  Cowley  read  a  paper  on 

The  Analysis  of  Fatty  Oils. 

The  report  of  this  lecture  is  unavoidedly  deferred.  In  the  dis¬ 
cussion  which  followed,  Mr.  T.  H.  Wardleworth  confessed  that 
he  was  somewhat  disappointed  that  Mr.  Cowley  had  not  mentioned 
any  tests  by  which  the  genuineness  or  otherwise  of  cod-liver 
oil  could  be  proved.  During  the  recent  high  prices  which  cod-liver 
oil  brought,  it  was  more  than  ever  necessary  to  guard  against 
adulteration  with  other  fish  oils,  and  he  had  found  that  for  this 
purpose  the  B.  P.  test  was  absolutely  useless;  could  Mr.  Cowley 
indicate  a  better  one  ? — Mr.  Peirson  asked  if  there  was  any  ready 
and  good  means  of  distinguishing  between  almond  oil  and  oil 
of  peach  kernels,  whilst  Mr.  Marsden  wished  for  a  good  test  for 
nut  oil,  and  mentioned  that  of  Mr.  Holmes,  depending  on 
the  nutty  flavour  given  off  when  the  oil  adulterated 
with  nut  oil  is  poured  on  hot  mashed  potatoes. 
Mr.  Cowley  had  not  mentioned  the  detection  of  hydrocarbon  oils, 
nor  had  he  said  that  he  had  used  the  viscosimeter  advised  by 
Boverton  Redwood. — In  reply,  Mr.  Cowley  said  that  there  was  no 
single  test  that  he  could  mention  as  being  of  use  in  cod-liver  oil 
examination,  and  he  agreed  that  the  sulphuric  acid  test  was  not  of 
the  slightest  utility  for  distinguishing  admixture  of  other  fish  oils. 
For  olive  oil  the  nitric  acid  test  was  the  best  all  round,  whilst  for 
proving  that  the  adulterant  was  nutroil,  the  presence  in  that  oil  of 
arachidic  acid  gave  a  ready  means  of  accomplishing  the  detection 
by  throwing  it  out  as  a  lead  salt  which,  unlike  oleate  of 
lead,  is  insoluble  in  ether.  The  iodine  absorption  test  he 
had  found  very  good  for  fixed  oils,  though  he  agreed  with 
what  had  just  been  said  as  to  its  uncertainty  where  essential 
oils  are  concerned.  He  could  not  say  that  he  had  any  great 
experience  in  the  use  of  the  viscosimeter,  nor  could  he  give  Mr. 
Peirson  the  test  he  required  for  distinguishing  peach  kernel  oil 


from  almond  oil.  Hydrocarbon  oils,  including  rosin  oil,  were 
easily  found  out  by  the  manner  in  which  an  oil  responded  to  the 
saponification  test. — Mr.  H.  Wyatt,  jun.,  said  that  he  had  come 
across  a  test  for  peach  kernel  oil  in  an  Italian  journal,  depending 
on  the  production  of  a  precipitate  of  the  small  quantity  of  benzalde- 
hyde  naturally  contained  in  the  oil  when  a  strong  solution  of  an 
alkaline  bisulphite  is  added,  but  he  could  not  say  anything  with 
regard  to  its  utility. 


SOCIAL  MEETINGS- 

Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,  Thursday,  March  4. 
— The  nineteenth  annual  dinner  of  the  Association  was  held  at  the 
King’s  Hall,  Holborn  Restaurant.  The  gathering  was  a  record 
one,  the  company  numbering  about  two  hundred  and  seventy. 
Mr.  C.  Morley,  President  of  the  Association,  occupied  the  chair, 
and  was  supported  by  Mr.  Walter  Hills,  President  of  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society,  Sir  William  H.  Broadbent,  M.D.,  Professor  H.  G. 
Greenish,  Dr.  Macnaughton-Jones,  Dr.  J.  Attfield,  and  Dr.  Symes. 
There  were  also  present  :  Messrs.  R.  Bremridge,  J.  C.  Umney, 
C.  B.  Allen,  F.  Clarke,  G.  Hodgkinson,  J.  J.  Ward,  A.  Cooper, 
J.  W.  Taplin,  A.  J.  Philips,  Mackey,  J.  Moss,  H.  C.  Wright, 
J.  O.  Braithwaite,  F.  C.  J.  Birdand  many  others.  Messrs.  E.  W.  Hill, 
R.  G.  Guyer,  Strother,  Melhuish,  Moore, Solomon,  andE.  W.  Martin 
presided  over  the  spur  tables. — At  the  conclusion  of  the  repast 
the  Chairman  proposed  the  toast  of  “  The  Queen,”  which  was 
enthusiastically  responded  to,  and  accompanied  by  the  singing  of 
the  National  Anthem. — Mr.  C.  E.  Robinson  followed  with  the 
toast  of 

“The  Medical  Profession.” 

In  a  short  and  effective  speech  he  alluded  to  the  friendly  relations 
existing  between  the  medical  profession  and  pharmacy,  and 
coupled  with  the  toast  the  names  of  Sir  William  Broadbent  and 
Dr.  Macnaughton-Jones. — Sir  William  H.  Broadbent,  who  was 
received  with  much  applause,  expressed  his  thanks  for  the  way  in 
which  the  toast  had  been  honoured,  and  said  he  was  much  impressed 
by  the  excellent  and  impersonal  manner  in  which  it  had  been  proposed 
by  Mr.  Robinson.  He  represented  the  sympathy  which  existed 
between  them  and  the  medical  profession,  and  the  expression  of 
that  sympathy  was  his  presence  with  them  that  evening.  As  a 
rule  public  dinners  were  on  his  list  of  things  to  be  avoided,  but  on 
that  occasion  he  felt  it  a  privilege  to  be  the  guest  of  an  association 
which  had  accomplished  such  great  results.  The  interests  of  the 
medical  profession  and  pharmacy  were  bound  up  together,  their 
pursuits  were  similar,  and  they  were  all  concerned  in  the  mitigation 
of  human  suffering.  Their  education  had  that  for  its  object ; 
that  was  the  tie  which  linked  them  together  and  constituted  them 
an  important  branch  of  the  medical  profession.  He  should 
remember  that  dinner  with  great  satisfaction,  and  thanked  them 
on  behalf  of  the  great  profession  which  he  had  the  honour  to 
represent. — Dr.  Macnaughton-Jones  also  responded,  concluding 
by  alluding  to  the  services  rendered  by  pharmacy  to  medicine  in 
connection  with  the  action  of  drugs.- — At  this  point  variety  was 
introduced  into  the  proceedings  by  the  taking  of  a  flash-light 
photograph  of  the  entire  company,  and  Mr.  A.  Ralph  Melhuish 
next  proposed 

“  The  Pharmaceutical  Society’.” 

He  said  he  was  very  pleased  to  see  all  branches  of  pharmacy  so  well 
represented,  both  scientific,  examining,  and  literary.  The  toast 
of  ‘  ‘  The  Pharmaceutical  Society  ”  was  like  that  of  the  Queen,  they 
always  expected  it,  they  always  got  it,  and  they  always  honoured 
it.  Sometimes,  it  was  true,  the  Society  was  criticised  at  their 
meetings,  but  they  always  recognised  that  it  was  doing  good  work, 
and  that  only  through  the  Society  could  any  lasting  benefit  accrue 
to  the  trade  of  pharmacy.  He  deplored  the  want  of  support  by 
the  majority  of  the  trade,  and  hoped  that  chemists  and  druggists 
would  in  the  near  future  be  allowed  equal  right  with  members. — - 
Mr.  Walter  Hills,  in  responding,  said  the  C.A.A.  had  been 
always  loyal  and  a  source  of  strength  to  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society,  and  knowing  the  members  were  loyal  at  heart, 
the  Council  of  the  Society  could  bear  their  criticisms.  The  time 
of  the  annual  election  was  near  at  hand,  and  in  this  connection  he 
might  remark  that  fifty  years  ago  there  were  seventeen  London 
members  of  Council  out  of  twenty-one,  and  there  were  now  five. 
It  was  essential  for  the  interests  of  the  Society  to  have  a  fair 
proportion  of  London  members  of  Council,  and  it  did  not  need 
even  the  arithmetic  of  the  Preliminary  examination  to  calculate 
what  that  proportion  would  probably  be  as  years  rolled  on.  He 


240 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[March  13,  1897 


would  ask  them  to  bear  that  fact  in  mind  on  the  day  of  election. 
He  had  a  secret  to  divulge  to  them  (which  next  morning  would  be  no 
longer  a  secret)  in  reference  to  the  Preliminary  examination.  After 
June,  1900,  that  examination  would  no  longer  be  conducted  by  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society,  but  students  previous  to  registration  would 
be  required  to  produce  the  certificate  of  some  approved  examining 
body.  Practically,  the  examination  was  that  demanded  as  a  pre¬ 
liminary  by  the  General  Medical  Council,  and  would  stand  good 
for  entry  on  either  medical,  veterinary,  or  dental  studies.  Besides 
the  ordinary  subjects,  those  of  Euclid,  algebra,  and  a  modern 
foreign  language  were  included.  He  looked  particularly  to  them 
as  younger  men  for  support  and  assistance  to  carry  this  scheme  to 
maturity,  for  it  was  in  a  sense  their  own,  a  meeting  of  the  C.A.A. 
in  1891  having  passed  a  resolution  in  favour  of  the  change  now 
proposed.  Strong  men  and  not  weak  ones  were  required 
for  the  advance  of  their  calling,  and  by  widening  the 
scope  of  the  examination  a  different  class  of  men  would 
be  brought  into  their  ranks.  Every  strong  man  raised, 
and  every  weak  one  lowered  both  their  social  and  financial 
standard.  He  trusted  they  would  attend  at  the  annual  meeting 
and  show  the  present  Council  that  the  general  feeling  was  with  it. 
He  thanked  them  for  their  kind  reception  of  the  toast,  and  looked 
to  the  Chemists’  Assistants’  Association  to  provide  active  and 
energetic  members  of  the  Society,  and  in  the  future  good 
examiners  and  capable  occupiers  of  the  presidential  chair. 

Dr.  J.  Attfield  (in  the  unavoidable  absence  of  Mr.  J.  Harrison, 
J.P.,  of  Sunderland,  Vice-President  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society)  gave  the  toast  of  the  evening, 

“The  Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,” 
and  in  alluding  to  his  long  connection  with  the  members  in  many 
ways  remarked  that  the  objects  of  their  Association  were  practically 
the  same  as  what  they  were  many  yeais  ago.  He  found  that 
they  endeavour  to  interest  assistants  in  their  calling  by  giving 
prizes  for  the  best  essays  and  practical  work,  encouraging 
pharmaceutical  research,  and  promoting  good-fellowship 
amongst  their  members.  He  complimented  them  on  the  success 
which  had  attended  their  efforts,  as  evidenced  by  the  reports  of 
the  proceedings,  both  scientific  and  social,  which  appeared  from 
time  to  time  in  the  pharmaceutical  press.  A  terrible  amount  of 
envy  and  jealousy  existed  amongst  pharmacists,  and  although  all 
were  offered  welcome  to  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  one  only  out 
of  every  three  or  four  responded  to  that  noble  invitation.  It 
was  a  sad  and  melancholy  reflection.  In  1849  the  number 
of  pharmaceutical  associations  could  be  counted  on  the  fingers 
of  one’s  hand,  but  now  the  example  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society,  and  that  of  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference 
(which  might  be  called  the  peripatetic  Pharmaceutical  Society) 
had  been  generally  followed  throughout  the  country,  an  in¬ 
dication  that  pharmacists  were  gradually  learning  to  pull 
together.  In  a  short  time  they  would  be  in  possession  of  a  new 
pharmacopoeia,  which  might  contain  questionable  pharmacy,  and 
perhaps  questionable  chemistry  ;  they  might  even  find  on  every 
page  something  to  be  altered.  But  let  them  make  it  their  aim  and 
duty  to  work  in  the  direction  of  producing  a  better  pharmacopoeia 
during  the  next  decade  than  the  one  which  would  appear  at  the 
end  of  the  year.  If  the  Pharmacopoeia  was  to  be  worthy  of  an 
enlightened  country  like  theirs,  research  must  be  made  by  phar¬ 
macists  all  over  the  kingdom,  and  the  results  dealt  with  by  a  com¬ 
mittee  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  in  London,  so  that  it  might 
be  raised  to  the  proud  position  of  the  best  pharmacopoeia  in  the 
world.  Long  might  they  prosper  and  do  good  work,  and  long 
might  they  have  on  their  Council  such  names  as  those  of  Mr. 
Melhuish,  Mr.  Guyer,  and  their  President,  Mr.  Charles  Morley. 
— Mr.  Charles  Morley,  who  on  rising  to  respond  was  received 
with  musical  honours,  said  he  considered  individual  isolation  was 
a  source  of  weakness  in  any  community,  and,  speaking  phreno- 
logically,  the  'thought  that  if  there  was  such  a  bump,  that  of 
“splendid  isolation”  was  exceptionally  well  developed  in  the 
average  pharmacist.  Their  Association  tried  to  remove  this,  and 
also  that  want  of  esprit  de  corps  alluded  to  by  Dr.  Attfield.  They 
were  not  sufficiently  supported  by  chemists’  assistants,  but  he 
hoped  the  future  would  see  a  large  accession  to  their  ranks.  They 
cultivated  the  social  side  as  well  as  the  scientific  in  the  form  of 
Cinderella  dances,  conversazione,  smoking  concert,  and  social 
evenings,  but  he  did  not  think  they  could  spare  any  more  of  the 
scientific  nights  for  those  purposes.  Light  refreshments  were 
provided  at  their  ordinary  meetings,  and  .  certainly  most 
excellent  value  was  returned  for  the  annual  subscription  of  five 
shillings.  Mr.  Morley  concluded  amidst  enthusiastic  applause. 


Mr.  W.  Moore  in  a  short  speech  proposed  the  toast  of 

“The  Visitors” 

to  a  rapidly  thinning  audience,  and  in  response  Dr.  Symes,  referring 
to  the  comparatively  non-representative  character  of  the  member¬ 
ship  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  stated  that  the  Society  did  not 
represent  the  bulk  of  their  calling.  He  advised  all  young  men  to 
join  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  and  the  British  Pharmaceutical 
Conference,  which  latter  body  did  much  to  promote  sociability 
and  good  feeling.  He  considered  that  jealousy  among  pharmacists 
was  now  not  more  than  one-tenth  of  what  it  was  many  years  ago, 
and  this  was  due,  in  great  part,  to  the  Conference  meeting  in 
different  parts  of  the  country.  The  members  of  the  local  com¬ 
mittee,  brought  together  for  arranging  the  details  of  the  visit,  often 
found  that  although  rivals  perhaps,  and  competitors  in  business,  ah 
heart  and  socially,  they  were  all  ‘  ‘  very  good  fellows,”  and  so  friendli¬ 
ness  and  good-fellowship  were  promoted  in  that  particular  district. 

An  excellent  musical  programme  greatly  contributed  to  the 
enjoyment  of  the  evening,  Messrs.  Jamieson,  Thorne,  Brandon 
and  Thomas  were  the  vocalists,  Mr.  A.  C.  Mackadam  accompanying 
at  the  piano.  The  hour  being  late  when  Dr.  Symes  finished 
speaking,  the  audience  had  been  greatly  diminished,  but  the  few 
who  remained  joined  in  singing  “  Auld  Lang  Syne”  with  great 
energy,  and  this  concluded  perhaps  the  most  successful  of  the 
many  successful  annual  dinners  of  the  Chemists’  Assistants’  Asso¬ 
ciation. 


Edinburgh  Chemists’,  Assistants’,  and  Apprentices’ 
Association,  Friday,  March  5.— The  annual  supper  of  the  Asso¬ 
ciation  took  place  in  the  Imperial  Hotel,  Market  Street. — Mr. 
James  McBain,  President,  occupied  the  chair,  and  Messrs.  G. 
Sinclair,  Vice-President,  and  J.  D.  Sinclair,  Hon.  Sec.,  acted  as 
croupiers. — Mr.  G.  Sinclair,  in  proposing 

“The  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain,” 

referred  to  the  proposed  new  bye-laws,  and  remarked  that  it  was 
high  time  that  all  registered  chemists  who  joined  the  Society 
should  be  admitted  to  a  direct  voice  in  the  management  of  the 
Society’s  affairs. — The  toast  was  acknowledged  by  Mr.  W.  L. 
Currie,  who  expressed  agreement  with  what  had  been  stated  by 
Mr.  Sinclair.  He  would  go  further,  and  make  every  man  who- 
passed  the  Minor  examination  eligible  for  a  seat  on  the  Council. 
He  referred  to  the  relatively  small  number  of  registered  chemists 
who  joined  the  Society,  and  expressed  a  strong  opinion  that  no- 
improvement  was  to  be  expected  till  some  effective  change  was 
made  to  consolidate  the  Society  on  a  truly  democratic  basis. — Mr. 
J.  A.  Forret  proposed 

“  The  Edinburgh  Chemists’,  Assistants’,  and  Apprentices’' 

Association,” 

which  was  acknowledged  by  the  Chairman. — Mr.  W.  L.  Currie 
proposed  “  The  Edinburgh  Chemists’  District  Trade  Association/’ 
and  Mr.  J.  Bowman  replied. — Mr.  J.  Rutherford  Hill  pro¬ 
posed  “The  Edinburgh  Pharmacy  Athletic  Club,”  and  “The 
Edinburgh  District  Chemists’  Golf  Club,”  the  former  being 
acknowledged  by  Mr.  D.  Maclaren,  and  the  latter  by  Mr.  G. 
Lunan. — “  The  Ladies”  was  proposed  by  Mr.  J.  Sivewright,  and 
acknowledged  by  Mr.  G.  Coull,  and  “  The  Chairman  and 
Croupiers,”  by  Mr.  Duncan.  Songs,  recitations,  and  instru¬ 
mental  pieces  were  contributed  by  Messrs.  W.  L.  Currie,  W. 
Duncan,  Rowland,  A.  Murray,  J.  Bowman,  jun.,  P.  Barneveld, 
Shiels,  Butchart,  and  Sid.  Cornish,  and  Mr.  James  Crichton 
acted  efficiently  as  accompanist. — In  the  course  of  the  evening,  on 
the  suggestion  of  the  Chairman,  a  collection  was  taken  for  the 
Benevolent  Fund,  amounting  to  £1  15s.  0 d. 


Brighton  Junior  Association  of  Pharmacy,  Wednes¬ 
day,  March  3. — Mr.  W.  W.  Savage  in  the  chair. — The  last  musical 
and  social  meeting  of  the  1896-7  session  was  attended  by  a  very 
large  number  of  members  and  friends,  and  an  excellent  programme 
was  rendered. 


Edinburgh  District  Chemists’  Golf  Club,  Thursday,. 
March  4.— A  meeting  was  held  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Society’s 
House,  36,  York  Place,  Edinburgh,  of  those  favourable  to  the 
formation  of  a  new  golf  club,  distinct  from  the  Pharmacy  Athletic 
Club. — Mr.  George  Lunan,  who  occupied  the  chair,  moved  that 
the  meeting  form  a  new  club,  to  be  called  “The  Edinburgh  Dis¬ 
trict  Chemists’  Golf  Club.” — This  was  seconded  by  Mr.  James 
Stott,  and  unanimously  agreed  to.  A  constitution  and  rules  were 


March  13,  1697] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


2U 


then  drawn  up,  the  subscriptions  to  be  10*.  6 d.  for  honorary,  7 s.  6 d. 
for  ordinary,  and  2s.  6 d.  for  apprentice  members.  The  following 
office  bearers  were  then  elected : — Honorary  President,  Adam 
Gibson,  F.C.S,  ■;  Captain,  George  Lunan  ;  Vice-Captain,  H.  D. 
Alexander  ;  Secretary,  James  Stott  ;  Assistant-Secretary,  John 
'Greig  ;  Treasurer,  W.  B.  Cowie  ;  and  as  members  of  Committee, 
Messrs.  Baker,  Dey,  Laing,  Lyon,  Paterson,  G.  Robertson,  and 
Stewart. 


LEGAL  INTELLIGENCE. 


PROCEEDINGS  UNDER  THE  PHARMACY  ACTS. 


Prosecutions  at  Glasgow. 

At  the  Sheriff  Court  House,  Glasgow,  on  Friday,  March  5,  a 
■number  of  cases  of  prosecution  instituted  by  the  Registrar  under 
the  Pharmacy  Acts,  1852  and  1868,  Mr.  Richard  Bremridge,  came 
before  Sheriff  Bremner  Lee. — Mr.  T.  B.  Morison,  advocate,  Edin¬ 
burgh,  instructed  by  Messrs.  Martin  and  Barrie,  writers,  Glasgow, 
-appeared  for  the  prosecutor. 

The  first  case  was  against  James  Tulloch,  assistant  in  the  shop 
of  Dr.  Aitken,  378,  Rutherglen  Road,  Glasgow,  who  was  charged 
•with  selling  a  bottle  of  Powell’s  Balsam  of  Aniseed  to  an  agent  of 
the  Registrar  on  November  28. 

Mr.  Richardson,  solicitor,  who  appeared  for  defendant,  said  he 
would  plead  guilty  in  the  event  of  the  Sheriff  deciding  against  him 
•on  certain  objections  to  the  complaint  which  he  had  to  state.  He 
objected  that  the  species  faeti  did  not  come  within  the  provisions  of 
the  Act.  His  client  was  charged  with  selling  Powell’s  balsam,  but 
that  was  not  included  in  the  Schedule  to  the  Act.  They  might  as 
well  charge  a  painter  with  selling  a  wallpaper  containing  arsenic.  In 
t  ie  second  place  he  objected  because  of  insufficient  specification, 
in asmuch  as  only  Sections  1  and  15  of  the  Act  were  cited.  Section  2, 
•which  described  a  poison,  should  also  have  been  cited.  He  com¬ 
plained  also  of  general  vagueness  and  ambiguity.  He  was  not 
directly  charged  with  selling  morphine,  but  the  complaint  went  on 
■to  say  he  sold  Powell's  balsam.  Lastly,  this  complaint  bore  to  be 
brought  under  the  Summary  Procedure  Acts,  1864  and  1881,  and 
he  complained  that  its  terms  were  not  in  conformity  with  the 
schedules  attached  to  these  Acts.  The  defendant  was  cited  to 
“appear  to  this  complaint.”  The  woi’ds  had  no  meaning,  and  it 
should  have  been  “  appear  to  answer  to  this  complaint.” 

Mr.  Morison  said  these  objections  were  all  unfounded.  The 
■defendant  was  charged  with  selling  morphine,  and  it  was  to  give 
him  fair  notice  of  the  nature  of  the  charge  against  him  that  the 
prosecutor  explained  that  when  sold  the  morphine  was  contained 
in  a  bottle  of  Powell’s  balsam  sold  by  him.  This  point  had  been 
clearly  decided  in  the  case  of  Bremridge  v.  Armson,  in  1894 
J2  Q„  B.  D. ,  page  720),  where  it  was  stated  that  poison  in  a  cup  of 
tea  or  a  bottle  of  wine  did  not  cease  to  be  poison.  It  was 
•quite  unnecessary  to  cite  Section  2,  defining  a  poison.  One  might 
.as  well  cite  the  section  defining  a  chemist  and  druggist.  These 
.•section  3  were  incorporated  in  the  phraseology  of  Sections  1  and  15, 
which  constituted  the  offence  here.  The  phrase  “  to  appear  to  a 
complaint”  was  in  constant  use,  and  could  mean  only  one  thing.  If 
his  Lordship  wished  he  could  add  “and  answer,”  but  he  thought 
±he  meaning  was  perfectly  clear  without  these  words. 

Mr.  Richardson  said  the  authorities  quoted  had  no  bearing  on 
.this  case,  because  the  objections  had  been  put  in  after  the  trial, 
whereas  he  was  now  putting  the  objections  in  before  the  trial.  In 
Piper’s  case,  too,  it  was  proved  that  the  quantity  of  poison  might 
be  infinitesimal,  and  in  that  case  it  would  not  be  struck  at  by  the 
Act. 

The  Sheriff  repelled  all  the  objections. 

The  defendant  then  pleaded  guilty,  and  the  Sheriff  imposed  a 
modified  penalty  of  £2  and  £1  Is.  of  expenses. 


The  next  case  was  against— Miss  J.  Noble,  assistant  in  the  shop 
•of  Dr.  Barrie,  155,  Eglington  Street,  Glasgow,  who  was  charged 
•with  selling  laudanum  and  Powell's  Balsam  to  two  agents  of  the 
Registrar  on  November  28. 

The  defendant  pleaded  not  guilty,  and  her  employer,  Dr.  Barrie, 
was  allowed  by  the  Sheriff  to  speak  for  her. 

Mr.  J.  Rutherford  Hill  produced  the  Register  of  Chemists  and 
•Druggists  for  1896,  which  proved  that  defendant  was  not  duly 
.registered.  He  also  produced  the  bottle  of  laudanum  and  the 


bottle  of  Powell’s  balsam  mentioned  in  the  complaint,  which  he 
had  analysed  and  found  to  be  poisons  within  the  meaning  of  the 
Act,  1868. 

Alexander  Spence  and  Joseph  Tait  proved  the  purchase  of  the 
poisons,  and  declared  that  defendant  was  alone  in  the  shop. 

Dr.  Barrie  said  there  were  no  witnesses  for  the  defence.  He  was 
sure  this  must  have  been  a  mistake  on  the  part  of  his  assistant  if 
she  sold  these  poisons,  for  she  had  instructions  from  him  not  to 
sell  poisons  except  when  he  was  in  the  shop,  and  he  felt  sure  she 
never  did  so.  These  poisons  were  sold  at  his  consulting  hour,  and 
that  enabled  him  to  say  he  must  have  been  in  the  shop°when  they 
were  sold.  He  would  be  either  in  the  front  shop  or  in  the  consult¬ 
ing  room.  His  assistant  was  not  in  the  habit  of  selling  poisons, 
except  when  he  was  in  the  shop. 

Mr.  Morison  said,  on  the  contrary,  his  information  was  that  the 
defendant  was  regularly  employed  in  selling  poisons  in  this  shop 
when  Dr.  Barrie  was  not  present.  Otherwise  there  would  have 
been  no  complaint. 

The  Sheriff,  addressing  the  defendant,  said  I  am  very  sorry,  but 
I  must  hold  you  guilty.  I  do  not  think  you  are  so  much  responsible 
for  these  offences  as  Dr.  Barrie  is.  "They  are  really  more  his 
than  yours.  But  these  are  very  grave  offences  which  he  has 
allowed  you  to  commit,  and  I  must  impose  a  modified  penalty  of 
£1  for  each  offence,  and  £1  Is.  of  expenses. 


The  next  case  was  against  Archibald  Taylor,  assistant  in  the 
shop  of  Dr.  Robertson,  90,  Main  Street,  Gorbals,  Glasgow,  who 
was  charged  with  selling  laudanum,  on  November  28,  to  an  agent 
of  the  Registrar. 

Defendant  appeared  and  pleaded  not  guilty.  He  conducted  his 
own  case,  and  denied  that  he  sold  laudanum. 

Mr.  J.  Rutherford  Hill  produced  the  Register  proving  that 
defendant  was  not  registered.  He  also  produced  a  2-drachm 
bottle  containing  the  laudanum  mentioned  in  the  complaint,  which 
he  had  analysed  and  found  to  contain  opium  and  to  be  laudanum. 
The  bottle  was  not  labelled  “  Laudanum”  nor  “Poison.”  It  had 
on  it  the  words  “  15  drops  in  the  castor  oil.”  Cross-examined 
by  defendant,  Mr.  Hill  said  the  contents  of  the  bottle  had  all  the 
appearance  of  laudanum,  and  it  certainly  contained  a  considerable 
quantity  of  opium. 

Defendant  :  Did  you  estimate  the  quantity  of  morphine  ? 

Witness  :  No,  I  only  proved  the  presence  of  opium  in  quantity. 

Defendant:  Well,  you  are  not  an  analyst  at  all.  If  you  weie 
you  would  know  that  you  cannot  test  laudanum  with  less  than  an 
ounce. 

Witness :  On  the  contrary,  there  is  still  quite  sufficient  in  the 
bottle  for  another  analysis. 

Alexander  Spence  and  Joseph  Tait  proved  the  sale  of  laudanum. 

Defendant  said  he  had  no  witnesses.  He  denied  that  what  he 
sold  was  laudanum.  The  Pharmaceutical  Society  had  been 
watching  him  for  two  or  three  years  to  catch  him  selling  poisons, 
and  he  had  refused  them  on  two  occasions  before.  The  witness 
Spence  came  to  him  for  a  bottle  of  castor  oil  and  something 
to  relieve  a  pain,  and  he  gave  him  something  to  the  best  of  his 
ability. 

The  Sheriff,  having  examined  the  bottle  of  laudanum,  said 
defendant  had  produced  no  evidence  to  show  that  what  he  sup¬ 
plied  was  not  laudanum.  It  had  been  clearly  proved  that  lauda¬ 
num  was  asked  for,  and  he  must  also  hold  it  proved  that  laudanum 
was  supplied.  He  therefore  found  the  defendant  guilty,  and 
imposed  a  modified  penalty  of  £2  and  £1  Is.  of  expenses. 


The  next  case  was  against  M.  J.  McArthur,  assistant  in  the 
shop  of  Dr.  Lawson,  at  506,  Cathcart  Road,  Glasgow,  who  was 
charged  with  selling  laudanum  and  also  cantharides  as  an  ingre¬ 
dient  in  a  blister  dispensed  by  him  on  November  21,  and  a  bottle 
ofBudden’s  “Balsam  of  Horehound  and  Coltsfoot”  on  November  28, 
to  two  agents  of  the  Registrar. 

Mr.  Brownlee,  solicitor,  appeared  for  the  defendant,  and  said  he 
had  also  formally  to  tender  the  objections  stated  by  Mr.  Richardson, 
although  these  had  been  repelled.  He  had  also  to  state  that 
defendant  had  served  a  regular  apprenticeship  and  had  had  con¬ 
siderable  experience.  He  had  also  been  up  for  his  examination  in 
January,  when  he  unfortunately  failed  in  only  one  subject. 

The  defendant  then  pleaded  guilty. 

The  Sheriff  said  he  thought  the  plea  that  defendant  had  had 
considerable  experience  was  rather  against  him.  He  must  be  all 
the  better  aware  that  what  he  had  done  was  a  dangerous  and 


242 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[March  13,  1897. 


illegal  act,  and  it  was  an  aggravation  of  the  offence  to  say  that  he 
committed  it  with  his  eyes  open.  He  therefore  found  him  guilty, 
and  imposed  a  modified  penalty  of  £1  for  each  of  the  three  offences, 
and  £1  l.s.  of  expenses. 

Other  three  cases  were  withdrawn  by  the  prosecution. 


Prosecution  at  Hamilton. 

The  case  of  Bremridge  v.  Miss  Helen  Robb,  assistant  in  the 
shop  of  Dr.  Grant,  at  Blantyre,  near  Hamilton,  came  before  Sheriff 
Davidson  in  the  Sheriff  Court  House  at  Hamilton,  on  Tuesday, 
March  9. 

The  defendant,  Miss  Robb,  assistant  in  the  shop  of  Dr.  Grant, 
at  Blantyre,  near  Hamilton,  was  charged  with  selling,  on 
November  3,  to  an  agent  of  the  Registrar  a  quantity  of  morphine 
as  an  ingredient  in  a  bottle  of  Kerr’s  “Horehound,  Honey,  and 
Tamarinds.” 

Mr.  Louden,  of  Archibald  and  Louden,  solicitors,  Hamilton, 
instructed  by  Mr.  P.  Morison,  S.S.C. ,  Edinburgh,  appeared  for 
the  prosecutor.  Mr.  Arthur  Frame,  of  Hay  and  Cassels,  solicitors, 
Hamilton,  appeared  for  defendant. 

Mr.  Frame  said  his  client  pleaded  guilty.  She  had  been  for  a 
number  of  years  engaged  in  doctors’  shops,  but  it  was  only  about 
eighteen  month  since  she  entered  the  shop  of  Dr.  Grant.  She 
had  never  before  sold  patent  medicines,  and  was  not  aware  that 
it  was  wrong  to  sell  them  in  the  way  she  had  done.  He  was 
also  instructed  to  say  that  Dr.  Grant  intended  to  give  up  this 
shop  and  supply  medicines  only  from  his  own  house.  This  was 
the  first  case  of  this  kind  in  the  district,  and  he  asked  that  a 
small  penalty  only  should  be  inflicted. 

Mr.  Louden  said  these  proceedings  were  instituted,  not  for  a 
close  corporation,  but  in  the  interests  of  the  safety  of  the  public. 

The  Sheriff :  I  am  quite  satisfied  on  that  point.  It  is  clear  that 
the  Act  is  passed  to  secure  the  safety  of  the  public. 

Mr.  Louden  said  he  had  to  ask  for  the  full  penalty  in  this  case,  for 
it  was  clear,  at  least,  that  Dr.  Grant  must  know  that  his  assistant 
could  not  lawfully  sell  poison.  There  had  been  several  prosecutions 
for  the  sale  of  this  very  article  in  Ayr  and  at  Greenock,  and  these  had 
been  fully  reported  in  the  daily  press.  There  had  also  been  several 
cases  in  Glasgow  and  at  Airdrie.  Though  this  article  appeared  so 
innocent-looking  at  first  sight,  it  really  contained  a  powerful  poison, 
and  had  the  evidence  been  called  it  would  have  been  proved  that  it 
contained  sufficient  morphine  to  be  fatal  to  a  child.  Defendant 
could  hardly  plead  that  she  did  not  know  it  was  a  poison,  but  both 
on  the  outside  wrapper  and  on  the  label  on  the  bottle  it  was  stated 
to  contain  poison,  and  to  be  therefore  labelled  poison.  His  Lordship 
would  see  this  from  the  bottle  and  wrapper  which  he  now  handed 
\  o  him. 

The  Sheriff,  having  examined  the  bottle  and  read  the  label  upon 
it,  asked  if  there  was  no  means  of  getting  at  the  makers  of  these 
proprietary  medicines  containing  poisons,  so  as  to  compel  them  to 
have  more  regard  to  the  public  safety  in  their  distribution. 

Mr.  Louden  said  the  Act  only  gave  power  to  deal  with  the  actual 
seller.  The  action  of  the  Registrar  had  compelled  makers  to  label 
these  articles  poison,  but  they  did  it  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  it  a 
mere  technical  compliance  with  the  letter  of  the  Act.  It  was  not 
rightly  a  compliance  with  the  purpose  of  the  Act. 

The  Sheriff  said  he  thought  it  was  a  pity  there  was  no  power  of 
dealing  with  the  maker.  The  name  of  this  compound  and  the 
appearance  of  the  liquid  were  such  as  to  lead  any  ordinary 
member  of  the  public  to  think  it  was  a  perfectly  innocuous  mix¬ 
ture.  It  was  only  after  reading  over  the  label  very  carefully  that 
one  discovered,  at  the  very  end  of  a  lot  of  printed  matter,  that  it 
contained  such  a  deadly  poison  as  morphine,  and  the  word 
“poison”  occurred  only  in  ordinary  type  in  the  body  of  the 
printed  matter,  at  the  very  end,  and  in  such  a  way  that  it  might 
very  readily  escape  observation.  The  labelling  in  this  case  seemed 
to  be  done  designedly  so  as  to  suggest  that  it  was  merely 
technically  poison,  and  that  morphine  was  present  in  an  infini¬ 
tesimal  quantity.  It  appeared,  however,  that  this  compound  with 
such  a  dangerously  tempting  name —  “Horehound,  honey  and 
tamarinds  ”  contained  sufficient  morphine  to  be  fatal  to  a  child. 
He  thought  it  was  distinctly  contrary  to  the  public  interest  that 
these  compounds  should  be  sold  in  this  way  to  the  public,  who,  in 
ignorance  of  their  injurious  properties,  might  use  them  indis¬ 
criminately.  He  regretted  that  the  Act  did  not  apparently  give 
power  to  compel  the  makers  to  label  them  in  a  prominent  and 
proper  manner.  This  being  the  first  case  that  had  come  before 
him  in  this  Court,  he  imposed  a  modified  penalty  of  £3  with 
£2  14. s.  4 d.  of  expenses. 


PARLIAMENTARY  NOTES  AND  NEWS- 


The  Petroleum  Committee  recommenced  its  meetings  on 
Friday,  March  5,  when  Mr.  Mundella  was  appointed  Chairman. 
The  examination  of  witnesses  was  deferred  till  the  following 
Tuesday.  Naturally  the  new  Committee  will  have  to  consider  the 
evidence  of  its  predecessors,  and  it  is  a  curious  example  of  Parlia¬ 
mentary  procedure  that  the  Chairman  had  to  obtain  an  Order  of 
the  House  before  the  evidence  of  the  Committees  of  1894  and  189& 
could  be  referred  to  the  sitting  Committee.  We  may,  by  way  of 
reminder,  state  that  the  task  of  the  Committee  is  defined  by  the 
terms  of  reference  to  be  “  to  inquire  into  the  sufficiency  of  the  law 
relating  to  the  keeping,  selling,  using,  and  conveying  of  petroleum 
and  other  liquids,  and  the  precautions  to  be  adopted  for  the  pre¬ 
vention  of  accidents  with  petroleum  lamps.” 


Companies  Bill. — As  was  foreshadowed  last  week,  Mr.  H, 
Lewis’  question,  based  upon  the  House  of  Lords’  decision  in  Sala 
mon’s  case,  did  not  elicit  any  very  satisfactory  answer.  The 
Attorney-General,  in  reply,  whilst  expressing  his  sense  of  the 
necessity  for  an  amendment  of  the  law  relating  to  companiest. 
showed  his  current  knowledge  of  the  Government  efforts  in  tha, 
behalf  by  wrongly  naming  the  committee  to  which  the  Bill  has 
been  referred.  A  Bill  has  already  been  introduced  into  the  House 
of  Lords  by  the  Board  of  Trade,  said  in  effect,  the  honourable 
and  learned  gentleman,  and  it  is  now  before  the  Standing 
Committee  on  Law.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  that  Committee  is  a 
House  of  Commons  Committee,  which  is  just  now  quite  busy 
enough  with  the  Bill  amending  the  Preferential  Payments  in 
Bankruptcy  Act,  1888.  The  select  Committee,  which  is  now 
leisurely  dealing  with  the  Companies  Bill,  is  a  Lords  Committee, 
and  has  no  connection  with  the  Commons  Standing  Committee. 
There  does  not  seem  very  much  ground  for  hope  when  the  Crown 
Law  officers  are  so  indifferent  that  they  do  not  trouble  to 
accurately  inform  themselves  of  the  progress  of  a  Government  Bill 
on  the  subject. 


Science  and  Art  Department.— There  appears  to  be  a  suspicion 
that  the  administration  of  this  Department  is  open  to  improve¬ 
ment — indeed,  it  is  not  the  first  time  Parliamentary  inquiry  has 
been  urged  and  made  into  the  way  they  do  things  at  Kensington. 
A  Select  Committee  of  fifteen  members  has  now  been  charged  to 
investigate  the  question  of  the  administration  and  cost  of  the 
museums  of  the  Science  and  Art  Department.  On  that  Committee 
Lord  Balcarres,  and  Mr.  John  Burns,  Dr.  Farquharson  and  Mr. 
Bhownaggree,  Sir  J.  Gorst,  and  Mr.  Bartley  find  themselves  asso¬ 
ciated,  so  that  the  public  may  be  assured  that  the  work  will  not  be 
carried  out  from  one  point  of  view  only.  Certain  members  of  the 
Committee  have  already  shown  their  interest  in  their  work  by 
writing  letters  to  the  Times,  and  Lord  Balcarres  has  fortified  him¬ 
self  with  the  knowledge  of  how  many  previous  Committees  have 
inquired  into  museums  connected  with  the  Department  since 
March,  1877. 


Sir  W.  H.  Dyke  created  some  amusement  by  notifying  that  he 
contemplated  turning  himself  into  a  Light  Railway  Company 
under  last  year’s  Light  Railway  Act,  and  asking  if  he  was  likely  to 
be  harshly  dealt  with  in  consequence.  Sir  Richard  Webster  re¬ 
plied  that  there  was  no  connection  between  the  two  subjects,  and 
that  Mr.  Lewis  had  in  his  mind  the  raising  of  money  by  debentures 
issued  by  trading  companies  which  are  really  one  man. 


Weights  and  Measures. — The  Government  intends  to  intro¬ 
duce  last  year’s  Bill  legalising  the  use  of  metric  weights  and 
measures.  Mr.  Ritchie  has  announced  the  fact,  and  considerable 
satisfaction  will  be  felt  thereat  in  commercial  circles. 


Steresol  as  an  Application  to  Sore  Nipples. — Steresol  forms 
an  admirable  application  to  erosions  of  the  breast.  After  washing 
the  parts  with  boric  acid  solution,  a  layer  is  applied,  ten  minutes 
after  a  second  coat  is  put  on,  and  fifteen  minutes  later  a  third. 
After  the  lapse  of  another  quarter  of  an  hour  the  nipple  may  be 
used  in  nursing  the  infant.  Steresol  is  absolutely  harmless  to  the 
child,  and  does  not  in  the  least  affect  the  flow  of  milk.  It  acts  as 
a  germicide  and  as  a  mechanical  protective  agent,  preventing  the 
lips  of  the  infant  from  touching  the  sore  parts. — Bull.  Gen.  de 
Therap. ,  cxxxii.,  38. 


March  13,  1897.]  PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL.  243 


LETTERS  TO  THE  EDITOR. 


On  Counter  Prescribing. 

Sir, — In  common,  doubtless,  with  many  others,  I  read  with 
interest  your  report  of  Dr.  Macnaugh ton -Jones’  lecture  before  the 
Chemists’  Assistants’  Association  last  Thursday  week,  and  pro¬ 
bably  his  very  judicious  and  friendly  remarks  concerning  pharma¬ 
cists  as  a  body  and  their  relation  to  the  medical  profession  will  be 
enerally  endorsed,  but  the  question  of  counter  prescribing,  which 
e  dealt  with  a,t  some  length,  is  one  of  considerable  importance  to 
chemists,  and  it  seems  to  me  there  is  a  side  to  that  question  which 
doctors,  as  a  rule,  are  inclined  to  ignore,  and  therefore,  sir,  with 
jour  permission  (and  you  have  never  yet  refused  me  the  hospitality 
of  your  columns  on  the  rare  occasions  when  I  have  sought  it)  I 
should  like  to  make  a  few  observations,  which  seem  to  me  not  un¬ 
called  for,  seeing  that  the  matter  is  one  concerning  the  well-being 
■of  our  craft  itself,  and  if  I  trespass  unduly  upon  your  space  I  must 
invoke  your  kindly  consideration.  All  who  are  familiar  with  that 
instructive  and  entertaining  work,  the  ‘Progress  of  Pharmacy,’ 
will  be  aware  that  for  centuries  members  of  the  different  branches 
■of  the  healing  art  have  quarrelled  among  themselves  almost 
incessantly ;  the  jealousy  and  rivalry  between  physicians  and 
apothecaries,  and  subsequently  between  these  latter  and  the  drug¬ 
gists,  together  with  the  uncertainty  of  their  respective  rights  and 
privileges,  are  there  very  clearly  and  humorously  described.  I 
fancy  that  even  to-day  peace  and  tranquillity  do  not  pervade  the 
entire  ranks  of  that  august  profession  ;  physicians  feel  aggrieved 
that  they  are  by  a  rigid  etiquette  prohibited  from  touching  any¬ 
thing  which  ever  so  remotely  resembles  surgery,  whilst  their  con¬ 
freres  of  the  College  of  Surgeons  practise  medicine  right  joyously, 
and  scatter  prescriptions  right  and  left  with  a  light  heart ;  the 
rank  and  file,  too,  murmur  grievously  against  the  habit  that  is 
largely  increasing  among  people,  who  ought  to  know  better,  of 
■combining  together  and  securing  medical  attendance  for  them¬ 
selves  and  their  families  by  a  small  monthly  payment,  instead  of 
“having  the  doctor,”  as  formerly,  when  occasion  required. 
Everyone,  I  think,  admits  the  necessity  for  the  revision  and  con- 
solidation  of  the  various  Acts  relating  to  the  practice  of  medicine 
(and  may  I  add  pharmacy),  and  possibly  when  Parliament  can 
spare  a  little  time  for  useful  and  unpretentious  legislation  some- 
thing  may  be  done,  nor  will  it  be  too  soon,  for  surely  there  is  no 
other  civilised  country  where  such  unblushing  charlatanism  exists  in 
so  many  forms. 

All  this  may  seem  beside  the  mark,  but  it  is  distinctly  germane 
to  the  subject  in  hand,  for  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  notwith¬ 
standing  the  amiable  remarks  which  distinguished  medical  men 
from  time  to  time  permit  themselves  to  make  with  regard  to 
chemists,  as  to  the  practice  of  pharmacy  being  an  essential  branch 
of  the  healing  art,  and  so  on,  the  great  majority  of  practitioners  do 
not  so  regard  us.  Now  I  am  not  going  to  discuss  the  relative 
merits  of  doctors  and  pharmacists  as  individuals,  though  it  might 
be  safely  affirmed  that  in  general  culture  and  information  the 
latter  would  not  suffer  by  a  comparison  with  the  former,  but  I  say 
emphatically  that  chemists  have  just  as  much  right  to  complain  of 
doctors  dispensing  their  own  medicines  (to  say  nothing  of  their 
supplying  in  many  cases  all  sorts  of  “sundries”  and° medical 
accessories)  as  the  latter  have  to  complain  of  counter  prescribing. 
I  have  heard  it  said,  and  so  doubtless  have  many  others,  scores  of 
times,  by  various  people — women  as  a  rule — “Oh,  my  doctor  is  so 
careful  and  takes  such  an  interest  in  his  cases,  he  always  makes  up 
his  medicines  himself”  (sancta  simplicitas  /).  Occasionally  one 
has  been  tempted  to  point  out  that  accuracy  is  far  more  assured, 
and  the  risk  of  error  greatly  diminished,  when  medicines  are 
dispensed  by  a  qualified  pharmacist  than  when  hurriedly  put 
together  by  a  tired  practitioner  or  his  unqualified  deputy.  At 
this  time  of  day  it  is  of  course  puerile  to  speak  of  “  the  confidence 
which  exists  between  doctor  and  patient,”  necessitating  the 
former  being  his  own  dispenser ;  and  indeed,  theoretically  speak¬ 
ing,  it  is  idle  to  discuss  the  question  at  all,  the  interest  and  safety 
of  the  patient  are  far  more  secured  when  the  functions  of  pre- 
scriber  and  dispenser  are  kept  separate  ;  the  latter  acts  as  a  very 
necessary  and  salutary  check  upon  the  former,  minimising  error 
and  ensuring  accuracy.  The  arguments  in  favour  of  this  position 
are  too  numerous  and  obvious  to  be  mentioned,  but  there  is  one 
which  seems  to  me  unanswerable,  viz.,  that  Great  Britain  is  the 
only  civilised  country  in  the  world  where  the  practice  of  doctors 
dispensing  their  own  medicines  obtains  ;  the  Englishman  may  lay 


that  flattering  unction  to  his  soul.  All  over  the  Continent  the 
position  of  medical  men  and  pharmacists  is  clearly  defined  and 
inviolably  distinct ;  even  in  Ireland  they  are  far  in  advance  of  us 
in  this  respect.  It  may  be  said,  “but  on  the  Continent  pharmacists 
do  not  prescribe,”  true,  but  the  answer  is  short  and  triumphant, 
let  doctors  give  up  dispensing  and  chemists  will  soon  drop 
prescribing. 

A  few  words  as  to  doctors’  dispensing.  A  firm  of  surgeons  with 
an  extensive  practice  often  keep  a  dispenser,  as  likely  as  not  a 
promoted  errand  boy ;  well  and  good,  so  long  as  he  is  qualified  ; 
and  they  supply,  as  well  as  medicine,  such  things  as  cod-liver  oil, 
malt  extract,  and  all  the  various  articles  which  come  under  the 
name  of  medical  accessories ’and  surgical  appliances.  If  doctors 
desire  to  be  traders,  small  wonder  if  chemists  aspire  to  be  pre- 
scribers.  Or  take  the  ordinary  G.  P. ,  who  has  his  hands  pretty  full 
and  does  not  keep  either  an  assistant  or  dispenser,  yet  manages  to 
include  the  important  function  of  dispensing  in  his  multifarious 
occupations.  True  his  wife,  if  he  is  lucky  enough  to  have  one,  or 
other  feminine  assistance,  may  be  available.  There  is  a  grim 
humour  about  doctors’  dispensing  that,  to  the  initiated,  is 
extremely  diverting.  I  am  perfectly  aware  that  certain  excuses, 
when  any  are  thought  necessary,  are  forthcoming  for  this  practice 
on  the  part  of  medical  men,  and  four  may  be  mentioned  as  being 
perhaps  the  commonest.  (1)  That  doctors  cannot  afford  to  give  up  a 
lucrative  part  of  their  business,  (2)  that  patients  would  not  be  willing 
to  pay  a  fee  to  both  doctors  and  pharmacists,  (3)  that  the  wholesale 
houses  look  up  medical  men  so  assiduously,  supplying  them  with 
stock  mixtures,  pills,  etc. ,  thereby  largely  doing  their  work  for  them, 
and  (4)  that  in  many  parts  of  the  country,  where  doctors  are  located, 
there  is  no  chemist.  Now,  of  these,  No.  2  may  be  at  once  dis¬ 
missed,  as  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  this  part  of  the  work  is  given 
in,  at  least  with  the  better  class,  and  with  the  poorer  patients  an 
arrangement  could  easily  be  made  with  any  neighbouring  chemist. 
In  No.  1  we  see  readily  the  interest  of  the  doctor,  but  not  so  easily 
where  that  of  the  patient  comes  in.  No.  3  is  in  my  opinion  almost 
a  fatal  one,  as  that  practice  of  having  things  cut  and  dried  for 
them  is  likely  to  make  a  medical  man  forget  how  to  prescribe 
altogether,  and  rely  more  and  more  on  other  people’s  formulie  to  his 
own  and  his  patients’  detriment ;  while  if  he  does  not  happen  to 
have  the  drug  which  first  suggests  itself  as  desirable  in  any  par¬ 
ticular  case,  he  naturally  enough  uses  something  else.  No.  4  seems 
more  valid  on  the  surface,  but  as  is  the  case  in  other  countries,  I 
have  no  doubt  that  if  the  chemist  got  the  dispensing,  wherever  there 
was  any  dispensing  to  be  had,  a  chemist  would  soon  plant  himself. 

Of  your  patience,  sir,  indulge  me  a  little  longer,  it  is  but  rarely 
that  I  trouble  you,  and  the  subject  is  one  upon  which  so  much 
might  be  said.  Now  as  to  counter  prescribing  itself.  Dr.  Mac- 
naughton- Jones  admits  the  difficulty  of  avoiding  it  sometimes,  and 
in  fact,  as  things  are  atpresent  it  is  impossible.  Let  it  be  remembered 
too,  that  counter  prescribing  is  not  illegal  any  more  than  doctors, 
dispensing  (the  former  may  be  inadvisable,  and  equally  so  the  latter) 
but  when  any  and  every  journal  takes  upon  itself  to  give  medical 
advice  to,  and  prescribe  for  its  readers,  often  in  the  most  ludicrous 
fashion,  surely  there  is  nothing  unreasonable  in  an  intelligent  phar¬ 
macist,  when  asked  to  do  so,  giving  suitable  remedies  for  simple 
complaints  ;  but,  further,  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  the  practice  is 
wide-spread  ;  and  yet,  do  we  ever  hear  of  any  untoward  result 
from  counter  prescribing  ?  I  rather  fancy  we  should  do  so,  and 
promptly,  were  it  called  for ;  a  fatal  error  on  the  part  of  a  medical 
man  in  making  up  medicine  would  not  necessarily  become  public, 
but  the  unhappy  chemist  who  overstepped  the  limits  in  pre¬ 
scribing  (or  for  the  matter  of  that,  made  a  mistake  in  dispensing) 
would  hear  of  it  and  sharply.  In  any  case,  I  wonder  whether  more 
risk  is  incurred  when  a  trained  and  skilled  chemist  prescribes  over 
the  counter  suitable  and  reliable  medicines  which  his  experience 
has  taught  him  to  be  indicated  than  when  he  hands  over  a  bottle 
of  somebody’s  “  universal  elixir,”  a  never-failing  remedy  which  a 
benevolent  government  allows  to  be  sold  by  all  and  sundry,  pro¬ 
vided  it  bears  a  stamp. 

Now,  sir,  let  me  say  in  conclusion  that  personally  I  do  not  favour 
counter  prescribing,  and  have  done  what  I  could  in  a  small  way  to 
discourage  it.  An  experience  of  several  years  in  different  cities  of 
the  Continent,  as  well  as  in  dispensing  establishments  in  England, 
has  convinced  me  that  the  functions  of  prescriber  and  dispenser 
should  not  be  combined  ;  but  when  I  hear  the  unfortunate  chemist, 
who  is  ground  beneath  the  upper  and  nether  millstones  of  what 
are  practically  doctors’  shops  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  hopeless 
inadequacy  of  the  Pharmacy  Act  on  the  other,  abused  for  counter 
prescribing,  I  feel  that  there  is  something  to  be  said  for  him,  and 


244 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[  If  Arch  13, 1897. 


that  it  ought  to  he  said.  My  object  in  writing  has  not  been,  as 
a  superficial  critic  might  suggest,  to  advocate  the  pecuniary  and 
selfish  interests  of  the  pharmaceutical  body,  but  simply  to  demon¬ 
strate  that  if  medical  men  usurp  the  functions  for  which  the  phar¬ 
macist,  at  great  labour  and  cost,  has  especially  equipped  himself, 
i.e.,  the  preparation  and  dispensing  of  medicines,  they  must  not  be 
surprised  if  chemists  entrench  upon  a  province  which  doctors 
regard  as  their  own,  and  do  a  little  in  the  way  of  counter 
pr  escribing. 

North  Finchley,  N.,  March  1,  1897.  T.  Edward  Earrass. 


Nitrate  of  Mercury  Ointment. 

Sir, — When  discussing  this  preparation  I  think  that  the  appear¬ 
ance  and  keeping  properties  of  the  ointment  should  be  kept 
separate  from  the  question  of  acidity.  Any  pharmacist  can  judge 
of  the  former,  but  the  condition  in  which'  the  mercury  exists  after 
the  preparation  of  the  ointment  is,  and  has  been,  a  disputed  point, 
and  although  several  guesses  have  been  made,  not  one  of  them  has 
been  satisfactorily  explained.  In  Mr.  Maben’s  letter,  printed  on 
page  223  of  the  Journal,  he  remarks  “the  adoption  of  the  suggestions 
put  forward  by  Mr.  Squire  would  be  a  retrograde  step.  ”  In  one  sense 
it  would  be  so,  for  the  results  of  my  experiments  tend  to  show 
that  the  instructions  of  the  1864  and  1867  editions  of  the  BritishPhar- 
macopoeia  may  be  better  than  those  of  1885.  The  earlier  directions 
read  :  “Dissolve  the  mercury  with  the  aid  of  a  gentle  heat ;  melt 
the  lard  in  the  oil  by  a  steam  or  water  bath  in  a  vessel  capable  of 
holding  six  times  the  quantity  ;  and  while  the  mixture  is  hot  add 
the  solution  of  mercury,  also  hot,  mixing  them  thoroughly.  If  the 
mixture  do  not  froth  up,  increase  the  heat  till  this  occurs.”  Now, 
the  latter  sentence  recognises  the  fact  that  the  ingredients  may 
both  be  hot  when  mixed  and  yet  not  sufficiently  so  as 
to  cause  effervescence,  and  this  would  be  the  case  if  the 
temperature  should  not  exceed  190°  F.,  then  the  ingredients 
would  be  further  heated  on  a  steam  or  water  bath  until  frothing  is 
produced,  which  would  happen  before  it  reached  212°  F.  (100°  C. ), 
and  chemical  action  having  been  started,  the  temperature  would 
rise  rapidly  to  between  230°  F.  and  240°  F.  even  on  a  water  bath. 
Now  these  are  precisely  the  conditions  which  I  have  found  to  yield 
the  best  results,  and  which  are  most  easy  to  control,  when  the 
Pharmacopoeia  method  of  treating  the  lard  and  oil  with  the  nitrate 
of  mercury  is  adopted. 

There  are  one  or  two  points  in  Mr.  Maben’s  letter  which  require 
elucidation.  He  has  “estimated  the  free  nitric  acid”  in  three 
samples  of  ointment,  and  the  figures  given  are  3 ‘78  per  cent., 
3‘0  per  cent,  and  2‘1  per  cent.  One  would  like  to  know  the 
"process  by  which  these  figures  were  obtained,  and  the  grounds  for 
assuming  that  the  nitric  acid  was  in  the  free  state.  In  the  case  of 
acid  solution  of  nitrate  of  mercury  none  of  the  ordinary  indicators 
will  distinguish  between  mercuric  nitrate,  and  mercuric  nitrate 
with  excess  of  nitric  acid,  and  therefore  the  quantity  of  free  acid 
cannot  be  determined  in  the  solution  by  direct  titration. 

When  reading  the  first  part  of  Mr.  Maben’s  letter,  one  is  apt  to 
conclude  that  he  recommended  a  temperature  of  212°  F.  (100°  C.) 
or  thereabouts,  to  which  both  the  mercuric  nitrate  solution  and 
the  fats  should  be  heated  before  mixing,  but  later  in  the  letter  he 
states  that  he  prefers  “  the  ointment  prepared  at  an  initial 
temperature  of  300°  F.”  He  also  speaks  of  making  several  batches 
at  300°  F.  to  350°  F.  This  might  convey  the  impression  that  both 
the  mercuric  solution  and  the  fats  are  heated  to  that  temperature 
before  they  are  mixed,  but  I  presume  that  is  not  so  intended. 
Immediately  below  this  Mr.  Maben  remarks,  “Mr.  Squire  thinks 
it  is  important  that  the  temperature  should  be  kept  as  low  as 
possible  after  the  addition  of  the  mercuric  solution.  But  here  again 
I  (Maben)  disagree.  The  temperature ,  should  be  sufficiently  high 
to  cause  free  frothing  after  the  mercuric  solution  is  added.”  But  I 
distinctly  stated  the  conditions  under  which  the  ointment  should  be 
made,  and  they  include  the  free  frothing  aboj/e  alluded  to.  “A 
satisfactory  ointment  can  be  made  by  the  latter  method  if  the 
temperature  be  kept  as  low  as  possible,”  the  latter  method 
described  in  my  paper,  resembles  the  B.P.  process,  but  the 
ingredients  are  mixed  at  between  80°  C.  (176°  F. )  and  90°  C. 
(194°  F. )  instead  of  100°  C.  (212°  F. ),  and  the  mixture  being  heated 
on  a  water  bath,  brisk  effervescence  ensues  at  the  temperature 
there  given ;  it  is  not  300°  F.  or  anywhere  near  it,  nor  does  any 
further  effervescence  take  place  if  the  heat  be  increased  to  300°  F. 

I  have  ascertained  by  experiment  that  the  solution  of  mercuric 
nitrate  (made  for  the  ointment  as  directed  in  B.  P.  1885)  boils  at 
about  the  same  temperature  as  the  nitric  acid  (250°  F. ).  I  am, 
therefore,  quite  at  a  loss  to  understand  why  300°  F.  to  350°  F. 


should  have  been  selected  as  the  temperature  for  the  process.  It 
is  much  above  the  boiling  point  of  the  mercuric  solution,  and  there¬ 
fore  nothing  like  so  manageable  as  the  lower  temperature;  it 
also  is  quite  unnecessary  for  the  production  of  the  brisk  effervescence. 

London,  March  9,  1897.  P.  W.  Squire. 


ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 


German  Herb  or  Weed. — Probably  Galium  aparine,  but  you 
should  have  sent  a  larger  sample.  [ Reply  to  W.B. — 83/24.] 

Ink  for  Rubber  Stamps. — Take  of  aniline  violet  or  any  other 
soluble  aniline  colour,  2  drachms ;  glycerin,  6  drachms ;  methylated 
spirit,  1  ounce  ;  gum  acacia  6  drachms  ;  water  4  ounces.  Dissolve. 
[Reply  to  Kino. — 79/26.] 


Herb  used  by  Kaffirs. — This  consists  of  the  female  flowers  and 
leaves  of  Tarchonanthus  camphoratus  (see  Lindley  and  Moore,; 
‘  Treasury  of  Botany,’  and  Pappe,  ‘  Flora  Capensis  Medica,’  3rd. 
ed.,  p.  22).  [Reply  to  “  Ben  Nevis.” — 83/7.] 

Glycin. — This  developing  agent  is  one  of  a  class  of  substituted 
paramido-phenols,  and  is  formed  by  the  substitution  of  one  of  the 
hydrogen  atoms  in  the  NHS  group  by  an  acetic  acid  residue,  and  is- 
formed  by  the  action  of  chloro-acetic  acid  on  amidophenol,  and  it 
has  the  formula  C6H4OHNHCH2COOH,  and  is  oxyphenylglycin. 
[Reply  to  W.  B.  L. — 81/5.] 


Ferridcyanide  Reducer.— The  action  of  the  ferrideyanide  in 
the  ferridcyanide  and  hypo  reducer  is  first  the  formation  of  silver 
ferrocyanide — 2Ag2  -+-  2K„Fe.(CN)]2  =  Ag1Fe(CN)6  +  K4Fe  (CN)fi. 
The  silver  ferrocyanide  then  dissolves  in  the  hypo,  forming  silver 
hyposulphite  and  sodium  ferrocyanide.  Ag4Fe(CN)s  +  4Na2S  0-> 
=  4AgNaS203  =  Na4Fe(CN)6.  [Reply  to  W.B.L.—  81/5.] 

Glycerin  Cream  for  Chapped  Hands,  etc.— Bitter  almonds, 
1  oz.  ;  sweet  almonds,  3  ozs.  Bleach  and  beat  into  a  paste  with 
3  drachms  of  almond  oil  and  2  drachms  of  powdered  curd  soap 
gradually  add  12  ozs.  of  rose  water,  and  strain  through  double 
muslin.  To  3  ozs.  of  glycerin  of  borax  add  1  oz.  of  spirit  and  5  oz. 
of  any  compound  bouquet,  such  as  opoponax,  and  5  ozs.  of  water. 
Mix  this  with  the  emulsion,  and  add  more  rosewater  to  make  up 
to  1  pint.  [Reply  to  W.  W. — 80/16.] 


Acid  Fixing  Bath. — Theoretically,  the  addition  of  any  acid 
must  decompose  the  hypo  first,  according  to  Seyerwitz  and 

Chicandard,  into  2S02  ^OhU  This  would  be  decomposed  into- 

NcigSCXi  -+■  H2S  4-  SO,  •+■  S,  and  the  sulphurous  acid  would  react- 
with  the  hyposulphite,  and  form  acid  hyposulphite* 

S°2  +  HiS03  =  2NaHS03  +  S.  The  H2S  and  SOa  would 

then  react  and  form  pentatliionic  acid,  5H2S  +  5S0.2  =  4H_,0  + 
H.;S506  +S5.  Still,  if  only  sufficient  organic  acid  is  added  to  just 
set  free  sulphurous  acid,  and  yet  leave  sulphite  in  excess,  the- 
bath  will  not  precipitate  sulphur.  This  we  have  proved  by  trial. 
[Reply  to  W.  B.  L. — 81/5.] 

[Several  Letters  and  Answers  to  Queries  are  un¬ 
avoidably  held  over,  owing  to  pressure  on  our  space.J 


PUBLICATION  RECEIVED. 

Die  Fabrikation  der  Kunstlichen  Mineralwasser  und- 
anderer  moussirender  Getranke.  By  Dr.  B.  Hirscii  and- 
Dr.  P.  Siedler.  3rd.  Edition.  Pp.  393.  Price  8s.  Brunswick . 
Vieweg  und  Sohn.  1897. 

OBITUARY, 

Laws.— On  March  1,  John  Laws,  Chemist  and  Druggist,, 
Marylebone.  Aged  84. 

Cupit. — On  March  6,  Alfred  Cupit,  Chemist  and  Druggist,  New 
Brampton,  near  Chesterfield.  Aged  70. 


COMMUNICATIONS, LETTERS, etc., have  been  received  from 

Messrs.  Austin,  Bird,  Churchill,  Coleman,  Coull,  Cowley,  Cracknell,  Duncan,, 
Elliott,  Farr,  Fitch,  Forret,  Gibson,  Goodall,  rGrier,  Jlcap,  Hill,  Hogg,  Holmes,, 
Ingham,  Johnson,  Johnston,  Jones,  Keen,  Kemp,  Kennedy,  Kerr,  Marsden. 
Matthews,  Miller,  Naylor,  Owen,  Parsons,  Pickering,  Pollard,  Smith,  Squire-/ 
Tallis,  Turner,  Umney,  Williams. 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


245 


March  20,  1897J 


r%*5i 

IYING&B0X  FOR  PILLS,  ETC. 

1 35-  f 

J  'J‘  "• 

«  Corresponding  Member  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society. 

V  _a.  N.  :  1  *—~  ,>  ■if.  M 

y.In  a,  recent  is^ue^  the  Journal  (see  last  volume,  p.  546)  a 
description  is  giyeri  of  a  convenient  drying-box  suitable  for  phar- 
maceuticlu  purposes,  in  which  lime  is  used  as  the  desiccating 
agent.  For  nearly  three  years  past  a  similar  drying-box  has  been 
used  in  the  Bengal  Medical  Store  Depot  with  considerable’  advan¬ 
tage.  Working  in  Calcutta  for  many  months  in  the  year  with  air 
fairly  well  saturated  with  moisture,  it  is  necessarily  a  matter  of 
difficulty  to  dry  preparations  by  exposure  to  air.  A  teak-wood  box 
was  accordingly  constructed,  lined  with  tin,  and  fitted  with  two  lids, 
the  inner  one  being  coated  along  its  sides  with  felt  and  resting  on 
ledges  similarly  fitted,  like  the  inner  lid  of  an  ice  chest.  At  the 
bottom  of  the  box  a  movable  tin  tray  was  placed,  which  contained 
a  charge  of  about  25  lbs.  well-burned  lime  in  small  lumps,  the  sub¬ 
stances  to  be  dried  being  placed  in  perforated  zinc  trays,  supported 
by  battens  over  the  lime. 

A  desiccating  material  is  perhaps  better  adapted  for  drying 
pills,  even  when  volatile  oils  are  absent,  than  a  current  of  warm 
air.  If  heat  be  employed  the  pill  is  heated  throughout,  and  there 
is  a  tendency  for  the  mass  to  become  uniformly  hard.  When  a 
drying  agent,  however,  such  as  lime,  is  used,  it  is  probable  that  as 
the  surface  is  first  desiccated,  and  becomes  hard',  moisture  from 
the  interior  of  the  pill  is  with  difficulty  expelled,  and  a  more  easily 
soluble  pill  is  the  result. 

Obviously  for  pills  containing  volatile  oils,  etc. ,  the  drying-box 
is  incomparably  superior  to  desiccation  by  exposure  to  air.  In 
drying  pills  containing  camphor,  or  volatile  oils  in  the  drying-box, 
the  following  expedients  might  also  be  advantageously  adopted  to 
still  further  save  loss  from  volatilisation.  Place  in  the  drying 
box  a  shallow  dish  containing  the  volatile  oil,  etc. ,  present  in  the 
pill.  The  air  span  of  the  drying  box  would  consequently  be 
rapidly  saturated  by  the  easy  evaporation  of  this  oil,  etc. ,  and  loss 
from  the  pill  mass  checked. 


COMMERCIAL  GINGERS  AND  ESSENCE  OF  GINGER.* 

BY  W.  S.  GLASS. 

With  the  object  of  obtaining  a  satisfactory  essence  of  ginger, 
Jamaica,  Cochin,  and  African  ginger  have  been  experimented  with, 
and  the  following  table  gives  the  percentage  results  of  the  examina¬ 
tion,  the  results  as  regards  oleo-resin,  obtained  by  Thresh  (‘Year- 
Book,’  1879,  p.  438),  Frank  and  Siggins  ( Proceedings  Amer.  Phar. 
Assoc.,  1888,  p.  311),  and  Riegel  (‘Year-Book,’  1892,  p.  168),  being 
quoted  for  comparison 


Author. 

Thresh. 

Frank  and 
Siggins. 

Riegel. 

Jamaica . 

Cochin  . 

African . 

Moisture. 

9-33 

11-00 

8-00 

Ash. 

5-3 

4- 6 

5- 5 

Extract 

or 

oleo-resin. 

5- 00 

4-33 

6- 33 

Extract 

or 

oleo-resin. 

3-290 

4"965 

8-075 

Extract 

or 

oleo-resin. 

5-00 

(A  6-17 

1  B  7-00 

Extract 

or 

oleo-resin 

5 

The  extract  was  prepared  by  exhausting  300  grains  of  ginger 
with  ether  and  evaporating  at  a  low  temperature  till  a  soft, 
resinous  mass  remained,  possessing  in  a  high  degree  the  pungent 
and  aromatic  odour  and  taste  of  ginger.  The  African  variety 
required  most  ether,  and  yielded  a  higher  percentage  of  extract. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  results  obtained  differ  from  those  of 
Thresh,  and  correspond  with  those  of  Frank  and  Siggins  and 
Riegel.  It  may  be  concluded,  therefore,  that  while  African  ginger 

*  Read  at  an  Evening  Meeting  in  Edinburg-h. 

Vol.  LVIII.  (Fourth  Series,  Yol.  IV.).  No.  1395. 


is  unsuitable  for  many  pharmaceutical  purposes  on  account  of  its 
brown,  coarse  appearance,  it  yields  the  highest  percentage  of  oleo- 
resin  and  the  strongest  essence.  A  soluble  essence  possessing  all  the 
flavour  of  the  ginger  can  be  readily  prepared  by  adding  to  1  fluid 
ounce  of  the  essence  3  drachms  of  powdered  pumice-stone  and 
shaking  occasionally  during  twelve  hours.  Then  add  gradually 
3  fluid  ounces  of  distilled  water,  shaking  after  each  addition  ;  let 
stand  for  six  hours  and  filter. 


NOTE  ON  A  SAMPLE  OF  SCAMMONY.* 

BY  I.  W.  THOMSON. 

Some  time  ago  a  parcel  was  handed  to  me  marked  “  Scam- 
monium,”  accompanied  by  a  statement  that  it  contained  84-864 
per  cent,  of  scammonin,  and  that  there  might  be  no  mistake,  gave 
the  chemical  formula,  which  is  generally  accepted  as  representing 
that  body,  C33H66014.  It  was  said  to  be  of  German  origin. 

A  very  cursory  examination  of  the  sample  so  completely  belied 
its  certificate  of  character  that  I  concluded  it  could  hardly  claim 
more  than  a  very  remote  relationship  with  scammony. 

Having  mentioned  the  circumstance  to  Mr.  Hill,  he  suggested 
that  I  might  exhibit  the  sample  and  submit  the  result  of  my 
examination  of  it  at  an  evening  meeting. 

The  sample  consists  of  irregular  broken  pieces,  apparently 
portions  of  a  cake,  about  half  an  inch  in  thickness,  greenish-black, 
hard,  and  horny,  breaking  with  a  resinous  fracture,  and  very 
difficult  to  powder.  On  submitting  it  to  a  systematic  examination 
the  following  results  were  obtained : — • 

I  Soluble  in  ether .  0-4  per  cent. 

,,  ,,  alcohol . .  . . „ .  20  „ 

„  „  water  . . .  420  „ 

Starch  and  a  little  cellular  tissue  .  43  "0  ,, 

Moisture  .  12 '0  ,, 

100-0 

It  yielded  2T2  per  cent,  of  ash,  of  which  0'93,  equal  to  43-6  per 
cent.,  was  soluble  in  water.  The  ash  contained  K,  Mg,  Ca,  Fe, 
and  Si,  as  carbonate,  sulphate,  and  a  trace  of  chloride. 

The  water-soluble  portion  was  evidently  gum,  apparently  gum 
arabic.  The  insoluble  portion  consisted  very  largely  of  starch, 
with  a  small  quantity  of  cellular  tissue. 

So  far  as  I  know  the  specimen  is  unique,  and  the  Germans  must 
think  us  very  gullible  when  they  attempt  to  foist  such  an  article 
upon  us  as  scammony. 


CONTRIBUTION  TO  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  STRYCHNINE 

DRUGS.t 

BY  G.  SANDER. 

Herr  Sander  has  investigated  the  nature  of  strychnic  or  igas- 
uric  acid  and  the  different  methods  for  the  determination  and  the 
separation  of  strychnine  and  brucine,  as  many  varying  and  con¬ 
tradictory  statements  have  been  made  on  this  subject. 

The  acid  existing  in  the  official  strychnine  drugs,  A  ux  vomica 
and  Fabae  St.  Ignatii,  has  been  generally  described  as  “  igasuric 
acid,”  and  the  plant  bases  as  existing  in  the  drug  as  igasurates. 
Although  igasuric  acid  has  been  regarded  as  a  form  of 
tannic  acid,  it  has  not  been  ascertained  to  which  class  o 
tannins  it  belonged.  In  order  to  obtain  further  information 
respecting  this  acid,  Herr  G.  Sander  prepared  in  the  first  instance 
some  purest  possible  material.  The  pure  acid  was  obtained  by 
fractional  precipitation  of  a  cold  alcoholic  extract  with  lead 

*  Read  at  an  Evening  Meeting  in  Edinburgh. 

t  Inaugural  dissertation  from  the  Pharmaceutical  Institute  of  the  University 
of  Strasburg  ( Archiv  der  Pharm.,  235,  2,  133). 


246 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[March  20,  1897 


acetate,  and  the  lead  precipitated  decomposed  with  sulphuretted 
hydrogen.  The  acid  so  prepared  was  an  amorphous  brownish- 
yellow  substance,  which  could  be  easily  rubbed  down  and  powdered. 
The  acids  obtained  from  both  drugs  appear  from  many  agreeing 
reactions  to  be  identical.  A  series  of  reactions  with  ferric  chloride, 
lead  acetate,  silver  nitrate,  bromine,  etc.,  pointed  to  a  marked 
agreement  with  caffetannic  acid.  When  the  “igasuric  acid”  is 
treated  with  potash  it  is  split  up  into  another  acid  with  formation 
of  a  sugar.  This  acid  proved  to  be  caffeic  acid.  The  so-called 
igasuric  acid  is  then  nothing  more  than  caffetannic  acid,  but 
whether  the  alkaloids  exist  in  the  drugs  in  combination  with  this 
acid  must  remain  for  future  investigation. 

The  various  methods  for  determination  of  the  total  alkaloids  in  these 
drugs — dependent  upon  precipitation  with  Mayer’s  reagent,  potassic 
ferrocyanide,  tannic  acid,  or  on  titrating  with  acid  the  residuary 
alkaloids  extracted  by  solvents — are  unsatisfactory.  The  titration 
value  of  the  two  alkaloids  strychnine  and  brucine  being  different, 
■correct  results  are  only  to  be  obtained  when  the  proportion  of  the 
two  alkaloids  in  the  mixture  is  known.  A  method  must  therefore 
be  sought  that  should  give  a  pure  alkaloidal  residue  which  could 
be  weighed  as  expressing  accurately  the  amount  of  the  total  alka¬ 
loids.  Keller’s  process  was  found  to  be  the  best  to  give  a  pure, 
white  crystalline  alkaloid  without  any  admixture  of  impurity,  and 
this  process  he  adopted. 

For  the  determination  of  the  relative  proportion  of  the  two 
alkaloids,  he  obtained  very  satisfactory  results  by  the  method 
-which  consists  in  destroying  the  brucine  with  potassic  perman¬ 
ganate  and  estimating  the  strychnine  by  difference. 

Sander  in  this  way  has  found  there  is  a  constant  proportion  in 
the  amount  of  stiychnine  and  brucine  existing  in  these  drugs.  In 
nux  vomica  and  its  preparations  the  percentage  of  strychnine  in 
the  total  alkaloids  varied  between  43 ‘9  to  45 ’6,  and  this  cor- 
•  responds,  for  the  higher  figure,  to  a  mixture  of  one  molecule  of 
strychnine  with  one  of  brucine. 

In  St.  Ignatius  beans  the  proportion  of  strychnine  is  from  60 -7  to 
'62 -8,  and  for  62 '9  this  gives  a  ratio  of  one  molecule  of  brucine  to 
two  molecules  of  strychnine. 

It  is,  therefore,  probable  that  in  both  seeds  the  alkaloids  exist  in 
a  simple  constant  proportion. 


PRACTICAL  RADIOGRAPHY. 


V.—  PLATES  AND  SCREENS. 

Notwithstanding  the  many  trials  which  have  been  made  to 
•determine  the  most  suitable  plate  for  radiography,  we  seem  as  far 
•off  as  ever  from  obtaining  any  satisfactory  definite  results.  In 
•some  hands  the  best  results  have  been  obtained  on  extremely  rapid 
plates,  whilst  in  others  slower  plates  have  yielded  better  results. 
At  present  there  seems  to  be  no  definite  relation  between 
the  sensitiveness  of  the  plate  to  daylight  and  the  X  rays. 
Several  firms  of  plate  makers  have  placed  special  plates  on  the 
market  for  X  ray  work,  and  in  our  hands  all  have  given  good 
results.  They  are  the  Cathodal  plate  of  the  Imperial  Dry  Plate 
Company,  of  Cricklewood,  the  Rontgen  plate  of  the  Sandell  Works 
Company,  Thomas’  Cathode  plate,  and  Edwards’  Cathodal  plate. 

The  latest  introduction  in  this  way  is  the  X  ray  paper  of  the  East¬ 
man  Photographic  Materials  Company,  and  whilst  this  has  been 
proved  to  be  quite  as  quick  as  plates,  it  has  thp  advantage  that 
each  sheet  is  packed  in  a  black  envelope  all  ready  for  use.  Another 
advantage  of  this  paper  is  that  it  can  be  bandaged  round  a  limb, 
and,  therefore,  closer  contact  ensured  with  the  body.  It  must  not  be 
forgotten,  too,  that  the  results  obtained  with  this  paper  show  the 
bones  white  on  a  black  ground,  and  therefore  there  is  no  need  to 


print  from  them  again,  and  further,  though  this  applies,  of  course, 
to  plates  as  well,  that  a  dozen  or  more  envelopes  may  be  placed 
one  on  top  of  the  other  and  prints  obtained  on  the  twelve  at  once, 
which  for  lecture  purposes  is  an  advantage. 

There  is  only  one  special  point  in  connection  with  the  development 
of  radiographs,  and  that  is  that  the  development  must  be  pushed  a 
great  deal  further  than  is  the  case  with  ordinary  negatives,  and  so 
far  the  best  results  have  been  obtained  with  metol  and  hydroquinone, 
which  is  rapid,  gives  good  density,  and  does  not  stain. 

Fluorescent  screens  may  be  bought  commercially,  but  for  those 
who  wish  to  make  their  own  the  following  directions  may  be  useful. 
The  salt  most  generally  used  at  the  present  time  for  making  the 
screens  is  platino-cyanide  of  barium,  which  is  not  only  expensive, 
but  which  differs  considerably  in  its  fluorescent  properties,  which 
depend  to  some  extent  apparently  on  its  crystalline  form.  As  far 
as  possible  the  crystals  should  be  uniform  in  size,  and  a  sheet  of 
Bristol  board  of  the  required  size  should  be  coated  with  enamel 
collodion,  made  by  dissolving  7  grs.  of  pyroxylin  in  §  oz.  of  ether  and 
A  oz.  of  alcohol  and  dusting  the  platino-cyanide  over  the  collodion 
whilst  still  tacky.  The  best  way  of  doing  this  is  to  place  it  in  a  chip 
box  with  the  top  knocked  out  and  a  piece  of  not  too  fine  muslin 
stretched  over  the  top  by  means  of  the  rim  lid.  As  even 
a  coating  as  possible  should  be  given,  and  the  screen  should 
be  uniformly  yellow. 

The  finest  platino-cyanide  can  be  obtained  from  C.  A.  Kahlbaum, 
Chemische  Fabrik,  Schlesischestrasse  35,  Berlin  S.O.,  who  has 
prepared  a  special  form  for  radiography.  Other  firms,  other  than 
English  manufacturers,  Avhom  it  is  not  necessary  to  mention,  are 
Chemische  Fabrik  auf  Aktien,  Miillerstrasse  170,  Berlin  N.,  E 
Merck,  Chemische  Fabrik,  Darmstadt,  and  Dr.  Schuchardt,  of 
Gorlitz. 

Calcium  tungstate,  so  strongly  recommended  by  Edison,  has 
proved  much  inferior  in  our  hands  to  the  platino-cyanide,  and 
this  is  said  to  be  due  to  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  it  of  the  proper 
crystalline  form. 

Melckebeke’s  double  fluoride  of  uranium  and  ammonium,  de¬ 
scribed  in  the  last  volume  of  the  Journal,  at  page  366,  is  almost  as 
good  as  the  platino-cyanide,  but  it  is  better  to  crystallise  it  in  a 
dish,  and  then  dry  and  powder  on  to  the  screen  rather  than  crystal¬ 
lise  on  the  card  direct,  as  was  suggested  by  the  authors. 

Within  the  last  few  days  it  has  been  stated  abroad  that  opal 
glass  makes  a  far  better  support  for  the  fluorescent  salts  than  card, 
but  this  seems  somewhat  anomalous,  as  glass  certainly  stops  more 
X  rays  than  card. 

To  conclude,  in  giving  the  followTing  addresses  of  firms  who  supply 
tubes  and  coils,  it  must  be  distinctly  understood  that  only  actual 
manufacturers  with  whom  the  writer  has  had  dealings  are  men¬ 
tioned,  but  there  are  doubtless  many  more  who  can  supply  all  that 
is  required  equally  well.  For  induction  coils  : — W.  H.  Cox,  Cursitor 
Street,  Chancery  Lane,  E.C.  ;  S.  Bottone,  Electrician,  Wallington; 
F.  S.  Allsop,  97,  Queen  Victoria  Street,  E.C.  ;  King,  Mendham 
and  Co. ,  Bristol ;  Schmidt  and  Haensch,  Berlin  ;  Siemens  and 
Halske,  Berlin;  Gaiffe  and  Cie,  Paris;  Hurst  and  Co.,  53, 
Leadenhall  Street,  E.C.  For  tubes  : — Cossor,  67,  Farringdon 
Road,  E.C. ;  Miller,  Gray’s  Inn  Road  ;  Hurst  and  Co.,  J.  J.  Hicks, 
8,  Hatton  Garden. 

To  Fasten  Metal  to  Glass. — A  suitable  cement  is  obtained 
by  boiling  3  parts  of  colophony  and  1  part  of  soda  in  5  parts 
of  water.  Of  the  resulting  soap  50  parts  are  well  mixed  with 
100  parts  of  gypsum.  When  dry,  this  cement  is  said  to  be 
perfectly  impenetrable  to  fat  oil  and  petroleum.—  Pharm.  Zeit-s.  f. 
Bliss.,  xxxv.,  861. 


March  20,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


247 


THE  PLOUGH  COURT  PHARMACY. 

( Concluded  from  page  167.) 

At  the  time  William  Allen  and  Luke  Howard  entered  into  part¬ 
nership,  chemistry  was  beginning  to  undergo  the  great  change 
inaugurated  by  Lavoisier,  and  the  application  of  chemical  know¬ 
ledge  in  various  branches  of  technical  art  was  attracting  general 
attention,  either  in  actual  practice — as  in  the  use  of  chlorinated 
alkaline  liquors  for  bleaching  —  or  experimentally,  as  in  the 
extraction  of  alkali  from  common  salt,  and  the  production  of  gas 
for  illuminating  purposes. 

Both  the  partners  in  the  Plough  Court  firm  were  then 
young  men  of  twenty-seven  and  twenty-five,  so  that  the 
stimulus  of  youthful  enthusiasm  as  well  as  the  remark¬ 
able  scientific  developments  of  the  period  when  they  com¬ 
menced  their  joint  business  career,  can  well  be  understood  to 
have  exercised  considerable  influence  upon  them  during  the  con¬ 
tinuance  of  the  partnership,  which  lasted  for  several  years. 

It  is,  however,  difficult  at  the  present  time  to  realise  what  must 
have  been  the  position  of  a  manufacturing  chemist  in  1797,  or  to 
comprehend,  without  some  reflection,  how  limited  was  the  range  of 
his  operations  and  how  much  his  work  was  beset  with  difficulties 
which  are  now  scarcely  conceivable.  At  that  time  chemical 
industry  was  confined  to  the  production  of  soap,  the  mineral  acids, 
and  some  saline  compounds  then  used  in  medicine.  Among  the 
latter,  mercurial  preparations  held  an  important  place,  and  some  of 
these  appear  to  have  first  received  attention  by  the  firm  of  Allen 
and  Howard.  The  early  laboratory  account  books  of  the  firm  men¬ 
tion  ammoniacals,  caustic  potash,  borax,  argentic  nitrate,  and  cream 
of  tartar,  as  well  as  ether,  benzoic  acid,  and  refined  camphor,  which 
were  then  articles  of  the  materia  medica,  citric,  tartaric  and  oxalic 
acids,  etc. 

About  the  year  1804  the  laboratory  was  removed  from 
Plaistow  to  larger  premises  at  Stratford,  and  in  1807  the 
partnership  was  dissolved,  William  Allen  continuing  the  retail  and 
dispensing  business  in  Plough  Court,  while  Luke  Howard  retained 
the  manufacturing  laboratory  at  Stratford  as  a  separate  concern. 

Notwithstanding  much  anxiety  with  regard  to  the  responsi¬ 
bilities  of  an  extending  business,  Allen  had  steadily  continued  the 
study  of  chemistry  and  natural  philosophy.  He  had  been  elected 
a  member  of  the  Physical  Society  at  Guy’s  Hospital,  had  assisted 
in  the  formation  of  the  British  Mineralogical  Society,  and  regu¬ 
larly  took  part  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Askesian  Society,  as 
shown  by  the  following  entries. 

1800.  28th  January.—"  W.  H.  Pepys  making  experiments  for  the  new  gas 
from  nitrate  of  ammonia,  for  the  Askesians.  Lecture,  Mr.  Bradley. 
Atkesian  Society — many  visitors.  Tupper  and  I  breathed  the  gaseous 
oxide  of  azote.  It  has  a  remarkably  inebr'ating  effect.” 

27th  February. — “  Experiments  on  respiration.  Present : — Astley 
Cooper,  Dr.  Bradley  ;  Allen,  of  Edinburgh  ;  the  two  Lawsons  ;  and  J. 
Fox.  We  all  breathed  the  gaseous  oxide  of  azote.  It  took  a  surprising 
effect  upon  me,  abolishing  completely  at  first  all  sensation ;  then  I  had  the 
idea  of  being  carried  violently  upward  in  a  dark  cavern  with  only  a  few 
glimmering  lights.  The  company  said  my  eyes  were  fixed,  face  purple, 
veins  in  the  forehead  very  large,  apoplectic  stertor,  etc.  They  were  all 
much  alarmed,  but  I  suffered  no  pain,  and  in  a  short  time  came  to  myself.” 

About  that  time  Allen  became  a  member  of  the  Royal  Institution 
and  a  note  in  the  diary  shows  that  he  attended  the  opening  lecture 
in  March,  1800.  In  the  following  year,  when  Humphry  Davy — the. 
Penzance  apothecary’s  apprentice — had  been  drawn  from  the 
“  scientific  aberrations  ”  of  Dr.  Beddoes’  Pneumatic  Institution  to 
become  Professor  at  the  Royal  Institution,  the  interest  attaching  to 
him  led  Allen  to  be  present  with  his  friends  W.  H.  Pepys  and 
Richard  Phillips,  at  Davy’s  first  lecture  on  galvanism.  This  lecture 


Allen  describes  as  “  a  most  capital  one,”  predicting  also  that  Davy 
"bids  fair  to  rise  high  in  the  philosophical  world.”  Subsequently 
Allen  became  intimate  with  Davy,  and  closely  associated  with  him 
in  the  work  of  the  Royal  Institution. 

Botany  was  also  a  subject  to  which  William  Allen  paid  attention, 
and  in  the  summer  of  1801,  after  an  excursion  in  Essex,  he  speaks 
of  having  had  a  rich  feast  of  botany  with  his  friends  L.  Dillwyn 
and  J.  Woods,  looking  over  the  specimens  he  had  collected,  and  of 
having  found  one  very  good  thing — the  Juncus  acutus.  He  had 
for  some  time  past  been  delivering  lectures  on  chemistry  at  Plough 
Court,  and  at  one  of  them  he  mentions  having  had  an  audience  of 
sixty,  including  among  the  number  Dr.  Relpb,  Astley  Cooper,  Dr. 
Bradley,  and  T.  Poole. 

Allen’s  scientific  work  was  then  attracting  much  notice,  and  he 
was  frequently  called  upon  to  make  chemical  analyses  or  to  conduct 
experiments  requiring  skill  and  accuracy.  The  Plough  Court  es¬ 
tablishment  also  became  celebrated  as  a  repository  of  chemical 
reagents,  to  the  preparation  of  which  Allen  had  directed  his  atten¬ 
tion  with  much  success.  A  collection  of  them  was  exhibited  at  the 
National  Institute,  in  Paris,  by  Professor  Pictet,  of  Geneva,  and 
attracted  particular  notice  from  the  chemical  members. 

Towards  the  end  of  1801  there  is  a  note  of  a  visit  with  W.  H.  Pepys 
to  the  Royal  Institution,  where  Davy  showed  them  “  a  fine  experi¬ 
ment  of  Dr.  Wollaston’s,  in  which  common  electricity  is  seen  to 
decompose  water  like  galvanism,”  and  another  of  the  deflagration  of 
charcoal. 

In  the  following  year  Allen  was  invited  by  Dr.  Babington  to  join 
him  in  delivering  lectures  on  chemistry  at  Guy’s  Hospital,  a  pro¬ 
posal  which  he  accepted  on  the  earnest  recommendation  of  Astley 
Cooper.  His  first  lecture  there  was  delivered  on  February  13, 
and  there  is  the  following  note  in  reference  to  it. 

•Rose  early— getting  ready  for  experiments  at  the  Hospital.  I  felt  dis¬ 
tressingly  low  and  anxious— gave  my  first  lecture  there,  at  which  Drs. 
Babington  and  Curry  were  present,  and  Astley  Cooper  came  in.  I  got 
through  much  to  my  satisfaction  and  apparently  to  that  of  the  class.  It 
began  and  ended  with  loud  plaudits/' 

Allen  was  at  this  time  in  frequent  communication  with  Davy,  he 
was  elected  a  President  of  the  Physical  Society  at  Guy’s  Hospital, 
and  in  1803  took  part  withDrs.  Lettsom,  Bradley  and  Pole  inform¬ 
ing  an  institution  for  cow-pox  inoculation.  During  that  year  he 
describes  a  botanical  excursion  with  several  friends.  After 
breakfasting  at  Harrow  they  set  off  on  foot  over  the  cornfields  to 
Morpeth  Field,  after  the  Fritlillaria  without  success ;  but  found 
the  Helleborus  viridus  a  scarce  plant  in  those  parts,  the  Ophio- 
glossum  and  Vinca  major;  they  dined  at  the  Kings  Head,  Harrow, 
and  set  off  home  at  six. 

In  a  note  dated  July  4, 1803,  reference  is  made  to  the  following 
letter  from  Davy  inviting  Allen  to  deliver  a  course  of  lectures  at  the 
Royal  Institution. 

Dear  Allen, 

Our  managers  have  formed  a  plan  of  instituting  different  lecture  on 
parts  of  natural  philosophy  in  the  next  season. 

The  terms  will  be  liberal.  Would  you  like  to  deliver  in  the  theatre  of 
the  Institution  the  course  on  natural  philosophy  that  you  have  given 
at  Guy’s?  Think  about  it,  and  let  me  know  what  your  feelings 
are.  I  should  have  called  on  you,  but  I  have  been  ill,  and  am  not  yet 
well.  I  go  out  of  town  to-morrow. 

I  am,  dear  Allen,  with  very  great  regard,  yours,  H.  Davy. 

A  few  days  later  John  Dalton,  of  Manchester,  visited  AlleD,  haviDg 
been  one  of  those  requested  to  lecture  at  the  Royal  Institution,  and 
they  discussed  the  matter. 

Sympathetic  mention  is  here  made  of  the  accidental  drowning 


248 


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[March  20,  1897 


of  Jonathan  Middleton,  who  had  been  for  several  years  one  of 
Allen’s  assistants  at  Plough  Court. 

In  the  same  year  there  are  notes  of  interviews  with  the  Com¬ 
mittee  of  the  Royal  Institution  on  a  subject  of  lectures,  of  a  dinner 
with  Hatchett  and  Davy  at  Hammersmith,  the  discussion  of  a 
paper  by  Tilloch  on  Electricity  at  the  Askesian,  and  on  Dalton’s 
introductory  lecture  at  the  Royal  Institution  that  “  he  appeared 
too  much  depressed  with  a  sense  of  the  audience.”  Allen’s  own 
lectures  in  the  following  year  do  not  appear  to  have  been  quite 
free  from  a  similar  influence. 

1804.  24th  January. — '■  Set  off  between  eleven  and  twelve  for  the  Royal 
Institution  to  give  my  first  lecture— introductory  nd  the  general  pro¬ 
perties  of  matter— felt  much  at  presenting  myself  before  such  an 
audience,  but  got  on  exceedingly  well ;  Hatchett  and  Sullivan  came  to 
me  after  the  lecture,  and  many  expressed  their  gratification.” 

The  lectures  were,  however,  successful,  and  Allen  was  requested 
to  deliver  another  course  in  1805. 

In  the  course  of  the  next  two  years  William  Allen  visited  Corn¬ 
wall  and  Cambridge,  where  he  was  courteously  received  by  several 
of  the  professors  and  heads  of  Colleges. 

In  August,  1805,  serious  alarm  was  caused  by  an  outbreak  of  fire 
at  Plough  Court,  caused  by  the  breaking  of  a  bottle  of  nitric  acid 
which  did  considerable  damage  before  it  was  extinguished. 

The  following  year  Allen  married  Charlotte  Hanbury,  and  then 
took  up  his  residence  at  Stoke  Newington.  The  work  connected 
with  the  slave  trade  took  up  much  of  his  time  up  to  the  passing  of 
the  Bill  for  abolition  in  1807,  but  scientific  work  was  continued,  and 
notes  in  December,  1806,  record  attendance  at  the  Royal  Society,  when 
Davy’s  paper  on  “  Decomposition  by  Galvanism  ”  was  read,  as  well 
as  the  commencement  of  experiments  with  Pepys  on  the  combus¬ 
tion  of  charcoal  and  respiration,  which  were  continued  for  some 
months.  In  March,  1807,  Davy  was  ill,  and  at  his  request  Allen 
delivered  a  lecture  for  him  at  the  Royal  Institution  “  under  very 
difficult  circumstances,  as  the  audience  had  been  given  to  expect 
new  discoveries.” 

In  the  arrangements  for  chemical  lectures  atGuy’s  Hospital,  Dr. 
Marcet  was  now  associated  with  Dr.  Babington  and  William 
Allen.  The  first  part  of  the  paper  on  Diamonds  was  read  at  the 
Royal  Society  in  June,  1807. 

In  the  following  November  Allen  assisted,  together  with  Davy, 
Dr.  Babington,  and  several  others,  in  the  institution  of  the 
Geological  Society  at  a  dinner  at  the  Freemasons’  Tavern.  A  few 
days  later  a  visit  to  the  Royal  Institution  with  Pepys  is  recorded, 
when  Davy  showed  them  “  his  new  experiments  on  the  decompo¬ 
sition  of  potash  and  soda,”  by  which  oxygen  was  driven  off,  and 
“  a  new  substance  produced,  in  little  globules,  which  has  the 
properties  of  a  metal.”  He  adds  :  “  Pepys  and  I  concluded  we 
would  cheerfully  have  walked  fifty  miles  to  see  the  experiment. 
Here  is  another  grand  discovery  in  chemistry.”  In  the  same 
month  Allen  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  and 
admitted  after  introduction  by  Sir  Everard  Home,  the  surgeon. 

Shortly  after  the  Act  for  the  Abolition  of  the  Slave  Trade 
received  the  Royal  assent,  Allen  attended  a  meeting  of  the  Friends 
of  the  Civilisation  of  Africa,  at  which  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  pre¬ 
sided,  and  “The  African  Institution”  was  formed.  Wilberforce, 
Lord  Spencer,  Roscoe  of  Liverpool,  and  Owen,  Chaplain  to  the 
Bishop  of  London,  spoke,  and  thanks  were  voted  to  Wilberforce, 
Granville  Sharp,  the  Royal  Duke  and  T.  Clarkson.  “  It  was  a  most 
satisfactory  meeting — several  bishops  were  there.” 

An  entry  on  April  12,  1808,  records  a  visit  with  Luke  Howard  to 
Basil  Montague,  in  Lincoln’s  Inn,  where  they  met  Frederic  Smith, 
and  inaugurated  a  society  “  to  diminish  the  number  of  capital 
punishments.”  Another  in  May  relates  to  the  paper  on  respiration. 


11  Pepys  and  I  want  up  to  Davy  with  it  on  seventh  day  ;  he  finds  it  hard  work 
to  give  up  his  favourite  idea  ot  the  absorption  of  azote  ;  he,  however,  seems, 
though  reluctantly,  to  yield  to  the  evidence  of  our  experiments  ;  this  is  quite 
as  much  as  we  could  expect,  seeing  it  overturns  almost  all  his  experiments  on 
this  subject  ’ 

Another  interesting  note  on  June  30  describes  the  reading  of 
Davy’s  paper  on  the  decomposition  of  the  earths,  when  mention  was 
made  of  the  “  information  from  Berzelius,  of  Stockholm,  as  to  the 
decomposition  of  ammonia  by  galvanism,  showing  that  it  also  has 
metallic  properties.”  Later  in  the  year  Allen,  together  with  Davy 
and  Pepys,  visited  Children  at  Tonbridge,  to  experiment  with  a 
large  galvanic  battery,  and  in  November  he  wrote  to  Davy  declining 
to  continue  the  lectures  at  the  Royal  Institution.  In  June,  1809, 
the  second  paper  on  respiration  was  sent  to  the  Royal  Society,  and 
subsequently  Allen  received  from  John  Dalton,  of  Manchester,  the 
following  letter  relating  to  it 

“I  have  read  with  great  interest  your  two  papers  on  carbonic  acid  and 
respiration,  and  upon  the  whole  am  very  well  pleased  with  them.  I 
wrote  a  paper  two  or  three  years  ago  on  respiration,  which  will  perhaps 
appear  in  our  next  volume.  The  results  of  my  experiments  led  me  to 
conclude  that  all  the  oxygen  which  disappears  is  to  be  found  in  the  car¬ 
bonic  acid  :  there  is  one  very  striking  difference  in  our  experiments— the 
medium  of  air  respired  with  me,  loses  only  four  or  five  oxygen  per  cent,  and 
gains  nearly  the  same  acid,  the  conclusion  you  obtain  from  respiring  the 
same  air  as  long  as  possible  is  very  remarkable— I  cannot  make  up  my  mind 
upon  it.  I  was  glad  to  see  your  results  on  charcoal,  etc.,  so  clear  and 
definite.” 

In  July,  1813,  Allen,  together  with  Wilson  Lowry,  and  Dr.  Thomp¬ 
son,  again  visited  Children  at  Tonbridge,  where  they  found  a  great 
assemblage  of  English  chemists,  including  Wollaston,  Tennant, 
Davy,  Hatchett,  etc.  and  carried  out  a  number  of  experiments.  On 
April  16,  1814,  an  entry  shows  that  in  the  twentieth  lecture  of  the 
course  at  Guy’s,  Allen  “  showed  iodine  for  the  first  time,”  and  within 
six  months  after  the  announcement  of  its  discovery  by  Courtois  at  a 
meeting  of  the  National  Institute  of  France.  Another  entry  in 
November  shows  that  he  had  been  elected  a  member  of  the  Royal 
Society  Council. 

The  courses  of  lectures  on  chemistry  and  natural  philosophy  at 
Guy’s  Hospital  were  continued  by  Allen  for  twenty-five  years,  but 
the  difficulty  of  the  work  under  the  pressure  of  other  engagements 
was  often  referred  to  incidentally  in  the  diary.  Chief  among  these 
were  the  various  philanthropic  undertakings  with  which  Allen  was 
connected.  In  the  course  of  1808  he  became  associated  with 
Joseph  Lancaster  in  the  educational  work  which  had  then  been 
carried  on  by  him  for  some  few  years  under  the  patronage  of  Lord 
Somerville,  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  and  subsequently  of  the  King 
and  several  members  of  the  Royal  family.  Owing  to  deficient 
capacity  for  business  management  of  his  enterprise,  Lancaster  had 
become  involved  in  serious  financial  embarrassment,  which  compelled 
him  to  place  his  affairs  in  the  hands  of  a  committee  consisting  of 
Joseph  Fox,  William  Allen,  John  Jackson,  Joseph  Foster,  William 
Carston,  and  Thomas  Sturge.  In  the  prosecution  of  this  work  much 
time  and  labour  were  given  by  Allen  to  the  keeping  of  regular  ac¬ 
counts, and  when  the  Lancasterian  Institution  was  formed  in  1812, his 
acceptance  of  theoffice  of  treasurer  threw  upon  himadditionalrespon- 
sibility.  While  thus  occupied  Allen  was  brought  into  communication 
with  the  Duke  of  Kent,  who  was  an  active  supporter  of  the  Lancas¬ 
terian  Schools,  and  took  part  in  the  formation  of  the  British  and 
Foreign  School  Society  in  1814.  About  that  time  Allen  was  con¬ 
sulted  by  the  Duke  as  to  his  private  affairs,  and  in  consequence  of 
the  advice  given  by  him  as  to  needful  retrenchment,  Allen  became 
trustee  of  the  Duke’s  estate  during  his  absence  abroad  ;  he  was  thus 
the  means  of  rendering  a  service  which  was  acknowledged  by  the 
Duke  of  Kent  in  very  gratifying  terms.  Our  Queen  has  never  for- 


Mabch  20,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


249 


gotten  the  kindness  done  to  her  father,  and  has  on  many  occasions 
shown  her  respect  and  affection  for  the  Society  of  Friends. 

Shortly  after  Allen’s  intimate  association  with  the  Duke  of  Kent 
he  was  introduced  to  the  Emperor  of  Russia  and  the  KiDg  of 
Prussia  when  they  came  to  London  in  1814,  after  the  abdication  of 
Napoleon  Buonaparte.  Very  remarkable  religious  intercourse 
resulted,  especially  with  the  Emperor  Alexander,  which  was  main¬ 
tained  subsequently  when  Allen  paid  long  visits  to  Russia  and  other 
continental  countries.  During  one  of  these  visits  in  1816  Allen’s 
wife  died  at  Geneva.  Eleven  years  later,  and  soon  after  the  death 
of  his  daughter,  Allen  married  again,  Mrs.  Grizell  Birkbeck,  and  in 
writing  to  a  friend,  communicating  his  intention,  he  said,  “  Should 
this  step  appear  singular,  let  it  be  remembered  that  the  despensations 
through  which  I  have  had  to  pass,  have  been  singularly  afflictive.” 
In  1836  he  again  became  a  widower. 


establishment  of  Messrs.  Allen  and  Howard  as  an  apprentice  and, 
in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  he  had  acquired  an  important  position  in 
the  business,  eventually  becoming  a  partner.  Under  his  direction  the 
pharmacy  was  re-arranged  in  accordance  with  the  great  improve¬ 
ments  resulting  from  general  scientific  progress  during  the  latter 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  the  following  entries  in  Allen’s 
diary  show  that  in  1813  the  management  of  the  business  was 
almost  entirely  in  Barry’s  hands  : — 

January. — “John  Barry  took  stock  without  me — this  is  the  first  time  for 
nineteen  years  that  I  have  not  been  actively  engaged  in  it.” 

„  29. — “This  month  has  been  a  very  busy  one,  but  John  T.  Barry 
has  taken  almost  the  whole  weight  of  the  business  off  me.” 

Besides  carrying  out  a  complete  re-organisation  of  the  estab¬ 
lishment,  Mr.  Barry  introduced,  among  other  improvements, 
the  use  of  angular  bottles  for  keeping  such  poisons  as  were  admitted 


Another  very  onerous  undertaking  in  which  Allen  was  concerned 
was  the  industrial  establishment  of  Robert  Owen,  at  New  Lanark, 
with  which  he  was  connected  for  twenty-two  years,  and  it  gave  him 
much  anxiety  on  religious  grounds.  The  establishment  of  an 
agricultural  colony  at  Lindfield,  in  Sussex,  about  1821,  was  a  source 
of  greater  satisfaction.  Writing  of  this  colony  in  1830,  Allen  says  : — 

“  My  object  in  taking  Gravely  Farm  was  to  prove,  by  an  experiment  under 
the  public  eye,  that  it  is  possible  to  render  the  agricultural  labourer  inde¬ 
pendent  of  parish  relief,  even  with  his  present  very  low  wages,  by  letting 
him  have  a  little  land  upon  fair  terms,  and  directing  him  in  the  cultivation 
of  it.  This  experiment  has  succeeded. 

Since  the  dissolution  of  the  partnership  with  Luke  Howard,  in  1807, 
the  entire  responsibility  of  the  Plough  Court  business  had  devolved 
upon  William  Allen  and,  with  the  increasing  demands  of  his  other 
occupations,  the  need  of  assistance  was  no  doubt  felt. 

About  the  year  1 804  J ohn  Thomas  Barry  bad  entered  the  Plough  Court 


upon  the  dispensing  shelves.  A  method  devised  by  him  for  pre¬ 
paring  extracts  in  vacuo  attracted  considerable  attention.  In  addi¬ 
tion  to  his  various  scientific  and  pharmaceutical  pursuits  he  was 
closely  associated  with  William  Allen  in  philanthropic  work  and 
took  a  very  active  part  in  the  endeavours  to  obtain  abolition  of 
capital  punishment,  being  largely  instrumental  in  bringing  about 
an  alteration  of  the  law  in  that  respect. 

The  rearrangement  of  the  pharmacy  then  carried  out  by  Mr.  Barry 
is  represented  in  tbe  accompanying  illustrations. 

The  marriage  of  William  Allen  with  Charlotte  Hanbury  in  180  6 
had  also  led  to  occupation  being  found  at  the  Plough  Court  estab¬ 
lishment  for  his  wife’s  nephews,  Daniel  Bell  Hanbury  and  Cornelius 
Hanbury,  and  the  management  of  the  business  soon  devolved  upon 
them,  together  with  John  Thomas  Barry,  under  the  style  of  Allen 
Hanburys  and  Barry. 

There  is  yet  to  be  recorded  another  phase  of  William  Allen’s 


250 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Maeoh  20,  1897 


active  life  which  is  of  especial  interest  to  chemists  and  druggists. 
The  chaotic  state  of  affairs  prevailing  in  regard  to  the  practice  of  j 
medicine  and  pharmacy  at  the  end  of  the  last  century,  in  conse¬ 
quence  of  the  absence  of  authoritative  qualification  for  the  exercise 
of  either  occupation,  had  become  as  prejudicial  to  those  so  ; 
engaged  as  it  was  to  the  general  public. 

There  was  then  no  provision  for  medical  education  beyond 
apprenticeship  and  attendance  at  the  lectures  of  private  teachers, 
or  at  the  hospitals.  The  physician’s  degrees  granted  by  the  Univer¬ 
sities  of  Oxford,  Cambridge,  and  Edinburgh — the  only  recognised 
qualifications — were  taken  by  very  few,  and  the  Society  of  Apothe¬ 
caries  was  still  without  power  to  confer  qualification  to  practise 
medicine.  But  the  growing  importance  of  apothecaries  as  medical 
practitioners  throughout  the  kingdom  and  the  want  of  a  competent 
jurisdiction  to  restrain  ignorant  persons  from  practising,  naturally 
directed  attention  to  the  necessity  of  establishing  a  legal  qualifica¬ 
tion  on  the  basis  of  systematic  education.  Under  the  leadership  of 
Mason  Good,  George  Mann  Burrows,  Robert  Upton,  Anthony  Todd 
Thomson,  and  other  apothecaries  engaged  in  medical  practice,  an 
organisation  was  formed,  with  the  title  of  The  Associated  Apothe¬ 
caries,  in  order  to  obtain  the  necessary  reform.  The  attempt  to 
provide  a  remedy  was  not  confined  to  the  practice  of  medicine,  but 
was  also  intended  to  have  the  effect  of  regulating  the  practice 
of  pharmacy,  so  that  chemists  and  druggists  would  thus  have  been 
subjected  to  the  control  of  the  apothecaries.  The  fundamental 
principle  that  educational  training  and  legal  qualification  were 
essential  for  the  pharmacist  as  well  as  for  the  practitioner  of  medi¬ 
cine,  was  reasonable  enough ;  but  the  chemists  having  acquired  by 
long  usage  a  prescriptive  right  to  the  practice  of  pharmacy, 
objected  to  being  placed  under  the  control  of  the  authority  which 
the  apothecaries  proposed  to  establish  for  regulating  the  practice 
of  pharmacy  as  well  as  their  own  medical  practice. 

When  the  Associated  Apothecaries  endeavoured,  in  the  early  part 
of  the  present  century,  to  obtain  legislative  regulation  of  the  practice 
of  medicine  and  pharmacy,  some  provisions  of  the  Bill  introduced 
into  Parliament  with  that  object  were  considered  by  chemists  and 
druggists  to  threaten  the  position  they  had  then  acquired  as  com¬ 
pounders  and  dispensers  of  medicine.  At  a  public  meeting  of 
chemists  and  druggists  held  on  March  4,  1813,  and  presided 
over  by  Mr.  Hudson,  of  the  Haymarket,  a  committee  was  ap¬ 
pointed  to  take  steps  for  opposing  the  Bill.  William  Allen  was  a 
member  of  that  Committee,  and  its  first  meeting  was  held  at  his  house 
in  Plough  Court  on  March  5, 1813.  The  following  entries  in  the  diary 
are  interesting  and  show  that  no  time  was  lost. 

6tli  March. — “  Called  on  Wilberforce,  Whitbread,  etc.,  on  the  Apothe¬ 
caries’  Bill.  This  is  a  new  cause  of  anxiety,  and  much  of 
the  labour  of  opposing  it  will  devolve  upon  me.” 

15th. — “  Globe,  Fleet  Street,  4  o’clock,  committee  on  Apothecaries’  Bill.” 

29th. — "  Apothecaries  Bill  withdrawn  on  account  of  opposition.’ 

The  energetic  action  then  taken  led  to  temporary  withdrawal  of 
the  Bill ;  but  in  view  of  the  fact  that  it  was  to  bs  again  introduced, 
the  Committee  was  made  a  permanent  committee  for  the  future 
protection  of  the  interests  of  chemists  and  druggists,  William  Allen, 
W.  B.  Hudson,  and  Edward  Horner  being  appointed  trustees  of  the 
fund  raised  for  the  purpose. 

During  the  next  two  years  negotiations  between  the  Associated 
Apothecaries  and  the  Society  of  Apothecaries  resulted  in  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  a  Bill  by  the  latter  body,  which  again  excited  the 
opposition  of  chemists  and  druggists  and  is  referred  to  in  the 
following  entry  in  Allen’s  diary  : — 

6th  March,  1816. — “  Went  with  J.  Barry  to  Freemasons’  Tavern  to  attend  a 
general  meeting  of  chemistB  and  druggists  on  the  Apothe¬ 
caries’  Bill— agreed  to  petition  against  it. 


In  the  protracted  negotiations  which  led  to  the  removal  of  objec¬ 
tionable  provisions  from  that  Bill — eventually  passed  as  the  Apothe¬ 
caries  Act,  18\5 — William  Allen  took  an  active  part,  continuing  to  act 
as  a  member  of  the  Committee  and  as  trustee  of  the  funds  originally 
subscribed  in  1813  by  chemists  and  druggists  for  opposing  the  Bill 
of  the  Associated  Apothecaries. 

By  the  compromise  then  effected  chemists  and  druggists  main¬ 
tained  their  claim  to  the  making  up  of  physicians’  prescriptions 
and  generally  to  carry  on  the  practice  of  pharmacy,  while  the  pro¬ 
vision  that  no  person  should  “  practise  as  an  apothecary  ”  without 
the  qualification  required  by  the  Act,  gave  to  apothecaries  the 
recognition,  as  medical  practitioners,  which  they  had  long  desired. 
In  both  respects  the  passing  of  this  Act  had  a  beneficial  effect, 
though  the  precise  interpretation  of  “  practising  as  an  apothecary  ” 
has  been  matter  of  dispute  and  cannot  be  distinctly  ascertained, 
even  from  the  language  or  general  tenour  of  the  Act. 

The  next  occasion  on  which  William  Allen  took  a  prominent  part 
in  proceedings  for  the  protection  of  chemists  and  druggists  was  in 
connection  with  the  Medical  Bill  introduced  into  Parliament  in 
1841,  with  objects  somewhat  similar  to  those  of  former  Bills,  and  in 
reference  to  it  there  is  the  following  entry  in  Allen’s  diary : — 

12th  February. — “  Hawes’s  Bill  about  Chemists  and  Druggists  is  trying 
to  us.  I  have  been  requested  to  take  the  chair  at  a  public 
meeting  of  the  trade  on  the  second  day,  but  am  not  up  to  it." 

At  the  time  Allen  was  suffering  from  an  attack  of  influenza,  but  he 
became  a  member  of  a  committee  appointed  at  the  meeting  held  on 
February  15,  1841,  at  the  “  Crown  Anchor  ”  to  watch  and  oppose  the 
Bill  in  the  interests  of  chemists  and  druggists.  After  the  idea  of 
forming  a  society  of  chemists  and  druggists  had  been  conceived  at 
the  historic  tea-party  at  the  house  of  Jacob  Bell,  another  public 
meeting  was  held  on  April  15,  1841,  to  give  effect  to  that  idea  and 
the  proposition  that  an  association  should  be  formed  under  the 
title  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain  for  the  purpose 
of  increasing  the  respectability  of  chemists  and  druggists  and  pro¬ 
tecting  their  permanent  interests,  was  moved  by  William  Allen  and 
seconded  by  John  Bell. 

15th  April. — “  Trade  meeting  at  the  Crown  and  Anchor,  Strand.  The 
Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Chemists  and  Druggists  was 
unanimously  formed.  ” 

As  one  of  the  forty  members  of  committee  who  were 
then  requested  to  frame  laws  and  regulations  for  the  government  of 
the  Society,  William  Allen  took  part  in  drafting  the  laws  of  the 
Society  and,  at  a  public  meeting  held  on  June  1,  his  motion  for 
passing  the  laws  was  seconded  by  John  Bell.  Two  other  partners  in 
the  Plough  Court  firm — J.  T.  Barry  and  Daniel  Bell  Hanbury — were 
also  among  the  forty  members  of  Committee  who  were  then  con- 
stituted  the  first  Council  of  the  Society  and,  by  general  con¬ 
sent,  William  Allen  was  solicited,  in  recognition  of  the  distinguished 
position  he  occupied,  to  become  the  first  President  of  the  Society. 
This  circumstance  is  recorded  in  the  diary  as  follows 

1st  June. — “The  Pharmaceutical  Society  organised.  I  am  appointed 
President  of  the  Council.” 

The  state  of  Allen’s  health  did  not  generally  admit  of  his  taking 
the  chair  at  the  evening  meetings  of  the  Society  which  had  been 
commenced  in  May  and  were  continued  during  the  year.  He 
appears,  however,  to  have  attended  the  Council  meetings  and  to 
have  taken  an  active  part  in  the  business  of  organisation. 

15th  July. — “  Attended  the  Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  ; 

passed  the  bye  laws  unanimously  ;  a  very  satisfactory 
meeting.  Our  Vice-President,  C.  J.  Payne,  is  a  very 
clear-headed,  sensible  man.  Jacob  Bell  is  indefatigable, 
and  one  of  our  most  useful  members.” 

In  making  arrangements  for  conducting  examinations  the  Council 


March  20,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


251 


sought  assistance  from  the  College  of  Physicians  and,  in  reference 
to  this,  there  is  the  following  entry  in  Allen’s  diary  : — 

17th  November. — “  Received  »  letter  requesting  me  to  come  to  town  to 
join  a  deputation  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  to  the 
College  of  Physicians  to-morrow— an  unpleasan  inter¬ 
ruption,  but  must  go." 

He  was  then  at  Gravely  Cottage,  Lindfield,  where  he  had  latterly 
spent  much  of  his  time. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  year,  when  proceedings  relating  to 
medical  reform  required  the  Council  to  communicate  with  the 
Secretary  of  State,  a  deputation  was  sent  to  the  Home  Office,  and 
the  following  entry  in  Allen’s  diary  is  the  last  one  in  which  the 
Society  is  mentioned  : — 

1st  Jany.,  1812. — “  Interview  with  Sir  James  Graham  on  the  subject  of 
the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  together  with  C.  J.  Payne 
and  Jacob  Bell.  He  received  us  very  cordially.  I  in¬ 
formed  him  of  the  origin,  nature,  and  extent  of  the 
Society,  and  my  friends  also  gave  satis 'actory  explana¬ 
tions.  He  promised  that  nothing  should  be  done 
bearing  upon  our  trade  without  communicating  with 
me,  which  we  acknowledged  as  very  kind.” 

In  the  same  month  he  sent  an  address,  which  was  read  at  the 
evening  meeting,  pointing  out  the  great  importance  of  the  Society’s 
educational  work  and  the  especial  necessity  of  “a  competent 
knowledge  of  chemistry  ”  as  the  foundation  of  a  chemist  and 
druggist’s  qualification. 

At  the  first  annual  meeting  of  the  Society,  held  at  the  “  Crown 
and  Anchor”  in  May,  1842,  William  Allen  presided  and  congratulated 
the  members  on  having  established  a  Society  to  provide  for 
their  own  protection  and  the  benefit  of  the  public,  by  promoting 
education  and  obtaining  the  strength  that  results  from  union. 

At  the  evening  meeting  of  the  Society  in  August  the  chair  was 
taken  by  the  President  and  a  prize  was  awarded  to  Robert 
Bentley  as  the  successful  competitor  at  the  conclusion  of  Dr. 
Thomson’s  lectures  on  botany. 

The  last  occasion  on  which  William  Allen  took  part  in  the 
proceedings  of  the  Society  was  the  second  annual  meeting,  in 
May,  1843,  when  he  occupied  the  chair.  After  that  time  increasing 
infirmity  prevented  him  from  attending  to  public  business,  and  on 
the  30th  of  December,  1843,  at  the  age  of  73,  William  Allen’s 
earthly  life  closed  peacefully  at  Gravely  Cottage,  Lindfield. 

The  further  history  of  the  Plough  Court  Pharmacy  may  be  very 
briefly  summarised. 

After  the  death  of  William  Allen  the  firm  was  for  several  years 
represented  in  the  Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  by  Daniel 
Bell  Hanbury,  who  was  afterwards  appointed  Treasurer,  and  con¬ 
tinued  to  hold  that  office  until  1867.  In  the  year  1868  he  retired 
from  the  business,  and  died  in  1882  at  the  advanced  age  of  88. 
J.  T.  Barry  retired  from  the  business  in  1856,  and  since  that  time 
the  style  of  the  firm  has  been  Allen  and  Hanbury.  Barry 
died  in  1864.  Daniel  Hanbury,  the  eldest  son  of  D.  B.  Hanbury, 
entered  the  business  as  a  pupil  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  eventually 
becoming  a  partner.  He  was  a  student  in  the  laboratory  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  during  the  first  session  of  1844-45, 
and  soon  afterwards  commenced  to  contribute  papers  to  the  Phar- 
vnaceutical  Journal  on  the  subject  of  pharmacology,  which  were 
followed  in  1874  by  the  publication  of  ‘  Pharmacographia,’  in  con¬ 
junction  with  Ihe  late  Professor  Fliickiger.  In  1855  he  was  elected 
a  Fellow  of  the  Linnean  Society,  and  in  1873  of  the  Royal  Society 
— the  fourth  pupil  in  the  Plough  Court  Pharmacy  that  had  acquired 
this  distinction.  His  work  in  connection  with  his  favourite  sub¬ 
ject  is  too  well  known  to  require  further  mention  here,  and  his 
early  death  in  1875  at  the  ege  of  49  was  a  very  great  loss  to  phar¬ 
macy  as  well  as  to  science. 


PHARMACEUTICAL  SOCIETY. 


EVENING  MEETING  IN  EDINBURGH. 


The  second  evening  meeting  in  Edinburgh  of  the  present  session 
was  held  in  the  Society’s  Hall,  36,  York  Place,  on  Friday,  March 
12,  at  9  o’clock,  Mr.  J.  Laidlaw  Ewing  in  the  chair.  The  first 
paper  read  was  by  Mr.  W.  S.  Glass,  on 

Commercial  Gingers  and  Essence  of  Ginger. 

It  is  printed  at  page  245,  and  after  reading  it  the  author  ex¬ 
hibited  a  percolator,  costing  a  few  pence,  made  of  a  cylindrical 
zinc  tube,  7  inches  long  and  3  inches  in  diameter,  and  closed 
at  one  end  with  a  concave  zinc  plate  having  perforations  in 
the  central  portion.  Broken  glass  to  the  depth  of  about  an  inch 
is  placed  in  the  bottom  of  the  percolator  and  the  ginger,  in  fine 
powder,  packed  in  layers  above  it.  With  such  an  apparatus  a 
pint  of  essence  can  be  prepared  in  a  reasonable  time  with  very 
small  loss  of  spirit.  When  the  ginger  is  exhausted  the  residual 
spirit  is  driven  out  with  water  and  reserved  for  future  use. 

Mr.  J.  B.  Stephenson  said  he  had  for  a  long  time  taken  a  con¬ 
siderable  interest  in  the  making  of  essences,  and  the  essence  of 
ginger  was  one  of  the  most  satisfactory  examples  of  the  process  of 
maceration.  But  he  had  never  used  any  but  the  Jamaica  ginger. 
He  imagined  that  he  noticed  a  different  flavour  in  the  Cochin  and 
African. 

In  answer  to  Mr.  Lunan,  Mr.  Glass  said  he  did  not  separate  the 
essential  oil  from  the  oleo-resin. 

Mr.  Lunan  referred  to  a  similar  paper  which  had  been  read 
some  years  ago,  the  author  of  which  used  alcohol  instead  of  ether, 
and  if  he  remembered  right  it  made  a  better  preparation.  As  to  the 
point  which  Mr.  Glass  had  brought  out  that  African  ginger  made 
the  most  pungent  essence,  he  had  proved  his  point,  but  he  doubted 
if  it  would  be  so  aromatic  as  Jamaica  ginger. 

Mr.  Thomson  asked  if  the  percentage  mentioned  by  Mr.  Glass 
had  been  obtained  from  the  alcoholic  or  ethereal  extract. 

Mr.  Glass  said  from  the  ethereal  only. 

Mr.  Cowie  asked  if  Mr.  Glass  considered  the  ether  extract 
superior  to  the  alcohol.  They  would  require  to  have  some  reason 
for  adopting  ether  instead  of  alcohol. 

Mr.  J.  R.  Hill  said  there  was  some  force  in  what  Mr.  Stephen¬ 
son  said  that  the  paper  was  not  by  any  means  limited  to  discussing 
essence  of  ginger.  It  was  somewhat  wider  in  its  scope,  and  dealt 
with  three  varieties  of  ginger.  He  thought  Mr.  Glass  pretty  well 
confirmed  the  work  of  previous  experimenters  in  proving  the  large 
percentage  of  oleo-resin  obtained  from  the  African.  It  was  alleged 
that  it  had  a  harsh  flavour  as  compared  with  J amaica.  In  these 
essences  Mr.  Glass  had  shown  them  that  the  difference  was  not 
important — at  least  not  so  very  pronounced  as  to  make  so  great  a 
difference  in  the  practical  use  of  these  essences  for  flavouring 
purposes.  He  had  always  had  the  impression  that  the  Pharmaco¬ 
poeia  only  recognised  Jamaica  ginger,  but  that  only  proved  his 
ignorance.  On  looking  up  he  found  the  Pharmacopoeia  itself 
stated  no  limit  as  to  where  the  plant  came  from.  Squire,  in 
his  book,  limited  it  to  the  West  Indies  and  India. 
As  the  ginger  used  was  got  from  the  West  Indies  and  India,  it 
seemed  reasonable  to  extend  the  field  a  little  and  take  in  African 
and  Cochin  ginger,  as  well  as  being  available  for  use.  The 
Jamaica  ginger  was  very  extensively  used,  and  first-class 
pharmacies  excluded  African  and  Cochin.  But  he  did  not  see  there 
was  a  sufficient  reason  for  that.  It  was  rather  keeping  to  old 
tradition  than  selecting  the  finest  variety  for  pharmaceutical 
purposes.  If  cultivators  saw  that  the  produce  of  other  districts 
was  being  used  it  might  result  in  their  sending  into  the  market  a 
better  article.  Mr.  Glass’s  percolator  was  a  cheap  piece  of  pharma¬ 
ceutical  apparatus.  Many  used  a  glass  percolator,  but  it  had  the 
disadvantage  of  being  very  fragile,  and  not  so  easily  replaced  as 
this  practically  indestructible  percolator.  It  would  not  do  to  use 
a  zinc  percolator  in  all  circumstances,  because  the  metal  might  be 
acted  upon  and  dissolve,  but  in  the  case  of  ginger  there  was  no 
danger  of  the  zinc  being  dissolved. 

Mr.  Glass,  in  reply,  said  he  had  been  asked  if  ether  was 
superior  to  any  other  solvent  in  extracting  constituents.  He  did 
not  know  if  it  was  superior.  He  had  the  authority  of  Thresh  and 
Riegel  also  for  saying  that  ginger  yielded  all  its  active  constituents 
to  ether,  alcohol,  or  chloroform.  He  took  that  for  granted.  He 
thought  it  would  be  found  that  ether  really  extracted  all  the  con¬ 
stituents. 


252 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[March  20,  1897 


Mr.  I.  W.  Thomson  then  read  a — 

Note  on  a  Sample  of  Scammony, 
which  is  printed  at  page  245. 

Mr.  Rutherford  Hill  said  he  had  had  an  opportunity  of  examin¬ 
ing  the  sample,  and  his  results  confirmed  those  just  stated  by  Mr. 
Thomson.  The  ether  extract  was  decidedly  oily,  and  seemed  to 
contain  a  small  quantity  of  a  fixed  oil.  When  dissolved  in  caustic 
potash  solution  it  was  reprecipitated  on  the  addition  of  hydro¬ 
chloric  acid,  and  this  fact  seemed  to  indicate  that  what¬ 
ever.  the  resin  was,  it  was  not  scammonin.  The  alcoholic 
extract  consisted  of  brown-coloured  extractive  matter 
which  was  not  at  all  resinous.  The  portion  soluble 
in  water  he  at  first  thought  might  be  gum  tragacanth, 
but  though  some  tragacanth  might  be  present,  it  was 
evident  from  the  action  of  alcohol  on  the  mucilage  that  it  consisted 
chiefly,  if  not  entirely,  of  gum  arabic.  The  insoluble  portion 
consisted  almost  exclusively  of  starch  granules,  which  seemed  to  be 
wheaten  starch.  There  was  a  very  small  proportion  of  cellular 
tissue  which  seemed  to  consist  of  portions  of  some  root  or  stem, 
and  there  \Yas  a  little  dark  earthy  matter.  A  portion  of  the  sample 
was  dried  and  with  difficulty  reduced  to  powder,  when  it  bore  a 
passable  resemblance  to  powdered  scammony.  It  had  also  a 
faint  though  quite  recognisable  aromatic  adour,  which  had 
a  rather  suggestive  resemblance  to  that  of  genuine  scammony. 
The  adulteration  of  scammony  was  a  thing  of  very  frequent 
occurrence,  and  the  peasants  seemed  to  practise  it  systematically 
before  bringing  their  produce  to  market.  It  had  often  happened 
that  samples  containing  starch  had  been  met  with,  and  some  of 
them  had  contained  as  much  as  50  per  cent.  But  in  all  the 
instances  he  had  seen  reported  the  samples  contained  a  consider¬ 
able  quantity  of  resin,  and  this  sample  seemed  to  differ  from  all 
others  in  the  fact  that  it  contained  practically  none. 

Mr.  Cowie  said  that  the  experiments  he  had  made  on  two 
specimens  corresponded  with  those  made  by  Mr.  Hill,  except  that 
he  found  copper  in  the  colouring  of  one,  and  there  was  a  distinct 
percentage  of  iron  in  the  other.  One  contained  a  large  amount  of 
wheaten  starch.  The  consistency  of  the  scammony  appeared  to 
indicate  tragacanth  ;  it  was  so  hard  and  difficult  to  powder.  The 
other  specimen  contained  no  copper  but  lead.  The  percentages 
soluble  in  ether  were,  he  thought,  1  '933  in  one,  and  the  other  2  per 
cent.  The  ash  in  the  first  was  1 '62,  and  in  the  other  2T4.  Rice 
starch  was  used  to  adulterate  scammony.  The  ether  soluble 
extract  was  extremely  oily,  and  the  decoction  gave  a  very  strong 
smell  of  scammony,  much  more  so  than  one  would  expect  from  the 
amount  extracted. 

Mr.  J.  R.  Hill  said  that  on  examining  the  ash  of  the  specimen 
he  had,  he  did  come  across  what  he  considered  a  rather  doubtful 
evidence  of  lead,  and  that  rather  confirmed  what  Mr.  Cowie  had 
said. 

Recent  Donations. 

The  Assistant-Secretary  then  directed  attention  to  the  books 
recently  added  to  the  Library  and  to  the  donations  to  the  Museum. 
The  latter  included  a  specimen  of  Persian  fennel  fruit  sent  by  Mr. 
J.  C.  Umney,  and  a  specimen  of  false  packed  Lima  sarsaparilla 
sent  by  Messrs.  Hodgkinson,  Treacher  and  Clark,  per  Mr.  J.  S. 
Ward.  The  specimen  contained  two  large  pieces  of  stone. — On 
the- motion  of  the  Chairman,  votes  of  thanks  were  awarded  to  the 
authors  of  papers  and  the  donors  of  books  and  specimens. 


LEGAL  INTELLIGENCE. 


PROCEEDINGS  UNDER  THE  PHARMACY  ACTS. 


Prosecutions  at  Airdrie. 

At  the  Sheriff  Court  House,  Airdrie,  on  Monday,  March  15,  a 
number  of  cases  of  prosecution  instituted  by  the  Registrar  under 
the  Pharmacy  Acts,  1852  and  1868,  Mr.  Bremridge,  came  before 
Sheriff  Muir.  Mr.  Watt,  Solicitor,  Airdrie,  instructed  by 
Mr.  P.  Morison,  S.S.C.,  Edinburgh,  appeared  for  the  prosecutor. 
The  first  case  was  against  Hugh  Barclay,  assistant  in  the  shop 
of  Dr.  H.  C.  Reid,  50,  Bank  Street,  Coatbridge,  who  was  charged 
with  selling  laudanum  on  November  4,  and  Powell’s  balsam 
of  aniseed  on  November  21  last,  to  an  agent  of  the  Registrar. 

The  defendant  pleaded  guilty,  and  sentence  was  reserved. 


The  next  case  was  against  Thomas  Whiteford,  assistant  in  the 
shop  of  Dr.  Munro,  90,  Main  Street,  Coatbridge,  who  was  charged 
with  selling  laudanum  on  November  4,  and  prussic  acid,  chloro¬ 
form,  and  morphine  on  November  21  last  to  an  agent  of  the 
Registrar. 

Defendant  pleaded  guilty,  and  sentence  was  reserved. 


The  next  case  was  against  Peter  Fenton,  assistant  in  the  shop 
of  Dr.  White,  13,  Bank  Street,  Coatbridge,  who  was  charged  with 
selling  laudanum  on  November  4  to  an  agent  of  the  Registrar. 

Mr.  Wm.  Orr,  solicitor,  Coatbridge,  appeared  for  defendant, 
who  pleaded  guilty,  and  sentence  was  reserved. 


The  next  case  was  against  David  Ogilvie,  assistant  in  the  shop 
of  Dr.  Murray,  128,  Bank  Street,  Coatbridge,  who  was  charged 
with  selling  Budden’s  Balsam  of  Horehound,  on  November  21  last,  to 
an  agent  of  the  Registrar. 

Mr.  J.  H.  Russell,  solicitor,  Coatbridge,  appeared  for  defendant, 
who  pleaded  guilty,  and  sentence  was  reserved. 


The  next  case  was  against  David  Mcllwraith,  assistant  in  the 
shop  of  Dr.  Martin  Thomson,  141,  Graham  Street,  Airdrie,  who 
was  charged  with  selling  laudanum,  on  November  4,  and  bella¬ 
donna  and  Bow’s  liniment,  on  November  21  last,  to  an  agent  of 
the  Registrar. 

Defendant  pleaded  guilty. 

Mr.  Watt  said  he  had  to  ask  for  a  conviction  and  penalty  in  each 
case.  It  had  been  freely  admitted  that  these  proceedings  were 
taken  in  the  public  interest. 

The  Sheriff :  Where  has  that  been  admitted  ? 

Mr.  Watt :  It  is  stated  in  the  preamble  to  the  Act  of  1868  that  it 
is  expedient  for  the  safety  of  the  public. 

The  Sheriff  :  Oh,  yes  ;  but  I  want  you  to  show  me  where  it  has 
been  admitted  by  the  judges  ? 

Mr.  Watt  :  It  is  stated  by  the  Lord  Justice  Clerk  in  the  Tomlin¬ 
son  case,  and  the  same  general  view  runs  through  the  whole  of  the 
judgments  in  the  English  cases.  The  Society  has  no  desire  to  sue 
for  merely  vindictive  penalties,  but  I  must  ask  for  such  a  penalty 
as  will  put  a  stop  to  the  practices  here  complained  of.  In  a 
similar  case  in  the  Hamilton  Sheriff  Court  the  other  day  a  penalty 
of  £3  with  £2  14s.  4 d.  of  expenses  was  imposed. 

Mr.  Orr  said  it  was  said  that  the  prosecution  was  not  vindictive, 
but  it  was  very  strange  that  though  this  Act  had  been  in  force  for 
thirty  years,  and  doctors’  shops  had  been  conducted  in  Coatbridge 
all  that  time  just  as  they  are  now,  no  person  had  ever  before  been 
proceeded  against  in  Coatbridge.  He  did  not  think  the  Pharmacy 
Act  was  ever  intended  to  cover  such  acts  as  those  charged  in  these 
complaints.  But  the  defendants  were  only  assistants,  and  had  no 
means  to  conduct  an  expensive  defence,  and  therefore  they  had 
pleaded  guilty.  He  had  also  to  complain  that  this  Society  had  no 
justification  for  hanging  up  these  charges  since  the  month  of 
November. 

Mr.  Watt  said  the  delay  was  necessary,  and  could  easily  be 
explained. 

Mr.  Orr  said  the  defendants  should  have  been  told  at  the  time 
or  very  shortly  thereafter  of  the  offence,  so  that  they  might  get  up 
evidence  to  rebut  the  charges  made  by  these  professional 
witnesses.  It  might  have  been  proved  that  the  doctor  was 
resent  when  the  poisons  were  sold.  He  might  have  been  in  the 
ack  shop.  These  professional  witnesses  were  paid  by  the  Society 
to  scour  the  country  and  secure  convictions  against  such  persons 
as  the  defendants.  He  had  also  to  complain  that  the  articles  sold 
here,  such  as  Powell’s  balsam,  were  sent  out  to  the  doctors  by  the 
makers  without  any  label  upon  them  to  indicate  that  they  con¬ 
tained  a  poison. 

Mr.  Russell  said  he  concurred  in  the  remarks  made  by  Mr.  Orr, 
and  further,  he  questioned  whether  these  prosecutions  were  really 
in  the  public  interest.  It  was  strange  that  they  were  all  against 
doctors’  assistants,  and  he  made  bold  to  say  that  the  law  was  far 
more  frequently  broken  by  unqualified  assistants  in  the  shops  of 
pharmaceutical  chemists  than  in  doctors’  shops. 

Mr.  Watt  said  the  parties  here  had  pleaded  guilty,  and  he  did 
not  admit  the  statements  made  on  the  other  side,  which  would 
have  been  disproved  if  the  evidence  he  possessed  had  been  called 
for.  There  had  been  prosecutions  in  Airdrie  of  a  similar  kind  to 
those  before  the  date  of  these  offences.  As  to  the  statement  about 
Powell’s  balsam,  he  showed  the  Sheriff  the  bottle  sold  in  this  case. 


March  20,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


253 


which  bore  a  label  on  the  outside  wrapper  stating  that  it  contained 
morphine,  and  was  therefore  labelled  “Poison.” 

Mr.  Orr  :  The  one  I  have  here  is  not  labelled  “Poison.”  It  is 
Budden’s  balsam. 

Mr.  Watt :  You  mentioned  Powell’s  balsam.  There  have  been 
several  prosecutions  for  the  sale  of  Budden’s  balsam  in  the 
Greenock  Sheriff  Court,  which  were  fully  reported  in  the  local 
newspapers.  The  inner  label  bears  the  word  “Poison,”  and  it  is 
well  known  to  contain  poison. 

The  Sheriff  said  that  in  giving  judgment  in  cases  of  this  kind 
he  was  not  perhaps  entitled  to  express  an  opinion  as  to 
the  policy  of  the  Pharmacy  Acts.  But  he  would  have  had  no 
hesitation  in  doing  so  were  it  not  that  sitting  here  as  Sheriff 
it  might  be  considered  presumptuous  on  his  part  if  he  said  what 
would  be  understood  as  condemning  an  Act  of  Parliament.  He 
was,  however,  perfectly  warranted  in  saying  that  were  it  not  for 
the  decisions  which  had  been  given  under  these  statutes  in  the 
Courts  of  England  and  Scotland,  he  would  have  had  very  great 
difficulty  indeed  in  finding  that  the  parties  charged  before  him  to¬ 
day  came  within  these  Acts  at  all.  Looking  to  the  15th  Section  of 
the  1868  Act,  he  could  easily  see  the  possibility  of  holding 
that  it  did  not  apply  to  assistants  at  all,  but  was 
directed  solely  against  unqualified  owners  of  shops.  He 
must  express  his  great  surprise  that  in  all  these  cases  the 
parties  who  own  the  shops  are  duly  qualified  medical  practitioners, 
and  he  did  not  think  it  wras  ever  intended  by  the  Act  that  their 
assistants  should  be  selected  and  brought  here  for  punishment.  As 
he  had  already  said,  he  had  very  great  difficulty  in  holding  that 
they  came  within  the  Act.  He  was  struck  by  the  remark  made  by 
Mr.  Orr  that  this  Act  was  passed  in  1868,  and  that  for  thirty  years 
this  practice  of  having  unqualified  assistants  in  doctors’  shops  had 
been  allowed  to  go  on  in  Coatbridge  without  question  till  now. 
It  was  said  by  the  prosecutor  that  these  proceedings  were  taken 
in  the  public  interest.  On  the  contrary  he  had  a  very  strong 
suspicion  that  behind  all  this,  some  private  interest  of  which  they 
knew  nothing  was  involved.  It  was  still  more  remarkable  that 
Airdrie  and  Coatbridge  should  have  been  chosen  as  the  happy 
hunting  ground  for  all  these  cases.  He  would  like  to  ask  Mr.  Hill 
what  had  been  done  in  such  large  cities  as  Glasgow,  Edinburgh, 
and  Dundee. 

Mr.  Watt  said  he  was  informed  by  Mr.  Hill  that  there  had  been 
several  cases  in  each  of  these  towns  during  recent  years. 

The  Sheriff :  That  may  be  so,  but  I  would  like  to  ask  Mr.  Hill 
if  he  has  had  any  cases  against  the  Glasgow  Apothecaries’  Company 
in  Virginia  Street,  or  the  Apothecaries’  Company  in  Glassford 
Street,  in  Glasgow.  There  must  be  a  number  of  unqualified  per¬ 
sons  in  these  places  who  are  breaking  the  law  every  day. 

Mr.  Watt :  I  am  informed  that  in  all  cases  where  a  complaint  is 
made  to  the  Registrar  proceedings  are  taken  if  evidence  of  an 
offence  is  obtained,  and  chemists’  assistants  have  been  prosecuted 
in  a  number  of  instances.  But  the  Registrar  cannot  take  action 
unless  information  is  lodged. 

The  Sheriff  :  I  do  not  see  why  these  professional  witnesses 
should  be  sent  into  this  district  to  trap  these  doctors’  assistants  and 
bring  them  here  for  punishment,  and  to  mark  my  disapproval  of 
the  action  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  in  this  matter,  and  my 
condemnation  of  the  proceedings  in  these  cases  under  the 
Pharmacy  Acts,  I  will  inflict  a  nominal  penalty  of  2s.  6 d.  on  each  of 
the  defendants,  with  2s.  6 d.  of  expenses. 


In  the  case  against  John  E.  Miller,  assistant  to  Dr.  Arthur, 
1,  High  Street,  Cross,  Airdrie,  which  had  been  adjourned  by  the 
Sheriff  to  May  7,  on  account  of  the  illness  of  the  defender,  the 
Registrar,  taking  into  consideration  the  serious  illness  of  the 
defender,  and  the  fact  that  he  has  ceased  to  act  as  assistant  to 
Dr.  Arthur,  has  withdrawn  the  charge  against  him. 


PROCEEDINGS  UNDER  THE  FOOD  AND  DRUGS  ACT. 


What  is  Glycerin  and  Lime  Juice? 

At  Brentford  Police  Court  on  Saturday  last,  before  Mr.  Montagu 
Sharpe,  chairman,  Mr.  J.  Allen  Brown,  and  other  justices,  William 
Leighton,  chemist  and  druggist,  of  Hanwell,  Middlesex,  was  sum¬ 
moned  at  the  instance  of  Walter  Tyler,  Inspector  under  the  Food 
and  Drugs  Act  to  the  County  of  Middlesex,  for  having  sold  a 
bottle  of  glycerin  and  lime  juice  not  of  the  nature,  substance,  and 
quality  demanded. 


Mr.  W,  A.  Davis,  solicitor,  defended.  The  proceedings  were 
brought  under  the  6th  Section  of  the  F ood  and  Drugs  Act,  and 
the  facts  showed  that  the  sample  was  purchased  in  the  ordinary 
way.  The  defendant  declined  to  have  it  divided,  therefore,  half 
was  sent  to  the  public  analyst,  who  certified  as  follows  :  “I  am 
of  opinion  it  contains  no  glycerin.  The  sample  has  undergone  no 
change  that  will  interfere  with  analysis.” 

It  was  urged  for  the  prosecution  that  the  compound  was  a  drug, 
glycerin  being  mentioned  in  the  British  Pharmacopceia,  and  also 
that  very  little  so-called  glycerin  and  lime  juice  contained  glycerin. 

Mr.  Davis,  for  the  defence,  submitted  that  the  compound  con¬ 
tained  glycerin.  The  certificate  of  the  analyst  should  have  set 
out  the  actual  parts  and  ingredients,  which  would  have  materially 
helped  the  defence.  His  client  prepared  the  compound  himself, 
and  used  ingredients  which  in  themselves  would  create  glycerin. 
He  had  done  all  he  could  do,  and  if  the  drugs  failed  to  do  what 
they  should  do,  he  could  not  be  held  liable. 

Mr.  Edward  Bevan,  the  analyst  who  granted  the  certificate  in 
the  case,  called  by  the  defence,  stated,  in  reply  to  questions,  that 
he  did  not  analyse  the  mixture  with  a  view  to  finding  out  what  it 
actually  contained.  He  only  devoted  his  attention  to  tracing  what 
it  did  not  contain.  It  contained  olive  oil  and,  he  thought,  alcolite 
as  well. 

Mr.  Davis  :  And  is  it  not  a  chemical  fact  that  when  mineral  oil 
is  mixed  with  alcolite  it  forms  glycerin? — It  depends  entirely  upon 
the  way  in  which  you  mix  them  and  treat  them. 

Mr.  Davis  :  Will  not  alcolite  fetch  glycerin  out  of  mineral  oil  ? — 
No,  it  would  want  treating  with  caustic  soda. 

Mr.  Davis  :  It  cannot  be  formed  without  it  ? — No. 

Mr.  Davis :  If  saponification  takes  place  it  might  be  formed?— Yes. 

Mr.  Davis  :  Will  you  say  whether  it  did  or  did  not  take  place  ? 
—No. 

The  Chairman  :  As  a  fact,  there  may  be  the  materials  to  produce 
it,  but  it  had  not  taken  place  ? — Yes,  exactly. 

The  Chairman:  Every  chemist  should  see  that  it  takes  place,  not 
leave  it  to  chance. 

Mr.  Davis  replied  in  that  event  he  would  have  to  open  the  bottle 
again  and  test  it  himself.  That  would  be  impossible. 

The  Chairman  :  I  am  not  a  chemist,  but  to  my  lay  mind  nothing 
should  be  left  to  chance. 

Mr.  Allen  Brown  :  Under  the  most  favourable  circumstances 
would  olive  oil  and  alcolite  produce  a  sufficient  quantity  of  glycerin 
to  satisfy  you  ? — No. 

Mr.  Davis  :  Have  you  examined  many  samples  with  the  same 
result  ? — Yes  ;  and  I  have  found  none  contain  glycerin. 

Inspector  Tyler  :  Are  you  sure  you  heard  the  question  rightly  ? 
You  say  you  never  found  glycerin  in  this  compound  ? 

Mr.  Bevan  :  With  the  exception  of  one  sample,  in  which  there 
might  have  been  a  little  glycerin. 

The  Chairman  :  Why  not  put  glycerin  in  it  ? 

Mr.  Davis  :  I  am  not  a  chemist.  I  can’t  tell  you. 

The  Chairman  :  There  must  be  a  conviction.  It  is  the  first  case 
of  its  kind,  and  we  hope  manufacturers  will  be  more  careful.  The 
fine  will  be  20s.  and  costs. 


At  Sunbury  Petty  Sessions  on  Monday,  before  Mr.  J.  Ashby, 
chairman,  and  other  justices,'  Thos.  Mann,  chemist  and  druggist, 
of  Park  Terrace,  Hampton  Hill,  Hampton,  Middlesex,  was  simi¬ 
larly  summoned. 

The  evidence  disclosed  that  Wm.  Churchman,  assistant  to 
Inspector  Tyler,  purchased  from  the  defendant  a  bottle  which  bore 
a  label  as  follows  :  “Lime  Juice  and  Glycerin.  Apply  with  sponge 
or  brush.  Effectually  cleanses  the  skin  and  hair.  It  allays  irrita¬ 
tion  and  produces  a  fine  silky  and  brilliant  texture  for  the  hair. 
Shake  the  bottle  before  using.”  A  portion  was  sent  to  the  analyst, 
whose  certificate  was  as  in  the  foregoing  case. 

Inspector  Tyler,  in  cross-examination  by  the  defendant,  admitted 
that  the  bottle  did  not  appear  to  have  been  opened  when  pur¬ 
chased. 

The  defence  was  that  the  defendant  had  sold  the  compound 
exactly  as  it  was  received  from  the  wholesale  makers,  “F.  New- 
bery  and  Sons,  London,”  and  the  defendant  put  in  a  declaration 
by  a  gentleman  at  Manchester,  stating  the  compound  contained 
glycerin. 

The  Bench  declined  to  receive  the  document  unless  the  writer 
was  to  be  called. 

The  defendant  thereupon  elected  to  have  the  remainder  of  the 
sample  sent  to  Somerset  House  for  analysis,  and  the  case  was 
adjourned. 


254 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[March  20,  1897 


THE  STUDENTS’  PAGE. 


NOTES  ON  THE  PHARMACOPOEIA. 

Butyl-Chloral  Hydras. — The  constitutional  formula  for  this  is 
OTT 

CHj'CHCPCCVCH-^qjj  The  reactions  which  occur  in  making 

it  are  complicated:  the  main  feature  may,  however,  be  remem¬ 
bered,  namely,  that  it  is  a  polymerisation  product.  Aldehydes  as 
a  class  are  very  prone  to  form  such — for  instance,  two  molecules  of 
acetic  aldehyde  polymerise  to  form  aldol  (an  aldehyde-alcohol) — 

CHsO -0  -H  +  CH3C  -0  -H = CH3CH( OH)  -CH2 -C '0  H. 

Aldol. 

This  polymerisation  has  changed  one  aldehyde  grouping  into  an 
alcoholic  one — hence  the  name  ald-ol.  Aldol  easily  loses  water,  and 
is  converted  into  crotonic  aldehyde — 

CH3-CH(0H)-CH2-C0H-H20  =  CH;j-CH:CH-C-0-H. 

Aldol.  Crotonic  aldehyde. 

Crotonic  aldehyde,  as  may  be  seen  by  inspecting  its  formula,  is 
derived  from  butylene,  a  member  of  the  ethylene  (unsaturated) 
series.  Butyl-chloral  was  formerly  (and  erroneously)  supposed  to 
be  a  tri-chloro-derivative  of  crotonic  aldehyde,  and  was  called  in 
consequence  croton-chloral  hydrate.  Crotonic  aldehyde  forms  a 
chloro -derivative  by  the  action  of  chlorine, 

CH3-CH:CH-C0H  +  C12  =  CH3'CH:CC1C0H  +  HC1, 
and  this  chlorcroton  aldehyde,  being  an  unsaturated  compound, 
takes  up  two  atoms  of  chlorine  to  form  butyl-chloral.  We  started 
with  aldehyde  containing  two  carbon  atoms  in  the  molecule,  but 
obtain  a  butane  derivative  containing  four,  owing  to  the  poly¬ 
merisation  previously  mentioned.  The  test  with  solution  of  potash 
is  intended  to  distinguish  it  from  chloral,  which  yields  chloroform 
and  formic  acid,  the  acid  reacting  with  the  alkali  to  form  alka¬ 
line  formate, 


CC13 

H 


C-O-H- 
.  OH 

Butyl-chloral,  however,  yields  allylene  dichloride  and  formic 
acid  when  acted  upon  by  caustic  potash.  It  first  forms  a  tri-chloro 
derivative  of  propane  (C3H8),  just  as  chloral  yields  a  tri-chloro 
derivative  of  methane. 


CHo-CHCl-CCL 


H 


C-O-H 

OH 

but  the  tri-chloro  propane 


Chloroform  is  not  further  acted  upon, 
loses  an  atom  each  of  chlorine  and  hydrogen  by  the  action  of 
potash,  and  allylene  dichloride  results  : — 

CHs-CHCl-CHCla  =  CHs-CCl  :  CHC1  +  HC1, 

Allylene  dichloride. 

Allylene  dichloride  has  an  aromatic  odour  which  somewhat 
resembles  that  of  chloroform.  It  is,  however,  easily  distinguished 
by  the  iso-nitrile  reaction  (see  Chloral  Hydras). 

Calcii  Hypophosphis. — The  anhydride  corresponding  to  hypo- 
phosphorous  acid,  which  would  have  the  formula  P20,  has  not  been 
obtained  in  the  free  state.  Compare  this  acid  with  those  derived 
from  the  two  higher  oxides,  P403  and  P205. 

P20(?)  +  3H20  = '  2H3P02. 

P203  +  3Ho0  =  2H3P03. 

P2Og  +  3H20  =  2H3P04. 

Although  according  to  these  formulae  each  acid  contains  three 
atoms  of  hydrogen,  the  first  is  monobasic,  the  second  dibasic,  and 
the  third  tribasic,  i.  e. ,  one,  two,  and  three  atoms  of  hydrogen 
respectively  are  replaceable  by  metals  to  form  salts.  For  this 
reason  the  formulas  for  the  first  two  are  often  written  H2PH03  and 
HPH202  to  indicate  this  difference  in  behaviour  of  the  hydrogen 
atoms.  An  explanation  is  furnished  by  the  usually  accepted 
constitutional  formulae  for  these  acids. 

/OH  .OH  .OH 

OPC-H  OPC-OH  OPcOH 

XH  \H  NOH 

Hypophosphorous  Acid.  Phosphorous  Acid.  Phosphoric  Acid, 

in  which  it  is  seen  that  the  number  of  hydroxyl  (OH)  hydrogen 
atoms  corresponds  to  the  number  of  atoms  replaceable.  These 
formulae  also  help  to  explain  the  behaviour  of  the  three 
acids  to  nascent  hydrogen— the  first  two  yield  PH3,  but  phos¬ 
phoric  acid  does  not.  The  formation  of  PH3  is  probably  determined 
by  the  direct  connection  of  hydrogen  to  phosphorus,  the  three 
atoms  of  hydrogen  in  phosphoric  acid  being  connected  with  oxygen. 

Compare  the  behaviour  of  sulphurous  acid  02S  and 

OTT 

sulphuric  acid  0.2S  <Cqjj  towards  nascent  hydrogen. 


The  formation  of  calcium  hypophosphite  by  the  P.  B.  method  is 
attended  by  the  evolution  of  PH.?.  The  PH3  is  never  pure,  as 
several  secondary  reactions  take  place,  which  will  be  discussed 
under  “  Sodii  Hypophosphis.”  The  equation  usually  given  for 
this  reaction — 

2P4  +  6H20  +  3Ca2(HO)  =  3Ca2(PH202)  +  2PH3 

is  simplified  by  the  hypothetical  interpretation  that  phosphorus 
is  oxidised  to  P20,  PH3  being  formed  in  equivalent  quantity  by 
reaction  with  water — 


:  h2 

0  r 

:  2P  H2 

0  6P  = 

h2 

0 

The  3P20  unites  with  water  to  hypophosphorous  acid,  P20  +  3H20  = 
2H3P02  and  this  is  neutralised  by  the  calcium  hydrate  with  forma¬ 
tion  of  calcium  hypophosphite. 

The  ash  left  by  ignition  is  chiefly  pyrophosphate  and  meta¬ 
phosphate  of  calcium,  a  part  of  the  hypophosphite  being  oxidised 
to  phosphate  at  the  expense  of  another  part,  the  phosphorus  of 
which  is  consequently  reduced  to  PH3.  Insolubility  in  rectified 
spirit  distinguishes  it  from  the  sodium  salt,  which  is  soluble. 
Hypophosphites  and  hypophosphorous  acid  are  easily  oxidised 
into  phosphates,  hence  they  act  as  reducing  agents.  Mercuric 
chloride  is  first  reduced  to  mercurous  chloride  (white  precipitate) 
and  then  to  metallic  mercury  (grey  precipitate). 

(i.)  H3P02  +  2(OH2)  +  4HgCl2  =  H„P04  + 4HC1  +  4HgCl. 

(ii.)  H3P02  +  2(OH2)  +  4HgCl  =  H3P04  +  4HC1  +  4Hg. 

As  in  many  other  similar  reactions,  water  plays  an  essential  part 
in  the  reactions.  Lead  acetate  produces  a  precipitate  in  the  solu¬ 
tion  if  any  phosphate  be  present  (phosphate  of  calcium  is  produced 
by  some  of  the  secondary  reactions  referred  to  in  the  manufacture 
of  the  hypophosphite).  The  reaction  with  permanganate  of 
potassium,  which  is  employed  as  a  quantitative  test  for  purity, 
results  in  the  formation  of  phosphate  by  oxidation,  the  perman¬ 
ganate  being  reduced  to  hydrated  manganese  oxide. 


THE  FLOWERS  OF  MARCH. 

Two  or  three  natural  orders  can  be  conveniently  studied  during 
this  month.  The  Cruciferae  are  represented  by  two  garden  plants, 
Arabis  alpina  and  Cheiranthus  cheiri,  and  by  the  wild  plants 
Cochlearia  danica,  Draba  verna,  Capsella  Bursa  pastoris,  and  the 
rarer  species  Hutchinsia  petroea  and  Teesdalia  nudicaulis.  When 
collected  for  examination,  specimens  with  well-developed  fruit 
should  be  selected,  so  as  to  obtain  some  idea  of  the  characters  of 
the  sub-orders  Siliquosce,  Siliquosce  latiseptce,  and  Siliculosce  angusti- 
septce.  The  Arabis  and  wallflower  belong  to  the  first,  having  a  narrow 
elongated  fruit  with  two  nearly  flat  valves.  Cochlearia  and  Draba 
belong  to  the  second,  which  is  characterised  by  the  fruits  consist¬ 
ing  of  two  convex  valves,  with  a  replum  or  membrane  of  their  own 
width  between  them.  Capsella  belongs  to  the  third,  in  which  the 
valves  are  bent  or  folded,  so  that  the  replum  is  narrower  than  the 
valves  and  forms  a  visible  line  in  the  centre  of  the  fruit.  The  sub¬ 
divisions  of  this  large  order  depend  upon  the  way  in  which  the 
radicle  is  folded  in  the  seed,  the  principal  variations  being  when  it 
is  folded  along  the  edge  of  the  cotyledons  (accumbent),  upon  the 
back  of  one  cotyledon  (incumbent),  or  lies  between  the  folded 
cotyledons  (conduplicate).  These  may  easily  be  seen  by  soaking  seeds 
of  wallflower,  Virginian  stock,  and  white  mustard  in  tepid  water,  and 
placing  them  on  wet  flannel  in  a  saucer  in  a  warm  place.  As-  the 
testa  or  seed-coat  bursts,  the  position  of  the  radicle  becomes 
evident ;  or  a  section  may  be  cut  through  the  seeds  with  a  sharp 
penknife  or  razor. 

The  gentian  family  is  represented  by  Gentiana  acaulis,  a 
favourite  garden  flower.  The  opposite  entire,  hairless  leaves,  the 
twisted  aestivation,  one-celled  ovary  with  parietal  placentation  and 
marcescent  corolla  should  be  noted  as  characters  of  the  order.  The 
Thymelaeaceae  are  exemplified  in  Daphne  laureola  and  D.  mezereum. 
The  coloured  perianth,  imbricate  aestivation,  one-celled  ovary  with 
pendulous  ovule,  and  the  remarkably  tough,  finely-fibrous  bark 
should  be  observed  as  characteristic  features  of  the  order.  In 
D.  mezereum  the  leaves  are  deciduous  and  the  flower  purple,  in 
D.  laureola  the  leaves  are  evergreen  and  the  flowers  greenish- 
yellow.  The  Lauraceae  and  Elaeagnaceae  are  nearly  allied  to  this 
family,  but  the  former  have  usually  valvate  anthers  and  the 
perianth  in  two  rows,  the  latter  have  an  erect  ovule  and  leaves 
usually  covered  with  elegant  scales. 


March  20, 1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


2b  5 


Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


LONDON  :  SATURDAY,  MARCH  20,  1897. 


THE  SOCIETY’S  JOURNAL. 

On  various  occasions  remarks  have  been  made  at  the 
annual  meetings,  in  reference  to  the  financial  relations  of 
the  Journal,  which  have  been  indicative  of  misconception  as 
to  the  conditions  under  which  the  Journal  is  produced,  and 
though  the  explanations  offered  on  those  occasions  have 
shown  that  there  is  not  any  ground  for  the  supposition  that 
the  Journal  is  a  drain  upon  the  Society’s  funds,  there  is  still 
need  for  some  further  elucidation  of  the  matter. 

At  the  second  anniversary  meeting  of  the  Society  after  the 
passing  of  the  Pharmacy  Act,  when  the  project  of  a  weekly 
publication  was  under  consideration,  the  late  John  Mackay — 
who  always  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  success  of  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Journal  as  being  one  of  the  most  important  features  of 
the  Society’s  work — prepared  a  comprehensive  statement  of  its 
financial  history.  He  then  showed  that,  during  the  twenty- 
eight  years  of  its  existence  as  a  monthly  publication,  the 
average  cost  of  the  Journal  to  the  Society  had  amounted  to 
£604  a  year,  inclusive  of  postage,  and  that  the  number  of 
persons  to  whom  it  was  supplied  being  on  the  average  2462, 
the  cost  of  the  Journal  to  each  subscriber  had  been  at  the 
rate  of  about  five  shillings  a  year.  This  fact  was  put  forward 
in  support  of  the  change  then  contemplated  and  in  answer 
to  the  extreme  views  that  were  held  on  the  subject  by  some. 

For  the  first  eleven  years  after  weekly  publication  commenced 
the  details  of  expenditure  and  of  revenue  from  advertisements 
and  sales  were  not  published  in  the  annual  financial  statement, 
but  only  the  balance  of  the  one  amount  over  the  other.  The 
data  given  were,  however,  sufficient  for  the  purposfe  of  show¬ 
ing  the  actual  cost  of  the  Journal  to  the  Society  and,  during 
those  eleven  years,  it  amounted  on  the  average  to  <£765  a 
year,  inclusive  of  postage.  The  number  of  subscribers  to  the 
Society  of  all  classes  was,  on  the  average,  4700,  so  that  the 
cost  of  the  Journal  to  each  subscriber  was  at  the  rate  of 
3s.  id,  a  year,  inclusive  of  the  large  number  of  copies  supplied 
gratuitously  to  honorary  members,  societies  and  others. 

Prom  the  year  1881  it  was  the  practice  to  publish  full 
details  of  the  expenditure,  etc.,  and  during  the  fifteen  years 
up  to  the  end  of  1895  the  cost  of  the  Journal  amounted  on 
the  average  to  about  £1200  a  year.  This  increased  cost 
was  partly  due  to  the  larger  number  of  subscribers  to  the 
Society,  increased  circulation,  enlargement  of  the  Journal, 
publication  of  supplementary  matter  and  various  other  cir¬ 
cumstances  ;  but,  including  postage,  it  did  not,  on  the  average, 
amount  to  more  than  4s.  id.  a  year  for  each  subscriber  to  the 
Society,  taking  the  number  of  members,  associates,  and 
students  during  the  fifteen  years  to  have  been  on  the  average 
5600. 

The  publication  of  details  of  expenditure  and  of  revenue 
from  advertisements  and  sales,  during  this  latter  period,  shows 
that,  including  the  cost  of  postage,  the  outlay  on  the  Journal 
has  amounted  on  the  average  to  £5655  a  year,  so  that  the  ex¬ 
penditure  in  its  production  has  been  at  the  rate  of  more  than 
20s.  a  year  for  each  subscriber  to  the  Society.  It  may  have 
been  that  some  misapprehension  has  been  created  by  the 
magnitude  of  that  expenditure,  though  in  point  of  fact  it 


has  been,  for  the  most  part,  covered  by  the  annual  revenue 
from  advertisements  and  sales,  so  that,  taking  the  whole 
period  of  fifteen  years,  the  Journal  has  been  far  from  dis¬ 
advantageous  ;  for  subscribers  to  the  Society  have  had  a 
return  amounting  in  some  cases  to  nearly  the  whole  of  their 
subscription,  and  in  others  to  double  as  much. 

Within  the  last  few  years  the  changes  made  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  the  Journal,  in  pursuance  of  the  suggestions 
of  Mr.  R.  A.  Robinson  as  well  as  many  other  members  of 
the  Society,  have  entailed  an  expenditure  greater  than  that 
shown  for  the  average  of  the  last  fifteen  years  ;  but  it  has  been 
in  compliance  with  a  very  general  demand  on  the  part  of  the 
subscribers  to  the  Society  and  the  result  has  met  with  such 
very  general  appreciation  and  approval  as  to  furnish  great 
satisfaction  and  encouragement.  Other  advantages  have 
also  been  secured  by  the  recent  changes,  but  this  is  not  the 
place  to  enter  into  a  consideration  of  them.  The  object 
now  in  view,  in  referring  to  the  Journal,  is  to  show  that  the 
actual  cost  of  its  production  has  amounted  to  only  a 
small  fraction  of  each  subscriber’s  annual  contribution,  for 
which  the  Journal  has  been  no  inconsiderable  return.  The  ex¬ 
planation  given  is  intended  for  the  information  of  those  who 
are  co-partners  in  this  concern  ;  the  data  on  which  it  is  based 
are  taken  from  the  audited  financial  statements  published 
each  year,  and  they  can  be  easily  verified  by  any  one.  If 
the  prosperity  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  be  viewed  in 
any  quarter  with  jaundiced  eyes,  perhaps  even  by  some 
members  of  the  Society,  the  facts  above  mentioned  ought  at 
least  to  be  sufficient  to  refute  the  suggestions  of  interested 
detraction. — Quare  fremuerunt  gentes  l 


THE  PROPOSED  NEW  BYE-LAWS. 

The  discussion  of  the  proposed  new  bye-laws  at  the 
meeting  of  the  London  Chemists  Association,  reported  at 
page  259,  furnishes  a  most  gratifying  illustration  of  the  good 
effects  resulting  from  union  and  association  among  members 
of  the  pharmaceutical  body.  Never  has  there  been  such  un¬ 
qualified  expression  of  gratitude  to  the  Council  as  fell  from  the 
speakers  on  that  occasion.  Each  and  all  of  them  fully  appre¬ 
ciated  the  beneficial  influence  of  its  endeavours  to  promote 
the  best  interests  of  chemists  and  druggists,  and  to  make 
them  a  body  deserving  the  respect  of  the  medical  profession 
and  the  public  generally.  There  was — by  permission  of  the 
President— a  contrary  and  somewhat  exotic  statement  of 
circumstances  supposed  to  have  an  opposite  tendency ;  but 
though  patiently  listened  to,  it  met  with  most  emphatic  dis¬ 
approval  and  condemnation. 

The  report  of  the  meeting  should  be  an  excellent  object 
lesson  to  individuals  who  think  to  further  their  private 
interests  by  sowing  dissension  in  the  ranks  of  the  members  and 
associates  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society.  If  there  be  one 
feature  more  marked  than  another  in  persons  connected  with 
the  Society,  it  is  the  almost  absolute  unanimity  with  which 
they  loyally  support  their  elected  representatives  in  all  cases 
of  grave  emergency  and  constitutional  importance.  A  few 
members  here  and  there,  whose  business  interests  seem  inevit¬ 
ably  hostile  to  those  of  the  body  which  claims  their 
allegiance,  may  feel  impelled  at  times  to  protest  against 
movements  tending  to  benefit  the  Society  as  a  whole  ; 
but  common  decency  should  at  least  prevent  them  from 
descending  into  the  arena  and  openly  flaunting  their  desire 
that  private  interests  should  prevail  over  public  policy. 


256 


PH  ARM  ACE  UTIC  AL  JOURNAL. 


[March  20,  1897 


ANNOTATIONS. 


The  Proposed  New  Bye-Laws  have  attracted  a  certain  measure 
of  attention,  and  the  comments  made  thereon  reveal  the  usual 
amount  of  misconception  as  to  what  is  possible  and  what 
it  is  desired  to  effect  at  the  present  time.  It  was  ex¬ 
plained  last  week  that  the  powers  possessed  by  the  Pharmaceu¬ 
tical  Society  do  not  permit  the  Council  to  call  upon  each 
registered  person  to  pay  an  annual  registration  fee.  For  the  same 
reason  it  is  not  at  present  possible  to  admit  chemists  and  druggists 
generally  to  full  membership  of  the  Society,  nor  is  it  possible  or 
desirable  to  compel  associateship  in  the  case  of  all  who  pass  the 
qualifying  examination.  Such  changes  as  these  would  require  an 
amending  Act  of  Parliament,  and  not  a  mere  alteration  of  Bye- 
Laws,  and  the  present  is  not  a  favourable  moment  to  introduce 
Bills  into  the  legislative  chambers.  The  idea  that  a  separate 
charge  can  be  made  for  examination  and  registration  respectively 
is  also  impracticable.  Although  it  is  customary  to  speak  of  the 
Minor  Examination  fee,  the  fact  must  not  be  lost  sight  of  that 
it  is  in  reality  a  registration  fee,  according  to  the  terms  of  the 
existing  Bye-Laws,  passing  the  examination  being  there  regarded 
as  simply  one  condition  of  registration. 


The  Registration  Fee  imposed  by  the  Act  of  1852  has  no 
bearing  upon  the  present  case.  It  related  to  a  purely  voluntary 
qualification,  whereas  registration  under  the  Act  of  1868  relates  to 
a  qualification  that  is  compulsory  for  all  who  clesire  to  practise  as 
chemists  and  druggists.  Section  VII.  of;  that  Act  left  the  fees  pay¬ 
able  for  examination  and  registration  to  be  fixed  and  determined 
by  Bye-Law,  and  as  it  now  stands,  Bye-Law  16  stipulates 

that  “all  persons  desiring  registration  as . chemists  and 

druggists  under  the  Act,  1868,  .....  shall  pay  a  fee . 

and  pass  the  Minor  examination,  whereupon  they  shall  be  registered 
accordingly.”  Nothing  is  said  about  examination  fees,  properly 
so-called,  until  we  come  to  Bye-Law  23,  which  specifies  the  amounts 
payable  in  the  case  of  unsuccessful  candidates  attending  on 
subsequent  occasions.  Hence  it  is  clearly  manifest  that  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Council  in  drafting  the  existing  Bye-Laws,  and  the  Privy 
Council  in  sanctioning  them,  regarded  the  initial  payment  as  being 
primarily  in  the  nature  of  a  registration  fee. 


Registration  as  a  Chemist  and  Druggist  was  first  under¬ 
estimated  at  three  guineas,  apparently  in  forgetfulness  of  what 
perpetual  registration  might  involve,  or  in  the  hope  that  most 
registered  chemists  would  become  members  of  the  Society. 
It  has  proved  too  little,  and  now  it  is  proposed  to  make 
the  fee  fairly  cover  all  incidental  expenses  by  raising  it  to  ten 
guineas.  It  will  still  remain  the  lowest  fee  charged  for  pro¬ 
fessional  registration  in  this  country,  and  should  be  approved  by 
all  men  on  the  Register  as  offering  a  means  of  relieving  the 
pressure  in  their  ranks.  The  fact  that  the  registration  fee  is 
payable  before  qualification  should  have  a  healthy  influence  in 
restraining  those  who  are  not  properly  educated  from  presenting 
themselves  for  examination.  Even  in  cases  of  failure  no 
hardship  will  be  inflicted,  as  the  same  supplementary  fee  as  at 
present  will  be  payable  on  the  next  occasion.  Of  course,  if 
anyone  should  be  so  foolhardy  as  to  present  himself  for  ex¬ 
amination  before  he  could  reasonably  expect  to  pass,  he  must 
be  prepared  to  pay  the  penalty  of  a  second  registration  fee. 
In  such  cases,  however,  sympathy  would  be  distinctly  out  of 
place. 


The  Advantages  Derived  by  future  chemists  and  druggists, 
by  virtue  of  having  paid  the  increased  registration  fee,  will 
remain  as  at  present,  but  much  enhanced  in  degree.  Thus,  in 
addition  to  securing  permanent  registration,  with  all  the 
advantages  accruing  therefrom,  every  chemist  and  druggist  will 
benefit  from  the  extra  power  conferred  upon  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  by  a  permanent  increase  in  its  income,  to  administer  the 
protective  sections  of  the  Pharmacy  Acts,  and  to  extend  the  sphere 
of  its  Benevolent  Fund.  Up  to  the  present  those  outside  the 
Society  have  reaped  a  proportionally  much  larger  share  of  all  these 
benefits  than  those  who  regularly  contribute  to  its  funds,  and 
there  is  perhaps  little  reason  to  believe  that  this  disparity  will 
be  remedied  in  the  immediate  future.  Both  in  defence  and  attack 
the  members  and  associates  of  the  Society  are  left  to  bear  the 
brunt  of  the  fray,  and  it  is  but  reasonable,  therefore,  that  a  little 
of  the  financial  burden  should  be  shifted  on  to  the  more  numerous 
shoulders  of  those  who  might  otherwise  be  content,  like  so  many 
of  their  predecessors,  to  take  all  and  give  nothing. 

The  Proceedings  in  Scotland,  reported  last  week  and  in  the 
present  issue  of  the  Journal,  serve  as  a  concrete  instance  of  the 
manner  in  which  steps  taken  by  the  Society  benefit  the  whole 
craft,  at  no  expense  to  any  except  the  proportionately  small 
section  who  regularly  contribute  to  the  corporate  funds.  The 
Glasgow  cases  were  of  the  old  familiar  sort,  the  defendants  being 
unregistered  persons  in  the  employment  of  medical  men  with 
so  poor  an  idea  of  the  dignity  of  their  calling  that  they  must 
needs  envy  and  intercept  the  small  profits  that  should 
rightfully  accrue  to  local  pharmacists.  At  Hamilton  the 
Sheriff  was  impelled  to  speak  very  forcibly  concern¬ 
ing  the  danger  to  the  public  arising  from  the  use  of  infinitesi¬ 
mal  type  on  labels  to  indicate  that  proprietary  preparations  are 
poisonous,  and  the  consequent  risk  of  such  preparations  being 
regarded  as  innocuous  mixtures.  In  Airdrie,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  utmost  lack  of  sympathy  with  the  Society’s  efforts  to  protect 
the  public  was  manifested  by  the  Sheriff,  and  the  unfortunate 
spectacle  was  presented  of  the  dispenser  of  justice  (sic)  taking  a 
strongly  partisan  view  of  the  proceedings  of  a  public  body  which 
was  only  endeavouring  to  carry  out  its  statutory  obligations.  The 
Evening  Dispatch,  a  second-rate  Edinburgh  news-sheet,  edited  by 
a  pawky  individual  with  a  fine  sense  of  the  fitness  of  things, 
expresses  the  opinion  that  if  a  Sheriff  ventures  to  suggest  that  the 
officials  of  the  Society  are  conducting  prosecutions  for  some 
private  interest,  the  public  may  conclude  “that  the  Sheriff  is  abso¬ 
lutely  incompetent  for  his  post,”  unless  there  is  something  deplor¬ 
ably  wrong  with  the  method  of  the  prosecutions.  Since  it  is  well 
known  that  there  is  nothing  wrong  with  the  method  of  the  pro¬ 
secutions,  except  it  be  conducting  them  too  openly  and  fairly,  the 
public  will  be  compelled  to  fall  back  upon  the  alternative  so 
appropriately  expressed  by  the  Evening  Dispatch,  as  that  paper  cer¬ 
tainly  ought  to  be  in  a  position  to  gauge  the  matter  correctly, 
whether  it  does  so  or  not.  But  whatever  may  be  thought  on  this 
point,  our  Scottish  friends  owe  it  to  themselves  to  put  this  matter 
straight,  and  they  should  not  hesitate  to  take  such  steps  as  will  pre¬ 
vent  the  recurrence  of  these  too  frequent  scandals  in  their  cour  ts. 


The  Benevolent  Fund  seems  to  be  appreciated  in  Manchester 
more  than  elsewhere,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  great  activity 
there  displayed  in  seeking  to  augment  the  amount  of  money  at 
present  available  for  specially  pharmaceutical  charitable  purposes. 
The  Committee  organised  by  Mr.  Kemp  has  promptly  secured  pro¬ 
mises  of  extra  donations  to  the  extent  of  more  than  seventy 
pounds,  and  we  now  publish  an  intimation  of  the  fact  that  the 


March  20,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


257 


chemists’  assistants  and  apprentices  in  the  Manchester  district 
are  about  to  devote  their  energies  to  the  same  laudable  purpose,  ex¬ 
pressing  their  loyalty  at  the  same  time  that  they  assist  those  of 
their  craft  who  have  fallen  out,  or  may  yet  fall  out  by  the  way. 
The  arrangements  made  at  other  centres  are  not  yet,  we  under¬ 
stand,  in  a  sufficiently  advanced  state  to  enable  the  organisers  to 
publish  any  results  of  their  respective  appeals. 


A  Food  and  Drugs  Millennium,  from  a  certain  point  of  view, 
ought  to  be  the  outcome  of  the  action  of  the  local  authorities 
responsible  for  the  administration  of  the  law,  as  illustrated  at 
Brentford  Police  Court.  Inability  to  find  arsenic  in  so-called 
arsenical  soap  has  been  followed  by  failure  to  detect  glycerin  in 
a  preparation  sold  as  “Glycerin  and  Lime  Juice.”  Presumably, 
lime  juice  was  found,  though  that  circumstance  is  not  clear 
from  the  report  of  the  case.  But  really,  after  earning  un¬ 
dying  fame  by  another  failure — inability  to  find  glycerin, 
to  wit,  where  it  never  professed  to  exist — it  would  have  been  super¬ 
fluous  to  stoop  to  report  the  discovery  of  the  presence  of  lime  j  uice 
which  was  equally  absent.  Regarding  the  wonderful  perspicacity  of 
the  magistrates  we  do  not  venture  to  speak.  Readers  will 
doubtless  be  overcome  with  awe  at  the  depth  of  their  wisdom  and 
struck  with  the  prettiness  of  their  humour.  It  is  clear,  however, 
that  the  High  Court  of  Justice  need  not  lack  cases  for  appeal  yet 
awhile,  and  equally  clear  that  olive  oil  emulsified  with  an  alkali  to 
form  a  hair  dressing  must  drop  one  at  least  of  its  familiar  names  in 
Middlesex.  Parenthetically,  it  may  be  remarked  that  the  name 
always  was  a  foolish  and  peculiarly  unsuitable  one  for  the  mixture. 
But  when  did  hair  oil  become  a  food  or  a  drug,  and  what  will  the 
Middlesex  Dogberrys  next  bring  within  the  scope  of  the  Sale  of 
F ood  and  Drugs  Act  ? 

The  Warning  about  Saffron  adulterated  with  barium  sulphate, 
which  a  correspondent  published  in  our  pages  a  fortnight  ago 
(ante,  p.  223),  has  now  been  justified  by  facts.  A  tobacconist  in 
the  Caledonian  Road  has  been  prosecuted  by  the  Islington  Vestry 
for  selling  saffron  containing  the  enormous  proportion  of  thirty-six 
per  cent,  of  barium  sulphate,  and  the  defence  raised  was  that  it 
had  been  sold  in  the  condition  in  which  it  was  bought  from  “  a 
firm  of  wholesale  chemists.”  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  who 
the  “wholesale  chemists”  are.  Moreover,  it  would  be  instructive 
to  learn  why  the  plea  that  defendant  was  not  a  chemist  but  “a 
tobacconist  who  also  sold  ‘patent  medicines,’  ”  should  have  entitled 
him,  on  conviction,  to  consideration  at  the  hands  of  the  magistrate, 
Mr.  Bros,  who  simply  ordered  the  payment  of  costs.  Are  chemists 
alone  to  be  singled  out  for  the  infliction  of  heavy  fines  when  articles 
that  may  be  used  for  medicinal  purposes  are  sold  of  inferior 
quality  ?  Or,  is  it  to  be  assumed  that  the  public  requires  protec¬ 
tion  against  chemists,  and  not  against  other  tradesmen  who  are 
continually  encroaching  on  the  chemist’s  legitimate  domain  ? 
Justice  should,  at  least,  be  dealt  out  with  an  even  hand. 


The  Samples  of  Drugs  examined  during  1895,  under  the  Sale 
of  Food  and  Drugs  Act,  numbered  1439,  and  according  to  the 
twenty -fifth  annual  report  of  the  Local  Government  Board,  of  that 
number  158,  or  IDO  per  cent.,  were  adulterated.  The  percentage 
was  practically  the  same  as  in  1894  (11 '2).  The  principal  articles 
condemned  were  39  out  of  123  samples  of  “nitre”  (?  spirit  of 
nitrous  ether),  and  33  out  of  195  of  “rhubarb”  (?  tincture  of  rhu¬ 
barb).  “  Proceedings  were  taken  in  69  cases,  and  57  small  fines 
were  inflicted,  amounting  in  all  to  only  £27  Is.  6 cl.  Apart  from 
one  fine  of  £5,  the  average  of  the  fines  was  about  8s.”  This 
is  all  the  information  concerning  adulterated  drugs  that 


the  Local  Government  Board  vouchsafes  to  give,  though 
in  addition  to  these  scanty  particulars  it  would  be  interesting 
to  know  the  class  or  classes  of  retailers  from  whom  samples  were 
purchased,  how  many  were  chemists  and  druggists,  and  so  forth. 
But  this  would  be  quite  opposed  to  precedent,  and  presumably, 
therefore,  out  of  order  in  a  Government  publication.  Meanwhile 
it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  proportion  of  cases  in  which  chemists  were 
fined  was  very  infinitesimal  indeed.  The  Medical  Press  apparently 
jumps  to  the  conclusion  that  the  condemned  samples  were  such  as 
might  have  been  supplied  by  persons  who  dispense  physicians’ 
prescriptions,  but  such  a  conclusion  is  quite  unwarranted,  grocers, 
unqualified  dealers  in  drugs,  hucksters,  and  possibly  medical  men 
who  dispense  their  own  prescriptions  being  responsible  for  nearly 
all  sales  of  adulterated  drugs.  Amongst  the  miscellaneous  articles, 
with  which  public  analysts  have  been  busy,  is  classed  bees¬ 
wax,  which  was  found  deficient  in  23  out  of  52  cases,  whilst  cocoa 
was  adulterated  in  56  out  of  182,  vinegar  in  23  out  of  375,  pepper 
in  8  out  of  1599,  lard  in  26  out  of  1663,  and  spirits  in  702  out  of  4241. 

The  Royal  Institution  programme  contains  the  announcement 
that,  on  Thursday  next,  March  25,  Profossor  W.  Boyd  Dawkins 
F.R.S.  will  begin  a  course  of  three  lectures  at  the  Royal  Institution 
on  “  The  Relation  of  Geology  to  History.”  The  first  lecture  of 
this  exceptionally  attractive  series  will  deal  with  “  The  Incoming 
of  Man,”  the  second  with  “  The  Frontier  of  History  in  Britain,” 
and  the  third  with  “  Roman  Britain.”  The  Friday  evening 
discourse  on  March  26,  will  be  delivered  by  Sir  William  Turner, 
F.R.S. ,  his  subject  being  “  Early  Man  in  Scotland.” 


‘  The  Medical  Register  ’  for  1897  is  a  ponderous  tome  of  nearly 
sixteen  hundred  pages,  and  is  accompanied  by  ‘  The  Dentists’ 
Register,’  occupying  two  hundred  and  thirty  pages  more.  From 
the  former  we  gather  that  there  were  34,478  persons  registered  at 
the  end  of  December  last,  as  against  33,601  at  the  end  of  the 
previous  year.  The  number  added  by  registration  during  1896 
was  1385,  less  than  any  year  since  1891,  and  the  number  restored 
(52)  was  the  lowest  since  1878.  The  number  of  names  removed 
from  the  Register  during  1896  was  560.  The  ‘  Dentists’  Register 5 
for  1897  shows  that  4860  persons  were  qualified  to  practise  dentistry 
at  the  close  of  the  past  year.  Of  these,  1519  were  licentiates  in 
dentistry,  and  24  foreign  (American)  dentists.  Only  30  of  the 
remainder  possess  any  surgical  qualifications,  the  large  number  of 
3287  being  persons  who  have  made  a  declaration  to  the  effect  that 
they  were  bona-fide  engaged  in  the  practice  of  dentistry  at  the 
passing  of  the  Dentists’  Act. 

The  Post  Office  Test  Case,  respecting  the  right  claimed  by 
the  authorities  to  charge  return  postage  on  undelivered  news¬ 
papers,  came  on  atBowStreetPoliceCourt,  on  Wednesday,  March  10, 
when  arguments  were  heard,  and  the  magistrate,  Mr.  Vaughan, 
reserved  his  decision.  In  giving  that  decision  on  Wednesday  last, 
Mr.  Vaughan  referred  to  the  contention  of  the  defence 
that  there  was  no  power  under  the  Statute  for  making  a  demand 
for  payment  of  services  in  returning  undelivered  papers  to  the 
senders.  He  pointed  out  that  a  Treasury  warrant  had  been  issued 
to  that  effect,  and  he  held  that  such  a  warrant  had  the  force  of 
an  Act  of  Parliament.  In  the  case  under  consideration 
there  were  fresh  duties  imposed  upon  the  Postmaster-General ; 
fresh  services  were  rendered ;  and  for  those  fresh  services  it  was 
perfectly  clear  that  the  claim  of  one  halfpenny  for  returning  each 
paper  was  one  in  regard  to  which  there  could  be  no  possibility  of 
refusal  without  an  infringement  of  the  law.  Therefore,  he  must 
make  an  order  for  the  payment  of  the  sum  claimed,  and  the  costs 
of  the  summons. 


258 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[March  20,  1897 


THE  WORLD  Op  PHARMACY. 

- + - - 

BUSINESS  MEETINGS. 


North  Staffordshire  and  District  Chemists’  Associa¬ 
tion,  Thursday,  March  11. — In  December  last  a  few  representative 
pharmacists  of  the  North  Staffordshire  district  convened  a  meeting 
at  Stoke-on-Trent,  at  which  Mr.  Glyn-Jones  was  present  to  ad¬ 
vocate  the  claims  of  the  P.A.T.A.  At  the  conclusion  of  the 
meeting,  which  was  A’ery  successful  and  representative,  it  was 
suggested  that  a  chemists’  association  should  be  formed  for  the 
district  for  the  object  of  advancing  pharmacy,  protecting  the 
legitimate  trade  interests,  and  promoting  friendly  intercourse 
among  the  chemists  and  druggists.  The  value  of  such  an  associa¬ 
tion  was  at  once  and  unanimously  recognised,  and  then  and  there 
steps  were  taken  to  ensure  it  being  carried  out.  Mr.  Edmund 
Jones  (Hanley)  was  asked  to  undertake  the  duties  of  hon. 
secretary  and  the  organisation  of  the  association.  The  result 
has  been  highly  satisfactory,  and  on  Thursday,  last  week, 
a  large  number  of  the  chemists  and  druggists  of  the  dis¬ 
trict  met  at  the  North  Stafford  Hotel,  and  the  previous 
resolution  was  confirmed.  Subsequently  the  following  gentle¬ 
men  were  elected  to  fill  the  official  positions  for  the  first 
year  : — Alderman  J.  Averill,  J.P. ,  Stafford,  President  ;  Messrs. 
J.  W.  Moore  (Hanley)  and  F.  Adams  (Stoke),  Vice-Presi¬ 
dents  ;  Edmund  Jones  (Hanley),  Hon.  Secretary  ;  and  F.  Weston 
Poole  (Newcastle),  Treasurer  and  Librarian.  The  following  were 
elected  to  form  the  committee  : — Messrs.  G.  Fisher,  R.  Prince,  J. 
Knight,  W.  Poole,  C.  J.  Wain,  T.  Charles,  J.  F.  Hewitt,  S.  C. 
M’Kee,  G.  Viggars,  T.  C.  Cornwell,  D.  H.  Oxen,  G.  R.  Hankinson, 
W.  Marson,  R.  G.  Emery,  F.  Jacks,  W.  Jenkins,  W.  B.  Allison, 
W.  Westhead,  and  F.  Fowkes.  Nearly  forty  gentlemen 
offered  their  names  for  enrolment  as  members. 


Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Ireland,  Wednesday,  March 
3.— The  President,  Mr.  W.  F.  Wells,  jun.,  in  the  chair.  The 
monthly  meeting  of  the  Council  took  place  at  67,  Lower  Mount, 
Street,  Dublin,  at  three  o’clock.  There  were  also  present  the 
Vice-President  (Mr.  Downs),  Messrs.  Grindley,  Beggs,  Professor 
Tichborne,  Dr.  James,  N.  Walsh,  Hayes,  Conyngham,  Bernard, 
and  Whitla  (Belfast). — The  President  congratulated  Dr.  Walsh, 
who  had  been  co-opted  a  member  of  the  Council,  on  his  taking 
his  seat  amongst  them  for  the  first  time.  — A  letter  from  the  Lords 
Commissioners  of  the  Admiralty  informed  the  Council  that  it  had 
been  decided,  subject  to  the  authority  of  Her  Majesty  in  Council, 
that  licentiates  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Ireland  should  be 
eligible  as  dispensers  in  the  Royal  Navy. — A  letter  from  the  Local 
Government  Board  dated  February  13,  intimated  that  Mrs. 
Greer,  who  had  received  a  contract  for  the  supply  of  medicines 
to  the  Granard  Union,  had,  with  the  consent  of  the 
guardians,  withdrawn  from  that  contract. — The  President 
said  the  objection  of  the  Council  to  Mrs.  Greer  having 
such  a  contract  was  that  she  was  not  qualified  to  sell  poisons, 
and  the  Local  Government  Board,  by  sanctioning  such  a 
contract,  would  be  lending  themselves  to  an  evasion  of  the  law. 
He  hoped  they  would  have  no  more  of  such  contracts.  The 
President  stated  the  conclusions  arrived  at  by  a  Committee  to 
whom  the  subject  of  the  awarding  of  medals  to  the  best  candidates 
for  the  year  at  the  Licence  Examinations  had  been  referred.  They 
recommended  a  gold  medal  to  the  best  candidate  who  obtained  not 
less  than  240  marks  out  of  a  possible  300,  and  also  not  less 
than  65  in  each  of  the  separate  branches  of  examination ; 
and  a  silver  medal  to  the  second  best  candidate  who  scored  not  less 
than  230  out  of  300,  and  of  60  in  each  of  the  sub-divisions.  The 
Pharmaceutical  Chemists’  Assistants’  Association  had  offered 
to  give  two  medals ;  but  the  Committee  were  not  in  favour 
of  more  medals,  and  thought  that  instead  a  third  prize  of  books 
should  be  given  on  minima  of  200  and  55.  The  Committee,  after 
fixing  the  marks,  had  found  that  in  two  years,  since  1893,  six 
candidates  had  scored  over  the  minimum  now  fixed  for  the  gold 
medals.  The  highest  marks  obtained  were  262  on  the  general  total, 
and  83,  90,  and  89  in  the  separate  branches.  A  discussion  took 
place  as  to  whether  the  Pharmaceutical  Chemists’  Assistants’ 
Association  offer  of  a  medal  should  be  accepted.  Some  members 
thought  that  to  do  so  would  lower  the  prestige  of  the  Society,  and 
that  the  Council  should  do  whatever  was  required  in  the  matter, 


the  Association  being  recommended  to  give  prizes  to  its  own 
members  for  work  done  by  them.  Eventually  the  recommenda¬ 
tion  of  the  Committee  as  to  the  gold  and  silver  medals  was 
adopted,  and  a  resolution  was  passed,  thanking  the  Association 
for  the  offer,  and  recognising  the  spirit  in  which  it  had  been 
made.  Other  business  having  been  disposed  of,  the  Council 
adjourned. 


Pharmaceutical  Chemists’  and  Apothecaries’  Assis¬ 
tants’  Association  of  Ireland,  Friday,  March  5. — Mr.  W. 
McCarthy,  L.P.S.I.,  President,  in  the  chair. — Dr.  J.  A.  Walsh 
read  an  interesting  paper  on 

Crystallography, 

in  which  he  described  the  origin  of  crystals,  and  the  laws 
governing  their  formation.  The  nomenclature  of  crystals  was 
given  in  detail,  and  their  relationship  to  each  other  illustrated 
by  a  series  of  examples.  Diagrams  of  cubical  crystals  were  also 
shown,  and  the  properties  of  the  goniometer  explained  by  means  of 
large  coloured  drawings. 

School  of  Pharmacy  Students’  Association,  Friday, 
March  12. — Mr.  H.  Marston  Morgan  in  the  chair. — The  papers 
arranged  for  the  evening  were  “  Electricity,”  by  Mr.  A.  Miles, 
and  “  The  Dispersion  of  Seeds,”  by  Mr.  H.  E.  Matthews,  but 
the  former  was  postponed  at  the  author’s  suggestion.  Mr. 
Matthews  illustrated  his  subject  with  numerous  specimens.  At 
the  close  Mr.  E.  M.  Holmes,  F.L.S.,  gave  further  interesting 
details  regarding  these,  and  members  engaged  in  a  somewhat 
animated  discussion  on  controversial  points  raised  by  the  paper, 
all  expressing  their  thanks  to  the  writer  for  the  interesting  manner 
in  which  the  subject  had  been  put  before  them.  It  was  proposed 
that  the  Association  should  hold  a  debate  on  some  subject  bearing 
upon  the  calling  of  pharmacy.  The  choice  of  the  particular  subject 
was  left  until  the  next  meeting. 


Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,  Thursday,  March  11. 
— Mr.  Charles  Morley,  President,  in  the  chair. — In  opening  the 
proceedings,  Mr.  Morley  referred  to  the  fact  that  the  paper  down 
on  the  programme  for  that  evening  was  one  by  Mr.  Thomas  Tyrer 
on  “  Scientific  Education,”  but  owing  to  the  recent  painful  cir¬ 
cumstance,  whereby  he  had  lost  one  of  his  sons,  Mr.  Tyrer  did  not 
feel  equal  to  giving  his  paper  that  night,  but  he  had  promised  at 
some  future  date  to  read  it  before  the  Association.  When  the  sad 
event  occurred  Mr.  Peter  MacEwan  kindly  promised  to  take  Mr. 
Tyrer’s  place,  and  he  would  therefore  bring  before  the  meeting  a 
short  paper  on 

Science  and  the  Imagination. 

Mr.  MacEwan  said  that  had  time  permitted,  he  would  have 
elaborated  his  remarks  into  something  like  “The  Place  of  the 
Imagination  in  Science  and  the  Influence  of  Science  on  Imaginative 
Literature,”  but  it  was  only  possible  that  evening  to  gnaw  the 
bones  of  the  matter.  The  common  notion  is  that  science  is  all 
sober  fact,  without  imaginative  relief,  and  uninfluenced  by 
imaginative  powers,  hut  the  greatest  scientific  conceptions,  those 
generalisations  or  theories  which  have  carved  out  fresh  paths  of 
progress  and  research,  are  the  conceptions  of  imaginative  men. 
From  Aristotle  to  Newton  in  past  generations,  and  from  Darwin 
to  Kelvin  in  the  present,  there  have  been  such  men,  whose  thought 
was  as  epoch  making  as  their  work.  Mr.  MacEwan  after  quoting 
a  passage  from  the  writings  of  Edgar  Allan  Poe  bearing  on  the 
subject,  then  proceeded  to  show  that  many  of  the  scientific  leaders 
and  writers,  such  as  Davy,  Lavoisier,  Dalton,  Lord  Kelvin,  Kekule, 
Van  der  Waals,  Crookes,  Lippmann,  and  Rontgen  have  been  and  are 
reputed  for  their  imaginative  powers,  and  have  by  that  influence 
created  new  lines  of  practical  effort,  in  which  men  just  as  competent 
but  less  imaginative  have  failed.  Referring  to  the  wonderful  in¬ 
fluence  that  imagination  has  had  upon  scientific  literature,  he  men¬ 
tioned  the  efforts  of  Tyndall  and  the  power  he  had  to  make  abstruse 
facts  plain  things  to  the  uninitiated.  So  with  Huxley  and  others. 
Speaking  of  general  literature  and  those  who  purposely  use 
scientific  facts  as  the  base  of  imaginative  narrative,  he  instanced 
the  illusive  power,  analytical  reasoning,  and  scientific  insight  of 
Edgar  Allan  Poe,  and  regarded  him  as  a  master  hand  in  this  par¬ 
ticular  cult.  Possibly  he  derived  his  inspiration  on  the  psycho¬ 
logical  side  from  Voltaire’s  “  Zadig”  and  the  value  of  physio¬ 
logical  facts  from  Mary  Goodwin’s  “Frankenstein,”  but  Poe  was 
a  scientist  as  well  as  a  tale  writer,  and  astronomy,  chemistry  and 
physics  were  as  familiar  to  him  as  aeronautics,  psychology  and  medi- 


March  20, 1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


259 


cine.  Mr.  MacEwan  commented  on  the  methods  of  Zadig  and  the 
influence  which  they  now  have  on  medical  diagnosis,  explaining, 
however,  that  the  methods  are  much  older  than  Voltaire.  The 
writings  of  Verne,  Robert  Barr,  Conan  Doyle,  H.  C.  Wells,  etc., 
were  referred  to,  and  passages  of  almost  prophetic  power  quoted 
to  show  that  when  exact  knowledge  is  allied  with  imaginative 
effort,  the  result  appears  convincing  even  to  scientific  persons. 
The  inaccuracies  of  some  such  writers  were  also  touched 
upon,  and  in  conclusion  he  expressed  the  opinion  that  the 
reason  why  so  few  novelists  have  handled  science  intelligently 
and  systematically  is  that  a  scientific  training  aborts  imagina¬ 
tive  tendencies ;  the  combination  of  the  power  of  experi¬ 
mental  accuracy  and  imaginative  facility  being  rare. — Mr. 
Morley  in  expressing  his  thanks  to  Mr.  MacEwan,  spoke  of  the 
pleasure  and  interest  with  which  he  had  listened  to  the  paper.- — 
Mr.  Tickle  added  his  thanks  to  those  of  the  Chairman.  He  was 
struck  by  the  fact  that  so  many  scientists  are  non-imaginative, 
and  that  imaginative  men  are  usually  not  good  workers  ;  he  thought 
Mr.  W.  Crookes  to  be  one  of  the  exceptions  to  the  rule,  as  he  is  not 
only  a  good  worker  but  must  also  be  an  imaginative  man. — Mr.  C.  J. 
Strother,  after  having  read  the  lifeof  Edgar  Allan  Poe, who  had  been 
referred  to  by  Mr.  MacEwan,  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  his  imag¬ 
ination  was  fed  largely  upon  alcoholic  spirits,  and  he  thought  Poe’s 
example  in  that  direction  was  not  one  to  imitate. — Mr.  E.  W.  Hill, 
Vice-President,  said  he  had  expected  to  hear  a  satirical  view  of 
the  connection  between  imagination  and  science,  the  general  idea 
being  that  in  the  advancing  knowledge  of  the  present  day  there  is 
no  scope  for  the  imagination.  He,  however,  believed  it  to  be  the 
inventive  faculty  which  enabled  great  men  to  bring  forth  new 
light  on  scientific  subjects,  although  sometimes  men  allowed  their 
imagination  to  carry  them  to  ridiculous  conclusions.— Mr. 
MacEwan  briefly  replied  to  the  remarks  made  by  the  speakers, 
after  which  a  vote  of  thanks  was  accorded  to  him  for  his  paper. 


Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association,  Wednesday, 
March  10. — -Meetings  of  the  Manufacturers’  and  Wholesalers’  Sec¬ 
tions  were  held  to  elect  respective  representatives  to  Council. 
Result : — Manufacturers  :  Messrs.  M.  Beetham,  Cheltenham  ;  J. 
E.  Garratt  (Frog  in  Your  Throat) ;  W.  A.  Gilligan  (Liebeg’s  Extract 
of  Meat  Co.) ;  H.  J.  Hall  (Stephen  Smith  and  Co.) ;  H.  S.  Norris 
(Condal  Water  Co.,  Ltd.);  Thos.  Powell,  Ltd.,  Vitalia  Co.,  W. 
Lambert  and  Co.  Cha§.  Sanger);  Bovril,  Ltd.  (J.  Shorrock).  Whole¬ 
salers :  Messrs.  Barclay  and  Sons,  Ltd.  ;  Bleasdale,  Ltd.,  York; 
Butler  and  Crispe,  London  ;  Evans,  Gadd  and  Co. ,  Exeter ;  Hirst, 
Brooke  and  Hirst,  L  -eds ;  Maw,  Son  and  Thompson,  London ;  Morris 
and  Jones,  Liverpool ;  John  Sanger  and  Sons,  London  ;  W.  Sutton 
and  Co.,  London;  Jas.  Woolley,  Sons  and  Co.,  Manchester. 
Retail  Section :  The  voting  papers  for  the  election  of  this  section 
were  counted  by  Mr.  G.  R.  Barclay,  and  Mr.  W.  W.  Goodall, 
Chemist,  Fulham  Road,  with  the  result  that  the  following  ten 
gentlemen  were  elected  : — 


W.  Jones,  Birmingham 
J.  Cocks,  Stonehouse  . . 
S.  N.  Pickard,  Bradford 
H.  W.  Seely,  Halifax  . . 
J.  Williams,  Manchester 


774 

751 

737 

71S 

707 


A.  Cooper,  South  Kensington  . .  _ 

W.  R.  Barnes,  Upton  Manor . 

T.  P.  Garrett,  Newport . _  .. 

P.  Rowsell,  Exeter  . 

T.  S.  Wokes,  Liverpool  . 


The  first  eight  were  members  of  the  retiring  Council. 


088 

044 

613 

501 

553 


Western  Chemists’  Association  (of  London),  Wednes¬ 
day,  March  17. — Mr.  J.  W.  Taplin,  President,  in  the  chair.— The 
business  of  this  meeting  was  to  discuss  the  new  bye-laws  proposed 
by  the  Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society.  The  subject 
attracted  a  fairly  large  assembly.  Amongst  those  present  were 
Messrs.  H.  Cracknell  (Secretary),  J.  C.  Hyslop,  J.  H.  Mathews,  G.  S. 
Taylor,  W.  Warren,  F.  Andrews,  R.  H.  Parker,  Davis,  A.  C.  Wootton, 
Dr.  B.  H.  Paul,  E.  Marsh,  P.  MacEwan,  Philips,  and  others. — 
The  President,  Mr.  Taplin,  before  opening  the  discussion, 
announced  that  he  had  received  three  telegrams  from  Messrs. 
W.  Martindale.  R.  Bremridge,  and  C.  Morley,  expressing  their 
regret  at  not  being  able  to  be  present. 

The  Proposed  New  Bye-Laws. 

Mr.  Taplin  then  said  the  topic  for  discussion  this  evening, 
the  proposed  new  bye  laws  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society, 
is  one,  I  believe,  over  which  there  can  be  but  little  diversity 
of  opinion  in  the  trade.  Every  chemist  to  whom  I  have  had 
the  opportunity  of  mentioning  this  subject  has  expressed 
himself  in  favour  of  these  proposals.  Whatever  our  opinions 
may  be  respecting  this  subject,  it  will  be  well  to  ap¬ 
proach  it  with  a  calm  and  judicial  frame  of  mind.  No  doubt 


the  proposed  new  bye-laws  have  come  as  a  surprise,  a  pleasant 
surprise,  I  hope,  to  the  majority  of  chemists.  That  they  will  meet 
with  general  support  and  approval  almost  goes  without  saying. 
The  abolition  of  our  First  examination  and  the  substitution  of  one 
more  comprehensive  and  by  thorough  approved  examining  bodies  will 
be  of  great  advantage  to  the  pharmacist  of  the  future.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  will  see  its  way  to  add  the 
very  necessary  proviso  that  three  years  shall  elapse  between  the 
registration  of  the  student  and  the  time  when  he  will  be  allowed 
to  present  himself  for  the  Minor  examination.  In  nearly  every 
instance  the  future  candidate  will  have  passed  the  examination 
required  for  his  registration  as  a  student  when  at  school  and  before 
entering  the  calling  of  a  pharmacist,  thus  leaving  most  of  his  sub¬ 
sequent  time  during  the  three  years  he  has  to  be  practically  engaged 
in  the  translation  anddispensingof  prescriptions  free  for  that  purpose 
and  for  shaping  his  studies  for  the  Minor,  which  he  will  be  eligible  to 
pass  as  at  present  at  the  age  of  21.  No  doubt  every  gentleman  here 
has  read  of  the  extended  scope  the  First  examination  is  to  take,  and 
the  footing  the  candidate  will  be  placed  upon.  At  a  later  date 
should  he  wish  to  enter  either  the  medical,  dental,  or  veterinary 
profession,  the  Preliminary  that  will  satisfy  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  will  also  satisfy  the  examiners  of  any  one  of  those  Societies. 
The  second  proposal  which  we  have  to  consider  is  that  of  increasing 
the  fee  for  the  Minor  from  five  to  ten  guineas  after  the  year 
1898.  Up  till  that  time  the  present  fee  of  five  guineas 
will  hold  good,  but  in  1899  the  increased  fee  will  be  ten  guineas. 
Personally,  I  should  like  to  see  the  increased  fee  deferred  until 
1900  ;  it  would  then  enable  any  student  now  on  the  Register  to 
present  himself  for  examination  at  the  reduced  fee.  The  Council 
in  its  wisdom  has  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  lower  fee  is 
an  insufficient  sum  for  the  purposes  of  examination,  registration 
and  subsequent  protection  of  a  man  from  unqualified  opposition? 
Since  1868  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  has  held  a  very  different  posi¬ 
tion  to  what  it  held  prior  to  that  date.  In  1868  the  Pharmacy  Act 
became  law  and  the  Society  a  State  Institution,  drawino-  its 
revenues  from  several  sources,  principally  from  the  examinations 
registration  fees,  and  the  subscriptions  of  members,  associates  and 
students.  Everyone  will  admit  that  for  the  work  it  is  doing  it  must 
have  a  plentiful  supply  of  the  sinews  of  war.  Who  should  find  these 
supplies  ?  Certainly  those  who  desire  the  benefits  of  registration 
and  protection.  After  all,  twelve  guineas  as  the  inclusive  fee  for 
registration  as  a  student,  and  then  the  examination  and  registra¬ 
tion  as  a  qualified  chemist,  is  not  much  to  demand  when  one 
remembers  for  that  sum  of  twelve  guineas  the  Society  protects  the 
chemist  from  the  unqualified  trade  for  the  whole  time  his  name  is 
upon  the  Register  without  getting  another  sixpence  from  him,  and 
we  cannot  shut  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  it  is  a  much  more  costly 
affair  to  administer  the  Pharmacy  Act  now  than  it  was.  The  many 
prosecutions  which  have  taken  place,  and  those  that  will  have  to 
be  undertaken,  are  from  a  pecuniary  point  of  view  carried  out  at  a 
great  loss  to  the  Society.  I  am  sorry  to  find  that  one  of  our  prin¬ 
cipal  journals  has  attacked  this  question  with  a  bias  one  would 
hardly  expect  from  such  a  quarter.  In  the  Chemist  and  Druggist 
I  note  the  Society  is  charged  with  the  serious  offence  of  aim i no-  at 
adding  to  the  features  of  its  own  J ournal  the  characteristics  of  a 
trade  newspaper,  and  that  in  so  doing  the  income  provided  by 
increased  fees  has  been  swallowed  up,  with  the  result  of  a  financial 
fiasco.  The  Chemist  and  Druggist  need  have  no  apprehen¬ 
sion  about  the  financial  position  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal. 
Everyone  who  knows  anything  about  it  knows  that  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Journal  is  on  a  sound  basis,  and  is  repaying  for  the 
capital  sunk  in  order  to  make  the  Journal  fulfil  the  conditions  of 
being  the  first  Pharmaceutical  Journal  in  the  world,  as  Mr. 
Carteighe  told  the  last  annual  meeting.  If  my  memory  is  not 
treacherous  ;  he  also  expressed  the  opinion  that  it  was  not  desirable 
to  publish  every  detail  respecting  the  working  of  the  Journal. 
The  Pharmaceutical  Journal  is  the  official  organ  of  the  Society, 
and  if  the  Society  sees  fit  to  do  all  in  its  power  to  increase  its 
circulation  by  fair  means,  so  as  to  assure  its  financial  success,  so 
much  the  better  for  that  Journal.  Why  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal 
should  be  singled  out  for  attack  I  cannot  conceive,  it  reminds  me 
somewhat  of  the  old  adage,  if  you  have  no  case  abuse  the  other 
side.  He  then  moved  the  following  resolution  : — 

“  The  Western  Chemists’  Association  of  London,  having  read  and  considered  the 
proposed  new  bye-laws  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  are  in  full  accord 
therewith.  They  beg  to  tender  their  hearty  support  and  co-operation  in  the 
efforts  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  to  advance  the  education  and  interests 
of  chemists  generally.” 

.  Mr.  Warren  briefly  seconded  the  resolution, 


260 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Maech  20,  1897 


Mr.  R.  H.  Parker  led  off  the  discussion,  and  in  an  admirable 
speech  expressed  his  cordial  approval  of  the  alterations.  He  advo¬ 
cated  a  higher  and  more  stringent  examination,  both  for  the  Pre¬ 
liminary  and  the  Minor,  and  was  in  favour  of  a  registration  fee  being 
fixed  which  would  cover  all  the  expenses  which  naturally  arise 
during  the  time  a  man  is  connected  with  the  trade.  Personally, 
he  preferred  the  payment  of  a  lump  sum  of  £21  when  a  man  passed 
his  examinations,  which  should  not  only  put  him  on  the  Register, 
but  make  him,  de  facto ,  a  member  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
for  life. — Mr.  Wootton  came  next,  and  endeavoured  to  show  that  the 
Pharmaceutical  Council,  in  making  the  proposals  was  actuated  by 
self-interested  motives,  and  not  for  the  benefit  of  the  trade  generally. 
He  was  of  opinion  that  it  required  the  increased  revenue  to  help 
in  running  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  in  unfair  competition 
with  its  rivals.  He  pointed  out  that  already  the  members  of  the 
Society,  in  return  for  their  yearly  guinea  subscription,  received 
back,  in  the  shape  of  the  Journal,  etc.,  value  to  the  extent  of  at 
least  17s.  per  annum,  and  occasionally  as  much  as  35s.,  which  he 
contended  was  not  right,  as  it  must  come  from  the  surplus  left 
over  from  the  examination  fees. — Mr.  J.  C.  Hyslop,  in  a  quiet  but 
effective  speech,  repudiated  the  idea  that  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  was  working  for  its  own  interests,  such  statements,  he 
said,  had  been  made  for  the  last  forty  years  but  were  never  proved. 
He  was  in  entire  accord  with  the  proposals,  and  could  not  under¬ 
stand  why  the  other  trade  journals  should  so  bitterly  oppose  them, 
until  he  saw  the  expression  “  Unfair  Journalistic  Competition.” 
Then  he  saw  through  the  opposition.  He  could  understand  jealousy 
among  children,  but  such  jealousy  as  was  betrayed  in  the  articles 
which  had  appeared  in  the  Chemist  and  Druggist  and  the 
British  and  Colonial  Druggist  he  could  not  understand ;  com¬ 
mercial  rivals  should  be  more  generous  and  manly.  He  referred  in 
high  terms  to  the  good  work  done  by  the  Society  in  the  past,  and 
could  see  no  reason  why  those  who  in  the  future  were  to 
reap  the  benefits  of  the  Society’s  labour  should  not 
contribute  their  share  of  the  expense. — Mr.  Davis  also  upheld 
the  propositions  of  the  Council,  although  he  thought  the  passing 
of  a  good  Preliminary  examination  was  no  criterion  of  a  lad’s 
ability  to  pass  the  future  examinations.  With  reference  to  the 
£10  10*'.  fee,  he  did  not  see  why  it  should  be  postponed  until 
1900,  as  suggested  by  Mr.  Taplin,  but  thought  it  should 
come  into  force  immediately. — Mr.  Andrews  was  entirely  in 
accordance  with  the  proposals  of  the  Council  with  regard  to 
the  Preliminary  examination,  but  had  not  come  to  any  definite 
conclusion  with  respect  to  the  higher  fee. — Mr.  W.  Warren 
thought  the  higher  fee  would  press  hard  on  no  one,  and  that  all 
who  paid  the  fee  would  get  their  money’s  worth.  With  reference 
to  Mr.  Wootton’s  remarks,  he  thought  they  were  a  splendid  ad¬ 
vertisement  for  the  Society’s  Journal,  especially  when  he  stated 
that  the  members  get  35s.  for  their  guinea.  Mr.  Wootton  had 
imputed  a  motive  to  the  Council,  but  he  (Mr.  Warren)  was  of  opinion 
there  seemed  to  be  more  motive  in  the  journalistic  opposition. — 
Mr.  Marsh  quite  approved  the  alterations,  and  made  a  suggestion 
to  the  effect  that  when  the  higher  fee  of  £10  10s.  came  in  force 
each  newly  registered  man  and  student  should  have  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Journal  sent  to  him  free  for  at  least  twelve  months. — Mr. 
Davis  supported  that  suggestion,  as  he  believed  it  would  be  a 
great  help  to  men  working  for  the  Major  examination,  and  would 
be  an  incentive  to  them. — Mr.  Taylor  heartily  agreed  with  the 
proposals  of  the  Council,  and  condemned  in  very  scathing 
terms  the  journalistic  attacks  that  had  been  made.  All 
whom  he  had  spoken  to  about  the  increased  fee  believed  it  to 
be  the  right  thing.  He  expected  that  those  who  never  did 
anything  but  say  disagreeable  things  about  the  Society  would 
oppose  it,  and  these  very  men  would  also  be  the  first  to  ask  to  be  put 
on  the  Benevolent  Fund  when  they  were  in  trouble. — Dr.  Paul  said 
some  of  the  speakers  had  suggested  a  registration  fee  instead 
of  an  examination  fee,  and  he  wished  to  point  out  that  the 
fee  now  paid  is  like  the  examination  itself,  one  of  the  two  condi¬ 
tions  necessary  for  registration. — Mr.  Phillips  spoke  in  favour  of 
the  alterations,  and  the  resolution  was  then  put  and  carried 
without  a  dissentient  vote. 

The  Approaching  Council  Election. 

Mr.  Andrews  brought  forward  a  matter  connected  with  the 
election  of  Councillors,  and  asked  those  present  to  do  all  they 
could  to  return  more  London  members  to  the  Council.  At  present 
the  work  pressed  very  heavily  on  the  few  Londoners,  and  it  was 
necessary  they  should  be  better  represented.— The  names  of 
Messrs.  Parker,  Hyslop,  Warren,  and  Phillips  were  mentioned 
for  nomination  as  candidates. 


SOCIAL  MEETINGS. 


Bristol  Pharmaceutical  Association,  Wednesday, 
March  10. — The  first  dinner  of  the  members  of  the  Bristol  Phar¬ 
maceutical  Association  took  place  at  Stuckey’s  Restaurant,  and 
was  a  great  success.  The  President",  Mr.  B.  Allen,  was  in  the 
chair,  supported  by  Councillor  Bennett,  Messrs.  Algernon  Warren, 
Moss,  Hermann,  Stroud,  Cole,  White,  J.  Chandler,  J.  G.  Plumley, 
G.  T.  Turner,  Dibble,  Sleight,  Barry,  R.  R.  Groome,  Hart 
(Clevedon),  H.  J.  Dalgleish,  J.  T.  Good,  Moore,  G.  W.  Isaac, 
B.  Keen,  T.  Buxton,  W.  Hickman,  E.  Young,  Nethercott,  J.  T. 
Davies,  J.  Evans,  E.  Whiston  (Bath),  L.  Vigis  (Bath),  Pitchford, 
J.  Allen,  F.  W.  Wintle,  H.  E.  Boorne,  F.  Luxton  Jennings, 
Berry,  Troake,  Jones  (Birmingham),  Smith,  etc.  Apologies  for 
absence  were  read  by  Mr.  Keen  from  Mr.  Walter  Hills,  President 
of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  (who  also  sent  a  telegram  of  good 
wishes),  Mr.  Chas.  Townsend,  and  Mr.  Park  (President  of  the 
Plymouth  Association). — The  President  gave  the  usual  loyal 
toasts,  after  which  Mr.  E.  Young  submitted  that  of 

“  The  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain.” 

He  had  a  feeling  of  sincere  loyalty  for  the  Society,  and  believed 
that  any  advance  in  pharmacy  must  come  from  the  Society.  It 
was  democratic  in  its  constitution,  and  he  hoped  to  see  Associates 
swelling  the  number  of  the  Council.  He  thought  it  was  their  duty 
to  support  the  Society  on  these  grounds,  and  because  it  was  a 
terror  to  evil-doers  and  administered  the  Benevolent  Fund  without 
charge,  not  even  as  much  as  the  1|  per  cent,  that  the  Indian 
Famine  Fund  cost  to  administer.  He  coupled  the  toast  with  the 
name  of  their  respected  Hon.  Sec.,  Mr.  Keen,  who  in  strict  con¬ 
fidence  had  told  him  that  the  response  was  a  load  upon  his  mind. — 
Mr.  B.  Keen  replied.  He  was  very  much  in  the  position  of  the 
man  who  was  bathing  and  lost  his  clothes,  for  Mr.  Young  had 
stolen  his  speech.  He  had  but  recently  taken  up  the  local  secre¬ 
tary’s  duties,  and  really  their  old  friend  Mr.  Stroud  ought  to  have 
been  responding.  But  after  a,  history  of  fifty  years  there  was  no 
need  for  justification  of  the  Society.  Its  aims  and  objects  were 
well  known.  It  was  not,  and  never  had  been,  a  mere  trades  union. 
It  was  something  higher  and  better  than  that,  while  he  believed, 
if  properly  interpreted,  it  would  include  that  too.  Its  objects  had 
been  to  elevate  the  individuals  who  practised  pharmacy  in  educa¬ 
tion  in  its  broadest  and  most  liberal  sense — scientific,  moral,  and 
intellectual — -in  the  belief  that  if  t.ie  individual  were 
raised,  so  the  corporate  body  would  become  more  respected 
and  successful.  That  was  necessarily  a  work  of  time. 

It  was  not  thirty  years  since  the  Pharmacy  Act  was  passed,  and 
while  that  was  a  long  time  in  the  life  of  an  individual,  it  was  not 
long  in  the  life  of  a  society  of  that  kind,  and  if  they  compared  the 
past  with  the  present,  they  would  have  to  admit  that  some  pro¬ 
gress  had  been  made.  There  were  giants  in  those  days,  but  taking 
the  average  run  of  chemists  of  those  days  and  comparing  them 
with  the  average  men  of  to-day  they  must  admit  that  there  was  a 
higher  type,  and  that  a  great  advance  had  been  made  in  culture 
and  refinement.  There  were  those  who  asked  “  Why  should  I  join 
the  Society  ?  It  would  be  no  pecuniary  benefit  to  me.”  He  would 
reply  that  it  was  not  everything  that  could  be  measured  by  pounds, 
shillings,  and  pence,  and  that  it  was  something  to  be  associated 
with  a  society  which  had  such  high  aims.  It  was  easy  to  criticise 
the  Society,  but  it  was  better  to  join  the  Society  and  help  to 
form  its  policy  and  share  in  its  work.  The  proportion  of  chemists 
in  Bristol  who  were  members  of  the  Society  was  very  large,  and 
indeed,  if  he  went  to  look  for  new  members  he  hardly  knew  where 
to  go.  Bristol  had  between  forty  and  fifty  subscribing  members. 
Referring  to  the  work  of  the  Society,  he  said  it  kept  the  Register, 
which  was  no  small  thing,  because  it  gave  members  of  the  craft 
their  legal  status.  It  conducted  prosecutions  at  a  great 
cost  for  the  benefit  of  all  members  of  the  craft,  and 
it  managed  a  Benevolent  Fund,  every  penny  of  which 
went  to  the  object  for  which  it  was  given.  In  a 

meeting  of  chemists  nowadays  it  was  customary  to  speak  in  a 
pessimist  strain,  and  to  say  that  they  were  all  going  to  the  dogs. 
He  thought,  however,  that  there  was  still  room  for  the  conscien¬ 
tious  and  painstaking  educated  pharmacist.  They  must  be 
educated  men,  and  they  must  combine  among  themselves  to  do  as 
they  would  be  done  by.  He  would  ask  them  to  avoid  any  personal 
identification  with  the  rampant  patent  medicines  of  the  present 
day.  He  did  not  say  they  were  not  to  sell  Cockle’s  pills,  or 
Seigel’s  syrup—  they  could  not  help  it — but  let  them  avoid  too 


March  20,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


261 


close  identification  with  those  goods.  It  was  not  for  the  welfare  of 
pharmacists  to  do  so. — Mr.  Algernon  Warren  gave 

“  The  City  and  Trade  op  Bristol,” 

and  observed  that  if  the  drug  trade  had  not  advanced  in  propor¬ 
tion  to  other  trades  it  must  be  owing  to  the  abnormal  health  of  the 
city.  —  Councillor  Bennett  replied,  and  referred  to  the  great 
growth  of  the  city  in  the  last  forty  years. — Mr.  G.  T.  Turner 
proposed  “  The  Visitors,”  and  offered  a  hearty  welcome  to 
them. — Mr.  Whiston  (Bath),  and  Mr.  Vigis,  of  the  same  city, 
replied,  the  former  suggesting  a  doubling  of  subscriptions  to  the 
Benevolent,  Fund  for  this  Diamond  Jubilee  year. — Mr.  J.  G. 
Plumley  proposed  “  The  Bristol  Association,”  and  after  a  reference 
to  its  educational  work  said  now  that  it  had  been  taken  up  by 
other  educational  bodies,  they  had  decided  to  meet  quarterly  and 
discuss  trade  questions,  to  which  meetings  he  invited  Bath 
chemists. — Mr.  J.  Chandler  having  replied — Mr.  Jones  spoke  of 
the  work  of  the  P.A.T.A.  in  Birmingham,  and  advised  chemists 
to  join  that  Association. — Mr.  T.  Buxton  gave  “  The  Chairman,” 
and  that  concluded  the  toast  list.  Some  excellent  music  was 
provided  by  a  glee  party. 


North  Staffordshire  and  District  Chemists’  Asso¬ 
ciation,  Thursday,  March  11. — At  the  conclusion  of  the  meeting, 
reported  on  page  258, 

The  Inaugural  Dinner 

of  this  Association  was  held  in  the  Large  Hall  of  the  North  Staf¬ 
ford  Hotel.  The  chair  was  taken  by  Alderman  J.  Averill,  who 
was  supported  by  Messrs.  W.  Go  wen  Cross,  J.P.  (Shrewsbury), 
Rymer  Young  (Warrington),  Councillors  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  ;  F.  Adams  (Stoke),  and  J.  W.  Moore  (Hanley),  Vice- 
Presidents  of  the  North  Staffordshire  Association  ;  Edmund  Jones 
(Hanley),  Hon.  Sec.  ;  M.  Conroy  (Evan,  Son  and  Co.,  Liverpool), 

F.  J.  Gibson  (Wolverhampton),  President  of  the  Midland  Associa¬ 
tion  ;  F.  H.  Alcock  (Birmingham),  W.  Prosser  (Birmingham),  W. 
Brinson  (Liverpool),  T.  C.  Cornwell  (local  secretary  for  Hanley), 
I.  H.  Heap,  J.  D.  Furnival,  J.  H.  Waldron,  W.  Elmitt,  R.  T. 
Christopher  (Hanley),  R.  G.  Emery,  R.  D.  Holt  (Stoke),  R.  Prince 
(Longton),  — Hemingway,  W.  Jenkins,  F.  Jacks  (Stone),  W.  Marson, 
W.  Westhead,  F.  Fowke  (Stafford),  C.  J.  Wain,  D.  H.  Oxen, —  Hale, 
W.  Poole, — Saunders  (Newcastle-under-Lyme),  T.  Charles  (Burslem), 

G.  Viggars,  S.  C.  M’Kee  (Tunstall),  G.  R.  Hankinson  (Uttoxeter), 
W.  Goodman  (Eccleshall),  Dr.  Hind  (Stoke),  and  W.  B.  Allison, 
(N.  S.  Infirmary). — The  Secretary  read  a  large  number  of  letters  of 
apology  and  congratulation.  Mr.  Walter  Hills,  President  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society,  wrote  :  “lam  much  obliged  to  you  for 
your  kind  and  cordial  invitation  to  be  present  at  the  proposed 
meeting  and  dinner  of  the  North  Stafford  Chemists’  Association. 
I  regret,  however,  that  circumstances  do  not  permit  me  to  accept 
it.”  Mr.  Hills  remarked  that  his  regret  was  lessened  by  the 
fact  that  Messrs.  Cross  and  Young  would  expound  to  them,  with 
ability  and  earnestness,  the  benefits  accruing  to  the  trade  by  the 
existence  of  the  Society — benefits  which  would  be  still  greater  and 
more  generally  felt  if  it  had  more  loyal  support  from  all  on  the 
Register  of  chemists  and  druggists.  Mr.  Bremridge,  Secretary  of 
the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  wrote  expressing  his  pleasure  that  the 
chemists  and  druggists  of  North  Staffordshire  recognised  the 
dangers  of  isolation  and  had  determined  to  associate  themselves 
locally  in  one  body.  He  hoped  that  the  Association  would 
in  time  become  a  potent  factor  in  effecting  the  long  hoped  for 
union  among  British  pharmacists,  for  which  the  Society  had  so 
long  worked.  Mr.  G.  S.  Woolley  (President  Manchester  Chemists’ 
Association),  while  being  unable  to  be  present,  owing  to  illness, 
wished  every  success  to  the  Association,  feeling  that  the  chemists 
were  acting  wisely  in  binding  themselves  together  for  mutual 
protection. — The  Chairman,  in  proposing  “  The  Queen,  the  Prince 
and  Princess  of  Wales,  and  the  rest  of  the  Royal  Family,”  com¬ 
menced  a  series  of  what  proved  to  be  excellent  after-dinner 
speeches.  He  referred  to  the  fact  that  shortly  the  record  reign 
would  be  celebrated,  and  said  that  chemists  and  druggists  should 
be  as  enthusiastic  as  any  other  body  of  men  over  the  event,  because 
during  the  time  the  Queen  had  sat  on  the  Throne  more  advance 
had  been  made  in  science  and  commerce  than  at  any  previous 
period  in  the  history  of  the  country. — Dr.  Hind  next  gave — 

“Success  to  the  Pharmaceutical  Society.” 

He  said  he  had  often  met  in  the  room  in  which  they  were  then 


assembled  members  of  the  profession  to  which  he  belonged.  They 
had  a  somewhat  kindred  society  to  the  one  which  they  were  then 
inaugurating,  and  he  hoped  the  North  Staffordshire  Chemists  and 
Druggists’  Association  would  be  as  successful  in  the  purposes  for 
which  it  was  formed  as  the  one  to  which  he  belonged.  He  had  no 
doubt  it  would  be.  Neither  did  he  doubt  that  it  would  be  a  great 
power  for  political  reform,  there  were  many  things  that  Parlia¬ 
ment  would  have  to  do  for  chemists  and  druggists.  His  Associa¬ 
tion  had  shown  that  union  was  strength,  and  that  nothing  could 
be  done  by  isolation.  The  more  one  met  with  one’s 
rivals  the  more  corners  were  rubbed  off,  and  stupid 
rivalry  was  changed  into  friendly  competition.  He  coupled  with 
the  toast  the  names  of  Messrs.  Cross,  Young  and  Cornwell. 

Mr.  Cross,  in  responding,  referred  to  the  kindness  that  had  been 
extended  to  him  personally,  and  the  enthusiastic  manner  in  which 
the  toast  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  had  been  received.  In 
some  assemblies  the  toast  was  not  received  so  cordially,  and  the 
reason  was  not  very  difficult  to  see.  It  was  simply  because  the 
majority  of  chemists  knew  so  little  about  the  work  of  the  Society, 
and  they  did  not  keep  in  touch  with  it,  although  it  was  doing  all 
it  could  for  the  chemists  and  druggists,  whether  they  were 
members  of  it  or  not.  Such  societies  as  the  North  Staffordshire 
would  do  much  to  remedy  that  feeling  of  indifference,  because  it 
would  keep  them  closer  in  touch  with  the  parent  society  in  London. 
He  once  knew  a  very  eloquent  pharmacist,  who,  on  being  taken  to 
task  for  the  apathy  he  displayed  towards  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society,  said  “Well,  what  has  it  done  for  me  ?”  He  (Mr.  Cross) 
asked  him  if  he  was  a  member  of  the  Society,  and  receiving  a  reply 
in  the  negative,  asked  him  what  the  Ancient  Order  of  Foresters  or 
any  other  society  would  do  for  him  if  he  was  not  a  member.  But 
the  fact  was  that  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  did  very  much  for 
those  who  were  not  members  and  were  not  really  entitled  to  be 
benefited  by  it. 

Many  Hours  op  Anxious  Deliberation 

were  spent  in  benefiting  the  trade  generally.  He  had  only  to  refer  to 
the  fact  that  unqualified  traders  met  with  no  partiality  and  no  very 
kind  treatment  from  the  Council,  which  punished  them  on  every  op¬ 
portunity,  to  show  that  the  legitimate  chemists  were  protected  by 
the  Society.  They  had  local  secretaries  in  all  the  centres,  and  any 
report  as  to  illegal  practices  was  investigated.  The  lawyer’s 
bill  was  about  a  thousand  pounds  per  annum,  a  fact  which  showed 
that  the  trade  was  getting  something  from  the  Society.  It  had  been 
hoped  that  chemists  and  druggists  would  secure  exemption  from 
serving  on  juries,  but  intelligent  jurymen  were  so  difficult  to  find 
that  he  thought  it  likely  they  would  have  to  enjoy  the  privilege  of 
being  summoned  a  little  longer.  After  referring  to  the  new  Asso¬ 
ciation  in  hopeful  terms,  Mr.  Cross  spoke  of  the  advisabilty  of 
closely 

Cementing  the  Union 

between  themselves  and  the  medical  men.  They  had  a  great  deal 
in  common.  Some  chemists  might  object  to  medical  men  dispen¬ 
sing  their  own  medicines,  but  the  medical  profession  was  over¬ 
crowded,  and  some  of  them  had  to  do  so  to  gain  a  living.  It  was 
no  reason  for  quarrelling  with  them.  In  conclusion,  he  wished 
every  success  to  the  new  Association,  to  which  he  would  always  be 
willing  to  render  assistance. 

Mr.  Rymer  Young,  in  adding  his  thanks  for  the  manner  in 
which  the  toast  had  been  received,  also  spoke  of  the  benefits 
which  outside  chemists  received  from  the  Society  for  which  they 
did  not  pay.  He  referred  jocularly  to  the  cycling  assistants,  and 
said  that  if  they  could  find  money  to  buy  bicycles  he  did  not  see 
why  they  could  not  find  ten  pounds  to  have  their  names  on  the 
Register  for  ever  and  ever.  Touching  upon  the  question  of  the 
proposed  alteration  in  the  matter  of 

The  Preliminary  Examinations, 

he  said  that  at  present  the  examination  could  be  passed  by  any 
Board  School  boy  of  the  fourth  or  fifth  standard,  or  at  any  rate 
such  a  boy  would  be  expected  to  be  able  to  pass  it.  He  did  not 
see  any  reason  why  the  alteration  which  would  take  place  in 
1900  should  not  be  brought  about  at  once.  The  alteration  would 
do  away  with  a  great  deal  of  the  scandal  which  undoubtedly  was 
attached  to  their  trade,  because  that  scandal  was  caused  to  a  great 
extent  by  illiterate  boys  being  taken  as  apprentices  who,  although 
they  might  ultimately  pass  their  Preliminary,  could  not  possibly 
get  through  the  “  Minor.”  It  was  these  lads  who  eventually  became 
the  men  who  sold  everything  but  the  scheduled  poisons.  If  the  en« 


262 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[MAech  20,  1897. 


trance  examination  was  made  stiffer,  that  would  be  done  away  with. 
— Mr.  T.  C.  Coen  well  said  that  since  he  joined  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society,  twenty-five  years  ago,  he  had  never  been  able  to 
follow  its  work  as  closely  as  he  could  have  wished,  but  he  had  ever 
recognised  that  it  was  doing  a  good  and  beneficial  work.  A  great 
many  of  the  trade  had  no  idea  of  the  benefits.  In  one  year  alone, 
one  man  in  that  district  had  had  to  pay  fines  amounting  to  £25  for 
practising  illegally.  He  was  most  gratified  by  the  proposed  change 
in  connection  with  the  Preliminary,  and  the  only  drawback,  as 
Mr.  Young  had  said,  was  that  it  could  not  come  into  operation 
for  three  years. 

Mr.  F.  J.  Gibson  proposed 

“The  Noeth  Staffoedshiee  Chemists’  Association,” 

and  said  that  the  meeting  augured  well  for  the  future  suc¬ 
cess  of  the  Association. — The  Peesident,  in  responding,  said  he 
believed  the  Association  would  prove  of  great  advantage  to  them 
in  their  several  tradings.  It  would  enable  them  to  discuss  measures 
for  the  advancement  of  the  trade,  and  may  be  they  would  be  able 
to  strengthen  the  hands  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society.  He  thanked 
Messrs.  Cross  and  Young  for  their  attendance  as  representatives 
of  the  Council  of  the  Society,  and  expressed  his  conviction 
that  the  more  they  knew  of  the  doings  of  that  Society 
the  more  they  would  appreciate  its  existence  and  the  privilege 
of  membership. — Mr.  E.  Jones,  Secretary,  also  responded. 
He  hoped  he  would  always  be  able  to  give  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  the  support  it  deserved,  and  was  sorry  that  it  was  not 
always  so  unanimously  supported  as  it  was  that  night. — Mr. 
Moeson  gave  the  “Medical  Men,”  Messrs.  W.  P.  Oulton  and 
W.  Allison  (North  Staffordshire  Infirmary)  ,  responding. — 
“  The  Visitors  ”  was  proposed  in  a  neat  speech  by  Mr. 
J.  W.  Mooee,  and  Messrs.  Peossee  (Birmingham),  M. 
Coneoy  (Liverpool),  and  F.  Haeeis  Alcock  (Birmingham) 
humorously  replied. — “The  Wholesale  Houses”  and  “The 
Ladies”  were  given  by  Messrs.  C.  J.  Wain  and  I.  J.  Heap 
respectively.  Messrs.  W.  Beinson  (Evans,  Son  and  Co.,  Liver¬ 
pool)  and  C.  Aedwinckle  (Messrs.  Hirst,  Brooke  and  Hirst) 
responding  for  “The  Wholesale  Houses,”  and  Messrs.  Peince, 
Elmitt,  and  It.  Cheistophee  for  the  fair  sex. — Mr.  Aedwinckle, 
following  the  offer  of  £5  from  a  member,  promised  a  guinea  on 
behalf  of  his  firm  and  another  from  himself  towards  starting  a 
library  in  connection  with  the  Association. — During  the  evening 
songs  were  given  by  Messrs.  C.  L.  Forrester  (Royal  Apollo  Glee 
Singers),  T.  C.  Cornwell,  E.  Jones,  and  W.  Brinson,  and  Mr.  D.  H. 
Oxen  gave  several  recitations,  a  very  convivial  time  being  spent. 
It  was  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  gathering  that  the  meeting 
was  the  most  successful,  enthusiastic,  and  enjoyable  of  the  kind 
ever  held  in  North  Staffordshire. 


Aberdeen  Junior  Chemists’  Association,  Tuesday, 
March  9. — To  mark  the  close  of  a  very  successful  season,  a 
Cinderella  dance  was  held  in  the  Royal  Hotel.  The  ballroom  was 
prettily  decorated,  and  dancing  commenced  at  8.30,  a  large 
company  being  present.  Music  was  furnished  by  Mr.  G.  Wright’s 
band.  Mr.  M.  K.  Booth  acted  as  M.C. ,  while  Mr.  Charles  Philip 
was  Secretary  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements.  A  very  enjoy¬ 
able  evening  was  spent.  Photographs  have  been  taken  of  the 
Association  Committee  placed  in  a  group.  The  original  picture 
is  to  be  presented  to  the  senior  association,  and  large-sized  repro¬ 
ductions  of  the  same  will  be  for  sale  at  2-s.  fid.  each,  Mr.  J.  Porter, 
of  Hardie  and  Co.,  being  the  photographer. 


Edinburgh  Pharmacy  Golf  Club,  Wednesday,  March  10. 
—Mr.  James  McBain,  President,  in  the  chair. — This  was  the  first 
meeting  of  the  Golf  Section  of  the  Edinburgh  Pharmacy  Athletic  Club 
on  its  new  basis  as  a  fully  constituted  golf  club.  The  following  office¬ 
bearers  were  elected : — Captain,  John  Greig  ;  Vice-Captain,  Thomas 
Welsh  ;  Secretary,  David  Harley  ;  and  as  members  of  Committee, 
Messrs.  Gibb,  Birnie,  Forret,  Walker,  and  Horsburgh.  The  rules 
were  then  considered  and  revised,  and  it  was  decided  that  no  extra 
sum  should  be  paid  over  and  above  the  annual  subscription  to  the 
Athletic  Club,  the  Committee  of  the  latter  having  undertaken  to 
defray  all  the  expenses.  It  was  intimated  that  in  addition  to  the 
present  trophies  a  medal  would  be  presented  for  competition  by 
Mr.  David  McLaren. 


PARLIAMENTARY  NOTES  AND  NEWS. 


The  Committee  of  Council  on  Education  is  a  body  concern¬ 
ing  which  much  speculation  has  been  indulged  in.  The  mystery 
surrounding  its  composition,  however,  has  now  been  dissipated 
by  Sir  J.  Gorst — the  Vice-President — who,  in  reply  to  Mr.  Carvell 
Williams,  disclosed  the  personnel  of  the  Committee  as  follows  : — The 
Lord  President,  Marquis  of  Salisbury,  the  Secretaries  for  the 
Home,  Colonial,  and  War  Departments,  the  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer,  the  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty,  and  Sir  John  Gorst. 
There  would  seem  to  be  some  ground  for  the  taunt  that  the  essen¬ 
tial  qualification  for  a  seat  on  the  Committee  is  an  entire  absence  of 
knowledge  of  matters  pertaining  to  public  education.  The  House 
has  a  keen  sense  of  the  ludicrous,  and  received  Sir  John’s  announcement 
with  evident  enjoyment.  Mr.  Carvell  Williams  attempted  to  still 
furtherdraw  the  Vice-President  by  asking  if  the  Committee  ever  met, 
but  the  effort  was  futile.  It  is  a  singular  thing  that  though  there 
are  among  Privy  Councillors  men  of  high  scientific  attainments 
and  educational  experience,  the  Committee  of  Council  nominally 
charged  to  watch  over  Public  Education  is  a  mere  departmental 
amalgamation  of  ministers,  whose  chief  official  interests  lie 
outside  education  altogether  ! 


The  Postal  and  Telegeaph  Seevice  is  to  reap  the  benefit  of 
the  facilities  for  rapid  transmission  and  delivery  offered  by  the  use 
of  the  bicycle.  Mr.  Hanbury,  as  the  representative  of  the 
Postmaster-General,  has  stated  that  two  systems  are  being 
tried  in  twenty-two  provincial  towns — in  the  one  system  the 
machines  being  provided  and  maintained  by  the  Post  Office,  and, 
in  the  other,  being  obtained  by  and  belonging  to  the  officer  using 
them.  The  use  of  cycles  in  the  delivery  of  telegrams  in  country 
places  will  greatly  reduce  the  present  charge  of  one  shilling  a  mile, 
and  the  authorities  have  arranged  to  substitute,  when  practicable, 
a  messenger  mounted  on  a  cycle  for  the  present  horse-mounted 
man,  and  to  charge  at  the  rate  of  fourpence  a  mile. 


Select  Committees  are  the  order  of  the  day.  The  latest  is  the 
assembly  of  gentlemen  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  working  of 
the  Merchandise  Marks  Act,  1887,  the  provisions  of  which  do  not 
seem  to  act  in  such  a  beneficial  manner  as  the  commercial 
community  ten  years  ago  anticipated  they  would.  Naturally,  Sir 
Howard  Vincent  is  a  member  of  the  Committee,  and  he  will  no 
doubt  urge  the  merits  of  the  Bill  which  was  introduced  by  him 
early  this  Session,  and  ignominiously  rejected  by  the  House.  The 
Committee  consists  of  ten  Ministerialists  and  six  of  the  Opposition, 
and  met  for  the  first  time  on  Friday  for  formal  business. 


The  Peteoleum  Committee  is  meeting  twice  a  week  now.  At 
a  recent  meeting  Mr.  Coroner  Hicks  was  examined,  and  expressed 
himself  with  characteristic  vigour  against  the  deadly  paraffin  lamp 
of  the  earthenware  reservoir  type.  Metal  holders,  says  Mr. 
Braxton  Hicks,  should  be  the  only  kind  allowed. 


The  Vivisectionists  have  a  champion  in  Mr.  Swift  MacNeill,  the 
Nationalist  member  for  South  Donegal.  On  the  12th  inst.  he  asked 
for  an  explanation  of  the  official  report  for  1895,  from  which  it 
appeared  that  200  or  300  animals  were  tortured  in  a  single 
experiment.  He  also  wished  to  know  generally  the  nature  of  the 
supervision  exercised  by  the  Home  Department  in  respect  to 
experiments  performed  by  licensed  persons  on  living  animals. 
The  reply  of  the  Home  Secretary  should  dispel  all  suspicion 
in  right-minded  people  that  the  certificates  of  the 
Department  are  abused  or  made  use  of  to  cover  the 
perpetration  of  gross  and  unnecessary  cruelty.  The  number  of 
animals  used  is  not  in  excess  of  the  experiments  made,  but  in  fact 
rather  less.  Inspectors  both  inspect  registered  premises,  and  are 
often  present  during  the  performance  of  experiments ;  moreover, 
they  see  the  bodies  of  the  animals  on  which  experiments  have  been 
made  and  are  in  a  position  to  report  any  irregularities.  Certificate 
A  (permitting  anaesthetics  to  be  dispensed  with)  is  never  issued 
except  for  trivial  operations,  and  in  every  case  precautions  are 
adopted  to  prevent  unnecessary  pain.  The  chief  safeguards  against 
abuse  of  the  privileges  granted  under  the  licence  are  to  be  found, 
said  the  Home  Secretary,  in  the  character  of  the  persons  holding 
the  licence,  and  in  the  stringent  conditions  under  which  such  licences 
are  given,  which  it  is  the  duty  of  the  inspectors  to  see  observed, 


March  20,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


263 


SOME  NEW  IDEAS. 


LETTERS  TO  THE  EDITOR. 


CHEAPER  SANITARY  TOWELS. 

The  value  of  Southall’s  “Sanitary  Towels”  has  been  long 
'established,  and  the  introduction  of  a  “towel”  to  be  sold  at  a 
halfpenny  (less  than  the  cost  of  washing)  should  enable  them  to  be 
used  by  all  classes.  Southall  Brothers  and  Barclay  have  had 
large  experience,  extending  over  many  years,  with  absorbent 
materials  of  all  kinds,  and  the  fabric  of  which  their  new  “  sani¬ 
tary  towel”  is  composed  possesses  the  necessary  qualities  in  a 
.marked  degree.  This  material  is  manufactured  under  a  Pro¬ 
visional  Patent  (No.  20,040),  from  a  mixture  of  finely  divided 
cellulose  and  “  dimatos,”  the  newly-discovered  infusorial  earth, 
for  the  handling  of  which  Southall  Brothers  and  Barclay  hold 
the  sole  right  throughout  the  world.  The  “  dimatos,”  which  is 
lighter  than  magnesia  and  capable  of  absorbing  more  than  six 
times  its  weight  of  liquids,  is  very  intimately  incorporated  with 
the  cellulose,  and  the  resulting  material,  in  addition  to  being 
Highly  absorbent,  possesses  remarkable  diffusive  properties,  so  that 
when  enclosed  in  an  envelope  of  absorbent  wool  wadding  it  forms 
a  pad  peculiarly  well  adapted  for  the  purpose  for  which  it  is 
intended.  Instead  of  losing  its  soft  and  elastic  properties  and  be¬ 
coming  pulpy  when  wet,  Southall  Brothers  and  Barclay’s  patented 
material  possesses  all  the  valuable  diffusive  properties  of  cellulose, 
combined  with  the  elasticity  of  absorbent  cotton.  The  introduc¬ 
tion  of  the  halfpenny  “  towel,”  made  from  this  material,  supplies  a 
want,  the  existence  of  which  is  obvious,  and  it  should  soon  acquire 
the  popularity  which  it  deserves. 


DEVONSHIRE  CREAM  AND  MALT  EXTRACT. 

A  preparation  containing  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  richest 
Devonshire  cream,  incorporated  with  malt  extract,  is  offered  by 
Messrs.  Evans,  Gadd  and  Co.,  of  Exeter,  as  a  substitute  for 
cod-liver  oil,  under  the  name  of  “  Ambrosia.”  It  is  well  made 
and  extremely  palatable,  and  put  up  in  wide-mouth,  stoppered 
bottles  to  retail  at  half-a-crown  each.  These  are  enclosed  in 
dainty  cardboard  cases,  and  supplied  to  retailers  on  very  favourable 
terms,  whilst  the  article  is  included  in  the  P.A.T.A.  list,  so  that 
the  profit  will  be  protected. 


SOLIDIFIED  SOUPS. 

Anything  bearing  the  name  of  Messrs.  E.  Lazenby  and  Son  may 
be  expected  to  prove  of  excellent  quality,  and  only  a  minimum  of 
•courage  is  required,  therefore,  on  the  part  of  anyone  who  thinks  of 
experimenting  with  the  firm’s  “  Solidified  Soup  Squares.”  These 
are  prepared  with  a  beef  basis,  and  are  intended  for  the  speedy 
improvisation  of  soups  of  all  kinds — mulligatawny,  pea,  julienne, 
, green  pea,  haricot,  carrot,  household,  etc.  From  any  one  of  the 
“squares,”  which  retail  at  sixpence  each,  a  pint  and  a  half  of 
excellent  soup  can  be  prepared  in  less  than  half  an  hour. 


USEFUL  INFORMATION  AS  AN  ADVERTISEMENT. 

Messrs.  Thomas  Christy  and  Co.  send  a  copy  of  a  small 
•pamphlet  entitled  “  Nuggets,”  which  they  have  recently  published 
with  a  view  of  increasing  the  sale  of  Messrs.  Stearns’  Wine  of  Cod- 
Liver  Oil.  In  addition  to  information  concerning  the  wine,  various 
.useful  facts  are  interspersed  throughout  the  pamphlet,  and  chemists 
in  various  parts  of  the  country  who  stock  the  preparation  referred 
to  may,  on  application,  have  as  many  copies  free  as  they  can 
judiciously  distribute. 


CHARITY,  ART,  AND  HUMOUR. 

The  Leeds  Poor  Children’s  Summer  Holiday  Fund  has  for  its 
object  the  provision  of  a  three  weeks’  summer  holiday  in  the 
country  for  delicate  children  of  poor  parents.  The  average  cost  is 
less  than  twenty  shillings  per  child,  but  though  the  expense  is 
small  the  boon  conferred  is  great.  In  aid  of  the  Fund,  Mr.  Fred 
Reynolds  produces  every  year  a  ‘  Comic  Guide  to  the  Leeds  City 
Art  Gallery,’  which  is  sold  at  sixpence  per  copy,  and  the  nett 
result  of  the  sale  in  previous  years  has  amounted  to  £15  13s.  9 d. 
This  year’s  production  is  extremely  funny,  and  one  could  almost 
imagine  the  originals  of  the  caricatures  themselves  laughing  at 
these  grotesque  and  very  counterfeit  presentments. 


The  Benevolent  Fund  Special  Appeal. 


Sir, — At  a  meeting  held  in  Manchester,  on  W ednesday,  March  10, 
to  consider  the  best  steps  to  take  to  augment  the  Benevolent  Fund 
in  commemoration  of  the  sixtieth  year  of  the  Queen’s  reign,  it  was 
unanimously  decided  to  form  a  special  fund,  to  be  called  the  Man¬ 
chester  and  District  Chemists’  Assistants’  and  Apprentices’  Dona¬ 
tion  to  the  Benevolent  Fund.  It  was  also  resolved  that,  as  far  as 
possible,  a  personal  call  should  be  made  on  every  assistant  and 
apprentice  in  the  district  to  solicit  donations  thereto.  And  that  an 
endeavour  should  be  made  to  increase  the  number  of  annual  sub¬ 
scribers  to  the  Benevolent  Fund.  To  give  effect  to  these  resolu¬ 
tions  the  following  were  elected  as  a  committee,  with  power  to 
add  to  their  number  : — ■ 


J.  Bates. 

L.  N.  Burch. 
R.  G.  Gourlay. 
A.  Midgley. 


A.  Ogden. 

H.  Oldhaih. 

G.  W.  Overend. 

W.  Rimming-ton. 

Hon.  Sec.,  J.  Riding. 


A  preliminary  list  of  donations  will  appear  in  a  subsequent  issue 
of  the  Journal.  Donations  will  be  received  and  transmitted  by 
any  of  the  above-mentioned  committee. 

March  11,  1S97.  J.  Riding. 


When  is  Food  Taken  ? 

Sir,— You  have  kindly  opened  your  columns  to  students,  with¬ 
out  restriction  of  age,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  and  you  answer  many 
various  questions.  Would  you  tell  me  when  “  food  ”  is  taken  ?  I 
notice  that  younger  members  of  the  Faculty,  especially,  have 
taken  to  translating  the  hard  words  in  prescriptions,  I  suppose  out 
of  consideration  for  the  infirmity  of  dispensers,  as  it  cannot  be  any 
defect  in  their  own  stiffer  and  stiffer  education.  So  that  we  get 
directions  of  this  sort — “  Sumt.  fss.  ex  aquae  between  meals.”  It 
is  generally  “  ex  aquae,”  unless  the  quantity  is  specified,  and 
then  it  is  “ex  aqua  §ss.”  !  ! 

Hybrid  directions  of  this  sort  present  no  practical  difficulty, 
because  the  dispenser  can  render  the  sentence  into  good  English. 
But  when  the  man  of  science  and  all  knowledge  writes  “  A  table¬ 
spoonful  to  be  taken  three  times  daily  after  food,”  it  would  be  pre¬ 
sumptuous  to  depart  from  his  ipsissima  verba,  which  the  patient 
can  read.  And  yet  I  cannot  understand  the  terms.  “After 
food”  is  not  an  English  expression.  I  can  only  imagine  that 
it  is  a  translation  of  “post  cibum”  or  “  cibos,”  as  older  physicians 
used  to  write,  and  we  used  to  translate  “after  meals”  periods  of 
fairly  regular  recurrence  inmost  households.  But  “food,”  what 
is  it  ?  and  when  taken  ?  Some  people  say  alcohol  is  poison,  and 
others  say  it  is  “  food.”  Is  medicine  to  be  taken  after  a 
“  B.  and  S.  ”  ?  or  may  a  man,  going  out  for  the  day,  take  three 
biscuits  and  a  dose  of  medicine  after  each,  so  as  to  get  it  all  over 
before  he  starts,  for  surely  a  biscuit  is  “food”?  I  think  I  have 
seen  some  advice  to  our  craft  lately  about  our  use  of  language,  by 
an  eminent  surgeon.  Could  not  the  Faculty  also  improve  their 
English?  This  puerile  rendering  of  “post  cibum”  is  on  a  level 
with  that  of  a  tyro  who  should  translate  the  good  old  London 
Pharmacopoeia  “  1^.  Opii  contriti  uncias  tres,”  “take  of  contrite 
opium  three  ounces.” 

March  6, 1897.  Inquirer  (84/5). 


Sweating  the  Dispenser. 

Sir, — I  also  consider  your  correspondent  “Anti-Sweater”  un¬ 
reasonable  in  his  remarks  about  the  work  done  in  hospitals  and 
dispensaries.  Holding,  as  I  do,  the  post  of  dispenser  in  one  of 
these  institutions,  I  must  really  protest  against  these  exposures. 
He  may  be  relating  what  he  actually  saw,  and  his  remarks  may 
apply  to  the  work  of  most  of  us,  but  why  not  turn  the  blind  optic 
to  our  failings  ?  And  why  does  he  make  our  mouths  water  by 
comparing  us  to  the  carpenter,  the  plumber,  and  the  baker,  when 
these  gentlemen  draw  at  least  double  our  wages  (vide  recent 
advertisements  in  the  Journal)  ?  Are  we  respected,  or  is  our  work 
considered  of  any  importance  by  the  doctors,  nurses,  or  porters  ? 
Why,  the  latter  would  scorn  to  exchange  waistcoats  with  us,  know¬ 
ing  that  if  they  did  they  would  soon  fall  in  the  estimation  of  the 
public.  It  is  monstoous  to  insinuate  that  we  as  a  body  should 
require  a  course  of  training  either  at  Bloomsbury  Square  or  any¬ 
where  else  to  fit  us  for  our  work  of  doling  out  ointments  in  saucers, 
mixtures  in  gin  bottles,  pills  in  paper,  linseed  meal  in  pillow-cases 
and  coal  bags.  Our  ambition  (Not. a  bene  :  I  am  speaking  for  all  of 


264 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[March  20, 1897 


us)  is  to  partake  sooner  or  later  of  that  beautiful  Benevolent  Fund 
of  yours,  towards  which,  by  the  way,  we  don’t  contribute,  before 
we  take  our  last  sleeping  draught.  The  Editor  has  my  name 
and  address,  but  I  am  not  at  home  to  inquisitive  people. 

March  6,  1897.  Blad  R.  O’Lard  (84/13). 


Sir,— In  reply  to  “Dispenser’s”  letter  in  the  Journal,  March  6,  I 
hardly  think  he  can  be  in  earnest  when  he  invites  me  to  give  the 
name  of  the  institution  referred  to  in  my  previous  letter ;  for 
whilst  we  may  say  what  we  have  seen,  we  may  not  always  say 
where  we  have  seen  it,  for  obvious  reasons.  As  to  the  Inspector, 
how  often  has  “  Dispenser”  had  a  visit  from  him  in  the  fourteen 
years  he  has  been  in  the  service  ?  In  writing,  I  had  no  thought  of 
condemning  the  hundred  and  eighteen  dispensers  employed  in  the 
Poor  Law  service,  but  those  guardians  who  attach  no  more 
responsibility  to  the  dispensing  of  medicines  than  they  do  to  the 
distribution  of  stores,  and  expect  a  dispenser  to  do  five  hundred 
bottles  a  day,  this  being  at  the  rate  of  one  bottle  a  minute  for 
eight  and  one-third  hours  daily.  To  fill,  cork,  and  label  any  article 
at  such  a  rate  is,  I  believe,  impossible. 

If  “Dispenser”  does  three  hundred  and  sixty  prescriptions  in 
one  day  without  proper  assistance,  I  contend  he  does  too  much, 
and  unless  he  anticipates  a  premature  end,  should  discontinue  it. 
In  reply  to  his  query  if  the  dispenser  mentioned  in  my  letter  was 
a  lady,  Army  man,  or  qualified  chemist,  he  held  none  of  these 
qualifications.  In  the  fifth  annual  report  of  the  Local  Government 
Board,  1876,  it  states  the  position  of  dispenser  in  these  institutions 
is  one  of  great  importance.  What  has  happened  that  they  should 
think  differently  twenty  years  later  and  open  the  appointment  to 
men  with  only  the  Army  qualification  ?  I  think  it  is  much  to  be 
regretted  that  any  qualification  short  of  that  of  a  registered 
chemist  and  druggist  should  fit  a  man  for  these  appointments,  and 
hope  those  guardians  who  think  so  too  will  see  to  it. 

March  9,  1897.  Anti-Sweater  (84/20). 


The  Proposed  New  Bye-Laws. 

Sir, — I  have  read  with  interest  the  report  of  the  Council  meeting 
and  the  discussion  on  the  Preliminary  and  Minor  examinations, 
and  am  quite  in  accord  with  the  line  of  thought  and  procedure.  I 
have  all  along  thought  that  the  Preliminary  examination  was  too 
easy  and  not  in  keeping  with  the  noble  position  of  a  pharmacist, 
and  think  the  changes  suggested  more  appropriate.  No  one  should 
grumble  either  at  the  advanced  fee  for  the  Minor,  providing  for 
life-long  registration  as  a  chemist  and  druggist.  There  are 
already  too  many  chemists,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that 
more  than  half  of  the  drug  stores  of  this  country  are  not 
registered,  and  the  Society  should  have  powers  to  do  more 
to  close  them.  Then,  again,  as  a  member  of  a  body  of  directors 
known  as  the  Sands-Cox  Benevolent  Sick  Society,  I  got 
a  rule  passed  that  all  patients  should  get  their  advice  from  the 
doctors  in  the  area,  the  medicine  to  be  dispensed  by  the  qualified 
chemists  in  the  same  area,  but  the  public  met  in  force  with  the 
doctors  to  protest  against  this  procedure,  and  were  successful 
in  having  this  law  rescinded,  so  that  the  members  now 
go  to  the  doctors  for  their  medicine  as  heretofore.  It  is 
very  discouraging  to  qualified  men  to  find  doctors  do  their  own 
dispensing,  and  to  be  hemmed  in  on  all  sides  by  unqualified  quacks. 
Again,  would  not  qualified  chemists  subscribe  to  the  Society  and 
take  more  interest  in  its  affairs  if  they  were  allowed  to  act  as 
representatives  on  the  Pharmaceutical  Council  ?  I  feel  sure  that 
if  more  encouragement  were  given  to  Minor  men  in  this  way  the 
Society  would  get  more  support.  It  is  of  the  greatest  importance 
that  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  and  qualified  chemists  should  be 
more  in  sympathy,  and  in  touch  the  one  with  the  other. 

Birmingham,  March  6,  1897.  Josiah  Austin. 


Sir, — The  raising  of  the  standard  of  the  Preliminary  examination, 
I  am  sure,  will  meet  with  general  approval  ;  in  fact,  it  would  ha  ve 
been  a  good  thing  had  it  been  done  several  years  back.  The  Minor 
fee  appears  to  offend  a  few,  but  there  is  no  doubt  it  will  raise  the 
standard  of  the  trade  and  keep  out  those  unfit  to  occupy  such  a 
responsible  position,  and  personally,  I  should  like  to  see  the  £5  5s. 
registration  fee  increased  to  £10  10.$.  The  Council  is  unable 
to  get  Bills  passed  by  reason  of  so  many  keeping  out  of  the  Society 
after  passing  the  Minor,  and  I  would  suggest  that  each  new  chemist 
should  become  an  associate,  and  by  so  joining  together  we  should 
be  able  to  get  numerous  privileges  which  are  at  present  utterly  im¬ 
possible.  This  suggestion  may  be  altogether  impracticable,  and 


require  a  new  Act  of  Parliament,  if  so,  I  should  be  glad  to  be  put 
right ;  if  not,  to  me  it  appears  better  than  as  at  present  proposed. 

Plymouth,  March  13,  1897.  J.  Arthur  Buckley. 

Sir,— I  am  pleased  to  see  that  the  Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  is  at  length  taking  steps  to  raise  the  standard  of  education 
required  of  those  entering  the  chemist’s  calling.  In  that  respect 
the  new  bye-laws  certainly  deserve  cordial  support,  for  I  have 
always  considered  that  the  modicum  of  education  which  enables  a 
youth  to  pass  the  present  Preliminary  is  by  no  means  sufficient  to 
fit  him  for  his  after  career.  With  reference  to  the  increase  in  the 
fees  for  the  Minor,  the  alteration  appears  to  be  necessary  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  Society,  and  having  regard  to  the  perpetual 
cost  of  maintaining  the  Register  and  enforcing  the  Pharmacy  Act, 
I  fail  to  see  that  the  total  fees  will  form  an  exorbitant  amount. 

Uck, field,  March  15,  1897.  E.  H.  Farr. 

Sir, — If  the  increased  fee  for  the  Minor  examination  is  to  be 
understood  as  a  charge  for  registration,  as  stated  by  the  President 
and  others,  how  can  a  second  fee  of  ten  guineas,  chargeable  after- 
twelve  months  from  the  failure  to  pass,  be  justified  ?  There  should 
not  be  two  fees  for  one  registration.  Would  it  not  be  better  to- 
pass  a  bye-law  making  a  separate  charge  for  registration,  payable 
at  the  time  of  registration.  Section  10  of  the  1852  Act  clearly 
empowers  the  Council  to  do  this.  It  reads,  “Every  such  person, 
who  ....  shall  have  obtained  a  certificate  of  qualification  .... 
shall  be  entitled  to  be  registered  ....  upon  payment  of  such  a 
fee  or  fees  as  shall  be  fixed  by  the  bye-laws.”  No  one  could  reason¬ 
ably  object  to  paying  a  fee  for  registration,  and  it  would  be  much 
more  cheerfully  paid  after  the  examination  is  past  than  before  it. 
I  would  suggest  this  course  as  a  matter  of  policy,  as  nothing 
should  be  done  which  would  cause  young  men  to  have  an  unfriendly 
feeling  towards  the  Society,  either  before  their  examinations  or  in 
after  life.  If  the  first  charge  of  ten  guineas  be  adhered  to,  I  would 
urge  that  in  cases  of  failure  to  pass  the  fee  be  three  guineas  on  any 
or  each  subsequent  occasion,  but  it  seems  to  me  that  it  would  be 
better  to  keep  the  two  charges  distinct  and  have  a  fee  for  ex¬ 
amination,  payable  as  at  present,  and  a  fee  for  registration, 
payable  at  the  time  of  registration. 

Edinburgh,  March  15,  1897.  .  .  Claude  F.  Henry. 

Sir, — Now  that  the  Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  has 
boldly  faced  the  question  of  the  Preliminary  examination  and 
increased  the  Minor  fee,  both  of  which,  as  you  say  in  your  current 
issue,  should  certainly  be  regarded  as  matters  of  course,  I  would 
strongly  urge  that  attention  should  be  turned  to  alteration  in  the 
status  of  Minor  men,  on  the  lines  which  have  already  been  fre¬ 
quently  put  forward  in  your  columns.  It  is  a  complete  anomaly 
that  men  who  have  passed  the  examination  which  gives  them  their 
qualification  as  chemists,  should  not  be  able  to  become  “  Members” 
of  the  Society.  In  my  humble  opinion,  that,  is  one  of  the  chief 
reasons  why  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  does  not  include  the  whole 
of  the  craft.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Minor  (a  complete 
misnomer,  by  the  way)  is  practically  the  examination,  and  the 
Major  is  merely  an  excrescence  which  will  in  course  of  time  die  a 
natural  death.  It  is  u ndeniably  becoming  less  and  less  popular, 
and  it  would  be  better  if  it  were  entirely  abolished,  the  Minor  being 
divided  into  three  or  more  stages  as  is  done  in  the  qualifying 
medical  examination.  However,  leaving  this  question  for  the- 
present,  my  immediate  point  is,  that  Minor  men  who  form  the 
great  majority  and  backbone  of  the  craft,  ought  to  be  members  of 
their  own  society,  and  not  Associates  merely — they  will  nob 
feel  that  it  is  their  own  society  until  they  become  so. 

March  13,  1897.  “  Spero”  (85/4). 

***  Some  of  the  suggestions  offered  in  the  correspondence  on  this  subject  could 

not  be  carried  into  effect  without  fresh  legislation,  as  explained  at  page  256. 

Detailed  reference  will  be  made  to  this  matter  at  an  early  date. — [Editor,  P.J.i. 


The  Sale  of  Food  and  Drugs  Act. 

Sir, — That  the  Society  of  Public  Analysts  will  soon  be  stigma¬ 
tised  as  a  Society  of  Public  Nuisances,  if  they  continue  to  bring  such 
frivolous  actions  as  many  lately  brought,  goes  without  saying.  Such 
preparations  as  lime  juice  and  glycerin  are  simply  toilet  articles,  and 
not  properly  speaking  either  food  or  drugs,  and  wrho  was  prejudiced 
by  arsenical  soap  sine  arsenic.  Honest  men  are  brought  to  filthy 
Police  Courts  on  the  most  scandalous  pretences  to  herd  with  pros¬ 
titutes,  thieves,  and  brawlers  of  all  sorts.  Can  we  not  as  a  body 
protest  against  such  annoyance  with  some  chance  of  success  ?  It 
would  seem  advisable  that  a  committee  should  be  formed  for  self- 


March  20,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


265 


protection,  and  to  see  that  defensible  cases  are  properly  defended  ; 
one  would  not  mind  subscribing  a  reasonable  sum  annually  for 
such  a  purpose.  The  Sale  of  Food  and  Drugs  Act  is  being  abused 
by  ignorant  J.P.’s  and  tricky  inspectors  for  purposes  for  which  it 
was  not  intended.  For  instance,  limes  and  glycerin  was  an  inven¬ 
tion  for  purely  decorative  purposes,  and  has  been  sold  as  such  for 
many  years,  and  is  known  to  the  trade  and  the  public  by  that 
name  only.  A  defence  on  that  ground  alone  would  have  saved  the 
gentleman  convicted  the  other  day.  Again,  the  Food  and  Drugs  Act 
defines  a  drug  as  a  medicine  for  internal  or  external  use,  therefore 
when  not  required  for  medicinal  purposes  the  same  article  ceases 
to  be  a  drug  (vide  the  case  in  which  beeswax  sold  by  a  grocer  was 
held  not  to  be  a  drug,  lately  reported  in  Ph.  J. ).  The  average 
magisterial  cranium  is  proof  against  a  technical  defence,  but  one 
addressed  to  common  (very  common)  sense  may  sometimes  arrive 
there.  Perhaps  a  label  declaring  an  article  (not  for  medicinal  use) 
might  be  of  some  service.  Goodness  only  knows  what  an  Inspector 
expects  when  asking  for  “  Lait  Virginal,”  for  instance.  Hoping 
my  suggestions  may  be  of  use  to  someone, 

London,  March  16,  1S97.  E.  Warrell. 


The  Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association. 

Sir, — Your  correspondent  “Midlothian”  has  discounted  the 
value  of  his  criticism  on  the  above  by  his  modesty  in  withholding 
his  name.  If  he  had  given  that  we  might  have  been  better  able  to 
tell  whether  he  was  a  gentleman  who  had  personal  acquaintance 
with  the  subject  whereof  he  wrote,  or  whether  he  was  merely 
stating  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  state  of  things  in  general, 
from  observation  of  his  corner  of  the  isle  in  particular.  I  will  now 
try  to  give  him  a  little  additional  information.  He  was  nearly 
correct  when  he  supposed  I  meant  that  “  the  average  chemist  has 
a  number  of  preparations  of  his  own,  representing  so  many  adver¬ 
tised  nostrums,  and  that  he  is  able  to  sell  his  own  when  another  is 
asked  for,  to  the  extent  of  20  per  cent,  of  all  orders  for  that  pro¬ 
prietary  article.”  Correction  :  The  said  “  own  preparations  ”  need 
not  necessarily  represent,  or  be  imitations  of,  the  nostrums,  so  long 
as  thej'  are  as  good  as,  or  better  than,  the  latter  for  their  specific 
purpose.  “Midlothian  ”  denies  that  those  composing  the  bulk  of 
the  craft  are  a  herd  of  imitators.”  So  do  I.  “  Herd ”  is  a  word 
usually  applied  to  oxen  and  swine,  and  pharmacists  are  neither. 
For  present  purposes  the  members  of  the  craft  may  be  divided 
into  two  classes  : — (a)  Those  whose  life  has  been  principally  passed 
in  “  the  good  old  times,”  and  who  have  never  altered  their  business 
methods.  ( b )  Those  who  have  been  brought  up  with  an  enviro- 
ment  of  cutting  and  struggle.  Some  of  the  former  have  been  able 
to  afford  the  luxury  of  business  conservatism  (probably  “Mid¬ 
lothian”  is  one  of  them) ;  some  have  not,  and  in  consequence  have 
either  succumbed  or  are  moribund.  The  vast  majority  in  the 
second  group  (b)  have  adapted  their  system  of  business  to  their 
new  surroundings  by  meeting  the  competition  in  the  sale  of  pro¬ 
prietaries,  and  by  running  a  number  of  specialties  of  their  own. 
They  have  acted  on  the  maxim — “Make  as  much  show  of  cutting  as 
you  can,  and  do  as  little  of  it  as  you  can.”  In  the  nature  of  things, 
group  (a)  must  be  an  ever-lessening  quantity,  and  group  (b)  an 
ever-increasing  one.  Those  in  the  latter  group  push  their  own 
things  on  every  available  occasion  (P.A.T.A.  goods  excepted) ;  in 
other  words,  they  substitute.  Parenthetically,  I  might  here  define 
substitution,  in  the  sense  in  which  I  am  using  it,  as  “counter¬ 
recommendation,  or  the  art  of  inducing  your  customer  to  buy  what 
you  would  like  him  to  take  in  lieu  of  what  he  thought  he  would 
like,  without  attempting  to  deceive  him.”  It  is  as  unlike  fraudu¬ 
lent  imitation  as  a  “  Welsh  rabbit  ”  is  to  its  four-footed  namesake. 
With  regard  to  the  extent  to  which  it  is  practised,  I  will  not  pretend 
to  speak  for  the  “  Midlothian  ”  region,  but  I  assure  him  that  I  know, 
from  personal  inquiries  and  observation,  that  the  custom  is  widely 
prevalent  in  the  large  towns  of  England.  I  believe  almost  any  of 
the  commercial  travellers  or  editors  of  trade  journals  will  corrobo¬ 
rate  this.  Statistics  published  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  (in 
1890,  I  think)  show  that  such  was  the  case  then,  and  there  is  cer¬ 
tainly  more  rather  than  less  now.  “Twenty  per  cent.”  is,  I 
believe,  a  fair  estimate  of  the  number  of  successful  “pushes” 
accomplished  by  the  “average  chemist,”  though  some  put  it  at  a 
higher  figure.  In  the  case  of  a  man  of  gumption  and  tact  it  need 
not  be  less  than  25  per  cent,  all  round.  The  proprietor  of  Carter’s 
pills  has  stated  that  forty  people  out  of  every  hundred  who  ask 
-for  that  medicine  get  persuaded  to  have  the  dealer’s  own.  Up-to-date 
•chemists  and  store-assistants  appear  to  be  about  equally  proficient 
in  the  “gentle  art” — though  probably  the  latter  would  bear  the 
palm.  Finally,  I  shall  always  maintain  that  if  an  advertiser  will 


not  protect  the  price  of  his  article  when  he  can  now  so  easily  do  so, 
the  retailer  is  justified  in  ousting  that  article  whenever  he  can,  in 
any  way  or  by  any  wile  consistent  with  honour  and  integrity. 
London,  March  6,  1897.  William  Johnston. 


Sir, — In  your  splendid  issue  of  February  27  the  case  for  and  the 
case  against  this  Association  was  stated ;  in  my  humble  opinion 
the  latter  squashed  the  former.  However,  be  that  as  it  may,  I  am 
opposed  to  the  P.A.T.A.  principally  on  three  grounds  :  (1)  It  does 
not  serve  the  object  for  which  it  exists  ;  (2)  it  increases  the  sale  of 
quack  remedies — a  thing  not  to  be  desired  ;  (3)  it  affects  individual 
freedom  of  action  to  a  malevolent  extent.  In  proof  of  these  state¬ 
ments  I  may  say:  (1)  A  chemist  who  “cuts”  has  no  difficulty 
whatever  in  buying  what  he  wants  from  a  friendly  brother  chemist, 
the  stricture  of  the  “black  list  ”  not  affecting  him  ;  it  only  touches 
about  twenty  houses,  and  all  of  them,  or  nearly  all,  are  “  stores”  ; 

(2)  “patent”  medicines  never  heard  of  before  are  now  getting  a 
cheap  advertisement  through  this  mushroom  Association  ;  when 
customers  ask  me  about  these  quack  remedies  I  say  I  can’t  recom¬ 
mend  them,  and  thus  discourage  their  sale  as  much  as  possible  ; 

(3)  I  can’t  do  better  than  say,  with  Dr.  Macnaughton- Jones  in  his 
recent  address,  that  “the  whole  tendency  of  modern  thought, 
despite  trades  unionism  and  caucuses,  is  in  the  direction  of 
individual  freedom  of  action.  The  liberty  to  do  what  is  right  must 
ultimately  prevail,  no  matter  how  vigorous  the  attempt  to  curtail 
and  imperil  the  right  of  such  independent  action.”  Mr.  Glyn- 
Jones,  the  energetic  Secretary  of  the  P.A.T.A. ,  has  done  his  best, 
but  I  am  afraid  he  only  “  beats  the  air.”  Quite  true  many  chemists 
•in  England  have  taken  kindly  to  the  movement,  but  the  quiet 
chemist-cutter  has  been  going  on  as  usual,  not  hindered  by  any. 
I  am  surprised  at  the  mild  criticism  hitherto  offered,  but  perhaps 
the  indefatigable  Secretary  will  yet  get  his  eyes  opened  and  see 
the  futility  and  abortiveness  of  his  efforts. 

March  9,  1897.  “  Catalysis  ”  (SI/24). 

Solubility  of  Iodine  in  Cod-liver  Oil. 

Sir, — I  am  afraid  that  in  my  desire  for  brevity  I  put  my  query 
in  such  general  terms  that  I  did  not  make  my  difficulty  plain. 
Both  the  gentlemen  who  came  to  my  assistance  seem  to  think  that 
I  wish  to  preserve  the  brown  colour  of  the  solution.  It  is  not  the 
disappearance  of  the  colour,  but  its  unexpected  and  apparently 
capricious  reappearance  that  troubles  me.  The  oil  is  intended  for 
internal  use,  and  the  doctor  tells  me  that  he  has  found,  though  not 
in  my  dispensing,  the  reappearance  of  the  colour,  followed  by  dis¬ 
tressing  symptoms  in  the  patient — burning  sensations,  nausea,  and 
loss  of  appetite.  I  avoided  this  danger  by  warning  the  nurses  not 
to  give  any  oil  that  had  darkened,  but  to  return  it  to  me  at  once. 
I  have  had  three  bottles  out  of  about  twenty  brought  back  in  this 
way.  The  difference  can  hardly  have  been  in  the  oil,  as  all  the 
bottles  were  from  the  same  cask.  I  dissolved  the  iodine  in  pure 
ether  and  divided  the  solution  between  the  four  or  five  bottles  I 
had  to  prepare  each  day.  The  variation  may  have  been  caused  by 
the  difficulty  of  dividing  the  ether  solution  with  perfect  accuracy. 
What  I  want  to  know  is  whether  the  combination  of  iodine  and  cod- 
liver  oil  is  a  stable  one,  and  whether  pushing  the  iodine  to  the 
limit  of  absorption,  Y\  gr.  to  the  fluid  ounce,  lessens  the  stability 
and  makes  it  more  liable  to  separate.  I  find  no  difficulty  if  I  put 
a  little  under  the  full  quantity.  I  have  told  the  doctor  that  I 
cannot  undertake  to  give  the  full  Y  gr.  at  present,  and  he  is  satis¬ 
fied  with  the  smaller  dose,  but  I  should  like  to  know  whether  it  is 
possible  to  keep  the  full  quantity  in  ■  combination.  I  shall  do  my 
best  to  find  this  out  by  experiment,  but  if  anyone  else  has  succeeded 
in  doing  so  it  would  be  encouraging  to  hear  of  it. 

Ventnor,  March  7th,  1897.  M.  Gibson. 


Ungues tum  Hydrargyri  Nitratis. 

Sir, — Briefly  stated,  the  questions  at  issue  between  Mr.  Squire 
and  myself  are  these.  Does  the  process  suggested  by  him  produce 
a  more  acid  ointment  than  the  B.P.  process,  and  if  it  does,  is  it  an 
improvement?  As  to  the  former,  any  pharmacist  may  satisfy 
himself  by  actual  experiment  that  it  does  produce  a  more  acid 
ointment ;  and  as  to  the  latter,  every  pharmacist  will  have  his  own 
opinion.  My  opinion  is  that  the  more  acid  ointment  is  not  an 
improvement,  and  hence  I  consider  that  the  adoption  of  the  pro¬ 
cess  recommended  by  Mr.  Squire,  namely,  to  add  part  of  the  acid 
at  a  high  temperature  and  thereafter  at  a  lower  temperature  the 
solution  of  mercuric  nitrate,  would  be  a  decided  mistake. 

Hawick,  March  16,  1897.  •  Thos.  Maben. 


266 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Mabch  20, 1897. 


ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 


Recipe  fob  Emulsion. — We  shall  be  pleased  to  assist  you  if  you 
will  send  your  name.  [ Reply  to  A.  T.  J. — 85/1.] 


Via vi  Capsules  and  Tablets.— The  preparations  you  name  are 
to  be  obtained  from  the  British  Viavi  Company,  Oxford  Street,  W. 
[ Reply  to  Medical. — 82/40.] 


Tesla  Coil. — (1)  Glass  may  be  used  instead  of  vulcanite.  (2) 
375  is  quite  near  enough  to  the  statement  “  about  400  ”  to  be  right. 
(3)  About  a  five-inch  spark.  [ Reply  to  J.  P.N. — 83/22.] 

Cheap  Saline. — The  following  will  give  you  approximately  the 
article  you  require  : — Sodium  bicarbonate,  40  ounces  ;  tartaric  acid, 
35  ounces  ;  sugar,  25  ounces.  [ Reply  to  C.  T.  I). — 83/39.] 

Minor  Examination. — You  must  have  attained  the  full  age  of 
twenty-one  years  on  or  before  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  month 
immediately  preceding  that  in  which  the  Boards  of  Examiners 
meet,  and  they  meet  in  January,  April,  July,  and  October. 
[Reply  to  J.  A.  C. — 85/12.] 


Specific  Volumes. — We  know  of  no  work  treating  solely  of 
specific  volumes.  You  will  find  a  good  article  on  the  subject  in  the 
last  edition  of  Watts’  ‘  Dictionary 5  (Morley  and  Muir),  vol.  iv. 
The  practical  specific  volume  of  acetic  aldehyde  is  56 -6,  .as  deter¬ 
mined  by  Ramsay.  [ Reply  to  Major. — 82/45.] 


Decoloration  of  Tincture  of  Iodine. — According  to  Hager,  the 
solution  contains  tri ethyl-ammonium  iodide,  which  decomposes 
in  course  of  time  into  triethylamine  and  ethyl  iodide,  with  sodium 
iodide.  Remington  states  that,  on  prolonged  standing,  a  crystalline 
precipitate  of  sodium  tetrathionate  sometimes  forms  in  the  liquid. 
{Reply  to  C.  T.  J.— 84  7.] 


Label  Paste  for  Gold  Paper  Labels. — Best  glue,  2  parts ; 
gum  acacia,  2  parts  ;  simple  syrup,  1  part ;  water,  q.s.  Cover  the 
glue  with  water  and  let  it  soak  twenty-four  hours.  Then  dissolve 
with  gentle  heat,  add  the  gum  acacia  and  the  syrup  and  about  6 
parts  of  water.  If  necessary,  add  more  water  when  cold.  When  dry 
coat  with  good  white  copal  varnish.  [  Reply  to  Countryman.  — 83/23.  ] 


Books  for  the  Minor  Examination. — Attfield’s  ‘Chemistry’ 
(Gurney  and  Jackson) ;  Muter’s  ‘  Analytical  Chemistry  ’  (Simpkin) ; 
Green’s  ‘  Botany,’  Vol.  I.  (Churchill) ;  and  Southall’s  ‘  Materia 
Medica  ’  (Churchill)  should  suffice,  in  addition  to  the  books  you 
have.  Cross  and  Cole’s  ‘  Modern  Microscopy  ’  (Bailliere)  gives  the 
instructions  you  require  about  mounting  microscopical  objects. 
[Reply  to  C.  T.  J. — 84/7-] 


Hair  Curling  Fluid. — Borax,  3  ounces  ;  carbonate  of  potash, 
2  drachms  ;  gum  acacia,  1  drachm  ;  spirit  of  camphor,  1J  fluid 
ounces  ;  spirit  of  rosemary,  1^  fluid  ounce  ;  hot  water,  40  fluid 
ounces.  Dissolve  the  solids  in  the  water.  When  cool  add  the 
spirit.  On  retiring  at  night  wet  the  hair  with  this  and  arrange 
loosely,  or  roll  in  paper  as  usual  while  wet  with  the  liquid. 
[Reply  to  Semper  Idem. — 84/6]. 


Hair  Wash  with  Bay  Rum  and  Yolk  of  Egg. — If  you  use  good 
bay  rum  as  the  menstruum  with  the  yolk  of  egg,  you  need  not 
fear  decomposition,  as  the  alcohol  present  will  prevent  it. 
A  little  glycerin  of  boric  acid  added  as  well  will  further  ensure  the 
preservation  of  the  liquid.  The  egg  yolk  should  be  rubbed  down 
first  perfectly  smooth  with  the  glycerin  of  boric  acid,  then  a  little 
rose  water  added,  and  lastly  as  much  bay  rum  as  the  price  of  the 
article  will  permit.  The  egg  will  separate,  so  you  must  label  the 
bottle  “  To  be  shaken.”  [Reply  to  K. — 84/14.] 


Measurement  of  High  Temperature. — Yes,  the  expansion  pro¬ 
ceeds  regularly,  but  at  such  a  high  temperature  as  you  refer  to 
the  copper  would  probably  be  attacked  by  the  air.  You  must  use 
a  porcelain  air  thermometer  or  a  platinum  resistance  thermometer. 
In  an  arrangement  described  in  the  Comptes  rendus,  xcvii.,  1053,  a 
current  of  cold  Avater  is  allowed  to  pass  through  a  spiral  copper 
tube  placed  in  the  furnace,  and  so  regulated  that  each  rise  of  ten 
degrees  in  the  temperature  of  the  water  corresponds  to  a  thousand 
degrees  in  that  of  the  furnace.  [Reply  to  H.  S.  B. — 83,25.] 


Fireproof  Paint.- — There  are  many  formulas  and  patents  for 
this.  One  which  is  stated  to  give  good  results  is  finely  powdered 
glass  20,  finely  powdered  porcelain  20,  any  stone  in  fine  powder  20, 
quicklime  10,  sodium  silicate  30,  or  sufficient  to  make  a  workable 
mass.  It  may  then  be  mixed  with  any  pigment,  such  as  ochre  or 
any  other  tint.  All  the  ingredients  must  be  in  the  finest  possible 
powder.  Two  coats  should  be  applied,  the  second  about  six  hours 
after  the  first.  Several  patent  paints  are  made  with  asbestos, 
which  is  ground  in  water  and  then  mixed  with  potassium  or  sodium 
silicate.  [Reply  to  Semper  Idem. — 84/6.]  ■ 


One-Solution  Intensifier. —  A  good  one-solution  intensifier 
can  be  made  by  mixing  copper  sulphate,  100  grs.  ;  potassium 
bromide,  100  grs.  ;  distilled  Avater,  10  ounces.  “  Directions  for- 
use  : — Immerse  the  negative  in  this  till  bleached,  wash  and  re¬ 
develop  with  hydroquinone  or  metol.  This  solution  may  be  used 
as  a  reducer  by  merely  allowing  the  negative  to  be  superficially 
bleached  and  then  washing  and  refixing.”  You  would  find  this 
preparation  much  preferable  to  any  uranium  intensifier  and* 
much  cheaper  than  platinum,  besides  being  likely  to  attract 
amateurs,  as  it  can  be  used  both  for  reduction  and  intensification, 
[Reply  to  Anglo-Hibernian. — 83/26.] 


Fireproofing  Timber. — One  of  the  simplest  methods  is  to 
saturate  the  timber  with  solution  of  tungstate  of  soda  ;  if  this  is- 
done  in  a  vacuum  chamber,  by  means  of  which  the  Avood  is  partly 
deprived  of  the  air  contained  in  its  cells,  a  very  satisfactory  result 
will  be  obtained.  Payne’s  process  consists  in  treating  wood  under 
these  conditions  first  with  solution  of  sulphate  of  iron,  and  then, 
Avith  chloride  of  calcium  ;  calcium  sulphate  is  thus  precipitated  in 
the  tissues  of  the  timber,  which  is  rendered  incombustible  and 
much  more  durable.  There  are  several  other  methods  besides  these, 
phosphate  of  ammonia  and  tungstates  being  most  useful.  A  coat 
of  common  whitewash  is  an  excellent  means  of  lessening  the  com¬ 
bustibility  of  soft  wood.  [Reply  to  Semper  Idem. — 84/6.] 


Ginger  Beer. — The  following  will  give  you  a  very  good  brew  : — - 
Sugar,  6ozs. ;  bruised  ginger,  ljoz. ;  cream  of  tartar,  3 ozs. ;  one  lemon 
sliced;  boiling  water,  1J gallon.  Pour  the  water  on  the  ingredients, 
and  infuse  for  two  hours,  then  strain.  When  the  temperature  of  the 
liquid  has  fallen  to  100°  F. ,  add  a  few  pieces  of  compressed  yeast, 
and  let  it  stand  to  ferment  for  twenty-four  hours  in  a  warm  place, 
then  bottle  off'.  You  may,  if  you  like,  aerate  the  above  infusion- 
in  an  ordinary  soda-water  machine  without  fermenting,  or  may 
make  a  bright  ginger  syrup  Avith  soluble  essence  of  ginger  and  a 
little  lemon,  and  aerate  this  after  svruping  in  the  ordinary  way, 
but  the  aerated  ginger  beer  is  not  nearly  so  palatable  as  the  old- 
fashioned  fermented  “ginger  pop.”  Of  course  a  much  more 
palatable  preparation  can  be  produced  by  using  larger  quantities 
of  sugar  than  given  above,  but  then  the  alcohol  produced  will  be 
in  excess  of  what  is  permitted  by  the  Excise  in  the  case  of  beverages 
sold  without  a  licence.  [Reply  to  J.  B.  M. — 83/36.] 

OBITUARY. 


Stocker. — On  March  9,  George  Stocker,  aged  11,  son  of  Mr, 
George  Stocker,  chemist  and  druggist,  Exeter.  The  circumstances 
attending  the  death  of  the  boy  are  peculiarly  sad.  Whilfr 
standing  engaged  in  conversation  with  a  companion  a  large 
St.  Bernard  dog  collided  with  him,  and  he  fell,  striking  his  head 
with  considerable  force,  rendering  him  unconscious  for  a  few 
minutes.  He  walked  home  and  went  to  bed,  where  he  remained- 
conscious  for  some  time,  but  about  five  hours  after  the  accident  he 
lost  consciousness  and,  notwithstanding  medical  aid,  died.  His  skull 
had  been  fractured,  and  there  was  an  effusion  of  blood  on  the  braim. 
Much  sympathy  is  felt  for  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stocker  and  family. 

Pratt. — On  January  28,  Josiah  Pratt,  Chemist  and  Druggist^. 
Wolverhampton.  Aged  69. 

Taylor. — On  February  17,  John  Taylor,  Chemist  and  Druggist, 
late  of  Ipswich.  Aged  72. 

Payne. — On  March  8,  William  Henry  Payne,  Chemist  and  Drug* 
gist,  Ashton-under-Lyne.  Aged  73. 

Ryder. — On  March  10,  Thomas  Frederick  Ryder,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  Manchester.  Aged  65. 


COMMUNICATIONS, LETTERS, etc., have  been  received  from 

Messrs.  Blythe,  Chambers,  Christy,  Coltart,  Dearden,  Farr,  Hayles,  Henry,  Hill, 
Howie,  Jackson,  Jesper,  Jones,  Kenney,  Lake,  Line,  Lunan,  Maben,  MacEwan, 
McFadden,  Morris,  Peck,  Philip,  Richardson,  Robins,  Shaw,  Speedie,  Summers, 
Thompson,  Warrell,  Wilmer. 


Mabch  27,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


267 


THE  ANTIQUITY  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MORTAR. 

BY  C.  J.  S.  THOMPSON. 

The  mortar  is  the  most  ancient  of  pharmaceutical  implements, 
its  earliest  use  carrying  us  back  to  prehistoric  times,  when  the 
early  Briton  bruised  his  grain  in  the  hollow  of  a  granite  boulder. 
There  is  little  doubt  indeed  that  mortars  were  employed  for  the 
purpose  of  -  bruising  and  reducing  hard  bodies  to  powder,  centuries 
before  medicine  as  an  art  was  thought  of  or  known. 

The  name  is  derived  from  the  Latin  word  mortarium,  which  is 
probably  from  the  root  mordeo,  to  bite,  akin  to  the  Sanscrit  mrid, 
to  grind  or  to  pound ;  the  literal  meaning  of  the  word  being  a 
vessel  in  which  substances  may  be  pounded  with  a  pestle. 

The  origin  of  the  mortar  appears  to  have  been  identical  with 
that  of  the  mill  or  quern,  as  it  was  called  in  ancient  times. 
The  primitive  implement  used  by  prehistoric  nations  for 
the  purpose  of  crushing  their  grain, was  simply  made  by  hollow¬ 
ing  out  a  cup-shaped  hole  in  a  block  of  stone  or  granite,  and 
pounding  the  grain  placed  in  this  receptacle  with  a  smaller  stone 
of  suitable  form.  These  grain-crushers  composed  of  stone, 
together  with  stone  rollers  and  pounders,  have  been  found  in  the 
circular  huts  of  the  Britons  in  several  parts  of  North  Wales. 

This  method  was  also  used  by  the  early  J ews  before  the  Christian 
era  for  crushing  their  spices  and  gums,  the  knowledge  of  which 
they  doubtless  gathered  from  the  Egyptians  during  the  captivity. 

In  many  of  the  ancient  Egyptian  papyri  we  find  directions  given 
to  bruise  certain  herbs  and  roots,  although  no  mention  is  made 
of  the  implement  used  for  that  purpose,  but  we 
have  proof  that  mortars  were  employed  by  the 
Egyptians  from  many  ancient  carvings  of  stone 
still  extant.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
mortar  has  also  been  known  to  several  Oriental 
and  savage  races  from  time  immemorial,  and  in 
the  mortar  employed  by  the  pharmacist  to-day 
we  have  an  implement  that  links  us,  not  only 
with  prehistoric  man,  but  also  with  the  savage 
races  of  the  world.  In  Africa,  mortars  and 
pestles  of  wood  have  been  used  from  a  period  of 
unknown  antiquity  for  the  purpose  of  crashing 
grain.  The  one  illustrated  in  Fig.  1  is  composed  of  wood,  and 
was  brought  from  Central  Africa.  In  India,  stone  mortars  with 

wooden  pestles  have  for  centuries  been 
used  for  shelling  and  pounding  rice. 
Fig.  2  represents  a  Cingalese  mortar  of 
stone,  from  2  to  3  feet  in  height,  taken 
from  a  drawing  of  the  seventeenth  cen¬ 
tury.  Coming  to  the  time  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  we  have  the  first  real  evidence  of 
the  use  of  the  mortar  for  pharmaceutical 
purposes.  Medicine  and  pharmacy  allied, 
in  the  time  of  Celsus,  had  become  practi¬ 
cal  arts,  and  we  know  from  the  prepara¬ 
tions  described  by  that  author  that  prac¬ 
tical  appliances  were  necessary.  Thus  the  malagma  used  as  an 
application  to  the  skin  was  a  kind  of  soft  mass  directed  to  be 
beaten  up  to  the  consistency  of  a  thick  paste,  and  the  ingredients 
of  the  catapotia  were  often  ordered  to  be  bruised  before  being 
mixed. 

Roman  mortaria  composed  of  earthenware  are  very  commonly 
found,  and  many  examples  may  be  seen  in  most  of  our  museums, 
among  other  Roman  remains.  They  were  chiefly  made  for 
culinary  use,  and  although  they  vary  very  little  in  pattern,  the 
sizes  are  numerous.  The  larger  ones  were,  as  a  rule,  very  strongly 
made,  and  all  had  a  thick  divided  rim  with  a  rounded  moulding. 

Vol.  LYHI.  (Fourth  Series,  Yol.  IY.).  No.  1396. 


Fig.  2. 


The  inside  was  roughened  with  splinters  of  flint,  or  hard  stone,  or 
hard  burnt  earthenware,  which  was  fixed  on  with  a  kind  of 
“  slip”  or  liquid  clay,  with  which  the  Romans  finished  their  ware. 

A  wooden  pestle  was  used 
with  these  mortaria,  which 
were,  no  doubt,  chiefly  em¬ 
ployed  for  triturating  and 
mixing  various  condiments 
for  domestic  use.  The 
Roman  mortarium  shown  in 
Fig.  3  is  28  inches  in 
breadth,  and  bears  the 
stamp  of  the  maker’s  name,  showing  it  to  be  the  work  of  one 
Publius  Raso. 


Some  of  the  smaller  mortaria  found  are  composed  of  a  very  white 
clay  of  a  vitreous  character,  burnt  hard  like  porcelain,  and  are 
non-absorbent.  These  were  probably  used  for  mixing  more  deli¬ 
cate  condiments.  There  were  large  manufactories  for  mortaria  in 
Britain,  situated  chiefly  in  the  South  of  England  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Thames,  and  in  Essex  and  Staffordshire.  From  these  factories 
there  was  a  considerable  export  trade  to  Rome  and  Gaul. 

Roman  mortars  of  stone  are  much  rarer,  and  the  one  depicted  in 
Fig.  4  is  a  unique  specimen.  It  was  with  little  doubt  at  one  time 
used  for  pharmaceutical  purposes.  Composed  of  stone,  with  a 
solid  square  base,  it  stands  about  12 
inches  high,  and  is  about  8  inches 
broad.  The  notches  at  the  corners  are 
evidently  intended  for  fixing  it  down 
on  a  wooden  table  or  slab  to  keep  it 
steady  when  being  used  for  pounding 
or  breaking  up  hard  substances.  Closely 
akin  to  mortars  were  the  querns  or 
small  mills,  used  for  grinding  purposes 
from  the  Roman  period.  In  shape  they 
somewhat  resembled  the  mortar,  but 
were  covered  in  at  the  top,  having  a  hole  in  the  centre  through  which 

the  pestle  was  worked.  They  were 
made  of  stone  and  wood.  .A  beautiful 
example  of  a  wooden  quern,  depicted 
in  Fig.  5,  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Mr. 
E.  W.  Cox,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for 
the  sketch  and  other  particulars.  It 
stands  13  inches  high,  and  is  made  of 
very  hard  wood.  It  is  an  exquisite 
specimen  of  the  turner’s  art,  some  of 
the  side  mouldings  being  of  great 
delicacy,  no  thicker  than  a  fine  needle, 
yet  are  perfectly  true  in  every  par¬ 
ticular.  The  pestle  was  worked  through 
the  hole  in  the  centre  of  cover.  These 
wooden  querns  were  used  during  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries. 

There  is  little  doubt  that  marble  succeeded  stone  as  a  material 
for  making  mortars,  and  this  brings  us  down  to  mediaeval  times 
when  the  apothecaries,  combining  the  practice  of  medicine  and 
pharmacy,  became  wielders  of  the  pestle. 

The  value  of  the  mortar  as  a  pharmaceutical  implement  was 
recognised  by  these  early  practitioners,  and  was  given  the  most 
prominent  position  in  their  shops,  and  so  the  pestle  and  mortar 
became  a  symbol  or  trade  sign  of  pharmacy. 

The  great  bell-shaped  mortar,  which  was  of  considerable 
capacity,  usually  stood  mounted  on  a  solid  block  of  wood  neai  the 
centre  of  the  shop,  the  huge  pestle,  3  feet  or  more  in  length, 


268 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Mabch  27,  1897 


being  suspended  from  a  long  wooden  spring  beam  by  a  chain  and 
ring.  One  can  readily  picture  the  youthful 
apprentice,  clad  in  jerkin  and  trunk  hose, 
exercising  his  muscles  with  the  ponderous 
pestle,  and  with  what  mingled  feelings  he 
would  essay  the  task  of  pounding  half  a 
hundredweight  of  aloes  to  begin  his  day’s 
work  and  give  him  an  appetite  for  his  midday 
meal.  These  large  mortars  were  usually 
bell-shaped  in  form,  as  illustrated  in  Fig.  6, 
and  composed  of  iron  or  bell  metal.  The 
smaller  mortars  of  this  period  were  made  of 
brass,  copper,  or 
bellmetal,  and  were 
occasionally  orna¬ 
mented  with  some 
symbol  or  device. 

They  were  often 
elegant  in  form, 
and  usually  stood 
in  bright  array  on 
the  shop  counter. 

Fig.  6.  The  pestles  had 

flat  tops  and  double  ends,  so  that  either  end  could  be  used  for 
pounding. 

The  bell  metal  mortar,  depicted  in  Fig.  7,  dates  from  the  time  of 
Oliver  Cromwell,  and  bears  the  arms  of  the  Commonwealth  on 
its  side.  It  was  probably  once  the 
property  of  an  official  State  apothe¬ 
cary.  The  brass  mortar  shown  in 
Fig.  8  is  peculiar  in  shape,  and  is 
supported  by  four  short  legs.  It 
dates  from  the  early  part  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  and  round 
the  middle  are  inscribed  the  letters 
of  the  alphabet.  Fig.  9  represents 
a  particularly  handsome  example 
of  the  brass  mortar  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Copper  mortars 
when  polished  have  a  very  elegant  appearance,  and  are  somewhat 
rare.  One  specimen  in  possession  of  the  writer  is  depicted  in 
Fig.  10.  A  very  fine  bell-shaped  mortar  of  brass  was  found  in 
Chester  about  two  years  ago,  and  is  now  deposited  in  the  museum 
of  that  citjr.  It  stands  nearly  two  feet  high,  and  dates  from  the 
early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

Small  brass  mortars  were  also  formerly  much  used  by  house¬ 
wives  in  the  stillroom,  for  various  domestic  purposes,  and  may 


Fig.  9.  Fig.  10. 

often  yet  be  found  ornamenting  the  kitchen  mantel-shelf  in  old 
country  houses. 

During  the  last  and  the  early  part  of  this  century  Italian  marble 


was  largely  employed  for  making  mortars,  but  with  the  intro¬ 
duction  of  Wedgewood  and  composition  ware,  which  is  lighter, 
more  durable,  and  less  liable  to  be  acted  on  by  chemicals, 
marble  mortars  have  now  almost  gone  out  of  use  with  phar¬ 
macists.  Small  antique  mortars  of  bronze  are  still  to  be  found 
in  many  French  pharmacies,  often  bearing  some  symbol  or  device, 
such  as  St.  Michael  and  the  dragon.  They  are  generally  much 
prized  by  their  possessors. 


LEGAL  HINTS  FOR  PHARMACISTS. 

Stills. 

The  use  or  even  the  possession  of  a  still  in  the  United  Kingdom 
is  illegal,  unless  the  person  keeping  or  using  is  licensed  to  do  so. 
The  duty  is  10s.  per  annum,  and  the  licence  expires  on  July  5. 
It  is  transferable  to  a  succeeding  owner  or  user,  and  the  penalty  for 
unlawfully  keeping  or  using  is  £50.  In  cases  where  a  person  first 
becomes  liable  to  duty  subsequent  to  October  10  in  any  year,  a 
proportion  only  of  the  duty  is  levied.  Thus,  a  person  setting  up  a 
still  on  any  day  between  J uly  5  and  October  10,  would  have  to 
pay  the  full  duty  ;  if  the  commencement  be  between  October 
Hand  January  5  following,  a  payment  of  7s.  6  d.  would  suffice, 
and  so  on  in  a  like  ratio. 

Exemptions  are  made  in  favour  of  what  the  Board  terms 
“  Professional  Chemists,”  but  this  does  not  necessarily  mean 
persons  who  are  registered  under  the  Pharmacy  Acts.  The  designa¬ 
tion  is  in  fact  used  to  indicate  persons  engaged  in  teaching  chemistry, 
or  carrying  on  analytical  investigations,  and  the  nature  of  whose  work 
does  not  give  rise  to  any  suspicion  of  the  manufacture  for  sale  of 
spirituous  articles.  Any  person,  however,  who  desires  to  carry  out 
experiments  involving  the  use  of  a  still  or  retort,  or  who  wishes 
to  employ,  for  manufacturing  non-spirituous  articles,  apparatus 
coming  within  the  official  conception  of  a  still,  may  obtain  exemp¬ 
tion  from  duty  by  applying  to  the  Board  through  the  excise  officer 
of  his  district.  The  general  idea  upon  which  the  Board  acts  in 
granting  these  concessions  seems  to  be  that  no  objection  exists  to 
distillation  apparatus  which  cannot  be  used  or  made  efficient  for 
the  manufacture  of  spirit  or  spirituous  mixtures.  Thus  makers  of 
coal  gas  need  not  take  out  a  licence  in  respect  of  their  retorts,  nor 
is  the  distillation  of  tar  and  tar  products  interfered  with. 

It  may  be  well  to  add,  with  reference  to  exemptions,  that 
though  a  person  may  be  keeping  or  using  a  still  or  retort  for  per¬ 
fectly  bona-fide  scientific  purposes — in  fact,  for  purposes  which  the 
Board  would  have  no  hesitation  in  sanctioning — yet  if  that  person 
omits  first  to  obtain  official  permission  to  keep  and  use  the 
apparatus,  he  will  be  regarded  as  an  offender  and  treated  accord¬ 
ingly  until  he  either  obtains  a  licence  or  the  Board’s  leave  to  act 
without  one.  The  Board  has  secured  convictions  against  persons 
who  have  elected  to  consider  that  the  application  for  permission  to 
use  a  still  is  merely  an  unnecessary  piece  of  formality. 

Definition. — The  precise  interpretation  put  upon  the  word 
u  Still  ”  by  the  authorities  is  not  clearly  known,  but  from  the 
foregoing  considerations  it  may  be  assumed  that,  strictissime,  it 
covers  everything  capable  of  being  used  or  fitted  for  use  in  the 
conversion  of  a  liquid  to  its  gaseous  form.  It  has  been  urged  that 
glass  tubing  and  the  domestic  kettle  might  be  made  to  come 
within  the  description,  and  perhaps  there  may  be  some  logic  in  the 
argument,  but  at  any  rate  the  authorities  have  not  shown  any 
disposition  to  stretch  the  interpretation  to  such  a  point.  The 
exhibition  of  glass  retorts  in  the  window  of  a  shop  where  chemical 
apparatus  was  sold  has,  however,  been  known  to  provoke  a  visit 
from  a  Revenue  officer. 

Entry. — The  premises  of  a  licencee  may  be  entered  by  an  Excise 
officer  at  any  time,  but  if  at  night,  i.  e. ,  between  11  p.m.  and 
5  a.m.,  the  entry  must  be  made  in  the  presence  of  a  constable. 

A  still  must  not  be  removed  from  one  portion  of  a  licencee’s 
premises  to  another  without  notice  duly  given  to  the  Board,  and 
of  course  the  same  prohibition  applies  to  removal  off  the  premises. 
Thus  it  practically  obtains  that  no  person  can  cease  to  keep  or  use 
a  still  without  notice. 

A  still  licence  may  be  suspended  or  revoked  if  the  licencee  be 
convicted  of  any  offence  against  the  Spirits  Act,  but  actual  cases 
of  this  are  very  rare. 

In  Scotland. — No  still  may  be  of  a  greater  capacity  than  fifty 
gallons,  unless  special  permission  be  obtained  from  the  Board. 

Note.—  These  observations  are  not  applicable  to  licensed  distillers, 
rectifiers,  and  vinegar  makers. 


Fig.  7. 


Fig.  8. 


MABCH  27,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


269 


PRACTICAL  PHARMACOGRAPHY. 


ARM0RACIA2  RADIX. 

Horse  Radish. — Fr.  Raifort. — Ger.  Meerrettig. 

Macroscopic  Characters. — The  root  of  Cochlcaria  armor acia  is 
used  in  the  fresh  state,  its  average  length  being  about  20  Cm. ,  and 


Fig'.  I. — A rmo raci^e  Radix. — One-fourth  natural  size, 
its  diameter  2  to  2|  Cm.  It  is  cylindrical,  somewhat  flexible,  and 
externally  whitish  or,  on  drying,  pale  brown.  There  are  very  few 
branches  to  the  root,  and  it  is  marked  with  a  few  transverse  scars. 

When  bruised  and  wetted  it  gives  off  a  pun¬ 
gent  odour,  whilst  it  has  a  burning  taste  and 
a  flavour  resembling  that  of  mustard. 

Microscopic  Characters. —  A  transverse 
section  of  the  root  shows  a  central  column 
or  stele,  consisting  of  parenchyma  loaded 
with  small  starch  granules,  but  with  minute 
vascular  bundles  scattered  over  its  surface, 
and  more  crowded  near  the  cambium  ring.  In 
the  upper  portion,  or  rootstock,  these  bundles 
formaringof  wedges  just  inside  the  root-bark. 

ANTHEMIDIS  FLORES. 

Chamomile  Flowers.— Fr.  Camomille  Romaine.— Ger.  Romische 

Kamillen. 

Macroscopic  Characters.—  The  flower-heads  of  Anthemis  nobilis 
may  occur  in  commerce  in  three  forms— double,  semi-double,  and 
single  or  Scotch  chamomiles— but  the  last-named  are  seldom  met 
with.  Double  chamomiles,  which  are  chiefly  imported  from  Saxony, 
France,  and  Belgium,  consist  of  a  large  number  of  ligulate  florets 
surrounded  by  a  ring  of  membranous  bracts  or  phyllaries.  Inthesemi- 


A  B 


FI  F  F2  E 

Fig'.  III. — Anthemidis  Flores. — A,  double  flower  head;  B,  single  do.,  cut  verti¬ 
cally  through  middle  ;  C,  D,  flower  heads  of  Matricaria  chamomilla,  cut  vertically 
through  thalamus  ;  E,  central  floret  of  chamomile,  with  palea  ;  F,  ray  floret  of 
ditto,  with  phyllaries,  FI  and  F2.  (A,  B,  C,  D,  natural  size  ;  B,  F,  enlarged.) 

double  variety,  which  are  mostly  grown  in  this  country  and  usually 
known  as  “single”  chamomiles,  a  few  of  the  central  florets 
remain  tubular,  whilst  in  the  Scotch  chamomiles,  which  alone  are 
properly  termed  “single,”  there  is  only  a  single  outer  row  of 
white  ligulate  florets,  the  central  ones  being  tubular  and  yellow. 
On  carefully  removing  the  florets  from  any  of  the  three  varieties, 
the  central  portion  of  the  flower-head  is  seen  to  be  covered  with  a 
number  of  chaffy  scales  (palese)  or  membranous  bracts,  one  of  these 
occurring  at  the  base  of^each  floret.  If  the  flower-head  be  cut 
vertically  through  the  middle,  it  will  be  seen  that  these  palese 
stand  on  a  solid,  conical  thalamus  or  receptacle.  The  limb  of  the 


calyx  is  not  developed  in  the  florets,  the  ovary,  therefore,  not  being 
crowned  with  pappus,  but  the  tube  of  the  calyx  adheres  to  the  ovary. 
The  flower-head  of  the  German  chamomile,  Matricaria  chamo¬ 
milla,  somewhat  resembles  that  of  the  single  Roman  chamomile,  but 
in  the  former  the  receptacle  is  hollow  and  there  are  no  palese,  so 
that  when  the  florets  are  removed  the  conical,  hollow  receptacle  is 
left  bare.  The  double  flowers  of  Pyrethrum  parthenium,  again, 
have  a  nearly  flat  receptacle  and  no  palese. 

Microscopic  Characters.— The  surface  of  the  tubular  corolla 
presents  pluri- cellular  glands  which,  when  viewed  from  above, 
appear  oval  in  shape,  with  a  dark  centre ;  viewed  sideways 
they  appear  to  contain  about  six  cells  with  a  sac-like  cavity  above 
them.  The  cells  of  the  upper  part  of  the  tubular  florets  are 
papillose. 

ARNICA  RHIZOMA. 

Arnica  Rhizome. — Fr.  Rhizome  d’Arnica. — Ger.  Wohlverleiwurzel. 

Macroscopic  Characters. — The  rhizome  of  Arnica  montana  is 
collected  in  spring  or  autumn,  and  occurs  in  commerce  in  slender 


Fig.  IV.— Arnica  Rhizoma. — A,  natural  size  ;  B,  transverse  section  (enlarged), 
pieces  about  5  to  10  Cm.  in  length,  and  about  3  to  5  Mm.  thick. 
It  is  often  crowned  with  the  remains  of  greyish-green,  finely 
wrinkled  leaves,  and  bears  on  its  under  surface  scattered,  wiry 


5  4  3  2  1 


Fig.  V. — Arnica  Rhizoma. — Transverse  section  (x  abt.  60),  showing  (1)  outer 
bark  (2)  inner  bark,  (3)  oil-ducts,  (4)  woody  bundles,  and  (5)  pith.  (After  Berg.) 

rootlets,  6  to  8  Cm.  long.  At  intervals  of  about  6  Cm.  the  rhizome 
sometimes  gives  off  branches  which  give  it  a  jointed  appearance. 
The  outer  surface  is  dark  brown,  and  on  the  upper  side  are  found 
the  scars  left  by  fallen  leaves. 

Microscopic  Characters. — A  transverse  section  of  the  rhizome 
shows  a  moderately  thick  whitish-grey  bark,  the  inner  part  of 
which  contains  a  ring  of  oil-ducts.  The  woody  portion  of  the 


8  7  6 

Fig.  VI.— Arnica  Rhizoma.— Longitudinal  section  (x  abt.  120),  showing  (6) 
vessels,  (7)  oil-duct,  (8)  starchy  parenchyma.  (After  Berg.) 

rhizome  consists  of  light  yellow  wedge-shaped  bundles,  separated 
by  broad  white  medullary  rays,  and  enclosing  a  whitish  pith.  In  the 
rootlets  the  bark  is  white  internally  and  also  contains  oil-ducts. 


Fig.  II. — Armoracue 
Radix. — Transverse 
section  (natural  size). 


270 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Mabch  27, 1897 


BOTANIC  GARDENS  OF  THE  WORLD. 


VI.— KEW  GARDENS  (continued). 

Peter  Good,  a  Kew  gardener,  in  1796  was  sent  to  Calcutta  to 
bring  home  Smith’s  collection.  In  1801  he  was  appointed  assistant 
to  Robert  Brown,  the  botanist  attached  to  Flinder’s  voyage  of 
survey  of  the  coast  of  Australia.  Through  him  Kew  derived  its 
fine  collection  of  Proteacece.  Good  and  Brown  made  large 
collections  at  King  George’s  Sound  and  surveyed  the  whole  south 
coast  of  New  Holland.  Good  died  of  fever  at  Sydney,  June,  1803, 
but  his  collection  of  seeds  was  forwarded  to  Kew. 

The  next  special  collector  was  George  Caley,  who  was  sent  out  by 
Banks  in  1801  to  collect  plants  for  Kew  in  New  South  Wales.  He 
lived  for  about  ten  years  in  the  colony  and  sent  home  a  number  of 
plants,  e.g.,  Livistona,  australis,  one  of  the  most  notable  ornaments 
of  the  Palm  House  till  it  was  taken  down  in  1876.  From  1816  to 
1822  he  was  Superintendent  of  the  Botanical  Gardens  at  St.  Vincent. 
He  died  at  Bayswater,  1829, 

In  1803  another  Kew  gardener,  William  Ker,  was  sent  out  to 
collect  in  China.  He  introduced  Lilium  tigrinum  and  Lilium 
japonicum.  The  well-known  flowering  shrub,  Kerria  japonica , 
perpetuates  his  name.  After  visiting  Java  and  the  Philippines,  be 
became  Superintendent  of  the  Royal  Botanic  Garden,  Ceylon,  1812, 
and  during  the  course  of  the  next  year  visited  Adam’s  Peak,  on 
which  he  discovered  many  new  plants.  He  died  in  Ceylon,  1814. 

Alexander  Moon,  a  collector  for  Kew  at  Gibraltar  and  on  the 
Barbary  Coast,  succeeded  Ker  as  Superintendent  at  Ceylon,  and 
sent  plants  to  Kew  from  that  island.  He  died  in  1825. 

Allan  Cunningham,  appointed  botanical  collector  to  Kew  by 
Banks  in  1814,  spent  two  years  in  Brazil  with  James  Bowie,  who 
had  entered  the  garden  in  1810.  In  1817  Cunningham  enriched  Kew 
with  bulbs  and  succulents  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  In  the 
Orange  River  States  he  discovered  the  beautiful  Amaryllidaceous 
plant,  Imantophyllum  Aitoni.  Early  in  1817  he  joined  Oxley’s 
Australian  Expedition  for  exploring  the  Lachlan  and  Macquarie 
Rivers,  and  subsequently  was  attached  to  Captain  King’s  expedition 
for  surveying  the  coast  of  Australia.  He  visited  various  parts  of 
the  east  and  west  coasts  of  that  continent,  and  also  Tasmania, 
New  Zealand,  and  Norfolk  Island,  making  everywhere  extensive 
collections.  Among  the  new  plants  introduced  by  him  were 
Araucaria  Cunninghamii,  Laportea  gigas,  and  Archontophcenix 
Gunninghamii.  In  1836  he  became  Superintendent  of  the  Sydney 
Botanic  Gardens  and  died  three  years  later,  leaving  his  numerous 
manuscripts  and  private  herbarium  to  Kew. 

David  Lockhart,  a  gardener  at  Kew,  sailed  in  February,  1816,  as 
assistant  to  Christian  Smith  the  botanist,  in  Captain  Tuckey’s 
ill-fated  expedition  to  the  Congo.  He  sent  to  the  gardens  a 
number  of  plants,  e.g.,  Gardenia  longiflora,  and  in  1818  was 
appointed  Superintendent  of  the  Botanic  Gardens,  Trinidad,  where 
he  died  in  1845.  “  Between  the  years  1823  and  1825  a  considerable 

number  of  species  of  orchids  were  received  from  Trinidad,  for¬ 
warded  by  Mr.  Daniel  Lockhart,  the  Superintendent  of  the  Gardens, 
among  which  were  the  first  plants  of  Stanhopea  insignis,  Oncidium 
papilio,  Lockliartea,  elegans,  Catasetum  tridentatnm,  Ionopsis  pallidi- 
dora,  and  others,  all  of  which  were  epiphytal,  and  many  of  them 
being  sent  growing  on  portions  of  branches  as  cut  from  the  trees, 
which  being  accompanied  by  instructions  from  Mr.  Lockhart  as  to 
how  they  should  be  treated,  led  to  the  successful  cultivation  of 
epiphytal  orchids.  The  interesting  aquatic,  Pontederia  crassipes , 
was  introduced  at  Kew  by  Lockhart  from  Trinidad. 

L’heretier  de  Brutelle,  a  French  botanist  of  some  reputation, 
came  to  England  in  1786,  and  made  a  study  of  the  Kew  collections 


which  he  subsequently  utilised  in  his  “Sertum  Anglicum,  sen  plant ae 
rariones,  quae  in  hortis  juxta  Londinum  imprimis  in  horto  regio 
Kewensis  excoluntur.”  The  plates,  of  which  there  were  thirty-four, 
were  the  work  of  Redoute,  the  celebrated  French  botanical  artist. 
L’heretier  speaks  in  warm  terms  of  the  resources  of  the  gardens, 
and  describes  many  of  Masson’s  introductions. 

William  Cobbett  for  a  time  (about  1773)  was  employed  as  a 
gardener  at  Kew,  and  attracted  the  notice  of  William  IV.  while 
he  was  sweeping  the  grass  plot  round  the  foot  of  the  pagoda. 

A  more  noted  work  than  that  of  L’heretier  was  the  ‘Delineations 
of  Exotic  Plants  cultivated  in  the  Royal  Gardens  at  Kew,’  drawn 
by  Francis  Bauer.  Published  in  1796,  it  contains  an  interesting 
Preface  by  the  younger  Aiton.  Bauer  was  an  Austrian  who  came 
to  England  in  1788  and  was  attached  as  draughtsman  to  Kew 
Gardens  by  Banks.  From  Aiton’s  Preface  we  learn  that  the 
Directors  of  the  East  India  and  the  Sierra  Leone  Companies  as 
well  as  the  Government  of  Jamaica  sent  presents  of  plants  to  Kew. 
Bauer  worked  for  fifty  years  at  the  gardens.  “  In  the  delineation 
of  plants  he  united  the  accuracy  of  a  profound  naturalist  with  the 
skill  of  the  accomplished  artist.  .  .  In  microscopical  drawing  he 

was  altogether  unrivalled,  and  science  will  be  ever  indebted  for  his 
elaborate  illustrations  of  animal  and  vegetable  structures  of  which 
invaluable  specimens  are  preserved  in  the  British  Museum  and  in 
the  University  of  Gottingen.”  Niepce,  the  original  discoverer  of 
what  is  called  the  Daguerreotype,  resided  about  the  year  1827  in 
Kew,  and  induced  Mr.  Bauer  to  submit  his  discoveries  to  the  Royal 
Society. 

William  Townsend  Aiton  succeeded  his  father  in  the  superintend¬ 
ence  of  Kew  Gardens  in  1799.  Ten  years  later  with  the  assistance 
of  Dr.  Dryander,  librarian  to  Sir  Joseph  Banks,  he  published  a 
second  edition  of  his  father’s  works  in  five  volumes,  and  in  1814 
issued  a  Catalogue  or  Epitome  of  the  species  contained  in  the  five 
volumes  for  the  use  of  practical  gardeners.  In  1822  Mr.  Aiton 
began  an  important  undertaking.  He  commissioned  drawings  to 
be  made  of  the  new  and  unfigured  plants  in  the  garden.  The  first 
artist  he  engaged  was  Thomas  Daucauson  (a  young  gardener  from 
the  Royal  Botanic  Garden  at  Edinburgh),  who  had  a  talent  for 
drawing  plants.  Aiton  finding  that  he  was  “  qualified  to  draw  the 
plants  sufficiently  accurately  for  him  to  be  identified,  in  time  he 
was  entirely  occupied  in  drawing,  which  he  continued  to  do  till  the 
summer  of  1826,  when  he  unfortunately  became  insane.  .  .  He 
was  succeeded  by  George  Bond,  then  a  young  gardener  at  Kew,  who 
was  employed  in  drawing  for  nine  years,  when  in  1835  he  became 
gardener  to  the  Earl  of  Powis  at  Walcot.  .  .  The  number  of 
subjects  drawn  by  these  two  artists  amount  to  about  two  thousand, 
of  which  about  seventeen  hundred  were  drawn  by  Mr.  Bond.  On 
Mr.  Aiton’s  retirement  in  1841,  his  garden,  library,  record  plant- 
books,  papers  and  drawings  were  removed  to  his  own  house,  and  on 
his  death  in  1849  the  whole  of  his  immense  correspondence  was 
burned  by  his  brother,  John  Aiton.  .  .  Some  time  after  John 
Aiton’s  death,  Mr.  Attwell-Smith,  Mr.  Aiton’s  heir,  was  pleased  to 
return  them  (the  drawings  and  plant  record  books)  directed  to  the 
care  of  Sir  W.  Hooker.  These  drawings  are  now  incorporated  with 
the  immense  collection  of  botanical  drawings  and  prints  preserved 
in  the  Kew  Library.” 

There  is  a  brief  but  interesting  notice  of  Kew  Gardens  in  Patrick 
Neill’s  ‘Journal  of  a  Horticultural  Tour,’  1817.  “We  then  looked 
into  the  Botanic  Garden,  where  I  found  Mr.  Begbie  the  foreman,  an 
old  acquaintance.  The  hothouses  are  not  placed  in  any  regular 
form,  but  scattered  over  the  garden.  In  one  of  them  Mr.  Begbie 
drew  attention  to  a  plant  o  the  Cactus  cocldnillifer  which  had 
been  brought  to  Britain  with  the  cochineal  insect  feeding  upon  it. 
There  was  still  a  considerable  number  of  the  insect  feeding  upon 


MABCH27,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


271 


the  plant.  In  another  of  the  houses  he  showed  os  a  new  species  of 
Passiflora  having  edible  fruit  ( Passiflora  edilis).  The  plant  had 
fruit  upon  it  at  this  time.  It  is  of  an  oval  shape,  purple  coloured, 
about  the  s'ze  of  a  small  hen’s  egg.  It  has  sometimes  been  served 
up  with  the  dessert  at  tbe  Royal  table.” 

The  first  Himalayan  rhododendrons  were  introduced  in  1818, 
Dr.  Wallich  sending  the  seeds  of  R.  arboreum  from  Nepaul  to  Kew 
and  Edinburgh.  The  largest  at  Kew  in  1889  was  a  tree  twenty- 
three  feet  high. 

The  present  Kew  Herbarium  was  originally  Hunter  House,  the 
property  of  Robert  Hunter,  a  friend  of  the  elder  Aiton.  At  the 
instance  of  Sir  Joseph  Banks,  it  was  purchased  for  the  King  in 
1818,  and  a  room  on  the  ground  floor  was  fitted  with  bookshelves 
in  1820,  but  apparently  was  not  used  at  the  time.  Banks  and  the  King 
both  died  in  1820,  and  three  years  later  George  IV.  sold  Hunter 
House  to  the  nation.  Its  use  for  herbarium  purposes  did  not 
commence  till  1852.  The  library  of  the  Royal  Gardens  is  an 
addition  to  Hunter  House  on  the  north. 

George  IV.  bought  Hunter  House  within  the  garden  area,  closing 
and  throwing  into  the  garden  the  old  road  from  Kew  Green  to 
Brentford  ferry,  and  he  erected  iron  gates  in  the  centre  of  the  green. 
When  in  1824  Professor  Schultes  of  Landshut  visited  Kew,  he  was 
“disappointed,  particularly  in  the  plants  which  grow  in  the  open 
air,  which  are  not  so  accurately  named  as  those  in  the  Gottingen 
Botanic  Garden,  superintended  by  Schrader :  sometimes  the  same 
species  is  marked  with  two  different  names.  The  garden  at  Kew 
consists  of  a  fine  park  and  of  a  large  botanical  garden  cf  about 
twenty  acres.  .  .  .  The  Botanic  Garden  at  Kew  is  surrounded 

by  high  walls  and  is  intersected  with  long  squares.  With  regard 
either  to  its  plan  or  its  nine  or  ten  stoves,  it  will  not  bear  a  com¬ 
parison  with  those  of  Malmaison,  or  the  Grand  Duke  of  Weimar,  of 
Prince  Esterhazy  at  Eisenstaadt,  or  even  with  the  botanical  division 
of  the  Imperial  Garden  at  Schonbrunn.” 

The  Arboretum  at  the  time  of  the  Professor’s  visit  was  about  five 
acres  in  extent,  and  contained  the  first  introduced  plant  of  Aucuba 
japonica.  The  herbaceous  ground  was  south  of  the  Arboretum, 
while  the  pleasure  grounds  extended  from  the  Palace  to  the  Pagoda 
“for  a  full  mile.”  The  Botanic  Garden  and  Arboretum  at  that  time 
consisted  of  a  series  of  enclosures  surrounded  by  walls,  most  of 
which  have  since  been  removed. 

No  collectors  were  sent  out  from  Kew  during  the  reign  of 
George  IV.,  but  two  Kew  gardeners,  Frazer  and  Morrison,  sent  home 
p’ants  to  it. 

Thomas  Frazer  sailed  for  St.  Helena  in  1821,  and  on  his  return 
brought  back  a  twig  of  the  weeping  willow  that  grew  by 
Napoleon’s  tomb.  It  was  one  of  the  lions  of  Kew  till  it  was  cut 
down  in  1867.  He  also  introduced  Buddleia  madagascariensis,  the 
cabbage  tree  of  St.  Helena. 

William  Morrison  in  1828  brought  home  from  Trinidad  a  large 
collection  of  seeds,  plants,  and  dried  specimens.  When  the  Swan 
River  Colony  was  founded  in  1829,  Sir  James  Stirling,  the  Governor, 
took  Morrison  with  him  as  gardener.  Through  his  instrumentality 
many  of  the  Swan  River  Proteacece  were  introduced  at  Kew. 

William  III.  in  the  early  years  of  his  reign  took  a  great  deal 
of  interest  in  the  gardens.  A  plan  for  a  spacious  palm  house, 
prepared  by  Wyatville,  met  with  his  approval,  but  the  scheme  was 
subsequently  abandoned,  the  KiDg  removing  from  Buckingham 
Palace  the  great  architectural  conservatory  which  stands  near 
the  main  gate.  Up  to  the  year  1848  it  was  used  as  a  palm  house. 
Then  the  larger  growing  kinds  of  Australian  plants,  such  as 
Myrtacece,  Leguminosce,  and  Proteacece.  These  were  removed  in 
1863  to  the  Temperate  House,  and  it  is  now  kept  for  Aroidce  and 
other  plants  requiring  an  extreme  tropical  treatment. 


A  collection  of  living  orchids  was  brought  over  from  Trinidad  in 
1833  by  George  Aldridge.  He  was  the  son  of  John  Aldridge,  who 
for  many  years  was  foreman  of  the  Royal  Kitchen  Garden  at 
Kensington,  and  afterwards  was  Superintendent  of  the  Royal 
Kitchen  and  Forcing  Garden  at  Kew. 

George  Barclay,  gardener  at  Kew,  1833  to  1835,  was  in  the  latter 
year  appointed  botanical  collector  to  H.M.S.  “Sulphur,”  which  was 
about  to  proceed  to  western  South  America  for  surveying  purposes. 
The  Sandwich,  Fiji,  and  other  Pacific  islands  were  visited.  Barclay 
visited  England  with  his  collections  in  1841. 

Nathaniel  Wilson,  despatched  to  Jamaica  to  cultivate  coffee  in 
1847,  sent  the  tree  fern  and  other  fsrns,  the  lace  bark  tree  and 
many  other  plants  home  to  Kew.  He  made  a  special  study  of  fibre 
plants,  and  his  collections  formed  one  of  the  earliest  contributions 
to  the  Economic  Museums  at  Kew.  Subsequently  he  became  one  of 
the  curators  of  the  Botanic  Gardens  at  Bath. 

Aiton  secured  the  opening  of  Kew  Gardens  to  the  public.  In 
1819  they  were  only  open  to  tbe  public  every  Monday  during  the 
summer.  By  the  year  1838  he  succeeded  in  getting  them  open 
unreservedly  to  visitors  except  on  Sundays. 

After  the  death  of  William  III.  a  committee  was  appointed  by 
the  Treasury  to  inquire  into  tbe  state  of  Kew  Gardens.  It  consisted 
of  Dr.  Lindley  and  two  practical  gardeners,  one  of  whom  was  Sir 
Joseph  Paxton. 

They  reported  that  the  garden  occupied  “  fifteen  acres,  of  which 
part  is  Arboretum,  and  the  rema'nder  filled  by  stoves  and  green¬ 
houses,  borders  of  herbaceous  plants,  Spaces  left  for  the  arrange¬ 
ment  of  greenhouses,  plants  in  the  open  air  in  summer,  offices, 
yards,  etc.  The  Arboretum  contains  many  very  fine  specimens  of 
hardy  exotic  trees  and  shrubs,  but  the  collection  is  not  very 
extensive,  and  the  plants  are  too  much  crowded.  The  collection  of 
Herbaceous  Plants  appeared  to  be  inconsiderable.  A  certain 
number  were  marked  with  their  names  written  on  painted  sticks, 
others  were  unnamed,  no  systematical  arrangement  was  observable 
with  the  exception  of  Grasses,  of  which  there  is  an  extensive 
collection  named.” 

John  Smith,  at  that  time  foreman,  and  subsequently  the  first 
curator  of  Kew  after  it  became  a  national  establishment,  accounts 
in  part  for  the  severity  of  the  report  by  the  fact  that  the  preceding 
winter  had  been  one  of  the  severest  on  record.  “  The  herbaceous 
collection  if  it  had  been  examined  in  summer  and  time  taken, 
would  have  been  found  to  contain  about  2500  species  of  the 
perennial  plants  arranged  according  to  the  Linnasan  system.” 

The  report  said  that  the  ten  stoves  and  greenhouses  were  ex¬ 
cessively  crowded,  but  admitted  that  the  plants,  especially  those 
from  New  Holland,  were  well  attended  to.  From  other  sources  we 
know  that  the  collections  of  Cape  and  New  Holland  plants  were 
incomparable. 

Smith  also  showed  that  Kew  had  supplied  many  of  the  colonies 
and  botanic  gardens  of  Europe  with  rare  plants,  e.g.,  Mauritius  and 
New  South  Wales,  St.  Vincent,  Jamaica,  and  Trinidad  received 
European  fruits  suitable  to  their  climate,  and  a  large  collection  of 
succulent  plants  was  sent  to  Calcutta.  The  collections  of  European 
Botanic  Gardens  were  also  enlarged  by  gifts  from  Kew.  In  1<97 
230  species  of  plants  were  sent  to  the  Grand  Duchess  of  Russia. 

After  the  peace  of  1814  Professors  Wendland,  of  Hanover,  I  ischer, 
of  St.  Petersburgh,  Martins,  of  Munich,  Link  and  Otto,  of  Berlin, 
Reinhardt,  of  Leyden,  and  Sagasca,  of  Madrid,  visited  Kew  from 
time  to  time,  and  selected  many  species  for  their  Gardens. 

In  1839  Lord  Surrey,  the  Lord  Steward,  tried  to  convert  the 
greenhouses  and  pits  into  vineries  and  pine  stoves,  but  public 
opinion  forced  him  to  desist.  He  actually  offered  the  Kew  plants 
at  first  to  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  for  the  garden  at 


272 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[MARCH  27,  1897 


Chiswick,  then  to  the  Royal  Botanic  Society  for  their  garden  at 
Regent’s  Park,  but  both  learned  Societies  refused  to  accept  them, 
and  in  1840  the  Earl  of  Aberdeen  obtained  a  guarantee  in  Parlia¬ 
ment  that  the  plants  would  not  be  removed.  A  few  days  later,  the 
botanic  garden  was  transferred  to  the  charge  of  the  Commissioners 
of  Woods  and  Forests,  with  the  sum  of  £800  annually  towards  the 
expense  of  maintaining  the  same. 

Towards  the  end  of  1840  Aiton  resigned. 

Sir  William  Hooker,  Regius  Professor  of  Botany  in  the  University 
of  Glasgow,  was  then  appointed  Director  of  Kew,  and  a  new  era 
opened  for  the  Gardens. 


THE  LATIN  OF  PHARMACY.* 

BY  GEORGE  COULL,  B.SC. 

“For  ourselves,  we  can  say  that  we  have  not  shrunk  from  any 
pains,  with  a  view  to  the  most  perfect  publication  of  this  work  : 
not,  however,  so  as  to  presume  that  it  will  content  every  one,  nor 
can  we  confidently  assert  that  it  is  free  from  error  ;  which,  if  any 
one  note  with  a  snarl,  let  him  at  least  consider,  not  only  the  great 
variety  but  the  vast  difficulty  which  such  a  work  embraces ;  and  it 
is  to  be  hoped  he  will  not  be  offended  by  a  few  trifling  blemishes. 
But  we  have  said  enough.”  Thus  runs  part  of  the  self-complacent 
preface  to  the  Pharmacopoeia  Londinensis,  1809,  translated  by 
Hector  Campbell,  M.D.  Nowadays,  those  responsible,  or  rather 
he  who  is  responsible,  for  the  compilation  of  the  British  Pharma¬ 
copoeia  does  not  look  upon  fair  critics  as  “  snarlers,”  but  gives 
every  suggestion  made  due  consideration.  Therefore,  if  any  of  my 
criticisms  appear  too  trifling,  I  am  enboldened  to  believe  that  they 
will  not  be  considered  “  noted  with  a  snarl.” 

English  being  now  the  language  in  which  the  national  Pharma¬ 
copoeia  is  printed,  the  Latin  in  it  is  confined  to  the  names  of  the 
drugs,  chemicals,  and  preparations  it  contains,  yet  even  in  this 
limited  sphere  it  might  be  amended.  It  is  a  great  pity  that  there 
is  such  a  marked  decadence  in  the  knowledge  and  use  of  Latin  in 
medicine.  It  is  possible  that  the  Royal  College  of  Physicians  of 
Edinburgh  is  responsible  to  a  certain  extent  for  this,  as  it  was  the 
first  of  the  three  British  colleges  to  issue  a  pharmacopoeia  in 
English.  This  occurred  in  1839.  Two  years  afterwards  another 
edition,  the  last  E.  P.,  was  published  also  in  English.  The  last 
Dublin  Pharmacopoeia,  1850,  was  likewise  in  the  vernacular,  while 
the  London  College  adhered  to  Latin  down  to  the  very  last  in  1851. 

Mr.  J oseph  Ince,  who  stands  easily  first  in  the  Pharmaceutical 
Classical  Tripos,  believes  the  time  will  come  when  the  official 
pharmacopoeia  of  every  country  will  be  again  issued  in  Latin, 
though  an  edition  in  the  vernacular  might  also  be  published  ;  con¬ 
sequently,  in  framing  the  nomenclature  of  a  pharmacopoeia,  the 
genius  of  the  Latin  language  should  be  followed  as  closely  as 
possible.  To  that  I  would  add,  never  sacrifice  the  purity  of  your 
Latin  by  exchanging  a  word  used  by  the  Romans  for  a  manu¬ 
factured  one  in  order  to  be  consistent  with  the  Latin  of  the  pharma¬ 
copoeia.  When,  therefore,  there  is  a  good  Latin  word  which  the 
Romans  employed  to  express  exactly  the  same  thing  that  we  use 
the  English  equivalent  for,  why  is  a  new  word  coined,  as  the 
euphemistic  term  is  ?  In  the  Addendum,  1890,  gelatine  is  intro¬ 
duced  and  latinised  as  gelatinum.  I  much  prefer  the  term 
gluten  or  glutinum,  both  classical  Latin,  or  perhaps  glutinum 
pur  ifica  turn. 

Bourn  coriis  glutinum  excoquitur. — Plin. 

Glue  is  obtained  from  the  hides  of  oxen.  This  is  practically  the 
definition  of  gelatin  in  the  Addendum.  Gray’s  ‘  Supplement,’ 1831, 
gives  gluten  commune  for  cake  glue. 

Some  years  ago  a  correspondent  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal 
said  resinum  should  replace  resina.  Imagine  !  dismissing  by  a 
scrape  of  the  pen  a  word  used  by  Pliny  and  Martial,  in  favour  of 
a  mongrel  production  of  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century  because, 
forsooth,  it  has  the  same  termination  as  the  alkaloids  have.  This 
is  where  the  craze  for  consistency  lands  us. 

The  introduction  of  the  word  oleatum  has  given  rise  to  some 
discussion  regarding  its  suitableness.  It  does  seem  unfortunate 
that  we  should  have  two  Latin  words  in  use,  oleas  and  oleatum, 
both  translated  oleate,  but  differing  from  each  other  chemically 
and  physically.  The  confusion  is  intensified  by  the  genitive  of 
each  being  capable  of  contraction  to  oleat.  Of  course  the  B.P. 
should  be  our  guide,  but  such  ambiguity  is  not  desirable.  I  think 
Pollard’s  suggestion  to  revive  the  old  word  oleamen  or  oleamentum 
for  the  official  mixture  of  oleate  and  oleic  acid — the  so-called 
oleatum — is  eminently  worthy  of  consideration,  leaving  the 


English  for  it  to  the  literary  taste  of  the  Editor  of  the  Pharma¬ 
copoeia.  Theriaca  is  given  in  Latin  dictionaries  as  meaning 
anything  good  against  poisons,  an  antidote.  It  was  afterwards 
applied  to  special  remedies  and  finally  to  a  preparation  of  opium 
flavoured  with  aromatics.  ‘  Pharmacographia  ’  says:  “How  it 
came  to  be  applied  to  molasses,  we  know  not.”  I  would  suggest 
a  return  to  the  London  and  Edinburgh  pharmacopoeial  name 
sacchari  hex,  or  name  it  syrupus  aureus  or  even  molasses. 

Another  example  of  the  introduction  of  a  hybrid  word  in  place 
of  a  pure  Latin  one  is  antimonium  for  stibium.  The  derivation  of 
antimony  is  usually  given,  Gr.  avri,  against,  and  Fr.  moine,  a  monk, 
whilst  stibium  =  otI(3i,  was  employed  Dy  Pliny  and  Celsus  to  desig¬ 
nate  native  sulphide  of  antimony.  In  the  P.E.  1792,  stibium  was 
given  as  the  nomen  vulgarium ;  antimonium  as  the  nomen  pro- 
prium  ;  in  1817  antimonium  was  said  to  be  the  nomen  mutatum, 
and  sulphuretum  antimonii,  the  nomen  novum  ;  this  was  changed 
in  1841  to  antimonii  sulphuretum,  sulphuretof  antimony.  It  is  thus 
seen  that  antimonium  was  applied  to  the  native  sulphide  just  as 
stibium  originally  was.  If  therefore  it  is  conceded  that  we  ought 
to  use  classical  Latin  when  we  can,  then  we  should  certainly  revert 
to  the  use  of  stibium.  There  has  been  a  talk  for  many  years  now 
of  an  international  pharmacopoeia,  and  the  adoption  of  pure  Latin 
words  for  official  articles  would  help  a  little  towards  that  most 
desirable  end.  Kalium  and  natrium  have  not  such  a  good  case  as 
stibium,  but  considering  that  they  are  the  names  from  which  the 
chemical  symbols  of  the  metals  are  derived  and  that  they  are  much 
used  on  the  Continent  I  think  we  could  adopt  them  without  any 
loss  of  dignity.  There  are  other  Continental  fashions  which  meet 
with  almost  universal  disapproval,  one  of  these  is  that 
(to  my  ears)  uncouth  way  of  naming  salts,  as  magnesium 
sulphuricum,  kalium  carbonicum,  ammonium  choratum  for 
magnesii  sulphas,  potassii  carbonas,  ammonii  chloridum  respec¬ 
tively,  or  the  equally  abhorrent  magnesicus  sulphas.  There  is  a 
growing  tendency  to  take  Germany  as  an  authority  on  spelling  in 
chemistry,  this  is  more  apparent  in  the  United  States  than  here. 
The  present  U.  S.  P.  has  naphtol  and  naphtalinum  included  for  the 
first  time,  and  spelt  in  the  German  text-book  manner,  though  I  am 
pleased  to  note  the  ‘Arzneibuch’  retains  the  ultimate  “  h”  in  these 
words.  Now  I  protest  against  this  copying  of  German  spelling. 
The  word  was  spelt  vapda  by  the  Greeks,  naphtha  by  the  Romans, 
and  it  is  naphtha  in  our  own  language.  I  hope,  therefore,  that 
our  authorities  will  make  a  firm  stand  against  this  Teutonic 
degradation  of  the  word. 

We  occupy  a  position  of  “  splendid  isolation”  in  regard  to  the 
gender  of  nouns  in  -as  -atis  by  making  them  feminine  in  defiance  of 
the  pharmacopoeias  of  the  world  ;  and  I  say  if  we  are  convinced  we 
are  right,  let  us  maintain  that  position.  I  am  reluctantly  compelled 
to  join  issue  with  Mr.  Ince  on  this  matter.  In  an  article  in  the 
Journal*  some  years  ago,  he  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  because 
all  other  countries  make  carbonas  masculine  we  ought  to  do  the 
same.  The  only  trustworthy  evidence  adduced  was  in  favour  of 
its  remaining  feminine,  viz. ,  if  it  made  the  genitive  in  atis  then 
there  was  no  doubt  it  ought  to  be  feminine.  Professor  Oldberg’s 
opinion  was  quoted,  it  was  only  an  opinion  and  backed  by  no  proof 
whatever;  “that  as  there  was  no  classical  authority,  there  was 
nothing  to  prevent  him  making  carbonas  masculine  or  any 
gender  he  pleased.  Let  them  stand  as  masculine  ”  was  Oldberg’s 
ipse  dixit.  When  I  state  that  this  gentleman  read  a  paper  before 
the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  in  1889,  in  which  he 
gravely  suggested  abandoning  the  use  of  the  genitive  entirely,  I 
am  altogether  astonished  that  a  purist  like  Mr.  Ince  should  have 
cited  him  as  a  witness.  As  this  is  rather  an  important  matter  not 
on  account  of  the  issue  depending  on  its  settlement,  but  on  the 
principle  of  deciding  between  right  and  wrong,  it  is  necessary  to 
consider  the  evidence  for  and  against  the  different  genders. 

Pharmacopoeias  are  not  of  much  use  in  deciding  which  gender  is 
correct,  as  they  change  about  in  quite  a  bewildering  manner. 
P.E.  1817  gave  it  masculine,  carbonas  ferri  prajcipitatus ;  1841 
changed  it  to  neuter,  ferri  carbonas  saccharatum  ;  P.D.  1826  also 
made  it  neuter,  calcis  carbonas  prcecipitatum.  The  P.L.  1809  to 
1851  most  consistently  and  correctly  gave  it  feminine,  sodse 
subcarbonas  exsiccata  in  1809  and  1824,  and  sodae  carbonas  exsiccata 
in  1836  and  1851.  It  was  masculine  in  the  U.S.P.  1850,  feminine 
in  1860  and  1870,  and  back  to  masculine  in  1880  and  1890. 
The  first  published  criticism  on  the  latinity  of  the  B.P.  1885 
was  by  an  anonymous  correspondent  in  the  Journal, +  signing 
himself  “X.  Y.  Z.”  His  letter  was  taken  up  solely  with 


*  Read  before  the  Glasgow  Pharmaceutical  Association. 


*  Pharmaceutical  Journal  [3],  xx.,  871. 
t  Pharmaceutical  Journal  [3],  xvi.,  324, 


Mabch  27,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


273 


the  gender  of  nouns  in  -as.  He  submitted  that  they  are  by 
form  substantives  of  the  third  declension,  to  which  the 
feminine  gender  is  least  appropriate.  They  certainly  are  nouns  of 
the  third  declension,  but  nearly  all  nouns  in  as  of  that  declension 
are  feminine.  “  X.  Y.  Z.”  said  that  the  nearest  approach  to  them 
is  latinised  Greek  nouns  in  as,  that  they  approximate  more  to 
adamas,  or  still  more  closely  to  fas  and  nefas,  which  are  neuter. 
He  therefore  submitted  that  carbonas,  sulphas,  tartras,  etc.,  are 
neuter.  Now  the  rule  given  in  Latin  grammars  is — nouns  in  as  are 
feminine,  except  vas,  vasis,  which  is  neuter  ;  the  other  exceptions 
are  Greek  nouns  in  as  -Stis,  which  are  neuter ;  nouns  of  Greek 
origin  in  as  -antis,  as  adamas  -antis,  which  are  masculine,  as  are 
also  nouns  in  as  of  the  first  declension.  Fas  and  nefas  follow  the 
rule,  according  to  which  all  indeclinable  nouns  are  neuter.  Thus 
“  X.  Y.  Z.’s”  criticism  is  disposed  of.  Further,  derivative  words 
usually  retain  the  quantity  of  the  words  from  which  they  are 
formed  ;  we  have  carbo  -onis,  therefore  carbonas.  Again,  as  in  the 
end  of  a  word  is  long,  as  piStas  -atis,  therefore  carbonas  -atis.  I 
repeat,  then,  Mr.  Ince’s  words  that  if  we  are  to  use  Latin  we  ought  to 
follow  the  genius  of  the  language  ;  and  I  would-  add,  follow  the 
ordinary  rules  of  grammar  in  determining  gender  instead  of  adopt¬ 
ing  arbitrary  methods  of  settling  that  point  at  each  revision  of  a 
pharmacopoeia.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  upon  what 
grounds  the  U.S.P.  Revision  Committee  in  1880  stated  that 
“  it  had  been  shown  that  the  change  to  feminine  in  1860  had  been 
based  on  error.” 

There  are  several  cases  where  the  latinity  of  the  Pharmacopoeia 
is  obviously  weak.  Argenti  et  potassii  nitras  should  be  nitrates. 
Liquor  arsenii  et  hydrargyri  iodidi  should  have  iodidorum  ;  it  was 
introduced  into  the  P.D.  as  liquor  arsenici  et  hydrargyri  hydrio- 
datis,  and  when  included  in  the  B.P.,  1885,  the  opportunity  was  not 
taken  to  correct  the  grammar,  although  the  nomenclature  was 
altered  to  make  it  consistent  with  modern  custom.  The  B.P.C. 
Formulary  Committee  rise  to  the  occasion  with  their  syrupus  ferri 
et  quin  into  hydrobromatum  and  their  syrupus  ferri,  quinin*  et 
strychnin*  phosphatum.  The  Latin  of  the  formulary  is  very  good, 
but  I  should  like  to  know  the  principle  by  which  cascara  sagrada 
is  considered  indeclinable,  while  guarana  is  capable  of  declension. 
Because  lapis  calaminaris  prseparata  is  given  as  a  synonym  that  is 
no  reason  for  making  lapis  feminine.  But  perhaps  it  has  been 
done  intentionally  to  make  it  “  consistent  ”  with  calamina 
pr separata,  or  taking  a  more  generous  view  of  the  matter 
let  us  think  it  was  purely  an  oversight,  which,  although 
very  trifling,  should  not  have  occurred.  Uv*  is  the 
official  name  for  raisins,  following  the  precedent  of  1864 
and  1867,  and  uvse  pass*  is  given  as  a  synonym  because  it 
was  the  term  used  in  various  London  and  Edinburgh  pharma¬ 
copoeias.  In  Latin  dictionaries  uva  is  given  as  meaning  a  bunch 
or  cluster  of  grapes.  Pereira  and  ‘  Pharmacographia  ’  translate 
raisins  as  uv*  pass*  ;  when  necessary  to  distinguish  them  from 
currants  they  are  called  uv*  pass*  majores,  the  latter  being  uv* 
pass*  minores.  Fliickiger  and  Hanbury  further  inform  us  that 
the  Hebrews  were  acquainted  with  raisins,  uv*  pass*  occurring 
in  the  Vulgate,  and  being  rendered  dried  grapes  to  distinguish 
them  from  fresh.  Uv*  pass*  ought  undoubtedly  to  be  promoted 
to  the  position  of  official  name,  and  uv*  dismissed  altogether. 
Ovi  albumen  is  translated  egg  albumen,  and  described  as  the 
liquid  white  of  egg  in  the  B.P.,  its  sole  use  being  for  making  the 
solution  of  albumen  in  the  appendix.  Here  again’ we  have  an 
example  of  the  sacrifice  of  a  good  classical  term  for  a  coined  word  ; 
ovi  album  was  used  by  Celsus  for  white  of  egg,  and  why  should 
not  we  do  so  also  ;  besides,  it  would  be  more  consistent  with  ovi 
vitellus,  yolk  of  egg. 

Shortly  after  the  present  pharmacopoeia  was  published  in  1885, 
several  complaints  were  made  regarding  the  gender  of  rhamnus, 
the  critics  declaring  that  it  should  be  feminine.  Rhamnus  pur- 
shiana  has  been  included  in  the  U.S.P. ,  1890.  Smith  gives 
rhamnos  i  f.  =  pdfivos,  buckthorn,  and  does  not  give  rhamnus 
at  all.  Ainsworth  gives  rhamnus  i  m.,  and  Latin  gram¬ 
mars,  including  Smith’s  ‘Principia  Latina,’ after  the  rule  which 
says  names  of  trees  are  feminine,  expressly  state  that  rhamnus  is 
masculine,  cytisus  and  rubus  are  generally  masculine,  and  larix, 
lotus,  and  cupressus  are  sometimes  masculine.  It  is  considered 
masculine  by  Christison  and  Pereira,  and  all  the  specific  adjectives 
I  have  come  across  are  masculine — niger,  sanguineus,  infectorius, 
amygdalinus,  catharticus,  etc.  So  upon  the  whole  I  think  it 
should  be  allowed  to  stand.  It  was  Saul  who  said  that  “  modern 
Latin  scholars  are  agreed  that  rhamnus  is  feminine,  and  ‘  Pharma¬ 
cographia  ’  had  recognised  this  by  styling  buckthorn  rhamnus 


cathartica.”  Pollard,  in  replying,  said  that  “modern  Latin 
scholars  may  agree  to  use  the  feminine  if  they  please,  but  they 
cannot  make  the  language  wrong  that  was  used  by  the  Romans.” 
I  most  heartily  endorse  Pollard’s  remarks. 

Then,  again,  why  have  we  departed  from  the  old  way  of  declining 
rosmarinus  ?  Is  this  also  due  to  modern  scholars  ?  Besides  the 
fact  that  oil  of  rosemary  was  in  the  P.E.,  1792,  as  oleum 
essentiale  summitatum  rorismarini,  and  in  1817  as  oleum 
volatile  rorismarini  officinalis,  and  the  spirit  was  in  P.L.,  1746  and 
1788,  as  spiritus  rorismarini  (it  was  in  1809  that  spiritus  rosmarini 
first  appeared),  we  have  the  authority  of  Horace,  Od.  3,  23,  16,  for 
marino  rore,  and  also  Columella,  a  writer  on  husbandry  who 
flourished  about  the  same  time  as  Horace,  for  rorismarini.  Pliny 
calls  it  rosmarinum,  which,  as  ros  is  masculine,  cannot  be  declined 
as  two.  words,  but  simply  as  one.  If,  however,  we  retain  ros¬ 
marinus  as  the  nominative,  the  genitive  ought  surely  to  be 
rorismarini. 

(To  be  continued.) 


LEGAL  INTELLIGENCE. 


PROCEEDINGS  UNDER  THE  PHARMACY  ACTS. 


Alleged  Unlawful  Sale  of  Poison. 


Pharmaceutical  Society  v.  Lyons. 

At  the  Bow  County  Court  on  the  22nd  inst.  before  His  Honour 
Judge  French,  Q.C.,  the  Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of 
Great  Britain  sued  James  Lyons,  of  36,  Green  Street,  Upton  Park, 
chemist’s  assistant,  for  selling  poison  contrary  to  the  provisions  of 
the  Pharmacy  Act,  1868. 

Mr.  T.  R.  Grey,  instructed  by  Flux,  Thompson,  and  Flux, 
appeared  for  the  Society.  Defendant  appeared  in  person. 

Mr.  Grey  stated  that  the  action  was  for  a  penalty  of  £5  under 
Section  15  of  the  Pharmacy  Act  for  selling  poison.  Defendant  was 
an  unqualified  assistant  in  the  employ  of  Mr.  J.  James  at  36,  Green 
Street,  Upton  Park,  where  he  sold  poison,  viz.  “  Laudanum.”  By 
the  15th  Section  of  the  Statute  it  was  made  unlawful  for  any 
person  who  was  not  a  registered  chemist  and  druggist  to  sell  poison. 
There  was  only  one  case  that  it  was  necessary  to  call  the  attention 
of  the  Court  to,  and  that  was  the  case  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  v.  Wheeldon,  which  decided  that  the  unqualified  assistant 
of  a  qualified  master  who  in  the  absence  of  his  master  sells  poison 
is  liable  for  penalties. 

His  Honour  :  What  becomes  of  the  penalties  ? 

Mr.  Grey  :  Section  14  of  the  Act  of  1852  deals  with  the  applica¬ 
tion  of  penalties. 

His  Honour  :  How  do  you  make  defendant  liable? 

Mr.  Grey:  Defendant  sold  the  poison — he  was  not  acting 
under  the  supervision  or  control  of  any  qualified  person,  and  his 
employer  was  miles  away. 

His  Honour  :  Is  a  chemist  not  entitled  to  have  any  assistant  he 
likes  ? 

Mr.  Grey  :  Of  course  he  may  employ  whom  he  likes,  but  an 
unqualified  assistant  may  not  sell  poison  ;  if  he  does  he  is  liable. 

His  Honour  (to  defendant)  :  Did  your  master  superintend  your 
making  up  this  mixture  ? 

Defendant :  No,  he  was  at  the  other  shop. 

His  Honour  (to  Mr.  Grey)  :  Prove  your  case. 

John  Partridge  (examined  by  Mr.  Grey)  :  I  went  to  36,  Green 
Street,  Upton  Park,  on  November  14  last.  It  was  a  chemist’s  shop. 
There  was  only  a  boy  in  the  shop  when  I  went  in.  Defendant 
came  from  the  back  of  the  shop.  I  asked  him  for  two-pennyworth 
of  soap  liniment  and  two  pennyworth  of  laudanum.  Defendant 
put  the  articles  together  in  my  presence.  I  sealed  the  bottle  up 
on  the  evening  of  the  day  on  which  I  made  the  purchase.  I  handed 
the  bottle  to  the  analyst.  It  was  as  I  received  it  except  for  the 
sealing-wax  over  the  cork  and  the  date  which  I  put  upon  the  label. 

His  Honour  :  Did  you  require  this  for  your  own  purposes? 

Witness  :  No.  I  was  sent  by  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  to 
make  a  purchase. 

Mr.  E.  J.  Eastes,  F.I.C.,  examined  by  Mr.  Grey:  I  am  an 
analyst.  I  received  the  bottle  from  last  witness.  I  carefully 
analysed  the  contents,  it  contained  soap  liniment  and  laudanum.  I 
determined  the  laudanum  by  the  presence  of  “morphine.”  There 
was  nearly  half  an  ounce  of  laudanum  in  the  bottle. 


274 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[March  27,  1897 


His  Honour  :  Half  an  ounce  of  laudanum  for  twopence  ?  What 
is  the  price  of  laudanum  ? 

Witness  :  It  varies  from  4 d.  to  6 d.  per  ounce. 

His  Honour  (to  defendant) :  What  do  you  charge  for  laudanum  ? 

Defendant :  Sixpence  per  ounce  ;  one-third  of  an  ounce  for  two¬ 
pence. 

His  Honour  (to  Mr.  Grey) :  Do  you  ask  me  to  convict  on  this 
evidence  ;  this  is  not,  to  my  mind,  a  bona-fide,  purchase  ?  It  has 
remained  in  the  possession  of  the  witness,  and  when  analysed  the 
analyst  finds  more  laudanum  than  the  defendant  says  is  sold  for 
twopence  at  the  shop  where  he  is  employed,  and  he  is  not  told  any¬ 
thing-  about  it  until  some  time  after. 

Mr.  Grey  :  The  fact  of  the  purchase  was  reported  to  the  Society 
within  a  day  or  two  afterwards.  The  case  had  then  to  be  con¬ 
sidered  by  the  Council  at  their  next  meeting,  and  on  December  15 
defendant  was  written  to  on  the  subject.  He  did  not  reply,  but  a 
correspondence  took  place  with  his  employer,  and  as  his  employer’s 
answers  were  not  satisfactory  these  proceedings  had  to  be  taken. 

His  Honour  :  Can  you  get  satisfactory  evidence  in  a  case  where 
there  is  an  interval  of  a  month  between  the  purchase  and  calling 
defendant’s  attention  to  the  fact  ?  How  can  he  possibly  remember 
what  he  did  a  month  back  ?  It  should  have  been  brought  to  his 
attention  immediately,  and  if  the  matter  had  to  go  before  the 
Council  someone  ought  to  have  been  deputed  to  bring  the  matter 
to  his  attention.  I  give  judgment  for  the  defendant. 


PROCEEDINGS  UNDER  THE  FOOD  AND  DRUGS  ACTS. 


The  Sale  op  Lime  Cream  and  Glycerin. 

At  Brentford  Police  Court  on  Saturday,  before  Mr.  Montagu 
Sharpe,  in  the  chair,  and  other  justices,  J.  Wilkey  Webber,  che¬ 
mist,  of  202,  High  Road,  Chiswick,  was  summoned  for  having 
sold  to  Walter  Tyler,  an  inspector  under  the  Food  and  Drugs 
Act,  lime  cream  and  glycerin  not  of  the  nature,  substance,  and 
quality  demanded. 

Mr.  G.  W.  Lay  defended. 

The  facts,  with  the  exception  of  the  analyst’s  certificate,  were 
admitted.  The  Inspector’s  assistant  purchased  for  Is.  a  bottle 
labelled  “Lime Cream  and  Glycerin,  for  cleansing  and  strengthening 
the  hair.  This  cream  renders  the  hair  beautifully  soft  and  glossy, 
having  the  properties  of  a  wash  as  well  as  a  pomade.”  Then 
followed  directions  for  use  and  the  name  of  the  defendant  as  maker. 
The  sample  was  divided  into  three  parts,  one  being  sent  to  the 
analyst,  who  certified,  “  I  am  of  opinion  it  contains  no  glycerin.” 

For  the  prosecution  it  was  contended  that  this  was  a  drug,  and 
that  the  purchaser  was  shown,  by  the  certificate,  to  have  been 
prejudiced. 

Inspector  Tyler,  in  cross-examination,  admitted  that  he  had 
taken  many  samples  of  defendant’s  drugs,  and  always  found  them 
good  and  correct.  Previously  the  shop  was  kept  by  Mr.  Wooster, 
and  for  the  last  three  years  by  the  defendant.  He  held  glycerin 
to  be  a  drug  because  it  was  mentioned  in  the  British  Pharma¬ 
copoeia. 

The  Chairman  :  This  is  a  hair  wash,  isn’t  it  ? 

Mr.  Lay  :  A  very  superior  sort.  Not  the  ordinary  kind  at  4 \d. 
a  bottle. 

The  defence  set  up  was  that  the  compound  contained  glycerin, 
actually  added,  and  not  left  to  be  produced  by  saponification,  or  the 
action  of  other  drugs.  It  was  made  from  a  recipe  that  had  been  in 
the  possession  of  Mr.  Wooster  for  twenty-five  years,  and  was  passed 
on  to  the  defendant  with  the  sale  of  the  business.  The  formula 
consisted  of  “nut  oil,  4  oz.  ;  lime  water,  4oz.  ;  saccharated  lime 
solution,  40  drops  ;  perfumes  (oil  of  bergamot  and  limonis),  25 
drops  ;  and  glycerin,  half  a  teaspoon,  equal  to  half  a  drachm.” 
This  recipe  had  never  been  questioned.  The  portion  of  the  sample 
left  with  the  defendant  had  been  submitted  to  analysis,  and  though 
the  certificate  could  not  be  produced  as  evidence,  as  a  fact  the 
analyst  had  certified  it  contained  glycerin. 

Herbert  Edward  Wooster,  in  the  employ  of  the  defendant, 
deposed  that  he  made  up  the  compound  from  the  recipe  quoted, 
and  he  put  half  a  drachm  of  pure  glycerin  into  the  mixture. 

Mr.  T.  Cunnington  (one  of  the  justices) :  What  quantity  was  it? 

■ — An  eight-ounce  bottle. 

The  Chairman  :  How  do  you  know  this  was  the  very  bottle  ?— I 
can  identify  it  as  the  particular  bottle.  I  make  a  certain  number 
of  bottles.  I  identify  it  by  its  appearance. 

The  Chairman  :  You  might  have  made  a  mistake  in  your 


mixing  ? — I  might,  but  I  have  made  up  a  great  number  with  per¬ 
fect  correctness. 

The  Chairman :  Do  you  make  a  general  quantity  and  fill  into 
bottles  ? — Yes  ;  four  pints,  and  then  fill  the  bottles. 

The  Chairman  :  Does  anyone  else  make  up  or  help  ? — No,  sir. 

Mr.  Cunnington  :  Do  you  say  you  put  that  quantity  of  glycerin 
into  each  bottle  or  into  the  lot  ? — Into  the  lot. 

Mr.  Cunnington  :  In  what  proportion  is  the  glycerin  ? — Equal 
to  half  a  drachm  to  the  eight-ounce  bottle. 

Mr.  Cunnington  :  Do  you  keep  stirring  ? — Yes. 

Mr.  Lay  :  It  doesn’t  evaporate  ? — No. 

The  Chairman  :  Does  it  float  or  sink  ? — It  mixes  with  it. 

The  Chairman  :  You  might  have  been  called  out  when  mixing 
and  might  have  forgotten  to  put  the  glycerin  in  ? — I  was  not  called 
out. 

Cross-examined  by  Inspector  Tyler :  He  was  sure  the  bottle  in 
question  was  not  one  left  from  a  previous  mixing.  He  could  not 
swear  to  the  day  he  made  it  up. 

Mr.  Tyler  :  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  glycerin  must  be  kept  moving  ? 
—No. 

Mr.  Tyler  :  Must  you  not  keep  it  moving,  stirring  it  up  to  get 
a  fair  proportion  ? — -Yes. 

Mr.  Tyler  :  Do  you  put  glycerin  itself  or  some  substances  to 
produce  it  ? — Glycerin  pure  and  simple. 

The  Chairman  :  Is  glycerin  heavier  or  lighter  than  the  other 
ingredients  ? — Heavier.  It  would  sink. 

Mr.  Montgomery  (on  the  Bench) :  Do  you  keep  shaking  the 
Winchester  bottle,  in  which  you  mix  before  bottling  ? — Yes. 

The  defendant,  sworn,  deposed  that  nobody  but  the  last  witness 
prepared  the  compound.  He  had  had  his  portion  analysed,  and  it 
contained  glycerin. 

Mr.  Cunnington  :  Do  you  use  Price’s  or  that  made  in  Germany  ? 

■ — Price’s. 

Inspector  Tyler :  You  are  certain  your  assistant  did  not  use 
olive  oil  ? — W e  do  not  use  it.  It  would  discolour  the  compound. 
We  use  nut  oil,  because  it  makes  it  white. 

Inspector  Tyler  :  Do  you  know  olive  oil  is  used  in  place  of 
glycerin  ? — I  have  not  heard  it. 

Inspector  Tyler  :  You  would  be  surprised  to  hear  that  it  is  put 
in  as  a  substitute  for  glycerin  ? — Most  decidedly. 

Inspector  Tyler  :  You  do  not  put  your  recipe  before  the  Bench 
as  any  authority  for  this  compound  ? — It  is  the  only  one  we  use, 
and  has  been  used  for  twenty-five  years. 

Inspector  Tyler :  It  would  not  over-ride  the  British  Pharma¬ 
copoeia? — The  British  Pharmacopoeia  does  not  contain  lime  juice 
and  glycerin. 

Inspector  Tyler  :  Do  you  dispute  the  analyst’s  certificate.  Do 
you  say  it  is  wrong  ? — Yes. 

Inspector  Tyler  :  On  what  grounds  ? — I  say  glycerin  is  present. 

Inspector  Tyler  :  Upon  the  supposition  that  the  certificate  of 
the  other  analyst  is  correct? — No.  Upon  general  evidence? — I 
have  always  had  the  greatest  confidence  in  my  assistant,  and  I 
have  never  found  him  inaccurate. 

Inspector  Tyler :  Therefore  you  entirely  dispute  the  public 
analyst  ? — I  do. 

Mr.  J.  R.  Wooster,  formerly  owner  of  the  shop  for  twenty-five 
years,  gave  corroborative  evidence. 

Mr.  Lay  submitted  he  had  proved  his  case.  If  the  Bench  were 
against  him  he  would  have  the  remaining  portion  of  the  sample 
sent  to  Somerset  House.  It  would  be  better  perhaps,  in  view  of 
the  conflicting  certificates,  to  have  independent  evidence. 

The  Chairman  :  Is  it  obligatory  for  us  to  assent  ? 

Mr.  Lay  :  I  think  so.  Either  dismiss  or  send  it. 

The  Chairman  :  The  Act  says  “  may  in  our  discretion.”  There¬ 
fore  it  is  not  obligatory. 

Mr.  Lay  :  It  has  never  been  refused. 

After  a  consultation,  the  Bench  acceded  to  the  request,  and  the 
summons  stood  adjourned. 


Substitutes  for  Iodoform. — Among  the  countless  substitutes 
which  have  been  suggested  to  replace  iodoform,  the  following 
have  some  claim  to  distinction  as  preparations  which  have  proved 
themselves  of  really  good  effect: — Iodol,  trichlorphenol,  tri- 
brompbenol,  tribromphenol  bismuth,  sodium  sozoiodol,  zincum 
sulfocarbolicum,  sulfaminol,  aristol,  euphorin,  pyoktannin,  der- 
matol,  salol,  europhen,  guaiacolcinnamate,  thioform,  loretin, 
airol,  iodoformin,  nosophen,  actol,  itrol,  glutol,  glutoform,  and 
many  others.—  Joum.  d.  Pharm.  v.  Elsass  Loth,  xxiv.,  5,  after 
PJiarm,  Post, 


March  27, 1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


275 


NATURAL  HISTORY  NOTES. 


( Continued  from  page  177.) 

Protecting  Rare  Species. — The  fortunate  discoverer  of  a 
rare  specimen  should  be  somewhat  slow  to  give  too  precise 
details  as  to  locality  and  means  of  access  thereto  to  all  comers, 
and  should,  of  course,  be  himself  the  last  to  take  more  than 
sufficient  for  a  specimen.  If  this  method  were  loyally  fol¬ 
lowed  the  danger  of  extinction  which  now  threatens  certain  of 
our  rarer  flora  and  fauna  would  be  removed. 

Plans  for  Next  Season. — During  this  the  winter  of  our  dis¬ 
content  we  are  naturally  looking  forward  to  the  renewal  of  our 
campaign  during  the  coming  summer.  Botanists  who  are  fairly 
well  acquainted  with  the  general  flora  of  their  district  will  do  well 
to  select  some  special  genus  for  study,  or  even,  if  opportunity  for 
excursions  are  few,  for  the  study  of  the  life  history  of  some  parti¬ 
cular  plant.  Those  who  have  read  that  charming  story  ‘  ‘Picciola  ” 
will  remember  how  the  unfortunate  prisoner  consoles  himself  during 
his  captivity  by  watching  the  growth  of  a  plant ;  so  the  pharma¬ 
cist,  who  is  a  prisoner  to  his  business,  may  in  a  like  manner  obtain 
recreation  by  following  out  the  life  history  of  almost  any  of  the 
commoner  plants.  Carefully  recorded  notes  on  the  subject  would 
possibly  be  of  general  interest. 

Drosera  Growing. — For  this  purpose  few  plants  are  more  inte- 
resting  than  the  common  sundew,  Drosera  rotundi folia,  which  is 
easy  to  grow  if  properly  treated,  flourishing  well  on  a  sunny 
window-sill,  provided  that  it  is  kept  well  supplied  with  water. 
Both  D.  rotundifolia  and  D.  intermedia  have  been  grown  in  the 
following  manner : — Take  a  large  flower-pot  twelve  inches  in 
diameter  and  fill  it  to  depth  of  four  or  five  inches  with  small  coke, 
then  fill  up  in  the  ordinary  way  with  peaty  loam,  and  on  the  sur¬ 
face  lay  the  plants  with  as  much  sphagnum  or  whatever  vegetation 
they  may  be  growing  in,  as  can  be  conveniently  removed  from  the 
native  bog.  Stand  the  flower-pot  in  a  large  tamarind  jar  and  keep 
this  latter  always  well  filled  with  water.  In  this  way  a  miniature 
bog  is  formed,  in  which  droseras,  Campanula  hederacea,  and 
Anagallis  tenella  will  flourish  in  vigorous  health. 

Is  Drosera  an  Anneal  ? — In  this  manner  individual  plants  of 
Drosera,  after  flowering  and  fruiting,  survived  the  winter  and  went 
well  on  into  the  spring,  showing  small  curled-up  leaves  in  March. 
Here,  however,  illness  on  the  part  of  the  observer  interrupted  the 
record,  and  the  plants,  like  “  Picciola,”  died  for  want  of  water. 
Drosera  is  generally  reputed  to  be  an  annual,  but  this  would  seem 
not  to  be  the  case. 

Spread  of  Immigrant  Plants. — Another  interesting  point  that 
is  worthy  of  attention  is  the  appearance  of  new  plants,  “not  as 
single  spies,  but  in  battalions,”  and  also,  alas,  the  disappearance  of 
others.  Thus  some  eight  or  nine  years  ago,  Impatiens  fidva  was 
only  found  in  certain  districts  in  the  Lower  Thames  Valley.  Now 
it  is  almost  ubiquitous,  and  may  be  seen  in  any  wet  ditch. 
From  casual  observation  this  would  appear  to  be  a  plant 
worthy  of  further  study.  It  appears  to  be  cleistogamous. 
A  few  wild  seedlings  transplanted  one  year  to  a  garden  produced 
ripe  seed  pods  early  in  the  summer  from  minute  yellow  flowers, 
which  scattered  their  seeds  broadcast  on  the  least  touch  long 
before  the  conspicuous  red  flowers  made  their  appearance  in  the 
autumn.  These  latter  apparently  produced  no  mature  fruit.  But 
the  following  year  the  same  wet  border  was  overrun  with  seedling 
balsams,  which  could  not  well  have  originated  but  from  the  early 
seeds  of  the  first  planted  specimens. 

Absent  Plants. — In  the  same  district  Anemone  nemorosa  is  now, 
unfortunately,  conspicuous  by  its  absence.  This  can  scarcely  be 
through  being  plucked,  since  the  beautiful  plant  is  plentiful  enough 
in  Highgate  Woods  and  in  all  the  copses  north  and  east  of  London. 
But  it  is  not  to  be  seen  in  the  enclosed  coppices  of  Richmond  or 
Bushey  Park,  nor  is  it  common  in  the  plantations  of  the  district 
unless  introduced.  Primroses  also  but  rarely  gladden  the  eyes  of 
the  Cockney  botanist  within  the  twelve-mile  radius.  W ithin  the 
last  ten  years  Butomus  umbellatus  was  to  be  found  on  the  London 
side  of  Richmond  Bridge,  but  we  do  not  see  it  now.  On  the 
other  hand,  Salvia  darica,  which  Gerarde  used  to  find  on  the  banks 
of  the  Thames  in  London,  still  holds  its  own  on  the  towing-path 
higher  up  the  river. 

Experiments  on  “Sugaring”  for  Moths. — Some  of  our 
friends  might  be  induced  to  try  experiments  on  attracting  moths 
by  the  well-known  method  of  “  sugaring.”  The  compound  for  this 
purpose  in  the  old  days  was  foots  sugar,  treacle,  and  beer,  boiled 


together  to  a  thick  syrup.  Just  before  using,  a  dash  of  rum  was 
added.  Someone,  however,  being  away  from  any  source  whence 
rum  was  obtainable,  used  ordinary  methylated  spirit  instead ;  to 
his  surprise,  this  proved  even  more  attractive,  and  it  is  now 
universally  used.  It  has  been  found  that  the  substitution  of 
crude  honey  for  the  foots  sugar  and  the  addition  of  a  few  drops  of 
butyric  ether  to  the  methylated  spirit  effects  a  great  improvement  as 
a  lure.  The  matter  is  worth  further  investigation.  Experiments 
with  essence  of  jasmin,  artificial  pineapple,  and  of  raspberry,  also 
with  valerianic  acid,  gave  no  better  results  than  “blank”  sugar¬ 
ing,  but  butyric  ether  was  decidedly  to  the  taste  of  all  the  common 
noctuce.  Red  and  yellow  underwings  absolutely  fought  for 
a  place  at  the  patch  which  was  painted  with  the  usual  mixture 
containing  the  addition  of  a  few  drops  of  butyric  ether,  while 
others  without  this  addition  were  almost  unvisited. 


PARLIAMENTARY  NOTES  AND  NEWS- 


Dr.  Farquharson  is  not  satisfied  that  the  cases  of  rabies 
recently  reported  in  the  Metropolitan  District  are  genuine  cases, 
and  he  proposes  to  ask  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture 
on  what  evidence  the  diagnosis  was  based.  On  poetical  authority 
we  have  it  that  “great  genius  is  to  madness  near  allied,”  and 
possibly  the  genial  member  for  West  Aberdeen  may  have  a- lurking 
suspicion  that  certain  canine  eccentricities  are  thoughtlessly  inter¬ 
preted  as  symptoms  of  insanity  by  unscientific  observers.  At  any 
rate,  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture  is  to  be  invited  to 
state  how  often  the  certifying  surgeon  has  been  able  to  base  his 
conclusions  on  symptoms  observed  during  life,  and  how  often  on 
an  examination  of  the  nervous  centres  of  the  suspected  animal  in 
accordance  with  the  scientific  methods  practised  at  the  Brown 
Institute. 


The  Sale  of  Food  and  Drugs  Bill,  of  which  Mr.  Kearley  is 
the  Parliamentary  pilot,  was  down  for  second  reading  on  the  18th 
inst. ,  but  was  not  reached,  for  the  more  exciting  items  of  Crete 
and  Voluntary  Schools  had  prior  claims  on  the  attention  of  honour¬ 
able  members.  The  second  reading  has  now  been  deferred  to 
April  2,  a  most  unfavourable  day  for  a  private  member’s  Bill,  seeing 
that  the  House  will  be  in  Committee  of  Supply,  and  will  be  fully 
occupied  with  Government  business. 


Companies  Bill. — At  the  meeting  of  the  House  of  Lords  Select 
Committee,  on  Monday  22nd  inst.,  Lord  Justice  Lindley  and  Mr. 
Justice  Romer  were  examined  as  to  their  opinion  of  the  Govern¬ 
ment  Bill  to  amend  the  Companies  Acts.  The  former  was  very  scath¬ 
ing  in  his  denunciation  of  “  One-man  ”  companies,  and  was  not  alto¬ 
gether  complimentary  to  the  House  of  Lords  when  he  stated  that 
he  could  not  think  it  was  the  intention  of  the  Legislature  to  enable 
an  individual  trader  by  indirect  means  to  trade  with  limited  liability. 
The  Lord  Chancellor  invited  the  witness  to  explain  what  public 
evil  was  caused  by  one  man  practically  holding  all  the  shares  in  a 
company,  and  Lord  Justice  Lindley,  in  reply,  expressed  his  con¬ 
viction  that  it  was  dangerous  for  one  man  to  be  the  sole  trader  in 
the  form  of  a  company.  This  unofficial  dictum  of  a  Lord  of  the 
Appeal  Court  is  refreshing,  coming  as  it  does  after  the  decisions  in 
Salamon’s  and  in  Wragg’s  case.  The  Committee  did  not  have  the 
question  of  professional  titles  before  it,  or  Lord  Lindley  might 
have  thought  it  equally  iniquitous  for  one  man  to  “  indirectly  ”  steal 
a  title  as  to  “indirectly”  rob  his  creditors.  Mr.  Justice  Romer 
approved  of  the  Bill  as  a  whole,  with  certain  modifications  toning 
down  the  stringency  of  the  provisions  dealing  with  directors’ 
liability.  The  Committee  meets  again  on  Monday,  the  29th — 
unheard-of  activity- — and  will  probably  take  more  expert  legal 
testimony. 

The  Easter  Recess  will  commence  on  April  14,  and  the  House 
of  Commons  will  re-assemble  on  the  26th  of  the  same  month  a 
very  moderate  rest  for  weary  politicians. 


Early  Closing.— All  three  Bills  are  tabled  for  second  reading 
on  Friday,  26th  inst.  The  blockade  against  the  Shops  (Early 
Closing)  Bill  of  Sir  J.  Lubbock,  and  the  Shops  Bill  of  Sir  C. 
Dilke  and  Co.  still  continues  with  undiminished  rigour.  There  is 
absolutely  no  chance  for  the  blockaded  measures,  and  very  little 
for  the  unopposed  half -holiday  project  of  Mr.  Buncombe. 


276 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Mabch  27,  1897 


THE  STUDEHTS’  PAGE. 


maturity.  The  male  flowers  consist  of  eight  stamens,  with  two 
small  bracts  overlapped  by  a  larger  hairy  one.  These  are  well 
shown  in  Kitchener’s  ‘  A  Year’s  Botany,’  pp.  79-81. 


SOME  NOTES  ON  CRYPTOGAMS. 

For  students  having  botanical  tastes  the  present  is  a  dull 
season,  from  dearth  of  fresh  specimens.  Those  having  microscopes, 
however,  may  with  advantage  turn  their  attention  to  cryptogamic 
botany,  and  will  find  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  plenty  of  material  in 
a  suitable  state  of  development  for  purposes  of  study.  The 
mode  of  reproduction  by  gemmse  is  here  illustrated  by  sketches 
of  some  interesting  specimens.  Amongst  mosses,  Aidacomnion 


Fig.  1. — Aulacomnion  An-  Fig.  2. — Lunularia  vulgaris.— A,  fruit- 

Drogynum.— A,  plant  in  fruit ;  ing  stage  ;  B.  frond  bearing  gemmae  ;  C, 

B,  gemmae  ;  C,  do.,  magnified.  magnified  gemmae. 


androgynum  (Fig.  1),  which  grows  on  shady  banks  and  rocks,  may  be 
had  in  the  gemmiferous  state  (Fig.  1,  B),  the  fruit  (Fig.  1,  A)  being 
produced  in  May  or  June,  whilst  of  the 
Hepaticse  quite  a  number  of  species  are 
obtainable.  Perhaps  the  most  easily  ob¬ 
tained,  because  widely  distributed,  are  the 
scale  moss,  Kantia  trichomcmis  (Fig.  3)  and 
the  liverwort,  Lunularia  vulgaris  (Fig.  2), 
both  of  which  may  be  found  on  damp  banks 
and  rocks,  and  on  flower-pots  in  green-  Fig-  3.— Kantia  tri- 
houses.  In  the  case  of  the  latter,  the  ?nHg°“ r01ld  bear’ 
gemime  are  borne  in  semi-circular  cups  on 

the  fronds.  The  fruiting  state  of  Lumdaria  is  represented  by 
Fig.  2  (A),  but  the  plant  is  rarely  found  in  fruit.  Fig.  1  (C) 
represents  highly  magnified  gemmse  of  Aidacomnion,  Fig.  2  (C) 
those  of  Lumdaria. 


THE  FLOWERS  OF  MARCH. 

The  Euphorbiaceae  are  represented  by  a  somewhat  abnormal 
species,  the  Mercurialis  perennis,  which  has  rather  the  habit  of 
the  Urticacese,  having  opposite  leaves  with  interpetiolar  stipules, 
and  a  watery  juice,  but  in  Urticacese  the  fruit  is  always  one-celled 
and  one-seeded.  In  Mercurialis  it  is  two-celled.  The  flowers  of 
Mercurialis  are  unisexual,  and  usually  occur  on  separate  plants. 
In  the  male  plant  the  flowers  are  arranged  in  conspicuous  axillary 
spikes.  Each  flower  consists  of  three  bracts,  and  of  nine  to  twelve 
stamens.  The  female  flowers  usually  occur  on  individuals  having 
larger  leaves  of  a  darker  green  hue.  The  flower  consists 
of  three  bracts,  with  two  barren  filaments  and  an  ovary 
of  two  hairy  carpels,  and  two  stigmas.  The  plant  spreads 
widely  by  means  of  its  slender  rhizome.  The  leaves  yield  a 
blue  colouring  matter  soluble  in  water,  which  is  turned  red 
by  acids,  and  destroyed  by  alkalies  (Pharm.  Journ.  [3],  viii., 
p.  665).  Another  plant  of  the  same  natural  order,  usually  in 
flower  this  month,  is  Buxus  sempervirens.  The  flowers  of 
the  hazel  should  be  examined  during  this  month.  The  male 
catkins  are  evident  enough,  but  the  female  catkins  may 
easily  be  overlooked.  These  may  be  recognised  by  the  crimson 
stigmas  protruding  from  some  of  the  buds.  These  buds,  when 
dissected,  are  found  to  contain  five  or  six  flowers,  each  with  two 
stigmas  and  a  two-celled,  two-seeded  ovary,  surrounded  by  an 
adherent  calyx,  and  furnished  with  a  bract,  which  ultimately 
forms  the  cupule,  only  one  seed  and  one  cell  being  developed  to 


NOTES  ON  THE  PHARMACOPOEIA. 

Calcii  Chloridum. — Distinguish  this  carefully  from  “chloride 
of  lime  ” — the  common  disinfectant — which  evolves  chlorine  on  the 
addition  of  hydrochloric  acid. 

Calcii  Sulphas. — The  native  sulphate,  gypsum,  CaS04,2H  U, 
loses  the  water  of  crystallisation  when  heated,  and  the  anhydrous 
sulphate,  known  as  ‘  ‘  Plaster  of  Paris,  ”  is  very  largely  used  for 
making  moulds  and  casts,  because  when  mixed  to  a  creamy  con¬ 
sistence  with  water,  the  mixture  solidifies  in  a  short  time  (varying 
with  the  amount  of  water  added),  owing  to  the  re-formation  of  the 
hydrated  salt,  which  ‘  ‘  sets  ”  to  a  coherent  mass  of  interlocking 
needle  crystals.  The  heat  used  for  dehydrating  the  gypsum  should 
not  be  too  high,  below  200°  C.  is  best,  otherwise  the  product  when 
mixed  with  water  sets  too  slowly,  and  if  a  red  heat  be  employed, 
this  property  is  entirely  lost.  Commercial  1  ‘  plaster  ”  usually 
contains  4  or  5  per  cent,  of  water  (CaS04,  2H20  =  20 '9  per  cent, 
water),  and  if  exposed,  especially  to  a  damp  atmosphere,  it  absorbs 
more  and  sets  more  slowly. 

Calx  Sulphurata. — The  small  dose  relative  to  other  calcium 
compounds  on  the  one  hand,  and  sulphur  on  the  other,  is  chiefly 
due  to  the  ease  with  which  sulphuretted  hydrogen  is  evolved  by 
the  action  of  the  hydrochloric  acid  of  the  gastric  juice.  A  very 
much  larger  quantity  of  free  sulphur  is  required  to  produce  the 
same  effect,  but  a  very  small  quantity  of  H2S  goes  a  long  way  in 
the  breath  and  excreta  of  a  patient. 

Cambogia. — The  formation  of  an  emulsion  with  water,  and 
solution  by  the  successive  action  of  rectified  spirit  and  water  are 
typical  of  gum  resins  in  general.  If  starch  be  present  the 
addition  of  iodine  produces  a  green  colour,  by  combination  of  the 
blue  colour  of  the  iodide  of  starch  with  the  yellow  of  the  gamboge. 

Cataplasmata. — These  preparations  are  not  so  frequently  em¬ 
ployed  in  medical  practice  as  formerly,  and  the  formulae  might  well 
be  omitted  from  the  next  edition  of  the  Pharmacopoeia.  In  hem¬ 
lock  poultice  the  juice  of  hemlock  is  evaporated  in  half  its  volume, 
presumably  to  remove  the  alcohol.  In  yeast  poultice  tepid  water 
is  employed,  since  boiling  water  would  kill  the  yeast.  For  a 
similar  reason  mustard  should  not  be  mixed  with  boiling  water, 
since  the  activity  of  mustard  depends  upon  the  development  of 
essential  oil,  the  latter  being  a  product  of  the  decomposition  of  the 
glucoside  sinigrin,  under  the  influence  of  a  special  albuminous 
(proteid)  ferment.  This  ferment  is  coagulated  and  rendered  in¬ 
soluble,  like  the  proteids  of  egg  albumen,  at  the  temperature  of 
boiling  water.  In  this  condition  it  is  incapable  of  exerting  its 
specific  action  upon  the  glucoside. 

Chloral  Hydras.  — Chloral  is  trichloracetic  aldehyde,  CC13C  -0  'H. 
Chloral  hydrate,  CC13CH<^q^  or  CC13C0H'H20,  exhibits  an  un¬ 
common  feature,  namely,  the  presence  of  two  hydroxyl  groups' 
combined  with  the  same  carbon  atom.  As  a  general  rule  attempts 

OH 

to  prepare  bodies  containing  the  group  =  C<^qjj  result  in  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  the  carbonyl  group  =  CO,  the  elements  of  a  molecule  of 

OH 

water  separating  (compare  carbonic  acid,  0C<qjj  =  C02  +  H20). 

When  chlorine  (or  some  other  negative  element  or  group)  is  united 
to  a  neighbouring  carbon  atom  the  formation  of  the  group 

OH  ^ 

=  C<^q^|  is  rendered  possible.  Chloral  hydrate  is  decomposed  by 

heat,  as  indicated  by  its  vapour  density,  into  chloral  and  water. 
Chloral  hydrate  is  decomposed  by  alkalies  into  chloroform  and 
formic  acid. 


CCl3CH(OH)2  +  KOH  =  chci3  +  h2o  +  hco-ok. 
CCL 


H 


CH<gg 

OK 


.OH  /O 

Note  the  breaking  up  of  the — CH<^ into  C^  _  and  H20  when 


the  chlorine  is  removed. 


NOH 


VH 


March  27,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


277 


Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


LONDON:  SATURDAY,  MARCH  27,  1897. 


CONSIDERATION  FOR  THE  “  POOR  ”  CHEMIST. 

So  far  the  discussion  of  the  proposed  new  bye-laws  has 
not  furnished  evidence  of  any  disposition  on  the  part  of 
chemists  and  druggists  to  respond  to  the  factious  invocation 
to|“  strike  a  blow  for  justice  ”  by  opposing  the  amendments 
which  the  Council  has  declared  to  he  requisite  in  regard  to  the 
Preliminary  examination  and  the  fee  payable  for  qualification 
under  the  Pharmacy  Act,  1868.  On  the  contrary,  there  have 
been  very  decided  expressions  of  approval  and  of  anticipa¬ 
tion  that  the  changes  proposed  will  meet  with  general  support 
throughout  the  trade.  The  representations  put  forward  with 
the  object  of  exciting  opposition  have  been  declared  to  be  as 
inappropriate  as  they  are  misleading,  and  the  statement  of 
facts  in  connection  with  the  cost  of  the  Society’s  Journal, 
published  last  week,  sufficiently  proves  those  representations 
to  be  without  foundation.  The  remarks  made  to  that  effect 
by  Mr.  Taplin  in  opening  the  discussion  at  the  Western 
Chemists’  Association  were  heartily  re-echoed  at  Cambridge 
last  Friday  and,  on  both  occasions,  the  desirability  of  still 
further  changes  in  the  same  direction,  requiring  amendment 
of  the  Act,  was  pointed  out  by  several  of  the  speakers. 

On  the  subject  of  the  Preliminary  examination  there 
is  perfect  unanimity  of  opinion  that  the  proposed  change  is 
absolutely  essential  and  calculated  to  be  advantageous  in  every 
respect.  ’  The  only  point  in  regard  to  which  there  has  not 
been  equal  unanimity  as  to  the  increased  fee  for  qualification, 
was  the  possible  effect  of  the  larger  fee  upon  men  to  whom 
the  extra  five  guineas  would  be  “  a  great  consideration.”  On 
that  point  Mr.  Andrews  prefers  to  keep  an  open  mind 
for  the  present,  though  he  is  otherwise  entirely  in  accord 
with  the  proposals  of  the  Council.  He  spoke  of  having  know¬ 
ledge  of  chemists  so  poor  that  their  continued  existence  was 
very  precarious,  though  they  were  of  service  to  the  public 
in  their  locality,  and  he  fears  that  if  such  men  desired 
to  bring  up  their  sons  to  the  business  the  extra  fee 
for  qualification  would  press  hardly  upon  them.  For 
these  reasons  Mr.  Andrews  thought  that  consideration  for 
the  public,  as  well  as  for  chemists  in  such  a  position  as  he 
referred  to,  might  render  the  propriety  of  the  increased 
fee  questionable.  This  sentiment  commands  sympathy 
on  the  ground  of  common  humanity,  but  there  are  stronger 
reasons  for  maintaining  that  there  should  be  no  occasion  for 
making  the  poverty  of  chemists,  even  in  the  poorest  locali¬ 
ties,  a  ground  of  objection  to  an  increased  qualification 
fee.  The  business  of  a  chemist  and  druggist,  as  carried 
on  individually  under  some  conditions,  cannot  be  very 
lucrative  ;  but  the  responsibility  attaching  to  it  demands 
that  adequate  remuneration  should  be  secured  to  those 
who  elect  to  carry  on  business  under  such  conditions. 

In  the  sense  that  Mr.  Andrews  made  use  of  the  term  “poor” 
there  should  indeed  be  no  poor  chemists.  Such  a  condition 
is  as  inconsistent  with  the  nature  of  the  duties  chemists  have 
to  fulfil  as  it  is  undesirable  in  the  interests  of  the  public 
and  of  the  craft.  Two  or  three  chemists  in  a  poor  locality 


where  even  one  would  be  unable  to  keep  an  assistant,  might 
indeed  be  reduced  to  the  alternative  once  described  by 
Mr.  Barnard  Proctor  as  that  of  eating  their  neighbours 
in  order  to  avoid  being  eaten,  but  that  is  a  condition  of 
things  which  should  be  prevented  as  much  as  possible.  The 
mischief  is  in  there  being  too  many  chemists,  and  it  is 
inexpedient,  either  in  the  public  interest  or  for  the 
interests  of  chemists,  to  facilitate  increase  in  the  number 
of  those  whose  conduct  must  be  directed  by  the  exigence  of 
poverty  rather  than  by  ability  and  desire  to  uphold  the 
character  of  the  calling  to  which  they  belong.  One  of  the 
earliest  forms  of  expression  given  to  the  object  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society,  was  that  it  should  increase  the 
“  respectability  of  chemists  and  druggists.”  That  was  in  every 
sense  a  laudable  object,  and  its  attainment  has  been 
steadily  progressing,  notwithstanding  many  obstacles. 
Increase  of  the  qualification  fee  would  have  a  beneficial 
influence  in  the  same  direction  by  making  the.  corre¬ 
sponding  requirements  matter  for  consideration  before  appren¬ 
ticeship.  A  consequent  limitation  of  the  number  of 
chemists  would  also  be  a  legitimate  means,  perhaps  the  only 
attainable  means,  of  securing  such  protection  as  the  legally 
qualified  chemist  and  druggist  is  entitled  to  look  for. 
It  may  be  hoped,  therefore,  that  Mr.  Andrews’  kindly 
consideration  for  poor  chemists  may  undergo  a  change  in  its 
direction,  and  that  he  may  be  led  to  recognise  in  the  new 
bye-laws  an  appropriate  means  of  giving  effect  to  it. 

The  case  of  the  apprentices  north  of  the  Tweed  who  have 
to  support  themselves  and  earn  their  qualification  fees,  as 
represented  by  Mr.  MacEwan,  naturally  failed  in  Cambridge  to 
produce  the  desired  effect,  since  such  conditions  are  by  no 
means  uncommon  there.  One  of  the  apprentices  present  at 
the  meeting  pointed  out  this  fact,  and  suggested  that  the  poor 
fellows  north  of  the  Tweed  had  too  much  backbone  to  be 
beaten  by  the  demand  for  another  five  guineas,  a  result  more 
probable  with  candidates  of  a  jelly-fish  order  which  is  not 
common  in  Scotland.  This  youngster  deserves  credit  for  the 
view  he  expressed,  and  it  may  be  anticipated  that,  in  his 
future  career  as  a  pharmacist,  he  will  be  among  those  who 
take  a  front  seat. 

But  one  of  the  most  beneficial  results  to  be  looked  for  as 
following  from  increase  of  the  qualification  fee,  is  the  clearing 
away  of  some  portion  at  least  of  the  encumbrance  of  rejected 
candidates,  which  has  become  a  disgrace  to  the  calling,  besides 
being  a  source  of  serious  detriment  otherwise.  Concurrently 
with  improvement  in  that  direction,  there  would  probably 
be  corresponding  reduction  in  the  amount  received  by  the 
Society,  so  that  increase  of  the  fee  appears  on  this  account  to 
be  necessary.  As  regards  the  matter  of  financial  requirements 
the  view  expressed  by  Mr.  Taplin  and  by  Mr.  Campkin 
should  commend  itself  to  all  registered  chemists  and  to  all 
who  aspire  to  obtain  registration.  The  money  required  for 
conducting  the  work  done  by  the  Society  in  its  public  capacity 
must  be  provided  by  those  seeking  qualification  and 
desiring  to  participate  in  the  advantages  attaching  to 
registration.  Whether  the  examinations  pay  is  not  the 
question,  for  the  qualification  of  a  chemist  and  druggist 
is  not  conferred  as  a  matter  of  trade.  There  are  other  purposes 
necessarily  belonging  to  the  administration  of  the  Pharmacy 
Act  for  the  benefit  of  the  trade  at  large,  to  which  the  private 
means  of  the  Society  have  hitherto  been  liberally  applied, 
and  justice  requires  that  all  registered  chemists  should  also 
contribute  as  well  as  subscribers  to  the  Society. 


278 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[March  27,  1897. 


AM  NOTATIONS. 

The  Proposed  New  Bye-Laws  apparently  commend  themselves 
to  the  members  and  associates  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  as  a 
whole,  such  disinterested  criticisms  as  have  been  offered — and  there 
have  been  very  little  of  any  other  kind — being  in  support  of 
modifications  that  have  already  been  shown  to  be  undesirable. 
Suggestions  that  cannot  be  adopted  without  obtaining  fresh 
powers  from  the  Legislature  are  obviously  quite  beside  the  mark  in 
the  present  discussion.  London  and  Cambridge  have  declared 
themselves  unreservedly  in  favour  of  the  proposed  alterations, 
Nottingham,  Glasgow,  and  Plymouth  are  preparing  to  discuss  them, 
and  will  doubtless  approve  in  an  equally  unmistakable  manner. 
Indeed,  it  is  difficult  to  see  that  any  body  of  chemists  and  drug¬ 
gists  can  reasonably  take  objection  to  the  proposals  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Council,  which  have  been  framed  in  the  best 
interests  of  the  whole  body  and  not  of  those  connected  with  the 
Society  only.  Criticism,  as  such,  should  not  be  objected  to  by  any 
governing  body  in  a  healthy  condition  ;  but  opposition  to  the  policy 
o'  the  Society,  as  interpreted  by  its  Council,  should  not  be  based 
on  the  assumption  of  a  non-existent  state  of  affairs. 

A  Huge  Mythical  Profit  for  the  Society  has  been  predicted, 
amongst  other  errors,  as  it  seems  too  readily  to  have  been  assumed  in 
certain  quarters  that  the  Society  will  enjoy  a  greatly  augmented  in¬ 
come  if  the  proposed  alterations  in  the  bye-laws  receive  the  stamp  of 
authority.  If  due  allowance  be  made  for  certain  inevitable  re¬ 
sults  of  the  change,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  financial  position  is  not 
likely  to  be  affected  to  anything  like  the  extent  that  might  be 
imagined  at  first  glance.  The  abolition  of  the  Preliminary 
examination  will  result  in  a  considerable  permanent  loss,  for 
though  the  cost  of  the  examination  will  be  saved  in  each  case, 
there  will  be  a  large  diminution  in  the  number  of  registered 
students.  This  will  be  unavoidable  in  the  absence  of  powers  to 
enforce  a  three  years’  interval  between  registration  as  a  student 
and  qualification.  Then,  as  to  the  qualifying  examination,  an 
important  and  not  the  least  useful  effect  of  the  increased 
registration  fee  will  be  an  appreciable  reduction  in  the  number  of 
those  who  come  up  only  to  fail  to  satisfy  the  examiners.  When  a 
prospective  candidate  sits  down  to  count  the  cost,  and  considers 
that  the  expense  attending  failure  is  twice  what  it  now  is,  it  does 
not  require  a  very  extensive  acquaintance  with  human  nature  to 
arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  he  will  defer  his  attempt  to  secure 
registration  as  a  chemist  and  druggist,  until  he  feels  much  more 
certain  of  success  than  is  common  at  the  present  time.  And  in 
this  way  a  greater  benefit  will  be  conferred  on  candidates  than  is 
possible  under  any  other  circumstances  short  of  a  compulsory 
curriculum  of  study. 

The  Broader  the  Earlier  Education  is,  as  so  ably  pointed  out 
in  the  Journal  by  Mr.  E.  Saville  Peck,  some  eighteen  months  ago, 
the  better  pharmacist  is  a  youth  likely  to  become.  And  to  secure 
the  necessary  breadth,  it  is  essential  that  an  advanced  stage  should 
have  been  attained  before  the  period  of  purely  scholastic  education 
closes.  By  extending  the  range  of  subjects,  a  knowledge 
of  which  shall  be  required  of  all  candidates  for  registra¬ 
tion  as  students,  and  increasing  the  standard,  the  desirability 
of  passing  the  Preliminary  examination  before  leaving 
school  will  be  rendered  more  evident,  as  shown  by  Mr.  Peck. 
In  addition,  those  who  have  neither  the  intellectual  capacity 
nor  the  application  required  to  pass  the  Minor  will  be  more 
thoroughly  eliminated,  and  recognition  of  unfitness  for  a  pharma¬ 
ceutical  career  will  probably  come  much  earlier  than  at  present, 
thus  enabling  the  pharmaceutically  unfit  ‘  ‘  to  turn  their  hand  to 


work  more  fitted  for  their  abilities  ”  before  it  is  too  late 
Finally,  and  a  most  cogent  reason,  having  passed  an  examination 
demanding  a  fairly  high  intellectual  capacity,  the  would-be  phar¬ 
macist  will  be  less  likely  to  stoop  to  unworthy  tasks,  or  to  serve 
under  an  incapable  principal. 

The  Pharmacy  Acts  seem  to  have  as  determined  a  foe  in  Judge 
French  as  in  one  or  two  of  the  Scottish  sheriffs.  We  had  occasion 
some  time  ago  (see  last  volume,  p.  388)  to  comment  upon  the  evident 
bias  displayed  by  the  same  judge  in  a  case  where  it  was 
clearly  shown  that  public  safety  had  been  endangered  .  by 
the  sale  of  poisonous  .rat-cake  by  an  unregistered  person. 
Though  the  evidence  left  no  loop-hole  for  escape  from 
the  logical  conclusion,  the  judge  decided  in  favour  of  the 
plaintiff  most  reluctantly,  and  practically  subjected  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society  to  a  penalty.  It  may  appear  to  the  lay 
mind  that  the  proof  of  illegal  sale  of  poison  was  fully  as 
clear  in  the  case  decided  at  Bow  County  Court  on  Monday  ; 
indeed,  the  answers  of  the  defendant  to  interrogations  admin¬ 
istered  to  him  leave  little  room  for  doubt  that  he  had  been  in 
the  habit  of  retailing  poisons  and  ought  to  have  been  fined  for  so 
doing  in  the  present  instance.  But  on  this  occasion  the  Society  was 
deprived  even  of  the  poor  satisfaction  of  a  disastrous  victory  for,  in 
the  face  of  all  the  facts,  Judge  French  gave  judgment  for  the  defen¬ 
dant,  petulantly  reproaching  the  Society  meanwhile  for  perform¬ 
ing  a  public  duty.  Unfortunately,  no  opportunity  is  afforded  of 
entering  an  appeal  against  such  judgments,  however  unsupported 
they  may  be  by  facts,  but  if  these  displays  of  unwarranted  pre¬ 
judice  by  judges  and  sheriffs  continue  it  may  become  necessary  for 
a  question  on  the  subject  to  be  asked  in  the  House  of  Commons. 
Otherwise,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  these  individuals  who  set 
themselves  above  the  law  can  be  kept  in  order. 

Lime  Cream  and  Glycerin,  alleged  to  contain  none  of  the 
latter  ingredient,  though  the  maker  says  he  put  some  in,  is  now 
on  its  trial  at  Brentford  Police  Court.  The  formula  of  the  prepara¬ 
tion  resembles  that  recommended  by  Mr.  Hyslop  in  this  week’s 
Journal,  but  if  glycerin  present  to  the  extent  of  half  a  drachm  in 
eight  ounces  cannot  be  detected  by  public  analysts,  it  is  difficult  to 
see  that  safety  lies  in  the  direction  indicated  for  the  unnecessarily 
harassed  chemist  and  druggist.  If  the  Somerset  House  chemists 
also  fail  to  detect  the  presence  of  added  glycerin,  the  only 
alternative  will  be  to  name  the  preparation  “  Lime  Cream,” 
pure  and  simple,  as  suggested  by  Air.  Hyslop.  But  if  emulsi¬ 
fication  is  effected  by  the  aid  of  liquor  potass  ic  in  place  of  solutio  n 
of  lime,  a  method  preferred  by  many,  the  problem  will  become 
still  more  involved,  for  “  Lime  Cream”  and  “  Cream”  will  be 
equally  debarred  as  names,  and  perhaps  the  only  way  out  of 
the  difficulty  will  then  be  to  decline  to  supply  the  public  with 
the  preparation  under  any  of  the  names  they  know  it  by.  Which, 
as  Euclid  observes,  is  absurd  ! 

The  Liquor  Licensing  Laws  Commission  has  secured  a  huge  mass 
of  evidence,  the  first  volume  containing  which  is  an  enormous  Blue- 
Book  of  nearly  five  hundred  folio  pages.  Air.  Bannister,  of  the 
Government  Laboratory,  Somerset  House,  referred  in  the  course 
of  his  evidence  to  so-called  “temperance  drinks.”  In  one  case 
herb  beer  had  been  sold,  at  Nottingham,  which  contained.il  per 
cent,  of  alcohol,  and  “parsnip  beer”  had  been  found  to  contain 
as  much  as  13*7  per  cent.,  while  a  “blue  ribbon  drink”  yielded 
about  3  per  cent,  on  examination.  Other  “temperance”  drinks 
were  shown  to  be  exhilarating  enough  in  their  way,  ginger  beer  being 
found  to  contain  as  much  as  8|  per  cent,  of  proof  spirit ;  “medical 
porter,”  7  per  cent.  ;  orangeade  and  dandelion  stout,  8  per  cent. 

each ;  and  ‘  ‘ botanic  porter,”  6|  per  cent.  So  much  for  the  ‘ ‘  temper- 


March  27, 1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


279 


ance  ”  side  of  the  question.  On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Bannister  did 
his  best  to  remove  some  apprehensions  that  have  afflicte  1  whisky 
drinkers  and  others.  In  particular,  he  stated  that  the  supposed 
bad  effect  of  fusel  oil  in  spirits  is  much  exaggerated,  and  claimed 
that,  in  the  small  quantity  in  which  it  is  found  in  whisky,  it  may 
even  promote  digestion..  Neither  new  nor  old  spirit,  he  insisted,  is 
the  especial  cause  of  mischief  to  topers,  but  the  absorption  of 
excessive  quantities  of  the  attractive  fluids.  Reverting  to  the 
fusel  oil  question,  the  witness  thought  there  was  no  doubt  that 
the  equivalent  of  more  fusel  oil  would  be  taken  in  eating  half  a 
pound  of  pear  drops  than  in  drinking  “a  good  lot”  of  Scotch 
whisky. 

New  Testament  Microbes  have  engaged  the  attention  of  Mr. 
F.  W.  Richardson,  consulting  chemist  to  the  Bradford  Corpora¬ 
tion,  who  has  published  an  interesting  report  on  the  subject,  at 
the  request  of  the  public  authorities  of  Ripon.  Two  New  Testa¬ 
ments  which  had  been  kissed  in  the  Liberty  and  West  Riding 
Court  by  some  40,000  persons,  during  a  period  of  sixty  years,  were 
submitted  to  bacteriological  examination,  and  seven  species  of 
micro-organisms  were  detected.  These  consisted  of  moulds, 
yeasts,  and  schizomycetes,  the  latter  including  various  cocci  and 
bacilli.  Although  the  germs  found  are  not  necessarily  harmful, 
yet  there  are  conditions  in  which  they  might  produce  unpleasant 
complications  and,  speaking  as  an  expert,  Mr.  Richardson  says  he 
would  not  like  to  kiss  any  surface  upon  which  those  microbes  were 
spread.  If  salivary  germs,  even  leaving  aside  the  possibilities  of 
their  having  originated  from  sore  or  wounded  surfaces,  could 
thus  be  introduced  into  and  upon  the  Testament  by  kissing,  the 
Yorkshire  Post  asks  if  it  is  not  possible  that  other  microbes,  such 
as  those  of  diphtheria,  scarlet  fever,  etc. ,  might  similarly  be  left 
there.  The  culture  tubes  containing  the  microbes  and  moulds 
found  in  a  living  state  in  and  on  the  books  have  been  forwarded  to 
Mr.  H.  B.  Rudd,  pharmaceutical  chemist,  Ripon,  in  order  that  he 
may  exhibit  them  as  an  object  lesson  for  the  citizens. 

The  Geologists’  Association,  London,  has  arranged  an  excur¬ 
sion  to  Chesham  and  Cowcroft  on  Saturday,  April  3 ;  one  to 
Aylesbury,  Hartwell,  and  Stone,  a  week  later ;  and  another  to 
Walmer,  St.  Margarets,  Dover,  Folkestone,  and  Romney  Marsh, 
during  the  Easter  holiday,  starting  from  Charing  Cross  on 
Thursday,  April  15,  at  4.30  p.m.,  and  arriving  in  town  again  on 
the  following  Tuesday  night.  Subsequent  excursions  will  be  to 
Cookham,  Southboro’  and  Tunbridge  Wells,  Chislehurst,  Erith, 
Cheltenham,  Leighton,  Merstham,  Peterborough,  Bishop’s  Stort- 
ford,  and  Edinburgh.  This  programme  should  tempt  many  to 
join  the  Association,  more  particularly  as  special  fares  for  the 
excursions  are  quoted  in  many  instances,  and  competent  geologists 
are  to  act  as  conductors  in  every  case.  Full  particulars  may  be 
obtained  of  Mr.  H.  W.  Monckton,  10,  King’s  Bench  Walk, 
Temple,  E.C. 

The  Chemists’  Assistants’  Association  is  about  to  sever  its 
connection  of  so  many  years’  standing  with  the  premises  in  Great 
Russell  Street,  and  we  are  asked  to  state  that  the  meeting 
arranged  for  Thursday,  April  1  (avert  the  omen  !)  will  be  held  at 
9,  Queen’s  Square,  W.C.  The  programme  for  that  evening  will 
include  a  discussion  on  the  proposed  new  bye-laws  of  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society,  in  addition  to  the  reading  of  short  papers  by 
members.  On  the  social  side,  the  Association  appears  to  supply 
a  want  amongst  its  members  and  their  friends,  the 
Cinderella  dances  held  during  the  session  having  proved 
extremely  successful.  The  last  of  the  prearranged  series 
takes  place  as  we  go  to  press,  but  Mr.  C.  Morley,  President 


of  the  Association,  writes  to  say  that,  in  response  to  numerous 
requests,  an  additional  but  unofficial  dance  on  similar  lines  will  be 
held  on  Tuesday,  April  6,  at  the  Dorset  Hall,  Portman  Rooms. 
Tickets  (2.9.  6 d.  each)  may  be  obtained  from  Mr.  A.  R.  Melhuish, 
116,  St.  John’s  Street,  E.C.,  and  as  all  profits  will  be  devot'  d  to 
the  Benevolent  Fund,  it  is  hoped  that  thgre  may  be  a  large 
attendance. 


The  Pharmaceutical  Poet  of  the  North,  Mr.  Alexander  Laing, 
is  favoured  with  a  corner  of  the  Kelso  Mail  for  March  17,  where 
he  pours  out  some  not  unattractive  rhyming  strains  addressed  to 
“  The  Fisher  Maiden.”  Another  rhymester’s  effort,  which 
should  appeal  to  our  readers,  and  especially  to  such  as  have  not 
yet  forgotten  all  they  were  taught  of  the  Latin  tongue,  is  an  ode 
‘  ‘  To  Lycoris  ”  (Liquorice)  which  appears  in  the  Granta,  and  a 
few  lines  of  which  are  here  given 


Nigra,  dulcis  et  viscosa 
Quantum  amo  te,  Lycoris  ! 

Quurn  magister  (pende  ilium  ! ) 
Tergum  vertit.  pro  momento 
Manus  mea  ad  os  fugit 
Portans  globulos  superbos  ; 
Furtim  sugo,  sugo  semper, 


Tanquam  veteres  cothurnos  (boots) 
Tanquam  domum  super  ignem 
Dico  sugo  tanquam  flammas  ! 
Ignoro  quod  dicit  iste 
Paedagogus  semi-caecus. 

Pe  ponderibus  et  mensuris 
Flatus  sim  si  euro  floccum  ! 


German  Thermometers  were  eulogised  by  Professor  Riicker 
when  a  deputation  recently  waited  upon  Lord  Salisbury,  in  the 
hope  of  persuading  him  to  allow  a  few  individuals — who,  of  course, 
have  only  the  good  of  “British  science”  at  heart — to  enjoy  the 
fingering  of  a  fairly  large  sum  of  public  money.  The  learned  pro¬ 
fessor,  with  a  fine  disregard  of  facts,  ventured  to  assert  that  no 
high-class  mercurial  thermometers  are  now  made  in  England,  but 
that  they  are  made  in  Germany.  In  Tuesday’s  Times ,  however,  Mr. 
J.  J.  Hicks,  of  Hatton  Garden,  whose  absence  in  Australia  has  pre¬ 
vented  him  dealing  with  the  matter  earlier,  states  that  this  is  the  re¬ 
verse  of  the  truth,  as  such  thermometers  are  made  here  and  always 
have  been.  The  Kew  authorities,  according  to  Professor  Rucker,  send 
their  standard  thermometers  to  France  or  Germany  to  be  re-tested, 
but  Mr.  Hicks  thinks  this  is  incredible,  as  better  means  exist  for 
testing  thermometers  at  Kew  than  anywhere  abroad,  and  the  workers 
there  have  had  far  more  experience  and  practice.  He  then  pro¬ 
ceeds  to  carry  war  into  the  enemy’s  territory  by  asserting  that 
nine-tenths  of  the  German  thermometers  made  are  most  inaccurate, 
some  in  his  possession  being  from  ten  to  eighteen  degrees  out  in 
some  part  of  their  scales — “they  are  what  we  in  the  trade  call 
cheap,  but  dear  at  any  price.”  Many  users  of  thermometers,  and 
especially  clinical  thermometers,  are  in  a  position  to  confirm  this 
statement,  and  it  is  satisfactory  to  note  that  some  British  manufac¬ 
turers  are  yet  in  a  position  to  “  give  points”  to  their  foreign  rivals. 

A  Knowledge  of  the  Odds  may  or  may  not  be  accompanied 
by  evils,  but  the  following  incident  commended  by  the  Lancet  to 
the  notice  of  Mr.  Hawke,  as  another  instance  of  the  supposed  evils 
of  such  knowledge,  is  too  good  to  be  lost  in  our  contemporary’s 
heavily  laden  pages.  Scene  :  The  ward  of  a  metropolitan  hospital ; 
in  one  bed  is  lying  a  member  of  the  sporting  fraternity  ;  to  him 
enter  a  surgeon,  attended  by  fifteen  eager  and  obsequious  dressers. 
Surgeon,  to  the  dresser  of  the  case,  after  an  able  and  exhaustive 
account  of  the  symptoms  :  “  Now,  Mr.  Smith,  would  you  operate 
on  this  case?”  Mr.  Smith  (dresser):  “No,  sir,  I  should  not.” 

“  And  you,  and  you,  and  you  ?”  indicating  the  others.  Unanimous 
negative.  “Well,  gentlemen,  you  are  all  quite  wrong,”  says  the 
surgeon,  with  conscious  pride,  “I  intend  to  operate.”  Voice  from 
the  bed  :  “  No  you  don’t,  gov’nor !  Fifteen  to  one  agin  it — no 
chaunce.  ’Ere,  Isay,  miss,  give  me  my  clothes;  I’m  orf.”  And 
yet,  hospitals  are  usually  regarded  as  places  of  sadness,  and  the 
last  spots  in  the  world  to  look  for  anything  humorous. 


280 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Maech  27,  1897 


JWEETIflGS  Op  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIETIES 

— - — ♦ - 

Chemical  Society,  Thursday,  March  4. — Mr.  A.  G.  Vernon 
Harcourt,  F.R.S.,  President,  in  the  chair. — Everybody  of  note  in 
chemical  circles  seemed  to  be  at  this  meeting.  Dr.  Scott,  of  the  Davy- 
Earaday  Research  Laboratory,  was  probably  the  attraction  for  a 
great  many  ;  at  all  events,  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  speaking  to 
one  of  the  largest  audiences  of  the  session. — The  Secretary  first 
of  all  announced  that  Professor  Ramsay  had  been  nominated  as 
President  of  the  Society,  in  succession  to  Mr.  Harcourt. — Dr. 
Collie  rose  to  say  that  Professor  Ramsay  had  been  nominated 
without  his  knowledge  or  permission. — Mr.  Spiller  had  a  com¬ 
plaint  to  make.  His  last  copy  of  the  ‘  Proceedings  ’  had  arrived  in 
a  state  unfit  for  binding.  It  was,  he  said,  what  is  technically  called 
a  “waster.”— Mr.  David  Howard  then  rose  and  said  that  Mr. 
Spiller  was  lucky  in  getting  anything  at  all.  He  had  not  yet 
received  the  January  number  of  the  ‘  Journal.’ — Dr.  Kipping 
suggested  that  as  there  was  to  be  a  contested  election  it  might  be 
desirable  to  hasten  the  publication  of  the  ‘Proceedings.’ — The 
President  informed  Dr.  Kipping  that  the  attention  of  the  Council 
had  been  drawn  to  the  matter,  and  Professor  Thompson  assured  Mr. 
Spiller  that  the  ‘  Proceedings  ’  would  be  forwarded  in  good  order 
in  future. — The  first  paper  was  by  Dr.  Alex.  Scott,  M.A.,  D.Sc., 

On  the  Atomic  Weight  of  Carbon. 

This  was  mainly  a  critical  paper.  The  author  reviewed  the 
work  of  Dumas,  Stas,  Marchand,  and  others,  and  although  he 
points  out  some  gross  errors  in  the  calculations  of  Stas  and  the 
others,  he  says  that  we  may  still  consider  that  the  atomic  weight 
of  carbon  is  twelve.  He  had  prepared  his  carbon  from  sodium 
oxalate  in  a  state  of  great  purity,  being  perfectly  free  from 
hydrogen.  In  answer  to  a  question  by  Mr.  C.  E.  Groves  as  to 
how  much  carbon  he  had  obtained  from  the  oxalate,  Dr.  Scott  said 
that  he  had  obtained  4  grammes  from  160  grammes  of  the  salt. 

- — Mr.  Blount  inquired  if  the  carbon  thus  obtained  was  absolutely 
free  from  mineral  matter,  but  Dr.  Scott  did  not  seem  ready  to 
guarantee  this. — As  the  discussion  at  this  point  was  rapidly 
becoming  conversational,  the  President  announced  that  Dr.  Scott 
would  now  read  his  other  paper — - 

On  a  New  Series  of  Mixed  Sulphates  of  the  Vitriol  Group. 
The  results  embodied  in  this  paper  are  the  outcome  of  certain 
observations  made  during  the  examination  of  students.  The  key-note 
of  the  whole  thing  is  found  in  the  fact  that  when  strong  sulphuric 
acid  is  added  gradually  and  in  equal  volume  to  a  hot  saturated 
solution  of  ferrous  and  cupric  sulphates,  a  bright  red  crystalline 
precipitate  is  formed,  having  the  composition — 

Cu . 18 

Fe  . 40 

SOj .  58 

HaO  .  58 

Some  curious  results  are  obtained  according  to  the  proportions  in 
which  the  various  substances  are  present.  In  certain  cases  there  is  too 
much  base  for  the  sulphuric  acid.  In  answer  to  a  request  by  the 
President  to  write  the  formula  for  the  salt,  Dr.  Scott  replied  that 
at  present  he  was  not  able  to  do  so.  Other  double  salts  or  mixed 
sulphates  prepared  on  the  same  lines  are  copper-nickel,  copper- 
zinc,  which  is  a  white  salt,  and  copper-cobalt  which  is  also  white, 
and  contains  13  per  cent,  copper  and  20  per  cent,  cobalt;  also 
cobalt-nickel  and  chromous-zinc.  The  last-named  salt  contains 
11  per  cent,  chromium,  and  23  per  cent,  zinc,  and  is  prepared 
from  the  chromium  acetate.  The  green  colour  of  the  salt  is  due 
to  the  presence  of  chromic  salt.  Many  other  salts  were  prepared 
and  shown  on  the  table. — Mr.  Spiller  was  the  first  to  speak, 
saying  that  he  had  gone  over  the  same  ground  ten  years  ago,  but 
not  quite  so  far  as  Dr.  Scott  had  gone.  The  result  of  his  work 
was  communicated  to  the  British  Association. — The  President 
supposed  that  the  action  of  the  sulphuric  acid  was  simply  that  of 
dehydration,  just  the  same  as  when  sulphuric  acid  was  added  to 
copper  sulphate  itself.  The  sulphate  in  this  case,  as  in  all  the 
salts  prepared  by  Dr.  Scott,  contained  only  a  single  molecule  of 
water.  Dr.  Scott’s  preparations,  he  thought,  were  really  double 
salts  of  the  same  type. — Dr.  Scott  briefly  replied,  and  the 
President  announced  that  an  important  communication  had  been 
sent  by  Dr.  W.  H.  Perkin,  and  would  be  read  by  Dr.  Kipping. 
The  title  of  this  paper  was — 

The  Synthesis  of  Camphoronic  Acid, 
which  Dr.  Kipping  said  was  a  mod,est  title,  and  one  that  gave  no 


idea  of  the  tremendous  amount  of  work  involved.  Hitherto  this 
chemical  problem  has  been  attacked  by  breaking  the  camphor 
molecule  to  pieces.  Dr.  Perkin’s  object,  however,  has  been  to 
build  it  up,  or  in  other  words,  to  arrive  at  the  composition  of  cam- 
hor  by  synthesis.  Dr.  Perkin  started  with  isobutyric  acid,  which 
e  converted  into  the  monobromo  derivative,  and  then  into  ethyl- 
aceto-acetate,  finally  producing  a  body  which  he  has  conclusively 
roved  to  be  camphoronic  acid,  C10H16O6.  The  synthetical  acid 
as  the  same  composition  as  that  prepared  from  camphor,  the  same 
melting-point,  and  the  same  reactions.  He  thus  proves  that 
Bredt’s  formula  is  right.  Dr.  Kipping  said  it  was  a  matter  of 
congratulation  that  the  synthesis  had  been  done  in  England.  It 
was  the  most  important  step  in  advance  that  had  been  made  for  a 
long  time.  Dr.  Kipping  here  read  a  letter  that  had  been  handed 
to  him  earlier  in  the  evening  from  Dr.  Perkin,  describing  another 
reaction  in  further  corroboration  of  his  work.  This  latest  achieve¬ 
ment  by  Dr.  Perkin  seems  to  have  fallen  like  a  veritable  bomb  into 
the  “camphor”  camp,  and  no  one  replied  to  the  President’s  invita¬ 
tion  to  speak. 


Linnean  Society  of  London,  Thursday,  March  4. — Dr. 
A.  Gunther,  F.R.S.,  President,  in  the  chair.- — Mr.  W.  Carru- 
thers,  F.R.S.,  exhibited,  with  the  aid  of  lantern-slides,  a  series  of — 
Portraits  of  Linnasus, 

and  gave  some  account  of  the  history  of  each.  In  the 
course  of  a  tour  which  he  had  made  in  Sweden  and  Hol¬ 
land,  he  had  been  fortunate  enough  not  only  to  see  the 
original  paintings,  but  also  to  obtain  photographs  of  them,  so 
that  he  was  now  able  to  exhibit  exact  copies.  Putting  aside 
“supposed  portraits,”  and  such  as  might  be  termed  “fancy 
portraits”  having  no  claim  to  authenticity,  he  had  satisfied 
himself  of  the  existence  of  eight  that  were  certainly  painted 
or  drawn  from  life,  and  had  been  copied  more  or  less 
frequently  by  different  engravers.  The  earliest  of  these  was 
painted  by  Hoffman  in  1737,  while  Linmeus  was  working  for  his 
patron  Cliffort  at  Hartecamp,  and  represents  him  at  the  age  of 
thirty  in  the  picturesque  dress  in  which  he  travelled  through  Lap- 
land.  Of  the  next  portrait,  an  engraving  by  Ehrensverd  in  1740, 
no  original  is  known  to  exist.  In  1747,  at  the  age  of  forty,  two 
pencil  sketches  of  Linnasus,  one  being  a  full  length,  were  made  by 
Rehn ;  and  five  years  later  a  beautiful  pastel  was  executed  by  Lund- 
berg.  Scheffel  in  1755  painted  him  at  the  age  of  forty-eight ;  and 
this  portrait  is  preserved  at  Hammarby  in  the  house  of  Linnaeus, 
now  public  property  under  the  care  of  Professor  Fries,  of 
Upsala.  Then  came  the  medallion  by  Inlander,  executed 
in  1773,  of  which  a  copy  (one  of  three)  is  in  possession  of  this  Society. 
The  following  year,  when  Linnaeus  was  sixty-seven  years  of  age, 
his  portrait  was  painted  by  Krafft,  and  was  placed  originally  in 
the  Medical  College  of  Stockholm,  of  which  Linnaeus  was  one  of 
the  founders.  It  was  supposed  to  be  lost,  but  had  been  removed 
to  the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences  in  Stockholm,  where  Mr. 
Carruthers  discovered  it.  The  latest  portrait  was  that  by 
Roslin,  painted  in  1775,  when  Linnaeus  was  in  his  sixty-eighth  year. 
A  fine  copy  of  this  by  Pasch,  presented  to  Sir  Joseph  Banks,  and 
given  by  him  to  Robert  Brown,  now  hangs  in  the  Society’s  Library 
Dr.  W.  B.  Benham  then  read  a  paper  on  some 

New  Species  of  Earthworms 

belonging  to  the  genus  Perichceta  from  New  Britain  and 
elsewhere,  with  remarks  on  certain  diagnostic  characters  of 
the  genus.  After  pointing  out  the  characters  of  Perichceta, 
and  the  various  structures  available  for  the  determination  of 
species,  the  author  gave  an  account  of  five  new  forms  which 
had  been  received  from  Borneo,  Singapore,  the  Philippines, 
and  New  Britain.  Those  from  the  last-named  island  had 
been  collected  by  Dr.  A.  Willey  during  his  voyage  to  the 
South  Sea  Islands  in  quest  of  the  eggs  of  Nautilus.  No  earth¬ 
worms  had  been  previously  recorded  from  New  Britain.  Dr. 
Benham  recalled  the  fact  that  in  1891  he  had  proposed  the  name 
malamaniensis  for  a  species  of  Perichceta  from  the  Philippine 
Islands  without  giving  a  diagnosis  of  it,  and  that  he  now  supplied. 
—On  behalf  of  Mr.  W.  G.  P.  Ellis,  Demonstrator  in  Botany  at 
the  University  Botanical  Laboratory,  Cambridge,  the  Secretary 
gave  the  substance  of  a  paper — 

On  a  Trichoderma  Parasitic  on  Pellia  Epiphylla. 

It  was  directed  to  an  investigation  of  a  form  of  disease 
in  liverworts,  which  the  author  had  noticed  in  the  Botanic 
Garden,  Cambridge.  The  chief  point  to  be  determined  was 


March  27,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


281 


whether  the  fungus  had  lived  as  a  saprophyte  on  the  dead  thallus, 
and  thence  extended  as  a  parasite  into  the  living  tissues  ;  or 
whether  the  appearance  was  associated  with  the  fact  that  rhizoids 
were  not  yet  developed  at  the  apical  parts  by  which  the 
fungus  might  enter.  The  author  found  that  the  thallus  of 
Pellia  epiphylla  was  affected  by  a  disease  evidently  epidemic  in 
nature,  caused  by  a  fungus  whose  septate  mycelium  was  found  in 
the  tissues  of  the  host.  On  isolation  it  was  seen  to  be  the  conidial 
form  of  an  Ascomycete,  and  from  its  structure  and  conidia, 
and  from  its  life-history,  so  far  as  it  could  be  made  out,  it  appeared 
to  be  similar  to,  if  not  identical  with,  the  Trichoderma  phase  of 
Hypocrea,  but  no  resting  stage  had  yet  been  found.  It  was  culti¬ 
vated  on  nutrient  media,  and  spores  from  a  pure  culture  when 
applied  to  healthy  thallus  produced  in  it  a  disease  like  that  of  the 
original  thallus.  By  means  of  sections  the  direct  infection  of  the 
host  by  its  upper  surface  was  followed  out,  and  the  parasitic  nature 
of  the  fungus  was  established. 

Botanical  Society  of  Edinburgh,  Thursday,  March  11. — 
Mr.  R.  A.  Robertson,  M.A.,  B.Sc.,  read  a  paper  on  a  new  method 
for  the 

Photo-micrography  of  Opaque  Stem  Sections. 

One  difficulty  in  making  photo-micrographs  from  recent  or  fossil 
stem  sections  is  the  difficulty  of  getting  a  sufficiently  large  section 
to  bring  out  diagnostic  features.  Another  difficulty  is  that  it  is 
a  difficult  process  to  cut  and  grind  and  polish  large  sections 
of  fossils  for  photography  by  transmitted  light.  A  further 
difficulty  is  that  one  cannot  always  get  permission  to  make  sections 
of  valuable  museum  specimens  of  recent  and  fossil  woods.  Mr. 
Robertson  has  found  that  by  directly  photographing  the  surface  by 
means  of  a  micro-photographic  apparatus,  excellent  pictures  giving 
all  necessary  histological  details  of  the  tissues,  can  be  readily 
obtained.  The  recent  wood  surfaces  are  planed  with  a  steel  plane, 
and  if  at  all  rough  the  surface  is  slightly  wetted.  Very  careful 
focussing  is  necessary  so  as  to  get  equal  illumination.  An  opaque 
focussing-plate  should  be  used  for  rough  adjustment,  but  the  final 
focussing  must  be  done  with  a  clear  glass  plate.  The  illumination 
was  by  means  of  a  magnesium  ribbon  fed  through  a  fixed  tube  and 
placed  at  an  angle  of  about  45°  and  a  distance  of  about  10  or  12 
inches  from  the  surface  to  be  photographed.  An  exposure  of 
about  forty  seconds  with  Ilford  plates  gave  the  best  results.  The 
pho.  o-micrographs  taken  gave  an  area  of  the  wood  of  about  3 
inches  square. 


THE  WORLD  Op  PflflRflflflCY. 

- + - 

BUSINESS  MEETINGS. 


Cambridge  Pharmaceutical  Association,  Friday,  March 
19. — Mr.  Alderman  Deck,  F.C.S.,  President,  in  the  chair. — The 
topic  for  discussion  was  the  proposed  new  bye-laws  of  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society.  The  subject  had  aroused  a  considerable  amount  of 
interest,  there  being  present  Messrs.  E.  S.  Peck  and  Milling 
(Secretaries),  Herbert  F.  Cook,  C.  S.  Addison,  E.  J.  Dobson, 
L.  A.  J.  Hutchin,  L.  White,  A.  S.  Campkin,  J.P.,  F.  S.  Campkin, 
B.  S.  Campkin,  C.  Male,  A.  P.  Barker,  Coupland,  Turner,  and 
others.  There  were  also  present  Dr.  Paul,  Pharmaceutical  J ournal ; 
Mr.  Cantwell,  British  and  Colonial  Druggist ;  and  Mr.  P.  MacEwan, 
Chemist  and  Druggist. — The  Chairman  intimated  that  he  had 
received  a  letter  from  Mr.  H.  J.  Parsons,  who  apologised  for  not 
being  able  to  be  present. — He  then  called  upon  Mr.  E.  Saville 
Peck,  B.A.,  who,  in  introducing  for  discussion  the 

Proposed  New  Bye-Laws, 

classified  them  under  two  heads  (1)  The  Substitution  of  the  Present 
Preliminary  Examination  by  a  Certificate  from  one  of  the  approved 
Examining  Bodies,  and  (2)  The  Raising  of  the  Qualifying 
Fee  from  £5  5s.  to  £10  10s.  After  quoting  the  proposed 
bye-laws,  eleven  and  seventeen  (see  Pharmaceutical  Journal, 
p.  210),  he  said  that  for  several  years  there  had  been 
a  growing  opinion  that  the  First  examination  should  be  made  a 
more  severe  test  of  the  ability  of  the  young  aspirant  of  pharmacy. 
He  considered  the  Council  had  done  wisely  in  deciding  to  cease 
holding  the  Preliminary  examination,  and  instead  to  accept  the 


certificates  of  those  bodies  which  exist  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
examining  in  arts  ;  such  as  Cambridge  and  Oxford  Locals,  College 
of  Preceptors,  etc.  He  then  referred  to  a  letter  which  appeared 
in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  for  August  24,  1895,  in  which 
he  advocated  a  higher  standard  of  education',  and  making  the 
the  Preliminary  examination  a  compulsory  condition  of  apprentice-  * 
ship,  or  at  least  fixing  an  interval  between  it  and  the  qualifying  ex¬ 
amination.  Unfortunately  the  latter  plan  would  require  an  Act  of 
Parliament  and,  failing  that,  the  proposed  new  bye-law  appeared 
to  be  the  next  best  thing,  as  it  would  perhaps  deter  many  insuffi¬ 
ciently  educated  youths  from  entering  the  craft,  besides 
making  the  parents  of  lads  desiring  to  become  pharmaceutical 
apprentices  more  careful  in  placing  their  sons  in  the  trade 
without  considering  their  fitness  to  meet  subsequent  requirements. 
As  to  the  question  of  the  higher  fee,  there  might  not  be  the  same 
unanimity  of  feeling  as  with  regard  to  the  Preliminary 
examination.  The  ten  guinea  fee  must,  however,  be  looked  upon 
as  not  only  consisting  of  a  fee  to  qualify  one  to  practise  as  a  chemist 
and  druggist,  but  also  the  fact  must  be  taken  into  consideration 
that  it  meant  registration  for  life,  and  he  did  not  think  £10  10s. 
was  an  exorbitant  sum  for  that  purpose.  He  did  not  agree  with 
those  who  consider  that  if  the  fee  is  raised  from  five  to  ten 
guineas  each  person  who  qualifies  should  become  an  associate 
or  member  of  the  Society  without  further  payment.  Compulsory 
membership  might  be  a  disadvantage,  as  the  members  so  obtained 
would  probably  cease  to  take  an  active  interest  in  the  Society.  He 
asked  those  apprentices  and  assistants  present  who  had  not 
qualified  to  remember  that  the  more  difficult  and  more  ex¬ 
pensive  the  qualification  is,  the  fewer  men  they  would  be  likely 
to  have  to  compete  with  in  after  life.  The  cheaper  they  valued 
the  qualification,  the  cheaper  they  themselves  would  be  valued 
in  their  after  career.  He  thought  it  useless  for  them  to  compete 
with  each  other  on  the  score  of  prices,  because  he  did  not  believe 
they  could  persuade  people  to  take  more  physic  simply  because  it 
was  cheap.  Their  efforts  should  be  in  the  direction  of  keeping  up 
prices,  and  the  only  way  to  accomplish  that  object  would  be  by 
keeping  men  out  of  pharmacy  who  would  be  willing  to  work  for 
inadequate  remuneration.  This  end  would  sooner  be  reached  by 
the  adoption  of  measures  similar  to  those  proposed  by  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society.  Therefore  he  had  great  pleasure,  and  he  could 
almost  say  pride,  in  moving  the  following  resolution  : — 

“  That  this  meeting  of  the  members  of  the  Cambridge  Pharmaceutical  Associa¬ 
tion  and  other  members  of  the  trade  in  Cambridge,  convened  for  the  purpose 
of  discussing  the  proposed  new  bye-laws  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society, 
wishes  to  express  cordial  approbation  of  the  efforts  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  to  advance  the  education  and  interests  of  chemists  generally.” 

Mr.  Addison  seconded  the  resolution. — Mr.  Peter  MacEwan  was 
then  asked  by  the  Chairman  to  state  the  case  for  the  opposition. 
He  commenced  by  expressing  the  regret  of  his  chief,  Mr.  Wootton, 
that  he  would  not  be  able  to  be  present,  as  was  his  intention. 
With  regard  to  the  Preliminary  examination,  he  thought  the  move¬ 
ment  would  meet  with  the  general  approval  of  the  thinking  por¬ 
tion  of  the  trade.  He  regretted  the  legal  inability  to  make  the 
examination  compulsory  prior  to  a  lad  entering  a  pharmacy  ;  also 
that  the  Council  had  not  deferred  the  proposal  until  after  the 
General  Medical  Council  decided  what  subjects  are  to  be  embodied 
in  its  future  Preliminary,  as  he  thought  the  student  of  pharmacy 
who  afterwards  wished  to  enter  the  medical  profession  would  be 
placed  at  a  disadvantage,  because  he  believed  the  Medical  Pre¬ 
liminary  would  be  a  much  more  stringent  one  than  that 
proposed  by  the  Pharmaceutical  Council.  Mr.  MacEwan  thought 

The  Increased  Minor  Fee 

would  probably  not  affect  English  students  very  severely, 
as  their  fees  were  generally  paid  by  their  parents,  but 
north  of  the  Tweed,  as  a  rule,  students  had  to  support  them¬ 
selves,  and  speaking  from  personal  experience,  he  thought 
the  increased  fee  of  £5  5s.  would  press  very  hardly  on  them, 
and  in  some  cases  almost  “  break  their  backs.”  Therefore 
he  considered  the  fees  should  not  be  raised  unless  it  was  absolutely 
necessary  for  the  carrying  on  of  the  examinations  and  the  cost  of 
registration.  For  this  purpose  he  contended  it  was  not  necessary 
to  raise  the  fees,  seeing  that  from  1868  to  the  present  time  the 
present  fees  had  been  ample.  He  then  dwelt  at  considerable 
length  on  the  dual  functions  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  and 
endeavoured  to  show  that  the  income  from  examinations  com¬ 
pletely  covered  all  expenses  connected  therewith,  but  that  the 
expenditure  on  purely  Society  business,  such  as  the  School, 


282 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[March  27,  1897. 


Library,  Museum,  Journal,  etc.,  since  1887  had  been  much  more 
than  the  income  derived  from  the  subscriptions  of  members,  etc. 
Hence  he  contended  that  the  demand  for  the  extra  £5  5.s.  as  a  regis¬ 
tration  fee  was  not  based  upon  tangible  or  just  grounds;  but  was 
to  assist  the  Council  in  meeting  the  private  expenses  of  the  Society. — 
A  point  of  order  being  raised  by  the  Secretary,  Mr.  Peck,  the  Chair¬ 
man  ruled  that  the  financial  position  of  the  Society  had  no  bearing 
on  the  matter  under  discussion,  i. e. ,  the  proposed  new  bye-laws. — 
Mr.  MacEwan  submitted  to  the  ruling  of  the  Chairman,  and  after 
a  few  more  remarks  resumed  his  seat. — Dr.  B.  H.  Paul,  on  being 
asked  to  speak,  explained  that  he  was  there  merely  to  listen  to  the 
discussion  on  a  very  important  subject.  He  might  have  had 
something  to  say  which  might  perhaps  have  sufficed  to  convert 
Mr.  MacEwan  or  Mr.  Wootton,  but  he  was  under  the  impression 
they  were  not  disposed  to  be  converted,  and  therefore  it  would  be 
superfluous  to  say  anything.  Moreover,  asan  officerof  the  Pharmaceu¬ 
tical  Society,  he  did  not  think  it  would  be  appropriate  for  him  to  take 
part  in  the  discussion. — Mr.  Cantwell,  of  the  British  and  Colonial 
Druggist,  explained  his  presence  by  stating  that  circumstances 
had  arisen  under  which  it  was  supposed  that  a  personal  ques¬ 
tion  between  the  journals  was  imported  into  the  discussion 
of  the  proposed  new  bye-laws,  and  he  wished  to  say  that 
as  far  as  his  journal  was  concerned  he  had  simply  pointed  out  a 
possible  effect  of  the  proposed  changes  in  the  bye-laws.  The 
further  consideration  of  the  matter  he  desired  to  leave  to  the 
members  of  the  Society  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  those  who 
might  be  affected  by  the  Society’s  proposals  on  the  other. 
He  raised  no  personal  question  whatever  in  regard  to  the 
financial  position  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal,  or  as  to  the 
expenditure  of  the  Society.  His  journal  was  accustomed  to  com¬ 
petition,  but  the  competition  experienced  from  the 

‘Pharmaceutical  Journal’ 

had  always  been  of  a  fair  character,  and  there  was  no 
reason  why  they  should  bring  any  personal  considerations  into  the 
subject  now  under  discussion  by  the  various  Associations. — Mr.  A. 
S.  Campkin,  J.P. ,  was  inclined  to  regret  that  the  Chairman 
had  ruled  Mr.  MacEwan  to  be  out  of  order  in  bringing  into  the 
discussion  the  question  of  finance.  He  thought  the  Society  had 
nothing  to  fear  from  criticism.  Had  they  gone  into  the  whole  ques¬ 
tion  which  had  arisen  in  the  journals  during  the  past  three  weeks  he 
believed  any  criticisms  of  Mr.  MacEwan  with  respect  to  the  Society 
or  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  would  have  been  ably  answered, 
and  he  had  no  doubt  satisfactorily  answered  by  Dr.  Paul.  With 
regard  to  the  Preliminary  examination  he  thought  everyone  was 
unanimously  agreed  that  the  alteration  was  a  good  one.  He 
believed  that  too  great  care  could  not  be  taken  in  the  training  of 
young  men  for  chemists  and  druggists,  and  that* parents  should  see 
that  their  sons  were  properly  equipped  before  they  entered  upon 
their  apprenticeship.  It  could  not  be  too  emphatically  stated  that 
masters  should  insist  on  the  Preliminary  or  its  equivalent  being 
passed  before  taking  upon  themselves  the  responsibility  of  training 
apprentices.  As  to  the  question  of  raising  the  fees,  he  thought 
Mr.  MacEwan  had  fairly  put  the  case  for  those  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Tweed,  and  assuming  that  they  were  all  agreed  that  the 
fees  should  be  raised,  he  was  of  opinion  there  should  be  some 
proviso  which  would  be  perfectly  just  and  equitable,  whereby 
those  already  in  the  business  who  had  not  passed  the  qualifying 
examination  should  be  allowed  to  come  under  the  old  bye-laws,  and 
that  the  new  bye-laws  should  only  apply  to  future  entrants. 
He  hoped  this  matter  would  receive  consideration  at  the  hands 
of  the  Council.  Without  discussing  the  financial  position  of 
the  Society,  Mr.  Campkin  thought  that  in  any  case  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  Must  Continue  to  Exist, 
whatever  happened  and  whatever  might  be  the  actual  financial 
condition.  It  was  the  duty  of  every  chemist  to  support  its  en¬ 
deavours  to  carry  out  the  dual  functions  referred  to  by  Mr. 
MacEwan.  He  believed  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  however 
imperfect  it  might  be,  possesses  the  germs  of  an  organisation 
which  might  easily  be  brought  to  a  state  of  perfection,  and  he 
urged  upon  all  present  to  give  their  hearty  adhesion  to  the  Society. 
— Mr.  Hutchin  quite  agreed  with  the  proposal  to  raise  the 
standard  of  the  Preliminary  examination.  He  did  not  see  why  a 
higher  standard  should  be  necessary  for  a  veterinary  surgeon  than 
that  required  for  a  chemist.  He  believed  it  was  largely  due  to  the 
low  standard  in  the  past  that  at  the  present  time  pharmacy  was 
brought  into  disrepute,  either  by  cutting  or  by  the  practice  of 
counter  prescribing.  With  regard  to  the  question  of  the  £10  10s. 
fee,  he  thought  if  any  change  is  brought  about  it  should  certainly 


not  come  into  force  before  1900,  which  would  give  the  Minor 
students  time  to  pass  their  examination,  and  the  extra  fee  should 
not  be  demanded  again  if  they  came  up  a  second  time  for  exami¬ 
nation.  He  considered  that  £10  10s.  should  be  amply  sufficient 
for  the  first  fee,  and  then  three  guineas  for  the  second  attempt. 
He  thought,  however,  it  would  be  better  to  charge  £5  as  an  exami¬ 
nation  fee  and  £5  as  a  registration  fee  when  the  candidate  had 
passed  the  examination.  With  regard  to 

The  Dual  Position  of  the  Society 

referred  to  that  night,  he  thought  it  was  a  position  rather 
difficult  to  define.  It  was  a  dual  position,  which  resembled  some¬ 
what  the  position  of  the  right  hand  towards  the  left,  and  the  left 
towards  the  right.  The  Society  held  the  position  of  examining 
body  to  the  trade,  and  it  had  the  carrying  out  of  the  Pharmacy 
Act  as  in  the  various  prosecutions  which  it  had  so  successfully 
carried  on  of  late.  The  trade  looked  to  it  to  act  in  the  general 
interest  of  all,  and  it  could  not  do  so  unless  it  had  the  sinews  of 
war  wherewith  to  fight.  They  could  not  have  compulsory  member¬ 
ship  except  by  a  separate  Act  of  Parliament,  but  if  the  Society 
could  get  more  sinews  of  war  by  raising  the  fees,  he  thought  they 
should  be  raised,  because  at  present  things  were  in  a  most  unfair 
condition,  inasmuch  as  all  members  of  the  trade  share  in  the 
benefits  resulting  from  the  Society’s  work.  It  was  only  necessary  to 
refer  to  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  or  to  the  Chemist  and  Druggist 
that  week  to  see  how  prosecutions  were  taken  up  by  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society  against  those  who  damaged  the  trade  generally. 
By  an  addition  to  its  income  the  Society  would  be  in  a  better 
position  to  maintain  the  position  of  those  in  the  trade.  Reference 
had  been  made  to  the  rival  journals;  it  seemed  to  him  that  if,  at  a 
comparatively  small  cost,  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  could  be 
issued  to  the  members  of  the  Society,  the  trade  generally  bene¬ 
fited,  because  many  would  not  pay  their  guinea  to  the  Society 
unless  they  got  something  tangible  back  again,  and  the  result 
was  that  after  issuing  the  Journal  the  Society  had  16s.  from 
each  member,  which  it  used  for  the  benefit  of  the  trade.  He  thought 
the  yearly  subscription  was  one  of  the  best  investments  it  was 
possible  to  make,  and  he  believed  that  the  Society  would  benefit 
the  trade  more  in  years  to  come  than  even  at  present. — 
Mr.  H.  F.  Cook  heartily  concurred  with  the  proposal  anent  the 
Preliminary  examination,  but  with  regard  to  the  second  proposi¬ 
tion  of  instituting  a  £10  10s.  instead  of  a  £5  5s.  fee  he  was  inclined 
to  agree  with  Mr.  MacEwan  in  thinking  that  it  would  deter  many 
young  fellows  from  entering  the  profession. — Mr.  C.  S.  Addison 
thought  the  proposed  abolition  of  the  present  Preliminary  exam¬ 
ination  and  the  substitution  of  a  higher  standard  to  be  a  step  in 
the  right  direction,  but  was  of  opinion  it  should  be  made  stiller 
and  take  in  some  scientific  subjects,  such  as  chemistry  and 
botany.  He  was  greatly  in  favour  of  an  Act  which  would  make  it 
compulsory  that  the  Preliminary  should  be  passed  before  appren¬ 
ticeship  is  entered  upon.  He  found  that 

The  Greatest  Grumblers 

were  those  who  had  entered  the  trade  and,  after  spending  the  best 
part  of  their  lives  in  it,  had,  from  one  reason  or  another,  been 
unable  to  qualify  themselves.  Their  failure  was,  in  their 
opinion,  not  due  to  themselves,  but  the  Society  was  to 
blame.  Had  they  been  called  upon  to  pass  a  stiff  Pre¬ 
liminary  before  entering  the  trade,  in  all  probability  they 
would  have  gone  into  some  other  branch  of  business,  and 
pharmacists  would  not  now  have  had  them  as  competitors. 
He  thought  the  £10  10-s\  fee  should  be  made  to  include  registration 
and  membership  or  associateship  of  the  Society.  He  believed 
that  would  require  an  Act  of  Parliament,  but  if  it  could  be  done 
and  all  registered  men  made  members  they  would  probably  have  a 
better  opinion  of  the  Society  if  they  had  something  at  stake.  They 
would  have  the  Journal,  and  would  find  out  in  other  ways  that  the 
Society  was  doing  something  for  them.  Then  if  they  were  not 
satisfied  it  would  be  their  own  fault,  and  they  could  not  blame  any¬ 
body  else  for  their  own  misdeeds.  He  should  like  to  see  the  fees  if 
anything  higher  than  those  proposed.  In  his  opinion  they  should  be 
£3  3s.  for  the  expenses  of  the  examination  and  £10  10s.  to  pay  on 
being  registered.  He  hoped  that  if  the  Council  did  make  a  change 
in  the  regulations  it  would  make  them  as  thorough  as  it  could. 
Mr.  Addison  expressed  his  regret  that  an  attack  had  been 
made  on  the  Council  by  the  Chemist  and  Druggist  in  a 
recent  issue,  but  Mr.  Cook  objected  on  a  point  of  order. — The 
Chairman  was  much  in  favour  of  a  higher  standard  for  the 
Preliminary.  He  mentioned  the  fact  that  he  took  his  diploma 
in  1853,  and  had  been  a  member  of  the  Society  for  forty- three  years, 


March  27,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


283 


and  sometimes  he  was  twitted  by  the  remark  that  he  would  not  be 
able  to  pass  examinations  now,  but  he  thought,  given  a  little  time  to 
look  up  the  subjects,  he  should  not  take  a  bad  place.  With  regard 
to  the  £10  10s.  fee,  he  thought  it  ought  to  be  raised  to  that  sum, 
as  it  would  ensue  some  substantial  support  to  the  Society.  He 
did  not  like  to  see  so  many  chemists  cutting  off  their  connection  with 
the  Society  after  passing  through  the  Minor,  although  they 
still  continued  to  reap-the  benefits  derived  from  it. — Mr.  Turner, 
referring  to  the  remarks  of  Mr.  MacEwan,  said  there  were  many 
young  fellows  this  side  of  the  Tweed  who  had  passed  their 
examinations  and  had  paid  for  themselves  entirely,  and  he  did  not 
think  they  would  have  gone  under  for  another  “fiver.”  With 
regard  to  the  “poor”  fellows 

North  of  the  Tweed, 

he  thought  another  £5  5s.  would  not  “  break  their  backs”  entirely, 
even  if  they  had  to  work  a  little  harder  and  save  a  little  more. — Mr. 
White  had  very  great  pleasure  in  supporting  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  in  their  endeavour  to  reorganise  the  Preliminary  examina¬ 
tion.  The  examinations  must  advance  with  the  times.  With 
regard  to  the  increased  fee,  that  came  more  or  less  as  a  shock,  but 
he  thought  they  should  put  every  confidence  in  the  authorities  at 
Bloomsbury  Square.  He  had  no  doubt  they  had  well  considered 
the  question  before  offering  the  proposal  to  the  general  body  ;  he 
therefore  had  great  pleasure  in  supporting  the  Council  in  its  pro¬ 
posals,  and,  he  thought  when  they  were  carried  out  everybody 
would  appreciate  them.  — Mr.  Peck  briefly  replied  to  the  different 
speakers,  and  the  resolution  was  then  put  to  the  meeting  and 
carried  without  a  dissentient  vote. — Dr.  Paul,  in  a  few  appropriate 
words,  expressed  his  thanks  and  those  of  his  comrades  of  the  press 
for  the  courteous  invitation  given  to  them  by  the  Association  to 
be  present  at  the  discussion,  and  the  meeting  then  concluded. 


Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,  Thursday,  March  18. 
— Mr.  Charles  Morley,  President,  in  the  chair. — Mr.  N.  H. 
Martin  introduced  for  consideration  the  subject  of 

Pharmacy,  Some  of  its  Dangers  and  Duties. 

At  the  outset,  Mr.  Martin  expressed  surprise  at  the  way  in  which 
he  had  frequently  been  misinterpreted  in  the  past.  His  only 
object  at  any  time  had  been  the  good  of  pharmacy,  of  which  he  had 
always  held  a  high  ideal  from  his  earliest  connection  with  it.  It 
was  to  the  professional  side  that  pharmacy  must  aspire  if 
it  was  to  share  with  medicine  its  duties  and  responsibilities. 
By  the  business  conduct  of  such  men  as  Allen,  Bell,  Deane, 
Hanbury,  Schacht,  Brady,  and  others,  pharmacy  had  during 
the  past  fifty  years  built  up  a  solid  claim  to  the  respect 
and  confidence  of  the  medical  profession  and  of  the  public, 
and  it  was  because  of  the  real  danger  there  is  of  forfeiting  that 
confidence,  the  speaker  viewed  with  anxiety  some  of  the  practices 
of  the  pharmacists  of  to-day.  The  makers  of  so-called  “patent” 
medicines  are,  on  the  one  hand,  seeking  a  closer  alliance  with 
pharmacy,  and  on  the  other  accusing  pharmacists  in  advertise¬ 
ments  of  dishonest  acts  of  substitution.  With  respect  to  adver¬ 
tising  in  connection  with  patent  medicines,  when  a  pharmaceutical 
chemist  lends  his  window  for  a  pantomimic  display  of  one  of  the 
lower  animals  administering  medicine  to  another,  or  when  he 
accepts  an  invitation  to  place  a  ‘  ‘  fetching  ”  lay  figure  which  moves 
its  head,  winks  its  eyes,  and  imparts  information  concerning  a 
medicinal  preparation  to  the  passing  crowd,  he  would  do  well  to 
ask  himself  whether  he  is  not  only  seriously  endangering 
his  own  reputation  as  an  educated  man,  but  impairing 
pharmacy  in  the  respect  of  the  community.  In  handling 
these  proprietary  preparations  the  pharmacist’s  education, 
training,  and  legal  qualification  do  not  give  him  a  single 
advantage  over  any  boy  or  girl  who  can  read  the  name  of  the 
article.  Moreover,  it  would  be  a  matter  of  supreme  indifference 
to  most  makers  of  proprietary  medicines  whether  their  goods 
reached  the  public  by  the  hands  of  a  pharmacist  or  a  grocer,  but 
for  the  fact  that  he  can  make  use  of  the  reputation  which  pharmacy 
has  in  the  estimation  of  the  public,  and  one  local  chemist  is  of 
more  value  to  him  in  giving  an  appearance  of  truth  to  his  state¬ 
ments  than  half  a  dozen  other  tradesmen.  The  only  reasonable 
attitude  for  the  pharmacist  to  adopt  towards  such  medicines  is  one 
of  agnosticism.  “  I  do  not  know  ”  is  the  best  answer  the  pharmacist 
can  give  to  all  questions  concerning  the  merits  or  demerits  of  such 
preparations.  With  reference  to  the  accusations  that  pharmacists 
imitate  these  wonderful  medicines  and  dishonestly  supply 
substitutes  for  them,  the  law  deals  very  effectually  with  purveyors 
of  even  “colourable  imitations,”  but  with  regard  to  substitution 


no  man,  in  common  honesty,  has  the  right  to  substitute  the  pills  of 
Smith  for  those  of  Jones,  nor,  knowing  nothing  about  either,  has 
he  fhe  moral  right  to  endeavour  to  persuade  his  customer  to 
accept  those  of  Jones,  on  the  ground  that  his  pecuniary  interests 
are  protected  with  him  while  they  are  not  so  with  Smith.  The 
pharmacist,  however,  has  the  moral  and  legal  right  to  use  his 
knowledge  and  training  in  the  service  of  his  customers,  and  it  is 
his  duty  on  every  occasion  to  substitute  knowledge  for  ignorance, 
and  truth  for  falsehood.  Another  danger  to  pharmacy,  far  greater 
than  that  of  proprietary  medicines,  is  connected  with  the 
substances  which  in  various  guises  it  is  sought  to  thrust 
upon  pharmacy  through  the  medium  of  the  medical  profession. 
Medicine  and  pharmacy  are  founded  upon  sciences  which  have  been 
built  up  by  the  discoveries  and  industry  of  scientists,  and  it  is 
the  pride  of  both  to  think  that  anatomy,  physiology,  chemistry  and 
botany  have  passed  through  the  empirical  stages  inseparable  from 
the  beginnings  of  knowledge  and  have  reached  the  stage  when  facts 
can  be  compared  and  classified,  and  a  proper  position  in  the 
system  be  assigned  to  each  new  fact.  All  precise  knowledge  must 
proceed  and  be  accumulated  in  that  manner,  and  to  conceive  of  the 
immense  number  of  scientific  facts  which  are  known  to-day  being 
at  the  mercy  of  commercially  interested  individuals  for  their  names 
would  be  to  imagine  a  veritable  chaos  of  scientific  nomenclature. 
Commercially  no  objection  can  be  advanced  to  a  man  who  has 
spent  time  and  money  in  improving  a  substance,  adopting 
and  protecting  a  brand  to  distinguish  his  own  manufacture. 
Scientifically,  however,  and  for  the  purposes  of  medicine,  it  may  be  a 
source  of  danger.  In  this  way  medicine  and  pharmacy  may  be 
encumbered  by  twenty  names  for  the  same  substance,  all  equally 
meaningless  and  unscientific.  Some  of  the  names  are  made  sug¬ 
gestive  of  the  connection  of  the  substance  with  some  fashionable 
complaint,  such  as  “  migrainine,”  “  influenzin,”  “  antisudorin,” 
etc.  The  “therapeutically  active  ingredients”  of  “influenzin” 
are  said  to  be  “  phenacetin,  caffeine,  quinine,  salicylate,  and 
sodium  chloride,”  while  the  composition  of  “antisudorin”  is 
“boric,  citric,  and  salicylic  acids,  borax,  glycerin,  alcohol,  dis¬ 
tilled  water,  and  several  ethers.”  These  preparations  are  degrading 
to  both  medicine  and  pharmacy.  A  second  kind  of  trivial  names 
is  obtained  by  taking  some  well-known  class  of  preparations,  such 
as  infusions  or  tinctures,  for  distinguishing  particular  makes  by 
such  words  as  “  infusionoid  ”  or  “  tincturoid,”  which  are  regis¬ 
tered  as  a  brand  or  trade  mark.  Commercially  there  may  be  no 
objection  to  this,- but  when  under  the  cloak  of  such  the  attempt 
is  made  to  deprive  pharmacy  of  its  right  to  make  the  things  them¬ 
selves  under  their  own  names,  the  danger  to  pharmacy  is  a  real  one, 
and  it  is  increasing  year  by  year.  Pharmacy  may  be  held  to  be 
midway  between  a  profession  and  a  trade,  and  it  has  the  oppor¬ 
tunity  of  reaping  many  of  the  advantages  pertaining  to  both.  This 
position,  however,  exposes  it  to  temptations  peculiarly  its  own,  for 
while  as  a  trade  it  is  allowed  to  make  use  of  various  methods  of 
advertising,  yet  it  is  restrained  on  its  professional  side  from 
indulging  in  the  exaggeration,  which  forms  the  key-note  of  modern 
sensational  methods  of  business.  In  conclusion,  young  pharma¬ 
cists  should  be  loyal  to  the  best  traditions  of  pharmacy,  and  not  be 
tempted  by  the  prospect  of  present  gain  to  sacrifice  their  inde¬ 
pendence  and  self-respect,  and  the  prospect  of  gaining  the  respect 
of  others.  They  must  have  faith  in  their  principles,  and  adhere 
to  them  through  good  and  evil  report,  and  they  might 
rest  assured  that  pharmacy  would  then  be  respected  in  them, 
and  they  would  receive  from  the  public  remuneration  adequate 
to  their  needs. 


Aberdeen  Junior  Chemists’  Association,  Friday,  March 
19. — Mr.  Leslie  in  the  chair. — The  Treasurer’s  report  was  sub¬ 
mitted,  and  showed  a  very  favourable  balance.  The  Secretary’s 
report  followed,  giving  a  brief  sketch  of  the  work  done  during  the 
session,  which  showed  that  the  Association  had  been  most  success¬ 
ful  in  every  way.  The  President  then  awarded  the  prizes  to  the 
successful  competitors  for  the  Association’s  prizes,  placing  Mr.  C. 
Philip  first  with  a  Squire’s  ‘  Companion’  ;  Mr.  A.  Fowlie  second 
with  a  Newth’s  ‘  Chemistry’  ;  and  Mr.  Farquhar  third  with  a 
Green’s  ‘  Botany.’  The  retiring  Committee,  who  have  worked  so 
enthusiastically  for  the  Association’s  success,  have  been  photo¬ 
graphed  (by  Messrs.  Hardie  and  Co. )  in  a  group,  and  the  original 
picture  will  be  presented  to  the  Senior  Chemists’  Association.  The 
following  office-bearers  were  then  elected  for  next  session  : — Mr. 
W.  Bremner,  President  ;  Mr.  W.  Bisset,  Vice-President  ;  Mr.  M. 
K.  Watts,  Secretary ;  Mr.  P.  Tavendale,  Treasurer  ;  and  the 
members  of  Committee  are  Messrs.  Bremner,  Bisset,  Booth, 


284 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[March  27, 1897 


Farquhar,  F.  Milne,  P.  D.  Milne,  Murray,  Scorgie,  Sutherland, 
Tavendale,  and  Watt.  Mr.  R.  Leslie  was  appointed  Hon.  Presi¬ 
dent,  and  Mr.  C.  Forbes  Hon.  Vice-President. 


Glasgow  and  West  of  Scotland  Pharmaceutical 
Association,  Thursday,  March  18. — Mr.  W.  L.  Currie,  Presi¬ 
dent,  in  the  chair. — The  President  referred  to  the  recent  pharmacy 
prosecutions  in  the  West  of  Scotland.  He  said  most  of  those 
present  no  doubt  knew  about  the  prosecutions  which  had  taken 
place  in  Glasgow  and  the  surrounding  district,  in  connection  with  the 
sale,  by  unqualified  assistants,  of  poisons  and  proprietary  articles 
containing  poison ;  but  all  of  them  might  not  have  noticed  the 
widely  divergent  views  held  and  expressed  by  the  different  sheriffs 
who  heard  the  cases.  That  such  difference  of  opinion  should  exist 
in  the  legal  mind  as  to  the  objects  and  purposes  of  the  Pharmacy 
Acts  was  a  great  misfortune  ;  but  when  the  difference  is  such  that  a 
presiding  judge  feels  compelled  to  utter  strictures  against  a  repre¬ 
sentative  public  body,  and  to  impute  to  it  motives  of  questionable 
dealing,  then  it  is  high  time  something  should  be  done  to  vindi¬ 
cate  the  position  of  the  Society,  or  at  all  events  to  have  the  Act  of 
Parliament  so  amended  as  to  leave  no  manner  of  doubt  in  the  legal 
mind  as  to  what  the  Legislature  intends  to  be  the  true 
interpretation  of  such  Act.  In  the  cases  tried  at  the  Glasgow 
Sheriff  Court,  the  presiding  Sheriff  had  evidently  no  difficulty  in 
making  up  his  mind  as  to  the  course  he  should  adopt ;  but  in 
the  cases  tried  at  Airdrie  before  Sheriff  Mair,  the  latter,  while 
finding  the  accused  guilty,  admitted  that  he  did  so  only  in 
deference  to  previous  decisions  in  the  higher  courts.  Evidently 
Sheriff  Mair  was  in  doubt  as  to  what  the  Act  really  means,  and  to 
get  over  the  difficulty  he  broke  into  a  tirade  against  the  Pharmaceu¬ 
tical  Society  and  the  Pharmacy  Act,  imputing  to  the  prosecuting 
body  motives  of  anything  but  straightforward  dealing,  and  finishing 
up  by  inflicting  a  small  fine  to  show  his  contempt.  Such  remarks 
falling  from  judicial  lips  were  not  calculated  to  ensure  the  carrying 
out  of  law  and  order,  and  they  call  for  some  comment  from  those  in 
authority.  If  the  Pharmacy  Acts  mean  anything  at  all,  it  is  that 
they  were  passed  by  the  Legislature  for  the  safety  of  the  public, 
and  that  the  handling  of  dangerous  drugs  should  be  done  by 
responsible  individuals  and  not  by  boys  and  girls  without  super¬ 
vision  ;  but  ridicule  of  the  Acts,  and  especially  by  one  exercising 
judicial  functions,  does  not  tend  to  raise  the  Bench  in  the  estimation 
of  the  right-thinking  public,  nor  does  it  tend  to  guarantee  that 
amount  of  safety  which  the  Acts  were  meant  to  carry  with  them. — 
Several  other  members  having  expressed'their  opinions  upon  the 
decisions  of  Sheriff  Mair,  it  was  decided  to  adjourn  the  consideration 
of  the  subject  for  a  week. 


Plymouth,  Devonport,  Stonehouse  and  District 
Chemists’  Association,  Tuesday,  March  23. — At  a  Committee 
meeting  the  following  resolution  was  passed  : — 

“  That  it  recommends  the  Association  furthering  Mr.  Park’s  nomination  as  a 
candidate  for  the  Pharmaceutical  Council,  and  that  they  should  use  their 
best  efforts  to  make  it  a  success." 

This  is  to  be  brought  forward  at  the  quarterly  meeting  on 
Wednesday,  April  17,  when  the  new  bye-laws  proposed  by  the 
Pharmaceutical  Council  will  also  be  discussed. 


Edinburgh  Chemists’,  Assistants,’  and  Apprentices’ 
Association,  Friday,  March  19.— Mr.  James  MacBain,  President, 
in  the  chair. — Mr.  George  Senter  gave  a  lecture  on — 

Vegetable  Histology, 

illustrated  by  lantern  micro- photographic  slides. —  Mr.  W.  B. 
Cowie  then  made  a  statement  with  regard  to— 

Percentage  Solutions, 

in  which  he  stated  that  the  true  percentage  solution  was  a 
percentage  by  weight,  but  there  might  also  be  a  percentage 
solution  by  volume,  containing  a  given  number  of  grains  by  weight 
in  109  grain  measures  of  solution.  The  system  of  a  given  number  of 
grains  by  weight  in  100  minims  was  not  a  percentage  solution. 
In  the  discussion  which  followed  considerable  diversity  of  opinion 
was  expressed. 

Pharmaceutical  Chemists’  and  Apothecaries’  Assis¬ 
tants’  Association  of  Ireland,  Thursday,  March  18. — Dr. 
J.  A.  Walsh  in  the  chair. — This  meeting,  which  was  open  to  the 
members  and  their  friends,  was  largely  attended,  the  attraction 
being  an  interesting  lecture  by  Dr.  Johnston,  on — 

Bacterial  Friends  and  Foes, 

in  the  course  of  which  the  lecturer  described  what  bacteria  are, 


their  position  in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  their  structure,  various 
forms,  habitat,  conditions  of  life,  the  products  of  their  activity, 
methods  of  reproduction,  how  cultivated,  their  weeding-out 
processes,  and  their  study. 


SOCIAL  MEETINGS. 

Liverpool  Chemists’  Association,  Thursday,  March  18. 
— Mr.  A.  C.  Abraham,  President,  in  the  chair. — The  annual  dinner 
of  the  Liverpool  Chemists’  Association  was  held  at  the  Adelphi 
Hotel,  and  the  Chairman  was  well  supported  by  a  full  muster  of 
the  members,  and  by  the  presence  of  several  of  the  leading  repre¬ 
sentatives  of  the  medical  profession  of  the  city,  in  addition  to 
nearly  every  pharmacist  known  to  local  fame.  After  the  toast  of 
the  “Queen”  had  been  duly  honoured  the  President  proposed  “The 
City  and  Trade  of  Liverpool,”  remarking  upon  the  length  of  time  the 
Chemists’  Association  had  been  in  existence  (some  forty -eight  years) 
and  the  changes  which  had  come  over  the  town  during  that  period. 
The  toast  was  coupled  with  the  name  of  Mr.  W.  P.  Evans,  of  the 
firm  of  Messrs.  Evans,  Sons  and  Co. ,  who  responded,  after  which 
Mr.  Charles  Sharp,  F.L.S.,  proposed  the  “Medical  Profession,” 
coupled  with  the  name  of  Professor  Carter.  In  acknowledging 
the  toast,  Professor  Carter  briefly  ran  over  a  few  salient  points  in 
the  history  of  the  progress  of  medical  science  during  the  last 
twenty-five  years,  and  told  how  the  proper  organisation  of  sanitary 
reform  by  means  of  the  Public  Health  Act  had  approximated  the 
standards  of  health  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land. 
— Mr.  T.  S.  Wokes  next  proposed  the  toast  of  the 

“Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain.” 

In  reply  to  which  Dr.  Charles  Symes  discussed  the  proposed 
alteration  of  the  fee  for  the  Qualifying  Examination  and  mentioned 
his  reasons  for  supporting  it,  at  the  same  time  calling  attention  to  the 
fact  that  whatever  legislation  had  done  for  the  betterment  of  the 
trade,  it  had  been  brought  about  by  the  instrumentality  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  not  for  its  members  alone  but  for  every 
individual  in  the  entire  body  of  chemists.  In  doing  this,  certain 
expenses  were  inevitable  and  it  was  only  fair  that  men  on 
qualifying  should  be  made  to  pay  such  a  sum  to  the  Society  as 
to  enable  it  to  prosecute  its  good  work  without  unduly  trespassing 
on  the  funds  contributed  by  its  members,  who  unfortunately 
constituted  only  a  small  minority  of  the  practising  pharmacists. 
Of  course,  the  ideal  would  be  that  every  chemist  on  qualification 
should,  by  payment  of  a  certain  sum,  become  a  life  member  of  the 
Society,  and  doubtless  this  would  ultimately  be  the  goal  at  which 
they  would  arrive.  The  succeeding  toasts  were  “  The  Liverpool 
Chemists’  Association,”  proposed  by  Dr.  Cairns  and  acknowledged 
by  the  President  and  Mr.  T.  H.  Wardleworth,  and  “The 
Guests  and  Musical  Friends.”  The  latter — the  “  Musical  Friends” 
— were  well  deserving  of  recognition,  for  the  programme  rendered 
by  them  was  enjoyable  in  the  extreme  and  of  a  high  degree  of 
artistic  excellence.  Messrs.  W.  J.  Chambers,  Robertson-Field, 
Percy  Stone,  John  Bain,  E.  A.  Keeling,  and  the  accompanist,  Mr. 
Frank  Lobb,  divided  the  honours  between  them.  The  proceedings 
terminated  at  about  12  o’clock  amid  general  expressions  of  satisfac¬ 
tion  at  the  successful  way  in  which  the  arrangements  had  been 
carried  out  by  Mr.  H.  0.  Dutton  and  the  Committee. 

Brighton  Junior  Association  of  Pharmacy,  Wednes¬ 
day,  March  17. — A  conversazione  was  held  at  the  King’s  Apart¬ 
ments,  Royal  Pavilion,  Brighton,  commencing  at  8  p.m.  There 
were  about  one  hundred  present,  including  many  well-known 
Brighton  chemists.  A  short  concert  was  followed  by  dancing, 
which  was  kept  up  till  a  late  hour.  A  thoroughly  enjoyable  time 
was  experienced  by  all.  The  arrangements  left  nothing  to  be 
desired,  thanks  to  the  efficient  management  of  the  President  (Mr. 
A.  T.  Jeeves),  Hon.  Sec.  (Mr.  C.  A.  Blarney),  and  Stewards 
(Messrs.  W.  Howes,  A.  H.  Cupit,  and  C.  G.  Yates). 

PUBLICATIONS  RECEIVED. 

A  Manual  op  Chemistry,  Theoretical  and  Practical.  By 
William  A.  Tilden,  D.Sc.,  F.R.S.  Pp.  600.  Price  10s. 
London  :  J.  and  A.  Churchill. 

St.  Thomas’s  Hospital  Reports.  New  Series  edited  by  Dr.  T. 

D.  Acland  and  Mr.  Bernard  Pitts.  Pp.  510. 

St.  Thomas’s  Hospital  Medical  School  Calendar  and  Pros¬ 
pectus,  for  the  year  commencing  October  1st,  1896.  Pp.  118, 
London  :  J.  and  A.  Churchill. 


March  27,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


235 


LETTERS  TO  THE  EDITOR. 


The  Proposed  New  Bye-Laws. 

Sir,- — Allow  me  a  small  space  to  make  further  reference  to  the 
question  of  a  registration  fee,  which  I  still  venture  to  think,  not¬ 
withstanding  what  you  say  in  this  week’s  issue,  should  and  could 
be  charged  after  examination.  Apart  from  what  the  1852  Act 
authorises,  I  submit  that  even  under  the  1868  Act,  which  you  quote 
in  this  week’s  “Annotations,”  such  a  fee  could  be  charged. 
Section  VII.  of  that  act  reads  :  “  Upon  every  such  examination 
and  registration  as  aforesaid  such  fees  shall  be  payable  as  shall 
from  time  to  time  be  fixed  and  determined  by  any  bye-law,”  etc. 
Do  you  not  think  that  the  fact  of  the  plural  word  “fees”  being 
used  clearly  indicates  that  the  Council,  notwithstanding  what  has 
been  done  by  it  and  the  Privy  Council  in  the  past,  is  empowered 
tto  make  a  new  bye-law  requiring  a  payment  of  two  fees  in  future, 
one  for  examination  and  one  for  registration  ?  This  you  say  is  im¬ 
practicable,  but  although  it  is  unwise  to  differ  from  an  editor,  I 
must,  in  this  instance,  do  so.  In  regard  to  my  second  suggestion, 
viz.,  that  only  three  guineas  should  be  charged  on  all  subsequent 
occasions  after  the  first  failure  to  pass,  I  still  think  that  to  again 
charge  ten  guineas,  as  is  proposed,  thus  doubling  the  registration 
fee  on  the  unfortunate  candidate,  would  be  unjust.  At  most  five 
guineas  would  be  ample,  as  it  should  be  purely  an  “  examination” 
fee,  as  you  term  it  yourself  in  second  paragraph  when  referring  to 
Bye-law  23.  In  the  third  paragraph  you  speak  of  “  a  second  regis¬ 
tration  fee,”  and  also  of  a  “  penalty  ”  for  not  passing  the  examination, 
but  where  is  there  authority  in  any  Act  or  bye-law  for  imposing 
such  on  any  candidate  ? 

Edinburgh,  March  22,  1897.  Claude  F.  Henry. 


Sir, — The  proposed  alterations  in  the  examination  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  suggest  again  the  great  desirability  of 
introducing  an  additional  examination  which  might  be  called  an 
“  intermediate  ”  and  be  passed  at  the  conclusion  of  the  usual  term 
of  apprenticeship.  Every  employer  who  feels  an  interest  in  the 
progress  of  his  apprentice  must  have  been  struck  with  the  dis¬ 
advantages  under  which  young  men  work  during  their  apprentice¬ 
ship  in  having  nothing  to  look  forward  to  at  its  termination  in  the 
shape  of  a  test  examination.  Such  an  examination  on  the  work 
which  an  apprenticeship  should  cover  to  be  looked  forward  to 
during  the  term  of  apprenticeship  and  to  be  passed  at  its  close  would 
act  as  a  wholesome  stimulus  alike  to  pupil  and  teacher.  It  would 
also  be  to  some  extent  a  guarantee  of  the  possession  of  at 
least  a  certain  amount  of  knowledge  of  business  details  and 
elementary  scientific  work.  Beyond  this  also  it  would  be  of 
advantage  to  the  student  as  giving  him  a  certain  status  while  a 
junior  assistant,  which  he  could  not  otherwise  have — the  status  of 
a  partially  qualified  man.  The  time  that  must  elapse  now 
between  the  entrance  on  apprenticeship  and  taking  the  Minor  is 
too  long,  the  examination  is  too  far  off,  and  its  requirements  too 
much  above  him  to  constitute  an  aim  for  the  apprentice.  He 
could  work  for  an  intermediate  such  as  I  suggest,  and  it  would  be 
greatly  to  his  advantage  to  have  this  definite  course  before  him 
during  the  often  somewhat  dull  and  tedious  years  of  his 
apprenticeship.  I  do  not  know  that  there  is  any  other  profession 
that  gives  no  step  in  its  curriculum  between  its  entrance,  ‘  ‘  arts  ” 
exam. ,  and  its  qualifying  exam. ,  and  I  feel  sure  that  such  a  step 
would  be  a  great  help  and  advantage  to  students.  The  fees 
should  be  small  and  the  facilities  as  great  as  possible.  There 
need  be  no  interference  with  the  other  examinations  of  the  Society. 

March  22,  1897.  K.  K.  (86/22). 


Sweating  the  Dispenser. 

Sir, — Your  leading  article  of  February  13  re  the  examination 
required  for  Army  compounders  reminds  us  that  it  is  two  years 
since  representations  were  made  by  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  to 
the  Local  Government  Board,  protesting  against  their  order 
making  Army  compounders  eligible  for  Poor  Law  appointments,  a 
protest  which  has  presumably  been  without  effect.  This  order, 
which  in  its  inception  was  designed  to  sweat  and  to  weed  out  of 
the  Poor  Law  the  present  qualified  men,  is  an  instance  of  what  a 
so-called  “Liberal”  Government  will  do.  It  first  of  all  enjoins  a 
short  service  system  for  the  Army,  which  gives  us  an  incompetent 
soldier,  provides  him  while  in  the  Army  with  a  smattering  of  a 
trade,  and  finally  turns  him  out  a  curious  compound,  half  soldier, 
half  civilian,  which  it  would  foist  upon  a  confiding  public. 
The  reproach  of  fostering  sweating  should  be  directed  against 


the  late  Government — and  the  present  one  too  while  it  allows 
the  present  conditions  to  continue  —  and  not  against  the 
local  bodies,  who,  at  least,  are  not  responsible  for  the  “watering 
down  ”  of  the  qualification  required  for  the  dispenser.  We  now 
know  the  regulations  for  the  so-called  qualification  of  the  Army 
compounder,  and  it  is  evident  that  a  training  of  so  short  a 
duration,  and  an  examination  so  farcical  does  not  properly  provide 
for  the  public  safety.  However,  Tommy  Atkins’  ailments  are  not 
usually  of  a  very  varied  nature,  and  it  does  not  require  a  long 
training  to  form  a  so-called  emulsion  with  an  alkali  and  bals. 
copaiba,  or  to  put  a  few  grains  of  zinci  sulph.  in  half  a  pint  of 
water,  so  probably  the  “qualification”  suffices.  It  is  different  in  the 
Poor  Law.  Stock  mixtures  comprise  only  a  small  proportion  of  the  dis¬ 
pensing,  which  from  personal  observation,  I  am  satisfied  is  generally 
well  and  carefully  done.  A  dispenser  in  the  service  once  furnished  me 
with  a  list  of  “  duties  ”  performed  by  him  during  his  term  of  office. 
These  comprised  analyses  of  drugs,  chemicals,  urine,  water,  milk, 
paint,  portions  of  the  viscera  for  suspected  poisons,  etc.,  etc.,  a 
function,  I  opine,  the  Army  compounder  would  find  it  impossible 
to  perform.  In  addition,  the  dispenser  is  often  called  to  render 
“  first  aid”  in  cases  of  emergency,  to  extract  teeth  (one  dispenser 
I  know  is  L.D.S.),  and  to  perform  minor  operations.  I  do  not 
know  of  any  slip-shod  dispensing  in  the  Poor  Law,  if  it  exists  it  is 
the  outcome  of  the  lack  of  recognition  by  the  Local  Government 
Board  of  the  responsible  nature  of  the  duties  assigned  to  the  dis¬ 
penser.  Work  of  undue  dimensions  is  forced  upon  him  by  the 
Guardians,  who,  themselves,  are  ignorant  of  the  consequences  of 
their  action,  they  merely  accept  the  dictum  of  the  upper  Board  in 
this  matter  without  question.  I  cannot  conceive  how  anyone  can 
properly  dispense  360  prescriptions  in  a  day  of  nine  hours, 
as  “Dispenser”  in  your  issue  of  March  6  claims  to  have  done. 
The  time  permits  only  1^  minute  for  each  prescription — this  fact 
alone  is  sufficient  to  condemn  it.  I  ask  the  whole  trade  to  protest, 
by  simultaneous  representations  to  the  different  Members  of  Par¬ 
liament,  against  the  continued  degradation  of  the  Poor  Law 
dispenser,  and  especially  to  insist  upon  the  exclusion  of  the  Army 
compounder  from  these  appointments.  I  invite  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  to  give  its  aid  by  providing  a  room  for  licentiates  to  meet 
in  to  discuss  matters,  ventilate  grievances,  and  to  formulate  a 
programme.  I  ask  the  Society  to  support  its  licentiates  by  abolish¬ 
ing  the  absurd  term  of  “  Minor”  for  its  qualifying  examination, 
and  not  continue  to  minimise  its  qualification  in  the  eyes  of  the 
public  and  authorities  by  its  own  nomenclature.  The  latter  step, 
a  small  one,  will  do  more  to  right  Poor  Law  dispensers  and  others 
than  any  one  act  the  Society  is  capable  of  doing,  and  is  one  which 
will  have  immediate  results. 

March  10,  1897.  A.P.S.  (84/31). 


Peach  Kernel  Oil  and  Oil  of  Almonds. 

Sir, — In  the  Journal  of  March  13  you  report  a  discussion  which 
followed  a  paper  read  by  Mr.  R.  C.  Cowley  before  the  Liverpool 
Pharmaceutical  Students’  Society,  and  it  appears  that,  in  the 
course  of  remarks  by  various  speakers,  one  gentleman  asked  if 
there  was  “  any  ready  and  good  means  of  distinguishing  between 
almond  oil  and  peach  kernel  oil.”  As  the  desired  information  was 
not  given  (according  to  the  report),  and  the  question  is  one  of 
practical  importance,  it  may  be  of  interest  to  call  attention  to 
Maisch’s  distinguishing  test  for  the  two  oils,  viz.  :  On  warming 
with  an  equal  volume  of  nitric  acid,  sp.  gr.  1-16,  peach  kernel  oil 
gives  a  yellow  to  orange-red  coloration,  genuine  almond  oil  giving 
a  negative  result  under  the  like  conditions.  From  the  results  of 
some  personal  experiments  in  that  direction,  I  should  think  it 
would  not  be  difficult  to  adapt  a  modification — on  colorimetric 
lines — to  the  determination  (approximately)  of  amount  of  peach 
kernel  in  a  mixture  of  the  two  oils. 

Ashton-under- Lyne,  March  Ilf,  1897.  T.  Jackson. 


The  Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association. 

Sir, —  I  cannot  agree  with  the  opinion  of  “Catalysis”  that  the 
arguments  of  Mr.  Ingham  against  the  P.A.T.A.  “squashed the 
case  ”  any  more  than  I  can  agree  with  his  own  statement.  The 
fact  that  he  writes  under  a  nom  de  plume  robs  his  letter  of  any 
value  it  might  have  had,  as  one  is  led  to  suspect  that  it  is  written 
either  by  one  who  has  not  the  courage  of  his  convictions,  by  one 
prej  u  diced  against  the  Association ,  or  possibly  by  one  whose  interests 
are  inimical  to  the  success  of  the  P.  A.  T.  A.  In  answer  to  his  objections 
my  experience  and  that  of  many  of  my  confreres  is  that  it  does  serve 
the  object  for  which  it  exists.  It  does  not  increase  the  sale 
of  quack  remedies,  and  the  only  way  freedom  of  action  is  affected 


286 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[MARCH  27, 1897. 


is  one  that  is  beneficial  to  oneself  and  the  retail  trade  generally. 
The  most  sanguine  well-wishers  of  the  P.A.T.A.  recognise  the 
difficulty  of  stopping  the  cutter  from  procuring  supplies,  and  that 
this  cannot  be  effected  at  once  and  without  trouble  and  assistance  ; 
but  if  it  has  the  loyal  co-operation  of  its  members  and  a  majority 
of  the  retail  trade  there  should  be  no  difficulty  in  doing  this.  As 
the  interests  of  all  are  affected  by  cutting,  surely  it  is  not  too 
much  to  expect  that  everyone  but  the  cutter  will  do  a  little  to 
help  safeguard  those  interests.  “  Catalysis”  makes  the  statement 
that  the  cutter  can  always  obtain  a  supply  from  a 
friendly  brother  chemist.  The  friendly  brother  chemist 
must  either  be  a  cutter  himself  and  soon  get  “  spotted,”  or  else 
must  be  a  very  poor  business  man  to  supply  another  who  neces¬ 
sarily  injures  his  own  business.  The  “mushroom”  Association 
does  not  advertise  to  the  public,  and  it  rests  entirely  with  the 
retail  trade  if  they  take  up  any  of  the  articles  advertised  in  the 
Anti-Cutting  Gazette.  I  quite  agree  with  the  quotation  used  by 
“Catalysis”  from  Dr.  Macnaughton- Jones’  address  as  to  the 
liberty  of  doing  what  is  right;  what  the  supporters  of  the  P.A.T.A. 
are  aiming  at  is  against  the  liberty  of  doing  wrong.  What  are  our 
laws  framed  for,  magistrates  appointed,  and  police  maintained  ? 
Certainly  not  to  prevent  the  former,  but  to  guard  against  and 
punish  the  latter. 

The  most  charitable  conclusion  one  can  come  to  with  regard  to 
the  opinions  of  “Catalysis”  is  that  he  has  not  yet  fully  taken  in  the 
situation.  He  complains  that  the  “  black  list  ”  only  affects  about 
twenty  houses,  and  those  all  or  nearly  so  stores.  This  at  any  rate 
is  an  admission  of  good  work  already  done.  If  the  great  “  stores” 
can  be  restrained,  surely  success  is  within  measurable  distance  of 
attainment.  Many  so-called  “  cutters  ”  are  so  because  they  have 
been  driven  to  it  by  the  competition  of  these  great  trading  com¬ 
panies  and  a  small  minority  within  our  own  ranks.  The  majority 
of  the  retail  trade  are  no  doubt  in  favour  of  protection  of  prices, 
and  it  is  a  very  small  minority  who  damage  the  interests 
of  the  whole  trade  by  pursuing  a  selfish  policy.  If  the 
large  trading  companies  who  reap  the  benefit  of  the 
advertisement,  and  who  are  in  a  position  to  buy  better  than 
the  ordinary  retailer  can  be  stopped  selling  at  unremunerative 
prices,  there  should  be  no  difficulty  with  the  one-man  company 
store.  If  “Catalysis”  can  suggest  any  better  course  to  pursue  than 
that  taken  by  the  P.A.T.A.,  I  feel  sure  that  the  Executive  of  that 
body  will  accept  it,  and  adopt  it,  and  that  he  will  earn  the 
gratitude  of  the  retail  pharmacist ;  if  he  cannot,  surely  the  attempt 
to  put  this  portion  of  our  business  on  a  more  satisfactory  basis 
might  command  his  benevolent  neutrality. 

March  22,  1897.  Charles  J.  Park. 


The  Alleged  Conversion  of  Cinchonine  into  Cinchonidine. 

Sir, — In  further  reference  to  the  above  subject  I  should  like  to 
give  two  results  I  have  obtained  since  writing  my  letter  of  the 
23rd  ult.  First,  when  amyl  alcohol  is  used,  which  contains  enough 
water  to  form  an  aqueous  layer  with  the  caustic  potash,  no  cin¬ 
chonidine,  or  at  most  a  mere  trace,  is  formed.  This  may  possibly 
be  the  cause  of  previous  failures  to  obtain  it.  Secondly,  as  the 
presence  of  water  is  objectionable,  I  tried  the  experiment  of  dis¬ 
solving  an  equivalent  quantity  of  metallic  sodium  in  dry  amyl 
alcohol,  and  thus  forming  sodium  amylate,  instead  of  using  potas¬ 
sium  hydrate.  By  this  method  I  have  obtained  a  yield  of  cin¬ 
chonidine  equal  to  12  per  cent,  of  the  cinchonine  used,  nearly  two 
and  a  half  times  as  much  as  when  the  hydrate  is  employed. 

Stratford,  near  London,  E.  G.  E.  Shaw. 

March  16,  1897. 


Business  Ways  that  are  Dark. 

Sir, — I  think  the  following  incident  will  interest  some  of  your 
readers,  as  I  see  you  have  published  letters  from  those  who  like 
myself  have  been  afflicted  with  a  parcel  of  goods  in  December 
which  I  had  not  ordered.  I  received  by  parcel  post  two  parcels 
of  cachous,  and  a  day  or  two  after  an  intimation  that  they  were  sent 
on  sale  or  return.  On  Dec.  19th  I  replied,  “  Having  sent  these  goods 
without  my  instructions  I  absolutely  refuse  to  take  any  liability  or 
responsibility  whatever.”  I  then  received  5\d.  in  stamps  with 
request  to  return  the  goods.  I  took  no  notice  of  it.  On  March  2 
I  received  post-card  asking  for  return,  stating  I  had  asked  for 
stamps  for  that  purpose  (which  I  had  not).  I  then  wrote  saving  if 
I  received  2s.  6 d.  for  storage  within  three  days  from  that  date  I 
would  send  them,  if  not  I  should  charge  2s.  6 d.  per  month,  showing 
them  there  was  two  sides  to  this  matter.  By  return  I  received  the 
2s.  (id. ,  and  returned  the  goods.  Those  of  our  friends  who  wish  to 


stop  these  precocious  people  putting  them  to  trouble  and  annoy¬ 
ance  will  see  how  to  go  on  with  them,  and  the  publication  of  this 
letter  will  open  the  eyes  of  those  who  read  it. 

Sheffield,  March  19,  1897.  '  G.  Ellinor. 


“  Lime  Juice  and  Glycerin.” 

Sir, — Would  it  not  be  as  well  to  remind  your  readers  that  in  the 
Pharmaceutical  Journal  for  May,  1867  (2nd  series,  vol.  viii.,  page 
679)  there  is  a  formula  for  “  Glycerin  and  Lime  Cream  ”  furnishing 
a  product  and  a  name  to  which  no  exception  can  be  taken.  It  is 
essentially  two  parts  of  almond  oil  with  one  part  of  lime  water,  to 
which  a  little  glycerin  may  be  added  with  perfume,  and  a  trace  of 
tincture  of  cantharides.  The  so-called  Persian  almond  oil  may  be 
used,  but  not  a  larger  proportion  of  water.  Call  it  “  Lime  Cream” 
and  all  is  well. 

Marylebone,  N~.  W.,  March  22,  1897.  J.  0.  Hyslop. 


ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 


Practical  Pharmacognosy. — Tschirch  and  Oesterle’s  ‘Atlas  der 
Pharmakognosie  und  Nahrungsmittelkunde  ’  is  published  in 
London  by  Williams  and  Norgate,  Henrietta  Street,  Covent 
Garden,  W.C.,  at  Is.  6 d.  per  part.  Eleven  parts  have  so  far 
appeared.  [ Reply  to  H.  C.  T.  G. — 86/12.] 

Jalapin.- — It  is  unreasonable  to  expect  information  in  books  more 
than  twenty  years  old  to  correspond  with  that  in  those  of  more 
recent  date.  The  term  “jalapin”  more  properly  applied  to  the 
portion  of  jalap  resin  insoluble  in  ether,  but  some  writers  apply  it. 
to  the  ether-soluble  constituent  of  the  resin.  German  “jalapin” 
often  consists  of  the  cheaper  soluble  “  convolv  ulin  ”  extracted  from 
scammony  root.  \Reply  to  S.  H. — 84/25.] 

Address  of  German  Firm. — The  address  you  require  is  Dr. 
Hermann  Rohrbeck,  Firma  J.  F.  Luhme  and  Co. ,  Karl-Strasse  24, 
Berlin,  N.W.,  manufacturer  of  bacteriological,  chemical,  and 
technical  apparatus.  [Reply  to  J.  A. — 83,27.] 

Dispensing  Query. — Yes,  spiritus  aetheris  nitrosi  is  known  to 
be  “incompatible”  with  salicylates.  The  mixture  you  mention, 
Sodii  salicyl. ,  ;  Spt.  aether,  nit. ,  jji.  ;  Aq.  menth.  pip. ,  §vi. , 

behaves  exactly  as  you  describe  ;  first  a  pale  straw  colour  develops 
in  a  few  minutes,  ultimately  a  deep  brown  colour  and  a  peculiar 
empyreumatic  odour  is  evolved.  The  crystals  you  obtained, 
which  were  afterwards  redissolved  in  the  mixture,  probably 
consist  of  salicylic  acid.  On  standing  a  couple  of  days  com¬ 
plete  decomposition  of  the  salicylate  seems  to  be  effected,  and 
an  almost  black  liquid  results.  You  should  call  the  attention  of 
the  prescriber  to  this  fact.  We  have  not  been  able  to  determine 
what  the  colouring  bodies  are ;  probably  the  reaction  is  a  very 
complicated  one.  The  decomposition  may  be  materially  retarded  by 
removing  all  free  acid  from  the  nitrous  ether,  by  shaking  it  with  a 
little  recently  ignited  sodium  carbonate.  [Reply  to  J.  W. — 84/26.] 


OBITUARY. 


Coleey.— On  March  13,  Frederick  Coleby,  Chemist  and  Drug¬ 
gist,  late  of  Poplar.  Aged  46. 

Hall.— On  March  13,  John  Thomas  Hall,  late  of  Seaforth,  near 
Liverpool.  Aged  51. 

Alford. — On  March  17>  Edward  Alford,  Chemist  and  JJruggist, 
Wadsbridge.  Aged  26.  Mr.  Alford  had  been  an  Associate  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  since  1893. 

Dyer. — On  March  17,  Edward  Henry  Dyer,  Pharmaceutical 
Chemist,  of  Honiton,  Devon.  Aged  40.  Mr.  Dyer  had  been  a 
Member  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  since  1882. 

Bae. — On  March  22,  Alexander  Rae,  Chemist  and  Druggist, 
Banff.  Aged  87. 


COMMUNICATIONS, LETTERS, etc., have  been  received  from 

Messrs.  Barclay,  Barrett,  Beckett,  Britton,  Brown,  Buckley,  Clarke,  Claypole, 
Cocks,  Colley,  Coull,  Currie,  Dunstan,  Ellinor,  Ellul,  Evans,  Everard,  Forret, 
Francis,  Gardner,  Goodall,  Green,  Gregory,  Henry,  Hill,  Hogg,  Huck,  Hunt, 
Hyslop,  Jewsbury,  Kemp,  Kemsey-Bourne,  Line,  Miller,  Mitchell,  Morley, 
Nall,  Park,  Peck,  Philip,  Potter,  Reynolds,  Robertson,  Robins,  Southall,  Stamp, 
Sutherland,  Thomson,  Warburton,  Wardleworth,  Wolff. 

[Several  (Letters  and  Answers  are  held  over.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


287 


“THE  MONTH.” 


The  gaseous  products  formed  when  acetylene 
is  exploded  with  less  than  its  own  volume  of 
oxygen  have  been  studied  by  W.  A.  Bone  and 
J.  C.  Cain,  who  point  out  that  this  gas  differs 
from  methane  and  ethylene  by  the  readiness 
rich  it  explodes  when  mixed  with  comparatively  small 
volumes  of  oxygen.  Methane  will  not  detonate  unless  it  is  fired 
with  nearly  its  own  volume  of  oxygen,  and  ethylene  must  be  mixed 
with  about  sixty-five  per  cent,  of  its  own  volume  of  oxygen  before 
it  can  be  fired  under  ordinary  conditions.  Acetylene,  on  the  other 
hand,  explodes  when  mixed  with  one-fifth  to  one-fourth  its  own 
volume  of  oxygen.  When  it  is  exploded  with  less  than  its  own 
volume  of  oxygen,  the  products  finally  obtained  are  carbon  mon¬ 
oxide  and  hydrogen,  and  the  excess  of  acetylene  is  for  the  greater 
part  resolved  into  its  elements  by  the  shock  of  the  explosion  wave. 
As  much  as  one  per  cent,  of  acetylene,  however,  may  be  found 
amongst  the  products  of  explosion,  and  is  possibly  due  to  a  re¬ 
combination  of  carbon  and  hydrogen  in  the  rear  of  the  explosion 
wave.  No  other  unsaturated  hydrocarbon  has  been  detected  in 
the  products  of  explosion.  Methane  does  not  appear  to  be  formed 
when  acetylene  is  exploded  with  less  than  its  own  volume  of 
oxygen,  at  any  rate  not  in  any  appreciable  amount,  but  small 
amounts  of  a  gas  absorbable  by  solid  potassium  hydroxide  were 
invariably  found  in  the  products  of  explosion,  this  being  partly,  if 
not  altogether,  due  to  the  presence  of  carbon  dioxide.  A  final 
result  of  the  explosions  is  that  carbon  is  deposited  thickly  when 
the  acetylene  is  mixed  with  less  than  three-quarters  of  its  own 
volume  of  oxygen,  but  where  mixtures  contain  a  larger  proportion 
of  oxygen  much  less  carbon  separates. — Journ.  Cliem.  Sop.,  lxxi.,  26. 

W.  A.  Bone  and  D.  S.  Jerdan  find  that,  at  a 
temperature  of  1200°,  or  thereabouts,  carbon 
unites  directly  with  hydrogen  to  form  methane, 
no  acetylene  or  other  un  saturated  hydrocarbon 
being  formed  at  that  temperature.  Both 
methane  and  acetylene  are  formed  when  the  electric  arc  is  passed 
between  carbon  terminals  in  an  atmosphere  of  hydrogen,  whilst  a 
state  of  equilibrium  is  finally  established  between  hydrogen, 
methane,  and  acetylene,  if  the  passage  of  the  arc  be  continued. 
Similarly,  a  state  of  equilibrium  is  produced  when  the  electric  arc 
is  passed  in  an  atmosphere  of  either  methane  or  acetylene  under 
similar  conditions. — Journ.  Chem.  Soc.,  lxxi.,  41. 

Anapparatusforliquefyingairby  self-intensive 
refrigeration  has  been  devised  by  W.  Hampson, 
and  it  appears  to  be  a  great  improvement  on 
that  of  Dr.  Carl  Linde,  as  the  weight  of  the 
copper  coil  required  is  reduced  to  less  than  one- 
sixth  that  in  the  latter,  the  time  required  for  liquefaction  to  less 
than  one-fourth,  and  the  pressure  of  the  compressed  air  to  less 
than  one-half.  Without  the  use  of  auxiliary  refrigeration  Linde 
was  able,  with  a  copper  apparatus  weighing  132  lbs.,  to  liquefy  air- 
in  two  hours,  with  an  average  higher  pressure  of  190  atmospheres. 
Hampson’s  copper  tube  weighs  20  lbs.  only  and,  when  supplied 
with  air  at  an  average  pressure  of  87  atmospheres,  a  jet  of  liquid 
air  was  seen  in  twenty-five  minutes,  whilst  the  liquid  was 
collecting  in  the  receiver  in  thirty-three  minutes  from  the  start. 
When  the  apparatus  was  cooled  by  continuous  working  the  air 
began  to  collect  again  in  two  minutes  after  emptying  the  receiver, 
and  accumulated  at  a  good  rate.  No  auxiliary  cooling  by  carbonic 
acid  or  other  agents  was  used  to  reduce  the  temperature  of  the 
compressed  air  before  or  after  it  reached  the  apparatus.  The 
Vol.  LVIII.  (Fourth  Series,  You.  IY.).  No.  1397. 


Union  of 
Carbon  and 
Hydrogen. 


Liquefaction 

of 

Air. 


receiver  is  a  glass  vessel  protected  by  a  vacuum,  of  the  kind 
invented  by  Crookes  and  improved  by  Dewar,  and  the  apparatus 
can  be  worked  without  danger,  as  in  the  event  of  a  joint  giving 
way  there  is  no  risk  of  anything  happening  beyond  “  a  mere 
blowing  off.” — Nature,  lv.,  485. 

A  process  successfully  employed  by  K.  P. 

Recovery  of  McElroy  in  the  recovery  of  platinum  chloride 
Waste  Platinum  waste  from  potash  analyses  is  based  on  the 
Chloride.  use  of  aluminium  turnings.  These  are  added 

to  a  hot  aqueous  solution  of  the  platinum- 
potassium  chloride  and,  in  a  few  minutes,  a  platinum-aluminium 
couple  is  formed  and  reduction  goes  on  vigorously.  Hydrochloric 
acid  may  be  added  to  promote  the  settling  of  the  platinum 
liberated  and,  after  reduction  is  complete,  more  acid  is  added  to 
dissolve  excess  of  aluminium,  The  clear  supernatant  liquid 
having  been  passed  through  filter  paper  to  separate  any  suspended 
platinum,  the  spongy  platinum  is  then  washed  until  free  from 
chloride.  It  is  next  covered  with  nitric  acid  and  heated  for  the 
purpose  of  removing  any  copper  that  may  have  been  contained 
in  the  aluminium.  After  further  washing  the  platinum  black 
produced  is  dissolved  in  aqua  regia  to  form  chloride. — Journ. 
Amer.  Chem.  Soc.,  xix.,258. 

Schafer  dissolves  50  grammes  of  aloes  in  300 
Determination  C.c.  of  hot  water,  slightly  acidulated  with  a 
Of  few  drops  of  hydrochloric  acid.  The  solution, 

Aloin.  after  standing  for  the  resins  to  separate,  is 
poured  off  and  mixed  with  50  C.c.  of  20  per¬ 
cent.  ammonia  solution.  This  is  followed  by  a  solution  of  15 
grammes  of  calcium  chloride  in  30  C.c.  of  water.  On  stirring 
rapidly  the  aloin-calcium  compound  separates  out,  and  after  stand¬ 
ing  fifteen  minutes  is  collected  and  drained,  or  separated  in  a  centri* 
fugal  machine.  The  drained  mass  is  mixed  in  a  mortar  with  a 
slight  excess  of  hydrochloric  acid,  the  resulting  mixture  of  calcium 
chloride  and  aloin  dissolved  in  the  smallest  possible  quantity  of 
boiling  water,  filtered,  the  filter  washed  with  a  little  boiling  water, 
and  the  filtrate  crystallised  at  a  low  temperature  by  means  of  ice. 
In  this  manner  from  15  to  30  per  cent,  of  well-crystallised,  light 
yellow  aloin  was  obtained  from  various  kinds  of  commercial  aloes. 
— Pharm.  Zeit./ir.  Russ.,  xxxvi.,  65. 

Commenting  on  the  confusion  that  has  arisen 
Iodothyroidin.  in  the  nomenclature  of  thyroid  preparations, 

through  the  use  of  trade  names  which  are  mis- 
© 

leading  and  often  incorrect,  Catillon,  in  a  communication  to  the 
Societe  de  Therapeutique,  describes  a  method  of  preparing  the  active 
portion  of  thyroid  for  medicinal  use  in  the  form  of  a  standardised 
product,  which  he  calls  iodothyroidin.  It  is  prepared  as  follows  : — 
The  glands  are  submitted  to  pancreatic  digestion  with  pancreatin 
and  water  ;  the  residue  is  extracted  with  petroleum  ether,  dissolved 
in  dilute  soda  solution  and  filtered,  the  filtrate  slightly  acidulated 
with  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  when  the  active  principle  is  precipitated. 
This  is  collected  and  washed,  the  amount  of  iodine  in  a  portion 
determined,  and  sufficient  sugar  of  milk  added  to  the  bulk  to  reduce 
the  iodine  content  to  0"0003  gramme  in  each  gramme  of  finished 
product.—  Les  Nouv.  Rem.,  xiii.,  129. 

This  new  preparation  of  ergot  is  obtained  by 
Ergotinol.  exhausting  powdered  and  oil-free  ergot  with 
water.  The  extracts  obtained  are  treated  with 
acids  and  hydrolised.  The  acid  is  then  neutralised  and  alcoholic 
fermentation  induced.  The  product  is  then  subjected  to  dialysis, 
and  concentrated  until  1  C.c.  of  ergotinol  corresponds  to  0"5  grm. 
of  extractum  secalis  cornutum.  Ergotinol  is  said  to  be  a  substi¬ 
tute  for  the  extract,  without  possessing  the  unpleasant  pro¬ 
perties  of  the  latter. — Pharm.  Zeity.,  xlii.,  141. 


288 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  3,  1897 


Dr.  E.  Buchner  has  extracted  from  yeast  by 
Ferment  pressure  a  liquid  containing  an  alcohol-pro- 
from  ducing  ferment  which  is  capable  of  causing 

Yeast.  cane-sugar  or  grape-sugar  to  ferment  in  the 
absence  of  yeast-cells.  Milk-sugar  is  not 
affected  by  the  ferment.  The  addition  of  chloroform  to  the  liquid, 
•even  up  to  the  saturation  point,  does  not  inhibit  the  fermentative 
process,  although  it  causes  a  rapid  precipitation  of  albuminous 
matter.  The  liquid  expressed  from  the  yeast  coagulates  when 
heated  to  about  50°  C.,  and  the  power  of  exciting  fermentation  is 
then  entirely  lost.  It  was  also  found  that  in  the  active  liquid  the 
ferment  diffuses  very  slowly,  if  at  all,  through  parchment  paper. 
The  ferment  has  been  named  “zymase”  by  its  discoverer,  and 
apparently  it  is  of  a  proteid  nature,  but  further  investigation 
will  be  required  to  decide  this  and  other  doubtful  points. — 
Berichte  and  Nature,  lv. ,  442. 

According  to  Sassarini  ( Analli  di  Chim.  et 
Composition  Farmacol.)  gamboge  contains: — 1st,  a  gum 
Of  analogous  to  arabin ;  2nd,  an  essential  oil 

Gamboge.  boiling  from  160°  to  210°,  containing  a  terpene 
and  a  camphor  (this  oil  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  previously  recorded)  ;  3rd,  isovitinic  and  acetic  acids  ;  4th, 
a  phenolic  ester  ;  5th,  a  resin ;  6th,  methyl-alcohol  and  other 
•higher  homologues  ;  7th,  a  liquid  with  a  fruity  odour,  boiling  at  a 
high  temperature,  and  presenting  the  characters  of  an  aldehyde  or 
an  acetone.  He  is  of  opinion  that  the  phloroglucin  reported  as 
present  by  other  workers  has  been  a  decomposition  product. — 
Journal  de  Pharm.  [6],  v.,  171. 

This  is  the  name  which  Boehm  gives  to  a 
Aspidin.  substance  obtained  from  the  ethereal  extract 
of  male  fern  in  the  proportion  of  3  per  cent. 
It  has  the  formula  Cs3H2707,  and  forms  colourless  crystals  which 
melt  at  124  ’5°  C.  ;  these  are  insoluble  in  water,  soluble  in 
alcohol,  benzol,  ether,  and  alkalies.  Aspidin  is  poisonous,  but 
nothing  certain  is  known  about  its  therapeutic  effect.  Besides 
aspidin,  Boehm  has  further  isolated  albaspidin,  aspidinin,  aspi- 
■dinol,  and  a  few  acids  from  the  extract. — Pliarm.  Zeitg.,  xlii.,  79. 

Professor  Remington  publishes  the  results  of 
Aeetie  Acid  some  experiments,  the  object  of  which  was  to 
as  a  determine  whether  acetic  acid  cannot  be  made  to 

Menstruum,  replace  alcohol  in  at  least  some  of  the  medicinal 
preparations  now  in  common  use.  On  account  of 
the  antiseptic  power  of  acetic  acid,  he  considers  that  there  can  be  no 
question  that  vinegars,  if  properly  made,  could  advantageously 
replace  many  tinctures.  He  points  out,  also,  that  slightly  acidulated 
liquids  are  palatable  to  most  patients  and  that  vinegars,  when  com" 
bined  in  mixtures  with  syrups,  would  be  particularly  acceptable 
inasmuch  as  the  acid  would  counteract  the  cloying  sweetness  of  the 
syi’ups.  Another  recommendation  advanced  is  the  desirability  of 
having  alternative  preparations  of  the  same  drug  so  that  physicans 
may  avoid  giving  alcoholic  preparations  to  patients  who  may  beliable 
to  become  victims  of  the  liquor  habit.  The  objection  to  the  presence 
of  strong  acetic  acid  in  a  preparation  is  met  by  the  suggestion 
that  the  acid  might  be  got  rid  of  by  evaporating  at  a  very  low 
temperature  and  then  re-dissolving  the  extract  in  some  other 
solvent,  the  process  adopted  in  the  preparation  of  ipecacuanha  wine, 
B.  P.  The  results  of  the  forty-one  experiments  recorded  merely  show 
that  acetic  acid  can  advantageously  replace  alcohol  in  the  extraction 
of  nux  vomica,  the  “acetract”  prepared  with  10  per  cent,  acetic  acid 
and  proved  to  contain  15  per  cent,  of  mixed  alkaloids,  having  been 
dissolved  in  alcohol  of  varying  strengths  to  form  tinctures.  From 
these  results  it  would  appear  that  acetic  acid  may  prove  useful  in  the 
case  of  drugs  difficult  to  exhaust,  and  that  the  solid  prepara 


tions  thus  obtained  may  be  readily  assayed  and  standardised. 
They  can  then  be  re-dissolved  in  mixtures  of  alcohol  and  water  of 
different  strengths,  with  or  without  the  addition  of  glycerin,  and 
if  the  proper  menstruum  be  chosen  the  residue  will  be  inert  and 
may  be  filtered  out.  Sanguinaria,  kola,  ipecacuanha,  squill,  cin¬ 
chona,  and  colchicum  seed  are  referred  to  as  having  also  been 
experimentally  exhausted  with  acetic  acid,  but  the  results  are  not 
given.—  Amer.  Journ.  Pharm.,  lxix.,  121. 

In  a  paper  embodying  the  results  of  a  large 
Therapeutic  number  of  determinations  of  the  ash  yielded  by 
Activity  of  various  drugs,  C.  H.  La  Wall  remarks  that, 
Drugs.  inasmuchas  the  therapeutic  activity  of  any  given 

drug  is  attributable  to  the  constituents  peculiar 
to  that  drug,  irrespective  of  the  physiological  effects  produced  by 
so-called  inert  cellular  tissue,  it  might,  therefore,  truthfully  be 
said  that  the  therapeutic  effect  of  any  given  drug  is  the  algebraic 
sum  of  the  effects  of  its  proximate  constituents.  The  word  effect 
is  used  in  a  relative  sense  only,  as  no  uniform  or  fixed  value  can  be 
given  in  view  of  the  fact  that  in  no  two  cases  of  administration  are 
the  conditions  exactly  similar.  The  inorganic  constituents  of  drugs, 
it  is  pointed  out,  may  play  a  very  small  part  in  the  physiological 
action  of  a  drug,  but  in  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge  no 
factor,  however  slight,  should  be  ignored. — Amer.  Journ.  Pharm. , 
lxix.,  137. 

L.  E.  Sayre  has  compared  the  structure  of 
Comparison  Rhamnus  purshiana,  R.  frangula,  and  R.  cali- 
Of  Rhamnus  fornica,  and  thinks  that,  though  the  resem- 
Barks.  blance  between  them  renders  distinction  diffi¬ 
cult,  a  few  points  of  dissimilarity  revealed  by 
the  aid  of  the  microscope  and  appropriate  reagents  may  prove  of 
some  value  in  distinguishing  the  powders.  Stone  cells,  he  states,  are 
absent  from  R.  frangula,  while  the  other  two  barks  contain  a  large 
number  of  them,  scattered  in  large  irregular  groups  below  the 
cork  and  usually  outside  the  bast  region.  In  the  case  of 
R.  purshiana  and  R.  calif ornica  the  microscope  failed  to  reveal  any 
satisfactory  means  of  differentiation,  but  maceration  in  dilute 
alcohol  for  several  days  causes  the  powder  of  the  first-named 
to  assume  an  orange-yellow  colour  and  the  various  tissues  to  come 
out  more  clearly  when  examined  ;  the  powder  of  R.  californica, 
however,  becomes  purplish,  and  the  tissues  seem  to  be  obscured 
by  a  dark  colouring  matter.  Potash  solution  causes  the  powder 
of  R.  purshiana  to  become  deep  red,  and  that  of  R.  californica 
assumes  an  orange  colour.  Slight  hope  is  held  out  that  these  tests 
will  avail  in  dealing  with  mixed  powders,  and  it  may  be  doubted, 
therefore,  whether  they  possess  much  practical  value. — Amer. 
Journ.  Pharm.,  lxix.,  126. 

A.  Schneider  has  made  a  comparative  study 
Histology  of  true  or  Banda  mace  ( Myristica  fragrans)  and 
Of  wild  or  Bombay  mace  (M.  malabarica).  He 

Maee.  finds  that  their  anatomical  characters  are  essen¬ 
tially  different,  the  most  marked  differences 
occurring  in  the  epidermal  tissues  and  in  the  amylo-dextrin  grains. 
The  epidermal  cells  of  true  mace  are  described  as  being  much 
elongated  in  the  direction  of  the  long  axis  of  the  arillus  and  tan¬ 
gentially  flattened  ;  those  of  Bombay  mace,  on  the  other  hand,  are 
radially  flattened.  The  amylo-dextrin  grains  of  true  mace  vary 
greatly  in  size  and  form,  some  (5 g.  x  14u)  being  nearly 
rectangular  and  much  elongated,  whilst  others  (6^x9/!)  are  ir¬ 
regularly  oval,  and  some  are  very  small  (2fx  to  6/x  in  diameter). 
Others,  again,  are  much  thickened  at  one  end  (flask-shaped),  and 
in  most  of  the  grains  crystalloid  bodies  may  be  detected.  The 
amylo-dextrin  grains  of  Bombay  mace  are  usually  more  or  less 
spheroidal,  some  being  quite  irregular,  and  very  frequently  they 


April  3,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


289 


occur  in  groups.  They  vary  from  2/j.  to  10/*  in  diameter,  and  their 
crystalloid  contents  seem  much  smaller  than  those  in  true  mace. 
In  addition  the  contents  of  the  oil-cells  of  the  two  kinds  of  mace 
differ  chemically,  those  of  the  Bombay  variety  being  distinguished 
by  a  colouring  substance  which  does  not  occur  in  appreciable 
quantities  in  true  mace,  if  at  all.  On  the  addition  of  potash 
solution  the  cell  contents  are  dissolved  and  an  orange-red 
colour  gradually  develops  in  the  presence  of  this  substance,  the 
reaction  requiring  from  one  to  three  minutes  to  reach  its 
maximum  intensity.  If  sulphuric  acid  (25  to  50  per  cent.) 
be  noW  added  the  colour  changes  to  yellow,  and  there  is  a  partial 
precipitation  of  the  colouring  substance.  This  reaction  is  said  to 
be  a  certain  proof  of  the  presence  of  Bombay  mace,  as  true  mace 
when  treated  with  alkalies  gives  only  a  “  light”  orange-red  colora¬ 
tion  which  is  changed  by  acids  to  a  “faint”  yellow.  It  is  claimed 
that  the  presence  of  an  almost  infinitesimal  quantity  of  wild  mace 
can  thus  be  detected,  and  that  by  the  aid  of  the  microscope,  mixtures 
of  the  two  kinds  in  the  state  of  powder  can  be  recognised  as  such. 
— Journal  oj  Pharmacology,  iv.,  57. 

Sayre  states  that  this  root  is  considered 
Balsamorrhiza  invaluable  in  cases  of  heart  trouble,  also  as  a 
Terebinthaeea.  cure  for  the  habit  of  tobacco  smoking.  The 
plant  is  a  native  of  western  Idaho  and  eastern 
Oregon,  growing  in  hard  stony  soil.  It  is  a  Composite.  The  root, 
when  peeled  and  baked,  serves  as  an  article  of  food  for  the 
aborigines,  and  the  achenes  are  also  eaten.  The  colour  of  the  root 
is  light  brown,  shaded  to  almost  black.  It  is  deeply  fissured 
from  the  uniting  of  branches,  and  frequently  annulate.  The 
wood  fibres  are  light  yellow,  and  the  root  is  of  an  open  spongy 
texture,  the  pores  being  filled  with  a  brownish-yellow  resinous 
balsam.  The  root  has  a  strong  terebinthinate  odour,  and 
is  very  inflammable.  It  is  exceedingly  pungent  and  aromatic 
in  flavour,  producing  a  persistent  tingling  sensation  upon  the 
tongue  and  throat.  The  virtues  of  the  root  are  due  apparently  to 
an  oleo-resin,  which  is  highly  aromatic.  This  resin  is  soluble  in 
alcohol,  and  has  a  strong  odour,  which  may  be  said  to  resemble  a 
mixture  of  a  camphoraceous  or  terebinthinate  oil  and  an  oil  from 
one  of  the  umbelliferous  plants.  It  would  appear  that  this  plant 
has  the  properties  of  a  stimulant  and  carminative.  Whether 
it  acts  upon  the  heart  it  is  impossible  to  say  until  physiological 
experiments  can  be  made. — Drug.  Circular,  xli.,  32. 

Gerpen  made  the  remarkable  observation 
Poisonous  that  after  having  deposited  the  honey  in  their 
Honey.  cells,  certain  American  bees  collect  the  pollen 
of  the  male  Indian  corn,  and  work  it  well  into 
the  honey.  If  the  honey  is  used  before  this  operation  has  taken 
place,  it  ferments  quickly  and  produces  griping  and  violent 
diarrhoea.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  the  pollen  of  Indian  corn 
possesses  an  antiseptic  action  which  protects  the  hcney  from 
fermentation. — Amer.  Pharm.  Monatsb.,  ii. ,  45. 

According  to  Dr.  A.  Tschirch,  resin,  oil,  and 
Formation  other  secretions  are  never  formed  within  the 
Of  Secretions  cell-membrane,  but  in  a  special  layer  known  as 
in  Plants.  the  resinogenous  layer.  The  septa  which  occur 
in  the  vittae  of  Umbelliferae  are  the  remains  of 
this  layer.  To  the  substance  of  which  this  layer  is  composed  the 
author  applies  the  term  “  vittin.”  It  is  of  a  pectinaceous  character, 
and  appears  to  be  identical  with  the  substance  of  mucilage.  In 
schizolysigenous  passages,  like  those  of  the  Rutacere,  there  is  first 
a  cap-like  formation  of  the  resinogenous  layer,  followed  by  a  disso¬ 
lution  of  the  cells  and  a  resorption  of  the  protoplasm. — Sitzber. 
68  Versammlung  deutscher  Naturforscher  u.  Aerzte,  1896. 


From  the  result  of  a  series  of  experiments 
Assimilation  made  by  MM.  E.  Laurent,  E.  Marchal,  and  E. 

Of  Carpiaux,  on  the  assimilation  of  the  nitrogen  con- 

NitFOgen.  tained  in  ammonia  and  that  in  nitric  acid  by  the 
higher  plants,  it  appears  that  assimilation  of 
nitrates  does  not  take  place  in  the  dark  ;  the  action  of  the  ultra¬ 
violet  rays  is  necessary  for  the  process.  For  the  assimilation  of 
ammoniacal  salts,  the  action  of  the  same  rays  is  of  predominant 
importance,  but  the  luminous  rays  may  incite  a  feeble  assimilation 
of  ammonia  in  etiolated  leaves.  The  action  of  chlorophyll  is 
declared  to  be  not  essential ;  etiolated  leaves  assimilate  ammoniacal 
nitrogen  even  better  than  green  leaves.  The  assimilation  of  nitric 
nitrogen  gives  rise  to  a  temporary  production  of  ammonia. — Bull. 
Acad.  Roy.  Sci.  Belgique,  \ ol.  xxxii.,  p.  815. 

In  an  interesting  paper  in  the  Transactions  of 
Pigments  the  Botanical  Society  of  Edinburgh (v ol.  xx.  ,p.  534) 

Of  Miss  M.  J.  Newbigin  gives  a  detailed  account 

Plants.  of  the  various  colouring  matters  of  leaves  and 
flowers,  which  she  divides  into  lipochromes  and 
anthocyans,  the  former  being  insoluble,  the  latter  soluble  in  water. 
The  authoress  states  that  there  is  no  evidence  that  lipochromes  are 
in  any  way  derivatives  of  chlorophyll.  She  groups  them  into  two 
classes,  eucarotins  and  carotinins.  Anthocyans  are  probably 
derivatives  of  tannins.  The  theory  that  their  chief  purpose  is  to 
protect  chlorophyll  against  decomposition  in  a  strong  light  is 
scarcely  in  harmony  with  some  of  the  conditions  under  which  they 
are  commonly  formed,  as,  for  example,  in  young  shoots  in  spring, 
and  in  autumn  leaves.  Etiolin  is  probably  nearly  allied  to  chloro¬ 
phyll,  these  two  being  nearly  the  only  pigments  in  the  vegetable 
kingdom  which  contain  nitrogen. 

Herr  G.  G  jokie  states  ( Sitzber .  A  had,.  Wiss. 
Fruit  and  Seed  Wien,  1896)  that  the  threads  of  viscin,  which 
Of  are  formed  when  mistletoe  berries  are  opened, 

Viscum.  are  derived  from  the  membranes  of  cells  which 

have  been  artificially  drawn  out.  They  give  all 
the  staining  reactions  of  cellulose.  The  mucilage  which  surrounds 
the  hypocotyl  of  the  seedling  is  not  identical  with  viscin  ;  it  is 
stained  yellow  by  chlor-zinc-iodide,  and  a  beautiful  red  by  sesqui- 
chloride  of  ruthenium.  The  lignified  elements  of  the  endocarp  of 
Viscum  album  are  reticulated  cells  and  spiral  vessels.  The 
exceptionally  strong  protection  of  the  seeds  of  the  mistletoe 
against  evaporation,  which  enables  them  to  germinate  even  in  the 
exsiccator,  depends  on  the  development  of  a  thick-walled  cuti- 
cularised  epiderm  to  the  endosperm  covered  by  a  thick  coat  of  wax. 

Professor  H.  Molisch  states  that  algae  thrive 
Food-Materials  best  in  a  slightly  alkaline  nutrient  solution. 
Of  while  acid  kills  them  or  arrests  their  growth. 

Algae.  These  facts  have  a  strong  bearing  on  the 
growth  of  fresh- water  algae  in  streams  and  in 
lakes.  Waters  in  which  algae  are  found  most  abundantly  in 
Nature  are  slightly  alkaline.  In  the  case  of  those  algae  which 
especially  require  calcium,  this  element  cannot  be  replaced  by 
sodium,  lithium,  rubidium,  or  caesium.  Potassium  arseniate  is 
highly  poisonous  to  algae,  while  potassium  arsenite  is  harmless  in 
small  quantities. — Sitzber.  A  lead.  Wiss.  Wien,  1896. 

In  dilute  solutions  of  citric  acid,  Herr  C. 
Acid-loving  Wehmer  finds  a  fungus-mycele  belonging  tc 
Fungi.  Verticillium  glaucum.  In  solutions  containing 
tartaric  acid,  Citromyces  makes  its  appearance. 
Penicillium  luteum  was  found  when  nutrient  solutions  containing 
sugar  were  treated  with  citric  acid.  When  tartaric  acid  was  used, 
Aspergillus  niger  took  its  place. — Beitrdge  zur  Kenntniss  tinheimischer 
Pilze,  vol,  v. 


290 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  3,  1897 


Prof.  W.  Pfeffer  has  performed  a  series  of 
Formation  experiments  for  the  purpose  of  determining 
Of  Dias-  the  conditions  under  which  diastase  is  formed 
tase  in  Fungi,  in  some  of  the  lower  plants — Penicillium 
glaucum,  Aspergillus  niger,  Bacterium  mega- 
terium.  He  finds  that  an  increase  in  the  amount  of  sugar  in  the 
nutrient  fluid  always  has  the  effect  of  decreasing  the  production 
of  diastase  ;  but  the  same  result  was  not  produced  when  the  sugar 
was  replaced  by  some  other  carbohydrate,  or  by  glycerin  or 
tartaric  acid.  The  arrest  in  the  production  of  diastase  is  not,  he 
considers,  a  purely  chemical  or  physical  phenomenon,  but  is  rather 
one  of  irritation  exerted  on  the  organism  by  a  solution  of  sugar  of 
a  certain  degree  of  condensation. — Ber.  Suchs.  Gesett.  Wiss.  Leipzig, 
Dec.  7,  1896. 

MM.  G.  Riviere  and  G.  Bailbache  have 
Influence  Of  attempted  to  determine  the  question  of  tho 
the  Stock  influence  exercised  by  the  stock  on  the  graft,  by 
On  the  Graft,  grafting  the  same  variety  of  pear  on  two 
different  stocks,  the  wild  pear  and  the  quince. 
They  find,  as  a  general  result,  that  the  mean  weight  of  the  fruit 
produced  is  considerably  greater  in  the  plant  grafted  on  the 
quince  than  on  that  grafted  on  the  wild  pear,  that  the  density  of 
the  fruit  is  also  greater,  and  that  the  amount  of  free  acid  and  of 
sugar  contained  in  it  are  also  larger. — Comptes  rendus,  Acad.  Sci., 
Paris,  1897,  p.  477. 

In  the  Transactions  of  the  Botanical  Society  of 
Germination  Edinburgh  (vol.  XX.,  p.  492),  Mr.  T.  C.  Day 
of  publishes  the  result  of  a  series  of  observations, 

Barley.  illustrated  by  a  number  of  elaborate  tables, 
on  the  germination  of  barley  with  restricted 
moisture.  He  finds  that  an  increase  of  moisture  during  germina¬ 
tion  always  induces  a  corresponding  increase  in  the  amount  of 
carbon  dioxide  produced.  Taking  the  production  of  carbon 
dioxide  as  the  measure  of  the  rate  of  growth  during  germination, 
the  period  of  greatest  activity,  with  varying  quantities  of  moisture, 
is  generally  about  the  third  or  fourth  day. 

Mr.  R.  S.  McDougall  has  collected  a  number 
Poisonous  PPO-  of  facts  with  regard  to  the  poisonous  pro¬ 
perties  Of  perties  of  the  seeds  of  Lathyrus  sativus  and 
LathyPUS  sativus.  of  some  other  leguminous  plants.  He  states 

that  the  continual  use  of  pulse  by  man  as  a 
daily  article  of  food  leads  eventually  to  paralysis  of  the  lower 
limbs,  various  instances  of  this  being  recorded  in  Scotland  and  in 
India.  During  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  pulse 
was  forbidden  as  an  article  of  food  in  Germany  and  in  France.  On 
horses  it  has  also  an  injurious  effect,  causing  roaring,  the  only 
effectual  cure  being  tracheotomy.  On  swine  it  produces  paralysis 
and  spasm.  The  alleged  instances  of  the  poisonous  effects  of  Cicer 
arietinum,  the  chick-pea,  are  probably  due  to  Lathyrus  sativus 
having  been  mistaken  for  it.  The  poisonous  alkaloid  of  the  seeds 
of  Lathyrus  sativus  does  not  appear  at  present  to  have  been  separated. 

• — Transactions,  Bot.  Soc.,  Edinburgh,  vol.  xx.,  p.  301. 

Keating  Stock  makes  an  improved  zinc-copper 
Improved  couple  for  reducing  nitrates  in  the  course  of 
Zlne-Copper  water  analysis,  thus  :  After  filling  a  7-oz.  wide- 
Couple.  mouthed  stoppered  bottle  nearly  to  the  neck 
with  granulated  zinc,  add  water,  then  a  few 
drops  of  sulphuric  acid  (1  to  3),  and  10  C.c.  of  3  per  cent, 
copper  sulphate  solution.  The  stopper  is  inserted  and  the 
bottle  vigorously  shaken  for  one  minute,  the  stopper  being  held 
by  the  finger,  and  the  operation  performed  over  the  sink.  The 
stopper  is  now  removed  and  the  mouth  of  the  bottle  covered  with 
a  piece  of  soft  copper  gauze.  The  couple  is  then  thoroughly 


washed  at  the  tap  and  drained ;  100  C.c.  of  the  water  to  be 
analysed  is  placed  in  the  bottle,  the  stopper  securely  inserted  and  the 
bottle  allowed  to  stand  at  a  temperature  of  from  20  to  25°  C.  for 
forty-eight  hours.  The  test  is  completed  by  thoroughly  shaking  the 
bottle,  drawing  off  50  C.c.  of  the  water,  adding  this  to  200  C.c.  of 
ammonia  free  water  in  a  flask  or  retort,  running  in  5  C.c.  saturated 
sodium  carbonate  solution,  distilling  and  Kessler  ising  as  usual. 
The  couples  will  last  for  many  months  after  being  washed  and 
re-coppered. — Journ.  Soc.  Chem.  Ind.,  xvi. ,  107. 

Francois  lately  published  a  note  on  Viburnum 
Viburnum  prunifolium  in  which  it  stated  that  caproic 
Prunifolium  acid  was  present,  although  the  formula  given 
was  that  of  oenanthylic  acid.  Schamelhout  has 
now  reviewed  the  work,  having  prepared  the  ethyl  and  methyl  esters 
of  the  acid  and  its  metallic  salts,  which  prove  it  to  be  those  of 
valerianic  and  not  caproic  acid. — Annales  de  Pharm.  [3],  iii. ,  114. 

C.  L.  Norton  and  R.  R.  Lawrence  state  that, 
Condensers  by  the  use  of  a  condenser  of  considerable 
and  capacity,  an  induction  coil  may  be  driven  more 

X-Ray  Tubes,  satisfactorily,  and  gives  a  much  more  powerful 
means  of  exciting  X-ray  tubes.  The  primary- 
must  be  replaced  by  a  special  one  consisting  of  a  few  tarns  of 
heavy  wire  on  a  finely  laminated  core,  special  attention  being  paid 
to  the  insulation.  In  the  case  of  a  vertical  coil  it  is  recommended 
that  the  laminated  coil  be  placed  in  a  glass  tube,  the  primary 
wound  upon  the  latter,  and  the  whole  placed  in  a  large  heavy  tube 
closed  at  the  bottom  and  filled  with  oil.  Tubes  and  screens 
are  much  more  brilliantly  illuminated  with  this  arrangement  than 
normally,  and  better  effects  are  obtained,  both  photographically 
and  otherwise. — Nature,  lv.,  461. 

G.  L.  Heath  describes  a  calibrated  weighing 
A  New  flask,  which  possesses  some  advantages  over 
Weighing  the  ordinary  graduated  flasks  in  use.  The 
Flask.  neck  of  the  flask  is  surrounded  by  an  annular 
cup,  the  outside  of  which  is  ground  to  fit  a 
light  glass  cap  that  slips  over  it.  A  little  soft  paraffin  may  be  used 
on  the  ground  portions  of  the  ring  and  cap,  as  the  solution  con¬ 
tained  in  the  flask  never  comes  in  contact  with  the  latter.  Solutions 
may  thus  be  kept  for  some  time  without  any  change  in  weight,  and 
the  flask  is  especially  adapted  for  weighing  liquids,  such  as  standard 
ferric  chloride  solutions  for  titrations.  After  weighing  and  pouring 
off  any  portion  of  the  contents  the  little  annular  cup  retains 
any  drops  that  may  run  down  outside  the  neck  of  the  flask. — 
Journ.  Amer.  Chem.  Soc.,  xix.,  198. 

The  use  of  aluminium  in  condensers  is 
Aluminium  referred  to  by  T.  H.  Norton,  who  describes 
Condensers,  one  in  which  the  outer  jacket  was  of  glass  and 
the  inner  tube — measuring  122  Cm.  in  length, 

1  Cm.  in  external  diameter,  8-5  Mm.  internal  diameter,  and 
weighing  29  Gm.  per  metre — of  aluminium.  The  tube  was  bent 
at  right  angles  15  Cm.  from  the  end,  thus  permitting  of  connec¬ 
tion  with  a  distilling  flask  without  allowing  the  condensing 
vapours  to  come  in  contact  with  any  substance  but  the  metal. 
Ethyl  alcohol,  benzene,  nitrobenzene,  chloroform,  ethyl  ether, 
and  acetone  were  shown  to  be  capable  of  very  rapid  distillation 
with  the  exceedingly  short  tube  of  this  condenser,  on  account  of 
the  high  conductive  power  of  the  aluminium,  and  the  residues 
left  showed  that  there  was  practically  no  attack  upon  the  metal. 
In  connection  with  the  distillation  of  water  it  was  found  that 
aluminium  possesses  about  the  same  advantages  over  glass  as  tin, 
whilst  in  lightness  and  conductivity  it  is  much  superior  to  the 
latter. — Journ.  Amer.  Chem.  Soc.,  xix.,  153. 


April  3,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


291 


THE  LATIN  OF  PHARMACY.* 

BY  GEORGE  COULL,  B.SC. 

(  Concluded  from  'page  273.  ) 

My  contention  all  through  is  that  we  should  put  accuracy  or 
correctness  in  the  fore  front  and  consistency  last.  The  oils  of  the 
Pharmacopoeia  furnish  examples  of  the  immolation  both  of  correct¬ 
ness  and  consistency.  Oleum  amygdalae  is  translated  in  the  B.P. 
as  almond  oil,  which  is  not  a  correct  rendering,  it  ought  to  be  oil 
of  almond.  Dr.  Attfield  objects  to  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia 
rendering  magnesii  sulphas  as  magnesium  sulphate,  but  there  is  no 
difference — not  in  the  slightest  degree — between  that  and  oleum 
amygdalae  as  almond  oil  in  the  B.P.  But  we  have  here  surren¬ 
dered  a  good  classical  term  used  by  Pliny,  namely,  oleum  amygda- 
linum,  oil  made  from  or  pertaining  to  almond,  i.e.,  almond  oil. 
Then  oleum  caryophylli  and  oleum  cubebae  are  rendered  oil  of 
cloves  and  oil  of  cubebs  respectively.  Why  should  the  English  of 
these  be  in  the  plural  any  more  than  oil  of  caraway  or  oil  of 
coriander  ?  This  is  surely  inconsistent.  Oleum  myristicae  ex- 
pressum  has  as  a  synonym  adeps  myristicae  from  the  1864  B.P., 
which  is  a  very  inconsistent  term,  and  ought  to  be  omitted, 
adeps  being  the  soft  fat  of  an  animal,  besides  which  it  is  never 
used  now.  Butyrum  myristicae  would  have  been  a  more  consistent 
as  well  as  accurate  name  to  call  it  from  its  physical  appearance,  in  a 
manner  similar  to  that  in  which  oleum  theobromatis  is  called 
cacao  butter.  Gray’s  1  Supplement,’  1831,  says  nutmeg  butter 
floats  on  the  surface  of  the  water  in  the  still  when  nutmegs  are 
distilled  for  their  oil. 

The  word  adeps  reminds  me  that  I  have  had  for  some  time  a 
predilection  for  a  reversion  to  the  old  name  adeps  suillus  for  the 
sake  both  of  consistency  and  accuracy.  We  have  adeps  lame 
introduced  into  the  Pharmacopoeia,  although  I  think  adeps  lanarius 
would  be  the  more  classical  way  of  putting  it,  and  by  the  renas¬ 
cence  of  old  remedies  we  may  have  adeps  anserinus,  ursinus  or 
vulpinus  in  use  at  any  time.  In  fact,  there  actually  was  a  strong 
claim  put  forward  not  long  ago  for  a  trial  of  “  oleum  anseris  ”  or 
goose-grease  by  Dr.  Langford  Symes  in  the  Dublin  Journal  of 
Medical  Science,  f  The  genius  of  the  Latin  language  prefers  an 
adjective  when  possible,  instead  of  a  noun  in  the  genitive  to 
describe  things.  This  has  found  expression  in  oleum  camphoratum, 
phosphoratum,  betulinum,  cadinum,  etc.,  and  if  carbolic  acid  is 
added  to  the  B.P.  it  is  hoped  it  will  be  under  the  name  of  oleum 
carbolatum.  It  is  only  when  there  are  two  oils  from  the  same 
source,  a  volatile  and  a  fixed  oil,  that  we  run  any  risk  of  con¬ 
fusing  them.  This  is  more  especially  the  case  when  the  name 
applied  to  the  one  was  once  used  for  the  other.  In  the  P.L. , 
1851,  oleum  myristicae  was  defined  as  the  concrete  oil 
expressed  from  the  seed  of  Myristica  officinalis,  while  in  the  B.P., 
1867  and  1885,  it  was  defined  as  the  volatile  oil  of  nutmeg.  I  beg 
to  suggest  destoleum  as  the  best  word  that  could  be  applied  to 
the  volatile  oils  if  such  a  term  be  ever  required,  being 
accurate,  consistent,  and  definite.  The  only  official  volatile 
oil  that  may  be  obtained  otherwise  than  by  distillation  is 
oleum  limonis,  but  the  name  destoleum  would  imply  that  it  could 
be  distilled.  Altheroleum,  which  has  been  suggested,  is,  I  think,  too 
cumbrous,  besides  implying  a  connection  with  ether  which  they 
have  not,  except  in  so  far  as  they  are  liquids  and  volatile.  The  only 
other  oil  I  have  to  mention  is  oleum  pini  sylvestris.  I  have  two 
questions  to  put  concerning  it :  Why  is  it  translated  fir-wool  oil, 
which,  according  to  Squire,  is  a  registered  trade  mark  ?  And  why 
is  it  spelt  with  a  “y”?  The  correct  rendering  would  be  oil  of 
Scotch  fir,  or  the  more  definite  name  would  be  oleum  pini  sylvestris 
foliorum — oil  of  Scotch  fir  leaves.  Regarding  the  spelling,  Smith’s 
Dictionary  gives  “  silva  (less  correctly  sylva),”  and  so  on  for  all  its 
derivatives  ;  Fliickiger  and  Hanbury  give  silvestris  as  the  spelling, 
but  Linnaeus,  in  his  ‘Species  Plantarum’  (2nd  ed.,  1763),  has  it 
sylvestris.  It  is,  therefore,  a  question  whether  it  ought  to  be 
changed  to  silvestris.  If  the  latter  is  the  purer  Latin  I  think  it 
should  be  so  altered. 

There  are  many  cases  in  the  Pharmacopoeia  where  consistency 
might  be  had  and  it  is  not.  There  are  two  preparations  which  are 
made  by  perfectly  similar  processes,  yet  one  is  called  an  oleo-resin, 
and  the  other  a  liquid  extract,  these  are  oleo-resina  cubebae  and 
extractum  filicis  liquidum,  the  U.S.P.  includes  both  as  oleo-resins, 
the  name  of  the  latter  being  oleo-resina  aspidii.  Gum  acacia  is 
included  as  acacise  gummi,  and  the  only  other  gum  in  the  B.P.  is 
called  simply  tragacantha.  Benzoin,  chrysarobin,  elaterin, 

*  Read  before  the  Glasgow  Pharmaceutical  Association 

f  Pharmaceutical  Journal,  lv.,  98. 


ergotin,  lupulin,  paraffin,  salicin  and  santonin  are  latinised,  while 
aloin,  pepsin  and  pyroxylin  are  left  severely  alone.  The  name 
sometimes  given  to  lupulin — glandular  lupuli — ought,  I  think,  to  be 
adopted  as  the  official  designation  to  distinguish  it  from  lupuline, 
the  volatile  alkaloid.  Balsamum  peruvianum  and  balsamum 
tolutanum  are  given  in  English  as  balsam  of  Peru  and  balsam  of 
tolu,  a  literal  translation  which  is  preferable  would  be  Peruvian 
balsam  and  tolu  balsam.  Numerous  Latin  names  are  given  in  the 
singular  with  the  English  equivalent  in  the  plural — galla,  galls — 
cubeba,  cubebs — cantharis,  cantharides.  The  U.S.P.  has  nutgall 
(probably  to  distinguish  it  from  ox-gall)  and  cubeb,  but  adheres  to 
cantharides,  in  this  there  is  an  attempt  at  consistency.  Then  again 
some  of  the  seeds  are  mentioned  in  the  plural— cardamomi  semina, 
staphisagrise  semina,  some  simply  by  name  without  specifying 
semina — strophanthus,  myristica,  nux  vomica,  while  physostig- 
matis  semen  is  in  the  singular.  Why  are  filix  mas,  gelsemium 
and  zingiber  deprived  of  part  of  their  appellation,  namely 
rhizoma  —  are  they  any  better  known  than  podophyllum, 
serpentaria  or  valeriana  ?  We  have  wheaten  flour  under  the 
name  of  farina  tritici,  and  linseed  meal  as  lini  farini,  why  this 
inconsistency  ? 

Dr.  Attfield  in  his  famous  “  The  Pharmacopoeia  and  its  Critics  ” 
gave  as  the  reason  for  putting  limonis  succus  and  mori  succus 
where  they  are,  that  they  are  fruit  juices,  while  the  others  are 
medicinal  juices,  and  that  it  was  a  perfectly  simple  and  intelligible 
arrangement.  My  opinion  is  that  it  would  be  much  more 
intelligible  and  certainly  much  simpler  to  place  them  with  the  rest 
of  the  succi.  Digitalis  is  translated  foxglove,  hyoscyamus, 
henbane,  and  conium,  hemlock;  while  belladonna,  aconitum  and 
stramonium  are  not  given  their  ordinary  English  equivalents. 
Most  of  the  leaves  are  called  folia,  as  buchu  folia,  maticae  folia,  and 
uvae  ursi  folia,  but  coca  stands  naked  and  not  ashamed. 

On  careful  consideration  it  will  be  seen  that  the  only  way  to 
obviate  inconsistencies  of  the  above  description  is  either  to  adopt 
the  U.S.P.  plan  of  naming  the  materia  medica  as  shortly  as 
possible,  never  distinguishing  the  part  that  is  official  except  in 
cases  where  there  is  a  chance  of  making  a  mistake,  as  aconiti  folia, 
aconiti  radix,  conii  folia,  conii  fructus,  or  to  revert  to  the  sonorous 
and  highly  descriptive  names  of  the  P.E.,  1817,  which  by  no  means 
erred  on  the  side  of  brevity.  Some  of  these  names  were 
very  diffuse,  they  were  definite  enough,  but  sadly  lacking 
in  conciseness.  Myristicae  moschatse  involucrum  nuclei, 
vulgo,  macis,  oleae  europaeese  oleum  fixum,  melaleucae 
leucadendri,  oleum  volatile,  ferulas  assaefcetidae  gummi-resina, 
eugeniae  caryophyllatae  flores,  and  rorismarini  officinalis  cacumina 
are  a  fair  sample  of  their  style.  Of  the  two  methods  the  former 
will  without  doubt  commend  itself  to  most,  but  I  should  not  like 
to  say  it  is  the  better. 

Ince,  in  a  paper  read  at  the  Oxford  meeting  of  the  British  Phar¬ 
maceutical  Conference,  1894,*  deals  with  the  subject  of  indeclinable 
nouns.  I  am  in  accord  with  most  of  his  ideas,  and  take  this  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  mention  one  or  two  opinions  of  my  own.  The  only  point 
in  which  I  differ  from  Mr.  Ince  is  with  regard  to  the  declension  of 
kino  and  cusso.  I  would  keep  kino  indeclinable  and  call  cusso  by 
its  botanical  name,  hagenia.  Cusso  being  actually  part  of  the 
plant  could  with  perfect  consistency  be  designated  by  the  name  of 
the  plant,  while  kino  as  an  educt  of  the  tree  is  more  appropriately 
named  as  at  present,  having  pondo  (a  pound)  an  indeclinable  noun 
for  company.  Regarding  several  other  official  names,  such  as 
buchu,  jaborandi,  cascara  sagrada,  they  ought  to  be  changed  into 
Latin,  the  old  names  being  retained  as  synonyms,  their  prepara¬ 
tions  would  read  thus — infusum  barosmse,  tinctura  pilocarpi,  and 
extractum  rhamni  purshiani.  It  is  very  desirable  that  in 
future  when  any  new  article  with  a  name  native  to  the 
country  that  produces  it  is  introduced  into  pharmacy,  a 
latinised  name  should  immediately  be  given  it,  and  the  native 
name  discarded — at  any  rate  this  ought  to  be  done  whenever  it 
becomes  official.  It  is  very  difficult  once  a  name  has  got  a  footing 
to  discharge  it,  but  it  should  be  done  when  the  name  is  in  its 
infancy.  The  U.S.P.  is  to  be  commended  for  giving  partial  effect 
to  these  principles  in  the  case  of  extractum  pilocarpi  fluidum  and 
extractum  rhamni  purshianae,  though  still  adhering  to  extractum 
buchu  fluidum. 

In  discussing  Ince’s  paper,  Martindale  thought  it  best  to  make 
such  words  as  thymol,  sulphonal,  chloral,  etc.,  indeclinable.  The 
Continental  fashion  with  words  ending  in  ol  is  to  make  them  of 
the  second  declension.  The  Swiss,  Italian,  and  German  Pharma¬ 
copoeias  contain  examples  of  this  in  the  shape  of  salolum,  ft-naph- 

*  Pharmaceutical  Journal  [8],  xxv.,  199, 


292 


PHARMACEUTICAL  journal. 


[April  3,  1897 


tholuin,  mentholum,  and  thymolum.  If  the  authorities  decide  to 
make  official  names  of  this  kind  declinable,  which  seems  desirable 
on  the  chance  of  the  British  Pharmacopoeia  being  once  more  pub¬ 
lished  in  Latin,  it  might  be  as  well  to  adopt  Ince’s  suggestion  to 
make  them  of  the  third  declension,  having  the  example  of  alcohol 
-Qlis  before  us. 

When  a  new  substance  is  included  in  the  B.P.  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  that  its  latinity  be  correct.  Erigeron  canadense  (for 
example)  is  in  the  U.S.P.,  but  Smith  gives  the  gender  of  erigeron 
as  masculine.  Which  is  the  correct  one  ?  Sal  carlsbadense 
factitium  is  in  several  foreign  pharmacopoeias,  but  sal  is  an 
exception  to  nouns  in  al  being  neuter.  It  is  mostly  masculine, 
rarely  neuter,  and  is  always  masculine  in  the  plural.  Why  should 
the  exceptional  gender  be  taken  as  the  correct  one  to  use  ? 

Drug-list  Latin  is  sometimes  very  humorous  reading,  the  vagaries 
in  the  latinity  and  spelling  being  somewhat  startling,  those  of  the 
latter  especially  being  quite  according  to  the  taste  and  fancy  of  the 
speller.  But  that  is  too  wide  a  subject  to  enter  on  now.  I  have 
only  a  few  words  to  say  on  the  quantity  of  Latin  words,  and  then 
I  am  done.  How  often  we  hear  camphora,  atropa,  pilula,  radlcis, 
cascara  sagrada,  saccharum,  and  how  it  grates  on  the  ears  of 
some  of  us.  There  is  great  need  for  a  prosodial  table  of  official 
substances — which  need  the  B.P.C.  Executive  has  noted  in  its 
blue-list.  Had  I  a  little  more  time,  the  compilation  of  such  a  table 
is  a  thing  I  should  take  great  pleasure  in  doing ;  but  to  verify  the 
quantity  of  every  word  would  take  a  very  considerable  time.  The 
U.S.P.  (always  abreast  of  the  times)  gives  the  accented  syllable  in 
the  index  to  the  Pharmacopoeia. 

The  Americans  have  evidently  followed  Pereira’s  ‘  Materia  Medica,’ 
but  some  of  their  accents  are  not  according  to  the  quantity  of  the 
original,  e.g.,  ammonf&oum  is  given  ammoni'acum,  and  carbonas  as 
carbonas.  Where  Pereira  gives  graveolens  Smith  says  gr&veSlens. 
Until  we  have  an  official  prosody  the  best  thing  for  those  who  wish 
to  pronounce  their  words  as  the  Romans  would  have  done  is  to 
study  Ince’s  ‘  Latin  Grammar  of  Pharmacy.  ’  I  would  impress  upon 
all  our  younger  friends  that  if  they  have  any  desire  for  accuracy  in 
this  matter  they  ought  to  begin  young,  and  not  be  content  with 
pulv.  mag.  sulph.,  inf.  gent,  co.,  tinct.  camph.  co. ,  etc.,  but  try 
to  be  able  to  give  the  complete  terminations  and  correct  pronun¬ 
ciation  of  every  word  they  use.  By  doing  this  when  young  there  will 
be  so  much  the  less  of  the  ‘  Selecta  e  Prescripts  ’  to  be  crammed 
into  them  afterwards,  very  often  in  a  limited  period  of  time. 


THE  ART  OF  LITERARY  COMPOSITION  * 

BY  JOSEPH  INCE. 

Kindly  distinguish  between  “an  art,”  or  “the  art  of  doing 
something,”  and  Art.  Art  is  genius  rendered  manifest,  as  in 
sculpture,  painting,  poetry  or  music  ;  an  art  concerns  mechanical 
manipulation  with  a  view  to  attaining  excellence.  Art  in  the 
highest  sense  is  always  indebted  to  attention  paid  to  certain  rules, 
and  as  exemplified  in  literature  is  never  seen  to  greater  advantage 
than  when  aided  by  the  art  of  composition. 

I  wish  to  say  a  few  words  on  this  subject,  carefully  avoiding  the 
semblance  of  a  dictatorial  spirit,  or  any  suggestion  of  omniscience ; 
nor  do  I  wish  these  remarks  to  be  too  high-flown,  but  simply  such 
as  may  be  of  use.  We  do  not  aspire  to  be  great  writers,  but  we 
do  desire  to  improve  our  powers  of  literary  observation  ;  to  enter 
into  the  joy  of  being  able  to  admire,  and  by  studying  good 
examples  to  write  sentences  pharmaceutical  or  on  subjects  of 
general  interest  which  others  may  like  to  read.  The  art  of  com¬ 
position  includes  those  aids,  on  the  diligent  cultivation  of  which 
many  branches  of  literature  depend  for  their  success  ;  it  concerns 
the  noblest  and  the  simplest  forms  of  writing  or  of  speech  ;  it  is 
present  where  least  suspected.  The  art  depends  on  the  power  of 
taking  infinite  pains,  by  which  Carlyle  defined  genius,  but  by  an 
ever-recurring  misquotation,  his  essential  concluding  words  are 
omitted.  The  original  sentence  ran  thus: — “Genius,  which  means 
transcendenb  capacity  of  taking  trouble,  first  of  all ”  [see  ‘Frederick 
the  Great,’  vol.  i.,  p.  407,  3rd  edition].  The  art  relates  to  the 
choice  of  words  ;  their  right  and  musical  balance ;  the  charm  of 
simplicity  as  well  as  to  clearness  and  consequent  strength  of 
expression  ;  and  lastly  to  sequence  of  ideas. 

All  this  united  goes  to  what  constitutes  Style  ;  no  man  however 
gifted  can  afford  to  neglect  these  aids  ;  such  neglect  brings  with 
it  its  own  punishment,  and  he  who  trusts  to  facility  alone  is  more 
unjust  to  his  own  powers  than  to  the  public  for  whom  he  writes. 
Poetry  itself,  though  ever  and  anon  it  rises  into  sublime  passages 

*  Read  before  the  School  of  Pharmacy  Students’  Association,  March  26,  1897. 


which  are  bound  by  no  law  and  which  are  the  spontaneous  utter¬ 
ance  of  inspiration,  is  not  exempt  from  the  most  diligent  correction 
and  arrangement,  of  which  Alexander  Pope  is  a  famous  illustra¬ 
tion. 

By  a  most  wise  determination  politics  and  theology  are  alike 
excluded  from  our  proceedings  here  ;  it  will  therefore  be  dis¬ 
tinctly  understood  that  it  is  in  a  purely  literary  sense  that  I  allude 
to  the  translation  of  the  Bible  in  the  reign  of  King  James  I.  as  the 
standard  of  English  composition  on  which  great  writers  from  that 
day  to  this  have  formed  their  style.  The  exquisite  balance  of 
words  ;  the  strength  and  dignity  of  expression  ;  the  grace  and 
flow  of  innumerable  passages  and  whatever  goes  to  the  creation  of 
high  literature,  will  be  found  crystallised  there. 

From  this  inexhaustible  source  of  illustration  I  will  but  refer 
you  to  a  passage  in  the  oldest  dramatic  poem  in  existence — the 
Book  of  Job.  It  begins  with — “  Surely  there  is  a  vein  for  the 
silver,  and  a  place  for  gold  where  they  fine  it.  There  is  a  path 
which  no  fowl  knoweth,  and  which  the  vulture’s  eye  hath  not  seen. 
But  where  shall  wisdom  be  found  ?  and  where  is  the  place  of  under¬ 
standing  ?  ”  Man  cannot  tell,  nor  the  depth,  nor  the  sea.  Gold 
cannot  buy  the  secret.  Destruction  and  death  have  heard  its  fame, 
but  only  with  the  hearing  of  the  ears.  A  higher  power  alone  can 
give  the  answer.  Men  of  eminence  and  judgment  have  considered 
the  wording  of  the  translation  faultless.  Specially  in  the  time  of 
Addison,  but  also  throughout  English  literature,  you  meet  with 
treatises  on  Style.  I  prefer  to  illustrate  the  subject  by  examples. 
Every  writer,  be  he  humble  or  otherwise,  knows  the  crucial 
difficulty  of  the  opening  sentence. 

There  he  sits  musing,  not  so  much  what  to  write,  as  to  how  the 
matter  should  be  introduced. 

“  Sir,”  said  one  to  Dr.  Johnson,  “what  should  be  done?  should 
an  author  wait  for  inspiration  ”  ? 

“  He  should  sit  down  doggedly  at  his  desk  and  pound  at  his 
manuscript,”  was  the  reply. 

Some  plunge  abruptly  into  their  story  like  Charles  Dickens. 
“  Marley  was  dead  to  begin  with.  There  is  no  doubt  whatever 
about  that  ”• — and  so  on.  “  You  will  therefore  permit  me  to  repeat 
emphatically,  that  Marley  was  as  dead  as  a  door-nail.”  [Opening 
of  ‘  Christmas  Carol.’]  Edmund  Burke  used  this  expedient  with 
admirable  effect ;  one  of  his  most  elaborate  orations  began  with  : 
“  Gentlemen,  I  decline  the  election.” 

Charles  Kingsley’s  ‘  Hypatia  ’  opens  with  descriptive  scenery  ; 
Mrs.  Humphrey  Ward  does  the  same  in  ‘Marcella,’  and  many 
novelists  follow  suit.  George  Eliot  in  ‘  Middlemarch’  describes  her 
heroine  in  the  first  line  ;  while  Sir  Walter  Scott  not  seldom  gives 
reams  of  introduction  before  you  well  know  what  he  wishes  to 
relate. 

One  of  the  finest  paragraphs  in  the  English  language  will  be 
found  in  the  opening  sentence  of  Kinglake’s  ‘Eothen’ ;  one  of  the 
most  laboured  and  characteristic  in  that  of  Dr.  Johnson’s  ‘  Rambler.’ 
This  is  how  he  describes  “  Good  morning.” 

“  The  difficulty  of  the  first  address  on  any  new  occasion  is  felt 
by  every  man  in  his  transactions  with  the  world,  and  confessed  by 
the  settled  and  regular  forms  of  salutation  which  necessity  has 
introduced  into  all  languages.  Judgment  was  wearied  with  the 
perplexity  of  being  forced  upon  choice,  where  there  was  no  motive 
to  preference  ;  and  it  was  found  convenient  that  some  easy  method 
of  introduction  should  be  established,  which,  if  it  wanted  the 
allurements  of  novelty,  might  enjoy  the  security  of  prescription.” 

“Had  you  to  write  about  the  sea,  Sir,”  said  Goldsmith,  “you 
would  make  all  your  fishes  talk  like  whales.” 

Many  writers  reserve  their  full  powers  for  the  ending  of  their 
books,  and  the  most  exquisite  of  their  conceptions  immediately 
precede  the  word  Finis  ;  of  late,  a  school  called  the  Decadents, 
wind  up  with  a  trivial  and  unmeaning  sentence  which  has  little  or 
no  connection  with  the  subject.  This  is  supposed  to  be  natural 
and  the  waywardness  of  genius. 

American  authors  however,  especially  in  the  short  story,  are 
extremely  happy  in  contriving  an  unexpected  ending,  of  which 
Mary  E.  Wilkins,  in  ‘  An  Honest  Soul,’  is  a  good  example.  But 
should  you  desire  specimens  of  the  art  of  literary  composition,  as 
shown  in  concluding  paragraphs,  I  would  instance  ‘  The  Cloister 
and  the  Hearth,’  by  Charles  Reade  ;  ‘  Zanoni,’  by  Bulwer  Lytton  ; 
and  the  last  words  in  ‘  Vanity  Fair,’  by  Thackeray. 

I  dare  not  omit  in  a  notice  on  style  however  brief,  to  mention 
three  modern  writers  (two  of  them  belonging  to  our  own  day),  who 
are  masters  of  the  art  of  composition  :  Charles  Lamb,  Rudyard 
Kipling,  and  Robert  Louis  Stevenson. 

I  have  reduced  this  bit  of  the  subject  to  its  barest  outline,  still, 


April  3,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


293 


it  will  be  asked,  whither  does  all  this  drift  ?  Are  we  as  pharma¬ 
cists,  burning  to  become  great  writers,  or  do  we  seek  for  literary 
renown  ? 

We  wish  to  have  an  intellectual  standard  not  lower  than  the 
artisan  who  crowds  our  evening  classes ;  like  him  to  be  able  to 
speak  so  as  to  be  listened  to  with  pleasure,  and  to  write  upon  our 
own  subjects  in  a  way  to  enlist  the  sympathetic  interest  of  the 
reader. 

Let  the  pharmacist  be  advised  not  to  confine  himself  to  his 
immediate  surroundings,  but  in  his  leisure  hours  to  read  all  sorts 
and  conditions  of  books,  serious  and  amusing  ;  of  sterling  merit  or 
in  lighter  vein — thus  he  will  widen  his  vocabulary  (a  matter  of 
infinite  importance)  and  immeasurably  increase  his  capacity  for 
clothing  his  ideas  in  words. 

I  now  leave  the  literary  side  of  the  question  and  come  straight 
down  to  a  few  practical  suggestions  which  may  be  called  the 
working  formulae  of  composition. 

Suppose  you  are  about  to  write  an  essay,  a  paper  or  a  book,  then 
let  me,  without  wounding  anyone’s  susceptibilities,  say  just  a 
word  on  the  art  of  marking  the  divisions  of  a  sentence  by  means  of 
conventional  signs  called 

Punctuation. 

The  comma  [,]  is  not  infrequently  used  with  a  too  liberal  hand. 
“  Be  sparing  of  the  pepper-box,”  was  the  advice  of  an  old  printer 
at  Beaufort  Buildings. 

Chambers  in  his  ‘  Encyclopaedia’  has  the  same  remark :  “  Commas 
are  too  often  held  in  profound  contempt,  being  scattered  at  random 
amongst  the  words  as  if  from  a  pepper-box  ” — to  which  is  added, 
‘  ‘  Let  the  first  and  foremost  aim  be  to  bring  out  the  meaning 
clearly  and  unambiguously,  in  so  far  as  this  can  be  done  with  the 
help  of  stops.  Use  commas  and  semicolons  sparingly,  especially 
commas  ;  use  them  indeed  only  when  absolutely  necessary.” 
Again,  observe  this  standard  rule  : 

“If  the  relative  sentence  is  entirely  subordinate  to  the  main 
sentence,  or  if  it  gives  additional  information,  separate  it  by  a 
comma  or  commas  ;  if,  on  the  other  hand,  it  belongs  essentially  to 
1  he  structure  of  the  thought  expressed  by  the  main  sentence,  put 
no  comma.”  It  is  desirable  that  the  comma  whenever  inserted, 
should  stand  in  its  right  place,  else  strange  things  may  happen  to 
the  text. 

The  curate  who  read — “  He  saw  in  a  vision,  evidently  about 
the  ninth  hour  of  the  day  ” — was  not  happy  in  observing  this  rule. 

‘  ‘  A  man  going  to  sea  his  wife,  desires  the  prayers  of  the  con¬ 
gregation  ”  suggests  an  unnecessary  precaution.  Put  the  comma 
after  sea,  and  all  is  well. 

The  Scotch  version  of  a  psalm,  incorrectly  punctuated,  is  said 
once  to  have  excited  more  surprise  than  devout  impression  : — 

The  Lord  will  come  and  he  will  not. 

Be  silent  but  speak  out. 

Delete  the  full  stop  and  insert  a  comma  after  silent,  and  piety 
regains  its  own. 

The  punctuation  of  the  word  “and”  has  always  been  a 
disputed  point — in  connecting  two  words,  even  diametrically 
opposed  such  as  ‘  ‘  good  and  evil  ”  there  is  no  comma ;  when  more 
than  two  words  are  thus  connected,  practice  varies.  The  phrase 
“  good  bad  and  indifferent  ”  is  punctuated  as  fancy  dictates.  Follow 
the  instructions  of  your  editor ;  but  where  “and”  is  emphatic, 
the  separating  comma  is  indispensable  as  in  the  sentence  from 
‘Zanoni’ — “  I  return  but  to  love,  and  youth,  and  hope.” 

What  shall  we  say  of  the  sign  for  et  csetera  [&c.]  placed  at  the 
end  of  a  sentence  ?  It  is  specially  dear  to  pharmacists  and  young 
writers.  Unless  it  gives  further  definite  information  which  it 
seldom  does,  omit  it  altogether. 

I  have  had  the  honour  to  pass  many  books  through  the  press, 
and  in  very  rare  instances  has  this  sign  been  retained. 

The  exception  is  when  its  omission  would  limit  the  sense  of  a 
passage,  as  for  instance  when  part  of  a  quotation  only  is  given,  or 
an  enumeration  is  obviously  incomplete. 

The  colon  [:]  introduces  something  said,  a  speech  or  long 
quotation ;  the  semicolon  [;]  subdivides  parts  of  a  sentence 
complete  in  themselves,  the  sentence  itself  not  being  completed  ; 
the  diaeresis  [ae]  consists  of  two  dots  placed  over  one  of  two  vowels, 
as  in  aerial,  to  show  that  both  are  sounded  ;  there  are  two  brackets, 
the  curved  lines  (  )  used  for  an  explanatory  bye-remark  ;  and  the 
straight  angular  lines  [  ]  chiefly  employed  to  mark  reference.  The 
use  of  inverted  commas  to  indicate  something  spoken  or  quoted,  is 
familiar,  and  this  brings  us  to  a  full  stop,  in  press  correction  a 
dot  within  a  circle  0  so. 

(To  be  continued.) 


NEW  IDEAS. 


A  SIMPLE  STERILISER. 

A  simple,  efficient,  and  cheap  appliance  for  sterilising  milk 
or  other  food  in  small  quantities  for  the  use  of  infants  or  invalids, 
has  been  invented  by  Mr.  J.  A.  Eorret,  of  Edinburgh,  and  is 
intended  to  destroy  any  pathogenic  organisms  which  milk  may 
contain  when  it  reaches  the  consumer.  The  steriliser  is  thoroughly 
tinned  outside  and  in  after  it  is  made,  the  joints  being  thus  much 
less  liable  to  corrosion  by  rust  than  is  the  case  with  ordinary  tinned 
ware.  The  vessel  containing  the  milk,  being  surrounded  by  steam, 
is  subjected  to  definite  temperature  (100°  C. ),  and  the  boiling  being 
continued  for  a  specified  time,  the  temperature  of  the  milk  is 
raised  and  maintained  sufficiently  high — from  70°  to  80°- — for  the 
purpose  of  sterilisation.  The  steriliser  is  so  made  that  the  different 
parts  are  easily  made  thoroughly  clean,  a  very  important  matter 
in  the  case  of  any  vessel  for  milk  or  milk-food.  The  milk  may  be 
stirred  without  removing  the  lid  by  turning  the  projecting  rod. 


A  B  C 

Forret’s  Steriliser. — A,  outer  vessel ;  B,  inner  do.,  witli  lid  removed  ; 

C,  steriliser,  complete. 

To  use  the  steriliser,  water  is  poured  into  the  outer  vessel 
to  the  depth  of  about  an  inch  and  a  half,  the  inner  vessel 
replaced,  and  the  apparatus  heated  over  a  fire  or  gas-stove. 
When  the  water  boils  remove  the  lid  and  pour  a  pint  of  milk 
into  the  inner  vessel  (of  the  one-pint  size)  then  replace  the  lid 
and  continue  the  boiling  for  seven  minutes  ;  remove  the  steriliser 
from  the  fire  and  allow  to  stand  for  about  fifteen  minutes,  then  set 
the  vessel  containing  the  milk  in  a  cool  place  till  required.  Boiling 
should  be  continued  for  seven  minutes  for  one  pint  of  milk,  whether 
in  the  large  or  small  steriliser  ;  for  two  pints  continue  the  boiling 
for  twelve  minutes  ;  and  for  three  pints  fifteen  minutes.  To 
prevent  the  separation  of  cream  the  milk  should  be  stirred  fre¬ 
quently  while  it  is  on  the  fire,  and  until  it  is  nearly  cold.  It  should 
also  be  stirred  before  any  is  poured  out  for  use.  After  using  the 
steriliser,  disconnect  the  stirrer  and  thoroughly  clean  and  dry  the 
different  parts,  especially  the  inner  vessel,  the  lid,  and  the  stirrer. 
The  steriliser  is  made  in  two  sizes — for  one  pint  and  three  pints — 
retailing  at  3.s.  6 d.  and  4s.  6 d.  each  respectively.  They  are  supplied 
wholesale  by  Messrs.  J.  F.  Macfarlan  and  Co.,  of  Edinburgh 
and  London. 


PHOTO-MICRO  LANTERN  SLIDES. 

Lantern  slides,  illustrating  botanical  and  zoological  subjects  as 
seen  when  highly  magnified,  are  prepared  by  Mr.  Geo.  T.  Phillips, 
who  is  devoting  special  attention  to  the  requirements  of  lecturers 
and  others  interested  in  micrography.  He  has  a  practical  knowledge 
of  botany  and  zoology,  and  knows,  therefore,  what  are  the  distinctive 
features  of  objects  to  bring  out,  thus  rendering  the  slides  of  greater 
value  for  educational  purposes  than  would  otherwise  be  the  case. 
He  undertakes  to  prepare  slides  from  lecturers’  own  objects,  or  to 
supply  complete  series  of  slides,  and  he  also  offers  unmounted  photo¬ 
graphic  prints  of  typical  stem  and  root  sections,  etc.,  for  students 
to  paste  in  their  note  books.  Specimens  that  have  been  submitted 
display  great  merit  and  show  that  they  have  been  skilfully  pre¬ 
pared.  Mr.  Phillip’s  address  is  Rosneath,  Crown '  Hill,  Upper 
Norwood,  S.E. 


294 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  3,  1897 


PROCEEDINGS  UNDER  THE  PHARMACY  ACTS- 


RECENT  CASES  IN  SCOTLAND. 


Prosecution  at  Hamilton. 

At  the  Sheriff  Court  House,  Hamilton,  on  Friday,  March  26,  the 
case  of  Bremridge  v.  John  Miller,  assistant  in  the  shop  of  Dr.  A. 
Lees,  Glasgow  Road,  Burnbank,  Hamilton,  came  before  Sheriff 
Davidson.  The  accused  was  charged  with  selling  laudanum,  on 
November  3,  1896,  and  red  oxide  of  mercury  as  an  ingredient  in 
an  ointment,  on  February  12,  1897,  to  an  agent  of  the  Registrar. 

Mr.  Louden,  solicitor,  Hamilton,  instructed  by  Mr.  P.  Morison, 
S.S.C.,  Edinburgh,  appeared  for  the  prosecutor.  Mr.  Hay, 
solicitor,  Hamilton,  appeared  for  the  defender,  who  pleaded  not 
guilty. 

Mr.  Rutherford  Hill  produced  the  registers  for  1896  and  1897, 
proving  that  the  accused  was  not  registered.  He  also  produced 
the  bottle  of  laudanum  and  the  box  of  ointment,  which  he  had 
analysed.  The  bottle  contained  about  2  fluid  drachms  of  laudanum, 
and  the  ointment  about  30  grains  of  red  oxide  of  mercury.  The 
box  bore  no  label,  and  all  the  provisions  of  Section  17  had  been 
disregarded  in  the  sale. 

Cross-examined  by  Mr.  Hay,  the  witness  said  he  did  not  analyse 
the  other  constituents  of  the  ointment,  but  separated  the  red 
oxide  of  mercury  in  the  free  state.  There  was  an  antidote  to 
poisoning  by  mercuric  oxide,  but  he  did  not  look  for  any  in  the 
ointment.  He  did  not  think  the  presence  of  an  antidote  would 
affect  the  question  of  a  sale  of  poison.  The  other  constituents 
appeared  to  be  merely  a  fatty  basis.  Red  oxide  of  mercury  was 
in  the  Poison  Schedule,  but  it  did  not  say  “  Red  oxide  of  mercury 
and  its  preparations  ”  as  in  the  case  of  opium,  etc. 

The  Sheriff :  Could  there  have  been  an  antidote  along  with  the 
red  oxide  of  mercury  which  might  have  neutralised  its  poisonous 
effects  ? 

Mr.  Rutherford  Hill  :  There  might ;  but  though  I  did  not  look 
for  an  antidote,  the  one  I  am  thinking  of  could  not  be  present.  I 
mean  white  of  egg.  The  fatty  basis  was  soluble  in  ether,  leaving 
nothing  but  red  oxide  of  mercury.  White  of  egg  is  insoluble  in 
ether,  and  therefore  could  not  be  present.  I  may  add  that  mercuric 
oxide  is  a  very  virulent  poison,  and  it  is  very  doubtful  if  any  anti¬ 
dote  like  white  of  egg  would  successfully  overcome  its  poisonous 
effects  with  such  a  quantity  as  was  sold  here. 

Alexander  Spence  and  Joseph  Tait  proved  the  sale  of  the 
poisons. 

Mr.  Louden  :  That  is  my  case.  The  offences  are  clearly  proved, 
and  I  ask  for  the  penalties. 

Mr.  Hay  said,  with  regard  to  the  first  offence,  he  did  not  think 
it  was  properly  proved.  Only  one  witness  was  in  the  shop,  and 
this  was  only  corroborated  by  a  witness  who  was  said  to  look  in 
from  the  outside.  Considering  that  these  witnesses  were  pro¬ 
fessionally  employed  to  get  up  evidence,  he  did  not  think  that  was 
at  all  sufficient  proof.  Mr.  Hill  even  seemed  to  have  a  doubt,  or 
why  did  he  try  to  get  another  charge  in  February  ?  The 
same  applied  to  the  second  charge.  He  also  complained 
of  delay  in  bringing  the  first  charge,  though  that  did 
not  apply  to  the  second  offence.  This  was  an  offence 
under  a  special  statute,  and  they  were  bound  by  the  letter  of  the 
Schedule.  He  pointed  out  that  while  red  oxide  of  mercury  was  in 
the  Schedule  a  preparation  of  red  oxide  of  mercury  was  not  men¬ 
tioned  in  the  Schedule,  and  that  was  what  was  sold  here.  He 
would  also  direct  his  Lordship’s  attention  to  the  remarks  made  by 
Sheriff  Mair  in  the  Airdrie  Sheriff  Court  the  other  day,  which  he 
thought  were  rightly  applicable  to  this  case  and  to  the  action 
generally  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society.  He  did  not  think  they 
were  at  all  too  strong.  He  was  entitled,  and  he  intended  to  take 
advantage,  of  every  technicality  in  defending  a  case  of  this  kind, 
and  he  did  not  think  the  charges  had  been  proved. 

Mr.  Louden  said  his  Lordship  would  see  that  red  oxide  of 
mercury,  though  not  in  the  original  Schedule  to  the  Act,  was 
added  to  the  Schedule  by  an  order  in  Council,  which  he  now  sub¬ 
mitted,  made  in  pursuance  of  the  Act.  There  was  nothing  in  the 
defence  that  the  article  sold  was  a  preparation  of  red  oxide  of 
mercury.  On  this  point  he  drew  his  Lordship’s  attention  to  the 
judgment  in  the  Armson  case  (2  Q.B.D.,  1894,  p.  720),  in  which  the 
Master  of  the  Rolls  said  :  “  It  is  clear  that  when  poison  is  put  into 
a  medicine,  and  a  person  sells  the  medicine,  he  sells  the  poison  that 
is  in  it.  Then  he  has  sold  poison.” 


The  Sheriff  said  he  was  not  called  upon  to  express  any  opinion 
as  to  the  policy  of  the  Pharmacy  Acts,  and  he  had  no  intention  of 
doing  so.  He  had  no  doubt  that  the  poisons  mentioned  were  sold 
by  the  accused,  whom  he  therefore  convicted  of  both  charges,  and 
imposed  a  modified  penalty  of  £1  for  each  offence,  with  £2  8*\  8 d. 
of  expenses. 


Prosecution  at  Edinburgh. 

At  the  Sheriff  Court  House,  Edinburgh,  on  Monday,  March  29, 
1897,  the  case  of  Bremridge  v.  Walter  Stanley  Murdoch,  assistant 
to  George  Christie,  Chemist,  Newton  Grange,  Midlothian,  came 
before  Sheriff  Maconochie.  The  accused  was  charged  with  selling 
cantharides  in  a  fly  blister,  and  belladonna  in  a  plaster  to  an  agent 
of  the  Registrar  on  February  13,  1897. 

Mr.  P.  Morison,  S.S.C.,  appeared  for  the  prosecutor. 

Defender  pleaded  guilty  to  the  first  charge,  and  prosecutor 
accepted  the  plea  and  withdrew  the  second  charge  on  the  ground 
that  there  was  virtually  one  sale  of  poison,  though  two  poisons  had 
been  sold  at  the  same  time. 

Mr.  Morison  explained  that  the  accused’s  employer  had  a  chemist’s 
shop  at  Gorebridge,  and  had  openedabranchshop  atNewton  Grange, 
where  he  put  the  accused  in  charge.  There  seemed  to  be  a  popular 
delusion  that  if  a  qualified  chemist  or  doctor  was  the  owner  of  the 
shop  an  unqualified  person  might  be  put  in  charge  of  it.  It  had 
been  decided  in  the  Tomlinson  case  in  the  High  Court  of  J usticiary 
recently  that  this  was  an  offence  in  the  case  of  a  doctor’s  shop. 
This  was  a  case  of  a  chemist’s  shop,  and  it  was  necessary  to  impose 
a  penalty  to  put  a  stop  to  a  practice  which  nullified  the  protection 
to  the  public  which  the  Act  was  intended  to  secure. 

The  Sheriff  asked  if  there  had  been  cases  of  this  kindbefore.  The 
cantharides  was  in  a  fly  blister  and  the  belladonna  in  a  plaster.  It 
did  not  seem  likely  that  people  would  take  such  things. 

Mr.  Morison  said  they  had  had  exactly  similar  cases  before,  and 
there  was  the  famous  Maybrick  case,  in  which  the  arsenic  was 
extracted  from  fly-papers.  He  was  also  informed  by  Mr.  Hill 
that  the  cantharides  in  the  fly  blister  was  in  such  a  condition  that 
it  could  be  directly  used  for  criminal  purposes. 

The  Sheriff :  I  am  quite  satisfied,  and  I  impose  a  modified  penalty 
of  £1  and  £2  of  expenses. 


Prosecutions  at  Glasgow. 

At  the  Sheriff  Court  House,  Glasgow,  on  Wednesday,  March  31, 
a  number  of  cases  instituted  by  the  Registrar  under  the  Pharmacy 
Acts,  1852  and  1868,  Mr.  Bremridge,  came  before  Sheriff  Tyfe. 
Mr.  E.  T.  Salvesen,  advocate,  instructed  by  Messrs.  Martin 
and  Barrie,  solicitors,  Glasgow,  for  Mr.  P.  Morison,  S.  S.  C., 
Edinburgh,  appeared  for  the  prosecutor.  Mr.  Thomson  and  Mr. 
Mackay,  solicitors,  appeared  for  Dunlop  and  Walls  respectively. 

In  the  case  first  taken,  Andrew  Brown  Gilmour,  an  assistant  in 
the  shop  of  Dr.  Clark,  324,  Rutherglen  Road,  Glasgow,  was 
charged  with  two  offences  for  selling  laudanum  and  Powell’s  balsam 
of  aniseed  on  November  28,  1896,  to  an  agent  of  the  Registrar. — 
Defender  was  fined  ten  shillings  for  each  offence,  with  two  pounds 
expenses. 

The  second  case  was  that  of  Andrew  Dunlop,  an  assistant  in  the 
shop  of  Dr.  Wilson,  470,  Paisley  Road,  Glasgow,  who  was  charged 
with  two  offences  for  selling  laudanum  and  Powell’s  balsam  of 
aniseed  on  November  28,  1896,  to  an  agent  of  the  Registrar. — 
Defender  pleaded  guilty,  and  was  fined  ten  shillings  for  each 
offence,  with  two  pounds  expenses. 

The  next  case  was  against  Robert  Adams,  an  assistant  in  the  shop 
of  Thomas  McKee,  junior,  386,  Cumberland  Street,  Glasgow,  who 
was  charged  with  one  offence  for  selling  chloroform  and  morphine 
in  a  mixture  dispensed  by  him,  and  opium  in  pills  on  November  28, 
1896,  to  an  agent  of  the  Registrar. — Defender  was  fined  ten 
shillings,  with  twenty  shillings  expenses. 

In  the  fourth  case  heard,  John  Walls,  an  assistant  in  the  shop 
of  J.  and  S.  Robertson,  grocers,  467,  Cathcart  Road,  Govanhill, 
Glasgow,  was  charged  with  one  offence  for  selling  a  bottle  of 
Dr.  J.  Collis  Browne’s  Chlorodyne,  on  November  21,  1896,  to  an 
agent  of  the  Registrar. — Defender  pleaded  guilty,  and  was  fined 
ten  shillings,  with  twenty  shillings  expenses. 

The  last  case  was  against  David  Hunter,  an  assistant  in  the  shop 
of  Dr.  Taylor,  74,  Nelson  Street,  Glasgow,  who  was  charged  with 
one  offence  for  selling  red  oxide  of  mercury  as  an  ingredient  in  an 
ointment,  on  November  28,  1896,  to  an  agent  of  the  Registrar. — 
Defender  was  fined  ten  shillings,  with  twenty  shillings  expenses. 


April  3, 1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


295 


PARLIAMENTARY  NOTES  AND  NEWS- 


The  Merchandise  Marks  Committee  had  a  field-day  on  the 
22nd  ult. ,  when  Sir  Courtenay  Boyle,  Permanent  Secretary  of  the 
Board  of  Trade,  was  examined  in  the  hope  of  eliciting  damning 
evidence  against  the  Bill  of  1887.  But  the  witness  did  not  give 
much  encouragement  to  the  advocates  of  Protection,  who  strive  to 
improve  the  occasion  on  committees  of  this  kind.  Sir  Courtenay 
thought  that  the  Act  of  1887,  on  the  whole,  had  been 
of  advantage  in  protecting  the  consumer  against  false 
information,  and  that  though  the  evasions  were  many,  it  was 
not  so  much  the  fault  of  the  law  as  the  apathy  of  traders.  The 
Act  is  strong  enough,  the  witness  said  in  effect,  it  only  needs  those 
interested  to  put  it  into  force.  The  Board  of  Trade  certainly  does 
take  up  cases,  but  they  have  to  be  very  strong  cases,  for,  as  it  was 
pertinently  pointed  out,  it  would  not  do  for  the  State  to  take 
proceedings  against  individuals  and  not  to  succeed.  The  witness 
also  knocked  the  bottom  out  of  the  ruined -by-foreign-competition 
argument  by  stating  that  he  was  unaware  of  any  evidence  show¬ 
ing  that  the  effect  of  the  Act  had  been  to  transfer  the  carrying  trade 
to  foreign  ships.  Whatever  increase  there  might  be  in  the  tranship¬ 
ments  from  foreign  ports  to  British  Colonies  was,  he  thought,  due 
to  other  causes.  In  short,  beyond  giving  the  foreigner  a  gratuitous 
advertisement,  the  Merchandise  Marks  Act  seems  to  have  done 
very  little  harm.  It  was  suggested  that  “Made  in  England” 
should  be  stamped  on  British  goods  in  place  of  marking  foreign 
goods  with  the  port  of  origin,  but  Sir  Courtenay  Boyle  admitted 
that  he  foresaw  difficulties.  For  instance,  how  could  one  prevent 
unstamped  imports  being  subsequently  marked  “  Made  in 
England  ”  ?  The  evidence  constituted  an  object-lesson  on  the 
futility  of  attempts  to  suppress  commercial  competition. 


The  Professorship  of  Botany  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh 
if  the  subject  of  a  short  Bill  introduced  by  the  Lord  Advocate  (Rt. 
Hon.  A.  Graham  Murray)  and  Mr.  Anstruther  (St.  Andrews’ 
Burghs),  a  Lord  of  the  Treasury.  It  appears  that  there  are  two 
chairs  of  botany  in  the  University  and  a  keepership  of  the  Royal 
Botanic  Gardens.  One  person  usually  occupies  the  three  posts, 
in  fact,  the  present  holder  is  one  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society’s 
honorary  members,  and  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Examiners  in 
Scotland  (Professor  Bayley  Balfour).  The  anomaly  which  the  Bill 
seeks  to  remedy  arises  from  the  fact  that  two  of  the  appointments 
are  in  the  gift  of  the  Crown,  and  one  in  the  patronage  of  the 
curators  of  the  University,  and  there  is  no  agreement  between 
the  Crown  and  the  University  securing  a  continual  union  of  the 
three  posts.  As  union  is  desirable,  both  on  economic  and  other 
grounds,  the  Bill  transfers  the  patronage  of  the  University  Pro¬ 
fessorship  to  the  Crown,  the  University  receiving  in  return  the 
right  of  presentation  to  the  Professorship  of  Natural  History, 
hitherto  exercised  by  Her  Majesty. 


Mr.  Timothy  Healy  is  a  distinguished  member  of  the  Irish  Bar, 
which  is  equivalent  to  saying  that  his  abilities  as  a  lawyer  are  of 
the  very  highest  order.  He  has  for  a  time  turned  from  purely 
Irish  matters  to  examine  critically  the  recent  Order  of  Council  relat¬ 
ing  to  carbide  of  calcium.  The  result  of  the  examination  is  a  doubt 
in  Mr.  Healy’s  mind  whether  the  law  officers  of  the  Crown  were  con¬ 
sulted  as  to  the  applicability  of  the  Petroleum  Acts,  which  deal  with 
a  particular  liquid  substance  to  a  solid  body  not  contemplated  in 
those  Acts.  The  Attorney- General  is  to  be  asked  to  explain,  and 
will  doubtless  do  so  as  we  are  going  to  press.  Mr.  Healy’s  law  is 
brilliant,  but  the  terms  of  his  question,  which  we  have  not  the 
space  to  reproduce,  do  not  lead  us  to  rank  him  as  an  expert  on  the 
properties  of  carbide. 


Position  of  Private  Members’  Bills. — Progress  in  this  con¬ 
nection  is  but  a  bare  record  of  postponement.  Boiler  Inspection 
and  Registration  is  relegated  to  Wednesday,  May  5,  for  its  second 
reading ;  Midwives’  Registration  is  tabled  for  April  8,  and  the 
hopes  of  the  promoters  of  the  Plumbers  Registration  Bill  have 
not  been  raised  by  the  further  adjournment  of  the 
second  reading  of  the  measure  to  April  30.  Other  Bills, 
the  fortunes  of  which  we  are  following,  are  in  similar  plight.  Mr. 
Kearley’s  Food  and  Drugs  Bill  and  Mr.  Duncombe’s  Half -Holiday 
Bill  ought  to  come  on  this  week,  but  considerable  emphasis  may 
be  made  on  the  “  ought.”  The  Early  Closing  Bills  are  not  to  come 
on  the  paper  again  till  April  27. 


PHARMACEUTICAL  SOCIETY. 


SCHOOL  OF  PHARMACY  SESSIONAL  PRIZE 
EXAMINATIONS. 


INORGANIC  CHEMISTRY  AND  PHYSICS. 

Professor  Collie. 

Thursday,  March  25. — 10  a.m.  to  1  p.m. 

1.  Describe  fully  how  a  specimen  of  pure  acetic  aldehyde  might  be  prepared, 
also  how  the  following  substances  could  be  produced  from  it (1)  Lactic  acid, 
(2)  secondary  butyl  alcohol  (methyl  ethylcarbinol),  (3)  paraldehyde  and  metalde- 
hyde,  (4)  chloroform. 

2.  Give  a  brief  history  of  the  word  “  acid." 

3.  Write  a  short  account  of  the  properties  and  chemical  constitution  of  the 
three  sugars — cane  sugar,  grape  sugar,  fruit  sugar. 

4.  Explain  how  the  coefficient  of  expansion  of  mercury  has  been  determined. 
Why  are  the  results  of  great  importance  ? 

5.  What  is — (1)  Selective  absorption,  (2)  fluorescence,  (3)  calorescence  ?  Point 
out  any  simple  phenomena  which  may  be  deemed  analogous  to  them. 

6.  What  are  “secondary  batteries”?  Describe  the  construction  of  one,  and 
point  out  how  its  action  is  connected  with  the  phenomenon  known  as  “  polarisa¬ 
tion  ”  in  a  simple  battery. 


ADVANCED  COURSE  OF  PRACTICAL  CHEMISTRY. 

Professor  Collie. 

Friday,  March  26. — 10  a.m.  to  1  p.m. ,  and  2  to  5  p.m. 

•1.  Analyse  the  solution.  (1)  Determine  what  the  substance  is  that  is  dissolved. 
(2)  The  amount  per  litre  of  the  substance,  by  two  different  methods. 

2.  Determine  the  nature  of  the  compound  given,  what  impurity  is  present,  and 
the  percentage  amount  of  that  impurity. 


ADVANCED  COURSE  OF  BOTANY. 

Monday,  March  29. — 10  a.m.  till  1  p.m.. 

Professor  Reynolds  Green. 

[Only  three  questions  to  he  answered.'] 

1.  Give  an  account  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  reproductive  mechanisms  of  o 
of  the  Hydropterideae.  How  is  this  group  sub-divided  ? 

2.  Indicate  the  relationships  that  exist  between  plants  of  the  Natural  Order 
Ranunculacese  and  Papaveraceae. 

Explain  as  far  as  you  can  the  occurrence  of  irregular  flowers  in  the  former 
group,  and  point  out  the  purposes  of  the  structures  they  present. 

3.  Describe  the  method  of  utilisation  of  the  reserve  materials  deposited  in  a 
grain  of  barley,  stating  what  changes  they  undergo  during  the  process  of 
germination. 

4.  Give  a  general  sketch  of  the  classification  usually  adopted  for  the  Alga;,  and 
point  out  the  leading  features  of  the  principal  groups. 


ADVANCED  COURSE  OF  PRACTICAL  BOTANY. 
Monday,  March  29. — 2  to  5 p.m. 

Professor  Reynolds  Green. 

1.  Make  microscopic  preparations  to  illustrate  the  structure  of  A.  Moun 
them  in  glycerine.  Sketch  your  preparations  and  say  what  each  indicates. 

2.  Refer  the  specimens  B,  C,  D  to  their  places  in  the  natural  system  of  classifi¬ 
cation,  giving  your  reasons. 

3.  Identify  and  briefly  describe  the  three  microscopic  preparations  E,  F,  G. 


ADVANCED  COURSE  OF  MATERIA  MEDICA. 
Tuesday,  March  30. — 10  a.m.  to  1  p.m. 

Professor  Henry  G.  Greenish. 

1.  Identify  the  sample  of  Starch  A  supplied  to  you,  and  report  upon  its  purity. 

2.  The  powder  marked  B  is  said  to  be  powdered  senna.  Is  that  the  case  ? 
Give  reasons  for  your  answer. 

3.  Examine  the  bark  given  you.  Point  out  features  that  may  have  a  diagnostic 
value.  Prepare,  describe,  and  make  a  diagrammatic  sketch  of  a  radial  section, 
leaving  the  section  mounted  in  glycerin  for  inspection. 


ADVANCED  COURSE  OF  MATERIA  MEDICA. 
Tuesday,  March  30. — 2  to  5  p.m. 

Professor  Henry  G.  Greenish. 

1.  Describe  the  varieties  of  Coca  leaves  known  as  Bolivian  and  Peruvian. 
What  alkaloids  do  they  contain  ?  How  may  the  drug  be  assayed  ? 

2.  Give  a  short  dfccount  of  the  constituents  of  rhubarb  ;  compare  them  with 
those  of  senna. 

3.  By  what  characters  may  the  leaves  of  Digitalis  purpurea  he  distinguished 
from  all  others  likely  to  be  mistaken  for  them  ? 

4.  What  are  the  principal  forms  in  which  calcium  oxalate  occurs  in  the 
vegetable  cell  ?  Mention  official  drugs  in  which  these  forms  are  found. 

5.  What  do  you  understand  by  the  terms,  “oil-cell,”  “oil-gland,”  “oil-duct”? 
Why  is  this  distinction  of  importance  to  the  pharmacognosist?  Give  illustra¬ 
tions  taken  from  official  drugs. 


296 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  3,  1897 


THE  STUDEHTS’  PAGE. 


THE  FLOWERS  OF  APRIL. 

The  number  of  plants  coming  into  flower  will  now  increase 
so  rapidly  that  it  is  impossible  to  do  more  than  give  the  names  of 
the  more  interesting  in  the  space  available  in  these  columns. 
During  the  summer  months,  therefore,  the  list  will  be  given  in  the 
form  of  a  calendar,  and  explanatory  notes  given  only  at  the  request 
of  any  of  our  readers  who  find  a  difficulty  in  understanding  their 
structure  or  morphology.  The  following  letters  attached  to  the 
names  will  give  the  following  indications  : — G.,  to  be  found  in  gar¬ 
dens  ;  B.  G. ,  to  be  looked  for  in  botanic  gardens  ;  E. ,  exceptional 
in  some  of  its  characters.  Most  of  those  marked  E.  are  explained 
in  the  list  of  exceptions  to  the  natural  orders,  in  Holmes’  ‘  Botanical 
Note-Book.’ 


*Adoxa  moschatellina 
Ajuga  reptans 
*Alchemilla  vulgaris 
Alliaria  officinalis 
*  Anemone  pulsatilla 
A  nthoxanthurn  odoratum 
Arum  maculatum, 
Asarum  europceum,  B.G. 
Berberis  aquifolium,  G. 
BvjXUS  sempervirens,  G. 
*Caltha  palustris 
Cardamine  pratensis 
Corydalis  solida,  B.G. 
Dielytra  spectabilis,  G. 
Epigoea  repens,  B.G, 


Forsythia  suspensa,  G. 
Fraxinus  excelsior 
Fritillaria  imperialis,  G. 

,,  meleagris 
Gaultheria  procumbens,  B.G. 
Jeff 'ey sonia  diphylla,  B.G. 
Lathrcea  squamaria 
Lathyrus  macrorhizus 
Luzula  pilosa 
Myrica  gale 
Nepeta  glechoma 
Orchis  mascula 
Oxalis  acetosella 
Paris  quadrifolia 
Petasites  vulgaris 


Populus  nigra 
Primula  veris 
Prunus  amygdalus,  G. 
Pulmonaria  officinalis, Q. 
Ranunculus  Imlbosus 
Rosmarinus  officinalis,  G. 
Ruscus  aculeatus 
Salix  alba  [B.G. 

Sanguinaria  canadensis 
Saxifraga  crassifolia 
Scrophulariavernalis,  BG 
Ulmus  campestris 
Valerianella  olitoria  •* 
Vinca  minor 
Viola  odwata 


NOTES  ON  THE  PHARMACOPOEIA. 

Calx  Chlorinata. — Popularly  known  as  “  Chloride  of  Lime.” 
It  is  a  mixture  or  a  weak  compound  of  hypochlorite  and  chloride  of 
calcium  with  slaked  lime,  the  latter  never  being  wholly  converted 
into  the  chlorinated  compound  by  the  action  of  chlorine.  The 
formula  Ca2C10,  CaCl2  would  yield  55  -9  per  cent,  of  chlorine  by 
the  action  of  acids ;  the  official  requirements  are  satisfied  by  a 
product  yielding  33  per  cent,  of  chlorine — the  term  “available 
chlorine  ”  refers  to  the  amount  of  chlorine  evolved  by  the  action  of 
acids. 

(i. )  Ca2C10  +  CaCl2  +  2H2S04 = 2CaS04  +  2HC10  +  2HC1. 

(ii.)  2HC10  +  2HC1 = 2HaO  +  2C12. 

The  determination  of  the’chlorine  is  indirect,  i.e.,  it  isliberatedinpre- 
sence  of  potassium  iodide,  and  the  equivalent  quantity  of  iodine 
(Cl,  35 '5=:  I,  127)  displaced  by  the  chlorine  determined  by  titra¬ 
tion  with  sodium  thiosulphate  solution.  This  is  the  most  conve¬ 
nient  way  of  determining  free  chlorine,  the  end  reaction  between 
iodine  and  sodium  thiosulphate  (disappearance  of  the  brown 
colour  of  free  iodine,  or  blue,  if  starch  be  employed)  being  sharply 
distinguished.  In  iodine  titrations  it  is  advisable  not  to  add  starch 
mucilage  until  nearly  all  the  iodine  has  been  used  up,  i.e.,  when 
the  brown  colour  has  almost  disappeared.  If  the  starch  be  added 
at  first  when  there  is  a  lot  of  free  iodine,  a  blackish  colour  is  pro¬ 
duced  and  the  end  reaction  is  not  so  sharp.  Some  operators  do  not 
use  starch  at  all,  but  used  as  described  above,  the  termination  of 
the  reaction  is  more  apparent  since  the  blue  colour  of  iodide  of 
starch  is  more  intense  than  the  brown  colour  of  an  equivalent 
quantity  of  iodine.  Note  that  the  action  of  chlorine  (and  bromine) 
upon  thiosulphate  of  sodium  is  quite  different  to  that  of  iodine — 

2Na2S203  +  21  =  2NaI  +  Na2S406. 


In  presence  of  water,  chlorine  is  an  energetic  oxidising  agent,  and 
converts  the  thiosulphate  into  sulphate,  sulphur  being  deposited — 


SOME  NOTES  ON  CRYPTOGAMS. 

There  are  two  genera  of  fresh-water  algas  that  may  be  studied 
during  this  month.  On  damp  spots  in  fallow  fields  Vaucheria 
terrestris  may  be  found  in  dense  green  patches  of  one  or  two  inches 
in  diameter.  V.  sessilia  forms  looser  patches  of  similar  character. 
The  first,  represented  in  Fig.  1,  has  the  antheridium  on  the  same 
stalk  as  the  oogonium.  The  latter  has  the  antheridium  placed 
between  two  sessile  oogonia.  In  shady  pools  or  ponds  Spirogyra 
porticalis  (Fig.  2)  may  now  be  found  in  conjugation.  In  the  Vau¬ 
cheria  it  should  be  noted  that  the  whole  plant  is  a  branched  cell,  the 
only  dissepiment  usually  seen  being  that  which  cuts  off  the 
oogonium  or  antheridium  from  the  rest  of  the  plant.  In  Spirogyra 
it  should  be  observed  that  the  chlorophyll  band  is  single  in  this 
species,  that  the  cell  divisions  are  flat,  and  the  oogonia  are  oval. 


Fig.  1.  Fig.  2. 


Reverting  to  the  gemma;  of  Lunularia  (see  ante,  p.  276), 
which,  on  account  of  their  greater  size,  are  the  most  conve¬ 
nient  for  examination,  they  show  a  disk-like  form  with 
two  or  more  lateral  indentations  and  a  short  stalk  or  a  scar 
at  the  base,  where  they  were  attached  to  the  thallus.  The  body 
is  composed  chiefly  of  chlorophyll-parenchyma,  with  a  few  single 
cells  containing  oil  bodies.  The  outer  portion  is  only  a  single  cell 
in  thickness,  whilst  the  centre  is  a  solid  structure.  After  separa¬ 
tion  from  the  thallus  certain  superficial  cells  develop  into  rhizoids, 
and  the  gemma  grows  into  a  new  thallus.  Lunularia,  in  common 
with  certain  other  liverworts,  possesses  peculiar  stomata,  which 
differ  considerably  in  structure  from  those  found  in  other  plants, 
and  should  be  examined  carefully  under  the  microscope.  To  the 
naked  eye  they  appear  as  minute  dots  on  the  surface  of  the  thallus. 


Na2S203  +  Cl2  +  H20 = Na2S04  +  2HC1  +  S. 

Cerii  Oxalas. — Cerium,  in  the  course  of  analysis,  is  precipitated 
with  the  metals  of  the  iron  group,  i.  e. ,  its  chloride  is  soluble  in 
water,  it  does  not  form  a  sulphide  insoluble  in  weak  acid,  but 
insoluble  cerium  hydrate  is  precipitated  by  ammonia.  Cerium 
occurs  in  nature  associated  with  lanthanum  and  didymium,  and 
the  reactions  and  solubilities  of  the  various  salts  of  these  three 
metals  are  so  similar  that  their  separation  in  an  absolutely  pure 
condition  is  rendered  very  difficult ;  consequently  cerium  oxalate, 
as  found  in  commerce,  contains  small  quantities  of  didymium  and 
lanthanum  oxalates.  If  cerium  oxalate  be  quite  pure  the  residue 
of  cerium  oxide  after  ignition  would  be  yellow — the  reddish-brown 
colour  mentioned  in  the  Pharmacopoeia  is  due  to  didymium  oxide. 
The  metals  of  the  cerium  group  are  distinguished  by  the 
formation  of  insoluble  double  sulphates  with  potassium. 
Iron,  aluminium,  and  chromium  form  double  sulphates  soluble  in 
water.  Alumina,  as  an  impurity,  is  detected  by  boiling  with 
otash,  which  precipitates  cerium  hydrate ;  the  aluminium  hydrate 
eing  soluble  in  this  reagent,  is  looked  for  in  the  filtrate  in  the 
usual  manner — addition  of  ammonium  chloride,  which  effects  the 
substitution  of  free  ammonia,  in  which  aluminium  hydrate  is 
insoluble,  for  potash. 

NH4Cl  +  KHO  =  KCl  +  NH4HO. 

Ignition  of  a  metallic  oxalate  may  result  in  production  of — 

(i.)  a  carbonate  (calcium,  potassium). 

(ii. )  an  oxide,  if  the  corresponding  carbonate  be  easily  decom¬ 
posed  by  heat  (iron  and  cerium),  or — - 

(iii.)  metal,  if  the  carbonate  and  oxide  are  both  decomposed  at 
high  temperature  (silver). 

Chloral  Hydras  (see  ante,  p.  276).-— After  warming  with 
caustic  potash  to  decompose  the  chloral  into  formic  acid  and 
chloroform,  add  a  small  quantity  of  aniline.  A  very  penetrating 
and  nauseous  odour  due  to  phenyl  iso-cyanide  is  given  off. 
C6H5NH2  -i-  CHC13  =  C6H5NC  +  3HC1. 

This  reaction  is  characteristic  of  primary  amines,  i.e.,  bodies 
derived  from  ammonia  by  replacement  of  one  hydrogen  atom  by  a 
radicle.  Secondary  amines  are  bodies  having  two  hydrogen  atoms 
similarly  replaced  [NH(C2Hg)2],  and  tertiary  all  three  [N(02H5)3]. 

Codeina. — Codeine  is  distinguished  from  morphine  by  its 
solubility  in  ammonia  and  insolubility  in  potash  or  lime  water. 
Morphine  gives  a  red  colour  with  nitric  acid — -codeine  does  not. 
The  latter  also  gives  no  blue  colour  with  ferric  chloride,  and  does 
not  liberate  iodine  from  iodic  acid. 


April  3,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


297 


Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


A  Weekly  Record  of  Pharmacy  and  Allied  Sciences. 
ESTABLISHED  1841. 

Circulating  in  the  United  Kingdom,  France,  Germany, 
Austria,  Italy,  Russia,  Switzerland,  Canada,  the 
United  States,  South  America,  India, 
Australasia,  South  Africa,  etc. 

Editorial  Office:  17,  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.C. 
Publishing  at\d  Advertising  Office :  5,  SERLE  STREET,  W.C. 


LONDON  :  SATURDAY,  APRIL  3,  1897. 

THE  CHEMISTS  REMUNERATION. 

From  time  to  time  the  subject  of  chemists’  charges  crops 
up  in  the  lay  press,  some  unhappy  correspondent 
feeling  impelled  to  write  to  the  editor  to  complain  that  he 
has  paid  a  few  pence  more  or  less  for  an  article  in  one  phar¬ 
macy  than  in  another.  The  greatest  excitement,  perhaps,  is 
displayed  when  a  prescription  has  been  dispensed  at 
different  rates,  and  the  original  declaration  against  a  supposed 
imposition  is  speedily  capped  by  harrowing  tales  from 
all  sorts  and  conditions  of  people  bearing  upon  the  tendency 
displayed,  as  the  writers  often  profess  to  think,  by  chemists 
and  druggists  generally,  to  fleece  them  whenever  they  have  the 
chance.  The  inevitable  protest  from  a  member  of  that,  for 
the  time  being,  much-abused  class  appears  sooner  or 
later,  but  if  it  should  happen  to  be  published  whilst 
public  interest  in  the  matter  is  still  maintained, 
the  writer  may  look  forward  with  every  confidence 
to  see  his  facts  denied  and  his  arguments  derided  or  ignored. 
And  then,  as  some  other  grievance  must,  in  turn,  be  aired  in 
the  press,  the  topic  of  chemists’  charges  disappears  once  more 
into  the  background , to  be  served  u  p  afresh  with  unabated  energy, 
enthusiasm,  and  perchance  virulence,  at  some  future  date. 
The  net  result  of  the  discussion  is  usually  that  a  few  more 
people  than  formerly  begin  to  distrust  those  in  whom  they  have 
previously  been  accustomed  to  repose  every  confidence,  but 
no  one — if  w7e  except  the  conductors  of  the  papers,  by  whom 
probably  the  whole  affair  has  been  arranged  to  fill  a  gap 
during  the  dull  season — is  really  satisfied  with  the  outcome 
of  the  wordy  warfare. 

Now,  though  it  is  undeniable  that  chemists’  charges  do 
vary,  it  cannot  be  acknowledged  that  the  public  has  the 
least  ground  on  which  to  base  a  grievance  respecting  the 
matter.  In  what  trade  or  profession  in  this  country  are  the 
charges  uniform  for  articles  of  the  same  class  or  work  of  the 
same  kind  1  Grocers,  butchers,  shoemakers,  booksellers, 
doctors,  lawyers,  artists,  and  members  of  every  other  class 
that  can  be  mentioned,  base  their  charges  mainly  on  the 
purchasing  capacity  of  their  customers  and  clients,  and  the 
same  individual  does  not  expect  to  find  the  purchasing  power  of 
his  money  of  equal  value  in  all  districts.  Contrast  Whitechapel 
and  Regent  Street  for  example,  or  the  lower  class  districts  of 
any  town  and  the  aristocratic  suburbs  of  the  same.  Would 
anyone  anticipate  identical  results  on  expending  a  given 
amount  in  either  case,  elsewhere  than  in  pharmacies  1 


Certainly  not,  and  it  is  difficult  to  see,  therefore,  why 
chemists  and  druggists  should  be  singled  out  as  the  sole  ex¬ 
ceptions  to  this  general  rule.  Why  should  the  chemist  and 
druggist  be  debarred  from  exercising  the  right  to  stipulate 
his  own  terms  for  services  rendered  1  There  is  no  apparent 
reason,  and  of  course  there  is  no  prospect  of  the  attempt  being 
made  to  debar  him.  But  it  is  well  to  weigh  the  matter  carefully, 
and  then  decide  to  approach  the  question  of  variation  in  prices 
with  a  determination  not  to  submit  to  outside  dictation, 
rather  than  to  excuse  the  prevailing  custom  in  a  semi- 
apologetic  manner. 

The  chemist  and  druggist,  for  instance,  must  continually 
bear  in  mind — especially  in  dealing  with  prescriptions  — 
that  he  is  entitled  to  charge  for  professional  or  special  tech¬ 
nical  services  rendered  Where  such  special  services  are 
rendered  by  any  other  class,  a  due  equivalent  is 
invariably  demanded  as  a  recompense,  and  the  chemist 
and  druggist  would  be  pursuing  a  suicidal  policy 
and  neglecting  his  best  interests  if  he  were  to 
allow  himself  to  be  persuaded  to  regard  all  his  busi¬ 
ness  transactions  from  a  purely  commercial  standpoint. 
Further,  when  the  matter  is  considered  fairly,  it  will  be 
seen  that  one  of  the  soundest  commercial  axioms  is  that 
which  insists  upon  the  best  possible  return  being 
obtained  for  all  services  rendered.  Successful  professional  men 
act  upon  this  principle — a  wholly  commercial  principle — of 
necessity,  otherwise  they  would  not  be  successful.  To  reduce 
one’s  terms  because  another  charges  less  for  similar 
services  would  be  absurd  so  long  as  the  public  is  willing  to 
acquiesce  in  the  higher  terms.  And,  after  all,  the  value  of  an 
individual’s  services  is,  more  frequently  than  not,  based  upon 
his  own  estimate  of  those  services.  Indeed,  if  that  estimate 
be  formed  after  paying  due  regard  to  all  the  circumstances 
of  the  individual  case,  it  will  in  all  probability  approximate 
so  closely  to  the  truth  that  the  public  will  accept  it  readily. 
But  the  main  point  to  bear  in  mind  is  that,  having 
once  taken  up  a  decided  stand  in  this  matter,  no  one 
should  depart  from  it  rashly,  and  if  change  be  desirable, 
it  should  be  gradual— evolution  rather  than  revolution 
being  the  key  to  the  situation. 

THE  PROPOSED  NEW  BYE  LAWS. 

Glasgow  has  spoken  on  the  subject  of  the  proposed 
alterations  in  the  byedaws  and,  in  effect,  has  approved  of 
the  suggested  changes.  We  understand  that  opposition  to 
the  increase  in  the  registration  fee  is  practically  non-existent 
amongst  chemists  and  druggists  in  Glasgow,  and  that  the 
only  bar  to  an  expression  of  complete  approval  at  the  meet¬ 
ing  held  last  week  was  the  prevalence  in  the  district  of 
a  feeling  that  the  period  at  which  the  increased  fee  is 
intended  to  come  into  effect  is  too  early.  On  that  point, 
however,  the  members  of  Council  must  be  the  best  judges, 
and  our  Glasgow  friends  who  approve  of  the  principle  of  the 
proposed  alterations  should  be  content  to  leave  the  arrange¬ 
ment  of  details  to  their  elected  representatives.  At  Aber¬ 
deen,  twenty-five  assistants  and  apprentices  have  sagely 
settled  the  financial  affairs  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  to 
their  own  satisfaction,  and  expressed  the  opinion  that  an 
increase  in  the  registration  fee  is  unnecessary.  Birmingham 
assistants,  on  the  other  hand,  are  reported  to  be  of  opinion 
that  the  extra  fee  cannot  help  but  be  of  benefit  to  the  trade 
at  large,  and  that  is  probably  what  all  chemists  and  druggists 
in  business  will  conclude,  after  considering  the  matter 
calmly  and  without  prejudice. 


298 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  3,  1897. 


ANNOTATIONS. 


The  Pharmacy  Acts  are  being  put  in  force  in  Scotland  to  an 
extent  which  should  satisfy  every  Scottish  member  of  the  Society 
that  he  gets  full  value  for  his  subscription.  Moreover,  the  micro¬ 
scopical  returns  in  the  shape  of  fines  and  costs  ought  to  convince 
the  most  sceptical  non  -  subscribing  chemist  and  druggist 
that  the  supposed  surplus  from  his  examination  and  registra¬ 
tion  fee  is  badly  needed,  if  the  record  of  cases  under  the 
Acts  is  to  be  maintained.  Modified  penalties  seem  to  be 
the  rule  in  Scottish  courts,  the  Sheriffs  having  apparently 
cultivated  the  art  of  looking  at  money  many  times 
before  disposing  of  it,  to  an  extreme  and  sometimes  even  exas¬ 
perating  degree.  The  main  point,  however,  is  to  maintain  the 
Statute  to  the  fullest  possible  extent,  and  the  representatives  of 
the  Society  in  Scotland  are  to  be  congratulated  upon  the  uniformly 
successful  issue  of  all  the  cases  reported  in  this  week’s  Journal. 
It  is  also  satisfactory  to  find  Sheriff  Davidson  (see  p.  294)  giving 
utterance  to  the  statement  that  he  was  not  called  upon  to  express 
any  opinion  as  to  the  policy  of  the  Pharmacy  Acts,  and  that  he  had 
no  intention  of  doing  so.  This  is  as  it  should  be,  and  other  Sheriffs 
in  Scotland  should  note  the  innate  wisdom  of  this  judicial  statement. 


Lime  Juice  and  Glycerin  has  claimed  another  victim,  Mr. 
Thomas  Mann,  chemist  and  druggist,  of  Hampton  Hill,  having  been 
convicted  and  fined  for  selling  a  bottle  of  that  compound  alleged 
to  be  devoid  of  glycerin  and  actually  containing  no  lime 

juice.  The  case  was  originally  heard  a  fortnight  ago  (see 

ante,  p.  253),  and  then  adjourned  for  the  purpose  of  having  a 
sample  of  the  preparation  examined  at  Somerset  House.  The  public 
analyst  had  certified  that  it  contained  no  glycerin  and  no  lime 
juice,  but  the  certificate  from  Somerset  House  stated  that 

the  sample  contained  glycerin  to  the  extent  of  not  more  than 
half  or  one  per  cent.  The  fatal  oversight,  therefore,  proved  to  be 
the  omission  of  lime  juice,  and  though  defendant  pleaded  that  the 
preparation  contained  “  essence  of  limes,”  the  hearts  of  the  magis¬ 
trates  were  hardened  and  they  would  not  let  him  go,  except  on 
payment  of  five  shillings  and  costs.  Thus  was  the  law  upheld,  and 
the  intelligence  of  local  authorities  and  magistrates  once  more 
exemplified.  But  what,  it  may  be  asked,  must  people  ask  for  who 
really  want  such  a  preparation  as  Mr.  Mann  has  been  innocently 
selling,  never  dreaming  that  it  was  either  a  food  or  a  drug  ? 

The  Plough  Court  Pharmacy  records,  as  recently  presented 
in  our  pages,  have  attracted  a  considerable  measure  of  attention 
and,  on  account  of  its  important  bearing  on  the  early  history  of 
chemists  and  druggists,  it  has  been  thought  desirable  to  reprint 
the  matter  in  pamphlet  form.  The  reprints  are  now  ready,  and 
copies  may  be  obtained  from  the  publishing  office  of  the  Journal, 
5,  Serle  Street,  W.C.,  at  one  shilling  each,  post  free.  The  portrait 
of  William  Allen  and  all  the  illustrations  used  to  illustrate  the 
articles  are  reproduced  in  the  book. 


Poisoned  by  his  Own  Preparation,  whilst  suffering  from  a 
weak  heart,  a  Dunmow  chemist  died  from  syncope  on  Tuesday  last 
week.  The  preparation — “  chloronette  ” — was  a  variant  on  chloro- 
dyne,  and  appears  to  have  contained  prussic  acid,  which  is  now 
usually  omitted  from  chlorodyne,  in  addition  to  morphine  and 
chloroform.  Deceased  was  over  sixty,  and  had  been  in  the  habit 
of  taking  “chloronette”  to  relieve  palpitation.  On  the  fatal  day 
he  asked  his  son  to  give  him  a  dose,  and  after  swallowing  part  of 
the  half-drachm  mixed  for  him,  he  became  worse,  and  died  within 


a  quarter  of  an  hour.  The  medical  evidence  showed  that  morphine 
and  chloroform  were  most  unsuitable  things  for  deceased  to  take, 
considering  his  state  of  health,  and  the  case  affords  one  more 
instance  of  the  dangers  attending  indiscriminate  self-medication. 


Public  Analysts  and  Somerset  House  have  once  more  dis¬ 
agreed,  this  time  about  adulterated  olive  oil.  A  Bottesford  grocer 
had  sold  oil  which  Dr.  Bernard  Dyer  certified  to  contain  twenty 
per  cent,  of  cotton  oil.  The  sample  referred  to  Somerset  House, 
however,  was  stated  to  contain  no  cotton  oil,  though  twenty  per  cent, 
of  sesame  oil  was  said  to  be  present.  The  Leicestershire  magis¬ 
trates  who  heard  the  case  were  therefore  in  a  dilemma,  but  when 
Dr.  Dyer’s  certificate  was  supported  by  three  other  analysts — 
Messrs.  Hehner,  Bevan,  and  Cassall— the  difficulty  was  somewhat 
illogically  met  by  a  decision  to  impose  no  penalty.  The  report  of 
this  case  ought  to  occupy  a  prominent  place  in  a  digest  of  the 
humours  and  curiosities  disclosed  during  the  working  of  the  Sale  of 
Food  and  Drugs  Acts. 


The  Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association  held  its  first 
annual  meeting  on  Wednesday  afternoon,  and  after  one  or  two 
slight  attempts  on  the  part  of  some  who  attended  to  kick  over  the 
traces,  the  Chairman — Mr.  W.  Jones,  of  Birmingham — got  his  team 
well  in  hand,  and  business  proceeded  apace.  The  annual  report 
and  financial  statement  were  as  satisfactory  as  could  be  expected  for 
the  first  year’s  working,  and  were  duly  adopted  after  the  Secretary 
had  explained  the  position  of  affairs.  Mr.  Glyn -Jones  was  careful 
to  emphasise  the  fact,  which  too  many  are  inclined  to  disregard, 
that  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  as  such,  cannot  take  any  steps 
in  the  matter  of  the  regulation  of  prices.  He  suggestively  re¬ 
marked,  however,  that  members  of  that  Council  could  individually 
show  their  practical  sympathy  with  the  present  movement  without 
involving  the  Council  in  their  action. 


The  P.  A.T.  A.  now  Includes  2060  Retailers,  and  Mr.  Glyn- Jones 
asserts  that  all  of  those  are  determined  to  support  its  objects  by 
fair  and  legitimate  means.  It  might  be  regarded,  therefore,  as  a 
factor  to  be  reckoned  with,  and  manufacturers  who  have  not  yet 
joined  the  Association  were  warned  of  the  probable  results  of  their 
inaction,  the  manufacture  of  proprietary  articles  to  displace  others 
now  on  the  market  being  indicated  as  a  possible  means  of  securin  g 
the  desired  end.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  proceedings  were  most 
enthusiastic — the  Association  is  not  yet  old  enough  to  realise  what 
despondency  means — and  that  everyone  who  attended  seemed  im¬ 
pressed  with  the  brightness  of  the  prospect  that  was  presen  ted  to  their 
view.  Such  hopefulness  is  a  healthy  sign  and,  whatever  may  be 
the  outcome  of  the  anti-cutting  movement,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
of  the  value  of  the  feeling  which  has  induced  so  many  chemists  in 
business  to  band  themselves  together  and  work  for  the  common 
good  of  their  class. 

The  “  Eggs  ”  Producing  “  Pharaoh’s  Serpents  ”  would 
hardly  be  regarded  by  most  people  as  triumphs  of  the  confec¬ 
tioner’s  art,  nor  is  the  average  seller  of  those  articles  likely  to  be 
so  foolish  as  to  attempt  to  prove  their  innocuous  nature  by  eating 
them.  The  exception  is  held  to  prove  the  rule,  however,  and 
Judge  Lushington  has  had  occasion  to  determine  what  damages 
must  be  awarded  to  a  person  who  seemed  to  think  that  what  she 
sold  must  needs  be  good  to  eat.  According  to  the  Lancet,  a  lady 
confectioner  purchased  a  number  of  farthing  packets  containing 
these  so-called  “eggs,”  and  sold  one  of  them  to  a  child,  whose 
father  tasted  the  contents  of  the  packet  and  wisely  expressed  th  e 
opinion  that  they  were  nasty.  The  goods  were  returned  accord- 


April  3, 1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


299 


ingly,  but  the  confectioner,  anxious  to  show  that  she  sold  innocu¬ 
ous  things  only,  ate  one  of  the  “eggs”  herself,  regarding  it  as  a 
sweet,  with  the  result  that  she  was  taken  very  ill  and  was  medi¬ 
cally  attended  for  several  weeks.  This  was  the  ground  of  an  action 
against  the  dealers  who  supplied  the  “eggs,”  and  Judge 
Lushington,  deciding  that  there  had  been  negligence  on  the  part 
of  the  defendants,  gave  judgment  for  the  plaintiff  for  the 
full  amount  claimed — fifty  pounds. 


Letters  after  Names  have  a  wonderful  fascination  for  the 
public  and,  however  meaningless,  they  may  be  depended  upon  to 
produce  a  definite  effect  if  only  there  be  enough  of  them.  Medical 
quacks,  in  particular,  appear  to  benefit  by  the  credulity  with 
which  such  name  appendages  are  received,  and  the  Birmingham 
Daily  Gazette  comments  upon  a  case  in  point.  A  woman  died 
from  failure  of  the  heart’s  action  after  receiving  treatment  at  a 
“  Homoeopathic  and  Magneto-Electric  Institute,”  the  proprietor 
of  which  is  said  to  have  induced  the  belief  that  he  was  a  qualified 
medical  practitioner,  by  exhibiting  a  string  of  letters  without 
meaning  after  his  name.  As  it  happens,  no  connection  could  be 
established  between  the  man’s  method  of  treatment  and  the 
patient’s  death,  and  though  it  is  suggested  that  the  Medical 
Council  could  take  proceedings  against  the  much  be-lettered 
gentleman,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  he  will  in  no  wise  be  dismayed 
but  proceed  on  his  accustomed  course  of  quackery  as  usual.  And 
the  public  will  continue  to  worship  letters  ! 


Professor  Koch,  according  to  information  received  from  Berlin, 
has  produced  two  new  preparations  or  compounds  of  tuber¬ 
culin,  and  it  is  claimed  that  the  German  professor,  after  many 
years  of  patient  research,  has  this  time  discovered  a  sure  means  of 
counteracting  the  dire  effects  of  the  bacillus  of  tuberculosis. 
Guinea-pigs  were  first  experimented  on,  and  one  of  the  prepara¬ 
tions  was  then  tried  on  persons  in  the  first  stage  of  pulmonary 
phthisis.  It  is  stated  that  a  marked  amelioration  was  produced 
in  the  condition  of  the  patients,  whilst  successful  results  were  also 
obtained  in  the  case  of  invalids  afflicted  with  lupus.  Professor 
Koch,  in  a  communication  to  the  Deutsche  Medicinische  Wochen- 
schrift,  does  not  say  that  the  patients  who  were  treated  by  his  new 
method  were  “  cured,”  because  a  sufficient  length  of  time  has  not 
elapsed  to  enable  him  to  speak  confidently  on  the  matter,  but  he 
is  reported  to  be  thoroughly  satisfied  with  what  has  so  far  been 
accomplished.  The  new  tuberculin  is  being  manufactured  by  the 
Hochst  Chemical  Works  and,  it  is  stated,  can  now  be  supplied 
to  hospitals  and  pharmacies. 


Toothache  is  not  Allowed  by  the  Postal  Administration  of 
Geneva,  if  we  may  judge  from  a  wonderful  document  published  by 
M.  Bovet,  the  Director-General  of  the  Cantonal  Post.  According 
to  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  this  reads  as  follows  : — “  It  often  happens 
that  the  postal  staff  falls  ill  in  consequence  of  toothache  and  in¬ 
flammation  ensuing  therefrom.  Extraction  is  the  only  remedy. 
But  the  employes  prefer  to  suffer  rather  than  undergo  this  opera¬ 
tion.  They  abandon  their  work,  and  the  interests  of  the  post-office 
are  thereby  endangered.  This  situation  cannot  last.  Notice  is 
hereby  given  that  the  claims  of  toothache  to  be  considered  as  an 
illness  will  be  no  longer  admitted  by  the  Administration.  Em¬ 
ployes  absenting  themselves  for  this  reason  will  in  future  be  classed 
under  the  schedule  ‘  Absences  for  Pleasure  and  Preventible  Irre¬ 
gularities,’  and  they  will  have  to  pay  the  expenses  of  their 
substitutes.  ”  Toothache  become  a  pleasure,  we  may  next  come  to 


regard  gout,  rheumatism,  and  other  painful  diseases  as  luxuries, 
and  tax  their  happy  possessors  accordingly. 


The  Museums  Association  meets  at  Oxford  this  summer,  under 
the  presidency  of  Professor  E.  Ray  Lankester,  LL.D.,  F.R.S. 
The  meeting  will  begin  on  the  evening  of  July  7,  and  continue 
till  Friday,  July  9.  The  business  of  the  meeting  will,  as  in  past 
years,  consist  mainly  of  the  reading  and  discussion  of  papers  and 
the  inspection  of  museums,  but  owing  to  the  wealth  of  Oxford  in 
museums,  the  latter  section  of  the  Association’s  work  will  assume 
a  more  important  place  than  usual.  Opportunities  for  social 
intercourse  among  the  Curators  attending  will  also  be  arranged. 
The  local  secretary  of  the  Association  is  Mr.  W.  B.  Benham,  M.A., 
D.Sc.,  University  Museum,  Oxford. 


The  Exeter  Technical  College  is  fortunate  in  having  several 
prizes  offered  by  local  chemists  for  competition  amongst  the 
pharmaceutical  students  attending  the  classes  at  that  institution. 
Four  prizes  of  one  guinea  each  are  offered — the  first  by  Mr.  Lake, 
local  secretary  for  Exeter,  and  President  of  the  Exeter  Chemists’ 
Association,  for  pharmacy  and  materia  medica ;  the  second  by  Mr.  H. 
Gadd,  J.P.,  for  advanced  chemistry;  the  third  by  Mr.  Rowsell, 
Secretary  of  the  local  association,  for  elementary  chemistry  ;  and 
the  fourth  by  Mr.  G.  Stocker,  for  the  best  herbarium  of  plants 
collected  within  ten  miles  of  Exeter  during  1897.  Mr.  Stocker 
also  contributes  a  guinea  towards  the  maintenance  of  the  materia 
medica  collection  of  the  College.  Other  prizes  available  to 
pharmaceutical  students  attending  the  College  are  the  Tucker 
prizes,  value  two  guineas  and  one  guinea  respectively.  Certain 
scholarships  are  also  awarded  annually. 


The  Chemical  Society  held  its  annual  dinner  at  the  Criterion 
Restaurant  on  Wednesday  night,  when  the  retiring  President, 
Mr.  A.  G.  Vernon  Harcourt  occupied  the  chair.  Among  the 
guests  were  Lord  Lister,  Professor  Dewar,  the  President  Elect  ; 
Mr.  Christie,  Astronomer  Royal ;  Dr.  Hicks,  President  of  the 
Geological  Society ;  Mr.  S.  Bid well,  President  of  the  Physical  Society; 
Professor  Emerson  Reynolds,  Mr.  Fletcher  Moulton,  Q.C.  ;  Dr. 
Armstrong,  Professor  Roberts-Austen,  Dr.  Messel,  Mr.  H.  Crookes, 
Mr.  Walter  Hills,  President  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society ;  Dr. 
Stevenson,  President  of  the  Institute  of  Chemistry  ;  and  Dr.  Ber¬ 
nard  Dyer,  President  of  the  Society  of  Public  Analysts.  The 
toast  of  the  evening,  “  Prosperity  to  the  Chemical  Society,”  was 
proposed  by  Lord  Lister,  who  said  he  had  learned  what  he 
was  not  previously  aware  of,  that  the  Chemical  Society  was 
the  first  ever  established  for  the  purpose  of  considering 
chemical  subjects  only.  He  had  learned  also  that  an 
eminent  scientist  of  that  time  expressed  grave  doubts  whether 
chemical  subjects  could  sufficiently  occupy  the  attention  of  the 
Society.  But  the  result  showed  that  the  rooms  at  Burlington 
House  were  becoming  quite  insufficient  for  the  Society’s  pur¬ 
poses.  Of  the  important  work  done  by  the  Chemical  Society 
there  was,  to  an  outsider,  sufficient  evidence  in  the  roll  of 
illustrious  men  who  had  occupied  the  presidential  chair. 
The  first  of  these  was  his  master,  Professor  Graham,  and 
he  did  not  think  that  among  the  many  eminent  teachers  under 
whom  he  worked  at  University  College  there  was  any  man  who  had 
inspired  him  so  much  as  did  Professor  Graham  with  admiration  and 
affection.  He  had  also  inspired  him  with  that  love  of  chemistry  which 
had  served  him  in  good  stea  1,  in  his  somewhat  difficult  endeavour  to 
so  apply  chemical  substances  as  to  exclude  mischievous  microbes 
from  wounds,  without,  at  the  same  time,  doing  mischief  to  the 
human  tissue. 


300 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Apkil  3,  1897 


MEETIRGS  Of  SCIEflTIFIC  SOCIETIES 

- * - 

Chemical  Society,  Thursday,  March  25.— Professor  Percy 
Frankland  delivered  his 

Pasteur  Memorial  Lecture 

to  a  large  and  most  appreciative  audience.  The  lecturer  paid  but 
little  attention  to  the  great  savant’s  earlier  life,  but  plunged  at 
once  in  medias  res,  commencing  with  his  brilliant  work  on  the 
‘  Tartaric  and  Racemic  Acids,’  and  touching  in  due  course  upon 
his  other  achievements,  such  as  the  manufacture  of  vinegar,  spon¬ 
taneous  generation,  pebrine  or  silkworm  disease,  and  so  on  to  his 
last  great  work  on  hydrophobia.  The  Professor  was  full  of  anec¬ 
dote,  and  he  managed  to  keep  his  audience  in  the  best  of  humour 
for  over  two  hours.  He  really  said  nothing  about  Pasteur  that 
was  not  already  well  known  :  the  charm  in  his  lecture  lay  in  the 
delivery  thereof.  Lord  Lister  and  Sir  Henry  Roscoe  spoke  in 
eulogistic  terms  of  Pasteur’s  work. 


Liinnean  Society  of  London,  Thursday,  March  18. — Dr. 
A.  Gunther,  F.R.S.,  President,  in  the  chair. — Mr.  G.  E.  Lodge 
was  admitted,  and  Mr.  Wm.  Martindale  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the 
Society. 

Nests  of  the  Chimney  Swallow. 

Mr.  Bernard  Arnold,  F.L.S. ,  exhibited  three  contiguously- 
built  nests  of  the  chimney  swallow,  Hirundo  rustica,  having  a 
continuous  wall  of  mud  as  if  built  by  one  pair  of  birds  ;  but  from 
the  evidence  of  the  observer  it  appeared  that  there  were  two  pairs 
of  birds,  and  that  one  pair  had  made  two  of  the  adjacent  nests. 

The  Forms  and  Functions  of  Stipules. 

The  Rt.  Hon.  Sir  John  Lubbock,  Bart.,  M.P.,  read  a  paper  on 
“  Stipules,  their  Forms  and  Functions.”  This  embodied  observa¬ 
tions  supplementary  to  those  published  in  previous  papers  (Linn. 
Soc.  Journ.,  Bot.,  xxviii.,  217,  and  xxx.,  463).  It  was  shown  that 
while  the  usual  function  of  stipules  is  to  protect  leaves  in  bud,  in 
some  cases  they  replace  them,  and  in  others  serve  to  hold  water. 
Instances  were  mentioned  in  which  stipules  developed  into 
spines,  and  in  other  cases  became  glandular.  Where  stipules 
were  absent,  other  arrangements  for  bud  protection  were  found 
to  exist.  Attention  was  especially  directed  to  the  formation  of 
the  winter  buds  of  certain  common  shrubs  and  trees,  and  some 
curious  differences  were  noted  even  in  nearly  allied  species. 
In  the  wayfaring  tree,  Viburnum  lantana,  the  author  remarked 
that  the  young  leaves  are  uncovered,  but  are  protected  by  a 
growth  of  hairs  ;  in  the  ash  and  thorn  the  outer  scales  of  the 
bud  consist  of  expanded  petioles  ;  in  the  willow  the  outer  scales 
consist  of  leaves  ;  in  the  poplar  of  stipules.  The  buds  of  the  oak 
and  beech  were  also  described  ;  and  it  was  shown  by  the  aid  of 
lantern -slides  that  in  the  beech  the  outer  scales  of  the  bud  consist 
of  two  pairs  of  stipules,  that  the  twelfth  pair  are  the  first  which 
have  a  leaf,  and  that  the  subsequent  growth  is  between  the  leaves, 
while  the  portion  of  the  shoot  between  the  stipules  scarcely 
elongates  at  all.  As  a  consequence,  the  seat  of  each  winter  bud  is 
marked  by  a  ring,  and  thus  a  series  of  successive  rings  which  re¬ 
main  visible  for  many  years  indicate  each  year’s  growth. 

The  Origin  of  Transfusion  Tissue. 

Mr.  W.  C.  Wtorsdell  read  a  paper  “On  the  Origin  of  Trans¬ 
fusion  Tissue  in  Leaves  of  Gymnospermous  Plants.”  It  was 
explained  that  “transfusion-tissue”  is  a  special  kind  of  conducting- 
tissue  found  chiefly  in  the  leaves  of  conifers,  in  direct  connection 
with  the  vascular  bundles.  “Centripetal”  xylem,  hitherto  only 
known  to  occur  in  the  leaves  of  cycads  among  living  plants,  has 
been  found,  well  developed,  in  the  cotyledonary  bundles  of  Ginglco 
biloba.  In  these  latter  and  in  the  cotyledonary  bundles  of  Cycas 
revoluta,  a  distinct  transition  was  observed  between  the  elements 
of  the  centripetal  xylem  and  those  of  the  transfusion-tissue  at  the 
side  of  the  bundle.  In  studying  the  structure  of  the  vascular 
bundle  in  the  leaves  of  conifers  generally,  a  similar  transition  was 
also  observed  in  a  few  genera  between  centripetal  xylem  and 
transfusion-tissue.  These  facts  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  trans¬ 
fusion-tissue,  as  universally  found  in  recent  coniferous  leaves,  has 
originally  sprung  from  the  centripetal  xylem  of  the  leaf-bundle  of 
the  ancestors  of  these  plants. 


THE  WORLD  Op  PHARMACY. 

- + - . 

BUSINESS  MEETINGS. 


Liverpool  Pharmaceutical  Students’  Society,  Thurs¬ 
day,  March  25. — Mr.  H.  S.  Peirson,  Vice-President,  in  the  chair. — 
A  letter  was  read  from  the  Manchester  Chemists’  Assistants’  Asso¬ 
ciation  relative  to  the  special  effort  being  now  generally  made  on 
behalf  of  the 

Benevolent  Fund, 

expressing  a  wish  that  Liverpool  assistants  should  join  in  the  good 
work  and  assist  in  bringing  it  to  a  successful  issue.  The  matter 
was  referred  to  the  Committee,  with  the  suggestion  that  they 
should  take  such  action  as  would  be  in  accord  with  that  of  the 
Liverpool  Chemists’  Association  Committee  now  working  on  the 
elaboration  of  a  scheme  proposed  by  Mr.  J.  Smith,  the  Local 
Secretary  to  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  with  the  same  object  in 
view. 

Dispensing  Difficulty. 

A  communication  from  Mr.  John  AVelsh  was  then  read,  in  which 
he  asked  for  an  explanation  of  a  decomposition  which  had  taken 
place  in  a  mixture  composed  as  follows  : — 

Antipyrine  .  80  grains. 

Sulphate  of  Quinine .  10  ,, 

Dilute  Sulphuric  Acid . . .  1  drachm. 

Syrup  of  Orange  Peel  . .  4  drachms. 

Cinnamon  Water . . to  8  ounces. 

Though  clear  when  made,  it  became  opalescent  on  standing,  and 
formed  a  white  precipitate  on  the  sides  of  the  bottle  after  the  lapse 
of  a  day.  To  arrive  at  the  disturbing  cause  Mr.  Welsh  made  three 
experimental  mixtures,  No.  1  with  distilled  water,  No.  2  with  the 
antipyrine  and  cinnamon  water  only,  and  No.  3  with  the  quinine, 
dilute  acid,  and  cinnamon  water.  In  none  of  these  was  there  a  pre¬ 
cipitate,  showing  that  the  cinnamon  water  was  the  ingredient  in  the 
original  mixture  which  produced  the  precipitate,  composed  as  was 
ascertained  of  both  quinine  and  antipyrine.  When  an  excess  of 
dilute  sulphuric  acid  was  added  to  the  precipitate  to  dissolve  it,  a 
pink  coloration  showed  itself,  but  no  solution  took  place. 
Opinions  were  expressed  that  it  might  be  the  cinnamic  ethers  of 
the  small  quantity  of  oil  of  cinnamon  present  in  the  water  whichgave 
a  cinnamate  of  quinine,  or  according  to  Mr.  T.  S.  Wokes,  possibly 
the  aq.  cinnamomi  had  been  made  by  the  filtration  through 
magnesia  of  water  and  oil  of  cinnamon,  and  consequently  it  was 
not  only  alkaline  but  contained  partially  altered  cinnamic  ethers. 
A  paper  was  then  read  by  Mr.  C.  Ludlow  Tayler  on  the  relation¬ 
ship  existing  between 

Ethyl  Alcohol,  Acetaldehyde,  and  Acetic  Acid. 

From  a  consideration  of  the  physico-chemical  properties 
of  the  elements  composing  the  bodies  under  notice,  the  author 
explained  the  data  upon  which  the  generally  accepted  graphic 
formulas  were  written,  and  from  the  variable  specific  volume  of  the 
oxygen  atom,  according  to  the  manner  in  which  it  is  grouped  in 
the  compounds  referred  to,  accounted  for,  among  other  apparent 
anomalies,  the  addition  products  with  HCN  and  the  acid  sulphites 
of  the  alkali  metals,  to  which  acetaldehyde  gives  rise.  The  lecture 
was  well  illustrated  by  means  of  blackboard  drawings  of  formulae, 
etc.,  and  proved  to  be  as  interesting  from  the  range  of  phenomena 
and  characteristics  touched  upon  ms  for  the  clear  and  intelligible 
manner  in  which  it  was  delivered. 


Edinburgh  Chemists’,  Assistants,’  and  Apprentices’ 
Association,  Friday,  March  26. — Mr.  George  Sinclair  in  the 
chair. — Mr.  G.  H.  C.  Rowland  gave  a  very  interesting  lecture  on 

First  Aid  to  the  Injured, 

in  which  he  treated  of  what  should  be  done  in  cases  of  haemorr¬ 
hage,  fractures,  dislocations,  insensibility,  poisoning,  drowning, 
etc.  With  the  aid  of  two  members  of  the  Association  the  various 
methods  of  bandaging,  splinting,  artificial  respiration,  etc.,  were 
fully  demonstrated,  and  on  the  motion  of  the  Chairman,  a  hearty 
vote  of  thanks  was  awarded  to  the  lecturer.  In  the  discussion  which 
followed,  the  great  value  of  ambulance  training  to  a  pharmacist  was 
emphasised,  and  it  was  suggested  that  an  ambulance  corps  might 
be  formed  in  connection  with  the  Association. 


ABrIl  3,  189?] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


301 


Glasgow  and  West  of  Scotland  Pharmaceutical 
Association,  Thursday,  March  25. — Mr.  W.  L.  Currie,  Presi¬ 
dent,  in  the  chair. — This  was  a  special  meeting’  called  to  consider  the 

Proposed  New  Bye-Laws  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society. 

The  Chairman  said  some  might  think  the  Council  had  made  a 
big  jump,  but  with  regard  to  the  first  part  of  the  proposals,  having 
reference  to  raising  the  standard  of  the  Preliminary  examination,  he 
did  not  think  there  would  be  much  difference  of  opinion.  It  had 
been  his  opinion  of  several  years  that  the  present  examination  was 
a  farce,  and  no  adequate  test  of  the  elementary  knowledge  of  any 
youth  intending  to  enter  the  pharmaceutical  craft.  The  examination 
proposed  was  one  that  should  be  easily  within  the  reach  of  a  boy  leav¬ 
ing  school  at  theage  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  years.  They  were  also  bringing 
themselves  into  line  with  all  other  examining  bodies.  With  regard 
to  the  first  part  he  felt  they  would  be  all  at  one.  As  to  the  second 
part,  which  raised  the  fee  from  £5  5s.  to  £10  10s.,  there  might  be 
some  difference  of  opinion.  But  they  had  to  remember  that  the 
great  majority  of  those  who  passed  the  examinations  did  not  join 
the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  and  it  was  only  reasonable  that  they 
should  contribute  a  substantial  sum  to  the  expenses  incurred  in 
fighting  the  battles  of  all  registered  men,  as  the  Society  had  to  do 
in  administering  the  law  and  keeping  the  Register.  He  did  not 
think  a  sum  of  £10  10s.  could  be  regarded  as  at  all  excessive. 
Some  people  said  that  the  trade  was  not  worth  it  in  the  present 
condition  of  chaos.  He  quite  agreed  that  they  were  entitled  to 
more  protection,  but  if  anything  was  to  be  done  it  would  be 
through  the  instrumentality  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society.  He 
was  strongly  of  opinion  that  a  Bill  should  be  promoted  for  giving 
full  membership  to  all  registered  men.  He  moved : — 

“That  the  Bye-laws  as  printed  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  of  March  6, 
should  receive  the  hearty  support  of  this  Association  as  they  stand.” 

— The  Secretary  read  the  following  letter  from  Mr.  Alex.  Laing : — 

“  Dear  Sir, — Regretting'  inability  to  attend  meeting  to-morrow  night,  I 
would  like  to  make  it  known  that  I  am  entirely  favourable  to  the  new 
arrangements  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  relating  to  examination  and 
registration.  In  discarding  the  “  First"  examination,  so  called,  and  accept¬ 
ing  certificates  of  accredited  educational  bodies  only,  the  Council  of  the 
Society  cuts  the  Gordian  knot  with  a  masterly  stroke.  I  am  constrained  to 
approve  of  the  increased  fee  proposed  for  the  “Minor,”  though  with  reluct¬ 
ance,  for  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  majority  of  “  chemists  and  druggists  ” 
on  the  Register,  even  those  in  business,  are  Pharmaceutical  Dead-Heads, 
Ltd.  ,  who  lack  the  manliness  and  stamina  to  mould  or  modulate  pharmaceutical 
polity  from  within,  and  whose  voices  are  never  heard  but  in  censure  and  fault¬ 
finding,  a  cheap  mode  of  asserting  the  dignity  of  their  position.  From  these 
the  Society  has,  if  not  little  to  fear,  little  to  hope  for.  It  is  therefore  justified 
in  making  those  who  will  be  the  pharmacists  of  the  future,  who  may  turn 
out  dead-heads  or  not,  contribute  to  the  funds  of  the  Society,  so  as  to  enable 
it  to  carry  out  its  functions  with  the  vigour  and  dignity  which  ought  to  per¬ 
tain  to  such  a  responsible  body.  Sound  sense  and  logic  are  in  the  case  for 
the  Pharmaceutical  Society.  Alex.  Lainq.” 

Mr.  Robb  seconded  the  motion. — Mr.  Moir  said  he  would  have 
liked  someone  else  to  move  an  amendment,  as  he  seemed  to  be  always 
objecting,  but  he  had  opposed  this  in  Edinburgh,  and  he  felt  that 
he  must  do  so  again.  He  quite  recognised  that  the  standard  of 
the  Preliminary  examination  ought  to  be  raised,  and  he  thought 
the  present  medical  preliminary  examination  was  the  standard 
that  should  be  adopted.  But  he  wanted  to  know  why  the  proposal 
was  brought  forward  just  now.  The  Society  had  promised  them  a 
Bill  embodying  a  curriculum,  and  he  thought  the  Bill  should  have 
been  brought  forward  with  this  proposal  as  a  part  of  it.  If  this 
proposal  was  agreed  to,  it  would  mean  that  boys  would  have  to 
stay  at  school  till  they  were  sixteen'  or  seventeen,  and  the  trade 
was  not  worth  it  at  present.  Another  thing  was  that 
many  employers  engaged  apprentices  and  let  them  go  on 
without  caring  whether  they  pass  or  not.  While  he 
quite  agreed  that  a  registration  fee  should  be  paid  he  would 
approve  a  plan  for  an  examination  fee  of  £2  2s.  or  £3  3s. ,  and  then 
let  a  registration  fee  be  paid  on  passing.  He  did  not  think  the 
Privy  Council  would  look  at  the  present  plan.  He  quite  approved 
of  the  view  that  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  should  be  placed  in  a 
position  of  independence,  so  as  to  dispense  law  and  justice 
impartially  all  round,  and  while  he  had  sympathy  with  the  pro¬ 
posed  bye-laws,  he  felt  bound  to  move  that — 

“The  time  has  not  yet  arrived  for  the  adoption  of  the  bye-laws  as  proposed.” 

Mr.  Boyd  seconded  the  amendment.  He  sympathised  very  much 
with  the  proposals  made  in  the  new  bye-laws.  He  entirely  ap¬ 
proved  of  the  proposed  extension  of  the  Preliminary  examination, 
with  the  single  exception  of  the  modern  language,  which  he 


thought  they  could  have  done  without.  As  to  the  increased  Minor 
fee  he  did  not  approve  of  it,  because  he  thought  it  was  too  much 
all  at  once,  and  they  should  have  gone  a  little  slower.  But  he  never¬ 
theless  had  a  good  deal  of  sympathy  with  the  proposal,  seeing  that 
so  large  a  proportion  of  registered  chemists  do  nothing  to  sustain 
the  Society.  He  also  strongly  favoured  the  promotion  of  a  Bill 
which  would  make  all  registered  chemists  eligible  for  a  seat  on  the 
Councij.  He  gladly  accepted  the  improvement  of  the  Preliminary, 
but  thought  the  time  had  not  come  for  so  great  a  jump  in  the 
Minor  fee,  and  therefore  he  seconded  the  amendment. — Mr. 
Russell  moved  another  amendment.  He  entirely  approved 
of  the  proposed  extension  of  the  Preliminary  examination 
and  also  of  the  raising  of  the  Minor  fee,  but  he  did  not  see  the 
reason  for  a  renewal  of  the  £10  10s.  fee  at  the  end  of  a  year 
after  the  first  failure,  and  he  moved — - 

“  That  the  whole  of  Bye-law  22,  as  proposed  after  and  including  the  words 
‘  in  cases  of  ’  be  deleted  and  that,  if  legal,  the  fee  of  £10  10s.  shall 
constitute  life  membership  of  the  Society  on  passing  the  examination.” 

— Mr.  Moir  said  he  thought  this  amendment  was  incompetent. 
They  must  say  either  “yes”  or  “no.”  Mr.  Boyd  said  he 
thought  it  was  quite  competent. — The  Chairman  said  he  thought 
a  new  Act  would  be  required  to  accomplish  what  the  amendment 
proposed.  He  was  not  sure  of  its  competency  but  would 
let  it  stand  in  the  meantime. — Mr.  Hoseason  seconded  the 
amendment.  He  heartily  agreed  with  the  proposed  advance  in 
the  Preliminary  examination.  If  a  boy  leaving  school  at  fourteen 
or  fifteen  could  not  pass  the  examination  proposed  then  he  was 
sorry  for  the  school.  Having  been  some  time  engaged  in  teaching 
students,  he  had  had  abundant  opportunities  of  seeing  that  they 
were  very  deficient  in  arithmetic,  and  the  change  would  remedy 
that.  He  thought  also  that  it  would  be  an  advantage  if  they 
could  secure  that  apprenticeship  should  not  count  till  the  Pre¬ 
liminary  was  passed.  With  regard  to  the  fee,  he  thought  it  should 
be  made  a  life  fee  of  £10  10.s.  or  perhaps  £12  12s.  That  might  not 
be  legal,  but  if  not,  then  he  thought  they  should  go  in  for  a  new  Act. — 
Mr.  Watson  said  he  agreed  generally  with  the  proposal  of  Mr. 
Russell. — The  Chairman  said  he  felt  that  the  proposal  of  Mr. 
Russell  was  outside  the  scope  of  the  discussion,  because  it  involved 
a  new  Act  of  Parliament.  He  therefore  ruled  that  it  was  not  a 
competent  amendment. — On  a  vote  being  taken,  eleven  voted  for 
Mr.  Moir’s  amendment  and  three  for  the  Chairman’s  motion. 
Several  did  not  vote. — Mr.  Russell  said  he  had  been  approached 
by  the  students  attending  the  pharmacy  schools  in  Glasgow  to  ask 
if  the  Association  would  give  them  an  opportunity  of  expressing 
their  opinion. — Mr.  Grey  suggested  that  they  should  send  a 
memorial  to  the  Council,  and  this  was  approved  of. 

Sheriff  Mair’s  Decision. 

The  Chairman  said  he  would  again  refer  to  the  recent  decisions 
of  Sheriff  Mair.  He  thought  they  should  express  the  strongest 
disapproval  of  his  conduct  in  calling  in  question  the  action  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  in  discharge  of  its  statutory  obligation. 
He  did  not  think  it  was  proper  for  any  judicial  authority  to  use 
such  language  after  the  points  of  law  had  been  so  clearly  defined 
by  the  highest  Courts  in  England  and  Scotland.  He  thought  that 
something  should  be  done  to  repudiate  the  innuendo  contained  in 
the  Sheriffs  remarks,  but  he  was  not  sure  whether  that  should  be 
done  in  Glasgow  or  by  the  Council  of  the  Society. — Mr.  Moir  said 
he  quite  agreed  that  Sheriff  Mair  had  gone  entirely  beyond  his  sphere 
in  the  remarks  he  made  at  Airdrie.  At  the  same  time  he  had 
a  good  deal  of  sympathy  with  some  part  of  his  remarks,  in  which 
he  said  that  the  Act  was  meant  to  apply  to  the  owners  and  not  to 
the  assistants.  The  Pharmaceutical  Society  itself  held  that 
opinion  till  it  was  defeated  in  the  House  of  Lords  case.  He 
thought  they  should  not  have  accepted  the  suggestion  of  the 
House  of  Lords,  but  should  have  refused  to  prosecute,  and  should 
have  sought  fresh  legislation.  The  present  interpretation 
of  the  Act  was  quite  contrary  to  all  modern  legislation, 
such  as  the  law  in  regard  to  the  sale  of  whiskey  and  margarine. 
In  these  cases  it  was  the  person  whose  name  was  over 
the  door  who  was  prosecuted.  The  Pharmacy  Act  could  never 
be  enforced  as  at  present  understood.  It  was  absurd  to  think  so, 
for  they  might  have  prosecutions  in  every  chemist’s  shop.  They 
should  get  the  Act  amended  so  as  to  make  it  apply  to  the  owners, 
and  he  would  make  a  rule  that  no  one  should  dispense  or  sell 
poisons  till  he  had  been  three  years  at  the  trade.  At  the  same 
time,  it  was  perfectly  notorious  that  in  Glasgow  and  the  West  of 
Scotland  shops  were  being  carried  on  with  boys  and  girls  in  charge 
who  were  quite  incompetent.  The  public  were  not  sufficiently  aware 


302 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  3,  1897. 


of  this  fact  and  of  the  danger  it  involved,  and  he  thought  they 
should  be  enlightened.  With  regard  to  Sheriff  Mair’s  remark  that 
someone  was  behind  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  he  was  very 
much  inclined  to  reply  that  someone  was  behind  Sheriff  Mair  in 
his  condemnation  of  the  Pharmacy  Acts. — Some  discussion  then 
took  place  as  to  whether  the  Association  should  communicate  with 
the  Council,  and  the  Chairman  said  he  had  been  in  correspondence 
with  Mr.  Bremridge. 


Aberdeen  Junior  Chemists’  Association,  Friday,  March 
26. — Mr.  Bremner,  President,  in  the  chair.— This  was  a  special 
meeting  for  the  consideration  of  the 

Proposed  New  Bye-Laws 

of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  and  the  subject  received  a  full 
and  hearty  discussion  from  the  twenty-six  members  present. 
The  general  opinion  was  that  the  scope  of  the  First  examination 
should  be  extended  as  proposed,  and  passed  before  commencing 
apprenticeship,  the  present  examination  being  too  often  crammed 
for,  and  passed  by  students  unfit  for  the  Minor.  The  raising  of 
the  fee  for  qualification  and  registration  was  supported  by  Mr.  Leslie, 
Hon.  President,  who  said  that  the  Society  had  done  a  large  amount 
of  good  for  the  trade,  and  urged  all  to  become  associates  on  qualifying. 
He  thought  an  increased  fee  would  have  the  effect  of  raising  the 
standard  of  the  trade  and  better  wages  would  be  got,  but  considered 
it  would  be  unfair  to  exact  a  second  fee  of  £10  10s.  at  the  end  of  a 
year  in  cases  of  failure. — Suggestions  as  to  charging  the  extra 
£5  5s.  on  passing  or  on  opening  shop,  also  an  annual  membership 
fee,  were  made,  but  were  shown  to  be  impracticable,  inasmuch  as 
they  would  require  a  new  Act  of  Parliament. — An  idea  seemed  to 
be  prevalent  that  the  increased  fee  would  mean  membership  for  life 
instead  of  registration  merely.  Opposition  to  raising  the  fee  was 
chiefly  based  on  the  ground  that  the  present  income  of  the  Society,  if 
there  were  no  unnecessary  expenditure,  should  be  sufficient  for  the 
administration  of  the  Pharmacy  Acts  if  judiciously  applied. — 
Ultimately  Mr.  Watt  moved  and  Mr.  Lee  seconded 

“  That  this  meeting,  while  agreeing  with  the  proposed  new  bye-laws  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  as  regards  the  First  examination,  considers  that  the 
proposed  increase  of  the  Minor  fee  is  altogether  unnecessary  and  uncalled  for.” 

A  counter  motion  was  made  by  Mr.  Leslie,  but  was  not  seconded. 
Mr.  W atts’  motion  was  thereupon  unanimously  supported. 

Cricket  Arrangements. 

Arrangements  were  then  made  for  forming  a  cricket  club,  the 
following  being  elected  office-bearers  : — President,  Mr.  Leslie  ; 
Vice-President,  Mr.  Bremner;  Captain,  Mr.  Fowlie;  Vice-Captain, 
Mr.  Milne ;  Secretary,  Mr.  Watt ;  Treasurer,  Mr.  Tavendale  ; 
Committee,  Messrs.  Fowlie,  T.  Milne,  Watt,  Tavendale,  Adan, 
P.  Milne,  Philip,  and  May. 


Liverpool  Chemists’  Association,  Thursday,  March  25.— 
Mr.  A.  C.  Abraham  in  the  chair. — A  sample  of  “  guaza,”  or  Indian 
hemp,  was  exhibited  by  Mr.  T.  H.  Wardleworth,  who  said  it 
was  interesting  from  the  fact  that  it  was  grown  in  the  Ionian 
Islands,  from  whence  it  was  exported  to  Egypt  to  be  used  as 
“hashish.”  From  this  it  was  evident  that  it  possessed  the 
narcotic  properties  peculiar  to  the  hemp  grown  in  India,  seeming 
to  disprove  the  assertion  made  by  many  writers  that  Indian  hemp 
grown  in  Europe  or  in  less  tropical  climates  than  that  of  India 
resembled  ordinary  hemp,  and  was  inert  or  non-narcotic.  The 
specimen  consisted  of  a  thick  cake  made  from  the  coarsely- 
powdered  flowering  plant  by  compression,  and  had  all  the  appear¬ 
ance  and  the  odour  of  the  Indian  drug.  After  a  short  discussion, 
in  which  Messrs.  Abraham,  Conroy,  and  Cowley  took  part,  the 
President  then  called  upon  Mr.  Herbert  E.  Davies,  M.A.,  B.Sc., 
to  lecture  upon  the — - 

Chemical  and  Bacteriological  Examination  of  Milk. 

The  Lecturer  dealt  with  the  composition  of  milk  the  determi¬ 
nation  of  cream-fat  and  specific  gravity,  milk  sugar,  etc.  He  also 
referred  in  detail  to  the  salts  of  milk,  the  presence  of  preservatives, 
ai-d  of  pathogenic  or  non-pathogenic  germs.  An  interesting  discus¬ 
sion  followed,  during  which  the  President  remarked  that  whilst  he 
believed  in  fixing  a  high  standard  of  excellence  as  regards  milk,  in 
his  opinion  it  would  be  rather  hard  to  settle  upon  such  a  standard 
as  would  cause  many  men  to  be  fined  for  selling  milk  ’which  was 
pure  and  unadulterated.  In  what  form  was,  the  asbestos  Mr.  Davies 
employed  in  the  fat  estimations  ?  he  should  like  to  ask,  for  he  (Mr. 
Abraham)  had  the  honour  of  being  the  first  one  in  this  country  to 


advise  the  use  of  asbestos  cloth  for  a  similar  purpose.  — Mr.  Conroy 
had  observed  evident  putridity  in  some  milk  he  had  had  recently, 
which  gave  no  indication  that  it  was  in  the  least  sour.  Doubtless 
it  was  one  of  the  preserved  kinds  Mr.  Davies  had  referred  to.  He 
could  not  say  that  formalin  was  as  extensively  used  in 
Liverpool  as  the  borax  and  boric  acid  mixture  for  pre¬ 
serving  milk,  and  he  joined  with  Mr.  Abraham  in  agree¬ 
ing  that  too  arbitrary  a  standard  would  be  an  injustice.— 
Mr.  Hornblower  asked  if  the  rise  in  the  specific  gravity  of  milk 
after  milking  was  not  due  to  the  gradual  escape  of  the  dissolved 
air  it  contained. — In  reply,  Mr.  Davies  said  he  held  the  opinion 
that  a  high  standard  should  be  taken  in  milk  analysis.  The  altera¬ 
tion  of  gravity  had  been  proved  to  be  quite  independent  of  the 
contained  air  in  the  milk.  There  was  a  generally  received  notion 
that  milk  which  had  been  boiled  was  not  so  digestible  as  the  fresh, 
but  this  was  scarcely  borne  out  in  practice,  the  only  change  being 
a  slight  coagulation  of  proteids.  He  used  asbestos  cloth,  as  Mr. 
Abraham  had  advised,  in  his  fat  estimations. — A  hearty  vote  of 
thanks  was  given  to  the  lecturer,  and  the  proceedings  terminated, 
the  paper  on  “Dispensing,”  by  Mr.  Harold  Wyatt,  Junr.,  which 
should  have  been  read,  being  postponed  to  the  next  meeting,  owing 
to  the  late  hour. 


Brighton  Junior  Association  of  Pharmacy,  Wednes¬ 
day,  March  24. — This  meeting  was  called  for  the  purpose  of 
winding  up  the  1896-7  session  and  for  the  election  of  officers  for 
the  ensuing  session  and  for  general  business.— The  retiring  Presi¬ 
dent  (Mr.  A.  T.  Jeeves)  spoke  of  the  work  of  the  past  session, 
saying  that  he  was  pleased  to  be  able  to  say  that  all  their  ventures 
had  resulted  in  successful  issues,  and  that  the  sessioh  had  been  parti¬ 
cularly  interesting  and  instructive  as  regards  papers  read  and  discus¬ 
sions  which  had  taken  place,  and  that  the  attendance  of  members  had 
been  very  good  indeed.  He  wished  the  Association  every  success 
in  the  future,  and  complimented  the  officers  and  Committee  on  the 
splendid  way  in  which  they  had  worked  together  in  the  interests 
of  the  Association.  In  reference  to  the  Remington’s  ‘  Pharmacy  ’ 
offered  for  competition  by  Mr.  P.  M.  Short,  an  evening  would  be 
allotted  in  the  next  session’s  programme  for  that. 

Election  of  Officers. 

The  election  of  officers  was  next  proceeded  with.  Mr.  Jeeves 
was  asked  to  continue  as  President,  but  he  declined.  Mr.  C.  A. 
Blarney  (retiring  Hon.  Sec.)  was  then  proposed  as  President  by 
Mr.  A.  T.  Jeeves,  and  seconded  by  Mr.  A.  H.  Cupit.  This 
proposition  proved  very  popular,  and  Mr.  Blarney  was  vociferously 
and  unanimously  voted  to  the  Presidency.  Mr.  J.  Orr  Armour  was 
next  proposed  as  Vice-President  by  Mr.  C.  A.  Blarney  and  seconded 
by  Mr.  W.  J.  Davies,  also  carried  nem.  con.  As  Treasurer  Mr.  A.  H. 
Cupit  was  proposed  by  Mr.  W.  J.  Davies  and  seconded  by  Mr.  A.  T. 
Jeeves,  to  be  re-elected.  Carried  unanimously.  Secretary,  Mr. 
W.  H.  Andrews,  proposed  by  Mr.  W.  J.  Davies  and  seconded  by 
Mr.  A.  T.  Jeeves,  was  unanimously  voted  to  this  post.  Committee 
elected  as  follows  : — Messrs.  C.  G.  Yates,  Stanley  Kent,  Beckwith, 
Sant,  Feltwell,  W.  J.  Davies,  G.  B.  Savage,  and  W.  Howes. 

Benevolent  Fund. 

The  amount  collected  in  the  Benevolent  Fund  contribution  box 
of  the  Association  during  the  session  amounted  to  £4  5s. 


Edinburgh  District  Chemists’  Trade  Association, 

Tuesday,  March  30. — Mr.  John  Bowman,  Chairman,  in  the  chair. — 
The  Secretary  (Mr.  C.  F.  Henry)  reported  that  the  Committee  had 
made  inquiries  as  to  a  circular  said  to  have  been  sent  by  a  manu¬ 
facturing  firm  in  London  to  the  medical  men  of  the  city,  in  which 
the  latter  were  advised  to  give  their  custom  to  certain  depots  of 
the  firm,  but  as  some  time  had  elapsed,  and  no  copy  of  the 
circular  was  obtainable,  the  Committee  recommended  that  no  action 
be  taken  in  the  meantime.  The  report  was  adopted. 

The  Picnic. 

The  Chairman  intimated  that  the  Committee  recommended  that 
the  Annual  picnic  should  this  year  be  to  Selkirk  and  St.  Mary’s 
Loch,  on  Thursday,  June  10.  It  was  proposed  to  take  train  to  Sel¬ 
kirk,  to  drive  thence  up  the  Ettrick  to  St.  Mary’s  Loch,  when  a 
visit  would  be  made  to  the  famous  cottage  of  Tibbie  Shiels  and  to 
drive  back  to  Selkirk  by  the  banks  of  the  Yarrow.  Dinner  would 
then  be  partaken  of  and  the  party  would  return  to  Edinburgh  by 
train.  This  tour  was  unanimously  approved  of,  and  all  details 
were  left  to  the  Committee  to  carry  out.  On  the  motion  of  Mr. 


April  3,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL* 


303 


McDougall,  Mr.  Cook,  Easter  Road,  was  unanimously  elected  a 
member  of  the  Association,  and  in  view  of  the  Annual  Meeting  in 
May,  Messrs.  Mackenzie  and  Wylie  were  appointed  auditors. 


SOCIAL  MEETINGS. 


Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,  Thursday,  March  25. 
— The  final  dance  of  the  second  series  of  “  Cinderellas”  was  held 
at  the  Portman  Booms,  Baker  Street,  W. ,  and  was  a  great  success. 
There  were  about  170  people  present,  amongst  whom  were  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  J.  C.  Umney,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lucas,  Messrs.  C.  Morley,  Hill, 
W.  Cooper,  F.  Cooper,  T.  M.  Taylor,  Melhuish,  Solomon,  Strother, 
Philp,  Pears,  Pearson,  and  H.  H.  Robins  (Hon.  Sec.).  Dancing 
commenced  at  7.30  and  was  continued  until  midnight.  The 
programme  included  sixteen  dances,  there  were  also  three  extras, 
opportunity  being  taken  to  introduce  the  “  Washington  Post,”  and 
from  the  enthusiastic  way  it  was  danced,  the  dance  was  evidently  no 
novelty  to  most  of  those  present. — During  the  evening  Mr.  Mobley 
(President)  announced  that  in  response  to  numerous  requests,  and 
inasmuch  as  the  series  of  dances  had  been  supported  so  well,  an 
additional  but  unofficial  dance  on  similar  lines  would  be  held  in  the 
same  rooms  on  Tuesday,  April  6.  Tickets  2s.  6d.  each.  Any 
profit  to  be  devoted  to  the  Benevolent  Fund  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society. — Mr.  C.  W.  Martin  again  very  pleasantly  fulfilled  the 
onerous  duties  of  M.C.  to  the  satisfaction  of  all. 


Midland  Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,  Wednes¬ 
day,  March  31. — Mr.  F.  J.  Gibson  (President  of  the  Midland 
Pharmaceutical  Association)  in  the  chair. — -The  second  annual 
dinner  of  the  Association  was  held  at  the  Exchange  Restau¬ 
rant,  Birmingham.  Amongst  those  present  were  Messrs. 
C.  Thompson,  F.  H.  Alcock,  Plaice,  Trow,  H.  S.  Short- 
house,  H.  M.  Bindloss,  H.  S.  Lawton,  F.  Casson,  Clarke,  etc. 
After  the  proposition  of  the  loyal  toast,  Mr.  F.  Casson  proposed — 

“The  Pharmaceutical  Society.” 

He  said  that  there  was  a  great  deal  said  against  the  Society 
which  seemed  to  him  altogether  unfounded,  if  they  took  into 
account  the  work  it  was  doing  in  putting  down  the  sale  of 
poisons  by  unqualified  men.  Under  those  circumstances  the 
Society  was  worthy  of  all  the  support  they  could  possibly 
give  it.  He  entirely  agreed  with  the  action  of  the  Society  in 
respect  of  alteration  of  the  bye-laws,  and  believed  it  would  be  for 
the  advantage  of  all. — Mr.  Chas.  Thompson,  in  responding, 
said  that  his  special  mission  was  to  say  a  few  words  respecting 
The  Benevolent  Fund 

of  the  Society.  The  Lord  Mayor  of  Birmingham  had  issued 
some  3000  circulars  on  behalf  of  the  Jubilee  Fund,  and  he 
(the  speaker)  desired  to  make  an  appeal  on  behalf  of  the  Benevolent 
Fund.  That  Fund  distributed  something  like  £2800  annually 
amongst  distressed  chemists  and  widows,  and  supported  forty-nine 
annuitants,  who  received  £50  a  year  each.  It  seemed  to  him 
that  a  fund  like  that,  which  was  supported  by  chemists  all 
through  the  land,  deserved  the  support  of  the  Birmingham 
centre.  He  did  not  want  them  to  be  behind  other 
centres,  and  he  suggested  that  they  should  form  a  committee  after 
the  manner  of  Manchester,  and  collect  subscriptions.  Manchester 
had  done  nobly,  and  he  was  hoping  that  Birmingham  would  not 
be  behindhand.  He  had  made  many  notes  upon  matters  he  thought 
he  would  speak  upon,  but  the  shortness  of  time  prevented 
him  going  into  those  topics ;  at  the  same  time  he 
appreciated  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Casson,  in  reference  to  what  the 
Society  was  doing.  They  certainly  got  a  lot  of  kicks,  and  in  the 
last  week  or  so  one  trade  paper  had  gone  out  of  its  way  to  give 
them  a  few  kicks  rather  harder  than  they  were  accustomed  to. 
They  were  accustomed  to  be  a  little  hardly  dealt  with  by  that  paper 
but  certainly  it  had  surpassed  itself  during  the  last  few  weeks. 
Those  of  them  who  were  able  to  read  between  the  lines  knew  that 
criticism  was  not  altogether  fair.  Some  eighteen  months  ago  they 
held  a  meeting,  and  made  known  their  complaints  against  the 
influx  of  old  boots  and  slippers.  The  pinch  was  severe,  but  it 
seemed  to  him  the  shoe  now  pinched  in  Cannon  Street.  With 
regard  to  the  reference  to 

“  The  Pharmaceutical  Journal,” 
which  was  intended  to  be  derogatory,  he  believed  the  Journal  was 
a  good  property,  and  would  eventually  prove  a  great  source  of 
income  to  the  Society.  The  Chemist  and  Druggist  had  given  the 


Society  a  capital  advertisement  in  saying  that  the  members 
received  35s.  for  every  guinea  subscribed.  In  conclusion,  he 
wished  the  assistants  and  their  Association  every  success.  The 
toast  of 

“The  Midland  Chemists’  Assistants’  Association” 
was  proposed  by  the  Chairman. — In  responding,  Mr.  Lawton  ex' 
pressed  his  concurrence  with  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Casson  respecting 
the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  and  especially  in  regard  to  the  altera¬ 
tion  of  the  bye-laws. — -The  speech-making  was  interspersed  with 
excellent  musical  and  vocal  items. 


Plymouth,  Devonport,  Stonehouse  and  District 
Chemists’  Association,  Thursday,  March  25. — Several  mem¬ 
bers  of  this  Association  met  at  the  Foresters’  Hall  to  make  a 
presentation  to  Mr.  E.  A.  Hodge,  delegate  of  the  Junior  Section, 
who  is  leaving  England  for  South  Africa.  It  consisted  of  a  silver- 
plated,  six-chambered  revolver,  together  with  an  illuminated  list 
of  subscribers.  The  presentation  was  made  by  Mr.  Shakerley,  sup¬ 
ported  by  Messrs.  G.  Breeze,  H.  N.  Hearder,  J.  A.  Buckley,  E. 
W.  H.  Green,  and  F.  H.  Ralph,  who  all  expressed  regret  at  his 
departure.  Mr.  Hodge  suitably  responded  for  the  very  handsome 
present.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Educational  Committee,  held  on 
Friday,  March  26,  it  was  decided  that  the  examinations  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  the  pharmacy  and  pharmaceutical  Latin  classes  be  held 
on  April  28  and  29  at  the  Foresters’  Hall  from  6.30  to  8  p.m.  Pro¬ 
fessor  H.  G.  Greenish  has  kindly  offered  to  set  the  questions  and 
examine  the  answers. 


LEGAL  REPORT. 


PROCEEDINGS  UNDER  THE  FOOD  AND  DRUGS  ACTS. 


The  Sale  of  Glycerin  and  Lime  Juice. 

At  Teddington  Police  Court,  on  Monday,  the  further  hearing  of 
the  summons  against  Thomas  Mann,  chemist  and  druggist,  of 
Hampton  Hill,  Middlesex,  for  having  sold  glycerin  and  lime  juice 
not  of  the  nature  and  substance  demanded,  was  resumed  (see  ante, 
p.  253). 

It  will  be  within  the  recollection  of  our  readers  that  the  adjourn¬ 
ment  was  at  defendant’s  request,  in  order  that  a  portion  of  the 
sample  might  be  analysed  at  Somerset  House.  The  certificate  of 
the  Somerset  House  authorities  was  read  by  the  Clerk  of  the 
Court,  and  in  substance  it  stated  that  the  sample  contained  vege¬ 
table  oil,  soap,  borax,  and  glycerin,  the  last  ingredient  being 
present  to  the  extent  of  not  more  than  a  half  or  one  per  cent. 
Whether  glycerin  had  been  added  in  a  free  state  or  in  conjunction 
with  borax  it  was  not  possible  to  decide. 

The  Clerk  of  the  Court  pointed  out  that,  according  to  this 
certificate,  no  lime  juice  was  present. 

The  defendant  stated  that  the  preparation,  contained  essence  of 
limes.  He  claimed  that  he  was  entitled  to  have  the  summons 
dismissed  under  the  25th  Section  of  the  Food  and  Drugs  Act  upon 
the  ground  that  “vexatious  and  unnecessary  summonses  and 
judgments  should  be  prevented.”  At  any  rate,  no  costs  could 
be  allowed  against  him. 

Inspector  Tyler  contended  that  the  certificate  of  the  Somerset 
House  authorities  was  incomplete,  and  further  that  the  purchaser 
did  not  get  what  he  asked  for,  as  half  or  one  per  cent,  was  not  a 
sufficient  substance. 

The  Bench  convicted  the  defendant  and  fined  him  5s.  and  costs. 

OBITUARY. 


Herbert. — On  March  19,  Henry  Seaton  Herbert,  Pharmaceutical 
Chemist,  late  of  Liverpool.  Aged  36. 

Roper. — On  March  23,  Richard  Roper,  Chemist  and  Druggist, 
Dunmow.  Aged  61.  Mr.  Roper  had  been  in  business  in  the  town 
for  many  years,  and  was  greatly  respected. 

Marshall. — On  March  25,  John  Marshall,  of  435,  Glossop 
Road,  Sheffield.  Aged  35.  Mr.  Marshall,  who  was  a 
native  of  Bentham,  Yorkshire,  served  his  apprenticeship  at 
Accrington,  Cheshire  ;  he  then  went  to  Messrs.  Martin  and  Sons, 
chemists,  Lewes.  In  1882  he  became  an  assistant  with  Mr. 
Newsholme,  of  Sheffield,  where  he  acted  as  town  traveller  until 
1888.  Mr.  Marshall  then  became  a  traveller  for  Messrs.  Hearon, 
Squire,  and  Francis,  Southwark  Street,  London,  which  position 
he  held  up  to  his  death.  In  Sheffield  he  was  a  member  of  the 
local  chemists’  association,  and  in  earlier  years  took  an  active  part 
in  the  formation  of  the  Sheffield  School  of  Pharmacy. 


304 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[ApbiL  3,  1897 


NOTICES  TO  CORRESPONDENTS. 


All  Communications  for  the  Journal  must  be  Addressed  to 
the  Editor,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  London,  and  not  in 
any  case  to  individuals  supposed  to  be  connected  with 
the  Editorial  Staff ;  no  responsibility  can  be  accepted 
unless  this  rule  be  observed.  Communications  for  the 
Current  Week’s  Journal  should  reach  the  Office  not  later 
than  Wednesday,  but  news  can  be  Received  by  Telegraph 
until  4  p.m.  on  Thursday. 

Advertisements  and  orders  for  copies  of  the  Journal  must  he  addressed  to 
the  Publishers,  5,  Serle  Street,  Lincoln’s  Inn,  London.  Cheques  and  money 
orders  should  be  made  payable  to  “  Street  Brothers." 

Correspondents  should  write  in  ink,  on  one  side  of  the  paper  only,  and  must 
authenticate  the  matter  sent  with  their  names  and  addresses — of  course 
not  necessarily  for  publication.  No  notice  can  be  taken  of  anonymous 
communications. 

Drawings  for  illustrations  should  be  executed  twice  the  desired  size  ;  clean 
sharp  lines  being  drawn  with  a  pen  and  liquid  Chinese  ink.  Shading  by 
washes  is  inadmissible.  Photographs  can  be  utilised  in  certain  cases. 

Names  and  Formula:  should  be  written  with  extra  care,  all  systematic  names 
of  plants  and  animals  being  underlined,  and  capital  letters  used  to  commence 
generic  but  not  specific  names. 

Reprints  of  articles  cannot  be  supplied  unless  authors  communicate  with 
the  Editor  before  publication. 


LETTERS  TO  THE  EDITOR. 


The  Forthcoming  Council  Election. 

Sir, — The  time  is  just  at  hand  when  we  shall  be  invited  to  elect 
fourteen  members  of  Council  for  the  year  1897-8.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  but  those  members  who  go  out  of  office  in  May,  and  who 
have  again  consented  to  “accept  office  if  elected,”  will  be  returned, 
and  I  sincerely  trust  that  this  will  be  so,  because  they  have  proved 
themselves  to  be  worthy  of  their  position.  I  feel  that  I  may  say 
this,  inasmuch  as  I  am  not  a  candidate,  having  withdrawn  my 
name  from  nomination,  thus  creating  a  vacancy  to  be  filled  by  a 
new  member,  and  it  appears  to  me  to  be  very  desirable  that  this 
vacancy  should  be  filled  by  a  London  man.  At  present 
the  number  of  London  members  is  felt  to  be  too 
small,  there  being  only  five,  upon  whom  an  enormous 
amount  of  work  falls,  but  I  am  bound  to  say  that  the  willing 
devotion  of  these  five  gentlemen  is  beyond  all  praise :  Such 
names  as  Hills,  Carteighe,  Martindale,  Savory,  and  Allen  inspire 
the  fullest  confidence,  but  it  would  be  manifestly  advantageous  in 
every  way  if  there  were  a  larger  number  of  members  of  Council 
within  easy  reach  of  Bloomsbury  Square.  In  saying  this  I  must 
not  be  understood  to  disparage  or  under-value  the  services  of  the 
provincial  members,  whose  loyalty  and  self-sacrifice  are  equal  to 
those  of  metropolitan  members,  but  having  myself  experienced  the 
disadvantages  of  living  so  far  from  our  centre,  I  venture  to  sug¬ 
gest  that  the  proportion  of  London  to  country  members  now 
existing,  viz.,  five  to  sixteen,  is  much  too  low  for  the  convenient 
discharge  of  the  administrative  duties  devolving  upon  the  Council 
and  its  various  committees.  In  closing  my  official  career,  I  beg  to 
express  my  sense  of  the  honour  which  the  Society  has  done  me  in 
electing  and  re-electing  me  so  many  times,  and  the  pleasure  I  have 
had  in  joining  to  promote  the  objects  of  the  Society. 

Diss,  March  29,  1897.  T.  P.  Gostling. 


The  Proposed  New  Bye-Laws. 

Sir, — I  have  taken  considerable  interest  in  the  controversy  that 
has  been  occasioned  by  the  recent  proposed  alteration  of  the  bye¬ 
laws,  and  especially  in  the  recommendation  that  the  qualifying 
examination  fee  should  be  increased  from  five  to  ten  guineas.  I 
am  fully  of  the  opinion  that  the  Pharmaceutical  Council  have 
adopted  a  wise  and  expedient  course  when  they  have  arrived  at  the 
time  when  something  must  be  done  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  the 
Society.  It  appears  to  me  to  be  one  of  the  chief  arguments  of 
the  opposition  that  it  is  unreasonable  for  examinees  to  contribute 
to  benefits  which  they  probably  will  not  receive  by  remaining 
assistants  and  not  setting  up  in  business  on  their  own  account. 
And  so  it  is  argued  that  the  prosecutions,  etc.,  instituted 
by  the  Society  for  the  benefit  of  the  trade  will  not  profit 
them.  But,  Mr.  Editor,  I  think  it  will  be  obvious  to  every 
thinking  mind  that  whatever  affects  an  employer  (especially  any¬ 
thing  of  an  adverse  nature)  affects  the  employee,  and  if  the  Society 
protects  my  master’s  interests  in  an  indirect  way  it  is  of  benefit  to 


me,  and  worthy  of  my  support.  Supposing  my  master’s  interests 
are  not  protected,  his  business  may  be  injured  to  such  an  extent 
that  either  he  will  have  to  pay  his  assistant  a  reduced  salary  or 
dispense  with  one  entirely.  This  seems  to  me  a  view  of  the  matter 
that  has  not  been  taken  into  account.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that 
the  other  trade  journals  should  have  thought  to  make  capital  out 
of  this  question,  and  I  do  not  think  they  will  benefit  by  it,  but 
rather  the  reverse.  They  have  been  a  little  premature  in  taking 
up  the  cudgels  on  behalf  of  the  unqualified  man.  In 
conclusion,  I  would  confess  that  my  writing  to  you  was 
prompted  by  a  letter  which  appeared  in  last  week’s  Chemist 
and  Druggist,  and  which,  if  the  writer  could  only  reasonably 
look  at  matters  he  himself  would  call  “  bunkum.”  The  diatribes 
and  vituperation  aimed  at  the  Society  and  the  Council  are  so  un¬ 
reasonable  that  they  are  absurd  to  a  degree.  I  am  one  who,  like 
my  fellow-student,  has  to  provide  the  money  for  my  examination, 
so  he  may  not  think  I  am  writing  with  no  thought  of  the  monetary 
question.  I  will  not  further  trespass  on  your  valuable  space,  but 
will  express  my  confidence  in  the  Council  and  Society  and  the 
pleasure  I  have  in  subscribing  myself  as 
March  29,  1897.  A  Student  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society. 


The  Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association. 

Sir, — On  the  assumption  that  Mr.  Johnston  writes  officially,  or 
at  least  that  he  expresses  the  views  of  the  P.A.T.A.  (or  of  its 
secretary)  on  substitution,  I  consider  his  letter  of  sufficient  im¬ 
portance  to  ask  you  to  allow  me  to  refer  to  it  in  detail.  Whether 
or  not  the  value  of  my  criticism  is  affected  by  writing  anonymously 
is  a  matter  of  opinion.  To  reveal  my  identity  would  not  indicate 
to  Mr.  Johnston  whether  I  wrote  from  actual  knowledge  or  mere 
conceptions  more  or  less  erroneous.  I  simply  asked  him  to  explain 
a  short  sentence  quoted  from  his  article,  and  cannot  understand 
why  the  tenor  of  his  reply  should  depend  upon  the  source  of  the 
request.  Mr.  J ohnston  says  I  am  nearly  right  in  the  first  con¬ 
struction  I  put  upon  his  words ;  and  although  he  mis-quotes, 
the  error  is  probably  not  material.  His  “correction”  won’t 
do  :  “  Own  preparations  need  not  necessarily  represent,  or  be 
imitations  of,  the  nostrums,  so  long  as  they  are  as  good  as,  or  better 
than,  the  latter  for  their  specific  purpose.”  Mr.  Johnston  surely 
knows  that  the  professed  purpose  of  the  great  bulk  of  advertised 
nostrums  is  not  specific.  In  substituting,  I  submit  that  the 
“pushed”  article  must,  in  its  essential  features,  resemble,  re¬ 
present,  or  imitate  that  which  it  replaces  ;  otherwise  it  cannot  be 
a  substitute. 

As  stated  in  my  former  letter,  I  do  not  approve  of  Mr.  Johnston’s 
classification,  and  am  confident  that  class  (b)  has  neither  the 
calibre  nor  the  quantity  to  entitle  it  to  represent  the  average 
chemist.  The  vast  majority  of  this  class,  we  are  told,  are  sud- 
stitutors.  Their  maxim  is  :  “  Make  as  much  show  of  cutting 
as  you  can,  and  do  as  little  of  it  as  you  can.”  In  other 
words  :  “  Profess  what  you  do  not  practise.”  There  is 
no  other  interpretation  possible.  You  announce  that  you 
cut  the  prices  of  goods  of  a  certain  class,  and  when  those 
goods  are  asked  for,  you  push  substitutes  on  every  available  occa¬ 
sion,  “  P.  AT.  A.  goods  excepted.”  To-day,  Johnston’s  elixir  is 
persistently  pushed  in  lieu  of  Blank’s  ;  to-morrow  Blank  joins  the 
P.A.T.A.,  and  the  imitation  is  never  again  heard  of  as  being  as 
good  as,  or  better  than,  the  original  article  !  The  ultimate  success, 
then,  of  the  P.A.T.A.  meansthedeathofsubstitution.  Mr.  Johnston’s 
definition  of  substitution  leaves  “  the  man  of  gumption  and  tact  ” 
no  room  to  operate  :  “What  he  thought  he  would  like”  implies 
hesitancy  on  the  part  of  the  customer,  or  a  desire  to  solicit  the 
opinion  or  advice  of  the  chemist,  and  though  the  result  is  the  sale 
of  “  own  preparation,”  there  is  not  necessarily  any  substitution. 
“Without  attempting  to  deceive  him.”  ....  Quite  “unlike 
fraudulent  imitation.”  It  is  singular  that  Mr.  Johnston  should  go 
out  of  his  way  to  deny  on  behalf  of  the  substitutor  any  intention  to 
deceive  or  defraud  when  no  such  thing  is  as  much  as  suggested  in 
my  letter. 

“  Up-to-date  chemists  and  store-assistants  appear  to  be  about 
equally  proficient  in  the  ‘gentle  art’  (of  substitution)  though 
probably  the  latter  would  bear  the  palm.”  Is  the  store  assistant 
the  pioneer  of  British  Pharmacy  ?  Is  he  a  pharmacist  at  all  who 
inveigles  people  into  his  shop  for  the  purpose  of  wheedling  them 
into  accepting  imitations  of  the  '  articles  asked  for — not  be¬ 
cause  the  imitations  are  as  good  or  better,  but  because  their 
sale  yields  a  larger  profit  ?  Mr.  Johnston’s  closing  sentence  con¬ 
tains  the  pith  of  the  whole  letter— ay,  and  a  good  deal  more. 
Allow  me  to  quote  it  in  full  : — “  Finally,  I  shall  always  maintain 


April  3,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


305 


that  if  an  advertiser  will  not  protect  the  price  of  his  article  when 
he  can  now  so  easily  do  so,  the  retailer  is  justified  in  ousting  that 
•article  whenever  he  can,  in  any  way  and  by  any  wile  (!)  consistent 
with  honour  and  integrity  ( !)”  A  most  remarkable  peroration. 
I  have  not  come  across  the  word  “wile”  unless  where  it  im¬ 
plied  “deception,”  and  in  case  it  might  be  used  in  more  than 
one  sense,  like  the  word  “herd,”  for  example.  I  have  consulted 
several  authorities,  including  a  large  “  up-to-date  ”  dictionary  of 
•undoubted  repute,  but  the  mildest  synonym  is  hopelessly  incom¬ 
patible  with  honour  and  integrity.  Here  are  some  of  them,  and 
Mr.  Johnston  can  “  tak  his  pic  ”  :  “A  trick  or  stratagem  practised 
for  insnaring  or  deceiving  ;  fraud  ;  subtlety  ;  cunning  ;  deceit ; 
^duplicity.”  Mr.  Johnston  says  “  herd”  is  usually  applied  to  oxen 
.and  swine.  Yes,  usually,  but  not  always.  His  letter  endorses, 
confirms,  and  ratifies  the  correctness  of  its  application  to  persons 
as  used  in  my  letter.  At  the  risk  of  intensifying  its  meaning,  I 
will  close  with  the  original  quotation  in  full  :  “  Imitatores,  servum 
pecus.” 

March  22,  1S97.  Midlothian  (86/16). 


Sweating  the  Dispenses. 

Sir, — I  note  “  Anti-Sweater’s  ”  letter  in  the  Journal  of  the 
"20th,  but  am  by  no  means  satisfied  with  his  reply.  If  his  inten¬ 
sion  really  is  to  improve  our  position,  I  do  not  approve  of  his 
method  of  going  about  it,  by  giving,  as  an  example  of  “How  the 
work  is  done,”  an  isolated  case  of  gross  carelessness  and  flagrant 
-irregularities  by  a  non-qualified  man,  who  has  no  right  to  hold  the 
post  of  dispenser  under  the  Local  Government  Board.  I  did  not 
Think  it  at  all  likely  your  correspondent  would  give  the  name  of 
The  institution  referred  to,  and  that  is  why  it  was  so  unfair  of  him 
to  quote  the  case.  In  the  nine  years  I  have  been  dispenser  under 
the  Poor  Law  I  have  received  many  visits  from  four  different 
inspectors,  but  kept  no  account  of  the  exact  number.  There  is  no 
fixed  rule,  but  I  have  found  that,  on  an  average,  they  visit  the 
infirmaries  about  twice  a  year,  and  one  never  knows  when  they 
.are  coming  or  what  department  they  are  going  to  visit.  There 
was  one  inspector  at  our  institution  last  week,  and  this  time  he 
did  not  visit  me,  or  I  should  have  shown  him  “Anti-Sweater’s” 
letter  and  called  his  attention  to  the  case.  As  to  the  advice  that 
I  had  better  discontinue  dispensing,  having  no  other  income  and 
<not  wishing  to  become  the  inmate  of  a  'workhouse  and  dependent 
upon  the  rates,  I  am  not  prepared  to  act  upon  the  suggestion  and 
-resign  my  post. 

March  22,  1897.  Dispenses  (86/17). 


The  Latin  of  Pharmacy. 

Sir, — In  an  address  at  Glasgow,  partially  reported  in  your  last 
tissue,  Mr.  Coull  does  me  the  honour  of  quoting  me,  with  approval, 
-as  an  advocate  of  the  masculinity  of  rhamnus.  What  I  wrote  in 
1885  was  this  : — - 

“  Rhanmus  is  given  in  most  dictionaries  as  feminine,  following  the  ordinary 
rule  as  to  trees,  as  its  Greek  progenitor  did  ;  but  it  is  also  masculine,  in 
the  same  category  as  Cupressus,  Cytisus,  Larix,  Lotus,  and  Rubus.  Modern 
Latin  scholars  may  agree  to  use  the  feminine,  but  they  can  scarcely  make 
the  language  wrong  which  was  written  by  Latin  authors.” 

'This,  in  substance  is  what  I  learned  in  Valpy’s  ‘  Latin  Grammar,’ 
half  a  century  since.  The  Eton  grammar  (Edwards)  and  the  more 
modern  Roby  make  rhamnus  masculine.  But  Mr.  Coull  gets 
greater  support  still  from  Lewis  and  Short’s  dictionary,  which 
;givcs  rhamnus  as  masculine,  referring  to,  but  not  quoting,  Pliny 
and  Vegetius.  Any  of  your  readers  interested  in  so  purely  an 
-academic  question,  may  find  an  illustration  of  Lewis  and  Short’s 
contra  mundum  by  consulting  the  word'  angina  in  almost  all  the 
dictionaries  of  European  origin  which  (so  far  as  I  am  aware)  give 
’the  quantity  of  the  second  vowel  long,  i,  clenching  it  by  quotation 
from  the  ‘Gradus  ad  Parnassum.’ 

Verum  angina  tibi  mistum  sale  poscit  acetum. 

(I  wish  the  modern  men  who  talk  about  fen-assy-tin  [phenacetin] 
-would  scan  that  line. )  Lewis  and  Short  give  angina,  supporting 
it  by  an  emendation  of  the  same  line  of  Serenus  Sammonicus  : 
Angina  vero  sibi,  etc.,  etc.,  and  another  from  Lucilius  :  Insperato 
■abut  quam  una  angina  sustul.it  hora. 

Ryde,  March  29.  Henry  H.  Pollard. 


Sir, — Mr.  Coull’s  able  and  suggestive  paper  on  “  Pharmaceutical 
Latin,”  in  your  issue  of  March  27,  is  full  of  practical  hints.  It 
Teems,  nevertheless,  with  debatable  points.  Among  others,  the 
philological  question  comes  to  the  front.  If  Mr.  Coull  had  con¬ 
sulted  the  proper  authorities  he  would  have  seen  that  the  deriva¬ 


tion  he  gives  of  antimonium  is  far  from  being  the  correct  one. 
Dr.  Murray  says  the  word  is  of  unknown  origin,  but  was  used  as 
long  ago  as  the  eleventh  century.  “  Probably,  like  other  terms  of 
alchemy,  a  corruption  of  some  Arabic  word,  re-fashioned  so  as  to 
wear  a  Greek  or  Latin  aspect,  perhaps  of  the  Arabic  name  uthmud 
or  ithmid,  this  being  possibly  an  adaptation  of  the  Greek  <ntppi, 
whence  also  the  Latin  stibium.  If  this  conjecture  be  substantiated, 
antimonium  and  stibium  will  be  transformations  of  the  same  word. 
Popular  etymology  has  analysed  the  French  antimoine  as  anti- 
moine,  against  the  monks  (monk’s  bane),  and  as  usual  in  such 
cases,  supported  the  derivation  by  an  idle  tale,  making  the  name 
originate  with  the  chemist  Basil  Valentine  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
more  than  400  years  late  !  ”  In  his  reference  to  theriaca,  Mr.  Coull 
quotes  the  authors  of  ‘  Pharmacographia  ’  as  confessing  ignorance 
of  the  reason  why  that  term  came  to  be  applied  to  molasses.  It 
was  so  applied,  as  Skeat  and  others  think,  on  account  of  its 
appearance.  “  Since  triacle  was  an  electuary  made  with  honey 
and  tinged  with  saffron,  the  uncrystallisable  syrup  that  drains 
from  the  sugar  refiner’s  mould  had  some  resemblance  to  it,  and 
inherited  its  name.”  So  wrote  the  late  Professor  Morley. 

The  word  theriaca  has  a  most  interesting  derivational  history. 
The  Greek  Onpiaxos  was  an  adjective  formed  from  Qppiov,  wild  beast, 
venomous  reptile,  or  viper,  this  again  being  the  diminutive  form  of 
6jjp,  animal  (the  same  root  is  found  to-day  in  our  English  word 
deer  and  in  the  German  thier,  animal).  6npia.ua  <papuana  meant 
literally  wild-beast  drugs,  i.  e. ,  antidotes  to  the  bites  of  venomous 
animals.  The  word  (papyaxa  was  afterwards  dropped,  and  Gnpiaxa 
stood  alone,  and  was  eventually  applied  to  the  celebrated  antidote 
of  Andromachus,  in  which  case  the  name  was  not  only  descriptive 
of  its  properties  but  of  its  contents,  for  vipers  formed  the  most 
important  ingredient  of  the  confection.  In  Latin  the  word  became 
altered  to  theriaca,  and  in  English  to  triacle  and  finally  treacle. 
It  is  worth  noting  that  English  is  the  only  language  which  employs 
this  word  (or  its  equivalent)  to  describe  molasses.  The  British 
Pharmacopoeia,  too,  is  the  only  one  which  uses  the  word  theriaca 
for  that  purpose.  In  all  the  Continental  pharmacopoeias  that  term 
still  refers  to  the  electuary  of  Andromachus  or  to  some  modification 
thereof.  Mr.  Coull’s  suggestion  that  we  should  revert  to  the  old 
London  and  Edinburgh  name  of  sacchari  foex  is  to  be  heartily 
commended. 

Brighton,  March  30,  1897.  C.  S.  Ashton. 


Peach  Kernel  Oil  in  Olive  Oil. 

Sir, — In  the  oliscussion  that  followed  the  reading  of  my  paper 
on  ‘  ‘  Analysis  of  Fatty  Oils  ”  before  the  Liverpool  Pharmaceutical 
Students’  Society,  I  was  asked  to  gi\  e  a  test  for  the 
detection  of  peach  kernel  oil  in  almond  oil.  In  reply 
I  referred  my  interrogator  to  a  paper  on  this  subject 
in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  [3j,  xvi. ,  797,  by  Mr.  T. 
Maben,  and  to  which  I  would  also  refer  your  correspondent  of 
last  week.  The  test  stated  by  him,  as  given  by  Maisch,  appears 
to  be  a  modification  of  the  test  given  in  the  German  Pharma¬ 
copoeia,  where  it  is  stated  that  if  five  measured  parts  of  pure 
almond  oil  are  agitated  with  one  measure  of  a  mixture  consisting 
of  two  parts  of  fuming  nitric  acid  and  two  parts  of  water,  no 
brown  or  reddish  colour  should  appear,  and  after  standing  several 
hours  the  fatty  layer  should  form  a  solid  mass,  and  the  aqueous 
liquid  should  be  colourless. 

Liverpool,  March  31,  1897.  R.  C.  Cowley. 


The  Attfield  Testimonial. 

Sir, — The  Herkomer  portrait  is  finished,  and  proofs  will  be 
ready  for  distribution  in  a  few  weeks.  It  is  a  nearly  life-size  head, 
with  a  little  of  the  neck,  on  paper  that  will  be  about  17"  x  14". 
The  face  faithfully  reproduces  the  impression  of  vivacious 
geniality  which  those  who  know  Dr.  Attfield  will  recognise  as  a  note¬ 
worthy  characteristic  of  the  popular  teacher  ;  some  say  there  is  a 
Rembrandt  suggestion  about  it.  It  is  important  that  all 
who  desire  a  copy  should  communicate  (if  they  have  not 
already  done  so)  without  delay,  so  that  the  full  number  may  be 
produced  at  one  working,  whilst  the  plate  is  in  the  best  condition  ! 
Perhaps  you  will  kindly  give  prominence  to  this  and  also  to  the 
fact  that  up  to  the  present  no  fewer  than  650  names  have  been 
received  for  the  album — including  recent  and  old  pupils  of  Pro¬ 
fessor  Attfield,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  and  friends  in  both 
hemispheres,  especially  amongst  the  savants  of  the  Continent  and 
the  United  States. 

39,  Tressilian  Road,  St.  John's,  S.E.  John  Moss, 

March  31,  1897.  Treasurer  and  Secretary. 


306 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  3, 1897, 


ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 


[Queries  addressed  to  the  “  Editorial  Department,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  W.C.," 
will  be  replied  to  in  the  Journal  as  early  as  possible  after  receipt,  but  the  Editor 
cannot  undertake  to  reply  to  them,  through  the  post,  nor  is  it  always  possible  to  publish 
answers  the  same  week.  Questions  on  different  subjects  should  be  written  on  separate 
slips  of  paper,  each  of  which  should  bear  the  sender's  name  or  initials.  Readers 
requiring  working  formula  for  special  preparations,  and  intimating  their  wants  to  the 
Editor,  will  be  assisted  as  far  as  may  be  practicable.  The  word  "parts,"  when  used  in 
formula,  in  variably  indicates  parts  by  weight.  A  nonymous  queries  will  be  ignored .] 


Name  of  Plant. — It  is  a  specimen  of  Adoxa  moschatellina. 
[Reply  to  $vtov. — 86/41.] 


Exchange  Column.— Thanks  for  the  information  you  send.  The 
matter  will  be  inquired  into.  [ Reply  to  Postal  Order. — 87/31.] 


Crude  Cyanide.— Try  May  and  Baker,  Limited,  Church  Road, 
Battersea,  S.W.  [Reply  to  J.  R.  C. — 87/24.] 


Potassium  Metabisulphite.— It  is  the  acid  salt,  K2S03-S0.2(  =  K2 
►SO5),  sometimes  called pyrosulphite.  [Reply  to  H.  C.  T.  G. — 86/12.] 

Woolwich  Arsenal. — We  have  no  information  on  the  subject. 
Address  your  inquiry  to  the  Superintendent  of  the  Laboratory. 
[Reply  to  A.  A.  B.— 86/13.] 


Cure  for  Cancer. — We  doubt  if  anyone  can  give  a  definite 
answer  to  your  question— “  Is  there  a  cure  for  cancer?”  More¬ 
over,  it  is  entirely  a  matter  for  medical  men  to  deal  with. 
[Reply  to  Senex. — 86/27.] 


Makers  of  Collapsible  Tubes. —Messrs.  Betts  and  Sons, 
Wharf  Road,  City  Road,  N.E.,  will  make  these  for  you  in  any 
size.  We  believe  these  are  made  from  an  alloy  of  zinc  and  lead. — 
[Reply  to  Hydroquinone. — 85/23.] 


Illustrations  of  Flowering  Plants. — Get  Shirley  Hibberd’s 
‘  Field  'Flowers  ’  (Groombridge,  3s.  6d.),  and  subscribe  for  Cassell’s 
‘  Familiar  Wild  Flowers,’  a  re-issue  of  which  is  just  commencing 
publication.  [Reply  to  W.  L.  B. — 85/34.] 


Publisher’s  Name. — This  was  given  on  page  266e,  together  with 
other  particulars  regarding  the  book.  The  publisher’s  address  is 
London.  Note  that  we  cannot  undertake  to  answer  queries  through 
the  post.  [Reply  to  M.  T.  F. — 87/35.,] 


Advertising  Medium.— Address  Pharmaceutical  Journal,  5, 
Serle  Street,  Lincoln’s  Inn,  W.C.  It  circulates  widely  in  Scotland, 
even  in  the  most  remote  districts,  and  is  undoubtedly  the  best 
medium  for  your  purpose.  [Reply  to  Phos. — 87/26.] 


White  Heliotrope. — Heliotropine,  90  grains ;  extract  jasmin, 
4  6.  ozs.  ;  oil  of  ylang-ylang,  5  »l.;  terpineol,  15  in.  ;  otto,  5  m.; 
oil  of  lign-aloe,  15  m.  ;  glycerin,  2  drachms  :  essence  of  tuberose, 
3  ozs.  ;  tincture  hibiscus,  2  ozs.  ;  rectified  spirit,  to  10  fl.  ozs 
[Reply  to  WT.  W.— 86/11.] 


Preliminary  Examination. — Any  good  school  books  will  do. 
Yes!  Smith’s,*  Principia  Latina,’  Parti.,  is  a  good  elementary 
book,  whilst  Gill’s  ‘Oxford  and  Cambridge  English  Grammar’ 
and  Hamblin  Smith’s  *  Arithmetic  ’  should  equally  serve  your 
purpose.  [Reply  to  H.  F. — 86/35.] 


Lemonade  Powder. — Sodium  bicarbonate,  1  ounce  ;  powdered 
sugar,  3|  ounces ;  tartaric  acid,  1|  ounce  ;  essence  of  lemon, 
30  minims.  Dry  the  powders  thoroughly  (a  good  way  is  to  spread 
out  on  dishes  and  place  in  the  kitchen  oven  after  the  fire  is  out  at 
night).  Mix  the  lemon  with  the  sugar,  then  add  the  other  in¬ 
gredients.  When  thoroughly  mixed,  bottle  off  into  perfectly  dry, 
hot  bottles.  [Reply  to  Piperazine. — 86,28.] 


Floral  Pomade. — Jasmin  pomade,  8  ounces;  orange  pomade, 
8  ounces ;  cassie  pomade,  4  ounces  ;  rose  pomade,  8  ounces ;  pre¬ 
pared  lard,  2  lbs.  ;  essence  of  ambrette  ( Abelmoschus ),  1  fluid 
ounce  ;  terpineol,  30  minims  ;  oil  of  ylang-ylang,  30  minims  ;  oil 
of  bergamot,  20  minims.  Melt  the  lard  on  a  water  bath,  then  add 
the  perfumed  pomades,  and  lastly  the  oils.  Stir  until  quite  cool. 

Reply  to  Piperazine.— 86/28.] 


F.  L.  S.- — You  must  be  recommended  by  three  or  more  Fellow's 
of  the  Society,  pay  an  entrance  fee  of  six  pounds  and  an  annual 
subscription  of  three  pounds.  Write  to  the  Librarian,  Linnean 
Society,  Burlington  House,  Piccadilly,  W.,  for  a  printed  form  of 
recommendation.  .  [Reply  to  W.  L.  B.— 85/34.] 


The  Sale  of  Methylated  Spirit. — The  Act  dealing  with  the 
point  raised  is  the  24  and  25  Viet.,  cap.  91,  which  imposes  a  licence 
duty  in  reference  to  retailing  methylated  spirit.  The  following 
persons  are  expressly  prohibited  by  Statute  : — A  distiller  or  rec¬ 
tifier  of  spirits,  a  dealer  in  or  retailer  of  beer,  spirits,  wines,  or 
sweets.  But  the  Board  does  not  construe  the  prohibition  very 
stringently  if  it  has  reason  to  suppose  that  undue  advantage  will 
not  be  taken  of  the  leniency.  [Reply  to  A.  H. — 85/15.] 

Bye-Laws. — There  can  be  few,  if  any,  who  have  already  been  in 
the  business  for  some  years,  and  will  not  be  of  full  age  by  next 
year.  There  is  no  reason,  therefore,  why  they  should  not  enter 
for  the  qualifying  examination  before  the  proposed  new  bye-laws 
can  come  into  effect.  With  regard  to  your  second  point,  it  does 
not  appear  that  you  have  read  the  draft  bye-laws.  Hence,  you 
argue  under  a  total  misapprehension  of  the  facts.  Read  proposed 
bye-law  22,  and  after  comparing  it  with  existing  bye-law  23,  you 
will  find  that  your  supposition  is  incorrect.  [Reply  to  W.  F.  B.— 
87/28.] 

To  Perfume  Programmes. — Get  a  tin  with  a  tight-fitting  lid— 
a  biscuit-tin  answers  admirably,  put  on  the  bottom  a  few  pieces 
of  absorbent  cotton,  moistened  with  some  such  perfume  as  given 
below,  cover  with  a  couple  of  sheets  of  filter  paper  ;  then  pile  up 
the  programmes  separately  as  loosely  as  possible,  and  if  damp  from 
the  press,  so  much  the  better,  put  on  lid  and  let  stand  over¬ 
night  in  a  warm  place.  Lilac  Perfume : — Terpineol,  2  drachms  ; 
oil  of  lign-aloe,  20  HI .  ;  oil  of  bergamot,  10  14.  ;  heliotropin, 
20  grains  ;  S.V.  Rect.,  2  ozs.  Mix  and  sprinkle  over  the  absorbent 
cotton.  Bouquet  Perfume  : — 01.  bergamot,  1  drachm  ;  oil  sandal, 
2  ill.  ;  oil  patchouli,  3  14.  ;  oil  of  lavender  (best  French),  5  til.  ; 
oil  neroli,  10  ill.  ;  tincture  of  hibiscus,  2  ounces  ;  oil  of  rose  gera¬ 
nium,  5  m .  Mix.  Violet  Perfume : — Ionone,  60  ui . ;  oil  of  star  anise, 
2  14.  ;  essential  oil  of  orris,  2  ,rl.  ;  oil  of  ylang-ylang,  20  ,Tl.  ;  ter¬ 
pineol,  5  nt.  ;  essence  of  violet,  2  fl.  ozs.  [Reply  to  Minor. — 85/40.] 


Colours  for  Show  Bottles. — Dark  blue :  (1)  Sulphate  of  copper, 
1  ounce  ;  distilled  water,  80  ounces  ;  dissolve,  then  add  solution  of 
ammonia,  4  ounces  ;  or  q.s.,  diluted  with  distilled  water,  15  ounces  ; 
then  dilute  up  to  required  shade.  (2)  Take  freshly  precipitated 
iron  ferrocyanide,  dissolve  in  oxalic  acid  and  dilute  to  desired 
tint  with  distilled  water.  (3)  Dissolve  sulphate  of  indigo  in 
distilled  water  to  produce  colour  required.  Light  blue:  The 
best  is  merely  a  solution  of  sulphate  of  copper,  thus  :  copper 
sulphate,  3  ounces  ;  water,  29  ounces  ;  sulphuric  acid,  1  ounce. 
Mix  the  acid  and  water  cautiously  then  dissolve  the  salt. 
Red :  Red  is  a  difficult  tint  to  define.  What  one  person  calls  red 
is  not  the  same  as  that  seen  by  another  eye.  Bright  Red:  (1) 
Solution  of  cochineal,  10  parts  ;  sulphuric  acid,  1  part ;  water,  89 
parts,  or  sufficient  to  produce  desired  tint.  (2)  Cudbear,  3  drachms  ; 
water,  1  gallon.  Mix  and  acidulate  with  sulphuric  acid.  (3)  Con¬ 
centrated  acid  infusion  of  roses,  diluted  to  required  depth  of  colour. 
This  keeps  well,  and  gives  a  beautiful  tint.  [Reply  to  M.  M. — 84/36.  ] 


INFORMATION  WANTED. 

“  Australian  Febrifuge.” — A  correspondent  requires  a  formula 
for  a  preparation  to  which  he  applies  this  name  (85/35). 


ANONYMOUS  COMMUNICATIONS. 

A.  J.  R.- — In  accordance  with  our  usual  practice,  your  letter  is- 
not  published  because  not  authenticated  with  3'our  name  and 
address. 

E.  R.  B. — “Anonymous  queries  will  be  ignored.”  This  is  our 
invariable  rule,  and  we  must  therefore  refer  you  to  our  instructions 
to  senders  of  queries. 


COMMUNICATIONS, LETTERS, etc., have  been  received  from 

Messrs.  Alpers,  Ashton,  Austen,  Beeny,  Bennett,  Bremridge,  Bush,  Clarke, 
Clement,  Cocks,  Eberlin,  Farr,  Fielding,  Flitcroft,  Ford,  Forret,  Foster, 
Gardner,  Gostling,  Griffiths,  Guyer,  Higgs,  Hill,  Ince,  Johnson,  Keen,  Kemsey- 
Boume,  Knight,  Lane,  Lothian,  MeFaddle,  Marshall,  Morgan,  Pollard,  Reynolds, 
Riding,  Roberts,  Robins,  Rowell  Russell,  Sharp,  Sutherland,  Warden,  White, 
Williams,  Zimmer, 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


ON -THE  USE  OF  STEAM  COILS  FOR  EVAPORATION. 

"  ^  &  T  '  c.  J.  H.  WARDEN, 

Corrcxporyiihg  Member  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society. 

following  note  on  the  suggested  use  of  flat  steam  coils 
Isj^rfd^ctTar Short  distance  below  the  surface  of  a  liquid  to  be 
c ( inceriitra Lpd»'rn'n. v .  perhaps,  be  considered  of  some  interest  to 
readers  of  the  Journal. 

For  pharmaceutical  purposes  jacketed  pans  are  in  general  use, 
but  with  pans  of  older  construction,  in  which  the  jacket  is  carried 
right  up  to  the  rim,  caking  or  baking  of  the  extract  from  adhesion  to 
the  sides,  as  the  volume  of  the  fluid  diminishes,  is  very  apt  to 
occur.  Coils  fixed  to  the  bottom  or  wound  spirally  round  the  sides 
of  pans  to  a  certain  height  are  also  in  use,  but  from  being  fixtures 
are  difficult  to  clean. 

In  referring  to  the  use  of  steam  coils,  Shears*  states  that  they 
should  always  be  placed  right  at  the  bottom  of  the  vessel  containing 
the  liquid  to  be  boiled.  But  I  venture  to  submit  that  a  distinction 
ought  to  be  drawn  between  cases  in  which  it  is  necessary  to  heat 
a  liquid  to  the  boiling  point  to  increase  its  power  of  extracting  or 
dissolving  matter,  and  instances  in  which  the  object  to  be  attained 
is  merely  concentration  of  the  liquid  by  evaporation.  In  the  first 
case  a  steam  coil  fixed  right  at  the  bottom  of  the  pan  is  no  doubt 
both  theoretically  and  practically  properly  placed.  On  the  other 
hand,  when  a  liquid  has  to  be  concentrated,  as  in  the  preparation  of 
an  extract,  to  apply  heat  from  the  bottom  of  the  vessel  is  not  only 
unnecessary,  and  wasteful  as  regards  expenditure  of  steam,  but  may 
be  even  highly  prejudicial  and  lead  to  deterioration  in  the  preparation 
of  an  extract.  In  heating  from  the  bottom  of  an  evaporating  pan, 
the  whole  volume  of  the  liquid  is  necessarily  heated,  while  evaporation 
only  occurs  from  the  surface,  and  in  dealing  with  large  volumes 
of  liquid  the  continuous  exposure  to  a  high  temperature  of  the 
whole  volume  of  the  liquid  during  the  entire  period  occupied  in 
concentration  must  in  many  cases  be  prejudicial. 

Of  course  I  am  aware  that  to  avoid  the  effects  of  a  high  tempera¬ 
ture  many  extracts  are  preferably  prepared  in  vacuum  pans.  I 
am  also  aware  that  proposals  have  been  made  to  effect  evaporation  by 
heating  liquids  at  the  surface  by  allowing  a  flame,  etc. ,  to  impinge, 
but  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  apply  the 
heat  immediately  below  the  surface  of  a  liquid  by  means  of  a 
moveable  flat  steam  coil.  It  would  appear  feasible,  by  using 
concentric  coils  of  metal  tube  suspended  just  below  the  surface  of 
a  liquid  to  be  concentrated,  to  obtain  all  the  results  now  afforded 
by  the  use  of  expensive  jacketed  pans,  and  with  economy  as 
regards  expenditure  of  steam. 

The  coils  might  be  made  of  copper  steam-pipe,  an  end  being 
attached  to  the  steam-cock  by  means  of  a  Royle’s  patent  swivel 
union,  by  which  the  coil  could  be  raised  or  lowered  in  the  fluid 
during  concentration.  The  other  end  of  the  coil  should  be  bent  and 
either  provided  with  a  steam- cock  to  permit  of  condensed  water  being 
ejected,  or  with  a  steam  union  to  allow  of  another  coil  being 
attached.  The  steam,  after  circulating  in  one  coil,  would  pass  into  a 
second  one  suspended  in  another  dish  and  so  on,  a  chain  of  coils 
being  formed,  and  in  this  way  the  maximum  heating  effect  of  the 
steam  would  be  utilised.  In  using  coils  in  chains,  some  mechanical 
arrangement  would  have  to  be  made  to  raise  the  dishes,  as  the 
fluid  level  sinks  from  evaporation,  and  also  to  keep  the  coils  always 
covered  with  fluid. 

In  cases  in  which  copper  coils  would  be  unsuitable,  the  copper 
might  be  tinned  or  plated  with  gold,  silver,  or  platinum,  or  coils 
of  lead  might  be  used,  and  there  ought  not  to  be  any  great  diffi. 
culty  in  constructing  coils  of  enamelled  copper  or  iron,  which 


*  *  Machinery  and  Apparatus  for  Manufacturing  Chemists.' 

Vol.  LVHI.  (Fourth  Series,  Yol.  IV.).  No.  1398. 


307 


would  permit  of  the  most  corrosive  liquids  being  concentrated 
in  large  porcelain  or  stoneware,  etc. ,  pans. 

For  concentrating  a  liquid  in  a  pan  3  feet  in  diameter,  a  coil  of 
from  14  to  16  inches  in  diameter  would  perhaps  be  ample,  the  coils 
being  wound  so  as  to  have  an  interval  of  rather  less  than  a  quarter 
of  an  inch  between  the  turns  of  the  tube,  the  coils  having  much  the 
appearance  of  Catherine  wheels. 

In  using  a  coil  such  as  has  been  described  for  evaporation,  as 
the  liquid  became  concentrated  on  the  surface  its  density  would 
be  increased,  and  there  would  be  a  tendency  for  it  to  sink  to  the 
bottom  of  the  vessel  when  the  liquid  was  at  a  comparatively  low 
temperature,  and  it  would  thus  be  removed  from  the  area  of  high 
temperature.  With  a  dish  five  or  six  inches  deep  it  would  be 
quite  possible  to  boil  the  liquid  at  the  surface  by  means  of  a  coil 
and,  for  a  time  at  least,  for  the  fluid  at  the  bottom  to  indicate 
little  or  no  rise  in  temperature.  But  after  a  time  the  liquid  at  the 
bottom  would  necessarily  become  heated,  but  I  should  think  it 
would  never  reach  the  temperature  of  the  surface. 

Undue  heating  of  the  lower  stratum  of  fluid  might  be  obviated 
by  allowing  the  dish  to  stand  in  cold  water  up  to  a  certain  height ; 
or  another  flat  coil  through  which  cold  water  circulates  might  be 
fixed  a  few  inches  below  the  steam  coil,  and  so  cool  the  con¬ 
centrated  liquid  as  it  sank.  Operating  in  this  way,  a  fluid  under 
concentration  would  only  be  exposed  to  a  high  temperature  for  a 
short  time,  and  not  continuously  as  under  the  existing  methods  of 
heating  in  jacketed  pans  or  by  coils  placed  at  the  bottom  or  round 
the  sides  of  evaporating  pans. 


A  SPCRIOUS  BALSAM  OF  TOLU. 

BY  J.  OLDHAM  BRAITHWAITE. 

Numerous  instances  of  the  sophistication  of  tolu  balsam  have 
been  reported  on  various  occasions ;  in  one  sample  Mattison  "  indi¬ 
cated  the  presence  of  storax  (Liquidambarorientale) ;  later,  Nay  lor  t 
reported  on  a  balsam  of  unknown  botanical  origin,  imported  as 
tolu  balsam  ;  and  recently  another  sophisticated  sample,  consisting 
apparently  of  the  admixture  of  some  foreign  resin,  possibly  copaiba 
resin  with  genuine  tolu,  was  reported  on  by  myself.  + 

Tolu  has  lately  attained  a  high  price,  and  the  scanty  supply  of 
genuine  balsam  has  been  augmented  by  heavy  arrivals  of  the 
substance  under  notice. 

This  has  a  soft  consistence,  is  very  sticky,  especially  when 
chewed,  and  shows  only  an  occasional  crystal  when  examined  by 
the  microscope,  either  in  its  normal  condition  or  after  hardening 
by  exposure  op  the  water  bath.  It  was  noticed  that  during  this 
heating,  and  more  markedly  at  a  higher  temperature,  the  resinous 
portion  assumed  a  much  darker  red  colour  than  genuine  balsam 
similarly  treated.  Extracted  with  successive  quantities  of  boiling 
water  it  yielded  1T5  per  cent,  of  crystalline  acid  on  cooling.  This 
acid  was  fractionally  crystallised  from  boiling  water,  each  fraction 
melting  sharply  at  133°  C.,  and  consisting  wholly  of  cinnamic  acid. 
A  sample  of  genuine  balsam  similarly  extracted  with  boiling  water 
gave  4 '2  per  cent,  of  cinnamic  acid.  On  distilling  a  portion  of  the 
balsam  with  water,  the  odour  of  the  distillate  was  not  markedly 
differentfrom  that  of  tolu,  but  contained  distinctly  more  of  a  fragrant 
volatile  oil  and  less  cinnamic  acid.  Treated  with  bisulphide  of 
carbon,  61  '4  per  cent,  was  soluble.  On  evaporating  the  solvent, 
this  portion  was  left  as  a  fragrant  brown,  transparent,  viscid 
mass.  Its  total  acid  number  when  saponified  with  alcoholic 
potash  was  278. 

When  extracted  with  carbon  bisulphide  genuine  tola  balsam 

*  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy,  1S75,  51. 

t  Pharmaceutical  Journal  [3],  viii.,  624. 

J  Pharmaceutical  Journal  [4],  i.,  145. 


308 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[ApbilIO,  1897 


leaves  a  perfectly  crystalline  white  residue,  consisting  almost 
entirely  of  cinnamic  acid ;  the  total  acid  number  of  this  residue 
does  not  fall  below  300.  It  is  evident  that  the  balsam  cannot  be 
considered  as  the  unmixed  or  partially  exhausted  product  of 
Myroxylon  toluifera  ;  experiments  have  been  made  with  storax  and 
with  a  specimen  of  Liquidambar  styraciflua  (of  which  a  sample  was 
kindly  placed  at  my  disposal  from  the  Society’s  Museum  by  Mr. 
Holmes),  and  also  with  coniferous  resins,  but  in  no  case  do  the 
results  obtained  by  relative  treatment  with  solvents,  distillation, 
or  saponification  throw  any  light  on  the  nature  of  the  substitution. 

It  seems  probable  that  a  balsam  agreeing  in  some  respects  with 
the  genuine  article  but  differing  markedly  in  others  has  been  substi¬ 
tuted  in  this  instance  for  true  balsam  of  Myroxylon  toluifera.  Since, 
however,  its  physical  and  chemical  characters  are  quite  distinct 
from  those  given  in  the  British  or  any  other  pharmacopoeia,  it 
should  not  be  employed  for  pharmaceutical  purposes. 

My  thanks  are  due  to  my  principals,  Messrs.  Wright,  Layman 
and  Umney,  for  whom  these  experiments  have  been  conducted. 


THE  IODINE  VALUE  OF  BEESWAX.* 

BY  R.  GLODE  GUYER. 

In  a  paper  on  “Beeswax  Analysis”  (Ph.  J.,  October  31,  1896), 
which  I  had  the  honour  of  reading  before  this  Association,  I  ex¬ 
pressed  my  scepticism  as  to  the  published  figures  referring  to  the 
iodine  value.  As  they  did  not  appear  to  offer  sufficiently  reliable 
evidence,  I  decided  to  defer  discussing  the  subject  until  I  had  been 
able  to  further  investigate  the  matter  for  myself. 

In  the  case  of  the  fixed  oils  the  iodine  value  is  practically  the 
measure  of  the  proportion  of  free  unsaturated  fatty  acids.  Bees¬ 
wax,  however,  does  not  contain  any  free  unsaturated  acids,  but  is 
almost  entirely  composed  of  a  mixture  of  free  cerotic  acid,  an 
aliphatic  acid,  a  member  of  the  CnH2ll0.2  group,  and  myricin 
palmitate,  a  neutral  compound. 

These  two  main  constituents  of  beeswax  are  present  almost  in¬ 
variably  in  the  proportion  of  14  to  86.  If  beeswax  is  regarded  as 
being  entirely  composed  of  these  two,  and  estimated  as  such,  the 
sum  of  the  percentage  composition  works  out  at  102  to  107. 
(Hehner.  Analyst ,  16,  1883),  which  fact  is  a  direct  indication  of  the 
resence  of  at  least  another  substance.  Several  compounds  have 
een  alleged  to  have  been  isolated  by  various  workers,  but  their 
presence  requires  confirmation.  Amongst  them  are 

Melissic  acid. 

Myricyl  alcohol,  probably  a  decomposition  product  of  myricin. 

Ceryl  alcohol. 

Heptacosane. 

Hentriacontane. 

These  two  latter  are  hydrocarbons  of  the  CnH2ny2  series,  and  it 
is  probably  due  to  these  or  similar  hydrocarbons  that  the  iodine  is 
absorbed.  It  would  be,  however,  beyond  the  scope  of  this  paper 
to  enter  any  further  into  the  constitutional  character  of  such  a 
complex  substance  as  beeswax,  and  I  will  confine  it  to  the  iodine 
value  and  the  method  employed  in  obtaining  it. 

The  Iodine  Value  is  the  Percentage  of  Free  Iodine  absorbed  by  the 
Wax. — The  process  adopted  was  strictly  that  published  by  Hubl, 
with  such  modifications  of  a  minor  character  as  the  case  demanded. 
In  performing  the  operation  certain  solutions  are  necessary. 

1st.  Iodine  solution.  This  is  prepared  by  dissolving  25  grammes 
of  iodine  in  500  C.c.  of  alcohol  (95  per  cent. )  and  30  grammes  of 
mercuric  bichloride  in  a  similar  quantity  of  spirit,  and  mixing  the 
two  solutions  and  adjusting  to  one  litre. 

2nd.  A  strictly  decinormal  volumetric  solution  of  thiosulphate  of 
sodium. 

3rd.  Ten  per  cent,  solution  of  potassium  iodide. 

It  is  advisable  to  work  on  about  1  gramme  to  1  '5  gramme  of 
wax,  accurately  weighed  and  placed  in  a  stoppered  bottle  of  about 
f>00  C.c.  capacity,  with  about  50  C.c.  of  chloroform. 

When  the  wax  is  completely  dissolved  by  the  chloroform,  add 
20  C.c.  of  the  iodine  solution,  and  set  aside  in  a  dark  place  for 
several  hours.  The  length  of  time  necessary  for  this  process  is 
somewhat  a  controversial  point,  but  in  this  particular  case  the 
solution  should  be  allowed  to  stand  for  a  night,  taking  precautions 
to  ensure  a  normal  temperature. 

A  blank  experiment  should  be  conducted  simultaneously,  working 
upon  precisely  the  same  quantities  of  chloroform  and  iodine  solu¬ 
tion  ;  by  doing  so  the  necessity  for  standardising  the  iodine  solu¬ 
tion  is  obviated,  which  is  a  matter  of  importance,  as  it  is  very  apt  to 
vary  on  keeping,  and  would  therefore  have  to  be  checked  every  time. 

*  Read  before  the  Chemists’  Assistants’  Association. 


The  amount  of  free  iodine  left  in  the  solution  at  the  end  of  the 
time  is  estimated  by  adding  10  C.c.  of  the  potassium  iodide  solu¬ 
tion  and  about  200  G.  c.  of  water,  and  titrating  with  the  decinormal 
thiosulphate  solution,  using  starch  water  as  the  indicator. 

The  difference  between  the  number  of  cubic  centimetre  of  the 
thiosulphate  consumed  by  the  two  experiments  is  the  measure  of 
the  iodine  solution  ( 2L)  absorbed. 

The  amount  of  iodine  is  then  readily  calculated  from  the  follow¬ 
ing  formula  : — 

C.c.  iodine  solution  absorbed  x  0*0127  X  100  „  ,  _  . 

- i -  =  Percentage  of  iodine. 

Weight  of  wax 

The  few  authorities  who  cite  the  iodine  value  for  beeswax  are 
as  previously  observed  not  very  concordant  in  their  results,  and 
moreover,  many  do  not  even  refer  to  it. 

As  I  felt  that  possibly  this  test  might  prove  of  some  use  if  the 
range  of  the  value  was  more  restricted,  I  procured  after  con¬ 
siderable  trouble  several  specimens  of  English  wax,  the  purity  and 
genuineness  of  which  I  knew  to  be  absolute,  and  I  obtained  the 
following  results : — 

Iodine  Value  of  English  Beeswax. 

Dark  Yellow,  from  Barf ord . ,..  3  samples  ... .  S'3  8'09  8'12 

Light  Yellow,  from  Shillingstone  ....  .3  samples  ....  8'0  7 ’9  7 '9 
Dark  Red,  from  Bury  St.  Edmunds.. .  .2  samples  ... .  S'5  8‘3 

Light  Yellow,  from  Horsham . .  2  samples  ....  8 '6  8 "4 

Dull  Brownish  Wax,  Aberdeen . .  8 '9 

It  will  be  observed  from  these  that  the  average  mean  is  prac¬ 
tically  8  5.  Lewkowitsch  quotes  in  his  work  9  '6  as  the  average. 

Minimum  . . .  8 '3 

Maximum . . .  11 '0 

Mean  . 9‘6 

Wright,  on  the  other  hand,  gives  the  average  as  10.  These, 
according  to  my  experience,  are  too  high  ;  for  a  wax  that  agrees  in 
all  other  particulars  for  pure  wax  will  seldom  give  an  iodine  value 
over  9'0.  If  the  iodine  value  does  exceed  that  figure,  then  the 
acid  number  is  generally  correspondingly  high. 

From  the  results  I  obtained  from  working  on  pure  virgin  English 
wax,  having  the  other  constants  normal,  I  think  the  iodine  value 
should  be  taken  as  8  to  9,  and  not  9 '6  and  10. 

This  .test  for  the  purity  of  beeswax  is  of  distinct  analytical 
advantage,  especially  when  taken  in  conjunction  with  the  other 
constants.  Thus  a  beeswax  adulterated  with  paraffin  wax  shows 
a  marked  diminution  in  the  iodine  value.  A  sample  of  wax  having 
an  iodine  value  of  8T5  gave  the  following  results  when  adulterated 
with  paraffin. 

Pure  Yellow  Wax .  8T5 

„  ,,  ,j  — .  +5  per  cent.  Paraffin  =  7-7 

10  „  „  =  7-3 

20  ,,  „  =  <P5 

On  the  other  hand,  tallows,  resin,  and  other  similar  substances 
having  a  high  iodine  value  necessarily  produce  a  higher  iodine 
value  when  added  to  wax. 

The  following  is  an  example  of  a  sample  of  beeswax  with  added 
tallow  : — 

I.  V. 

Yellow  Wax  .  Foreign  9’ 

,,  ,,  . .  +  5  per  cent.  Tallow  10‘7 

10  ,,  ,,  12-5 

20  „  16-0 

Japanese  wax,  a  fairly  frequent  adulterant  of  beeswax,  has  a  low 
iodine  value  of  4.  Carnauba  wax  is  slightly  higher.  These  and 
one  or  two  other  waxes  will  not  materially  affect  this  constant, 
but  their  presence  will  be  noticed  by  the  fluctuation  of  the  other 
constants. 

The  foregoing  remarks  refer  entirely  to  the  yellow  beeswax. 
Unfortunately,  white  beeswax  does  not  lend  itself  to  this  test. 
The  body  or  bodies  which  are  capable  of  absorbing  the  iodine  are 
generally  greatly  reduced  and  even  obliterated  in  the  bleaching, 
especially  when  bleached  by  chemical  means,  so  that  the  iodine 
value  is  of  little  service,  except  from  a  negative  standpoint. 

If  a  sample  of  white  wax  gives  a  figure  over  the  mean  for  that 
of  yellow  wax  then  it  would  be  at  once  classed  as  adulterated,  and 
on  the  other  hand,  one  having  an  iodine  value  slightly  under  the 
average  would  not  be  condemned,  or  passed  as  pure. 

Therefore,  I  think  that  this  test  has  no  value  for  white  beeswax 
but  if  taken  in  conjunction  with  the  other  constants  is  of  great 
service  in  determining  the  purity  of  yellow  beeswax,  and  that  for 
analytical  purposes,  the  iodine  value  for  yellow  beeswax  should 
be  taken  as  8  5,  with  a  maximum  of  9  and  minimum  of  8.  In 
conclusion  I  beg  to  tender  my  best  thanks  to  Messrs.  Hodg- 
kinsons,  Treacher,  and  Clarke,  in  whose  laboratories  these 
experiments  were  made. 


April  10,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


309 


PHARMACEUTICAL  SOCIETY 


MEETING  OF  THE  COUNCIL. 

WEDNESDAY,  APRIL  7 ,  1807. 


Present  : 

Mr.  Walter  Hills,  President. 

Mr.  John  Harrison,  Vice-President. 

Messrs.  Allen,  Atkins,  Bateson,  Bottle,  Carteighe,  Corder, 
Cross,  Gostling,  Grose,  Hampson,  Johnston,  Martindale,  Park, 
Southall,  Storrar,  Symes,  and  Young. 

The  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  were  read  and  confirmed. 


Calcium  Carbide. 

The  Secretary  said  he  had  received  from  Colonel  Majendie  a 
copy  of  the  circular  sent  to  local  authorities  with  reference 
to  the  keeping  of  calcium  carbide.  The  circular  had  been  printed 
in  the  Journal.  Subsequently  it  had  been  found  necessary  by  the 
authorities  to  qualify  the  term  ‘  ‘  pure  ”  carbide  by  the  word 
“commercially,”  and  a  copy  of  the  circular  of  instructions  so 
amended  had  also  been  sent  by  Colonel  Majendie. 


The  International  Congress  at  Brussels. 

The  President  said  several  letters  had  been  received  since  the 
last  meeting  on  the  subject  of  the  proposed  International  Congress 
at  Brussels  in  August  next.  When  the  invitation  was  read  in 
March  some  doubt  was  expressed  whether  this  Congress  could  be 
recognised  as  the  legitimate  successor  of  the  one  held  in  Chicago, 
and  it  now  appeared  that,  owing  to  some  mistake  in  the  address, 
Professor  Remington,  President  of  the  7th  International  Congress, 
did  not  receive  the  proposal  until  after  a  delay  of  some  months,  and 
the  various  members  of  the  Standing  Committee  had  expressed  their 
concurrence  in  the  holding  of  the  Congress  at  Brussels  in  August. 
It  now  remained,  therefore,  for  the  Council  to  consider  whether 
delegates  should  be  appointed.  Having  regard  to  the  fact  that 
the  Conference  in  Glasgow  would  be  held  at  nearly  the  same  time, 
he  suggested  that  his  colleagues  should  consider  the  matter  before 
the  next  Council  meeting,  and  make  up  their  minds  whether  they 
would  be  able  to  attend,  in  which  case  delegates  might  be  appointed. 

Election  of  Members. 

Pharmaceutical  Chemists. 

The  following,  having  passed  the  Major  examination  and 
tendered  their  subscriptions  for  the  current  year,  were  elected 
‘  ‘  Members  ”  of  the  Society  : — 

Campkin,  Francis  Sidney  ;  Cambridge.  |  James,  Henry  Palmer  ;  Kilbum. 

Wilson,  Harold  ;  London. 


Election  op  Associates  in  Business. 

The  following,  having  passed  the  Minor  examination,  being  in 
business  on  their  own  account,  and  having  tendered  their  subscrip¬ 
tions  for  the  current  year,  were  elected  “Associates  in  Business”  of 
the  Society : — 


Adamson,  Andrew  ;  Kirkcaldy. 
Appleyard,  Percy  ;  London. 

Aspinall,  Jolm  William  ;  Blackburn. 
Beardmore,  Alfred  E.;  Wolverhampton. 
Buckley,  William  ;  Lees. 

Cumber,  Edwin  Guille  ;  Guernsey. 

Dale,  John  Arthur  ;  Crewe. 

Davies,  Oliver ;  Pontypridd. 

Doble,  Richard  Dennis  ;  Tavistock. 
Duncan,  George  ;  Dufftown. 

Ewart,  Samuel  ;  Dalbeattie. 

Firth,  Marmaduke  ;  Bradford. 

Freeman,  Thomas  ;  Nottingham. 
Gammie,  John  Lawrance  ;  Macduff. 
Grierson,  George  Arthur  ;  Lincoln. 

Hall,  Ernest  Edward  ;  Wolverhampton. 

Young,  John  Arthu 


Harries,  Benson ;  Newport. 

Jones,  John  ;  Liverpool. 

Macdonald,  Alexander  ;  London. 
Marples,  Thomas  ;  Sheffield. 

Matz,  Max ;  Manchester. 

Ninnis,  Thomas  Martin  ;  London. 
Payne,  William  ;  Hitchin. 

Ridley,  Charles  ;  Newcastle-on-Tyne. 
Round,  William  Hopkins  ;  Oldbury. 
Savill,  William  Arthur  ;  Portsea. 
Shepherd,  Herbert  William  ;  Burnley. 
Simon-,  John  ;  Chester. 

Smart,  Gordon  ;  Aboyne. 

Sykes,  John  ;  Didsbury. 

Tollitt,  William  ;  Worthing. 

Young,  Fredk.  George  ;  Newport,  Mon. 
;  Newport,  Mon. 


Election  op  Associates. 

The  following,  having  passed  the  Minor  examination  and 
tendered  their  subscriptions  for  the  current  year,  were  elected 
“Associates  ”  of  the  Society  : — 


Adams,  William  Stuart ;  Dundee. 
Carr,  James  Augustus  ;  Sunderland. 
Davies,  Percy  ;  Sheffield. 

Griffiths,  Alfred  ;  Bristol. 


Johnson,  Robert  Clitherow  ;  Scawby. 
Rosser,  William  M.  ;  Abergavenny. 
Steven,  David ;  Oehilltree. 

Walmsley,  M.  ;  Kingston-on-Thames. 


Election  of  Students. 

The  following,  having  passed  the  First  examination  and 
tendered  their  subscriptions  for  the  current  year,  were  elected 
“  Students  ”  of  the  Society  : — 


Airey,  George  Patteson  ;  Birmingham. 
Austin,  Henry  William  ;  Nottingham. 
Beeston,  Arthur  Edward  ;  Norwich. 
Brown,  Neilson;  Loanhead. 

Bullock,  Edmund  Rayner  ;  Gloucester. 
Davies,  William  Oswal ;  Pontypridd. 
Dennis,  William  ;  Jarrow. 

Drakes,  George  ;  Lincoln. 

England,  Herbert ;  Scarborough. 
Eustace,  Robert  George  ;  London. 
Evans,  William  ;  Carnarvon. 

Falck,  Charles  ;  Huddersfield. 

Fellows,  Benjn.  James  ;  Birmingham. 
Gibb,  William  C.  N.  ;  Winchester. 
Hamilton,  George  A.  ;  Gatehouse. 
Harris,  Frank  Howard  ;  Canterbury'. 
Hawksworth,  John  George ;  Sheffield. 
Huntbach,  Herbert ;  Preston. 

Wormald,  J  ohn  Exle 


Huxtable,  Zibia  Charles  ;  Bristol. 

Jones,  Stephen  ;  London. 

Lenfesteyr,  Leopold  d’Estreville;  London, 
Lewis,  William  M.  ;  Pembroke  Dock. 
Lindsay,  John  ;  Montrose. 

Long,  Francis  Henry  ;  Fishponds. 
McGlinchy,  John  Owen  ;  Reading. 
Moore,  Francis  Howard ;  Blackpool. 
Nicholson,  William  ;  Glasgow. 

Parsons,  Harold  James  ;  Exeter. 
Paterson,  James  Jenkins  ;  Turriff. 
Payne,  William  Hedley ;  Haverfordwest, 
Rennison,  T.  J.  W.;  Kirkby  Stephen. 
Saunders,  Alfred  ;  Dumbarton. 
Trunchion,  Herbert  Fawdon  ;  London, 
Warren,  Edwin  James  ;  Paignton. 
Williams,  William  John  ;  Burry  Port, 
Windemer,  Oscar ;  Pembury. 

;  Luddenden  Foot. 


Restorations  to  Register. 

The  names  of  the  following  persons,  who  have  severally  made  the 
required  declarations,  and  paid  a  fine  of  one  guinea,  were  restored 
to  the  Register  of  Chemists  and  Druggists  : — 


Edward  Bradley,  Dock  View  Terrace,  Ashton-on-Ribble. 

Arthur  George  Crosbie  Hunter,  High  Street,  Southend. 

Thomas  Jos.  Pale  Levie,  3S,  Leazes  Park  Road,  Newcastle-on-Tyne. 

Several  persons  were  restored  to  their  former  status  in  the 
Society  upon  payment  of  the  current  year’s  subscription  and  a 
nominal  restoration  fee  of  one  shilling. 


Nominations  for  Council. 

The  Secretary  reported  that  he  had  received  twenty  nominations 
to  fill  the  fourteen  vacant  seats  on  the  Council,  and  that  the 
following  sixteen  nominees  had  declared  their  willingness  to  accept 
office  if  elected  : — 

Allen,  Charles  Bowen,  20,  High  Road,  Kilbum,  N.W. 

Atkins,  Samuel  Ralph,  Market  Place,  Salisbury. 

Bottle,  Alexander,  4,  Godwyne  Road,  Dover. 

Campkin,  Algernon  Sidney,  11,  Rose  Crescent,  Cambridge. 

Carteighe,  Michael,  180,  New  Bond  Street,  W. 

Corder,  Octavius,  31,  London  Street,  Norwich. 

Grose,  Nicholas  Male,  8,  Temple  Street,  Swansea. 

Hampson,  Robert,  Norland  House,  Granville  Road,  Sevenoaks, 

Harrison,  John,  33,  Bridge  Street,  Sunderland. 

Hyslop,  John  CahII.i.,  39,  Church  Street,  Marylebone,  N.W. 

Martindale,  William,  10,  New  Cavendish  Street,  W. 

Park,  Charles  James,  1,  Mutley  Plain,  Plymouth. 

Savory,  Arthur  Ledsam,  143,  New  Bond  Street,  W. 

Southall,  Alfred,  17,  Bull  Street,  Birmingham. 

Young,  John  Rymer,  42,  San  key  Street,  Warrington. 

Warren,  William,  34,  Russell  Street,  Covent  Garden,  W.C. 

The  following  four  nominees  had  not  expressed  their  willingness 
to  accept  office  : — - 

Armitage,  Nathaniel  Newborn,  114,  Tong  Road,  Leeds. 

Barrett,  Josephus  Teague,  30,  Regent  Street  West,  Leamington. 

Bateman,  Thomas  Henry,  223,  Finchley  Road,  N.W. 

Gostling,  Thomas  Preston,  Linden  House,  Diss. 


3L0 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  10.  1897 


Nomination  of  Auditors. 

The  Secretary  reported  that  he  had  received  the  following  five 
nominations  to  fill  the  office  of  auditor,  and  that  all  the  nominees 
had  expressed  their  willingness  to  accept  office  if  elected  : — • 

Butt,  Edward  Northway,  77,  Hamilton  Terrace,  London,  N.W. 

Lescher,  Frank  Harwood,  60,  Bartholomew  Close,  London,  E.C. 

Stacey,  Samuel  Lloyd,  22,  Great  St.  Helens,  London,  E.C. 

Umney,  Charles,  50,  Southwark  Street,  London,  E.C. 

Yates,  Francis,  101,  Southwark  Street,  London,  S.E. 


Report  of  the  Government  Visitor  on  the  Examinations 

in  London. 

The  following  report  was  read. 

“  Report  on  the  Examinations  held  by  the  London  Board  of  Examiners 
of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain  during  the  year 
ending  March  31,  1897. 


“  To  the  Lords  of  the  Council. 


“  My  Lords, — I  have  the  honour  to  report  to  you  for  your  inf ormation  that 
during  the  year  ending  31st  March,  1897,  I  have  attended  twelve  examinations  of 
the  London  Board  of  Examiners  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain 
during  the  months  of  April,  July,  October,  and  January. 

First  or  Preliminary  Examination. 


Numbers. 


Candidates  examined .  1474 

,,  who  passed... .  680 

,,  failed  . 794 

Failed  in  Latin .  652 

„  ,,  English . .  428 

,,  ,,  Arithmetic .  719 


Percentages. 

46-1 

53-9 

37-5 

29-0 

48-8 


“  These  figures  do  not  differ  greatly  from  those  of  last  year.  The  examination 
Is  by  no  means  a  difficult  one,  and  very  elementary. 

“The  business  of  a  chemist  and  druggist  is  one  in  which  an  accurate  arith¬ 
metical  knowledge  is  imperative.  It  is  deplorable  to  find  that  nearly  half  the 
candidates  striving  to  enter  the  business  are  debarred  at  the  outset  by  their  lack 
of  a  knowledge  of  arithmetic  easily  acquired  at  an  elementary  school.  I  note, 
however,  with  satisfaction  that  it  is  the  intention  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
of  Great  Britain  to  raise  the  standard  of  the  elementary  examination,  a  step 
which  is  most  desirable  in  the  interests  of  the  public. 

Minor  Examination. 


Candidates  examined . 

Numbers. 

Percentages. 

,,  who  passed . . . 

33-2 

,,  ,,  failed  . 

Failed  in  Chemistry  . 

66-8 

26-7 

,,  ,,  Materia  Medica . 

3-9 

„  „  Botany . 

111 

,,  ,,  Prescriptions  . 

4-5 

„  ,,  Pharmacy  and  Dispensing  . . . 

.  186 

23-2 

, ,  , ,  obtaining  aggregate  number  of  marks 

for  a  pass .  81 

10  T 

“  K  is  gratifying  to  note  that  whilst  the  number  of  candidates  has  increased 
the  proportion  of  those  who  passed  has  also  increased.  In  chemistry,  especially, 
the  improvement  is  noteworthy,  and  this  is  not  from  any  lowering  of  standard, 
but  from  a  great  improvement  in  the  practical  part  of  the  examination,  the 
familiarity  of  candidates  with  laboratory  work  being  especially  manifest. 


Major  Examination. 


Numbers.  Percentages. 

Candidates  examined .  122  _ 

,,  who  passed .  60  49 -2 

„  ,,  failed  .  62  50'8 

Failed  in  Chemistry  .  20  16'4 

,,  „  Physics . -. .  11  9-0 

,,  ,,  Materia  Medica . 12  9-9 

„  „  Botany.. . 10  8'2 

,,  ,,  obtaining  aggregate  number  of 

marks  for  a  pass  . 25  20'5 


“The  number  of  candidates  was  practically  the  same  as  last  year  (120).  The 
successes  were  greater,  the  increased  successes  being  chiefly  in  Materia  Medica 
and  Botany.” 

General  Remarks. 

“I  have  to  express  my  general  satisfaction  with  the  manner  in  which  the 
Minor  or  qualifying  and  Major  examinations  are  conducted,  and  with  the  great 
and^  steady  improvements  which  have  been  initiated  by  the  Council  of  the 
Society  and  carried  out  by  the  examiners  during  the  last  few  years. 

“I  am,  my  Lords, 

“  Your  obedient  servant, 

March  13,  1897.”  “(Signed)  Thos.  Stevenson.” 


The  Proposed  Bye-Laws. 

The  President,  in  proposing  that  the  draft  bye-laws  be  read  a 
second  time,  said  he  should  do  so  pro  forma,  because  he  was  per¬ 
fectly  aware  that,  arising  out  of  a  discussion  which  took  place  at  the 
General  Purposes  Committee  on  the  previous  night,  an  amendment 
would  be  proposed  with  which  he  was  in  perfect  sympathy.  The 
amendment,  however,  did  not  touch  the  two  main  principles 


underlying  the  Bye-laws  ;  therefore  he  had  no  hesitation  in  asking 
the  Council  formally  to  read  the  Bye-laws  a  second  time.  Before 
he  sat  down  he  wished  to  report  what  had  been  done  outside 
the  Council,  and  the  letters  and  resolutions  which  had  been 
received.  The  first  letter  was  from  Mr.  A.  C.  Wootton,  Editor  of 
the  Chemist  and  Druggist,  and  was  as  follows  : — ■ 

Letter  from  the  Editor  of  the  ‘ Chemist  and  Drug  gist.  ’ 

42,  Cannon  Street,  London,  E.C. 

March  16,  1897 

The  President  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain, 

17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  W.C. 

Dear  Sir, — I  have  thought  it  right  to  lay  before  the  proprietors  of  the  Chemist 
and  Druggist  my  view  of  the  action  announced  at  the  last  meeting  of  the  Counci 
of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  in  reference  to  the  fees  for  the  qualifying  ex¬ 
amination. 

The  obvious  effect  of  that  policy,  if  it  should  be  adopted  by  the  Society7  and 
approved  by  the  Privy  Council,  will  be  to  enable  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  to 
continue  an  unprofitable,  and  therefore  an  unfair,  competition  in  the  business  in 
which  we  are  interested. 

You  can  hardly  be  surprised  to  hear  that  the  proprietors  of  this  journal  find  them¬ 
selves  compelled  in  self-defence  to  use  whatever  opportunities  may  present  them¬ 
selves  to  oppose  the  proposal.  I  make  no  secret  of  the  fact  that  our  own  considerable 
interests  influence  us  in  this  decision.  At  the  same  time,  you  will,  I  hope,  do  us 
the  justice  to  believe  that  we  would  not  move  in  the  matter  if  we  were  not 
convinced  that  the  policy  announced  is  unjust  and  unjustifiable. 

I  am  exceedingly  sorry  to  thus  find  myself  in  such  direct  opposition  to  what 
appears  to  be  the  unanimous  wish  of  the  Council,  and  I  am  desired  to  say  that 
the  proprietors  of  the  Chemist  and  Druggist  share  this  regret  with  me. 

I  am,  dear  Sir,  yours  faithfully, 

A.  C.  Wootton, 

Editor  of  The  Chemist  and  Druggist. 

Next  was  a  letter  Irom  the  Hon.  Sec.  of  the  Western  Chemists’ 
Association,  enclosing  copy  of  a  resolution  passed  at  a  meeting  of 
that  body  on  March  17.  The  resolution  was  as  follows  : — 

“Resolved:  That  the  Western  Chemists’  Association  (of  London)  having  read 
and  considered  the  proposed  new  bye-laws  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  are 
in  full  accord  therewith.  They  beg  to  tender  their  hearty  support  and  co-opera¬ 
tion  in  the  efforts  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  to  advance  the  education  and 
interests  of  chemists  generally.” 

The  following  resolution  had  also  been  sent  up  by  the  Secretary 
of  the  Nottingham  and  Notts’  Chemists’  Association,  which  was 
passed  unanimously  at  a  meeting  on  the  31st  ult.  : — 

“  That  this  meeting  of  the  Nottingham  and  Notts.  Chemists’  Association,  met 
to  consider  the  proposed  amended  bye-laws  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society, 
begs  to  express  its  general  approval  thereof,  and  expresses  its  continued  con¬ 
fidence  in  the  President  and  Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Societ/.” 

The  Chemists’  Assistants’  Association  (of  London),  by  its  Secre¬ 
tary,  had  sent  a  copy  of  the  following  resolution  : — 

‘  That  this  meeting  approves  of  and  strongly  supports  the  action  of  the 
Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  in  framing  the  proposed  new  bye-laws, 
being  of  opinion  that  they  are  calculated  to  serve  the  best  interests  of 
pharmacy,  except  that  it  considers  the  fee  of  ten  guineas  for  the  Minor 
examination  should  not  be  paid  more  than  once ;  and  that  the  time  when 
the  new  bye-law  comes  into  operation  should  be  extended  from  1898  to  1900.” 

The  Cambridge  Pharmaceutical  Association  had  passed  the 
following  resolution  : — - 

*  That  this  meeting  of  members  of  the  Cambridge  Pharmaceutical  Association, 
and  other  members  of  the  trade  in  Cambridge,  convened  for  the  purpose  of 
discussing  the  proposed  new  bye-laws  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  wishes 
to  express  cordial  approbation  of  the  efforts  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  to 
advance  the  education  and  interests  of  chemists  generally.” 

They  had  also  just  received  a  resolution  passed  at  a  meeting  of 
the  Liverpool  Students’  Association  : — - 

“  That  this  Association  wishes  to  put  on  record  its  appreciation  of  the  bye-laws 
proposed  by  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  as  the  best  means  of  raising  the 
status  of  the  pharmacist.” 

Finally,  he  would  refer  to  the  passage  in  Dr.  Stevenson’s  report 
just  read,  in  which  he  expressed  his  satisfaction  at  the  intention  of 
the  Society  to  raise  the  standard  of  the  elementary  examination. 
He  concluded  by  formally  moving  the  second  reading  of  the 
amended  bye-laws.  * 

The  Vice-Presdent  had  great  pleasure  in  formally  seconding 
the  resolutiou. 

Mr.  Carteighe  moved  as  an  amendment  that  the  last  five  lines 
of  Sub-section  22  be  deleted.  The  words  proposed  to  be  struck  out 
had  been  left  in  by  mistake.  There  was  no  intention  that,  after  a 


April  10,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


311 


candidate  for  the  Minor  examination  had  paid  his  fee  of  ten 
guineas,  he  should  have  to  pay  anything  more  than  the  plucking 
fee  at  any  subsequent  time.  The  tail-end  of  the  bye-law  was  put  in 
when  the  examinations  were  monthly,  and  when  there  was  some 
reason  for  it,  but  it  was  now  altogether  out  of  place.  The  effect  of  his 
amendment  would  be  that  when  a  candidate  had  paid  his  ten 
guineas  he  might  present  himself  at  any  time  thereafter  for  three 
guineas,  If  the  bye-laws  were  confirmed  in  the  course  of  the  pre¬ 
sent  year,  the  candidate  who  presented  himself  next  October  and 
paid  his  five  guineas  would  be  entitled  to  come  up  again  for  three 
guineas  without  the  one  year  limit  being  imposed.  It  was  not  the 
wish  of  the  Council  to  hurry  a  man  in  coming  up  again  when  he 
had  once  failed.  The  effect  of  the  restriction  formerly  imposed 
had  a  tendency  in  the  past  to  encourage  men  to  try  and  get 
through  within  the  prescribed  period.  It  also  occurred  to  him 
(Mr.  Carteighe)  that  the  restriction  in  Sub-section  24,  which  had 
reference  to  the  amount  to  be  paid  by  a  candidate  who  gave  notice 
to  be  examined  but  did  not  appear,  should  also  be  removed. 
If  a  candidate  gave  notice  and  did  not  appear,  he  was  practically 
fined  one  guinea,  because  he  had  to  pay  a  guinea  when  he  again 
gave  notice  to  be  examined,  and  if  he  sent  a  medical  certificate, 
or  otherwise  satisfied  the  Council  or  Board  of  Examiners  that  his 
absence  was  unavoidable,  he  was  let  off  with  the  fine  of  a  shilling. 
This  reservation  was  also  restricted  to  one  year,  but  it  would  be 
better  if  it  were  altogether  deleted.  The  propositions  now  were 
that  the  last  five  lines  of  Sub-section  22  should  be  deleted,  and 
that  a  new  Sub-section  to  be  numbered  23,  and  to  take  the  place 
of  24  should  be  added.  If  the  amendments  were  passed  the 
wording  of  the  amended  Sub-section  22  and  Section  23,  at  present 
24,  would  be  as  follows  : —  * 

22.  Persons  who  have  attended  and  failed  to  pass  an  examination  shall  not  be 
entitled  to  attend  on  any  future  occasion  unless  and  until  they  shall  have  given 
renewed  notice  of  intention  to  attend  an  examination,  and  shall  have  paid  fees 
as  follows : — 

(a )  In  respect  oj  a  Major  Examination,  Two  Guineas  ; 

(b)  In  respect  of  a  Minor  Examination,  or  a  Modified  Examination,  Three 

Guineas  ; 

(c)  In  respect  of  a  First  Examination,  One  Guinea. 

23.  Persons  who'have  given  notice  of  intention  to  attend  an  examination  and 
have  failed  duly  to  attend  at  the  time  appointed  for  the  same,  shall  not  be 
entitled  to  attend  on  a  future  occasion  unless,  and  until  they  shall  have  given 
renewed  notice  of  intention  to  attend  an  examination,  and  shall  in  each  case 
have  paid  a  fee  of  One  Guinea, — or  if  the  persons  shall  have  proved  to  the  satis¬ 
faction  of  the  Council  or  the  Board  of  Examiners  (by  production  of  medical 
certificates  or  otherwise)  that  the  said  failure  was  occasioned  by  unavoidable  and 
proper  causes, — One  Shilling. 

Mr.  Storrar  bad  much  pleasure  in  seconding  the  amendment. 
Last  week  they  had  in  Edinburgh  an  informal  meeting  of  as  many 
of  the  past  and  present  examiners  and  the  local  executive  as  they 
could  get  together,  when  there  was  absolute  unanimity  with  regard 
to  the  proposed  bye-laws,  with  the  exception  of  one  point.  They 
all  agreed  that  the  re-imposition  of  the  ten -guinea  fee  was  illogical 
and  a  mistake,  and  he  had  been  asked  to  bring  the  matter  before 
the  Council.  He  was  glad  to  find  that  the  people  in  London  were 
quite  as  wise  as  they  were  in  Edinburgh  in  seeing  that  a  mistake 
had  been  made.  He  was  quite  sure  that  the  amendment  proposed 
by  Mr.  Carteighe  would  be  accepted  by  the  Council,  but  as  he  was 
not  present  at  the  last  Council  meeting  he  should  like  to 
say  a  few  words  on  the  bye-laws.  He  was  glad  to 
think  that  neither  in  the  Council  nor  in  the  Society  generally 
was  there  likely  to  be  any  difference  of  opinion  with  regard  to  the 
proposed  change  in  the  Preliminary  examination.  After  the  report 
they  had  heard  read  that  day  from  the  Government  examiner,  and 
from  what  they  knew  themselves,  it  was  evident  that  some  stiffen¬ 
ing  of  the  Preliminary  examination  should  be  made,  as  it  was 
necessary  to  have  a  more  solid  educational  foundation.  With 
regard  to  the  increase  in  the  qualifying  fee  there  was  no  doubt 
that  there  was  and  would  be  more  difference  of  opinion.  Only  five 
years  ago  the  fee  for  the  Minor  examination  was  practically  doubled, 
and  it  was  only  natural  that  their  constituents  should  ask  the 
Council  why  it  was  proposed  after  such  a  short  interval  to  again 
double  the  fee.  It  had  been  said,  and  with  some  truth,  that  the  increase 
in  the  fee  would  tend  to  add  somewhat  to  the  status  of  the  Society, 
and  would  be  to  a  certain  extent  beneficial  to  the  candidates  them¬ 
selves  in  inducing  them  to  come  up  for  examination  better  prepared. 
There  was  no  doubt  something  in  that,  but  he  would  put  the  change 
on  a  much  more  prosaic  foundation  ;  he  would  say  they  increased 
it  because  they  required  the  money.  He  would  not  say  that  their 
expenditure  was  going  up  by  leaps  and  bounds,  but  they  all  knew 
that  there  was  a  steady  increase  in  the  Society’s  expenditure  year 
after  year,  and  it  was  only  natural  that  it  should  be  so.  It  was 
perfectly  well  known  that  this  matter  had  been  before  the 


Council  for  a  long  time.  He  had  turned  his  attention  to  it  as 
much  perhaps  as  any  member  of  the  Council,  and  had  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  bulk  of  the  Society’s  expenditure  was 
absolutely  necessary.  He  had  tried  honestly  and  seriously  to  find 
out  how  the  expenditure  could  be  reduced  without  reducing  the 
efficiency  of  the  Society,  and  the  only  suggestion  he  could 
make  was  that  there  should  be  a  reduction  in  the  cost  of  research 
and  the  cost  of  the  J ournal.  This  year  the  expenditure  on  research 
would  be  considerably  reduced,  and  it  was  also  known  that  the 
increased  expenditure  on  the  Journal  was  only  of  a  temporary 
nature,  though  they  must  necessarily  always  look  forward  to  an 
apparently  adverse  balance  with  regard  to  the  Journal.  That 
balance  was  in  reality  the  cost  of  the  Journal  to  members 
and  associates  of  the  Society.  In  his  opinion  it  did  not 
follow  that  because  they  needed  money  it  should  come 
entirely  from  the  candidates  for  examination,  unless  they  had  a 
good  case.  But  he  thought  they  had  a  good  case,  because  the 
great  bulk  of  the  expenditure  of  the  Society  was  for  the  benefit  of 
the  trade  generally  quite  as  much  as  for  the  members  of  the 
Society.  The  investment  of  the  Society’s  funds  in  buildings,  both 
in  London  and  in  Edinburgh,  had  been  called  for  and  rendered 
absolutely  necessary  by  the  increased  demands  for  examina¬ 
tions  rather  than  for  the  Society’s  general  work.  At  least 
seven-eighths  of  the  total  expenditure  in  Edinburgh  was 
fairly  chargeable  to  examination  purposes.  Although  the  money 
that  was  invested  in  buildings  was  practically  unremunerative 
at  present,  it  was  invested  in  a  way  not  only  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Society,  but  of  the  trade  generally,  because  whatever  added  to  the 
status  of  the  Society  added  to  the  status  and  position  of  pharma¬ 
cists  generally.  Personally  he  should  have  preferred  to  have  an 
annual  registration  fee,  instead  of  a  life  registration  fee.  There 
were  a  number  of  men  who  were  unconnected  with  the  Society, 
but  who  reaped  its  benefits,  and  it  was  a  great  pity  that  they  could 
not  be  made  to  pay  something.  With  reference  to  the  suggestion 
that  the  ten-guinea  fee  would  be  a  severe  tax  on  many  of  the  young 
candidates,  especially  in  Scotland,  on  enquiry  from  the  Assistant 
Secretary  in  Edinburgh,  he  had  ascertained  that  so  many  candi¬ 
dates  came  up  more  than  once  as  to  make  the  average  fee  paid  by  a 
candidate  nearly  eight  pounds. 

The  President  said  he  would  with  the  concurrence  of  the  Vice- 
President  at  once  put  the  amendment. 

The  amendment  having  been  at  once  carried  nem.  con., 

The  President  said  the  amendment  now  became  the  substantive 
motion,  and  he  should  be  glad  to  hear  any  remarks  upon  it. 

The  Vice-President  said  after  Mr.  Storrar’s  very  practical  and 
interesting  remarks,  there  was  very  little  left  to  say.  The  altera¬ 
tion  now  agreed  to  had  to  a  large  extent  knocked  out  any  opposi¬ 
tion  which  could  reasonably  be  raised  to  the  proposal.  A  great 
deal  had  been  said  in  various  quarters  which  was  hardly  pertinent 
to  the  question.  In  his  view  it  was  not  quite  correct  to  look 
on  this  great  reform  in  the  conduct  of  the  examinations  as  a 
question  altogether  of  £s.  d.,  or  to  say  that  the  examinations  cost 
so  much,  that  so  much  was  received  in  fees,  and  that  so  much 
profit  remained.  That  was  only  stating  half  the  case.  When  a 
man  presented  himself  and  passed  the  examination  they 
had  not  done  with  him ;  they  had  to  put  him  cn 
the  Register,  to  follow  his  changes  of  address  so  as  to  keep  him  on 
the  Register  and  to  protect  him  in  the  exercise  of  his  privileges  as 
a  registered  man,  by  purging  the  Register  of  all  names  which 
ought  not  to  be  there.  That  work  cost  money,  and  they  had  a 
right  to  look  to  those  who  were  benefited  to  provide  the  necessary 
funds.  If  they  had  power  to  insist  upon  it,  no  better  method  than 
that  of  requiring  an  annual  fee  could  be  found,  but  experience 
showed  that  only  about  a  fourth  of  those  who  were  put  on  the 
Register  joined  the  Society  and  contributed  an  annual  subscrip¬ 
tion  to  the  funds.  They  were,  therefore,  driven  to  act  like  other 
business  men.  If  they  were  asked  to  supply  goods  to  a  person 
whose  intention  or  ability  to  pay  for  them  was  dubious,  they 
required  payment  beforehand ;  and  the  same  principle  should 
apply  in  the  case  of  services  to  be  rendered.  He  did  not  think 
the  proposed  alteration  would  be  found  to  keep  many  from  pre¬ 
senting  themselves  for  examination,  but  they  would  no  doubt  be 
more  careful  in  their  preparation  when  they  had  ten  guineas  to 
pay.  The  smaller  fee  now  in  force  did  not  prevent  men  coming  up 
not  prepared  to  pass,  but  hoping  to  squeeze  through  somehow,  but 
that  was  not  the  class  of  men  they  wanted.  They  wanted  men 
who  had  carefully  prepared  themselves  for  their  work,  and  who,  after 
passing  the  examination  and  being  placed  on  the  Register,  would 
reflect  honour  on  the  Society  which  had  placed  them  there.  He 


312 


PHARMACEUTICAL  journal. 


[April  10,  1897 


hoped  that  with  the  alteration  now  made  the  proposal  would 
receive  practically  unanimous  approval. 

Dr.  Symes  thought  most  members  of  the  Council  must  have  felt, 
on  hearing  so  many  resolutions  approving  of  the  course  proposed, 
that  it  was  a  little  unfortunate  that  even  one  letter  should  have 
been  received  which  struck  a  discordant  note,  especially  as  it 
appeared  to  arise  from  a  misconception.  That  letter  suggested, 
almost  in  so  many  words,  that  the  reason  for  the  change  was  in 
order  to  obtain  more  money  to  subsidise  the  Journal,  because  it 
was  a  great  tax  on  the  funds  and  involved  an  annual  loss.  Now  it 
was  quite  clear  to  anyone  who  investigated  the  matter  that  such 
was  not  the  case  ;  the  apparent  balance  against  the  Journal  repre¬ 
sented  the  cost  of  supplying  it  gratuitously  to  the  members,  which 
worked  out  at  about  8s.  per  annum,  and  seeing  the  average  price 
for  such  a  journal  was  10s.,  the  result  was  that  they  supplied  the 
Journal  at  the  usual  price  with  20  per  cent,  discount.  It  was 
obvious  to  him,  therefore,  that  the  ground  for  opposition  failed. 
He  did  not  look  on  the  matter  as  being  really  a  means  of 
getting  more  money  for  the  Society  to  spend,  though  there 
was  plenty  of  work  still  to  be  done,  and  more  money 
would  be  of  great  use.  He  believed  many  sympathised 
with  him  in  the  hope  that  some  day  they  would  see 
every  registered  man  a  member  of  the  Society,  as  they  ought  to  be, 
but  that  could  not  be  accomplished  without  further  Parliamentary 
powers.  It  seemed  to  him  that  when  these  new  bye-laws  came 
into  force,  one  objection  which  might  now  be  urged  to  a  Bill  of 
that  kind  would  be  removed,  because  it  would  no  longer  be  a  ques¬ 
tion  of  money  ;  a  merely  nominal  fee  on  membership  would  alone 
be  required.  He  congratulated  the  President  on  the  support  this 
suggestion  had  already  received,  and  trusted  it  would  now  be 
approved  almost  unanimously. 

Mr.  Atkins  said  he  did  not  regret  the  opposition  which  had 
been  raised,  because  the  only  result  was  to  show  the  per¬ 
fect  bond  fides  of  the  proposed  change.  He  was  glad 
Mr.  Carteighe  had  so  frankly  moved  the  amendment, 
for  it  removed  the  only  objection  which  he  had  heard  raised, 
either  personally  or  in  correspondence.  He  shared  the  view  of 
Mr.  Storrar,  that  it  would  be  well  if  they  could  impose  an  annual 
registration  fee,  but  they  had  no  power  to  do  so.  With  regard  to 
the  hardship  which  might  be  inflicted  on  the  poorer  class  of 
students  in  Scotland,  he  would  admit  there  might  be  some  diffi¬ 
culty,  and  though  it  might  seem  cruel  to  say  so,  he  did  not  hesi¬ 
tate  to  say  that  he  believed,  both  in  Scotland  and  the  south,  that 
in  future  they  would  have  to  look  for  their  young  men  in  a  class — 
he  would  not  say  better  educated,  but  financially  better  placed. 
His  feeling  with  regard  to  the  drug  trade  was  that  they  were 
slowly  but  surely  passing  through  a  revolution  which  would 
reduce  the  number  of  pharmacists  and  produce  a  more  highly 
educated  body  of  men  who  would  have  a  restricted  area  of  work. 
This  would  necessitate  two  changes ;  first,  the  intellectual 
standard  would  be  higher  than  at  present  for  the  Preliminary 
examination,  and  financially,  a  somewhat  superior  test  for  admis¬ 
sion  to  the  business.  He  did  not,  however,  regard  the  change  with 
any  mistrust,  and  he  rather  hailed  the  opposition,  because  the 
fuller  and  freer  the  discussion  the  better. 

Mr.  Southall  supported  the  proposed  new  bye-laws,  saying  all 
the  chemists  with  whom  he  had  discussed  the  matter  were  of  opinion 
that  it  was  a  right  step.  He  hoped  that  would  be  found  to  be 
the  general  opinion  throughout  the  country. 

Mr.  Johnston  said  he  came  up  with  the  intention  of  opposing 
the  ten-guinea  fee,  and  did  so  in  Committee  on  the  previous  even¬ 
ing,  but  the  eloquence  of  one  or  two  of  his  colleagues  had  been 
too  much  for  him,  and  he  now  went  entirely  with  his  colleague  Mr. 
Storrar,  and  agreed  it  was  the  right  thing  to  do. 

The  President  said  he  was  very  glad  this  discussion  had  taken 
place,  and  he  was  perhaps  more  gratified  at  the  few  remarks  of 
Mr.  Johnston  than  at  anything  else  which  had  been  said.  He 
thanked  Mr.  Carteighe  for  having  discovered  and  amended  the 
mistake  which  had  occurred,  but  he  must  say  it  was  neither  his 
intention  nor  that  of  the  Committee  that  the  ten-guinea  fee  should 
be  charged  again  and  again.  On  the  last  occasion  the  discussion 
went  largely  on  the  educational  question  and  rightly  so,  but  to-day 
the  financial  question  had  been  mainly  dealt  with.  Some  said 
they  wanted  more  money,  and  others  said  they  did  not,  and  there 
was  some  truth  on  both  sides.  The  more  money  they  had  the 
better  it  would  be  for  all  men  on  the  Register.  A  lot  of  good  work 
remained  to  be  done,  such  as  the  encouragement  of  local 
associations  and  educational  wrork  generally  throughout  the 
country,  and  he  ventured  to  say  that,  barring-  the  much- 


abused  Journal,  almost  the  whole  of  the  wrork  done  there  was 
for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  of  the  registered  men.  The  very 
existence  of  the  Museum,  Library,  and  School  was  an  advantage 
to  every  registered  man,  and  the  more  money  they  had  the  better 
the  work  could  be  done.  He  must  remark,  however,  that  they  could 
not  say  yet  what  would  be  the  effect  of  this  change  on  the  financial 
position  of  the  Society.  It  would  certainly  mean  that  even 
supposing  the  number  of  candidates  remained  the  same  as  before, 
there  would  be  a  considerable  loss  on  the  Preliminary  examination, 
because  in  future  they  would  only  receive  fees  from  candidates  who 
produced  certificates,  and  would  not  have  the  unholy  gains  arising 
from  the  failures  of  young  men  who  were  plucked  time  after  time. 
They  hoped  that  in  future  the  Minor  candidate  would  pass  the 
first  time,  or  at  latest  the  second  j  they  did  not  want  to  make  money 
from  repeated  failures,  and  as  Mr.  Storrar  had  shown,  the  average 
sum  now  paid  for  passing  the  Minor  was  probably  about  £8.  They 
now  proposed  that  the  candidate  should  pay  ten  guineas,  but  they 
also  hoped  that  he  would  pass  the  first  time. 

The  resolution  was  then  put  and  carried  unanimously  that  the 
amended  bye-laws  be  read  a  first  time. 

It  was  aiso  resolved  that  a  special  meeting  of  the  Council  be 
called  for  April  28,  for  the  purpose  of  considering  and  reading  of 
the  bye-laws  a  second  time. 


Report  oe  Finance  Committee. 

The  President,  in  moving  the  adoption  of  the  report,  said  there 
was  nothing  special  to  call  attention  to.  The  payments  and 
receipts  were  of  the  usual  character.  There  had  been  a  goodly 
list  of  subscriptions  to  the  Benevolent  Fund  during  last  month  as 
compared  with  March  of  last  year.  He  had  also  to  report  with 
great  satisfaction  that  they  had  received  a  subscription,  which  they 
almost  looked  for  now  as  an  annual  thing,  of  twenty-five  guineas 
from  the  Committee  of  the  Chemists’  Ball.  That  Committee  had 
also  resolved  to  make  a  special  donation  from  money  they  had  in 
hand  towards  the  J ubilee  Fund  in  May  next.  The  Brighton  Junior 
Pharmacy  Association  had  sent  £4  5s. ,  collected  d  uring  the  past  session 
of  the  Association,  which  was  another  proof  of  the  interest  that  the 
young  men  took  in  the  Benevolent  Fund.  Finally  hereferredto  thefact 
that  Mr.  Maw  had  sent  one  hundred  guineas  as  a  donation  to  the 
Fund  in  the  names  of  his  two  sons,  C.  T.  Maw  and  M.  T.  Maw. 
Mr.  Maw  specially  wished  this  sum  to  be  entered  as  an  ordinary 
donation,  and  not  in  any  way  connected  with  the  efforts  that  were 
going  to  be  made  in  May  next. 

The  report  was  unanimously  adopted. 


Report  of  Benevolent  Fund  Committee. 

The  report  of  this  Committee  included  a  recommendation  of 
grants  to  the  amount  of  £62  in  the  following  cases  : — ■ 

An  Associate  in  business,  (aged  67)  from  1870-93  and  subscriber  during  same 
period.  Has  had  to  give  up  owing  to  fading  health,  and  is  without  means  or 
friends.  (Clapham.) 

The  widow  of  a  Member  (aged  53),  who  has  had  several  previous  grants  being 
quite  helpless  from  sickness.  (Harrogate.) 

The  widow  (aged  43)  of  an  Associate  and'  subscriber,  who  was  dispenser  to  a 
hospital,  and  died  in  October  last,  leaving  three  children,  only  one  of  whom  can 
earn  anything.  (Wandsworth.) 

The  widow  (aged  61)  of  a  registered  Chemist  and  Druggist,  who  had  two  grants 
before  nis  death,  in  1891,  and  applicant  has  had  two  since.  Her  bad  health  pre- 
vents  her  earning  anything.  (London.) 

The  widow  (aged  62)  Of  a  Member  and  subscriber,  who  has  had  four  previous 
grants.  She  is  in  poor  health,  but  earns  what  she  can.  (Bexley.) 

A  former  Associate  in  business  and  subscriber  (aged  56),  suffering  from 
epilepsy.  (Roughton.)  6 

One  case  was  deferred  for  further  information,  and  one  was  not  entertained. 

Mr.  Bottle  (as  Chairman  of  the  Committee),  after  giving  some 
explanations  in  Committee  on  the  individual  cases,  moved  that  the 
recommendations  be  received  and  adopted. 

This  was  at  once  agreed  to. 


Library,  Museum,  School,  and  House  Committee. 


Library. 

The  report  of  the  Librarian  had  been  received,  including  the 
following  particulars  : — 


Attendance 

Febmar^ . {Evening:::::: 

Circulation  of  Books.  Total. 
February  . .  216 


Total. 

Highest. 

,  415 

23 

.  146 

16 

Town. 

Country. 

115 

101 

Lowest.  Average. 
10  17 

2  7 

Carriage  paid. 

£1  7  s.  Vet. 


April  10  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


313 


Donations  to  the  Library  had  been  announced  {Pharm,  Journ., 
March  13,  p.  238),  and  the  Committee  had  directed  that  the 
usual  letters  of  thanks  be  sent  to  the  respective  donors. 

The  Committee  had  recommended  that  the  second  edition  of 
Brannt’s  ‘  Treatise  on  Fats  and  Oils  ’  be  purchased  for  the  Library 
in  London. 

The  Librarian  had  reported  that  four  volumes,  missing  from  the 
Library  for  many  years,  had  been  returned  anonymously. 

Museum. 

The  Curator’s  report  had  been  received,  and  included  the  fol¬ 
lowing  particulars  : — 

Attendance.  Total.  Highest.  Lowest.  Average. 

rphmimj-  /Day .  645  48  14  27 

reoruary  . /Evening  .  56  9  1  2 

Several  donations  had  been  received  {Pharm.  Journ.,  March 
13,  p.  238),  and  the  Committee  had  directed  that  the  usual  letters 
of  thanks  be  sent  to  the  respective  donors. 

The  President,  in  moving  the  adoption  of  the  Report,  said 
there  was  nothing  special  to  call  attention  to,  and  the  recommen¬ 
dations  were  at  once  adopted. 


Divisional  Secretary. 

The  President  proposed  that  Mr.  W.  Wilson,  of  Brixton  Road, 
be  appointed  Divisional  Secretary  for  the  Brixton  Division, 
Borough  of  Lambeth,  in  place  of  Mr.  Bascombe,  who  had  resigned. 
Mr.  Wilson  was  personally  known  to  him,  and  was,  he  believed, 
eminently  qualified  to  fill  the  post.  The  thanks  of  the  Society  were 
due  to  Mr.  Bascombe  for  the  work  he  had  done  on  its  behalf. 


Correspondence. 

The  President  read  a  letter  from  an  honorary  member  of  the 
Society,  Rai  Badadoor  Kanny  Lall  Dey,  of  Calcutta,'  who  had 
forwarded  a  copy  of  his  work  on  the  ‘  Indigenous  Drugs  of  India  ’  for 
the  Library. 

A  letter  was  also  received  from  the  Privy  Council  stating  that 
Dr.  G.  Balfour  Marshall  had  been  appointed  visitor  to  the 
examinations  of  the  Society  held  in  Edinburgh  in  succession 
to  Sir  Douglas  Maclagan,  who  had  resigned. 

The  local  secretary  at  Castle  Douglas  had  written  suggesting 
that  there  should  be  an  examination  centre  for  the  Preliminary 
examination  for  the  South  West  of  Scotland  at  Dumfries.  This 
was  a  matter  which  would  properly  engage  the  attention  of  the 
Council  in  November  next.  Dumfries  was  formerly  on  the  list  of 
centres,  but  was  deleted  in  1878. 

A  copy  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Register  and  Report  of  the  Pharma 
ceu ti cal  Council  of  Western  Australia  had  been  received.  This 
book  contained  the  whole  history  of  the  proceedings  of  that  body, 
financial  and  otherwise,  and  a  list  of  the  persons  licensed  to  sell 
poisons. 

Two  pamphlets  had  been  sent  by  Mr.  H.  G.  Smith,  who  was 
Mr.  Maiden’s  successor  at  the  Technological  Museum  at  Sydney. 


Royal  Botanic  Society. 

The  President  read  a  letter  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Royal 
Botanic  Society,  which  enclosed  a  copy  of  the  resolution  appointing 
him  (the  President)  an  honorary  member  of  that  Society.  He 
thought  the  Council  would  agree  with  him  that  it  was  very  satis¬ 
factory  that  he  should  be  appointed  a  member  of  that  Society, 
especially  at  a  time  when  they  were  using  all  their  influence  to 
promote  the  study  of  botany. 


General  Purposes  Committee. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  included  reports  from  the  Professors 
on  the  Prize  examinations,  which  were  all  satisfactory,  and  in 
accordance  with  their  reports  the  Committee  recommended  the 
following  awards  : — 

Botany. 

Silver  Medal .  Steam,  Ralph  M. 

Certificate  of  Honour .  Long,  Herbert  S.  A. 

Chemistry  and  Physics. 

Silver  Medal .  Steam,  Ralph  M. 

Practical  Chemistry. 

Silver  Medal  .  TTmney,  Ernest  A. 

Certificate  of  Honour .  Stearn,  Ralph  M. 


Silver  Medal . 

Certificates  of  Honour 


Materia  Medica. 


Long,  Herbert  S.  A. 
Stearn,  Ralph  M. 
Umney,  Ernest  A. 


Upon  the  recommendation  of  the  Committee,  the  above  awards 
were  duly  made. 

The  Council  then  went  into  Committee  to  consider  the  legal 
portion  of  the  report  of  the  General  Purposes  Committee,  including 
the  usual  letter  from  the  solicitors  as  to  cases  placed  in  their 
hands. 

On  resuming,  the  report  and  recommendations  of  the  Committee 
were  adopted,  and  special  resolutions  were  passed  authorising  the 
Registrar  to  take  proceedings  against  the  persons  named  therein. 


PROCEEDINGS  UNDER  THE  PHARMACY  ACTS- 


PROSECUTIONS  IN  GLASGOW. 


Pharmaceutical  Society  v.  Gilmour. 

At  the  Sheriff  Court  House,  Glasgow,  on  Wednesday,  March  31, 
a  number  of  cases  instituted  by  the  Registrar  under  the  Pharmacy 
Acts,  1852  and  1868,  Mr.  Bremridge,  came  before  Sheriff  Fyfe. 
Mr.  E.  T.  Salvesen,  advocate,  instructed  by  Messrs.  Martin 
and  Barrie,  solicitors,  Glasgow,  for  Mr.  P.  Morison,  S.S.C., 
Edinburgh,  appeared  for  the  prosecutor.  Mr.  Thomson  and  Mr. 
Mackay,  solicitors,  appeared  for  Dunlop  and  Walls  respectively. 

In  the  case  first  taken,  Andrew  Brown  Gilmour,  an  assistant  in 
the  shop  of  Dr.  Clark,  324,  Rutherglen  Road,  Glasgow,  was 
charged  with  two  offences  for  selling  laudanum  and  Powell’s  balsam 
of  aniseed  on  November  28,  1896,  to  an  agent  of  the  Registrar. 

Defender  pleaded  not  guilty,  and  said  he  remembered  nothing 
about  the  matter. 

Mr.  Rutherford  Hill  proved  that  Gilmour  was  not  registered, 
and  the  analysis  of  the  poisons  sold. 

Alex.  Spence  and  Joseph  Tait  proved  the  purchase  of  the 
poisons. 

Dr.  Clark  appeared  as  a  witness  for  the  defence,  and  made  a 
long  statement  in  reply  to  the  Sheriff.  He  preferred  to  have  un¬ 
qualified  assistants,  because  they  never  made  mistakes,  and 
qualified  assistants  did.  He  was  himself  a  registered  chemist  and 
druggist.  He  did  not  see  why  he  should  be  stopped  selling  poisons 
by  unqualified  assistants  when  his  neighbours  sold  oxalic  acid  in  a 
piece  of  paper  twisted  and  without  any  label  at  all  upon  it.  He 
would  like  to  know  what  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  wanted. 
They  must  come  to  some  understanding. 

By  Mr.  Salvesen  :  He  had  never  told  the  accused  not  to  sell 
laudanum,  and  it  was  an  ordinary  part  o'f  his  duty  to  sell  it. 
Castor  oil  and  laudanum  were  such  common  things  that  no  one 
ever  thought  anything  about  it.  He  told  his  assistants  not  to  sell 
arsenic  and  other  powerful  poisons.  He  was  quite  sure  he  was  in 
the  shop  when  these  poisons  were  sold.  He  would  be  in  his  corn 
suiting-room  at  the  back.  He  thought  it  was  quite  enough  if  he 
was  on  the  premises  when  the  poisons  were  sold.  The  accused 
could  not  have  been  alone  at  the  hour  these  articles  were  sold.  He 
would  not  have  found  fault  with  accused  if  he  had  refused  to  sell 
laudanum  when  he  was  not  there. 

Mr.  Salvesen  said  the  prosecutor  had  no  wish  to  prose¬ 
cute  assistants  who  were  acting  under  the  instructions 
of  their  employers,  who  must  be  regarded  as  the  chief 
offenders  in  conducting  their  businesses  in  such  a  manner. 
But  they,  unfortunately,  had  no  means  of  getting  at  the  em¬ 
ployers.  In  many  cases  these  businesses  were  carried  on  without 
any  name  of  a  person,  under  such  designations  as  Apothecaries’ 
Hall  and  Medical  Hall,  and  it  was  exceedingly  difficult  to  find  out 
who  the  real  owners  were.  They  were  also  frequently  medical 
practitioners,  who  could  not  be  proceeded  against.  It  had  been 
laid  down  in  the  English  decisions  and  also  in  the  Tomlinson  case 
that  the  actual  person  who  sells  must  be  punished,  and  that  was 
the  only  way  in  which  the  Registrar  could  discharge  his 
statutory  duty,  and  secure  to  the  public  the  pro¬ 
tection  which  the  Statute  was  intended  to .  provide. 
He  thought,  however,  that  the  assistant  had  a  valid  claim  against 
his  employer  for  relief  for  any  penalty  that  might  be  imposed 
upon  him,  and  that  he  could  recover  the  amount  by  legal  process. 
It  was  perfectly  clear  that  the  doctor  in  this  instance,  as  well  as 


314 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  10,  1897 


the  accused,  was  perfectly  aware  of  the  numerous  prosecutions 
that  had  taken  place,  and  that  these  offences  had  not  been  com¬ 
mitted  ignorantly.  He  therefore  asked  that  the  full  penalty 
should  he  imposed. 

Sheriff  Fyfe  said  :  This  is  a  prosecution  of  an  assistant,  and 
defender  has  acknowledged  that  he  is  unqualified,  and  he 
seems  well  aware  of  the  law.  It  is  most  unfortunate  that 
chemists,  doctors,  and  others  who  keep  shops  continue  this 
practice,  and  shut  their  eyes  to  the  many  warnings  they 
must  have  seen  in  the  public  prints  about  prosecu¬ 
tions  under  these  Acts.  The  language  of  this  Act  is 
confused,  and  the  highest  authorities  have  confessed  the  difficulty 
caused  by  its  ambiguity.  It  would  perhaps  have  been  better  for 
the  public  interest  if  it  had  not  been  necessary  to  prosecute  these 
innocent  assistants,  and  if  some  means  could  have  been  found  of 
getting  at  the  parties  who  keep  these  shops.  Of  course,  at  present, 
if  this  were  attempted  the  employer  would  take  refuge  in  the 
defence  that  his  was  not  the  hand  that  committed  the  offence,  and 
then  the  employ 6  would  throw  back  the  responsibility  on  the 
master.  The  prosecutor  would  thus  be  driven  from  pillar  to 
post,  and  the  Act  would  be  rendered  entirely  inoperative. 
Though  I  have  some  sympathy  with  the  accused,  and  though 
I  assume  that  his  master  is  a  qualified  chemist,  it  is  my  duty  to 
administer  the  law  as  I  find  it,  though  it  may  not  be  as  many 
would  like  it  to  be.  In  this  case  the  master  and  also  the  accused 
seem  well  aware  of  the  judicial  decisions  that  the  person  who 
actually  sells  incurs  the  penalty,  even  though  he  be  the  employe  of 
a  chemist.  I  have  therefore  no  alternative  but  to  convict  him  of 
this  contravention.  But  he  is  only  an  assistant,  and  I  think  he  is 
entitled  to  some  consideration  in  regard  to  the  penalty,  which 
should  not  be  so  severe  in  the  case  of  a  mere  employe  as  in  other 
cases.  I  therefore  impose  a  modified  penalty  of  10.?.  for  each 
offence,  and  £2  of  expenses. 


pense  it  looked  rather  like  laying  a  trap.  He  found  the  first  con¬ 
travention  proved,  and  imposed  a  penalty  of  10.?.,  with  £1  of 
expenses.  There  seemed  a  little  doubt  about  the  sale  of  the  pills, 
and  he  would  give  accused  the  benefit  of  that  doubt. 


Pharmaceutical  Society  v.  Walls. 

In  the  fourth  case  heard,  John  Walls,  an  assistant  in  the  shop 
of  J.  and  S.  Robertson,  grocers,  467,  Cathcart  Road,  Govanhill, 
Glasgow,  was  charged  with  one  offence  for  selling  a  bottle  of  Dr.  J. 
Collis  Browne’s  Chlorodyne,  on  November  21,  1896,  to  an  agent 
of  the  Registrar.  Mr.  Murray,  solicitor,  appeared  for  defender 
and  he  pleaded  guilty.  Mr.  Murray  said  the  accused’s  employer 
was  quite  unaware  that  he  was  committing  an  offence  in  selling 
this  Collis  Browne’s  Chlorodyne.  He  thought  it  was  a  patent 
medicine,  and  that  he  was  at  liberty  to  sell  it.  On  learning  that 
it  was  illegal  he  had  sent  his  whole  stock  back  to  the  wholesale 
house. 

Mr.  Salvesen  pointed  out,  both  on  the  outer  wrapper  and  on  the 
inner  label,  the  bottle  was  stated  to  contain  chloroform  and 
morphine,  and  it  was  labelled  poison.  It  had  been  decided  in  the 
case  of  Piper  in  the  Queen’s  Bench  Division  that  this  very 
preparation  came  within  the  Act. 

Mr.  Murray  :  That  was  not  Dr.  J.  Collis  Browne’s.  The  report 
only  says  chlorodyne. 

Mr.  Salvesen  :  It  was  our  case,  and  we  know  for  a  fact  that  it 
was  Collis  Browne’s.  Piper’s  case  followed  a  Treasury  prosecu¬ 
tion  of  Davenport,  whose  name  is  on  the  label  of  this  bottle  as  the 
sole  maker. 

The  Sheriff  said  he  thought  there  was  only  a  technical  offence 
here,  and  no  intention  to  infringe  the  law.  The  accused  seemed 
to  have  mistaken  it  for  a  patent  medicine.  It  was  also  to  be 
remembered  that  the  offence  had  been  discontinued.  He  imposed 
a  penalty  of  10s.  and  £1  of  expenses. 


Pharmaceutical  Society  v.  Dunlop. 

The  second  case  was  that  of  Andrew  Dunlop,  an  assistant  in  the 
shop  of  Dr.  Wilson,  470,  Paisley  Road,  Glasgow,  who  was  charged 
with  two  offences  for  selling  laudanum  and  Powell’s  balsam  of 
aniseed  on  November  28,  1896,  to  an  agent  of  the  Registrar. — Mr. 
Thomson,  solicitor,  appeared  for  accused,  who  pleaded  guilty,  and 
said  he  was  an  experienced  dispenser,  and  had  been  nine  years  at 
the  business. 

The  Sheriff  said  that  was  no  excuse.  He  was  quite  willing  to 
assume  that  accused  was  as  well  qualified  to  dispense  as  a  registered 
man,  but  the  pointwas,  he  did  not  possess  the  statutory  qualification. 
Many  medical  students  were  doubtless  as  well  qualified  to  perform 
operations  as  some  medical  men.  Divinity  students  were  often  as 
competent  as  fully-qualified  divines,  and  many  law-clerks  were  as 
competent,  or  more  competent,  than  their  qualified  masters  for 
certain  pieces  of  business,  but  they  must  all  have  a  proper  profes¬ 
sional  certificate.  It  was  the  same  in  this  case.  He  must  hold 
the  accused  guilty  of  the  contravention  so  as  to  give  the  public  the 
security  which  could  alone  be  secured  by  the  possession  of  the 
statutory  qualification.  He  imposed  the  same  penalties  as  in  the 
previous  cases — 10s.  for  each  offence  and  £2  expenses. 


Pharmaceutical  Society  v.  Adams. 

The  next  case  was  against  Robert  Adams,  an  assistant  in  the 
shop  of  Thomas  McKee,  junior,  386,  Cumberland  Street,  Glasgow, 
who  was  charged  with  two  offences  for  selling  chloroform  and  mor¬ 
phine  in  a  mixture  dispensed  by  him,  and  opium  in  pills  on 
November  28,  1896,  to  an  agent  of  the  Registrar. 

Defender  pleaded  not  guilty. 

Hill,  Spence,  and  Tait  proved  the  charges  as  in  the  former  case. 

Dr.  Thomas  McKee  appeared  as  a  witness  for  the  defence.  He 
admitted  that  the  prescription  produced  was  copied  in  his  book, 
and  that  the  bottle  of  medicine  might  have  been  dispensed,  but 
he  Society’s  officer  came  in  hurriedly  and  as  if  in  great  distress, 
and  the  accused  had  done  it  to  relieve  a  man  in  distress.  The 
pills  were  not  sold  in  his  shop,  as  they  never  sold  opium  pills. 

By  Mr.  Salvesen  :  The  shop  was  carried  on  for  his  son,  whose 
name  was  Thomas  McKee,  jun.,  but  that  was  to  be  changed.  He 
(witness)  was  also  Thomas  McKee,  jun.,  as  his  father  was  Thomas 
McKee,  and  he  was  still  alive.  His  son,  the  accused,  and  a  boy 
were  the  only  persons  in  the  shop.  None  of  them  were  qualified. 

The  Sheriff  said  there  seemed  to  be  a  good  deal  of  looseness  in 
the  way  this  prescription  had  been  dispensed.  The  dramatic  way 
in  which  the  witness  seemed  to  have  induced  the  accused  to  dis¬ 


Pharmaceutical  Society  v.  Hunter. 

The  last  case  was  against  David  Hunter,  an  assistant  in  the  shop 
of  Dr.  Taylor,  74,  Nelson  Street,  Glasgow,  who  was  charged  with 
one  offence  for  selling  red  oxide  of  mercury  as  an  ingredient  in  an 
ointment,  on  November  28,  1896,  to  an  agent  of  the  Registrar. 

Defender  pleaded  not  guilty.  He  did  not  remember  anything 
about  what  happened. 

The  offence  having  been  proved,  the  Sheriff  imposed  a  penalty 
of  10s.  and  £1  of  expenses. 


NOTES  AND_F0RMUL£. 

( Specially  Compiled  for  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal. ) 


Acetone  Collodium  and  Oil  of  Cade. 

Two  parts  of  acetone  collodium  and  1  part  of  ol.  cadini  mixed 
are  used  by  Gaucher  as  a  basis  for  applying  medicines.  The 
mixture  is  pleasant  to  use  and  efficient  in  the  case  of  psoriasis,  as 
it  does  not  stain  the  clothes.  —Therap.  Monat.,  xi.,  127. 


Insecticide  for  Plant  Lice. 

Soft  soap,  20 ;  methylated  spirit,  200  ;  quassia  wood,  6 ;  sodium 
salicylate,  2J$ ;  macerate  for  several  days,  filter,  and  add  water, 
1000.  Apply  to  the  infested  plants  with  a  brush  ;  allow  to  dry  on 
and  the  next  day  wash  off  with  plenty  of  water. — U  Union  Pharm., 
xxxviii. ,  72,  after  Journ.  Soc.  d’JJort.  de  Lyons. 


Napiithosalicine  as  an  Antiseptic  in  Laundries. 

A  patent  has  been  taken  out  in  France  for  a  preparation  called 
naphthosalicine,  which  consists  of  naphthol  and  salicylic  acid 
rendered  soluble  in  boiling  water  by  means  of  borax.  The  solution 
so  obtained  is  not  thrown  out  on  rinsing  with  cold  water.  For 
heavy  articles  pure  alkali  may  be  used  in  place  of  borax. — Rev. 
Med.  Pharm.,  iv.,  77,  after  Rev.  de  Chim.  Indust. 


Carbolic  Acid  Pastilles. 

According  to  Salzmann,  these  may  be  prepared  as  follows  : — • 
95  grammes  of  official  crystalline  carbolic  acid  are  melted  on  the 
water  bath,  and  5  grammes  stearine  soap  added.  After  the  solution 
of  the  latter,  pour  out  and  stir  with  the  pestle  until  a  doughy  crys¬ 
talline  mass  results.  From  this  pastilles  can  easily  be  made,  which 
soon  set.  These  pastilles  have  the  advantage  that  they  can  be 
handled  without  irritating  the  hands. — Pharm.  Centr.,  xxxviii.,  56. 


Apbil  10, 1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


315 


PROPOSED  NEW  BYE=LAWS. 


Present  Bye=Laws. 

Stat.  11.  All  persons  who  shall  tender  themselves  to  the 
18^2’  ...  Examiners  for  examination  in  accordance  with  the  Charter 
sec.  vm.  the  Statute,  1852,  or  the  Act,  1868,  shall  be  examined 
in  their  knowledge  of  the  Latin  language,  in  English 
Grammar  and  Composition,  and  Arithmetic,  which  Exami¬ 
nation  shall  be  called  the  First  Examination.  Such  of  the 
said  persons  as  shall  desire  Certificates  of  competent  skill 
and  qualification  to  be  registered  as  Chemists  and  Drug¬ 
gists  under  the  Act,  1868,  shall  be  examined  in  or  produce 
certificates  of  having  previously  passed  in  the  First  Exami¬ 
nation,  and  having  been  registered  as  Apprentices  or 
Students,  and  shall  be  examined  in  the  translation  and 
dispensing  of  Prescriptions,  in  Botany,  in  Materia  Medica, 
in  Pharmaceutical  and  General  Chemistry,  Physics  and 
Posology,  and  in  their  knowledge  of  the  law  relating  to  the 
sale  of  Poisons,  which  examination  shall  be  called  the  Minor 
Examination  ;  and  such  of  the  said  persons  as  shall  desire 
Certificates  of  competent  skill  and  qualification  to  exercise 
the  business  or  calling  of  Pharmaceutical  Chemists  shall 
produce  Certificates  of  having  been  previously  registered 
as  Chemists  and  Druggists,  and  shall  be  examined  in  more 
extended  knowledge  of  Botany,  Materia  Medica,  Chemistry, 
and  Physics,  or  any  two  of  them,  which  examination  shall 
be  called  the  Major  Examination. 

Act  1868,  12.  All  persons  who  shall  tender  themselves  to  the  Ex- 

sec.  vi.  amjners  for  examination,  under  the  provisions  of  the  Act, 
1868,  excepting  only  those  specified  in  the  next  following 
Bye-law,  shall  be  examined  in  the  Minor  Examination. 


• 

Act  1868,  13.  All  persons  entitled  to  be  registered  as  Chemists  and 

sec.  iv.  DrUggists  on  passing  a  modified  examination,  who  shall 
tender  themselves  to  the  Examiners  for  examination  under 
the  provisions  of  the  Act,  1868,  shall  pass  the  Modified 
Examination,  which  the  Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society,  with  the  consent  of  the  Privy  Council,  have 
declared  to  be  in  their  case  sufficient  evidence  of  skill  and 
competency  to  conduct  the  business  of  a  chemist  and 
Druggist,  as  the  same  is  set  out  in  the  Schedule  hereto,  or 
such  other  modified  examination  as  may  in  like  manner  be 
declared  such  sufficient  evidence. 

Act  1868,  14.  The  Examiners  may  grant  or  refuse  to  such  persons 

sec.  vi.  ag  pave  tendered  themselves  for  the  First  Examination,  the 
Minor  Examination,  and  the  Major  Examination  respectively, 
as  in  their  discretion  may  seem  fit,  Certificates  of  com¬ 
petent  skill  and  knowledge  and  qualification  ;  and  lists  of 
such  persons  shall  be  delivered  by  the  Examiners  to  the 
Registrar. 

Charter,  15.  All  persons  shall,  before  registration  as  Apprentices 
Act  186^  or  Students,  pay  a  fee  of  Two  Guineas,  and  pass  the  First 
sec.  vii.  ’Examination,  whereupon  they  shall  be  registered  as 
Apprentices  or  Students. 


Stat.  16.  All  persons  desiring  registration  as  Assistants  under 
1852>  ...  .the  Statute,  1852,  or  as  Chemists  and  Druggists  under  the 
Act  1868,’ Act,  1868,  excepting  those  named  in  the  next  following 
sec.  vii.  Bye-law,  shall  pay  a  fee  of  Five  Guineas  if  previously  regis¬ 
tered  as  Apprentices  or  Students,  or  otherwise  a  fee  of 
Seven  Guineas,  and  pass  the  Minor  Examination,  where¬ 
upon  they  shall  be  registered  accordingly. 

Stat.  17.  All  persons  entitled  to  be  registered  as  Chemists  and 

1852,  Druggists  on  passing  a  modified  examination,  and  desiring 
Act  1868  so  be  registered,  shall  pay  a  fee  of  One  Guinea  and  pass 
sec.  vii.  ’the  Modified  Examination,  whereupon  they  shall  be  regis¬ 
tered  accordingly. 


Proposed  Bye=Laws. 

11.  Prior  to  July,  1900,  persons  desiring  certificates  of  competent 
skill  and  qualification  to  be  registered  as  Chemists  and  Druggists 
under  the  Act  1868,  shall  be  examined  in  their  knowledge  of  the 
Latin  language,  in  English  Grammar  and  Composition,  and 
Arithmetic,  which  Examination  shall  be  called  the  First  Examina¬ 
tion.  Persons  intending  to  present  themselves  for  this  Examination 
shall  give  to  the  Registrar  notice  in  that  behalf  and  pay  to  him  a 
fee  of  Two  Guineas  not  less  than  14  days  prior  to  the  day  which 
has  been  appointed  for  the  holding  of  the  said  Examination. 
All  persons  who  pass  the  said  Examination  shall  be  registered  as 
“Apprentices  or  Students.”  After  June,  1900,  persons  desiring 
the  said  certificates  of  competent  skill  and  qualification  under  the 
Act,  1868,  shall  deliver  to  the  Registrar  on  behalf  of  the  Board  of 
Examiners  a  certificate  of  having  passed  an  Examination  in  English 
Grammar  and  Composition,  in  the  Latin  Language,  and  in  one 
modern  foreign  language,  and  also  in  Algebra,  Arithmetic  and 
Euclid,  conducted  by  any  or  either  of  the  examining  bodies  which 
shall  have  been  previously  approved  for  the  purpose  by  such 
regulations  as  are  specified  by  the  last  preceding  Bye  Law,  and 
shall  pay  a  fee  of  Two  Guineas,  whereupon,  if  the  Board  of 
Examiners  shall  so  see  fit,  they  shall  be  registered  as  Apprentices 
or  Students. 


12.  Persons  intending  to  present  themselves  to  the  Examiners  for 
examination  in  accordance  with  the  Charter  and  the  Statute,  1852, 
or  the  Act,  1868,  and  having  been  registered  as  Apprentices  or  Stu¬ 
dents,  shall  be  examined  in  thetranslationanddispensingof  prescrip¬ 
tions,  in  Botany,  in  Materia  Medica,  in  Pharmaceutical  and  General 
Chemistry,  Physics  and  Posology,  and  in  their  knowledge  of  the 
law  relating  to  the  sale  of  poisons,  which  Examination  shall  be 
called  the  Minor  Examination. 

13.  Persons  desiring  certificates  of  competent  skill  and  quali¬ 
fication  to  exercise  the  business,  or  calling,  of  Pharmaceutical 
Chemists  shall  produce  to  the  Registrar  evidence  of  having  been 
previously  registered  as  Chemists  and  Druggists,  and  shall  be 
examined  in  more  extended  knowledge  of  Botany,  Materia  Medica, 
Chemistry,  and  Physics,  or  any  two  of  them,  which  Examination 
shall  be  called  the  Major  Examination. 


14.  Persons  who  shall  tender  themselves  to  the  Examiners  for 
Examination,  under  the  provisions  of  the  Act,  1868,  excepting  only 
those  specified  in  the  next  following  Bye  Law,  shall  be  examined  in 
the  Minor  Examination. 


15.  Persons  entitled  to  be  registered  as  Chemists  and  Druggists 
on  passing  a  modified  Examination,  who  shall  tender  themselves 
to  the  Examiners  for  examination  under  the  provisions  of  the  Act, 
1868,  shall  pass  the  Modified  Examination,  which  the  Council  of 
the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  with  the  consent  of  the  Privy  Council, 
have  declared  be  in  their  case  sufficient  evidence  of  skill  and 
competency  to  conduct  the  business  of  a  Chemist  and  Druggist, 
as  the  same  is  set  out  in  the  Schedule  hereto,  or  such  other 
modified  Examination  as  may  in  like  manner  be  declared  such 
sufficient  evidence. 

16.  The  Examiners  may  grant  or  refuse  to  such  persons  as  have 
tendered  themselves  for  the  Minor  Examination  and  the  Major 
Examination  respectively,  Certificates  of  competent  skill  and 
knowledge  and  qualification  ;  and  lists  of  such  persons  shall  be 
delivered  by  the  Examiners  to  the  Registrar. 


17.  All  persons  desiring  registration  as  Chemists  and  Druggists 
shall  in  respect  of  an  examination,  to  take  place  prior  to  the  end 
of  1898,  pay  a  fee  of  Five  Guineas,  and  shall  in  respect  of  an 
examination,  to  take  place  after  1898,  pay  a  fee  of  Ten  Guineas, 
and  shall  in  either  case  pass  the  Minor  Examination  or  the  Modified 
Examination,  whereupon  they  shall  be  registered  accordingly. 


316 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Apbil  10,  1897 


PROPOSED  NEW  BYE  -  LAWS — continued. 


Present  Bye-Laws. 

Stat.  18.  All  persons  desiring  registration  as  Pharmaceutical 
1852,  .  Chemists  under  the  Statute,  1852,  shall  pay  a  fee  of  Three 
Act  1868  Guineas  if  previously  registered  as  Chemists  and  Druggists 
sec.  vii.  by  virtue  of  having  passed  the  Minor  Examination,  or 
otherwise  a  fee  of  Ten  Guineas  and  pass  the  Major  Exami¬ 
nation,  whereupon  they  shall  be  registered  accordingly. 

Charter,  19.  All  persons  intending  to  present  themselves  for 
line  253.  examination  in  the  First  Examination  shall  give  to  the 
Registrar  notice  in  writing  of  their  intention  in  that  behalf 
not  less  than  fourteen  clear  days  prior  to  the  day  which 
has  been  appointed  for  the  holding  of  the  said  examination. 

Charter,  20.  All  persons  intending  to  present  themselves  for 
line  253.  examination  in  the  Major,  the  Minor,  or  the  Modified 
Examination,  shall  give  to  the  Registrar  notice  in  writing 
of  their  intention  in  that  behalf  on  or  before  the  fifteenth 
day  of  the  month  immediately  preceding  that  in  which 
the  Examination  is  to  take  place. 

Act  1868,  21.  All  notices  of  intention  to  attend  for  examination 
sec.  vii.  be  p-,  attend  on  the  next  occasion  of  the  Examination 

being  held,  and  all  fees  in  respect  of  examination  and 
registration  shall  be  payable  on  the  giving  of  notice  of 
intention  to  attend  for  examination,  and  in  no  case  shall 
any  fee  paid  in  accordance  with  the  Bye-laws  be  remitted 
or  returned. 

Charter,  22.  No  person  shall  be  admitted  to  the  Major  or  the  Minor 
line  253.  Examjnation  who  shall  not  have  attained  the  full  age  of 
twenty-one  years,  nor  unless  he  shall  satisfy  the  Examiners 
that  for  three  years  he  has  been  registered  and  employed 
as  an  apprentice  or  student,  or  has  otherwise  for  three 
years  being  practically  engaged  in  the  translation  and 
dispensing  of  prescriptions.  Persons  who  have  passed  the 
Minor  Examination  at  least  three  months  previously  may 
be  admitted  to  the  Minor  Examination,  and  all  other 
persons  desirous  of  passing  the  Major  Examination  may 
make  application  to  the  Board  of  Examiners  for  special 
leave  in  that  behalf. 

Act  1868,  23.  Persons  who  have  attended  and  failed  to  pass  an 

sec.  vn.  examination  shall  not  be  entitled  to  attend  on  any  future 
occasion  within  an  interval  of  three  months  therefrom, 
nor  unless  and  until  they  shall  have  given  renewed  notice 
of  intention  to  attend  an  examination,  and  shall  have  paid 
fees  as  follows 

(a)  In  respect  of  a  Major  Examination,  Two  Guineas  ; 

(b)  In  respect  of  a  Minor  Examination,  Three  Guineas ; 

(c)  In  respect  of  a  First  Examination,  One  Guinea  ; — 

in  cases  of  renewed  notices  for  examinations  to  be  held  before 
the  expiration  of  one  year,  computed  from  the  first  day  of 
the  month  wherein  the  Examination  was  held  in  respect  of 
which  the  original  fee  was  paid.  In  all  other  cases  fees  of 
amounts  corresponding  with  the  fees  paid  on  the  original 
notice  shall  be  paid. 

Act  1868,  24.  Persons  who  have  given  original  or  renewed  notices  of 

sec.  vn.  intenti0n  to  attend  an  examination  and  have  failed  duly  to 
attend  at  the  time  appointed  for  the  same,  shall  not  be  en¬ 
titled  to  attend  on  any  future  occasion  unless  and  until  they 
shall  have  given  renewed  notice  of  intention  to  attend  an 
examination,  and  shall  have  paid  fees  as  follows,  viz.  : — In 
cases  of  renewed  notices  for  examinations  to  be  held  before  the 
expiration  of  one  year,  computed  from  the  first  day  of  the 
month  wherein  the  Examination  was  held  in  respect  whereof 
the  original  fee  was  paid, — One  Guinea, — or  if  the  persons 
shall  have  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Council  or  the 
Board  of  Examiners  (by  production  of  medical  cer¬ 
tificates  or  otherwise)  that  the  said  failure  was 
occasioned  by  unavoidable  and  proper  causes, — One 
Shilling, — and  in  all  other  cases,  fees  of  amounts 
corresponding  with  the  fees  paid  on  the  original  notice. 


Proposed  Bye=Laws. 

18.  Persons  desiring  registration  as  Pharmaceutical  Chemists 
under  the  Statute,  1852,  shall  pay  a  fee  of  Three  Guineas  and 
pass  the  Major  Examination,  whereupon  they  shall  be  registered 
accordingly. 


19.  Persons  intending  to  present  themselves  for  examination  in 
the  Major,  the  Minor,  or  the  Modified  Examination,  shall  give  to 
the  Registrar  notice  in  writing  of  their  intention  in  that  behalf  on 
or  before  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  month  immediately  preceding 
that  in  which  the  Examination  is  to  take  place. 


20.  All  notices  of  intention  to  attend  for  examination  shall  be  to 
attend  on  the  next  occasion  of  the  Examination  being  held,  and  all 
fees  in  respect  of  examination  and  registration  shall  be  payable  on 
the  giving  of  notice  of  intention  to  attend  for  examination,  and  in 
no  case  shall  any  fee  paid  in  accordance  with  the  Bye  Laws  be 
remitted  or  returned. 


21.  All  persons  shall,  at  the  time  of  giving  notice  of  intention  to 
present  themselves  for  the  Minor  Examination  satisfy  the  B&gistrar 
that  they  have  attained  the  full  age  of  twenty-one  years,  and  have 
been  registered  as  “Apprentices  or  Students,”  and  that  they  have 
for  three  years  been  practically  engaged  in  the  translation  and 
dispensing  of  prescriptions. 


22.  Persons  who  have  attended  and  failed  to  pass  an  examina¬ 
tion  shall  not  be  entitled  to  attend  on  any  future  occasion  unless 
and  until  they  shall  have  given  renewed  notice  of  intention  to 
attend  an  examination,  and  shall  have  paid  fees  as  follows  : — - 

( a)  In  respect  of  a  Major  Examination,  Two  Guineas  ; 

(b)  In  respect  of  a  Minor  Examination,  or  a  Modified  Examina¬ 
tion,  Three  Guineas  ; 

(c)  In  respect  of  a  First  Examination,  One  Guinea. 


-  o'Hh., 

23.  Persons  who  have  given  notice  of  intention  to  attend  an 
examination  and  have  failed  duly  to  attend  at  the  time  appointed 
for  the  same,  shall  not  be  entitled  to  attend  on  a  future  occasion 
unless,  and  until  they  shall  have  given  renewed  notice  of  intention 
to  attend  an  examination,  and  shall  in  each  case  have  paid  a  fee  of 
One  Guinea, — or  if  the  persons  shall  have  proved  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  Council  or  the  Board  of  Examiners  (by  production  of  medical 
certificates  or  otherwise)  that  the  said  failure  was  occasioned  by 
unavoidable  and  proper  causes, — One  Shilling. 


Apbil  10,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


317 


Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


A  Weekly  Record  of  Pharmacy  and  Allied  Sciences. 

ESTABLISHED  1841. 

Editorial  Office:  17,  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.C. 
Publishing  aqd  Advertising  Office :  5,  SERLE  STREET,  W.C. 


LONDON  :  SATURDAY,  APRIL  10,  1897. 


THE  COUNCIL  MEETING. 

As  arising  out  of  the  minutes  of  the  previous  Council 
meeting,  the  President  mentioned  that  several  letters  have 
been  received  on  the  subject  of  the  proposed  International 
Congress  at  Brussels.  In  regard  to  the  doubt  then  expressed 
whether  it  could  be  regarded  as  the  legitimate  successor  of 
the  Congress  held  at  Chicago,  it  has  since  transpired  that 
the  apparent  informality  to  which  reference  was  made 
by  Mr.  Carteighe  arose  from  the  delivery  of  the  letter 
to  the  President  of  the  Seventh  International  Congress 
having  been  delayed,  in  consequence  of  a  defective  address. 
Now  that  this  difficulty  has  been  removed,  the  Council 
will  consider  the  appointment  of  delegates,  and  the 
President  requested  his  colleagues  to  inform  him  whether 
they  would  be  able  to  attend  the  Brussels  Congress  in  that 
capacity  and  take  part  in  the  celebration  of  the  fiftieth  anni¬ 
versary  of  the  Association  Generate  Pharmaceutique  de  Bel¬ 
gique,  which  will  take  p'ace  in  the  week  following  the 
meeting  of  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference  at  Glasgow. 

The  additions  to  the  Society  comprised  three  Members, 
forty-one  Associates,  and  thirty-seven  Students. 

Out  of  twenty  nominations  of  candidates  for  election  as 
Members  of  Council  four  of  the  nominees  have  declined  to 
serve,  one  of  the  number  being  Mr.  Gostling,  of  Diss,  who 
announced  his  intention  of  retiring  last  week,  the  others 
being  Mr.  Armitage,  of  Leeds  ;  Mr.  Barrett,  of  Leaming¬ 
ton  ;  and  Mr.  Bateman,  of  Finchley.  The  new  candidates 
are  Mr.  Campkin,  of  Cambridge ;  Mr.  Hyslop  and  Mr. 
Warren-,  of  London.  The  present  auditors  have  been 
nominated  for  election,  and  have  signified  their  willingness 
to  accept  office. 

The  report  of  Dr.  Stevenson  to  the  Pi  ivy  Council  on  the 
examinations  held  by  the  London  Board  during  the  year 
ending  March  31  last,  again  directed  attention  to  the  fact 
that  nearly  half  the  candidates  proposing  to  take  up  the 
business  of  a  chemist  and  druggist  continue  to  display  a 
**  deplorable  ”  lack  of  knowledge  of  arithmetic,  though  the 
requirements  of  the  Preliminary  examination  are  very 
elementary. 

After  a  formal  proposition  that  the  draft  of  proposed  altera¬ 
tions  of  the  bye-laws  should  be  read  a  second  time,  the  Presi¬ 
dent  mentioned  some  letters,  received  from  the  secretaries  of 
several  chemists’  associations  in  different  parts  of  the  country, 
enclosing  resolutions  in  support  of  the  contemplated  change  in 
the  mode  of  conducting  the  Preliminary  examination  and  the 
increase  of  the  fee  to  be  paid  on  registration  as  a  chemist  and 
druggist.  These  resolutions  are  in  full  accord  with  the 
action  of  the  Council,  and  they  show  such  an  appreciation 
of  it  as  might  be  expected.  A  letter  of  a  very  different  nature 
from  the  editor  of  the  Chemist  and  Druggist  expressed 


disapproval  of  the  action  and  policy  of  the  Council  on 
grounds  so  obviously  fallacious  and  inappropriate  as  to 
require  no  serious  refutation. 

Mr.  Carteighe  then  moved,  as  an  amendment,  that 
certain  words  should  be  deleted  from  Sub-section  22,  and 
that  a  new  Sub-section,  numbered  23,  should  be  added  to 
take  the  place  of  Sub-section  24  of  the  present  bye-laws. 
The  effect  of  the  first  alteration  would  be  to  enable  a  candi¬ 
date — who  had  paid  the  fee  for  examination  and  registration 
but  had  failed  to  pass  the  examination — to  present  himself 
again  at  any  subsequent  time  on  payment  of  three  guineas. 
This  will  remove  the  only  ground  of  objection  that  has  been 
raised  against  the  increased  fee  upon  grounds  of  a  reasonable 
nature,  and  Mr.  Carteighe  explained  that  the  necessity  for 
the  amendment  arose  from  an  oversight.  He  pointed  out 
that  the  Council  had  no  intention  that  an  unsuccessful 
candidate  should  be  hurried  to  come  up  again,  or 
that  he  should  be  called  upon  to  pay  the  full  fee  over  again, 
but  only  the  fee  for  the  further  examination,  and  it  was  by 
mistake  that  the  words  limiting  the  time  within  which  the 
payment  of  that  fee  was  to  apply  were  not  struck  out.  The 
second  alteration  related  to  a  restriction  in  Sub-section  24, 
and  as  that  restriction  applied  to  conditions  not  now  existing 
it  is  removed. 

Mr.  Storrar,  in  seconding  the  amendment,  said  that  it 
removed  the  only  bar  to  absolute  unanimity  in  approval  of 
the  new  bye-laws  among  the  representatives  of  Scottish  phar¬ 
macists.  The  increased  fee  would  probably  induce  candidates 
to  come  up  better  prepared  ;  but  he  suppoited  the  increase  on 
the  more  prosaic  ground  that  the  Society  wants  money  to 
meet  the  naturally  increasing  and  absolutely  necessary  ex¬ 
penditure  upon  work  that  is  of  a  public  nature  and  is  for  the 
benefit  of  the  trade  generally  as  much  as  for 
that  of  subscribers  to  the  Society.  The  great  number 
of  registered  chemists  unconnected  with  the  Society — 
who  share  in  those  benefits,  but  do  not  contribute  to  the 
expenditure  it  involves — -should  be  made  to  pay  something, 
and  he  would  like  to  see  an  annual  registration  fep,  if  it 
could  be  done.  The  extra  fee  for  qualification  might  perhaps 
be  a  more  severe  tax  on  some  candidates  than  is  generally 
imagined,  especially  in  Scotland ;  but  he  had  ascertained 
that,  under  existing  conditions  and  in  consequence  of  going 
up  more  than  once  for  examination,  the  average  amount  paid 
by  candidates  was  nearly  eight  pounds,  so  that  the  increased 
fee  would  not  after  all  press  so  heavily  as  had  been  assumed. 

The  Vice-President  remarked  that  to  say  the  examinations 
cost  so  much  and  the  fees  gave  a  surplus  was  to  state  only 
half  the  truth.  When  a  man  passed  the  examination,  the 
Society  had  not  done  with  him  :  year  by  year  he 
continued  to  be  a  source  of  expense.  Only  one-fourth 
of  the  persons  becoming  entitled  to  registration  joined  the 
Society,  and  they  should  therefore  be  dealt  with  on  the  prin¬ 
ciple  applied  in  business  with  questionable  people  and  made  to 
pay  beforehand.  Instead  of  keeping  many  from  entering  the 
trade,  he  anticipated  that  the  increased  fee  would  rather  pre¬ 
vent  candidates  presenting  themselves  on  the  chance  of 
squeezing  through.  Such  he  held  were  not  the  kind  of  men 
wanted  in  the  ranks  of  pharmacy. 

Dr.  Symes  spoke  of  the  opposition  in  one  quarter  as 
being  based  upon  serious  misconception,  and  showed 
that  the  suggestion  as  to  subsidising  the  Journal  being 
the  reason  for  wanting  more  money  must  appear  peculiarly 
absurd  to  anyone  who  considered  the  real  facts  of  the  case. 


318 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  10,  1897. 


ANNOTATIONS. 


The  Proposed  New  Bye-Laws  were  amended  at  the  meet¬ 
ing  of  the  Council  on  Wednesday,  by  the  modification  of 
one  clause  and  the  addition  of  another.  The  modification  affecting 
Bye-law  22,  will  meet  the  views  of  a  number  of  members  and 
associates  of  the  Society,  as  well  as  of  many  outsiders,  who  were 
inclined  to  regard  with  disfavour  the  possibility  of  an  unsuccessful 
candidate  having  to  pay  ten  guineas  on  more  than  one  occasion, 
or,  in  other  words,  to  pay  the  registration  fee  in  addition  to  the 
examination  fee  more  than  once.  As  the  proposed  bye-law  now 
stands  any  person  who  has  attended  and  failed  to  pass  the  qualify¬ 
ing  examination  will  be  entitled  to  attend  on  any  future  occasion 
on  payment  of  an  additional  fee  of  three  guineas,  whether  before 
or  after  the  expiration  of  twelve  months  from  the  date  of  the  exa¬ 
mination  for  which  the  candidate  originally  entered.  This  modifi¬ 
cation,  with  the  corresponding  alteration  of  existing  Bye-law  24, 
suffices  to  meet  the  only  reasonable  objection  that  has  yet  been 
raised  to  the  proposed  amendments. 

Dr.  Stevenson’s  Report  on  the  examinations  is  printed  in  the 
present  number  of  the  Journal  (p.  310),  and  it  will  be  observed  that 
he  refers  with  satisfaction  to  the  proposal  to  raise  the  standard  of 
the  elementary  examination,  as  being  a  step  which  is  most 
desirable  in  the  interests  of  the  public.  As  regards  the  Minor 
examination  he  notes  that  the  proportion  qf  those  who  passed 
during  the  year  has  increased,  the  result  in  chemistry  being 
especially  noteworthy,  as  well  as  the  familiarity  of  candidates  with 
laboratory  work.  The  successes  at  the  Major  examination  were 
greater,  improvement  being  shown  in  materia  medica  and  botany. 
Finally,  the  Government  Visitor  expresses  general  satisfaction 
with  the  manner  in  which  the  Minor  and  Major  examinations  are 
conducted,  and  with  the  great  and  steady  improvements  initiated 
by  the  Council,  and  carried  out  by  the  examiners  during  the  past 
few  years. 

Calcium  Carbide  not  being  readily  obtainable,  if  at  all,  in  a 
pure  state,  the  Home  Office  authorities  have  found  it  necessary  to 
modify  paragraph  (d)  in  the  letter  printed  on  page  234  of  the 
Journal  by  inserting  the  word  “commercially.”  The  restriction 
as  it  stood  prevented  the  use  of  the  carbide  entirely,  but  as  it  now 
reads  the  use  of  “  commercially  pure  carbide  ”  is  permitted. 

The  Pharmaceutical  Society  is  occasionally  spoken  of  as  being 
representative  of  the  whole  “  trade,”  but  there  is  good  reason  to 
believe  that  the  speakers  themselves  usually  regard  their  language 
as  figurative  only,  and  many  perhaps  will  be  surprised  to  learn 
that  the  words  fairly  express  the  actual  condition  of  affairs.  If, 
instead  of  contrasting  the  fifteen  thousand  names  on  the  Register 
of  Chemists  and  Druggists  with  the  five  or  six  thousand  subscribers 
to  the  Society,  we  consider  the  proportion  of  “  active  ”  members 
of  the  craft — in  business  on  their  own  account — who  sup¬ 
port  the  governing  body,  the  results  are  far  from  discourag¬ 
ing.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  does  not  appear  to  be  much 
room  for  improvement  in  this  respect,  though  such  is  generally 
assumed  to  be  the  case.  For  there  are  probably  less  than  eight 
thousand  registered  chemists  in  business  on  their  own  account, 
and  those  in  a  position  to  know  are  of  opinion  that  at  least  one- 
fourth  of  those  must  be  left  out  of  consideration  in  all  matters 
respecting  organisation,  etc.,  which  require  active  participation. 
Of  the  remaining  six  thousand  or  less,  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
includes  nearly  two-thirds,  the  last  report  of  the  Registrar  showing 
that  there  are  not  far  short  of  four  thousand  registered  chemists 


in  business  on  their  own  account  who  are  connected  with  the 
Society.  Looking  at  the  question  from  this  point  of  view,  it  is 
evident  that  the  Society  is  thoroughly  representative  of  the 
“trade,”  and  alarmists  and  adverse  critics  will  do  well  to  take 
note  of  the  fact. 


The  Rapid  Progress  of  the  P.A.T.A.  has  drawn  attention 
to  the  matter  mentioned  in  the  preceding  paragraph,  it  having- 
become  a  matter  of  interest  to  investigate  how  far  that  body  could 
be  held  to  represent  chemists  in  business.  As  stated  last  week, 
the  membership  of  the  Association  now  exceeds  two  thousand,  and 
that  number  includes  a  working  majority  of  the  chemists  in  busi¬ 
ness  who  take  an  active  interest  in  current  affairs,  in  most  of  the= 
places  where  the  objects  of  the  Association  have  been  advocated. 
The  representative  character  of  the  Association  is  therefore- 
fairly  high,  and  its  numbers  are  continually  increasing.  Since- 
the  formation  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  itself,  nothing  more 
remarkable  has  been  witnessed  in  the  shape  of  organisation 
amongst  chemists  for  self-defence  than  the  rapid  growth  of  this 
one-year-old  Association,  which  already  boasts  on  its  list  more  than, 
half  as  many  chemists  in  business  on  their  own  account  as  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society,  though  the  latter  has  more  than  fifty  years 
to  its  credit  as  an  organised  body,  and  nearly  thirty  years  of  full 
recognition  by  the  State. 

The  Glasgow  Cases,  a  brief  report  of  which  appeared  in  last- 
week’s  Journal,  whilst  fuller  particulars  are  given  in  the  present 
issue(p.  213),  are  much  more  encouraging  in  their  results  than  former 
cases  heard  in  the  same  district.  Perhaps  the  authorities  were  espe¬ 
cially  fortunate  in  their  choice  of  an  advocate  on  this  occasion,  for 
Mr.  Salvesen  seemed  thoroughly  to  have  grasped  the  difficult  points, 
and  his  luminous  presentation  of  the  state  of  affairs  could  hardly 
have  failed  to  carry  conviction  to  the  mind  of  any  Sheriff.  As  he 
was  careful  to  point  out,  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  has  no  special 
desire  to  prosecute  assistants  who  are  acting  under  the  instruc¬ 
tions  of  employers  who  are  evading  the  provisions  of  the  Statute ;  but, 
unfortunately,  there  are  no  means  of  getting  at  the  employers.  At 
the  same  time,  the  Society  is  required  by  the  Legislature  to  secure  to 
the  public  the  protection  which  the  Pharmacy  Acts  were  intended  to 
provide,  and  it  must  therefore  proceed,  through  its  Registrar,  against 
the  actual  sellers  of  poisons  when  they  are  found  to  be  acting  in 
contravention  of  the  Statute.  The  point  raised,  as  to  whether, 
under  such  circumstances,  the  assistant  would  be  regarded  as 
having  a  valid  claim  against  his  employer  for  relief  in  regard  to 
any  penalty  imposed  upon  him,  is  an  exceedingly  interesting  one, 
and  if  it  should  prove  that  the  amount  of  such  penalty  can  be  re¬ 
covered  from  the  employer  by  legal  process,  convictions  under  the 
Pharmacy  Acts  will  become  much  more  far-reaching  in  their 
effects  than  is  the  case  at  present. 

Sheriff  Fyfe’s  View  has  always  been  that  it  is  unfair  to  proceed 
against  assistants,  whilst  the  most  guilty  parties,  those  who  reap 
the  profit  of  the  illegal  transactions,  are  allowed  to  escape.  At 
last,  however,  he  has  been  able  to  regard  the  matter  from  a  more 
comprehensive  point  of  view,  and  to  recognise  that  shielding  the 
individuals  who  alone  can  be  proceeded  against,  under  the 
circumstances,  tends  but  to  encourage  their  employers  to  continue 
to  act  illegally.  It  is  most  unfortunate,  he  observed,  that  so  many 
people  who  keep  shops  continue  to  sell  poisons  illegally,  and  shut 
their  eyes  to  the  many  warnings  they  have  received.  He  might 
well  have  employe  1  stronger  language  in  referring  to  what  is 
nothing  less  than  systematic  evasion  and  defiance  of  laws  passed 
primarily  in  the  public  interest.  But,  whilst  the  Sheriff  expressed 
the  opinion  that  it  would  perhaps  have  been  better  for  the  public 


April  10,  1897J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


319 


interest  if  it  had  not  been  necessary  for  the  Society  to  proceed 
against  comparatively  innocent  assistants,  and  if  some  means 
could  have  been  found  of  getting  at  the  parties  who  actually  own 
the  shops,  he  was  impelled  to  acknowledge  that  if  this  were 
attempted  at  present  the  employer  would  take  refuge  in  the 
defence  that  his  was  not  the  hand  that  committed  the  offence. 
The  employ 6  in  turn  would  throw  back  the  responsibility  on  the 
master,  and  the  prosecuting  body  would  thus  be  driven  from 
pillar  to  post,  and  the  Act  would  be  rendered  entirely  inoperative. 
Whilst  expressing  sympathy  with  the  accused,  therefore,  Sheriff 
Eyfe  said  it  was  his  duty  to  administer  the  law  as  he  found  it, 
though  it  might  not  be  as  many  would  like  it  to  be. 

The  “  Qualification  ”  of  Unregistered  Assistants  was  a  point 
raised  in  one  of  the  cases,  in  which  the  solicitor  who  ap¬ 
peared  for  accused  said  the  latter  was  an  experienced  dispenser, 
and  had  been  nine  years  at  the  business.  But  as  the  Sheriff  at 
once  said,  that  was  no  excuse.  Even  though  it  be  assumed  that 
an  individual  is  as  well  qualified  to  dispense  as  a  registered  man, 
so  far  as  the  sale  of  poisons  is  concerned  the  point  is  whether  or 
not  he  possesses  the  statutory  qualification.  Many  medical 
students,  observed  the  Sheriff,  are  doubtless  as  well  qualified  to 
perform  operations  as  some  medical  men,  whilst  divinity  students 
are  often  as  competent  as  fully- qualified  divines,  and  many  law- 
clerks  are  as  competent  as  their  qualified  masters  for  certain 
pieces  of  business,  if  not  more  competent,  but  they  must  all  have 
a  proper  professional  certificate.  It  was  the  same  in  the  present 
instance,  he  said,  and  the  accused  must  be  held  guilty  of  contra¬ 
vention  of  the  Statute,  in  order  to  give  the  public  the  security 
which  could  alone  be  secured  by  the  possession  of  the  statutory 
qualification.  This  brief  statement  clinches  the  whole  matter  and 
goes  further  than  many  long  speeches  or  articles  could  go  to  show 
the  real  nature  of  the  legal  qualification  as  distinct  from  qualifica¬ 
tion  based  on  experience.  The  latter  is  extremely  important,  but  in 
order  to  meet  the  views  of  the  Legislatureit  must  be  officially  certified. 

The  French  Academy  of  Sciences  has  benefited  by  the  muni¬ 
ficence  of  Mr.  H.  Wilde,  President  of  the  Manchester  Literary  and 
Philosophical  Society,  who  has  written  to  M.  Berthelot  announcing 
his  intention  of  presenting  the  sum  of  £5500  to  the  Academy,  to 
be  set  apart  to  provide  for  an  annual  prize  of  4000  francs.  This 
prize  is  to  be  awarded  to  the  person  who,  in  the  judgment  of  the 
Academy,  best  merits  it  by  some  discovery  in  astronomy,  physics, 
chemistry,  mineralogy,  geology,  or  mechanics. 


English  Post-Office  Anomalies  are  many  and  varied,  but  one 
to  which  the  attention  of  the  Postmaster-General  was  directed  this 
week,  by  a  deputation  from  the  Associated  Chambers  of  Commerce, 
is  perhaps  as  absurd  as  any  that  have  yet  been  disclosed.  Mr.  H. 
O.  Arnold-Forster,  M.P.,  who  introduced  the  deputation,  said  that 
if  an  English  chemist  and  druggist  wishes  to  post  a  liquid  sample 
to  a  customer  in  England,  India,  or  the  Colonies,  he  has  to  send  it 
to  France  or  Germany  to  be  posted,  as  the  English  postal 
authorities,  while  cheerfully  accepting  and  delivering  anywhere  in 
England  liquid  samples  posted  abroad,  absolutely  refuses  to  allow 
an  English  manufacturer  to  post  a  similar  sample  in  his  own 
country.  As  a  result  French  and  German  dealers  are  permitted  to 
flood  the  home  markets,  India,  and  our  other  Colonies  with  liquid 
samples,  to  the  detriment  of  home  producers.  Moreover,  it  is 
alleged  that  when  the  samples  are  posted  abroad  they  are,  in  nine 
cases  out  of  ten,  sent  by  the  foreign  officials  vid  England  and 
English  mail  routes,  the  English  postal  officials  offering  no  objec¬ 
tion.  It  would  appear  then  that  there  is  no  valid  objection  to  con¬ 


veying  liquids,  as  such.  But  it  is  well  known  that  there  is  a 
superabundance  of  red  tape  at  St.  Martin’s-le-Grand,  and  that  is 
enough  to  account  for  any  anomaly. 

A  Case  of  Synanthy  in  Dendrobium  Brymerianijm  is  re¬ 
corded  by  Mr.  R.  Reynolds,  of  Leeds,  who  writes  to  the  Gardeners ’ 
Chronicle  respecting  a  double  flower  of  that  plant  which  has 
appeared  upon  a  strong  plantof  twenty  pseudo-bulbs.  This  plant  has 
flowered  during  three  previous  years,  but  without  anything 
abnormal  being  observed.  Dr.'  Masters’  ‘  Vegetable  Teratology  ’ 
does  not  mention  this  species  as  subject  to  such  deformity,  as 
the  species  first  came  from  Burmah  four  years  after  the  publication 
of  that  work.  The  flower-stalkis  described  by  Mr.  Reynolds  as  being 
strikingly  fasciated,  with  a  deep  central  channel.  The  structure  of 
the  normal  flower  would  show  three  sepals,  two  petals,  labellum, 
column,  and  inferior  ovary,  but  in  the  present  case  there  are  five 
sepals,  of  which  four  occupy  the  usual  position,  the  fifth  being 
rather  narrow  and  pendent  behind  the  labellum,  whilst  there  are 
three  petals,  two  perfect  labella,  side  by  side,  and  two  columns, 
Avhich  are  also  side  by  side.  It  may  be  noted  that  students  who 
are  interested  in  such  matters  will  find  much  to  interest  them  in 
Dr.  Masters’  book. 

Nickel  Acts  upon  Ethylene  at  about  300°  C.,  the  main 
reaction,  according  to  Sabatier  and  Senderens  (Comptes  rendus), 
resulting  in  the  formation  of  methane  with  liberation  of  carbon, 
although  hydrogen  is  also  produced  by  a  secondary  reaction.  The 
amount  of  hydrogen  evolved  increases  with  the  temperature  of 
the  nickel.  The  most  rapid  reaction  was  found  to  be  produced  on 
using  nickel  obtained  by  reduction  of  the  oxide  by  means  of 
hydrogen,  at  as  low  a  temperature  as  possible.  Copper,  cobalt, 
iron,  platinum,  and  palladium  did  not  produce  a  similar  result 
when  they  were  used  in  place  of  nickel. 

Metallic  Solutions  were  treated  of  by  Mr.  C.  T.  Hey  cock, 
F.R.S.,  in  a  recent  lecture  at  the  Royal  Institution.  The 
lecturer  brought  forward  some  results  of  work  carried  on  jointly 
by  Mr.  Neville  and  himself  during  the  past  nine  years,  and 
showed  a  number  of  experiments  which  appear  to  establish  an 
analogy  between  the  solution  of  a  substance  such  as  sugar  in  water, 
and  the  solution  of  metals  in  each  other  (see  ante,  p.  151).  Just  as  the 
freezing  point  of  a  solution  of  a  salt  in  water  is  lower 
than  that  of  pure  water,  so  the  freezing  point  of  a  solution 
of  a  metal,  such  as  thallium,  in  mercury  is  lower  than  that  of 
pure  mercury.  In  fact,  there  is  no  essential  difference  between 
the  two  phenomena.  Van  t’Hoff’s  theory  that  a  substance  in 
dilute  solution  exists  within  the  liquid  in  a  state  resembling  a  gas 
was  described  as  affording  the  best  clue  to  the  interpretation  of 
the  results,  that  contention  being  supported  by  means  of  a  table 
proving  that  the  results  arrived  at  by  experiment  agree  with 
those  predicted  by  the  theory.  A  weak  solution  of  potassium 
permanganate  was  shown  to  yield  at  first  nothing  but  pure 
colourless  ice  when  frozen,  all  the  salt  in  solution  becoming  con¬ 
centrated  in  the  central  unfrozen  part.  Similarly  when  gold  is 
dissolved  by  metallic  sodium,  and  the  solution  allowed  to  solidify 
very  slowly,  though  sections  cut  from  the  solid  alloy  appear 
perfectly  uniform  to  the  eye,  exposure  of  the  sections  to  the  X  rays 
shows  that  crystalline  plates  of  sodium  traverse  the  mass  both  horizon¬ 
tally  and  vertically,  and  that  the  gold  has  become  concentrated  be¬ 
tween  the  crystalline  plates  of  sodium  as  the  solution  solidified. 
The  analogy  between  the  solidification  of  an  alloy  and  the  solidi¬ 
fication  of  an  aqueous  solution  was  thus  established  experimentally. 
Sodium,  of  course,  as  will  be  gathered  from  the  above,  is  trans¬ 
parent  to  the  X  rays,  whilst  gold  is  opaque. 


320 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  10,  1897 


CHEMICAL  SOCIETY. 


The  anniversary  meeting  was  held  on  Wednesday  afternoon, 
March  31,  when  Professor  Dewar,  M.A.,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  was  elected 
President. 

The  New  President. 

An  ordinary  meeting  was  held  on  Thursday  night,  April  1,  the 
new  President  taking  the  chair.  There  is  usually  some  little  en¬ 
thusiasm  shown  when  a  new  President  takes  the  chair  for  the  first 
time.  On  this  occasion,  however,  .Professor  Dewar’s  reception  was 
decidedly  cold.  This,  without  a  doubt,  was  due  to  his  unpopularity 
amongst  a  certain  section  who  opposed  his  election  almost  ran- 
corously.  The  gentlemen  composing  this  section  of  the  Society, 
however,  may  be  reminded  that  the  doughty  Professor  is  quite  at- 
home  on  the  subject  of  low  temperatures  ;  indeed,  it  is  difficult  to 
imagine  for  a  moment  that  he  was  at  all  dismayed  or  put  out  in  any 
way  when  he  suddenly  felt  himself  in  the  “cold”  atmosphere  of 
the  Chemical  Society’s  rooms  on  Thursday  night. 

The  meeting  was  quite  sparsely  attended.  The  late  President, 
Mr.  Vernon  Harcourt,  looked  strangely  out  of  place  on  the  front 
bench,  and  Professr  Dewar,  in  the  chair,  disclosed  the  fact  that 
he  was  a  new  hand  in  many  little  ways..  Only  once  did  he  show 
any  sign  of  nervousness,  or  perhaps  it  might  have  been  absence  of 
mind,  and  that  was  when  he  said :  “I  am  afraid  we  must  pass  a 
vote  of  thanks,”  etc.,  at  which  there  was  loud  laughter  on  certain 
benches. 

Mr.  Cassal  had  a  few  words  to  say  on  the  President’s  election 
before  business  was  commenced. 

The  first  paper,  read  by  Mr.  Stephens,  was  on 

The  Hydrolysis  of  Perthiocyanic  Acid, 


and  40  per  cent.  Nitrogen,  sulphur,  and  phosphorus  were- 
determined  by  approved  methods.  The  figures  for  ash  show  that 
there  is  a  loss  during  cooking.  The  fat,  it  appears,  is  very  variable. 
Glucose,  or  carbo-hydrates  convertible  into  glucose,  was  found  to- 
be  the  most  troublesome  part  of  the  whole  work.  Proteids  were 
estimated  by  the  soda-lime  combustion  method.  The  last  section, 
of  the  paper  was  devoted  to  the  heat  of  combustion. 

In  the  discussion  which  followed  the  reading  of  this  paper  several 
gentlemen  showed  that  they  had  at  least  seen  the  fish  they  were 
talking  about.— Mr.  Groves  wished  to  be  informed  about  the- 
determination  of  fat  which,  in  the  salmon,  for  instance,  was  dis¬ 
tributed  very  unequally  over  the  body,  and  so  with  regard  to* 
mackerel. — Mr.  Hehner  was  not  quite  sure  about  the  herring,, 
which,  he  said,  were  sometimes  fat  and  sometimes  lean. — Dr. 
Kipping  spoke  in  a  humorous  strain  on  the  question  of  phosphorus 
and  brains,  and  another  gentleman,  a  lecturer  on  hygiene,  con¬ 
vulsed  the  meeting  by  relating  the  story  of  a  lady  who,  on  being 
asked  why  she  fed  her  daughter  so  liberally  on  fish,  replied  that 
she  understood  that  phosphorus  was  good  for  making  “  matches.” — 
A  few  remarks  from  Mr.  Cassal  brought  the  discussion  to  a  close, 
and  Miss  Williams  replied  seriatim  to  the  questions  that  had  been 
put  to  her. 

Another  paper,  by  E.  Aston  and  J.  N.  Collie,  Ph.D.,  F.R.S., 
On  the  Oxidation  Products  of  a-Y-DiMETHYL-a'-CiiLOROPYRiDiNE 
was  briefly  summarised  by  Mr.  Dunstan. 


THE  WORLD  Of  PHARMACY. 

- 4- - - 


NH 


NH 


by  F.  D.  Chattaway,  M.A.,  and  H.  P.  Stephens,  B.A.  The  authors 
in  treating  potassium  thiocyanate  with  sulphuric  acid  had  separated 
thiourea  in  considerable  quantity,  and  this  paper  was  an  inquiry 
into  the  origin  of  the  phenomenon.  It  appears  to  be  due  to  the 
hydrolysis  of  perthiocyanic  acid,  a  yellow  body  which  is  precipitated 
in  the  first  instance.  Thiourea  is  due  to  secondary  decomposition 
of  this  body.  Perthiocyanic  acid  can  be  hydrolysed  in  various 
ways.  With  water  in  a  sealed  tube  it  gives  rise  to  the  formation 
of  thiourea,  carbon  oxysulphide,  and  sulphur 
thus  : — H2CsN2S3  +  II20  =  CS  (NH2)2  +  COS  +  S. 

On  further  heating,  however,  ammonium 
thiocyanate  is  formed.  An  oily  liquid  remains 
at  the  bottom  of  the  tube,  which  the  authors 
have  proved — after  a  manner — to  be  hydrogen 
disulphide. 

A  second  method  of  hydrolysing  the  acid  is 
ti  treat  potassium  thiocyanate  with  sulphuric 
acid  when  thiourea  is  the  first  product  of 
decomposition. 

Mr.  C.  E.  Groves  and  the  late  President  put  a  few  questions  to 
Mr.  Stephens,  and  Professor  Dewar  asked  if  the  oily  liquid  referred 
to  was  really  hydrogen  disulphide,  H2S2. — Mr.  Stephens,  however, 
was  not  quite  sure,  but  he  mentioned  that  they  had  made  samples 
of  pure  hydrogen  disulphide,  and  they  found  that  the  oily  body 
had  similar  properties. 

Although  the  author  of  the  second  paper  was  present  it  was 
read  by  Mr.  Dunstan.  The  natural  modesty  of  the  author,  Miss 
K.  5.  Williams,  probably  prevented  her  going  up  to  the  desk  to 
read  her  paper  on 

The  Composition  of  Cooked  Fish. 


S  CS 

Perthiocyanic  acid. 


Mr.  Dunstan  skimmed  over  the  voluminous  notes,  picking  out 
the  salient  points  of  Miss  Williams’  paper.  It  is  an  investi¬ 
gation  taken  up  with  the  idea  of  discovering  what  changes  take 
place  in  fish  which  have  undergone  the  process  of  cooking.  It  is 
one  of  those  papers  whose  chief  value  lies  in  a  comparison  of  the 
tables  of  figures  obtained.  About  twenty  or  thirty  different  kinds 
of  fish  had  been  used  for  the  work,  and  considering  the  number  of 
determinations  which  had  been  made  and  all  of  them  repeated 
the  third  time,  the  work  Miss  Williams  has  accomplished  must 
have  been  enormous.  Mr.  Dunstan  drew  laughter  from  the 
audience  as  he  read  the  list  of  fish  that  had  been  used.  It 
included  salmon,  sardines,  haddock,  herring,  oysters,  and  so  on. 
The  chemical  part  of  the  paper  dealt  with  the  determination  of 
the  water,  the  samples  being  kept  on  the  steam  bath  for  twelve  to 
twenty-four  hours.  Carbon  and  hydrogen  were  next  determined, 
the  figures  for  these  being  respectively  something  like  8  per  cent. 


BUSINESS  MEETINGS. 


Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association,  Wednesday, 
March  31. — Previous  to  a  meeting  of  the  Council  of  the  P.A.T.A., 
a  meeting  of  the  retail  section  of  the  Council  was  held  at  the 
office  of  the  Association.  All  the  members  were  present.  Mr. 
W.  R.  Barnes  was  selected  as  Chairman  of  this  branch  of  the 
Council  for  the  ensuing  year,  and  it  was  decided,  the  Secretary 
stated,  that  the  Executive  Committee  would  recommend  to 
the  Council  that  a  retail  member  of  the  Council  should 
be  appointed  President  for  the  present  year,  as  they  had 
already  had  a  member  of  the  manufacturer’s  section  as  well  as  of 
the  wholesale  section  holding  that  office  in  the  past.  The  meeting 
decided  to  nominate  Mr.  W.  Jones,  of  Birmingham,  for  President, 
and  Mr.  Herbert  W.  Seely  as  the  retailers’  Vice-President.  It 
was  also  decided  to  nominate  Messrs.  A.  Cooper  and  W.  R.  Barnes, 
the  London  members  of  the  section,  to  act  as  the  retailers’  repre¬ 
sentatives  upon  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Association.  The 
resolution  was  unanimously  passed  requesting  the  secretary  to 
write  to  the  various  local  associations  who  were  at  present 
supporting  the  P.  A.  T.  A. ,  requesting  them  to  thoroughly  organise 
the  work  of  the  P.A.T.A.  in  their  respective  districts.  That  where 
possible,  a  special  committee  of  the  Association  be  appointed, 
and  that  the  whole  trade  in  the  districts  should  be  thoroughly 
canvassed.  The  meeting  also  unanimously  decided  that  the 
Secretary  should  write  to  all  candidates  at  the  next  election  of 
the  Pharmaceutical  Council  requesting  their  views  upon  the 
P.A.T.A.  movement  for  publication  to  the  members  of  the  Asso¬ 
ciation,  and  that  the  members  of  the  P.A.T.A.  be  urged  to 
support  only  those  candidates  whose  replies  were  considered 
satisfactory. 

MEETING  OF  THE  COUNCIL. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Council  of  the  Association,  held  at 
Anderton’s  Hotel,  Mr.  G.  R.  Barclay  took  the  chair,  and  the 
business  of  electing  a  president  for  the  ensuing  year  was  at  once 
proceeded  with,  Mr.  W.  Jones,  Chairman  of  the  Chemists’  Trade 
Committee,  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  H.  J.  Hall,  being  elected  to 
the  office. — The  Secretary  read  the  report  of  the  Executive  Com¬ 
mittee,  which  contained  several  recommendations  re  the  constitu¬ 
tion  of  the  Committee,  and  stated  that  the  Grocers’  Federa¬ 
tion  before  taking  any  action  in  conjunction  with  the 
P.A.T.A.  desired  to  have  the  legal  position  of  the  move¬ 
ment  more  positively  and  sufficiently  ascertained.  The 
Committee,  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  Grocers’  Federation,  had 
decided  to  obtain  the  opinion  of  Sir  Edward  Clarke. — Mr.  Wokes 


Afeil  10,  18971 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL, 


321 


moved  the  adoption  of  the  report,  and  Mr.  John  Williams  (Man¬ 
chester)  moved  a  resolution  to  the  effect  that  the  Executive 
Committee  be  instructed  to  take  the  earliest  possible  steps  towards 
forming  a  separate  list  of  grocery  articles.  This  was  seconded  by 
Mr.  G.  R.  Barclay  and  carried  unanimously.— Messrs.  J.  Cocks 
and  S.  N.  Pickard  wished  to  know  what  steps  were  to  be  taken  in 
certain  special  cases  of  cutting  which  had  come  under  their  notice. 
Satisfactory  answers  were  given  by  the  Secretary. — The  report 
and  financial  statement  to  be  submitted  to  the  annual  meeting 
being  discussed  and  adopted,  the  meeting  then  concluded. 

FIRST  ANNUAL  MEETING. 

Subsequently  the  first  annual  meeting  of  the  Association  was  held 
at  Anderton’s  Hotel,  E.C.  There  was  a  large  number  of  members 
present,  and  also  many  representatives  of  wholesale  houses  from 
the  principal  towns  in  England,  the  proceedings  being  charac¬ 
terised  by  considerable  enthusiasm.  The  following  officers  were 
elected  for  the  ensuing  year: — President:  Mr.  W.  Jones,  Bir¬ 
mingham.  Vice-Presidents  :  Messrs.  H.  J.  Hall,  A.  Tebbutt,  and 
H.  W.  Seeley.  Treasurer :  Mr.  G.  R.  Barclay.  Secretaries  : 
Messrs.  W.  S.  Glyn- Jones  and  W.  Johnston.  Executive  Committee  : 
— Messrs.  W.  A.  Gilligan  and  J.  E.  Garrett  (manufacturers)  ; 
C.  Sanger  and  B.  Hurst  (wholesalers)  ;  A.  Cooper  and  W.  R. 
Barnes  (retailers),  and  the  officers  of  the  Association  as  ex-officio 
members.  It  was  also  decided  to  add  to  the  Council  three 
manufacturers,  three  wholesalers,  and  three  retailers  connected 
with  the  photographic  trade ;  these  gentlemen  to  be  elected  by 
the  members  of  the  Association  belonging  to  the  respective 
sections.  The  new  President,  Mr.  Jones,  then  took  the  chair,  and 
moved  the  adoption  of  the 

First  Annual  Report, 

which  gave  a  brief  history  of  the  Association ,  showing  that  the 
first  year  of  its  existence  has  been  one  of  very  substantial  progress. 
The  financial  statement  showed  an  income  of  £677  8s.  8 d. ,  and  a 
balance  of  £52  10s.  5 d. — Mr.  J.  T.  Barrett  (Leamington)  seconded, 
and  Mr.  R.  A.  Robinson  supported  the  motion. — A  number  of 
speakers  followed,  all  of  whom  extolled  in  more  or  less  laudatory 
terms  the  efforts  of  the  P.  A.T.A.  One  or  two  chemists  who  spoke 
were  inclined  to  condemn  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  because  it 
bad  not  taken  up  the  matter  of  regulation  of  prices,  and  even 
went  so  far  as  to  assert  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  to  do  so,  and  that  the  P.A.T.A.  movement  should  have 
been  initiated  by  the  Society.  The  Chairman,  however,  intervened 
by  calling  attention  to  the  fact  that  this  work  was  not  within  the 
province  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society. — Mr.  Glyn-Jones  after¬ 
wards  took  up  the  subject,  and  referring  to  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society,  he  said  that  although  the  matter  of  prices  could  not  be 
taken  up  by  the  Society  as  a  body,  yet,  as  individuals,  members 
of  the  Council  could  do  much  to  help  the  P.A.T.A.,  and  he  main¬ 
tained  that  if  the  councillors  and  members  of  the  Society  would 
show  their  practical  sympathy  with  the  movement,  such  a  step 
would  do  more  to  improve  the  position  of  the  Society  than  any  step 
they  could  take.  Mr.  Glyn-Jones  then  spoke  of  the  position  of 
the  Association,  and  he  thought  it  had  reached  such  a  point  that 
it  could  no  longer  be  termed,  as  it  sometimes  was,  a  “weakling” 
Association.  A  membership  of  2060  retailers,  all  determined  by 
fair  and  legitimate  means  to  support  the  objects  of  the  Associa¬ 
tion,  was  not  to  be  despised  by  the  proprietors  of  various  articles. 
If,  howevtr,  the  present  methods  of  procedure  did  not  cause  manu¬ 
facturers  to  join  the  P.A.T.A.,  stronger  measures  would  have  to 
be  adopted,  and  instead  of  simply  retailing  proprietary  articles 
the  Association  must  commence  to  manufacture  similar  articles. 
This  step,  Mr.  Jones  thought,  would  bring  manufacturers  to  a 
different  state  of  feeling  towards  the  Association.- — Mr.  Wakefield 
■(Birmingham)  congratulated  the  Association  on  its  prosperity,  and 
on  its  having  secured  so  energetic  and  capable  a  Secretary  as  Mr. 
Glyn-Jones.  In  the  course  of  a  humorous  speech  he  stated  that 
at  a  recent  meeting  of  Birmingham  chemists  they  had  decided  to 
close  their  accounts  with  several  firms  who  had  intimated  their 
unwillingness  to  join  the  P.A.T.A.,  and  only  that  week  the 
representative  of  one  of  these  firms  had  called  on  his  firm,  and  for 
the  first  time  for  many  years  had  left  without  an  order.  Seeing 
that  the  annual  account  amounted  to  something  like  £1200,  he 
thought  that  particular  firm  would  reconsider  its  decision  to  keep 
out  of  the  P.A.T.A.  The  Association  must  take  a  firm  stand,  and 
so  find  out  who  were  its  friends  and  who  its  foes,  and  then  a  civil 
war  would  have  to  begin. — Mr.  Williams  (Grocers’  Federation, 
Manchester)  also  spoke  in  high  terms  concerning  the  efforts  of  the 


P.A.T.A.,  and  urged  upon  all  present  the  necessity  of  personal 
work  on  behalf  of  the  Association,  and  suggested  that  every 
member  should  devote  at  least  one  day  a  week  to  canvassing  for 
new  members  amongst  their  neighbours. — Mr.  Gadd  (Evans,  Gadd 
and  Co. ,  Exeter),  as  a  representative  of  the  wholesale  trade,  advo¬ 
cated  the  claims  of  the  P.A.T.A.,  and  mentioned  that  his  firm  in 
joining  the  Association  had  spelt  “  self  ”  in  capital  letters  and  had 
no  reason  to  regret  the  step  taken.  He  warned  those  present  of 
the  danger  of  being  carried  away  by  an  enthusiastic  meeting  such 
as  that  had  been,  and  then  going  home  thinking  all  would  go  well 
without  their  individual  help. — The  resolution  before  the  meeting 
was  then  put  and  carried  unanimously.  Votes  of  thanks  to  the 
retiring  officers  of  the  Association  concluded  the  business. 


Nottingham  and  Notts.  Chemists’  Association,  Wed¬ 
nesday,  March  31. — Mr.  Councillor  R.  Fitzhugh  in  the  chair. — At 
this  meeting,  called  to  consider  the  proposed  alterations  in  the 
bye-laws  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  (see  ante,  p.  306a),  a  reso¬ 
lution  expressing  continued  confidence  in  the  Proprietary  Articles 
Trade  Association  was  unanimously  adopted  on  the  motion  of  Mr. 
Gascoyne,  seconded  by  the  Vice-President,  Mr.  A.  Middleton. 


Liverpool  Pharmaceutical  Students’  Society,  Thurs¬ 
day,  April  1. — Mr.  John  Jones,  President,  in  the  chair. — Mr. 
Wokes  gave  his  experience  in  dispensing  a  mixture  of 

Ferri  et  Quinine  Citras  and  Potass.®  Citras. 

When  the  salts  were  mixed  in  a  small  bulk  of  water  after  solution 
a  precipitate  was  at  once  formed.  This  was  found  not  to  be  due  to 
alkalinity  of  the  potassas  citras,  but  to  concentration  of  the  solutions 
used,  for  when  mixed  together  in  a  more  diluted  state  the  reaction 
did  not  take  place.  The  same  phenomenon  had  been  observed  by 
Mr.  Lean  and  other  members. — Mr.  Morgan  then  proceeded 
with  his  lecture  upon — 

Some  Assistants  I  Have  Met, 

in  which  he  enumerated  the  varieties  and  attempted  to  classify  in 
a  very  original  manner  the  eccentricities  of  the  modern  pharmacy 
assistant,  illustrating  his  remarks  by  references  to  various 
humorous  episodes  which  had  come  under  his  notice  at  different 
times.  The  foibles  of  both  masters  and  assistants  were  hit  off  in 
an  exceedingly  happy  manner,  and  notwithstanding  the  somewhat 
delicate  ground  traversed,  the  lecturer  succeeded  in  his  endeavour 
to  administer  some  good  lessons  without  unduly  treading  upon 
the  toes  or  wounding  the  susceptibilities  of  his  appreciative  audience. 
Several  items  of  vocal  and  instrumental  music  rendered  by 
Messrs.  Cooke  and  Benn  served  to  lend  additional  variety 
to  the  lecture,  which  was  one  of  the  most  enjoyable  in  the 
history  of  the  Society,  and  at  its  close  a  good  discussion  took 
place,  leading  to  more  experiences  being  related  by  the  members. 
— The  President  next  introduced  a  discussion  on  the 

Proposed  Neiv  Bye-laws  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society, 

expressing  a  hope  that  all  present  would  assist  in  making  their 
views  known,  and  so  thoroughly  threshing  out  a  subject 
of  the  gravest  importance.; — Mr.  Prosper  H.  Marsden  ex¬ 
pressed  his  entire  agreement  with  the  alterations  proposed,  for 
he  regarded  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  as  the  “trade  union”  of 
the  retail  drug  trade,  and  consequently  held  that  it  was  justified 
in  getting  from  its  “journeymen,”  on  their  presenting  themselves 
for  approval,  such  fee  or  fees  as  would  best  enable  it  to  carry  on 
the  work  it  had  to  do,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  duly  elected  repre¬ 
sentatives  of  the  trade — that  is  to  say  the  Council — who  directed 
its  operations.  The  Preliminary  examination  as  it  was  at  present 
was  not  worthy  of  any  body  of  men  wishing  for  the  recog¬ 
nition  of  the  professional  status  of  the  pharmacist,  and  such 
a  recognition  would  only  be  possible  by  the  institution  of 
a  more  rigorously  applied  test  of  preliminary  general  education 
than  that  at  present  in  force. — Mr.  J.  Smith,  local  secretary  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society,  said  that  the  reason  for  the  increased 
examination  fee  for  the  Minor  was  stated  in  the  trade  journals  to 
be  that  the  production  of  the  Pharmaceutical  J ournal  caused  a  loss 
to  the  Society  of  something  like  £3000  a  year.  Well  he,  for  one, 
should  be  very  sorry  to  see  the  Journal  return  to  its  former  state, 
as  it  was  before  the  recent  improvements.  Formerly  it  was  a 
scientific  journal  pure  and  simple,  but  now 

It  was  of  such  General  Interest, 
it  was  so  independent  of  the  necessity  of  toadying  to  ad- 


322 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April,  10,  1897. 


vertisers,  and  so  impartial,  that  it  was  second  to  none.  The 
increase  of  the  fees  was  absolutely  necessary  to  the  maintenance 
of  the  Society,  for  at  the  present  rate  the  income  was  not 
enough  to  meet  current  expenses,  and  unless  something  were  done, 
and  that  quickly,  the  Society  must  soon  collapse  for  want  of  funds. 
Such  a  thing  would  be  fatal  to  the  whole  trade,  both  outside  and 
inside  of  the  Society  ;  for  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  work¬ 
ing  of  the  regulations  affecting  the  practice  of  pharmacy  was 
watched  by  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  not  for  the  exclusive 
benefit  of  its  members  alone,  but  for  that  of  the  whole  body  of 
chemists.  Students,  therefore,  by  paying  the  proposed  increased 
fee,  would  be  only  doing  their  duty  to  themselves  and  to  the 
Society,  which  was  the  true  guardian  of  their  interests. 

- — Mr.  Cowley  was  of  opinion  that  the  ten-guinea  fee 
•would  not  lessen  the  number  of  candidates  for  examination, 
nor  would  it,  as  some  thought,  prevent  men  from  joining  the 
Society  when  they  passed.  Possibly  it  might  be  a  hardship  to  the 
poorer  students,  but  in  his  experience  these  were  but  a  small 
minority  of  the  students  generally.  He  would  echo  and 
emphasise  the  remarks  Mr.  Smith  had  made  with  reference  to  the 
Pharmaceutical  Journal,  It  certainly  was 

The  Premier  Trade  Organ, 

both  as  regards  the  scientific  matter  it  contained,  its  trade  reports, 
and  the  manner  in  which  the  meetings  of  the  various  societies 
were  written  up,  and  he  should  be  very  sorry  to  see  it  lapse  from 
the  present  high  position  it  had  taken  up.  It  had  a  high  tone 
to  maintain  and  a  position  to  keep  up  which  the  other  journals  had 
not,  and  was  in  his  opinion  well  worth  the  annual  subscription. — 
Mr.  Wokes  said  everyone  was  decided  as  to  the  necessity  of  an 
increased  Preliminary  examination,  and  the  increased  Minor  fee 
was  just  as  necessary,  so  as  to  cause  registered  persons  to  contri¬ 
bute  to  the  expenses  of  the  Society. — The  President  thought  that 
there  was  a  good  deal  of  blame  due  to  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  for  apathy  in  the  past,  as  it  was  largely  due  to  its  luke¬ 
warmness  in  properly  advertising  itself  and  the  good  work;  it  had 
done,  that  such  a  small  minority  ( sic )  of  chemists  were  enrolled  in  its 
ranks.  A  visit  from  a  local  secretary  did  more  towards  getting  a 
man  to  join  the  Society  than  any  amount  of  printed  circulars.  As  a 
student  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society, Mr.  Owen  Davies  concurred 
in  the  increased  fee,  but  thought  that  the  method  of  conducting 
the  Minor  examination  was  open  to  a  good  deal  of  adverse  criticism, 
which  would  to  a  great  extent  be  removed  by  the  adoption  of  some 
such  system  as  that  in  vogue  as  regards  the  Major. — Mr.  Harold 
Wyatt,  junior,  wished  to  remind  the  members  that  the  business  on 
the  agenda  wa3  the  discussion  of  the  proposed  alteration  of  the 
bye-la wg  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  and  not  a  discussion  of  the 
financial  affairs  of  the  Society.  These  latter  were  matters  for  the 
consideration  of  the  Council,  and  not  for  a  Students’  Society. 
The  proposed  syllabus  for  the  First  examination  was  modest 
enough,  in  all  conscience,  in  fact,  too  modest  when  one  con¬ 
sidered  what  was  demanded  of  other  professions  nowadays. 
However,  a  little  advance  was  something,  and  the  one  proposed 
would  help  to  reduce  the  percentage  of  failures  in  the  Minor,  which 
were  mostly  due  to  insufficient  early  education,  a  fact  as  to  the 
truth  of  which  both  Mr.  Cowley  and  Mr.  Marsden  could  bear  wit¬ 
ness.  The  ten-guinea  fee  for  the  Minor  was  by  no  means  excessive 
when  one  took  into  account  what  a  man  got  for  his  money,  and 
seemed  to  be  the  only  way  of  making  sure  that  each  registered 
man  should  contribute  his  proper  share  to  the  Society  looking  after 
his  interests.  He  could  not  take  the  gloomy  view  of  affairs  that 
Mr.  Smith  did,  for  whether  the  ten-guinea  fee  became  a  reality 
or  not,  he  was  certain  that 

The  Pharmaceutical  Society  would  not  become  Extinct. 

It  was  the  only  legal  representative  of  chemists  and  druggists 
generally,  and  the  only  one  bearing  any  weight  with  the 
authorities.  Any  legislative  measure  introduced  or  passed  on 
behalf  of  chemists  was  due  to  the  initiative  of  the  Society, 
and  of  it  alone,  and  without  its  help  and  official  support  the 
greater  bulk  of  the  trade  not  connected  with  the  Society  would 
find  little  or  no  chance  of  getting  any  measure  whatever  through 
Parliament,  for  it  must  always  be  remembered  that  a  small  well- 
organised  body  can  do  more  than  a  considerably  larger  one  lacking 
organisation.  If  members  of  the  trade  were  of  the  opinion 
that  the  Society  as  at  present  governed  was  not  sufficiently 
careful  of  their  interests,  let  them  join  the  Society,  qualify 
for  votes,  and  then  by  appointing  representatives  prepared 
to  obey  their  desires,  the  operations  of  the  Society  could  be 


directed  in  any  direction  required.  The  increased  fee  was  by 
some  stated  to  bring  the  cost  of  becoming  a  chemist  to  almost 
that  of  obtaining  a  medical  qualification,  but  this  was  far  from 
being  the  case.  If  a  pharmacist  in  England  had  to  go  through 
the  same  course  of  study  as  was  required  on  the  Continent  it  would 
be  true,  for  there  he  must,  at  any  rate  in  the  Latin  countries,  pass 
a  first  examination  equal  in  stiffness  to  the  London  University 
matriculation  examination,  and  after  that,  put  in  a  course- 
of  lectures  at  a  school  of  pharmacy  or  university,  covering 
something  like  three  years  before  finally  being  qualified.  Even 
after  qualification  he  was  not  free  from  further  expense,  for  he 
was  usually  called  upon  to  pay  a  yearly  contribution  or  tax  if 
in  business.  After  all  this  a  man  might,  with  some  degree  of 
reason,  expect  recognition  of  his  professional  status,  but  in 
England  as  examinations  now  stood,  such  a  demand  was,  to- 
say  the  least,  a  bit  of  a  farce.  The  evident  desire  of  the  Society 
being  to  so  strengthen  its  hands  by  the  adoption  of  these  new 
bye-laws  as  to  be  in  a  position  to  effect  further  changes  for  the 
good  of  the  trade,  he  would  move  the  following  resolution  : — 

“  That  this  meeting  wishes  to  put  on  record  its  appreciation  of  the  bye-laws 
proposed  by  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  as  being  the  best  means  of  raising- 
the  status  of  the  pharmacist.” 

This  was  carried  unanimously,  and  a  very  successful  meeting 
then  came  to  a  close. 


Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,  Thursday,  April  1. — 
Mr.  Charles  Morley,  President,  in  the  chair. — The  Association, 
on  this  occasion,  met  for  the  first  time  in  its  new  home  at  9,  Queen’s 
Square,  W.C.  The  house  is  of  very  ancient  build,  with  oak  floors 
and  panelled  walls,  mahogany  doors  and  carved  mantel-pieces,  and 
at  one  time  was  the  town  residence  of  Lord  Chesterfield.  It  is 
supposed  that  within  its  precincts  he  wrote  the  celebrated  letters 
to  his  son,  and  was  there  visited  by  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson.  Seventeen 
members  and  one  patron  of  the  C.  A.  A.  assembled  in  one  of  the  front 
rooms  of  this  noted  house  to  hear  a  paper  on— 

“  The  Iodine  Value  of  Beeswax,” 

by  Mr.  It.  Glode  Guyer,  which,  however,  was  taken  as  read  (see 
p.  308),  and  to  discuss  the 

Proposed  New  Bye-Laws  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society. 

Mr.  Morley  commenced  by  remarking  that  this  subject  was  one 
of  very  great  interest  to  pharmacists  generally,  but  more  especially 
young  pharmacists,  because  they  would  feel  the  benefits  or  bad 
results  of  the  passing  of  the  proposed  bye-laws.  The  Chemists’ 
Assistants’  Association  naturally  took  a  great  interest  in  the  bye-law- 
relating  to  the  Preliminary  examination,  seeing  that  the  proposed 
alteration  was  probably  in  some  measure  due  to  a  resolution  passed 
by  the  Association  about  five  years  ago,  when  the  members  felt  that 
the  present  Preliminary  test  was  by  no  means  an  adequate  one  for 
testing  the  capabilities  of  the  youths  desirous  of  entering  phar¬ 
macy.  It  was  now  proposed  to  introduce  subjects  such  as  Euclid 
and  Algebra,  but  Mr.  Morley  thought  in  addition  to  these  it  would 
be  a  great  advantage  if  a  little  knowledge  of  elementary  physics 
and  chemistry  was  also  required.  As  that  Association  had  sug¬ 
gested  and  moved  a  resolution  which  was  forwarded  to  the  Phar¬ 
maceutical  Society  to  the  effect  that  the  Preliminary  exami¬ 
nation  should  be  increased  in  stringency,  he  thought  it 
behoved  them  not  to  be  slow  in  showing  that  the 
members  were  still  imbued  with  the  same  progressive  spirit  as 
the  men  were  five  years  ago.  Mr.  Morley  was  of  opinion  that  the 
Preliminary  should  be  made  compulsory  before  apprenticeship. 
With  regard  to  the  increased  Minor  fee  he  thought  the  question  to 
consider  was  whether  the  sum  was  more  than  sufficient  to  provide 
permanent  registration  and  to  indemnify  the  Society  in  protecting 
the  whole  trade  against  unqualified  traders.  He  believed  it  was  not 
too  much  for  this  purpose,  although  he  did  not  quite  agree  with  the 
ten-guinea  fee  being  charged  a  second  time  when  a  man  failed  ;  a 
three-guinea  fee  would  in  that  case  be  sufficient.  However,  he 
had  much  pleasure  in  moving  the  following  resolution 

“That  this  meeting  approves  of  and  strongly  supports  the  action  of  the 
Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  in  framing  the  proposed  new  bye-laws, 
being  of  opinion  that  these  are  calculated  to  serve  the  best  interests  of  phar¬ 
macy.” 

— Mr.  C.  J.  Strother  held  much  the  same  views  as  Mr.  Morley, 
and  formally  seconded  the  motion. — Mr.  T.  Morley  Taylor 
thought  the  increased  fee  was  somewhat  unfair  to  certain  members 


April  10,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


323 


of  the  community,  namely,  the  fairly  well-educated  men  who, 
while  not  being  possessed  of  a  superabundance  of  money,  were 
loyal  to  the  Society,  and  who  meant  when  qualified  to  support  the 
Society.  The  qualifying  examination  was  one  at  which  it  was  so 
extremely  easy  to  fail  that  it  would  fall  rather  hard  on  .them. 
He  agreed  with  a  £10  10s.  fee,  but  thought  that  £5  5s. 
should  be  paid  for  the  examination,  and  £5  5s.  on  qualifying. — 
Mr.  E.  W.  Hill  was  in  entire  sympathy  with  the  proposed  bye¬ 
laws.  He  did  not  consider  the  £10  10s.  fee  at  all  an  excessive  sum 
to  pay  for  registration  and  the  protection  a  man  secures  on 
■qualifying.  The  second  £10  10s.  at  the  end  of  two  years  was  also 
not  excessive,  he  thought  it  was  the  man  who  could  pass  who  was 
to  be  considered,  and  not  the  man  who  could  not  pass.  Many 
men  came  up  for  examination  before  they  were  properly  prepared, 
and  he  thought  the  increased  fee  would  weed  out  a  great  many  of 
them. — Mr.  MacEwan  was  astonished  to  find  not  a  substantial 
argument  brought  forward  in  respect  to  the  increased  Minor  fee. 
The  question  seemed  to  be  put  in  the  sphere  of  ethics,  whereas  it 
was  entirely  a  matter  of  economics  ;  if  the  Society  were  not  hard 
up  he  thought  it  would  not  have  asked  for  the  increased  fee. 
He  thought  Mr.  Morley  was  hardly  consistent  in  moving  the 
resolution  he  had,  inasmuch  as  he  was  not  altogether  in  accord 
with  the  ten -guinea  fee.  Mr.  MacEwan  considered  that  the 
extra  five  guineas  was  not  required  by  the  Society  to  carry  on 
its  public  work,  but  to  aid  it  in  its  private  capacity. — 
Mr.  C.  E.  Robinson  thought  the  increased  Minor  fee  would  pre¬ 
vent  many  men  coming  up  for  simply  a  “  flutter  ”  at  the  examina¬ 
tion  in  the  hope  of  passing,  and  that  they  would  work  much 
harder  to  prepare  themselves. — Mr.  A.  R.  Melhuish  agreed  with 
£he  step  in  regard  to  the  Preliminary  examination,  and  with  the 
increased  Minor  fee,  except  that  he  considered  it  should  not  be 
charged  a  second  time.  He  therefore  moved  that  the  resolution 
■Re  amended  by  the  following  addition  : — 

•“  Except  that  it  considers  that  the  fee  of  £10  10s.  should  not  be  charged  more 
than  onee,  and  that  the  time  limit  when  this  bye-law  comes  into  operation 
should  be  extended  from  1898  to  1900.” 

With  regard  to  Mr.  MacE wan’s  remark  that  no  argument  had 
Been  put  forward  in  favour  of  the  increased  fee,  he  thought  it 
would  be  good  for  the  trade  as  a  whole,  because  anything  that 
tended  to  strengthen  the  Society  must  tend  to  raise  the  status  of 
all  in  the  trade. — Mr.  G.  Roe  thought  that  if  the  private  expenses 
-of  the  Society  were  more  than  its  private  income  they  should  be 
curtailed,  but  with  regard  to  the  £10  10s.  fee  he  did  not  think 
it  a  large  sum  considering  the  dignity  of  the  profession, 
and  he  did  not  think  it  would  deter  any  lad  from  getting  through 
his  examinations.  During  Mr.  Robinson’s  and  Mr.  Melhuish’s 
remarks,  the  discussion  degenerated  into  an  argumentative 
conversation  amongst  those  present,  owing  to  interruptions  by 
Mr.  MacEwan,  who,  contrary  to  all  rules  of  debate,  persisted  in 
-endeavouring  to  correct  (?)  the  speakers  as  they  proceeded. — Mr.  R. 

•  G.  Guyer,  who  looked  at  the  question  from  the  ethical  side,  seconded 
the  amended  resolution,  and  after  a  few  remarks  from  Mr. 
Summers,  who  thought  most  of  the  speakers  had  been  “beating 
the  air  ”  instead  of  dealing  with  the  main  question,  Mr.  Morley 
replied,  and  the  question  as  to  whether  Mr.  Melhuish’s  amend¬ 
ment  should  be  tacked  on  to  the  resolution  was  decided  by  six 
•votes  to  four,  the  amendment  being  carried.  The  amended  reso¬ 
lution  was  then  put  as  follows 

“  That  this  meeting  approves  of  and  strongly  supports  the  action  of  the  Council 
of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  in  framing  the  proposed  new  bye-laws,  being 
-of  opinion  that  these  are  calculated  to  serve  the  best  interests  of  pharmacy, 
-except  that  it  considers  that  the  fee  of  £10  10s.  should  not  be  charged  more 
•than  once,  and  that  the  time  limit  when  this  bye  law  comes  into  operation 
should  he  extended  from  1898  to  1900.” 

'Six  voted  in  favour  of  this  and  two  against,  whilst  nine  refrained 
from  voting. 


Glasgow  and  West  of  Scotland  Pharmaceutical 
.Association,  Thursday,  April  1. — Mr.  W.  L.  Currie,  Presi¬ 
dent,  in  the  chair. — This  was  the  annual  business  meeting  of  the 
Association. — Mr.  J.  Anderson  Russell,  Hon.  Sec.  and  Treasurer, 
^submitted 

The  Council  Report. 

It  stated  that  during  the  year  the  Association  had  continued  to 
make  steady  progress.  The  membership  was  now  181,  being  a  net 
increase  of  26  as  compared  with  the  previous  year.  There  were  126 
members  in  the  city,  of  whom  74  were  in  business  and  52  assis¬ 


tants,  and  there  were  55  country  members.  Greater  interest  was 
being  taken  in  the  Association,  particularly  by  the  younger 
members.  It  was  felt  that  if  the  proceedings  could  be  commenced 
at  an  earlier  hour  a  considerable  increase  in  the  attendance 
would  result,  and  an  appeal  was  made  to  the  members  to 
bring  about  this.  Reference  was  next  made  to  the  work  which 
had  been  done  during  the  session  and  to  the  fact  that  the  British 
Pharmaceutical  Conference  would  be  held  in  Glasgow  this 
summer.  The  gratifying  fact  was  also  mentioned  that  the 
members  had  appreciated  the  social  functions,  and  that  closer 
fellowship  and  interest  in  each  other  had  resulted.  The 
Association  was  now  a  good  working  organisation,  and  the 
Council  impressed  upon  members  the  desirability  of  endeavouring 
to  make  it  what  they  all  desired  it  should  be.  They  began  the 
year  with  a  reserve  capital  of  £50  4s.  7 d.  The  receipts  during  the 
year  amounted  to  £70  3s.,  making  a  total  of  £120  7s.  Id.  The  ex¬ 
penditure  during  the  year  was  £60  8s.  3c?.,  leaving  a  balance  of 
£59  19s.  4c?.,  an  increase  of  £9  14s.  9c?.  on  the  year.  In  these 
accounts  the  statement  of  the  social  committee  showed  a  deficit 
of  £8  12s.  on  the  year,  but  the  year  was  started  with  a 
balance  in  hand  of  £4  15s.,  so  that  the  deficiency 

in  the  accounts  of  the  social  committee  was  £3  17s. 

At  the  “Annual  Sociale”  there  was  a  larger  attendance 
of  members  of  the  trade  but  a  lesser  attendance  of  outsiders. 
— Mr.  Thomas  Robinson  moved  that  if  it  were  decided  to 
have  an  “At  Home”  next  session,  a  small  charge  should  be 
made  for  admission.- — Mr.  Alexander  Laing  seconded. — Mr. 
Blair  moved  that  the  Association  do  not  depart  from  their  custom 
of  having  the  “At  Home”  gratis. — Mr.  D.  Watson,  in  seconding, 
said  that  to  make  a  charge  for  admission  to  the  “At  Home” 
would  limit  the  scope  of  the  Association,  as  it  had  been  the 
means  of  increasing  the  membership.  He  thought  that 
the  matter  should  be  left  in  the  hands  of  the  Council, 
and  after  some  further  discussion,  the  amendment  was  carried.— On 
the  motion  of  Mr.  Dunlop,  seconded  by  Mr.  Boyd,  the  reports  by 
the  Council  and  the  Treasurer  were  adopted. — The  Chairman  said 
he  had  been  very  much  impressed  during  the  session  by  the 
marked  improvement  in  the  attendance  of  the  younger  members, 
but  it  could  be  very  much  better.  Several  of  them  had  come  to 
the  front  with  papers  which  showed  a  talent  they  did  not  pre¬ 
viously  know  existed.  If  the  labour  had  been  great  in  getting  up 
these  papers  it  had  been  appreciated  in  no  small  degree,  and 
while  they  had  imparted  a  great  deal  of  knowledge  to  the  other 
members,  they  had  reaped  much  benefit  themselves.- — Various 
votes  of  thanks  having  been  passed,  Mr.  Russell  said,  with 
regard  to  the  forthcoming  meeting  of  the  Federation  of  Local 
Associations,  he  suggested  that  their  delegates  should  see  that 
there  was  some  definite  method  adopted  for  bringing  business 
before  the  procedure,  as  there  seemed  to  be  a  doubt  as  to  what 
procedure  should  be  adopted. 

Election  of  Officers. 

The  following  office-bearers  were  elected  : — Hon.  President,  Mr, 
Daniel  Frazer;  Hon.  Vice-Presidents,  Messrs.  John  McMillan, 
Alex.  Kinninmont,  and  J.  W.  Sutherland  ;  President,  Mr.  W.  L. 
Currie  ;  Vice-Presidents,  Messrs.  John  Foster,  Alex.  Laing,  James 
Robb,  and  J.  Anderson  Russell ;  Hon.  Secretary  and  Treasurer, 
Mr.  D.  Watson,  Cathcart  Road  ;  District  Secretaries,  Messrs.  A. 
McKellar  (South  Side),  M.  Gray  (Partick),  A.  Miller  (North- 
East),  and  M.  Wallace  (North  -  West)  ;  Librarian,  Mr. 
David  Moir  ;  Committee,  Messrs.  Hugh  Lambie,  Alex. 
Boyd,  Robert  Brodie,  Thos.  Adam,  Alexander  Bruce, 
John  Neil,  D.  S.  Robertson,  James  McMurray,  Robert 
Tocher,  J.  Arnott,  Thomas  Dunlop,  J.  Abbott,  A.  Fraser  (Paisley), 
T.  Kerr  (Greenock),  and  P.  Mitchell  (Dumbarton).  Auditors  : 
Messrs.  James  Moir  and  James  Bruce. — Mr.  Rae  moved  and  Mr. 
Macadam  seconded  that  the  night  of  meeting  be  changed  from 
Thursday  to  Friday. — Mr.  Laing  moved  the  previous  question. 
Ultimately  it  was  remitted  to  the  Council  with  power  to  deal  with 
the  matter  and  also  to  arrange  as  to  the  hour  of  meeting. 


Potassium  Bichromate  as  an  Expectorant. — Weaver  finds 
the  following  useful  in  laryngitis  and  bronchitis,  and  especially  in 
tonsilitis.  In  the  former  a  teaspoonful  of  a  solution  of  1  grain  of 
potassium  bichromate  in  fiii,  or  §iv.  of  water,  but  in  the  latter 
the  finely-powdered  bichromate  should  be  added  to  the  water 
until  the  latter  is  a  dark  lemon  or  light  orange  shade  ;  of  this  a 
teaspoonful  is  given  every  hour. — Ind.  Jcmrn.  Phar.,  iii.,  221.,  after 
Med.  Rev. 


£24 


PH  ARM  ACEU  TIC  AL  JOURNAL. 


[April  10,  1897 


PHARMACEUTICAL  SOCIETY. 


MAJOR  EXAMINATION  QUESTIONS. 


A  Paper.* 

BOTANY  AND  MATERIA  MEDICA. 

Saturday,  April  3,  1897. — 10  a.m.  to  1  p.m. 

1.  What  are  the  most  striking  external  characters  of  any  five  of  the  following 
plants  ? — 

Willow,  Poplar,  Oak,  Beech,  Fir  or  Pine,  Plane. 

2.  Give  an  account  of  the  .structure  of  the  female  flower  of  any  Conifer,  with 
a  careful  description  of  the  structures  formed  in  the  embryo-sac,  before  and  after 
fertilisation. 

3.  By  what  experimental  methods  has  our  knowledge  of  the  essential  con¬ 
stituents  of  the  food  of  a  green  plant  been  obtained  ? 

4.  What  is  Nux  Vomica?  Give  the  name  of  the  plant  from  which  it  is  obtained 
and  state  its  Natural  Order  and  habitat.  What  are  its  principal  constituents, 
and  in  what  proportions  do  they  exist  ? 

5.  How  is  Cherry  Laurel  Water  prepared  ?  To  what  is  its  medicinal  activity 
due  ?  Explain  how  this  is  produced. 

B  Paper.* 

BOTANY"  AND  MATERIA  MEDICA. 

Saturday,  April  3,  1897. — 2  to  5  p.m. 

1.  What  are  the  most  striking  external  features  of  any  five  of  the  following 
flowers  ? — 

White  Dead-nettle,  Larkspur,  Spurge,  Hemlock,  Pine  or  Fir,  Wall-Flower, 
Pansy. 

2.  Describe  the  structure  of  the  anther  of  an  Angiosperm,  and  compare  it  with 
that  of  the  corresponding  organ  of  a  Conifer. 

3.  By  what  means  and  in  what  form  do  roots  absorb  the  mineral  elements  of 
the  plant’s  foods  ? 

4.  How  and  where  is  opium  produced  ?  How  may  the  commercial  varieties 
he  distinguished?  Mention  its  principal  constituents. 

What  method  should  you  adopt  to  estimate  its  value?  Explain  the  process. 

5.  What  is  the  “Mustard”  of  the  Pharmacopoeia?  What  are  its  principal 
constituents?  Explain  the  change  which  takes  place  when  the  powder  is 
moistened  with  water. 


B  Paper.* 

PRACTICAL  BOTANY  AND  MATERIA  MEDICA. 
Saturday,  April  3,  1897. — 10  a.m.  to  1  p.m. 

1.  Prepare  longitudinal  tangential,  and  radial  sections  of  the  stem  A.  Sketch 
your  preparations,  labelling  the  various  parts,  and  point  out  such  features  as 
are  characteristic  of  coniferous  wood. 

2.  Befer  each  of  the  flowers  B  and  C  to  its  Natural  Order,  giving  your  reasons. 

3.  Identify  the  drug  provided,  and  display  its  histological  features. 

Leave  a  section  and  a  lettered  sketch  explaining  it. 

4.  Investigate  and  report  upon  the  powder. 

A  Paper.* 

PRACTICAL  BOTANY  AND  MATERIA  MEDICA. 
Saturday ,  April  3,  1897. — 2  p.m.  to  5  p.m. 

1.  Prepare  a  transverse  section  of  the  stem  A ;  make  a  careful  drawing  of  your 
preparation,  and  name  the  several  structures  shown,  pointing  out  such  evidence 
as  exists  of  secondary  thickening. 

2.  Befer  each  of  the  flowers  B  and  C  to  its  Natural  Order,  giving  your  reasons. 

3.  Identify  the  drug  provided,  and  display  its  histological  peculiarities. 

Leave  a  section  and  a  lettered  sketch  explaining  it. 

4.  Investigate  and  report  upon  the  powder. 

CHEMISTRY. 

Monday,  April  5,  1897. — 10  a.m.  to  1  p.m. 

[<SYr  questions  only  are  to  be  attempted .] 

1.  What  are  the  principal  reactions  exhibited  by  sulphurous,  thiosulphuric 
and  hydrosulphurous  acids  or  their  salts  ?  Indicate  the  practical  use,  made  of  any 
of  these  reactions. 

2.  You  are  given  some  common  salt.  Describe  in  detail  how  you  would  pre¬ 
pare  from  it  pure  sodium  chloride,  sodium  nitrate,  sodium  nitrite,  glauber  salt 
and  sodium  disulphate  respectively. 

3.  What  weight  of  phosphorus  is  contained  in  500  C.c.  of  a  normal  solution 
of  hypophosphorous  acid  ?  State  what  you  know  of  the  action  of  heat  on  hypo- 
phosphites. 

4.  How  is  potassium  platinocyanide  prepared  ?  State  what  you  know  of  the 
optical  character  of  crystals  of  platinocyanides. 

5.  What  is  the  constitution  of  mustard  oil  ?  How  may  it  be  prepared  artificially  ? 

6.  What  is  the  action  on  benzaldehyde  of  (a)  hydrocyanic  acid  ;  (6)  strong  nitric- 
acid  ;  (c)  phosphorus  pentachlori.de  ;  (cl)  ammonia  ? 

7.  You  are  given  a  mixture  of  benzene,  phenol,  and  salicylic  acid.  Describe 
how  you  would  separate  each  ingredient  in  a  pure  state  from  the  mixture. 

8.  How  is  the  existence  of  four  isomeric  tartaric  acids  accounted  for?  Indicate 
how  from  any  one  the  other  isomers  can  be  obtained. 

9.  Give  examples  of  any  ring-compounds  which  can  be  synthesised  from  urea. 


*  Part  of  the  candidates  received  the  papers  A,  A,  and  others  had  the 

papers  B,  B. 


PHYSICS. 

Monday,  April  5,  1897. — 2  to  5 p.m. 

[Six  Questions  only  are  to  be  attempted .] 

1.  When  a  current  of  air  is  passed  through  a  volatile  liquid  the  rate  of  evapora¬ 
tion  is  increased  and  the  temperature  diminished.  Explain  both  effects. 

2.  What  are  the  relative  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  air  and  mercurial 
thermometers  ? 

3.  Describe  briefly  two  distinct  classes  of  phenomena  which  are  best  explained 
by  the  undulatory  theory  of  light. 

4.  Why  does  reflection  at  a  plane  mirror  apparently  change  a  man’s  right  hand 
into  his  left,  while  not  interchanging  his  head,  and  his  feet  ? 

5.  What  methods  are  employed  for  producing  magnetism  ?  Describe  how  you 
would  make  a  horse-shoe  magnet,  and  the  kind  of  metal  you  would  use. 

6.  Describe  ail  electroscope  and  the  mode  of  using  it. 

7.  Describe  some  chemical  effects  produced  by  an  electric  current. 

8.  What  is  meant  by  the  term  “  extra-current,”  and  how  is  it  produced? 

9.  Descx-ibe  precisely  how  you  would  proceed  if  you  were  required  to  determine 
the  electrical  resistance  of  a  piece  of  copper  wire. 


PARLIAMENTARY  NOTES  AND  NEWS- 


The  Second  Reading  in  the  House  of  Lords  of  the  Preferential 
Payments  in  Bankruptcy  Act  (1889)  Amendment  Bill  reminds  one 
that  that  useful  amending  measure  is  now  within  reach  of  the 
Statute  Book.  Its  object  is  to  confer  on  the  employes  of  bankrupt 
companies  the  same  preference  rights  as  to  the  payment  of  wages 
and  salaries,  which  the  workmen  and  clerks  of  individuals  enjoy 
under  the  Bankruptcy  Act  of  1888.  After  the  enactment  of  the 
amendment,  wages  and  salaries  will  have  priority  over  payments 
to  debenture  holders  or  other  creditors. 


Mr.  Ritchie  has  again  expressed  his  intention  of  re-introducing 
the  Metric  Weights  and  Measures  Bill  of  last  session.  This  time 
it  was  in  answer  to  Mr.  Crombie  (Kincardineshire)  that  the 
announcement  was  made,  but  Easter  is  near  and  the  Bill  does  not 
appear. 


Mr.  Lloyd  George  (Carnarvon  Burghs)  last  week  carried  out 
his  promise  of  calling  attention  to  the  horribly  overworked  condi¬ 
tion  of  the  Local  Government  Board  and  to  the  difficulty  of 
getting  questions  dealing  with  the  Department  attended  to.  He 
pointed  out  that  the  Board  had  power  under  its  Act  of  1888  to- 
delegate  some  of  its  duties  to  local  Councils,  which  could  deal 
with  purely  local  questions  much  more  efficiently.  Such  items  as 
boundaries,  and  sale  of  drugs  were  quoted  as  instances  in  which 
the  Board  might  very  properly  try  a  little  decentralisation.  The 
President  of  the  Board,  in  reply,  admitted  a  truly  deplorable 
state  of  chronic  over-pressure,  which  had  made  it  impos¬ 
sible  to  close  some  of  the  audit  accounts  within  the  financial 
year.  The  Departmental  Committee  appointed  to  inquire  into  the 
whole  question  of  the  organisation  of  the  Department  (see  Ph.  J., 
Dec.  19,  p.  534)  had  agreed  upon  a  report  of  a  satisfactory  nature,  and 
there  was  ground  for  hoping  that  all  cause  for  complaint  would  in 
time  be  removed.  Mr.  Chaplin  proved  that  the  Department  was 
not  averse  to  the  devolution  of  certain  work  upon  County  Councils 
by  referring  to  an  attempt  in  1889  to  bring  in  a  Bill  effecting  it. 
But  the  non-county  boroughs  would  have  none  of  it. 


Petroleum  Committee. — -Mr.  Robert  Shaw  was  the  witness  on 
March  31,  and,  as  became  the  manager  of  the  Liverpool  branch  of 
the  Anglo-American  Oil  Company,  testified  to  the  superiority  of 
American  oil,  so  far  as  safety  and  method  of  conveyance  was  con¬ 
cerned.  The  chief  part  of  the  evidence  was  directed  to  showing 
that  further  legislation  in  respect  of  petroleum  was  quite  unneces¬ 
sary.  Of  course,  the  witness  added,  there  would  be  little  objection  to 
legislation  which  would  secure  a  general  adoption  of  the  “  tank 
system,  and  he  had  no  objection  to  the  registration  or  licensing 
of  dealers,  but  he  was  strongly  opposed  to  any  registration  fee  being 
charged.  No  fee  was  charged  in  the  case  of  milk  dealers,  and  Mr. 
Shaw  could  not  see  that  the  difference  between  milk  and  oil  made 
any  difference  in  principle.  Mr.  Shaw  was  very  emphatic  with 
this  part  of  his  evidence,  and  stated  that  in  his  opinion  the 
smallest  registration  fee  would  drive  numbers  of  dealers  from  the 
trade.  Petroleum  must  be  worse  than  pharmacy  ! 


The  Sale  or  Food  and  Drugs  Bill  has  been  further  deferred 
till  April  29,  and  the  Shop  Assistants  (Half-Holiday)  Bill  till 
Wednesday  28th  inst. 


Apeil  10,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


325 


LETTERS  TO  THE  EDITOR. 


The  Forthcoming  Council  Election. 

Sir, — Allow  me  to  supplement  the  letter  of  Mr.  Gostling  in  last 
week’s  Pharmaceutical  Journal  by  saying  how  fully  I  endorse  what 
he  has  so  well  said,  as  to  the  desirability  of  increasing  the  proportion 
of  London  members  on  the  Council.  As  at  present  constituted 
there  are  only  five  out  of  a  total  of  twenty-one.  There  must  of 
necessity  be  a  large  and  probably  growing  amount  of  routine  work 
to  be  done  by  those  members  within  easy  reach  of  Bloomsbury 
Square,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  the  interests  of  the  Society  would 
be  better  served  if  the  number  were  increased  to  six  or  even  seven. 
As  a  provincial  member  of  the  Society  it  would  ill  become  me 
to  speak  lightly  of  the  services  so  ungrudgingly  rendered 
by  the  country  members,  who,  at  the  sacrifice  of  so  much 
time  and  strength,  give  us  the  benefit  of  their  experience,  and  who, 
in  some  respects,  perhaps,  represent  and  understand  the  difficulties 
of  the  retail  trade  better  than  our  London  friends.  Still  this  does 
not  prevent  my  seeing  the  great  advantage  that  must  accrue  to 
the  Society  in  having  non-members  available  on  special  occasions 
for  administrative  work.  Those  of  us  who  are  accustomed  to 
public  work  know  how  important  it  is  to  be  able,  when  some 
sudden  emergency  occurs,  to  confer  with  colleagues ;  this  is 
impossible  when  they  are  at  a  distance.  While  the  chief  business 
of  the  Society  must  of  course  be  done  at  the  monthly  meeting  of 
the  Council,  when  all  are  present,  it  is  not  less  important  I  think, 
that  these  informal  conferences  should  be  well  provided  for.  W e 
in  Bristol  have  so  long  been  accustomed  to  have  one  of  our  own 
number  (in  the  person  of  the  late  G.  F.  Schacht)  on  the  Council 
that  it  has  frequently  been  said  we  ought  to  take  some  steps  to 
secure  a  successor  (so  to  speak).  I  should  have  been  inclined  to  try 
and  secure  the  nomination  of  one  of  my  colleagues  at  this  election  but 
for  the  feeling  I  have  that  the  proportion  of  provincial  members  is 
already  too  large.  I  hope  the  members  of  the  Society  will  give 
due  weight  to  these  considerations  when  filling  up  their  voting 
papers.  May  I  also  be  permitted  to  say  that  I  trust  there  will  be 
less  apathy  displayed  at  this  election  than  on  some  former  occa¬ 
sions  ?  We  are  a  democratic  body,  and  can  choose  whom  we  will 
to  represent  us. 

Bristol,  April  6,  1897.  B.  Keen. 


The  Peoposed  New  Bye-Laws. 

Sir, — No  reasonable  objection  can  be  urged  against  the  proposed 
change  in  the  Preliminary  examination.  Ten  guineas,  when  looked 
upon  as  an  examination  and  registration  fee  combined,  is  not  ex¬ 
orbitant,  but  it  is  enough  without  exacting  large  sums  from  can¬ 
didates  on  their  coming  up  againfor  examination  after  having  failed. 
W  hy  not  make  the  qualifying  examination  progressive  for  those 
who  fail  in  one  or  more  subjects,  by  allowing  them  to  pass  in  those 
subjects  in  which  they  may  have  obtained  the  requisite  number  of 
marks,  and  for  every  subsequent  appearance  before  the  examiners, 
let  one  guinea  be  charged  for  each  subject  in  which  the  candi¬ 
date  is  examined?  By  this  means  young  men  would  be  able 
to  devote  more  time  to  those  subjects  in  which  they  found  them¬ 
selves  deficient,  and  besides,  it  would  tend  to  remove  the  reproach 
so  often  levelled  against  the  Society  (but  so  seldom  justified. — 
Ed.  Ph.  J. ),  viz.,  want  of  sympathy  and  consideration  for  those 
entering  the  profession. 

Hawick,  March  31,  1897.  W.  S.  Turnbull. 


“  A  Member  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  ”  (88/35),  apparently 
under  the  impression  that  the  Council  has  not  already  fully 
considered  the  matter,  suggests  that  the  fee  for  the  qualifying 
examination  and  the  registration  fee  should  be  distinct  and  paid 
separately.  He  appears  to  think  also  that  payment  of  the  second 
fee  should  constitute  the  newly-fledged  chemist  and  druggist  a 
life  associate  of  the  Society.  Similarly,  he  would  make  all 
pharmaceutical  chemists  life  members. 


Sir, — The  letter  of  “K.  K.”  in  the  Journal  for  March  27,  brings 
before  the  Council  a  want  long  felt  by  pharmacists  and  apprentices 
in  town  and  country  alike.  The  proposed  examination  should  be 
thoroughly  practical,  including  dispensing,  a  knowledge  of  the 
Pharmacopoeia  preparations,  with  doses  of  the  same,  as  well  as  doses 
of  poisons,  and  antidotes  of  the  same.  Such  an  examination  every 
apprentice  should  be  able  to  pass  at  the  expiration  of  his  apprentice¬ 
ship,  and  become  the  holder  of  an  assistant’s  diploma,  to  act  as  such 


to  a  qualified  chemist,  under  the  supervision  of  the  latter,  but  it 
should  not  permit  him  to  manage  a  business,  branch  or  otherwise  ; 
this  should  only  be  doneby  a  fully  qualified  person.  An  examination 
somewhat  on  these  lines  would,  I  think,  be  a  boon  to  apprentices,  for 
having  tasted  the  pleasure  of  study,  they  would  be  induced  to  put 
forth  further  efforts  to  qualify  ;  to  their  future  employers  it  would 
be  a  certificate  that  they  possessed  practical  knowledge  of  the  duties 
required  of  them,  whilst  the  Society  itself  would  be  the  gainer  by 
increased  numbers,  extended  usefulness  and  influence. 

April,  6,  1897.  T.  T.  (88/39). 


Public  Service  Dispensers. 

Sir, — The  two  main  complaints  of  the  public  service  dispensers 
are  :  largely  increased  duties,  and  miserably  inadequate  salary.  It 
is  now  common  knowledge  that  the  average  dispenser  is  compelled 
to  work  at  dangerously  high  pressure  in  the  ordinary  dispensary 
routine,  and  is  called  upon  to  perform  highly  technical  duties 
rendered  necessary  by  the  greatly  increased  activity  displayed  by 
the  medical  officers  in  research  work  ;  and  all  this  for  a  salary 
very  little  in  excess  of  that  received  by  a  journeyman  bricklayer. 
While  all  other  workers  obtain  salaries  advancing  with  the  times, 
the  unfortunate  dispenser  is  now  only  in  receipt  of  the  same,  and 
in  some  cases  less  than  twenty  years  ago.  Individual  protest  is 
useless,  we  are  simply  told  that  “if  your  position  was  vacant  we 
could  obtain  another  to  do  your  duties  at  less  money.” 
So  long  as  we  are  content  to  labour  on  for  a  mere 
existence,  no  one  will  trouble  to  interest  themselves  in  our  fate. 
We  must  exert  ourselves,  meet  together,  form  a  strong  association, 
and  firmly  and  plainly  place  our  position  before  the  governing 
bodies,  asking  for  the  justice  that  could  scarcely  be  refused 
us.  Of  no  other  skilled  worker  is  so  much  expected  while  so  little 
is  given.  Of  no  other  is  such  an  extensive  range  of  miscellaneous 
requirements  exacted.  No  other  is  expected  to  be  always  ready, 
willing,  and  able  to  turn  his  hand  to  anything  that  science  or  art 
suggests,  and  yet  to  manage  his  department  with  efficiency  and 
economy.  Because  we  have  always  seemed  to  be  contented  with 
our  lot  may  have  been  an  excuse.  Let  it  be  so  no  longer.  Let  it 
be  seen  that  there  are  others  who  consider  ‘  ‘  the  labourer  is  worthy 
of  his  hire”  besides — 

April  2,  1897.  “A  Fifteen  Years’  Dispenser”  (88/13). 


The  Dose  of  Tincture  of  Strophanthus. 

Sir,— On  Friday  of  last  week  I  met  a  medical  friend,  who  told 
me  that  on  the  previous  day  he  had  prescribed  for  a  woman  about 
forty  years  of  age  suffering  from  an  affection  of  the  heart  1  oz.  of 
the  tincture  of  strophanthus.  Although  the  label  bore  that  the 
dose  was  to  be  10  drops,  his  patient  took  a  teaspoonful,  and  repeated 
this  three  hours  afterwards.  The  next  morning  the  prescriber 
found  the  quantity  that  had  been  taken  and  inquired  as  to  the 
condition  of  the  patient ;  she  had  passed  a  good  night,  and  was 
altogether  in  a  better  condition.  The  strophanthus  was  not 
dispensed  by  my  firm,  but  along  with  the  medical 
gentleman  I  called  at  the  establishment  where  it  was 
dispensed.  In  physical  appearance  and  taste  it  seemed  in 
every  way  satisfactory,  and  had  been  purchased  from  a  good  firm. 
As  a  teaspoonful  is  a  very  uncertain  quantity,  at  my  suggestion  a 
messenger  was  sent  to  the  patient  for  the  bottle,  and  the  contents 
being  measured  five  drachms  was  found  to  be  the  quantity  left,  so 
that  within  three  hours  three  drachms  had  been  taken.  At  the 
time  of  taking  the  strophanthus  the  patient’s  bowels  were  somewhat 
relaxed,  so  that  full  absorption  would  not  be  likely  to  take  place. 
I  further  suggested  to  my  friend  that  he  should  communicate  the 
facts  to  Dr.  Fraser,  of  Edinburgh,  which  he  intends  doing.  The 
facts  connected  with  the  case  should  be  of  interest  to  youJt 
readers,  and  I  shall  be  glad  to  know  if  any  of  them  have  had  any 
experience  as  to  what  constitutes  a  poisonous  dose  of  the  drug. 

Greenock,  April  6,  1897.  Archibald  MacNaught. 


The  Dose  of  Creosote. 

Sir, — It  may  be  of  service  to  some  of  our  friends  in  the  trade  to 
know  that  creosote  can  be  given  in  very  large  doses.  We  have 
patients  at  the  present  time  taking  up  to  40  minim  doses  three 
times  a  day.  Of  course  this  has  been  progressive.  I  write  simply 
by  way  of  information,  because  one  of  our  physicians  told  me  a  few 
days  ago  that  he  had  had  a  prescription  returned  to  him  for  con- 
fimation  which  contained  but  six  minims  to  the  dose.  This  was 
thought  by  the  chemist  to  be  an  overdose. 

London,  April  6,  1897.  W  m.  Harvey. 


326 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  10, 1897. 


ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 


Special  Notice. — Scientific,  technical,  legal  and  general  information  required 
by  readers  of  tlie  ‘Pharmaceutical  Journal'  will  be  furnished  by  the  Editor  as  far 
as  practicable,  but  he  cannot  undertake  to  reply  by  post.  All  communications  must  be 
addressed  “Editor,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  London,  W.C.,"  and  must  also  be  authen¬ 
ticated  by  the  names  and  addresses  of  senders.  Questions  on  different  subjects  should 
be  written  on  separate  slips  of  paper,  each  of  which  must  bear  the  sender's  initials  or 
pseudonym.  Replies  will,  in  all  cases,  be  referred  to  such  initials  or  pseudonyms, 
and  the  registered  number  added  in  each  instance  should  be  quoted  in  any  subsequent 
communication  on  the  same  subject. 


Esbach’s  Re-agent. — Dissolve  picric  acid,  10  Gm.,  and  citric 
acid,  20  Gm.,  in  water,  1  litre.  [Reply  to  R.  J.  P. — 88/12.] 


A.  P.  S.  or  L.  P.  S. — It  is  not  a  matter  of  legality  but  of  good 
taste,  since  the  title  of  “licentiate”  of  the  Society  is  not  a  recog¬ 
nised  one.  [ Reply  to  J.  C.  C. — 88/24.] 


Botany  for  Beginners. — Get  Scott’s  ‘  Introduction  to  Structural 
Botany,’  vol.  1  (A.  and  C.  Black,  3s.  6 d.),  and  work  through  it 
systematically.  [Reply  to  Student.— 87/43.] 

Startin’s  Face  Lotion. — The  formula  you  require  appears  in 
Startin’s  ‘Skin  Pharmacopoeia  ’  as  “  Lotio  Zinci  Co.” — zinci 
oxidi,  |ss.  ;  pulv.  calaminse,  ;  glycerini,  §i.  ;  liquor  calcis, 
gviii.  ;  aqua  ad.  Oi.  [Reply  to  H.  B.  Q. — 86/14.] 


Aperient  Syrup.—  Liquid  extract  of  cascara  sagrada,  2  fl.  ozs.  ; 
compound  decoction  of  aloes,  2  ozs.  ;  borax,  30  grains  ;  tincture  of 
capsicum,  30  minims  ;  compound  tincture  of  gentian,  \  fl.  oz.  ;  oil 
of  sassafras,  6  minims  ;  oil  of  wintergreen,  3  minims  ;  treacle, 
4  fl.  ozs.  [Reply  to  M.  P.  S. — 85/39.] 


Microtomes.- — Write  to  Mr.  Abraham  Flatters,  16,  Church  Road, 
Longsight,  Manchester,  about  the  microtome  described  by  him. 
The  other  is  made  by  Mr.  Holt,  West  End  House,  Ashton-under- 
Lyne.  Mr.  C.  Baker,  244,  High  Holborn,  W.C.,  also  makes  small 
microtomes  for  botanical  work.  [Reply  to  Arbeiter. — 86,40.] 


Remedies  for  Haemorrhoids.— Cream  of  tartar,  1 ;  powdered 
cubebs,  2  ;  precipitated  sulphur,  1.  Mix.  Take  a  teaspoonful  in 
a  little  milk  night  and  morning.  The  old-fashioned  remedy  of 
equal  parts  of  confection  of  senna  and  confection  of  pepper  is 
also  very  effective.  Locally  apply  ung.  gallse  c.  opio.  Tincture  of 
horse-chesnut  has  recently  been  given  internally  (Ph.  J.  [4],  iii.,  79) 
with  excellent  results.  [Reply  to  M.  P.  S. — 85/39.] 


Plate  Powder. — Although  mercury  and  chalk  is  largely  used 
in  the  preparation  of  plate  powders,  its  employment  can  scarcely  fail 
ultimately  to  injure  the  plate,  since  the  mercury  forms  an  alloy 
with  the  silver,  and  a  minute  quantity  of  that  metal  must 
necessarily  be  removed  by  each  friction.  It  is  probably  popular 
with  butlers  because  it  gives  a  brilliant  polish,  with  a  minimum 
expenditure  of  “  elbow  grease.”  The  following  has  been  found  to 
give  very  good  results  Prepared  chalk,  8  parts  ;  jewellers’ 
rouge,  1  part;  diatomos,  1  part ;  dried  and  powdered  hyposulphite 
of  sodium,  2  parts.  Mix.  Apply  wet  with  a  soft  rag  and  polish 
off  with  chamois  leather.  [Reply  to  R.  H. — 87/1.] 


Ice  Cream.  —  Presumably  you  know  the  apparatus  neces¬ 
sary  for  freezing,  the  pewter  freezer,  ice  pail,  and  wooden 
spatula.  In  actual  practice  you  will  find  a  mixture  of  one  pound 
of  rough  salt  to  every  three  pounds  of  small  ice  give  the  best 
results.  A  good  basis  is  :  New  milk,  3  pints ;  best  condensed  milk, 
1  tin  ;  yolks  of  four  eggs.  Mix  and  heat  gently  with  constant 
stirring  to  make  a  custard.  Then  cool  and  put  into  the  freezer, 
which  is  packed  round  with  ice  and  salt.  Whirl  round  for  five 
minutes.  Then  take  off  lid  and  scrape  down  the  frozen  ice  off  the 
sides.  Again  whirl  and  scrape,  repeating  the  process  until  a 
uniform  butter-like  mass  results.  The  above  basis  can  be 
flavoured  with  vanilla,  orange,  lemon,  almond,  or  any  other 
flavouring.  If  you  want  a  specially  rich  ice,  substitute  raw  cream 
sweetened  with  sugar  for  the  quantity  of  milk  given  above.  Fruit 
ices  are  made  by  rubbing  good  preserves  through  a  sieve  and 
mixing  the  pulp  so  obtained  with  the  custard  in  the  proportion  of 
one  of  fruit  pulp  to  two  of  custard.  [Reply  to  H.  R.  B. — 85/38.] 


English  Dictionary. — Get  the  latest  edition  of  Ogilvie’s 
‘Student’s  English  Dictionary’  (Blackie,  7s.  6 d.),  edited  by 
Annandale.  [Reply  to  J.  C.  C. — 88/24.] 


Photo-Chemicals. — A.  and  M.  Zimmermann,  9,  St.  Mary-at- 
Hill,  Eastcheap,  E.C.,  for  pyro.  and  oxalates  ;  Boake,  Roberts 
and  Co.,  Stratford,  for  sulphites  and  hypo.  ;  Johnson  and  Son 
or  Johnson  and  Matthey,  London,  for  gold  and  silver  salts.. 
[Reply  to  A.  A.  M. — 87/42.] 

Qualification  as  Associates  in  Business. — Neither  directors 
nor  shareholders,  although  actively  engaged  in  the  business  of 
the  company,  can  be  said  to  be  carrying  on  business  on  their  own 
account ;  consequently  they  are  not  eligible  for  election  as  asso¬ 
ciates  in  business.  [Reply  to  Panto. — 87/8.] 

Analysts. — There  is  a  great  and  growing  demand  for  “com¬ 
petent”  analysts.  The  best  qualification  is  the  Fellowship  of  the 
Institute  of  Chemistry.  Write  to  the  Secretary,  30,  Bloomsbury 
Square,  London,  W.C.,  for  particulars,  and  then  you  may  be  able 
to  form  some  idea  of  the  cost.  [Reply  to  E.  R.  B. — 88,23.] 

Botanical  Works. — Bennett  and  Murray’s  ‘Handbook  of 
Cryptogamic  Botany  ’  (Longmans,  16s.)  may  serve  your  purpose, 
but  for  extended  work  you  will  require  special  books  dealing  with 
each  branch  of  the  subject.  Messrs.  W.  and  A.  K.  Johnston, 
of  Edinburgh,  publish  the  atlas.  [Reply  to  L.  A.  R. — 88/19.] 

Dispensing  Query. — Four  emulsion*-calcii  oleat. ,  /jiv. ;  lanolin, 
3vi.  ;  fossiline,  pii. ;  pulv.  acacia,  gr.  160  ;  pulv.  acid  boric,  gr.  32 
ol.  geranii,  tTlvi.  ;  aq.  rosse  concent.,  Jij. — is  a  little  difficult.  In  the 
first  place,  calcium  oleate  is  an  ambiguous  term.  Possibly  the- 
writer  considers  this  a  euphemism  for  lin.  calcis  ;  but  we  do  not 
think  you  should  depart  from  the  written  letter  of  the  prescription, 
and  should  prepare  the  true  oleate  of  calcium.  This  is  easily  done 
by  mixing  224  grains  of  oleic  acid  and  3  fluid  ounces  of  saccharated 
solution  of  lime,  which  will  give  you  the  required  amount  of  calcium 
oleate.  The  mixture  is  boiled  to  complete  the  saponification,  and 
the  resulting  lime  soap  drained,- washed,  and  dried.  This  is  then 
rubbed  perfectly  smooth  on  a  slab,  and  incorporated  with  the 
fossiline  and  lanolin,  and  the  acacia.  The  boric  acid  is  dissolved 
with  the  rose-water.  All  are  then  incorporated  together  with  a. 
gentle  heat,  removing  as  soon  as  a  homogeneous  mixture 
results,  and  stirring  until  cold,  adding  the  perfume  at  the 
last.  Thus  treated  a  smooth  homogeneous  emulsion  results  about, 
the  consistence  of  thin  Devonshire  cream.  Several  other  ways 
of  mixing,  in  the  cold  and  with  heat  have  been  tried,  but 
the  above  is  the  only  method  which  gives  a  presentable  result- 
[Reply  to  A.  T.  J. — 85/1.] 


OBITUARY. 


Thomas. — On  March  25,  John  Henry  Thomas,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  Chester.  Aged  38.  Mr.  Thomas  had  been  an  Associate- 
of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  since  1875. 

Bagley. — On  March  27,  Thomas  Joseph  Bagley,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  Wolstanton,  Staffs.  Aged  55. 

Chessall.— On  April  1,  Rowland  Chessall,  Pharmaceutical 
Chemist,  Sidmouth,  Devon.  Air.  Chessall  was  an  old  and  much- 
respected  tradesman,  and  had  been  a  member  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  since  1862. 

Allis. -^On  March  18,  Francis  Allis,  Pharmaceutical  Chemist,, 
Bristol.  Aged  77.  Mr.  Allis  had  been  a  member  of  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society  since  1853. 

Staning. — On  March  30,  Walter  Staning,  Chemist  and  Drug¬ 
gist,  Hull.  Aged  77.  Mr.  Staning  had  been  an  Associate  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  since  1871. 

Blatchley. — On  April  1,  Thomas  Blatchley,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  Yeadon.  Aged  67.  Mr.  Blatchley  was  greatly  esteemed 
in  Yeadon,  and  for  a  term  of  three  years  was  a  member  of  the 
Local  Board.  He  had  been  a  member  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  since  1870. 


COMMUNICATIONS, LETTERS, etc., have  been  received  from 

Messrs.  Andrews,  Bullock,  Butt,  Cocks,  Cowley,  Currie,  De  Morgan,  Dennis,  Duyk,- 
Farr,  Flatters,  Forret,  Forsliaw,  Gibbard,  Grimble,  Guyer,  Harvey,  Heap,  Herman, 
Hill,  Hustler,  Jackson,  Keen,  Kent,  Lockyer,  Macaulay,  MacKinna,  MacNaught- 
Moss,  Myers,  Pike,  Ranwez,  Reynolds,  Roberts,  Robinson,  Shattock,  Shepherd., 
Squire,  Startin,  Syms,  Tipping,  Turnbull,  Welford,  Wilson. 

[Several  Letters  and  Answers  are  held  over.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


327 


IE  Li 

,o  \  20  APi  97  r 

\  ^  / 

Mr.  George-  Cou.Il  .has/fead  before  the  Glasgow  Pharmaceutical 
Association  anelaborate  paper  on  the  above  subject,  conceived  in 
the  rwj£  Sjoint  oLgmistructive  criticism.  Apart  from  pharmacy  I 
should  delight  in  being  purely  classical,  and  in  private  my  pleasure 
tends  that  way  ;  but  as  a  member  of  a  pharmacopceial  committee, 
I  recognise  that  purism  may  be  pushed  too  far,  and  that  we  cannot 
always  with  advantage  clothe  modern  remedies  in  the  very  words 
of  Cicero  or  Pliny. 

I  have  long  wished  that  we  could  agi’ee  to  give  the  usual 
grammatical  endings  to  words  which  from  their  form  might 
obviously  be  classed  under  definite  declensions  in  order  that  we 
might  have  an  accepted  rule  respecting  the  nomenclature  of 
existing  latinised  words  and  of  any  new  remedies  that  might  from 
time  to  time  be  introduced. 

The  wish  was  extremely  modest  and  easy  of  application,  but  I 
have  been  but  partially  successful. 

I  regret  that  while  we  have  linimentum  saponis  and  cataplasma 
carbonis,  we  retain  tinctura  kino  ;  that  while  at  school  we  say 
animal,  animalis,  we  leave  chloral  indeclinable  and  treat  other 
terminations  in  the  same  way. 

My  failure  in  this  respect  is  a  standing  warning  not  to  use  long 
words.  The  term  nomenclature  (four  syllables)  carries  with  it  a 
feeling  of  alarm  lest  changes  of  a  recondite  or  fanciful  nature 
should  be  advocated.  A  decently  trained  apprentice  would  have 
been  competent  to  write  such  terminations  (not  alterations)  into 
his  master’s  pharmacopoeia. 

In  words  of  Greek  origin,  requiring  higher  scholarship,  we  have 
gone  right,  for  we  have  oleum  theobromatis,  though  oleum  theo- 
bronue  may  be  found  in  pharmacopoeias  of  an  earlier  date. 

As  the  simple  plan  mentioned  found  scant  acceptance,  I  am 
afraid  there  is  little  hope  for  the  introduction  of  destoleum, 
oleamen,  oleamentum,  hagenia  for  cusso,  and  novelties  of  that 
description. 

I  venture  to  make  a  few  remarks  on  Mr.  Coull’s  recent  contri¬ 
bution  to  the  subject,  not  by  way  of  criticism  but  rather  as 
running  comment  on  the  general  question.  Gelatinum,  in  English, 
gelatin,  is  not  gluten  or  glutinum,  glue.  The  writer  who  proposed 
resinum  for  resina  may  be  left  alone  ;  naptol  for  naphthol  I  have 
hitherto  considered  a  printer’s  error. 

Now  comes  the  ever  disputed  point,  the  pharmacopoeial  gender 
of  nouns  in  as,  atis,  and  is,  itis  ;  viewed  as  classical  words  the 
former  are  feminine. 

The  matter  seems  to  stand  thus : — Mediaeval  writers  took  the 
word  sal,  salis,  as  neuter— hence  we  get  a  long  series  of  salts  as 
sal  enixum,  sal  polychrestum,  and  down  to  the  present  day,  sal 
volatile. 

Had  this  been  correct,  the  plural  noun  would  have  been  salia, 
which  it  never  was,  instead  of  sales  which  has  been  universally 
adopted.  These  neuters  must  be  rejected  with  the  exception  of 
sal  volatile,  consecrated  by  immemorial  use. 

Many  writers  and  some  pharmacopoeias  followed  this  nomencla¬ 
ture,  but  on  the  introduction  of  scientific  names  the  case  was  re¬ 
considered.  Sal  was  a  noun  masculine,  and  the  salts  (sales)  were 
accredited  with  this  gender.  The  Paris  Codex  took  this  view,  and 
the  whole  Continent  followed  suit ;  last  of  all  the  United  States 
gave  in  adherence,  while  Great  Britain,  considering  the  nomen¬ 
clature  as  classical,  kept  to  the  Latin  Grammar  and  made  these 
salts  feminine. 

I  can  only  repeat  the  sentence  I  inserted  in  the  eighteenth 
edition  of  Pereira’s  ‘  Selecta  e  Pra:scriptis  ’  :  “  Great  Britain  stands 

Von.  LVI1I.  (Fourth  Series,  Yol.  IY.).  No.  1399. 


alone  in  considering  chemical  names  ending  in  as,  atis  ;  is  Itis,  as 
feminine.  In  Continental  practice  they  are  masculine,  and  it  is  an 
open  question  wdiether,  there  being  no  classical  authority  but  only 
the  law  of  custom,  British  pharmacists  should  not  conform  to  this 
arrangement.” 

It  is  not  necessary  to  fight  over  rosmarinus  ;  originally  ros 
marinus,  the  genitive  would  be  roris  marini,  similar  to  oleum 
filicis-maris  ;  becoming  a  simple  substantive,  either  rosmarinus  or 
rosmarinum,  it  is  more  correct  to  write  oleum  rosmarini  than  as 
formerly,  oleum  rorismarini. 

In  the  same  sentence  in  the  ‘  Pharmacologia  ’  we  read  :  olea 
rosmarini  and  rorismarini  officinalis  ;  the  first  is  the  term  used 
by  Dr.  Paris  ;  the  second  by  the  Edinburgh  College.  When 
Horace  wrote  “  marino  rore”  he  could  do  no  otherwise,  for  the 
‘  Ode  Ad  Phidylen  ’  is  in  alcaics,  marino  being  at  the  end  of  one 
line,  and  rore  at  the  beginning  of  the  next  : — - 

Te  niliil  attinet 
Tentare  multa  csede  bidentiuin 
Parvos  coronantem  marino 
Rore  deos  fragilique  myrto. 

Horace  never  wrote  roremarino,  which  is  the  real  point.  Anti- 
monium,  it  may  be  remarked  in  passing,  is  not  a  hybrid  word,  but 
traces  its  origin  to  avri  fjtoiaxous,  of  which  the  French  is  contre  les 
moines. 

I  am  unable  to  agree  that  the  oils  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  furnish 
examples  of  the  immolation  both  of  correctness  and  con¬ 
sistency.  Oleum  amygdalae  is  translated  in  the  B.P.  as  almond 
oil,  because  that  is  English,  and  not  by  the  literal  rendering  “  oil 
of  almond,”  which  is  not.  There  are  two  languages,  English  and 
Latin,  and  it  is  poor  scholarship  to  textually  replace  one  by  the 
other.  That  is  the  sort  of  translation  we  'get  in  a  crib  designed 
exclusively  to  enable  an  ignorant  student  to  pass  an  examination. 
Oleum  caryophylli  and  oleum  cubebas  are  rendered  oil  of  cloves 
and  oil  of  cubebs  respectively ;  the  reason  why  they  are  in  the 
plural  any  more  than  oil  of  caraway  or  oil  of  coriander  is  because 
English  people  seldom  say  oil  of  caraways  and  never  oil  of 
corianders,  while  they  invariably  talk  of  cloves  and  cubebs.  Some 
years  ago,  wishing  to  be  scrupulously  correct,  I  printed  a  batch  of 
labels  in  the  following  style  :  Tincture  of  the  Hop,  because  the 
Latin  was  tinctura  humuli ;  Syrup  of  the  Poppy,  because  the  Latin 
was  syrupus  papaveris.  My  father  put  the  whole  series  in  the 
fire.  It  cannot  be  helped  that  myristicae  adeps  was  a  synonym  for 
oleum  myrisfcicse  expressum,  because  that  was  the  case  ;  butyrum 
myristicae  never  has  been  and  could  not,  therefore,  have  been 
inserted. 

Neither  can  I  agree  as  far  as  pharmacy  is  concerned,  with  the 
adoption  of  the  adjective  when  possible,  instead  of  a  noun  in  the 
genitive  to  describe  things.  We  sometimes  call  linimentum 
camphorae,  oleum  camphoratum,  just  as  the  French  say  huile 
camphree,  because  the  preparation  is  olive  oil  impregnated  with 
camphor.  We  say  oleum  pliosphoratum  because  that  is  desiccated 
almond  oil  in  which  phosphorus  has  been  dissolved — non-pharma- 
copceial  oils  may  for  the  present  be  omitted.  But  we  deliberately 
say  oleum  amygdalae  to  show  that  it  is  the  oil  extracted  from  the 
substance  named. 

The  Paris  Codex  wishing  to  be  accurate  goes  further  still  and 
gives  oleum  ex  amygdalis  dulcibus ;  oleum  6  seminibus  ricini ; 
oleum  6  seminibus  crotonis.  The  genitive  of  the  noun  has  been 
universally  accepted  as  bearing  this  signification. 

The  qualifying  adjective  is  used  for  a  distinct  purpose  ;  the  noun 
in  the  genitive  for  another. 

Let  me  now  join  hands  respecting  the  word  silvestris,  which  is 
the  classical  spelling  beyond  doubt.  Fluckiger  and  Hanbury  so 


328 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Apbil  17,  1897 


write  the  word,  but  Hanbury  in  his  own  materia  medica  papers 
wrote  always  Pinus  sylvestris,  and  so  do  most  eminent  botanists. 
The  question  must  be  left  to  botanical  authorities  to  decide. 

I  am  glad  to  see  that  Mr.  Coull  entertains  some  idea  of  con¬ 
structing  a  prosodical  table  of  official  substances  ;  such  an  under¬ 
taking  would  be  most  useful ;  its  compilation  would  involve  much 
reference  verification  and,  consequently,  time.  I  speak  from  four¬ 
teen  years’  daily  experience  when  I  say  that  even  after  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  such  a  work  our  students  will  persist  in  imagining  that 
conium  and  camphora  are  the  true  methods  of  pronunciation. 


ON  CHICLE  GUM. 

BY  EDWARD  N.  BUTT. 

When  at  Campeche  in  Southern  Mexico  a  few  weeks  ago,  in 
addition  to  logwood,  mahogany,  hides,  and  other  miscellaneous 
cargo,  we  shipped  from  thirty  to  thirty-five  tons  of  chicle  gum.  At 
Progresso,  in  Yucatan,  our  next  port  of  call,  another  twenty-five 
tons  of  chicle  gum  was  added  to  the  cargo.  From  subsequent 
inquiries  I  found  that  the  gum  in  question  was  produced  by  the 
Achras  sapota,  a  tree  which  grows  wild  in  the  forests  in  the  State 
of  Yucatan  and  the  immediately  adjoining  States  of  Central 
America.  It  is  indigenous  from  Mexico  to  Guaina,  and  cultivated 
in  all  tropical  countries. 

Mode  oe  Production. 

In  the  States  of  Campeche  and  Yucatan  the  Peons,  as 
the  lower  class  of  natives  of  Aztec  descent  are  called,  search 
the  forests  where  these  trees  grow,  and  having  selected  those 
which  are  sufficiently  mature,  make  Y-shaped  incisions  in 
the  stem.  The  juice  which  exudes  from  the  incision  soon 
becomes  indurated  by  exposure  to  the  scorching  heat  of  the 
sun,  and  is  subsequently  collected.  Fresh  V-shaped  incisions  are 
made  in  the  same  trees  from  time  to  time  for  a  period  of  two  or 
three  years,  and  the  indurated  gum  collected.  The  trees  are  then 
allowed  to  rest  for  four  or  five  years,  after  which  period  they  are  again 
fit  to  undergo  the  tapping  process  and  yield  fresh  supplies  of  gum. 
When  a  sufficient  quantity  of  the  crude  gum  has  been  collected 
is  pressed  into  thick  oblong  blocks,  which  weigh  from  twenty -five 
to  thirty  kilos  each.  The  collector  then  usually  carries  the  gum 
to  the  stores  of  the  merchants,  either  suspended  from  his  head  or 
packed  on  burros,  as  the  Mexicans  call  that  patient  animal  the 
donkey.  The  exporting  merchant  usually  packs  three  of  these 
blocks  in  a  bale,  the  average  weight  of  each  bale  being  80  kilos. 
In  the  year  1895  no  less  than  four  million  pounds  weight  of  chicle 
gum,  of  the  estimated  value  of  one  and  a-half  million  dollars 
gold,  was  imported  into  New  York  from  Mexico.  I  inquired 
for  what  purposes  this  large  quantity  of  gum  was  used,  and  found 
it  was  the  basis  or  chief  ingredient  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
“  chewing  gum,”  a  substance  practically  unknown  in  this  country) 
but  almost  universally  used  in  the  United  States  by  men,  women, 
and  the  young  of  both  sexes — many  of  the  male  population  having 
adopted  it  as  a  harmless  substitute  for  tobacco.  The  habit 
of  chewing  “  chewing  gum  ”  is  said  not  only  to  increase  the  flow 
of  saliva  but  to  relieve  indigestion  and  dyspepsia.  This  may 
possibly  be  the  case  with  those  samples  which  contain  pepsin, 
especially  as  the  once  prevalent  habit  of  spitting  is  rapidly  on  the 
decline,  partly  due  to  the  substitution  of  gum  for  tobacco  for 
chewing  purposes,  but  mainly  in  consequence  of  the  affixing  of 
notices  in  all  the  street  cars  of  most  of  the  cities  in  the  Eastern 
States  prohibiting  spitting  therein  —  signed  “By  order  of  the 
Board  of  Health.” 

On  American  Chewing  Gum. 

When.  I  had  obtained  the  above  information  respecting  chicle 


gum,  I  determined  to  make  further  inquiries  and  obtain  as  much 
information  as  I  could  about  the  manufacture  of  “  chewing  gum” 
during  the  short  time  I  was  in  New  York. 

Historical. 

A  quarter  of  a  century  ago  there  were  practically  only  two  kinds 
of  “  chewing  gum  ”  in  use  in  the  United  States,  viz.,  the  regularly 
prepared  spruce  gum,  and  shoemaker’s  wax.  A  little  later  a 
mixture  of  paraffin  wax  with  either  resin,  balsam  of  tolu,  or  some 
other  ingredient  of  a  similar  character  was  put  on  the  market. 
This  new  variety  of  chewing  gum  rapidly  became  a  favourite  with 
the  ladies  and  also  with  the  youngsters,  who  called  it  “Coal-oil 
gum.”  Preparations  called  “Taffy  tolu”  and  “  Snapping  wax,” 
were  next  introduced  for  similar  use.  These  preparations  acted  a 
the  pioneers  for  the  enormous  trade  which  has  sprung  up  i 
“  chicle  chewing  gum.”  Its  present  use  was  discovered  by  an 
accident.  Some  twelve  or  fourteen  years  ago  a  lot  of  this  Mexican 
gum  was  sent  to  New  York  on  board  ship  partly  as  ballast, 
and  partly  in  the  hope  that  it  would  be  found  suitable  for  use  by 
bookbinders  or  possibly  in  the  leather  trade  ;  after  several  trials  it 
was’ found  to  be  quite  useless  for  any  known  purpose,  and  failing 
to  find  a  purchaser,  it  was  decided  to  tow  it  out  to  sea  and  throw 
it  overboard  in  order  to  get  rid  of  it.  Just  at  that  time  one 
man  out  of  the  hundreds  who  were  standing  on  the  wharf  casually 
picked  up  a  piece  of  the  gum,  examined  it,  and  found  it  would 
“chew.”  The  idea  at  once  occurred  to  him  that  it  would  forma 
suitable  basis  for  making  a  new  kind  of  chewing  gum,  and  without 
difficulty  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  the  whole  lot  for  the  trouble  of 
shovelling  it  out  of  the  ship.  That  man  was  a  Mr.  Adams,  the  head 
of  the  firm  of  Messrs.  Adams,  Sons  and  Co.,  of  148  to  155,  Sands 
Street,  Brooklyn,  New  York,  whose  manufactory  I  visited,  and  to 
whom  I  am  indebted  for  the  sample  of  chicle  gum,  which  is  now 
in  the  Museum  of  the  Society,  also  for  much  of  my  information. 
Messrs.  Adams,  Sons,  and  Co.  also  gave  me  a  box  of  chewing  gum 
as  prepared  for  use.  It  is  called  Pepsin  Tutti-F rutti  chewing  gum. 
It  is  flavoured  with  oil  of  peppermint,  and  each  tablet  is  said  to 
contain  one  grain  of  Armour’s  high  test  pepsin,  guaranteed  to  digest 
2500  grains  of  meat.  This  firm  prepare  many  other  varieties  of 
“gum,”  and  it  is  quite  evident  they  do  an  enormous  business, 
as  they  have  a  very  large  factory,  which  is  provided  with 
every  labour-saving  appliance  it  is  possible  to  introduce,  and 
yet  I  understand  they  find  work  for  350  to  400  employes  in  the 
winter  season,  and  about  450  in  the  summer  season,  from  250  to 
300  of  these  employes  being  young  women.  The  firm  of  which  Mr. 
Adams  is  the  head  is  not  only  the  largest  importer  of  the  crude 
gum,  but  also  the  largest  manufacturer  of  chewing  gum  in  the 
United  States,  whilst  Mr.  Adams  himself  is  reputed  to  be  a 
millionaire  several  times  over. 

Manufacture  of  Chewing  Gum. 

Mr.  Adams’  first  venture  in  making  chewing  gum  was  cooked  in 
a  tea  kettle  and  worked  up  on  the  kitchen  table.  Now,  the  gum 
as  taken  from  the  bales  is  first  chopped  into  small  pieces  and  then 
boiled  in  water.  Wood,  pieces  of  bark,  and  all  other  impurities 
which  are  light,  separate  from  the  gum,  float  on  the  surface,  and 
are  skimmed  off,  whilst  those  which  are  heavy,  such  as  dirt, 
stones,  etc. ,  fall  to  the  bottom.  When  the  gum  is  perfectly  clean 
and  all  the  foreign  substances  have  been  got  rid  off,  it  is  removed 
to  a  mill,  where  it  is  ground  up,  the  mill  making  about  3500 
revolutions  a  minute.  The  ground  gum  is  then  subjected  to  a 
continuous  heat  of  140°  F.  in  drying  rooms.  When  the  gum  is 
sufficiently  dry  it  is  sent  to  the  cooks,  who  put  it  into  large 
steam  jacketed  pans  and  add  to  it  pure  white  sugar,  granu¬ 
lated  pepsin,  powdered  kola,  or  other  desired  ingredients. 
It  is  then  turned  and  mixed  by  an  ingenious  double- 


April  17,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


329 


acting  rotating  paddle  until  it  has  assumed  the  consistency  of 
bread  dough.  The  “doughboys”  then  take  it  in  hand  and  add 
to  it  the  flavouring  ingredients,  such  as  oil  of  peppermint,  oil  of 
wintergreen,  etc.,  etc.,  and  whilst  still  warm  thoroughly  work  and 
knead  it  until  it  looks  like  gingerbread,  finely  powdered  sugar 
being  added  from  time  to  time  during  the  kneading  process  to 
prevent  its  sticking.  It  is  then  allowed  to  cool,  and  afterwards 
passed  through  steel  rollers  until  reduced  to  the  proper  thickness, 
when  it  is  removed  to  the  markers,  steel-knived  rollers  which 
partly  cut  through  the  long  sheets  of  gum.  Next  it  is  removed  to 
the  seasoning  room,  and  finally  broken  up  into  pieces  of  suitable  size 
on  the  lines  left  by  the  markers.  The  finished  gum  then  goes  to 
the  wrapping  room,  where  the  nimble  fingers  of  150  to  200  young 
ladies  wrap  it  in  waxed  paper,  tin  foil,  and  pretty  wrappers,  and 
these  to  the  packers,  who  pack  it  in  jars  or  boxes,  ready  for  sale  to 
the  numerous  dealers. 

Recipes  for  Making  Chewing  Gum. 

Should  any  one  in  this  country  be  desirous  of  embarking  in  the 
manufacture  of  this  article  I  append  a  few  formuhe  which  I  have 
taken  from  Merck's  Market  Report,  but  the  different  varieties  and 
various  flavours  now  on  the  market  may  be  numbered  by  hundreds. 
Those  varieties,  however,  of  which  chicle  gum  is  the  basis,  are  those 
which  are  most  in  favour  at  the  present  time  in  the  United  States. 


1. — Balsam  Tolu .  4  parts 

Benzoin .  1  part 

White  Wax  .  1  part 

Paraffin . 1  part 

Powdered  Sugar .  1  part 


Melt  together,  mix  well,  and  roll  into  sticks  of  the  usual  dimensions. 


2. — Balsam  Tolu .  4  parts 

Resin  White . . . „ .  10  parts 

Paraffin . . .  3  parts 

Powdered  Sugar . . .  Sufficient 


Melt  the  balsam,  resin,  and  paraffin  together,  and  while  still  fluid  incorporate 
sufficient  sugar  to  make  a  suitable  mass.  Roll  out  with  powdered  sugar,  and  cut 


into  pieces. 


3. — Balsam  Tolu .  . .  3  parts 

Powdered  Sugar .  1  part 

Oatmeal .  3  parts 


Soften  the  gum  on  a  water  bath,  and  mix  the  ingredients  ;  then  roll  in  pow¬ 
dered  sugar,  and  cut  into  sticks. 


4. — Venice  Turpentine  . . . . . .  40  parts 

Common  Turpentine  . 30  parts 

Yellow  Wax . 20  parts 

Balsam  Tolu  . 4  parts 

Balsam  Peru  .  2  parts 

Melt  together  and  add  in  fine  powder. 

Cinnamon  . .  12  parts 

Chocolate .  20  parts 

Red  Sandalwood  .  4  parts 

Sugar .  2  parts 

Myrrh  .  2  parts 

Galangal  . 2  parts 

Ginger . 2  parts 

Cardamom  . ! .  1  part 


Mix,  and  when  sufficiently  cool,  roll  out  into  sticks  or  any  other  desirable  form. 


5. — Gum  Chicle  . 
Paraffin  Wax 
Balsam  Tolu 
Balsam  Peru 


3J  lb. 

1  lb. 

2  ozs. 
1  oz. 


Dissolve  the  gum  in  as  much  hot  water  as  it  will  take  up,  melt  the  paraffin,  and 
mix  all  together,  then  take — 


Sugar . . 
Glucose 
Water. . 


10  lbs. 

4  lbs. 

3  pints. 


Dissolve  the  sugar  and  glucose  in  the  water,  boil  the  solution  up  to  the  “  crack  ” 
degree,  pour  the  syrup  upon  an  oil  slab,  turn  into  it  sufficient  of  the  above  gum 


mixture  to  make  it  tough  and  plastic,  incorporate  the  flavour  (powdered  cinna¬ 
mon,  chocolate,  sandalwood,  myrrh,  ginger,  or  cardamom),  and,  when  sufficiently 


cool,  roll  into  sheets  or  sticks. 


As  there  is  “so  much  money”  in  chewing  gum,  some  one  may 
be  desirous  of  going  into  the  trade,  but  before  starting  to  manu¬ 
facture  he  must  make  sure  of  a  continuous  supply  of  the  raw 
material.  At  the  present  time  the  whole  of  the  export  trade 
in  gum  from  Mexico  is  in  the  hands  of  a  very  few  persons,  and  the 


importers  and  manufacturers  in  the  United  States  are  also  very 
few  in  number,  less  than  half  a  dozen  I  believe,  who  not  only  hold 
contracts  with  the  exporters,  but  also  refuse  to  sell  the  raw 
material.  It  is  also  a  country  in  which  “  rings  ”  are  not  unknown. 


THE  ANALYSIS  OF  FATTY  OILS.* 

BY  R.  C.  COWLEY. 

The  matter  dealt  with  in  this  paper  is  one  that  cannot  be  satis¬ 
factorily  discussed  in  one  lecture,  but  is  rather  one  which,  from  its 
extent,  should  be  divided  into  a  series  covering  a  space  of  time  at 
least  equal  to  that  allotted  to  our  winter  session.  I  propose  to 
deal  with  commercial  analysis  of  fats— an  important  matter  to 
soap  boilers,  candle  makers,  and  in  pharmacy — in  as  concise  a  way 
as  possible,  principally  from  a  pharmacist’s  point  of  view.  As  a 
rule,  analysis  of  the  kind  I  intend  to  describe  is  not  followed  out  in 
its  entirety  by  pharmacists,  who  generally  confine  their  examina¬ 
tion  of  oils  and  fats  to  organoleptic  methods,  such  as  observing  the 
colour,  taste,  odour,  and  density  of  the  specimens.  These  methods, 
however  commonplace  they  may  appear,  must  not  be  overlooked, 
for  in  applying  them  the  average  pharmacist  can,  as  a  rule,  give 
points  to  the  analytical  chemist,  and  moreover  his  opinion  is 
generally  to  be  relied  on.  However,  in  order  to  thoroughly  protect 
the  retailer  against  adulteration  and  sophistication,  chemical  and 
physical  tests  must  be  resorted  to,  necessitating  a  thorough  training 
in  analysis. 

Fats  are  ethereal  compounds  of  glycerol,  generally  as  oleates, 
stearates  and  palmitates,  with  small  admixtures  of  other  com¬ 
pounds,  these  latter  being  particularly  characteristic  of  the 
individual  fat,  for  instance,  butyric  acid  in  butter,  and  arachidic 
acid  in  ground  nut  oil. 

Waxes  are  compounds  of  the  alcohols  of  the  methyl  series,  so 
that  according  to  this  definition  a  wax  is  not  necessarily  a  solid 
body. 

A  number  of  different  classes  of  acids  and  alcolols  maybe  present 
in  fats,  wax,  etc. ,  corresponding  to  the  various  classes  of  saturated 
and  unsaturated  hydrocarbous.  Those  fats  containing  the  most 
saturated  fatty  acids  are  non-drying,  and  those  containing  the  less 
saturated  fatty  acids  are  drying  :  their  drying  properties  in¬ 
creasing  with  the  degree  of  unsaturation.  Thus  we  have  in  linseed 
oil,  containing  unsaturated  linoleic  and  linolenic  esters  of  glycerol, 
an  extreme  type  of  drying  oil  whose  residue  on  drying  is  an 
amorphous  varnish.  When  heated  the  density  of  fats  diminishes, 
eventually  they  are  decomposed,  the  products  of  destructive 
distillation  being  a  number  of  hydrocarbons — a  fact  which  favours 
Engler’s  theory  that  petroleum  has  been  formed  by  the  decom¬ 
position  of  the  bodies  of  fossil  marine  animals. 

Perfectly  pure  fats  are  described  as  being  colourless,  odourless, 
and  tasteless,  the  substances  giving  the  particular  colour,  odour, 
and  taste  to  fats  being  foreign  matter.  On  exposure  to  sunlight 
the  colouring  matter  is  bleached,  hence  the  custom  of  bleaching 
castor  oil.  The  natural  glycerides  are  neutral  substances,  but 
become  acid  after  separation.  On  exposure  to  air  and  light  fats 
become  rancid.  This  does  not  appear  to  be  due  to  the  liberation 
of  fatty  acids.  Micro-organisms  have  been  credited  with  causing 
this  rancidity,  a  theory  supported  by  the  discoveiy  of  bacteria  in 
poppy-seed  oil,  but  Ritsert  has  shown  that  pure  lard  is  nob 
turned  rancid  by  bacteria,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  it  kills  them. 
Enzymes,  again,  do  not  turn  fats  rancid,  nor  does  moisture,  so  that 
these  changes  may  be  put  down  to  oxidation,  intensified  by  light 
causing  the  fatty  acids  to  split  up  into  acids  of  lower  molecular 
weight. 

Solid  fats,  especially  those  of  animal  origin,  do  not  rancify  so 
readily  as  liquid  fats.  They  seem  to  resist  the  action  of  light  better. 
On  exposure  to  air  fats  absorb  oxygen,  increasing  in  weight  up  to  a 
certain  point,  at  the  same  time  the  proportion  of  carbon  and  hydrogen 
in  them  diminishes,  and  they  become  viscous.  “  Blown  oils”  are 
made  by  passing  a  current  of  air  through  them  to  increase  their 
viscosity.  Fats  are  soluble  in  water  in  minute  traces.  They  are  only 
dissolved  in  cold  alcohol  in  small  quantity,  except  castor  oil, 
croton  oil,  and  olive  kernel  oil.  Pharmacists  and  perfumers 
frequently  make  use  of  the  solubility  of  castor  oil  in  alcohol  in 
preparing  brilliantine  and  hair  washes.  Ether,  chloroform,  carbon 
disulphide,  benzene,  petroleum  ether,  and  petroleum  all  dissolve 
fixed  oils  except  castor  oil,  which  is  not  soluble  in  petroleum  oil, 
heavy  or  light.  Pure  stearin  is  not  very  soluble  in  ether,  but  its 

*  Read  before  the  Liverpool  Pharmaceutical  Students’  Society. 


330 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  17,  1897 


solubility  is  increased  by  the  presence  of  other  fats.  Sulphur  and 
phosphorus  are  dissolved  in  small  quantity  by  oils,  which  fact  is 
made  use  of  in  the  Pharmacopceia  in  making  two  official  plasters 
and  phosphorated  oil. 

Sulphuric  acid  attacks  fats,  evolving  S02  and  causing  consider¬ 
able  rise  in  temperature  ;  this  is  Maumene’s  test.  Nitric  acid 
reacts  violently  with  fats,  forming  hydroxyl  compounds.  Nitrous 
acid  converts  the  triolein,  etc.,  in  non-drying  oils  into  trielaidin, 
trierucin,  etc.,  their  solid  isomeride  causing  them  to  become 
thicker.  Drying  oils  with  nitrous  acid  remain  liquid.  This  test 
is  of  great  utility  in  detecting  cottonseed  oil  in  olive  oil  and  lard. 

Chlorine  and  bromine  with  saturated  oils  form  substitution  pro¬ 
ducts,  evolving  at  the  same  time  HC1  and  HBr ;  with  unsaturated 
oils  they  form  addition  compounds  as  well.  Iodine  does  not  form 
substitution  products,  but  is  slowly  absorbed  forming  addition 
compounds.  Saponification  or  hydrolysis  of  fats  and  oils  takes 
place  when  they  are  acted  upon  by  alkalies,  acids,  or  superheated 
steam,  the  stearins  and  palmitins  being  more  easily  split  up  than 
oleins. 

In  analysis  this  hydrolysis  is  effected  by  means  of  strong  caustic 
alkalies  in  alcoholic  solution,  but  many  waxes  can  only  be  saponi¬ 
fied  by  using  solution  of  sodium  ethoxide  ;  this  is  the  case 
notably  with  wool  fat.  Sometimes  saponification  is  brought  about 
under  pressure. 

The  physical  properties  of  fatty  oils  are,  as  I  before  remarked, 
of  considerable  importance,  and  are  briefly  summed  up  under  the 
heads  viscosity,  microscopic  appearance,  specific  gravity,  melting 
point  and  solidifying  point.  The  last  three  I  shall  describe  some¬ 
what  in  detail. 

Specific  Gravity  should  be  taken  at  a  constant  temperature, 
preferably  15  ’5  C.  It  may  be  determined  by  a  pyncnometer,  a 
specific  gravity  bottle  or  a  hydrostatic  balance,  the  first  two  giving 
the  best  results.  For  solid  fats  or  waxes,  Hager’s  method  is  very 
useful.  It  is  performed  by  dropping  the  melted  substance  into  a 
mixture  of  alcohol  and  water  from  a  height  of  about  a  quarter  of 
an  inch  above  the  surface,  so  as  to  form  well-rounded  drops.  These 
drops  are  freed  from  air  bubbles,  dropped  into  spirit,  water  is 
added  until  they  begin  to  float  in  the  liquid,  upon  which  the  gravity 
•of  the  liquid  is  taken,  which  represents  that  of  the  wax. 

Melting '  and  Solidifying  Points. — There  are  various  methods  for 
determining  these,  leading  to  many  and  discordant  results,  which 
will  be  readily  understood  if  one  considers  the  composition  of  fats. 
Again,  the  temperature,  which  should  be  regarded  as  the  true 
in  el  ting  point,  is  uncertain  ;  some  workers  take  the  point  of 
incipient  fusion,  and  others  take  that  of  complete  fusion  as  the  true 
melting  point.  The  best  course  is  to  state  both.  The  most 
common  methods  employed  are  as  follow  : — 

Pohl’s. — The  bulb  of  a  thermometer  is  dipped  into  melted  fat 
so  as  to  become  well  coated.  It  is  then  enclosed  in  a  test  tube  by 
means  of  a  perforated  cork,  and  held  over  a  hot  iron  plate  ;  as 
soon  as  a  drop  of  liquid  fat  is  seen  on  the  thermometer  bulb,  the 
temperature  is  noted. 

Redwood’s  modification  of  the  above  is  to  be  recommended  on 
the  score  of ,  simplicity.  The  fat  is  placed  on  the  surface  of 
mercury  contained  in  a  dish  heated  over  water.  The  temperature 
at  which  the  fat  spreads  over  the  mercury  is  taken  as  the  melting 
point. 

The  Pharmacopoeial  Method  of  filling  a  capillary  tube  with  the 
fat,  and  attaching  it  to  a  thermometer,  and  warming  it  in  a  suit¬ 
able  liquid,  is  useful,  but  it  is  best  to  fill  the  tubes  at  least  twenty- 
four  hours  before  taking  the  melting  point,  so  that  the  fat  may 
assume  its  normal  condition,  which  is  changed  to  a  slight  extent 
by  heating. 

As  the  melting  point  of  fats  is  somewhat  uncertain,  and  this 
uncertainty  is  intensified  by  the  presence  of  fatty  acids,  the  solidi¬ 
fying  point  of  the  separated  fatty  acids  is  often  determined  by 
what  is  known  as  the  “  Titer  test,”  which  depends  on  the  fact  that 
when  a  substance  is  melted  and  allowed  to  cool  a  point  is  reached 
when  the  temperature  rises  suddenly  a  few  fractions  of  a  degree 
before  it  falls  again.  The  maximum  point  reached  is  called  the 
*  ‘  titer  ”  or  solidifying  point. 

Under  the  head  “Quantitative  Reactions”  I  will  briefly  describe 
the  methods  used  for  obtaining  what  are  known  as  the  chemical 
constants  of  fats,  etc.  They  are  enumerated  as  follow  : — - 

1.  The  acid  value. 

2.  The  saponification  value. 

3.  The  ether  value. 

4.  The  Hehner  value. 

5.  The  Reichert-Meissl  value. 


6.  The  iodine  value. 

7.  The  acetyl  value. 

1.  The  Acid  Value  is  the  number  of  milligrammes  of  KOH 
required  to  saturate  the  free  fatty  acids  in  1  gramme  of  a  fat.  It 
is  ascertained  by  dissolving  a  weighed  quantity  of  a  fat  in  alcohol 
and  titrating  with  penta  or  decinormal  alcoholic  potash,  using 
phenolphthalein  as  an  indicator.  Some  10  grammes  of  fat  is  a 
useful  quantity  to  work  upon. 

2.  The  Saponification  Value  is  the  number  of  milligrammes  of  KOH 
required  to  entirely  saponify  1  gramme  of  a  fat.  It  is  obtained  by 
boiling  2  grammes  of  fat  with  25  C.  c.  of  semi-normal  alcoholic  KOH 
(standardised  against  HC1)  for  half  an  hour,  and  titrating  back  with 
the  HC1  solution,  using  phenolphthalein  as  an  indicator. 

3.  The  Ether  Value  is  readily  seen  to  be  the  difference  between 
the  acid  and  saponification  numbers. 

4.  The  Hehner  Value  indicates  the  proportion  of  insoluble  fatty 
acids  in  a  fat,  and  is  determined  by  saponifying  3  or  4  grammes  of 
fat  with  strong  alcoholic  potash,  boiling  down  to  a  paste,  dissolving 
in  water,  decomposing  with  an  acid,  heating  until  the  fatty  acids 
rise  to  the  top  of  the  liquid,  filtering  through  a  weighed  filter 
paper,  washing  with  boiling  water  until  the  washings  are  no  longer 
acid.  The  funnel  and  contents  are  now  cooled  in  cold  water,  and 
the  fatty  acids  allowed  to  solidify  on  the  surface.  These  acids  are, 
after  carefully  drying  at  100°  C.  for  two  hours,  weighed,  and  the 
percentage  calculated.  As  oxygen  is  absorbed  by  the  acids  on 
drying,  a  constant  weight  will  not  be  obtained,  so  that  the  lowest 
weight  reached  will  be  the  correct  one. 

5.  The  Reichert-Meissl  Value  is  the  number  of  C.cs.  of  decinormal 
KOH  solution  required  to  neutralise  the  volatile  fatty  acids  from 
5  grammes  of  fat.  Meissl’s  process  is  to  take  5  grammes  of 
melted  fat,  saponify  it  with  KOH  in  alcoholic  solution  in  a  200  C.c. 
flask,  and  evaporate  off  the  alcohol.  Then  add  40  C.cs.  of  1  in  10 
H2S04  to  'liberate  the  fatty  acids,  which  are  carefully  distilled, 
using  a  suitable  condenser,  until  110  C.cs.  have  passed  over. 
Filter  100  C.cs.  of  this  distillate  into  a  flask,  and  titrate  with  deci¬ 
normal  KOH.  The  number  of  C.cs.  of  solution  used  are  increased 
by  one-tenth,  this  gives  the  Reichert-Meissl  value. 

6.  The  Iodine  Value  is  the  percentage  of  iodine  absorbed  by  a 
fat.  It  is  usually  arrived  at  by  Hiibl’s  process,  for  which  the 
following  solutions  are  necessary  : — • 

1.  Solution  of  30  grammes  of  IIgCl2  in  500  C.cs.  alcohol  mixed 
with  an  alcoholic  solution  of  iodine  (25  grammes  in  500  C.cs.). 

2.  Solution  of  sodium  thiosulphate  standardised  against  iodine. 

3.  Pure  chloroform. 

4.  Solution  of  potassium  iodide. 

5.  Starch  paste. 

About  T3  gramme  of  a  drying  oil  or  '3  to  '4  of  a  non-drying  oil 
is  dissolved  in  chloroform,  and  25  C.c.  of  iodine  solution  run  in  and 
allowed  to  stand  in  a  dark  place  for  two  hours.  If  the  colour  is 
discharged  a  similar  quantity  is  again  added  and  allowed  to  stand 
another  two  hours.  Some  of  the  KI  solution  is  now  added  and  the 
solution  diluted  with  300  to  500  C.c.  of  water.  A  precipitate  of 
Hgl2  indicates  an  insufficiency  of  KI  solution,  which  must  be 
added  until  the  precipitate  redissolves.  The  excess  of  iodine  is 
now  determined  by  the  thiosulphate  solution,  and  the  amount  of 
iodine  in  the  Hiibl’s  solution  also  determined  by  a  blank  test ;  from 
this  the  percentage  of ‘iodine  absorbed  by  the  fat  is  calculated. 

Hubl’s  method  is  of  great  use  in  determining  the  presence  of 
drying  oils  in  non-drying  oils,  as  for  instance  cottonseed  oil  in 
olive  oil. 

7.  The  Acetyl  Value  furnishes  a  measure  of  the  proportion  of 
hydroxy  acids  or  higher  alcohols  in  a  fat,  and  depends  on  the  fact 
that  when  any  hydroxy  acid  or  alcohol  is  heated  with  acetic  anhy¬ 
dride,  acetic  esters  are  formed.  The  separated  fatty  acids  are 
heated  with  acetic  anhydride  in  a  flask  with  a  reflux  condenser  for 
two  hours,  and  the  acetyl  value  is  arrived  at  by  an  equivalent 
method  to  that  employed  in  determining  the  ester  or  ether  value. 

Maumenes  Test  may  almost  be  regarded  as  a  quantitative  test, 
and  is  very  useful  for  distinguishing  drying  from  non-drying  oils. 
The  rise  in  temperature  when  H2S04  acts  on  a  drying  oil  is  higher 
than  when  a  non-drying  oil  is  used.  It  is  measured  by  means  of  a 
delicate  thermometer. 

Qualitative  Reactions  are  made  use  of  in  the  examination  of 
individual  oils  for  adulteration.  They  usually  take  the  form  of 
colour  tests.  Reagents  such  as  the  sulphuric  acid,  chromic  acid, 
nitric  and  sulphuric,  phosphoric  acid,  etc.,  are  used. 

Baudouin’s  Test  for  sesame  oil  in  olive  or  almond  oils  is  of  the 
greatest  use  to  pharmacists,  and  is  performed  by  shaking  the 


APRIL  17,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


331 


sample  with  solution  of  sugar  and  hydrochloric  acid,  when  if 
sesame  oil  be  present  a  crimson  colour  develops  on  standing. 

Beech? s  Test. — This  is  advised  by  the  Italian  Government  for 
showing  the  adulteration  of  olive  oil  with  cottonseed  oil,  and 
requires  two  solutions 

No.  1  solution  consisting  of— 

Silver  Nitrate . 

Alcohol,  98  per  cent. 

Ether . 

Nitric  Acid . 

No.  2  solution  is— 


Colza  Oil  .  15  c.c. 

Amyl  Nitrate .  100  C.c. 


Use  as  follows  : — Take  10  C.c.  of  the  oil  and  mix  with  1  C.c.  No.  1  solution 
and  10  C.c.  No.  2  solution.  Shake  together  and  divide  into  two  equal  parts 
in  separate  test  tubes,  one  of  which  must  be  placed  in  boiling  water  for 
fifteen  minutes  and  then  compared  with  the  other.  If  cottonseed  oil  is 
present,  the  oil  in  the  heated  tube  will  become  reddish  brown. 

Nitric  Acid,  Test  for  cottonseed  oil  in  olive  oil.  Shake  the 
oil  with  nitric  acid,  sp.  gr.  1 -37,  when  a  characteristic  coffee-brown 
colour  will  be  produced  if  there  is  adulterati  .n  even  to  the  extent 
of  2  or  3  per  cent. 

In  the  systematic  examination  of  fatty  oils  the  following  deter¬ 
minations  are  important : — 

1.  Specific  gravity. 

2.  Melting  and  solidifying  points. 

3.  Melting  and  solidifying  points  of  the  fatty  acids. 

4.  Behaviour  with  solvents. 

5.  Hehner  value. 

6.  Reichert-Meissl  value. 

7.  Saponification  value. 

8.  Iodine  value. 


l'OO  gramme. 
200-00  C.c. 

40-00  C.c. 

•1  gramme. 


Taking  olive  oil  and  cottonseed  oil  as  examples,  we  have  the 
following  physical  and  chemical  constants  : — 


Olive  Oil. 


Specific  gravity . j- 


Solidifying  point  of  fatty 


acids 

Hehner  value . 

Reichert-Meissl  value 
Saponification  value . . 

Iodine  value  . 

Maumen^’s  test . 


....[ 


:. 

Cottonseed  Oil. 

0-914-0-917  at  15°  C. 

•922--930 

(Allen) 

(Allen) 

21°-22°  C. 

32°  C. 
(Allen) 

94-96  95-43 

95-87 

(Lengf  eld)  (West  Knight) 

"3 

(Bensemann) 

191-196 

191-196-5 

(Allen) 

(Allen) 

82-8 

106 

(Hiibl) 

(Hiibl) 

41-5-45-5  C. 

75-76°  C. 

(Archbutt) 

(Archbutt) 

In  these  cases  it  will  be  seen  that  the  iodine  value,  Maumene’s 
test  and  the  solidifying  point  of  the  fatty  acids  show  the  greatest 
difference,  as  one  would  expect  from  the  character  of  the  oils,  olive 
oil  being  a  non-drying  oil,  and  cottonseed  a  semi-drying  oil.  The 
addition  of  cottonseed  oil  to  olive  oil  would  raise  the  factors  in  all 
cases. 


PROGRESS  IN  PHARMACY  * 

BY  GEORGE  SINCLAIR. 

If  one  Were  asked  to  describe  in  one  or  two  words  the  outstand¬ 
ing  characteristics  of  the  time  in  which  we  live,  probably  no 
better  description  could  be  given  than  to  say  that  it  was  an  “  Era 
of  Progress.”  In  every  sphere  of  activity  and  in  all  departments 
of  life  the  nineteenth  century,  and  especially  the  latter  part  of  it, 
with  which  we  are  naturally  more  intimately  acquainted,  has  wit¬ 
nessed  remarkable  development  and  progress. 

In  the  region  of  science,  probably  more  than  any  other,  has  this 
progress  been  most  pronounced  and  most  brilliant,  and  within 
that  great  region  the  two  departments  with  which  our  profession 
or  craft  has  intimate,  if  not  inseparable  connection,  namely, 
chemistry  and  medicine,  have  made  great  advances  and  important 
discoveries  ;  but  ours  is  not  only  a  profession,  it  is  also  a  trade, 
and,  therefore,  social  progress  affects  us,  and  in  this  connection 
also  advance  and  development  have  been  made,  and  we  have  found 
ourselves — whether  we  are  willing  or  not — compelled  to  move 
with  the  times,  and  keep  step  with  the  great  army  of  progress. 

My  subject  then,  “  Progress  in  Pharmacy  ”  (I  may  mention  it 
was  not  quite  my  own  choice)  will,  I  daresay,  seem  to  you  a  very 
high-sounding  and  ambitious  title — quite  out  of  the  keeping  with 
the  nature  of  the  few  remarks  that  follow. 


*  Read  before  the  Edinburgh  Chemists’  Association, 


There  are  many  lines  along  which  the  subject  might 
be  studied  with  profit  and  with  interest.  One  might 
speak  of  the  progress  that  has  been  made  in  raising  the 
standard  of  pharmaceutical  education,  and  in  this  connection  it 
might  be  profitable,  although  probably  not  pleasant  to 
look  at  the  results  of  this  demand  for  greater  knowledge,  viz.,  the 
steadily  increasing  number  of  failures  at  our  exams.  It  almost 
appears  that  here  we  are  progressing  backwards  ;  or  we  might 
consider  the  very  evident  progress  that  has  been  going  forward  in 
the  way  of  giving  to  the  pharmacist  a  higher  social  professional 
standing,  a  position  which,  by  his  special  training  and  education 
he  is  quite  entitled  to,  and  in  spite  of  hostility  in  the  public  press 
and  even  in  the  courts  of  justice,  this  is  being  accorded  to  him  by 
the  public. 

Or  again  we  might  consider  the  progress  and  changes  that  have 
taken  place  in  therapeutics  entailing  similar  changes  in  pharmacy. 
But  the  subject  is  so  large  and  so  comprehensive  that  to  treat  it 
adequately  within  the  limits  of  a  short  paper  such  as  this,  is 
obviously  impossible,  and  even  if  it  was  possible  I  am  so  obviously 
incapable  of  doing  justice  to  it  that  I  will  not  attempt  it,  but 
propose,  with  your  permission,  to  confine  my  few  remarks  to  only 
one  phase  of  the  progress  which  has  been  going  on  in  pharmacy 
for  the  past  few  years,  viz. ,  to  what  I  have  called  the  development 
of  refined  or  elegant  pharmacy.  As  a  natural  result  of  the  increase 
of  wealth  and  the  much  greater  distribution  of  wealth,  which  has 
been  such  a  characteristic  feature  of  the  present  generation,  there 
has  been  an  enormous  increase  of  what  one  might  call  ‘  ‘  artistic 
taste,”  a  love  of  elegance  and  refinement  to  which  our  forefathers 
were  altogether  unaccustomed.  Mankind  in  general — not  of  course 
including  chemist’s  assistants  and  apprentices — have  no  desire 
nowadays  to  “  scorn  delights  and  live  laborious  days.” 

In  a  recent  article  on  ‘  ‘  Comfort  and  its  Possible  Effects  ”  in 
the  British  Medical  Journal,  the  writer,  speaking  of  this  tendency, 
says  “Nowadays  the  eye  must  be  regaled  with  aesthetic  de¬ 
corations,  with  elegant  corners  and  dados,  stained  glass,  fine 
pictures,  handsome  furniture,  no  harsh  sounds  must  grate  upon 
the  ear,  an  agreeable  and  equable  temperature  must  be  maintained 
throughout.”  Luxurious  lounging  chairs  and  couches  must  be 
provided  in  every  room,  the  bedrooms  must  be  warmed  in  winter, 
hot  and  cold  water  must  be  laid  on  to  every  landing  ;  ‘  ‘  the  cooking 
must  be  such  as  to  stimulate  a  jaded  appetite,  and  communication 
must  be  easy  between  all  parts  of  the  house  by  means  of  electric 
bells,  speaking-tubes,  or  telephones.”  “  When  away  from  home 
locomotion  must  be  made  as  agreeable  and  as  little  fatiguing  as 
possible.  Even  sport,  such  as  cricket,  and  shooting,  and  hunting, 
must  be  carried  on  comfortably,  with  proper  arrangements  for  a 
nutritious  luncheon  and  five  o’clock  tea.”  Then  the  writer  goes  on 
to  point  out  the  danger  of  all  this,  and  to  sound  a  note  of  warning. 

I  do  not  personally  agree  with  all  he  says  ;  it  almost  seems  as  if 
he  had  been  taking  notes  at  a  performance  of  “  Utopia,  Limited,” 
but  there  is  a  great  deal  of  truth  in  it. 

Now,  gentlemen,  this  may  seem  to  you  to  have  little  or  no  con¬ 
nection  with  the  present  subject,  but  I  think  it  is  just  here  that 
we  may  find  the  real  cause  and  origin  of  the  ‘  ‘  elegant  pharmacy 
cult.”  People  who  live  in  this  atmosphere  of  pampered  and 
luxurious  ease  (and  they  are  just  the  people  on  whom  the  pharma¬ 
cist  chiefly  depends  for  his  business),  and  whose  greatest  aversion 
is  to  have  to  do  anything  unpleasant  or  to  put  themselves  to  any 
inconvenience,  would  go  into  hysterics  if  asked  to  take  a  dose  of 
castor  oil ;  as  a  matter  of  fact  (except  for  babies  who  have  not  the 
sense  to  refuse  it)  their  doctor  would  never  think  of  prescribing 
anythihg  so  heroic  for  them.  If  he  did,  it  would  be  in  capsules  or 
palatable  aperient  or  some  such  form.  How  this  has  affected  phar¬ 
macy  can  be  made  quite  clear  by  citing  a  few  examples. 

A  very  good  example  of  the  evolution  of  an  elegant  pharma¬ 
ceutical  product  is  cod-liver  oil.  First  we  have  the  rich  brown  oil 
of  Dr.  de  Jongh,  which  the  rhyme  says  is  so  good  and  so  strong  ; 
then  we  have  pure  bleached,  tasteless  oil  that  gives  place  to  an 
emulsion,  which  the  maker,  but  no  one  else,  says  is  as  “  palatable 
as  cream”;  further  on  still  we  have  morrhuse  done  up  in  sweet 
little  morsels  of  capsules,  without  the  slightest  suspicion  of  oil 
about  them  ;  and  finally  for  still  more  fastidious  palates,  we  cater 
with  a  nice  wine  of  cod-liver  oil  which  contains  all  the  active 
principles  of  pure  oil. 

Cascara  sagrada  is  another  example.  Probably  the  best  form  of 
this  valuable  laxative  is  the  fluid  extract,  but  then  it  is  bitter,  and 
that  is  fatal,  so  we  proceed  to  debitterise  it,  and  get  aromatic  fluid 
extracts  and  cordials ;  then  we  have  it  in  capsules,  tabloids, 
palatinoids  etc.,  etc.  ;  it  is  even  put  up  in  the  form  of  a 


332 


PHARMACEUTICAL  journal. 


[ApbIl  17,  1897 


delightful  jelly  for  children,  which  latter  sometimes  make  us 
wonder  if,  after  all,  the  apple  jelly  which  for  all  sorts  and  condi¬ 
tions  of  drugs— which  we  were  accustomed  to  when  young — had 
nothing  to  recommend  it. 

I  may  seem  to  exaggerate  when  I  say  that  nowadays  a  drug  or 
medicine,  to  have  any  chance  of  being  widely  used,  must  be  fairly 
palatable  and  easily  administered,  for  it  seems  to  be  a  most 
important  consideration  with  a  doctor,  in  this  easily  administered 
nauseous  medicine  seem  to  haunt  his  and  his  patient’s  dreams. 
What,  for  instance,  prevents  paraldehyde  from  being  much  more 
widely  used  than  it  is,  seeing  it  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  best  and 
safest  hypnotics  we  have  ?  Its  persistent  unpleasant  odour  and 
nauseous  flavour,  and  nothing  else. 

I  take  it,  then,  that  the  main  factor  in  producing  a  demand  for 
elegance  in  pharmacy  have  been  the  growth  of  a  luxurious  style  of 
living  and  of  cultured  tastes,  with  a  consequently  natural  evulsion 
at  the  unnecessarily  crude  and  nauseous  nature  of  the  good  old- 
fashioned  remedies. 

Considering  the  matter  from  our  present  standpoint  and  at  this 
far-advanced  date,  it  is  quite  easy  for  us  to  understand  how  natural 
and  how  much  to  be  expected  it  was  that  such  a  change  should 
come.  Unfortunately,  however,  dispensing  pharmacists’ eyes  were 
holden  that  they  could  not  see,  their  ears  were  hardened  that  they 
could  not  hear,  and  they  failed  to  discern  the  signs  of  the  times, 
or  they  would  have  bent  all  their  energies  to  adapt  themselves  and 
their  methods  to  the  new  demands  made  upon  them.  As  it  was 
they  looked  askance  at  any  attempt  to  make  medicine  pleasant ;  it 
was  heresy,  medicine  always  had  been  nasty  and  always  ought  to 
be,  and  if  it  was  made  pleasant,  ten  chances  to  one  it  was  no  good, 
all  of  which  may  or  may  not  have  been  true;  but  it  certainly  did  not 
pay,  and  as  was  to  be  expected,  this  conservatism  carried  its  own 
retribution  with  it,  and  retail  pharmacists  are  only  now  beginning  to 
realise  how  much  they  have  lost  by  allowing  the  elegant  move¬ 
ment  to  be  carried  on  in  the  first  instance  by  the  large  manufac¬ 
turing  firms,  the  result  being,  as  we  all  know,  that  the  shelves  of 
our  pharmacies  to-day  are  filled  with  such  products  of  elegant 
pharmacy  as  bi-palatinoids,  capsules,  gelatin-coated  pills,  elixirs, 
liquors,  jelloids,  jellies,  tabloids,  tabellse,  palatinoids,  and  that 
questionable  form  of  elegant  pharmacy,  medicated  wines,  the 
popularity  of  which  I  am  much  inclined  to  think  depends  not  so 
much  on  their  being  elegant  medicines  as  elegant  tipples.  I  do 
not,  of  course,  speak  of  the  all  as  such. 

One  has  only  got  to  compare  a  few  pages  of  a  prescription  book 
of  the  present  date  with  one  say  ten  years  ago  to  find  out  the 
great  increase  in  the  use  of  the  above  products.  I  had  the 
curiosity  to  do  this,  and  found  that  ten  years  ago  an  average  of 
5  per  cent,  of  recipes  were  for  products  of  large  manufacturing 
firms  ;  to-day  the  average  has  reached  20  per  cent. ,  an  increase  of 
15  per  cent,  in  ten  years.  If  the  increase  goes  on  at  this  ratio, 
we  will  soon  be  mere  automatic  machines  for  scraping  off  makers’ 
labels  and  writing  and  putting  on  our  own. 

I  believe,  indeed,  that  this  matter  is  becoming  a  very  serious 
one  for  the  retail  pharmacist.  On  the  one  hand,  his  business  has 
been  curtailed  by  the  cutter,  so  far  as  patent  medicines  are  con¬ 
cerned,  and  on  the  other  hand,  that  department,  which  we  in 
Scotland  at  least  still  believe — in  spite  of  what  the  Chemist  and 
Druggist  says  to  the  contrary — to  be  the  mainstay  of  our  business. 
I  mean  the  dispensing  department — is  being  undermined 
by  the  number  of  these  elegant  products,  which  are  kept 
continually  before  doctors  by  means  of  liberal  supplies  of 
samples,  etc.,  and  which  so  frequently  bear  a  very  small 
margin  of  profit ;  taking  into  consideration  the  stock  that 
has  to  be  kept,  and  the  loss  arising  from  having  a  bottle 
left  two-thirds  full  on  his  hands.  Not  only  so,  but  his  reputation  is 
being  damaged  by  statements  such  as  the  following: — “Pills 
superseded,”  “The  failure  of  shop  tinctures,”  etc.,  etc.,  which  are 
kept  persistently  before  the  medical  profession  by  means  of  ad¬ 
vertisements  in  their  journals. 

It  behoves  us,  therefore,  as  members  of  this  Association,  and  as 
those  who  hope  one  day  to  have  pharmacies  of  our  own,  to  make 
up  our  minds  as  to  how  we  are  going  to  stand  in  regard  to  this 
tendency.  The  time  has  long  gone  past  for  ignoring  it,  and  it 
seems  to  me  that  what  we  have  to  do  is  for  each  of  us  to  determine 
that  up  to  the  best  of  our  ability  we  will  be  “elegant  pharmacists.” 

I  have  not  any  startling  or  novel  theories  to  propound  as  to  how 
we  are  to  become  so,  nor  do  I  think  that  such  are  needed.  I  believe 
very  strongly  that,  within  well-defined  limits,  the  retail  dispensing 
pharmacist  can,  if  he  chooses,  turn  out  from  his  dispensing  counter 
products  which  will  compare  favourably  in  point  of  accuracy  of 


dosage,  elegance,  and  activity,  with  the  products  of  any  large  manu¬ 
facturing  firm.  But  the  reason  the  products  of  such  firms  have 
got  such  a  hold,  and  have  almost,  as  they  themselves  claim,  revo¬ 
lutionised  prescribing,  has  simply  been  that  in  the  past  we  have 
not  paid  sufficient  attention  to  these  details,  and  the  sting  of  the 
accusations  which  are  brought  against  us  lies  in  the  modicum  of 
truth  which  they  contain, 

Take  for  instance  pills  which  tabloids,  palatinoids,  etc.,  are 
supposed  to  have  or  are  destined  to  supersede.  Only  a  few  v  eeks 
ago  an  eminent  doctor,  one  of  the  professors  in  the  College  of 
Medicine  here,  came  into  the  phai'macy  where  I  am  employed 
wishing  to  prescribe  a  particular  pill  of  a  well-known  American 
house,  of  which  the  full  formula  was  given.  Not 
having  the  pill  in  stock,  I  suggested  that  we  could 
easily  make  the  pills  for  him — equal  in  all  respects  to  the 
American  article,  and  I  was  met  by  the  somewhat  crushing  reply, 
that  1  ‘  If  there  was  one  thing  Edinburgh  chemists  could  not  do, 
it  was  to  turn  out  decent  pills — they  were  either  sent  out  smothered 
with  powder,  or  all  adhering  to  each  other.”  I  was  able  to  over¬ 
come  the  doctor’s  prejudice,  and  I  think  he  is  modifying  his 
opinion.  The  points  which  are  urged  against  pills  (Helbing  and 
Passmore)  are  inaccuracy  of  dosage,  insolubility  and  unpalata- 
bility.  All  these  three  can  be  overcome  and  ought  to  be  over¬ 
come  by  every  careful  dispenser,  but  (although  I  fear  I  will  be 
censured  by  saying  it)  they  are  not  always  so.  In  regard  to  the 
first  for  instance,  some  fellows  seem  to  think  that  for  even  the 
most  powerful  ingredients,  four  or  five  rubs  with  the  pestle 
ensures  accurate  intermixture  and  sub-division.  I  speak  of  what  I 
have  seen.  I  have  noticed  a  dispenser  put  one  grain  of  arsenic 
into  about  240  grains  of  mixed  powders,  and  after  giving  it  five 
or  six  turns  with  the  pestle  proceed  to  mass  the  pills.  How  under 
such  conditions  he  expected  to  get  sixty  pills  each  containing  60th 
of  a  grain  of  arsenic,  I  do  not  know — he  evidently  relied  on  the 
massing  to  do  the  rest  of  the  mixing,  but  this,  for  powder 
ingredients,  especially  powerful  ones,  is  a  fatal  mixture.  Insolu¬ 
bility  is  also  urged  against  pills,  but  this  objection  except  in 
the  case  of  pills  which  have  lain  too  long  in  stock  and  have 
consequently  become  hard  and  dry,  is  not  upheld  by  experience, 
and  furthermore  the  objection  is  based  largely  on  experiments 
carried  on  outside  the  body  by  means  of  watery  solutions  or 
acidified  watery  solutions,  and  I  think  it  is  pretty  generally  admitted 
that  such  experiments  do  not  at  all  correspond  to  what  goes  on  inside 
the  body.  The  third  objection,  and  one  of  which  much  has  been 
made,  is  the  superiority  of  the  tabloid,  etc. ,  over  the  pill  as  regards  its 
palatabilityand  appearance.  This  I  fear  we  must  admit  is  or  at  least 
has  been  true,  but  there  is  not  the  slightest  reason  why  it  should 
remain  so.  Even  in  the  limited  time  at  our  disposal  at  the  dis¬ 
pensing  counter,  pills  can  be  turned  out,  varnished,  or  pearl- 
coated,  to  look  and  to  taste  every  bit  as  well  as  tabloids  or  sugar- 
coated,  or  any  of  the  much  advertised  gelatin-coated  pills.  If 
pills  are  made  before  the  prescription  is  copied,  and  varnished  with 
a  juniper  gum  and  alcohol  varnish,  by  the  time  the  prescription  is 
copied  and  labels  written  they  will  be  found  to  be  quite  dry  and 
to  have  a  brilliant  polished  appearance.  I  see  no  reason,  there¬ 
fore,  why  the  old  and  venerable  practice  of  rounding  pills  with 
chalk  just  as  they  come  off  the  machine,  and  shaking  some  loose 
powder  in  the  box  with  them,  should  be  continued.  The  pills  do 
not  look  elegant,  and  they  are  very  frequently  anything  but 
palatable. 

But  there  are  a  large  number  of  drugs,  some  of  which  are  in¬ 
soluble  and  some  nauseous,  that  are  not  at  all  suited  for  pill¬ 
making,  such  asphenacetin,  antipyrine,  bismuth,  rhubarb  and  soda. 
The  bromides,  sulphonal,  and  a  host  of  others,  for  such  the  cachet 
forms  a  mode  of  administration,  which  to  my  mind  is  perfect.  It 
is  elegant,  easily  prepared,  easily  swallowed,  and  almost 
instantaneously  soluble.  If,  however,  we  wish  to  bring  the  cachet 
into  popularity,  then  precautions  must  be  used  in  filling  them. 
1.  The  proportion  of  the  drug  for  each  cachet  ought  to  be 
separately  weighed.  2.  Closing  must  be  securely  and  accurately 
done.  3.  No  adherent  powders  must  be  left  about  the  edges  of 
the  cachet,  otherwise  its  palatibility  is  marred. 

I  hope  you  will  pardon  me  if  I  seem  to  be  taking  up  your  time 
with  rudimentary  and  uninteresting  details.  I  do  so  simply 
because  I  am  firmly  convinced  that  it  has  been  a  want  of  strict 
attention  to  these  details  that  has  been  at  the  bottom  of 
a  good  deal  of  the  mischief.  Although  I  have  classed  capsules 
amongst  the  products  of  the  large  manufacturing  firms, 
they  are  one  of  those  things  which  can  On  a  small  scale  be  manipu¬ 
lated  quite  well  at  the  dispensing  counter.  Powders  can  be  filled 


ArRiL  17, 1897J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


333 


dry  by  means  of  a  small  funnel,  or  made  into  a  semi-liquid  mass 
with  vaselin  and  filled  through  a  syringe  with  an  elongated  nozzle: 
Liquids  such  as  terebene,  turpentine,  guaiacol,  paraldehyde, 
eucalyptus  oil,  etc.,  can  be  filled  by  means  of  a  glass  pipette 
(sample  shown).  Then  every  pharmacist,  especially  members  of 
this  Association  (who  have  been  benefited  by  a  practical  demon¬ 
stration),  ought,  when  occasion  demands,  be  able  to  turn  out 
elegant  effervescent  granules.  He  has  also  to  be  a  bit  of  a  con¬ 
fectioner  and  able  to  turn  out  pastilles  on  an  hour  or  two’s  notice, 
but  I  need  not  go  on  multiplying  examples  of  elegant  pharmacy, 
as  you  are  doubtless  all  well  acquainted  with  and  able  to  tackle 
them  all.  My  aim  in  these  few  remarks  to-night  has  not  been  to 
suggest  new  ideas  or  new  methods  as  to  try  and  impress  on  you 
and  on  myself  the  necessity  of  developing  and  perfecting  the 
methods  and  ideas  we  already  possess. 

That  we  may  be  able  to  do  this  successfully  three  things,  I 
think,  are  essential,  viz.,  elegance,  accuracy,  and  resource.  If  we 
keep  these  three  always  before  us  and'  put  them  into  practice,  we 
shall  worthily  uphold  the  dignity  of  our  craft,  and  perchance  to 
help  it  forward  one  step  in  the  onward  path  of  progress,  and  so 
hasten  the  coming  of  that  better  day  which  is  said  to  be  dawning 
somewhere  for  pharmacists. 


REVIEWS  AND  NOTICES  OF  BOOKS. 


A  Manual  of  Chemistry,  Theoretical  and  Practical,  based  on 
Watts’  edition  of  Fownes’  Manual.  By  William  A.  Tilden, 
D.Sc.,  F.R.S.,  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  Royal  College  of 
Science,  London,  Examiner  in  Chemistry  to  the  Department 
of  Science  and  Art.  Pp.  599.  10s.  London :  J.  and  A. 

Churchill.  1897. 

Watts’  ‘Manual  of  Chemistry,’  based  on  Fownes’,  the  last 
edition  of  which  was  revised  by  Professor  Tilden,  is  so  universally 
accepted  as  the  best  manual  of  its  kind  that  a  new  edition  is  sure 
to  be  welcomed  by  all  students  of  chemistry.  In  this  edition  it 
has  been  necessary  “to  re-write  a  large  part  of  the  existing 
matter,  and  to  add  a  considerable  amount  of  new,”  so  that  “  the 
last  traces  of  the  work  of  Fownes  have  disappeared  in  the  process, 
hence,  although  the  general  arrangement  of  the  contents  is  similar 
to  that  of  the  original,  we  have  now  a  practically  new  book,  in 
which  the  phraseology  as  well  as  the  matter  has  been  modernised.” 
It  was  hardly  necessary  to  add  “  that  this  book  is  not  intended  for 
children,”  but  it  correctly  defines  its  aims  in  “presenting  in  a 
compact  form  a  body  of  facts  and  a  statement  of  the  leading 
doctrines  of  modern  chemistry  suitable  to  the  needs  of  students 
who  are  receiving  instruction  under  a  teacher  and  who  require  a 
manual  to  which  they  can  resort  for  the  purpose  of  verifying  and 
extending  such  information  as  they  receive  in  the  lecture  room.” 

In  this  volume,  which  deals  with  inorganic  chemistry,  we 
have  in  an  introduction  of  twenty  pages  a  very  clearly- written 
account  of  the  most  important  events  in  the  development  of 
chemistry  from  Boyle  onwards,  and  of  the  growth  of  the 
principles  of  the  atomic  theory  of  Dalton  until  completed  and 
consolidated  by  Berzelius.  The  order  of  study  in  this 
edition  follows  an  arrangement  of  groups  in  which  the 
members  independent  of  valency  are  in  obvious  natural 
relationship  rather  than  in  adherence  to  the  periodic  system  of 
classification.  Thus  commencing  with  hydrogen  and  the  proper¬ 
ties  and  diffusion  of  gases,  we  are  led  on  successively  to  oxygen, 
nitrogen,  atmospheric  air,  the  analysis  of  air  and  the  methods  for 
the  determination  of  the  relative  densities  and  for  the  liquefaction 
of  gases  ;  then  to  combustion,  the  oxides  of  hydrogen,  solution  of 
solids,  and  the  properties  of  solutions,  before  dealing  with  the 
halogens,  the  sulphur  group,  .and  the  nitrogen  compounds.  Then 
follow  the  phosphorus  group  (P,  As,  Sb) — carbon,  silicon  and 
boron,  ozone,  and  hydrogen  dioxide.  This  comprises  what  may  be 


regarded  as  the  first  part.  Theoretical  chemistry  is  then  fully 
considered  before  treating  of  the  metals. 

That  in  all  the  subjects  dealt  with  Professor  Tilden  has  included 
the  latest  researches  it  is  only  necessary  to  refer  to  the  articles  on 
the  liquefaction  of  gases,  where  we  find  Pictet  and  Cailletet’s, 
Olszewski  and  Hampson’s  methods  and  apparatus  described  and 
illustrated  ;  also  to  the  one  on  combustion  to  see  the  latest  form  of 
Clowes’  safety  lamp,  and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  to  the  researches 
on  argon  and  helium.  The  section  on  the  metals  has  also  been 
written  up  to  date,  as  here  we  notice  the  illustrations  of  the  appa¬ 
ratus  employed  in  the  ammonio-soda  process,  a  description  of 
calcium  carbide,  and  mention  made  of  the  use  of  cyanide  in  gold 
recovery.  In  all  we  have  some  forty  pages  of  new  and  interesting 
matter.  The  article  on  photography,  which  is  a  reprint  from  the 
last  edition,  in  its  present  superficial  form  might  advantageously 
be  omitted,  and  the  same  might  be  said  of  the  illustrations  Nos. 
57  and  73,  which  are  more  suitable  to  the  capacity  of  those  for 
whom  the  manual  is  not  intended. 

Professor  Tilden  is  to  be  congratulated  on  having  again  provided 
a  manual  which  may  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  best  of  its  kind  for 
all  students  of  chemistry. 

St.  Thomas’s  Hospital  Reports,  1897.  New  Series,  Vol.  xxiv. 

Edited  by  Dr.  T.  D.  Acland  and  Mr.  Bernard  Pitts. 

Pp.  510+118.  London:  J.  and  A.  Churchill.  1897. 

This  volume,  which  contains  the  record  of  the  work  of  St. 
Thomas’s  Hospital  for  the  year  1895,  and  in  addition,  several 
valuable  original  papers,  is  fully  equal  in  interest  to  its  prede¬ 
cessors.  Among  the  original  articles,  one  by  Dr.  F.  R.  Walters, 
on  an  affection  (pulmonary  osteo-arthropathy)  observed  in  some 
cases  of  chronic  lung  disease,  affords  an  additional  example  of  the 
great  value  of  the  Rontgen  ray  photography  (skiagraphy)  in 
recording  and  discovering  pathological  changes.  One  of  the 
leading  features  of  the  disease  is  a  thickening  of  the  fingers  and 
toes.  The  excellent  skiagrams  by  Dr.  Blacker,  which  illustrate 
thepapershow  thatpartat  leastof  the  thickeningis  due  to  the  forma¬ 
tion  of  new  bone  on  the  surface  of  bones  of  the  fingers  and  toes.  Dr.  W. 
Wellington  Lake,  Medical  Officer  of  Health  for  the  West  Surrey 
Districts,  contributes  an  account  of  an  outbreak  of  typhoid  in  a  home 
for  invalids.  The  outbreak  originated  by  the  admission  as  an 
inmate  of  a  nurse  who  bore  a  certificate  of  freedom  from  infectious 
disease,  but  who  was  found  to  be  suffering  from  typhoid.  Within 
two  months  of  this  event  ten  persons  developed  the  disease  in  the 
institution,  and  two  immediately  after  leaving  it.  The  various 
modes  in  which  the  outbreak  might  have  originated  were  investi¬ 
gated.  The  water  supply  came  from  wells  sunk  in  the  chalk  at 
Albury  Downs,  and  from  the  nature  of  the  wells  and  previous 
analysis  was  decided  to  be  above  suspicion.  The  water-cisterns 
in  the  home  were  situated  on  the  roof  of  the  building,  and  were 
far  removed  from  drains  and  drain-ventilators.  The  milk  and  food 
supplies  were  both  excluded  as  sources  of  infection.  The  drainage 
system  was  found  to  be  extremely  faulty,  though  the  institution 
was  comparatively  new  and  expensively  built.  Both  the  smoke 
and  water  tests  revealed  numerous  defects.  The  author  of  the 
paper  came  to  the  conclusion  that  all  save  one  of  the  cases  arose 
from  gas  escaping  into  the  house  from  the  drains  in  which  was 
typhoid  material  derived  from  the  first  case.  The  practical  result 
was  the  committee  of  the  institution  carried  out  extensive  recon¬ 
struction  of  the  drains.  A  paper  by  the  late  George  Rainey  is 
reprinted  from  the  Medical  Times  and  Gazette  of  1868,  and  is 
entitled  “The  Artificial  Production  of  Certain  Organic  Forms”; 
phenomena  of  considerable  interest  in  physiological  chemistry. 
The  kind  of  pihenomena  dealt  with  are  the  formation  of  microscopic 


334 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  17,  1897 


globules  seen  on  mixing  solutions  of  white  and  red  gum,  of  hollow 
tubules  which  form  when  crystals  of  chloride  of  barium  are  placed  in 
a  saturated  solution  of  sulphate  of  soda.  Observed  in  a  closed  cell 
under  a  1-inch  or  ^-inch  objective,  the  tubules  can  be  seen  to  begin  to 
form  around  the  dissolving  crystals  and  to  ascend  from  the  bottom 
to  the  top  of  the  cell.  Rainey  concluded  that  the  tubules  con¬ 
sisted  of  crystals  of  sulphate  of  soda,  and  their  ascent  was  deter, 
mined  by  an  elevation  of  temperature  about  the  dissolving  crystals 
of  chloride  of  barium. 

There  are  other  valuable  articles,  and  the  usual  careful  digest  of 
a  year’s  work  at  the  Hospital.  This  digest  is  really  a  most  eloquent 
statement  of  the  enormous  amount  of  good  and  humane  work  that 
is  done  gratuitously  at  St.  Thomas’s  Hospital. 

PHARMACEUTICAL  SOCIETY. 


EXAMINATIONS  IN  LONDON. 

April,  1S97. 


MAJOR  EXAMINATION. 


Candidates  examined  .  32 

,,  failed  .  12 

,,  passed .  20 


Goupland,  Henry  Snart. 
Coverdale,  Arthur  Edward. 
Drust,  John  Hubert. 
Elkington,  Charles  John. 
Goodall,  Frederic  Charles. 
Hopkins,  John  Sidney. 
Hughes,  William  Griffiths. 
Knowles,  William  Richard. 
Lee,  Harry  Lancelot. 
Lewis,  Richard  Rice. 


Lloyd,  Thomas  Henry. 
Lumley,  Harold. 
Mallaband,  William  Henry. 
Saunders,  Alfred  Woods. 
Stearn,  Ralph  Marmaduke. 
Sutcliffe,  Lot  Bains. 
Thomas,  James  Douglas. 
Umney,  Ernest  Albert. 
Walker,  Albert  Storrs. 
Woodward,  Harrison. 


0  7  '' 


Skinner,  Ernest  Pape. 
Slater,  Ernest  Henry. 
Snow,  Leonard  Hardy. 
Stearn,  Sydney. 
Thompson,  Sidney  Cooke. 


Tirrell,  Arthur  William. 
Watson,  Ralph  Henri  Louis. 
Whysall,  Edward  Searson. 
Williams,  Joseph  Miles. 
Windemer,  Oscar  Roxburgh. 
Woods,  Benjamin  Archibald. 


FIRST  EXAMINATION. 

Certificates  by  approved  examining  bodies  were  received  from 
the  under-mentioned  in  lieu  of  the  Society’s  examination  : — 


Barnett,  Alfred  Herbert ;  Nantwich. 
Breckon,  Ralph  ;  East  Harlsey. 

Broad,  William  Allen  ;  Gt.  Malvern. 
Cannon,  Herbert  Henry ;  Liskeard. 
Clarke,  William  Fox  ;  West  Kensington. 
Davies,  John  ;  Tewkesbury. 

Dawson,  Robert  H.  ;  Wigan. 

Fisher,  Sydney  R.  P.  ;  Preston. 
Flemming,  Thomas  H.  ;  Huddersfield. 
Foster,  Fredk.  Horace  Munn  ;  Rye. 
Fullerton,  David  Noble  ;  Aintree. 
Guard,  Harry  Ernest  ;  Kennington. 
Hallsworth,  H.  Mainwaring  ;  Oldham. 
Hawkes,  Frederick  ;  Kennington. 
Hughes,  William  Henry ;  Birkenhead. 
Hustler,  George  Herbert ;  Horton. 
Kirkpatrick,  Arthur  C.  ;  Edinburgh. 
Little,  Robert ;  Wootton  Bassett. 
Macarthur,  Malcolm  James  ;  Glasgow. 


MacS weeny,  Eugene  ;  Nice.1] 

Maloney,  James  Patrick  ;  Everton. 
Moses,  Walter  William  ;  Oxton. 

Nixon,  John  Hobart :  Loughborough. 
Padwick,  Kingsley  John  ;  Brighton. 
Pick,  John  Thomas  ;  Barnsley. 

Pike,  Herbert  William  ;  Andover. 
Roberts,  William  R.  ;  Linthwaite. 
Robinson,  Emil ;  Whitchurch. 

Ruston,  Edward  ;  St.  Albans. 

Sloman,  Courtenay ;  Torquay. 

Smith,  Francis  Lewis  ;  Shareshill. 
Smith,  Reginald  R.  ;  Weston-s.-M. 
Taylor,  William  S.  ;  Enniskellen. 
Tinsley,  Samuel  Hilton  ;  Widnes. 
Walter,  William  H.  ;  Newcastle,  Staffs. 
Wamsley,  William  B.  ;  Stockport. 
Westrope,  Lionel  L.  ;  Durham. 

White,  Daniel  Hanbury  ;  Clifton. 


“FIRST”  EXAMINATION  QUESTIONS. 

April  13,  1897. 


LATIN. 


MINOR  EXAMINATION. 


Candidates  examined  . .  235 

„  failed . . .  160 


75 


,,  passed 

Anquetil,  Charles  Edouard. 
Arber,  Alfred  Preston. 

Barlow,  Thomas  Oldham. 
Barrett,  Henry  William. 

Battle,  Ernest  Wm.  Chatterton. 
Bawcutt,  Frank  Frederick. 
Bowdler,  Ernest  Harper. 
Bromley,  Albert  William. 
Brown,  John  Arthur. 

Burnett,  John. 

Cassels,  Thomas  Henry. 
Chapman,  Edgar  Marsh. 

Cole,  Claude. 

Cooper,  Herbert  Edward. 
Dowdy,  Sidney  Ernest. 
Durrant,  George  Stuart. 

Dutson,  Robert  Thomas. 
Eustace,  Robert  George. 

Evans,  Arthur  Edward. 

Foster,  Charles  Ekins. 

Gair,  Emmeline  Annie. 

Gayton,  Ethel. 

Gittins,  Samuel  Ernest. 

G william,  John  Everall. 

Hamer,  Enoch  Thomas. 
Hampton,  William  Henry. 
Hicks,  Alexander  Frank. 
Hooper,  Joseph. 

Jeffery,  George  Golder. 

Jeffs,  Richard  Thomas. 

Jones,  Edward  Rees. 

Jones,  Richard  Robinson. 


Jones,  Stephen. 

Kerruish,  Thomas  Maltby. 

King,  Frank  Herbert. 

Kissell,  John  Victor. 

Knight,  Thomas. 

Knowles,  John  Thomas. 
Lenfestey,  Leopold  d’Estreville. 
Lester,  William  Hy.  (Nuneaton). 
Lloyd,  Henry  Bright. 

Lounds,  William  Beaver. 
Lowson,  William. 

Marsh,  Ernest. 

Marshall,  Henry  Herbert. 
Matson,  Joseph. 

Mellor,  William  Gilbert. 

Morgan,  David  King. 

Morris,  Henry. 

Neale,  Denys  William. 

Neale,  John. 

Nye,  Gerald  Launcelot. 

Owen,  Alfred. 

Parker,  Herbert  Thomas. 
Pearson,  John  Henry. 

Peck,  John  Wicliffe. 

Plant,  Thomas. 

Price,  Edward  George. 

Purnell,  Austin. 

Rider,  Ernest  Alfred. 

Siminson,  Albert  Henry. 

Siviter,  Wm.  Oscar  Bull. 

Skeat,  Charles. 

Skeeles,  Arthur  Edward, 


( Time  allowed^from  11  a.  m.  to  12.30  p.m.) 

I.  For  all  Candidates.  Translate  into  Latin 

1.  The  sons  had  a  good  mother. 

2.  Was  not  the  sea  tempestuous  ? 

3.  You  and  I  will  leave  the  city  not  unwillingly. 

4.  Two  thousand  men  were  slain  ;  only  three  hundred  were  captured. 

5.  He  thinks  that  we  must  always  obey  the  wise. 

II.  Translate  into  English  either  A  (Caesar)  or  B  (Virgil). 

(Candidates  must  not  attempt  both  authors.) 

A. — Caesar. 

1.  Haec  quum  pluribus  verbis  flens  a  Caesare  peteret,  Caesar  ejus  dextram 
prendit :  consolatus  rogat,  finem  orandi  faeiat :  tanti  ejus  apud  se  gratiam  esse 
ostendit,  uti  et  rei  publicae  injuriam  et  suum  dolorem  ejus  voluntati  ac  precibus 
condonet.  Dumnorigem  ad  se  vocat ;  fratrem  adhibet  ;  quae  in  eo  reprehendat, 
ostendit ;  quae  ipse  intelligat,  quae  civitas  queiatur,  proponit  ;  monet,  ut  in 
reliquum  tempus  omnes  suspiciones  vitet ;  praeterita  se  Divitiaco  fratri  condonare 
dicit.  Dumnorigi  custodes  ponit,  ut,  quae  agat,  quibuscum  loquatur,  scire  possit. 

2.  Haec  eodem  tempore  Caesari  mandata  referebantur,  et  legati  ab  Aeduis  et  a 
Treviris  veniebant :  Aedui  questum,  quod  Harudes,  qui  nuper  in  Galliam  trans- 
portati  essent,  fines  eorum  popularentur ;  sese  ne  obsidibus  quidem  datis  pacem 
Ariovisti  redimere  potuisse  :  Treviri  autem,  pagos  centum  Suevorum  ad  ripas 
Rheni  consedisse,  qui  Rhenum  transire  conarentur ;  his  praeesse  Nasuam  et 
Cimberium  fratres. 

Grammatical  Questions. 

(For  those  only  who  take  Caesar.) 

1.  Give  the  gender  and  genitive  singular  of  verbis,  finem,  se,  dolorem,  precibus, 
ipse,  civitas,  tempus,  custodes.  (Passage  1.) 

2.  Give  the  third  person  singular  of  the  indicative  perfect  and  of  the  sub  • 
junctive  present  of  all  the  verbs  in  Passage  2. 

3.  What  is  the  difference  in  meaning  between  the  singular  and  the  plural  of 
copia,  impedimentum,  auxilium? 

4.  Point  out  the  difference  between  ne  and  non,  and  write  short  sentences  in 
illustration. 

B.— Virgil. 

1.  Arma  virumque  cano,  Trojae  qui  primus  ab  oris 
Italiam,  fato  profugus,  Lavinia  venit 


Apbil  17, 1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


335 


Littora  ;  multum  ille  et  terris  jactatus  et  alto, 

Vi  superum,  saevae  memorem  Junonis  ob  iram. 

Multa  quoque  et  bello  passus,  dum  eonderet  urbem, 

Inferretque  Deos  Latio  :  genus  unde  Latinum, 

Albanique  patres,  atque  altae  moenia  Bomae. 

Musa,  mihi  eausas  memora,  quo  numine  laeso, 

Quidve  dolens  regina  Deum,  tot  volvere  casus 
Insignem  pietate  virum,  tot  adire  labores 
Impulerit.  Tantaene  animis  coelestibus  irae  ? 

2.  Postquam  introgressi,  et  coram  data  copia  fandi, 

Maximus  Ilioneus  placido  sic  pectore  coepit : 

O  regina,  novam  eui  condere  Jupiter  urbem, 

Justitiaque  dedit  gentes  frenare  superbas, 

Troes  te  miseri,  ventis  maria  omnia  vecti, 

Oramus  :  prohibe  infandos  a  nayibus  ignes, 

Parce  pio  generi,  et  propius  res  aspioe  nostras. 

Grammatical  Questions. 

(For  those  only  who  take  Virgil.) 

1.  Give  the  gender  and  genitive  singular  of  virum,  qui,  ille,  vi,  bello,  genus , 
numine,  pietate,  animis.  (Passage  1.) 

2.  Give  the  third  person  singular  of  the  indicative  perfect  and  of  the  subjunc- 
^  ive  present  of  all  the  verbs  in  Passage  2. 

3.  What  is  the  difference  in  meaning  between  the  singular  and  the  plural  of 

copia,  impediment-urn,  auxilium  ? 

4.  Point  out  the  difference  between  ye  and  non,  and  write  short  sentences  in 
illustration. 


ARITHMETIC. 


( Time  allowed— from  12.30 p.m.  to  2 p.m.) 


[The  working  of  these  questions,  as  well  as  the  answers,  must  be 

written  out  in  full.] 


1.  How  much  coal  will  be  required  for  6  fires  for  27  weeks,  each  fire  consuming 
1  cwt.  1  qr.  14  lbs.  weekly  ? 

2.  If  6  men,  working  8  hours  a  day,  could  do  t  of  a  piece  of  work  in  20  days,  in 
how  many  days  could  15  men,  working  10  hours  a  day,  do  l  of  it  ? 

3.  What  fraction  is  that  from  which  if  i  of  be  taken,  and  the  remainder 

2  i 

divided  by  the  result  is  J  ? 


4.  Express  as  a  decimal  fraction — 


'fl  of  of  1?. 


61 


•416 


5.  How  many  times  could  -0007  of  a  shilling  be  taken  from  £41,  and  what 
decimal  of  a  penny  would  be  left  over  ? 

6.  In  a  certain  town  of  987,648  inhabitants,  567  people  died  in  a  certain  week. 
Find,  to  two  places  of  decimals,  the  death  rate  per  thousand  per  annum. 

The  following  question  must  be  attempted  by  every  candidate  : — 

7.  Name  the  metric  unit  of  length,  and  give  its  equivalent  in  English  measure. 
Express,  approximately,  the  number  of  grammes  equal  to  9  cwt.  1  qr.  3  lbs. 


ENGLISH. 

( Time  allowed— from  3  p.m.  to  4.30  p.m.) 

1.  How  does  the  accent  of  the  following  words  affect  their  meaning  ? — refuse 
frequent,  compact. 

2.  Analyse  the  following  passage  : — 

“  Such  were  the  sounds  that  o’er  the  crested  pride 
Of  the  first  Edward  scattered  wild  dismay, 

As  down  the  steep  of  Snowdon’s  shaggy  side 
He  wound  with  toilsome  march  his  long  array.” 

3.  Parse  fully  the  following  words  in  the  passage  given  in  Question  2  : — such, 
that,  o'er,  as,  down,  wound,  toilsome,  array. 

4.  In  the  following  passage  supply  the  necessary  capital  letters,  and  put  in 
the  stops  and  inverted  commas  where  necessary  : — for  whom  are  you  called  out 
an  officer  of  the  foot  guards  for  the  king  replied  a  voice  from  the  ranks  of  the 
rebel  cavalry  for  which  king  was  then  demanded  the  answer  was  a  shout  of  king 
monmouth  mingled  with  the  war  cry  which  forty  years  before  had  been 
inscribed  on  the  colours  of  the  parliamentary  regiments  god  with  us. 

The  following  question  must  be  attempted  by  every  candidate  : — 

5.  Write  a  short  essay  on 

(i.)  Some  act  of  heroism  of  which  you  have  read  or  heard; 

or 

(ii.)  Changes  in  the  social  condition  of  the  people  during  the  reign  of  Queen 
Victoria. 


NATURAL  HISTORY  NOTES. 


To  Catch  Earwigs. — The  compound  mentioned  on  page 
335  is  an  admirable  bait  for  earwigs.  To  catch  these 
pests  both  sides  of  some  large  flower- pots  should  be  streaked 
with  the  compound,  then  mounted  on  sticks  in  the  usual 
way.  The  stuff  should  be  put  on  a  little  before  sunset.  In 
half  an  hour  the  traps  should  be  visited,  carefully  lifted 
off  the  stick,  held  over  a  bucket  of  hot  water,  and  sharply 
tapped.  The  insects  will  fall  in  a  shower  into  the  water.  In 
another  half-hour  a  fresh  crop  may  be  gathered. 

To  Drive  Away  Ants. — Probably  pharmacists  are  more  often 
consulted  on  a  means  to  drive  away  ants  than  on  any  other  ento¬ 
mological  subject,  excepting  the  ever  present  “  blackbeetle,” 
which  is  with  us  always.  We  have  found  that  a  solution  of  naph- 
thalin  in  carbon  bisulphide  is  excellent  for  outdoor  use,  but  is  of 
course  too  dangerous  to  use  indoors.  For  use  in  the  house  a 
saturated  solution  of  naphthalin  in  carbolic  acid  is  almost  equally 
efficacious.  Bisulphide  is  also  effectual  for  destroying  moles  on 
lawns,  and  for  suffocating  wasps.  It  should  be  poured  down  the 
entrance  to  the  nest  at  night  and  the  orifice  immediately  closed 
with  a  clod  of  earth. 


The  Homing  Instinct  in  Animals.  — An  interesting  paper  by 
James  Weir  in  Lippincot’s  Magazine  entitled  “  The  Sixth  Sense,” 
treats  of  the  remarkable  “homing”  instinct  which  is  so  marked 
in  many  animals,  and  far  from  being  confined,  as  is  popularly 
supposed  to  the  more  highly  developed  vertebrates,  is  found  by 
the  author  to  be  possessed  in  a  very  high  degree  by  creatures  so 
low  down  the  scale  as  the  Mollusca.  Last  summer  he  marked  six 
snails  with  a  distinctive  paint  and  removed  them  some  distance 
from  their  home.  In  the  course  of  time  four  reappeared  in  the 
accustomed  haunt,  the  other  two  having  probably  become  the 
prey  of  predatory  blackbirds.  Some  beetles  have  the  homing 
instinct  highly  developed,  notably  the  blind  beetle,  Adelops,  of  the 
Mammoth  caves,  which  when  unmolested  will  rarely  stir  more 
than  sixty  feet  from  its  home.  If  carried  away  by  force  will 
immediately  commence  its  homeward  journeyin  an  undeviating  line. 
That  the  domestic  animals  possess  the  same  sense  in  a  greater  or 
less  degree  is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge.  Experiments  with 
the  lower  forms  are  comparatively  easy  to  conduct,  and  will 
probably  afford  some  interesting  results. 

Aquarium  and  Microscope.  —  Another  unfailing  source  of 
pleasure  to  the  naturalist  who  is  confined  to  home  is  the  aquarium, 
the  more  if  the  microscope  be  used  to  explore  its  wonders.  Here 
the  sporadic  appearance  of  certain  forms  of  life  at  intervals  will 
form  an  interesting  problem.  Lately  we  had  a  number  of  Hydra 
fusca  infested  with  the  curious  parasite  Trichodina ;  suddenly  the 
Hydra  totally  disappeared.  The  same  occurs  with  Melicerta 
ringens,  which  comes  and  goes  in  our  aquarium  in  the  most 
unaccountable  manner.  One  year  we  get  hundreds  of  individuals, 
and  then  perhaps  none  for  a  year  or  two,  when  they  again  re-appear 
in  numbers.  The  water  in  the  aquarium  is  never  changed,  but 
keeps  perfectly  sweet  and  fresh. 

The  Season. — Spring  now  appears  to  be  fairly  upon  us.  The 
winter  aconite  has  supplanted  the  Christmas  rose  in  the  flower 
beds,  crocuses  and  snowdrops  have  had  their  turn,  the 
early  primroses  have  taken  courage  and  are  showing  the  flowers 
with  some  confidence.  On  railway  banks  that  true  harbinger  of 
spring,  the  coltsfoot,  is  now  in  full  flower,  elm  trees  are  blooming, 
and  the  flower  buds  on  fruit  trees  are  becoming  prominent.  Rooks, 
true  to  the  old  saw,  appear  to  have  mated,  and  the  house  sparrow, 
whose  domestic  virtues  form  the  one  redeeming  trait  in  his  other¬ 
wise  villainous  character,  seems  bent  on  nidifieation. 

Blacking  of  Lathrea  squamaria. — In  a  few  weeks  the  early 
botanist  may  hope  to  see  Lathrea  squamaria  if  he  knows  where  to 
look  for  it,  but  will  be  fortunate  if  he  succeeds  in  drying  a  speci¬ 
men  without  its  turning  an  unsightly  black.  It  might  be  worth 
while  to  try  the  effect  of  bibulous  paper  soaked  in  oxalic  acid 
solution  and  dried  for  preventing  the  discoloration  of  this  curious 
plant.  This  method,  as  has  been  recorded  in  our  pages,  is  recom¬ 
mended  by  certain  Continental  botanists  for  preserving  plant 
colours.  How  far  it  has  been  successful  we  should  be  glad  to  hear 
from  such  of  our  readers  as  may  have  tried  it, 


336 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  17,  1897 


THE  STUDENTS’  PAGE. 


NOTES  ON  THE  B.P. 

Cinchona  Rubre  Cortex. — To  ensure  uniformity  of  material, 
the  Pharmacopoeia  provides  that  the  bark  used  for  making  the 
galenical  preparations  of  cinchona  shall  contain  between  5 
and  6  per  cent,  of  total  alkaloids,  of  which  at  least  half  shall  be 
quinine  and  cinchonidine.  The  reason  for  the  latter  proviso 
is  this :  the  medicinal  value  of  the  cinchona  alkaloids  is  as 
follows  : — Quinine  first,  then  quinidine,  cinchonidine,  cinchonine, 
and  lastly  amorphous  alkaloid.  Quinidine  usually  occurs  in  com¬ 
paratively  small  quantities.  The  determination  of  total  alkaloids 
is  therefore  not  sufficient,  since  a  large  proportion  might  be 
cinchonine  and  amorphous  alkaloid,  and  a  bark,  although 
containing  6  per  cent,  of  total  alkaloids,  would  he  of  low 
medicinal  value  under  these  conditions.  The  official  assay 
process  needs  little  explanation.  The  trituration  with  lime 
sets  free  the  alkaloids  from  their  combination  with  quinic  acid, 
and  the  alkaloids  are  dissolved  out  from  the  mixture  by  re¬ 
peated  treatment  with  benzolated  amylic  alcohol.  This  fluid 
dissolves  also  colouring  matter  and  traces  of  other  bodies,  so  that 
simple  evaporation  to  dryness  would  not  yield  a  sufficiently  pure 
residue  to  be  weighed  as  alkaloid.  In  order  to  separate  the  alka¬ 
loids  from  accompanying  impurities  a  procedure  is  adopted,  which 
is  very  commonly  employed  in  alkaloidal  assays,  viz. ,  the  conver¬ 
sion  of  a  dissolved  substance  into  a  condition  in  which  it  is  more 
soluble  in  a  second,  immiscible  solvent  than  in  the  original 
solvent.  In  the  present  instance  this  result  is  attained  by 
first  adding  dilute  hydrochloric  acid  to  convert  the  alkaloids 
into  hydrochlorates.  These  hydrochlorates  are  very  slightly 
soluble  in  benzolated  amylic  alcohol,  but  very  freely  in  water, 
especially  in  presence  of  an  excess  of  acid.  When  the  two 
fluids  have  separated  the  lower  aqueous  layer  will  contain  nearly 
all  the  alkaloid,  and  reagitation  with  a  fresh  portion  of  water 
removes  practically  the  whole.  It  is  advisable  not  to  shake  the 
two  fluids  together  too  violently,  otherwise  they  will  emulsify  to 
some  extent  and  not  separate  quickly  or  completely.  If  an 
emulsified  layer  is  in  any  case  obtained  only  the  pei’fectly  clear 
portion  should  be  drawn  off,  and  more  solvent  added  to  wash 
the  alkaloid  out  of  the  emulsified  portion.  Gently  rotating  and 
warming  will  sometimes  assist  complete  separation.  Note 
that  the  general  rule  in  such  separations  is  that  the  alkaloidal 
salts,  i. e. ,  in  presence  of  acid,  pass  from  oily  or  ethereal  fluids 
into  water,  and  the  free  alkaloids,  liberated  from  the  acid  aqueous 
solution  by  addition  of  alkali,  pass  from  water  to  oily  or 
ethereal  solvent.  This,  of  course,  depends  upon  the  fact  that  free 
alkaloids  are,  as  a  rule,  only  slightly  soluble  in  water,  while  their 
salts,  particularly  in  presence  of  excess  of  acid,  are  freely  soluble 
in  water.  The  fluids,  immiscible  with  water,  most  commonly 
employed  are  ether,  chloroform,  benzene,  and  amylic  alcohol,  the 
choice  of  fluid  depending  upon  the  solubility  of  the  alkaloid  dealt 
with.  The  general  statement  which  covers  all  these  cases  is  as 
follows  : — When  two  non-miscible  fluids  are  agitated  with  a  sub¬ 
stance  soluble  in  both,  the  substance  distributes  itself  between 
the  two  solvents  in  a  ratio  which  is  directly  proportional  to  its 
solubility  in  those  solvents.  From  this  it  follows  that  the  greater 
the  difference  between  the  solubility  of  any  substance  in  the  two 
fluids  the  more  easily  and  completely  is  it  extracted  from  the  one 
in  which  it  is  least  soluble. 

Cinchonidine  Sulphas.— If  the  acidified  aqueous  solution  be 
fluorescent,  quinine  is  indicated.  Cinchonidine  forms  a  very  in¬ 
soluble  tartrate.  The  filtrate  from  this  will  precipitate  on  the 
addition  of  ammonia  if  cinchonine  be  present.  Cinchona  alkaloids 
are  not  charred  by  sulphuric  acid  when  gently  warmed.  Most 
organic  substances — e.g.,  sugar — which  might  be  used  as  adulter¬ 
ants  are  easily  charred. 

Cinchonine  Sulphas. — Compare  tests  for  cinchonidine  sulphate. 

Confectiones. — These  may  be  described  as  preparations  of  a 
pasty  consistence  composed  chiefly  of  sugar  or  honey,  which  are 
used  as  vehicles  and  to  render  the  confection  palatable.  Confec¬ 
tions  of  hips  and  roses  are  used  as  pill  excipients.  Confection  of 
senna  is  still  a  popular  remedy.  The  senna  is  introduced  in 
powder,  and  its  purgative  action  is  assisted  by  the  figs,  tamarinds, 
cassia  pulp,  and  prunes.  These,  with  the  extract  of  liquorice  and 
coriander,  very  effectually  cover  the  taste  of  the  senna.  The  asso¬ 


ciation  of  carminatives  (chiefly  drugs  containing  essential  oil),  like 
coriander,  with  purgatives  is  intended  to  prevent  griping.  With 
the  exception  of  confection  of  sulphur,  the  others  are  not  often 
prescribed,  and,  as  a  class,  confections  are  falling  into  disuse. 
Only  the  proportion  of  opium  in  confection  of  opium  need  be 
committed  to  memory. 

Cupri  Nitras. — The  action  of  copper  on  dilute  nitric  acid  results 
in  the  formation  of  copper  nitrate  and  evolution  of  gas,  chiefly 
nitric  oxide.  If  the  acid  be  concentrated,  nitric  peroxide  N02 
is  chiefly  produced.  Note  that  hydrogen  is  not  evolved  by  the 
action  of  metals  on  nitric  acid  as  it  is  from  dilute  sulphuric  and 
hydrochloric  acids.  Nascent  hydrogen  is  a  reducing  agent,  and 
liberation  in  presence  of  nitric  acid  results  in  the  reduction  of  the 
latter,  and  consequent  formation  of  water  and  oxides  of  nitrogen. 
The  usual  equation  for  the  action  of  copper  on  dilute  nitric  acid — 

3Cu  +  8HN03  =  3Cu(N03)2  +  2NO  +  4H30 

is  rendered  more  intelligible  by  a  consideration  of  this  fact.  Thus 
we  may  regard  nitric  acid  as  composed  of  nitric  anhydride  and 
water  (2HN03  =  H20,N205).  It  is  therefore  clear  that  every  two 
molecules  of  nitric  acid  will  oxidise  six  atoms  of  hydrogen  if  nitric 
oxide  be  the  result  of  the  action— 

2HN03  +  6H  =  4H20  +  2NO, 

and  since  copper  is  divalent,  three  atoms  of  copper  will  displace 
six  atoms  of  hydrogen— 

3Cu  +  6HN03  =  3Cu(N03)2  +  6H. 

If  strong  nitric  acid  be  employed,  the  reduction  of  the  nitric 
acid  does  not  proceed  so  far,  N02,  nitrogen  peroxide  being  chiefly 
produced. 

In  this  case  two  atoms  of  hydrogen  effect  the  reduction  : — 

(i.)  Cu  +  2HN03  =  Cu(N03)2  +  2H 

(ii.)  2HN03  +  2H  =  2H20  +  2N02 

Ferrocyanide  of  potassium  is  a  delicate  test  for  copper,  on  account 
of  the  deep  red  colour  of  the  insoluble  copper  ferrocyanide.  The 
black  ring,  produced  in  the  usual  test  for  nitrates  with  sulphuric 
acid  and  ferrous  sulphate,  is  due  to  the  formation  of  a  black  com¬ 
pound  of  nitric  oxide  and  ferrous  sulphate.  The  sulphuric  acid 
liberates  nitric  acid;  this  oxidises  a  portion  of  the  ferrous  sulphate, 
nitric  oxide  being  produced  by  its  consequent  reduction,  and  the 
nitric  oxide  forms  the  black  compound  with  some  unoxidised 
ferrous  salt.  If  the  nitric  acid  be  present  in  sufficient  quantity 
to  convert  the  whole  of  the  ferrous  into  ferric  salt,  the  black  com¬ 
pound  disappears  and  the  nitric  oxide  is  evolved  {vide  Liq.  ferri 
persulphatis). 


THE  FLOWERS  OF  APRIL. 

Taraxacum  officinale  (Compositse). — The  common  dandelion  is 
often  found  in  blossom  early  in  the  year.  The  features  worth 
noticing  in  it  are  the  absence  of  an  aerial  stem,  which  is  repre¬ 
sented  by  a  root-stock  or  upright  underground  stem,  having 
annular  marks  indicating  where  leaves  have  fallen  off,  and  often 
giving  rise  to  latent  buds,  whereby  the  top  of  the  root  appears  to 
be  branched.  The  leaves  are  runcinate,  i.e.,  re-uncinate,  having 
the  lobes  turned  backwards.  The  inflorescence  arises  direct 
from  the  ground  (scape)  and  the  stalk  is  hollow  (fistulose),  the 
florets,  100-200  in  number,  are  all  strap-shaped  (ligulate),  and  there¬ 
fore  the  plant  belongs  to  the  sub-order  Ligulifiorte.  The  calyx 
tube  is  developed  beyond  the  fruit  in  a  kind  of  beak,  and  the 
limb  in  the  form  of  unbranched  (pilose)  pappus.  The  fruit, 
which  judging  from  the  presence  of  two  stigmas  in  the 
flower  should  be  two-celled,  becomes  only  one-celled  (cypsela),  and 
contains  one  seed.  Externally  it  is  covered  with  minute  erect 
spines  pointing  forwards,  which  when  the  fruit  settles  on  the 
ground  and  is  washed  by  the  rain  and  thus  elongated,  cause 
it  to  enter  the  soil  and  prevent  its  working  its  way  out  again. 
The  leaves  vary  exceedingly  in  form  and  size,  and  in  the 
variety  erythrocarpum  are  so  narrow  and  so  deeply  cut  that  the 
plant  hardly  seems  to  belong  to  the  same  species  ;  and  in  the 
variety  palustre  they  are  almost  entire.  The  flower-heads  are  very 
sensitive  to  light,  and  at  night  and  during  rain  the  phyllaries  close 
up  the  flower-head,  hence,  if  put  in  a  botanical  box,  the  flowers 
become  closed  up.  They  should  therefore  be  put  between  paper  as 
soon  as  gathered.  The  florets  can  be  either  cross  oFself-fertilised. — - 
Lubbock,  l.c.,  p.  119. 


Apbil  17,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


337 


Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


LONDON:  SATURDAY,  APRIL  17,  1897. 


ON  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

The  subject  of  technical  education  continues  to  be  one  of 
the  burning  questions  of  the  hour,  but  light  is  gradually 
being  thrown  on  the  absurd  demands  and  suggestions  that 
are  so  prevalent,  and  by  and  bye  we  may  hope  to  see  the 
matter  dealt  with  on  a  proper  basis.  The  latest  contribution 
to  the  discussion  is  by  a  writer  in  the  University  Extension 
Journal ,  and  it  possesses  the  importance  that  naturally 
attaches  to  arguments  based  on  sound  common  sense.  For 
example,  it  is  pointed  out  that  technical  instruction  in 
the  principles  of  the  art  of  swimming  might  be  very  complete, 
but  it  would  be  necessary  for  the  student  to  enter  the  water 
before  he  would  be  able  to  swim,  and  similarly,  it  is  urged,  we 
are  confronted  with  the  practical  impossibility  of  teaching  any 
craft  without  actually  engaging  in  the  industry  or  employment 
concerned.  A  very  inferior  shoemaker  could  make  a  much  better 
pair  of  shoes  than  the  scientific  man  who  knows  all  about 
leather,  the  shape  of  the  human  foot,  and  the  principles  on 
which  a  perfect  shoe  ought  to  be  made,  but  who  has  never 
been  trained  in  the  art  and  mystery  of  shoemaking. 
Though  it  is  now  generally  admitted  that,  in  many  depart¬ 
ments  of  what  used  to  be  called  “  unskilled  labour,”  a  much 
greater  degree  of  skill  is  required  than  was  at  one  time 
thought  to  be  necessary  in  order  to  secure  a  living  wage, 
“  no  technical  instruction  is  needed  in  these  departments 
beyond  what  can  be  fully  obtained  by  the  continued  practice 
of  the  employment.” 

But  in  addition  to  these  so-called  “  unskilled  employ¬ 
ments”  there  are  the  numerous  crafts  and  occupations  in 
which  preliminary  education  is  necessary,  and  in  which,  if 
the  highest  efficiency  is  to  be  achieved,  technical  education 
is  also  necessary.  In  almost  every  craft,  it  is  contended, 
there  is  only  sought  that  degree  of  excellence  and  efficiency 
which  may  be  called  the  “  market  standard.”  Manufactures 
which  do  not  reach  this  standard,  or  which  do  not  possess 
the  appearance  of  being  up  to  this  standard,  are  rejected  by 
traders,  and  the  manufacturers  fail  in  their  object.  “  There 
is  beyond  the  present  ‘  market  ’  or  utilitarian  standard 
a  most  desirable  standard  of  artistic  excellence,  where  the 
best  material,  the  best  designs,  and  the  best  workmanship 
are  combined  in  order  to  secure  the  finished  product,  whether 
it  be  a  thing  for  use  or  for  pleasure.  There  are  very  few 
manufactories  indeed  where  workmen  and  the  whole  of  the 
resources  of  the  manufacturers  are  engaged  in  producing  the 
very  best  results  of  which  art  and  science  are  capable.  The 
reason  given  for  this  non-production  of  the  best  things  is 
that  there  is  no  market  for  them — they  will  not  pay.  Many 
things  are  only  required  to  serve  a  passing  occasion,  and 
it  would  be  sheer  waste  to  expend  on  their  manufacture 
either  labour  or  mateiials  or  skill  beyond  what  the  temporary 
occasion  justified.” 

What  is  needed  in  this  country,  continues  the  writer,  is 
by  means  of  technical  education  to  bring  a  higher  degree  of 
skill  into  every  workshop  in  the  land,  so  that  handicrafts¬ 
men  in  every  craft  may  be  enabled  to  turn  out  more  durable, 
more  beautiful,  and  more  excellent  things,  whether  for 
practical  business  use,  or  fo~  consumption,  or  for  the  gratifi¬ 


cation  of  the  senses.  To  make  this  possible  and  profitable, 
the  public  must  be  technically  educated  so  as  to  be  able  to 
appreciate  beauty,  excellence,  and  efficiency.  But  it  can 
scarcely  be  contended  that  the  Technical  Instruction  Act,  as 
at  present  administered,  is  doing  this  work,  and  it  is  sug¬ 
gested  that  to  accomplish  this  end  technical  education  must 
pick  up  the  handicraftsman  at  the  point  where  the  average 
workshop  leaves  him,  and  must  begin  at  that  point  to  elevate 
his  taste  and  to  perfect  his  skill.  “Though  the  weaver 
weaves  shoddy,  he  learns  more  of  the  art  of  weaving  in  a 
mill  than  he  can  learn  elsewhere,  for  it  is  only  by  weaving 
something  that  he  can  learn  to  weave  at  all,”  and  what  is 
true  of  the  weaver  is  true  also  of  the  builder  and  of  workers 
in  metal,  wood,  glass,  clay,  and  other  materials. 

The  place  where  the  particular  craft  is  practised  on 
business  lines  is  truly  described  as  being  in  the  first  instance 
and  up  to  a  certain  point,  the  really  efficient  technical  school. 
This  is  as  true  of  pharmacy  as  of  any  other  craft,  but 
when  the  pupil  has  learned  all  that  can  be  taught 
in  the  pharmacy  or  other  primary  technical  school, 
conducted  for  the  purposes  of  profit,  it  is  necessary,  in 
order  to  complete  his  education,  that  he  should  proceed 
to  places  of  technical  instruction  “  fitted  up  with  the  best 
appliances,  where  the  best  material  is  used,  where  the  best 
designs  are  worked  from,  and  where  the  best  workmanship 
is  secured,  in  order  that  the  things  produced  may  be  good 
throughout.”  With  regard  to  the  young  workers  found  from 
time  to  time  in  every  workshop  in  the  land,  who  reveal 
more  than  average  skill  and  insight,  it  is  urged  that  they 
ought  to  be  pecuniarily  helped  to  pass  through  a  period  of 
advanced  technical  education,  so  that  they  may  be  in  some 
way  or  other  employed  in  advancing  the  average  skill  of 
the  ordinary  workman. 

To  secure  the  sort  of  advanced  technical  education  advo¬ 
cated  without  an  enormous  outlay,  the  suggestion  is  made 
that  the  educational  institutions  of  each  county  might  be 
brought  into  working  relations  with  the  Public  Works 
Departments  of  County  Councils,  as  such  bodies  ought  to  do 
the  best  work  in  the  best  ways.  “  There  is  nothing  to 
prevent  technical  workshops  being  established  for  leather 
works  in  Bermondsey  and  Northampton  ;  for  weaving  in 
Nottingham,  Manchester,  Bradford,  and  elsewhere;  for  mining 
in  Cardiff ;  for  navigation  in  London  and  Liverpool ;  for  engi¬ 
neering  at  Newcastle;  and  so  on  for  every  branch  of  industry.” 
The  greatest  difficulty  to  be  overcome  is  thought  to  consist,  not 
in  finding  means  to  give  advanced  and  scientific  instruction 
in  the  various  crafts,  but  in  persuading  those  who  have  the 
direction  of  technical  education  that  the  knowledge  to  be 
obtained  by  youths  in  schools  and  colleges  is  not  the  tech¬ 
nical  education  that  is  likely  to  enable  this  country  to  meet 
its  competitors  in  the  markets  of  the  world  on  more  favour¬ 
able  terms  than  at  present.  “  There  are  thousands  of  good 
workmen  scattered  all  over  the  country  who  could  be  made 
into  real  masters  of  their  arts  if  technical  instruction  could 
be  placed  within  their  reach  on  terms  that  would  enable 
them  to  avail  themselves  of  it.  If  some  scheme  of  this  kind 
were  instituted  as  opportunity  afforded,  and  if  the  old 
system  of  apprenticeship  were  revived,  technical  education 
would  become  a  reality.”  What  is  suggested  may  not  be 
readily  attainable,  but  it  is  well  worth  any  effort  that  may  be 
made  to  secure  it.  Technical  education,  commencing  in  the 
shop  and  continued  in  the  college,  is  the  true  ideal,  and  in 
pharmacy  at  least  it  is  both  practicable  and  necessary  to  the 
complete  development  of  the  art. 


338 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Apbil  17,  1897. 


ANNOTATIONS. 


The  Case  at  Nottingham,  reported  on  page  342,  affords  an 
instance  of  the  extreme  difficulty  of  securing  evidence  in  many 
instances  where  it  is  well  known  that  infringements  of  the  Phar¬ 
macy  Acts  are  continually  taking  place.  Fortunately,  however, 
the  facts  marshalled  by  Mr.  Grey  proved  conclusive,  and  defendant 
met  with  no  abnormal  sympathy  on  the  part  of  the  County 
Court  J  udge.  As  so  frequently  happens  nowadays,  the 
point  was  raised  that  defendant  was  not  notified  when 
the  purchase  was  made,  but  the  Judge  made  short  work  of 
the  argument  based  on  that  fact.  As  he  pointed  out,  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society  is  not  bound  to  give  any  warning,  and  comparison 
with  the  Food  and  Drugs  Act  is  quite  beside  the  question,  as  the 
terms  of  that  Act  are  very  different,  whilst  it  defines  its  own 
method  of  procedure.  Neither  would  His  Honour  allow  that  the 
Society  was  to  be  blamed  for  the  course  taken  in  the  case,  as  the 
doctor,  on  behalf  of  whom  the  sale  was  made,  knew  well  the  serious¬ 
ness  of  allowing  an  unqualified  person  to  sell  poison  and,  as  a 
medical  man,  should  know  how  important  it  is  that  the  require¬ 
ments  of  this  Statute  should,  for  the  safety  of  the  public,  be 
strictly  adhered  to  and  its  provisions  enforced  against  infringers. 


Amendment  of  the  Patent  Laws  is  badly  needed  in  many 
respects,  and  an  influential  deputation  waited  upon  Sir  Courtenay 
Boyle  last  wreek  to  emphasise  that  fact,  more  especially  in 
regard  to  Section  22  of  the  Patents,  Designs,  and  Trade 
Marks  Act,  1883.  That  Section  was  drafted  with  the  object  of 
preventing  foreigners  taking  out  patents  in  this  country  without 
any  intention  of  working  them  here.  It  is  contended,  however,  in 
certain  quarters,  that  the  dog-in-the-manger  policy  aimed  at 
prevails  more  widely  than  appears  to  be  officially  known.  Hence 
the  present  movement  in  defence  of  home  interests.  Section  22 
provides  that  if — on  the  petition  of  any  person  interested, 
it  is  proved  to  the  Board  of  Trade  that,  by  reason  of 
the  default  of  a  patentee  to  grant  licences  qn  reasonable 
terms,  ( a )  the  patent  is  not  being  worked  in  the  United 
Kingdom ;  or  (b)  the  reasonable  requirements  of  the  public 
with  respect  to  the  invention  cannot  be  supplied;  or  (c)any  person 
is  prevented  from  working  or  using  to  the  best  advantage  an 
invention  of  which  he  is  possessed — the  Board  may  order  the 
patentee  to  grant  licences  on  reasonable  terms,  and  any  such 
order  may  be  enforced  by  a  mandamus. 

The  Obvious  Intention  of  the  Section,  as  urged  by  Sir  W. 
Houldsworth,  M.P.,  on  behalf  of  the  deputation,  is  to  insure  that 
any  patents  granted  in  this  country  shall  be  available  for  use  in 
this  country,  and  that  if  for  any  reason  a  patent  be  allowed  to  lie 
dormant  by  default,  the  Board  of  Trade  has  power  to  step  in  and 
insist  that  a  licence  shall  be  granted  on  such  terms  as  the  Board 
may  deem  just.  When  the  Section  was  drafted  the  intention  was 
that  patents  should  not  be  allowed  to  lie  dormant,  but  it  is 
alleged  that  the  Section  has  been  practically  a  dead-letter,  mainly 
through  its  own  inherent  weakness.  In  replying  to  the  arguments 
adducedby  the  members  of  the  deputation,  the  Permanent  Secretary 
to  the  Board  expressed  adoubt  whether  the  condition  of  affairs  wasso 
bad  as  stated.  Only  four  applications  to  take  action  under  Section  22 
had  been  received,  and  those  were  never  proceeded  with.  Before 
it  can  be  said,  therefore,  that  the  Section  is  absolutely  inadequate 
for  its  purpose,  it  ought  to  be  clearly  shown  that  there  is  no 
other  procedure  by  wThich  the  same  result  can  be  secured.  It  is 
Suggested  that  carefully  selected  cases  should  be  made  the  subject 


of  application  under  the  Section,  where  there  is  default  of  the 
patentee  to  work  his  patent  in  the  United  Kingdom,  and  that  the 
Board  might  then  be  pressed  to  take  proceedings  under  the  Act. 


The  Sale  of  Medicated  Wines  by  Chemists  does  not  necessitate 
the  holding  of  an  excise  licence,  provided  the  wines  are  really 
medicinal,  but  if  a  licence  be  obtaine  1  the  retailer  is  entitled  to  sell 
any  wine,  whether  medicated  or  not.  Moreover,  it  is  not  within  the 
discretion  of  magistrates  to  withhold  a  licence  when  it  is  applied 
for  by  an  individual  of  good  character.  Occasionally,  when  a 
chemist  is  the  applicant,  an  attempt  is  made  to  impose  restrictions 
as  to  the  character  of  the  wines  to  be  sold,  but  such  steps  are  not 
legally  justified,  and  an  appeal  recently  heard  by  the  Surrey 
County  magistrates  emphasises  that  point.  A  licence  for  the  off- 
sale  of  wines  had  been  granted  by  the  Kingston  Borough  magis¬ 
trates  on  condition  that  medicated  wines  only  should  be  sold,  and 
when  an  undertaking  to  that  effect  was  broken,  the  magistrates 
refused  to  renew  the  licence.  On  appeal,  however,  it  has  been 
clearly  shown  that  the  borough  magistrates  had  exceeded  their 
powers,  and  acted  illegally.  The  appeal  was  therefore  granted, 
and  the  appellant  will  now  be  able  to  secure  his  licence  without 
any  unusual  conditions  being  imposed. 


In  Commenting  on  this  Case  the  Daily  Telegraph  permits 
itself  to  take  a  totally  unjustifiable  view  of  the  matter.  Assuming 
that  the  success  of  the  appellant  was  due,  not  to  intrinsic  merits, 
but  to  the  opinion  of  the  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions  that  the 
magistrates  were  not  entitled  to  impose  the  conditions  they  did  pn 
the  licence,  the  hope  is  expressed  that  the  case  will  raise  the  whole 
question  of  the  sale  of  what  are  called  ‘  ‘  medicated  ”  or  “  invalid  ” 
wines,  the  trade  in  which  is  alleged  to  be  growing  to  enormous 
proportions.  That  may  or  may  not  be  true,  but  it  certainly  does 
not  justify  the  Daily  Telegraph  in  suggesting  that  chemists  and 
druggists  encourage  this  branch  of  trade  and  facilitate  secret  drink¬ 
ing.  Many  persons,  it  is  stated,  especially  women,  who  would  dis¬ 
dain  to  enter  a  public-house  for  a  bottle  of  whisky,  think  nothing  of 
carrying  away  a  bottle  of  medicated  wine  from  a  drug  store,  and  the 
effect  of  one  article  is  pretty  much  the  same  as  the  other.  It  may 
be  doubted,  however,  whether  the  writer  of  those  remarks  would 
find  the  effects  “  pretty  much  the  same  ”  if  he  got  intoxicated  on 
quinine  or  coca  wine  in  place  of  port  or  champagne.  But  the  absurd 
suggestion  that  chemists  encourage  drunkenness  is  not  original 
with  our  contemporary,  as  it  is  merely  copied  from  an  equally  ill- 
informed  medical  organ.  With  regard  to  the  “rather  curious 
anomaly  that  while  the  manufacturer  of  ginger  beer  is  pounced  on 
by  the  Inland  Revenue  should  he  allow  a  scintilla  of  alcohol  to 
pervade  a  pint,  druggists  are  at  liberty  to  sell  quarts  of  alcohol  if 
only  it  contain  a  flavour  of  some  drug  or  other,”  we  can  only 
recommend  the  person  who  discovered  this  seeming  “  anomaly  ”  to 
make  more  certain  about  the  accuracy  of  his  statements  before 
publishing  comments  on  technical  matters  he  does  not  comprehend. 


Coroners  are  only  Mortal,  and  some  few  are  amazingly  fer¬ 
tile  in  discovering  methods  by  adopting  which  chemists  could 
readily  make  their  lives  a  burden.  In  a  case  reported  from  Sheffield, 
where  a  file-cutter  had  committed  suicide  by  drinking  laudanum, 
Coroner  Wightman,  not  content  with  the  restrictions  at  present 
imposed  by  the  law,  said  that,  in  his  opinion,  chemists  should  not 
be  allowed  to  sell  laudanum  without  writing  on  the  label  the  date 
on  which  the  poison  was  sold,  and  also  the  name  of  the  person  to 
whom  it  was  sold.  As  the  law  stood  at  present  the  public  could 
purchase  laudanum  in  every  little  grocer’s  shop  (sic),  as  well  as  the 


April  17, 189?] 


pharmaceutical  journal. 


339 


best  appointed  chemist’s  shop  in  Sheffield,  and  he  thought  it  was 
time  something  was  done  to  alter  the  law  in  this  respect.  Now,  if 
Mr.  Wightman  knows  this  to  be  the  case,  he  ought  to  communi¬ 
cate  with  the  Secretary  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  and  not 
content  himself  with  talking  at  large  to  jurymen.  The  law  as  it 
stands  is  quite  capable  of  dealing  with  the  matter  :  coroners 
ought  to  know  that  and  do  all  they  can  to  put  it  in  force. 


Mr.  Thomas  Hanbury  has  presented  a  drinking  fountain  to  the 
town  of  Mentone  and  the  Society  for  the  Protection  of  Animals, 
and  it  was  formally  handed  over  to  the  charge  of  the  Mayor  of 
Mentone  on  Saturday  last,  in  the  presence  of  Princess  Victoria 
of  Schleswig-Holstein,  grand-daughter  of  Queen  Victoria,  who 
subsequently  visited  Mr.  Hanbury’s  residence  at  La  Mortola. 


A  Few  Choice  “  Lots”  are  mentioned  in  the  Lancet,  in  a  note 
referring  to  the  difficulties  experienced  by  country  printers  in 
setting  up  technical  medical  terms.  The  document  commented  on 
was  headed  “  The  Late  Dr.  Blank’s  Sale  of  Household  Goods.  Copy 
from  Catalogue,”  arid  contained  the  following : — Lot  471,  a 
Haryngscope  in  case  ;  746,  two  silver  cathetus  in  case  ;  747,  Wet 
capping  instrument  in  case  ;  748,  Shphygniograyh  (Mareys) ;  755, 
Syringe  (Waginal) ;  759,  Trocars  and  Camicula  in  case  ;  766,  Mid¬ 
wifery  Bags,  Forceps,  long  and  Rigot  Case  inside  ;  774,  Frocar  and 
Camicula;  775,  Minnim  Measles  iri  Box;  781,  Hosh  (double) 
(?  truss) ,  785,  Hypodermis  Case ;  804,  Box  of  Cathartics ;  806, 
Porcelain  Pressary  ;  822,  Tensillotome  ;  827,  Gynelological  Instru¬ 
ments,  &c.,  iri  paste-board  box.  Amongst  books  were  mentioned  : 
839,  Practical  Orthop  Acdiess,  by  Reeves ;  and  854,  Human 
Orthology. 


A  Physical  Laboratory  for  India  is  the  latest  idea  projected, 
a  memorial  having  been  handed  to  the  Secretary  for  India,  in 
which  the  signatories  draw  his  attention  to  the  great  importance 
which  they  attach  to  the  establishment  in  the  Indian  Empire  of  a 
central  laboratory  for  advanced  teaching  and  research  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  the  Presidency  College,  Calcutta,  the  most  important 
educational  institution  under  the  Government  of  India.  They 
believe  that  it  would  not  only  be  beneficial  in  respect  of  higher 
education,  but  also  that  it  would  largely  promote  the  material 
interests  of  the  country,  and  they  venture,  therefore,  to  urge  the 
desirability  of  establishing  in  India  a  physical  laboratory  worthy 
of  the  Empire.  The  memorial  bore  the  following  names  : — Kelvin, 
Lister,  W.  Le  W.  Abury,  R.  S.  Ball,  W.  G.  Bond,  E.  T.  Carter, 
R.  B.  Clifton,  G.  Carey  Foster,  G.  F.  Fitzgerald,  W.  Garnett, 
J.  H.  Gladstone,  J.  Hopkinson,  W.  Huggins,  J.  H.  Poynting, 
W.  Ramsay,  H.  E.  Roscoe,  A.  W.  Rucker,  A.  Schuster,  G.‘  G. 
Stokes,  W.  Stroud,  S.  P.  Thompson. 


The  ‘  United  States  Pharmacopoeia  ’  is  looked  after  by  a 
permanent  committee  of  revision  and  publication,  and  that  com¬ 
mittee  appears  to  be  at  work  continually,  commencing  directly 
after  the  current  Pharmacopoeia  is  issued  from  the  press.  The  next 
U.S.P.  will  be  that  of  1900,  and  the  committee  has  just  published 
the  first  part  of  a  digest  of  criticisms  and  suggestions  for  improve¬ 
ment  of  the  text  at  present  in  force.  This  compilation  consists  of 
abstracts  embodying  information  published  in  all  the  leading 
journals  and  books  treating  of  the  subject  matter  of  the  national 
pharmacopoeia.  It  practically  represents  pharmaceutical  literature 
published  between  the  publication  of  the  1890  U.S.P.  and  July  1, 
1896,  and  corresponds  roughly  to  Dr.  Attfield’s  annual  reports  on 
the  British  Pharmacopseia,  but  is,  of  course,  the  outcome  of  a 
system  which  unfortunately  has  no  parallel  in  this  country. 


The  Royal  Botanic  Society  of  London,  at  a  meeting  held 
last  Saturday,  was  entertained  by  the  Secretary,  Mr.  J.  B. 
Sowerby,  with  an  interesting  account  of  the  cultivation  and  manu¬ 
facture  into  paper  of  esparto  grass.  The  lecturer’s  remarks  were 
illustrated  by  specimens  and  growing  plants  from  the  gardens. 
The  plant  producing  it  (Stipa  lenacissima)  is  capable  of  living 
under  the  most  adverse  conditions,  being  often  found  flourishing 
in  desert  places  where  no  other  vegetable  life  can  exist,  and  it  was 
suggested  by  the  lecturer  that  this  would  be  a  most  suitable  plant 
for  reclaiming  the  deserts  of  Sahara  and  turning  them  into  a  source 
of  profit. 


The  Registration  of  Plants  is  to  receive  attention  to  a  limited 
extent  at  the  hands  of  a  committee  appointed  by  the  Association 
of  American  Agricultural  Colleges,  the  idea  being,  according  to 
Science,  to  have  some  one  place  in  the  United  States  where  all 
plants  placed  upon  the  market  can  be  officially  registered,  num¬ 
bered,  and  a  description,  together  with  specimens  of  the  bloom, 
seed,  foliage,  and  fruit,  placed  on  record.  Coloured  casts  are  to  be 
prepared  when  it  is  not  practicable  to  preserve  the  originals,  as  in 
the  case  of  citrons,  drupaceous  and  pomaceous  fruits,  and  vegetables. 
Specimens  of  flowers,  fruit,  root,  tuber,  or  seed  must  accompany 
all  plants  sent  for  registration,  and  vegetables  must  be  accompanied 
by  a  sufficient  amount  of  seed  to  grow  plants  for  identification.  It 
is  also  proposed  to  utilise  the  seed  for  the  purpose  of  noting  the 
duration  of  cultural  varieties,  as  well  as  the  influence  of  climate 
during  any  series  of  years  or  in  any  locality. 

The  Detection  of,  Potassium  Compounds  by  the  flame  test  is  fre¬ 
quently  an  operation  of  some  uncertainty,  but  according  to  Nature, 
Mr.  S.  G.  Newth,  of  the  Royal  College  of  Science,  has  invented  a 
little  instrument  which  is  free  from  the  defects  of  the  indigo  prism. 
As  is  well  known,  owing  to  the  fact  that  indigo  transmits  the  red 
rays  given  by  lithium,  strontium,  calcium  and  barium  compounds, 
as  well  as  the  red  of  potassium,  salts  of  those  metals,  when  heated 
in  a  Bunsen  flame,  while  the  flame  is  examined  with  an  indigo 
prism,  may  be  mistaken  for  those  of  potassium.  Mr.  Newth’s 
instrument,  however,  is  said  to  absorb  not  only  the  green  and 
yellow  portions  of  the  spectrum,  but  also  the  red,  very  nearly  as 
far  down  as  the  potassium  line,  and  quite  beyond  the  red  lines  of 
lithium,  strontium,  calcium  and  barium.  It  is  therefore  opaque  to 
the  red  light  given  by  those  metals,  while  being  transparent  to 
the  red  light  of  potassium  ;  and  it  is  claimed  for  it  that  it  allows 
of  the  certain  detection  of  potassium  in  the  presence  of  any  of  the 
metals  commonly  associated  with  it. 


The  Use  of  the  Nile  as  a  Source  of  Electricity  is  a  natural 
outcome  of  the  harnessing  of  Niagara,  and  Professor  George  Forbes, 
F.R.S.,  who  played  an  important  part  in  the  latter  operation,  has 
expressed  a  highly  favourable  opinion  about  utilising  the  waste 
power  of  the  Nile  cataracts  for  generating  electric  currents.  He 
has  been  making  an  extensive  tour  in  many  parts  of  the  globe 
with  a  view  to  reporting  on  the  utilisation  of  water  power  for  the 
generation  of  electrical  energy.  Amongst  other  places  he  has  visited 
New  Zealand  and  Africa,  and  especially  Northern  Rhodesia.  As  a 
result,  a  scheme  is  on  foot  for  using  the  water  power  of  the  Victoria 
Falls  on  the  Zambesi  River  to  generate  electricity,  and  supply  it 
to  the  various  centres  of  population  throughout  Rhodesia. 

The  Pharmaceutical  Journal  Office  and  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society’s  premises  generally  will  remain  closed,  on  account  of  the 
Easter  vacation,  from  5  p.m.  on  Thursday,  April  15,  until  9  a.m, 
on  Tuesday,  April  20. 


340 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  17,  1897 


MEETINGS  Op  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIETIES 

- ♦ - 

Linnean  Society  of  London,  Thursday,  April  1. — Dr.  A. 
Gunther,  F.R.S.,  President,  in  the  chair. —  Professor  Graf  zu 
Solms-Laubach,  the  Rev.  Robert  Usher,  and  Mr.  William  Martin- 
dale  were  admitted,  and  Messrs.  J.  B.  Sowerby  and  J.  C.  Willis 
were  elected  Fellows  of  the  Society. 

Feather  Cloaks. 

Mr.  Miller  Christy,  exhibited  three  royal  state  cloaks  formerly 
worn  by  the  kings  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  and  made  of  the 
feathers  of  four  species  of  birds,  of  which  the  exhibitor  gave  an 
account,  referring  to  the  coloured  figures  of  them  given  in  Mr. 
Scott  Wilson’s  ‘  Birds  of  Hawaii,’  namely,  Vestiaria  coccinea  (red), 
Psittacirostra  psittacea  (green),  Acrulocercus  nobilis,  and  Drepanis 
pacijica  (black  and  yellow).  The  last  named,  of  which  no  specimen 
is  to  be  found  in  the  national  collection,  was  believed  to  be  now 
extinct. — Mr.  W.  T.  Thiselton-Dyer  next  exhibited  a  series  of 
drawings  (on  the  screen)  to  illustrate  the 

Cultural  Evolution  of  Cyclamen  Latifolium,  Sibth. 

The  species  is  a  native  of  Greece  and  the  Levant,  and  is  believed  to 
have  been  first  introduced  into  European  cultivation  in  1731.  In 
1768  Miller  described  a  form  modified  by  cultivation  under  the 
name  of  Cyclamen  persicum.  This  was  erroneous,  as,  according  to 
Boissier,  neither  the  wild  nor  the  garden  form  occur  in  Persia. 
The  latter  persisted  in  cultivation  for  about  150  years,  and  about 
1860  became  the  starting-point  of  the  modern  races  which  were 
illustrated.  Cyclamen  latifolhim  has  never  been  hybridised, 
and  it  was  shown  that  the  striking  forms  now  in  cultiva¬ 
tion  were  the  result  of  the  patient  accumulation  of 
gradual  variations.  Drawings  of  the  remarkable  forms 
“  Papilio,”  obtained  by  de  Langhe-Vervaene,  and  of  “  The  Bush- 
Hill  Pioneer,”  by  Messrs.  Hugh  Low  and  Co.,  were  shown.  It  was 
pointed  out  that  the  tendency  of  the  species  under  cultivation  was 
to  lose  its  distinctive  generic  characters  and  to  approximate  to  a 
more  generalised  type.  The  reflexion  of  the  corolla-segments  was 
often  lost  as  in  Lysimachia,  the  segments  were  sometimes  multi¬ 
plied  as  in  Trientalis,  and  the  margins  were  fringed  as  in  Soldanella 
and  cultivated  forms  of  Primula  sinensis.  The  “  Bush-Hill 
Pioneer  ”  possessed,  in  the  cresting  of  the  petals,  a  remarkable 
character  without  parallel  in  any  primulaceous  plant  occurring  in 
a  wild  state.  A  series  of  plants  was  also  exhibited  to  illus¬ 
trate  the 

Origin  of  the  Garden  Cineraria. 

It  was  generally  agreed  that  this  had  sprung  from  one  or  more 
species  native  in  the  Canaries.  An  extreme  cultivated  form  was 
shown  and  compared  with  Senecio  eruentus,  which  all  internal 
evidence  indicated  as  the  sole  original  stock.  S.  Heritieri, 
another  reputed  parent,  was  exhibited.  But  it  was  pointed  out 
that  this  has  a  shrubby  habit  and  stems  markedly  zigzag  between 
the  internodes,  while  the  leaves  are  clothed  beneath  with  a  dense 
white  tomentum.  These  characters  it  transmits  more  or  less  to  its 
hybrid  offspring.  In  illustration  of  this  point  Mr.  Poe’s  hybrid 
( S.  super- Heritieri  x  eruentus )  was  exhibited  (a  similar  one  has 
occurred  at  Edinburgh)  ;  also  the  Cambridge  hybrid  ( S.  super- 
cruentus  x  Iler-itieri J.  8.  eruentus  crosses  very  freely  with 
the  garden  Cineraria,  and  as  the  latter  never  exhibits 
any  trace  of  the  characters  of  *8.  Heritieri,  it  was  concluded  that 
that  species  had  no  part  in  its  origin,  and  that,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  Cyclamen,  the  striking  development  of  A.  eruentus  in  cultivation 
was  due  to  the  continued  accumulation  of  gradual  variations. 
Mr.  A.  W.  Bennett  exhibited  a  series  of  drawings  by  Mr.  E.  B. 
Green  of 

Root-Hairs  of  Plants 

with  various  parasitic  growths,  and  showed  preparations  of  several 
under  the  microscope.  Mr.  G.  R.  Murray  exhibited  several  lantern- 
slides  of 

CoCCOSPHERES  AND  RhABDOSPIIERES. 

prepared  from  specimens  collected  by  Captain  Milner  of  the 
s.s.  “  Para”  while  on  a  voyage  to  Barbados,  including  all  the  forms 
figured  in  the  “  Challenger  ”  report.  Of  these  remarkable  organisms 
Mr.  Murray  gave  a  detailed  account,  explaining  the  formation  of 
coccospheres  (so  named  by  Dr.  Wallich)  as  the  aggregation  into 
spheres  of  the  so-called  coccoliths  described  by  Huxley  from  deep- 


sea  soundings  taken  in  the  North  Atlantic  by  H.M.S.  “  Cyclops.” 
The  calcareous  scales  (or  coccoliths)  were  shown  to  overlap  each 
other,  and  to  constitute  not  only  a  defensive  armour,  but,  from 
their  arrangement,  to  admit  of  the  growth  of  the  organism,  which 
is  thus  not  limited  by  its  calcareous  coat,  as  diatoms  are  by  their  sili¬ 
ceous  shells,  each  coccolith  being  attached  to  the  cell  by  a  button - 
like  projection  on  its  inner  surface.  In  the  rhabdospheres  with 
projecting  rods,  of  which  figures  were  shown,  the  plates  (Rhabdo- 
liths)  do  not  fit  into  each  other  as  figured  in  the  “  Challenger  ”  Re¬ 
port,  but  their  bases  are  imbedded  on  the  surface  of  the  cell  each 
by  itself  without  contact.  As  to  the  cell-contents,  the  ex¬ 
hibitor  had  found  nothing  more  than  a  granular  material  re¬ 
sembling  protoplasm.  There  was  no  trace  of  colouring-matter  in 
the  specimens,  all  of  which  had  been  brought  up  from  a  depth  of 
three  fathoms. — Mr.  H.  Groves  exhibited  a  large  number  of 

Charace.e 

collected  by  Mr.  T.  B.  Blow  in  various  parts  of  Australasia  and 
Asia,  views  of  the  localities  referred  to  being  shown  on  the  screen 
by  the  collector. — Mr.  George  Massee,  on  behalf  of  Miss  Helen 
B.  Potter,  communicated  the  substance  of  a  paper  on  the 

Germination  of  Spores  of  Agaricine/g, 

whilst  a  paper  by  Dr.  A.  J.  Ewart  on  the  Evolution  of  Oxygen 
from  coloured  Bacteria  was  deferred  for  reading  until  May  6 
next. 


THE  WORLD  OF  PHARMACY. 

- - * - 

BUSINESS  MEETINGS. 


Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,  Thursday,  April  8. — 
Mr.  Charles  Morley,  President,  in  the  chair.  — After  the  prelimi¬ 
nary  business  and  the  addition  to  the  roll  of  one  new  member,  a 
paper  on 

Antitoxins 

was  read  by  Mr.  F.  W.  Gamble,  who  commenced  by  remarking 
that  pharmacy  has  been  aptly  termed  the  handmaid  of  medicine, 
and  that  medicine  exercises  her  influence  upon  pharmacy  chiefly 
through  materia  medica,  which  in  its  broadest  sense  includes  all 
substances  used  in  medicine,  whether  belonging  to  the  animal, 
vegetable,  or  mineral  worlds.  In  dealing  with  the  subject  of  his 
paper,  Mr.  Gamble  endeavoured  to  treat  it  from  a  purely  pharma¬ 
ceutical  aspect.  Antitoxins,  he  said,  are  substances  which 
neutralise  specific  poisons  or  toxins  and  render  them  innocuous 
The  toxins  may  be  chemical  products  of  the  metabolism  of  virulent 
bacteria,  or  they  may  be  bodies  isolated  from  vegetable  tissues.  In 
either  case  a  sufficiency  of  antitoxin  mixed  with  a  lethal  dose  of 
toxin  prevents  or  moderates  the  train  of  symptoms  characteristic 
of  the  latter.  Before  dealing  with  the  methods  of  producing 
antitoxins,  Mr.  Gamble  explained  at  some  length  a  few 
points  in  the  „  life-history  of  bacteria,  which  have  an 
important  bearing  on  the  subject.  He  described  the  various 
kinds  of  bacilli,  and  the  conditions  most  favourable  for  the  culti¬ 
vation  of  bacteria.  He  then  touched  upon  the  rapidity  with  which 
animals  become  immunised  to  poisons,  instancing  the  way  in 
which  a  tolerance  of  diphtheria  toxin  is  produced  in  the  horse  by 
repeated  injections  during  several  weeks  until  finally  enormous 
doses  of  toxin,  and  even  an  injection  of  virulent  microbes  can  be 
borne  with  but  little  reaction.  The  methods  of  producing  diph¬ 
theria  toxin,  tetanus  serum,  vaccins,  etc.,  were  next  described, 
and  the  observations  which  gave  rise  to  Coley’s  fluid,  which  is  a 
sterilised  culture  of  bacillus  prodigiosus  and  bacillus  erysipelatis, 
and  is  occasionally  used  in  some  forms  of  cancer  by  hypodermic 
injection  at  the  seat  of  the  disease.  Natural  immunity 
was  then  explained,  and  artificial  immunity  by  some,  said 
Mr.  Gamble,  is  considered  to  be  caused  by  a  stimula¬ 
tion  of  the  cells  conferring  natural  immunity.  These  cells, 
the  leucocytes,  or  white  corpuscles  of  the  blood,  are  described 
as  the  protectors  of  the  body  against  its  microbial  enemies. 
The  nature  of  antitoxic  bodies  is  but  little  understood  ;  they  were 
at  first  supposed  to  be  chemical  antidotes,  but  this  theory  was 
disproved  by  an  experiment  of  Professor  Calmette,  in  which  a  mix¬ 
ture  of  snake  venom  and  antivenin,  its  particular  antitoxin,  was 
xound  to  be  innocuous.  When  the  mixture  was  heated  to  80°  C. 


APEIL  IT,  189?] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


341 


the  antivenin  was  destroyed  and  the  full  toxicity  of  the  venom 
returned.  The  effects  of  various  serums  upon  their  respective 
microbes  were  next  described  and  also  the  methods  of  sending 
out  curative  serums.— Mr.  Morley  said  that  he  had  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  although  at  the  present  time  chemists  are 
men  of  many  parts,  in  the  future,  in  order  to  keep  in  the  fore¬ 
most  ranks  of  pharmacy,  they  will  have  to  make  themselves 
familiar  with  yet  another  subject — bacteriology. — Mr.  G.  E. 
Pearson  had  evidently  been  of  the  same  opinion  for  some 
time  past,  his  remarks  showing  that  looking  forward  to  the 
day  when  a  knowledge  of  bacteriology  will  be  of  great 
advantage  to  the  pharmacist,  he  had  carefully  studied  the  science 
and  had  acquired  a  fairly  comprehensive  grasp  of  the  subject. — 
Mr.  Summers  wished  to  know  if  the  so-called  typhoid  antitoxin 
had  been  prepared  and  used  to  any  great  extent,  and  with  what 
measure  of  success  ;  also  the  reason  why  sewer  men,  who  continu¬ 
ally  come  in  contact  with  sewer  gas,  scarcely  ever  contract 
typhoid  ? — Mr.  Rogers  thought  the  time  has  come  when  it 
behoves  every  chemist  to  give  serious  attention  to  the  treatment  of 
diseases  by  the  various  serums.  Whether  it  would  be  as  profit¬ 
able  as  making  up  bottles  of  medicine  or  not,  it  was  undoubtedly 
the  coming  treatment,  and  every  chemist  should  be  able  to  handle 
intelligently  the  things  asked  for.  He  thought  the  paper  read  by 
Mr.  Gamble  would  reflect  very  great  credit  on  the  Association, 
and  should  serve  as  a  stimulus  to  the  members  generally  to  take 
an  interest  in  the  new  treatment  and  in  all  new  treatments. — Mr. 
Gamble  replied  to  the  various  speakers,  and  referring  to  Mr. 
Summers’  questions,  he  said  that,  so  far  as  he  was  aware,  typhoid 
antitoxin  had  not  been  used  with  any  very  great  success.  With 
regard  to  sewer  men,  he  thought  their  immunity  to  typhoid  was 
largely  due  to  their  being  used  to  contact  with  foul  sewer  gas. 

Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Ireland,  Wednesday,  April 
7. — Mr.  W.  P.  Wells,  President,  in  the  chair. — The  President 
stated  that  on  March  23,  a  deputation  consisting  of  the 
Vice-President,  Mr.  Grindley,  and  himself  waited  on  the 
Inspector-General  of  the  Royal  Irish  Constabulary,  and  asked 
him  to  direct  the  members  of  his  force  throughout  the  country 
to  assist  the  Council  in  carrying  out  the 

Pharmacy  and  Poisons  Acts. 

He  received  them  very  courteously  and  intimated  that  he 
would  take  care  that  the  police  carried  out  the  Poisons  Act,  and 
asked  that  the  Council  would  bring  under  his  notice  the  facts  of 
any  particular  cases,  but  that  as  regarded  the  Pharmacy  Acts  he  did 
not  see  his  way  to  the  police  taking  action,  but  that  they  would 
assist  the  Council.— A  letter  from  Sergeant  Doherty,  Royal  Irish 
Constabulary,  Enniscorthy,  reported  that  John  Kinsella,  an  assistant 
in  the  Enniscorthy  Co-operative  Society’s  Stores,  had  been  fined  £5 
for  selling  Hayward’s  sheep-dip  without  being  legally  qualified  to 
do  so,  but  that  the  magistrates  had  suspended  the  levying  of  the 
fine,  as  the  defendant  purposed  appealing  to  the  Lord-Lieutenant  to 
remit  the  penalty.  The  President  mentioned  that,  at  the  hearing 
of  the  case,  the  solicitor  for  the  Society  objected  to  one  of  the 
magistrates  taking  part  in  the  proceedings  because  he  was  chairman 
of  the  company  to  which  the  defendant  belonged,  and  to  another 
because  he  was  a  member  of  it.  One  of  these  magistrates  became 
very  wroth,  but  eventually  both  left  the  bench. — On  the  motion  of 
the  Vice-President,  seconded  by  Professor  Tichborne,  it  Avas 
referred  to  a  committee  of  the  Avhole  Council  to  draft  an  address  of 

Congratulation  to  Her  Majesty 

on  the  occasion  of  her  accomplishing  the  sixtieth  year  of 
her  scwereignty,  and  also  to  consider  whether,  by  any  social 
function,  the  Society  could  join  in  the  public  celebration 
of  the  event. — The  Vice-President  also  moved  the  addition  to  the 
Regulations  of  three  clauses  to  enable  the  School  Committee  to 
arrange  for  the  holding  at  intervals  of  meetings  of  an 
educational  character  to  which  members  and  registered 
students  should  be  admitted  free,  prizes  might  be  given  and  ex¬ 
penses  paid  out  of  the  profits  of  the  School  Fund.  This  was 
seconded  by  Mr.  Grindley  and  agreed  to. — On  the  motion  of 
Professor  Tichborne,  seconded  by  Mr.  Conyngham,  it  was  resolved 
to  re-establish  a  rule  which  formerly  existed  that  elementai’y 
theoretical  chemistry  should  be  a  compulsory  subject  in  the  Pre¬ 
liminary  examination. — On  the  motion  of  Mr.  Conyngham, 
seconded  by  Professor  Tichborne,  it  was  resolved  to  issue  a 
circular  letter  to  pharmaceutical  chemists,  chemists  and  druggists, 
and  registered  druggists,  calling  their  attention  to  the  benefits 


which  they  would  derive  from  being  members  of  the  Society,  and 
inviting  them  to  join  it.  The  Council  then  adjourned. 


Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Ireland. — Preliminary  Exam¬ 
ination. —  The  following  have  passed: — Messrs.  A.  1ST.  Yoxall, 
M.  F.  Brennan,  J.  B.  Doran,  G.  E.  Robinson,  C.  G.  Keers, 
T.  G.  Rutherford,  J.  Hunter,  J.  Walsh,  H.  J.  Ovvgan,  J.  A.  Walsh, 
F.  J.  B.  Alason,  T.  MacKay,  R.  R.  Lowe.  Nine  candidates  were 
rejected. — Mr.  E.  B.  Aplin  has  passed  the  Registered  Druggist 
examination. — Mr.  H.  Harris  has  passed  the  Pharmaceutical  As¬ 
sistant’s  examination. 


Midland  Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,  Wednes¬ 
day,  April  7. — Mr.  Laavton  in  the  chair. — Mr.  John  Barclay, 
B.Sc.  (Lond.),  read  a  note  on  the 

Coca  Wine  of  Commerce, 

in  which  he  explained  that  two  classes  of  coca  wine  are  met  with 
in  commerce,  one  agreeable  in  taste,  and  to  be  regarded  as  a 
beverage,  the  other  a  medicinal  preparation  containing  sufficient 
of  the  active  principles  of  the  coca  leaf  to  render  it  valuable  as  a 
medicine  and  objectionable  as  a  beverage.  The  first-named  kind 
of  coca  wine  can  only  be  sold  by  those  holding  wine  licences,  while 
the  latter,  providing  it  satisfies  certain  requirements  of  the  Board 
of  Inland  Revenue,  may  be  sold  without  restrictions.  The  position 
of  the  Board  of  Inland  ReArenue  in  the  matter  is  represented  by 
the  following  quotation  from  a  letter  received  from  the  Assistant 
Secretary  to  the  Board  : — - 

“The  Board  of  Inland  Revenue  ....  do  not  regard  coca  wine  as  non- 
excisable  uuLess  it  contains  at  least  half  a  grain  of  cocaine  to  the  fluid  ounce, 
and  also  a  sufficient  quantity  of  the  extractive  matter  from  the  coca  leaves 
to  render  it  unfit  for  use  as  a  beverage.” 

The  following  table  showed  the  result  of  the  examination  of  nine 
commercial  samples  of  coca  wine  : — - 


Coca  Wine  of  Commerce. 


No.  of 
sample. 

Description. 

Specific 
gravity  at 
16-5  C. 

Absolute 
alcohol  by 
weight 
(per  cent.). 

Total 
extractive 
dried  at 
100'  C. 
(per  cent.). 

Grains  per 
fluid  ounce 
of  total 
alkaloid. 

1  . 

Excisable 

1-032 

16-70 

12 -S2 

0-10 

2  . 

Excisable 

1-042 

14-84 

15-50 

0  075 

3  . 

Excisable 

1-014 

17-17 

8-81 

0-066 

4  . 

Non-excisable 

1-001 

17-17 

5-03 

0-33 

5  . 

Non-excisable 

1-0025 

23-5S 

7-28 

0-44 

6  . 

Non-excisable  . 

1-027 

16-70 

11-88 

0-41 

7  . 

Non-excisable 

1  -0095 

17-17 

9-77 

0-60 

8  . 

“  With  quinine  ” 

1-014 

15-77 

8-26 

0-73 

9 . . 

“  With  quinine” 

1-080 

10-65 

24-62 

0-607 

Though  official  in  the  Belgian,  Swiss,  and  Spanish  Pharmaco¬ 
poeias,  none  of  the  formula:  given  in  those  works  is  adapted  for 
producing  a  wine  containing  the  necessary  proportion  of  alkaloid 
for  a  ‘  ‘  non-excisable  ”  coca  wine.  To  prepare  such  from  leaves 
only,  without  addition  of  cocaine,  it  is  necessary  to  use  about 
three  ounces  of  leaf  to  one  pint  of  Avine,  Avith  the  result  that  an 
unnecessarily  unpleasant  preparation  results.  It  seems  better, 
therefore,  to  obtain  part  of  the  necessary  alkaloid  from  leaves,  and 
the  remainder  by  the  addition  of  cocaine,  the  amount  of  the  latter 
required  being  ascertained  by  assajnng  the  wine  after  maceration 
with  the  leaves.  It  also  seems  highly  desirable  that  a  preparation 
so  potent  and  so  widely  used  as  coca  wine  should  be  included  in 
the  new  Pharmacopoeia. 

Pharmacautical  Chemists’  and  Apothecaries’  Assis¬ 
tants’  Association  of  Ireland,  Thursday,  April  8. — - 
Professor  Tichborne  in  the  chair. — A  lecture  entitled 

Chemistry,  Ancient  and  Modern. 

Avas  delivered  by  Mr.  P.  Kelly,  M.C. P.S.I. — -The  chair  was 
taken  at  8.15  p.m.  The  lecturer  said  that  the  ancients  believed  in 
chemistry  as  the  art  of  making  gold,  but  nowadays  people  said  it 
was  the  science  of  making  money.  Analytical  chemistry  was 
described,  and  its  sub-dhision  into  qualitatHe  and  quantitative 
analysis  explained.  Matter  was  defined  in  its  three  conditions,  solid, 
liquid,  and  gaseous.  The  seventy  elements  which  go  to  make  up 
matter  were  enumerated  and  the  different  gases  and  solids  stated  in 
detail.  Mr.  Kelly  quoted  holy  writ  in  support  of  his  explanation,  and 
showed  that  the  first  verse  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  made  the 


342 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL; 


[April  17,  1897. 


grand  assertion  that  matter  existed  from  the  beginning.  The  rise 
and  fall  of  nations  were  referred  to,  and  Suidas,  a  Greek  writer 
of  the  11th  century,  referred  to  as  an  authority  for  the  antiquity 
of  the  word  chemistry.  The  gold,  silver,  and  precious  stones  of 
the  Bible  were  mentioned  as  showing  that  the  ancients  were  con¬ 
versant  with  chemistry.  The  metals  worked  at  by  Tubal  Cain,  and 
spoken  of  by  Moses,  came  in  for  a  share  of  attention.  Apothe¬ 
caries  were  more  thought  of  by  the  Israelites  than  they  were  to¬ 
day  by  the  public.  Alchemy  and  alchymists  were  spoken  upon  at 
considerable  length,  and  their  so-called  magic  described  in 
amusing  terms.  The  philosopher’s  stone  was  included  in  the 
general  description,  and  the  lecturer  evoked  rounds  of  laughter  by 
his  humorous  sallies  in  connection.  A  number  of  choice  photo 
slides  of  chemical  celebrities  of  bygone  ages  were  exhibited  by  the 
aid  of  limelight,  and  specimens  of  the  Rontgen  rays  thrown  on  the 
screen.  Some  interesting  experiments  in  practical  chemistry  con¬ 
cluded  the  lecture,  which  occupied  two  hours  in  delivery. 
— Professor  Tichborne  spoke  at  some  length  on  the 
merits  of  the  lecture.  He  gave  a  meed  of  praise  to  the  lecturer, 
and  complimented  the  Association  on  having  secured  the  kindly 
help  of  so  able  an  exponent  of  the  science  of  chemistry. 

Some  Irish  Grievances. 

Mr.  Kelly  complained  that  chemists  in  Ireland  were  ignored.  If 
one  invented  a  war-like  machine  for  destroying  life  he  would  be 
created  a  lord,  but  the  pharmacist  whose  mission  was  to  heal  the 
sick  was  taken  no  notice  of.  He  thought  that  Sir  Charles  Tich¬ 
borne  would  not  only  sound  well,  but  would  be  a  graceful 
recognition  by  the  Government  of  that  gentleman’s  valuable 
services  to  suffering  humanity.  Another  grievance  was  the  want 
of  representation  by  Irish  pharmacists  upon  the  committee  of 
compilation  of  the  new  pharmacopoeia.  He  regarded  this  as  a 
national  injustice. — Mr.  O’Sullivan,  alluding  to  Professor  Tich¬ 
borne,  said  he  was  in  the  front  rank  of  Irish  pharmacists  and  analysts. 
He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Irish  Society,  and  his  name 
appeared  in  the  Act  of  Parliament  of  1875,  through  which  the 
pharmaceutical  chemist  of  to-day  lived  and  moved  and  had  his 
being.  He  urged  further  ventilation  of  the  question  as  to  why  the 
Irish  Society  had  no  voice  in  the  compilation  of  the  new  B.P.  It 
was  unfair  that  while  three  or  four  members  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  of  Great  Britain  were  on  the  committee,  the  Irish  Society 
was  left  out  in  the  cold.  He  expressed  astonishment  that  such 
men  as  Professor  Tichborne  and  Messrs.  Wells  and  Kelly  allowed  the 
insult  to  pass.  It  was  only  one  more  case  of  “  No  Irish  need  apply.” 


PROCEEDINGS  UNDER  THE  PHARMACY  ACTS- 

A  CASE  AT  NOTTINGHAM. 


Illegal  Sale  of  Poison. 


Pharmaceutical  Society  v.  Hoolcer. 

At  the  Nottingham  County  Court  on  the  12th  instant,  before  his 
honour  Judge  Masterman,  the  Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  of  Great  Britain  sued  Frederick  William  Hooker  (described 
in  the  summons  as  John  Hooper),  of  1,  Beck  Street,  Nottingham, 
for  a  penalty  for  selling  poison  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  the 
Pharmacy  Act,  1868. 

Mr.  T.  R.  Grey,  instructed  by  Messrs.  Flux,  Thompson  and  Flux, 
appeared  for  the  Society ;  Mr.  W.  R.  Smith  represented 
defendant. 

Mr.  Grey  :  In  this  case  I  appear  for  the  Pharmaceutical  Society , 
and  in  the  first  place  I  have  to  ask  for  an  amendment  of  defendant’s 
name  to  Frederick  William  Hooker.  When  the  proceedings  were 
commenced  it  was  believed  that  his  name  was  Hooper,  but  it  now 
appeared  that  his  name  is  Frederick  William  Hooker.  I  ask  to 
amend  accordingly. 

Mr.  Smith :  You  are  suing  the  wrong  man.  It  was  Dr.  Whit- 
greave  who  sold  the  poison. 

Mr.  Grey  :  We  are  suing  the  doctor’s  assistant. 

Mr.  Smith  :  His  name  is  Frederick  William  Hooker. 

His  Honour  :  I  will  make  the  amendment. 

Mr.  Grey,  in  opening  the  case,  said  that  the  action  was  brought 
under  the  provisions  of  the  Pharmacy  Act,  1868,  to  recover  a 
penalty  of  £5  for  selling  poison,  and  the  facts  were  shortly  that 
the  poison  was  purchased  on  November  20  last  of  the  defendant, 
who  was  in  charge  of  the  shop  kept  by  Dr.  Whitgreave,  at  1,  Beck 
Street,  Nottingham.  After  calling  attention  to  the  sections  of  the 
Statute  bearing  upon  the  case,  counsel  further  stated  that  lauda¬ 


num  was  the  poison  sold  by  defendant.  In  the  Schedule  to  the 
Act  opium  and  all  preparations  of  opium  were  included,  and  it 
was  well  known  that  laudanum  was  a  preparation  of  opium. 

Mr.  Smith  :  I  will  admit  that  whatever  was  sold,  whoever  it 
was  sold  by,  was  a  poison  within  the  meaning  of  the  Act. 

Mr.  Grey,  continuing,  said  the  printed  Register  is  of  itself 
evidence,  and  unless  defendant’s  name  appeared  therein  it  was 
evidence  that  he  is  not  a  chemist  and  druggist.  The  only  case  he 
would  call  attention  to  was  the  case  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
v.  Wheeldon,  which  decided  that  an  unqualified  assistant  selling 
poison  was  liable  for  penalties. 

Arthur  Foulds,  examined  by  Mr.  Grey  :  On  instructions  received 
from  the  Registrar  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  I  went  on 
November  20  to  1,  Beck  Street.  The  name  over  the  door  was  Dr. 
Whitgreave.  It  was  12.45  p.m.  when  I  went  into  the  shop.  De¬ 
fendant  was  there  (witness  identified  the  defendant  in  court).  No 
one  else  was  in  the  shop.  I  asked  defendant  for  a  pennyworth  of 
peppermint,  a  pennyworth  of  aniseed,  a  pennyworth  of  paregoric, 
and  a  pennyworth  of  laudanum.  Defendant  put  the  articles  together 
out  of  several  bottles.  A  woman  came  into  the  shop  whilst  he  was 
there.  She  asked  defendant  if  the  doctor  was  in.  Defendant  said 
no  ;  he  had  gone  to  a  case  with  Dr.  Stephenson.  The  hours  he 
attended  there  were  from  9  to  1 1  in  the  morning.  Subsequently- 
handed  bottle  over  to  Mr.  Moon. 

His  Honour  :  It  is  admitted  that  there  is  a  poison. 

Cross-examined  :  I  describe  myself  as  an  inquiry  agent.  Knew 
that  the  ingredients  made  up  a  cough  mixture. 

Mr.  Smith  :  I  may  shorten  the  case.  After  the  evidence  the 
witness  has  given  I  do  not  propose  carrying  the  case  any  further 
I  do  not  know  if  your  Honour  has  power  to  mitigate  the  penalty. 
After  the  evidence  given  by  the  plaintiffs’  witness  that  he  knew 
the  articles  formed  a  cough  mixture,  and  consequently  led  defen¬ 
dant  into  a  trap,  to  at  least  make  an  order  for  payment  by  small 
instalments.  The  doctor  had  instructed  him  to  say  that  after  the 
positive  evidence  of  the  witness  the  defendant  could  not  go  into 
the  witness-box.  There  was  a  long  interval  before  the  case  was 
brought  before  your  Honour,  and  nothing  was  said  to  defendant 
when  the  purchase  was  made,  or  any  part  of  it  left  with  him. 

His  Honour  :  As  to  reduction  of  the  penalty,  I  do  not  think  I 
have  any  power. 

Mr.  Grey  :  There  is  no  power. 

His  Honour  :  The  Pharmaceutical  Society  is  not  bound  to  give 
any  warning.  The  terms  of  the  Food  and  Drugs  Act  are  very 
different ;  that  Act  defines  its  own  method  of  procedure.  I 
cannot  say  that  the  Society  is  to  be  blamed  for  the  course 
taken  in  this  case.  The  doctor  knows  well  the  seriousness  of 
allowing  an  unqualified  person  to  sell  poison,  and  in  my  opinion  it 
is  important  that  the  requirements  of  this  Statute  should,  for  the 
safety  of  the  public,  be  strictly  adhered  to  and  its  provisions  en¬ 
forced  against  infringers.  I  must  give  judgment  for  the  plaintiffs 
for  the  penalty  of  £5  with  costs. 


PARLIAMENTARY  NOTES  AND  NEWS- 


Kew  Gardens  stand  in  need  of  improvement,  says  "the  honour¬ 
able  member  for  Battersea,  and  on  the  Estimates  on  Friday, 
April  9,  he  unflinchingly  exposed  the  “  cussedness  ”  of  the  official 
staff  in  not  admitting,  before  the  official  time  for  opening,  certain 
forlorn  and  disconsolate  foreigners  and  misguided  nurse¬ 
maids  who  had  not  taken  the  trouble  to  consult  the 
rules  regulating  the  public  use  of  the  gardens.  Mr. 
Burns  wants  the  public  admitted  at  10  a.m.  instead  of  12, 
though  the  raitson  d’etre  for  the  alteration  was  not  apparent  from 
his  speech,  nor  did  he  explain  what  was  to  be  done  with  those 
early  enthusiasts,  British  or  foreign,  who  might  be  led,  by  their 
strong  love  of  botany,  to  try  the  gates  at  9  a.m.  Mr.  Chamberlain, 
it  is  satisfactory  to  know,  is  quite  as  much  at  home  in  defending  Kew 
as  he  is  i  n  cross-examining  witnesses  before  the  S  outh  African  Commis¬ 
sion.  He  reminded  “Honest  John”  that  Kew  was  primarily  a  scien¬ 
tific  institution,  and  its  importance  from  the  scientific  point  of  view 
could  not  be  disputed.  The  value  of  the  gardens  as  a  public 
pleasure  ground  was  of  secondary  import.  Opening  at  an  earlier 
hour  would  interfere  with  the  work  of  the  officials  and  materially 
affect  the  scientific  value  of  the  institution,  and  it  was  not  there¬ 
fore  proposed  to  do  any  such  thing. 

Replying  to  Mr.  Yoxall  (W.  Nottingham),  the  First  Com¬ 
missioner  of  Works  stated  that  the  daily  average  of  botanical 


Apbil  17,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


343 


students  visiting  Kew  Gardens  for  study  during  hours  when  the 
general  public  was  not  admitted  might  be  taken  at  twenty. 

Mr.  David  Howard  as  a  Vice-President  of  the  London  Chamber 
or  Commerce,  and  having  views  on  the  subject  of  Merchandise 
Marks,  gave  evidence  before  the  Committee  now  investigating  the 
operation  of  the  Merchandise  Marks  Act,  1887.  Mr?  Howard 
stated  that  he  represented  the  minority  of  a  Committee  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce.  The  majority  was  represented  by  several 
witnesses,  who  complained  that  the  1887  Act  was  not  protective, 
and  might  just  as  well  be  non-existent  for  what  good  it  was. 
I  he  representative  of  the  minority,  however,  is  inclined 
to  think  the  Act  a  good  one,  and  expressed  the 
opinion  that  it  would  be  quite  sufficient  to  mark 
foreign  goods  ‘  ‘  made  abroad  ”  and  retain  the  power  which 
•  already  gave  of  examining  goods  in  transit.  He 

thought  it  would  be  bad  to  stop  such  examination,  for  if  that  were 
clone  goods  might  be  falsely  marked,  sent  to  London,  and  re-for¬ 
warded  with  every  indication  that  they  were  of  London  origin. 

On  Behalf  of  the  Healthy  Oyster  Sir  W.  Priestley  has 
again  urged  the  head  of  the  Local  Government  Board  to  institute 
a  regular  inspection  of  oyster  beds  and  pits,  so  that  the  public 
may  purcha.se  and  consume  this  much-valued  article  of  food  with 
all  their  old  zest  and  confidence.  Mr.  Chaplin  responded  in  a  very 
sympathetic  tone,  but  felt  that  the  difficulties  in  the  way 
were  under-estimated.  Inspection  in  this  country  would  not 
of  itself  secure  the  desired  end  whilst  foreign  oysters  were 
■imported  without  a  clean  bill  of  health.  Any  scheme  would  have 
to  be  the  subject  of  legislation  if  it  were  to  be  effective,  and  Mr. 
Chaplin  s  knowledge  of  things  parliamentary  would  not  apparently 
permit  him  to  hold  out  any  sanguine  hope  of  speedy  oyster  legislation. 
Lovers  of  the  bivalve  who  do  not  desire  to  contract  disease  will 
■doubtless  find  some  satisfaction  in  the  official  assurance  that  “  the 
subject  shall  receive  careful  attention.” 


The  House  stands  adjourned  till  Monday  26th  inst.  ,at  3  o’clock, 
and  there  will  be  plenty  of  work  awaiting  members  then.  There 
.are  twenty-two  Government  items  on  the  order  paper,  including 
•Supply,  and  a  matter  of  twenty-five  other  bills,  the  promoters  of 
which  may,  perhaps,  safely  prolong  their  vacation  for  a  few  days 
beyond  Monday  week. 


Registration  appears  to  be  regarded  as  a  panacea  for  all  woes. 
JL  lumbers,  midwives,  and  persons  in  charge  of  boilers  are  already 
the  subjects  of  registration  Bills  before  the  present  Parliament, 
and  now  Mr.  Colville  (North-East  Lanark)  has  added  to  the  list 
by  introducing  a  very  pretentious  measure  for  completing  the 
organisation  of  the  profession  of  accountant  throughout  the 
United  Kingdom.  The  Accountants  Bill,  as  it  is  called,  has  for 
its  object  the  establishment  of  a  professional  status  for  the 
-accountant  similar  to  that  enjoyed  by  the  legal,  medical,  and 
other  professions,  and  one  may  be  permitted  to  predict  that  the 
provisions  of  the  Bill,  if  enacted,  will  go  a  considerable  way 
towards  accomplishing  that  object.  In  fact  the  Bill  is  a  very 
..stringent  one,  so  much  so  that  it  has  already  been  the  subject  of  a 
“blocking”  motion.  It  might  be  pointed  out  to  the  promoters  that 
they  have  overlooked  the  existence  of  the  Companies  Acts,  and 
the  contingent  fact  that  the  use  of  the  word  “  person  ”  in  any  Act 
dealing  with  personal  professional  qualifications  presents  an 
■avenue  for  wholesale  evasion  of  the  Act  by  corporate  bodies. 


OBITUARY. 


Staning. — On  March  30,  at  Hull,  William  Stalling,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  late  of  Glasgow.  Aged  77.  Mr.  Staning’s  name  was 
wrongly  given  as  “  Walter  ”  in  last  week’s  Journal.  He  was  for¬ 
merly  a  Member  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society. 

Bulcock.- — On  April  4,  Henry  Bulcock,  Chemist  and  Druggist, 
Clitheroe.  A^ed  76. 

Jeffery.. — On  April  4,  George  Jeffery,  Chemist  and  Druggist, 
Tring,  Herts.  Aged  59. 

Watts. — On  April  6,  Robert  Watts,  Pharmaceutical  Chemist, 
late  of  Sheffield.  Aged  35.  Mr.  Watts  was  a  Member  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  from  1887  to  1895. 

Backhouse. — On  April  9,  William  Backhouse,  Pharmaceutical 
Chemist,  Leeds.  Aged  69.  Mr.  Backhouse  had  been  a  Member  of 
the  Pharmaceutical  Society  since  1853. 


NOTICES  TO  CORRESPONDENTS. 


All  Communications  for  tha  ‘Pharmaceutical  Journal'  must 
be  Addressed  to  the  Editor,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  London, 
W.C.,  and  not  In  any  case  to  Individuals  supposed  to 
be  connected  with  the  Editorial  Staff;  no  responsibility 
can  be  accepted  unless  this  rule  be  observed.  Communica¬ 
tions  for  the  Current  Week’s  Journal  should  reach  the 
Office  not  later  than  Wednesday,  but  news  can  be  Received 
by  Telegraph  until  4  p.m.  on  Thursday. 

Advertisements  and  orders  for  copies  of  the  ‘  Pharmaceutical  Journal  ’  must 
be  addressed  to  the  Publishers,  5,  Serle  Street,  Lincoln’s  Inn,  London,  W.C. 
Cheques  and  money  orders  should  be  made  payable  to  “  Street  Brothers.” 

Correspondents  should  write  in  ink,  on  one  side  of  the  paper  only,  and  must 
authenticate  the  matter  sent  with  their  names  and  addresses — of  course  not 
necessarily  for  publication.  No  notice  can  be  taken  of  anonymous  communications. 

Drawings  for  illustrations  should  be  executed  twice  the  desired  size  ;  clean 
sharp  lines  being  drawn  with  a  pen  and  liquid  Chinese  ink.  Shading  by 
washes  is  inadmissible.  Photographs  can  be  utilised  in  certain  cases. 

Names  and  Formula  should  be  written  with  extra  care,  all  systematic  names 
of  plants  and  animals  being  underlined,  and  capital  letters  used  to  commence 
generic  but  not  specific  names. 

Queries  addressed  to  the  Editor  will  be  replied  to  in  the  Journal  as  early  as 
possible  after  receipt,  but  it  is  not  always  possible  to  publish  answers  the  same 
week.  See  special  notice  on  last  page. 

Reprints  of  articles  cannot  be  supplied  unless  authors  communicate  with 
the  Editor  before  publication  of  the  articles.  The  right'to  reproduce  all  original 
matter  and  illustrations  published  in  the  Journal  is  strictly  reserved. 


LETTERS  TO  THE  EDITOR. 


The  Proposed  New  Bye-Laws. 

Sir, — Allow  me  emphaticaHy  to  contradict  the  suggestion  that 
the  chemists  of  Glasgow  approve  of  the  proposed  changes  in  the 
Society’s  bye-laws.  The  proposed  change  in  regard  to  First  exam¬ 
ination  is  strongly  and  generally  supported,  but  that  in  regard  to 
the  “  Minor  ”  fee  is  not  less  generally  condemned.  I  have  not  yet 
met  a  Glasgow  chemist  who  does  not  think  it  fair  that  each  one 
should  pay  his  full  share  of  the  cost  of  registration  with  the  admin¬ 
istrative  work  it  involves,  and  were  the  bye-laws  to  levy  this  in  a 
reasonable  manner,  I  question  if  there  be  one  here,  chemist  or 
student,  who  would  raise  objection.  My  experience  has  been  that 
when  pointed  out  to  objectors  that  the  ’68  Act  does  not  empower 
the  enforcement  of  a  registration  fee  after  passing  the  “Minor” 
examination,  while  that  is  regarded  as  “unfortunate,”  approval 
would  be  given  to  the  increased  fee  were  certain  other  amendments 
introduced  in  conjunction  with  it.  These  amendments  are  not 
contemplated  in  the  present  proposal,  which  by  itself  is  not 
approved  of.  The  fee  is  for  examination  and  (life)  registration. 
How  can  we,  once  our  attention  is  drawn  to  the  matter,  unblush- 
ingly  propose  that  a  fee  for  life  registration  be  paid  more  than 
once  ?  Yet  in  the  22nd  bye-law  this  is  insisted  upon  in  the  case  of 
persons  entering  for  examination  more  than  one  year  after  a  pre¬ 
vious  failure.  Nothing  could  be  more  unjust.  We  read  into  the 
work  of  “maintaining  the  Register”  the  administrative  work 
imposed  upon  the  Society  by  the  Legislature  (though  not  its  volun¬ 
tary  schemes),  and  we  say  the  cost  of  that  work  should  fall  equally 
upon  all  persons  registered.  Let  the  registration  fee,  therefore, 
provide  for  that  as  the  present  proposal  appears  to  aim  at.  With 
it,  however,  and  in  virtue  of  it  as  a  matter  of  right,  direct  repre¬ 
sentation  must  be  afforded  to  persons  maintaining  this  administra¬ 
tion.  Direct  representation  can  only  be  possessed  if  the  individual 
form  a  unit  in  the  Society.  I  do  not  advocate  “compulsory 
membership.”  I  do  advocate  that  upon  a  person  paying  an 
adequate  registration  fee  he  be  eligible  for  election  as  an 
Associate  of  the  Society  without  the  necessity  of  further  fee. 
Leaders  of  pharmacy  appear  to  think  well  of  such  a  state  of  affairs 
could  it  be  brought  about,  and  adoption  of  these  conditions,  I  am 
assured,  would  sweep  away  the  present  very  strong  opposition  in 
Glasgow.  But  it  is  said  that  cannot  be  done  without  obtaining 
additional  powers  from  Parliament.  I  think  that  view  to  be 
wrong,  and  I  here  publicly  challenge  any  person  to  show  in  the 
Society’s  Charter  or  in  the  Pharmacy  Acts  provisions  to  prevent 
it.  It  is  only  required  that  they  “  subscribe  to  the  funds  of  the 
Society  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  provided  by  the  regulations 
thereof.”  Registration  fees  are  subscriptions  to  the  funds  of  the 
Society.  Even  though  it  could  be  successfully  maintained  that 
this  could  not  be  done  with  absolutely  no  further  fee,  no  one  will 


344 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  17, 1897 


say  it  could  not  be  done  were  there  but  a  nominal  fee  upon  election. 
I  congratulate  the  Council  upon  its  activity,  and  trust  all  the 
points  will  receive  full  consideration  by  members.  Proposals  of 
greater  importance  have  not  been  before  the  chemists  of  Great 
Britain  for  years. 

Glasgow,  April  7,  1897.  J.  Anderson  Russell. 

***  The  above  letter  appears  to  be  a  chapter  of  contradictions,  but  in  the  light  of 
what  was  done  by  the  Pharmaceutical  Council  last  week  it  shows  that 
Glasgow  chemists  very  fully  approve  of  the  proposed  alterations. — [Ed.,  P.  /.] 


Degrading  the  Dispenser. 

Sir, — It  may  be  interesting  to  some  of  your  readers  to  know  the 
estimate  placed  on  pharmacy  by  those  who  are  responsible  for 
drawing  out  the  official  sheets  as  sent  round  to  the  secretaries  of 
the  various  London  hospitals  for  financial  statistics  by  Hospital 
Sunday  and  Saturday  Funds.  The  following  is  an  excerpt  from 
sheet 

Salaries  and  Wages. 

Official  Salaries.— Chaplain,  secretary,  clerk,  matron,  registrar, 
resident  medical  and  surgical  officers,  collector. 

Servants’  Wages. — Dispenser,  housekeeper,  nurses,  servants, 
porter,  etc. 

The  dispenser,  from  this,  would  appear  in  their  estimation  to  be  a 
mere  manual  worker  on  a  level  with  the  porter  ;  but  perhaps  it  is 
an  attempt  to  get  into  line  with  the  Local  Government  Board,  as 
more  often  than  otherwise  the  porter  is  an  old  soldier. 

London,  April  6,  1897.  Ad  Utrumque  Paratus  (89/1). 

The  Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association. 

Sir, — This  lengthy  correspondence  has  been  for  the  most  part  in 
favour  of  the  Association,  and  indeed  it  is  difficult  to  see  the 
reason  why  some  should  oppose  the  scheme.  Why  do  we  keep 
open  shop?  Are  we  anxious  that  a  considerable  portion  of  our 
business  should  be  done  at  actual  loss?  With  the  majority  of 
us  proprietaries  form  probably  10  to  15  per  cent,  of  our  returns. 
This  means  that  the  same  proportion  of  business  is  transacted 
at  loss  of  interest  on  the  amount  absorbed  in  stocking  these 
goods.  Therefore  it  is  small  wonder  if  the  “  aArerage  chemist”  sub¬ 
stitutes — indeed  some  of  the  stores  are  very  persistent  in  pushing 
their  own  Cologne,  saline,  etc.,  when  the  more-advertised  articles 
are  asked  for.  Some  time  ago  the  representative  of  an  old- 
established  “  proprietary  ”  called  upon  me.  I  pointed  to  a  counter 
case  wherein  were  a  few  Scotts’,  Geraudel’s,  Prog,  and  other  pro¬ 
tected  goods,  also  to  a  column  of  Vinolia  soap  and  a  box  or  two  of 
Elliman’s  on  the  floor.  But  non-listed  articles  were  not  readily 
seen.  My  object  in  writing  thus  is  to  give  a  word  of  encourage¬ 
ment  to  those  firms  who  have  taken  the  trouble  to  ensure  a  profit 
on  their  goods.  They  should  be  treated  with  respect  by  every 
retailer  and  every  facility  given  for  the  sale  of  their  articles.  It  is 
not  a  question  whether  chemists  lower  their  status  by  stocking 
secret  remedies.  My  customers  (even  of  the  better  class)  demand 
them,  and  refusal  to  supply  would  result  in  the  loss  of  other  trade. 

Northampton,  April  12,  1897.  John  Clower. 


Sir, — Will  you  kindly  allow  me  space  for  a  line  or  two  more  in 
reply  to  “  Midlothian’s  ”  letter  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  for 
April  3  ?  He  says,  “the  ultimate  success  of  the  P.A.T.A.  means 
the  death  of  substitution.”  He  is  right — in  the  main,  at  all  events. 
There  always  will  be  a  certain  small  proportion  of  irreconcilable 
substitutors,  but  the  main  body  of  them  (as  I  have  ascertained  by 
personal  inquiry  in  hundreds  of  cases)  are  ready  and  willing 
to  give  advertised  articles  a  free  pass  over  their 
counters  when  such  articles  are  put  on  the  protected 
list.  The  custom  appears  to  be  to  hand  over  the  pro¬ 
tected  article  when  it  is  asked  for— unless  the  customer  asks  the 
retailer’s  opinion,  in  which  case  he  is  guided  by  the  quality  of  the 
article  or  the  nature  of  the  ailment.  The  leading  feature  of  the 
Association’s  plan  as  regards  substitution  is  the  absence  of  com¬ 
pulsion,  whereby  sufficient  scope  is  allowed  for  the  exercise  of 
individual  discretion.  The  almost  universal  result  has  been 
voluntary  goodwill  and  ready  acquiescence  in  such  a  rational 
arrangement.  It  is  an  arrangement  under  which  there  is  still  room 
enough  left  for  the  exercise  of  “gumption  and  tact.”  I  know 
of  no  one  in  the  P.A.T.A.  who  has  suggested  that  chemists  should 
discontinue  the  use  of  printer’s  ink,  or  that  they  should  no  longer 
exhibit  their  own  preparations,  or  that  they  should  cease  to 
employ  their  technical  knowledge  in  preparing  and  recommending 
the  same.  What  we  advocate  is  fair  trade  all  round.  I  have  no 


time  to  dissect  *  ‘  Midlothian’s  ”  letter  section  by  section — easy 
though  that  would  be.  His  dictum,  however,  that  the  word 
“wile”  can  have  no  other  than  a  bad  meaning  is  sufficiently 
interesting  to  claim  a  finishing  sentence  or  two.  It  is  only  one 
more  instance  of  the  well-known  fact  that  language  conveys  a 
different  meaning  to  different  minds.  According  to  Johnston’s 
Dictionary  (unpublished  edition  !  !),  which  for  present  purposes  I 
prefer  to  the  big  volume  used  by  “  Midlothian,”  the  word  may  be 
used  in  either  a  worthy  or  unworthy  sense,  just  as  the  context  may 
indicate.  An  instance  of  the  former  occurs  in  Burns’.  I  quote 
from  memory 

“  To  court  Dame  Fortune’s  fickle  smile 
Assiduous  wait  up  her 
In  every  way,  by  every  wile 
That’s  justified  by  honour.” 

My  wife  called  my  attention  only  this  week  to  another  example 
in  the  Daily  Mail,  in  which  “loving  ways  and  winsome  wiles  ”  are 
referred  to  with  a  meaning  the  reverse  of  invidious.  If  I  mistake 
not,  the  idea  of  honourable  wiliness  is  contained  in  the  injunction 
in  a  certain  good  old  Book  :  “Be  wise  as  serpents  and  harmless  a& 
doves.”  Does  not  the  same  Book  tell  us  that  “  the  serpent  is  the 
most  subtle  (wily)  of  all  the  beasts  of  the  field  ?  ”  I  am  not  a  D.D.  ; 
therefore  I  am  open  to  correction  on  that  point.  In  any  case, 
“Midlothian”  is  such  a  very  superior  person,  I  expect  he  will 
claim  that  his  code  of  ethics  is  above  these  authorities. 

Brixton,  April  9.  William  Johnston. 


Sir, — Your  correspondence  columns  show  at  the  present  time  a 
fair  diversity  of  opinion  on  the  topics  at  present  occupying  the 
pharmaceutical  mind.  I  note  that  there  are  many  who  have 
not  yet  mastered  that  “huge  joke”  the  P.A.T.A.  Even 
“Catalysis”  appears  to  take  it  seriously.  Mr.  Glyn- Jones  has 
made  it  easier  than  ever  for  some  of  us  to  “place  our  own  goods, 
but  at  present  the  “list”  is  comparatively  insignificant.  It  is  sur¬ 
prising,  however,  to  find  some  makers  so  readily  “taken  in,”  induced, 
so  to  speak,  to  imagine  that  chemists  will  ever  sell  their  goods  with 
any  pleasure  or  at  any  time,  if  it  be  possible  to  avoid  doing  so.  Mr. 
Ray  suggests  as  a  remedy  for  “  cutting  ”  the  raising  of  the  standard 
of  the  Preliminary  examination  !  Mr.  Ray  is  thinking  possibly  of  the 
years  1915  and  beyond.  But  it  is  wise  to  look  well  ahead.  The 
result  of  raising  the  standards  all  round  will  be  doubtless  a  rather 
higher  social  standard  of  men  who  will  naturally  expect  better 
pay.  If  I  venture  to  prophesy  at  all  it  is  that  qualified  and  un¬ 
qualified  will  be  scarce  and  somewhat  expensive.  The  bringing  in  of 
a  better  class  (socially)  of  youths  probably  means  also  more  capital,, 
without  which  “cutting”  is  seldom  successful.  The  new  and 
educated  and  better  equipped  contingent,  being  the  sons  of  suc¬ 
cessful  business  men,  will  no  doubt,  “  make  things  hum”  generally 
— there  can  be  no  guarantee  the  other  way.  To  prophesy  again, 
the  better  conducted  stores  and  company  pharmacies  have  come 
to  stay.  If  there  be  any  serious  opposition  to  them  at  all,  any- 
snuffing  out,  it  will  take  the  form  of  other  company  pharmacies- 
under  historic  names  probably.  The  Society  has  already  raised 
the  standard  considerably  all  round,  and  what  is  the  tendency  ? 
For  an  answer  to  this,  read  the  Journal  and  its  contemporaries  for 
a  single  week.  We  are  submerged  amidst  a  colossal  pile  of 
“patent  medicines”  and  ready-made  stuff ;  dispensaries  abound 
and  thrive,  doctors  dispense  more  than  ever  they  did,  i.e.,  where 
they  do  not  get  enough  of  “free  samples”  to  save  dispensing? 
Sick  clubs,  with  all  sorts  of  alluring  side  shows,  all  help  to  take 
the  practice  of  pharmacy  from  the  druggist.  Some  of  our 
qualified  men  see  their  last  of  what  should  be  their  profes¬ 
sion  in  the  examination  room.  The  standard  is  higher  certainly 
in  1897,  but  the  poison  schedule  is  still  practically  that  of  1867. 
Finally  we  are  constantly  blaming  outsiders  for  some  of  our 
troubles,  but  for  my  part  I  do  not  forget  that  the  most  unreason¬ 
able  and  indiscriminate  cutter  to  be  found  in  the  country  is  a 
chemist  on  the  Register,  while  as  to  “company”  pharmacy  this- 
existed  before  the  advent  of  Boots,  Limited. 

April  3,  1897.  A.  J.  R.  (87,  40). 


Ferri  et  Qttininje  Citras  and  Potassii  Citras. 

Sir, — I  cannot  agree  with  the  conclusion  arrived  at  by  the 
members  of  the  Liverpool  Pharmaceutical  Students’  Society  regard¬ 
ing  the  best  method  of  dispensing  mixtures  containing  pot.  citras 
and  ferri  et  quin,  cit.,  as  reported  in  your  issue  of  10th  inst.  If 
dispensed  as  Messrs.  Wokes  and  Lean  suggest,  the  result  will  be 
a  slow  deposit  of  crystals  upon  the  sides  of  the  bottle  while  in  the 


April  17,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


345 


customer’s  possession.  The  addition  of  citric  acid  somewhat  retards 
the  formation  of  the  precipitate,  but  the  crystals  then 
separate  in  magnificent  rosettes,  the  size  increasing 
with  the  proportion  of  citric  acid  added.  My  atten¬ 
tion  was  drawn  to  this  reaction  about  two  years  ago,  and 
I  then  performed  a  series  of  experiments,  using  neutral  and  acid 
pot.  cit.  with  a  view  of  ascertaining  whether  or  not  the  precipitate 
could  be  avoided,  but  in  all  cases  it  occurred  sooner  or  later.  The 
best  mode  of  procedure  seems-  to  be  to  mix  rather  concentrated 
solutions  of  both  salts,  so  as  to  get  down  as  much  precipitate  as 
possible,  add  the  remaining  ingredients,  if  any,  and  attach  a 
“  Shake  the  bottle  ”  label.  Made  thus  the  mixture  is  not  elegant, 
but  the  increased  accuracy  of  dosage  more  than  compensates  for 
any  fault  in  its  appearance. 

Uchfield,  April  12,  1897.  W.  G.  Stratton. 


The  Dose  of  Tincture  of  Strophanthus. 

Sir, — Three  or  four  years  ago  I  had  a  customer  (a  gentleman  about 
seventy  years  of  age)  who  took  50  min.  of  tinct.  strophanth.  three 
times  daily  or  oftener  for  three  or  four  days  in  succession,  without 
any  apparent  ill-effect.  His  doctor  prescribed  for  him  tr. 
strophanth.,  §i.  m.  x.  t.  d.  s.  He  was  supplied  with  one  of  Maw’s  60 
minim  glass  measures  with  twelve  graduations — 5  to  60  minims — the 
lines  extending  on  both  sides  of  the  upright  mark.  I  do  not  know 
liow  long  that  ounce  lasted  him,  but  when  it  was  finished  he  came 
for  a  double  quantity  and  I  supplied  him  with  a  2  oz.  bottle.  To 
my  surprise  three-  or  four  days  afterwards  he  brought  the 
•empty  bottle  and  requested  a  further  supply.  I  asked  him 
what  had  become  of  the  two  ounces  he  had  shortly  before,  and 
he  replied  that  he  had  taken  it  all.  “But,”  I  said,  “you  surely  can¬ 
not  have  done  so,  for  you  were  only  to  take  10  minims  three  times 
a  day.”  “Well,”  he  said,  “  so  I  did,  and  measured  it  carefully,” 
and  showed  me  how  he  had  measured  it.  He  had  actually  cpunted 
ten  of  the  lines  on  the  side  where  the  figures  did  not  appefir,  and 
believed  that  each  of  those  marks  represented  a  minim,  so  that  he  had 
taken  50  minims  for  each  dose  instead  of  10.  Anyhow,  he  had  taken 
the  two  ounces  in  three  or  four  days,  and  did  not  appear  any  the  worse 
for  it.  There  was  no  question  about  the  character  of  the  tincture, 
as  it  was  tr.  strophanth.  virid,  obtained  direct  from  Duncan  and 
Flockhart.  From  this  and  the  experience  related  by  Mr.  MacNaught 
it  would  seem  that  tr.  strophanthus  is  not  so  poisonous  as  generally 
represented. 

Cheetham  Hill,  April  10,  1897.  W.  Wilkinson. 


Sir, — The  letter  from  Greenock  in  your  issue  of  10th  inst. 
referring  to  “Tinct.  Strophan.,”  is  something  more  than  “a 
surprise,”  not  only  with  respect  to  the  very  large  dose  taken, 
but  to  the  fact  of  such  a  medicine  being  prescribed  in  so  concen¬ 
trated  a  form.  Such  prescribing  is  as  dangerous  as  it  is  unwise, 
and  that  more  fatalities  do  not  occur  surprises  me. 

Sale,  April  13,  1897.  A.  Smith. 


An  Assistants'  Qualification  Wanted. 

Sir, — During  the  past  year  or  eighteen  months  several  of  my 
assistants  have  gone  up  for  their  Minor  examination  in  Edinburgh, 
and  a  large  percentage  of  them  have  unfortunately  got  “ploughed.” 
As  they  were  all  reliable  young  men,  exceedingly  well  up  in 
practical  every-day  dispensing  and  the  routine  work  of  the 
pharmacy,  and  as  I  knew  they  had  faithfully  and  systematically 
devoted  their  attention  to  their  studies,  many  of  them  for  con¬ 
siderable  periods,  I  was  somewhat  surprised  at  the  heavy  mortality. 
On  making  inquiry  of  the  candidates  I  learned  that  they  mostly 
failed  in  two  subjects,  and  that  the  failures  were  due  to  the 
examiners  taking  them  into  regions  quite  unknown  to  them  and 
entirely  beyond  the  scope  of  pharmacy.  I  know  absolutely  nothing 
of  the  abilities  and  fitness  of  the  examiners  on  these  two  subjects, 
Iwrite  therefore  without  prejudice,  I  suppose,  and  doubt  not  that  they 
are  good  men  and  true ;  but,  if  my  information  is  correct,  the  candi¬ 
dates  were  presented  with  objects  for  detection,  estimation,  and 
classification  which  had  not  the  slightest  bearing  on  pharmacy  as 
it  a£  present  exists.  I  think  the  majority  of  my  professional 
brethren  will  indorse  my  opinion  that  we  would  much  prefer  our 
qualified  assistants  to  have  a  thorough  practical  knowledge  of 
chemistry,  botany,  and  materia  medica  as  they  exist  in  the 
Pharmacopoeia  (and  I  would  even  go  the  length  of  suggesting  that 


the  questions  for  the  Minor  examinations  should  be  entirely  found 
within  the  boards  of  that  volume)  instead  of  confusing  candidates 
with  salts  of  tin  and  aluminium,  which  are  only  known  as  chemical 
curiosities,  or  presenting  them  with  specimens  of  flowers  and 
plants  which  are  never  seen  except  in  a  conservatory,  and  which 
are  put  to  no  use  in  medicine.  Let  the  examinations  in  all  the 
subjects  be  as  stiff  and  searching  as  the  examiners  choose,  but  let 
the  questions  have  a  distinct  bearing  on  the  business  in  which  can¬ 
didates  are  eventually  to  earn  their  bread  and  butter.  The  Phar¬ 
maceutical  Society  and  the  examiners  thereof  should  bear  in 
mind  that  it  is  possible  to  “  sour  ”  the  young  men  who  are  coming 
forward.  It  is  all  very  well  to  raise  the  status  of  pharmacy,  but  it 
is  also  possible  to  kill  it  with  over-elevation. 

Again,  if  there  is  any  truth  in  the  repeated  statements  that  the 
Society  is  financially  dependent  on  the  fees  arising  from  the  exami¬ 
nations,  then  I  think  there  is  the  further  danger  of  assistants 
banding  themselves  together,  refraining  from  presenting  them¬ 
selves  for  two  or  three  years,  and  thus  placing  the  Society  in  grave 
pecuniary  difficulties.  I  have  no  sympathy  with  the  proposed 
new  bye-law  increasing  the  entrance  fee  for  the  Minor  to 
£10  10 6'.  I  do  not  feel  myself  qualified  or  in  a  position 
to  argue  the  pros  and  cons  of'  the  proposed  change ;  but  this 
harassing  of  the  goose  which  supplies  the  golden  eggs  is,  in  my 
humble  opinion,  not  conducive  to  the  best  interests  of  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society.  If  it  is  absolutely  necessary,  however,  to  raise 
more  money  for  the  upkeep  of  the  Society,  there  is,  I  think,  a  way 
to  attain  this  object,  and  by  a  method  which  has  many  favourable 
points  to  recommend  it.  On  a  recent  occasion  an  esteemed  friend 
and  thorough  practical  pharmacist — -Mr.  Charles  Kerr  of  Dundee 
— suggested  to  me  that  it  might  be  wise  for  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  to  obtain  powers  to  have  an  assistant’s  qualification.  The 
idea  is,  I  think,  a  capital  one.  A  modified  Minor  examination 
might  be  arranged,  qualifying  an  assistant  to  handle  and  retail, 
under  a  qualified  proprietor,  all  the  scheduled  poisons,  but  not  en¬ 
titling  him  to  start  business  on  his  own  account,  nor  super¬ 
intend  a  branch  shop,  nor  act  as  an  assistant  under  a 
limited  company,  the  shareholders  of  which  are  not  qualified 
chemists  and  druggists.  Employers  willing  and  anxious 
to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the  Pharmacy  Act  as  it  is  now 
interpreted  would  find  in  this  qualification  a  great  convenience  for 
obtaining  reliable  assistants ;  and  to  many  assistants  ir  would 
prove  a  decided  boon  and  be  of  great  advantage.  Retaining  the 
Preliminary  fee  at  £2  2s.  with  an  assistant’s  fee  at  £3  3s.  and  a 
further  fee  of  £5  5s.,  combined  with  an  examination  something 
more  stiff  than  the  “Modified  Minor”  suggested  above,  butlesssevere 
than  the  present  Major,  qualifying  an  assistant  to  start  business  on 
his  own  account,  would  bring  in  the  necessary  funds  to  the  Society’s 
exchequer  and  would  safeguard  the  highest  interests  of  our  business. 
I  Have  no  personal  object  to  gain,  or  interests  to  serve  in  asking 
the  insertion  of  the  above  suggestions  in  your  valued  Journal.  I 
happen  to  require  a  somewhat  large  staff  of  assistants,  and  am  in 
a  position  to  see  the  difficulties  which  present  themselves  to  both 
employer  and  employes  in  the  earnest  endeavour  to  carry  out 
faithfully  and  honestly  the  provisions  and  requirements  of  the 
Pharmacy  Act. 

Glasgow,  April  12,  1897.  John  McMillan. 


The  Approaching  Council  Election. 

Sir, — Will  you  allow  me  space  for  a  few  words  in  support  of  the  ap¬ 
peal  made  by  Messrs.  Gostling  and  Keen,  that  an  addition  should  be 
made  to  the  number  of  London  members  of  Council  at  the  coming 
election  ?  An  ideal  Council,  like  an  ideal  Parliament,  is  one  which 
represents  in  due  proportion  the  interests  and  opinions  of  its  con¬ 
stituents.  This  the  Council  of  our  Society  can  scarcely  be 
said  to  do  at  present.  While  at  one  time  London  was 
over-represented,  it  will  be  admitted  that,  with  only 
five  representatives  out  of  twenty-one,  it  is  now  under¬ 
represented,  if  we  consider  its  size,  importance,  and  special 
interests.  In  addition  to  this  the  Council  has  a  grind¬ 
ing  amount  of  routine  and  administrative  work  to  do,  which 
can  only  be  done  promptly  by  local  members,  and  it  therefore 
appears  desirable,  if  not  necessary,  for  the  interests  of  the 
Society  that  a  quorum  of  the  Council  (seven)  should  be  readily 
available.  For  these  reasons  I  join  with  Messrs.  Gostling  and 
Keen  in  their  appeal  for  support  being  given  in  the  coming  election 
to  the  London  candidates,  and  would  more  especially  urge  the 
consideration  of  these  reasons  upon  my  friends  in  the  North. 

Kirkcaldy,  April  13,  1897.  David  Storrar. 


346 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  17, 1897. 


ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 


Special  Notice. — Scientific,  technical,  legal  and  general  information  required 
ley  readers  of  the  ‘Pharmaceutical  Journal’  will  he  furnished  by  the  Editor  as  far 
as  practicable,  but  he  cannot  undertake  to  reply  by  post.  All  communications  must  be 
addressed  “Editor,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  London,  W.C.,”  and  must  also  be  authen' 
Heated  by  the  names  and  addresses  of  senders.  Questions  on  different  subjects  should 
be  written  on  separate  slips  of  paper,  each  of  which  must  bear  the  sender’s  initials  or 
pseudonym.  Replies  will,  in  all  cases,  be  referred  to  such  initials  or  pseudonyms, 
and  the  registered  number  added  in  each  instance  should  be  quoted  in  any  subsequent 
communication  on  the  same  subject. 


Plants  Identified. — They  are  Saxifraga  tridactylites  and  Dr  aba 
verna.  [ Reply  to  R.  D. — 89/29.] 


Boards  of  Examiners. — The  boards  of  examiners  meet  next  in 
July.  [ Reply  to  G.  H.  H. — 89/2.] 


British  Pharmacopoeia. — It  may  be  published  towards  the  end 
of  the  year,  and  the  metric  system  will  probably  be  introduced 
as  an  alternative  system.  [ Reply  to  G.  H.  H. — 89/2.] 

Removal  of  Terpenes  from  Essential  Oils. — This  is  done  by 
careful  fractional  distillation,  in  some  cases  under  reduced 
atmospheric  pressure.  [Reply  to  Verax. — 88/28.] 

Mosses  Identified.  —  1,  Polytrichum  commune  ;  2,  Hypnum 
schreben  ;  3,  Bryum  inclinatum  ;  4,  No  specimen  with  this  number  ; 
5,  Ceratoda  purpureus ;  6,  Tortula  muralis.  [Reply  to  R.  S. — 88/37.] 

Powder  for  Worms  in  Poultry. — The  powder  you  send  is 
nothing  but  a  mixture  of  carbonates  of  calcium  and  magnesium/ 
tinted  with  a  trace  of  ferric  oxide.  It  is  difficult  to  see  how  this 
can  do  the  fowls  any  good,  but  it  has  the  merit  that  it  can  do  them 
no  harm.  [Reply  to  “Correspondent.” — 88/27.] 


Preparers  of  Microscopic  Objects. — Good  work  is  turned  out 
by  Mr.  Ernest  Hinton,  12,  Vorley  Road,  Upper  Holloway,  Lon¬ 
don,  N.  ;  Mr.  Geo.  T.  Phillips,  Rosneath,  Crown  Hill,  Upper 
Norwood,  S.E.  ;  and  Mr.  Abraham  Flatters,  16,  Church  Road, 
Longsight,  Manchester.  [Reply  to  H.  W.  S. — 88/32.] 


White  Embrocation. — The  following  gives  a  good  white  per¬ 
manent  emulsion.  Two  eggs,  white  and  yolks  ;  oil  of  turpentine, 
9  fluid  ounces  ;  acetic  acid,  5  fluid  ounces  ;  water,  7  fluid  ounces. 
Rub  the  eggs  smooth  with  the  turpentine,  gradually  add  the 
water  and  finally  the  acetic  acid.  [Reply  to  W.  J.  W. — 87/39.] 

Purification  of  Paraffin  Oil. — Digestion  with  animal  char¬ 
coal  will  partially  remove  the  odour  of  paraffin  ;  the  most  effectual 
method  is  to  “cover”  the  smell  with  a  little  citronella  or  some 
other  strong-smelling  essential  oil.  It  is  not  possible  to  remove  the 
fluorescence  by  any  simple  process.  [Reply  to  Verax. — 88/28.] 

Surfeit  Water  for  Horses. — Potassium  nitrate,  2  drachms  ; 
tartarated  antimony,  30  grains ;  spirit  of  nitrous  ether,  1  fluid 
ounce;  water,  to  10  fluid  ounces.  “Potato  Drops”  we  do  not 
know.  Can  the  name  be  a  corruption  of  “Bateman’s  Drops”? 
As  to  “  Green  Mallet,”  it  is  difficult  to  suggest  what  that  can 
possibly  represent.  [Reply  to  Lyra. — 87/14.] 


Plants  Identified. — So  far  as  could  be  determined  your  box 
contained  specimens  of  Petroselinumsegetum,  Nepeta  cataria,  Salvia, 
verbenaca,  Mnium  ligulatum,  and  Hypnum  purum,  but  please  note 
that  we  cannot  undertake  to  name  plants  not  in  flower.  The 
labels  were  detached,  so  we  cannot  give  the  numbers.  Adoxa  is 
rather  local  but  not  rare.  [Reply  to  L.  A.  R. — 88/19.] 


Brewing  Beer  and  Stout. — We  cannot  in  this  column,  nor 
indeed  if  we  were  to  devote  the  whole  Journal  to  the  subject  could 
we  give  you  full  details  as  to  “manufacture  of  the  different  beers 
and  stouts.”  You  will  get  much  information  from  Pooley  on 
‘Brewing,’  and  from  the  ‘Brewer,  Distiller  and  Wine  Manufacturer,’ 
one  of  Churchill’s  technological  handbooks,  or  the  second  and 
revised  edition  of  V  right’s  ‘  Handy  Book  for  Brewers,’  just  pub- 
ished  (Crosby  Lockwood,  12s.  6 d.),  may  serve  your  purpose. 
[Reply  to  J.  W.— 88/21.] 


Mist.  Ferri  Perchloridi,  B.  S.  H. — Take  of  solution  of  per- 
chloride  of  iron,  B.P. ,  15  minims;  sulphate  of  magnesia,  15  grains  i 
distilled  water,  1  fluid  ounce.  [Reply  to  J.  E.  D. — 89/32.] 


Mist.  Arsenicalis,  B.  S.  H. — Take  of  arsenical  solution,  B.P. ,  5 
minims  ;  distilled  water,  1  fluid  ounce.  [Reply  to  J.  E.  D. — 89/32.  J 


Dispensing  Resinous  Tinctures. — Yes,  it  is  perfectly  legiti¬ 
mate  to  employ  a  little  mucilage  to  suspend  resinous  bodies  when 
dispensing  such  tinctures  as  tinct.  cannabis  ind.  In  fact,  it  is  bad 
pharmacy  not  to  do  so,  for  it  is  the  only  way  to  produce  a  decent 
mixture,  and  at  the  same  time  to  ensure  that  the  patient  will  on 
every  occasion  take  a  uniform  dose.  [Reply  to  Qu.esto. — 87/16.] 


To  Prevent  Tins  from  Rusting  through  Labels.— Probably 
if  you  first  apply  a  coat  of  shellac  or  some  other  varnish  to  the  tin 
and  then  use  good  gum  mucilage  to  fasten  the  label  on,  you  will  not 
be  troubled  with  rusting.  The  gum  will  adhere  to  the  varnished 
metal  surface.  The  preparation  you  name  is  not  always  neutral, 
and  probably  starts  oxidation  of  the  “  tin  ”  and  so  causes  rusting. 
[Reply  to  F.  W.  J. — 88/4.] 


Spirit  Gum  for  Theatricals. — We  have  found  the  following 
answer  very  well  for  fixing  on  false  moustaches,  eyebrows,  etc.„ 
for  theatricals,  but  we  cannot  say  if  it  is  what  is  used  in  the  pro¬ 
fession  : — Mastic,  1  ;  hard  tolu,  2 ;  methylated  spirit,  6  fluid 
parts  ;  methylated  ether,  2  fluid  parts.  Dissolve  and  decant. 
Moisten  the  article  with  some  of  this  and  press  firmly  on  to  the  skin 
for  a  few  seconds.  [Reply  to  W.  R.  F. — 87/36.] 


Dispensing  Query. — In  the  mixture  cocainse  hydrochlor. ,  j)  i. 
boracis,  gr.  x.  ;  vinum  opii,  itlxx.  ;  aquas,  ad.  gij.,  the  borax 
precipitates  the  cocaine.  This  is  a  piece  of  bad  prescribing.  The 
difficulty  may  be  met  by  adding  five  or  six  drops  of  dilute  hydro¬ 
chloric  acid  to  the  mixture  before  adding  the  borax.  This  will 
prevent  the  formation  of  the  alkaloidTal  precipitate.  If,  however, 
the  drops  are  to  be  used  for  the  eye,  this  course  might  not  be 
appropriate.  In  that  case  the  attention  of  the  prescriber  should, 
be  called  to  the  incompatibility.  [Reply  to  F.  W.  D. — 88/25.] 


Lin.  Terebinthinje  B.P. — Using  the  proportions  in  the  official 
formula,  a  thick  cream  will  be  produced,  rather  more  fluid  than 
lin.  potass,  iodid.  c.  sapone.  In  reply  to  criticisms  on  this  formula, 
the  late  Professor  Redwood,  who  devised  it,  finally  defined  it 
somewhat  ambiguously  as  a  “thick  permanent  emulsion”  (vide. 
Ph.  J.  [3],  xvii.,  p.  742).  The  same  volume-  also  contains  much 
correspondence  on  the  subject.  A  far  more  satisfactory  article  is 
obtained  by  doubling  the  quantity  of  water  in  the  official 
formula ;  this  gives  a  good  liquid  emulsion.  So  marked  is  the 
difference,  that  the  two  forms  are  prepared  in  the  wholesale  trade, 
the  demand  for  the  fluid  preparation  being  more  than  four  times 
greater  than  that  for  the  thick  variety.  [Reply  to  Quassto. — 87/16.]. 


Composition  for  Graph. — Sheet  gelatin,  3  ;  water,  12;  glycerin r 
18  ;  lead  carbonate,  If.  Soak  the  gelatin  in  the  water  until  quite 
soft,  then  dissolve  with  heat  in  the  glycerin,  add  the  lead  car¬ 
bonate,  and  stir  until  smooth.  Pour  into  the  frames  and  remove 
any  air  bubbles  on  the  surface  by  drawing  over  them  the  edge  of  a 
sheet  of  notepaper.  The  ink  for  the  above  may  be  made  from 
soluble  “aniline”  dye,  1;  methylated  spirit,  1;  water,  5. 
[Reply  to  “Graph.” — 89/12.] 


ANONYMOUS  COMMUNICATIONS. 

Servus. — We  cannot  publish  any  letter  not  authenticated  by 
the  writer’s  name  and  address. 

E.  A.  W. — You  have  omitted  to  furnish  your  name.  Read  the 
special  notice  at  head  of  this  page. 


COMMUNICATIONS, LETTERS, etc., have  been  received  from 

Messrs.  Bacon,  Baron,  Bennett,  Caldecott,  Cheers,  Clement,  Glower,  Cresswell, 
Crofts,  Currie,  Daniel,  Davy,  Elkington,  Griffiths,  Haigh,  Hallaway,  Hoare; 
Hopley,  luce,  Johnston,  Mackie,  McMillan,  Marshall,  Miller,  Moss,  Murray, 
Palmer,  Peck,  Ridlington,  Robinson,  Bussell,  Sandell  Co.,  Smith,  Squire-, 
Staning,  Storrar,  Stratton,  Wendon,  Whigham,  Wilkinson. 


\ 

April  24,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


347 


THE  CULTIVATION  OF  SUMBUL  IN  ENGLAND. 

BY  E.  M.  HOLMES,  F.L.S. 

The  sumbqi  root  of  commerce  has  of  late  years  been  of  very 
inferior  quality  compared  with  the  fragrant  root  imported  twenty- 
five  years-ago  or  more,  and  usually  consists  of  smaller  and  more 
cylindrical  pieces,  with  only  a  very  faint  musky  odour.  The 
structure  is  also  much  firmer,  and  the  resinous  parts  are  usually 
blackish  and  dirty,  in  strong  contrast  to  the  paler  non-resinous 
portions.  The  upper  or  rootstock  portion,  which  is  marked  with 
rings  like  the  true  sumbul,  is  evidently  often  branched,  which  I 
have  never  seen  in  the  true  sumbul,  in  which  the  upper  portion 
usually  tapers  to  a  rounded  fibrous  apex. 

The  sumbul  of  the  present  day  is  therefore  probably  derived 
from  a  different  plant  with  a  more  cylindrical  root,  branched  near 


bulbs.  The  fleshy  roots  at  that  period  of  the  year  appear  to  lose 
all  the  small  rootlets,  and  will  then  bear  digging  up  and  trans¬ 
planting  without  injury,  the  tuberous  root  sending  out,  in  the 
following  early  spring,  new  rootlets. 

In  February,  or  in  late  winters  in  March,  as  soon  as  the  ground 
is  no  longer  hard  from  continued  frost,  the  sumbul  plant  sends  up 
one  or  more  young  leaves.  These  may  be  a  little  injured  if  exposed 
to  hard  frost,  although  not  injured  by  white  frost,  but  as  a  rule 
new  leaves  come  on  and  the  plant  stands  our  winters  as  well  as 
most  indigenous  plants  of  the  same  natural  order.  The  fully 
developed  leaves  appear  in  April,  and  continue  to  grow  until 
July,  when  they  turn  yellowish  and  gradually  wither.  The 
root  increases  in  size  every  year,  retaining  its  oval  form  pre¬ 
sumably  until  it  attains  a  sufficient  reserve  of  nutrition  to  enable 


Ferula  Sumbul. — Root  grown  at  Sevenoaks,  Kent,  together  with  portion  of  leaf  and  flower.  (All  one-ninth  nat.  size.) 


the  apex,  and  having  a  firmer  substance.  It  was  suggested  some 
years  ago  by  Dr.  J.  E.  Aitchison  (Trans.  Linn.  Soc.,  ser.  ii., 
Bot.,  p.  69,  pi.  20-21)  that  it  might  possibly  be  derived  from 
Ferula  suaveolens,  which  has  only  a  faint  musky  odour.  He  states 
that  the  root  is  scented,  and  is  one  of  the  kinds  of  sumbul 
exported  from  Persia  to  Bombay  by  the  Persian  Gulf  (l.c.,  p.  69). 

It  seems  to  be  desirable,  therefore,  that  the  true  sumbul  should 
be  cultivated  to  meet  a  trade  desideratum.  The  use  of  an  inferior 
drug  will  otherwise  probably  lead  in  time  to  the  entire  disuse  of 
the  drug.  Under  these  circumstances  my  own  experience  in  the 
cultivation  of  the  true  sumbul  plant  may  prove  interesting  to  some 
of  the  readers  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal. 

Some  years  since  one  of  our  corresponding  members,  M.  Andrew 
Ferrein,  of  Moscow,  sent  me  some  young  plants  of  Ferula 
fcetidissima,  and  with  them  two  young  plants  of  F.  sumbul.  They 
arrived  in  autumn  packed  in  husks  of  buckwheat  like  ordinary 

Vol.  LVTLL  (Fourth  Series,  Yol.  IV.).  No.  1400. 


it  to  throw  up  a  large  fruiting  stem.  The  inflorescence  of  the 
specimen  that  flowered  in  the  Kew  Gardens  some  years  ago 
attained  a  height  of  about  eight  feet,  and  the  plant  then  died. 

To  secure  the  healthy  growth  of  the  plant,  it  is 
necessary  to  give  it  plenty  of  water,  and  a  little  weak 
manure  water,  during  the  growing  season  from  April  to  J uly.  A 
mulch  of  well-rotted  manure  around  the  plant  in  the  autumn, 
taking  care  to  protect  the  crown  by  a  covering  of  clean  sand,  also 
helps  its  growth.  My  plants,  which  are  now  about  six  years  old, 
have  not  flowered,  but  the  root  of  one  which  I  took  up  a  few  days 
ago  for  transplanting,  measured  about  6  inches  long  by  3|  broad, 
and  had  a  strong  persistent  musky  odour  where  injured,  exuding 
abundance  of  white  milky  juice.  The  roots  are  somewhat  twisted, 
and  spread  nearly  horizontally  below  the  ground.  It  is  obvious 
from  the  shape  that  such  a  root  might  furnish  two  tapering  and 
one  cylindrical  sections  of  the  thickness  of  the  old-fashioned,  but 


348 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


'  [April  24,  1897 


that  it  could  not  furnish  the  cylindrical  pieces  two  or  three  inches 
long  of  small  diameter  that  occur  in  the  drug  of  the  present  day. 
Provided  that  good  seed  could  be  obtained,  there  is  little  doubt 
that  sumbul  might  be  cultivated  in  temperate  or  mountainous 
districts  in  the  colonies,  or  in  ordinary  gardens  or  fields  in  this 
country  without  any  difficulty. 

The  chief  difficulty  in  obtaining  good  seed  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  in  this  country  the  fruit  are  apt  to  be  ruptured  by  the  rains. 
In  their  native  country  the  fruits  are  produced  in  the  hot  weather. 
In  this  country,  therefore,  it  is  necessary  to  protect  the  ripening 
fruits  from  rain. 

SIR  SAMUEL  GARTH,  M.D. 

In  the  year  1693  Samuel  Garth,  at  the  age  of  32,  was  elected  a 
Eellow  of  the  Royal  College  of  Physicians  and  entered  on  a  medical 
career  in  London,  equipped  with  the  flowing  wig  and  gold-headed 
cane,  which  then  and  for  long  afterwards  were  affected  by  the 
Faculty.  He  was  versed  in  all  the  medical  lore,  such  as  it  was, 
of  the  time,  and  was,  moreover,  an  accomplished  scholar,  and  one 
of  the  pleasantest  and  most  genial  of  companions.  A  Yorkshire- 
man  by  birth,  he  had  taken  his  degree  of  M.D.  at  Cambridge  after 
studying  physic  at  Leyden,  and  was  to  become  the  author  of  far 
the  best  English  poem  ever  suggested  by  a  medical  theme,  the 
once  famous  and  still  readable  “  Dispensary.”  To  add  to  his  other 
qualifications  for  making  his  way  in  the  world,  he  was  a  zealous 
Whig  at  a  time  when  under  William  the  Deliverer  Whiggism  was 
very  much  in  the  ascendant. 

Garth’s  gifts  and  merits  were  quickly  appreciated  by  his 
colleagues.  The  year  after  his  admission  to  the  College  he  was 
appointed  to  deliver  the  Gulstonian  lectures,  and  two  years  later 
the  Harveian  oration  itself.  This  last  is  a  piece  of  vigorous 
rhetorical  Latin,  containing  a  glowing  panegyric  on  William  III., 
which  may  have  commended  it  to  the  great  man  to  whom  it  was 
dedicated — Charles  Montague,  afterwards  Earl  of  Halifax,  then 
William’s  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury.  Montague  himself  was  a 
wit  and  a  poet,  and  always  a  patron,  after  a  fashion,  of  wits  and 
poets  ;  the  original,  in  a  measure,  of  Pope’s  Bubo. 

Fed  with  soft  dedication  all  day  long. 

More  germane  to  the  occasion  was  a  eulogium  on  Harvey  and  the 
men  of  light  and  leading  among  the  English  physicians,  his 
successors,  and  by  way  of  contrast  a  scathing  invective  against  the 
medical  quacks  with  whom  London  abounded.  Still  more  significant 
was  the  peroration  in  which  indignant  reference  was  made  to 
certain  enemies  of  the  College  who  wished  to  destroy  its  authority, 
and  whose  machinations,  sad  to  relate,  Garth  mournfully  hinted, 
were  aided  by  allies  in  the  august  conclave,  which  he  addressed. 

It  was  by  the  machinations  of  these  enemies  of  the  College  without, 
and  their  aiders  and  abettors  within,  that  Garth  was  to  be  led  to 
write  “  The  Dispensary  ”  and  become  of  all  the  physicians  then  in 
London  the  one  most  talked  of,  not  only  by  the  “  profession  ”  but  by 
“society.”  When  Garth,  in  1697,  delivered  the  Harveian  oration, 
a  crisis  had  been  reached  in  that  long  and  bitter  contest  between 
the  College  of  Physicians  and  the  London  apothecaries,  which  was 
perhaps  the  most  stirring  episode  in  the  history  of  English  medicine 
during  the  eighteenth  century.  It  was  a  struggle  on  the  part  of 
the  College  to  strengthen  its  waning  authority  over  the  apothecaries, 
and  on  the  part  of  the  apothecaries  to  preserve  what  had  become 
a  practical  equality  with,  and  in  some  respects,  a  virtual  ascendancy 
of,  successful  tradesmen  over  those  haughty  M.D.’s,  proud  of  their 
degrees,  their  wigs  and  gold  headed-canes.  Legality  was  at  issue 
with  fact,  privilege  with  the  possession  which  is  nine  points  of  the 
law. 

Long  after  Henry  VIII.  had  established  the  College  of  Physicians 


and  given  its  members  a  monopoly  of  medical  practice  in  London  and 
its  suburbs,  the  apothecaries  had  no  separate  corporate  existence,  and 
were  an  adjunct  of  the  grocers,  who  were  originally  the  sole  vendors  of 
drugs.  Even  when  under  James  I.  the  apothecaries  were  disso¬ 
ciated  from  the  grocers  and  formed  into  a  company  by  themselves, 
they  remained  strictly  subordinate  to  the  College  of  Physicians. 
They  were  not  allowed  to  dispense,  much  less  to  administer 
medicine,  without  a  physician’s  prescription.  Nay,  the  College 
of  Physicians  could  order  its  delegates  to  enter  their  premises, 
inspect  the  contents,  and  destroy  any  drugs  deemed  noxious  either 
in  themselves  or  as  having  become  so  by  the  lapse  of  time.  Great 
physicians  like  Sir  Hans  Sloane  and  Dr.  Meade  even  encroached 
on  the  province  of  the  apothecaries,  and  procured  to  be  vended 
specifics  of  their  own  invention  which  were  recommended  to  the 
public  by  the  authority  attached  to  their  names. 

But  as  time  wore  on  the  apothecaries  were  more  and  more 
resorted  to,  by  the  middle  class  especially,  and  by  the  lower  class 
altogether,  for  the  treatment  of  ordinary  and  familiar  complaints. 
Indeed,  in  a  low  state  of  the  medical  art,  the  apothecaries  were 
quite  as  trustworthy  as  ordinary  physicians.  For  most  com¬ 
plaints  certain  medicines  had  come  to  be  considered  remedies, 
and  unlike  the  physician,  the  apothecary  charged  no  fee  for 
prescribing.  The  apothecary  became  in  fact  very  much  what  the 
“  general  practitioner”  is  to-day,  and  if  there  was  no  examination 
to  test  his  competency,  he  had  to  serve  a  long  apprenticeship, 
eight  years,  and  was  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  and  supervision 
of  the  company.  If  a  physician  was  called  in  it  was  often  the 
apothecary  who  recommended  him,  and  as  in  the  last  century, 
barristers  were  said  to  “  hug”  attorneys,  so  young  and  struggling 
physicians  “hugged”  apothecaries.  On  the  other  hand,  a  physi¬ 
cian  in  established  practice  had  a  favourite  apothecary  to  whom 
his  prescriptions  were  sent  to  be  made  up,  and  the  apothecary 
thus  favoured  by  Garth’s  contemporary,  Dr.  Radcliffe,  died  worth 
£50,000. 

For  the  College  of  Physicians  to  prosecute  the  apothecaries  who 
dispensed  drugs  otherwise  than  as  prescribed  by  a  physician  would 
have  been  a  troublesome  and  costly  proceeding.  In  1687,  when 
Garth  was  studying  medicine  at  Leyden,  the  College  hit  upon  a 
plan  which  they  doubtless  thought  very  ingenious,  and  which 
wore  a  philanthropic  look,  in  order  to  make  at  least  one  class  of  the 
community  eager  for  the  prescriptions  which  other  classes  were 
too  often  content  to  do  without.  They  offered  to  prescribe 
gratuitously  for  the  poor  of  London  whenever  a  certificate  of 
poverty  was  produced  from  the  incumbent  of  a  parish.  Of  course 
the  supposed  boon  was  neglected.  After  taking  the  trouble  to 
apply  for  a  certificate,  the  successful  applicant  would  have  to  pay 
the  apothecary  for  making  up  the  prescription,  and  perhaps  the 
resentful  apothecaries  threatened  to  charge  more  than  if  the  poor 
patient  came  to  them  for  advice  and  medicine  without  a  prescrip¬ 
tion.  This  scheme  having  failed,  in  a  year’s  time  another  and 
bolder  one  was  proposed.  This  was  that  the  College  itself  should 
compound  the  drugs  and  offer  to  dispense  them  at  a  very 
moderate  price.  But  the  scheme  not  only  roused  the  ire  of  the 
apothecaries,  who  threatened  to  cease  recommending  any 
physician  approving  of  it,  but  it  was  opposed  by  a  small  though 
powerful  minority  in  the  College  itself.  The  opposition  of  both 
kinds  was  strenuous,  and  the  Lord  Mayor  and  civic  authorities  who 
at  first  approved  it  grew  luke-warm  in  their  support  of  it. 
Ultimately  the  second  scheme  was  dropped,  and  no  more  was 
heard  for  six  years  of  any  other  for  the  humiliation  of  the 
apothecaries. 

In  1694,  the  year  after  Garth  became  a  Fellow  of  the  College, 
another  and  third  scheme,  which  aimed  at  a  certain  co-operation 


April  24,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


349 


on  the  part  of  the  apothecaries,  was  framed  by  the  College  and  did 
receive  the  cordial  support  of  the  Lord  Mayor  and  the  civic 
authorities.  London  was  to  be  mapped  out  into  districts.  In 
each  of  them  the  physicians  were  to  fix  the  price  of  drugs  with 
the  assent  of  the  Warden  of  the  Apothecaries’  Company,  and  a 
number  of  apothecaries  agreed  to  sell  them  at  the  price  thus 
to  be  fixed  on.  Again,  the  Apothecaries’  Company  was  up  in 
arms,  and  threatened  to  expel  as  traitors  to  their  order  their 
consenting  members.  This  scheme,  too,  collapsed.  Once  more 
the  College  resolved  to  open  a  dispensary  of  their  own,  and  by  a 
private  subscription  of  the  assenting  majority,  some  fifty  of  them 
guaranteeing  £10  each,  opened  it  was  during  the  year  in  which 
Garth  delivered  the  Harveian  oration. 

Garth  was  one  of  the  keenest  supporters  of  the  College  Dispen¬ 
sary.  In  giving  it  support  he  was  doubtless  influenced  by  motives 
which  were  partly,  at  least,  philanthropic.  All  accounts  agree  in 
representing  him  to  have  been  one  of  the  kindest-hearted  of  men, 
and  he  may  have  thought  less  of  the  injury  he  was  inflicting  on  an 
industrious  body  of  tradesmen  than  of  the  apparent  boon  to  the 
invalid  poor.  To  the  goodness  of  his  heart  there  is  other  testimony 
than  that  of  the  wits  with  whom  he  then  and  afterwards  con¬ 
sorted.  Among  the  Sloane  MSS.  in  the  British  Museum  are  several 
little  hasty  notes  of  his  to  his  friend  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  asking 
for  his  influence  to  procure  some  poor  man  or  woman  admission  to 
an  hospital.  Here  is  one  of  them  :  “Dear  Sir  Hans, — If  you  can 
recommend  this  miserable  slut  to  be  fluxed  you’ll  do  an  act  of 
charity  for,  Dear  Sir,  Your  obedient  servant,  Samuel  Garth.” 

The  College  Dispensary  had  been  open  a  year  or  two  and  was 
doing  its  work  better  or  worse,  when  there  occurred  an  incident 
which  prompted  Garth  to  produce— it  was  published  in  1699,  and 
at  first  anonymously — his  mock-heroic  poem,  “  The  Dispensary,” 
turning  on  the  controversy  between  the  majority  in  the  College  on 
the  one  hand,  and  on  the  minority  with  the  London  Apothecaries  on 
the  other.  Referring  in  one  of  his  prefaces — his  authorship  of  the 
poem  was  soon  avowed — to  a  ludicrous  description  in  it  of  a  battle 
royal  between  the  two  sets  of  controversialists,  he  represented  it 
as  “grounded  upon  a  feud  that  happened  in  the  dispensary  be¬ 
twixt  a  member  of  the  College  and  his  retinue  and  some  of  the 
servants  that  attended  there  to  dispense  the  medicines,  and  it  is 
so  far  real,  though  the  poetical  relation  bo  fictitious.”  One  would 
like  to  have  had  the  details  of  the  “  feud,”  in  which,  perhaps,  there 
was  a  display  of  physical  force  on  both  sides,  but  here  is  the  mock 
description  of  the  combat  between  the  majority  of  the  College  and 
the  minority,  the  small  number  of  the  latter  being  reinforced  by  a 
swarm  of  angry  apothecaries.  The  passage  gives  a  fair  notion  of 
Garth’s  general  treatment  of  his  theme  : — 

And  now  the  signal  summons  to  the  fray  ; 

Mock  falchions  flash,  and  paltry  ensigns  play. 

Their  patron  god  his  silver  bow-strings  twangs  ; 

Tough  harness  rustles  and  bold  armour  clangs. 

The  piercing  caustics  ply  their  spiteful  power  ; 

Emetics  ranch,  and  keen  cathartics  scour. 

The  deadly  drugs  in  double  doses  fly, 

And  pestles  peal  a  martial  symphony. 

N ow  from  their  levelled  syringes  they  pour 
The  liquid  volley  of  a  missive  shower  ; 

Not  storms  of  sleet,  which  o’er  the  Baltic  drive, 

Pushed  on  by  northern  gusts,  such  horror  give. 

Like  spouts  in  southern  seas  the  deluge  broke, 

And  numbers  sunk  beneath  the  impetuous  stroke. 

And  now  the  staggering  braves,  led  by  despair, 

Advance,  and  to  return  the  charge  prepare. 

Each  seizes  for  his  shield  a  spacious  scale, 

And  the  brass  weights  fly  thick  as  showers  of  hail ; 

While  heaps  of  warriors  welter  on  the  ground, 

With  galley-pots  and  broken  phials  crowned, 

While  empty  jars  the  din  defeat  resound. 

The  various  leaders  of  both  parties  figure  under  fictitious  names, 
which  of  course  did  not  conceal  from  “the  Profession”  the 


identity  of  the  originals.  “  The  Dispensary”  was  at  once  success¬ 
ful,  and  went  through  many  editions.  Nor  was  this  success  to  be 
ascribed  solely  to  the  personalities  with  which  it  teemed.  The  sun 
of  Dryden  was  setting  and  the  star  of  Pope  had  not  appeared  above 
the  horizon  when  Garth’s  poem  was  published.  In  style  and 
versification  it  bridged  the  interval  between  the  two.  The  verse 
was  smoother  than  Dryden’s,  and  the  point  and  antithesis  seem  to 
prefigure  Pope.  There  are  serious  passages,  moreover,  in  “  The 
Dispensary  ”  which  are  not  unworthy  of  these  two  masters.  Even 
now  the  three  last  of  the  following  fine  lines  are  often  quoted  ; 
though  few,  it  may  be  surmised,  of  those  who  quote  them  know 
that  they  come  from  the  almost  forgotten  “  Dispensary”  : — ■ 

’Tis  to  the  vulgar  death  too  harsh  appears  ; 

The  ill  we  feel  is  only  iu  our  fears. 

To  die  is  landing  on  some  silent  shore 

Where  billows  never  break  nor  tempests  roar  : 

Ere  well  we  feel  the  friendly  stroke,  ’tis  o’er. 

To  have  produced  on  such  a  theme  a  poem  which  was  long  con¬ 
sidered  an  English  classic — it  figured  in  most  of  the  older  collec¬ 
tions  of  the  English  poets — is  not  Garth’s  only  claim  to  the  remem¬ 
brance  of  the  profession  which  he  adorned.  In  connection  with  a 
far  more  famous  poet  than  he  was,  the  College  of  Physicians  owe  to 
him  the  memory  of  an  interesting  incident,  unique  in  their  annals. 
When  after  Dryden’s  death,  in  1701,  his  body  was  embalmed,  at 
Garth’s  instance  it  lay  in  state  at  the  College  of  Physicians,  where 
he  pronounced  a  Latin  oration  over  the  poet’s  remains  before  they 
were  borne  with  great  pomp  to  their  final  resting-place  in  West¬ 
minster  Abbey,  by  the  side  of  Chaucer  and  Cowley. 

Garth’s  career  thenceforth  is  one  of  success,  professional  and 
social.  As  the  author  of  the  much-admired  “Dispensary”  and 
the  most  agreeable  of  boon  companions,  he  made  friends  in  high 
places,  and  through  them  patients  flowed  in.  When  the 
Kit-Cat  Club  was  formed,  soon  after  the  accession  of 
Queen  Anne,  Garth  became  a  member,  and  thus  the 
associate  of  great  and  powerful  nobles,  among  them  the  Dukes 
of  Marlborough  and  Newcastle,  and  of  wits,  among  them  Con¬ 
greve  and  Addison.  In  a  letter  from  Garth  to  the  latter  Duke  in 
the  Museum  MSS.  is  an  acknowledgment  of  a  fee  of  100  guineas. 
In  his  works  are  printed  six  sets  of  verses  celebrating  the  charms 
of  as  many  dames  of  high  degree,  and  written  for  the  toasting 
glasses  of  the  Kit-Cat  Club.  When  the  Whig  Ministry  was  dis¬ 
missed  in  1710,  Garth  wrote  some  lines  of  indignant  sympathy  to 
Godolphin.  They  were  sharply  criticised  in  the  Examiner  by  a 
brother  poet,  but  a  Tory,  Mat  Prior,  who  had  lost  a  berth  when 
the  Whigs  came  in  and  gained  one  when  they  went  out.  Garth 
found  a  defender  in  no  less  a  person  than  the  great  Mr.  Addison, 
who  retorted  pretty  severely  upon  Mat  in  the  Whig  Examiner. 
When  “Cato”  was  performed  in  1713,  Garth  wrote  the  epilogue 
for  it.  A  performance  more  notable  from  its  probable  result  was 
his  Latin  dedication  a  proposed  edition  of  ‘  Lucretius’  to  George  I. 
while  still  Elector  of  Hanover.  It  is  fulsome  in  the  extreme,  but 
no  doubt  helped  when  George  became  King  to  procure  Garth  not 
only  a  knighthood  but  the  appointment  of  Physician  in  Ordinary 
to  his  Majesty  and  Physician-General  to  the  Army. 

Of  all  Garth’s  contemporaries  none  loved  him  and  praised  him 
more  than  Pope.  When  the  youthful  poet’s  Pastorals  were  sub¬ 
mitted  in  manuscript  to  friends,  Garth  was  one  of  those  who  highly 
approved  of  them.  On  publishing  them  Pope  dedicated  one  of 
them,  “  Summer,”  to  Garth,  on  whose  skill  in  medicine  as  well  as 
on  his  “  bays  ”  Pope  laid  stress  when  referring  to  the  pangs  of  love, 
The  sole  disease  thou  canst  not  cure. 

“Well-natured  Garth,”  Pope  calls  him  in  verse,  and  again — 

Garth — the  best  good  Christian  he, 

Although  he  knows  it  not. 


350 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[APRIL  24,  1897 


This  was  in  reference  to  the  charge  of  scepticism,  to  which 
Garth  was  certainly  amenable.  To  him  has  been  ascribed  the 
reply,  which  has  been  fathered  on  many  others  when  questioned 
as  to  their  religion,  that  “  he  was  of  the  religion  of  wise  men,”  and 
when  asked  to  explain  himself  further,  rejoined  that  “wise  men 
kept  their  own  secrets.”  In  Garth’s  case  the  questioner  is  said  to 
have  been  Addison,  and  it  is  also  said  that  when  Addison  was  on 
his  death-bed  Garth  sent  to  ask  him  “  whether  the  Christian  religion 
was  true.”  Garth  was  undoubtedly  a  loose  liver  as  well  as  a 
sceptic,  and  in  the  rather  imperfect  notice  of  him  in  the  ‘Dictionary 
of  National  Biography’  it  is  hinted  that  Dr.  Munk,  the  historian  of 
the  College  of  Physicians,  has  in  his  possession  MS.  verses  of  Garth 
which  it  would  not  be  proper  to  print. 

“Call  no  man  happy  before  he  dies.”  If  happiness  could  have 
been  predicated  of  anyone  it  would  have  been  of  a  man  of  Garth’s 
character  and  career.  On  the  unexceptionable  authority  of  Pope, 
however,  “  Garth  did  not  take  any  care  of  himself  in  his  last  illness, 
and  had  talked  for  three  or  four  years  as  one  tired  of  life  ;  in  short, 
I  believe  he  was  willing  to  let  it  go.”  Just  before  dying  he  is 
reported  to  have  said  to  the  anxious  friends  around  him,  “  Gentle¬ 
men,  I  wish  the  ceremony  of  death  was  over,”  and  so  breathed  his 
last.  Pope  said  of  his  death  that  “it  wa3  heroical  and  yet 
unaffected  enough  to  have  made  a  saint  or  philosopher  famous.” 
If  so,  he  displayed  in  his  last  moments  the  spirit  which  breathes 
in  those  lines  of  his  on  death  already  quoted.  When  he  died  he  was 
in  his  59th  year,  and  left  estates  in  several,  counties.  Of  his  various 
recorded  witticisms,  the  best  was  on  the  legacy  left  by  his  contem¬ 
porary,  the  then  famous  and  prosperous  physician  Dr.  Radcliffe,  to 
found  the  Radcliffe  Library  at  Oxford.  Radcliffe  was  not  at  all  a 
reading  man,  and  Garth  said  that  for  him  to  found  a  library  was  as 
if  a  eunuch  were  to  found  a  seraglio  ! 

The  college  dispensary,  the  memory  of  which  has  been  preserved 
by  Garth’s  poem,  ceased,  in  course  of  time  to  exist,  but  precisely 
when  seems  uncertain.  Dr.  Johnson  in  his  ‘  Life  of  Garth,’ 
says  of  it  “  The  poor  were  for  a  time  supplied  with  medicines,  for 
how  long  a  time  I  know  not.  The  medicinal  charity,  like  others, 
began  well  in  ardour,  but  soon  remitted,  and  at  last  died  gradu¬ 
ally  away.”  Garth’s  latest  biographer  in  the  ‘Dictionary  of  National 
Biography,’  speaks  of  it  as  “  The  first  attempt  to  establish  those 
out-patient  rooms  now  universal  in  the  large  towns  of  England.” 


THE  PROPRIETARY  ARTICLES  TRADE  ASSOCIATION 
AND  LOCAL  PHARMACEUTICAL  ASSOCIATIONS. 

BY  W.  S.  GLYN-JONES. 

Very  early  in  its  history  the  Executive  of  the  P.A.T.A.  fully 
recognised  the  importance  of  securing  the  co-operation  of  the 
various  local  associations  throughout  the  country. 

The  cutting  evil,  in  its  various  forms,  and  the  numerous  reme¬ 
dies  proposed,  had  often  formed  the  subject  for  discussion  at  the 
meetings  of  most  of  the  local  organisations,  and  the  keenest 
interest  in  the  question  had  been  shown.  It  was,  therefore, 
reasonable  to  expect  that  if  the  P.A.T.A.  could  suggest  a  feasible 
plan  upon  which  concerted  action  might  be  taken  it  would  receive 
the  active  support  of  the  large  majority  of  the  pharmaceutical 
associations  throughout  the  land.  That  these  expectations  have 
been  fully  realised  will  be  seen  from  the  following  brief  account  of 
what  has  been  done  in  connection  with  local  organisation  during 
the  past  year  : — 

Midland  Pharmaceutical  Association.— While  the  P.A.T.A. 
was  in  progress  of  formation  this  Association  was  in  the  thick  of  a 
discussion  of  the  anti-cutting  scheme  suggested  by  Mr.  E.  J. 
Smith,  of  Birmingham.  After  hearing  what  the  proposals  of  the 
P.A.T.A.  were,  they  decided  to  heartily  co-operate  with  us.  Their 
practical  assistance  was  soon  forthcoming,  for  the  draft  rules  of 
the  Association  were  submitted  to  them  for  perusal. 


and  the  suggestions  forwarded  by  them  to  our  Council 
were  much  valued,  the  majority  being  acted  upon.  In 
April,  1896,  the  Midland  Association  decided  to  call  a  general 
meeting  of  the  trade,  with  a  view  of  soliciting  their 
support.  The  report  of  the  Trade  Committee  of  the  Association 
was  read  by  Mr.  Jones,  their  Chairman.  This  report  dealt  very 
fully  with  the  various  details  connected  with  the  Association.  It 
recommended  the  members  of  the  Midland  Association  to  join  the 
P.  A.T.A. ;  that  the  scheme  of  guaranteed  profits  should  not  contain 
any  system  of  rebate  ;  that  the  question  of  bonuses  given  by  co¬ 
operative  societies  should  be  considered  and  dealt  with,  and  that 
the  members  pledge  themselves  not  to  distribute  hand-bills,  nor  in 
any  way  assist  the  sales  of  any  proprietary  articles  upon  which  a 
profit  is  not  guaranteed,  or  whose  proprietor  has  not  joined  the 
P.A.T.A.  It  also  advised  that  the  Trade  Committee  of  the 
Midland  Pharmaceutical  Association  be  permanently  appointed. 
Mr.  Jones,  their  Chairman,  had  been  nominated  as  a  candidate  for 
the  retail  section  of  the  Council  of  the  P.A.T.A.,  and  had  been 
successful.  I  would  respectfully  suggest  that  the  various  associa¬ 
tions  throughout  the  country  would  do  well  to  imitate  Birmingham 
in  thus  forming  a  special  committee  of  their  members  to  deal  with 
purely  trade  matters.  The  Midland  Association  has  found  it  work 
well.  On  several  occasions  matters  have  been  submitted  by  our 
Council  to  the  Birmingham  Trade  Committee,  and  they  have  been 
able  to  afford  us  considerable  assistance. 

Bristol  Pharmaceutical  Association. — It  was  at  Bristol  that 
the  first  meeting  of  the  trade  was  held  after  the  definite  formation 
of  our  Association.  There  was  an  excellent  attendance  of  the 
craft.  Chemists  *  attended  from  Bath,  Weston,  Clevedon,  and 
Swindon,  Mr.  Allen,  the  Chairman,  referring  to  it  as  being  a  record 
attendance.  A  resolution  pledging  the  meeting  to  support  the 
movement  was  unanimously  passed.  During  a  discussion  as  to  the 
desirability  of  forming  a  local  committee  to  act  in  connection  with 
our  campaign,  Mr.  Keen  explained  that  though  the  local  Associa¬ 
tion  was  primarily  concerned  with  professional  and  scientific 
matters,  there  was  no  reason  why  the  Executive  of  their  Associa¬ 
tion  should  not  co-operate  with  the  P.A.T.A.  A  resolution  calling 
upon  the  Council  of  the  Bristol  Association  to  act  in  conjunction 
with  our  Association  was  unanimously  passed.  At  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  local  association,  held  a  few  weeks  ago,  a  resolution 
was  passed  congratulating  the  P.A.T.A.  on  its  progress,  and 
urging  upon  proprietors  to  add  their  articles  to  our  list. 

Plymouth,  Devonport,  Stonehouse  and  District  Chemists’ 
Association. — A  week  later  saw  us  at  Plymouth.  No  one  who 
reads  the  trade  press  will  need  to  be  told  that  this  Association,  if 
not  the  most  active  in  the  drug  trade,  is  not  surpassed  by  any 
other  for  vigorous  action  and  for  the  amount  of  practical  work  it 
accomplishes.  Invitations  to  the  meeting  were  sent  out  by  the 
local  association  to  all  the  chemists  in  business  from  Newton 
Abbott  to  Penzance,  and  there  was  an  excellent  attendance.  A 
resolution  supporting  the  Association  was  moved  by  Mr.  C.  J. 
Park,  President,  and  seconded  by  Mr.  R.  H.  Rendle,  the  Vice- 
President,  and  after  being  freely  spoken  to  was  unanimously 
carried.  The  meeting  asked  the  Council  of  the  local  association  to 
act  as  our  Executive  for  Plymouth  and  the  neighbourhood.  At 
the  election  of  the  retail  section  of  our  Council  the  P.D.S.  and  D. 
Association  nominated  Mr.  Cocks  as  a  candidate.  He  was 
returned  and  has  been  one  of  our  most  valuable  members.  Matters 
affecting  the  P.A.T.A.  are  constantly  being  brought  before  their 
meetings,  and  as  a  result  of  their  energy  the  proportion  of  our 
members  to  the  trade  in  Plymouth  is  very  high.  If  all  the  towns 
in  the  kingdom  were  as  well  organised  as  our  friends  in  Plymouth 
the  proprietary  articles’  difficulty  would  soon  be  solved. 

Exeter  Association  of  Chemists  and  Druggists. — On  the  day 
after  the  Plymouth  meeting,  the  deputation  visited  Exeter,  where 
a  meeting  was  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  local  Association. 
The  district  around  was  well  represented.  Resolutions  similar  to 
those  passed  at  Plymouth  were  unanimously  adopted,  and  since 
the  meeting  the  Council  of  the  Association  has  acted  in  conjunc¬ 
tion  with  us.  Mr.  P.  F.  Rowsell  is  now  our  local  secretary  for 
Exeter. 

Cambridge  Pharmaceutical  Association. — Our  next  visit  was 
to  Cambridge.  The  meeting  here,  though  not  a  large  one,  was  of 
a  very  representative  character.  Mr.  A.  Sidney  Campkin,  J.P., 
presided.  Resolutions  supporting  the  Association  were  unanimously 
adopted,  and  at  the  invitation  of  the  meeting  the  Council  of  the 
Cambridge  Association  undertook  to  help  us  with  our  work  in  the 
district.  Since  then  Cambridge  has  worked  splendidly  in  our 


APEIL24,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


351 


interests,  and  as  a  result,  out  of  nineteen  chemists  in  the  town 
seventeen  are  now  members  of  our  Association. 

Nottingham  and  Notts  Chemists’  Association. — It  was  only 
to  be  expected  that  an  anti-cutting  association  would  be  welcomed 
at  Nottingham.  The  meeting  was  held  in  April  last  year  by  this  Asso¬ 
ciation.  Councillor  R.  Fitzhugh,  J.P.,  presided,  and  explained 
that  it  was  against  the  rules  of  the  local  association  to  fix  prices, 
but  that  they  were  met  to  discuss  a  question  which  he  thought  was 
of  the  greatest  importance  to  them  all.  The  Nottingham  chemists 
were  well  versed  in  the  ways  of  the  cutter,  and  were  keenly  alive 
to  the  difficulties  we  had  to  contend  with.  A  capital  discussion 
was  the  result.  A  resolution  supporting  the  Association  was 
unanimously  passed,  and  those  present  joined  almost  to  a  man. 
We  have  a  number  of  active  supporters  in  Nottingham,  and  the 
Association  has  upon  several  occasions  dealt  with  various  ques¬ 
tions  appertaining  to  our  work.  Mr.  W.  Jones  was  present  to 
represent  the  Midland  Trade  Committee. 

Edinburgh  District  Chemists’  Association.— Early  in  May  a 
series  of  meetings  was  arranged  in  the  north.  The  first  of  these 
was  held  in  the  Scottish  metropolis,  where  a  large  number  of  the 
local  chemists  had  been  brought  together  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Edinburgh  Association.  A  resolution  supporting  the  Association 
was  unanimously  adopted,  and  the  various  details  of  the  scheme 
received  careful  attention  from  those  present.  The  difficulty  of 
the  co-operative  stores  was  one  which  was  keenly  felt.  It  trans¬ 
pired  that  die  rules  of  the  Association  prevented  them  acting  in 
conjunction  with  the  P.A.T.A. ,  but  it  was  decided  that  a  trade 
committee  of  Edinburgh  chemists  should  be  appointed.  Since 
then  Mr.  David  MacLaren  has  accepted  our  local  secretaryship  for 
Edinburgh,  and  Mr.  R.  MacDougall  has  agreed  to  act  in  a  like 
capacity  for  Leith. 

Leeds  Chemists’  Association. — We  were  also  at  Leeds  in  May, 
and  there  again  the  local  association  came  to  our  assistance  by 
calling  a  meeting  of  the  trade  for  us.  The  chemists  and  druggists 
in  the  district  were  well  represented,  the  chair  being  taken  by 
Mr.  George  Ward,  the  president  of  the  local  association.  Mr. 
Mackay  and  Mr.  Pickard  attended  on  behalf  of  the  Bradford  Asso¬ 
ciation.  A  resolution  supporting  the  Association  was  moved  by 
Mr.  Reynolds  (Messrs.  Reynolds  and  Branson).  This  was 
unanimously  carried,  and  so  was  a  vote  requesting  the  Council  of 
the  Leeds  Association  to  act  as  our  local  executive.  Very  few 
left  the  meeting  without  joining. 

Bradford  and  District  Chemists’  Association.— On  the  next 
day  we  were  the  guests  of  the  Bradford  Association.  To  this 
Association  must  be  awarded  the  palm  for  bringing  together  what, 
for  the  size  of  the  town,  was  the  largest  meeting  we  have  yet  held 
in  the  provinces,  over  ninety  being  present.  Messrs.  Seely, 
Pollard,  and  G.  Cobb  were  present  to  represent  the  Halifax  Asso¬ 
ciation.  Perhaps  the  energy  of  Mr.  S.  Norman  Pickard,  the 
secretary,  was  in  a  large  measure  accountable  for  the  successful 
attendance.  Mr.  Pickard  accompanied  me  on  a  tour  round  the 
local  chemists,  and  when  I  say  that  he  took  me  into  between  thirty 
and  forty  shops  in  the  one  day,  it  is  evident  that  it  will  not  be 
necessary  for  him  to  put  in  many  days  of  that  character  to  ensure 
the  success  of  the  Bradford  Association.  At  this  meeting  resolu¬ 
tions  were  unanimously  passed  supporting  our  Association,  and  re¬ 
questing  the  local  council  to  act  as  an  executive  for  the  P.A.T.A. 
in  the  neighbourhood. 

Halifax  and  District  Chemists’  Association. — On  the  suc¬ 
ceeding  day  we  were  at  the  Old  Cock  Hotel,  Halifax.  They  know 
something  of  cutting  at  Halifax,  but  the  demon  has  not  succeeded 
in  crushing  out  the  whole  of  their  conviviality.  There  were 
several  features  of  our  vipit  there  which  I  am  not  likely  to  forget : 
the  splendid  old  hall  in  which  the  meeting  was  held,  the  variety  of 
the  orders  addressed  to  the  waiter  in  attendance,  and  the  conse¬ 
quent  difficulty  in  getting  the  meeting  well  underweigh. 
Councillor  W.  C.  Hebden,  the  President,  occupied  the  chair.  This 
was  of  advantage,  as  he  had  evidently  directed  the  councils  of  the 
Halifax  chemists  before,  and  knew  the  impossibility  of  commencing 
until  a  sufficient  number  of  “churchwardens”  had  made  their 
appearance.  It  was  a  really  excellent  meeting,  and  one  would 
have  thought  from  its  character  that  it  was  a  meeting  more  to 
consider  what  to  do  with  the  surplus  profits  made  during  the  past 
ear  than  to  devise  a  means  by  which  business  could  be  made  just 
arely  remunerative.  Perhaps,  after  all,  the  best  feature  from  our 
point  of  view  was  that  not  a  single  man  left  the  room  without 
leaving  the  5  s.  subscription  to  the  P.A.T.A.  behind  him. 

(To  be  continued. ) 


THE  ART  OF  LITERARY  COMPOSITION.* 

BY  JOSEPH  INCE. 

(  Concluded  from  page  293.  ) 

The  Balance  of  Words. 

Now  I  want  to  show  the  syllabic  construction  of  the  English 
language,  which  consciously  or  unconsciously  every  writer  must 
observe,  as  it  lies  at  the  basis  of  all  good  composition  ;  or  you  may 
define  it  as  the  rhythmical  laws  which  regulate  the  musical  balance 
of  the  wording  of  the  text.  A  long  or  short  vowel  must  be  so 
placed  as  not  to  jar  against  the  rhythmical  accentuation  of  the 
phrase. 

A  writer  who  from  want  of  ear  or  from  carelessness  fails  in  this 
particular,  will  never  write  so  that  his  style  may  please. 

It  is  necessary  to  understand  certain  technical  terms.  By  Quan¬ 
tity  is  meant  a  vowel  pronounced  either  long  or  short ;  an  accented 
syllable  in  English  is  held  to  be  a  long  syllable  [-],  an  unaccented 
syllable  is  short  [u].  A  long,  followed  by  a  short  syllable  is  called 
a  Trochee  [-  u] ;  if  by  two  short  syllables,  a  Dactyl  [-  u  u].  A  short 
followed  by  a  long  syllable  is  an  Iambus  [u  -] ;  two  short,  followed 
by  one  long  constitute  an  Anapest  [u  u  -].  These  in  English  should 
never  jar  ;  two  short  syllables  should  rarely  end  a  phrase,  still  less, 
three. 

The  genius  of  the  English  language  will  be  found  to  be  iambic  ; 
it  is  this  which  gives  to  poetry  its  music  and  to  prose  its  charm. 

“The  curfew  tolls  thS  knell  of  parting  day.” — [Gray.] 

Take  Byron’s  magnificent  lines  on  the  Greek  nation  : — 

“  He  who  |  h&th  bent  |  him  o’er  |  the  dead.  |  ” 

There  is  no  finer  passage  in  the  range  of  English  poetry  :  the 
whole  description  is  iambic. 

Prose  is  not  restricted  to  lines  and  sentences  of  a  definite 
measured  length,  but  the  law  of  the  balance  of  words  is  inexor¬ 
able,  of  which  our  highest  prose  literature  forms  one  long 
illustration. 

Elsewhere  I  have  dwelt  on  this  point  at  some  length.  Take 
Isaac  Walton’s  description  of  the  nightingale  which — “breathes 
such  sweet  loud  music  out  of  her  little  instrumental  throat  that  it 
might  make  mankind  to  think  miracles  are  not  ceased.” 

Take  the  mass  of  Elizabethan  literature,  and  in  our  own  time, 
Stevenson,  Froude  and  Ruskin. 

To  end  a  paragraph  by  two  insignificant  words,  as  “  of  it,”  “  by 
it,”  “to  it,”  is  bad  composition,  unless  “of”  or  “to”  is  a  com¬ 
pound  part  of  a  verb  ;  a  touch  will  effect  the  change. 

Dire  was  its  fall — not  the  fall  of  it.  He  set  little  store  by  it 
— read,  by  which  he  set  little  store.  Take  this  sentence  from  a  late 
review  :  “  (The  conception)  is  one  which  young  students  of  the 
master  will  do  well  to  fight  shy  of,”  read — “  of  which  young 
students  should  fight  shy.  ”  It  is  not  even  hinted  that  a  master  of 
style  and  composition  is  on  the  look-out  for  an  iambus  or  other 
quantity.  Instinctively  his  trained  ear  guides  him  to  the  selection 
of  rightly  balanced  words  which  when  analysed  will  be  found  in 
the  main  to  be  iambic.  A  writer,  like  a  musician,  will  indulge  in 
infinite  variations  on  the  scale,  but  no  discord  must  be  made  by  the 
arrangement  of  his  syllables  or  notes. 

He  would  be  a  courageous  man  indeed  who  would  venture  to 
give  too  much  advice  gratis  on  the  actual  wording  of  an  original 
contribution  ;  needless  to  say,  it  should  be  distinctly  written  ;  on 
one  side  only  of  the  paper;  corrections  to  be  made  in  full  upon  the 
copy,  and  not  on  the  revise  ;  and  nothing  to  be  left  to  chance. 
All  this  means  saving  of  expense  and  perhaps  annoyance.  A  clear, 
clean  copy  results  in  a  fair  proof  and  a  nearly  perfect  revise ;  terms 
to  be  explained  hereafter.  Now,  look  down  your  copy  for 
“  repeats,”  that  is,  for  remarks  twice  made,  or  given  twice  over 
in  a  slightly  different  way ;  they  are  no  good  and  only  weary. 
Carefully  look  after  “  sequence,”  namely  that  one  paragraph 
naturally  follows  its  predecessor  and  thus  keep  all  your  facts, 
illustrations,  and  main  arguments  together.  Then,  may  I  implore 
you  to  survey  your  adjectives  ;  if  they  are  of  real  value,  and  they 
often  are,  leave  them  by  all  means  ;  if  not,  strike  them  out  with 
unsparing  hand,  for  here  stern  self-criticism  is  best.  Like  John 
Bright  and  John  Wesley,  choose  when  possible  short  -words— they 
are  an  element  of  strength. 

Never  put  two  adverbial  forms  together,  except  “very”  as  a 
superlative;  while  custom  admits  the  phrase  “Very  sincerely 
yours,”  it  is  not  well  to  say,  “  how  positively  blindly,”  or  “how 

*  Read  before  the  School  of  Pharmacy  Students’  Association,  March  26,  1897. 


352 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  24, 1897 


particularly  foolishly,”  or  even  “how  wisely  and  skilfully  he 
acted.”  Read,  “with  what  positive  blindness,”  “with  what 
particular  folly,”  or  “  how  wisely  and  with  what  skill  he  acted.” 
Good  writers  uniformly  steer  clear  of  this  defect,  they  even  select 
the  adverb  which  will  give  the  shortest  noun,  and  therefore  write, 
not  “  how  skilfully  and  with  what  wisdom,”  but  “how  wisely  and 
with  what  skill.” 

Lastly,  shun  fine  writing. 

Hard  work,  practice  and  constant  observation  will  do  the  rest, 
for  there  comes  a  point  at  which  a  writer  must  be  left  to  his  own 
instincts  and  trust  to  his  own  resources  for  the  expression  of  his 
ideas. 

We  near  the  crisis  of  a  writer’s  fate  :  the  manuscript  is  finished 
and  committed  to  the  custody  of  the  pillar-post.  No  matter 
whether  the  article  in  question  be  a  communication  to  a  periodical 
or  to  a  scientific  journal,  there  is  one  spasm  of  anxiety  which  every 
writer,  living  or  dead,  has  experienced  in  his  time — What  hopes 
and  fears  centre  round  that  document !  Will  it  reach  its  destina¬ 
tion  or  will  a  nefarious  postman  annex  that  one  particular  packet 
with  fraudulent  intent  ?  Will  the  editor  be  in  a  fit  complacent 
state  of  mind  to  recognise  its  importance  ?  or  will  the  sub-editor 
glance  at  its  contents,  and,  ignorant  of  its  value,  consign  it  to  the 
waste-basket  ?  Lo  !  in  due  time  the  maligned  government  official 
brings  a  long  blue  envelope  which  contains  the  enchanting 
message  :  “  Call  at  10.30  prompt.” 

He  does  call,  and  ecstasy  in  excelsis !  is  presented  with  a 
PROOF.  Never  again,  throughout  his  whole  career  can  that 
writer  have  a  like  sensation. 

Charles  Dickens  (I  quote  from  the  life  by  John  Forster)  “has 
described  himself  dropping  his  paper  stealthily  one  evening  at 
twilight  with  fear  and  trembling  into  a  dark  letter-box  in  a  dark 
office  up  a  dark  court  in  Fleet  Street ;  and  he  has  told  his  agita¬ 
tion  when  it  appeared  in  all  the  glory  of  print.  ‘  On  which  occa¬ 
sion  ’  (says  Dickens)  ‘I  walked  down  to  Westminster  Hall  and 
turned  into  it  for  half-an-hour,  because  my  eyes  were  so  dimmed 
with  joy  and  pride  that  they  could  not  bear  the  street,  and  were 
not  fit  to  be  seen  there.’  ” 

To  compare  great  things  with  small,  never  shall  I  forget  the 
appearance  of  my  own  first  paper  written  by  request  of  Mr.  Jacob 
Bell;  it  was  called  “A  Student’s  Sketch  of  Orfila.”  I  imagined 
that  the  whole  of  Covent  Garden  Market  observed  the  talented 
author  as  he  passed  through  the  central  avenue.  I  now  don’t  think 
they  did. 

At  this  stage  we  come  to — 

Press  Correction. 

You  have  despatched  the  “  copy  ”  by  which  is  meant  the  manu¬ 
script  sent  in  for  printing  and  you  have  received  a  proof,  that  is 
the  first  issue  from  the  press,  for  your  correction.  You  will  save 
the  compositor  much  trouble  and  yourself  vexation,  by  adopting 
the  signs  to  which  he  is  accustomed  ;  side  remarks  and  instructions 
only  worry  and  may  get  worked  into  the  text,  whereat  the  printer 
quotes  from  the  imprecatory  psalms  ;  thick  lines  are  never  used, 
as  they  obscure  the  wording.  An  excellent  leaflet,  “  How  to 
Correct,”  is  published  by  Spottiswoode  and  Co.,  New  Street 
Square,  London  ;  also  there  has  been  issued  a  most  useful  small 
pamphlet  by  the  late  William  Blades,  called  “  How  to  correct 
Printers’  Proofs,”  which  will  be  found  a  most  useful  guide.  The 
price  is  sixpence,  and  it  may  be  obtained  from  Blades,  East,  and 
Blades,  23,  Abchurch  Lane.  The  writer  says — “  Remember  that 
corrections  should  be  placed  in  consecutive  order  in  the  margin, 
on  a  level  with  the  line  corrected,  and  that  a  slanting  stroke  ( /)  should 
be  put  after  each  correction  ;  it  serves  to  draw  attention  to  the 
mark  when  there  is  but  one,  and,  if  there  are  several  corrections  in 
one  line,  it  prevents  them  being  confused.” 

One  line  drawn  underneath  indicates  Italics. 

Two  lines — small  capitals,  written  sm.  caps. 

Three  lines — large  capitals,  written  1.  caps. 

To  change  italics  into  ordinary  type,  draw  one  line  underneath, 
or  a  row  of  dots,  and  put  Rom.  in  the  margin.  The  suppression 
or  addition  of  a  paragraph  causes  expense,  not  for  the  mere  printing, 
but  on  account  of  the  re-setting  of  the  text. 

Slanting  lines  on  the  left  side  of  a  printed  page  apply,  in  order 
of  sequence  to  the  left  side  of  a  column,  thus  : 

a /  o/  sepe/rate  kingdu/m,  dating  from  the  first  word  ; 
marginal  corrections  inserted  on  the  right  side  of  a  printed  page 


are  also  placed  on  the  left  side  of  the  slanting  stroke,  and  date 
from  the  centre  of  the  column  in  order  of  sequence — thus  : 
Sepe/rate  kingdu/m.  a/  o/ 

The  diagram  shown  is  an  extract  from  Baedeker’s  ‘  Belgium  and 
Holland.  ’ 


The  corrected  passage  will  read  as  follows  : — 

At  the  upper  enl  of  the  Petit  Sablon,  a  small 
square  surrounded  by  a  handsome  railing,  rises 
the  Monument  of  Counts  Egmont  and  Hoorn 
(PI.  39)  by  Fraikin,  which  formeily  stood  in 
front  of  the  Maison  du  Roi  (p.  104).  The  lower  part 
is  a  fountain,  above  which  rises  a  square 
pedestal  in  the  later  Gothic  style.  It  contains  a 
choice  picture-gallery. 

Behind  this  is  the  palace,  once  the  resid-.n  e 
of  Count  Egmont,  which  was  damaged  by  fire. 

A  few  houses  above  the  palace,  is  the  prison  ;  a 
monastery  formerly  occupied  this  site. 

The  Index. 

At  one  time  it  fell  to  my  lotto  construct  an  index  of  an  elaborate 
nature  which  with  infinite  toil  was  made  correct.  I  told  Daniel 
Hanbury  of  my  trouble  and  he  said  :  ‘  ‘  Come  and  see  my  index, 
now  in  progress,  of  the  ‘ Pharmacographia.’”  Since  then  I  have 
prepared  many  indexes  and  have  always  followed  his  plan. 

Take  and  label  twenty-six  jars  or  tins  according  to  the  letters  of 
the  alphabet,  and  in  a  narrow-paged  ruled  book,  carefully  write 
the  desired  index  words,  sheet  by  sheet  as  the  book  is  passing 
through  the  press. 

At  your  convenience  cut  these  off  in  slips  and  let  them  drop 
into  their  labelled  receptacles  ;  the  final  set  may  be  taken  from  the 
last  proof-sheet;  till  then  it  is  advisable  to  work  only  from  corrected 
revise  or  an  error  may  creep  in. 

Now  place  the  contents  of  letter  A  upon  a  smooth  polished  table 
and  arrange  them  there.  When  done,  fold  them  up  in  long  rolls 
of  paper  a  little  wider  than  the  slips,  Aa  being  in  the  last,  top 
fold,  Ab  next,  and  so  on  in  like  order.  The  whole  letter  need  not 
be  finally  arranged  at  once,  but  divided  into  say,  a  dozen  sections — - 
for  instance,  Aa  to  Ac  inclusive,  and  these  tied  up  and  put  by  for 
a  more  leisure  hour,  so  as  not  to  interfere  with  other  engagements. 

The  first  letter  of  the  alphabet  befng  complete,  fix  the  slips  upon 
the  pasted  pages  of  a  second  ruled  book  ;  do  not  paste  the  slips. 
No  subsequent  correction  is  required — the  copy  is  in  perfect 
condition  and  ready  for  the  printer’s  hahds.  Proceeding  in  this 
way  it  matters  not  whether  1000  or  10,000  entries  are  concerned  ; 
it  becomes  simply  an  affair  of  more  or  less  time,  not  of  additional 
ill-directed  labour.  S  appears  to  be  the  longest  and  most  difficult 
letter  to  arrange. 

The  Old  Pharmaceutical  Journal. 

The  original  series  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  was  printed 
at  Beaufort  Buildings  in  the  Strand.  It  was  then  a  monthly 
publication  and  the  editor  was  not  distracted  by  producing  it  once 
a  week.  The  leading  articles  were  almost  invariably  written  by 
Jacob  Bell,  who  was  energetically  assisted  by  Dr.  Redwood,  then 
in  the  zenith  of  his  powers  and  a  tower  of  strength.  John 
Barnard  lent  invaluable  and  painstaking  assistance  in  the  general 
compilation ;  Daniel  Hanbury  was  its  most  learned  contributor, 


Apbil  24,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


353 


and  I  had  my  share.  The  Journal  was  “  made  up  ”  at  the  editor’s 
private  house  in  Langham  Place,  just  opposite  the  church,  the 
event  being  solemnised  by  high  tea,  at  which  visitors,  notably 
Edwin  Landseer,  Dallas  of  the  Times  and  others  were  often 
present.  They  retired  as  soon  as  the  five  mentioned  began  their 
work,  each  writer  being  personally  responsible  for  the  press 
corrections  of  his  own  articles. 

The  Printing  Office  was  under  the  proprietorship  of  Charles 
Whiting,  one  of  the  handsomest  men  in  London,  who  before  he 
took  to  printing  was  considered  an  expert  in  the  choice  of  drugs. 
The  office,  which  passed  first  into  the  hands  of  Rimmel,  the 
perfumer,  and  which  now  forms  part  of  the  Savoy  Hotel,  was  not 
invaded  by  any  modern  fittings.  Huge  mahogany  desks  and  high 
stools  constituted  the  sole  furniture,  save  only  an  enormous  stove, 
the  odour  of  which  pervaded  this  department.  An  elderly  person 
called  Birtles — “a  character  in  his  way,”  was  head  clerk  and  general 
factotum.  I  found  him  one  morning  in  despair  for  he  had  received 
a  manuscript  with  Chinese  lettering  and  was  in  doubt  which  side 
up  to  print.  I  suggested,  “  Better  toss  :  heads  one  way  and  tails 
the  other.”  “No,”  he -replied,  “the  writer  I  know,  is  rather 
particular.” 

I  had  myself  a  bad  turn  with  these  same  hieroglyphics  when 
called  upon  to  reprint  ‘  Chinese  Materia  Medica.’  Many  of  the 
blocks  were  temporarily  lost  and  had  to  be  recut — neither  the 
engravers  nor  I  were  on  speaking  terms  with  Celestial  literature. 

From  the  office  a  creaking  staircase,  constructed  on  the  model  of 
a  corkscrew,  led  to  the  machine  room  on  the  top  floor ;  it  overlooked 
the  Thames  and  a  wide  expanse  of  sludge  forming  a  long  coal- 
wharf,  since  converted  into  the  gardens  of  the  Embankment.  One 
corner  of  the  room  was  partitioned  off  for  editorial  purposes  and 
provided  with  a  high  stool  with  four  precarious  legs  requiring 
management  on  the  sitter’s  part. 

There  the  contributors  to  the  Journal  made  their  own  press 
corrections. 

At  first  the  aspect  of  the  place  was  most  confusing,  but  the  eye 
soon  began  to  be  accustomed  to  the  strange  scene  and  the  ear  to 
the  peculiar  cranking  noise  of  the  machines  in  motion.  It  was- 
entirely  hand-printing,  steam  had  not  then  been  introduced  into 
the  establishment.  Printing-works  differ  much  in  the  nature  and 
number  of  mechanical  appliances,  but  about  the  same  impression 
is  produced  upon  a  stranger’s  mind  :  there  at  various  desks  the 
compositors  are  setting  up  the  type,  a  complete  assortment  of 
which  is  called  a  fount.  The  different  letters  are  arranged  in  an 
upper  case,  holding  capitals  and  less  used  sorts  ;  while  a  lower  case 
holds  the  smaller  letters — neither  placed  alphabetically,  but  those 
most  used  being  nearest  the  hand  of  the  compositor. 

The  proportion  is  curious — Chambers  says  that  the  letter  “e” 
requires  12,000  types  ;  “a,”  8500;  “  i,”  “  n,”  “o,”  “s,”  require 
8,000  each  ;  and  “z,”  200. 

My  experience  is  that  “  c  ”  and  “  s  ”  are  the  chief  insertions  in  a 
science  index. 

The  type-letters  are  placed  one  by  one  with  wonderful  dex¬ 
terity  in  the  setting-stick,  a  metal  instrument  regulated  to  any 
width  of  line. 

All  skilled  manual  labour  excites  the  admiration  of  the  looker-on, 
and  this  is  notably  the  case  in  the  composing  room.  When  the 
stick  is  full,  the  type  is  put  into  a  galley,  a  brass  tray  with  wooden 
sides,  about  eighteen  or  twenty  inches  long. 

This  contains,  when  filled,  about  a  page  of  matter  in  one  long 
column,  and  is  then  wedged  tight. 

From  this,  transferred  to  the  printing  press,  a  proof  is  taken, 
read  and  corrected,  and  in  that  state  the  author  gets  his  “  clean 
proof.”  “Display”  means  skilful  arrangement  of  the  lines  or 
spacing  ;  the  made-up  pages  are  locked  in  iron  frames  called 
chases,  from  the  French,  chasse  ;  sets  of  them  are  called  formes,  so 
spelt,  and  the  whole  assortment  is  a  pie.  The  final  correction  is 
entrusted  to  the  “  reader.”  • 

Those  pale  faced  boys  who  wait  about,  are  familiarly  known  as 
printers’  devils  ;  they  fetch  and  carry  and  chase  each  other  up  and 
down  the  stairs  ;  they  used  to  gladden  an  author’s  heart  when  he 
heard  their  welcome  knock  ;  we  are  more  prosaic  now  and  receive 
copy  through  the  post. 

The  reader  at  the  office  is  usually  the  head  printer  who  ‘  ‘  corrects 
for  literals  ”  ;  there  is  also  the  professional  reader  who  undertakes 
press  correction  and  may  have  an  office  of  his  own.  Great 
publishing  firms  are  indebted  to  another  class  of  “  reader”  who  is 
an  accomplished  scholar  and  on  whom  depends  the  acceptance  or 
rejection  of  a  work. 

I  thank  you  for  having  listened  to  all  this.  Every  description  of 


literary  work  is  the  better  for  the  pains  bestowed  upon  its 
composition  even  though  it  be  purely  technical,  and  depend 
chiefly  on  its  matter,  not  its  style. 

An  indolent  habit  may  cause  genius  itself  to  become  latent,  as  gold 
is  hidden  in  the  earth  and  unproductive  till  dug  out  with  labour 
by  the  hand  of  man. 


LEGAL  HINTS  FOR  PHARMACISTS. 

( Continued  from  page  268). 

Medicine  Stamp  Acts. 

The  statutes  relating  to  the  preparation  and  sale  of  medicines 
or  specifics  recommended  for  the  cure  or  alleviation  of  human  ail¬ 
ments  are  both  numerous  and  complex.  They  extend  from  25 
Geo.  Ill,  c.  79,  which  first  gave  legal  recognition  to  the  “secret 
preparation”  industry,  to  38  Viet.,  c.  23,  which,  by  reducing  the 
licence  duty  to  five  shillings,  encouraged  the  multiplication  of 
makers  and  vendors,  and  paved  the  way  for  the  subsequent  enor¬ 
mous  development  of  the  public  taste  for  nostrums.  Perhaps  no 
series  of  statutes  is  so  misunderstood  as  the  Medicine  Stamp 
Acts.  They  are  rarely  even  referred  to  correctly,  and  a  stamped 
medicine  is  nine  times  out  of  ten  popularly,  and  more  often  than 
not  officially,  described  and  known  as  a  “  patent”  medicine.  That 
there  is  no  statutory  or  legal  authority  for  the  practice  has  been 
pretty  conclusively  shown  by  the  judgments  in  Pharmaceutical 
Society  v.  Piper  and  Pharmaceutical  Society  v.  Fox,  which  defined 
the  meaning  of  the  words  “patent  medicines  ”  in  Section  16  of  the 
Pharmacy  Act,  1868,  to  be,  to  put  it  succinctly,  medi¬ 
cines  prepared  under  the  authority  of  a  patent  in  force. 
Why  the  term  ‘  ‘  patent  ”  should  have  been  bestowed  upon 
stamped  nostrums  now  seems  incomprehensible  ;  for  the 
compulsory  affixing  of  an  ad  valorem  stamp  to  a  preparation 
cannot  reasonably  lead  any  maker  or  vendor  to  suppose  that  he 
thereby  acquires  the  privileges  accorded  by  the  Patents  Acts.  Nor 
can  it  be  claimed  that  the  stamp  duty  only  applies  to  medicinal 
preparations  for  which  Letters  Patent  have  been  granted.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  patenting  is  only  one  of  the  causes  which  bring 
medicines  under  liability  to  duty.  The  indiscriminate  use  of 
“  patent  ”  and  “  proprietary  ”  as  synonymous  terms  is  doubtless  a 
survival  of  what  was,  at  the  time  of  the  first  Stamp  Act  in  1783, 
the  fittest  description  of  the  medicines  chargeable.  That  Act  in 
effect,  though  not  in  intention,  taxed  little  else  but  medicines  sold 
by  virtue  of  Letters  Patent,  and  it  might  with  good  reason  have 
been  styled  a  Patent  Medicine  Act.  It  remained  in  operation, 
however,  for  two  years  only,  and  gave  place  to  the  Act  25  Geo.  III. , 
c.  79,  which  greatly  enlarged  the  incidence  of  the  duty  and 
removed  all  ground  for  using  the  word  “patent”  as  a  generic 
term  to  describe  stamped  medicines.  There  can  be  little 
doubt,  however,  that  the  confusion  of  terms  has  operated 
largely  in  favour  of  the  nostrum  proprietor,  and  in  the  present 
day  a  large  portion  of  the  public  regards  the  Government  stamp 
as  implying  some  sort  of  guarantee  of  the  purity  or  efficacy  of  the 
preparation  it  envelopes,  notwithstanding  the  official  disclaimer  on 
the  stamp  itself. 

In  dealing  with  the  medicine  stamp  and  licence  duties  one  finds 
considerable  difficulty  in  the  way  of  systematising  the  mass  of 
details  connected  with  the  subject.  Partaking  of  the  nature  of 
grammatical  rules,  the  hardest  portion  of  which  are  the  exceptions, 
the  Medicine  Stamp  Acts  present  many  problems  in  their  exemp¬ 
tions  and  qualified  exemptions  which  might  afford  reasonable 
scope  for  the  acumen  of  the  proverbial  Philadelphia  lawyer.  We 
propose  as  the  most  comprehensive  method  of  placing  the  subject 
before  our  readers  to  first  define  the  stamp  duty,  then  to  deal  with 
the  licence  imposed  upon  those  who  make  or  sell  medicines 
charged  with  duty,  and  finally  to  discuss  statutory  liability,  the 
practice  of  the  Revenue  Department,  and  the  various  exemptions 
at  present  recognised. 

Stamp  Duty. — No  better  description  of  the  duty  can  be  given 
than  that  expressed  in  the  Schedule  to  44  Geo.  III. ,  c.  98. 


“For  and  upon  every  Packet,  Box,  Bottle,  Pot,  Phial,  or  other  Inclosure  con 
taining  any  Drugs,  Herbs,  Pills,  Waters,  Essences,  Tinctures,  Powders,  or  other 
Preparation  or  Composition  whatsoever  used  or  applied  or  to  be  used  or  applied 
externally  or  internally  as  Medicines  or  Medicaments  for  the  Prevention,  Cure, 
or  Relief  of  any  Disorder  or  Complaint  incident  to  or  in  any  wise .  affecting  the 
Human  Body,  which  shall  be  uttered  or  vended  in  Great  Britain  where  such 
Packet,  Box,  Bottle,  Pot,  Phial,  or  other  Inclosure  with  its  Contents  shall  not 
exceed  the  Price  or  Value  of  One  Shilling . - .  £0  0  1£ 


$.  cl.  8,  d . 

Shall  exceed  1  0  and  not  exceed  2  6  .  0  0  3 

„  2  6  „  4  0  . - .  0  0  6 


354 


PHARMACEUTICAL  journal. 


[April  24,  1897 


s.  d.  s.  d.  £,  s.  d. 

Shall  exceed  4  0  and  not  exceed  10  0  . «...  0  1  0 

„  10  0  „  20  0  . .  0  2  0 

„  20  0  „  SO  0  0  3  0 

„  30  0  „  50  0  0  10  0 

„  50  0  .  1  0  0 


Any  person  selling  without  a  stamp  any  article  contemplated 
by  the  foregoing  is  liable  to  a  fine  of  £10,  and  it  will  be  no 
defence  for  him  to  urge  that  he  is  a  licensed  vendor.  Ordinary 
adhesive  stamps  must  not  be  used,  the  proper  stamps  being 
obtainable  at  Somerset  House.  The  stamp  must  be  so  affixed  to 
the  inclosure  containing  the  medicine  chargeable  with  duty,  that 
the  contents  cannot  be  reached  without  tearing  the  official  label 
and  rendering  it  incapable  of  further  use. 

The  ideaof  the  Inland  Revenuegranting  a  discount  for  cash  may  be 
startling,  but  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  persons  purchasing  at  one 
time  £30  worth  and  upwards  of  medicine  stamps  may  claim  a 
discount  of  1  per  cent.  Spoiled  unused  stamps  may  be  exchanged 
for  new  ones  under  certain  conditions  and  subject  to  formalities 
necessary  to  safeguard  the  Revenue  from  fraud.  Those  desirous 
of  effecting  such  an  exchange  must  apply  to  Somerset  House,  and 
should  state  in  the  application  full  particulars  of  their  claim.  The 
exchange  is  always  effected  in  kind  for  the  Commissioners  are  not 
empowered  to  make  any  payment  in  respect  of  defaced  or  spoiled 
stamps  returned  to  them. 

Licence  Duty. — Every  person  in  Great  Britain  who  is  the  pro¬ 
prietor,  maker,  or  compounder  of  any  drug,  preparation,  or  com¬ 
position  used  or  to  be  applied  in  any  way  for  the  prevention 
or  relief  of  any  disorder  or  complaint  incident  or  in  anywise 
affecting  the  human  body,  must  take  out  an  excise  licence.  The 
same  compulsion  attaches  to  every  person  vending  or  exposing,  or 
even  keeping  for  sale  any  of  the  articles  above  described.  The 
licence  costs  5s.,  and  expires  on  September  1  of  each  year.  It  is 
dated  the  day  it  is  issued,  but  a  whole  year’s  duty  is  always 
charged,  though  the  period  covered  may,  in  the  case  of  a  person 
commencing  business,  be  for  a  term  less  than  a  year.  The 
licence  is  transferable  to  a  successor  in  business,  and  the  licencee 
is  not,  as  in  the  case  of  methylated  spirits  or  stills,  subject  to  have 
his  premises  entered  and  surveyed .  A  person  vending  or  exposing  for 
sale  in  several  shops  must  possess  a  licence  in  respect  of  each  shop. 
A  licence  is  not  now  issued  in  respect  of  vehicles  from  which 
medicines  are  sold.  The  penalty  for  selling  without  a  licence  is 
£20. 

Liability. — “What  constitutes  liability?”  is  a  question  often 
asked,  and  is  not  very  easy  of  response.  It  might  indeed  seem 
rather  less  arduous  to  effect  a  negative  definition  by  specifying 
what  does  not  constitute  liability,  for  the  statutory  definition  is 
capable  of  very  wide  application.  It  is  only  fair  to  the 
authorities,  however,  to  say  that  far  from  pushing  the  interpreta¬ 
tion  of  the  law  to  its  extreme  limits  they  rarely  employ  to  the 
full  the  powers  they  possess.  The  statutory  definition  of  the 
grounds  for  liability  may  be  summarised  under  four  heads  : — 

(a)  Secrecy  or  specialty  in  preparation. 

(b)  Proprietary  right. 

(c)  Patent  right. 

(d)  Recommendation. 

(a)  Secrecy  or  Specialty. — A  medicine  for  which  there  is 
advanced  a  claim  to  any  secret  or  special  art  in  the  preparation 
is  chargeable  with  duty,  and  the  vendor  of  such  an  article  must 
take  out  the  Excise  licence.  It  is  quite  immaterial  whether  there 
be  or  not  any  foundation  for  the  claim,  nor  does  it  follow  that  such 
claim  must  be  specifically  advanced  in  words  to  make  it  valid 
under  this  heading.  It  is  rarely  the  case  now  that  the  ‘  ‘  occult 
secret  ”  is  more  than  implied,  but  implication  is  quite  sufficient. 
Take  a  supposititious  case.  “The  Bloomsbury  Cough  Linctus ” 
would  be  liable  inasmuch  as  the  words  would  be  open  to  the  con¬ 
struction  that  the  preparation  was  compounded  after  a  special 
recipe.  The  same  interpretation  may  be  given  when 
such  words  as  “  beware  of  imitations,”  “  see  that  the 
signature  X  is  on  the  box,”  and  so  forth,  are  employed,  for 
such  directions  would  be  meaningless  separated  from  the  conception 
of  special  art  or  care  in  making  ;  in  fact,  the  object  of  the  words 
appearing  is  to  convey  to  the  public  that  the  medicine  is  a  specialty 
possessing  superior  merit  to  similar  preparations  made  after  the 
ordinary  formula,  and  liability  therefore  ensues.  The  schedule  to 
the  Act  52,  Geo.  III.,  c.  150,  gives  many  examples  of  medicinal 
substances  which  are  chargeable  under  this  heading.  As  typical 
cases  may  be  cited  “American  alterative  pills,”  “Andalusian 
water,”  “Arabian  balsam,”  “Balm  of  Mecca,”  “Dutch  drops,” 


“Gardener’s  ointment,”  “  Orme’s  medicine,”  etc.,  etc.,  all  of 
which  imply  secrecy  either  as  to  the  ingredients  or  to  the  mode 
of  compounding,  or  to  both.  Geographical  names  are  thus  potent 
factors  in  bringing  the  medicines  they  refer  to  within  the  scope 
of  the  duty.  Fancy  titles  are  open  to  the  same  objection  though 
from  a  somewhat  different  cause.  The  title  may  or  may  not  be 
registered  as  a  trade  mark.  If  it  is,  it  will  have  no  reference  to 
the  character  or  quality  of  the  medicine  and  will  not  be  a 
geographical  name,  otherwise  it  would  not,  under  Section  64  of  the 
Patents,  Designs,  and  Trade  Marks  Act,  1883,  be  registerable  at  all. 
What  would  be  the  use  of  such  a  mark  to  a  “  patent”  medicine 
vendor  without  the  addition  of  either  specific  words  to  attract 
attention  to  the  special  value  of  what  he  has  to  sell,  or  of  some 
distinctive  design  or  device  otherwise  explaining  its  virtues  ?  It 
is  precisely  such  additions  which  bring  liability  to  duty.  On 
the  other  hand,  if  the  fancy  word  is  not  registered  it  most 
probably  bears  words  self-explanatory  of  the  curative  power 
of  the  medicine,  or  it  carries  the  implication  of  special-  art 
in  the  making,  otherwise  its  suitability  from  a  commercial  point  of 
view  would  be  open  to  doubt.  Registration  of  a  trade  mark  for  a 
medicine  is  very  apt  indeed  to  make  the  medicine  liable  under 
one  or  other  of  the  heads  of  chargeability,  for  registration  involves 
a  public  advertisement  of  the  mark,  and  considerable  ingenuity 
would  have  to  be  exercised  to  steer  clear  of  the  “  recommendation  ” 
rock  of  liability.  Moreover,  consider  the  effect  of  registration.  It 
confers  an  exclusive  right  of  user  in  respect  of  the  mark  registered 
— a  protected  proprietorship,  assignable  and  transmissible  like  any 
other  commercial  asset.  Now  the  idea  of  exclusive  right  in  a  mark 
is  very  little  removed  from  the  assumption  of  proprietary  right  in 
the  article  sold  under  it,  and  in  actual  practice  it  is  found  that  very 
little  enterprise  on  the  part  of  the  vendor  is  necessary  to  render  the 
two  things  identical.  Broadly  speaking,  then,  geographical  and 
fancy  names  should  be  eschewed.  Another  phase  of  the  claim  to'the 
occult  is  the  use  of  celebrated  names  in  the  possessive  case.  The 
following  label  would  be  liable  under  two  heads 

Dr.  Hunter’s  Liver  Mixture. 

Wm.  Jones,  Chemist, 

London. 

Firstly  it  implies  that  the  remedy  is  compounded  after  a  special 
recipe,  and  secondly  it  might  be  taken  to  convey  that  Jones  had 
some  proprietory  right  in  Hunter’s  formula.  Jones  would, 
however,  escape  liability  if  he  stated  on  the  label  the  ingredients 
of  the  preparation,  for  by  so  doing  he  would  no  longer  be  open  to 
the  charge  of  claiming  any  occult  secret  or  art  in  the  making 
thereof. 

THE  LIMITATIONS  OF  STANDARDISATION. 

Wherever  medicinal  action  obtains  with  a  vegetable  drug  the 
soluble  principles  of  the  latter  are  the  therapeutically  active  ones, 
and  while  all  the  soluble  principles  are  not  necessarily  of  thera¬ 
peutic  worth,  it  is  impossible,  in  the  immature  condition  of 
rational  therapeutics  as  to  the  relative  values  of  different  drug 
extractives,  to  say  that  any  given  extractive  is  inert  or  without 
medicinal  activity.  Clinical  evidence,  and  not  chemical,  determines 
the  actual  therapeutic  worth  of  a  drug  and  its  preparations.  The 
action  of  a  drug,  in  modifying  the  contents  of  a  diseased  tissue, 
modifies  one  or  all  three  cellular  activities,  nutritive,  functional 
and  reproductive.  The  functional  activities,  being  the  most 
obvious,  have  been  the  most  studied  by  therapeutists.  Indeed 
the  modern  description  of  drug  action  is  almost  wholly  limited  to 
a  description  of  the  functional  disturbances  caused  by  its  use. 
And  yet,  what  is  as  important,  the  modifying  influence  of  drugs 
upon  the  nutritive  and  reproductive  activities  of  cells  in  disease, 
has  received  relatively  little  attention.  Until  this  be  done,  no 
complete  knowledge  can  be  had  of  drug  action  in  human  tissues. 

Many  of  the  larger  manufacturers  lay  great  stress  upon  the 
fact  that  the  more  poisonous  fluid  extracts  made  by  them  have 
been  standardised  to  contain  a  given  amount  of  so-called  active 
principle,  and  one  might  infer  from  the  claims  made  for  such  fluid 
extracts  that  these  principles  represented  the  entire  therapeutic 
activities  of  drugs.  No  claim  could  be  further  from  the  truth. 
The  so-called  active  principles  of  a  drug  represent  their  individual 
therapeutical  actions  only,  and  nothing  more.  The  entire  thera¬ 
peutic  effect  of  a  drug  can  only  be  had  from  the  drug  itself,  or  a 
preparation  containing  all  the  therapeutically  active  principles  of 
the  drug.  Hence,  from  a  therapeutical  point  of  view,  for  example, 
aconitine,  digitalin,  strychnine,  brucine  and  quinine,  represent 
their  individual  actions  only,  and  not  the  therapeutic  actions  of  all 


April  24,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


355 


the  constituents  found  with  them.  The  proportion  of  the  so-called 
active  principle  is  no  index  of  the  proportion  of  the  other 
proximate  constituents  of  the  drug.  As  a  rule,  the  content  of 
alkaloid  is  simply  an  indication  of  the  amount  of  that  proximate 
principle  of  the  drug  which  produces  the  greatest  functional 
disturbance  in  cellular  tissues. 

The  value  of  standardised  fluid  extracts  over  those  not  standard¬ 
ised,  in  actual  medical  practice,  has  been  much  exaggerated.  The 
fluid  extracts  that  are  usually  standardised  by  the  manufacturers 
and  not  by  the  Pharmacopoeia,  are  those  of  aconite  root,  belladonna 
leaves,  coca,  colchicum  root,  colchicum  seed,  conium  fruit,  digitalis 
leaves,  gelsemium,  hyoscyamus  and  the  like.  .When  the  physician 
exhibits  these  fluid  extracts  clinically,  what  does  he  do  ?  He  gives 
the  preparation  in  small  and  gradually  increasing  doses,  until  he 
gets  full  physiological  effects,  and  then  he  stops  the  drug.  Now, 
wlSit  practical  difference  to  the  physician  does  a  slight  variation  in 
the  proportion  of  the  so-called  active  principle  make  ? — especially 
in  view  of  the  fact  that,  with  the  possible  exception  of  preparations 
of  cinchona,  nux  vomica,  opium  and  one  or  two  others,  every 
manufacturer  is  a  law  unto  himself  regarding  the  strength  of 
standard  adopted,  and  the  manner  of  following  that  standard, 
which  is  fully  as  important  as  the  matter.  True,  many  manu¬ 
facturers  apparently  adopt  the  same  standard,  but  they  reserve  for 
themselves  the  right  of  using  what  working  details  of  assay  they 
wish-  In  the  immature  condition  of  drug  assay,  it  is  well  known 
that  variable  results  are  obtainable  with  many  drugs  with  the 
same  processes  as  worked  by  different  persons,  due  probably,  in 
some  cases,  to  the  difficulty  of  getting  the  final  products  pure. 

Scores  of  modifications  in  the  working  details  of  processes  of 
drug  assay  have  been  recommended  in  the  last  few  years  in  the 
pharmaceutical  prints,  many  of  them  from  the  laboratories  of 
manufacturers.  It  is  obvious  that,  in  the  opinion  of  their  authors, 
these  changes  must  have  been  improvements,  or  they  would  not 
have  been  recommended,  and  they  have  probably  been  adopted  by 
some  firms.  But,  in  the  absence  of  any  general  agreement,  it  is 
hardly  reasonable  to  believe  that  all  recommendations  for  changes 
in  processes  of  assay  have  been  adopted  by  manufacturers,  and 
thus  we  may  have  the  same  processes  in  use  by  different  manu¬ 
facturers  with  varying  modifications  in  working  details,  and  of 
course  yielding  variable  results.  Until  manufacturers  of  fluid 
extracts  not  standardised  by  the  Pharmacopoeia,  but  standardised 
by  themselves,  get  together  and  agree  upon  the  working  details 
of  their  processes  of  assay,  the  commercial  standardised  fluid 
extracts  will  not  be  uniform  in  content  of  active  principles. 

As  it  is  not  pracoicable  for  the  average  physician  to  specify,  in 
his  prescriptions,  the  make  of  one  particular  manufacturer,  nor 
practicable  for  the  retail  pharmacist  to  keep  all  makes  of  stan¬ 
dardised  fluid  extracts,  it  is  idle  to  over-estimate  their  importance. 

Perhaps  the  strongest  example  of  standardisation  run  mad  is  to 
be  found  in  the  commercial  attempts  made  to  standardise  fluid 
extract  of  digitalis.  Here  is  a  drug  for  which  no  practicable 
method  of  assay  has  yet  been  found,  even  with  years  of  chemical 
research.  This  does  not  deter  manufacturers.  They  simply  assume 
certain  standards  of  extractive,  and  claim  that  the  drug  is  stan¬ 
dardised,  despite  the  fact  that  the  percentage  of  extractive  varies 
with  the  alcoholic  strength  of  menstruum  used  to  exhaust  the 
drug,  and  the  extractive  may  contain  some  or  but  little  of  the 
active  principles,  or  it  may  contain  none.  One  manufacturer  mar¬ 
kets  his  fluid  extract  of  digitalis,  and  says  that  his  standard  is  20 
per  cent,  extractive  (strength  of  menstruum  not  given) ;  another 
has  as  his  standard  fully  25  per  cent. ,  with  a  75  per  cent,  alcoholic 
menstruum  ;  another  has  as  his  standard  30  per  cent,  (strength  of 
menstruum  not  given).  Here  is  a  difference  in  extreme  limits  of 
50  per  cent,  between  the  strongest  and  the  weakest  extractives, 
and  the  difference  is  more  than  this  if  the  first-named  and  the  last- 
named  fluid  extract  have  had  used  for  their  making  weakly  alco¬ 
holic  menstrua. 

Now,  what  happens?  The  retail  druggist  may  have  prescrip¬ 
tions  calling  for  all  these  makes  of  this  fluid  extract.  Suppose  that 
he  makes  his  tincture  extemporaneously  from  the  fluid  extract. 
One  day  a  prescription  for  the  tincture  may  be  made  from  the 
20  per  cent,  product,  the  next  day  from  the  30  per  cent,  product, 
and  the  next  day  from  the  25  per  cent,  product.  Is  there  unifor¬ 
mity  in  this  ?  And  would  a  tincture  made  from  good  selected 
digitalis  leaf,  by  the  retail  pharmacist  himself,  vary  as  greatly  as 
these  commercial  fluid  extracts,  diluted  with  alcohol  and  water  ? 

While  an  exaggeration  of  the  value  of  drug  assay  is  to  be  depre¬ 
cated,  it  is  equally  unjust  to  ignore  its  growing  importance.  A 
great  amount  of  valuable  work  has  been  done  in  recent  years,  but 


far  more  remains  to  be  done,  especially  with  regard  to  the  clinical 
value  of  different  proximate  principles  of  plants  in  disease  treat¬ 
ment. — Alumni  Report. 


PHARMACEUTICAL  SOCIETY. 


EXAMINATIONS  IN  EDINBURGH. 

April,  1897. 

■v  _ 

MAJOR  EXAMINATION. 


Candidates  examined .  5 

,,  failed .  4 

„  passed .  1 

Rattray,  David  Smith. 

MINOR  EXAMINATION. 

Candidates  examined  .  180 

,,  failed . .. .  129 

,,  passed  .  51 


Ashdown,  William  Percy  Charles. 
Bain,  James. 

Bell,  Henry  Robert  Kerr. 

Bowell,  Horace  James  Whitney. 
Bowman,  Alexander  Nasmyth. 
Cheyne,  William  Alexander. 
Chrystall,  Robert. 

Cockshott,  Frederick. 

Dannatt,  Philip. 

Davies,  David  Arthur. 

Douglas,  J ames  Forrest  Reid. 
Duncan,  Hubert. 

Duncan,  John. 

Emsley,  Robert  Bums. 

England,  Herbert. 

Fairbairn,  James  Hume. 

Forster,  William. 

Gee,  James  Edwin. 

Gilchrist,  Adam. 

Gordon,  David. 

Graham,  Margaret  Thompson. 
Grayson,  Joseph. 

Griffiths,  Arthur  Valentine. 
Guthrie,  James  Strachan. 
Heraughty,  Thomas. 

Wade, 


Hirst,  Frederick  Beaumont. 
Hodgson,  Baron  Cuthhert. 
Hodgson,  John  Birtwell. 
Holland,  George  Arthur. 
Innes,  William  Rome. 

Jack,  William. 

McBride,  Alexander. 
McLaren,  Arthur. 

Marshall,  Richard  Harrison. 
Maxwell,  John. 

Milne,  Hamilton. 

Moss,  George  Henry. 

Officer,  Cohn. 

Patterson,  John. 

Piggin,  Leonard  William. 
Pilgrim,  Walter  Ernest. 
Pilkington,  John,  jun. 

Reid,  Alexander. 

Robertson,  David  Smart. 
Robinson,  Charles. 

Rollin,  Arthur  Stanley. 
Sharpies,  Robert. 

Speedy,  William. 

Spence,  Thomas. 

Thomson,  Charles. 

Margaret  Callander. 


NOTES  AND  FORMULA. 


Lanolin  Cold  Cream. 

Lanolin,  ^iv.  ;  vaselin  alb.,  ,fij.  ;  lanolin  soap,  ^iv.  ;  aquas  rosaa, 
^iv.  Dissolve  soap  in  rose  water,  melt  the  two  other  ingredients, 
stir  in  the  solution,  and  continue  stirring  until  cold. — Brit.  Joum. 
Derm.,  ix.,  69. 


Permanent  Camphor  Powder. 

Schmidt  proposes  dissolving  the  camphor  in  benzin  with  a  boil¬ 
ing  point  below  80°  C. ,  putting  it  in  a  distilling  apparatus  and 
heating  until  the  liquid  passes  over.  On  cooling,  the  camphor  pre¬ 
cipitates  in  the  form  of  a  fine  white  powder,  which  separates  by 
filtration.  This  powder  will  not  pack  or  run  together  at  ordinary 
temperatures. — Pharm.  Era,  xviii.,  140. 


Tubercule  Bacilli  in  Butter. 

Tubercule  bacilli  may  be  separated  from  butter  by  melting  5  g. 
of  butter,  at  50°  in  a  test  tube,  shaking  through  with  warm  water, 
closing  the  tube  with  an  india-rubber  cork,  allowing  it  to  stand 
upside  down.  After  cooling  the  bacilli  will  be  found  in  the  water. 
— Pharm.  Centralh.,  xxxviii.,  45. 


New  Mown  Hay. 

01.  bergam. ,  l-8  ;  otto,  0-15  ;  ol.  neroli,  0'1  ;  ol.  lavandulse,  0’1  ; 
ol.  caryoph.,  0'05  ;  rhiz  iridis  flor.,  10'0;  fab.  tonca  cons.,  5'0  ;  fol. 
patchouli,  0'2  ;  fol.  urticas,  2  0  ;  acid  benzoic,  0 '5 ;  vanillin,  0 '5  ; 
spir.  vini,  200. — Zeit,  d.  allcj.  rest.  Apoth.  Verein,  31. 


356 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Apeil  24, 1897. 


THE  STUDENTS’  PAGE. 


SOME  NOTES  ON  CRYPTOGAMS. 

HEPATICiE. 

The  male  organs  or  antheridia,  as  a  rule,  are  produced  separately 
from  the  female  or  archegonia,  in  some  instances  on  the  same 
plants,  in  others  not.  In  certain  species,  however,  the  antheridia 
and  archegonia  may  be  found  intermingled  in  the  same  perianth. 

In  the  foliose  Hepatic*  the  female  reproductive  organs  generally 
occupy  the  end  of  the  primary  axis  or  special  lateral  branches 
(Fig.  1),  whilst  the  male  ones,  as  a  rule,  are  found  in  the  axils  of 


Fig.  1. — Radula  complanata. — A,  fruit ;  B,  fruit  after  dehiscence,  showing  the 
four  valves  (magnified)  ;  C,  colesule  or  perianth,  within  which  may  he  seen  the 
calyptra  (D)  ;  E,  stem  and  leaves  magnified,  showing  the  adpressed  inferior  lobe. 

leaves,  either  singly  or  in  groups.  Each  antheridium  consists  of 
a  globose  or  oval  body  surmounting  a  short  pedicel.  The  body  of 


Fig.  2.— Radula  complanata.— F  and  G,  spores  and  bispiral  elaters  of  same 
(magnified). 

the  antheridium  encloses  within  it  the  mother  cells  of  the  anthero- 
zoids.  When  mature  these  escape  on  access  of  water  and  separate, 
when  the  antherozoids  soon  become  free. 

The  female  organs  or  archegonia  are  enclosed  surrounded  by  a 
few  modified  leaves  or  bracts,  forming  the  perichaAium.  The 
archegonia  vary  in  number  from  three  to  ten,  of  which  only  one 


D 


Fig.  3.— Marchantia  polymorpha. — A,  male  frond ;  B,  female  frond,  showing  the 
reproductive  organs  on  stalked  receptacles,  and  gemmae  in  circular  raised  cups  ; 
D,  magnified  gemma  of  same. 

or  two  become  fertilised  and  develop  into  fruit.  After  the 
appearance  of  the  archegonia  a  cellular  ring  is  formed  around  them 
and  grows  into  a  perianth  or  colesule,  which,  when  fully  developed, 


encloses  them,  ultimately  appearing  above  the  perichsetial  leaves. 
The  perianth  differs  considerably  in  different  species,  as  will  be 
seen  from  the  examples  figured. 

The  archegonium  becomes  developed  into  a  sporogonium, 
with  a  rudimentary  pedicel  enclosed  in  a  membrane  attached 
at  the  base,  and  called  the  calyptra.  When  ruptured  by  the 
upward  growth  of  the  sporogonium  it  remains  in  the  perianth 
surrounding  the  base  of  the  fruit-stalk  (Fig.  4).  The  sporogonium 


Fig.  4. — Pellia  epiphylla,  showing  fruit  produced  in  the  upper  surface  of  the 
frond ;  A,  globose  capsule  ;  B,  same  after  dehiscence  ;  C,  perianth  ;  D,  exserted 
calyptra. 

or  capsule  now  soon  appears  above  the  edge  of  the  perianth  in  the 
form  of  a  globose  or  ellipsoid  head,  which  soon  splits  into  valves, 
setting  free  the  contained  spores  and  some  of  the  elaters  (spiral 
threads)  (Fig.  2). 

In  the  frondose  Hepatic*  or  Liverworts  the  antheridia  are 
imbedded  in  the  fronds,  or  in  specially-stalked  receptacles,  whilst 
the  female  receptacle  is  usually  stalked,  and  the  expanded  apex  is 
lobed  in  various  ways,  or  the  archegonia  are  produced  on  the  lower 
surface  of  the  receptacle,  or  in  the  upper  surface  of  the  frond  as 
the  case  may  be  (Figs.  3  and  4). 

NOTES  ON  THE  B.P. 

Cupri  Sulphas. — When  copper  is  heated  with  strong  sulphuric 
acid  (it  has  no  action  on  dilute  sulphuric  acid),  copper  sulphate  is 
formed,  but  the  hydrogen  displaced  is  not  evolved  (as  it  is  when 
zinc  acts  upon  dilute  sulphuric  acid),  since  the  hot  strong  acid  is 
reduced  by  nascent  hydrogen  with  formation  of  water  and 
sulphurous  acid.  The  latter  at  the  temperature  employed  is 
decomposed  into  sulphurous  anhydride  (sulphur  dioxide),  S02,  and 
water. 

(i.)  Cu  +  H„S04  =  CuS04  +  H,. 

(ii.)  H2S04  +  H2  =  H90  +  HoSO,. 

(iii. )  H2S03  =  HaO  +  S02. 

The  reduction  of  the  sulphuric  acid  may  even  result  in  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  sulphuretted  hydrogen — 

H2S04  +  8H  =  H2S  +  4H20, 

and  the  sulphuretted  hydrogen  precipitates  black  copper  sulphide 
from  some  of  the  previously-formed  sulphate— 

CuS04  +  H2S  =  CuS  +  H2S04. 

The  presence  of  small  quantities  of  iron  as  impurity  cannot  be 
detected  by  the  usual  test  for  iron — ferrocyanide  of  potassium, 
since  the  blue  would  be  masked  by  the  red  copper  ferrocyanide. 
Chlorine  is  added  to  convert  ferrous  into  ferric  salt,  and  on  the 
addition  of  ammonia  ferric  hydrate  will  be  precipitated,  the  cupric 
hydrate  re-dissolving  in  excess  of  ammonia. 

Decoctum  Aloes  Compositum. — The  carbonate  of  potassium 
aids  the  solution  of  the  extract  of  aloes  and  myrrh.  This  decoc¬ 
tion  requires  carefully  watching  as  it  froths  a  good  deal  and 
readily  boils  over.  The  tincture  of  cardamoms  serves  the  double 
purpose  of  carminative  and  preservative,  and  is  added  to  the 
cooled  decoction  to  avoid  loss  of  aroma  and  alcohol.  Alkaline 
solutions  of  aloes  are  said  to  lose  their  activity  by  exposure  to  air, 
hence  the  precaution  enjoined  in  the  last  paragraph  of  the  official 
directions. 

Decoctum  Cinchona. — Water  only  partially  exhausts  cinchona, 
a  considerable  quantity  of  alkaloid  being  left  in  the  marc.  The 
decoction  is,  however,  largely  used  when  a  mild  tonic  preparation 
of  cinchona  is  desired,  particularly  in  irritable  or  weak  conditions 
of  the  stomach,  when  acid  preparations  like  the  infusion  or  the 
nauseous  fluid  extract  would  not  be  tolerated.  During  cooling  the 
decoction  deposits  a  quantity  of  amorphous,  chiefly  colouring, 
matter,  having  no  medicinal  or  alkaloidal  value  ;  hence  the  direc¬ 
tions  to  strain  when  cold  so  as  to  remove  this  inert  deposit,  which 
would  render  the  decoction  unsightly. 


April  24,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


ESTABLISHED  1841. 

Editorial  Office:  17,  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.C. 
Publishing  and  Advertising  Office :  5,  SERLE  STREET,  W.C. 


LONDON  :  SATURDAY,  APRIL  24,  1897. 


AN  ANTICIPATION  OF  DARWIN  AND  WEISMANN. 

Great  ideas  and  novel  theories  frequently  suggest  them¬ 
selves  to  many  minds  before  they  assume  definite  shape  and 
are  published  to  the  world,  hut  probably  no  more  striking 
instance  of  this  has  occurred  than  that  which  serves 
Professor  E.  B.  Poulton  as  a  text,  in  the  current  issue  of 
Science  Progress.  James  Cowles  Prichard,  a  Bristol 
physician,  who  was  horn  in  1786,  appears,  according  to  the 
account  now  published,  to  have  anticipated  modern  views  on 
evolution  to  a  remarkable  extent.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Society  of  Eriends,  and  his  contributions  to  science  were  of 
such  value  that  he  is  regarded  as  the  great  pioneer  of  modern 
anthropological  and  ethnological  research.  Amongst  other 
achievements,  he  was  able  to  prove  “  that  the  Celtic  nations 
are  allied  by  language  with  the  Slavonian,  German,  and  Pelas- 
gian  (Greek  and  Latin),  thus  forming  a  fourth  European  branch 
of  the  Asiatic  stock  (which  would  now  be  called  Indo- 
European  or  Aryan).”  But  observes  Professor  Poulton, 
although  Prichard’s  memory  is  much  honoured,  it  appears 
that  in  one  important  respect  he  has  not  hitherto  received 
his  due,  as  in  the  second  edition  of  his  ‘  Researches  into  the 
Physical  History  of  Mankind/  he  seems  to  have  anticipated 
in  the  dearest  manner  the  arguments  which  have  recently 
been  advanced  by  Weismann  in  favour  of  the  non- trans¬ 
mission  of  acquired  characters.  More  than  this,  he 
apprehended  with  perfect  clearness  the  fact  that  domesticated 
races  of  animals  and  plants  have  been  produced  by  the 
selection  of  man,  and  not  by  favourable  surroundings, 
careful  training,  or  cultivation.  He  believed  in  the  possibility 
of  organic  evolution,  and  supported  it  by  excellent  arguments 
which  still  have  the  strongest  weight.  “  He  even  recognised 
the  operation  of  natural  selection,  although  he  assigned  to  it 
a  subordinate  role”  But  what  is  described  as  being  his 
most  important  anticipation  is  a  masterly  discussion  on  the 
transmission  of  acquired  characters,  “  a  discussion  in  which 
the  distinction  between  acquired  and  inherent  or  congenital 
characters  is  clearly  drawn,  and  many  of  the  most  difficult 
cases  are  fully  argued  out,  the  conclusions  reached  being 
those  independently  arrived  at  by  Professor  Weismann  over 
half  a  century  later.” 

In  discussing  the  causes  which  have  given  rise  to  varieties 
in  the  human  species,  Prichard  says  it  appears  to  be  a  general 
fact  that  “  all  connate  varieties  of  structure,  or  peculiarities 
which  are  congenital,  or  which  form  a  part  of  the  natural  con¬ 
stitution  impressed  on  an  individual  from  his  birth,  or  rather 
fiom  the  commencement  of  his  organisation,  whether  they 
happen  to  descend  to  him  from  a  long  inheritance,  or  to 
spring  up  for  the  first  time  in  his  own  person — for  this  is 
perhaps  altogether  indifferent — are  apt  to  re-appear  in  his 


357 


offspring.”  To  express  the  matter  in  other  words,  the  organisa¬ 
tion  of  the  offspring  is  always  modelled  according  to  the 
type  of  the  original  structure  of  the  parent.”  Prichard 
further  states  that,  ‘ 1  On  the  other  hand,  changes 
produced  by  external  causes  in  the  appearance  or  consti¬ 
tution  of  the  individual  are  temporary,  and,  in  general, 
acquired  characters  are  transient ;  they  terminate  with 
the  individual,  and  have  no  influence  on  the  progeny.” 
It  is  noted  that  the  second  conclusion  is  more  difficult  to 
establish  than  the  first,  since  the  proofs  must  needs  be  of  a 
negative  kind.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  continued,  there  is 
no  want  of  evidence  of  this  description,  and  emphasis  is  laid 
upon  what  “  seems  to  be  the  law  of  the  animal  economy,” 
that  the  organisation  of  the  offspring,  which  follows  the  type 
given  by  the  natural  and  original  structure  of  the  parent,  is 
unaffected  by  any  change  the  latter  may  have  undergone, 
and  uninfluenced  by  any  new  state  it  may  have  acquired. 

In  considering  the  effects  of  disease,  Prichard  points  out 
that  we  cannot  discern  any  essential  circumstance  in  which 
changes  produced  by  art  or  by  casual  injury  differ  from 
those  which  are  effected  by  other  external  causes.  “We 
should  therefore  suppose  from  analogy  that  the  latter  are 
not  more  communicable  to  posterity  than  the  former,  and 
this  presumption  is  confirmed  when  we  inquire  into  facts.” 
It  is  shown  that  the  constitutional  effects  of  small-pox, 
measles,  scarlatina,  whooping-cough,  etc.,  which  render 
persons  who  have  suffered  from  those  diseases  more  or  less 
immune  are  never  hereditary,  and  the  change  effected  is 
regarded  as  being  a  permanent  state  of  the  constitution, 
which  lasts  as  long  as  the  individual.  “  Those  imperceptible 
modifications  in  the  bodily  structure  which  render  the  con¬ 
stitution  incapable  of  being  acted  upon  by  certain  morbid 
poisons  are  governed  by  the  same  law,  as  far  as  regards 
hereditary  descent,  as  the  observable  changes  of  form  which 
are  induced  by  art  or  accident.” 

The  essential  distinction  between  inherent  hereditary  and 
acquired  non-hereditary  characters  is  clearly  recognised  by 
Prichard,  in  the  general  statement  that  each  individual  being 
has  certain  laws  of  organisation  impressed  upon  its  original 
germ,  according  to  which  the  future  development  of  its  struc¬ 
ture  is  destined  to  take  place.  “  These  inbred  or  spontaneous 
tendencies,  governing  the  future  evolution  of  the  bodily 
fabric,  cause  it  to  assume  certain  qualities  of  form 
and  texture  at  different  periods  of  growth.  Erom  these 
predispositions  are  derived  the  characteristic  differences 
and  the  pecularities  of  individual  beings.  Now  it  appears 
that  such  spontaneous  tendencies  are  alone  hereditary,  and 
that  whatever  changes  of  organisation  are  superinduced  by 
external  circumstances,  and  are  foreign  to  the  character  of 
structure  impressed  upon  the  original  stamina,  cease  with  the 
individual  and  have  no  influence  on  the  race.  ”  Yet,  it  is  observed, 
this  law  of  hereditary  conformation  exists  with  a  certain  latitude 
or  sphere  of  variety,  but  whatever  varieties  are  produced  in  the 
race,  have  their  beginning  in  the  original  structure  of  some 
particular  ovum  or  germ,  and  not  in  any  qualities  superinduced 
by  external  causes  in  the  progress  of  its  development. 
As  Professor  Poulton  pertinently  remarks,  these  sentences 
might  well  have  been  written  to-day,  to  sum  up  the  results 
of  all  our  observations  on  such  subjects,  for  though  the 
results  described  have  been  summed  up  at  greater  length 
and  in  more  technical  language,  “  Dr.  Prichard’s  statement 
contains  everything  that  is  valuable  and  essential  in  every 
later  attempt.” 


358 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  24,  1897. 


ANNOTATIONS. 

The  Proposed  New  Bye-Laws  received  further  approval  at 
meetings  of  the  Aberdeen  and  Plymouth  local  associations  last 
Wednesday,  when  resolutions  were  passed  to  that  effect,  as 
reported  at  page  362.  At  Aberdeen  a  motion  expressing  disap¬ 
proval  was  brought  forward  and  supported  by  its  mover  on  the 
assumption  that  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  swallowed  up  the 
funds  derived  from  the  examinations,  but  the  fallacy  of  that 
assumption  was  very  clearly  pointed  out,  and  the  voting 
showed  that  the  unfounded  nature  of  the  statements  which 
have  been  put  forward  on  this  subject  is  being  properly  appre¬ 
ciated.  At  Plymouth  Mr.  Park  showed  that  there  is  no  truth  in 
those  statements,  and  for  that  purpose  he  availed  himself  of  the 
facts  stated  in  this  J ournal,  at  page  255  of  the  number  for  March  20. 
Anyone  desiring  to  be  correctly  informed  on  this  subject  will 
there  find  all  that  is  requisite  for  demonstrating  the  value  of 
the  Society’s  Journal  to  its  members,  associates,  and  students,  as 
well  as  its  utility  as  a  medium  of  communication  for  all  directly  or 
indirectly  connected  with  the  business  of  chemists  and  druggists. 

The  Comptroller-General  op  Patents  states  that  the  number 
of  applications  for  patents,  which  in  1895  showed  a  decrease  of 
324  upon  that  of  the  previous  year,  increased  in  1896  by  5132,  an 
increment  four  times  as  large  as  the  average  yearly  increment. 
The  total  for  the  year  was  30,194,  and  applications  came  in  during 
the  last  two  months  of  the  year  at  the  unprecedented  rate  of  700 
per  week.  The  increase  was  mainly  in  provisional  specifications, 
and  the  principal  cause  of  it  appears  to  be  the  development  of  the 
cycle  industry.  Applications  for  the  registration  of  trade  marks 
numbered  9466,  as  against  8272  in  1895.  During  the  same  period 
3243  trade  marks  were  advertised,  and  2917  were  registered. 

Fruit  Preservation  has  engaged  the  attention  of  the  Kent 
County  Council,  and  particulars  are  published  of  an  interesting 
experiment  in  which  cold  storage  was  resorted  to.  The  stores  were 
kept  at  steady  temperatures  of  30°  to  40°  last  season  until  near  the 
end  of  the  year,  and  the  results  recorded  are  fairly  satisfactory. 
The  fruit  lost  weight  somewhat  during  the  refrigerating  process, 
moisture  being  absorbed  from  it  by  the  air  and  deposited  on  the 
colder  surfaces  of  the  brine  walls,  from  which  it  was  drained  away. 
The  loss  per  week  amounted  to  1 -5  per  cent,  of  the  weight  of  the 
fruit.  Summer  apples  remained  sound,  but  were  somewhat  soft 
and  not  so  good  in  flavour.  On  the  other  hand,  winter  apples  were 
of  as  good  flavour  as  when  put  in,  and  were  fully  as  hard  and  sound. 

Gresham  Lectures  will  be  delivered  on  Tuesday  next,  April  27, 
and  three  following  days,  in  commemoration  of  the  tercentenary 
of  Gresham  College,  by  Dr.  Symes  Thompson,  who  has  just 
returned  from  a  tour  in  the  East,  where  he  has  visited  the  sites  of 
the  ancient  universities  of  Athens,  Constantinople,  Ephesus, 
Damascus,  and  Alexandria,  and  Heliopolis.  The  subject  of  the 
lectures  will  be  the  medical  history  of  Gresham  College  during 
three  centuries.  The  first  will  be  devoted  to  an  account  of  the 
foundation  and  progress  of  the  College,  the  second  to  ancient  and 
modern  universities,  and  the  others  to  the  Gresham  professors  of 
physic.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  six  faculties  ordered  at  the 
Gresham  Foundation — law,  physic,  divinity,  astronomy,  geometry, 
and  poetry — are  the  same  as  were  taught  at  On  (Heliopolis). 

The  University  Extension  Summer  Meeting  will  be  held  in 
Oxford  between  July  31  and  August  25,  and  for  the  convenience  of 
students  who  cannot  remain  for  the  whole  time  the  meeting  will 
be  divided  into  two  parts.  There  will  be  daily  classes  in  botany, 
chemistry,  and  physics,  adapted  to  the  requirements  of  County 


Council  and  other  teachers,  special  reference  being  made  to  the 
fitting  up  of  home-made  apparatus.  A  special  feature  of  the  meet¬ 
ing  will  be  a  class  in  the  English  language,  conducted  by  Dr. 
Henry  Sweet,  and  intended  for  the  foreign  students  who  attend 
the  summer  meetings  in  increasing  numbers.  Their  presence  tends 
to  make  the  meetings  valuable  for  the  interchange  of  ideas  between 
English  and  foreign  teachers  and  others  interested  in  educational 
problems.  Official  programmes  of  the  meeting  may  be  obtained 
from  the  Secretary,  University  Extension  Delegacy,  Oxford. 

A  National  Photographic  Record  is  proposed,  and  the  British 
Museum  authorities  have  fallen  fn  with  a  suggestion  to  that 
effect  made  to  them  by  Sir  Benjamin  Stone,  M.P.  He  offered  a 
series  of  one  hundred  platinotype  prints  of  Westminster  Abbey, 
hoping  that  this  would  be  the  nucleus  of  a  national  photographic 
record  and  survey  collection,  and  the  trustees  of  the  British 
Museum  find  themselves  in  full  agreement  with  him,  that  such  a 
collection,  if  carefully  and  systematically  brought  together,  could 
not  fail  to  be  of  the  greatest  value  and  interest.  They  have  ex¬ 
pressed  their  willingness  to  take  charge  of  such  photographs  as 
may  from  time  to  time  be  deposited  with  them,  and  steps  are 
being  taken  to  form  a  committee  to  organise  the  work. 

The  Royal  Institution  lectures  will  be  resumed  next  week, 
and  on  Friday,  April  30,  Professor  J.  J.  Thomson  will  discourse 
upon  the  cathode  rays.  The  subsequent  Friday  evening  lectures 
will  be  on  “Romance,”  by  Anthony  Hope  ;  “  Explosion  Flames,” 
by  Professor  Harold  Dixon;  “Contact  Electricity  of  Metals,”  by 
Lord  Kelvin  ;  “  The  Isolation  of  Fluorine,”  by  Professor  Moissan  ; 
“Signalling  through  Space  without  Wires,”  by  W.  H.  Preece ; 
and  “Diamonds,”  by  William  Crookes.  Professor  Moissan’s 
lecture  will  be  illustrated  with  experiments  and  should  prove 
most  attractive,  but  the  whole  programme  is  excellent.  Professor 
Dewar  will  give  three  lectures  on  Thursday  afternoons,  on  liquid 
air  as  an  agent  of  research. 

The  London  Water  Supply  has,  of  course,  been  affected  by 
the  continued  rain  of  recent  weeks.  Dr.  Frankland  reports  that 
samples  of  Thames  water  examined  by  him  were  turbid  and  deep 
yellow  in  colour,  whiist  bad  in  quality  in  respect  to  the  presence 
of  bacteria  and  indifferent  in  chemical  qualities.  After  storage  and 
filtration,  however,  the  water  was  sent  out  of  excellent  quality, 
and  it  would  appear  that  the  water  companies  have  been  put  upon 
their  mettle  by  the  action  of  the  London  County  Council.  The 
abundant  rainfall  conduced  to  a  diminution  in  the  quantity  of 
water  required,  the  daily  supply  during  March  being  two  and  a 
half  million  gallons  less  than  in  the  corresponding  month  of  the 
preceding  year.  Nevertheless,  the  daily  supply  reached  the 
enormous  total  of  191,497,668  gallons. 

The  Naples  Zoological  Station  celebrated  its  twenty-fifth 
anniversary  last  week,  and  Professor  Anton  Dohrn,  its  founder 
and  director,  has  been  privileged  to  see  the  indefatigable  labours 
of  a  quarter  of  a  century  crowned  with  astonishing  success.  Any 
state,  college,  or  scientific  association  can  acquire  the  right  to 
retain  a  work-table  at  the  Zoological  Station,  with  the  use  of  all 
necessary  apparatus  and  material,  for  an  annual  payment  of  fifty 
pounds.  Prussia  has  engaged  four  tables ;  Saxony,  Bavaria, 
Wiirtemberg,  Baden,  Hesse,  and  Hamburg,  one  each.  Oxford, 
Cambridge,  and  the  British  Association  also  have  tables,  as  well  as 
Italy,  Austro-Hungary,  Holland,  Belgium,  Switzerland,  Roumania, 
Bulgaria,  and  the  United  States.  A  small  fleet  of  vessels  is  em¬ 
ployed  to  procure  specimens  for  examination,  and  frequently  as 
many  as  forty  students  are  engaged  at  the  station  at  one  and  the 
same  time. 


April  24,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


359 


LITERARY  NOTES. 


‘  First  Stage  Inorganic  Chemistry  5  by  Dr.  G.  H.  Bailey,  is 
a  volume  of  “The  Organized  Science  Series,”  edited  by  Mr. 
William  Briggs.  This  series  is  devoted  to  the  requirements  of  the 
Science  and  Art  Department,  but  for  the  sake  of  continuity 
some  of  the  subjects  included  in  the  present  volume  have  been 
rather  more  fully  treated  than  the  Department  Syllabus  demands, 
and  the  book  is  probably  the  best  systematic  introduction  to 
chemistry  yet  published.  It  is  intended  to  be  used  as  a  companion 
in  the  laboratory  and,  like  its  predecessor — ‘  Tutorial  Chemistry  ’ 
— it  bears  internal  evidence  of  having  been  written  by  a  teacher 
who  thoroughly  appreciates  the  difficulties  experienced  by  elemen¬ 
tary  students.  The  book  is  published  by  W.  B.  Clive,  13,  Book¬ 
sellers’  Row,  Strand,  W.C.,  at  two  shillings,  and  is  very  cheap  at 
the  price. 


Formulaire  des  Medicaments  Nouveaux  for  1897  will  be 
welcomed  by  everyone  who  has  grown  accustomed  to  depend  upon 
this  useful  little  work  of  reference.  The  editor,  M.  H.  Bocquillon 
Limousin,  has  done  his  work  in  his  usual  excellent  style,  and 
pharmacists  who  require  information  respecting  the  newer 
remedies  and  fail  to  find  it  in  the  standard  works  on  materia 
medica  may  often  turn  to  this  compilation  with  advantage. 
Amongst  the  monographs  in  the  present  edition  which  may  be 
mentioned  are  those  treating  of  actol,  airol,  amygdophenin,  antinosin, 
apolysin ,  argonin,  benzacetin,  bismal,  caffeine,  caffeinate  of  iron, 
chlorcdose,  citrophene,  cocaine,  cuprohemol,  eosote,  eucaine,  eudoxine, 
ferripyrine,  ferrostyptin,  gallicin,  gelante,  glutol,  glycerophosphates, 
hemogallol,  hemol,  hypnone,  icthyol,  iodoformin,  itrol,  kola, 
lysidin,  myronin ,  nosophene,  nutrose,  orphol,  phosphergot,  piperosine, 
pixol,  protogene,  pyrantine,  quinosol,  salantol,  salithymol,  salopliene, 
sanoform,  somatose,  sublimophenol,  tannalbin,  tannoform,  tannigen, 
trionaZ,  thiosinnamine,  urotropine,  xeroform,  and  a  large  number  of 
colonial  and  foreign  plants  introduced  recently  into  medicine. 
The  book  is  published  by  Messrs.  J.  B.  Bailli^re  et  fils,  15,  rue 
Hautefeuille,  Paris,  at  three  francs. 

“ Knowledge”  for  the  current  month  contains  much  that  will 
attract  those  who  are  interested  in  the  study  of  natural  science. 
An  address  by  Professor  Thorpe  on  the  progress  of  chemistry 
during  the  Queen’s  reign  finds  a  place,  in  addition  to  articles  on 
geological,  botanical,  and  astronomical  subjects,  whilst  natural 
history  is  not  neglected,  and  minor  topics  of  interest  have  corners 
devoted  to  them. 

The  Greater  Celandine  and  its  medicinal  applications  form  the 
subject  of  an  article  by  Dr.  John  Knott,  in  the  Medical  Press  for 
April  14.  He  discusses  the  botanic  and  therapeutic  history  of  the 
plant,  and  quotes  what  is  said  concerning  it  by  Dioscorides, 
Matthiolus,  Gerard,  and  Salmon,  concluding  by  expressing  a 
hope  that  the  plant  may  receive  another  trial  as  a  medicinal  agent. 


‘  Guy’s  Hospital  Reports  ’  for  the  past  year  give  particulars  of 
a  number  of  interesting  cases,  preceded  by  a  capital  memoir  of  the 
late  Arthur  Edward  Durham,  by  W.  H.  A.  Jacobson,  which  is  illus¬ 
trated  by  a  fine  portrait.  A  very  marked  feature  in  Durham’s 
character  was  his  optimism,  and  we  are  told  that  he  was  always 
trying  to  make  the  best  of  everyone,  to  put  the  best  constructions 
on  a  man’s  actions,  to  believe  in  and  to  teach  how  much  kindness 
there  is  in  the  world.  “  A  harsh  or  unkind  word  never  fell  from 
Durham’s  lips,  and  a  bitter  one  very  rarely,  save  in  the  case  of  some 
flagrant  charlatanism  or  knavery.”  With  regard  to  his  brother 


surgeons,  no  man  was  ever  more  free  from  all  jealousy  towards 
those  who  might  be  considered  his  rivals,  and,  here  as  elsewhere, 
Durham’s  was  no  mere  flaccid,  passive  good- nature,  but  a  cordial, 
genial  goodwill. 

“  Science  Progress  ”  for  April  is  in  great  measure  devoted  to 
botanical  topics.  Professor  Marshall  Ward  commences  with  an 
article  “On  the  Physiology  of  Reproduction  in  Plants”;  C.  A. 
Barber  discusses  “The  Diseases  of  the  Sugar-Cane”;  and  Pro¬ 
fessor  Reynolds  Green  summarises  what  is  known  and  surmised 
respecting  the  cell-membrane.  Continued  articles  are  those  on 
“Condensation  and  Critical  Phenomena,”  by  Professor  Kuenen, 
and  on  “  The  Coagulation  of  the  Blood,”  by  Professor  Halliburton. 
A  brief  account  of  the  Galeodidae  is  contributed  by  H.  M.  Bernard, 
the  relation  between  the  form  and  metabolism  of  the  cell  is  con¬ 
sidered  by  Dr.  Max  Verworn,  and  most  attractive  of  all  perhaps  is 
an  account  by  Professor  Poulton  of  a  remarkable  anticipation  of 
modern  views  of  evolution. 


Startin’s  ‘  Skin  Pharmacopceia,’  which  is  now  in  its  fourth 
edition,  contains  concise  formulas  for  baths,  mixtures,  ointments, 
lotions,  and  caustics,  together  with  rules  of  diet,  a  classification 
of  skin  diseases,  and  a  therapeutic  index.  The  book  is  published 
for  the  use  of  students  and  medical  practitioners  engaged  in  active 
practice,  and  within  its  fifty  pages  pharmacists  may  find  much  to 
interest  them.  Messrs.  John  Wright  and  Co.  of  Bristol,  are  the 
publishers,  and  the  price  is  half-a-crown. 

E.  Merck’s  Annual  Report  for  1896  (Darmstadt)  contains  a 
note  on  the  purification  and  composition  of  pilocarpidine,  and 
particulars  regarding  such  preparations  as  kakodylic  acid  and  its 
sodium  salt,  peronine,  picronitric  acid,  actol  or  silver  lactate, 
amylum  iodatum  insolubile,  amyloform,  apiolinum,  salts  of 
arecoline,  aurum  metallicum  granulatum  for  Jolles’s 
method,  bismuth  tribromophenate,  borol,  calcium  carbide, 
crystallised  calcium  tungstate,  for  X  ray  experiments,  salts  of 
chelidonine,  quinaphthol,  quinosol,  chrysoidine,  erythroli  tetra- 
nitras,  eucasin,  new  extracts  of  various  kinds,  including  extract 
of  leeches,  geosot,  or  guaiacol  valerianate,  glutol,  guaetliol, 
halogen-  and  metal-hasmols  ;  and  a  large  number  of  other  medica¬ 
ments  of  recent  introduction. 


Viola  Tricolor,  L.,  is  the  subject  of  the  inaugural  dissertation 
that  was  presented  to  the  philosophical  faculty  of  the  University 
of  Marburg  by  Dr.  Henry  Kraemer,  of  Chicago,  U.S.A.,  on  the 
occasion  of  taking  his  degree.  The  morphology,  anatomy,  and 
biology  of  the  plant  are  considered  at  length,  and  the  monograph, 
which  occupies  some  seventy  quarto  pages,  is  illustrated  by  five 
plates,  containing  seventy-two  carefully  executed  figures. 

“  The  International  Journal  of  Microscopy  and  Natural 
Science,”  which  is  published  quarterly,  is  perhaps  not  so  well 
known  as  it  deserves  to  be.  It  is  the  organ  of  the  Postal  Micro¬ 
scopical  Society,  each  member  of  which  receives  a  copy  as 
published,  but  it  may  also  be  obtained  by  anyone  who  chooses  to 
subscribe  half-a.-guinea  per  annum.  In  the  April  number  appear 
articles  on  light  and  colour,  the  Californian  trap-door  spider,  the 
planet  Mars,  staining  tubercle  bacilli  in  sections,  a  rapid  method 
of  preparing  permanent  sections  for  microscopical  diagnosis,  and 
numerous  notes  on  microscopical  technique  and  matters  of 
interest  from  a  natural  history  point  of  view.  The  London 
publishers  of  the  Journal  are  Messrs.  Balliere,  Tindall,  and  Cox, 
20,  King  William  Street,  Strand, 


360 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  24,  1897  . 


BRITISH  ASSOCIATION  FOR  THE 
ADVANCEMENT  OF  SCIENCE. 

— - 4- - - 

BOTANICAL  SECTION. 

OPENING  ADDRESS  BY 

D.  H.  SCOTT,  M.A.,  Ph.d  ,  F.R.S. 

Honorary  Keeper  of  the  Jodrell  Laboratory ,  Royal  Gardens,  Kew, 
President  of  the  Section. 


THE  PRESENT  POSITION  OF  MORPHOLOGICAL  BOTANY 
( Continued  from  page  37. ) 

Relation  between  Mosses  and  Ferns. 

Goebel  said,  in  1882  :  “  The  gap  between  the  Bryophyta  and  the 
Pteridophyta  is  the  deepest  known  to  us  in  the  vegetable  kingdom. 
We  must  seek  the  starting-point  of  the  Pteridophyta  elsewhere 
than  among  the  Muscineae  :  among  forms  which  may  have  been 
similar  to  liverworts,  but  in  which  the  asexual  generations  entered 
from  the  first  on  a  different  course  of  development.”*  I  cannot 
help  feeling  that  all  the  work  which  has  been  done  since  goes  to 
confirm  this  wise  conclusion.  Attempts  have  been  made  in  the 
most  sportsman-like  manner  (to  adopt  a  phrase  of  Professor 
Bower’s)  to  effect  a  passage  over  the  gulf,  but  the  gulf  is  still 
unbridged.  I  cannot  see  anywhere  the  slightest  indication  of  any¬ 
thing  like  an  intermediate  form  between  the  spore-bearing  plant  of 
the  Pteridophyta  and  the  spore-bearing  fruit  of  the  Bryophyta. 
The  plant  of  the  Pteridophyta  is  sometimes  small  and  simple,  but 
the  smallest  and  simplest  seem  just  as  unlike  a  bryophytic  sporo- 
gonium  as  the  largest  and  most  complex.  On  the  side  of  the  moss 
group,  Anthoceros  has  been  often  cited  as  a  form  showing  a  certain 
approach  towards  the  Pteridophytes,  and  Professor  Campbell  in 
particular  has  developed  this  idea  with  remarkable  ingenuity. 
An  unprejudiced  comparison,  however,  seems  to  me  to  show 
nothing  more  here  than  a  very  remote  parallelism,  not  suggestive 
of  affinity. 

There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  Bryophyta,  as  we  know 
them,  were  the  precursors  of  the  vascular  Cryptogams  at  all. 
There  is  a  remarkable  paucity  of  evidence  for  the  geological 
antiquity  of  Bryophyta,  though  many  of  the  mosses  at  any  rate 
would  seem  likely  to  have  been  preserved  if  they  existed. 
Brongniart  said,  in  1849,  “  The  rarity  of  fossil  mosses,  and  their 
complete  absence  up  to  now  in  the  ancient  strata,  are  among  the 
most  singular  facts  in  geological  botany  ”  ;+  and  since  that  time  it 
is  wonderful  how  little  has  been  added.  Things  seem  to  point  to 
both  Pteridophyta  and  Bryophyta  having  had  their  origin  far  back 
among  some  unknown  tribes  of  the  Algae.  If  we  accept  the  homo¬ 
logous  theory  of  alternation,  we  may  fairly  suppose  that  the 
sporophyte  of  the  earliest  Pteridophyta  always  possessed  vegetative 
organs  of  some  kind.  The  resemblance  between  the  young  sporo¬ 
phyte  and  the  prothallus  in  some  lycopods  indicates  that  at  some 
remote  period  the  two  generations  may  not  have  been  very  dis¬ 
similar.  At  least  some  such  idea  gives  more  satisfaction  to  my 
mind  than  the  attempt  to  conceive  of  a  fern-plant  as  derived  from 
a  sterilised  group  of  potential  spores. 

The  Bryophyta  may  have  had  from  the  first  a  more  reduced 
sporophyte,  the  first  neutral  generation  having,  in  their  ancestors, 
become  more  exclusively  adapted  to  spore-producing  functions.  I 
must  not  omit  to  mention  the  idea  that  the  Bryophyta,  or  at  any 
rate  the  true  mosses,  are  degenerate  descendants  of  higher  forms. 
The  presence  of  typical  stomata  on  the  capsule  in  some  cases,  and 
of  somewhat  reduced  stomata  in  others,  has  been  urged  in  support 
of  this  view.  It  is  possible  ;  but  if  so,  from  what  have  these  plants 
been  reduced  ? 

Few  people,  perhaps,  fully  realise  how  absolutely  insoluble  such 
a  problem  as  we  have  been  discussing  really  is.  I  say  nothing  as  to 
the  mosses,  which  may  have  arisen  relatively  late  in  geological 
history.  The  Pteridophyta,  at  any  rate,  are  known  to  be  of  in¬ 
conceivable  antiquity.  Not  only  did  they  exist  in  greater  develop¬ 
ment  than  at  present  in  the  far-off  Devonian  period,  but  at  that 
time  they  were  already  accompanied  by  highly  organised  gymno- 
spermous  flowering  plants.  Probably  we  are  all  agreed  that 
Gymnosperms  arose  somehow  from  the  vascular  Cryptogams. 


Hence,  in  the  Devonian  epoch,  there  had  already  been  time  not 
only  for  the  Pteridophyta  themselves  to  attain  their  full  develop¬ 
ment,  but  for  certain  among  them  to  become  modified  into  complex 
Phanerogams.  It  would  not  be  a  rash  assumption  that  the  origin 
of  the  Pteridophyta  took  place  as  long  before  the  period  represented 
by  the  plant-bearing  Devonian  strata  as  that  period  is  before  our 
own  day.  Can  we  hope  that  a  mystery  buried  so  far  back  in  the 
dumb  past  will  be  revealed  ? 

It  will  be  understood  that  I  do  not  wish  to  assume  the  role  of 
partisan  for  the  homologous  theory  of  alternation.  Possibly  the 
whole  question  lies  beyond  human  ken,  and  partisanship  would  be 
ridiculous.  But  I  do  wish  to  raise  a  protest  against  anything  like 
a  dogmatic  statement  that  alternation  of  generations  must  have 
been  the  result  of  the  interpolation  of  a  new  stage  in  the  life- 
history.  Let  us,  in  the  presence  of  the  greatest  mystery  in  the 
morphology  of  plants,  at  least  keep  an  open  mind,  and  not  tie 
ourselves  down  to  assumptions,  though  we  may  use  them  as 
working  hypotheses. 

Histological  Characters  of  the  two  Generations. 

There  is  one  histological  question  upon  which  I  must  briefly 
touch  because  it  bears  directly  on  the  subject  which  we  have  been 
considering. 

It  is  now  well  known  that  in  animals  and  in  the  higher  plants  a 
remarkable  numerical  change  takes  place  in  the  constituents  of  the 
nucleus  shortly  before  the  act  of  fertilisation.  The  change  consists 
in  the  halving  of  the  number  of  chromosomes,  those  rod-like  bodies 
which  form  the  essential  part  of  the  nucleus,  and  are  regarded 
by  Weismann  and  most  biologists  as  the  bearers  of  hereditary 
qualities.  Thus  in  the  lily  the  number  of  chromosomes  in 
the  nuclei  of  vegetative  cells  is  twenty-four ;  in  the  sexual 
nuclei,  those  of  the  male  generative  cell  and  of  the  ovum,  the 
number  is  twelve.  When  the  sexual  act  is  accomplished  the  two 
nuclei  unite,  and  so  the  full  number  is  restored  and  persists 
throughout  the  vegetative  life  of  the  next  generation.  The  abso¬ 
lute  figures  are  of  course  of  no  importance  ;  the  point  is,  the  reduc¬ 
tion  to  one  half  during  the  maturation  of  the  sexual  cells,  and  the 
subsequent  restoration  of  the  full  number  when  their  union  takes 
place.  I  say  nothing  as  to  the  details  or  the  significance  of  the 
process,  points  which  have  been  fully  dealt  with  elsewhere,  notably 
in  an  elaborate  recent  paper  by  Miss  E.  Sargant. 

-  Now,  in  animals  (so  far  as  I  am  aware)  and  in  angiospermous 
lants  the  reduction  of  the  chromosomes  takes  place  very  shortly 
efore  the  differentiation  of  the  sexual  cells.  Thus  in  a  lily  the 
reduction  takes  place  on  the  male  side  immediately  prior  to  the 
first  division  of  the  pollen  mother-cell,  so  that  four  cell-divisions  in 
all  intervene  between  the  reduction  and  the  final  differentiation  of 
the  male  generative  cells.  On  the  female  side  the  reduction  in  the 
same  plant  takes  place  in  the  primary  nucleus  of  the  embryo-sac, 
so  that  here  there  are  three  divisions  between  the  reduction  and 
the  formation  of  the  ovum.  I  believe  these  facts  agree  very  closely 
with  those  observed  in  the  animal  kingdom,  and  so  far  there  is  no 
particular  difficulty,  for  we  can  easily  understand  that  if  the 
number  of  chromosomes  is  to  be  kept  constant  from  one  generation 
to  another,  then  the  doubling  involved  in  sexual  fusion  must 
necessarily  be  balanced  by  a  halving. 

There  are,  however,  a  certain  number  of  observations  on 
Gymnosperms  and  archegoniate  Cryptogams  which  appear  to  put 
the  matter  in  a  different  light.  Overton*  first  showed  that  in  a 
Cycad,  Ceratozamia,  the  nuclei  of  the  prothallus  or  endosperm  all 
have  the  half-number  of  chromosomes.  Here  then  the  reduction 
takes  place  in  the  embryo-sac  (or  rather  its  mother-cell),  but  a 
great  number  of  cell-generations  intervene  between  the  reduction 
and  the  maturation  of  the  ovum.  In  fact  the  whole  female  oophyte 
shows  the  reduced  number,  while  the  sporophyte  has  the  full 
number.  The  reduction  takes  place  also  in  the  pollen  mother-cell. 
Further  observations  have  extended  this  conclusion  to  some  other 
Gymnosperms. 

In  Osmunda  among  the  ferns  there  is  evidence  to  show  that 
reduction  takes  place  in  the  spore  mother-cell,  and  that  the  sexual 
generation  has  the  half-number  throughout.  Professor  Farmer  has 
found  the  same  thing  in  various  liverworts,  and  shown  that  the 
reduction  of  chromosomes  takes  place  in  the  spore  mother-cell ;  and 
his  observations  of  cell-division  in  the  two  generations  have  afforded 
some  direct  evidence  that  the  oophyte  has  the  half-number  and  the 
sporophyte  the  full  number  throughout.  Professor  Strasburger 


*  Schenk's  ‘  Handbuch  der  Botanik,’  vol.  ii. ,  p.  401. 
‘  Tableau  des  Genres  de  Yegetaux  Fossiles,’  p.  13- 


*  ‘  Annals  of  Botany,’  vol.  vii.,  p.  139, 


Apbil  24,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


361 


fully  discussed  this  subject  before  Section  D  at  Oxford,*  and  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  difference  in  number  of  chromosomes  is 
a  difference  between  the  two  generations  as  such,  the  sexual 
generation  being  characterised  by  the  half-number,  the  asexual  by 
the  full  number. 

The  importance  of  this  conception  for  the  morphologist  is  that 
an  actual  histological  difference  appears  to  be  established  between 
the  two  generations ;  a  fact  which  would  appear  to  militate  against 
their  homology.  Some  botanists  even  go  so  far  as  to  propose 
making  the  number  of  chromosomes  the  criterion  by  which  the 
two  generations  are  to  be  distinguished.  Considering  that  the 
whole  theory  rests  at  present  on  but  few  observations,  I  venture  to 
think  this  both  premature  and  objectionable  ;  for  nothing  can  be 
worse  for  the  true  progress  of  science  than  to  rush  hastily  to 
deductive  reasoning  from  imperfectly  established  premises. 

The  facts  are  certainly  very  difficult  to  interpret.  Those  who 
accept  the  antithetic  theory  of  alternation  suppose  the  sexual 
generation  to  be  the  older,  and  that  in  Thallophytes  the  plant  is 
always  an  oophyte,  whether  “actual”  or  “potential.”  Hence 
they  believe  that  in  Thallophytes  the  plant  should  show  through¬ 
out  the  reduced  number  of  chromosomes,  reduction  hypothetically 
taking  place  immediately  upon  the  germination  of  the  oospore.  If 
this  were  true  it  would  lend  some  support  to  the  idea  of  the  inter¬ 
calation  of  the  sporophyte,  but  at  present  there  is  not  the  slightest 
evidence  for  these  assumptions.  On  the  contrary,  in  the  only 
Thallophyte  in  which  chromosome-counting  has  been  successfully 
accomplished  (Fucus),  Professor  Farmer  and  Mr.  Williams  find 
exactly  the  reverse  ;  the  plant  has  throughout  the  full  number  of 
chromosomes  ;  reduction  first  takes  place  in  the  oogonium,  imme¬ 
diately  before  the  maturation  of  the  ova,  and  on  sexual  fusion  the 
full  number  is  restored,  to  persist  throughout  the  vegetative  life  of 
the  plant.  Fucus  is,  no  doubt,  a  long  way  off  the  direct  line  of 
descent  of  Archegoniatae,  but  still  it  is  a  striking  fact  that  the 
only  direct  evidence  we  have  goes  dead  against  the  idea  that  the 
sexual  generation  (and  who  could  call  a  Fucus-plant  anything  else 
but  sexual  ?)  necessarily  has  the  reduced  number  of  chromosomes. 
This  fact  is  indeed  a  rude  rebuff  to  deductive  morphology. 

I  am  disposed  to  regard  the  different  number  of  chromosomes  in 
the  two  generations  observed  in  certain  cases  among  Archegoniatae 
not  as  a  primitive  but  as  an  acquired  phenomenon,  perhaps  cor¬ 
related  with  the  definiteness  of  alternation  in  the  Archegoniatae  as 
contrasted  with  its  indefiniteness  in  Thallophytes.  In  Fucus,  in 
flowering  plants,  and  in  animals  the  soma  or  vegetative  body  has 
the  full  number  of  chromosomes.  With  these  the  sporophyte  of  the 
Archegoniatse  agrees ;  it  is  the  oophyte  which  appears  to  be 
peculiar  in  possessing  the  half-number,  so  that  if  the  evidence 
points  to  intercalation  at  all,  it  would  seem  to  suggest  that  the 
oophyte  is  the  intercalated  generation — obviously  a  reductio  ad, 
absurdum.  I  do  not  think  we  are  as  yet  in  a  position  to  draw  any 
morphological  conclusions  from  these  minute  histological 
differences,  interesting  as  they  are. 

The  question  how  the  number  of  chromosomes  is  kept  right  in 
cases  of  apospory  and  of  apogamy  is  obviously  one  of  great  interest, 
and  I  am  glad  to  say  that  it  is  receiving  attention  from  competent 
observers. 

Sexuality  of  Fungi. 

Only  a  few  years  ago  De  Bary’s  opinion  that  the  fruit  of  the 
ascus-bearing  Fungi  is  normally  the  result  of  an  act  of  fertilisation 
was  almost  universally  accepted,  especially  in  this  country. 
Although  the  presence  of  sexual  organs  had  only  been  recorded  in 
comparatively  few  cases,  and  the  evidence  for  their  functional 
activity  was  even  more  limited,  yet  the  conviction  prevailed  that 
the  ascocarp  is  at  least  the  homologue  of  a  sexually  produced  fruit. 
The  organ  giving  rise  to  the  ascus  or  asci  was  looked  upon  as 
homologous  with  the  oogonium  of  the  Peronosporeae,  the  supposed 
fertilising  organ  either  taking  the  form  of  an  antheridial  branch  as 
in  that  group,  or,  as  observed  by  Stahl  in  the  lichen  Collema, 
giving  rise  to  distinct  male  cells,  or  spermatia.  More  recently 
there  has  been  a  complete  revolution  of  opinion  on  this  point,  and 
a  year  ago  or  less  most  botanists  probably  agreed  that  the  question 
of  the  sexuality  of  the  Ascomycetes  had  been  settled  in  a  negative 
sense.  This  change  was  due,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  influence  of 
Brefeld,  who  showed,  in  a  great  number  of  laborious  investiga¬ 
tions,  that  the  ascus-fruit  may  develop  without  the  presence  of 
anything  like  sexual  organs ;  while  Mbller  proved  that  the  sup¬ 
posed  male  cells  of  lichens  are  in  a  multitude  of  cases  nothing  but 
conidia,  capable  of  independent  germination. 


The  view  thus  gained  ground  that  all  the  higher  Fungi  are 
asexual  plants,  fertilisation  only  occurring  in  the  lower  forms,  such 
as  the  Peronosporese  and  Mucorinese,  which  have  not  diverged  far 
from  the  algal  stock.  The  ascus,  in  particular,  is  regarded  by  this 
school  as  homologous  with  the  asexual  sporangium  of  a  Awcor. 
This  theory  has  been  brilliantly  expounded  in  a  remarkable  book 
by  Von  Tavel,  which  we  cannot  but  admire  as  a  model  of  clear 
morphological  reasoning,  whether  its  conclusions  be  ultimately 
adopted  or  not. 

Still,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  Brefeld  school  were  rather  apt 
to  ignore  such  pieces  of  evidence  as  militated  against  their  views, 
and  consequently  their  position  was  insecure  so  long  as  these 
hostile  posts  were  left  uncaptured. 

Quite  recently  the  whole  question  has  been  re-opened  by  the 
striking  observations  of  Mr.  Harper,  an  American  botanist  working 
at  Bonn. 

Zopf,  in  1890,*  pointed  out  that  up  to  that  time  it  had  not  been 
possible  in  any  Ascomycete  to  demonstrate  a  true  process  of  ferti¬ 
lisation  by  strictly  scientific  evidence,  namely,  by  observing  the 
fusion  of  the  nuclei  of  the  male  and  female  elements.  Exactly  the 
proof  demanded  has  now  been  afforded  by  Mr.  Harper’s  observa¬ 
tions,  for  in  a  simple  Ascomycete,  Sphcerotheca  castagnei,  the  para¬ 
site  causing  the  hop-mildew,  he  has  demonstrated  in  a  manner 
which  appears  to  be  conclusive  the  fusion  of  the  nucleus  of  the 
antheridium  with  that  of  the  ascogonium.t  It  is  impossible  to 
evade  the  force  of  this  evidence,  for  the  fungus  in  question  is  a 
perfectly  typical  Ascomycete,  though  exceptionally  simple,  in  so 
far  as  only  a  single  ascus  is  normally  produced  from  the  ascogo- 
nium.  It  is  unnecessary  to  point  out  how  important  it  is  that  Mr. 
Harper’s  observations  should  be  confirmed  and  extended  to  other 
and  more  complex  members  of  the  order.  In  the  meantime  the 
few  who  (unlike  your  President)  had  not  bowed  the  knee  to  Brefeld 
may  rejoice  ! 

It  is  impossible  to  pursue  the  various  questions  which  press  upon 
one’s  mind  in  considering  the  morphology  of  the  Fungi.  The 
occurrence  not  only  of  cell-fusion,  but  of  nuclear  fusion,  apart 
from  any  definite  sexual  process,  now  recorded  in  several  groups  of 
Fungi,  urgently  demands  further  inquiry.  Such  unions  of  nuclei 
have  been  observed  in  the  basidia  of  Agarics,  the  teleutospores  of 
"Uredinese,  and  even  in  the  asci  of  the  Ascomycetes.  That  such  a 
fusion  is  not  necessarily,  as  DangeardJ  has  supposed,  of  a  sexual 
nature,  seems  to  be  proved  by  the  fact  that  it  occurs  in  the  young 
ascus  of  Sphccrotheca  long  after  the  true  act  of  fertilisation  has 
been  accomplished.  It  is  possible,  however,  that  these  phenomena 
may  throw  an  important  side-light  on  the  significance  of  the  sexual 
act  itself. 

Another  question  which  is  dbviously  opened  up  by  the  new  results 
is  that  of  the  homologies  of  the  ascus.  The  observations  of 
Lagerheim§  on  Dipodascus  point  to  the  sexual  origin  of  a  many- 
spored  sporangium  not  definitely  characterised  as  an  ascus.  On 
the  other  hand,  not  only  sporangia,  but  true  asci  are  known  to 
arise  in  a  multitude  of  cases  direct  from  the  mycelium.  It  is  of 
course  possible  that  as  regards  the  asci  these  are  cases  of  reduction 
or  apogamy ;  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  wholly  impossible  that 
the  asci  may  turn  out  to  be  really  homologous  with  a  sexual 
sporangia,  even  though  their  development  may  often  have  become 
associated  with  the  occurrence  of  a  sexual  act.  However  this  may 
be,  there  is  at  present  no  reason  to  doubt  that  a  very  large  propor¬ 
tion  of  the  Fungi  are,  at  least  functionally,  sexless  plants. 

( To  be  continued. ) 


Thymol  in  Pertussis. — Josias,  in  his  new  work  ‘  Therapeutique 
Infantile,’  recommends  the  use  of  thymol  instead  of  carbolic  acid 
as  a  spray  in  this  disease.  A  vessel  containing  the  following  solu¬ 
tion  is  placed  over  a  small  night  lamp  in  the  room  and  allowed  to 
evaporate  : — Thymol,  10  grammes  ;  alcohol,  300  grammes  ;  water, 
700  grammes.  At  the  Trousseau  Hospital  an  alcoholic  solution  of 
thymol  and  menthol  is  used  several  times  a  day  for  spraying  the 
rooms  reserved  for  whooping  cough  cases.  A  vapour-atomiser  with 
the  following  formula  is  employed  : — Thymol,  6  grammes ; 
menthol,  6  grammes  ;  alcohol,  90°,  120  grammes.  A  tablespoonful 
in  the  atomiser,  which  has  been  previously  filled  with  water. — 
Pediatrics,  iii. ,  48,  after  Univers.  M.  J.,  1896,  x.,  303. 


*  “Die  Pilze,’’  Schenk’s  ‘  Handbuch  der  Botanik,’  Bd.  iv. ,  p.  341. 
t  ‘  Berichte  der  deutschenbot.GesellEchaft,’  yol.  xiii.,  January  29, 1896. 
t  Le  Botaniste,  vols.  iv.  and  v. 

Pringsheim’s  ‘  Jahrbuch  f.  Wiss.  Bot ,’  1892, 


*  See  ‘  Annals  of  Botany,’  vol.  viii.,  p.  281. 


362 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  24,  1897 


THE  WORLD  Op  PHARMACY. 

— - ♦ - - 

BUSINESS  MEETINGS. 


Plymouth,  Devonport,  Stonehouse  and  District 
Chemists’  Association,  Wednesday,  April  14. — Mr.  G.  Breeze, 
President,  in  the  chair. — The  quarterly  meeting  of  the  above  was  held 
at  the  Foresters’  Hall ;  among  those  present  being  Messrs.  A.  D. 
Breeze,  C.  J.  Park,  Jas.  Cocks  (Hon.  Sec.),0.  A.  Reade,  F.  W.  Hunt, 
J.  I).  Turney,  J.  Barge,  J.  R.  Johnson,  H.  Yibert  Reynolds,  W. 
H.  Woods,  Condy  U’Ren,  C.  T.  Weary,  Kelly.  The  minutes 
having  been  passed,  Mr.  Foster,  junr. ,  was  elected  a  member, 
which  now  brings  the  membership  up  to  131. — Mr.  Hunt  proposed 
and  Mr.  Barge  seconded  the  following  resolution,  passed  at  the 
General  Committee : — 

“  That  this  Committee  recommends  the  Association  to  adopt  Mr.  Park  as 
candidate  at  the  coming  Pharmaceutical  Council  Election,  and  to  use  their 
best  efforts  to  ensure  his  being  elected,” 

which  was  carried  unanimously.  A  lengthy  discussion  took  place 
on  the 

New  Bye-Laws 

as  proposed  by  the  Pharmaceutical  Society. — Mr.  Cocks  asked 
whether  there  was  any  truth  in  the  statement  that  the  new  fees  were 
required  to  wipe  out  a  deficit  caused  by  the  expenses  of  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Journal. — In  answer  to  Mr.  Cocks’  enquiry  if  the  increased 
fees  for  examination  and  registration  were  required,  as  had  been 
stated,  to  carry  on  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  at  a  loss,  Mr.  Park 
repudiated  the  idea,  and  referred  those  present  who  had  not  already 
read  it  to  the  editorial  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  of  March  20. 
He  was  very  glad  to  have  heard  so  many  warm  expressions  of- 
approval  passed  by  members  of  their  local  association  on  the 
Pharmaceutical  Journal  as  now  conducted,  both  from  a  trade  and 
educational  point  of  view.  He  would  like  to  point  out  that 
the  Journal  was  not  run  on  purely  commercial  lines 
only.  What  he  meant  was,  that  it  was  not  con-' 
ducted  with  the  main  object  of  making  a  good  return 
financially  for  the  money  expended  in  its  production.  It  was  to  a 
large  extent  educational,  and  the  argument  that  had  been 
used  against  the  Journal  might  be  equally  applied  to  the 
School  of  Pharmacy  by  everyone  who  nad  a  monetary  interest 
in  schools  for  pharmaceutical  education.  The  Journal  was 
conducted  in  the  best  interests  of  the  whole  of  the  craft.  They, 
as  business  men,  could  easily  conceive  that  advertisements  might 
be  offered  on  certain  conditions  that  would  materially  swell  the 
revenue  of  the  Journal,  but  would  lower  its  standard, 
compromise  its  supporters,  and  probably  mislead  its  readers. 
With  regard  to  the  increased  expenditure  of  recent  years,  they 
had  proofs  of  its  expediency  and  wisdom  in  every  issue  of  the 
present  Journal.  That  expenditure  had  been  and  was  at 
the  present  time  being  recouped  in  an  eminently  satisfactory 
manner  by  the  revenue  received  from  advertisements  and  by  the 
great  satisfaction  afforded  to  readers.  In  conclusion,  he  pointed  out 
that  their  interest  as  pharmacists  and  that  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Journal  should  be  identical,  since  the  supporters  of  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society  were  in  fact  its  proprietors,  and  it  was  for  them  alone 
to  say  whether  they  were  satisfied  with  the  manner  in  which  it 
was  conducted.  He  hoped  that  all  supporters  of  the  Society 
would  endeavour  to  push  the  interests  of  their  own  property  and 
make  it  as  great  a  success  financially  as  it  undoubtedly  was  from  a 
literary  point  of  view.  He  saw  no  reason  why  it  should  not  become 
a  source  of  handsome  revenue  to  the  Society,  but  whether  its  suc¬ 
cess  financially  was  great  or  small,  it  was  imperative  that  they 
should  have  an  official  organ  to  represent  British  pharmacy  and 
its  interests  conducted  independently  of  outside  interests. — Mr. 
Cocks  moved,  and  Mr.  Turney  seconded  : — 

“That  this  Association  approves  of  the  new  Bye-laws  as  proposed  by  the 
Pharmaceutical  Council,  and  considers  that  they  are  desirable,  both  in  the 
interest  of  the  public,  and  those  engaged  in  the  business.” 

Mr.  Barge  moved  as  an  amendment : — 

“  That  the  year  when  the  increase  in  the  fees  for  the  Minor  examination  should 
come  into  force  should  be  altered  from  January,  1899,  to  January,  1900.” 

The  resolution  was  carried,  Mr.  Barge  being  the  only  dissentient. 


Report  of  Educational  Committee. 

The  report  of  the  Educational  Committee  was  read  by  Mr.  J.  R. 
Johnson  (Secretary),  who  reported  that  examinations  in  pharmacy 
and  pharmaceutical  Latin,  conducted  by  Professor  Greenish,  were 
to  be  held  on  W ednesday  and  Thursday  evenings,  the  28th  and  29th 
of  this  month,  from  6.30  to  8  p.m.,  when  prizes  were  recommended 
to  be  awarded.  Owing  to  the  success  of  the  botanical  rambles 
last  year,  it  was  decided  to  arrange  a  similar  course  for  the  ensuing 
ear  subject  to  a  slight  alteration.  Once  a  fortnight  there  would 
e  in  the  evening  lectures  on  morphology  and  classification  of 
plants,  the  other  week  in  the  afternoon  botanical  rambles. 
The  Committee  submit  that  the  small  fee  of  2s.  be 
charged  for  the  course  of  lectures  and  rambles.  Mr. 
Reade  has  kindly  consented  to  conduct  the  class.  They 
also  recommend  that  prizes  be  awarded  for  the  best  herbaria. 
For  the  next  winter  session  they  recommend  that  classes  be  con¬ 
ducted  under  the  auspices  of  the  Association  in  pharmacy  and 
materia  medica,  with  the  subsidiary  subject  of  prescription  Latin, 
the  same  arranged  in  two  classes,  (a)  pharmacy,  (b)  materia 
medica  and  prescription  Latin,  and,  if  found  necessary,  each  of 
these  to  be  sub-divided  into  two  classes,  elementary  and  advanced. 
That  the  fees  shall  be,  for  the  course  (elementary  or  advanced)  in 
one  subject,  4s.  ;  for  the  course  (elementary  or  advanced),  in  both 
subjects,  7s.  6 d.  ;  and  that  examinations  be  held  at  the  close  of 
the  session,  prizes  being  awarded  as  heretofore. — The  report 
was  adopted  and  carried  unanimously. — Mr.  Cocks  (Secretary) 
reported  that  the  committee  appointed  to  find  new  rooms 
had  taken  rooms  at  7,  Whimple  Street,  Plymouth,  and  suggested 
that  as  £20  would  be  required  to  furnish  the  rooms,  it  should  be 
raised  in  the  following  manner,  in  20  £1  shares  payable  at 
5  per  cent,  interest,  a  certain  amount  to  be  repaid  every  year. 
The  following  Committee  were  appointed  to  raise  the  £20  and 
superintend  the  furnishing  of  the  rooms  Messrs.  Weary,  Condy 
U’Ren,  Woods,  Reade,  Swainson,  J.  Cocks,  C.  J.  Park,  G.  Breeze, 
J.  H.  Bailey  (Hon.  Secretary). 


Aberdeen  and  North  of  Scotland  Society  of  Chemists 
and  Druggists,  Wednesday,  April  14. — Mr.  Johnston,  Presi¬ 
dent,  in  the  chair. — A  special  meeting  was  held  in  the  Society’s 
rooms.  After  the  ordinary  business  of  the  Society  was  transacted, 
Mr.  Craig  submitted  the  following  motion 

“That  the  members  of  the  Aberdeen  and  North  of  Scotland  Society  of  Che¬ 
mists  and  Druggists  at  this  meeting,  convened  for  the  discussion  of  the  pro¬ 
posed  new  bye-laws  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  wish  to  express  their 
disapprobation  of  the  attempt  of  the  Society  to  raise  the  fee  of  the  Minor 
examination  to  £10  10s.” 

He  said  that  only  two  reasons  can  be  given  for  the  increased  fee  : 
1st,  increase  of  funds  that  would  be  brought  in  ;  2nd,  by  possibly 
reducing  the  number  of  chemists,  and  thereby  improving  their 
status.  With  regard  to  the  first  reason,  he  considered  that  the 
examinations  did  pay,  and  adduced  figures  to  prove  fiis  conten¬ 
tion.  He  said  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  swallowed  up  the  funds, 
and  contended  that  the  Society  had  no  right  to  make  candidates 
pay  for  a  journal  that  was  supplied  to  members  of  the  Society, 
and  that  the  Journal  should  be  placed  on  the  same  footing  as  other 
journals,  that  is,  let  those  who  want  it  subscribe  for  it  as  a  journal. 
With  regard  to  the  second  reason  for  alteration,  he  did  not  think 
it  would  improve  the  condition  of  the  chemist.  It  would  put  a 
number  of  unqualified  men  in  competition  with  qualified  men  as 
assistants,  and  thereby  reduce  wages. — Mr.  Urquhart  seconded 
the  motion,  and  Mr.  Bruce  supported  it. — Mr.  John  Cruickshank, 
Hon.  Secretary,  proposed  as  an  amendment : — 

“  That  the  Aberdeen  and  North  of  Scotland  Society  of  Chemists  and  Druggists 
support  the  action  of  the  Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  in  framing 
the  new  bye-laws." 

He  said  that  even  if  Mr.' Craig’s  contention  were  true,  that  the 
Pharmaceutical  Journal  swallowed  up  the  funds  of  the  Society,  was 
it  not  the  case  that  the  improved  Journal  was  found  necessary, 
owing  to  the  chemists  throughout  the  country  insisting  that  it 
should  be  conducted  less  scientifically  and  should  take  up  trade 
interests  more  ?  Chemists  both  in  and  out  of  the  Society  had  also 
occasionally  clamoured  for  more  prosecutions  against  unqualified 
traders.  This  had  been  taken  up  most  vigorously  by  the  Society, 
and  recently  a  number  of  prosecutions  had  taken  place  in  Scot¬ 
land,  but  the  paltry  sums  recovered  as  fines  were  quite  inadequate 
to  meet  the  large  outlays.  Then  how  was  the  expenditure  to  be 
met  when  so  many  remained  outside  the  Society  and  subscribed  not 


April  24, 1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


363 


a  farthing  to  its  funds  ?  — Mr.  Clark,  pharmaceutical  chemist, 
seconded  the  amendment  and  Mr.  Ritchie  supported  it. — The 
vote  was  taken,  when  there  voted  for  Mr.  Cruickshank’s  amend¬ 
ment  eight,  and  for  Mr.  Craig’s  motion  four. 


SOCIAL  MEETINGS, 


Bradford  and  District  Chemists’  Association,  Wed¬ 
nesday,  April  7. — -The  President,  Mr.  E.  Mackay,  in  the  chair. — - 
The  members  of  the  above  Association,  together  with  their  wives 
and  friends,  had  a  very  enjoyable  evening  on  the  occasion  of  their 
annual  conversazione,  which  were  held  at  the  Great  Northern 
Victoria  Hotel.  During  the  evening  some  very  entertaining  exhibits 
were  shown,  including  the  Rontgen  rays,  by  Messrs.  Reynolds  and 
Branson,  of  Leeds,  a  six-inch  spark  coil  being  used.  Explanations 
were  given  of  the  four  Guisley  tubes  of  various  vacuums,  fluores¬ 
cent  cross  (Crookes’  tube),  rubies  and  shells  (cathode  tube),  and  the 
X  rays  focus  tubes,  showing  rings  on  the  finger,  coins,  etc.,  in 
purses,  bones  in  the  hand,  etc.  Soap  bubbles,  by  Mr.  J.  E.  Wilson, 
of  Bradford,  proved  very  interesting,  and  electrical  clocks  were 
shown  by  Mr.  T.  H.  Pattinson.  Agreeable  musical  selections 
were  contributed  at  intervals  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  A.  Mitchell,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  J.  Moulson,  and  Miss  Mackay.  The  conversazione  was 
a  great  success,  and  was  thoroughly  enjoyed. — At  the  close  of  the 
evening  Mr.  Mackay  proposed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  ladies  and 
artistes,  which  was  carried  unanimously. 


Liverpool  Pharmaceutical  Students’  Society,  Wednes¬ 
day,  April  14. — Mr.  John  Jones,  President,  in  the  chair.— A  very 
successful  session  was  brought  to  a  close  by  a  smoking  concert,  held  at 
the  Kardomah  Cafe,  Church  Street,  Liverpool.  A  company  of  some 
forty  members  and  their  friends  was  present,  for  whose  entertain¬ 
ment  a  lengthy  programme  of  vocal  and  instrumental  music  was 
submitted,  the  artistes  comprising  members  of  the  Society  and 
numerous  talented  friends,  and  the  items  being,  without  excep¬ 
tion,  of  a  much  higher  class  than  is  usual  at  such  gatherings.  Songs 
were  rendered  by  Messrs.  Shacklady,  W.  J.  Barlow,  Field,  Percy 
Stone,  Will  Hyde,  and  Burgess,  the  humorous  element  being  pro¬ 
vided  by  Will  Hyde  in  the  shape  of  a  sketch  upon  “  Nothing”  and 
several  songs  by  Mr.  Burgess,  whoseamusing  patter  was  of  a  decidedly 
original  description.  Solos  and  duets  were  contributed  on  the  banjo 
(by  Mr.  Thoms),  piano  (Mr.  Hughes),  violin  (Mr.  Burgess),  and  flute 
(by  Mr.  Cook)  in  good  style  and  to  the  evident  appreciation  of  a 
somewhat  critical  audience.  During  the  evening  an  appeal  was 
made  to  the  members  on  behalf  of  the  Benevolent  Fund  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  by  the  Vice-President,  Mr.  T.  S.  Wokes, 
supported  by  Mr.  R.  H.  Mitchell,  and  a  collection  was  taken  up 
amounting  to  £2  5s.  4 d. ,  the  largest  amount  so  far  received  at  such 
social  meetings  held  by  the  “students.”  In  proposing  a  vote  of 
thanks  to  the  artistes,  Mr.  Shacklady  eulogised  the  President, 
Secretary,  and  artistes  for  the  splendid  exhibition  of  talent  they 
had  enabled  their  audience  to  enjoy,  and  stated  that  in  his  opinion 
the  concert  was  the  most  successful  from  a  music  point  of  view  that 
the  students  had  ever  held,  the  quality  of  the  songs  and  instru¬ 
mental  pieces  being  of  a  very  high  standard  indeed,  and  the  comic 
songs  being  really  of  a  humorous  character  and  not  partaking  of 
the  too  prevalent  vulgar  music-hall  inanity. 


LEGAL  INTELLIGENCE. 


PROCEEDINGS  UNDER  THE  FOOD  AND  DRUGS  ACTS. 


The  Sale  of  Glycerin  and  Lime  Juice. 

On  Saturday,  at  Brentford  Police  Court,  before  Mr.  M.  Sharpe, 
Chairman,  and  a  full  Bench,  Mr.  James  Wilkey  Webber,  pharmaceu¬ 
tical  chemist,  of  202,  High  Road,  Chiswick,  W.,  appeared  to  an 
adjourned  summons  for  having  sold  glycerin  and  lime  cream  not 
of  the  nature,  substance  and  quality  demanded  by  Walter  Tyler, 
an  inspector  under  the  Food  and  Drugs  Act. 

Mr.  G.  W.  Lay  again  defended. 

As  the  case  stood,  the  prosecution  relied  on  the  certificate  of 
Mr.  E.  Bevan,  the  official  county  analyst,  which  stated  there 
was  no  glycerin  in  the  compound.  The  defence  was  that  there 
was  glycerin  present  to  the  extent  of  half  a  drachm  to  8  ozs., 
and  the  case  was  adjourned  in  order  that  the  Somerset  House 
authorities  might  analyse  a  portion  of  the  sample. 

The  Clerk  of  the  Court  read  the  Somerset  House  certificate, 


which  stated  that  the  sample  was  found  to  contain  a  mixture  of 
mineral  and  vegetable  oils,  sugar,  lime  water,  and  glycerin,  the 
last-named  ingredient  to  the  extent  of  half  a  fluid  drachm  to  8  ozs. 
of  the  mixture.  This  was  signed  by  Messrs.  R.  Bannister,  F.I.C., 
F.C.S.,  andG.  Lewin,  F.I.C. 

Mr.  Lay  submitted  that,  upon  this  certificate,  he  was  entitled  to 
a  dismissal  of  the  summons.  At  the  previous  hearing  he  called  the 
defendant  and  the  actual  maker  of  the  compound,  who  deposed 
that  glycerin  was  put  into  it  to  the  extent  of  half  a  drachm  to  the 
8-oz.  bottle.  The  Somerset  House  certificate  corroborated  this, 
and  taken  together  this  evidence  disproved  any  fraud  on  the  part 
of  the  defendant. 

The  Clerk  of  the  Court  interposing,  stated  that  the  Court  was  not 
bound  by  the  Somerset  House  analysis. 

The  Chairman  said  that  the  certificates  were  very  wide  apart 
indeed,  and  it  would  be  only  fair  to  the  county  analyst  to  hear  if 
he  wished  to  make  any  observations. 

Mr.  Bevan  informed  the  Court  that  he  could  not  accept  the  cer¬ 
tificate  from  Somerset  House.  He  had  also  fortified  himself  with 
the  opinion  of  a  very  expert  analyst,  who  bore  out  his  investi¬ 
gation. 

Mr.  Lay  said  that  he  had  also  had  the  sample  analysed  indepen¬ 
dently,  and  his  certificate  agreed  with  Somerset  House.  All  the 
facts  were  in  favour  of  the  defendant. 

The  Justices  conferred,  and  the  Chairman  stated  that  as  the 
matter  was  so  important  in  the  interests  of  the  county  and  the 
official  analyst,  that  it  could  not  be  allowed  to  rest  where  it  was.  The 
certificates  from  Somerset  House  were  so  much  waste  paper  without 
being  supported  by  evidence,  and  the  Court  considered  that  the 
two  gentlemen  who  signed  it  should  attend,  in  order  that  they 
might  be  cross-examined.  They,  as  Justices,  could  not  tell  which 
was  right,  and  the  divergence  was  so  great  and  so  vital  to  the 
case  that  all  the  circumstances  must  be  closely  investigated  before 
a  just  decision  could  be  arrived  at.  The  cost  would  not  fall  on 
the  defendant.  The  matter  was  one  which  concerned  the  county, 
and  it  should  be  seen  who  was  right. 

The  summons  was  adjourned  accordingly. 


NEW  REMEDIES. 


Holzinol. — This  specialty,  brought  forward  as  a  remedy  for 
whooping  cough,  is  said  to  consist  of  formic  aldehyde,  2 ;  menthol,  40 ; 
methylic  alcohol,  58. — Pharm.  Ze.it.,  xlvi.,  672. 


Resorcin  in  Seborrhea  Capitis.— Resorcin,  1  ;  spts.  vini 
rect.,  50;  petrolati,  150.  Sig. — -external  use.  The  liniment  is 
to  be  rubbed  into  the  hairy  scalp  on  going  to  bed.  Later  on  the 
application  is  made  only  every  other  day. — Pediatrics,  iii. ,  60. 


Ichthyol  in  Conjunctival  Eczema. — Ammon,  sulphoichthyolat, 
0'5 ;  amyli  tritici,  zinci  oxyd.  aa,  10 ;  petrolali,  25  ;  ft.  ungt. 
Sig. — to  be  rubbed  into  the  eyelids  at  night  and  covered  with  zinc 
ichthyol  ointment. — Pediatrics,  iii.,  61,  after  Zeitschr.  f.  Krau- 
Renpflege,  1896,  8. 


Airol  in  Leprosy. — A  10  per  cent,  ointment  of  airol  with 
vaseline  applied  daily  with  massage  over  the  affected  area,  as  well 
as  injections  of  10  per  cent,  glycerin  solutions  of  airol  into  the 
deeper  ulcers,  enabled  Fornara  to  greatly  ameliorate  a  severe  case 
of  leprosy ;  the  purulent  abscesses  healed,  the  conjunctiva} 
became  normal,  and  the  hair  which  had  dropped  off  reappeared. — 
Nouv.  Rem.,  xiii.,  108. 


Cerium  Salts  as  Antiseptics. — The  various  compounds  of 
cerium  and  nitric  acid  are  recommended  for  their  active  germi¬ 
cidal  action,  while  they  are  non-poisonous  towai’ds  higher  or¬ 
ganisms.  The  colourless  cerium  nitrate  in  a  one  per  mille 
solution  prevent  all  bacterial  growth,  although  a  much  stronger 
solution  has  little  or  no  action  upon  the  wound  tissues.  Cerium 
ammonio-nitrate  forms  red,  easily  decomposable,  crystals,  which 
also  prevent  the  growth  of  bacteria  at  1:200.  The  nitrates  of 
didynium,  lanthanium,  yttrium,  erbium,  thorium,  and  zirkonium 
show  a  similar  .property.  The  chlorides  and  nitrates  are  easily 
soluble  in  water,  the  sulphates  are  more  difficult  to  dissolve,  this 
being  specially  the  case  with  the  double  alkaline  sulphates.  The 
carbonates,  phosphates,  and  oxalates  are  quite  insoluble. — - 
Pharm.  Post,  xxx.,  103. 


364 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  24,  1897. 


LETTERS  TO  THE  EDITOR. 


The  Council  Election. 

Sir, — May  I  be  allowed  to  add  one  word  to  the  letters  already 
published  with  regard  to  the  forthcoming  Council  election,  par¬ 
ticularly  with  reference  to  the  facts  stated  by  Mr.  Gostling  and 
Mr.  Keen  as  to  the  very  serious  diminution  in  the  proportion  of 
London  pharmacists  on  the  Council  of  the  Society  ?  This  diminish¬ 
ing  proportion  constitutes,  in  my  opinion,  a  very  grave  anomaly, 
to  use  no  stronger  expression,  for  it  is  altogether  out  of  the  ques¬ 
tion  that  one-fourth  of  the  Council  should  be  expected  to  do  all 
the  Committee  work  in  the  interval  between  the  monthly  meetings, 
while  the  other  three-fourths  get  off  “  scot-free,”  as  we  say  here. 
It  is  well  known  to  every  person  who  has  had  any  experience  on  a 
public  board  that  the  stated  public  meetings  are  only  a  very  small 
part  of  the  work,  the  Committee  meetings  always  requiring  much 
more  time  and  attention.  On  this  ground  alone  it  is  a  distinct 
hardship  that  we  should  put  upon  the  few  London  pharmacists 
who  give  their  time  to  the  Society  such  an  amount  of  hard 
work  as  really  makes  the  post  of  Councillor  one  to  be 
avoided  rather  than  envied.  We  all  recognise  that  the  position 
is  one  of  honour,  and  for  that  reason  we  wish  it  occupied  by 
our  best  men,  but  these  very  men  have  their  hands  full  already, 
and  it  is  not  right  to  ask  any  one  of  them  to  make  himself  a  slave 
for  the  sake  of  the  Society  when  a  more  judicious  selection  may 
distribute  the  honours  quite  as  deservedly,  and  ensure  that  no  man 
will  be  unduly  burdened.  On  the  ground  of  common  humanity, 
therefore,  I  would  suggest  that  the  Society  should  return  a  larger 
proportion  of  London  men  than  we  have  hitherto  done.  There  is 
another  aspect  of  the  case  which  should  receive  attention.  Where 
are  our  future  Presidents  to  come  from  ?  Of  necessity  these  must 
be  London  men,  and  they  must  be  trained  for  the  work.  We 
naturally  look  forward  to  a  few  years  of  our  genial  President,  Mr. 
Hills,  and  also  to  seeing  Mr.  Martindale,  and  Mr.  Savory,  and  Mr. 
Allen  all  filling  the  chair,  but  these  gentlemen  will  be  the  first 
to  admit  that  it  is  only  once  a  century  or  so  that  a  Carteighe 
appears,  and  probably  none  of  us  will  live  to  see  another  President 
with  a  record  of  anything  like  fourteen  years.  But  if  we  do  not 
put  new  men  forward  where  are  we  to  find  our  Presidents  in  the 
future  ?  This  is  an  aspect  of  the  case  that  deserves  serious  con¬ 
sideration.  The  only  other  point  is  one  that  some  may  think  a 
sordid  one,  viz.,  that  of  expense,  but  in  these  days,  when  retrench¬ 
ment  is  the  order  of  the  day,  I  see  no  reason  why  the  Society 
should  not  save  a  little  here.  Our  country  councillors  are  all  most 
excellent  men,  and  they  do  good  by  their  influence  in  the  districts 
they  represent,  but  after  all  we  may  pay  too  dearly  in  more  ways 
than  one,  even  for  the  moral  influence  of  a  councillor,  particularly 
when  it  is  of  so  little  service  in  a  London  committee  meeting.  On 
these  grounds,  therefore,  I  consider  there  is  ample  justification  in 
asking  the  members  of  the  Society  to  return  a  larger  proportion  of 
London  councillors  than  we  have  been  doing  in  recent  years. 

Hawick,  April  14,  1897.  Thos.  Maben. 


The  Proposed  New  Bye-Laws. 

Sir, — The  proposed  alterations  in  the  bye-laws  are  a  step  in  the 
right  direction,  especially  the  raising  of  the  standard  of  the  Pre¬ 
liminary  examination,  which  at  the  present  is  inadequate.  I  think 
the  proposed  increased  fee  for  the  Minor  (or  more  properly  the 
qualifying  examination)  would  receive  more  support  provided  one 
more  advantage  could  be  gained,  that  is,  all  persons  on  passing 
the  Minor,  and  being  placed  on  the  Register,  should  be  exempt 
from  jury  service,  as  are  medical  men,  pharmaceutical  chemists, 
and  dentists.  This  would  meet  with  general  approval. 

April  14,  1897.  Associate  (90/2). 

***  What  our  correspondent  suggests,  though  extremely  desirable,  cannot  be 
realised  without  obtaining  fresh  Parliamentary  powers.— [Ed.  Ph.  J.] 

The  Latin  oe  Pharmacy. 

Sir, — Mr.  Ince,  in  his  almost  apologetic  paper  on  the  latinity  of 
pharmacy,  which  constrains  one’s  interest,  leaves  to  botanical 
authorities  to  decide — not  a  question  of  latinity  for  which  they  are 
not  competent  but— whether  they  will  use  the  word  ‘  ‘  silvestris  ” 
or  “  sylvestris.”  It  is  to  be  feared  that  classically  there  is  not  much 
choice — “the  i’s  have  it,”  as  Mr.  Speaker  says.  Still  one  may  nourish 
a  little  heresy  and  side  with  the  “  most  eminent  botanists  ”  on  the 
ground  that,  as  Latin  appeals  to  our  eyes  rather  than  our  ears, 
“  sylvestris  ”  preserves  to  us  more  of  the  Greek  v\tj  than  the  more 
usual  “  silvestris.”  Indeed  one  might  suppose  that  some  “  Eizak  Pit¬ 


man  ”  of  the  period  had  caught  the  ear  of  the  learned  at  Rome  when 
“silvestris”  was  accepted  by  its  writers.  I  look  forward  with 
interest  to  further  contributions  from  Messrs.  Ince  and  Coull,  but 
I  doubt  whether  they  or  any  other  authorities  will  effect  uni¬ 
formity  among  “  students  ”  in  the  pronunciation  of  such  words  as 
“  conium”  and  “barium,”  for  the  Hellenes  in  one  case  are  Philis¬ 
tines  in  the  other.  It  is,  however,  highly  desirable  that  persons  in 
authority  in  pharmacy  should  maintain  the  right  standard,  though 
there  may  be  no  power  to  enforce  it  just  yet.  ‘  ‘  Higher  education,”  a 
watchword  of  to-day,  tends  in  the  right  direction.  What  militates 
powerfully  against  correct  utterance  is  the  fact  that  paper  work 
almost  excludes  oral  instruction,  and  the  ear  of  the  student  is  in 
subjection  to  the  eye  for  purposes  of  education.  The  utterances 
of  even  distinguished  professors  occasionally  shock  the  ear.  I 
presume  it  is  pure  “  cussedness ”  which  makes  “students”  say 
“camphora,”  and  not  a  foolish  affection  for  icdipovpa. 

Ryde,  April  19,  1897.  Henry  H.  Pollard. 

An  Assistants’  Qualification  Wanted. 

Sir, — I  am  pleased  to  see  that  in  Mr.  McMillan  has  come  forward 
the  champion  of  true  pharmacy,  for  Avhom  I  have  been  hoping 
these  two  years  or  more.  Over  and  over  again  have  I  been  on  the 
point  of  writing  to  protest  against  the  more  or  less  uselessness  for 
trade  purposes  of  the  present  system  of  examination  for  the 
Minor  and  Major.  The  Pharmaceutical  Society  educates  a  man 
in  its  own  School  at  considerable  expense  to  himself,  then  charges 
him  a  heavy  fee  for  examination,  and  if  he  be  sufficiently  fortunate 
to  pass  through  that  ordeal  successfully,  sends  him  out  into  the 
world  warranted  by  its  seal  fully  qualified  to  carry  out  all  the 
more  important  duties  of  a  properly  regulated  pharmacy,  and  to 
safeguard  the  lives  of  the  public  by  the  correct  dispensing  to  them 
of  the  most  deadly  poisons  when  required.  How  much  reliance 
may  safely  be  placed  upon  this  Bloomsbury  Square  certificate  let 
a  little  of  my  experience  relate  : — Some  years  back  I  was  in  want 
of  a  second  assistant  for  our  season,  and  as  my  then  assistant, 
though  an  excellent  and  most  reliable  man,  thoroughly  well  up  all 
round,  was  unqualified,  I  asked  for  a  qualified  one.  A  newly  turned- 
out  “  Pharmaceutical  chemist  ”  replied,  fresh  from  the  Society’s 
School,  where  he  had  distinguished  himself  by  gaining  either 
medal  or  certificate  in  two  or  three  different  subjects.  “  This  is 
the  man  for  me,”  thought  I ;  “  now  I  shall  have  confidence  in  my 
staff.”  Alas  !  the  first  day  he  made  three  mistakes,  showing  actual 
want  of  knowledge  of  drugs,  doses,  prescription  reading,  etc. ,  the 
next  some  more  or  less  trivial,  some  most  serious,  and  so  on  from 
day  to  day,  until  within  a  week  I  found  that  it  was  quite  unsafe  to 
leave  him  in  the  shop  alone.  Fortunately  for  himself,  he  was  a 
most  pleasant,  gentlemanly  young  fellow,  and  candidly  admitted 
his  incompetency  and  want  of  experience,  and  showed  such  a  wish 
to  learn  his  business  that  on  second  thoughts  I  decided  to  attempt 
to  supply  to  him  what  the  parent  Society’s  examiners  had  altogether 
failed  to  notice  the  lack  of — a  proper  knowledge  of  his  business. 

The  time  being  a  busy  one,  a  great  deal  of  the  tuition 
necessarily  fell  upon  my  unqualified  (and  twice  rejected  for  the 
Minor)  assistant.  What  a  spectacle  !  A  rejected  Minor  educating 
a  pharmaceutical  chemist  and  School  of  Pharmacy  prizeman. 
But  he  and  I  succeeded,  and  when  the  season  was  over,  I  was  able 
to  pass  him  on  to  a  brother  pharmacist  with  a  good  reference. 
Sir,  ought  these  things  so  to  be  ?  I  say  no,  and  yet  the  Society 
now  thinks  it  has  given  qualification  too  cheaply,  and  wants 
to  make  future  pharmacists  pay  double  for  it.  0  tempora  !  O 
mores  !  What  a  pharmacist  wants  to  know  is  not  so  much 
how  many  oxides  of  ethyl  there  are,  as  what  he  is  to  do  when 
a  man  is  brought  into  his  shop  who  has  just  taken  a  stiff  dose  of 
prussic  acid  or  some  other  deadly  poison.  The  public  expect  to 
find  men  behind  a  chemist’s  counter  who  can  give  them  sure  and 
ready  help  in  such  cases  when  they  arise  from  time  to  time  ;  in 
short,  in  my  opinion  the  Minor  examination  is  too  scientific  and 
not  sufficiently  practical. 

And  this  brings  me  to  another  point.  Nowadays  nearly  every 
railway  porter,  policeman,  soldier,  or  sailor  is  more  or  less  well  up 
in  ambulance  work,  and  many  are  the  enthusiastic  holders  of  a 
“First  Aid”  diploma,  whilst  the  generality  of  chemists  and 
assistants  have  only  a  more  or  less  hazy  idea  of  it,  which  they 
have  picked  up  by  chance  from  time  to  time,  and  yet  the  public, 
in  case  of  accident,  failing  to  find  a  doctor  on  the  spot,  make 
straight  for  the  nearest  chemist’s  shop.  That  this  is  the  case  in 
other  countries  too  the  appointed  system  in  Paris  clearly  recog¬ 
nises  ;  why  then  should  not  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  add  a 
“First  Aid”  course  to  the  curriculum  for  the  Minor,  and  knock 


Apbil  2i,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


365 


out  a  great  deal  of  the  foolish  scientific  vapouring  now  so  freely 
indulged  in,  one  of  the  results  of  which  often  is  to  make  a  man 
feel  altogether  above  the  work  behind  the  counter  ?  Mr. 
McMillan’s  idea  of  an  “Assistants’  Qualification  Examination” 
may  be  a  good  one,  but  wants  thinking  out,  and  I  trust,  with 
your  usual  ready  help,  a  good  discussion  in  your  columns  may 
enable  us  to  do  this ;  but  I  must  and  do  protest  against  the 
Society  continuing  to  send  out  so-called  qualified  men  with  false 
^colours  flying  at  their  mast-head. 

Westgate-on-Sea,  April  20,  1897.  F.  R.  Bessant. 


•Sir, — A  letter — to  me  extraordinary— appears  in  your  issue  of 
.April  17  from  a  correspondent  in  Glasgow,  who  complains  that  the 
Minor  examinations  in  Edinburgh  are  too  difficult  for  his  “reliable 
young  men  ”  assistants,  and  suggests  that  candidates  should  “  not 
be  confused  with  salts  of  tin  and  aluminum,  which  are  only  known 
as  chemical  curiosities,”  and  that  they  should  not  be  presented 
with  “  specimens  of  flowers  never  seen  except  in  a  conservatory.” 
It  may  perhaps  enlighten  your  mournful  correspondent  to  know 
(and  my  experience  is  not,  I  think,  unique)  that  during  the  past 
few  years  my  reputation  has  hinged  several  times  upon  my  ability 
*o  distinguish  between  these  same  occultly  elusive  and  mysteriously 
strange  “salts  of  tin  and  aluminum,”  and  that  the  cordial 
xelations  of  mutual  esteem  and  confidence  which  exist  between 
every  medical  practitioner  without  exception  in  the  neighbourhood 
-and  myself,  are  largely  due  to  my  ability  (in  common,  it  may  sur¬ 
prise  him  to  know,  with  others)  to  discourse  learnedly  regarding 
“flowers  and  plants  never  seen  except  in  a  conservatory.”  No 
doubt  such  venerable  specimens  of  the  Pleisosaurus  and  Ichthyo¬ 
saurus  of  pharmacy,  as  your  correspondent  betrays  a  gushing  fond¬ 
ness  for,  served  a  useful  purpose  in  their  time,  but  surely  in  this 
nineteenth  century  such  a  desire  to  revert  to  a  former  condition  is 
gravely  symptomatic  of  mental  atavism,  or,  as  these  terrible  exam¬ 
iners  might  say,  retrograde  metamorphosis. 

311,  Fulham  Boad,  3.  W.  Wm.  Luther  Longstaff. 

April  21,  1897. 


Sir, — Permit  me  a  word  or  two  in  regard  to  a  letter  by  Mr.  John 
McMillan,  Glasgow,  in  last  week’s  Journal.  He  writes  to  suggest 
that  an  assistants’  qualification  should  be  instituted.  In  leading 
up  to  this,  he  deplores  the  large  percentage  of  failures  among  the 
young  men  who  go  up  for  examination  from  his  establishments, 
■and  says  that  they  mostly  fail  in  two  of  the  subjects.  From  his 
remarks,  he  evidently  means  chemistry  and  botany,  and  he  states 
that  “the  failures  were  due  to  the  examiners  taking  them  (the 
candidates)  into  regions  quite  unknown  to  them  and  entirely 
beyond  the  scope  of  pharmacy.”  He  does  not  allege  that  they 
went  beyond  the  scope  of  the  syllabus,  and  I  have  not  the 
slightest  doubt  that  they  did  not  ;  if  regions  within  its  scope 
were  “quite  unknown”  to  his  young  men,  they  were  deservedly 
-“  ploughed,”  and  that  they  were  so  is  an  indication  that  the  ex¬ 
aminers  know  their  work  and  recognise  their  duty  to  the  public. 
I  am  afraid  that  a  thorough  knowledge  of  chemistry  and  botany 
can  scarcely  be  expected  if  the  requirements  in  these  two  subjects 
be  limited  to  the  Pharmacopoeia.  Perhaps  Mr.  McMillan  would 
support  a  suggestion  that  the  Latin  questions  in  the  Preliminary 
.  -*  ‘  should  be  entirely  found  within  the  boards  ”  of  Pereira’s  ‘  Selecta  e 
Prsescriptis  ?  If  the  Privy  Council  had  been  of  the  same  opinion 
as  Mr.  McMillan,  they  would  not  have  sanctioned — it  is  said  they 
even  suggested — the  addition  to  the  examining  board  of  specialists 
in  chemistry  and  botany — men  who  probably  never  saw  a  Pharma¬ 
copoeia  till  their  advent  into  pharmaceutic  circles. 

Mr.  McMillan  says  he  has  no  sympathy  with  the  proposed 
increase  of  the  Minor  fee  to  ten  guineas,  and  he  suggests  a  possible 
strike  of  candidates  for  a  year  or  two,  to  the  financial  embarrass¬ 
ment  of  the  Society.  There  is  not  the  slightest  fear,  sir,  of  a 
-strike,  and  Mr.  McMillan  knows  it,  as  I  shall  presently  show. 
Assistants  are  the  men  who  profit  by  the  increase  in  the  fee.  Since 
the  five-guinea  fee  for  the  Minor  was  instituted  the  value  of  an 
assistant  (qualified)  has  increased  twenty  pounds  a  year  at  least, 
-and  the  value  will  go  higher  after  the  ten -guinea  fee  comes  into 
operation.  A  candidate  can  well  afford  to  pay  the  fee,  for  he  will 
recoup  himself  for  it  and  great  part  of  his  other  expenses  during 
the  first,  year  after  he  qualifies.  Mr.  McMillan  suggests 
that  a  modified  Minor  examination  might  be  arranged 
qualifying  an  assistant  to  handle  and  retail  scheduled  poisons  under 
■a  qualified  proprietor  but  not  entitling  him  to  start  business  or 
.manage  a  branch.  “Employers,”  says  Mr.  McMillan,  “willing 
and  anxious  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the  Pharmacy  Act  as  it 


is  now  interpreted,  would  find  this  qualification  a  great  con¬ 
venience  for  obtaining  reliable  assistants,  and  to  many  assistants 
it  would  prove  a  decided  boon.”  Now  we  have  Mr.  McMillan’s 
recognition  of  the  value  of  the  Minor  qualification.  He  can  get  as 
many  “  reliable  assistants,”  qualified,  as  he  wants  if  he  will  pay 
them  the  requisite  salary.  The  men  whose  failure  he  deplores 
would,  presumably,  be  just  as  “reliable”  and  useful  after  they 
had  qualified  as  they  were  while  unqualified.  Where  on  earth, 
then,  would  the  “great  convenience”  of  his  proposed  assistants’ 
qualification  come  in  ?  So  far  as  I  can  see,  it  would  certainly  be  a 
“ great  convenience  for  obtaining  reliable  (?)  assistants” — on  the 
cheap.  A  decided  boon  to  many  assistants  !  It  would  be  the 
worst  thing  that  ever  happened  to  them.  It  would  simply  keep 
down  their  value,  and  I  should  be  surprised  to  hear  that  any  of 
them,  qualified  or  unqualified,  would  support  such  a  proposal. 
Mr.  McMillan  says  he  is  not  qualified  to  argue.  Perhaps  not.  His 
visual  reach  towards  a  bargain  in  assistants  has,  however,  my 
admiration. 

April  19,  1897.  Saltpetre  (91/1). 


Naval  Dispenserships. 

Sir, — On  page  215  of  the  Journal  a  reference  is  made  to  dis¬ 
penserships  in  the  Naval  Medical  Service  being  thrown  open  to 
Irish  licentiates,  to  the  fact  that  they  cannot  yet  be  entered  till  a 
new  order  in  council  has  been  effected,  and  that  those  appoint¬ 
ments  are  to  be  made  by  open  competition,  such  competitions  to  be 
conducted  by  the  Civil  Service  Commissioners.  With  your 
permission  I  should  like  to  pass  a  few  remarks  about  these 
appointments.  There  are  altogether  fourteen  of  them ;  a  few 
years  ago  there  were  sixteen,  but  as  the  duties  at  Ascension  and 
Yarmouth  Hospitals  were  not  sufficiently  heavy  to  warrant  an 
expenditure  of  5s.  a  day  at  each  of  these  places,  the  order  in 
council  was  ignored  and  the  appointments  nominally  turned  over 
to  a  surgeon.  The  order  in  council  states  that  Major  men  only 
are  to  obtain. the  Is.  a  day  charge  of  stores  money  when  actually 
in  charge  of  stores  ;  this  also  has  been  set  aside  and  the  lower 
qualified  men  levelled  up  to  the  higher  trained  men.  Twenty-five 
years  of  age  is  the  limit  for  entry,  but  candidates  with  even  the 
Minor  qualification  are  so  scarce  that  it  has  been  found 
necessary  on  more  than  one  occasion  to  extend  the  age  to 
27  years,  in  order  to  get  a  single  candidate  for  a  vacancy. 
House  accommodation  to  civil  salaried  officers  in  the  Naval 
Service  should  have  a  rental  value  of  not  less  than  one-sixth  (-Jth) 
of  the  official’s  salary.  This  regulation  extends  at  home  to  two 
dispensers  only.  Dispensers  are  entitled  to  twenty-eight  days’ 
leave  of  absence  when  their  services  can  be  spared,  but  owing  to 
the  congested  condition  of  the  Navy  and  its  increased  numbers  of 
both  ships  and  men,  leave  is  not  easily  obtained,  in  fact  it  is  more 
frequently  refused  than  granted. 

One  would  imagine,  judging  by  the  open  competition,  that  5s. 
a  day,  with  a  couple  of  rooms  and  board  out,  to  an  Irish  pharma¬ 
cist  was  a  large  income.  My  advice  to  young  men  who  are  anxious 
for  permanent  Government  employment,  and  who  are  connected 
with  pharmacy  in  particular,  is  to  employ  a  Civil  Service  coach 
for  a  short  period,  then  they  will  be  more  than  likely  able  to  get  an 
appointment  in  the  Naval  Medical  Director  General’s  office  as  a  clerk, 
or  as  an  assistant  storekeeper  in  one  of  the  Admiralty  Departments,  or 
as  a  man  clerkin  thepublicservicegenerally.  The  commencing  salary 
is  the  same  as  a  dispenser  with  the  certainty  of  £350  a  year  long 
before  the  dispenser  attains  his  maximum  of  £182,  in  a  great  many 
cases  these  appointments  run  up  to  £500  and  £600  a  year,  vide  Civil 
Service  Guide.  As  the  Admiralty  obtains  the  life  blood  of  healthy 
young  pharmacists  for  ordinary  assistants’  pay,  one  would  naturally 
think  that  the  dispensing  of  poisonous  medicines  would  be 
relegated  entirely  to  them,  but  such  is  not  the  case,  for  all 
Royal  Dockyard  Surgeries  at  home  and  abroad,  all  Royal  Marine 
Infirmaries  and  the  different  sick  quarters,  as  well  as  several  naval 
hospitals  abroad,  have  their  medicines,  poisonous  and  otherwise, 
nominally  in  the  charge  of  surgeons,  but  dispensed  in  enormous 
quantities  by  men  possessing  even  a  more  meagre  knowledge  of 
drugs  than  the  Army  medical  compounders.  It  seems  strange  that 
a  Pharmacy  Act  should  have  been  made  for  the  protection  of  Her 
Majesty’s  civilian  subjects.  It  may  be,  I  hope  not,  that  when  a 
man  becomes  a  defender  of  our  hearths  and  homes,  his  life  and  that 
of  his  family  are  of  less  importance  than  the  ordinary  civilian. 

Dispensers  get  neither  honour  nor  glory.  To  illustrate  this, 
during  the  first  Ashantee  expedition  a  pharmacist,  serving  at 
Haslar  Hospital,  answered  the  call  for  a  volunteer  to  serve  as 
dispenser  on  board  the  hospital  ship  “Nebraski,”  and  at  great 


366 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[April  24,  1897 


pecuniary  loss  went  through  as  much  danger  as  the  officers  of  the 
ship.  They  all  had  special  promotion  and  decorations.  He  re¬ 
ceived  nothing,  not  even  the  live  shillings’  worth  of  silver  stamped 
with  the  Queen’s  head  and  designated  medal  which  was  served  out 
to  the  humblest  menial  on  board.  As  regards  remuneration  medicos 
have  it  all  also.  A  surgeon  on  joining  the  Navy  gets  13s.  6d.  a 
day  and  is  sent  to  Haslar  Hospital  for  tuition  for  six  months,  with 
no  responsibility.  His  principal  gets  60s.  a  day. 

March  31,  1897.  Videre  est  Credere  (91/23). 


ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 


Special  Notice. — Scientific,  technical,  legal  and  general  information  required 
by  readers  of  the  ‘ Pharmaceutical  Journal'  will  be  furnished  by  the  Editor  as  far 
as  practicable,  but  he  cannot  undertake  to  reply  by  post.  All  communications  must  be 
addressed  “ Editor,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  London,  W.C.,"  and  must  also  be  authen¬ 
ticated  by  the  names  and  addresses  of  senders.  Questions  on  different  subjects  should 
be  written  on  separate  slips  of  paper,  each  oj  which  must  bear  the  sender's  initials  or 
pseudonym.  Replies  will,  in  all  cases,  be  referred  to  such  initials  or  pseudonyms, 
and  the  registered  number  added  in  each  instance  should  be  quoted  in  any  subsequent 
communication  on  the  same  subject. 


Cream  Oil  Liniment.— See  reply  to  W.  J.  W.  in  Journal  for 
April  17,  p.  346.  [Reply  to  A.  A.  M.— 89/33.] 


Messrs.  Kay  Brothers,  Limited,  Stockport. — Sample  of  sodium 
chlorate  received,  and  your  request  shall  have  attention. 


Koch’s  Tuberculin. — You  will  obtain  this  from  Messrs.  Zimmer- 
mann,  9,  St.  Mary-at-Hill,  E.C.  [Reply  to  Correspondent. — 90/33.] 


Mosses  Identified. — 1.  Brachythecium  rutabulum  and  a  smaller 
species,  AmUystegium  serpens ;  2.  Fissidens  incurvus ;  3.  Bryum 
atro-purpureum.  [ Reply  to  Pondo. — 89/41.] 


Stenhouse,  A. — Your  communication,  which  was  incorrectly 
addressed  to  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  W.C.,  has  been  forwarded 
to  the  Publishers,  5,  Serle  Street,  Lincoln’s  Inn,  W.C.  (see  notice 
on  p.  357).— 91/16. 


Lure  for  Earwigs.— The  page  referred  to  should  be  275  instead 
of  335.  The  following  are  the  details  for  preparing  the  earwig 
bait  : — Take  foots  sugar,  or  preferably  rough  honey,  2;  beer,  1, 
and  boil  together  until  all  is  dissolved,  when  cold  add  just  a  dash 
of  methylated  spirit.  [ Reply  to  F.  S. — 90/29.] 


Schulze’s  Chlor-Zinc  Iodine  Solution.— The  following 
is  the  process  given  in  Squire’s  ‘  Methods  and  Formulae.’  Evapo¬ 
rate  100  fluid  parts  of  liquor  zinci  chloridi,  B.P.,  to  70  fluid 
parts,  dissolve  in  it  10  parts  of  potassium  iodide,  then  add 
one-fifth  part  of  iodine.  Shake  at  intervals  until  dissolved. 
[Reply  to  H.  W.  W. — 90/43.] 


Dispensing  Query. — Yes,  the  prescription — Potass,  iodid.,  gr. 
40  ;  tinct.  quinine,  §j.  ;  tinct.  aurant.,  3ij.  ;  aquae  chloroformi,  ad. 
fviii. — represents  a  very  frequent  form  of  bad  prescribing.  The 
writer  of  the  prescription  is  evidently  unaware  that  the  alkaloid 
is  precipitated  as  iodide.  You  should  certainly  suspend  it  by  means 
of  mucilage,  and  you  might  perhaps  have  an  opportunity  of  calling 
the  prescriber’s  attention  to  the  incompatibility  of  the  first  two 
ingredients.  [Reply  to  Junior.- — 89/34.] 


Mercury  in  Hair  Wash. — Yes,  you  may  certainly  expect  to 
find  that  the  continued  use  of  a  wash  containing  mercuric  chloride 
would  ultimately  cause  darkening  of  “golden”  hair.  The  sulphur, 
which  is  a  natural  constituent  of  the  hair,  etc.,  or  is  excreted  by 
the  skin,  will  eventually  combine  with  the  mercury  salt ;  if  at  the 
same  time  the  patient  is  taking  sulphur  in  any  form,  the  change 
will  be  far  more  rapid  and  marked.  Metallic  salts  are  used  in 
many  of  the  so-called  hair  dyes,  which  act  through  the  formation 
of  dark  sulphides  in  this  way,  but  as  the  amount  of  sulphur 
present  in  the  hair  is  small  the  process  is  slow,  so  it  is  generally 
added  to  the  dye  solution  either  as  sulphur  or  as  a  thiosulphate. 
[Reply  to  Norseman. — 89/17.] 


C.  W.  G.  Y. — The  substance  sent  is  ordinary  sodium  carbonate, 
dried. 


Associate.' — The  oil  consists  chiefly  of  turpentine  with  some  fab 
oil  partly  emulsified  with  a  caustic  alkali. 

Diploma. — According  to  the  bye-laws,  any  person  registered  as  a 
pharmaceutical  chemist  under  Section  10  of  the  Pharmacy  Act, 
1852,  is  entitled  “  to  possess  and  use  a  diploma  stamped  with  the 
seal  of  the  Society.”  [Reply  to  M.  M. — 89/44.] 

To  Colour  and  Perfume  Ointment. — Probably  a  little  car¬ 
mine  would  be  the  best  thing  to  tint  the  ointment  with,  add  j  ust- 
enough  to  produce  the  requisite  flesh  tint.  For  perfume,  oil  of 
neroli,  with  a  very  little  bergamot,  and  a  few  drops  of  otto  would 
robably  be  most  agreeable.  Do  not  make  the  perfume  too  strong, 
ut  rather  delicate.  [Reply  to  G.  H.  H.- — 89/2.] 

Marking  the  Government  Stamp  on  Jugs. — Probably 
nothing  will  hold  permanently  on  to  the  sand-blasted  government 
stamp  unless  it  is  fixed  on  before  firing,  and  then  glazed  over  like 
any  other  pattern.  Your  only  way  to  get  this  done  would  be  by 
the  makers  at  their  works.  After  marking,  the  jugs  would  have  to 
be  refired.  All  such  varnishes  as  the  recipe  you  send  will  wear  off 
in  time.  Probably  a  saturated  alcoholic  solution  of  magenta  or  of 
methyl  violet  will  bite  into  the  roughened  surface  as  well  as  any¬ 
thing,  but  will  need  to  be  renewed.  The  permanganate  in 
your  formula  is  quite  useless.  Possibly  by  coating  the  aniline- 
coloured  stamp  with  a  strong  solution  of  potassium  silicate  you 
might  get  a  good  result,  but  this  can  only  be  tried  practically. 
[Reply  to  Rhei. — 90/7.] 


QUERY. 

Wanted,  formula  for  a  composition  used  for  filling  brass  or  steel 
tubes  whilst  they  are  bent  to  shape.  It  is  apparently  of  resin  and 
gutta-percha  or  shellac.  Used  by  cycle  makers  and  scientific 
instrument  makers. — Spatula  (91/13). 


OBITUARY. 


Earee. — On  April  8,  Thomas  Earee,  Pharmaceutical  Chemist, 
Staines,  aged  77  years.  Mr.  Earee  was  a  founder  of  the  Society, 
and  his  name  has  never  once  been  omitted  from  the  roll  of  mem¬ 
bers  during  the  whole  of  the  fifty- six  years  which  have  elapsed 
since  the  Society’s  inception. 

Sarsfield. — On  April  12,  William  Sarsfield,  Pharmaceutical 
Chemist,  Durham.  Aged  61.  Mr.  Sarsfield  had  been  a  member 
of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  since  1865,  and  was  the  local  secre¬ 
tary  for  Durham.  He  took  an  active  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the 
Durham  Corporation,  to  which  body  he  was  elected  in  1880.  For 
many  years  he  acted  in  the  capacity  of  an  auditor  of  the  Corpora¬ 
tion’s  accounts  and  as  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  frequently  occupying 
a  seat  on  the  Bench. 

Cawdell. — On  April  14,  George  Cawdell,  Chemist  and  Drug¬ 
gist,  Luton.  Aged  71. 

Armitage. — On  April  19,  Mary  Hannah,  wife  of  Nathaniel 
Armitage,  M.P.S.,  Chemist  and  Druggist,  114,  Tong  Road,  Armley, 
Leeds.  Aged  49. 


PUBLICATIONS  RECEIVED. 

Price-List  of  Fine  Products  issued  by  Burroughs,  Wellcome 
and  Co.  Pp.  53.  London:  Snow  Hill  Buildings,  E.C.  1897. 
From  the  Publishers. 

Ozone  ;  its  Commercial  Production  and  Application.  By  E. 
Andreoli.  Reprinted  from  the  Journal  of  the  Society  of  Chemical 
Industry,  Feb.  27,  1897,  pp.  15.  London  :  Eyre  and  Spottis- 
woode,  1897.  From  the  Author. 


COMMUNICATIONS, LETTERS, etc., have  been  received  from 

Messrs.  Airey,  Andrews,  Armitage,  Austen,  Bayley,  Bennett,  Bessant,  Bird, 
Boa,  Browne,  Bullock,  Burroughs,  Cocks,  Conner,  Cooper,  Cowley,  Craeknell, 
Crinon,  Cruickshank,  Davis,  Duncalf, '  Edward,  Elkington,  Ennison,  Evans, 
Farr,  Ferrall,  Flatters,  Forrester,  Forshaw,  Franklin,  Gabell,  Gadd,  Gardner, 
Gilligan,  Greenish,  Griffiths,  Hicking,  Hill,  Horsfield,  Hudson,  Illingworth, 
Ingham,  Jenkins,  Johnston,  Kay,  Kemp,  Line,  Longstaff,  Lucas,  Maben, 
Macartney,  Matz,  Maunder,  Moore,  Parke,  Pickard,  Pollard,  Poole,  Richardson, 
Shackleton,  Stenhouse,  Stokoe,  Sturch,  Taylor,  Wallis,  "Warren,  Wellcome,  Wol- 
stenholme,  Wood,  Wright,  Wyatt. 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


367 


THE  MONTH.” 


fin  a  German  medical  paper  R.  Koch  gives  an 
/ccount  of  some  further  recent  investigations 
''  J*  relating  to  tuberculin,  from  which  he  considers 
important  reshlts  have  been  obtained.  He  attributes  the 
failure  of'  tuberculin  as  a  remedy  to  the  circumstance  that  although 
it  produced  a  reaction  against  the  toxin  generated  by  the 
tubercle  bacillus,  and  thus  rendered  the  organism  immune 
in  regard  to  that  toxin,  it  did  not  produce  immunity 
against  the  bacillus  itself.  In  his  opinion,  the  glycerin 
extract  does  not  contain  all  the  chemical  constituents  of  the 
bacillus,  but  only  those  which  confer  immunity  against  the  toxin. 
Hence  he  has  endeavoured  to  obtain  the  substance  capable  of 
producing  immunity  against  the  bacteria.  On  the  basis  of  obser¬ 
vations  on  the  influence  of  a  preparation  obtained  by  extracting 
the  bacilli  with  weak  soda  liquor  and  containing  dead  bacilli,  he  has 
been  led  to  try  the  effect  of  a  mechanical  disintegration,  and  by  that 
means  has  produced  a  preparation  distinguished  as  TR,  which  he 
believes  will  give  immunity  against  the  tubercle  bacillus  as  well 
as  against  the  toxin  it  generates.  This  preparation  is  now  being 
produced  at  the  Hochst  colour  works.  Clinical  trials  in  cases  of 
lupus  are  stated  to  have  given  very  satisfactory  results,  and  in 
cases  of  tuberculosis  treatment  with  the  new  preparation  has  had 
the  effect  of  stopping  expectoration  and  improving  the  condition 
of  the  lungs  without  causing  any  objectionable  symptoms  or  detri¬ 
ment  to  the  health,  but  these  results  are  described  with  much 
reserve,  and  it  remains  to  be  seen  whether  or  not  an  important 
advance  has  been  made. — D.  Med.  Wochenschrift,  1897,  No.  14. 


The  following  modification  of  Power  and 
Determination  Kleber’s  process  is  recommended  by  Lyman  F. 
of  Menthol  in  Kebler  as  being  more  expeditious  : — To  deter  - 
Peppermint  Oil.  mine  combined  menthol  a  weighed  quantity  of 
the  oil  is  boiled  for  one  hour  with  about  an 
equal  volume  of  normal  alcoholic  soda  in  a  flask  fitted  with  a  reflux 
condenser  and  titrated  with  normal  sulphuric  acid,  using 
phenolphthalein  as  an  indicator.  Each  C.c.  of  alkali 
consumed  represents  0T56  gramme  menthol  in  the  state  of 
ester.  To  determine  the  total  menthol  a  known  quantity  of 
the  oil  mixed  with  an  equal  weight  of  acetic  anhydride 
and  some  sodium  acetate  is  boiled  for  one  hour  under 
a  reflux  condenser.  After  cooling,  the  mixture  is  washed  with 
water  in  a  separator,  and  the  aqueous  layer  drawn  off,  50  C.  c.  of 
water  added  with  a  few  drops  of  phenolphthalein,  and  just  enough 
5  per  cent,  solution  of  soda  to  render  the  liquid  pink  after  thorough 
shaking.  It  is  then  well  shaken  with  about  100  C.c.  more  water, 
the  watery  liquid  drawn  off,  and  the  oily  layer  again  washed  with 
150  C.c.  water.  After  separating  the  ace  ty  la  ted  oil  is  transferred 
to  a  flask,  boiled  with  normal  alcoholic  soda  and  then  titrated. 
Each  C.c.  of  alkali  then  consumed  represents  0T56  menthol,  and 
the  quantity  of  free  menthol  is  found  by  deducting  from  the 
result  so  found  the  quantity  previously  determined  in  the  state  of 
ester.  A  number  of  samples  tested  in  this  manner  gave  the 
following  results 


Sp.  gr. 

Menthol. 

at  15°  C. 

As  Ester. 

Free. 

Total. 

Commercial  Menthol 

_  _ 

— 

99-66 

99-66 

Western  . . . .  . . 

.  0-9112 

3-72 

29-02 

32-48 

Michigan . 

.  9065 

3-06 

28-25 

31-33 

. 

.  9147 

4-51 

29-92 

34-43 

New  York  . 

.  9143 

8-07 

44-83 

52-90 

.  9099 

7-31 

45-43 

52-74 

Michigan  . 

.  9099 

10-00 

40-87 

50-87 

Unknown . 

.  S937 

8-30 

14-94 

23-24 

Michigan . . 

.  9279 

16-06 

31-55 

47-61 

Mixture. . . 

.  9079 

4-68 

38-30 

42 -9S 

Vol.  LYIII.  (Fourth 

Series,  Vol.  IV.). 

No. 

1401. 

As  compared  with  normal  Japanese  oil  generally  containing 
75  per  cent,  menthol,  these  results  show  that  peppermint  oil  varies 
considerably.  But  oil  with  a  high  percentage  does  not  always 
possess  the  desired  fine  aroma  which  is  generally  proportionate  to 
the  amount  of  menthol  esters,  unless  the  presence  of  the 
sulphur  compound  recently  discovered  by  C.  Kleber  ( Pharm . 
Review,  14,  269,  and  Schimmel’s  Report,  October,  p.  48),  or  some 
other  disturbing  condition  interferes.  Most  of  the  oils  were 
probably  genuine,  except  the  one  marked  unknown,  which  was 
mixed  with  turpentine  as  shown  by  its  boiling  point.  On 
examining  peppermint  oil  the  data  to  be  determined  are  (1)  speci¬ 
fic  gravity ;  (2)  the  boiling  point,  varying  from  a  few  degrees 
below  200°  C.  to  about  230°  C.,  with  some  residue  ;  (3)  the  amounts 
menthol,  the  total  may  vary  from  30  to  80  per  cent,  and  the  com¬ 
bined  menthol  from  3  to  16  per  cent. — Amer.  Journ.  Ph. ,  lxix.,  189. 

Professor  E.  Divers  and  T.  Haga  prepare 
Hydroxylamine  this  compound  economically  by  treating  a 
Sulphate.  concentrated  solution  of  commercial  sodium 
nitrite  (2  mols. )  and  of  sodium  carbonate 
(1  mol.)  with  sulphur  dioxide  till  just  acid,  whilst  it  is  kept  well 
agitated  at  two  to  three  degrees  below  zero  in  a  mixture  of  ice  and 
brine.  At  this  temperature  the  conversion  of  the  nitrite  into 
oximido-sulphonate  is  apparently  perfect  and,  on  gently  warming 
with  a  few  drops  of  sulphuric  acid,  the  oximido-sulphonate  rapidly 
hydrolyses  into  oxyamido-sulphonate  and  acid  sulphate.  The 
solution  is  then  kept  at  90°  to  95°  for  two  days,  by  the  end  of 
which  time  all  oxyamido-sulphonate  will  have  hydrolysed  into 
hydroxylamine  sulphate  and  sodium  acid  sulphate,  whilst  the 
quantity  of  ammonium  salt  produced  will  be  so  small  as  only  to  be 
capable  of  detection  by  chloroplatinic  acid  in  the  last  mother- 
liquors  of  crystallisation.  The  crude  hydroxylamine  equals  about 
nine-tenths  of  the  sodium  nitrite  taken,  and  as  re-crystallisation  of 
the  sodium  sulphate  yields  one-tenth  more  of  hydroxylamine  sul¬ 
phate,  the  nitrite  will  yield,  on  the  small  scale,  nearly  its  own 
weight  of  pure  hydroxylamine  sulphate. — Journ.  Coll.  Science 
(Japan),  through  Chem.  News,  lxxv.,  181. 

The  use  of  sodium  peroxide  as  a  third  group 
Sodium  reagent  is  advocated  by  S.  W.  Parr,  who  has 

Peroxide  found  it  possible,  by  this  means,  to  avoid 

US  a  Group  several  of  the  complications  usually  attending 
Reagent.  the  ordinary  procedure  for  the  separation  of 
the  metals  of  the  iron  group.  His  method  of 
procedure  is  to  add  a  small  porcelain  teaspoonful  of  the  peroxide 
to  the  slightly  acid  solution,  which  is  then  heated  to  complete 
decomposition,  and  finally  boiled  for  some  minutes  after  all  the 
oxygen  seems  to  be  driven  off.  Iron,  manganese,  cobalt,  and  nickel 
are  precipitated,  whilst  aluminum,  zinc,  and  chromium  remain  in 
solution.  A  table  based  upon  the  application  of  this  method  to 
qualitative  analysis  accompanies  the  paper. — Journ.  Am.  Chem. 
Soc.,  xix  ,  341. 

H.  Moissan  finds  that  on  heating  pure  iron 
Iron  and  the  carbon  of  sugar  in  the  electric  furnace, 

Carbide.  and  then  allowing  the  mixture  to  cool  slowly, 
the  metal  contains  merely  a  slight  trace  of 
combined  carbon,  and  forms  a  grey  casting,  which  solidifies  towards 
1150°.  If,  however,  the  metal  is  run  into  a  mould  at  a  temperature 
of  1300°  to  1400°,  it  contains  a  larger  quantity  of  combined  carbon 
on  cooling  and  also  graphite,  forming  white  cast  metal.  Finally, 
iron  saturated  with  carbon  at  3000°  and  cooled  abruptly  in  water, 
shows  signs  of  abundant  crystallisation,  and  contains  a  definite 
crystalline  carbide,  Fe3C,  which  is  identical  with  that  of  steel. 
The  formation  of  this  carbide  has  been  observed  in  the  liquid 
metal  only.  It  is  noteworthy  that  though  this  was  one  of  the  first 


368 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  1,  1897 


metallic  carbides  known,  it  is  the  latest  to  be  prepared  in  quantity 
by  direct  synthesis.  Water  does  not  affect  it,  even  at  150°,  but  on 
treatment  with  hydrochloric  acid,  a  mixture  of  hydrogen  and 
methane  is  evolved. — Comptes  rendus,  cxxiv.,  716. 

Dr.  Smirnow  has  produced  a  diphtheria  anti- 
Eleet  roly  tic  toxin  of  great  efficacy  by  electrolysing  virulent 
Diphtheria  diphtheria  broth  cultures,  the  saving  in  time 
Antitoxin.  and  expense  over  the  ordinary  method  being  very 

great.  The  new  preparation  is  claimed  to  en¬ 
tirely  protect  animals  from  the  effects  of  diphtheria  poison,  even 
when  employed  in  smaller  quantities  than  the  oi’dinary  therapeutic 
serum,  whilst  in  itself  the  artificial  antitoxin  is  said  to  be  quite 
harmless.- — Arch,  des  Sciences  Biol. ,  and  Nature,  lv.,  597. 

Lainer  advocates  the  following  tests,  which 
Benzol  are  easily  applicable,  to  distinguish  between 

and  benzol  and  benzine : — Coal  tar  benzol  is  coloured 

Benzine.  carmine  red  on  addition  of  a  crystal  of  iodine, 
while  petroleum  benzine  is  coloured  violet.  This 
test  is  very  reliable,  and  is  even  applicable  in  admixtures  of  the  two. 
To  2  C.c.  of  the  benzol  or  benzine  add  3  to  4  drops  of  a  clear,  ethereal 
solution  of  sandarac  (1  :  10).  A  permanent  turbidity  is  imparted  to 
benzine,  while  benzol,  which  is  turbid  at  first,  soon  clears.  More 
sandarac  solution  being  added  causes  the  latter  to  become  turbid. 
On  shaking  benzol  with  traces  of  alcohol  it  becomes  turbid,  while 
benzine  remains  clear. — Pharm.  Era,  xvii.,  329. 

Antony  and  Lucchesi  state  that  when  a  smaller 
Purple  Of  quantity  of  mercurous  chloride  than  is  required 
CaSSlUS.  is  added  to  a  solution  of  auric  chloride,  metallic 

gold  is  deposited,  according  to  the  equation 
3HgCl  +  AuCl3  =  3HgCl2  +  Au,  but  upon  adding  excess  of 
mercurous  chloride,  that  which  remains  unchanged  assumes  the 
characteristic  colour  of  purple  of  Cassius ;  similar  results  are 
obtained  with  cuprous  chloride.  It  would  thus  appear  that  the  true 
purple  of  Cassius  is  merely  stannic  acid  mechanically  coloured 
with  metallic  gold. — Journ.  Ghem.  Soc.,  lxxii. ,  43,  after  Gazzetta. 

This  compound  of  phosphorus  and  guaiacol 
Guaiaeol  is  prepared  by  Ballard  as  follows  :  124  grammes 
Phosphite.  of  crystallised  guaiacol  is  treated  with  50 
grammes  of  caustic  soda  dissolved  in  90  per 
cent,  alcohol ;  to  the  clear  solution  phosphorous  trichloride  is  run 
in  through  a  tapped  funnel  until  the  solution  is  no  longer  alkaline 
to  phenolphthalein  ;  the  precipitated  salts  are  filtered  out,  the 
alcohol  is  distilled  off,  and  the  residue  extracted  with  absolute 
alcohol,  which  only  dissolves  the  phosphite  of  guaiacol.  The  solu¬ 
tion  is  then  evaporated  on  the  water  bath  and  the  salt  crystallised 
out,  purified  by  recrystallisation  from  absolute  alcohol,  and 
finally  dried  over  sulphuric  acid.  The  crystals  have  the  formula, 
P‘(C6H4:0CH3‘0),  and  therefore  represent  the  neutral  phosphite  of 
guaiacol.  It  forms  a  white  crystalline  powder,  melting  at  77°  -5. 
Creosote  treated  in  a  similar  manner  gives  a  thick  reddish-yellow 
liquid  which  consists  of  the  phosphorous  esters  of  the  various 
phenols  present  in  the  creosote ;  to  this  the  author  proposes  to 
give  the  name  “phosphatol.” — Repertoire  de  Pharm.  [3],  ix.,  104. 

This  preparation,  which  has  met  with  some 
Holoeaine.  success  as  a  substitute  for  cocaine,  is 
yi-diethoxyethenyl -diphenyl-ami dine.  It  is  ob¬ 
tained  by  the  union  of  molecular  quantities  of  phenacetin  and 
p-phenetidin  with  the  separation  of  water.  Holoeaine  is  a  crystal¬ 
line  base,  insoluble  in  water,  melting  at  121°  and  forming 
crystalline  salts,  which  are  difficult  to  dissolve.  The  hydrochloride 
crystallises  in  white  needles,  which  dissolve  readily  in  boiling 
water.  The  cold  saturated  solution,  however,  only  contains  about 
2-5  per  cent,  of  the  salt.  The  aqueous  solution  is  slightly  bitter  in 


taste,  is  perfectly  neutral,  and  is  not  decomposed  by  boiling.  The 
solutions  of  the  holoeaine  hydrochloride  have  been  found  to  keep 
very  well,  a  1  per  cent,  solution  allowed  to  stand  in  an  open  vessel 
for  two  months  did  not  show  the  slightest  cloudiness. — Pharm. 
Centralh.,  xxxviii.,  163. 

This  is  a  recently  introduced  preparation 
Metsethyl.  for  use  as  a  local  ansesthetic.  It  is  a 
clear  colourless  neutral  fluid,  the  odour  of 
which  reminds  one  somewhat  of  chloroform.  The  taste  is 
burning  and  bitter,  it  is  soluble  in  any  proportion  in  alcohol, 
ether,  and  chloroform.  It  burns  with  green-edged  flame,  leaving 
no  residue.  It  consists  for  the  greater  part  of  ethyl  chloride 
and  small  quantities  of  methyl  chloride  and  chloroform.  The 
boiling  point  of  the  solution  was  found  to  be  10'5°  C.,  the  specific 
gravity  is  0'9173  at  4°  C.  It  is  decomposed  by  alkalies  into 
alcohol,  hydrochloric  and  formic  acids.— Pharm.  Zeitg.,  xlii.,  200. 

Wolpert  has  been  measuring  the  amount 
Carbon  of  C02in  the  air  enclosed  in  articles  of  clothing. 
Dioxide  in  The  samples  were  taken  through  a  Pravaz 
Clothes.  syringe  and  the  C02  was  measured  by  de¬ 
colorising  standard  alkaline  phenolphthalein 
solutions,  mainly  by  the  air  under  experiment  and  finally  by  a 
measured  quantity  of  standard  weak  acid  solution.  The  persons 
upon  whom  the  experiments  were  tried  wore  their  ordinary  clothes. 
In  a  room  having  0-321  per  thousand  C02  the  clothes  measured  at 
the  breast  had  0-561  per  thousand  C02  at  13 ’4°  0.,  and  53  percent, 
relative  humidity.  Upon  slow  walking  this  dropped  to  0'495  per 
thousand,  fast  walking  increased  till  reaching  0'748  per  thousand 
for  hard  work.  Perspiration  did  not  always  affect  the  rate  of  in¬ 
crease,  which  seemed  to  depend  more  upon  the  texture  of  the 
clothes  and  the  extent  to  which  they  were  affected  by  the  ventila¬ 
tion  due  to  rapid  movement.  In  the  open  air  the  extent  seemed 
to  vary  with  the  velocity  of  the  wind.  With  headgear  an  increase 
of  0  '3  per  thousand  of  C02  gave  marked  discomfort.  By  far  the 
least  increment  of  C02  was  shown  by  a  straw  hat.  Considerable 
increase  above  that  contained  in  the  air  occurred  in  footgear,  but 
very  little  in  drawers.  The  C02  in  feather-beds  increased  as  much 
as  35  per  cent,  over  that  contained  in  the  air  of  the  room.  The 
importance  of  well  airing  bedclothes  every  day  is  strikingly 
indicated  by  this  result. — Journ.  State  Med.,  v.,  131. 

When  phosphoretted  hydrogen  is  passed  into 
New  phosphoryl  chloride  containing  a  little  hydro- 

PhOSphOPUS  bromic  acid,  heated  to  50°  on  the  water  bath, 
Oxide.  or  if  the  phosphoryl  chloride  is  replaced 
by  certain  bromo-derivatives  of  that  body,  or, 
again,  if  PH4Br  be  heated  to  50°  in  a  sealed  tube  with  POCl3,  a 
reddish-yellow  solid  body  is  formed  which,  according  to  Besson,  is 
a  new  oxide  of  phosphorus,  P20.  It  is  again  heated  in  a  sealed 
tube  with  more  POCl3  ;  after  filtration  in  vacuo,  it  is  extracted 
with  boiling  CS2  to  remove  adherent  POCl3,  then  washed 
with  boiling  water  and  dried  in  vacuo,  at  first  over  sulphuric 
acid  in  the  cold  and  finally  at  100°.  So  purified  it  is  a 
very  light  pulverulent  body,  reddish-yellow  in  colour,  stable 
in  vacuo  at  100°,  but  towards  135°  it  loses  a  notable  portion 
of  its  oxygen.  It  burns  when  lighted  in  air,  and  reacts  with 
concentrated  nitric  acid  like  phosphorus  itself.  It  might  be  re¬ 
garded  as  the  anhydride  of  hypophosphorous  acid  ;  although,  when 
heated  to  100°  in  a  sealed  tube  with  water  for  twenty-four  houi’s, 
no  formation  of  hypophosphorous  acid  takes  place,  only  a  trace  of 
phosphorous  acid  derived  from  the  oxygen  of  the  air  contained  in 
the  tube  is  found.  If  the  temperature  be  raised  to  130°-140°,  there 
is  still  a  little  phosphorous  acid  formed  even  in  a  vacuous  tube, 
but  the  atmosphere  of  the  tube  contains  phosphoretted  hydrogen  ; 


May  1,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


369 


this  would  indicate  that  the  body  is  not  phosphorous  anhydride, 
its  position  in  this  respect  appears  to  be  analogous  to  that  of  nitrous 
oxide. — Comptes  rendus,  cxxiv.,  763. 

According  to  Fritzsche,  argentol  is  a  com- 
Argentol.  pound  of  silver  with  oxychinolin  obtained  from 
chinosol.  It  is  more  suitable  for  use  than  lac¬ 
tate  or  citrate  of  silver.  It  is  readily  decomposed,  and  in  the 
presence  of  septic  substances  splits  up  into  oxychinolin,  which  is  an 
active  antiseptic,  and  metallic  silver,  both  of  which  have  bacteri¬ 
cidal  action.  Argentol  is  so  readily  decomposed  that  if  boiled 
with  water  it  at  once  deposits  minutely  divided  silver.  It  is  a  non¬ 
irritant,  non-poisonous  powder,  difficult  to  dissolve,  but  can  be 
easily  distributed.  It  is  an  excellent  substitute  for  iodoform,  and 
other  silver  preparations  which  on  decomposition  give  silver 
oxide  instead  of  metallic  silver.  It  is  applied  as  a  powder  to 
wounds,  granulations,  festerings,  skin  diseases,  ulcers,  also  as  an 
ointment  with  vaseline  and  lanolin,  1:50-  100,  and  in  emulsions  or 
injections  for  gonorrhoea,  1:300  — 1000.— Ph.  Centralh.,  xxxviii.,  163. 

Darmstaedter  and  Lifschiitz  find  in  woolfat 
Chemistry  of  Myristic  acid  melting  at  53°-54°,  Carnaubic 
Woolfat.  add  'melting  at  72°-73°,  a  new  dioxyacid  to 
which  the  name  Lanoceric  add  is  given  ;  this 
melts  at  103-104  and  has  the  formula  C30H6O4.  It  loses  a  molecule 
of  water  at  the  melting  point,  but  takes  it  up  again  on 
recrystallising  from  alcohol.  With  mineral  acids  it  again  loses  a 
molecule  of  water,  and  the  resulting  body,  which  is  not  an  acid 
hut  a  lactone,  melts  at  86°.  Alcoholic  solutions  of  mineral  acids 
give  another  neutral  body,  melting  at  97°,  which  has  not  been 
fully  examined.  Another  new  oxyacid  melting  at  87-88°,  for  which 
the  name  Lanopalmitic  add,  C1GH3203  is  given.  It  forms  an  emulsion 
when  melted  with  water.  A  new  alcohol,  for  which  the  authors 
propose  to  name  Carnaubyl  alcohol,  as  well  as  ceryl  alcohol,  and  an 
unsaturated  alcoholic  body  which  was  not  isolated,  are  also  present, 
together  with  cholesterin. — Pharm.  Zeitung,  xlii.,  123. 

The  leaves  of  Palicourea  rigida,  a  native  of 
Chemistry  Brazil,  are  stated  to  have  a  diuretic  and  dia- 
Of  phoretic  action.  They  are  employed  in  Brazil 

Douradinha.  for  the  treatment  of  dropsy  and  syphilitic  skin 
diseases  in  the  form  of  an  infusion  of  either  the 
fresh  or  dried  leaves.  Among  the  natives  the  dried  leaves  are 
stated  not  to  be  poisonous,  while  the  fresh  plant  shares  with  other 
species  of  Palicourea  the  name  of  rat  poison.  It  was  found  by 
Peckholt,  who  examined  the  plant  in  1866,  that  no  volatile  alkaloid 
was  present.  The  drug  contained,  however,  a  non-volatile  base 
and  three  organic  acids.  One  of  these  acids,  consisting  of  a  yellow 
oily  liquid  with  an  overpowering  odour,  was  found  to  be  intensely 
poisonous,  one  drop  injected  into  a  pigeon  being  enough  to  cause 
death.  This  was  called  myotonic  acid.  A  crystalline  palicouric 
acid,  an  amorphous  tannin,  and  another  amorphous  non-toxic 
bitter  principle  were  isolated  by  this  worker.  Santesson  has 
repeated  the  examination  of  the  drug  and  has  confirmed  the  pre¬ 
sence  of  an  alkaloid.  The  quantity  of  material  was,  however, 
insufficient  for  him  to  determine  if  this  was  identical  with  the  base 
of  Peckholt ;  after  the  removal  of  the  alkaloid  the  extract  still 
remained  strongly  toxic. — Archiv  der  Pharm.,  235,  143. 

Dietze  makes  an  interesting  communica- 
Maturin  tion  on  this  balsam,  showing  that  it  is  rarely 

Copaiba  found  to  correspond  to  the  requirements  of 

Balsam.  the  German  Pharmacopoeia.  The  balsam 
is  somewhat  drill,  and  deposits,  after  standing,  a  few  drops 
of  water  and  some  suspended  matter.  It  is  a  viscid 
liquid,  of  the  specific  gravity  of  0  ‘9849.  After  filtration  in  the 
steam  funnel  it  showed  a  specific  gravity  of  0'9832.  The  filtrate 


is  of  a  golden-yellow  colour,  with  an  agreeable  aromatic  odour, 
and  is  without  any  fluorescence.  Mixed  with  ether,  pure  alcohol, 
amyl  alcohol,  benzol,  chloroform,  or  fatty  oils,  it  remains  clear, 
in  90  per  cent,  alcohol  the  mixture  is  a  little  clouded,  heated  to 
130°  it  does  not  gelatinise.  The  balsam  contains  59 '28  per  cent,  of 
resin,  and  40  '72  per  cent,  of  volatile  matter  ;  it  stands  the  carbon 
bisulphide  and  ammonia  tests,  and  showed  the  following  charac¬ 
teristic  figures  : — 


Maturin  Balsam. 

Maracaibo  Balsam. 

a 

b 

Acid  number  . 

78-17 

84-0 

82-54 

Ester  ,,  .......... 

4'26 

6-2 

5-77 

Total  acid  number . 

82-43 

90*2 

88-31 

— Pharm.  Zeitg.,  xlii.,  241. 

A  severe  case  of  copaiba  rash  following  the 
Copaiba  daily  use  of  three  ten-minim  capsules  of  copaiba 

Poisoning.  oil  is  reported  by  Dr.  Thompson.  The  appear¬ 

ance  of  the  eruption  was  similar  to  that  of 
measles,  the  whole  face  and  neck  being  covered  with  a  bright  red 
elevated  rash ;  the  chest,  abdomen,  and  lower  extremities  were 
also  covered.  Great  itching  accompanied  the  rash.  On  discon¬ 
tinuing  the  capsules  the  patient  gradually  improved,  although 
traces  of  the  eruption  remained  on  the  anterior  aspect  of  the  thighs 
for  seven  days. — B.  M.  J.,  2,97/522. 

A  sample  of  guaiacum  examined  by  Doebner 
Guaiaeum  and  Liicker  contained  guaiaretic  acid,  11  ‘15  per 
Resin.  cent.  ;  guaiaconic  acid,  50 '0  per  cent.  ;  guaiacic 
acid  (ft  resin),  1 1  *75  per  cent.,  all  soluble  in 
alcohol,  and  matter  insoluble  in  alcohol  containing  9  '64  per  cent, 
of  mucilage,  24 '96  per  cant.  Guaiaretic  acid  forms  white  lustrous 
laminae,  which  melt  at  86° ;  the  benzoyl  derivative  forms  nearly 
colourless  crystals  melting  at  131°.  The  authors  find  the  composi¬ 
tion  to  be  C20II.21O4.  Guaiaconic  is  a  white  amorphous  powder 
melting  at  81-83°.  Guaiacic  acid  was  not  obtained  pure ;  the  ben¬ 
zoyl  derivative  is  a  white  crystalline  powder  which  melts  at 
155-158°.  “Guaiacum  oil ”  is  prepared  by  boiling  guaiacum  resin 
with  sodium  carbonate  solution,  filtering,  saturating  the  solution 
with  C02,  again  filtering  and  extracting  with  ether ;  the  oil  is  left 
when  the  ether  evaporates.  By  acidifying  the  alkaline  solution 
after  it  has  been  extracted  by  ether,  guaiacum  yellow  is  precipi¬ 
tated,  which  may  be  crystallised  in  yellow  octahedra.  This  has 
the  composition  C20H20O7,  and  melts  at  115°,  dissolving  in  sul¬ 
phuric  acid  with  a  bright  blue  colour. — Journ.  Chem.  Soc.,  lxxii., 
1,  165,  after  Archiv  der  Pharm. 

Since  many  flowers  do  not  contain  the  whole 
Extracting1  the  of  their  odoriferous  principles  ready-formed,  but 
Perfume  secrete  them  gradually  as  long  as  the  vital 
of  Flowers,  action  continues,  Passy  suggests  that  by  pro¬ 
longing  the  life  of  the  blooms  for  a  further 
period  than  is  possible  by  the  process  of  enfleurage  with  fats,  as  at 
present  carried  out,  a  better  yield  and  more  satisfactory  results 
would  be  obtained.  For  this  he  suggests  the  use  of  water.’  The 
flowers  are  immersed  in  that  fluid,  and  as  soon  as  it  becomes 
saturated  with  the  odour  it  is  replaced  with,  fresh.  The  aqueous 
solutions  are  then  extracted  with  ether,  upon  the  evaporation  of 
which  the  odorous  bodies  are  left  in  a  pure  state.  Simple  water 
might  with  advantage  be  supplemented  by  a  saline  solution  of  the 
same  osmotic  power  as  the  juices  of  the  plant.  The  author  states 
that  he  has  experimented  with  a  number  of  flowers,  with  good 
results,  particularly  in  the  case  of  lily  of  the  valley. — Comptes 
rendus,  cxxiv.,  783. 


370 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  1, 1897 


Tschirch  and  Hildebrand  have  examined  the 
Aearoid  red  resin  of  Xanthorrhcea  australis,  and  the 

Resins.  yellow  resin  of  X.  hastile.  They  find  that  the 

latter  contains  4  per  cent,  of  free  para-cnmaric 
acid,  with  a  little  cinnamic  acid ;  also  the  same  acids  combined  as 
tannol  esters,  and  a  doubtful  trace  of  vannilin  ;  the  bulk  of  the 
resin  consists  of  xanohoresinol  tannol,  C43H45O10,  in  the  form  of  an 
ester  with  the  para-cumaric  acid.  The  resin  of  Xanthorrhaia 
australis  differs  slightly  from  the  above,  first  in  containing  no 
cinnamic  acid,  either  free  ot  combined,  and  secondly  in  the  com¬ 
position  of  the  tannol,  erythroresinoltannol,  C40H4llO10.  It  would 
seem,  therefore,  that  xanthoresinoltannol  and  erythroresinotannol 
are  homologues. — Schweiz.  Woch.  fur  Chem.  und  Pharm.,  xxxv., 
121,  138. 

The  examination  of  this  plant  by  H.  Y.  Arny 
Parthenium  throws  some  doubt  on  the  existence  of  the 

HysterophOPUS.  alkaloid  described  by  Dr.  Jose  R.  Tovar  under 

the  name  of  parthenine  (Ph.  J.  [3],  xv.,  987). 
About  1  per  cent,  of  a  crystalline  product  was  obtained  which  was 
neither  an  alkaloid  nor  a  glucoside,  but  appeared  to  be  more 
analogous  to  santonin. — Amer.  Journ.  Pharm.,  lxix.,  169. 

M.  P.  van  Tieghem  continues  his  very 
Ovules  remarkable  observations  on  those  families  of 

Without  a  Phanerogams  which  are  characterised  by  very 

Nueellus.  rudimentary  ovules.  In  addition  to  the  ten 

orders  (the  Nuytsiacese,  Elytranthacese,  Den- 
drophthoracere,  Treubellacese,  Loranthacese,  Arceuthobiacese,  Helo- 
sace®,  Ginalloaceae,  Viscacese,  and  Balanophoracese)  which  make 
up  the  Inovulie  or  Loranthineas,  distinguished  by  the  entire  absence 
of  a  true  ovule,  there  is  another  group,  the  Innucellag  or  San- 
talinea:,  which  occupy  a  borderland  between  them  and  those 
endowed  with  perfect  ovules.  In  these  the  ovule  is  reduced,  not 
to  a  nueellus,  as  has  been  erroneously  stated,  but  to  a  funicle,  or 
ovular  leaf  not  differentiated  into  petiole  and  lamina,  the  nueellus 
and  the  integument  being  both  entirely  suppressed.  In  this  group 
are  included  also  ten  orders,  viz.,  the  Santalacete,  Arionacese, 
Schcepfiacere,  Myzodendracese,  Sarcophytacese,  Opiliace;e,  Antho- 
bolaceje,  Olacaceee,  Aptandraceaj,  and  Harmandiacece.  In  these 
orders  the  mother- cell  of  the  endosperm  and  of  the  oosphere 
erroneously  called  the  embryo-sac,  originates  directly  beneath  the 
epiderm  in  the  cortex  of  the  foliar  leaf,  the  cortex  not  being 
elevated  above  the  surface  so  as  to  form  the  emergence  known  as 
the  nueellus.  In  this  group  are  comprised  about  fifty  genera. 
The  Olacaceas,  Aptandracese,  and  Harmandiacece  form  the  division 
Olacales,  characterised  by  the  presence  of  a  corolla  ;  the  remaining 
seven  orders,  which  are  apetalous,  constituting  the  Santalales. — 
Bull.  Soc.  Bot.  de  France,  vol.  xliii.,  p.  543. 

From  observations  on  the  stigma  of  Martynia, 
Mechanism  Mimulus,  Bignonia,  and  Tacoma,  the  stamens  of 
Of  Portulaca  grandiflora,  of  the  Cactacece  (espe- 

Sensitiveness.  cially  Opuntia  amyclea)  and  Berberideae,  and  the 
leaves  of  Mimosa,  Professor  A.  Borzi  derives 
the  following  conclusions  as  to  the  mechanism  of  the  motile  pheno¬ 
mena  resulting  from  a  blow  or  from  a  sharp  concussion.  The  cause 
lies  in  special  protoplasmic  elements,  differentiated  physiologically 
as  instruments  for  the  reception  and  transmission  of  irritation. 
They  consist  of  very  delicate  threads,  composed  of  cells  arranged 
in  longitudinal  rows  in  the  direction  followed  by  the  irritation. 
The  cells  have  a  very  thin  membrane,  which  is  very  contractile, 
and  is  endowed  with  strong  osmotic  properties.  Minute  perfora¬ 
tions,  through  which  very  fine  protoplasmic  filaments  may  pass, 
frequently  traverse  their  walls.  The  action  of  stimuli  which 
induce  variations  in  the  state  of  imbibition  of  the  protoplasm,  is 


followed  by  a  rapid  change  in  the  turgor  and  tension  of  the  cells, 
thus  altering  the  position  of  the  irritated  organ.  For  the  purpose 
of  retaining  temporarily  the  water  expelled  from  the  protoplasm 
during  this  process,  every  sensitive  plexus  is  traversed  by  inter¬ 
cellular  spaces  forming  a  connected  system,  which  varies  in  its 
special  character  in  different  cases.  In  some  cases  the  median 
layer  of  the  membrane  of  the  sensitive  cells  becomes  transformed 
into  a  semi-fluid  substance,  which  constitutes  a  receptacle  for 
water.  The  gelatinisation  of  this  layer  sometimes  fills  up  the 
spaces  with  an  absorbent  colloidal  substance.  The  rapidity  with 
which  the  sensitive  plexi  respond  to  the  action  of  stimuli  depends 
on  the  presence  or  absence  of  this  substance,  or  on  the  degree  of 
its  consistency.  The  water  which  fills  the  intercellular  spaces 
contains  various  organic  substances  in  solution,  mostly  of  the 
nature  of  glucose.  Sometimes  they  are  filled  with  air  or  seme 
other  gas.- — II  Naturalista  Siciliano,  1897,  p.  168. 

Herr  G.  Kraus  {Flora,  1897,  p.  54)  has 
Function  of  made  a  series  of  observations,  chiefly  on  the 
Calcium  rhizome  of  Bumex  obtusifolius  grown  in 
Oxalate.  different  soils,  from  which  he  concludes  that 
calcium  oxalate  is  by  no  means  invariably 
merely  an  excretory  product  in  the  life  of  plants ;  but  that  it 
performs  the  function  of  supplying  the  necessary  amount  of  lime 
to  the  aerial  organs.  Similar  results  were  obtained  as  to  the 
function  of  this  salt  in  the  bark  of  various  trees  and  shrubs.  With 
the  CactaceEe  the  results  were  mainly  negative,  but  not  con¬ 
clusively  so. 

According  to  Herr  T.  Kosutany  ( Landwirth - 
Formation  sch.  Versuchs-Stationen,  vol.  xlviii.,  p.  13),  leaves 
Of  contain  a  somewhat  larger  amount  of  nitrogen 

Prottids.  by  night  than  by  day,  there  is  a  larger  propor¬ 
tion  of  ammoniacal  salts,  and  the  amount  of 
proteids  is  not  reduced.  On  the  other  hand,  the  amount  of  nitrates 
is  larger  in  the  daytime.  From  these  facts  it  would  appear  prob¬ 
able  that  the  nitrogen  of  the  nitrates  is  converted  into  proteids 
more  by  night  than  by  day.  No  asparagin  could  be  detected  in 
the  night,  this  substance  being  probably  converted  into  proteids. 
Th<j  nett  result  obtained  is  that  the  raw  materials  for  the  produc¬ 
tion  of  proteids  are  absorbed  by  the  plant  chiefly  in  the  daytime, 
but  that  the  final  processes  take  place  chiefly  by  night. 

Herr  Marschall  (Archiv  J:ir  Hygiene,  vol. 
Myeele  Of  xxviii.,  p.  1 6)  has  investigated  the  composition 
Mould-Fungi,  of  the  myeele  of  several  typical  mould-fungi, 
Aspergillus  niger,  Penicillium  glaucum,  and 
Hucor  stolonifer,  and  reports  that  the  average  percentage  of 
proteid  substances  is  as  high  as  38,  while  that  of  cellulose  is  only 
5 ‘03,  and  of  substances  soluble  in  alcohol,  14-03.  In  the  com¬ 
position  of  their  myeele  mould-fungi  occupy  an  intermediate 
position  between  bacteria  and  the  higher  plants,  containing  more 
nitrogenous  matter  and  less  carbohydrates  than  the  latter,  more 
carbohydrates  and  less  nitrogenous  matter  than  the  former  .  As  con¬ 
trasted  with  the  spores,  the  myeele  of  Penicillium  glaucum  contains  a 
larger  amount  of  proteids,  but  not  nearly  so  much  cellulose,  starch 
or  substances  soluble  in  alcohol. 

According  to  Dr.  T.  Bokorny,  the  simpler 
Organic  Nourish-  the  composition  of  organic  substances,  the 
ment  Of  Green  more  readily  are  they  assimilated  by  green 
Plants.  plants.  Thus  C02  is  readily  converted  into 

C6H1Sj06,  while  plants  are  unable  to  produce 
a  carbohydrate  from  glycerin  C3H803.  As  a  general  rule,  com¬ 
pounds  with  one  atom  of  carbon  are  readily  assimilable,  the 
difficulty  increasing  with  the  increase  in  the  atoms  of  C.  Sub¬ 
stances  which  are  composed  of  C  and  H  only  are  not  so  favourable  as 


May  1,  1897]  ’ 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


371 


those  which  consist  of  C  and  0  only,  or  of  C,  H  and  0.  Pepton  is  a 
peculiarity  excellent  food-material  for  fungi,  and  probably  also  for 
algae. — Biol.  Centralblatt,  1897,  p.  1,  et  seq. 

M.  P.  van  Tieghem  points  out  that  the  tuft 
Hairs  which  of  hairs  which  spring  from  the  sepals  behind 
are  not  the  stamens  in  the  Santalaceae  are  not  trichomic, 
Trichomes.  but  are  of  endogenous  origin,  originating 
from  cells  of  the  exoderm.  This  is  well 
seen  in  Thesium  humifusum,  and  occurs  also  in  other  cases. — MoroVs 
Journal  de  Botanique,  1897,  p.  41. 

J.  B.  Davy  refers  to  the  fact  that  the  manu- 
Vegetable  facturers  of  “Yucca-root  soap”  claim  to  use  in 
Soaps.  its  preparation  the  roots  of  Yucca  filamentosa, 
imported  from  Mexico,  and  suggests  that 
indigenous  Indian  soap  root  ( Chlorogalum  pomeridianum )  might 
take  the  place  of  the  imported  article.  The  Indian  soap  root 
abounds  on  the  hills  around  San  Francisco  Bay,  and  is  used  for 
laundry  work  by  economically  minded  Mexican  and  Irish  families, 
whilst  in  some  parts  of  California,  especially  towards  the  south, 
the  root  of  Ghenopodium  californicum  is  used  for  washing  purposes. 
— Erythea,  v.,  40. 

F.  S.  Hyde  finds  that  if  a  clear,  filtered 
Modified  solution  of  calcium  hypochlorite  (bleaching 
Thallecquin  powder)  be  substituted  for  the  bromine  or 
Test.  chlorine  water  in  the  thalleoquin  test  for 

quinine,  the  results  are  more  satisfactory  so  far 
as  certainty  and  brilliancy  of  the  test  are  concerned.  After  acidula- 
tion  with  one  drop  of  sulphuric  acid  (1:4)  the  hypochlorite  solution 
is  added  through  a  small  filter  to  the  quinine  solution  in  a  test- 
tube  until  the  blue  fluorescence  just  disappears  and  the  solution 
acquires  a  faint  golden  tint ;  then  add  a  few  drops  of  dilute 
ammonia  (1  :  3),  when  a  clear  emerald  green  colour  should  appear. 
The  tint  thus  produced  is  said  to  appear  more  brilliant  than  that 
obtained  through  the  agency  of  bromine  water.  On  the  addition 
of  a  slight  excess  of  dilute  sulphuric  acid  to  the  green  solution  a 
blood-red  tint  will  be  produced,  which  may  be  considered  comfirma- 
tory,  but  this  is  not  always  the  case  when  bromine  water  has  been 
used  in  the  preliminary  operation. — Journ.  Am.  Chem.  Soc., 
xix.,  331. 

Some  experiments  with  these  rays,  by 
Kathode  A.  A.  C.  Swinton,  formed  the  subject  of  a  paper 
and  recently  read  before  the  Royal  Society,  and  it 

X  Rays.  is  interesting  to  find  that  X  rays  can  only  be 
produced  by  kathode  rays  when  these  strike 
solid  matter,  which  must  doubtless  be  positively  electrified.  The 
tube  specially  constructed  to  determine  this  point  contained  two 
aluminum  kathodes,  and  it  was  thought  that  the  opposing  streams 
of  kathode  rays  might  possibly  produce  X  rays  at  the  point  where 
they  met.  But  though  the  exhaustion  of  the  tube  was  so  high 
that  the  alternative  spark  in  air  leapt  fully  eight  inches,  and 
X  rays  were  given  off  in  considerable  quantity,  they  appeared  to 
come  entirely  from  portions  of  the  glass  of  the  tube  that  were 
covered  with  green  fluorescence. 

At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Physical  Society, 
Niekel  T.  A.  Garrett  and  W.  Lucas  communicated  the 
in  results  of  some  experiments  upon  telephones 

Telephones  with  nickel  magnets.  A  magnetised  nickel 
rod  is  wound  with  insulated  wire  and  then 
fixed  vertically  by  a  clamp  at  its  lower  end,  whilst  a  pinewood  dia¬ 
phragm  is  rigidly  attached  to  the  top  of  the  rod  in  a  horizontal 
plane.  The  rod  just  passes  through  the  middle  of  the  diaphragm, 
which  is  entirely  supported  by  it,  and  fixed  with  sealing-wax.  The 
instrument  dce3  not  work  well  as  a  “receiver,”  an  ordinary 


telephone  being  preferable  for  that  purpose.  The  nickel  “  stress  ” 
telephone,  however,  gave  better  articulation  than  an  ordinary 
“watch”  telephone,  though  the  sounds  were  feebler,  and  the 
articulation  was  clearer  with  three  cells  than  with  six. 

A  new  primary  battery  is  described  in  the 
Hot  Fluid  Scientific  American,  which  is  a  modification  of 
Primary  the  Daniell  battery,  in  which  the  zinc  and 

Battery.  copper  have  a  large  superficial  area,  and  the 

action  of  the  copper  sulphate  solution  is  greatly 
accelerated  by  the  application  of  heat.  The  cells  are  rectangular 
and  measure  If  in.  by  8  in.  by  11  in.  high.  Each  contains  two 
wide  plates  of  zinc  and  one  of  copper,  strips  of  wood  being  used 
to  prevent  contact  and  bolts  passing  through  to  connect  the  zinc 
plates.  A  rectangular  copper  feeding  tube,  an  inch  square  and 
closed  by  a  perforated  diaphragm,  is  placed  at  one  end  of  the  cell, 
where  it  rests  upon  a  projection  of  the  copper  plate,  about  half¬ 
way  down.  The  copper  sulphate  solution  is  fed  through  this 
tube,  or  crystals  of  the  salt  may  be  packed  in  it.  Several  of  the 
cells  are  fixed  in  a  bottomless  external  vessel,  and  small  oil  stoves 
are  placed  beneath  to  heat  the  cells,  which  are  claimed  to  yield 
very  high  results. 

Those  who  have  studied  rocks  from  the  point 
Magnetic  of  view  of  their  magnetic  properties,  observes  a 
Rocks.  writes  in  Nature,  have  long  been  aware  of  the 
existence  of  certain  isolated  portions,  or  zones, 
endowed  with  intense  magnetisation,  the  distribution  of  which,  in 
general,  bears  no  fixed  relation  to  the  direction  of  the  earth’s  mag¬ 
netic  field.  The  theory  has  been  frequently  advanced  that  these 
singular  points  owe  their  magnetisation  to  discharges  of  lightning, 
and  this  theory  is  said  to  have  received  a  remarkable  confirmation 
at  the  hands  of  Dr.  G.  Folgheraiter,  who  finds,  as  the  result  of 
numerous  observations  of  the  remains  of  walls  and  ancient  build¬ 
ings  in  the  Roman  Gampagna,  that  these  structures  frequently 
exhibit  singular  points  and  zones  in  every  respect  identical  with 
those  observed  in  rocks.  It  is  suggested  that  the  presence  of 
singular  points  in  walls  might  be  accounted  for  by  supposing  that 
they  had  existed  in  the  stone  before  it  was  used  for  building  ;  but 
this  explanation  is  incapable  of  accounting  for  the  singular  zones 
in  which  a  number  of  adjacent  stones,  as  well  as  the  mortar  con¬ 
necting  them,  were  found  to  be  so  powerfully  magnetised,  that 
even  a  small  detached  portion  of  the  mortar  was  capable  of  deflect¬ 
ing  a  compass-needle  through  180°.  These  zones  could  only  have 
derived  their  magnetisation  after  the  wall  had  been  built,  and  the 
presence,  in  some  cases,  of  cracks  down  the  wall  in  the  neighbour¬ 
hood  of  the  singularities,  such  as  would  be  caused  by  lightning, 
tends  to  confirm  the  present  theory  of  their  origin. 

That  faith  with  regard  to  the  age  and 
Cobwebs  respectability  of  wine  may  be  implicitly  reposed 
and  in  cobwebs  and  dust  encrusting  the  bottles 

W  ine.  containing  it  has  long  ceased  to  be  believed  by 

connoisseurs,  but  Nature  has  just  discovered 
that  trust  in  this  direction  may  be  misplaced.  The  source  of 
information  relied  upon  by  our  leading  scientific  journal  is  a 
Bulletin  (No.  7)  of  the  Division  of  Entomology  of  the  U.S.  Depart¬ 
ment  of  Agriculture,  according  to  which  an  industry  has  recently 
sprung  up  in  France  and  Pennsylvania,  which  consists  of  the 
farming  of  spiders  for  the  purpose  of  stocking  wine  cellars,  and  thus 
securing  an  almost  immediate  coating  of  cobwebs  to  new  wine 
b  >ttles,  giving  them  the  appearance  of  great  age.  This  industry 
is  carried  on  in  a  little  French  village  in  the  Department  of  Loire, 
and  near  Philadelphia,  where  Epeira  vulgaris  and  Nephila  plumipes 
are  raised  in  large  quantities  and  sold  to  wine  merchants  at  the 
rate  of  ten  dollars  per  hundred. 


372 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  1,  1897 


PHARMACEUTICAL  SOCIETY 


MEETING  OF  THE  COUNCIL. 

WEDNESDA  Y,  APRIL  28,  1897. 


Present : 

Mb.  Walter  Hills,  President. 

Mr.  John  Harrison,  Yice-President. 

Messrs.  Allen,  Atkins,  Bottle,  Carteighe,  Hampson,  Martindale, 
and  Savory. 

The  President  said  this  was  a  meeting  specially  summoned  for 
the  purpose  of  reading  the  second  time  and  confirming  the  amended 
byedaws,  which  were  read  a  first  time  at  the  last  meeting  of  the 
Council.  He  did  not  propose  to  make  any  remarks  on  the  present 
occasion,  but  would  simply  move — 

“  That  the  proposed  new  bye-laws  which  were  read  the  first  time  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Council  on  April  7,  1897,  and  which  were  published  in  the 
Pharmaceutical  Journal  of  April  10  (Pp.  315,  316)  be  now  read  a  second  time 
and  confirmed." 

The  Vice-President  seconded  the  motion,  which  was  at  once 
carried  unanimously. 

Mr.  Bottle  moved  that  the  new  bye-laws  be  taken  as  read,  which 
was  seconded  by  Mr.  Martindale,  and  agreed  to. 

This  terminated  the  proceedings. 


DONATIONS  TO  THE  LIBRARY  AND  MUSEUM. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Library,  Museum,  School  and  House  Com¬ 
mittee,  held  on  Wednesday,  the  28th  inst. ,  the  Librarian  presented 
the  following  report  of  donations 

To  the  Library  (London)* 

Kaiserliche  Leopoldinisch-Carolinische  Deutsche  Akademie  der  Naturforscher: — 
Nova  Acta,  Bd.  65,  66,  67  ;  Katalog  der  Bibliothek,  Lief.  7. 

Dr.  Louis  Planchon,  Montpellier  : — Observations  et  experiences  sur  l’ouverture 
des  fleurs  de  1’CEnothera  lamarckiana,  1896. 

Professor  Dr.  A.  Meyer,  Marburg : — Viola  tricolor  in  morphologischer,  anato 
mischer  und  biologischer  Beziehung,  von  H.  Kraemer,  1897. 

College  of  Preceptors,  London  : — Calendar,  1897. 

Mr.  W.  Moore,  Dibrugarh,  Assam  : — The  works  of  Virgil,  with  notes  by  Bryce. 

Smithsonian  Institution,  Washington  : — Annual  report,  1894. 

Dr.  Karl  Dieterich,  Helfenberg : — Helfenberger  Annalen,  1896. 

Mr.  H.  N.  Bidley,  Singapore  : — Annual  report  on  the  Botanic  Gardens,  Straits 
Settlements,  1896. 

Dr.  Paul,  London  : — HuLtihme  Congrks  Internationale  d’Hygifene  et  de  Demo¬ 
graphic,  1894,  Comptes-rendus  et  M5moires,  tomes  2-8. 

To  the  Library  (Edinburgh). 

Pharmacy  Board  of  Victoria  : — Pharmaceutical  Register  for  1896. 

American  Pharmaceutical  Association  : — Proceedings,  1896. 

Mr.  A.  Noble,  Edinburgh  Pharmaceutical  Journal,  vols.  22-25,  1891-95. 

Messrs.  E.  B.  Squibb  and  Sons,  Brooklyn  : — Ephemeris,  vol.  4,  no.  5. 


The  following  donations  were  reported  by  the  Curator  : — 

To  the  Museum  (London). 

Mr.  T.  Wardleworth,  Liverpool : — Fruits  of  Pilocarpus  microphyllus. 

Mr.  D.  O.  Evans,  Ashburton  : — Specimen  of  Burnt  Hartshorn. 

Messrs.  Potter  and  Clarke,  London  : — Living  plant  of  Anhalonium  lewini. 

Mr.  E.  N.  Butt,  London  : — Specimen  of  Chicle,  used  in  the  preparation  of 
chewing  gum. 

Mr.  C.  Hanbury,  London : — Specimen  of  the  Oil  of  Australian  Sandalwoo'd, 
prepared  by  the  late  Mr.  D.  Hanbury,  and  a  specimen  of  Balm  of  Gilead,  which 
originally  belonged  to  one  of  the  Godfreys,  of  Southampton  Street,  Strand. 

Mr.  J.  J ohnston,  Aberdeen  : — Specimen  of  Scotch  Camomiles. 

Mr.  E.  D.  Gravill,  Hull : — Specimen  of  Hybrid  Orange. 

Messrs.  Parke,  Davis  and  Co.,  Detroit,  United  States,  America. — Living 
specimens  of  and  dried  tops  of  Anhalonium  lewini  and  A.  williamsi,  and  flowers 
of  Cereus  grandiflorus,  preserved  wet. 

Dr.  Kerr  Cross,  Uganda  : — Specimens  of  poisoned  arrows  and  of  plants  used  in 
medicine  by  the  natives. 

Messrs.  Kay  Brothers,  Stockport A  fine  specimen  of  crystals  of  sodium 
chlorate  presented  by  the  manufacturers,  Messrs.  Bowman,  Thompson  and  Co., 
Nortwich. 


NORTH  BRITISH  BRANCH. 


MEETING  OF  THE  EXECUTIVE. 

A  meeting  of  the  Executive  of  the  North  British  Branch  was 
held  in  the  Society’s  House,  36,  York  Place,  Edinburgh,  on  Friday, 
April  23,  at  11  a.m.,  Mr.  J.  Laidlaw  Ewing  in  the  chair.  Present  : 
Messrs.  Bowman,  Coull,  Currie,  Ewing,  Fisher,  Henry, 
Johnston,  Kerr,  Lunan,  McAdam,  McLaren,  Mitchell,  Moir, 
Storrar,  and  Strachan. 

Apologies  for  absence  were  received  from  Messrs.  Davidson  and 
Kermath.  The  minutes  of  last  meeting  were  read  and  approved. 
The  Assistant-Secretary  read  the  report  of  the  General  Purposes 
Committee,  from  which  it  appeared  that  intimation  had  been  re¬ 
ceived  from  the  Royal  College  of  Physicians,  Edinburgh,  that  the 
transference  of  their  materia  medica  museum  to  the  Society  had 
been  finally  approved,  and  the  Committee  had  made  suitable 
arrangements  for  its  removal  from  the  College  to  the  Society’s 
House,  and  the  work  was  in  process  of  being  carried  out.  It  was 
also  reported  that  the  Committee  had  completed  the  purchase  of 
the  Scoresby- Jackson  collection  of  materia  medica  for  a  sum  of 
£45,  of  which  £27  16  s.  had  been  privately  subscribed,  and  the 
balance  of  £17  4s.  had  been  paid  by  the  Society.  A  committee 
had  been  appointed  to  arrange  for  the  suitable  placing  of  the 
collections  in  the  Society’s  Museum. 

On  the  motion  of  the  Chairman  the  report  was  unanimously 
adopted. 

The  Executive  then  went  into  committee  to  consider  the  annual 
report  to  the  Council. 

On  resuming,  the  report  was  unanimously  approved  of  on  the 
motion  of  Mr.  Coull,  seconded  by  Mr.  Lunan,  and  ordered  to  be 
forwarded  to  the  Council. 

Membership  oe  the  Society. 

Mr.  Currie  then  moved  the  following  resolution  : — 

“  That  all  chemists  and  druggists  should  be  eligible  as  members  of  the  Phar¬ 
maceutical  Society,  and  that  steps  should  be  taken  to  secure  a  short  Amend¬ 
ment  Act  to  effect  this  object." 

Mr.  Currie  said  :  In  submitting  the  motion  which  is  on  the 
billet  calling  to-day’s  meeting  I  am  quite  aware  I  attempt  nothing 
very  new,  but  yet  I  consider  it  very  important.  Most  of  you  will 
admit  that  if,  by  any  reasonable  means  possible,  you  could  improve 
your  individual  position,  such  plan  would  be  adopted  and  put  into 
execution.  What  is  desirable  for  the  individual,  therefore,  is  surely 
much  more  so  for  a  corporate  body,  and  especially  so  when  opinions 
have  already  been  expressed  in  favour  of  the  proposal.  I  have  been 
induced  to  bring  forward  this  matter  now  simply  because  I  look 
upon  it  as  a  matter  of  justice  and  of  such  importance  that  the  sooner 
some  such  reform  is  carried  out  the  sooner  will  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  receive  that  amount  of  general  support  which  is  necessary 
to  obtain  success  in  Legislative  matters  which  may  be  brought 
forward.  In  order  that  some  idea  may  be  had  as  to  the 
number  of  chemists  in  the  country,  those  given  by  the  Registrar 
for  last  year  are  as  follows: — There  are  15,166  individuals  on 
the  Register.  Of  that  number  only  4825  belong  to  the  Society, 
and  of  that  4825,  3841  are  in  business.  Of  pharmaceutical  chemists 
there  are  2253  on  the  Register,  1584  of  whom  are  members  of  the 
Society,  a  fair  proportion  perhaps,  but  it  should  be  better.  There 
are  12,913  chemists  and  druggists  on  the  Register,  but  only  3241 
are  connected  with  the  Society.  Now,  why  is  it  that  since  the 
Minor  is  recognised  as  the  legal  qualification  those  who 
possess  it  do  not  enjoy  the  privileges  of  the  Society  from  which 
they  obtained  their  diploma  ?  The  Major  graduate  is  no  better  in 
the  eye  of  the  law.  He  contributes  no  larger  annual  or  life  fee  to 
the  funds  of  the  Society,  but  because  he  has  obtained  a  higher 
grade  certificate  (as  it  were)  he  alone  is  entitled  to  membership 
and  its  privileges.  Gentlemen,  democratic  ideas  are  on  The 
increase,  and  the  Uitlanders  must  be  recognised  as  a  power  to  be 
dealt  with,  and  I  say  it  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that  until 
the  privileges  of  the  Society  are  open  to  every  chemist  and  druggist 
who  is  connected  with  it,  so  long  will  the  Society  drag  its  weary 
way,  and  instead  of  advancing  will  be  more  likely  to  retrograde. 
I  have  heard  it  stated  that  by  admitting  chemists  and  druggists  as 
members  of  the  Society,  and  granting  them  privileges  as  such, 
that  the  position  of  the  pharmaceutical  chemist  would  be  lowered 
somewhat,  and  that  he  would  not  obtain  that  reward  for  his  extra 
study  to  which  he  was  duly  entitled.  If  such  ideas  prevail  I  have 
very  little  regard  for  the  individuals  who  hold  them.  All  honour 
to  those  who  take  the  Major  qualification,  but  it  does  not  neces¬ 
sarily  follow  that  the  passing  of  that  examination  makes  a  man 


May  l,  189^.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


373 


better  fitted  for  business,  or  better  able  to  judge  of  the  necessities 
of  the  times.  I  do  not  see  that  the  position  of  the  pharmaceutical 
chemist  would  be  interfered  with  one  iota.  Now  that  the  Minor 
qualification  demands  so  much  careful  training  and  increased 
knowledge,  and  when  we  remember  that  it  was  not  always  of  such 
extent,  and  that  its  present  requirements  are  almost  equal  to — if, 
indeed,  they  do  not  exceed — the  Major  requirements  of  many  years 
ago,  we  cannot  but  wonder  at  the  far-sighted  vision  of  the  late 
Mr.  Sandford  in  contending  for  this  very  same  object  in  1867,  when 
he  said  that  the  Minor  examination  would  not  always  remain  as  it 
was,  that  it  would  be  progressive,  and  that  it  would  yet  be  a 
qualification  deserving  of  recognition  of  full  membership  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society.  Such  time,  I  submit,  has  now  arrived, 
and  it  is  desirable  in  the  interests  of  our  calling,  as  well 
as  in  the  interests  of  the  Society,  to  make  the  attempt  to 
consolidate  what  up  till  now  has  been  a  disunited  body. 
The  question  then  arises  as  to  how  it  could  be  accomplished.  All 
previous  attempts  at  legislation  have  been  so  loaded  with  con¬ 
troversial  and  debatable  matters,  that  the  moment  the  Bill  sees  the 
light  of  day  its  doom  is  sealed.  I  think  the  tactics  of  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Council  have  been  wrong  in  bringing  forward  Bills  as 
practically  complete  which  have  not  been  properly  discussed, 
which  in  fact  were  hatched  in  a  hurry,  and  such  being  the  case, 
premature  death  was  sure  to  follow.  If  they  would  submit  matters 
and  allow  them  to  lie  on  the  table  for  six  or  twelve  months  to  be 
discussed  on  the  merits,  I  am  of  opinion  greater  success  would 
follow.  But  as  to  the  matter  in  hand,  a  short  Amendment  Act, 
dealing  with  this  matter  alone,  not  touching  other  questions  at  all, 
no  matter  how  desirable — would,  I  think,  be  the  best.  Let  this 
clamant  matter  be  attended  to  first,  and  in  such  a  way  that  it 
will  meet  with  the  approval  of  all  connected  with  pharmacy. 
You  may  say  such  a  question  is  not  worth  the  candle, 
well  I  am  of  a  different  mind.  During  the  correspondence  which 
took  place  in  connection  with  the  1894  Bill,  one  correspondent  put 
it  that  the  Society  had  been  in  labour  for  a  very  long  time  and 
had  brought  forth  such  a  very  small  mouse  that  it  did  not  matter 
much  whether  it  lived  or  died.  I  have  great  faith  in  small  things 
to  begin  with,  and  if  the  Pharmaceutical  Council  can  only  conceive 
agAin  and  bring  forth  a  very  small  Bill,  devoted  to  this  matter 
alone,  and  successfully  carry  it  through,  it  would  clear  the  way 
for  greater  things  afterwards.  You  are  all  familiar  with  the  fable 
of  the  lion  and  the  mouse — how  the  small  mouse  by  being  spared 
was  able  to  accomplish  a  very  great  feat  by  setting  free  the  king  of 
beasts — so  in  like  manner  the  small  Bill,  by  offering  some 
inducement  to  chemists  and  druggists  of  Great  Britain  to  join  the 
Society  might  be  productive  of  great  results,  and  the  consolidation 
which  we  all  so  much  desire  might  become  an  accomplished 
fact. 

Mr.  Lunan  said  he  had  great  pleasure  in  seconding  this  motion. 
He  did  so  partly  as  a  pharmaceutical  chemist  and  as  one  who 
thought  that  nothing  would  be  lost  to  the  holder  of  the  Major 
certificate  by  allowing  associates  to  become  members  of  the 
Society.  He  thought  the  figures  which  Mr.  Currie  had  given 
them  should  convert  them  all  to  his  ideas.  If  it  was  expedient 
that  this  method  should  be  taken,  he  had  gone  a  long  way  to 
prove  that  it  was  right.  Of  2253  pharmaceutical  chemists,  1584 — 
about  75  per  cent. — were  members  of  the  Society.  Of  course 
the  question  of  expediency  had  always  to  be  considered.  In 
regard  to  moving  the  Executive  in  the  matter,  the  action  they 
had  taken  in  regard  to  the  Preliminary  examination  had  had  an 
important  effect  on  the  Council  in  London.  What  they  had 
urged  must  have  apparently  been  taken  to  heart  there  and 
seriously  considered.  The  movement  for  entertaining  this  motion 
of  Mr.  Currie’s  was  perfectly  in  order  and  perfectly  right  on  the 
ground  of  expediency.  In  seconding  the  motion  he  wished  to 
ask  Mr.  Currie  if  he  would  make  men  members  of  the  Society 
whether  they  were  in  business  or  not  immediately  on  paying  their 
subscription. 

Mr.  Currie  said  that  every  individual  who  held  a  certificate 
should  be  a  member  of  the  Society  on  paying  the  subscription. 

Mr.  Lunar  said  that  at  present  Major  men  became  eligible  on 
paying  their  guinea  instead  of  half  a  guinea  and  became  full  mem¬ 
bers.  If  the  motion  were  carried  into  effect,  Minor  men,  whenever 
they  passed,  must  pay  their  guinea  and  then  they  would  become 
full  members. 

Mr.  Storrar  said  he  had  no  intention  whatever  of  moving  an 
amendment  to  this  motion.  As  Mr.  Currie  had  said,  it  was  not 
entirely  new.  It  had  been  before  the  Society  for  some  time  and 
practically  adopted  by  the  Council,  although  they  had  as  yet 


taken  no  action  with  reference  to  the  question.  As  some  of  the 
members  there  knew,  up  till  now  he  had  been  rather  against  the 
proposal,  and  he  wished  to  make  a  statement  of  his  position,  which 
had  come  about  partly  on  account  of  Mr.  Currie’s  eloquence  and 
partly  also,  he  believed,  on  account  of  his  being  in  a  minority  of 
one  in  the  Council  on  the  subject,  and  he  intended  now  to  give 
what  help  he  could  in  favour  of  the  proposal.  He  was  mainly  con¬ 
vinced  by  Mr.  Currie’s  arguments  in  this  way — that  they  had  not 
the  slightest  weight  with  him  ;  in  fact,  he  was  more  convinced  by 
what  Mr.  Currie  had  not  said  rather  than  by  what  he  had  said. 
He  began  by  advocating  this  as  an  act  of  justice,  but  he  would 
ask  justice  to  whom?  If  it  was  justice  to  the  chemists  and  drug¬ 
gists  it  was  injustice  to  the  Major  men.  Mr.  Currie  followed  that 
up  by  saying  that  he  also  believed  the  Society  would  have  a  large  ac- 
cessionof  new  members,  that  men  would  join  and  giveitthe  support  it 
deserved.  Did  Mr.  Currie  mean  that  men  who  were  not  members  would 
come  in  now,  and  that  men  who  were  associates  in  business,  by  be¬ 
coming  members,  would  support  the  Society  any  more  strongly  on 
that  account  ?  He  did  not  see  it.  He  could  not  for  the  life  of  him 
see  how  the  best  men,  who  at  present  could  become  members  of 
the  Society,  but  declined  to  do  so,  would  be  induced  by  the  very 
empty  honour  of  being  a  member  instead  of  an  associate  in  business. 
The  argument  in  favour  of  this  was  that  it  would  give  them,  on  the 
Council  and  elsewhere,  the  very  great  benefit  of  men  not  eligible^ 
for  the  Council  at  the  present  time.  That  was  a  very  strong  argu¬ 
ment  in  favour  of  Mr.  Currie’s  motion.  He  never  had  any  objection 
to  that,  but  he  did  object  wholly  to  these  matters  or  suggestions, 
being  taken  up  piecemeal.  They  had  any  amount  of  amendments 
to  make  to  the  Pharmacy  Act,  but  their  policy  for  a  great  many 
years  had  been  a  purely  stop-gap  policy.  Honestly  speaking,  he 
did  not  think  it  was  really  worth  while  going  to  Parliament  for  the- 
sole  purpose  of  making  associates  in  business  members  of  the  Society. 
It  was  a  very  small  matter  to  go  to  Parliament  with.  What  the 
policy  of  the  Society  should  be  was  to  formulate  in  a  proper  Bill 
what  reforms  they  thought  were  necessary  and  to  act,  and  let  the 
legislation  or  attempted  legislation  be  on  the  lines  of  carrying  out 
a  previously-fixed-upon  policy.  He  thought  they  should  attempt  tc 
push  forward  more  important  matters  than  this,  to  his  mind,  com¬ 
paratively  trifling  amendment.  But  this  policy  appeared  to  b 
the  policy  of  a  very  large  majority  of  the  Society  and  of  the  Council, 
and  he  was  perfectly  willing  to  go  in  with  it. 

Mr.  Kerr,  Dundee,  said  he  would  like  to  give  Mr.  Currie  his 
support  in  this  matter.  His  ideas  were  on  the  line  of  strengthening 
the  Society,  and  the  great  idea  at  present  was  to  strengthen  the 
Society  and  get  more  members  to  join.  He  stated  his  experience 
of  endeavouring  in  the  Dundee  district  to  get  more  members  to 
join  the  Society.  He  succeeded  in  getting  thirteen.  But  he  had 
to  call  again  for  their  annual  subscription,  and  he  found  that  the 
feeling  was  not  very  much  improved.  One  grievance  among  them 
was  the  difference  between  men  who  were  in  business  in  1868  and 
those  who,  having  passed  since  that  date,  had  passed  an  examina¬ 
tion  but  were  only  associates  in  business.  One  associate  not  only 
pointed  to  the  title  “  Member  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  ” 
above  his  neighbour’s  door,  but  also  to  the  intimation  thereon, 
“Prescriptions  dispensed  at  reduced  prices.”  He  (Mr.  Kerr) 
thought  on  the  whole  that  a  short  Act  was  wanted  here  as  a  desir¬ 
able  thing.  He  knew  there  were  difficulties  in  the  way.  He 
thought  Mr.  Storrar  put  the  case  very  well,  but  he  thought  this 
matter  should  be  kept  separate  from  the  other  things. 

Mr.  David  McLaren  said  that  if  Mr.  Storrar  had  objection  to 
this  Act  on  the  question  of  expense,  he  had  no  hesitation  in  saying 
this,  that  if  they  went  up  unanimous  on  this  question,  desiring 
that  all  should  become  members  of  the  Society,  a  short  Bill 
would  not  cost  a  single  penny.  The  Government  would  at  once 
accept  it  and  take  it  up.  A  good  deal  had  been  said  from  time  to 
time  as  to  the  importance  of  giving  equal  privileges  to  the  Associates 
who  had  passed  as  to  the  Major  men.  He  thought  that  was  impor¬ 
tant  if  for  no  other  purpose  than  having  some  controlling  power  in 
the  business  of  the  Society  in  London.  At  present  it  was  said  they 
were  not  allowed  to  have  any  say,  but  that  if  they  had,  or  if  they  were 
members  of  Council  themselves,  they  would  be  able  to  manage  the 
affairs  of  the  Society  better.  At  the  same  time  the  question  of 
expense  was  not  one  that  need  be  considered  here.  If  contentious 
business  were  introduced  into  the  Bill  it  might  get  a  good  deal  of 
opposition,  both  in  the  House  itself  and  outside,  and  they  might 
possibly  ruin  the  whole  Bill.  But  if  they  got  the  united  body  of 
chemists  and  druggists  to  go  forward  by-and-bye  with  the  other 
amendments  proposed  they  would  not  be  long  in  carrying  a  new 
Act. 


374 


PHARMACEUTICAL  journal. 


[Mat  1,  1897 


Mr.  Moir,  Glasgow,  said  he  sympathised  very  much  with  what 
Mr.  Kerr  had  said  in  reference  to  collecting  subscriptions.  They 
could  not  have  taxation  without  representation  now.  He  fre¬ 
quently  got  that  in  his  teeth  when  going  round  for  subscriptions. 
The  time  had  come  when  the  doors  of  the  Society  should  be  open 
to  everyone.  It  was  not  justice  to  ask  a  guinea  from  anyone 
without  giving  him  a  voice  in  the  affairs  of  the  Society.  The  only 
objection  he  had  was  that  supposing  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
went  to  the  House  of  Commons  with  this  small  Bill,  would  it  be 
the  means  of  shutting  the  door  to  them  in  the  near  future  ?  for 
undoubtedly  they  required  many  more  and  better  reforms  than 
this.  If  it  were  the  case  that  by  going  to  Parliament  just  now 
they  would  get  the  door  shut  against  them  in  the  near  future,  he 
would  be  in  favour  of  allowing  this  to  drop.  But  if  they  went 
forward  with  it  he  would  like  tacked  on  to  it  that  they  ought  to 
have  divisional  representation  in  all  the  districts.  They  would 
thus  be  more  closely  in  touch  with  the  Council,  which  they  could 
never  be  by  having  affairs  carried  on  as  they  were  at  present.  If 
they  had  a  member  of  the  Council  in  the  west  of  Scotland  it  would 
be  a  great  inducement  for  all  the  chemists  to  become  members, 
and  they  would  keep  him  posted  up  and  screwed  up  if  necessary. 

Mr.  Coull  suggested  that  that  part  of  the  proposed  resolution 
proposing  a  short  Amendment  Act  should  be  dropped.  As  a  pharma¬ 
ceutical  chemist  he  quite  approved  of  the  proposal  to  admit  all 
chemists  to  membership. 

Mr.  C.  F.  Henry  thought  it  was  a  very  strong  point  in  support 
of  the  proposed  Bill  that  it  dealt  with  only  one  thing.  The 
moment  they  began  to  introduce  two  or  three  subjects  into  their 
Bill  the  result  would  be  that  opposition  would  arise,  and  it  would 
go  no  further.  They  wanted  a  great  many  things  which  might  be 
embodied  in  a  comprehensive  Bill,  but  when  would  they  get  it 
passed  ?  He  did  not  think  they  would  ever  get  it  in  one  Bill.  But 
if  they  put  forward  a  small  part  every  year  and  kept  always  at  it 
they  would  have  far  more  chance  of  getting  measures  passed. 
Otherwise  they  would  have  five,  ten,  or  twenty  oppositions  to  the 
Bill.  He  supported  the  idea  of  having  this  single  measure  in  a 
short  Bill. 

Mr.  Johnston,  Aberdeen,  in  support  of  the  motion,  said  he 
believed  it  was  the  very  best  thing  the  Society  could  do  to  take  in 
all  examined  men.  By  that  means  the  membership  of  the  Society 
would  be  increased  from  two  or  three  thousand  to  fifteen  thousand 
strong.  Then  he  said  they  would  be  able  to  go  forward  with  any 
Bill  and  get  it  passed.  The  sooner  it  was  done  it  would  be  better 
for  the  trade  in  the  country.  Mr.  Kerr  had  referred  to  the  trouble 
he  had  with  men  speaking  about  what  they  got  for  their  guinea. 
They  said  they  had  no  voice  in  the  affairs  of  the  Society,  but  that 
was  a  mistake.  They  had  a  voice  in  the  representation  for  Scot¬ 
land,  which  he  considered  no  small  matter,  seeing  they  sent  such 
representatives  as  his  colleague  and  himself.  He  had  great 
pleasure  in  supporting  Mr.  Currie’s  motion. 

The  Chairman  said  he  cordially  supported  Mr.  Currie’s  mo¬ 
tion.  He  regarded  it  as  a  matter  of  justice  to  the  chemist  and 
druggist  associates  in  business,  and  he  thought  it  was  right  that 
they  should  be  represented  on  the  Council.  With  regard  to  the 
uestion  of  the  representation  of  the  two  classes  of  chemists  and 
ruggists  and  pharmaceutical  chemists  on  the  Council,  that  was 
the  chief  point  on  which  the  discussion  turned  at  the  Annual 
Meeting  in  London  when  this  subject  was  before  the  Society  on  a 
former  occasion.  At  that  time  he  was  quite  prepared  to  have 
acquiesced  in  the  proposal  as  to  the  proportional  representation, 
but  thinking  the  matter  over  since,  he  had  come  to  the  con¬ 
clusion  that  there  was  very  little  in  the  restriction,  and  too  much 
had  been  made  of  it.  The  electors  might  be  trusted  to  elect  the 
best  men,  and  there  was  no  good  reason  for  any  restriction.  They 
had  a  standing  example  of  how  the  matter  worked  in  that  Executive, 
on  which  they  had  always  been  able  to  secure  the  election  of  good 
men,  and  they  had  no  restriction  as  to  whether  a  man  was  a 
pharmaceutical  chemist  or  a  chemist  and  druggist.  All  he  could 
say  further  was  that  he  thoroughly  approved  of  Mr.  Currie’s  motion, 
and  more  especially  he  wished  to  distinctly  emphasise  the  fact  that 
there  should  be  a  short  Act  passed  embodying  the  proposal  in  the 
motion  and  limited  to  that.  Until  that  Act  was  passed  he  did  not 
thiqk  the  Society  could  be  put  upon  a  proper  basis. 

Mr.  Currie,  in  reply,  said  he  did  not  think  with  Mr.  Storrar 
that  to  open  up  the  Society  as  he  proposed  would  be  an  injustice 
to  pharmaceutical  chemists.  They  had  quite  as  good  men,  and 
in  a  great  many  cases,  without  saying  anything  too  strong,  better 
than  those  sitting  at  the  Council  Board.  He  said  that  without 
any  hesitation,  and  he  did  not  think  it  too  strong.  Mr.  Storrar 


did  not  think  any  good  would  result  from  opening  their  doors  to 
all  and  sundry.  He  (Mr.  Currie)  happened  to  know  the  minds  of 
a  good  many  members  in  the  west  and  throughout  Scotland,  and 
he  was  bound  to  say  that  if  an  amendment  of  this  kind  were 
passed  they  would  certainly  have  five-sixths  of  the  chemists  and 
druggists  in  connection  with  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great 
Britain.  They  had  received  the  motion  he  had  given  notice  of 
very  agreeably  to  him.  He  had  no  notion  as  to  how  opinion  would 
go,  but  he  had  resolved  to  leave  it  entirely  in  their  hands. 

The  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted. 

Annual  Election  of  Executive. 

The  Chairman  moved  that  the  next  election  of  the  Executive  be 
fixed  for  June  18,  and  that  the  Chairman  and  the  Vice-Chairman  be 
the  scrutineers  of  the  voting-papers,  with  power  to  add  to  their 
number.  This  was  agreed  to. 

The  Glasgow  Conference. 

Mr.  McAdam,  Glasgow,  gave  in  a  report  as  to  the  arrangements 
for  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference  to  be  held  in  Glasgow  in 
August.  He  stated  that  on  the  Monday,  as  usual,  the  President 
would  receive  the  members  in  the  Corporation  Galleries,  which  had 
been  kindly  granted  by  the  Corporation.  These  rooms,  he  said, 
were  very  suitable  for  such  a  purpose,  and  very  near  the  Grand 
Hotel  at  Charing  Cross,  their  headquarters.  On  Tuesday  they 
would  meet  in  the  large  hall  at  the  Grand  Hotel,  very  suitable  for 
them,  and  the  Lord  Provost  would  welcome  the  members.  After 
that  papers  would  be  read  by  members.  An  excursion  would  be 
organised  for  Loch  Lomond,  leaving  about  four  o’clock.  On  Wednes¬ 
day  morning  they  would  have  business  as  usual.  In  the  forenoon  the 
ladies  wouldgetadrive  through  the  city  and  visitpublic  places,  and  in 
the  afternoon  the  excursion  would  go  in  brakes  and  inspect  the  water¬ 
works  at  Milngavie  and  drive  back  in  time  for  the  smoking  concert  and 
the  ladies’  drawing-room  concert  at  the  hotel.  On  Thursday  they 
would  take  train  to  Greenock  and  leave  there  about  nine  o’clock 
in  the  “  Glen  Sannox,”  the  best  steamer  on  the  Clyde,  for  a  sail  on 
the  Clyde.  They  would  cross  to  Hunter’s  Quay  and  pass  Dunoon 
and  Inellan,  go  down  to  Rothesay,  up  the  Kyles  of  Bute,  and 
round  the  other  side  of  Bute,  up  Loch  Long  to  Arrochar,  then 
back,  and  if  time  permitted,  up  the  Gareloch  and  back,  to 
Greenock,  which  they  would  reach  about  seven  o’clock. 

The  Chairman  said  they  were  much  indebted  to  Mr.  McAdam 
for  this  intimation  as  to  the  Conference  arrangements.  In 
Glasgow  they  possessed  almost  unequalled  facilities  for  making 
such  a  meeting  as  this  an  interesting  and  attractive  gathering.  He 
hoped  their  southern  friends  would  take  special  note  of  this,  and 
if  they  attended  in  large  numbers  he  felt  sure  they  would  find 
that  admirable  arrangements  had  been  made.  He  hoped  the  day 
fixed  for  the  cruise  would  be  fine.  That  was  the  only  condition 
necessary  to  make  the  day  a  most  enjoyable  one  to  all  who  had 
the  opportunity  of  being  present. 

The  meeting  then  closed. 

NOTES  AND  FORMULA:. 

To  Prevent  Rusting  of  Instruments. 

Levai  finds  that  a  most  efficient  means  of  preventing  rusting  of 
instruments  is  0-23  per  cent,  of  pure  sodium  hydrate,  containing 
no  sulphur,  added  to  boiled  water.  The  instrument  should  lie  in 
this  solution  during  the  operation.  Sharp  knives  do  not  lose 
their  edge  in  the  faintest  degree. — Thera.  Gazette  [3],  xiii.,  56. 

New  Fixing  Solution  for  Vegetable  Tissues. 

The  following  liquid  is  said  to  rapidly  penetrate  vegetable 
tissues  and  to  fix  them,  without  causing  contraction  : — Mercuric 
chloride,  5 ;  potassium  bichromate,  2J ;  sodium  sulphate,  1  ; 
glacial  acetic  acid,  5  ;  distilled  water,  100. — Zenker  in  “Micro¬ 
graphic  Prepar.”  (L’  Union  Pharm.,  xxxviii.,  72). 


Mouthwash  Tabloids. 

Bernegan  gives  the  following  instructions  for  the  preparation  of 
these  by  means  of  tabloid  machine  No.  1  : — 

Heliotropinum  . . .  1  centigramme 

Saccharinum  .  1  ,, 

Acidum  Salicylicum .  10  centigrammes 

Mentholum  . 1  gramme 

Saccliarum  Lactis  . .  5  grammes 

Spiritus  Rosae . . . .  q.s. 

Ut  fiant  tablettse,  nr.  100 

The  tabloid  basis  may  be  coloured  red  with  eosin,  green  with 
chlorophyll,  or  blue  with  indigo-carmine. — Pharm.  Centralh., 
xxxviii.,  141. 


May  1,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


375 


REVIEWS  AND  NOTICES  OF  BOOKS. 


A  Contribution  to  the  History  of  the  Respiration  of  Man. 

By  William  Marcet,  M.D.,  F.R.C.P. ,  F.R.S.  Pp.  116. 

Price  12s.  M.  London  :  J.  and  A.  Churchill.  1897. 

This  handsome  quarto  volume  includes  the  Croonian  lectures 
given  by  the  author  in  1895,  together  with  an  additional  part 
entitled  the  “  Methods  of  Investigation  and  Analytical  Results,” 
which  gives  a  scientific  exposition  of  the  lectures.  The  lectures, 
which  represent  the  outcome  of  twelve  years’  continuous  work 
(1883-1895),  have  already  been  noticed  in  this  Journal 

The  lectures  themselves  are  full  of  matter  expressed  in  such  a  way 
that  it  can  be  enjoyed  and  assimilated  by  anyone  who  has  some 
knowledge  of  and  taste  for  the  physiology  of  respiration.  The 
appendix  is  of  a  more  technical  character,  and  will  be  invaluable 
to  those  who  may  undertake  similar  researches  in  the  future. 
In  the  earlier  observations  taken  in  the  Alps  indiarubber  bags 
were  used  for  collecting  expired  air,  but  it  was  found  that 
there  was  a  loss  of  C02,  due  to  diffusion  through  the  indiarubber1 
In  consequence  of  this  bags  made  of  indiarubber  faced  with  oiled 
silk  were  adopted,  and  it  was  found  that  the  loss  of  C02  was  con¬ 
siderably  diminished.  The  expired  air  was  conducted  to  the 
receiver  by  a  face-piece  made  on  the  principle  of  a  Clover  s  ether 
inhaler.  The  presence  of  the  face-piece  was  found  to  increase  the 
quantity  of  expired  air  in  experiments  carefully  conducted  in  the 
laboratory.  The  use  of  the  face-piece  also  increased  the  amount 
of  C02  in  the  expired  air.  This  was  attributed  to  “the  increased 
labour  of  the  respiratory  muscles,  due  to  a  sensation  resembling 
that  of  breathing  rarefied  air,  though  really  produced  by  the  re¬ 
breathing  of  a  small  portion  of  the  air  expired.”  This  was  due  to 
the  impossibility  of  removing  from  the  cavity  of  the  face-piece 
the  small  ,  quantity  of  the  expired  air  which  it  contained. 
The  graphic  method  was  applied  to  record  the  results  of  the 
laboratory  experiments.  The  expired  air  was  collected  in  a  bell- 
jar  suspended  over  water  in  such  a  way  that  no  effort  was 
experienced  when  raising  the  bell-jar  at  each  expiration.  The 
upward  movements  of  the  bell- jar  were  recorded  by  a  style  on  a 
chart  stretched  over  a  revolving  drum.  The  tracings  gave  a 
graphic  record  of  the  number  of  expirations  and  of  the  volume  of 
air  expired  in  a  given  time.  The  method  served  admirably  to 
record  observations  relating  to  the  chief  objects  of  the  research, 
viz.,  to  ascertain  the  influence  of  volition  on  respiration,  the  effects 
of  breathing  air  from  and  into  closed  vessels,  and  of  the  breathing 
air  mixed  with  oxygen,  hydrogen,  and  carbonic  acid.  Dr.  Mar- 
cet’s  book  will  always  remain  an  important  member  of  the  classics 
of  the  subject  with  which  it  deals. 

Anatomischer  Atlas  der  Pharmacognosie  und  Nahrungsmittel- 
kunde.  By  I)r.  A.  Tschirch  and  Dr.  0.  Oesterle.  Parts  9,  10, 
and  11.  Price  Is.  6cZ.  each,  nett.  London  :  Williams  and  Norgate. 
For  the  past  quarter  of  a  century  a  succession  of  eminent  histolo¬ 
gists  have  devoted  a  large  portion  of  their  time  to  the  study  of  the 
structure  of  the  principal  cereals  and  leguminous  seeds,  and  to  the 
comparison  of  the  most  important  starches  with  one  another.  The 
authors  of  the  ‘  Anatomical  Atlas  ’  have  made  a  renewed  and 
thorough  investigation  not  only  of  the  structure,  but  also  of  the 
development  of  the  principal  cereals  (barley,  wheat,  maize,  rye, 
oat,  and  rice)  from  the  young  ovary  to  the  ripe  fruit.  The 
anatomy  of  the  glumes,  awn,  palese,  pericarp,  integuments, 
and  nucleus  is  minutely  described,  as  well  as  the  changes  that 
these  parts  undergo  during  the  ripening  of  the  fruit,  so  that  a 
complete  account  of  the  structure  of  each  of  these  fruits,  and  the 
morphological  nature  of  the  tissues  they  exhibit  is  here  furnished. 
In  this  group,  more  than  in  any  other,  the  value  of  placing  before 


the  reader  sections  of  the  young  and  of  the  ripe  fruit,  together 
with  the  various  layers  in  succession  that  can  be  found  in  the 
latter,  is  most  conspicuous,  as  indeed  any  student  of  the  subject 
may  easily  convince  himself  by  comparing  the  plates  in  the  ‘Atlas’ 
with  the  illustrations  previously  published  by  other  histologists. 
The  investigation  of  the  development  of  wheat  fruit  has  shown  that 
the  outer  part  alone  of  the  layer  considered  by  Moeller  to  be  the 
seed-coat  is  really  the  integument,  whilst  the  inner  is  the 
remains  of  the  nucellus  (perisperm).  This  seed-coat  is  developed 
from  the  inner  alone  of  the  two  integuments  of  the  seed,  the  outer 
collapsing  soon  after  pollination,  and  perishing  so  completely  that 
no  trace  of  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  ripe  fruit.  The  ‘  ‘  tubular 
cells  ”  that  have  long  been  known  are  shown  to  be  the  remains  of 
the  inner  epidermis  of  the  pericarp,  the  cells  of  which  become 
separated  from  one  another. 

The  anatomy  of  maize  and  rice  is  equally  minutely  described. 
In  the  oat  the  pericarp  is  very' much  reduced,  owing,  probably,  to 
the  protection  afforded  by  the  paleaa  ;  in  barley,  in  which  the  palese 
are  adherent,  a  similar  reduction  takes  place.  In  the  ripe  oat  only 
the  epidermis  and  five  rows  of  degraded  cells  are  to  be  found.  The 
integuments  and  nucellus  suffer  similar  absorption,  which,  in  fact, 
appears  to  proceed  to  a  greater  extent  in  this  than  in  any  other 
cereal. 

In  Part  10  the  anatomy  of  ergot,  the  seed  of  the  Corncockle  ( Agro - 
stemma  githago),  and  the  Field  Cow-wheat  ( Melampyrum  arvense), 
which  are  liable  to  be  found  in  the  meal  of  the  cereals,  is  dealt  with. 
The  colouring  matters  of  ergot,  which  form  an  important  means  of 
recognising  it,  are,  according  to  the  authors,  produced  in  a  single 
layer  of  cells,  which,  though  not  originally  the  outer  layer,  becomes 
so  by  the  exfoliation  of  those  beyond  them  after  the  secretion  has 
taken  place.  From  this  layer  of  cells  the  colouring  matter  finds 
its  way  into  the  neighbouring  cells,  and  may  even  permeate,  more 
or  less,  the  whole  ergot. 

Following  upon  this  is  the  anatomy  of  the  leguminous  seeds 
( Pisum  sativum,  Phaseolus  vulgaris,  P.  multiflorus,  Ervum  lens ). 
In  these,  the  development  of  the  characteristic  thick-walled 
palisade  cells  of  the  epidermis  is  studied,  and  the  thickening  is 
shown  to  be  effected  at  the  expense  of  the  starch  produced  in  the 
third  and  succeeding  layers  of  cells,  which  therefore  collapse. 
The  dark  and  light  zones  so  frequently  seen  in  the  palisade  epidermis 
of  leguminous  seeds  are  produced  probably  by  differences  in  the 
chemical  composition  of  the  cell-wall,  since  these  portions  react  differ¬ 
ently  with  chlor-zinc-iodine.  Below  the  fissure  along  the  hilum,  com¬ 
monly  exhibited  by  these  seeds,  is  a  strand  of  tracheids,  which  the 
authors  regard  as  a  means  of  conveying  water  rapidly  to  the  radicle. 

This  part  (10)  and  the  succeeding  one  (11)  contain  new  drawings 
of  the  most  important  starches.  Part  11  concludes  with  the 
anatomy  of  galangal,  zedoary,  and  the  true  and  false  star  anise. 

In  the  case  of  the  latter,  the  authors  endeavour  to  show  that 
histological  characters  can  frequently  be  utilised  to  distinguish 
between  the  allied  fruits  ( Illicium  verum  and  I.  rtligiosum)  when 
the  macroscopic  characters  leave  one  in  the  lurch.  In  the  shape 
and  size  of  the  palisade  cells  of  the  epidermis,  in  the  position  in 
which  the  longest  are  found,  and  in  the  transition  forms  they 
show,  the  authors  find  distinctive  features.  But  the  most 
marked  differences  are  exhibited  by  the  aleurone  grains.  These 
are  not  nearly  so  numerous  in  the  true  as  they  are  in  the  false  ;  in 
the  former  they  are  irregular  in  outline  and  seldom  contain  crys¬ 
talloids,  though  they  enclose  numerous  globoids  ;  in  those  of  the 
false  they  are  oval,  smooth,  contain  one  or  several  crystalloids,  as 
well  as  numerous  globoids.  Unfortunately,  the  seed  is  compara¬ 
tively  seldom  developed,  so  that  this  means  of  distinguishing  the 
two  species  loses  much  of  its  value. 


376 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  1, 1897. 


PARLIAMENTARY  NOTES  AND  NEWS- 


Parliament  has  resumed  its  sittings,  but  the  spirit  of  Easter¬ 
tide  seems  to  still  exert  a  strong  influence  on  honourable  members, 
and  to  render  them  disinclined  for  sustained  effort.  Monday  and 
Tuesday  were  signalised  by  “counts  out”  at  a  very  early  hour, 
but  several  Government  measures  wrere  advanced  a  stage  before 
the  House  rose.  Exceptionally  good  fortune  seemed  to  await  the 
Early  Closing  Bills  on  Tuesday.  There  was  no  Government  busi¬ 
ness,  and  Sir  J.  Lubbock’s  Bill  occupied  the  first  position  on  the 
order  paper,  being  immediately  followed  by  the  Shops  Bill  of  Sir 
Charles  Dilke.  What  could  be  wished  for  more  favourable  ?  But 
after  talking  about  Crete,  and  checkmating  Sir  Howard  Vincent’s 
attempt  to  resuscitate  “protection”  in  a  new  guise,  the  House 
preferred  to  give  a  practical  expression  of  their  sympathy  with 
early  closing  by  going  home  rather  than  to  discuss  in  the  abstract 
the  principles  embodied  in  the  Shops  Bills. 


The  Incorporated  Law  Society,  like  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society,  has  statutory  duties  to  perform,  and  there  appears  to  be 
common  ground  for  complaint  that  these  duties  are  frightfully 
expensive  at  times.  In  the  case  of  the  Law  Society  there  is  a 
disposition  to  draw  attention  to  their  particular  grievance,  and 
they  have  secured  the  Parliamentary  assistance  of  Mr.  C.  Harrison 
(Plymouth),  Mr.  W.  Ambrose  (Harrow),  and  Mr.  A.  Helder 
(Whitehaven),  all  of  whom  have  given  notice  to  move  resolutions 
relating  to  the  expenses  incurred  by  the  Society  in  performing 
certain  duties  imposed  upon  them  by  Act  of  Parliament.  The  fact 
of  the  lawyers  being  able  to  make  known  their  woes  to  the  House 
in  triplicate  is  almost  enough  to  inspire  envy  in  the  hearts  of 
chemists  1 


Official  Delay. — The  Vaccination  Commission  sat  many  years 
before  venturing  to  report  finally  on  the  subject  referred  to  them, 
but  they  did  issue  that  final  report  in  August  last,  and  it  was 
fondly  hoped  that  the  whole  of  the  minutes  of  evidence  would  be 
available  by  the  end  of  last  year.  The  delay  in  the  publication  of 
the  remaining  records  may  be  quite  unpremeditated,  but  General 
Laurie  (Pembroke  and  Haverfordwest)  will  on  Friday,  the  30th, 
try  to  elicit  from  the  President  of  the  Local  Government  Board  an 
explanation  as  well  as  a  date  when  the  belated  appendices  and 
minutes  of  evidence  may  be  expected  to  appear. 


Rhea  Fibre. — Consul  Playfair,  of  Ningpo,  China,  in  his  report 
for  the  year  1896  on  the  trade  of  that  port,  refers  to  the  stimulus 
which  has  been  given  to  commercial  interest  in  Rhea  by  the  dis¬ 
covery  of  a  new  method  of  decorticating  the  fibres  (see  Ph.  J., 
June  13,  1896,  p.  478).  Applications  for  seeds  and  young  plants 
have  been  made  to  Mr.  Playfair,  under  the  impression  that 
Ningpo  was  a  centre  of  the  grass  cloth  industry,  and  though  this 
is  no  longer  true,  the  Consul,  with  some  difficulty,  procured  from 
a  native  agriculturist  a  small  quantity  of  seed  with  a  view  to 
essaying  the  introduction  of  the  plant  into  the  Straits  Settlements. 
His  Singapore  correspondent  reports  that  the  seeds  germinated 
readily,  but  that  the  early  sprouts  had  more  the  look  of  cannabis 
than  of  boehmeria.  The  contretemps  is  attributable  to  the  similarity 
between  the  native  Chinese  names  for  the  two  plants — Chu-ma  and 
Hu-ma.  There  seems  no  reason  why  Rhea  could  not  be  profitably 
cultivated  at  Singapore ;  but  Mr.  Playfair  advises  that  it  is  better 
to  obtain  seeds  from  Wenchow  or  Formosa,  where  the  fibre  is  still 
an  item  of  manufacture. 


LITERARY  NOTES. 


*  The  Chronicles  of  Christopher  Bates  ’  is  of  pharmaceutical 
interest  inasmuch  as  the  book  is  written  by  a  chemist’s  assistant, 
as  Mr.  Ebenezer  Rees  is  modestly  content  to  style  himself.  Other¬ 
wise,  these  ‘  ‘  notes  on  the  life  of  a  peculiar  mortal  ”  will  appeal  to 
the  craft  no  more  than  to  other  members  of  the  general  public. 
The  book  is  well  written  and  should  attract  many  readers,  who 
will  doubtless  agree  that  whether  the  *  ‘  peculiar  mortal  ”  actually 
existed  or  not,  what  is  related  concerning  him  possesses  all  the 
force  of  realism.  Human  joys  and  sorrows  are  depicted  by  the 
author  with  a  skilful  hand,  and  in  a  way  that  secures  the  sympathy 
of  those  before  whom  his  characters  parade. 


The  ‘  Kodak  News  ’  for  April  is  distinguished  by  a  beautiful 
process  reproduction  of  a  view  of  the  font  in  Lichfield  Cathedral, 
taken  with  a  short  focus  lens,  and  the  rules  to  observe  in  photo¬ 
graphing  such  subjects  are  clearly  enunciated  by  W.  Ethelbert 
Henry.  In  addition,  there  are  brief  articles  on  “  Some  Troubles 
and  their  Causes,”  “  Cyclo-Photography,”  and  “  The  Bull’s-Eye 
Camera  in  the  Soudan.”  The  numerous  illustrations  are,  as 
usual,  beyond  criticism.” 


‘  Moring’s  Quarterly  ’  contains,  in  its  third  number,  the  first 
instalment  of  an  excellent  illustrated  biographical  sketch  of  Albert 
Diirer,  together  with  an  appreciation  of  Ford  Madox  Brown’s  work 
and  influence  on  Art,  descriptions  of  the  Laud  M  edal  and  of  the 
Arms  of  the  City  of  London,  and  various  notes  of  interest  on  the 
subjects  of  which  it  specially  treats. 


Photography  in  Colours  is  much  to  the  fore  at  present,  and 
those  who  are  interested  in  the  subject  will  find  some  contributions 
to  its  bibliography  by  Thomas  Bolas  of  considerable  value.  The 
article  appears  in  the  Journal  of  the  Society  of  Artsiov  April  23,  and 
serves  as  the  basis  of  a  tolerably  exhaustive  index  to  what  has  been 
published  on  photography  in  colours,  beginning  with  Seebeck, 
Niepce,  and  Herschel’s  work  early  in  the  present  century  and 
bringing  the  matter  up  to  date. 


Schimmel’s  Semi-Annual  Reports,  which  deal  mainly  with 
essential  oils,  are  wonderful  productions,  more  especially  when 
regarded  from  a  purely  commercial  point  of  view.  Twice  a  year 
some  fifty  or  more  pages  appear,  first  in  German  and  then  in 
English,  brimful  of  suggestive  hints  and  information  of  practical 
value  respecting  essential  oils  and  various  synthetic  preparations. 
That  the  preparation  and  distribution  of  these  reports  benefit  the 
firm  cannot  be  doubted,  but  whether  a  similar  result  would 
accrue  in  the  case  of  a  British  firm  may  be  doubted,  apart  from 
which  the  experiment  is  not  likely  to  be  tried,  and  so  we  can  only 
admire  the  enterprise  of  which  the  publications  are  indications 
and  regret  its  absence  nearer  home. 


Lean’s  *  Royal  Navy  List  ’  for  April  records  all  navy  and 
army  news  up  to  date,  including  details  of  special  service  during 
the  past  three  months,  recent  decorations  and  causes  of  special 
promotion,  etc. ,  etc.  Anyone  requiring  information  on  any  point 
regarding  the  navy  and  army  or  officers  of  either  force  may  depend 
upon  finding  it  in  this  list,  which  is  published  quarterly  by  Messrs. 
Witherby  and  Co.,  High  Holborn,  W.C.,  at  seven  shillings  and 
sixpence. 


Max  1,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


377 


Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


ESTABLISHED  1841. 


Editorial  Office :  17,  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.C. 
Publishing  aqd  Advertising  Office :  5,  SERLE  STREET,  W.C. 


LONDON:  SATURDAY,  MAY  1,  1897. 


A  CASE  OF  REVERSION. 

It  is  a  matter  of  history  that  when  the  founders  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  initiated  the  system  of  pharmaceu¬ 
tical  examinations,  which  has  been  maintained  with  modifica¬ 
tions  ever  since,  the  idea  they  had  in  view  with  regard  to 
the  different  stages  was  that  the  Minor  examination  should 
be  a  test  that  the  period  of  pupilage  had  been  profitably  spent 
and  the  erstwhile  apprentice  competent  to  act  as  an  assistant ; 
and  that  the  Major  examination  should  be  the  qualifying 
-examination,  the  passing  of  which  ought  to  be  incumbent  on 
-everyone  proposing  to  practise  pharmacy  on  his  own  account. 
It  is  also  a  matter  of  history  that  when  the  President  and 
Council  of  the  Society  proceeded  to  take  steps  to  enforce 
those  views  in  the  case  of  all  persons  entering  the  craft,  they 
had  to  face  a  little  world  in  arms  amongst  those 
already  in  the  trade,  and  the  opposition  raised 
was  deemed  so  serious  that  a  compromise  was  agreed 
to  in  order  that  the  Bill  before  Parliament  should  not 
be  totally  wrecked.  As  a  result,  the  Pharmacy  Act  of  1868 
left  the  Minor  examination  in  the  position  of  being  the  sole 
test  required  prior  to  registration,  and  the  passing  of  the 
Major  examination,  whilst  it  indicated  an  acquaintance  with 
the  higher  branches  of  the  subjects  in  the  pharmaceutical 
curriculum,  carried  with  it  no  advantages  as  a  practising 
pharmacist  not  possessed  by  chemists  and  druggists. 

But  time,  as  Schiller  has  it,  is  a  wonder-working  god,  and 
now,  after  the  lapse  of  thirty  years,  a  desire  is  finding  ex¬ 
pression  for  a  special  intermediate  examination  which  may 
serve  as  an  indication  that  the  holder  of  the  certificate  is 
properly  qualified  to  act  as  a  chemist’s  assistant.  This 
desire  has  been  voiced  on  many  occasions  by  correspondents 
of  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal ,  and  it  is  only  natural  thaG 
similar  ideas  on  the  subject  should  suggest  themselves  to 
many  individuals,  for  undoubtedly  a  rational  system 
of  pharmaceutical  organisation  seems  to  require,  in 
the  public  interest,  that  each  person  engaged  in  a 
pharmacy  should  have  proved  his  fitness  to  undertake  the 
work  that  will  fall  to  his  share  in  the  ordinary  course.  Mr. 
John  McMillan,  therefore,  advanced  no  new  idea  in  his 
letter  to  the  Journal  published  a  fortnight  ago  ( ante , 
p.  345),  when  he  referred  to  Mr.  Kerr’s  suggestion 
that  “  it  might  be  wise  for  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
to  obtain  powers  to  have  an  assistant’s  qualification.”  The 
special  interest  attaching  to  his  communication  lay  in  the  fact 
that  one  who  was  in  business  before  the  passing  of  the  1868 
Act,  and  has  been  a  member  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
almost  ever  since,  should  have  felt  impelled  at  this  late  period 
to  put  on  record  his  concurrence  with  the  views  of  our 
founders,  his  long  business  experience  having  convinced  him 
that,  in  so  far  as  the  original  plan  has  been  departed  from,  to 
that  extent  pharmaceutical  organisation  is  deficient  to-day. 


But  whether  the  proposal  to  institute  a  lower  qualification 
— which  shall  entitle  its  possessors  to  do  everything  but  keep 
open  shop  on  their  own  account — would  now  commend 
itself  to  those  who  first  organised  British  pharmacy  is  quite 
another  question,  and  to  judge  from  their  recorded  opinions 
the  answer  to  this  question  would  be  a  decided  negative. 
Having  arrived  at  the  present  position,  where  the  passing  of 
the  Minor  examination  and  subsequent  registration  are  held  to 
be  legally  necessary  in  the  case  of  everyone  engaged  in  per¬ 
forming  certain  special  functions  of  pharmacists,  it  would  he 
extremely  undesirable  to  hark  back  and  open  the  way  to 
possible  abuse  by  reducing  the  legal  requirements.  Any 
assistant  who  is  worth  his  salt  should  be  quite  capable  of 
passing  the  qualifying  examination  within  a  reasonable 
period  of  completing  his  term  of  pupilage,  and  as  one 
correspondent  observed  in  last  week’s  Journal,  the 
assumed  scarcity  of  reliable  chemists  and  druggists 
willing  to  act  as  assistants  may  be  due,  when  apparent,  to  a 
natural  reluctance  on  the  part  of  legally  qualified  men  to 
accept  positions  at  unreasonably  low  salaries.  From  the 
assistant’s  point  of  view,  as  from  that  of  the  public,  the 
higher  his  qualification  the  better  it  most  certainly  is  for 
himself,  and  employers  who  act  on  a  similar  assumption  may 
rest  assured  that  advantage  will  not  be  lacking  in  their 
case.  Assistants  should  be  encouraged  to  qualify  at  the 
earliest  possible  opportunity,  and  the  exertion  of  any 
influence  that  may  tend  to  the  more  universal  possession  of 
a  higher  rather  than  a  lower  qualification  on  their  part  cannot 
fail  to  benefit  pharmacy  as  a  whole. 

THE  MERCK  PHARMACY. 

In  a  letter  accompanying  a  description  of  Messrs.  Merck 
and  Co.’s  new  premises  in  New  York,  Mr.  W.  C.  Alpers 
truly  remarks  that  the  opening  of  a  “  drug  store  ”  is,  as  a 
rule,  of  no  particular  significance,  except  to  the  immediate 
vicinity,  and  does  not  deserve  any  further  notice.  He 
claims,  however,  for  the  establishment  of  which  he  is  the 
manager,  that  it  is  “an  institution  of  national  scope, 
destined  to  be  a  mark-stone  in  the  development  and 
advancement  of  American  pharmacy.”  The  description  sent 
may  be  regarded  as  fully  justifying  this  hold  claim,  and  the 
firm  is  to  be  congratulated  on  totally  and  courageously 
breaking  loose,  as  the  writer  expresses  it,  from  all  those  tradi¬ 
tions  and  customs  which  have  hampered  pharmacy  in  the 
past,  and  on  boldly  setting  out  as  professional  men,  to 
conduct  professional  work  only.  The  Merck  pharmacy  is 
completely  fitted  with  the  most  modern  scientific  apparatus 
and,  in  addition  to  providing  the  best  possible  service  for 
the  sick  under  medical  orders,  it  is  intended  to  help  other 
pharmacies  to  do  likewise.  There  are  pharmaceutical, 
analytical,  microscopical,  and  bacteriological  laboratories 
fully  adapted  for  carrying  out  necessary  investigations,  testing 
stock,  and  executing  analyses.  The  business  needs  of  other 
pharmacists  will  be  met  by  the  firm  in  every  possible  way, 
and  apart  from  anything  else,  free  information  and  advice 
are  offered  on  any  perplexing  question  or  difficulty  occurring 
in  the  regular  run  of  professional  work.  There  may,  of 
course,  be  reasons  unknown  to  us  why  this  offer  of  assistance 
may  not  be  appreciated  by  A  merican  pharmacists,  but  it  is  a 
pleasure  to  be  able  to  record  that  the  entire  resources  and 
facilities  of  a  model  pharmacy  on  a  scale  of  unparalleled 
completeness  are  cheerfully  and  cordially  placed  at  the 
service  of  other  pharmacies  throughout  the  land. 


378 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  1,  1897. 


ANNOTATIONS, 

A  Special  General  Meeting  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
■will  be  held  at  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  W.C.,  on  Wednesday, 
May  19,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  business  of  the  Annual  General 
Meeting,  for  the  purpose  of  abrogating  Bye-laws  11  to  24, 
Section  X.,  and  considering  the  proposed  new  Bye-laws  (see  ante, 
p.  315)  which  will  be  submitted  by  the  Council.  The  draft  Bye¬ 
laws  will  previously  have  been  read  three  times  at  meetings  of  the 
Council,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  Society’s  Charter 
of  Incorporation,  and,  if  confirmed  and  approved  at  the  special 
general  meeting,  will  then  only  require  the  sanction  of  the  Privy 
Council  to  give  them  legal  force.  The  second  reading  took  place 
at  a  meeting  of  the  Council  held  on  W ednesday,  a  report  of  which 
appears  at  page  372. 

The  Glasgow  Conference  Programme,  as  detailed  by  Mr. 
McAdam,  at  the  meeting  of  the  Executive  of  the  North  British 
Branch  last  week,  is  an  exceedingly  attractive  one.  The  head¬ 
quarters  of  the  Conference  will  be  the  Grand  Hotel,  but  the  recep¬ 
tion  by  the  President — Dr.  Charles  Symes — is  to  be  held  in  the 
Corporation  Galleries,  the  use  of  which  has  been  kindly  granted  by 
the  Glasgow  Corporation.  The  members  will  assemble  for  the 
business  meetings  of  the  Conference  in  the  large  hall  of  the  Grand 
Hotel,  and  there  they  will  be  welcomed  to  the  city  by  the  Lord 
Provost.  The  excursions  include  one  to  Loch  Lomond  on  the 
Tuesday  afternoon,  visits  to  the  waterworks  at  Milngavie  and  to 
other  public  places  on  W ednesday,  and  a  sail  on  the  Clyde  and  up 
the  Kyles  of  Bute  on  Thursday.  If  in  addition,  our  Glasgow 
friends  can  secure  a  promise  of  fine  weather  and  a  temporary 
cessation  of  their  noted  rain-showers,  the  prospect  of  enjoyment 
will  be  great. 

The  Council  of  the  British  Medical  Association  has  awarded 
its  gold  medal  for  distinguished  services  to  Sir  Walter  Foster,  M.  P. , 
who  has  won  the  distinction  by  his  services  to  the  profession  in 
Parliament,  and  (as  a  member  of  the  late  Administration)  at  the 
Local  Government  Board.  The  medal  has  been  awarded  only 
seven  times  previously— twice  for  distinguished  gallantry  in  the 
field  of  battle  by  Army  surgeons,  twice  to  civil  practitioners  for 
courage  exhibited  in  rescuing  coal  miners  after  explosions,  once  to 
the  late  Dr.  Parke  for  his  devoted  services  with  Mr.  Stanley’s 
Expedition  in  Africa,  and  twice  for  public  services  to  the  pro¬ 
fession — in  1880  to  the  late  Dr.  W.  Farr  on  perfecting  the  system 
of  vital  statistics  in  this  country,  and  in  1886  to  the  late  Dr. 
Edward  Waters  for  his  efforts  in  the  cause  of  medical  reform. 
Amongst  Sir  Walter  Foster’s  other  claims  to  public  recognition 
are  the  services  rendered  by  him  in  coping  with  the  cholera  inva¬ 
sion  of  1892  and  1894,  and  as  a  member  of  the  General  Medical 
Council  for  ten  years. 

The  Public  Analyst  versus  Somerset  House  conflict  seems 
to  be  unending.  An  instance  of  this,  in  which  a  pharmaceutical 
chemist  was  painfully  interested,  occurred  at  Brentford  Police 
Court  a  few  days  ago,  and  was  reported  in  last  week’s  Journal. 
Now  a  Dalston  milk  dealer  has  provided  the  bone  of  contention. 
This  individual  was  summoned  for  selling  milk  adulterated  with 
six  per  cent,  of  added  water,  but  the  certificate  of  the  public  analyst 
for  Hackney  (Mr.  Leo  Taylor)  was  disputed,  and  the  remaining 
sample  was  forwarded  to  Somerset  House  for  analysis.  The  result 
of  this  analysis  was  that  the  sample  was  pronounced  pure.  At 
the  adjourned  hearing,  Mr.  Otto  Hehner,  Dr.  Bernard  Dyer,  and 
Mr.  Edward  Bevan  were  called  in  support  of  the  prosecution,  and 
all  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  adulteration  varied  from  five  to 


seven  per  cent.  It  was  stated  during  the  hearing  of  the  case, 
although  that  hardly  seemed  necessary,  that  the  Somerset  House 
chemists  did  not  work  in  harmony  with  the  public  analysts,  and 
ultimately  the  case  was  further  adjourned  for  the  attendance  of 
the  Somerset  House  chemist. 

Plymouth  and  the  Neighbouring  Towns  are  witnessing  the 
unedifying  spectacle  of  what  is  referred  to  by  the  local  press  as 
the  institution  of  a  boycott  by  local  medical  men.  For  some 
reason  or  other  the  management  of  the  Three  Towns  Friendly 
Societies  Medical  Institution  has  been  condemned  as  lowering  the 
dignity  of  the  profession,  and  at  a  meeting  convened  for  Wednes¬ 
day  it  was  intended  to  propose  that  the  practitioners  present 
should  refuse  knowingly  to  meet  in  consultation  any  medical  officer 
of  the  above  Institution  or  any  medical  officer  of  it  who  should 
subsequently  sever  himself  from  the  Institution  and  start  practice 
independently  ;  further  that  they  should  do  their  utmost  to  pre¬ 
vent  those  who  do  meet  the  medical  officers  of  the  Institution  from 
being  called  in  to  consult ;  and,  lastly,  that  the  present  medical 
officers  of  the  Three  Towns  Friendly  Societies’  Medical  Institution 
should  be  warned  of  the  consequences  which  would  ensue  on  their 
starting  independent  practice.  There  is  said  to  be  considerable 
feeling  on  this  question  throughout  the  profession,  and  it  will  be 
interesting  to  learn  how  the  meeting  passed  off,  whilst  greater 
interest  still  will  attach  to  the  outcome  of  the  pending  struggle 
between  the  “medical  aid  doctors”  and  the  defenders  of  outraged 
professionalism. 

The  Legality  of  the  P.A.T.A.  Methods  has  been  questioned 
by  some  critics,  and  it  is  interesting  to  note,  therefore,  that,  in  the 
opinion  of  Sir  Edward  Clark  and  Mr.  Chas.  E.  E.  Jenkins,  none 
of  those  methods  are  illegal.  The  main  point  of  the  opinion 
expressed  is  that  the  associated  traders  would  not  be  liable  to  be 
indicted  for  conspiracy  should  they  refuse  to  supply  any  or  all  of 
their  preparations  to  an  individual  who  was  “cutting”  some 
particular  article,  either  entirely  or  only  at  such  prices  as  would 
prohibit  competition  with  retail  dealers  who  maintained  prices. 
Similarly,  it  is  thought  that  wholesale  agents  would  be  justified  in 
co-operating  with  manufacturers  to  carry  out  such  an  arrangement 
as  referred  to  above,  and  that  a  clause  in  agreements  between 
manufacturers  and  wholesale  dealers,  by  which  the  latter  should 
bind  themselves  to  pay  a  penalty  on  breaking  the  conditions  laid 
down,  would  be  legal  and  valid. 

A  Catalogue  of  British  Mosses  has  been  published  by  Mr. 
H.  N.  Dixon,  the  excellent  ‘  Handbook  of  British  Mosses,’  written 
by  himself  and  Mr.  H.  G.  Jameson,  having  already  led  to  a  demand 
for  an  index  catalogue  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  exchanges  with 
correspondents  and  for  labelling  herbarium  specimens,  etc.  At 
the  request  of  numerous  correspondents,  therefore,  Mr.  Dixon  has 
issued  a  very  useful  catalogue  of  species,  in  which  each  species  is 
separately  numbered,  and  each  sub-species  and  variety  approxi¬ 
mately  indicated  ;  also  a  list  for  use  as  labels,  the  specific  name 
being  separately  printed  with  each  variety,  and  the  whole  list  made  of 
label  diameter,  so  that  it  is  necessary  only  to  cut  off  the  label  in 
the  form  of  a  slip.  Each  of  these  lists  is  procurable  for  the  small 
sum  of  6 d.  (or  the  labels,  if  gummed,  9 d. ).  A  card  with  a  list  of 
all  the  genera,  with  synonyms,  and  numbers  referring  to  the 
number  of  the  genus  in  the  Handbook  is  supplied  for  \\d.,  or  if 
on  paper,  for  1  d.  There  is  no  reason,  therefore,  why  British 
bryologists  should  not  now  put  their  collections  in  order  with  the 
names  up  to  date.  Some  may  perhaps  regret  that  Mr.  Dixon  has 
not  in  all  cases  adopted  the  names  in  Dr.  Braithwaite’s  classical 
work ;  though  this  will  present  no  real  difficulty,  since  Mr.  Dixon  has 


May  1,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


379 


not  introduced  any  new  names,  but  merely  retained  in  such  cases 
those  already  well  known  and  largely  used.  The  lists  can  be 
obtained  from  J.  Wheldon,  Bookseller,  Great  Queen  Street,  W.C. 

The  Chemists’  Club  will  hold  a  dinner  at  the  Holborn 
Restaurant,  London,  on  Thursday,  May  6,  when  the  chair  will  be 
taken  by  Mr.  Horace  Davenport,  at  7.30  p.m.  Tickets  (5s.  6c?.  each) 
may  be  obtained  of  the  Honorary  Secretary,  Mr.  W  A.  Goodall, 
2,  Farringdon  Avenue,  E.C.,  and  it  is  hoped  that  members  will 
introduce  friends  on  the  occasion. 

The  Council  of  the  Royal  Photographic  Society  is  calling 
a  meeting  of  the  photographic  trade  to  be  held  at  No.  12,  Hanover 
Square,  A¥.,  on  Tuesday,  May  11,  at  3.30  p.m.,  and  at  which  it  is 
hoped  three  delegates  will  be  appointed  to  represent  the  interests 
of  manufacturers  and  dealers  on  the  General  Committee  of  the 
International  Trade  and  Technical  Exhibition  which  the  Society 
proposes  to  hold  at  the  Crystal  Palace  next  spring.  Exhibitors 
will  incur  no  risk  whatever  in  connection  with  this  Exhibition, 
their  liabilities  being  limited  to  the  charges  for  floor  and  wall 
space,  and  no  effort  will  be  spared  to  make  the  Exhibition  a  com¬ 
plete  and  representative  collection  fully  illustrative  of  the  develop¬ 
ment  and  present  position  of  photography,  in  its  widest  sense,  such 
as  up  to  the  present  has  never  been  held.  Any  firms  of  manufac¬ 
turers  or  dealers  in  photographic,  photo-mechanical,  and  kindred 
trades  who  may  accidentally  have  been  omitted  from  the  list  to 
whom  circulars  are  being  sent,  are  requested  to  communicate  with 
the  Secretary,  12,  Hanover  Square,  London,  W. 

Popular  and  Scientific  Names  for  specific  substances  do  not 
invariably  denote  the  same  thing  exactly,  the  former  being  fre¬ 
quently  somewhat  wider  in  their  scope,  and  some  letters  that  have 
appeared  in  the  Lancet  show  that  this  is  peculiarly  the  case  with 
regard  to  certain  of  the  internal  organs  of  animals.  One  writer, 
desiring  to  give  thymus  gland  to  a  patient  who  was  the  subject  of 
exophthalmic  goitre,  went  to  a  slaughter-house  in  order  to  assure 
himself  that  he  would  get  exactly  what  he  ordered.  When  he 
mentioned  “sweetbread,”  the  butcher  said  there  were  three  in 
the  calf — the  throat,  heart,  and  stomach  sweetbreads,  being  the 
thyroid,  thymus,  and  pancreas  respectively,  and  that  the  heart 
sweetbread  was  very  small  in  the  bullock.  This  confusion  of 
totally  different  organs  under  the  same  general  term  is  far  from 
rare,  and  medical  men  or  pharmacists  who  have  occasion  to  pro¬ 
cure  particular  glands,  etc.,  usually  find  it  desirable  to  be  present 
■when  they  are  being  removed.  Butchers  are  gradually  becoming 
educated  with  regard  to  the  position  of  the  thyroid,  but  as  yet 
there  are  probably  very  few  who  could  be  depended  upon,  unaided, 
to  localise  the  suprarenal  capsules.  The  medical  man  referred  to 
above  was  informed,  by  the  way,  that  the  testicles  make  a  particu¬ 
larly  tasty  dish,  and  are  served  under  the  fanciful  name  of  “moun¬ 
tain  oysters.” 

Kites  for  Meteorology  were  first  used  to  elevate  meteoro¬ 
logical  instruments,  recording  their  indications  graphically  and 
continuously,  at  Blue  Hill  Observatory,  Mass.,  according  to  Mr. 
A.  L.  Rotch,  who  recently  read  a  paper  on  the  subject  before  the 
Royal  Meteorological  Society.  The  date  of  the  initial  experiment 
was  August,  1894,  and  simultaneous  observations  were  thus 
obtained  in  the  upper  air  and  near  the  ground.  The  meteorographs 
employed  of  late  include  an  anemothermograph  and  a  barothermo- 
hygrograph,  both  instruments  being  constructed  chiefly  of 
aluminum,  and  each  weighing  less  than  three  pounds.  One  of 
them  was  hung  to  the  end  of  a  steel  pianoforte  wire,  having  a 
tensile  strength  of  280  lbs.,  between  two  or  more  kites,  which  were 
attached  to  the  wire  by  independent  cords.  The  kites  employed 


are  of  several  types,  such  as  the  Malay  kite,  which  presents  a  con¬ 
vex  surface  to  the  wind,  the  Hargrave  cellular  kite,  and  a  flat  kite 
with  a  fin  or  keel  on  its  front.  The  meteorographs  have  been 
elevated  nearly  two  hundred  times,  and  valuable  data  as  to  the 
changes  of  temperature,  humidity,  and  wind  up  to  an  extreme 
altitude  of  8740  feet  above  Blue  Hill  have  been  obtained.  Kites 
are  held  to  be  greatly  superior  to  captive  balloons  for  meteoro¬ 
logical  observations,  except  during  calm  or  very  light  winds.  They 
are  not  only  cheaper,  but  they  can  lift  a  light  load,  such  as  a 
meteorograph,  touch  higher  in  ordinary  winds.  Kites  have  been 
used  at  Blue  Hill  in  all  weathers,  whenever  the  wind  blew  between 
twelve  and  fifty  miles  an  hour,  but  captive  balloons  were  driven 
down  by  strong  winds  along  an  arc  whose  radius  was  the  lifted  cable, 
and  violent  shocks  were  transmitted  to  the  suspended  instruments. 

The  Proposed  Cabot  Tower  at  Bristol,  which  the  citizens  of 
Bristol  have  resolved  to  erect  in  commemoration  of  the  four 
hundredth  anniversary  of  the  discovery  of  the  North  American 
continent,  is  to  be  placed  on  the  summit  of  Brandon  Hill,  in  the 
heart  of  the  city,  and  overlooking  the  upper  reaches  of  the  port 
from  which,  in  May,  1497,  the  “Matthew”  sailed  on  her  adven¬ 
turous  voyage.  The  Bristol  Town  Council  has  granted  the  site  on 
which  the  monument  is  to  be  erected,  and  the  movement  is  under 
the  presidency  of  the  Marquis  of  Dufferin.  The  foundation  stone 
is  to  be  laid  on  J une  24,  the  four  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  day 
on  which  the  mainland  of  North  America  was  first  seen  by  a 
European  navigator.  Contributions  may  be  sent  to  the  Hon. 
Secs.,  Cabot  Celebration  Committee,  Quay  Street,  Bristol. 

Poisoning  With  Insect  Powder,  derived  from  pyre  thrum 
flowers,  is  so  rare,  notwithstanding  the  widespread  domestic  use 
of  the  substance,  that  a  case  reported  by  Bosredon  ( Bullet .  Gen. 
de  Therap.,  cxxxii.,  275)  is  of  considerable  interest.  An  infant, 
aged  11  months,  playing  with  a  cardboard  box  of  the  powder, 
broke  the  lid,  and  got  the  powder  into  the  eyes,  mouth,  and 
nostrils.  When  medical  aid  arrived  convulsions  and  vomiting  had 
set  in  ;  the  heart  beats  were  feeble  and  the  respiration  slightly 
quickened.  After  carefully  removing  the  adherent  powder,  an 
emetic  of  ipecacuanha  produced  free  vomiting,  and  except  for  slight 
inflammation  of  the  conjunctive,  the  patient  quickly  recovered. 

Louis  Pascal  Casella,  whose  death  is  reported  as  having 
occurred  at  Highgate  last  week,  had  been  associated  in  his  time 
with  many  inventions  and  improvements  in  scientific  instruments, 
the  most  important  being  the  clinical  thermometer  and  the  adapta¬ 
tion  of  the  pressure  gauge  to  the  verification  of  thermometers  for 
determining  the  temperature  at  great  depths  in  the  ocean.  He 
was  of  Italian  parentage,  but  born  in  Scotland,  and  had  lived  some 
seventy  years  in  London.  He  was  a  Fellow  of  the  Astronomical, 
Geographical,  and  Meteorological  Societies,  and  his  services  to 
medicine  and  meteorology  were  great,  whilst  many  scientific  men 
found  in  him  a  helper  and  a  friend. 

The  Optical  Classes  under  the  charge  of  Mr.  Lionel  Laurence, 
which  have  been  organised  by  Messrs.  J.  Raphael  and  Co.,  of  51, 
Clerkenwell  Road,  are  being  very  well  attended,  so  much  so  that 
they  have  to  hold  one  almost  every  week.  The  importance  of 
knowing  how  to  properly  adapt  glasses  is  so  great  that  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  dilate  upon  it,  and  Messrs.  Raphael  trust  that  every 
chemist  who  also  deals  in  optical  goods  will  avail  himself  of  these 
classes.  Chemists  who  are  not  at  present  interested  in  the  optical 
trade  may  find  it  greatly  to  their  advantage  to  take  up  that  fine 
of  business,  and  when  doing  so  they  will  doubtless  find  it  advan¬ 
tageous  to  make  themselves  proficient  by  taking  a  course  of 
instruction  with  Messrs.  Raphael  and  Co. 


380 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  1,  1897 


THE  WORLD  Of  PHARMACY. 

- ♦ - - 

BUSINESS  MEETINGS. 


Midland  Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,  Wednes¬ 
day,  April  21. — Mr.  H.  S.  Lawton,  President,  in  the  chair. — Mr. 
F.  H.  Alcock  read  an  interesting  paper  on 

The  Studies  of  a  Pharmacist, 

with  illustrations  from  the  examination  syllabus,  in  the  course  of 
which  he  assumed  that  those  he  was  addressing  were  familiar  with 
the  ordinary  shop  training,  and  therefore  specially  directed  his 
remarks  to  that  part  of  a  pharmacist’s  training  which  was  con¬ 
sidered  to  be  the  results  of  their  examinations.  Referring  to  the 
great  necessity  of  a  sound  knowledge  of  botany  in  the  young 
pharmacist,  he  urged  that  the  study  of  the  microscope  could  be 
learnt  in  the  shop,  and  that  a  microscope,  together  with  a  good 
collection  of  materia  medica  specimens,  should  be  part  of  the 
stock-in-trade  of  the  pharmacist  who  took  pupils.  The  British 
Pharmacopoeia  should  be  to  the  young  man  a  very  familiar  book, 
and  at  the  outset  of  his  career  his  parents  should  be  told  that  it 
was  a  necessary  first  expenditure.  With  the  aid  of  it  and  a  little 
assistance  from  his  principal,  his  qualified  assistant  and  senior 
pupil,  the  beginner  should  have  no  difficulty  in  making  a 
successful  start  in  the  subject.  They  would  not  have 
what  he  very  frequently  saw,  and  which  examiners  complained 
of  so  bitterly,  the  man  who  could  not  distinguish  between 
sassafra  and  quassia,  and  similar  shortcomings.  Mr.  Alcock 
also  similarly  dwelt  upon  the  necessity  for  soundness  in  the  know¬ 
ledge  of  chemistry  with  its  branches,  including  physics  and 
weights  and  measures,  and  pharmacy  including  such  operations  as 
the  preparation  of  galenicals,  the  dispensing  of  physicians’  pre¬ 
scriptions  and  family  recipes,  knowledge  of  pharmacy  law  and  all 
Acts  of  Parliament  and  rulings  thereon  pertaining  to  their  calling. 
The  paper  was  extensively  and  admirably  illustrated. — In  the 
course  of  the  discussion  the  Chairman  said  that  the  paper  was  a 
most  valuable  one,  and  a  useful  indication  of  the  preparation 
necessary  for  an  apprentice  to  make  during  the  time  of  study. 

The  Proposed  New  Bye-Laws. 

The  Chairman  next  moved — 

“  That  this  Association  expresses  its  support  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  in 
the  proposed  changes  in  the  bye-laws  relating  to  examinations,  and  further 
expresses  the  opinion  that  the  Preliminary  or  First  examination,  should  be 
made  compulsory  before  apprenticeship.” 

—Mr.  Bindloss  seconded  the  motion,  and  said  that  he  thought 
the  proposed  new  First  examination  would  have  the  important 
effect  of  opening  the  eyes  of  the  would-be  student  of  pharmacy  to 
what  was  expected  of  him,  and  he  would  very  soon  find  out  whether 
he  was  adapted  to  shine  in  the  pharmaceutical  world.  He 
strongly  approved  of  Mr.  Alcock’s  methods  in  educating  the 
student  during  his  apprenticeship,  and  thought  that  the 
apprentice  did  not  at  present  get  that  training  from  his 
master  he  was  entitled  to.  He,  however,  thought  it  was  too  much 
to  expect  the  master  to  keep  a  materia  medica  museum  for  his 
apprentice. — Mr.  F.  J.  Walton  was  of  opinion  that  the  alterations 
in  the  bye-laws  were  worthy  of  cordial  support.  They  would 
prevent  many  from  entering  on  a  career  for  which  they  were  totally 
unfitted. — The  resolution  was  further  supported  and  unanimously 
agreed  to.  A  cordial  vote  of  thanks  was  accorded  Mr.  Alcock  for 
his  paper. 


Edinburgh  Chemists’,  Assistants,’  and  Apprentices 
Association,  Friday,  April  23. — Mr.  James  McBain,  President, 
in  the  chair. — The  annual  business  meeting  was  held  in  the  Phar¬ 
maceutical  Society’s  House,  36,  York  Place,  Edinburgh. — The 
Secretary  read  the  report  of  the  Ewing  Pharmacy  Prize  Compe¬ 
tition,  from  which  it  appeared  that  five  apprentices  had  competed, 
and  the  Ewing  Prize  (value  £1  Is.)  had  been  gained  by  Albert 
Edward  Kelly,  23,  Bernard  Street,  Leith.  For  the  second 
prize  William  Center,  25,  Ardmillan  Terrace,  and  Peter 
Cowie,  85,  Bruntsfield  Place,  were  equal,  and  as  the  third 
competitor  had  not  sufficient  marks  to  gain  a  prize,  the 
Committee  had  combined  Mr.  Atkins’  and  the  President’s 
Prize  (10s.  6 d.  and  7s.  6c2. )  and  given  two  second  prizes. — 
Mr.  J.  Laidlaw  Ewing,  in  presenting  the  prizes,  said  he  had  to 
congratulate  the  Association  on  the  successful  session  they  were 
now  bringing  to  a  close.  He  had  only  one  fault  to  find,  and  that 


was  that  they  secured  for  their  meetings  some  papers  which  he-- 
thought  should  have  been  read  at  an  evening  meeting  of  the. 
Society.  There  was  one  point  he  would  like  to  refer  to.  They 
had  just  concluded  the  April  examinations,  and  it  was  a  matter  of 
sincere  regret  to  the  Examiners  that  so  many  had  failed.  It  was 
one  of  his  most  disagreeable  duties  as  Chairman  to  tell  candidates 
that  they  had  failed.  On  the  subject  of  the  failures  two  things- 
occurred  to  him  to  say.  First,  as  to  the  more  strictly  scientific  sub¬ 
jects,  he  would  urge  them  to  begin  early  to  get  a  knowledge  of  them,  so 
that  by  careful  and  systematic  study  they  might  get  a  thorough 
grasp  of  first  principles.  The  absence  of  this  thorough  knowledge- 
was  often  painfully  evident  in  the  examination  room.  Secondly,, 
they  should  take  care  to  get  up  fully  all  the  subjects.  It  frequently 
happened  that  candidates  had  got  up  several  subjects  well,  but  had 
neglected  one  or  two,  and  that  frequently  brought  them  to  grief.. 
Due  attention  to  all  the  subjects  would  have  led  to  a  happier  result. 
He  then  presented  Attfield’s  ‘  Chemistry,’  Ince’s  ‘  Grammar,’  and' 
Green’s  ‘  Botany,’  vol.  i.,  to  A.  E.  Kelly ;  Newth’s  ‘  Chemistry  ’  and 
Muter’s  1  Analytical  Chemistry  ’  to  W.  Center ;  and  Gerrard’s 
‘  Materia  Medica’  and  Green’s  ‘  Botany,’  vol.  i.,  to  P.  Cowie. — On 
the  motion  of  the  Chairman  a  hearty  vote  of  thanks  was  awarded 
to  Mr.  Ewing. — The  Secretary  then  read  the  Annual  Report, 
and  the  Treasurer  read  the  Annual  Financial  Statement, 
which  were  approved  of.  From  these  it  appeared  that  the. 
number  of  members  showed  a  slight  decrease,  but  there  was  an 
increase  in  the  number  of  apprentice  members.  The  meetings 
had  all  been  carried  out  and  were  well  attended.  The  Association 
having  expended  the  funds  available  for  the  Association  prizes, 
these  had  been  dropped,  but  it  was  intimated  that  Mr.  David 
McLaren  had  offered  an  annual  subscription  of  £2,  to  allow  the 
prize  scheme  to  be  continued.  The  financial  statement  showed  a 
balance  of  £6  3s.  8c?.— Mr.  David  McLaren  was  elected  an  honorary- 
member. — A  discussion  then  took  place  on 

The  Proposed  New  Bye-Laws 

of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society.- — Mr.  George  Coull,  in  open¬ 
ing  the  discussion,  said :  In  regard  to  the  proposed  in¬ 
crease  in  the  scope  of  the  Preliminary  examination  you  will 
not  expect  to  hear  any  adverse  criticism  from  me.  It  is  exceed¬ 
ingly  gratifying  to  find  that  there  has  been  hardly  a  dissentient- 
voice  heard  concerning  this  matter  ;  even  the  Boanerges  of  Cannon 
Street,  while  not  exactly  stamping  it  with  its  approval,  has  treated 
it  most  mercifully.  It  will,  however,  be  necessary  for  the  Council 
to  make  perfectly  plain  what  certificates  are  to  be  accepted  and 
what  are  not.  There  has  been  some  dissatisfaction  in  Scotland 
regarding  the  non-acceptance  of  certificates  which,  in  my  opinion, 
certainly  ought  to  have  been  received  in  lieu  of  the  Preliminary. 
So  far  as  I  have  seen,  there  is  a  good  deal  too  much  of  “  the  un¬ 
written  law’  in  conducting  the  Society’s  affairs.  After  the  bye¬ 
laws  receive  the  assent  of  the  Privy  Council,  a  list  ought  to  be 
published  distinctly  stating  what  certificates  are  to  be  accepted 
and  any  conditions  the  Council  likes  to  make  ought  to  be  clearly 
mentioned.  I  also  urge  that  any  change  to  be  made  in 
the  examination  regulations  should  be  fully  advertised 
instead  of  being  quietly  introduced  without  previous  notice, 
although  the  alteration  may  be  underlined  or  in  italics. 
The  proposal  to  increase  the  fee  for  the  qualifying  examination  has- 
not  been  received  with  the  almost  unanimous  approval  that  has 
been  accorded  to  the  Preliminary  examination  suggestions.  The 
objectors,  so  far  as  I  can  make  out,  may  be  considered  under  two 
heads  : — 1.  Those  who  think  they  are  pecuniarily  affected  by  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  ;  2.  Those  who  are  directly  hostile  to  the 
Society.  Belonging  to  the  former  class  are  proprietors,  editors, 
and  so  on  of  papers  which  call  themselves  rivals  to  the  official 
organ  of  the  Society,  along  with  the  proprietors  and  lecturers  at 
certain  Schools  of  Pharmacy,  who  style  themselves  opponents  of' 
the  Society  in  its  educational  work.  Of  the  second  class  are  those 
who  from  the  tenour  of  their  communications  in  the  trade  journals 
have  an  unreasoning  antipathy  to  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  and 
all  its  connections,  but  the  line  of  demarcation  between  the  two  is 
very  ill-defined,  and  the  two  classes  insensibly  run  into  one 
another.  The  Chemist  and  Druggist  in  striving  to  get  up  an 
opposition  to  the  proposed  bye-laws  spoke  very  feelingly  about 
the  “iniquity”  of  taking  money  from  candidates  to  subsidise  a, 
rival  journal.  It  has  often  been  said  that  figures  can  be  made  to 
prove  anything ;  when  it  is  a  choice  then  between  believing  the 
figures  of  the  editor  of  the  paper  in  which  one  has  a  share  and  the 
editor  of  a  rival  paper,  we  must  take  the  figures  of  our  own  official. 
In  connection  with  this  I  would  commend  to  the  serious  attention 


May  1,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


3RL 


of  you  all  the  editorial  in  the  Journal  for  March  20,  and  also  the 
leaderette  immediately  following.  I  do  not  imagine  that  the 
opposition  is  at  all  pleased  at  the  response  to  its  imploring  cry  for 
all  members  of  the  trade,  and  more  especially  local  pharma¬ 
ceutical  associations,  to  give  this  matter  serious  attention.  I  may 
say  I  do  not  appreciate  letters  signed  by  all  the  virtues,  such  as 
“  Prudence,”  “Justice,”  and  “  Veritas.”  We  have  had  experience 
of  that  sort  of  thing  in  Edinburgh,  where  it  is  a  well-known  fact 
that  a  very  important  and  influential  paper  used  to  write  letters  to 
itself  signed,  “Ratepayer,”  “Pro  Bono  Publico,”  “Another 
Ratepayer,”  and  so  on.  If  a  man  wants  any  notice  to  be  taken  of 
his  views  he  should  certainly  have  the  courage  to  sign  his  name. 
Mr.  Coull  then  went  on  to  explain  that  the  deficit  on  the  Journal, 
divided  by  the  number  of  subscribers,  was  rather  more  than  half 
the  subscription,  andas  it  was  the  only  tangible  thing  each  one  got  for 
his  subscription,  it  did  not  matter  to  anyone  although  he  paid 
even  more  for  it  than  it  cost  at  present.  But  he  was  sure  that  the 
present  cost — resulting  from  expenditure  incurred  in  response  to 
requests  from  members  of  the  Society — would  soon  be  reduced.  He 
then  moved — 

“  That  this  Association  approves  of  the  new  bye-laws  as  proposed  by  the 
Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  and  considers  that  they  are  desirable, 
both  in  the  interest  of  the  public  and  of  those  engaged  in  the  business." 

— Mr.  Lunan  seconded  the  motion. — Mr.  Cameron  said  he  would 
not  move  any  amendment,  but  had  an  impression  that  £5  5s. 
should  be  enough  for  the  Minor  unless  there  was  a  sponge  some¬ 
where  that  sucked  up  the  funds. — Mr.  Currie  moved  as  an 
amendment — 

“  That  the  Association  approves  of  the  extended  Preliminary  examination,  but 
disapproves  of  the  proposed  increase  in  the  Minor  fee.” 

Mr.  Kidd  seconded  the  amendment. — After  an  interesting  discussion 
a  vote  was  taken,  when  eight  voted  for  the  amendment  and  twelve 
for  the  motion,  which  was  declared  carried.  Several  did  not  vote. 

Election  op  Officers. 

The  following  office-bearers  were  elected  for  next  session  : — • 
President,  George  Sinclair  ;  Vice-President,  J.  Donald  Sinclair  ; 
Secretary,  G.  H.  C.  Rowland,  117,  Princes  Street ;  Assistant- 
Secretary,  David  Harley  ;  Treasurer,  J.  L.  Reid  ;  and  as  members 
of  Committee,  Messrs.  Cameron,  Center,  Currie,  Kidd,  McBain, 
Mowat,  Sivewright,  and  Sutherland ;  as  members  of  Prize  Com¬ 
mittee,  Messrs.  Cameron,  Dey,  and  McBain. 


Newcastle-upon-Tyne  and  District  Chemists’  Asso¬ 
ciation,  Wednesday,  April  28. — Mr.  T.  Maltby  Clague,  Presi¬ 
dent,  in  the  chair. — After  thanking  the  members  for  his  election  as 
President,  Mr.  Clague  proceeded  to  deliver  the  following  inaugural 
address  on — 

The  Part  of  Combination  in  Modern  Pharmaceutical  Life. 

Combination  is  not  only  the  order  of  our  day,  but  it  has  been  the 
order  of  ages  that  are  past.  We  have  lived  through  the  period  of 
commercial  history  which  has  seen  the  decay  and  death  (though 
perhaps  hot  the  reverent  burial)  of  the  old  trade  guilds,  and 
we  have  lived  into  the  age  when  trade  unionism  has  become  a 
factor  which  none  can  afford  to  ignore ;  and  this  in  turn 
necessarily  met  by  combinations  amongst  capitalists  and  em¬ 
ployers  to  safeguard  their  interests.  In  itself  combination  is 
neither  good  nor  bad.  That  trade  unions  have  done  good  none  of 
us  will  deny.  That  they  have  never  done  harm  none  dare  affirm. 
That  syndicates  have  kept  alive  a  decaying  industry  which  other¬ 
wise  might  have  been  ruined — that  they  have  opened  out  fields 
too  vast  for  individual  enterprise  is  a  safe  predication  ;  but 
who  that  stands  outside  can  help  execrating  the  monopolist 
syndicate  controlling  some  of  the  necessaries  of  life  in  America 
at  the  present  moment  ?  And  so  when  we  take  in  hand 
our  subject  of  combination  for  the  modern  chemist  we 
must  be  content  to  judge  its  founders  by  the  nobility  of  its 
purpose,  by  the  discretion  displayed  in  their  operations,  and 
the  beneficent  character  of  the  results  obtained.  I  venture  to  lay 
before  you  this  proposition,  gentlemen — that  we  individually  owe 
a  great  deal  to  combination  and  to  the  wisdom  of  our  predecessors, 
who  combined  so  well  and  used  their  Society  with  such  good  effect. 
I  refer  particularly  to  the  founders  and  carriers-on  of  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society.  The  chemist  has  become  differentiated  from  the 
rocer,  herbalist,  and  botanic  beer-maker,  and  examinations  have 
een  placed  before  him  which  have  enabled  him  to  prove 
his  capacity  for  the  life  work  which  he  has  set  himself, 
and  have  given  him  credentials  to  show  the  world 
that  he  has  that  capacity.  And  such  was  the  volun¬ 


tary  work  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  unaided  by  the 
State.  The  Act  of  1868  was  a  fusion  of  the  nation’s  interests  and 
ours — to  protect  the  public  was  sought  by  Parliament  and  the 
protection  of  the  chemist  was  also  sought.  Many  of  us  think  that 
a  little  more  protection  would  not  have  harmed  either  of 
the  parties  to  the  contract.  Henceforward  the  qualifications  of 
the  Pharmaceutical  Society  should  have  been  a  necessity  to  every¬ 
one  who  engaged  in  keeping  open  shop.  That  such  was  the 
intention  of  the  Legislature  there  is  no  doubt ;  that  the  safety  of 
the  public  requires  it  is  equally  beyond  dispute.  But  loopholes 
have  been  found,  and  the  law  has  been  evaded  in  instances  beyond 
count.  Now,  however,  I  am  urging  that  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  did  a  good  thing  for  us  in  providing  qualifications 
for  us  to  get  and  to  hold,  and  am  met  at  the  outset  by  the  objec¬ 
tion  that  if  some  can  get  on  without  the  legal  status  there  is  no 
value  in  it.  “  What  is  the  use  of  getting  qualified  ?  ”  I  have  heard 
over  and  over  again,  and  from  the  man  who  utters  it  I  turn  with 
admiration  to  a  picture  in  fable-lore  which  tells  of  a  certain  vulpine 
quadruped  who  asserted  that  the  grapes  so  “  ungettatably  ”  placed 
above  his  head  owed  their  fulness  to  acid  juices  rather  than  to  sac¬ 
charine.  One  can’t  always  turn  away  from  the  man  thus ; 
perhaps  the  train  has  started  and  won’t  stop  for  twenty  miles, 
and  we  are  imprisoned  vis-a-vis  with  our  tormentor,  and 
so  one  is  compelled  to  state  his  reasons  for  believing 
that  the  qualification  is  of  importance.  Here  are  mine  : — 
Because  those  who  have  not  got  it  and  are  engaged  in  illegal 
trading  want  it ;  and  whenever  their  early  education  has  been 
good  enough  for  the  Preliminary,  and  they  have  brains  and  energy 
enough  for  the  Minor,  they  go  for  both.  Next,  because  the  public 
—in  spite  of  its  unwise  running  after  cheap  !  cheap  ! — does  set 
some  store  by  qualification  ;  and  third  and  most  important  reason, 
because  I  am  a  self-respecting  man  and  owe  it  to  myself  as  well  as 
to  the  community  that  I  come  up  to  the  established  standard  of 
knowledge  in  the  profession  which  I  practise.  And  for  these  reasons 
I  frankly  acknowledge  that  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  has  done  a 
good  work.  In  considering  this  combination  (the  Pharmaceutical 
Society)  I  have  not  claimed,  and  I  do  not  claim,  that  all  has  been 
done  which  was  possible,  but  I  do  hold  that  the  main  reason  for 
failure  to  accomplish  more  has  always  been  the  meagreness  of  the 
support  given  to  it  by  the  trade  generally,  many  of  whom  once 
having  got  its  licence  or  ticket  have  never  in  any  way  helped 
forward  the  Society,  or,  to  put  it  more  in  the  terms  of  my  address, 
have  not  combined  with  their  brethren  for  the  common  good.  It 
might  be  too  daring  a  thing  for  a  matter-of-fact  man  like  myself 
to  attempt,  but  why  should  not  an  imaginative  member  of  this 
Association  give  us  a  paper  on  “  What  an  Ideal  Pharmaceutical 
Society  Supported  by  an  Entire  and  Loyal  Trade  might  have 
Done.”  Before  dismissing  from  review  the  subject  of  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society  as  a  combination,  let  me  point  out,  that  by  its 
high  claims  and  aims  for  pharmacy,  by  its  incorporation  of  so 
many  men  of  real  power  and  merit ;  it  has  forged  its  way  to  its 
present  position,  a  position  commanding  respect  from  all  scientific 
and  philosophical  institutions  and  from  the  Government  of  our 
country,  as  witness  the  compiling  of  a  new  Pharmacopoeia,  for 
whilst  not  wishing  to  detract  from  the  kindness  of  those  who  have 
asked  the  co-operation  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  in  this  matter, 
I  venture  to  say  that  had  such  help  not  been  invited  we  might 
have  demanded,  and  public  opinion  would  have  given,  a  partnership 
in  that  work.  Judged,  then,  by  the  aim  which  it  set  before  itself,  by 
the  way  in  which  it  has  worked  in  the  main,  and  by  the  results 
achieved,  we  must  admit  that  it  is  well  for  us  that  there  has 
been  such  a  combination  as  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great 
Britain.  It  would  have  been  very  interesting  to  have  gone  a  little 
into  the  history  of  the  old  Chemists  and  Druggists’  Association, 
and  the  causes  of  its  decease  ;  but  time  forbids,  and  I  pass  on  to 
consider  another  form  of  combination  amongst  chemists  represented 
in  our  thought  to-day  by  the  P.A.T.A.  The  existence  of  the 
defunct  association  to  which  I  have  just  referred  and  the  recent 
birth  of  the  healthy  young  infant  association  are  proofs  of  the 
statement  that  there  are  matters  quite  outside  the  sphere  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society’s  work  which  are  legitimate  objects 
for  combination  in  our  craft.  While  we  hold  the  view  that 
it  would  be  unwise  for  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  to  take 
up  matters  which  are  purely  matters  of  £  s.  d. ,  we  at 
the  same  time  claim  our  right  and  acknowledge  our  duty  to  see  to 
it  that  we  get  a  fair  remuneration  from  the  community  for 
the  capital  in  cash  and  in  brains  which  we  place  at  its  service. 
And  if  in  the  arrangement  of  our  affairs  it  becomes  necessary  to 
see  to  it  that  a  few  self-seeking,  greedy  extreme-cutters  are  not 


382 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  1,  1897 


able  to  inflict  injury  on  others  as  well  as  on  themselves,  we  are 
justified  in  using  any  lawful  means  to  that  end.  And  the  word 
lawful  I  use  to  signify  means  that  not  only  are  struck  at  by  no  legal 
enactment,  but  means  that  are  ethically  justifiable.  Now  let  us 
consider  the  case  of  proprietary  articles.  Here  the  ordinary  com¬ 
petition  is  interfered  with  and  the  business  tends  to  become  one-sided 
in  its  working.  Mr.  Retailer  can  only  obtain  his  supplies  of  Mr. 
Proprietor’s  Curall  from  Mr.  Proprietor  himself,  and  yet  he  is 
subject  to  competition  from  Mr.  Retailer  Secundus  in  that  article. 
Further,  two  things  are  admittedly  essential  to  the  successful  sale 
of  the  Curall- — Mr.  Proprietor’s  advertising  and  Mr.  Retailer’s  dis¬ 
tributing  ;  it  is  most  generally  admitted  that  in  cases  of  this 
description  intrinsic  merit  in  the  Curall  is  quite  unnecessary.  The 
advertising  is  secured  by  the  self-interest  of  Mr.  Proprietor ;  the 
distributing  is  only  secured  by  the  mutual  bargain  between  the 
two  men.  Here,  then,  obviously  is  the  bargaining  ground  for  the 
two  interests  concerned,  and  it  would  be  well  to  recognise  at  once 
the  limits  of  this  field  of  operation.  What  profit  does 
Mr.  P.  offer  to  us,  and  how  is  that  profit  secured  to 
us  ?  History  warns  us  on  this  point.  The  “  patent  ” 
medicine  proprietor  of  the  past  used  the  chemist  to  create 
the  distributing  trade,  and  when  the  cutter  came  in  and 
took  the  profit  from  us,  showed  precious  little  sympathy  and  gave 
less  help.  History  may  repeat  itself.  Indications  are  not  wanting 
that  it  will  repeat  itself  as  far  as  our  loss  is  concerned,  the  prob¬ 
able  difference  being  that  this  time  it  will  be  the  proprietors  who 
will  try  to  get  all  the  profit.  The  mode  of  working  is  that  the 
wholesale  price  is  gradually  worked  up  nearer  and  nearer  to  the 
face  value,  and  our  margin  is  narrowed  till  it  is  scarcely  visible 
and  never  palpable.  By  what  action  can  we  meet  this  effectively  ? 
I  know  of  none  which  the  individual  can  practise  successfully.  Few, 
very  few,  are  the  businesses  in  which  it  would  be  wise  to  refuse 
to  sell  any  of  the  articles  for  which  our  customers  ask,  and  those 
retailers  who  dare  do  so  are  men  whose  trade  is  not  worth  the 
proprietor’s  consideration.  But  if  we  have  a  strong  association  of 
retailers  it  is  conceivable,  indeed,  probable,  that  the  strongest 
proprietor  may  be  brought  to  fair  terms,  and  as  far  as  I  can  see  it 
is  only  by  such  combination  that  we  can  hope  to  act  with  effect. 
Every  additional  member  will  add  to  the  striking  power  of  such 
an  association,  and  in  helping  forward  by  numbers  and  influence 
such  a  movement  we  are  doing  what  seems  to  me  best  for 
ourselves  in  our  present  circumstances.  And  as  to  modes  of 
working,  it  is  both  reasonable  and  right  to  refuse  to  do  work 
which  we  are  not  paid  for  doing,  and  to  sell  that  which  we 
are  not  paid  for  selling,  and  when  we  fully  represent 
the  sellers  we  are  justified  in  asking  Mr.  Proprietor  to  secure  to  us 
a  reasonable  profit  on  the  handling  of  his  article,  or  in  modern 
parlance,  prefer  our  demand:  “Protect  this  article.”  There  has 
been  put  forward  in  certain  quarters  a  suggestion  that  not  only 
should  this  be  done,  but  a  general  boycott  be  entered  into  against 
firms  who  own  proprietary  articles  in  their  general  trade  in  drugs, 
etc.  This  strikes  me  as  going  beyond  the  right,  and  not  playing 
the  fair  game.  And  now  to  come  to  our  own  Society,  the  New¬ 
castle  and  District  Chemists’  Association.  What  may  we  reason¬ 
ably  hope  for  from  this  combination  ?  I  believe  we  may  look  for 
several  advantages.  First,  there  are  opportunities  such  as  that 
which  I  enjoy  at  the  present  moment  of  urging  on  one’s 
neighbour  the  claims  of  the  larger  and  national  organisations.  Wher¬ 
ever  local  associations  are  healthy  there  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  has  a  good  hold,  and  there  also  the  P.A.T.A.  has  had  a 
better  opportunity  of  securing  adherents.  Again,  there  may 
often  arise  openings  for  local  co-operation  for  the  good  of  the  local 
craftsmen.  Added  to  these  is  the  great  advantage  of  personal 
knowledge  of  each  other,  the  clearing  up  of  misunderstandings, 
and  the  removal  of  those  petty  jealousies  which  have  done 
so  much  harm  in  the  past.  I  claim  this  much  for  combina¬ 
tions  amongst  pharmacists,  and  if  I  have  been  too 
moderate  in  my  claims,  my  reason  for  such  moderation  is 
that  I  see  no  wisdom  in  hoping  for  good  where  there  is  no  reason¬ 
able  prospect  of  its  coming.  Combination  will  not  bring  Utopia. 
Combination  will  not  make  the  lazy  man  a  successful  one,  com¬ 
bination  will  not  replace  individual  effort.  There  are  those  who 
look  to  anything  rather  than  to  personal  diligence  for  their 
success,  and  they  will  now  say,  “  We  have  Carteighe  and  Hills  for 
our  fathers  and  Glyn- Jones  for  our  foster-mother,  then  toil  we  not, 
neither  do  we  spin,  but  fold  our  hands  and  wait.”  They  will 
allow  this  or  that  branch  of  their  business  to  slip  past  them  ;  they 
will  neglect  their  dispensing  “  because  there  is  so  little  of  it  in  this 
place,”  and  forget  the  loss  of  prestige  which  their  neglect  entails  ; 


neglect  their  science  because  it  is  not  ready  cash ;  neglect  their  Jour¬ 
nal  because  it  contains  some  things  that  are  too  wonderful  for  them  ;■ 
neglect  their  Chemist  and  Druggist  because  its  friendly  help  for  a 
week  or  two  does  not  happen  to  be  along  what  they  consider  their  “own 
line.”  Each  of  these  used  fitly  would  have  better  equipped  them 
for  the  work  they  have  to  do  and  raised  them,  and  consequently 
raised  pharmacy  in  the  estimation  of  the  public.  Ever  and  anon 
there  are  chances  occurring  of  adding  new  branches  of  business, 
and  these  require  what  our  Yankee  friends  call  “live  men,”  men 
who  have  kept  up  and  worked  up  their  vitality  and  virility,  and 
are  able  to  grasp  what  is  worth  the  grasp.  My  belief  is  that  some 
of  the  new  acreage  which  opening  fields  have  to  offer  will  be  first 
and  best  occupied  by  that  human  organism  trained  in 
business  and  trained  in  science  whom  we  call  the  pharma¬ 
cist.  True,  it  undoubtedly  is,  that  many  such  workers  do 
not  meet  with  the  pecuniary  reward  which  they  deserve ;  but 
£  s.  d.  is  not  the  sumnum  bonum  —the  extent  of  our  happiness 
has  other  gauges  than  the  banker’s  pass-book,  money-making 
is  not  the  whole  duty  and  privilege  of  cultured  manhood.  My 
plea  is  that  it  is  best  for  the  community  in  which  we  live  that  we 
should  equip  ourselves  thoroughly  for  our  work,  and  best  for 
ourselves  that  we  serve  our  generation  well. 


Forfarshire  District  Chemists’  Association,  Wednes¬ 
day,  April  28.— Mr.  Charles  Kerb  in  the  chair. — This  was  the  first 
meeting  of  the  Association,  and  amongst  those  present  were  Baillies 
Doig  and  Ferrier,  and  Messrs.  J.  Russell  Anderson,  J.  Anderson, 
Gray,  Doig,  J.  W.  Russell,  Duncan,  Lindsay,  Thomson,  Park 
(Dundee),  Laidlaw  Ewing,  Bowman,  Rutherford  Hill  (Edinburgh), 
Currie  (Glasgow),  Jack  and  Robertson  (Arbroath),  Da vi Ison 
(Montrose),  Kermath  (St.  Andrews),  Fisher  (Dunfermline),  Peebles 
(Lochee),  Harley  (Perth),  Fleming  and  Skinner  (Broughty  Ferry). 
The  constitution  and  rules  were  read  by  Mr.  Russell  and 
approved,  after  which  Mr.  Charles  Kerr  was  unanimously  elected 
President,  and  he  thanked  the  members  for  the  honour. — Baillie 
Doig  was  unanimously  elected  Vice-President,  and  said  he 
had  all  along  taken  a  deep  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the 
pharmacists  of  Dundee.  This  Association  would  be  helpful, 
and  would  rub  off  the  corners  and  promote  good  feeling  by 
their  coming  together.  He  hoped  it  might  also  help  to  mould  the 
educational  policy  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society.  He  rejoiced  to 
see  that  Mr.  Currie  had  made  a  proposal  which  gave  hope  that  all 
pharmacists  would  become  united  into  one  great  living  organi¬ 
sation.  He  was  glad  that  things  were  tending  in  that  direction. 
He  hoped  they  might  also  do  something  for  the  younger  men  by 
formulating  a  scheme  of  classes  giving  opportunity  of  getting 
knowledge  fitted  for  their  calling. — Mr.  James  Russell  was  elected 
Hon.  Secretary  and  Treasurer. — The  following  were  also  elected  on 
the  Committee :  Baillie  Ferrier,  Messrs.  J.  M.  Hardie,  A.  B.  Anderson, 
William  Cummings,  J.  W.  Russell,  Wm.  Park,  O'.  Jack  (Arbroath), 
A.  Davidson  (Montrose),  J.  Ford  (Kirremuir),  G.  H.  Fowler  (For¬ 
far),  Walter  Ferrier  (Brechin),  and  W.  R.  Kermath  (St.  Andrews). 
Honorary  Members  :  Messrs.  D.  Storrar,  J.  Johnston  (Members  of 
Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society),  James  L.  Ewing,  J. 
Rutherford  Hill,  Frank  W.  Young,  W.  L.  Currie,  J.  Bowman, 
and  J.  H.  Fisher. — A  discussion  on  the  proposed  new  bye-laws  at 
the  Pharmaceutical  Society  then  took  place.  The  extended 
Preliminary  was  unanimously  approved. — Messrs.  Lindsay  and 
J.  W.  Russell  moved  disapproval  of  the  increased  Minor  fee 
and  Messrs.  Jack  and  i Thomson  moved  approval. — On  a  vote 
being  taken,  fourteen  voted  for  approval  and  ten  for  disapproval. 
The  Association  therefore  approved  of  the  proposed  new  bye-laws 
of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society. 

Annual  Dinner. 

The  annual  dinner  of  this  Association  was  subsequently  held  in 
the  Queen’s  Hotel,  Dundee,  Mr.  Charles  Kerr,  President,  in  the 
chair.  Amongst  those  present  were : — Baillie  Doig,  Vice-President, 
and  Messrs.  J.  Laidlaw  Ewing,  W.  L.  Currie,  J.  Bowman, 
and  Rutherford  Hill. — An  excellent  dinner  was  partaken  of,  and 
after  the  loyal  toasts,  Mr.  James  Jack  proposed  the  Pharmaceuti¬ 
cal  Society. — Mr.  Ewing,  in  reply,  said  the  Society  was  founded 
by  far-seeing  and  unselfish  men,  and  the  Council  to-day  worthily 
followed  their  example.  He  now  took  the  opportunity  to 
explain  his  view  of 

The  Proposed  New  Bye-Laws, 

which  he  approved  as  desirable  and  essential  for  the  proper 
working  of  the  Society.  The  Minor  graduate  had  now  an 
important  position,  and  ten  guineas  was  not  an  exorbitant 


May  1,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


383 


sum.  In  the  Edinburgh  buildings  the  Society  had  done  much 
for  the  pharmacists  of  Scotland ;  round  them  the  whole  life 
of  Scottish  pharmacy  might  be  said  to  circle.  The  expense 
of  the  Journal  had  been  due  to  improvements  urged  by  Scottish 
pharmacists,  and  should  not  be  grudged.  He  now  strongly 
urged  that  all  registered  men  should  be  eligible  for  full  member¬ 
ship  and  a  place  on  the  Council,  and  that  would  probably  be 
done.  He  commended  to  cordial  support  the  Benevolent 
Fund  in  the  Queen’s  Jubilee  Year ;  Scotland  gave  the  greatest 
support  to  this  Fund. — Mr.  Rutherford  Hill,  who  took 
Mr.  Storrar’s  place,  proposed  the  Forfarshire  Association. — 
Mr.  Kerr,  in  reply,  said  :  We  are  met  to-night  to  inaugurate  a 
movement  for  the  extension  of  the  Dundee  Chemists’  Association 
into  a  larger  body,  embracing  the  county  of  Forfar  and  district. 
This  has  been  a  much  desired  object  for  a  long  time,  old  associa¬ 
tions  get  lazy  and  indifferent,  and  require  to  be  renewed  by  new 
blood.  We  have  to  confess  it  is  difficult  to  get  this  new  blood. 
Why  chemists  are  so  suspiciously  shy  of  any  movement  that  is 
ostensibly  for  their  good  beats  one’s  comprehension.  But  for  a 
first  attempt  in  this  extension  we  have  reason  to  be  thankful.  We 
have  received  some  replies  to  the  effect  that  if  the  parties  were  in 
Dundee  they  would  be  sure  to  join,  and  wished  us  every  success, 
but  being  so  .far  from  the  centre,  they  failed  to  see  what  good  it 
could  do  them.  Now  this  is  just  the  argument  we  have  to  contend 
with  in  trying  to  get  an  increase  of 

Subscribers  to  the  Pharmaceutical  Society. 

We  cannot  promise  immediate  good  that  any  member,  person¬ 
ally,  may  derive  from  his  2  s.  6 d.  subscription.  But  if  he  will  give 
the  influence  of  his  name  on  the  roll  of  members,  that  will 
always  be  a  power  for  good.  Any  cause  which  would  be  carried 
to  a  successful  issue  nowadays  must  be  backed  by  majorities,  and 
it  is  that  we  want  if  any  good  is  to  be  done  in  forwarding  move¬ 
ments  to  benefit  the  whole  body.  There  is  another  point  which, 
we  fear,  has  deterred  others  from  joining,  viz.,  a  feeling  amongst 
the  brethren  of  the  trade  that  this  Association  is  formed  for  the 
purpose  of  an  inquisitorial  court,  to  interfere  with  the  freedom  of 
members  in  the  conducting  of  their  businesses.  They  are  under  a 
wrong  impression.  The  Association  will  be  worked  on  constitu¬ 
tional  lines,  and  every  member  can  have  a  voice  in  all  its  actions. 
They  can  change  the  office-bearers  every  year  if  they  like.  We 
have  a  broader  idea  of  the  working  of  an  association  of  this  kind 
than  petty  interference  with  anyone’s  mode  of  conducting  business. 
All  the  work  it  does  we  hope  will  be  for  the  general  good,  raising 
the  whole  tone  of  business,  and  endeavouring  to  get  everyone  to 
.act  in  a  brotherly  way  to  each  other,  and  there  is  nothing  like  the 
-social  element  in  gatherings  like  this,  to  produce  good  feeling,  and 
when  we  dine  annually,  wherever  it  may  be,  we  hope  it  will  prove 
a  bond  of  good-fellowship  that  none  can  resist. — Mr.  Doig  pro¬ 
posed  “  The  North  British  Branch  and  Examiners.” — Mr.  David¬ 
son  (Montrose)  replied,  and  Mr.  J.  R.  Hill  proposed  “The 
Federation  Associations.” — Mr.  Currie,  President,  replied.— Mr. 
Kermath  then  proposed  “  The  Universities,”  to  which  Mr.  Young 
replied. — Mr.  Fisher  proposed  “The  Chairman.” — Baillie  Ferrier 
proposed  “The  Croupier.”  Apologies  were  read  from  Messrs. 
Storrar,  who  was  suffering  from  a  severe  cold,  J.  Hardie  Johnston 
(Aberdeen),  Ford  (Kirriemuir),  Fowler  (Forfar).  Congratulatory 
telegrams  were  received  from  Messrs.  Johnston  and  Strachan 
(Aberdeen)  and  P.  MacEwan  (London).  Songs  and  recitations  w^ere 
given  by  Messrs.  Currie,  Russell,  Skinner,  Young,  and  Kerr. 

Liverpool  Chemists’  Association,  Wednesday,  April  28. 
—Mr.  A.  C.  Abraham,  President,  in  the  chair. — A  paper  w'as  read 
fey  Mr.  Wyatt,  entitled — 

More  Dispensing  Notes, 

which  pressure  on  space  obliges  us  to  defer  publishing.  After  a 
brief  discussion,  Dr.  Symes  addressed  the  meeting  with  reference 
to  the  proposed  alteration  in 

The  Pharmaceutical  Society’s  Bye-Laws, 

pointing  out  that  by  the  alteration  with  regard  to  the 
Preliminary  examination,  which  has  met  with  unanimous 
approval,  the  Society  would  not  in  future  receive  the  so-called 
“plucking”  fees,  and  consequently  there  would  be  a  loss 
-of  revenue.  The  proposal  to  increase  the  fee  for  qualification 
and  registration— also  very  generally  approved — was  calculated 
to  benefit  the  whole  trade,  not  so  much  by  preventing 
persons  from  entering  the  business  as  by  making  them 


value  the  qualification  when  they  got  it.  The  Society’s  work 
has  always  been  very  largely  of  a  public  character,  even  before  it 
wras  officially  recognised,  but  even  since  the  passing  of  the  Phar¬ 
macy  Act  in  1868,  the  revenue  derived  from  the  administra¬ 
tion  of  the  Act  has  been  inadequate  to  defray  the  attendant 
expenses,  and  the  deficiency  has  been  met  by  drawing  largely 
upon  the  subscriptions  from  members  and  associates. 
Passing  to  the  statements  which  have  been  made  as  to  the  cost  of 
the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  being  the  reason  for  increasing  the 
qualification  fee,  Dr.  Symes  showed  that  there  is  not  the  slightest 
foundation  for  them,  inasmuch  as  the  published  accounts  prove 
that  the  Journal  has  always  been  a  source  of  considerable  revenue, 
and  the  cost  over  and  above  that  has  been  defrayed  out  of  sub¬ 
scriptions  of  members,  associates,  and  students,  with  a  result 
very  considerable  to  their  advantage,  individually  and  collectively. 
— In  conclusion,  Dr.  Symes  referred  to  a  recent  attempt  to  confuse 
the  subject  by  introducing  an  assumption  that  the  stringency  of 
the  qualifying  examination  is  to  be  increased,  and  added 
that  this  was  a  matter  of  which  he,  as  a  Member 
of  Council,  had  no  knowledge  whatever. — The  President,  in 
opening  the  discussion,  said  that  he  personally  supported  the  action 
of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  and  hoped  to  see  a  resolution  passed 
by  the  meeting  fully  endorsing  its  action.  Members  of  the 
entire  trade  had  received  protection  for  years  at  the  hands  of  the 
Society  against  illegal  traders,  and  the  cost  of  the  various 
prosecutions  instituted  had  not  been  by  any  means  covered  by  the 
penalties  recovered,  this  being  particularly  the  case  in  Scotland, 
where  the  prosecutions  had  entailed  a  heavy  loss.  The  J ournal  as 
at  present  conducted  was  worked  at  a  profit,  for  by  Dr.  Symes’ 
showing  it  only  cost  the  members  about  8 s.  per  head.  The  only 
thing  he  had  to  say  with  regard  to  increasing  the  difficulty  of 
entering  the  profession  was  that  this  very  difficulty  might  encour¬ 
age  outsiders  to  poach  upon  their  preserves.  He  would  like  to  see 
the  Society  go  still  further,  and  try  and  retain  to  the  qualified 
pharmacist  the  sole  right  and  privilege  of  dispensing  medical  pre¬ 
scriptions.  The  future  financial  state  of  the  Society  would  be  better, 
for  the  cost  of  the  Journal — improperly  looked  upon  now  as  a  loss 
— is  becoming  gradually  reduced.  The  improved  state  of  affairs 
when  the  cost  became  further  reduced  would  enable  the  Society  to 
extend  its  already  large  sphere  of  usefulness. — Mr.  Cowley  said  that 
to  an  outsider  the  giving  up  of  the  Preliminary  might  be  regarded 
as  a  sprat  to  catch  a  whale.  The  term  “administrative  expenses” 
seemed  to  him  to  cover  a  very  extensive  field,  but  no  doubt  the 
expenditure  in  the  past  had  been  carefully  considered  and  was 
justified.  He  did  not  look  upon  the  introduction  of  the  professorial 
element  on  the  examination  board  as  by  any  means  satisfactory,  for 
professors  were  just  as  likely  to  run  in  grooves  as  any  other  class  of 
men,  in  fact  more  so,  and  it  sometimes  seemed  as  if  the  desire  to 
“pluck”  was  more  evident  than  the  wish  to  find  out  what  a  candidate 
knew,  still  in  the  main  he  personally  supported  the  Society,  and  from  a 
selfish  point  of  view  he  regarded  the  increased  fee  with  equanimity, 
for  he  felt  assured  it  would  deter  the  students  from  having-  “  shots  ” 
at  the  examinations,  and  they  would  only  go  up  when  well  pre¬ 
pared. — Mr.  J.  Smith  was  satisfied  with  the  clear  exposition  of 
the  case  for  and  against  the  alterations  as  stated  by  Dr.  Symes, 
and  agreed  that  the  deterrent  effect  of  the  increased  fee  could 
only  be  beneficial  to  improperly  prepared  students  and  indirectly 
to  the  Society,  for  such  students,  after  repeated  failure,  were  apt  to 
become  thoroughly  disgusted  with  the  examinations  and  the 
Society,  and  to  regard  it  in  the  light  of  an  enemy.  —  Messrs. 
Marsden  and  Wyatt  also  supported  Dr.  Symes,  as  did 
Mr.  Mitchell,  who  confessed  that  since  the  alteration  in  the 
proposed  bye-laws  made  at  the  last  Council  meeting,  he  could  not 
see  any  objection  to  the  change,  though  he  would  like  to  see  a 
little  time  of  grace  allowed  to  those  apprentices  who  had  entered 
the  business  during  the  time  the  present  bye-laws  were  in  force. 
—After  a  reply  on  the  part  of  Dr.  Symes,  during  the  course  of 
which  he  said  he  hoped  to  see  the  present  method  of  allowing  so 
much  time  to  elapse  between  the  first  and  second  days  of  the 
examinations  considerably  altered,  to  the  pecuniary  benefit  of  the 
students,  the  President  moved  a  resolution  worded  as  follows  : — 

“  That  this  meeting  is  desirous  of  supporting  the  action  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  in  proposing  an  increase  in  the  fees  for  the  qualifying  examination, 
and  thereby  ensuring  that  those  who  live  under  the  protection  of  the  Society 
shall  contribute  towards  the  expenses  incurred  by  it,  rather  than  that  such 
expenses  should  only  fall,  op  now,  upon  those  who  subsequently  join  the 
Society  as  members  or  associates.” 

— Mr.  J.  Smith  seconded  this  resolution  which,  on  being  put  to  the 
meeting,  was  carried  unanimously. 


384 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL, 


[May  1,  1897. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  CONSULAR  REPORTS- 


The  Imports  op  Chemicals  into  Italy  during  the  year  1895-96, 
as  compared  with  the  previous  year,  decreased  by  1255  tons.  The 
total  imports  amounted  to  1445  tons,  of  which  1140  tons,  consisting 
of  oxides,  acids,  alkali,  and  sulphates  were  imported  from  Great 
Britain.  The  native  production  of  these  articles  increases  every 
year,  the  consumption  of  Italian  manufacture  during  the  year 
amounting  to  513  tons. 


Drugs  and  Chemicals  imported  into  Spain  during  1896,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  report  of  SirH.  Drummond- Wolff,  decreased  in  value 
1,250,000  pesetas  (£50,000). 


The  Quicksilver  Mines  at  Almuden  were  considerably  ex¬ 
tended  during  the  year,  the  amount  of  mineral  extracted  being 
22,100  tons.  The  mines  elsewhere  also  showed  satisfactory  results, 
the  total  amount  of  quicksilver  obtained  being  estimated  at  43,884 
flasks  (frascos).  In  the  same  report  attention  is  called  to  the 
diminished  imports  of  petroleum,  which  is  stated  to  be  due  to  the 
development  of  electric  lighting  and  to  the  considerable  consump¬ 
tion  of  alkaline  carbonates  and  nitrate  of  soda,  which  it  is  hoped 
will  stimulate  great  chemical  industries  in  Spain,  all  the  primary 
material  being  ready  to  hand. 


Arsenical  Water  to  the  extent  of  about  20,000  bottles  is 
reported  by  Consul-General  Freeman  to  have  been  exported  from 
the  springs  of  Guber,  near  Vlasenica,  during  last  year. 

Botanical  Work  in  Jamaica. — The  Governor’s  Report  on  the 
Blue  Book  of  the  Colony  of  Jamaica  for  the  year  ending  March  31, 
1896,  furnishes  an  interesting  account  of  the  work  done  by  the 
Botanical  Department.  The  increased  interest  which  is  being 
taken  in  agriculture  and  the  growing  desire  to  improve  the  quality 
of  the  island’s  products  has  greatly  increased  the  demand  for  in¬ 
struction  and  for  plants.  The  services  of  the  Superintendent  of 
the  Hope  Gardens  for  lectures  on  cultivation  with  practical  illus¬ 
trations  being  more  and  more  in  demand  in  the  country  districts, 
an  outcome  of  which  it  is  hoped  will  be  the  adding  to  the  income  of 
the  island  much  of  the  large  sums  that  are  now  annually  lost  by 
reason  of  the  unintelligent  methods  of  cultivation  adopted  and  the 
imperfect  curing  of  the  crops.  Good  work  is  also  being  done  at 
the  Hope  Gardens  in  training  boys  as  gardeners  and  agriculturists. 

A  Similar  Botanical  Station  was  established  by  the  Government 
at  Aburi  on  the  Gold  Coast,  in  1890,  which  has  been  the  means  of 
inducing  the  natives  to  interest  themselves  in  the  cultivation  of 
coffee,  etc. ,  but  the  system  of  apprenticing  natives  to  the  botanical 
station  for  instruction  in  agriculture  has  not  been  a  success,  so  a 
change  is  to  be  made,  and  it  is  proposed  to  select  a  certain  number 
of  natives  of  education  (a  competitive  examination  will  beheld,  the 
standard  being  standard  vi.  of  the  elementary  schools)  who  will 
be  trained  for  one  year  under  the  curator  of  the  Botanical  Station 
in  the  Gold  Coast,  then  for  one  year  in  the  Botanical  Station  at 
J amaica,  and  finally  for  one  year  in  the  Royal  Gardens,  Kew.  The 
lads  thus  selected  and  trained  will  be  required  to  apprentice 
themselves  to  the  Government  for  a  definite  period,  and  will  be 
employed  in  disseminating  a  proper  knowledge  of  cultivating 
products  o  f  economic  value  among  the  natives,  and  stimulating 
them  to  apply  themselves  to  an  industry  which  will  be  of  benefit 
to  themselves  as  well  as  to  their  country. 


Chinese  Opium. —  Writing  from  Shanghai,  respecting  the 
revenue  and  expenditure  of  the  Chinese  Empire,  Sir  N.  J.  Hannen 
states  that  the  returns  of  duty  and  likin  levied  on  native  opium 
are  manifestly  understated,  the  estimated  sum  total  realised  from 
this  branch  of  revenue  being  2,229,000  taels  (£371,500),  a  sum 
which  he  thinks  is  ludicrously  small,  seeing  that  the  total  produc¬ 
tion  of  opium  in  south-western  China  sixteen  years  ago  was 
estimated  at  224,000  piculs  (of  133)4  Its.),  and  the  cultivation  has 
certainly  not  decreased  since.  If  the  opium  were  taxed  in  the 
same  proportion  ad  valorem,  as  foreign  opium  (60  taels  per  picul), 
a  gross  revenue  of  13,000,000  taels  should  be  received  from  this 
part  of  China  alone,  instead  of  only  1,000,000  taels  which  is  at 
resent  returned  from  these  provinces.  The  total  revenue  drawn 
y  China  from  foreign  opium  is  over  6,000,000  taels,  and  the 
revenue  from  native-grown  opium  ought,  with  equal  taxation, 
value  for  value,  to  yield  from  15,000,000  taels  to  18,000,000  taels. 


LETTERS  TO  THE  EDITOR. 


The  Proposed  New  Bye-Laws. 

Sir, — As  chemists’  associations  in  different  parts  of  the  country 
are  discussing  the  proposed  new  bye-laws  and  we  have  no  such 
association,  I  have  ventured  with  your  permission  to  discuss  them 
through  the  columns  of  the  Journal.  As  a  new  Council  is  shortly 
to  be  elected,  I  think  we  ought  to  get  from  the  gentlemen  aspiring 
to  the  honour  some  sort  of  an  election  address,  putting  before  the 
electors  their  views  as  to  pharmaceutical  politics  and  giving  an 
idea  of  the  measures  they  would  be  prepared  to  bring  forward  or 
to  adopt  if  brought  forward.  Up  to  the  present,  as  -far  as  I  can 
see,  the  majority  of  the  associations  have  declared  in  favour  of  the 
Society’s  action  as  proposed  by  the  new  bye-laws.  But  I  do  not- 
find  the  opinions  of  the  minority  represented.  Being  one  of 
the  minority  I  dissent  on  account  of  the  increased  fees  for  the 
Minor  doing  no  more  for  the  men  who  have  passed  than  does  the 
five-guinea  fee  now  or  even  the  three-guinea  fee  when  I  passed.  I 
take  it  from  the  fifth  section  of  the  Pharmacy  Act  last  clause, 
“  the  person  registered  shall  pay  the  same  fee  as  persons  admitted 
to  the  Register  after  examination  under  this  Act,”  means  that  no 
one’s  name  should  be  upon  the  Register  who  fails  to  pay  the 
annual  subscription,  which  I  take  is  the  fee  for  registration.  This 
is  a  point  I  tried  to  get  Mr.  Carteighe  to  see  at  the  Conference 
held  at  Plymouth,  October  16,  1895. 

After  registration  what  does  the  Society  do  for  those  who  are 
registered  ?  Did  they  take  any  action  on  behalf  of  those  perse¬ 
cuted  for  the  sale  of  milk  of  sulphur,  citrate  of  magnesia,  and  are 
they  taking  any  action  for  those  prosecuted  for  selling  limes  and 
glycerin  to-day  ?  To  my  mind  these  senseless  prosecutions  with¬ 
out  any  aid  to  defence  from  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  has  caused 
many  defections  on  the  part  of  Members  and  Associates  in  the 
past,  and  what  of  the  future  ?  Is  an  increased  examination  and 
registration  fee  to  be  the  panacea  for  the  ills  we  endure  ?  Is  this 
the  way  to  break  down  the  evils  of  company  trading  and  other 
illegalities  ?  I  trow  not.  Unless  licences  be  given  to  qualified 
men,  and  the  conduct  of  their  business  be  controlled  by  the 
Society  as  the  governing  body,  I  fail  to  see  what  we  have 
to  hope  for  if  the  proposed  new  bye-laws  get  official  sanction. 
By  control  in  the  conduct  of  their  business  by  the  Society  I  mean 
that  the  local  secretary  of  each  division  be  empowered  to  see  that 
every  man  who  keeps  an  assistant  keeps  one  qualified  to  conduct 
the  business  in  his  absence.  All  assistants  to  be  granted  a  licence 
to  show  his  official  recognition  by  the  Society,  and  in  case  of  his 
leaving  a  situation,  his  new  address  be  furnished  the  Society  to 
amend  the  Register.  This  would  prevent  any  such  complaint  as 
your  correspondent,  Mr.  C.  J.  Rees  had  to  make  a  short  time 
since,  re  Impersonation.  I  would  dwell  further  upon  the  subject, 
but  will  content  myself  with  what  I  have  said  for  the  present, 
leaving  the  questions  of  higher  education,  etc.,  for  another  letter. 

Torquay,  April  26,  1897.  W.  J.  Rawling. 


Chouan  Seed  and  Autour  Bark. 

Sir, — In  the  ‘  Painter’s  and  Colourman’s  Complete  Guide,’  by 
M.  Tingry,  published  at  Geneva  in  1830,  the  following  passage 
occurs  at  page  113  : — 

“A  mixture  of  36  grains  of  chouan  seed,  IS  grains  of  autour  bark,  and  as  much 
alum,  thrown  into  a  decoction  of  6  gros  of  pulverised  cochineal  and  5  pounds 
of  water,  gives  at  the  end  of  6  or  10  days  a  red  fecula,  which,  when  dried, 
weighs  from  40  to  48  grains.  This  fecula  is  carmine.” 

Can  any  reader  of  the  Journal  say  what  substances  are  meant  by 
“chouan  seed”  and  “autour  bark,”  and  also  what  quantity 
“  6  gros  of  pulverised  cochineal  ”  is  equal  to  ? 

April  24,  1897.  Pharmacist  (90/11). 


Sweating  the  Dispenser. 

Sir, — I  should  like,  with  your  permission,  to  reply  to  “Dis¬ 
penser  ”  (p.  305)  on  the  above  subject,  as  I  regret  to  see  he  has 
come  to  hasty  conclusions  about  the  qualification  of  the  dispenser 
mentioned  in  my  former  letters.  I  said  he  held  none  of  the  quali¬ 
fications  mentioned  by  “  Dispenser,”  although  he  holds  one  that  is 
accepted  by  the  Local  Government  Board,  and  one  that  can  be  got- 
without  an  apprenticeship,  hence  my  desire  to  see  none  but  regis¬ 
tered  persons  holding  these  posts.  On  this  point  I  should  like  to- 
refer  him  to  an  annotation  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal,  p.  319, 
“The  Qualification  of  Unregistered  Assistants,”  which  puts  the 
matter  in  the  clearest  possible  light.  Dispensers  in  these  insti- 


May  1, 1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


385 


tutions,  I  admit,  do  not  sell  poisons,  but  they  have  a  sufficient 
quantity  of  alkaloids  and  poisonous  extracts  in  their  care  to  kill 
all  the  patients  dispensed  for,  and  if  they  put  up  from  300  to  500 
bottles  a  day  like  a  beer  bottler  working  on  piece  work,  it  seems 
to  me  there  is  great  danger  of  there  being  “death  in  the  pot.” 
The  case  referred  to,  he  says,  is  an  isolated  one.  I  wish  I  could 
endorse  his  statement.  Perhaps  he  can  tell  us  how  many  of  the 
118  dispensers  employed  in  the  Poor  Law  service  are  registered 
chemists  and  druggists  ?  I  do  not  wish  him  to  give  up  dispensing, 
but  to  cease  doing  two  men's  work,  or  it  will  certainly  bring  him 
to  an  untimely  end. 

There  has  been  during  the  last  twenty-five  years  a  great  advance 
in  every  department  of  the  Poor  Law  service,  with  the  exception 
of  the  dispenser,  and  I  think  they  may  profitably  consider  whose 
fault  it  is  that  they  have  gone  back  to  a  date  anterior  to  1871.  The 
medical  staff  has  improved  in  qualification  and  remuneration.  The 
nursing  staff  also,  none  but  trained  nurses  being  employed,  Mrs. 
Gamp  and  her  friend. Mrs.  Harris  are  quite  superseded.  The 
clerical  staff  has  been  very  much  increased  in  number,  with  a 
corresponding  increase  in  remuneration,  some  assistants  getting 
£200  per  annum.  The  relieving  officer  is  now  quite  a  gentleman 
with  £180  per  annum.  Why  has  the  dispenser  been  left  behind 
with  £140  maximum,  is  it  any  fault  of  his  own,  does  he  make  him¬ 
self  too  cheap  and  treat  his  office  with  less  importance  than  it 
deserves  ?  If  guardians  say  a  dispenser  can  do  five  hundred  pre¬ 
scriptions  a  day,  they  must  have  some  reason  for  it.  Let  dispensers 
wake  up  and  see  they  are  not  put  on  a  level  with  the  store 
keeper  who  gives  out  the  food,  etc.  In  reply  to  your 
correspondent  “  Blad  R.  O’Lard,”  page  263,  I  think  it 
is  only  by  looking  straight  at  how  the  work  is  done 
that  there  is  likely  to  be  any  improvement  in  it.  I  consider  it 
absolutely  necessary  that  every  person  who  dispenses  poisons 
should  be  trained  and  registered.  The  linseed  meal,  ointment,  and 
pills  ought  not  to  be  doled  out — as  he  says  they  are — in  coal-bags, 
saucers,  paper,  etc.  His  linseed  meal  should  be  put  into  grease- 
.proof  bags,  his  ointment  and  pills  in  boxes,  which  can  be  bought 
at  a  small  cost  and  labelled  in  a  proper  manner.  It  does  not 
matter  about  the  kind  of  bottle  used,  provided  it  is  clean.  Surely 
his  Committee  would  agree  to  this  if  it  were  properly  placed  before 
them,  and  do  away  with  such  a  bad  state  of  things  as  he  mentions. 
What  would  be  the  effect  of  poulticing  a  wound  with  meal  from  a 
coal-bag,  or  dressing  one  with  ointment  from  a  dusty  saucer  ?  The 
letter  of  “A.  P.  S.”  (page  285)  I  endorse,  except  where  he  says  the 
Local  Boards  are  not  responsible,  for  they  have  power  to  select  the 
best  men,  and  if  the  registered  man  is  falling  out  it  is  that  they 
select  the  others  to  fill  his  post.  The  Local  Government  Board  do 
not  say  they  must  employ  unregistered  men,  but  that  they  may, 
and  it  is  clearly  their  fault  if  they  do. 

April  13,  1897.  Anti-Sweater  (89/35). 


Preserving  the  Colour  op  Alga:. 

Sir, — In  connection  with  your  natural  history  note  on  Lathrea 
squamaria,  I  may  mention  that  I  have  found  the  oxalic  acid  method 
very  successful  for  the  preservation  of  the  colour  of  certain  algse 
belonging  to  the  Rhodophyceae.  Among  others,  Galliblepharis 
ciliata,  which,  if  dried  in  the  ordinary  way,  becomes  quite  black, 
will  retain  its  bright  red  colour  if  dried  between  bibulous  paper 
previously  soaked  in  solution  of  oxalic  acid.  I  have  not  tried  the 
method  with  land  plants. 

Gosport,  April  21+,  1897.  Harry  H.  Sturch. 


Difficulty,  in  Dispensing  Cocaine. 

Sir,-— In  the  drops  which  F.  W.  D.  (88/25)  has  found  difficult  to 
dispense — cocainse  hydrochlor. ,  /d-  ;  boracis,  gr.  x.  ;  vinum  opii, 
ui  xx.  ;  aqua,  ad.  fii. — the  difficulty  may  be  overcome  by  adding, 
say,  six  grains  of  acid  boracic.  This  would  prevent  the  cocaine 
precipitating. 

Portmadoc,  April  20, 1897.  T.  Jenkins. 


Chemists’  Holidays. 

Sir, — May  I  make  a  suggestion  through  the  columns  of  our 
increasingly  interesting  and  useful  Journal  ?  It  seems  to 
me  there  are  at  least  a  limited  number  of  small  country 
chemists  who  can  only  rarely  afford  to  get  a  qualified  “locum” 
and  go  away  for  a  good  holiday.  Some  of  these  in  none  too 
good  health.  Now,  here  I  am  in  a  village  near  the  north-east 
•coast,  in  a  pleasant  healthy  village,  but  am  wanting  to  try  the 
effect  of  a  change  somewhere  south  or  south-west  for  a  month  or 
two.  I  conceive  it  probable  that  there  may  be  some  other  chemist 


who  would  not  object  to  a  change  north  for  a  time,  living  in  just 
such  a  place.  If  such  cases  do  occur,  could  some  exchange  bureau 
be  arranged  for  such,  either  through  the  Journal  “  Exchange”  or 
the  ordinary  advertising  columns  ?  In  such  an  exchange  it  would 
be  to  the  interest  of  each  to  do  his  best  for  the  other.  If  married, 
and  the  home  or  part  of  house  was  exchanged,  the  wife  and  family, 
if  they  went,  might  derive  the  full  benefit  of  the  change,  and  the 
chemist,  even  though  on  duty,  would  derive  part  of  the  benefit, 
besides  such  advantages  as  might  accrue  to  him  from  seeing  the 
working  of  another  business,  and  I  think  we  can  all  learn  some¬ 
thing  from  each  other  in  a  business  covering  such  varied  ground 
as  ours  ;  and  when  one  has  settled  down  in  business,  particularly  a 
small  country  one,  our  chances  of  coming  into  contact  with  other 
ways  are  not  too  plentiful.  I  should  be  glad  to  hear  from  anyone 
who  considered  the  scheme  at  all  a  practical  one.  I  think  it  is 
rarely  that  any  objection  as  to  learning  each  other’s  secrets  could 
occur,  for  few  chemists’  businesses  are  in  any  way  related  to  others 
more  than  fifty  miles  away. 

April  20,  1897.  A.P.S.  (91/15). 

*  *  The  “  Exchange  ”  seems  to  pi-ovide  for  the  case  here  raised,  and  the  best  way 
*  of  testing  the  practicability  of  the  scheme  will  he  for  A.P.S.  to  utilise  it  for 
the  desired  purpose. — [Ed.  Ph.  J.] 

“Potato  Drops”  and  “Green  Mallet.” 


Sir, — In  your  reply  to  Lyra  (page  346)  you  say  you  do  not 
know  “  Potato  Drops.”  During  my  apprenticeship  in  the  sixties, 
an  old  gentleman  used  to  come  for  what  he  called  “  electer  potato- 
popis,”  when  we  gave  him  tinct.  aloes  co.  as  representing  the  old 
elixir  proprietatis  dulce.  “  Green  /Mallet  ”  I  take  to  be  emplast. 
de  meliloto,  commonly  called  green  melody,  but  now  rarely  asked. 

for,  I  imagine.  T  r.  w 

Teignmouth,  April  16,  1897.  J •  J •  0*  Evans. 


London  v.  Country  Members  of  Council. 

Sir, — I  am  sorry  to  hear  that  my  respected  friend  Mr.  Gostling 
retires  from  the  Council,  but  I  cannot  agree  with  his  views  as 
regards  the  desirability  of  electing  London  men  in  preference  to 
country  men.  We  do  not  want  subservient  followers  on  the 
Council,  but  men  of  independent  judgment  who.  have  had  some 
experience  in  public  business.  The  question  of  distance  is  a  small 
one,  as  a  Cambridge  representative  could  be  on  the  spot  when 
wanted  almost  as  quickly  as  a  London  man  (suburban).  Although 
not  personally  acquainted  with  the  Cambridge  candidate  (Mr. 
Campkin)  he  certainly  strikes  me  as  far  and  away  the  ablest  man. 
He  is  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  the  borough,  a  Past  Grand  Master 
and  a  Director  of  the  Manchester  Unity  of  Oddfellows,  a  Guardian 
of  the  Poor  and  Chairman  of  the  Assessment  Committee,  a  member 
of  Town  Council,  etc.,  etc.  This  gentleman  appears  to  me  to  be 
acquainted  with  administrative  business,  and  would,  in  my  judg¬ 
ment,  be  a  welcome  addition  to  the  Council  Chamber. 

Norfolkensis  (92/12). 


An  Assistant’s  Qualification  Wanted. 

Sir, — Judging  from  the  letter  of  your  correspondent  of  last 
week,  Mr.  F.  R.  Bessant,  one  cannot  help  coming  to  the  con¬ 
clusion  that  his  experience  of  “qualified  ”  assistants  cannot  have 
extended  over  any  lengthened  period  or  he  would  scarcely  adopt 
the  tone  he  did.  Everyone  of  course  admits  that  examinations  are 
not  a  perfect  method  of  testing  anyone’s  ability,  but  nobody  seems 
able  to  propose  a  more  efficient  substitute.  Doubtless  a  few  get 
through  who  hardly  deserve  to  do  so ;  but,  taking  the  average 
qualified  assistant,  he  is,  as  far  as  my  experience  shows,  superior 
as  regards  knowledge  of  business  and  skill  in  dispensing,  etc.,  to 
the  unqualified  man  of  the  same  age.  Is  it  possible  that  Mr. 
Bessant  fell  a  victim,  in  a  slight  degree,  to  the  green-eyed 
monster  when  reading  or  hearing  of  his  assistant’s  successes 
at  the  school?  Were  the  mistakes  made  by  this  phar¬ 
maceutical  chemist  really  serious  mistakes  as  regards  know¬ 
ledge  of  drugs  and  doses,  or  were  they  mistakes  of  another 
kind,  e.g. ,  forgetting  to  order  something  of  which  he  had 
sold  out,  or  to  weigh  up  some  stock  articles  which  were  needed  ? 
Mistakes,  if  of  this  kind,  might  surely  be  pardoned  in  a  man  fresh 
from  school,  and  suddenly  entering  a  brisk  business  after  being 
away  for  a  few  months,  though  doubtless  Mr.  Bessant  would  loo«. 
at  them  through  magnifying  glasses  of  a  rather  jaundiced  colour. 
Possibly  also  the  tuition  from  the  unqualified  (and  twice  rejected, 
but  so  immeasurably  superior)  assistant  took  the  form  of  show  ing 
this  very  inferior  (but  most  pleasant  and  gentlemanly)  pharma¬ 
ceutical  chemist  the  places  where  the  different  articles  were  kept. 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  1,  189.7 


386 


The  extent  of  Mr.  Bessant’s  knowledge  of  chemistry  one  cannot 
doubt,  his  reference  to  the  oxides  of  ethyl  being  sufficiently 
enlightening.  In  conclusion  I  would  say  that  I  quite  agree  that  a 
knowledge  of  “First  Aid”  would  be  of  especial  use  to  chemists, 
hut  to  put  it  on  the  examination  schedule  is  scarcely  consistent 
with  pharmacy  proper. 

April  27, 1897.  One  who  Respects  the  Major  Qual. 


ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 


Special  Notice. — Scientific,  technical,  legal  and  general  information  required 
by  readers  of  the  ‘Pharmaceutical  Journal'  will  be  furnished  by  the  Editor  as  far 
as  practicable,  but  he  cannot  undertake  to  reply  by  post.  All  communications  must  be 
addressed  “Editor,  17,  Bloo'insbury  Square,  London,  W.C.,"  and  must  also  be  authen¬ 
ticated  by  the  names  and  addresses  of  senders.  Questions  on  different  subjects  should 
be  written  on  separate  slips  of  paper,  each  of  which  must  bear  the  sender’s  initials  or 
pseudonym.  Replies  will,  in  all  cases,  be  referred  to  such  initials  or  pseudonyms, 
and  the  registered  number  added  in  each  instance  should  be  quoted  in  any  subsequent 
communication  on  the  same  subject. 


Botanical. — Fritillaria  sp.  [ Reply  to  J.  W.  H.  L. — 92/10.] 


Botanical. — Petasites  vulgaris.  [Reply  to  Femina. — 91/31.] 


“Gum  Manilla.” — Probably  Manila  copal  is  intended. 
[Reply  to  L.A.R.— 91/37.] 


Preparation  for  Horses. — The  substance  sent  is  magnesium 
sulphate.  [Reply  to  W.  H.  H. — 92/21.] 


Growth  of  the  Lower  Jaw. — No,  the  development  of  the  - 
jaw  is  not  interfered  with  at  the  age  you  state  (15  years)  if  the 
second  molar  is  well  erupted.  [Reply  to  Nib. — 92/1.] 


Reports  on  Essential  Oils. — Both  the  publications  you  refer 
to  are  obtainable  only  from  Schimmel  and  Co.  (Fritzsche  Brothers), 
Leipzig  and  New  York.  You  may  be  able  to  procure  copies  by 
writing  to  the  former  place.  [Reply  to  J.  F.  L. — 92/9.] 

Use  of  Library. — Obtain  a  form  of  recommendation  from  the 
Librarian,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  W.C.,  and  return  it  after  being 
filled  up  and  signed  by  a  member  of  the  Society  or  an  associate  in 
business.  [Reply  to  E.  R.  B. — 91/4.] 

P.A.T.A. — You  do  not  advance  any  fresh  arguments  in  your 
letter,  and  it  does  not  appear  that  any  good  purpose  will  be  served 
by  further  prolonging  the  discussion  upon  the  lines  followed. 
[Reply  to  Midlothian. — 91/42.] 


Botany  of  the  “Minor.” — You  will  only  require  the  first 
volume  for  some  months,  but  the  other  is  essential  if  you  wish  to 
cover  the  whole  ground.  There  is  no  absolute  need  to  have  any 
other  book,  but  it  is  always  well  to  have  studied  more  than  one. 
[Reply  to  R.  M. — 90/37.] 


Composition  of  Ointment  for  Ulcerated  Leg. — The  ointment 
which  you  are  asked  to  match  appears  to  be  carbolic  acid,  1  5 ; 
zinc  oxide,  14  ;  lanoline,  84 ’5.  Doubtless  the  small  amount  of 
phenol  would  have  the  analgesic  effect  you  describe.  [Reply  to 
Old  Subscriber. — 90/12.] 


Gas  for  Lethal  Chamber. — Carbonic  oxide,  we  believe,  that 
having  been  found  by  the  late  Sir  B.  W.  Richardson  the  best  narcotic 
agent  to  employ,  chloroform  and  carbon  bisulphide  being  com¬ 
bined  with  it  if  necessary.  Coal  gas  is  the  readiest  and  cheapest 
for  the  purpose,  but  the  risk  of  explosion  when  it  is  mixed  with 
air  was  found  to  be  a  disadvantage.  [Reply  to  Canis.— 92/4.] 

Real  Lime  Juice  and  Glycerin. — Yolk  of  one  egg  ;  glycerin, 
2  ounces  ;  oil  of  sweet  almonds,  2  ounces  ;  tincture  of  quillaia,  2 
drachms  ;  lime  juice,  2  ounces  ;  oil  of  lemon,  20  minims  ;  oil  of 
bergamot,  5  minims  ;  orange-flower  water  to  produce  8  fluid  ounces. 
Rub  the  yolk  of  egg  smooth  with  the  glycerin,  add  essential  oils  to 
the  quillaia  and  incorporate  it  with  the  egg  mixture,  then  rub 
in  the  almond  oil  a  little  at  a  time,  then  the  lime  juice  in 
small  quantities  at  a  time,  and  finally  sufficient  orange-flower  water 
to  make  up  the  volume.  A  sample  made  six  weeks  ago  shows  no 
separation  at  the  time  of  writing.  [Reply  to  Femina. — 91/31.] 


Chemical. — A  is  finely- divided  metallic  iron.  B  is  a  highly- 
carburetted  pig-iron.  [Reply  to  Subscriber. — 90/38.] 

Diploma. — Only  pharmaceutical  chemists  are  entitled  to  possess 
and  use  diplomas  stamped  with  the  seal  of  the  Society.  The  abbre¬ 
viation  D.Ph.S.  would  be  an  absurdity.  [Reply  to  Donovan. — 91/38.] 

Methyl  Blue  and  Methylene  Blue. — Methyl  blue  belongs 
to  the  rosanih'ne  group,  and  is  sodium  triphenylrosaniline  tri- 
sulphonate  ;  it  is  not  changed  by  acids,  but  is  turned  reddish 
brown  by  alkalies.  It  is  very  different  from  methylene  blue,  which 
is  a  chloride  of  tetramethylthionine  ;  it  is  not  acted  on  so  readily 
by  alkali  as  methyl  blue.  [Reply  to  J.  A. — 90/34.] 

Effect  of  Turpentine  on  the  Urinary  Secretion. — Tereberie 
produces  the  curious  effect  which  you  allude  to,  causing  a  strong 
violet-like  odour  to  be  given  off  by  the  urine,  even  more  markedly 
than  turpentine.  Some  years  back  when  there  was  a  “boom”  on 
terebene  for  various  chest  affections,  the  writer  had  to  prepare 
large  quantities  of  that  substance.  The  vapour  inhaled  during 
the  process  of  polymerising  and  distilling  was  sufficient  to  give 
rise  to  a  very  marked  formation  of  the  violet-smelling  compound, 
so  much  so  that  the  circumstance  was  commented  upon  in  forcible 
terms  by  some  of  the  laboratory  operatives  affected.  We  do  nob 
know  that  the  body  has  been  isolated.  There  is  still  room  for  a 
good  violet  perfume,  pace  ionone.  You  may  feel  disposed  to 
experiment  in  this  direction.  Oil  of  eajeput  and  eucalyptus  oil 
produce  very  similar  results.  [Reply  to  E.  A.  W. — 89/20.] 

INFORMATION  WfiNTED, 

Douglas  Mixture  for  Fowls.— Can  any  reader  oblige  with  the 
recipe  for  this  ?  (89/32). 


CORRECTIONS. 

The  Recent  Nottingham  Meeting.— Owing  to  the  short  time 
available  for  revising  the  report  of  the  discussion  at  the  Nottingham 
Chemists’  Association  (Pharm.  Journ.,  April  3,  p.  306a),  a  passage 
in  Mr.  Eberlin’s  speech  escaped  correction.  By  transposition  o£ 
the  word  “not”  and  omission  of  the  words  “but  also,”  the 
passage  appears  to  convey  a  meaning  contrary  to  that  intended  by 
the  speaker,  and  obviously  inconsistent  with  that  of  the  context. 
It  would  have  been  unnecessary  to  point  out  this  error  if  it  had  nob 
been  made  use  of  to  support  the  statements  that  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Journal  has  not  been  paid  for  by  the  members  and 
associates  who  constitute  the  Society,  but  has  been  the  cause  of 
an  “adverse  balance”  in  the  Society’s  last  financial  statement  and 
“  a  heavy  loss  to  the  Society,”  which  is  alleged  to  be  made  good  out 
of  the  fees  paid  for  examinations.  A  case  seeking  such  support 
must  indeed  be  bad,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  following  correct 
reading  of  the  passage  in  Mr.  Eberlin’s  speech  : — - 

“But  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  Journal  depends  for  its  income  not 
on  advertisements  and  sales  alone,  but  also  on  annual  subscriptions,” 

and  from  the  confirmation  of  that  reading  afforded  by  another  report 
which  appeared  simultaneously  in  another  place. 

Students’  Page. — A  botanical  reader  points  out  that  the  word 
‘  ‘  oogonium  ”  as  used  in  the  notes  on  Cryptogams  on  page  296  is 
incorrect.  It  should  of  course  have  been  “oospore,”  and  we 
regret  that  the  writer  of  the  paragraph  referred  to  should  have 
omitted  to  correct  what  was  an  obvious  slip  of  the  pen  when 
revising  the  proof  sent  to  him. 

OBITUARY. 


Solomon. — On  February  26,  John  Solomon,  Chemist  and  Drug¬ 
gist,  late  of  Helston.  Aged  82. 

Barber. — On  April  13,  Robert  Barber,  Chemist  and  Druggist, 
Manchester.  Aged  52. 

Presslie. — On  April  13,  Robert  Dowell  Presslie,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  Aberdeen. 

Thornton. — On  April  16,  John  Thornton,  Chemist  and  Drug¬ 
gist,  Wedmore.  Aged  77. 


COMMUNICATIONS, LETTERS, etc., have  been  received  from 

Messrs.  Bennett,  Chambers,  Cracknell,  Dester,  Durrant,  Farr,  Forrett,  Foster, 
Gardner,  Glass,  Grimble,  Heap,  Hill,  Howarth,  Jackson,  Kemp,  Kent,  Laing, 
Littleboy,  Liverseege,  Morrison,  Norwood,  Penistan,  Poppelreuter,  Prime, 
Raphael,  Bawling,  Riding,  Roach,  Roberts,  Squire,  Venn,  Wall,  Williams,  Wyatt. 


May  8,  1897:]  I 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


387 


ANNUAL 


ORT  OF  THE  COUNCIL. 


Thefifty-sixth  financial  statement  is  submitted 
Finance.  with  thisjeport.  It  is  satisfactory  to  note  that 
the  anticipations  of  the  Council  with  reference 
to  the  reduction  of  the  balance  on  .the  Journal  account  appear 
to  have  been  well  founded,  and  it  is  confidently  hoped 
that  the  improvement  will  be  continued.  The  figures  relating  to 
School  fees  and  the  expenditure  for  carrying  out  the  School 
and  Research  work  do  not  afford  any  definite  indication  of  the 
probable  effect  of  the  recent  changes  in  the  arrangement  of  the 
Society’s  educational  work,  but  there  is  every  reason  to  assume 
that  the  School  will  in  future  be  carried  on  with  enhanced  efficiency 
and  more  economy. 

During  1896,  1533  candidates  presented 
Examinations,  themselves  for  the  First  examination,  and  829, 
or  54 -07  per  cent,  failed.  The  number 
examined  shows  an  increase  of  133  as  compared  with  the  pre¬ 
ceding  year,  with  a  higher  percentage  of  failures.  For  the 
qualifying  examination  1449  candidates  were  examined — 145  more 
than  in  1895 — whilst  the  percentage  of  those  who  failed  to  satisfy 
the  examiners  remained  about  the  same,  namely,  about  65  per 
cent.  For  the  Major  examination  130  candidates — a  decrease 
of  16  on  the  previous  year— presented  themselves,  and  53  ‘07 
per  cent,  failed.  Dr.  Stevenson,  in  his  latest  report  on  the 
examination  conducted  by  the  Board  of  Examiners  for  England 
and  Wales,  says  : — “I  have  to  express  my  general  satisfaction 
with  the  manner  in  which  the  Minor  or  qualifying  and  Major 
examinations  are  conducted,  and  with  the  great  and  steady  im¬ 
provements  which  have  been  initiated  by  the  Council  of  the 
Society  and  carried  out  by  the  examiners  during  the  last  few  years.” 
Sir  Douglas  Maclagan  has  retired  from  the  position  which  he  has 
held  for  many  years,  of  Visitor  on  behalf  of  the  Privy  Council  to 
the  Board  of  Examiners  in  Scotland,  and  the  appointment  of  Dr. 
Balfour  Marshall  to  succeed  him  has  been  communicated  to  the 
Council. 

The  resolution  of  the  Executive  of  the  North 
Bye-Laws.  British  Branch  relating  to  the  Preliminary 
examination  to  which  reference  was  made  in 
the  last  annual  report,  has  received  the  careful  consideration  of  the 
Council.  It  has  been  generally  felt  that  the  scope  of  the  examina¬ 
tion  should  be  extended,  and  the  Council  considers  it  undesirable 
that  the  Society  should  continue  to  conduct  the  First  examination 
after  June,  1900,  but  that  registration  as  an  Apprentice  or 
Student — a  necessary  condition  before  entering  for  the  qualifying 
examination — should  be  contingent  upon  the  production  of 
certificates  of  general  education,  granted  by  approved  examining 
bodies.  It  has  also  been  recommended  that  the  fee  payable  by 
candidates  for  the  qualifying  examination  should  include  a  sum 
equivalent  to  a  registration  fee  and  be  raised  to  ten  guineas,  with 
a  uniform  fee  of  three  guineas  for  re-examination  on  any  sub¬ 
sequent  occasion.  New  bye-laws  for  carrying  these  changes  into 
effect  have  been  approved  at  three  meetings  of  the  Council,  and 
will  be  submitted  to  the  members  for  confirmation  at  a  special 
General  Meeting  after  the  business  of  the  Annual  General  Meeting. 
The  proposed  new  bye-laws  are  printed  in  the  Pharmaceutical 
Journal  for  April  10,  p.  315. 

The  retirement  of  Mr.  G.  F.  Schacht  was 
Council.  much  regretted  by  his  colleagues,  and  his  sudden 
death  a  few  months  later  is  a  heavy  loss  to  the 
Society.  In  June,  Mr.  Walter  Hills  was  elected  President  of  the 
Society,  and  Mr.  Carteighe  was  accorded  a  special  vote  of  thanks 
Vol.  LVIII.  (Fourth  Series,  Yol.  IV.).  No.  1402. 


for  the  ability  and  self-sacrificing  devotion  which  had  charac¬ 
terised  his  long  tenure  of  the  presidential  chair. 

It  is  satisfactory  to  record  that  the  Museum  of  the 
Museum.  Society  is  becoming  increasingly  useful  to  members 
and  students,  the  attendance  during  the  past  year 
having  been  larger  than  during  the  previous  year.  It  is  recog¬ 
nised  by  the  pharmaceutical  world  as  one  of  the  richest  of  its 
kind,  and  rare  drugs  are  frequently  received  from  other 
countries  for  identification,  as  well  as  applications  for  specimens 
for  special  histological,  chemical,  and  physiological  research. 
The  Museum  has  also  greatly  benefited  by  exchanges  with 
pharmaceutical  colleges  and  institutes,  and  many  interesting 
specimens  have  been  forwarded  by  corresponding  members, 
and  well-known  travellers  and  botanists.  The  Museum  of 
the  Society  in  Scotland  has  been  largely  added  to  by  the  acquisition 
of  two  extensive  collections  of  materia  medica,  to  which  attention 
has  already  been  directed  in  the  J ournal. 

The  value  of  the  Library  for  historical  pur- 
Library.  poses  is  being  continually  proved,  and  the 
importance  of  pharmaceutical  literature  has 
been,  during  the  past  twelve  months,  shown  by  the  presence  of 
members  of  the  staff  of  the  Royal  Society  engaged  on  the  Cata¬ 
logue  of  Scientific  Papers,  who  have  been  busy  in  cataloguing 
some  of  the  periodicals  of  which  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
possesses  the  only  complete  sets  in  this  country.  The  Council 
continues  to  add  important  books  to  the  collection,  and  has 
to  thank  many  generous  donors  for  their  gifts. 

The  Council  has  deemed  it  expedient  to  re- 
SehOOl.  sume  the  direct  control  of  its  School  of  Phar¬ 
macy.  The  change  was  facilitated  by  the 
retirement  of  Professor  Attfield,  Professor  Dunstan,  and  Mr. 
Joseph  Ince,  and  a  scheme  for  reconstituting  the  School  was  ap¬ 
proved  by  the  Council  at  its  meeting  in  August.  The 
essential  feature  of  the  alterations  made  is  the  extension 
to  nine  months  of  the  period  of  instruction  for  the  Minor 
examination.  A  voluntary  curriculum  is  thus  established  and 
the  status  of  the  School  as  an  institution  in  which  a  sound 
education  is  afforded  to  students  rather  than  one  in  which  can¬ 
didates  are  prepared  solely  for  examination,  is  proportionately 
raised.  The  fees  have  been  revised,  and  have  been  fixed  with  the 
object  of  encouraging  students  to  take  the  whole  Course  of 
instruction.  Two  courses  of  study  are  now  given,  an  Elemen¬ 
tary  and  an  Advanced  Course.  The  Elementary  Course  of 
lectures  and  laboratory  instruction  commences  in  October  and 
is  continued  to  the  end  of  June,  and  the  Advanced  Course  com¬ 
mences  in  October  and  terminates  at  the  end  of  March.  The 
Professorial  Staff  consists  of  the  Professor  of  Botany,  the  Professor 
of  Chemistry — who  has  also  charge  of  the  chemical  laboratories  and 
the  direction  of  the  Research  Laboratory — and  the  Professor  of 
Materia  Medica  and  Pharmacy.  The  professors  are  assisted  by 
efficient  demonstrators  and  assistants,  appointed  by  the  Council, 
and  in  order  that  the  Council  may  he  constantly  in  touch 
with  the  educational  side  of  its  work,  the  Library, 
Museum,  School,  and  House  Committee  annually  nominates 
one  of  its  members  to  act  as  Visitor  to  the  School,  with  authority 
to  attend  the  meetings  of  the  staff,  and  to  report  from  time 
to  time  to  the  Committee.  The  reconstituted  School  was  formally 
inaugurated  on  October  4,  when  an  interesting  address  on  the  aim 
of  Preliminary  education  was  delivered  to  a  large  audience 
by  Mr.  R.  Brudenell  Carter,  F.R.C.S.  The  Council  has  satisfaction 
in  reporting  that  the  55th  Session  then  opened  has  amply 
justified  anticipations,  and  successfully  proved  the  existence  of 
a  class  to  whom  the  acquirement  of  a  sound  technical 


388 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  8,  1897 


FINANCIAL  STATEMENTS  FOR  1896. 

GENERAL  FUND. 


£  s.  d.  £  s.  d. 

Balance  January  X,  1896  : — 

London  and  Westminster  Bank  ..  ..  ..  ..  785  6  9 

In  hands  of  Chairman  of  Executive  (Scotland)  . .  . .  5  15  7 

-  791  2  4 

Interest  on  Investments  : —  . 

Ground  Rents  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  149  16  8 

Rent  of  15,  Bloomsbury  Square . 1S7  10  8 

-  337  7  4 

Subscriptions  : — 

1334  Members,  Pharmaceutical  Chemists. .  ..  ..  1400  14  0 

569  ,,  Chemists  and  Druggists  ..  . .  ...  597  9  0 

1651  Associates  in  Business  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  1733  11  0 

965  Associates  not  in  Business .  506  12  6 

841  Students  ..  ..  . 441  10  6 

4679  17  0 

16  Life  Subscriptions . 16S  0  0 


Fees  paid  upon  Restoration  to  the  Society  . .  . .  6  13  0 

-  4S54  10  0 

Examination  Fees  : — - 


1722  First  Examination  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  3092  12  0 

2  Modified  ,,  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  12  0 

1464  Minor  ,,  . 6135  IS  0 

143  Major  ,,  .  397  1  0 


9626  13  0 

Registration  Fees  as  Chemists  and  Druggists  . .  - .  14  14  0 

Fees  for  Restoration  to  the  Register  . .  . .  . .  17  17  0 

-  9659  4  0 

School  of  Pharmacy — Students’  Fees  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  1367  2  0 


London  and  Westminster  Bank — An  Advance,  November,  1896  ..  1500  0  0 


£  s.  d 

Annuities: — Mr.  Elias  Bremridge  and  Mr.  Joseph  Ince  (1  quarter)  ..  425  0  0 

Carriage  of  Books  and  Parcels . 19  4  0 

Certificates  of  Death  . 21  10  6 

Evening  and  other  Meetings . 48  13  11 

England 

Examinations  : —  , and  Wales.  Scotland. 

Minor,  Modified,  and  Major  : — - 
Fees  to  Examinez'S  and  Ti'avelling  Ex¬ 
penses  .  1405  7  7  1009  18  6 

Refreshments  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  60  13  4  53  2  1 

Appai'atus,  Drugs,  Chemicals,  Printing, 
and  sundry  charges  •  . .  . .  . .  335  9  1  8S  17  6 


1S01  10  0  1151  18  1 
England  and  Wales . 1801  10  0 


2953  8  1 

First  Examination  : — 


Fees  to  Superintendents,  Hire  of  Rooms, 
and  other  charges  . .  . .  . .  . .  340  2  3 

Fees  to  the  College  of  Preceptors  ,.  ..  198  19  0  539  1  3 

-  3492  9  4 

Fixtures  Fittings,  and  Furniture  . 19  16  0 

Gas,  Water,  Coal,  Cleaning  Materials,  etc . .  356  17  6 

House  Servants — Wages  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  285  4  4 

Journal : — Balance  of  account  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  2228  1  9 

School  of  Pharmacy  : — 

Stipends  of  Professors,  Lecturez',  Assistant  Lecturer 
azzd  Demonstrators,  and  Wages  of  Porters  . .  . .  S65  19  6 

Subscription  to  Royal  Botanic  Gardens .  21  0  0 

Apparatus,  Chemicals,  Specimens  for  Lectuz-e  Classes, 

Prize  Medals,  Certificates,  and  priziting  and  postizzg 

prospectuses .  202  8  6 

-  1089  S  0 

Law  Charges — Balance  of  account  .  685  3  1 

Library  : — Librarian’s  Salary . 26S  15  0 

Purchase  and  Bizzdizzg  of  Books  . .  . .  . .  90  16  5 

Libraz’iazz  attezzding  Meeting  of  the  Libi’ary 
Association  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  10  10  0 

- - 370  1  5 

Museum  : — - 

Curator’s  Salary  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  400  0  0 

Assistant’s  Wages  .  52  0  0 

Curator  attendiizg  Museums’  Association  Meetizzg  . .  10  10  0 

Museum  Report  1S93-4  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  32  17  6 

Specimezis,  Bottles,  and  Sundries  . .  . .  . .  40  15  7 

-  530  3  1 

Expenses  in  Scotland  : — 

Assistant  Secretary — Salary . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  250  0  0 

Taxes  and  Insurance . .  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  58  15  10 

Members  of  Executive — Travelling  Expenses,  etc.  . .  33  13  6 

Fuel,  Light,  Water,  Cleaning,  Service,  and  Miscellazzeozzs 
Expenses  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  305  11  2 

-  64S  0  6 

Postage  : — General  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  219  11  2 

Journal..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  875  4  6 

-  1094  15  8 

Pharmacopoeia  Committee  of  the  Society  (paid  on  accountof)  ..  ..  41  5  5 

Provincial  Education  (Gz-ant  to  Livez'pool  Pharmaceutical  Students’ 

Society)  ..  IS  0  0 

Register — Balance  of  Account  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  9  2  7 

Rent,  Taxes,  azid  Insurance  of  Plate  Glass  .  750  2  10 

Repairs  azzd  Alteratioizs  . .  . .  .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  601  13 

Stationery,  Engraving,  Priziting  and  Office  Expenses .  247  14 

Calendar — Balance  of  Account  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  78  17 

Salaries  : — Secretary  and  Registrar,  and  Clerks  . .  . .  . .  . .  1629  19 

Research  Laboratory  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  381  17  , 

Herbarium  azid  Council  Medals,  and  Sundries  . .  . .  . .  . .  1117  8 

Travelling  Expenses — Council  and  Committees  . .  . .  . .  . .  504  8  7 

Refreshments  for  Council  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  47  2  8 

Interest  on  Advance  from  Bankers  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  33  10  8 

London  azid  Westminster  Bank — Amount  repaid  April,  1896  ..  ..  1500  0  0 

Repaid  to  Treasurer — Amount  due  to  him  January  1,  1896  ..  ..  13  18  9 

Balance  December  31,  1S96  : — ■ 

London  and  Westminster  Bank  ..  ..  ..  ..  1243  8  10 

In  hands  of  Chairman  of  Executive  (Scotland)  . .  . .  72  4  8 
In  Treasurer’s  Hands  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  3  116 

- -  1319  5  0 


£18,509  5  8 


£18,509  5  8 


-T  C  O  C"  M 


MAY  8,  189?] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


389 


BENEVOLENT  FUND. 


Balance,  January  1,  1896 

London  and  Westminster  Bank  . .  . , 

In  Treasurer’s  hands  . 

Interest  on  Invested  Capital  and  Ground  Rents 
Subscriptions  . 


CURRENT  ACCOUNT. 


£  s.  d. 

471  2  6 
17  8 
1051  1  0 
1739  14  4 


£3263  5  6 


A  nnuitants. 

35  at  £50  per  annum  for  4  quarters  . . 

9  at  £40  „  „ 

1  at  £35  ,,  ,,  .... 

2  at  £50  ,,  3  ,, 

1  at  £50  ,,  1  quarter 


£  s.  d. 

1750  0  0 
360  0  0 
35  0  0 
75  0  0 
12  10  0 


Grants. 

Members  and  Associates  of  the  Society  and  Registered 

Chemists  and  Druggists  (27) . .  ..  ..  287  0  0 

Widows  of  ditto  (25)  . .  . .  . .  . .  266  0  0 


Secretary’s  Casual  Fund.. 

Interest  on  £1000  borrowed  from  the  Orphan  Fund 

Printing,  Stationery,  and  Postage . 

Balance,  December  31,  1896  : — 

London  and  Westminster  Bank  . . 

In  Treasurer’s  hands 


£  s.  d. 


2232  10  0 


553  0  0 
10  0  0 
35  0  0 
40  10  8 

386  7  10 
5  17  0 


£3263  5  6 


Balance,  Jan.  1st,  1896  : — London  and  Westminster  Bank 
Donations  and  Legacies 


DONATION  ACCOUNT. 

. .  430  4  5  Purchase  of  £1000  Consols 

. .  1024  5  0  Balance,  Dec.  1st,  1896  : — London  and  Westminster  Bank 

£1454  9  5 


1108  16  0 
345  13  5 


£1454  9  5 


Balance,  Jan.  1st,  1896  : — London  and  Westminster  Bank 
Subscriptions 

Interest  on  Invested  Capital 

Interest  on  £1000  lent  to  the  Benevolent  Fund 


ORPHAN  FUND. 

(Founded  by  Thomas  Hyde  Hills,  1891.) 

. .  . .  82  9  9  London  Orphan  Asylum  (Minett)  . 

..  ..  18  10  0  Balance,  Dec.  31st,  1896  London  and  Westminster  Bank 

9  15  0 
35  0  0 


£145  14  9 


30  0  0 
115  14  9 


£145  14  9 


AUDITORS’  REPORT. 


We,  the  undersigned  Auditors,  have  examined  the  accounts  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain,  as  presented  in  the  Financial 
Statements  of  the  General  Fund,  the  Benevolent  Fund  and  the  Orphan  Fund  Accounts,  and  find  them  correct.  We  have  inspected  the  Deeds 
relat’ng  to  the  House  Property  and  Ground  Bents  named  below,  and  also  find  that  there  were  standing  to  the  account  of  the  Society  at  the  Bunk 
of  England,  and  in  the  hands  of  the  Society’s  Bankers,  on  the  31st  December,  1896,  the  following,  viz. : — 

'Freehold  Ground  Rents  at  Paddington  Green,  London,  W,,  cost  .  £5551  5  6 

House  in  Edinburgh,  cost .  .  1931  10  0 

General  Fund  . „  ,,  Additional  Building,  cost  .  3111  4  9 

Leasehold  Premises  : — Galen  Place,  cost  .  10,fi06  10  2 

,,  16  and  16,  Bloomsbury  Square,  cost .  9527  5  3 


Benevolent  Fund. 


30.727  15  8 


Two  and  three-quarters  per  cent.  Consols . £2050  0  0 

Freehold  Ground  Bents  at  Strawberry  Hill,  cost .  £1020  12  6 

Do.  Battersea,  cost .  12,213  0  0 

Do.  Broomwood  Park  Estate,  cost .  7454  7  10 

Do.  West  Kensington,  cost .  5809  2  1 

- -  26,497  2  5 

100  0  0 
100  0  0 


St.  Paul,  Minneapolis  and  Manitoba  Railway  4  per  cent.  Bond  . . . 

Chemists’  Aerated  and  Mineral  Waters  Association,  Limited,  fully  paid-up  £1  Shares 


28,747  2  5 


Orphan  Fund . Two  and  three-quarters  per  cent.  Consols . . . . . . 

In  addition  to  the  above  the  following  Securities  were  standing  to  the  credit  of  the  Society  on  December  31st,  1896 : — 

Pereira  Memorial  Fund... 

Bell  Memorial  Fund  . 

H  anbury  Memorial  Fund 

Redwood  Memorial  Fund .  Great  Indian  Peninsula  Railway  Stock 

Hills  Prize  Fund .  Russian  Bonds . 


|  Two  and  three -quarters  per  cent.  Consols 


355  O  O 


C  ICO  O  0 
2  60  O  O 
L  400  O  0 

400  O  O 

318  8  O 


Manchester  Pharmaceutical  Asso-  |  Manchester  Ship  Canal  Co.  4  per  cent.  Debentures 
ciation  Scholarship  Fund .  f  Two  and  three-quarters  per  cent.  Consols  . 

The  Burroughs  Scholarship .  4  per  cent.  New  Zealand  Consolidated  Stock . . 


February  23,  1897. 


700  0  0 
52  4  6 

-  752  4  6 

.  720  O  O 


S.  LLOYD  STACEY, 
CHAS.  UMNEY, 

F.  HARWOOD  LESCHER, 
FRANCIS  YATES, 


l  Auditors, 


390 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  8,  1897 


education  for  their  sons  is  of  higher  import  than  a  hastily 
gained  minimum  of  knowledge  requisite  to  pass  an  examination. 

The  Council  has  always  willingly  identified 
Provincial  Edu-  itself  with  every  effort  for  the  promotion  or  en- 
eation.  couragement  of  pharmaceutical  education  in 
provincial  centres,  and  during  the  past  year  its 
practical  sympathy  with  local  activity  in  this  direction  has  been 
shown  by  a  grant  of  £20  to  the  Liverpool  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Students’  Society.  This  has  been  expended  in  the 
purchase  of  a  materia  medica  cabinet  and  specimens,  which 
have  been  taken  charge  of  by  the  authorities  of  the  Liverpool 
University  College  for  the  use  of  students  in  the  Liverpool  district, 
and  should  be  of  material  assistance  in  supplementing  the  pharma¬ 
ceutical  instruction,  for  which  special  provision  has  been  made  at 
the  College. 

The  Council  records  with  pleasure 
Scholarships,  that  it  has  been  able  to  realise  the 
wishes  of  the  founder  of  the  Manchester 
Pharmaceutical  Scholarship  by  the  appointment  of  a  Man¬ 
chester  Scholar.  It  is  expected  that  this  Scholarship  will  at¬ 
tract  more  competitors  as  it  becomes  more  widely  known 
in  the  district  to  which  it  applies.  The  Burroughs  Memorial 
Scholarship,  to  which  reference  was  made  in  last  year’s  report, 
has  now  been  established.  The  conditions  under  which  the 
scholarship  may  be  competed  for  and  held  have  been  formulated 
and  are  published  both  in  the  Journal  and  the  Calendar.  The  Council 
trusts  that  this,  the  latest  addition  to  the  Society’s  educational 
endowments,  will  stimulate  pharmaceutical  chemists  to  avail 
themselves  of  an  opportunity  to  enter  upon  a  post-graduate  course 
of  instruction  in  advanced  chemistry  and  pharmacy  with  a  view  to 
fitting  themselves  for  the  conduct  of  original  investigations  in 
those  subjects. 

Mr.  Thomas  Tickle,  who  has  been  appointed 
Research.  the  Salters’  Research  Fellow,  Mr.  Wilfrid 
Lean,  who  was  appointed  Redwood  Scholar  by 
the  Council  in  July,  and  Mr.  R.  M.  Stearn  are  conducting  investi¬ 
gations  in  the  Laboratory  under  the  direction  of  Professor  J. 
Norman  Collie. 

The  session  in  London  was  opened  by  a 
Evening  lecture  on  “The  Discovery  of  Argon  and 

Meetings.  Helium  ”  by  Dr.  J.  Norman  Collie, 

F.R.S. — the  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the 
Society’s  School.  On  a  subsequent  evening  papers  were  read  by  Mr. 
David  Howard  on  the  “  Estimation  of  Quinine,”  and  by  Mr.  E.  M. 
Holmes  on  “  The  Trees  Yielding  Myrrh  and  Gum  Arabic.” 
Mr.  A.  C.  Seward,  M.A.,  of  Cambridge,  gave  an  illustrated  lecture 
on  “Fossil  Plants,”  which  was  much  appreciated,  and  at  the  last 
meeting  of  the  session  valuable  papers  were  contributed  by  Mr. 
W.  Martindale  on  ‘  ‘  Preservatives  of  Pharmacopceial  Prepara¬ 
tions”  and  by  Mr.  J.  C.  Umney  on  “The  Commercial  Varieties 
of  Fennel  and  Their  Essential  Oils.”  The  meetings  have  been 
characterised  by  a  considerably  larger  attendance  than  usual. 

During  the  year  about  400  cases  of  infringe- 
Legal.  ment  of  the  Pharmacy  Act  have  been  brought  to 
the  notice  of  the  Council  and  dealt  with.  A 
•risumi  of  the  cases  which  came  into  court  is  published  in  the 
Pharmaceutical  Journal  for  January  2,  1897.  Beyond  occasionally 
exhibiting  the  legal  difficulties  placed  in  the  way  of  the  Society 
these  cases,  with  one  exception,  present  no  feature  for  special 
comment.  The  exception  is  the  case  of  the  Society  v. 
Fox,  an  unregistered  person  who  was  proceeded  against  in 
respect  to  a  sale  of  Kay’s  Compound  Essence  of  Linseed — a  prepara¬ 


tion  of  morphine.  The  defence  raised  was  that  the  preparation 
came  within  the  exemption  provided  in  Section  16  of  the  Pharmacy 
Act  for  “patent  medicines,”  and  the  point  at  issue  was  the  definition 
of  a  patent  medicine.  The  compound  essence  of  linseed  had 
been  the  subject  of  Letters  Patent,  but  the  patent  had,  by  the  non¬ 
payment  of  fees,  lapsed  twenty  years  previously.  Relying 
upon  the  words  of  the  Medicine  Stamp  Act,  imposing  a  stamp 
duty  on  medicines  at  any  time  prepared  under  authority  of  Letters 
Patent,  the  defendant  contended  that  the  grant  of  a  patent 
for  a  medicine  conferred  patent  privileges  thereon  for  all  time.  The 
learned  County  Court  Judge,  however,  held  otherwise,  and  decided 
that  the  exempting  words  of  Section  16  did  not  cover  Kay’s  Essence 
of  Linseed.  This  ruling  was  contested  by  the  defendant,  and  an 
appeal  was  carried  to  the  Queen’s  Bench,  where  it  was  very  sum¬ 
marily  dismissed  with  costs. 

The  action  of  Sheriffs  in  Scotland  before  whom  certain  cases  of 
infringement  have  been  brought,  has  increased  the  difficulty  of 
carrying  out  the  provisions  of  the  Pharmacy  Act  north  of  the 
Tweed.  The  matter  is  receiving  the  careful  consideration  of  the 
Council. 

The  income  from  subscriptions  shows  an 
Benevolent  improvement  of  less  than  £100.  This  cannot 

Fund.  be  considered  a  large  increase  when  the 

annual  additions  to  the  roll  of  registered 
persons  is  borne  in  mind.  The  total  amount  received  last  year 
in  subscriptions  and  for  interest  was  £2790,  and  the  expenditure 
in  casual  grants  and  for  annuities  was  £2795.  It  is  regrettable 
to  have  to  record  that  in  January  the  Treasurer  had  not  enough  to 
the  credit  of  the  current  account  to  pay  the  amount  of  the 
annuities  then  due,  and  special  efforts  had  to  be  made  to 
supplement  the  available  resources  of  the  Fund.  The  Council 
confidently  hopes  that  this  condition  of  things  will  be 
removed  during  the  ensuing  year,  and  that  the  efforts  being 
made  in  connection  with  the  Decennial  Festival  Dinner 
and  in  commemoration  of  Her  Majesty’s  Diamond  Jubilee 
will  contribute  to  the  more  general  participation  of  registered 
persons  in  the  maintenance  of  the  Fund,  which  exists  solely  for 
their  benefit.  The  Council  has  pleasure  in  recording  the  good 
work  done  by  local  secretaries  and  local  associations  on  behalf  of 
the  Fund,  and  highly  appreciates  the  valuable  assistance  thus 
rendered.  During  the  year  £450  was  received  from  the  estate  of 
G.  Dudgeon  of  Nottingham,  and  a  legacy  of  £9  under  the  will  of  a 
lady  whose  brother  was  a  chemist.  The  late  H.  A.  Thomas  also 
left  the  Fund  £100,  and  another  divisional  secretary  recently  de¬ 
ceased — the  late  Geo.  Nind — has  bequeathed  £2000  for  the  benefit 
of  those  who  are  unfortunately  compelled  to  look  to  the  Fund  for 
help. 

The  report  of  the  Executive  of  the  North 
North  British  British  Branch  of  the  Society  presented 
Branch.  to  the  Council  at  its  May  meeting  affords 
evidence  of  the  efficiency  and  loyalty  with 
which  the  Society’s  work  in  Scotland  is  conducted. 

The  following  deaths  have  to  be  recorded  : — 
Obituary.  Dr.  J.  Langdon  Down,  Dr.  Edmund  Russow, 
Honorary  Members;  Dr.  Trimen  and  Baron 
Ferdinand  von  Mueller,  Corresponding  Members  ;  Thomas  Earee, 
Founder  ;  G.  F.  Schacht,  S.  C.  Betty,  and  Marshall  Leigh,  former 
Members  of  the  Council ;  J.  B.  Parkin  (Ripon),  F.  Codd  (Devonport), 
W.  B.  Stonham  (Maidstone),  E.  S.  Bradley  (Ashbourne),  E.  H. 
Dyer  (Honiton),  and  W.  Sarsfield  (Durham),  Local  Secretaries; 
and  H.  A.  Thomas  (City),  W.  Gulliver  (St.  George’s,  Hanover 
Square),  and  G.  Nind  (Wandsworth),  Divisional  Secretaries. 


May  8,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


391 


PHARMACEUTICAL  SOCIETY 


Chemist  and  Druggist. 

John  Christie,  of  Glasgow,  who  was  in  business  before  August  1, 
1868,  having  tendered  his  subscription  for  the  current  year, 
was  elected  a  “Member”  of  the  Society. 


MEETING  OF  THE  COUNCIL. 


WEDNESDA  Y,  MA  Y  5,  1897. 


Present  : 

Mr.  Walter  Hills,  President. 

Mr.  John  Harrison,  Vice-President. 

Messrs.  Allen,  Atkins,  Bateson,  Bottle,  Carteighe,  Corder,  Cross, 
Gostling,  Grose,  Hampson,  Johnston,  Martindale,  Newsholme, 
Savory,  Southall,  Symes  and  Young. 

The  minutes  of  the  meeting  on  April  7,  and  also  of  the  special 
meeting  on  April  28,  were  read  and  confirmed. 

The  International  Congress  in  Brussels. 

The  President  said  he  suggested  at  the  last  meeting  that  dele¬ 
gates  might  be  appointed  to-day  to  the  International  Congress  at 
Brussels,  but  though  he  should  be  quite  willing  to  take  the  names 
of  any  gentleman  who  had  made  arrangements  to  attend,  he 
thought,  on  the  whole,  it  would  be  more  convenient  to  defer 
making  the  appointment  until  next  month,  when  delegates  would 
be  appointed  to  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Congress,  which  held 
its  meeting  in  Glasgow  nearly  at  the  same  time,  and  when  gentle¬ 
men  would  be  more  likely  to  have  made  their  arrangements  for  the 
autumn. 


Announcement  of  Deaths. 

The  President  announced  that  since  the  last  meeting  of  the 
Council  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Society  had  been  called  to  his 
rest  in  the  person  of  Mr.  Thomas  Earee,  of  Staines,  who  for  fifty- 
six  years  had  regularly  subscribed  to  tbe  Society.  He  also  men¬ 
tioned  the  death,  on  April  11  last,  of  Professor  Edmund  Russo w, 
an  honorary  member,  who  was  Professor  of  Botanyand  Director  of  the 
Botanical  Gardens  at  the  University  of  Dorpat.  Professor 
Russow  was  the  professor  under  whom  Professor  Greenish  had 
worked  for  some  tifne  ;  his  principal  work  was  in  anatomical 
botany  and  the  comparative  anatomy  of  plants,  in  which  work  he 
was  admitted  to  be  facile  princeps.  The  Council  would  condole 
with  the  widow  and  family  in  the  loss  which  they  had  sustained. 
As  he  was  only  fifty-six  years  of  age  the  loss  of  such  an  able  man 
was  all  the  more  to  be  regretted. 


Diplomas. 

The  undermentioned,  being  duly  registered  as  pharmaceutical 
chemists,  were  granted  diplomas  stamped  with  the  seal  of  the 
Society  : — - 


Coupland,  Henry  Snart. 
Coverdale,  Arthur  Edward. 
Drust,  John  Hubert. 
Elkington,  Charles  John. 
Goodall,  Frederic  Charles. 
Hopkins,  John  Sidney. 
Hughes,  William  Griffiths. 
Knowles,  William  Richards. 
Lee,  Harry  Lancelot. 

Lewis,  Richard  Rice. 


Lloyd,  Thomas  Henry. 
Lumley,  Harold. 
Mallaband,  William  Henry. 
Saunders,  Alfreton  Woods. 
Stearn,  Ralph  Marmaduke. 
Sutcliffe,  Lot  Bains. 
Thomas,  James  Douglas. 
Umney,  Ernest  Albert. 
Walker,  Albert  Storrs. 
Woodward,  Harrison. 
Rattray,  David  Smith. 


Election  of  Members. 

The  following,  having  passed  the  Major  examination  and 
tendered  their  subscriptions  for  the  current  year,  were  elected 
“  Members”  of  the  Society  : — 

Pharmaceutical  Chemists. 


Election  of  Associates  in  Business. 

The  following,  having  passed  their  respective  examinations,  being 
in  business  on  their  own  account,  and  having  tendered  their  sub¬ 
scriptions  for  the  current  year,  were  elected  “  Associates  in  Busi¬ 
ness  ”  of  the  Society  : — 

.  Minor. 


Blyth,  William  Brew  A.  ;  Leith. 
Bowness,  Samuel  Wesley  ;  Ripponden. 
Brown,  John  ;  Melrose. 

Carpenter,  Joseph  Edmund ;  Sandwich. 
Crawford,  David ;  Glasgow. 

Curtis,  Michael ;  London. 

Darling,  J ohn  M.  ;  S.  Shields. 

Eden,  William  James  ;  Manchester. 
Giles,  Lewis  John  ;  Folkestone. 
Gilmour,  Andrew  ;  Manchester. 
Harriman,  Edwin  ;  Liverpool. 

Harry,  Elias  Hamilton  ;  Clapham. 

Hay,  William  Fowlie  ;  Aberdeen. 

Head,  George  ;  Deal. 

Hodgson,  John  Duncanson  ;  London. 
Hughes,  William  ;  Manchester. 

Hull,  John  Heber  ;  Tadcaster. 
Humfrey,  William  Henry  ;  Deal. 
Jenkins,  Owen  John  ;  Cardiff. 


Jennings,  William  Henry  ;  Hoylake. 
Jones,  William  ;  Liverpool. 

Keeley,  James  Philip  ;  Blackpool. 
Littler,  John  ;  Chesterton. 

Mann,  Joseph  ;  Lowestoft. 

Marshall,  Richard  Harrison  ;  Bradford. 
Maunder,  John  H.  ;  Teignmouth. 

Neil,  William  ;  Fettercairn. 

Plumstead,  Fred.  G.  E.  ;  Attleborough. 
Stone,  Ernest  Frederick  ;  Exeter. 
Swainson,  John  Wm.  B.  ;  Devonport. 
Wakefield,  John  Henry  ;  Birmingham. 
Wallas,  Thomas  Irwin  ;  London. 
Watkinson,  Wm.  H.  ;  Little  Hulton. 
White,  Alexander  A.  ;  Auchtermuchty. 
Williams,  George  Alfred  ;  Manchester. 
Williams,  Harry  Griffith  ;  Manchester. 
Wright,  George  Victor  ;  Edinburgh. 
Young,  James  R.,  jun.  ;  Edinburgh. 


Modified. 

Spyer,  Newton  ;  S.  Kensington.  |  Wheeler,  Frederick  Wm.  ;  Southsea. 


Election  of  Associates. 

The  following,  having  passed  the  Minor  examination  and 
tendered  or  paid  as  “Students”  their  subscriptions  for  the 
current  year,  were  elected  ‘  ‘Associates  ”  of  the  Society  : — 


Arber,  Alfred  Preston  ;  Malvern. 
Ashdown,  William  Percy  C.  ;  Brighton. 
Barlow,  Thomas  Oldham  ;  Bowdon. 
Barrett,  Henry  William  ;  Poplar. 
Battle,  Ernest  William  C.  ;  Manchester. 
Bawcutt,  Frank  Frederick  ;  London. 
Bowdler,  Ernest  Harper  ;  Albrighton. 
Bowman,  Alexander  N.  ;  Cardenden. 
Bromley,  Albert  William  ;  Hull. 
Burnett,  John  ;  Pickering. 

Cooper,  Herbert  Edward  ;  Kettering. 
Dannatt,  Philip  ;  Hull. 

Dowdy,  Sidney  Ernest ;  Kennington. 
Dun-ant,  George  Stuart ;  London. 
England,  Herbert ;  Scarborough. 
Eustace,  Robert  George  ;  London. 
Evans,  Arthur  E.  ;  Moretonhampstead. 
Forrest,  James  Lindsay  ;  Edinburgh. 
Forster,  William  ;  Seaham  Harbour. 
Gair,  Emmeline  Annie  ;  London. 
Gayton,  Ethel  ;  Hampstead. 

Gwilliam,  John  Everall ;  Warminster. 
Hamer,  Enoch  Thomas  ;  Southport. 
Hankinson,  Herbert  S.  ;  Liverpool. 
Hirst,  Frederick  B.  ;  Batley  Carr. 
Hodgson,  Baron  Cuthbort  ;  Halifax. 
Hooper,  Joseph  ;  Okehampton. 

Jeffery,  George  Golder  ;  Tring. 


J effs,  Richard  Thomas  ;  Gloucester. 
Jones,  Edward  Rees  ;  Oswestry. 

Jones,  Stephen;  London. 

Kerruish,  Thomas  Maltby  ;  Douglas. 
King,  Frank  Herbert ;  London. 
Knight,  Thomas  ;  Reading. 

Knowles,  John  Thomas  ;  Lancaster. 
Lenfestey,  L.  d’Estreville  ;  London. 
Lloyd,  Henry  Bright ;  Cheltenham. 
Lounds,  William  Beaver ;  Grantham. 
Lowson,  William ;  Driffield. 

Matson,  Joseph  ;  Stockton-on-Tees. 
Mellor,  William  Gilbert ;  Warwick. 
Milner,  Jonah ;  Consett. 

Parker,  Herbert  Thomas  ;  Cambridge. 
Peck,  John  Wicliffe  ;  Clapham. 
Prescott,  John  ;  Butterwick. 

Purnell,  Austin  ;  Clevedon. 

Si viter,  William  Oscar  B.  ;  Birmingham- 
Skeat,  Charles  ;  Plymouth. 

Skinner,  Ernest  Pape  ;  Boston. 
Sutherland,  Alexander  G.  ;  Dundee. 
Thompson,  Edward  ;  Middlesboro’. 
Thompson,  Sidney  C.  ;  King’s  Lynn. 
Wade,  Margaret  Callander  ;  Larbert. 
Whysall,  Edward  Searson  ;  Grantham. 
Windemer,  Oscar  Roxburgh  ;  Pembury. 
Woods,  Benjamin  A.  ;  Kings  Lynn. 


'Election  of  Students. 

The  following,  having  passed  the  First  examination  and 
tendered  their  subscriptions  for  the  current  year,  were  elected 
‘  ‘  Students  ”  of  the  Society  : — 


Bowden,  Harold  ;  Manchester. 
Coupland,  Henry  Snart ;  Islington. 
Coverdale,  Arthur  E.  ;  S.  Kensington. 
Currie,  Archibald  ;  Leith. 

Dewhirst,  John  Arthur  ;  Brixton. 
Hopkins,  John  S.  ;  Stow-on-the-Wold. 
Lee,  Harry  Lancelot ;  London. 

Lewis,  Richard  Rice  ;  Aberdovey. 
Lumley  Harold  ;  New  Cross. 


Mallaband,  William  H.  ;  Sheffield. 
Rattray,  David  Smith  ;  Aberdeen. 
Saunders,  Alfred  Woods  ;  Dedham. 
Stearn,  Ralph  Marmaduke  ;  Cambridge. 
Sutcliffe,  Lot  Bains  ;  Goole. 

Taylor,  Archibald  L.  ;  S.  Lambeth. 
Thomas,  James  Douglas  ;  Sydenham. 
Umney,  Ernest  Albert ;  Sydenham. 

]  Walker,  Albert  Storrs  ;  Kendal. 


Armstrong,  Henry  Swan  ;  Dumfries. 
Cannon,  Herbert  Henry  ;  Lb k card. 
Davison,  Joseph  ;  Spennymoor.  . 


Dawson,  Robert  Hilliard ;  Wigan. 
Fullerton,  David  Noble  ;  Aintree. 
Green,  Harold  Walter  ;  Birmingham 


392 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL, 


[May  8, 189? 


Guard,  Harry  Ernest ;  Kennington. 
Hallsworth,  Harry  M.  ;  Oldham. 


Pad  wick,  Kingsley  John  ;  Brighton. 
Roberts,  William  R.  ;  Linthwaite. 


April,  1895  to  March,  1S96 
„  1896  „  1897 


„  1494 
..  1242 


Hawkes,  Frederick  ;  Kennington. 
Houghton,  George  Smith  ;  Leeds. 
Humphreys,  Julian  ;  London. 
Hustler,  George  Herbert ;  Horton. 
Jones,  Hugh  ;  Llanfairfechan. 

Little,  Robert ;  Wootton  Bassett. 
Nixon,  John  Hobart ;  Loughborough. 

Watts,  Wil 


Rouse,  William  Henry  Broom  ;  Sidcup. 
Sloman,  Courtenay  ;  Torquay. 

Smith,  Harold  Saunders  ;  Horsham. 
Tinsley,  Samuel  Hilton  ;  Widnes. 
Vickery,  William  Robert ;  Plymouth. 
Walter,  William  H.  ;  Newcastle;  Staffs. 
Wamsley,  William  Bunting ;  Stockport, 
n  ;  Dumfries. 


Restorations  to  Register. 

The  names  of  the  following  persons,  who  have  severally  made  the 
required  declarations,  and  paid  a  fine  of  one  guinea,  were  restored 
to  the  Register  of  Chemists  and  Druggists  : — 

Angus  Sinclair  Brown,  375,  Cleethorpe  Road,  New  Clee,  Grimsby. 

Robert  Lamb,  The  Hospital,  Altrincham. 

Charles  Nicholls,  Bow  Street,  Langport. 

Andrew  Paul,  16,  Glasgow  Road,  Burnbank,  Hamilton,  N.B. 

Several  persons  were  restored  to  their  former  status  in  the 
Society  upon  payment  of  the  current  year’s  subscription  and  a 
nominal  restoration  fee  of  one  shilling. 


Report  of  the  Executive  of  the  North  British  Branch. 

The  following  report  was  read  : — 

“  The  Executive  of  the  North  British  Branch  has  now  to  submit  the  following 
report  on  the  work  of  the  year,  March,  1896,  to  March,  1897. 

“  At  a  meeting  of  Executive  held  on  April  17,  1896,  it  was  arranged  that  the 
annual  election  should  take  place  on  Friday,  June  19,  1896,  and  the  present 
Executive  was  accordingly  elected  at  a  meeting  of  Members  and  Associates  in 
Business  of  the  Society  residing  in  Scotland,  held  on  the  above  date. 

“  The  Executive  has  held  three  meetings  during  the  year.  At  the  first  meeting 
on  July  3,  1896,  Mr.  James  Laidlaw  Ewing,  Edinburgh,  was  elected  Chairman, 
and  Mr.  William  Little  Currie,  Glasgow,  Vice-Chairman. 

“  The  resident  members,  with  the  Chairman  and  Vice-Chairman,  were  appointed 
a  General  Purposes  Committee  to  attend  to  business  arising  between  meetings  of 
Executive,  or  remitted  to  them  by  the  Executive. 

“  A  Committee  was  also  appointed  to  prepare  a  report  on  the  Nomination  of 
Examiners. 

“The  General  Purposes  Committee  has  met  three  times,  and  has  had  charge  of 
the  Evening  Meetings  and  the  arrangements  connected  with  the  purchase  of  the 
Scoresby- Jackson  collection  of  materia  medica  from  the  representatives  of  the 
late  Dr.  T.  A.  G.  Balfour,  and  the  transference  of  the  Materia  Medica  Museum  of 
the  Royal  College  of  Physicians  to  the  custody  of  the  Society  to  be  kept  in  the 
Society's  premises  in  Edinburgh. 

“  The  Committee  for  Nomination  of  Examiners  met  twice,  and  reported  to  the 
Executive  on  November  26, 1896,  when  the  following  were  nominated  for  election 
by  the  Council  as  the  Board  of  Examiners  for  Scotland  for  1897  : — Isaac  Bayley 
Balfour,  Regius  Professor  of  Botany  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh ;  John 
Gibson,  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  Heriot-Watt  College,  Edinburgh ; 
Alexander  Davidson,  Montrose  ;  James  Laidlaw  Ewing,  Edinburgh  ;  Jonathan 
Innes  Fraser,  Edinburgh ;  Thomas  Maben,  Hawick  ;  John  Nesbit,  Portobello  ; 
and  John  William  Sutherland,  Dumfries. 

“  The  Financial  Statement  for  the  year  ending  December,  1896,  showing  a  total 
expenditure  of  £1533  10s.  lid.,  as  compared  with  £2550  17s.  id.  for  the  previous 
year,  has  already  been  forwarded  to  the  Council.  The  expenditure  for  1S95 
included  special  expenditure  of  £1149  9s.  9d.  in  connection  with  new  buildings 
required  for  examination  purposes,  thus  making  the  ordinary  expenditure 
£1401  7s.  7 d.  There  has  been  a  decrease  of  £26  10s.  in  the  item  of  Fuel,  Light, 
and  Water,  which  was  exceptionally  high  during  the  previous  year,  owing  to 
work  connected  with  new  buildings.  There  is  also  a  decrease  of  £77  15s.  lOd.  in 
the  cost  of  chemicals  and  apparatus  for  examinations.  The  nett  increase  of 
£132  3s.  id.  over  last  year  is  entirely  due  to  the  larger  examinations. 

“  The  following  particulars  indicate  that  the  departments  connected  with  the 
branch  continue  in  a  satisfactory  state  : — 

“  The  Examinations. — The  number  of  candidates  for  examination  continues 
large,  and  these  large  examinations  have  been  conducted  with  ease  and  comfort 
in  the  new  examination  premises. 

“  During  the  year  16  Major  Candidates  were  examined,  of  whom  4  passed  and 
12  failed ;  and  623  Minor  Candidates  were  examined,  of  whom  211  passed  and 
412  failed. 

“  There  has  been  a  slight  decrease  in  the  number  of  Major  candidates,  16  as 
compared  with  18,  and  there  has  been  a  considerable  decrease  in  the  number  of 
passes,  25  per  cent.,  as  compared  with  44‘4  per  cent,  last  year. 

“The  number  of  Minor  Candidates  again  shows  a  considerable  increase,  623  as 
compared  with  540  last  year.  The  results  show  a  further  unsatisfactory  decrease 
in  the  percentage  of  passes,  33'87  per  cent,  as  compared  with  40  per  cent,  in  the 
previous  year. 

“  Evening  Meetings. — The  Executive  regret  to  have  to  report  that  it  has  not 
been  found  possible  to  hold  more  than  two  Evening  Meetings  in  Edinburgh 
during  the  past  winter  session.  An  opening  meeting  had  been  arranged  to  be 
addressed  by  Professor  Patrick  Geddes,  but  at  the  last  moment  he  found  it 
impossible  to  fulfil  the  engagement.  It  has  been  found  that  Friday  nights  are 
unsuitable  for  these  meetings,  owing  to  the  number  of  other  engagements  in 
Edinburgh  on  that  night,  and  the  Executive  may  have  to  consider  the  alteration 
of  the  night  for  next  session.  The  Executive  has  to  express  thanks  to  those 
gentlemen  who  contributed  papers  for  the  meetings  that  were  held. 

Library. — “  The  Library  continues  to  grow,  and  during  the  year  several  valuable 
books  have  been  added,  mostly  by  purchase,  and  a  few  also  by  donation.  The 
number  of  volumes  circulated  during  the  year  is  seen  from  the  following 
statement : — . 


Decrease .  252 

“This  shows  a  decrease  of  252  volumes  in  the  total  circulation.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  is  a  gratifying  further  increase  in  the  number  of  volumes  circulated 
to  provincial  readers.  During  the  year  1895-96,  140  volumes  were  circulated  to 
readers  outside  Edinburgh  and  Leith ;  during  the  year  1896-97,  185  volumes  have 
been  so  circulated,  showing  an  increase  of  45  volumes. 

“While  the  lending  of  books  shows  a  decrease,  it  is  right  to  say  that  the 
enrichment  of  the  Library  in  recent  years  by  the  addition  of  a  considerable  num¬ 
ber  of  valuable  standard  books  of  reference  and  bound  volumes  of  the  leading 
chemical,  medical,  and  pharmaceutical  periodicals,  has  maintained  and  largely 
increased  the  use  of  the  Library  for  purposes  of  reference  by  members,  associates, 
and  students,  and  also  by  scientists,  medical  practitioners,  and  teachers. 

“The  Executive  has  to  record  thanks  to  those  gentlemen  who  have  given 
donations  of  books  during  the  year. 

“  Museum. — The  Executive  has  again  to  record  thanks  to  several  donors  of 
specimens.  The  chief  of  the  events  of  the  year  in  connection  with  the  Museum 
are  : — 

“1.  The  purchase  of  the  Scoresby- Jackson  collection  of  materia  medica  in 
December  for  the  sum  of  £45,  for  which  the  Executive  is  indebted  to  private 
subscribers  to  the  extent  of  £27  16s.,  and  to  the  Council  for  the  balance  of  £17  4s. 
This  collection  was  begun  and  largely  made  by  Sir  Douglas  Maclagan  and  then 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  late  Dr.  Scoresby -Jackson,  and  ultimately  became  the 
property  of  the  late  Dr.  T.  A.  G.  Balfour.  It  contains  several  specimens  of  con¬ 
siderable  historical,  commercial,  and  scientific  interest. 

“  2.  The  presentation  to  the  Society  of  their  Materia  Medica  Museum  by  the 
Fellows  of  the  Royal  College  of  Physicians,  Edinburgh,  to  be  preserved  in  the 
Society’s  house  in  Edinburgh.  The  collection  is  now  in  process  of  being  trans¬ 
ferred. 

“The  students’  specimens  have  just  been  examined  and  put  in  good  order. 
Some  which  had  become  deteriorated  by  handling  are  at  present  being  renewed. 

“  The  Attendance. — Under  this  heading  there  is  nothing  noteworthy  to  record. 
The  Library  and  Museum  continue  to  attract  large  numbers  of  visitors,  and  the 
Society’s  House  is  much  appreciated  as  a  convenient  place  of  call  by  members  of 
the  craft  from  various  parts  of  the  country. 

“  House. — The  Society’s  premises  in  Edinburgh  are  in  thorough  repair  and  good 
order.  The  proposals  for  re-adjustment  of  premises  have  been  delayed  for  fuller 
consideration  after  the  Executive  has  got  full  possession  of  the  collections  now 
being  added  to  the  Museum. 

“  Edinburgh,  April  23,  1897.  “James  L.  Ewing,  Chairman." 

The  President  moved  that  this  report  be  received  and  entered 
on  the  minutes.  It  showed  the  care  with  which  all  matters  con¬ 
nected  with  the  business  of  the  Society  in  the  North  was  conducted 
by  the  Executive,  under  their  very  excellent  Chairman,  Mr.  Laidlaw 
Ewing.  He  need  only  call  special  attention  to  the  very  excellent 
collections  of  materia  medica  which  had  been  acquired,  the  arrange¬ 
ments  for  the  care  of  which  had  necessitated  some  delay  in  the 
re-arrangement  of  the  Society’s  premises.  The  collection  of  the 
Royal  College  of  Physicians  especially  was  one  of  considerable  mag¬ 
nitude,  and  some  care  and  thought  were  necessary  in  providing 
for  its  proper  custody. 

Dr.  Symes  said  the  report  was  most  satisfactory,  but  he  wished 
to  call  attention  to  the  large  percentage  of  failures  disclosed  by  it. 
He  thought  it  would  be  a  good  thing  to  get  some  kind  of  return  of 
the  percentages  of  failures  in  particular  subjects.  With  regard  to 
having  professorial  examiners  for  special  subjects,  there  was 
always  a  little  danger  of  a  professor  in  any  one  subject  thinking 
that  his  subject  was  the  one  in  which  the  candidate  should  be 
more  efficient  than  anything  else.  He  had  heard  that  some  of  the 
substances  given  for  analysis  were  rather  outside  what  might  be 
expected  by  ordinary  candidates.  It  might  be  that  the  large 
percentage  of  failures  had  been  in  the  practical  subjects,  and  not 
in  the  technical ;  therefore,  it  would  be  very  satisfactory  to  know 
in  what  subjects  the  failures  occurred.  He  would  not  ask  for  this 
at  the  present  time,  but  some  kind  of  a  return  at  a  future  date 
might  be  of  use. 

The  President  replied  that  the  information  desired  by  Dr. 
Symes  would  probably  be  supplied  in  the  Report  that  Sir  Douglas 
Maclagan  or  the  present  Visitor  representing  the  Privy  Council. 
He  believed  that  such  figures  were  given  in  the  Reports  presented 
from  time  to  time  by  the  Goverment  Visitor  for  the  Board  for 
England  and  Wales.  It  would  be  noticed  that  there  were  a 
large  number  of  failures  in  what  they  chose  to  call  the  purely 
practical  subjects,  dispensing  and  so  on,  as  well  as  on  the  chemical 
side.  The  failures  were  pretty  generally  distributed  over  the 
different  subjects.  As  far  as  he  could  judge  the  special  examiners 
alluded  to  by  Dr.  Symes  were  very  anxious  to  do  all  they  could 
to  bring  out  the  information  which  the  candidates  possessed  on  the 
particular  subjects,  and  he  thought  the  candidates  were  treated 
with  every  consideration  by  them. 

Dr.  Symes  said  his  grievance  was  not  one  from  any  candidate  or 
he  should  not  have  thought  of  bringing  it  forward.  They  trusted 
their  examiners  thoroughly,  and  had  every  confidence  in  them, 
but  they  did  not  want  a  professor  of  chemistry  to  feel  that  a  man 
was  going  to  live  by  pure  chemistry  alone,  and  the  same  with  the 


Mat  8,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


393 


professor  of  botany.  One  always  wanted  to  guard  against  a 
danger  of  that  kind. 

The  President  said  it  was  very  difficult  to  discuss  this  matter 
in  public,  but  he  would  say  that  it  had  been  generally  accepted  by 
the  Council  that  the  examination  should  be  something  more  than 
on  merely  practical  questions,  and  that  the  examination  in 
chemistry,  botany  and  so  forth,  should  be  a  general  test  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  candidate  up  to  a  reasonable  point. 


The  Proposed  New  Bye-Laws. 

The  President  moved  that  the  proposed  new  bye-laws  be  taken 
as  read.  This  was  seconded  by  Mr.  Hampson  and  agreed  to. 

The  President  then  moved  that  the  proposed  new  bye-laws, 
which  were  read  a  first  time  on  April  7,  a  second  time  on  April 
28,  and  were  published  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  for  April 
10,  1897,  be  confirmed. 

Mr.  Grose  seconded  the  motion. 

Mr.  Bateson  said  he  had  paid  great  attention  to  the  criticisms, 
both  favourable  and  adverse,  which  these  proposals  had  evoked, 
and  was  glad  to  find  that  opinion  was  almost  if  not  quite 
unanimous  with  regard  to  the  present  Preliminary  examination 
being  inadequate,  and  that  the  proposed  extended  scope  was 
meeting  with  universal  approval.  But 'the  same  unanimity  did 
not  exist  with  regard  to  the  raising  of  the  fee  for  the  Minor 
examination,  and  he  was  not  altogether  surprised  at  it. 
The  Council  had  discussed  the  matter  again  and  again, 
and  the  proposal  had  more  than  once  been  passed  ncm.  con. ,  which 
must  be  highly  satisfactory  ;  but  there  were  two  sides  to  the  ques¬ 
tion,  and  it  was  suggested  that  it  might  prevent  young  men  who 
were  educated  and  eligible  from  going  into  pharmacy,  and  rather 
lead  them  to  take  up  other  professions  where  the  training  was  not 
more  costly,  either  in  money  or  brain  power.  To  that  it  was 
replied  that  the  five-guinea  fee  was  not  at  all  commensurate  with 
the  advantages  conferred,  because  when  a  man  was  once  placed  on 
the  Register  he  secured  a  life  protection.  He  now  knew  more  than 
he  did  twelve  months  ago  as  to  the  amount  of  care  and  trouble 
bestowed  on  business  matters.  It  would  be  impossible  for  anyone 
to  sit  through  a  single  meeting  of  the  General  Purposes  Committee 
without  seeing  the  vast  amount  of  complex  legal  work  which  was 
constantly  going  on.  But  he  was  bound  to  say  that 
in  country  places  the  question  of  cui  hono  ?  was  certainly 
felt  very  strongly.  There  were  gentlemen  round  that  table  who 
had  fashionable  dispensing  establishments  and  profitable  proprie¬ 
taries,  to  whom  it  was  not  a  matter  of  much  moment  whether  the 
fee  was  large  or  small,  but  in  country  districts  with  the  present 
keen  competition  it  was  sometimes  very  difficult  to  keep  a  business 
going  at  all.  There  were  scores  of  places  where  a  few  years  ago 
two  or  three  assistants  were  kept,  but  where  now  they  could  not 
afford  to  keep  one,  and,  as  had  been  mentioned  on  a  former  occa¬ 
sion,  there  was  great  difficulty  in  getting  apprentices.  Still,  not¬ 
withstanding  those  considerations,  he  believed  the  proposed  change 
was  right,  and  he  should  support  it.  He  believed  it  was  right, 
and  in  the  interest,  not  only  of  those  who  were  already  members 
of  the  craft,  but  also  of  those  who  were  about  to  become  so,  and  he 
might  say  that  his  vote  would  be  an  independent,  a  conscientious, 
and,  he  hoped,  an  intelligent  one,  not  influenced  by  any  of  the 
leading  lights  round  the  table.  He  had  never  considered  that  the 
raising  of  the  fee  was  intended  to  bolster  up  the  finances  of  the  Phar¬ 
maceutical  Society,  and  a  sufficient  refutation  of  such  a  suggestion 
might  be  found  in  the  financial  statement,  which  had  been  placed 
on  the  table.  He  believed  the  result  of  passing  these  bye-laws 
would  be  to  consolidate  the  interests  of  the  craft,  and  to  unite 
them  more  closely  together  as  one  corporate  body.  He  believed 
that  in  the  future  great  things  would  have  to  be  done  by  the 
Council,  and  that  what  they  were  now  doing  would  greatly  assist 
them  in  their  efforts.  He  made  these  remarks  because  he  was  one 
of  the  junior  members,  whom  he  thought  had  been  rather  reflected 
upon  in  a  certain  quarter,  or  he  should  not  have  troubled  the 
Council. 

The  President  said  there  was  no  need  for  an  apology  on  Mr. 
Bateson’s  part ;  they  had  all  been  delighted  to  hear  the  words  he 
had  given  utterance  to,  and  were  glad  to  think  that  one  of  the 
latest  additions  to  the  Council  had,  on  the  merits  of  the  question, 
come  to  the  decision  that  the  proposed  new  bye-laws  were  for  the 
interests  of  the  body  generally.  Before  putting  the  resolution  he 
should  like  to  say  that  the  Council  had  received  notices  of  several 
meetings  at  which  resolutions  had  been  passed  in  favour  of  the 
new  bye-laws.  The  meetings  were  held  by  the  chemists’  associa¬ 
tions  at  Sunderland,  Hull,  Liverpool,  and  Plymouth.  They 


would  be  glad  to  hear  these  intimations  of  approval  of  the 
course  they  were  taking  from  their  friends  in  the  country. 

The  resolution  was  passed  unanimously. 


Report  of  Finance  Committee. 

The  President  said  there  was  nothing  special  to  call  attention 
to  in  this  report.  The  receipts  were,  no  doubt,  rather  larger  during 
the  last  month,  but  that  was  owing  to  the  subscriptions  from  the 
members.  He  had  received  a  letter  from  Messrs.  Corsellis,  the 
solicitors  to  the  executors  of  the  late  Mr.  George  Nind,  of  Wands¬ 
worth,  returning  his  diploma  and  giving  notice  of  the  fact  that  the 
deceased  had  left  a  legacy  of  £2000  to  be  applied  for  the  purposes 
of  the  Benevolent  Fund  of  the  Society. 

The  report  was  unanimously  agreed  to. 


Benevolent  Fund  Committee. 

The  report  of  this  Committee  included  a  recommendation  of 
grants  to  the  amount  of  £35  in  the  following  cases  : — - 

The  widow  (52)  of  a  registered  chemist  and  druggist  who  has  had  six  previous 
grants.  (Redhill.) 

A  former  Associate  (79)  who  has  had  six  previous  grants.  (Croydon.) 

The  widow  (72)  of  a  chemist  and  druggist  who  has  had  ten  previous  grants. 
(Birmingham.) 

The  widow  (51)  of  a  chemist  and  druggist  and  subscriber.  She  had  a  grant 
last  year  ;  depends  chiefly  on  the  charity  of  neighbours,  but  tries  to  earn  a  little 
money  by  her  own  exertions.  (Morecambe.) 

The  widow  (77)  of  a  registered  chemist  and  druggist,  and  subscriber.  The  late 
husband  had  several  grants  ;  she  lives  in  an  almshouse,  and  has  5s.  a  week. 
(King’s  Lynn.) 

The  Committee  declined  to  entertain  one  application,  and  to  re-open  another, 
which  was  considered  in  October  last. 

Mr.  Bottle  (as  Chairman  of  the”  Committee),  in  moving  the 
adoption  of  the  report,  said  the  cases  were  all  of  the  ordinary 
character,  and  it  was  not  necessary  to  detain  the  Council  with 
any  comments  on  them.  He  wished  particularly  to  call  the  atten¬ 
tion  of  his  fellow- members  on  the  Council  and  the  public  generally 
to  two  very  deserving  cases  of  applicants  for  admission  to  the 
Infant  Orphan  Asylum  at  Wanstead.  The  children  he  referred  to 
were  Walter  Percy  Buck,  aged  2J  years,  and  Robert  Kirby,  aged  5J 
years,  both  of  them  the  children  of  chemists.  In  his  opinion  both  were 
deserving  cases,  and  he  should  be  very  glad  if  any  assistance  could 
be  rendered  by  the  Council  and  their  friends  by  means  of  the  Press. 

The  resolution  passed  unanimously. 


.  been 

received, 

including  the  fol- 

Total. 

Highest. 

Lowest.  Average. 

.  431 

23 

9 

16 

.  141 

13 

0 

6 

Town. 

Country. 

Carriage  paid. 

129 

116 

£1  8s.  9  \d. 

Library,  Museum,  School,  and  House  Committee. 

Library. 

The  Librarian’s  report  hf 
lowing  particulars  : — 

Attendance. 

March . {  Evening  ’. '.  ’.  ’. ....  141 

Circulation  of  Books.  Total. 

March . .  245 

Donations  to  the  Library  had  been  announced  (Pharm.  Journ., 
May  1,  p.  372),  and  the  Committee  had  directed  that  the 
usual  letters  of  thanks  be  sent  to  the  respective  donors. 

The  Committee  had  recommended  that  the  following  works  be 
purchased  for  the  Library  in  London  :: — 

Tilden,  Manual  of  Chemistry,  1897. 

Murray,  Flora  of  Somerset,  1896. 

Museum. 

The  Curator’s  report  had  been  received,  and  included  the  fol¬ 
lowing  particulars  — 

Attendance.  Total.  Highest.  Lowest.  Average. 

A„rfi  /^y .  774  54  19  28 

Apm  . (Evening  .  57  6  1  2 

Several  donations  had  been  received  (Pharm.  Journ.,  May 
1,  p.  372),  and  the  Committee  had  directed  that  the  usual  letters 
of  thanks  be  sent  to  the  respective  donors. 

Miscellaneous. 

On  the  application  of  Professor  Collie,  four  chemical  balances 
had  been  ordered  for  use  in  the  School. 

The  draft  Annual  Report  had  been  discussed,  amended,  and 
referred  to  the  Council  for  approval. 

The  Committee  recommended  that  an  application  from  Mr. 
R.  M.  Stearn,  a  pharmaceutical  chemist,  for  permission  to  work  in 
the  Research  Laboratory  be  acceded  to. 


394 


PHARMACEUTICAL  journal. 


[May  8,  1897 


The  President,  in  moving  the  adoption  of  the  report,  said  there 
was  nothing  special  to  call  attention  to. 

The  report  was  agreed  to  unanimously. 

Appointment  of  a  Divisional  Secretary. 

Mr.  C.  Collen,  of  St.  John’s  Hill,  Clapham  Junction,  was 
appointed  Divisional  Secretary  for  the  Parliamentary  division  of 
Battersea  in  succession  to  Mr.  E.  J.  Bull,  who  had  removed  from 
the  division. 


Correspondence. 

The  President  read  a  letter  from  the  Assistant-Secretary  in 
Edinburgh,  enclosing  the  following  resolution  which  was  passed 
unanimously  at  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  of  the  North  British 
Branch  on  April  23  : — 

“  That  all  chemists  and  druggists  should  be  eligible  as  members  of  the  Phar 
maceutical  Society,  and  that  steps  should  be  taken  to  secure  a  short  Amend- 
meat  Act  to  effect  this  object.” 

He  suggested  that  this  resolution  should  be  referred  to  the  Law 
and  Parliamentary  Committee. 

This  was  at  once  agreed  to. 

Report  of  Examinations. 

April,  1897. 

Candidates. 


Examined.  Passed. 

England  and  Wales  : — 

Major .  32  20 

Minor .  235  7o 

Scotland  : — 

Major .  5  1 

Minor .  180  51 

First  Examination. 

Thirty-eight’  certificates  by  approved  examining  bodies  were 
received  in  lieu  of  the  Society’s  examination. 


General  Purposes  Committee. 

The  Council  went  into  Committee  to  consider  the  report  of  this 
Committee,  which  included  the  usual  letter  from  the  solicitors. 

On  resuming,  the  report  and  recommendations  were  received 
and  adopted,  and  special  resolutions  were  also  passed  authorising 
the  Registrar  to  take  proceedings  against  certain  persons  named. 

The  Council  then  went  into  Committee  to  consider  the  annual 
report.  After  certain  verbal  amendments  it  was  resolved  — 

‘ 1  That  the  annual  report  and  financial  statement  as  now  agreed  to  be  published 
in  the  Pharmaceiitical  Journal  ”  (vide  p.  387-8). 


Failed. 

12 

160 


4 

129 


PROCEEDINGS  UNDER  THE  PHARMACY  ACTS- 


CASE  AT  HAMILTON. 


Sale  of  Poison  by  an  Unregistered  Person. 

On  Thursday,  April  29,  1897,  at  the  Sheriff  Court  House,  Hamil' 
ton,  before  Sheriff  Mair,  Robert  Alexander  Wright  was  charged 
at  the  instance  of  Richard  Bremridge,  Registrar  under  the  Phar¬ 
macy  Acts,  1852  and  1868,  with  two  offences  for  selling,  in  the  shop 
of  the  Hamilton  Apothecaries’  Co.,  38,  Cadzow  Street,  Hamilton, 
on  Tuesday,  November  3,  1896,  a  quantity  of  chloroform  and  a 
quantity  of  cantharides  to  an  agent  of  the  Registrar. 

Mr.  Loudon,  solicitor,  Hamilton,  instructed  by  P.  Morison, 
S.S.C.,  Edinburgh,  appeared  for  the  prosecutor,  and  Mr.  Hay, 
solicitor,  Hamilton,  for  the  defender,  who  pleaded  guilty  to  both 
offences. 

Mr.  Hay  said  this  was  one  of  those  cases  of  which  his  Lordship 
had  had  a  number  recently,  in  which  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
had  prosecuted  assistants  in  doctors’  Shops.  This  was  a  very 
simple  case.  Mr.  Wright  was  very  well  known  in  Hamilton,  where 
he  had  resided  for  about  fourteen  years,  and  for  the  last  ten  years 
he  had  kept  this  doctor’s  shop.  One  of  the  Society’s  officers  entered 
the  shop  and  presented  to  defender  a  duly  initialled  doctor’s  pre¬ 
scription  for  a  mixture  which  contained  chloroform.  He  believed 
that  in  this  case  it  was  chloroform  water,  which  was  a  very 
harmless  preparation ,  and  no  harm  would  have  been  done  to  any¬ 
body,  even  if  the  whole  bottleful  had  been  swallowed,  He  sub’ 


mitted  that  this  was  not  one  of  the  cases  in  which  the  Pharmacy 
Act  was  intended  to  apply  at  all.  It  was  intended  to  apply  to 
the  promiscuous  sale  of  poisons  to  children,  or  in  cases  where  they 
were  likely  to  be  put  to  improper  uses.  There  was  no  suggestion 
that  this  preparation  could  be  put  to  any  improper  use ;  still,  of 
course,  it  contained  chloroform,  and  he  supposed  the  law  had 
to  be  vindicated,  and  the  Society  must  have  their  con¬ 
viction.  With  regard  to  the  cantharides,  this  was  not 
made  by  the  defender  at  all.  It  was  a  put-up  thing, 
and  defender  could  sell  it  just  as  well  as  any  qualified 
chemist.  There  was  this  also  to  be  said,  that  this  offence  was  npt 
likely  to  occur  again.  The  defender  had  become  so  disgusted  with 
the  business  of  a  chemist  and  druggist  that  he  had  retired  from  it 
since  this  complaint  was  brought  against  him,  and  he  intended  to 
go  into  some  other  business.  There  could  be  no  reason  either  for 
a  large  penalty  from  a  punitive  point  of  view,  as  it  was  not  alleged 
that  any  harm  had  arisen  from  this  sale  to  any  one.  He  therefore 
submitted  that  only  a  nominal  penalty  should  be  imposed. 

Mr.  Loudon  said  he  could  not  admit  the  statements  made  for 
defender,  which  would  have  been  disproved  if  the  case  had  gone  to 
trial.  The  mixture  did  not  contain  chloroform  water  but  spirit  of 
chloroform,  and  the  quantity  was  three  times  the  maximum  dose 
stated  in  the  British  Pharmacopoeia.  In  the  case  of  the  cantharides 
it  also  was  made  up  by  the  defender  from  the  same  prescription  as 
that  from  which  the  mixture  was  made. 

Mr.  Hay  :  He  only  spread  it.  He  did  not  make  it. 

Mr.  Loudon  :  He  dispensed  the  prescription.  In  the  blister  the 
cantharides  was  mixed  with  a  fatty  basis,  and  was  in  such  a  con¬ 
dition  that  it  could  be  directly  used  for  criminal  purposes.  These 
were,  moreover,  very  deliberate  offences  to  which  the  defender  had 
pleaded  guilty.  He  had  committed  them  in  wilful  and  persistent 
defiance  of  a  very  distinct  warning  from  the  Registrar  so  long  ago 
as  March  8, 1888,  when  there  was  sent  to  him  the  following  letter : — 
“  I  have  to  inform  you  that  the  correspondence  and  other  papers 
respecting  your  registration  as  a  chemist  and  druggist  under  the 
Pharmacy  Act,  1868,  were  submitted  to  the  Council  at  its  meeting 
yesterday  in  conformity  with  the  provisions  set  forth  under 
Section  12  of  the  Statute.  After  full  consideration,  the 
Council  has  instructed  and  authorised  me  to  remove 
your  name  from  the  Register  of  Chemists  and  Drug¬ 
gists.  I  have  also  to  direct  your  attention  to  the  fact  that, 
as  you  are  no  longer  registered  as  a  chemist  and  druggist,  you 
become  liable  to  and  will  be  proceeded  against  in  regard  to  the 
penalties  set  forth  in  Section  15  of  the  Pharmacy  Act,  1868,  if, 
after  this  notice,  you  continue  to  carry  on  the  business  of  a 
chemist  and  druggist,  or  if  you  continue  using  any  name  implying 
that  you  are  registered  under  that  Act.”  Defender  had  also  acted  in 
disregard  of  the  admonition  of  Sheriff  Birnie,  before  whom  he  was 
convicted  in  that  court  on  July  9,  1888,  of  two  offences  for  selling 
laudanum. 

The  Sheriff' :  But  that  warning  refers  to  the  carrying  on  of  the 
business  of  a  chemist  and  druggist.  He  has  not  been  doing  that. 
He  has  acted  as  an  assistant  to  this  doctor.  Who  is  the  doctor  to 
whom  you  act  as  assistant  ? 

Defender  :  Dr.  Lennox. 

The  Sheriff :  He  was  carrying  on  the  business  himself  when  he 
was  last  before  the  Court. 

Mr.  Loudon  :  No,  my  Lord.  I  have  a  verbatim  report  of  the 
trial  here,  and  Dr.  Lennox  appeared  on  that  occasion  as  the 
proprietor  of  the  business  which  is  carried  on  under  the  name  of 
the  Hamilton  Apothecaries’  Co.,  and  the  circumstances  were 
exactly  the  same  as  now.  He  apparently  has  been  conducting  this 
business  all  along,  and  when  he  sells  poisons  he  acts  as  a  chemist 
and  druggist,  and  carries  on  the  business  of  a  chemist  and 
druggist. 

The  Sheriff :  That  may  be  so  in  one  aspect  of  it,  but  I  do  not 
think  that  is  what  is  referred  to  in  the  warning.  He  is  an 
assistant  to  Dr.  Lennox.  Has  Mr.  Hill  ever  prosecuted  any  of  the 
unqualified  assistants  in  chemist  shops  ? 

Mr.  Hill  :  Yes,  my  Lord,  several. 

The  Sheriff  :  Well,  I  have  never  heard  of  them. 

Mr.  Loudon  :  At  any  rate  the  defender  was  convicted  of  two 
offences  for  selling  poisons  in  this  Court  about  ten  years  ago,  and  I 
have  to  ask  that  the  penalties  be  imposed  now  as  provided  by  the 
Act. 

Mr.  Hay  :  There  is  no  provision  in  the  Act  for  former  penalties 
being  taken  account  of. 

The  Sheriff :  Five  shillings,  and  five  shillings  of  costs. 

Mr.  Loudon  :  That  is  five  shillings  for  each  offence  ? 


May  8,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


395 


The  Sheriff :  No,  no ;  half-a-crown  for  each  offence,  and  five 
shillings  of  expenses. 


CASES  AT  GLASGOW. 


At  the  Sheriff  Court  House,  Glasgow,  on  Friday,  April  30,  1897, 
a  number  of  cases  came  before  Sheriff  Fyfe  at  the  instance  of 
Richard  Bremridge,  Registrar  under  the  Pharmacy  Acts,  1852  and 
1868. 

Mr.  James  Barrie,  writer,  Glasgow,  instructed  by  Mr.  P. 
M orison,  S.S.C. ,  Edinburgh,  appeared  for  the  prosecutor. 

The  first  case  was  that  of  William  Forrester,  assistant  in  the 
shop  of  Dr.  Robertson,  443,  Eglinton  Street,  Glasgow,  who  was 
charged  with  selling  laudanum  on  November  21,  1896,  to  an  agent 
of  the  Registrar. 

Accused  pleaded  guilty,  and  in  reply  to  the  Sheriff,  said  he  had 
nothing  to  say  for  himself,  and  he  was  quite  aware  that  he  must 
be  duly  qualified  before  selling  poisons. 

Mr.  Barrie  said  that  in  September,  1892,  two  unqualified 
assistants  were  convicted  for  selling  laudanum,  oxalic  acid  and 
red  precipitate  in  this  shop,  and  it  seemed  evident  that  there  was 
an  intention  to  go  on  in  defiance  of  the  law. 

The  Sheriff :  Is  there  no  means  of  getting  at  the  doctor  ? 

Mr.  Barrie  :  Unfortunately  there  is  not.  They  employ 
unqualified  assistants  and  allow  them  to  sell  poisons  without 
incurring  any  penalties  themselves.  In  some  cases  the  penalties 
are  paid  by  the  doctor  but  in  most  instances  they  leave  the 
assistants  to  pay. 

The  Sheriff  :  The  penalty  will  be  £1  with  £2  of  expenses. 

The  next  case  was  against  John  Campbell,  assistant  in  the  shop 
of  Dr.  Dunning,  75,  Nelson  Street,  Glasgow,  who  was  charged 
with  two  offences  for  selling  laudanum  and  Powell’s  balsam  of 
aniseed  to  agents  of  the  Registrar  on  November  28,  1896. 

Mr.  Gemmel,  solicitor,  appeared  for  the  defender,  who  pleaded 
not  guilty. 

Mr.  Gemmel  objected  to  the  complaint,  on  the  ground  that  it 
charged  an  offence  committed  on  November  28,  1896.  He  quoted 
the  case  of  Bremridge  v.  Lyons  at  Bow  County  Court  in  March 
last,  when  Judge  French  dismissed  a  case  because  a  month  had 
elapsed  between  the  offence  and  the  bringing  of  the  charge. 

Mr.  Barrie  said  there  had  been  no  undue  delay  on  the  part  of 
the  prosecutor.  Great  difficulty  had  been  experienced  in  getting 
the  correct  names  of  the  offenders  in  several  of  these  cases,  and 
they  got  no  assistance  from  the  parties  charged.  Besides,  this 
objection  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  relevancy. 

The  Sheriff :  The  Act  provides  that  a  charge  may  be  brought 
within  six  months.  I  am  afraid  I  cannot  accept  Judge  French  as 
an  authority  on  procedure.  I  repel  the  objection. 

Mr.  Gemmel  said  he  also  objected  to  two  charges  when  there 
was  really  only  one  sale  of  poison.  He  quoted  a  case  under  the 
Apothecaries  Act,  in  which  it  was  held  that  several  acts  consti¬ 
tuted  but  one  offence  in  a  charge  of  acting  as  an  apothecary. 

Mr.  Barrie  pointed  out  that  two  different  articles  were  sold  to 
two  separate  purchasers,  and  that  was  clearly  two  offences. 

The  Sheriff  upheld  this  view  and  repelled  the  objection. 

Mr.  J.  Rutherford  Hill  proved  that  defender  was  not  registered, 
and  that  the  articles  sold  were  statutory  poisons.  In  cross- 
examination,  he  stated  that  it  had  been  impossible  to  get  the 
correct  name  of  the  offender  till  about  six  weeks  ago,  and  the  pro¬ 
ceedings  were  authorised  at  the  last  meeting  of  Council.  Inquiries 
were  made  as  to  the  name  on  the  day  the  poisons  were  purchased, 
and  had  been  continued  ever  since  till  successful. 

Alexander  Spence  and  Joseph  Tait  proved  the  sales  of  poison. 

For  the  defence  John  Steel,  assistant  in  Dr.  Dunning’s  shop, 
appeared,  and  stated  that  the  doctor’s  orders  were  that  no  poisons 
should  be  sold  when  the  doctor  was  not  present.  Cross-examined, 
witness  said  Dr.  Dunning  had  two  shops  and  three  assistants,  and 
none  of  them  were  qualified.  The  doctor  was  only  in  at  his  con¬ 
sulting  hours,  and  during  the  rest  of  the  day  there  was  no  qualified 
person  in  either  of  the  shops.  If  anyone  asked  for  laudanum  or 
Powell’s  balsam  when  the  doctor  was  not  in  they  would  not  sell 
them. 

By  the  Sheriff :  He  was  not  in  the  shop  when  these  poisons  were 
sold.  He  would  just  be  leaving  the  other  shop,  and  the  accused 
would  be  alone  in  the  shop. 

The  Sheriff :  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  for  a  common  article  like 
Powell’s  balsam  you  would  refuse  to  sell  if  the  doctor  was  not  in  ? 

Witness  :  Yes  ;  we  would  refuse. 


The  Sheriff :  Of  course  you  mean  that  the  doctor  is  in  the  shop 
superintending.  It  would  never  do  for  the  doctor  to  be  in  the 
consulting  room  and  you  to  look  round  the  corner  and  say  “I  have 
a  request  for  Powell’s  balsam,”  and  he  to  reply,  “That  is  all 
right.”  That  would  not  be  superintendence  at  all. 

Mr.  Gemmel  said  the  accused  had  no  recollection  of  this  matter 
at  all,  and  did  not  remember  seeing  the  Registrar’s  agents  in  the 
shop.  He  had  proved  the  rule  of  the  shop  in  regard  to  sales  of 
poisons,  and  that  rule  was  always  adhered  to.  He  also  maintained 
that  no  proper  evidence  had  been  adduced  to  prove  that  accused 
was  not  registered.  The  Register  produced  was  for  1896,  and  the 
latest  Register  was  1897,  and  it  ought  also  to  have  been  produced. 
It  lay  with  the  prosecutor  to  show  that  accused  was'  not  regis¬ 
tered. 

The  Sheriff :  The  offence  was  in  1896,  and  the  Act  makes  the 
Register  adequate  evidence.  It  lies  with  you  to  produce  other 
evidence  that  accused  is  registered. 

Mr.  Gemmel  repeated  his  objection,  founded  on  the  English 
decision  already  quoted.  It  was  also  to  be  noted  that  this  was 
not  a  bona-fide  sale,  but  a  purchase  for  the  Society.  He  held 
chat  the  prosecution  had  failed,  or  that  in  any  case  a  merely 
nominal  penalty  should  be  imposed  so  as  to  teach  the  Society 
to  pay  better  attention  in  bringing  these  charges. 

The  Sheriff  said  the  accused  had  had  all  the  benefit  of  a  skilful 
and  ingenious  defence  by  his  agent.  But  unfortunately  none  of  the 
points  raised  were  new,  and  all  of  them  had  been  disposed  of  in 
the  numerous  cases  and  decisions  in  the  Court  of  Session,  and  in 
England  under  these  Acts.  He  quite  conceived  that  it  was  an 
unfortunate  thing  that  the  defender  here  should  be  prosecuted,  bub 
they  could  not  get  at  the  doctors  when  it  was  the  assistants  who 
made  the  sales.  As  he  had  said  before,  he  was  not  by  any  means  very 
greatly  impressed  with  the  fairness  with  which  these  prosecutions 
were  gone  about,  especially  the  way  in  which  the  purchases  were 
made.  He  thought  it  would  be  more  reasonable  and  more  fair  to 
the  respondents  if  they  were  treated  in  the  same  way  as  respondents 
in  adulterated  milk  cases.  When  the  officers  or  inspectors  bought 
the  milk  they  invariably  informed  the  people  that  it  was  bought 
for  the  purpose  of  analysis  with  a  view  to  prosecution.  It  was  a 
little  unfair  that,  at  a  distance  of  five  months,  a  man  should  be 
expected  to  lead  evidence  as  to  the  circumstances  attending  the 
sale  of  a  pennyworth  of  laudanum.  He  could  not  give  the  defender 
the  benefit  of  this,  however,  as  the  Act  had  laid  it  down  that  it 
was  sufficient  if  the  prosecution  was  brought  within  six  months, 
and  there  was  no  doubt  that  this  case  was  properly  brought.  As 
to  the  technical  objection  that  only  one  offence  had  been  committed, 
he  could  not  accept  the  argument  for  the  defence.  There  coiild  be 
no  doubt  that  there  were  two  sales  of  poison.  He  could  not  give 
defender  the  benefit  of  the  fact  that  both  were  sold  at  one  time  in 
so  far  as  finding  the  charges  proved  was  concerned,  bub  he  could 
take  that  into  consideration  in  fixing  the  penalties.  He  hoped  the 
doctor  would  see  that  the  penalty  was  paid  in  this  case,  for  he  did 
not  think  doctors  who  allowed  their  unqualified  assistants  to  sell 
these  poisons  should  leave  them  to  pay  the  penalties.  He  would 
restrict  the  penalties  to  10s.  for  each  offence  and  £2  of  expenses. 


The  next  case  was  against  John  Hendry,  assistant  in  the  shop  of 
Dr.  Dunning,  at  383,  Cumberland  Street,  Glasgow,  who  was 
charged  with  selling  laudanum  and  Powell’s  balsam  to  an  agent  of 
the  Registrar  on  November  21,  1896. 

The  Officer  of  Court  having  called  the  name,  no  one  appeared. 

Mr.  Barrie  :  Call  for  Mr.  Hendry. 

Mr.  Gemmel :  You  must  call  the  name  on  the  complaint. 

Mr.  Barrie  :  Are  you  appearing  in  this  case  ? 

Mr.  Gemmel :  No ;  There  is  an  assistant  in  this  shop  named 
Hendry,  but  John  is  not  his  name  and  he  is  nob  here. 

Mr.  "Hill  pointed  out,  sitting  in  Court,  the  person  believed  to  be 
Hendry. 

Mr.  Gemmel :  This  person  has  two  names  but  neither  of  them 
is  John.  There  is  a  John  Hendry  here  (this  person  then  advanced 
to  the  bar). 

Mr.  Barrie  :  Are  you  John  Hendry,  383,  Cumberland  Street. 

John  Hendry  :  No. 

Mr.  Barrie :  Then  why  are  you  here  ?  You  are  not  wanted. 

Mr.  Barrie  :  This  case  lets  your  Lordship  see  the  difficulties  we 
have  to  meet  in  these  cases.  "The  parties  absolutely  refuse  to  give 
their  names,  and  we  have  accepted  the  only  name  we  could  get.  I 
now  propose  to  take  advantage  of  Section  7  of  the  Summary 
Procedure  Act,  1874,  and  will  proceed  to  prove  the  charges  an  d 
take  decree  in  absence  of  the  defender. 


396 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  8, 1897. 


The  Sheriff  ruled  that  this  procedure  was  competent. 

Matthew  Gilmour,  Sheriff’s  Officer,  deponed  that  he  served  the 
complaint  at  383,  Cumberland  Street.  He  recognised  the  person 
in  Court,  who  said  he  was  Hendry,  and  when  asked  if  he  was  John 
Hendry,  assented,  and  accepted  service  of  the  complaint.  After 
reading  it  he  said  his  name  was  not  John. 

At  this  stage  Mr.  Gemmel  advanced  to  the  bar  and  said  he  was 
instructed  to  say  that  the  person  who  had  been  pointed  out  by  the 
Sheriffs  Officer,  and  who  was  an  assistant  in  the  shop  at  383, 
Cumberland  Street,  was  named  Alexander  Wilson  Hendry. 

Mr.  Barrie :  Having  got  this  information  I  now  allow  this 
complaint  to  drop.  We  shall  serve  a  new  complaint  on  the  person 
whose  name  has  at  last  been  given. 

The  next  case  was  against  Minnie  Beattie,  said  to  be  an  assist¬ 
ant  in  the  shop  of  Dr.  MacDonald,  282,  Cumberland  Street, 
Glasgow,  who  was  charged  with  selling  laudanum  to  an  agent  of 
the  Registrar  on  November  21,  1896. 

On  the  officer  calling  the  name  no  one  appeared. 

Mr.  Barrie  said  they  had  been  refused  the  name  in  this  case, 
and  were  informed  that  it  was  Minnie  Beattie,  and  he  intended  to 
prove  the  charge  and  ask  decree  in  absence. 

The  Sheriff :  I  will  give  you  an  adjournment  if  you  like.  There 
may  be  a  mistake  in  the  name.  If  you  like,  I  will  grant  a  warrant 
for  her  arrest. 

Mr.  Barrie  :  We  would  rather  not  go  to  that  extreme  just  now. 
I  will  prove  service  of  the  complaint  and  then  ask  another  diet  to 
be  fixed. 

Matthew  Gilmour,  Sheriffs  Officer,  and  his  assistant,  Peter 
Ferguson  Ramsay,  proved  that  the  complaint  was  duly  served  on 
the  young  woman,  who  acts  as  assistant  to  Dr.  Macdonald,  and  she 
accepted  service. 

The  Sheriff :  Then  I  adjourn  this  case  till  Monday,  May  17,  at 
2.30,  and  order  intimation  to  be  made  to  the  defender.  You  may 
tell  her  that  had  you  asked  warrant  for  her  arrest  I  should  at  once 
have  granted  it,  and  that  if  she  does  not  appear  at  the  adjourned 
diet  the  consequences  may  be  serious. 

Another  case  had  to  be  abandoned  because  the  defender  had 
disappeared  and  could  not  be  traced. 


NOTES  AND  FORMULAS. 


Moustache  Fixing  Fluid. 

Balsam  of  Tolu  . . .  1  part 

Rectified  Spirit . . .  3  fluid  parts 

Jockey  Club  .  . . . .  1  fluid  part 

Dissolve  the  balsam  in  the  mixture.  Put  up  in  small  bottles  with 
a  brush  attached  to  cork.  Directions  :  Apply  a  few  drops  to  the 
moustache  with  the  brush,  then  twist  into  the  desired  shape. 


LITERARY  NOTES. 


‘  Dental  Surgery  for  Medical  Practitioners  and  Students  of 
Medicine,’  by  A.  W.  Barrett,  M.B.,  etc.,  is  the  third  issue  of 
thab  useful  little  work,  and  it  is  in  many  ways  far  ahead 
of  previous  editions.  The  book  is  written  in  such  a  manner 
as  will  insure  its  proving  a  handy  and  reliable  guide  to 
medical  practitioners,  and  deals  with  the  following  subjects  : — 
The  Teeth  Generally  ;  the  First  Dentition  ;  the  Second  Dentition  ; 
Abnormalities  in  Development  of  Permanent  Teeth  ;  Irregularity 
in  the  Positions  of  Permanent  Teeth  ;  Dental  Caries ; 
Toothache  ;  Tartar  ;  Pyorrhoea  Alveolaris  ;  Absorption  of  Alveolar 
Process  ;  Injuries  to  the  Teeth  ;  Preparation  of  the  Mouth  for  and 
the  Wearing  of  Artificial  Teeth  ;  Anaesthetics,  General  and 
Local :  Fractures  of  the  Maxillae ;  Extraction  of  the  Teeth. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  in  subsequent  editions  the  author  will 
devote  some  attention  to  those  subjects  where  the  pathological 
conditions  so  frequently  arise  from  dental  conlplications,  such  as 
empycema  of  the  antrum,  dentigerous  cysts,  etc.,  which  appear  to 
be  more  suitable  for  medical  men  than  the  articles  included  in 
Chapter  10,  which  belong  more  to  the  province  of  the  dental  than 
the  general  practitioner.  The  illustrations  are  numerous  and 
good,  and  help  materially  to  explain  the  author’s  meaning.  The 
book  is  certainly  greatly  in  advance  of  many  other  works  on  the 
same  subjects.  It  is  published  at  3s.  6 d.  by  H.  K.  Lewis, 
136,  Gower  Street,  W.C. 


‘Extraction  of  the  Teeth,’  by  J.  F.  Colyer,  L.R.C.P., 
M.R.C.S.,  L.D.S.,  is  a  valuable  little  work,  written  in  a  clear  and 
practical  manner,  dealing  with :  The  General  Principles  of  Extraction 
of  the  Teeth ;  The  Extraction  of  Individual  Teeth ;  The  Extrac¬ 
tion  of  Misplaced  Teeth  ;  The  Use  of  Anaesthetics  during 
Extraction  of  the  Teeth  ;  Difficulties,  Complications,  and  Sequelae 
of  Extraction  of  the  Teeth.  There  is  a  carefully  arranged  index, 
and  the  book  will  be  useful  alike  to  dental  practitioners  and 
students,  who  will  findthat  most  of  the  difficulties  and  complications 
met  with  in  extracting  teeth  are  carefully  and  explicitly  dealt  with, 
as  well  as  the  most  expeditious  and  modern  ways  of  overcoming 
them.  The  author  apparently  writes  with  an  extensive  experience, 
aided  by  careful  observation.  A  perusal  of  the  work  will  well 
repay  all  those  engaged  in  dental  surgery,  and  who  realise  how 
important  it  is  to  be  a  skilful  tooth  extractor.  The  many  illustra¬ 
tions  are  carefully  introduced,  and  form  a  valuable  part  of  the 
work.  The  printing  and  binding  are  excellent,  and  the  book  is 
published  in  a  very  convenient  form,  at  3  s.  nett,  by  Claudius,  Ash 
and  Sons,  Broad  Street,  Golden  Square,  W. 


Freezing  Mixture. 


Washing  soda . 

Ammonium  nitrate 


|  equal  parts 


Crush  the  soda  to  coarse  powder  immediately  before  required 
for  use ;  then  mix  with  the  ammonium  nitrate  without  adding  any 
water.  This  will  give  a  temperature  of  - 18°  C.  A  flannel  wrapped 
round  the  containing  vessel  will  “  keep  the  cold  in.” 


Agar  Agar  Gelatin. 

Japanese  gelatin,  6;  glycerin,  60;  boric  acid,  10;  essence 
jasmine,  10 ;  water,  q.s. ,  ad.  1000.  Dissolve  the  boric  acid  and  glycerin 
in  the  water  and  add  solution  to  gelatin  contained  in  a  suitable 
vessel.  Heat  until  solution  is  effected.  Perfume  with  essence  of 
jasmine  and  fill  into  collapsible  tubes.—  American  Drug.,  xxix.,  393. 


Manufacture  of  Rubber  Plasters. 

Para  rubber  is  first  purified  after  being  softened  in  boiling  water, 
by  being  washed  with  water  in  a  disintegrator,  then  dried  on  cloths. 
The  plaster  basis,  such  as  resin  wax,  is  melted  and  strained,  the 
medicament  is  added  and  then  the  rubber.  The  whole  is  then 
passed  through  heavy  hot  steel  rollers  until  an  intimate  mixture 
results,  a  certain  proportion  of  powdered  orris  root  being  added 
during  this  process  to  destroy  the  stringy  consistence  of  the  rubber. 
The  mass  is  next  spread  on  the  cloth  by  means  of  a  machine  similar 
to  that  employed  in  paper  making,  consisting  of  three  heavy  steel 
rollers.  This  plant  must  be  firmly  fixed  as  the  least  vibration 
interferes  with  the  evenness  of  the  plaster. — Pharm.  Zeit.,  xli.,  344. 


‘The  Year  Book  of  Photography’  for  1897  is  an  exceptionally 
useful  guide  for  the  amateur  photographer.  The  first  section, 
entitled  “  Progress  and  Practice,”  consists  of  a  collection  of  help¬ 
ful  articles  by  practical  photographers.  In  the  first  the  Editor, 
Mr.  E.  J.  Wall,  F.R.P.S.,  treats  of  elementary  optics,  with 
special  reference  to  photographic  lenses.  The  subject  is  treated 
in  plain  and  simple  language,  without  the  use  of  mathematics,  and 
illustrations  are  freely  employed.  Development  and  developers 
are  exhaustively  discussed  in  the  next  article,  and  then  come 
hints  on  silver  printing,  by  J.  A.  Randall.  Section  two  contains 
an  exposure  table,  a  table  of  solubilities,  and  numerous  useful  facts 
and  formulae  ;  section  three  is  a  capital  holiday  guide  for  photo¬ 
graphic  tourists,  in  which  particulars  are  given  concerning  most 
places  of  interest  in  the  United  Kingdom ;  section  four  is  a 
practical  instruction  book  for  the  amateur  slide  worker,  and  includes 
an  article  on  “Radiography  with  the  Wimshurst,”  by  S.  R.  Bottone  ; 
whilst  section  five  is  a  complete  descriptive  guide  to  the  latest 
novelties  in  photographic  apparatus  and  materials.  The  book  is 
published  at  the  Photographic  Neivs  Office,  22,  Furnival  Street, 
E.C.,  at  the  marvellously  low  price  of  one  shilling. 


‘  The  Chronicles  of  Christopher  Bates,’  by  Mr.  Ebenezer 
Rees,  is  published  by  The  Roxburghe  Press,  15,  Victoria  Street, 
Westminster,  at  3s.  6 d.  This  fact  should  have  been  stated  last 
week  when  reference  was  made  to  the  work.  The  book  is 
excellently  printed,  and  tastefully  bound  in  art  canvas. 


May  8,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


397 


Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


ESTABLISHED  1841. 


Circulating  In  the  United  Kingdom,  France,  Germany, 
Austria,  Italy,  Russia,  Switzerland,  Canada,  the 
United  States,  South  America,  India, 
Australasia,  South  Africa,  etc. 


Editorial  Office :  17,  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.C. 
Publishing  atld  Advertising  Office :  5,  SERLE  STREET,  W.C. 


LONDON:  SATURDAY,  MAY  8,  1897. 


THE  COUNCIL  MEETING. 

At  the  opening  of  the  meeting  the  President  referred  to 
the  forthcoming  International  Congress  at  Brussels,  and 
suggested  that  the  appointment  of  delegates  might 
he  conveniently  deferred  until  the  next  meeting  of  the 
Council,  in  June,  when  delegates  to  the  British  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Conference,  to  he  held  in  Glasgow  about  the  same 
time,  would  also  be  appointed. 

Since  the  last  regular  meeting,  Mr.  Earle,  of  Staines,  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  Society,  has  died,  and  a  vacancy  has 
been  created  in  the  list  of  honorary  members  by  the  death  of 
Professor  Russow,  of  Dorpat. 

The  additions  to  the  Society  comprised  nineteen  members, 
ninety- six  associates,  and  twenty-five  students. 

The  report  of  the  North  British  Branch  Executive  for  the 
year  ending  last  March  showed  that  although  in  some 
details  the  current  expenses  have  been  less  than  in  the  pre¬ 
ceding  year,  there  has  been  a  considerable  nett  increase  in 
connection  with  the  examinations.  The  number  of  candi¬ 
dates  for  the  qualifying  examination  has  been  considerably 
greater,  but  the  percentage  of  passes  was  even  less  than  in 
the  previous  year. 

Dr.  Symes,  in  referring  to  the  generally  satisfactory  nature 
of  the  report,  suggested  that  in  connection  with  the  large 
percentage  of  failures  in  the  examinations  some  information 
might  be  useful  as  to  the  particular  subjects  in  which  the 
candidates  failed.  The  President  mentioned  that  those  par¬ 
ticulars  would  probably  be  given  in  the  reports  presented  by 
the  Government  Visitor  to  the  Privy  Council.  Past  experi¬ 
ence  has  shown  that  failure  in  the  practical  subjects  of 
dispensing,  etc.,  was  as  frequent  as  in  the  more  scientific 
subjects. 

On  the  motion  of  the  President,  seconded  by  Mr.  IIamp- 
son,  the  proposed  new  bye-laws  were  taken  as  read  for  the 
third  time  and  confirmed. 

Mr.  Bateson  expressed  satisfaction  that  the  proposed 
change  in  regard  to  the  Preliminary  examination  has  met 
with  such  general  approval,  and  was  not  surprised  to  find 
that  there  was  not  the  same  unanimity  as  to  the  raising  of 
the  fee  for  the  qualifying  examination,  though  the  Council 
has  repeatedly  discussed  the  matter  very  carefully,  and  the 
proposal  has  been  agreed  to  more  than  once  without  any  dissent. 


He  accounted  for  the  want  of  unanimity  on  this  point  by 
referring  to  the  present  difficult  conditions  of  the  chemist’s 
business  in  some  parts  of  the  country,  and  the  consequent 
tendency  to  ask  what  advantage  would  result  from  the 
change.  But  notwithstanding  the  possibility  of  some  differ¬ 
ence  of  opinion  on  that  account,  he  believed  the  proposed 
increase  of  the  fee  to  be  right  and  calculated  to  pro¬ 
mote  the  interests  of  those  already  members  of  the 
craft,  as  well  as  the  interests  of  those  about  to  become  so. 
He  should,  therefore,  conscientiously  support  the  pro¬ 
posal  on  its  merits  and  without  being  influenced  by  the 
opinion  of  any  of  his  colleagues.  He  repudiated  the  sugges¬ 
tion  that  the  raising  of  the  fee  was  intended  to  bolster  up 
the  finances  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  and  referred  to 
the  financial  statement  then  before  the  Council  as  a  sufficient 
refutation  of  that  idea.  In  view  of  the  work  that  the 
Society  will  have  to  do  in  the  future,  he  believed  that  these 
new  bye-laws  would  have  the  effect  of  consolidating  the 
craft  and  uniting  its  members  more  closely  as  one  corporate 
body,  besides  furnishing  the  Council  with  the-  necessary 
assistance  in  its  efforts. 

The  chief  feature  of  interest  in  the  report  of  the  Finance 
Committee  was  the  announcement  that  the  late  Mr.  George 
Nind  has  left  a  legacy  of  two  thousand  pounds  to  be  applied 
for  the  purposes  of  the  Benevolent  Fund. 

On  the  recommendation  of  the  Benevolent  Fund  Com¬ 
mittee,  five  grants  were  ordered  to  be  paid,  amounting  in  the 
aggregate  to  thirty-five  pounds.  Mr.  Bottle,  as  Chairman 
of  the  Committee,  in  moving  the  adoption  of  the  report, 
drew  attention  to  two  applicants  for  admission  to  the  Infant 
Orphan  Asylum,  for  whom  he  particularly  desired  to  obtain 
support. 

Mr.  C.  Collins  wa3  appointed  Divisonal  Secretary  for 
Battersea,  in  succession  to  Mr.  E.  J.  Bull,  who  has  removed 
from  the  district. 

A  resolution,  passed  by  the  North  British  Branch  Execu¬ 
tive,  that  steps  should  le  taken  to  make  all  chemists  and 
druggists  eligible  as  members  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society, 
transmitted  by  the  Assistant  Secretary,  was  referred  to  the 
Law  and  Parliamentary  Committee.  This  will  help  to 
bring  about  a  change  which  has  long  been  very  generally 
recognised  as  desirable. 

The  recommendation  of  the  General  Purposes  Committee 
that  the  annual  report  and  financial  statement  should  be 
published  was  agreed  to,  and  the  Registrar  was  authorised  to 
take  proceedings  under  the  Pharmacy  Act  in  certain  cases 
which  had  been  considered  by  the  Committee. 


ELECTION  OF  MEMBERS  OF  COUNCIL. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Associa¬ 
tion  has  forwarded  for  publication  a  letter  stating  the  views 
held  by  members  of  that  body  in  regard  to  the  trade  in  pro¬ 
prietary  articles,  and  giving  the  general  result  of  correspond¬ 
ence  with  the  candidates  for  election  as  members  of  the 
Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society.  While  disclaiming 
any  hostility  to  the  Society,  Mr.  Glyn- Jones’  letter  is 
intended  to  be  adverse  to  certain  of  the  candidates  and 
therefore  we  must  decline  to  publish  it,  as  it  has  always  been 
held  that  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  is  not  the  place  in 
which  influence  should  be  exercised  upon  the  election  in 
reference  to  matters  upon  which  differences  of  opinion  exist. 


398 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  8,  1897. 


ANNOTATIONS. 


The  Decennial  Festival  Dinner  in  aid  of  the  Benevolent  Fund 
will  be  held  at  the  Hotel  Cecil,  Strand,  W.C.,  on  Tuesday,  May  18, 
and  as  the  time  is  now  short  those  who  have  not  yet  applied  for 
tickets,  or  intimated  their  desire  to  act  as  Stewards,  should 
communicate  with  the  Secretary  at  once.  The  dinner  will  serve 
as  a  ready  means  of  combining  personal  enjoyment  with 
benevolence,  and  in  this  year  of  commemoration  a  special  effort 
ought  to  be  made  by  everyone  connected  with  British  pharmacy 
to  prove  that  the  craft  is  in  no  degree  behind  others  in  matters  of 
loyalty  and  charity.  As  has  been  suggested  on  a  previous 
occasion,  those  who  do  not  expect  to  be  able  to  attend  the 
dinner  can  yet  help  in  a  very  marked  degree  by  taking  tickets- 
Another  way  in  which  the  Benevolent  Fund  can  now  be  assisted  is 
for  local  secretaries  and  others  connected  with  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  to  impress  upon  chemists  not  so  connected  the  desirability 
of  supporting  a  fund  which  is  so  catholic  in  its  operation.  In  this 
way,  by  uniting  efforts,  it  may  be  possible  to  establish  a  record  and 
facilitate  the  Society’s  work  of  benevolence  in  a  time  of  sore  need. 
The  calls  upon  the  Fund  are  much  in  excess  of  what  can  at  present 
be  accomplished,  and  it  will  lastingly  redound  to  the  credit  of 
those  who  practise  pharmacy  in  Great  Britain  if  it  should  be 
rendered  possible,  at  the  close  of  the  year,  to  say  that  the  amount 
received  in  subscriptions  during  the  twelve  months  has  been  greatly 
in  excess  of  the  expenditure  incurred  in  relieving  all  suitable  cases 
where  assistance  is  needed. 


At  the  Annual  General  Meeting  on  Wednesday,  May  19, 
Mr.  James  Mackenzie  will  propose  :  “That  this  meeting  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain  is  satisfied  that  great 
improvements  in  the  constitution,  powers,  and  working  of  the 
Society  are  required,  in  order  to  provide  adequate  protection  to 
its  Members  and  Associates,  securing  also  greater  protection  and 
safety  to  the  public.”  It  resolves  therefore  : — 

“  That  until  some  beneficial  change  has  been  effected  constitutionally,  no 
alteration  in  the  bye-laws  is  called  for  at  the  present  time." 

Notice  has  also  been  given  by  Mr.  A.  C.  Wootton  of  a  motion  he 
intends  to  bring  forward  at  the  Special  General  Meeting  on  the 
same  date.  It  is  in  the  following  terms  : — 

“  That  for  the  words  ‘11  to  24  of  Section  10’  shall  be  substituted  the  words 
‘  11  to  16  and  IS  to  24  of  Section  10,’  and  that  for  the  new  bye-law  17  existing 
bye-laws  16  and  17  shall  be  substituted." 


The  Difficulty  of  Administering  the  Pharmacy  Act  con¬ 
tinues  to  be  exemplified  in  Glasgow,  as  will  appear  from  the  re¬ 
ports  published  at  page  395.  A  sufficient  answer  to  the  Sheriff  s 
remarks  in  Campbell’s  case  is  supplied  by  the  fact  that  the  pro¬ 
cedure  adopted  by  the  Society’s  agents  is  strictly  in  accordance 
with  the  Statute.  It  appears  that  the  Sheriff  came  to  the  case 
fresh  from  another  court,  where  he  had  disposed  of  several  milk 
cases  under  the  Sale  of  Food  and  Drugs  Act,  but  he  ought  to  be 
able  to  appreciate  the  difference  between  two  totally  different 
Statutes,  and  not  allow  an  obviously  unfair  comparison  of  methods 
of  procedure  which  are  far  from  parallel  to  influence  him.  But  it 
is  of  greater  importance  to  note  how  every  obstacle  is  put  in  the 
way  of  the  Society  by  offenders  in  Scotland,  any  artifice  being 
resorted  to  as  a  means  of  defeating  the  ends  of  justice.  It  is 
quite  a  regular  practice,  we  are  informed,  for  names  to  be  refused 
when  asked  for  in  connection  with  these  cases,  or  for  false  infor¬ 
mation  to  be  supplied.  The  result  is  that,  after  an  enormous 
amount  of  trouble  has  been  taken  in  the  matter  and  much  expense 


incurred,  cases  have  to  be  dropped  and  fresh  complaints  served. 
All  this  is  done  primarily  in  the  public  interest,  whilst  secondarily 
in  the  interests  of  chemists  and  druggists,  the  bulk  of  whom  refuse 
to  support  the  Society,  and  it  illustrates  the  nature  of  the 
“  luxuries  ”  in  which  subscribers  to  the  Society  are  alleged  to 
indulge  themselves. 

The  Hamilton  Case,  unfortunately,  was  heard  by  Sheriff  Mair, 
whose  decisions  on  previous  occasions  have  afforded  ground  for  the 
suspicion  that  he  is  strongly  prejudiced  against  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  and  allows  that  prejudice  to  affect  his  judgments.  In  the 
present  instance,  as  on  former  occasions,  he  inflicted  a  merely 
nominal  penalty,  but  this  will  not  deter  the  Society  from  proceed¬ 
ing  in  all  cases  where  evidence  is  forthcoming  that  the  Statute 
has  been  infringed.  Even  Sheriff  Mair  may  be  brought  to  see 
reason  in  time  and,  whether  large  penalties  or  small  be  imposed, 
he  can,  at  any  rate,  be  compelled  to  convict  offenders  when  they 
are  proved  beyond  doubt  to  be  guilty  of  offences  under  the  Act. 

The  War  in  Greece  is  of  direct  pharmaceutical  interest  in  its 
worst  aspect,  i.  e. ,  the  medical  treatment  of  the  wounded.  The 
natural  sympathy  felt  for  the  sufferers  has  found  expression  in  an 
appeal  by  the  Daily  Chronicle  for  funds  to  enable  the  conductors 
of  that  journal  to  send  out  medicines,  dressings,  instruments, 
etc.,  for  use  by  the  Greek  forces.  Though  it  is  not  quite  apparent 
why  wounded  Turks  should  not  also  share  the  benefits,  but 
perhaps  because  they  are  by  implication  excluded  from  those 
benefits,  and  hysterical  persons  are  apt  to  think  that  a  Turk 
can  be  a  worse  specimen  of  humanity  than  a  Greek, 
the  response  to  this  appeal  has  been  both  prompt  and 
magnificent  in  its  extent.  A  sum  of  several  thousand  pounds  has 
been  subscribed  in  a  few  days,  at  the  rate  of  a  thousand  pounds  a 
day,  and  numerous  firms  have  promised  gratuitous  supplies  of  their 
specialties,  or  have  undertaken  to  supply  them  at  reduced  rates. 

The  Medical  and  Surgical  Arrangements  in  connection  with 
the  fund  are  particularly  complete,  and  the  prompt  manner  in 
which  all  the  details  have  been  carried  out  affords  striking  testi¬ 
mony  of  the  splendid  organisation  of  one  of  our  leading 
hospitals.  On  the  recommendation  of  Sir  William  MacCormac, 
President  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons,  Mr.  F.  C.  Abbott, 
Resident  Assistant-Surgeon  of  St.  Thomas’s  Hospital,  has 
been  appointed  Chief  Medical  Officer,  with  two  assistants,  Messrs. 
H.  J.  Davis  and  R.  Fox-Symons,  both  former  members  of  the 
staff  of  the  same  hospital.  Mr.  H.  A.  Moffat,  formerly  House- 
Surgeon  at  Guy’s  Hospital,  also  accompanies  Mr.  Abbott. 
Mr.  Edmund  White,  Pharmaceutist  to  St.  Thomas’s  Hos¬ 
pital,  and  well-known  as  one  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society’s 
examiners,  has  undertaken  the  selection  and  supervision  of  all  the 
drugs,  chemicals,  dressings,  bandages,  etc.,  required,  and  we  have 
been  favoured  by  him  with  some  interesting  facts  concerning  the 
supplies. 

Bandages,  Lint,  Gauze,  etc.  ,  are  being  obtained  from  Messrs. 
Robinson  and  Sons,  Limited,  of  Chesterfield,  and  the  quantity  of 
those  bulky  articles  sent  may  be  gauged  from  the  fact  that  the 
total  weight  to  be  despatched  will  be  about  five  tons.  Twenty- 
four  thousand  yards  of  antiseptic  gauze,  half  a  ton  each 
of  lint,  absorbent  cotton-wool,  and  sublimate  wool,  five  hundred¬ 
weight  of  boric  lint,  seven  hundredweight  of  gamgee  tissue,  and  a 
hundred  and  fifty  gross  of  roller  bandages  are  amongst  the  stock 
sent,  besides  flannelette,  muslin,  grey  wool  for  padding  splints, 
plaster  of  paris,  strapping  plaster  supplied  by  Messrs.  A.  de  St. 
Dalmas  and  Co. ,  of  Leicester,  and  jaconet  and  waterproof  sheeting 
supplied  by  Mr.  Albert  Browne,  of  Leicester. 


May  8,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


399 


The  Drugs  and  Chemicals  have  been  Ordered  from  Messrs. 
Burgoyne,  Burbidges,  and  Company,  to  a  considerable  extent,  the 
items  including  three  hundredweight  of  soft  paraffin,  a  hundred¬ 
weight  and  a-half  of  powdered  boric  acid,  a  hundredweight  of 
crystallised  carbolic  acid,  two  hundred  pounds  of  chloroform, 
and  chlorinated  lime,  glycerin,  creolin,  magnesium  sulphate, 
chloral  and  bromide  solution,  zinc  ointment,  boric  acid  oint¬ 
ment,  coal  tar  soap,  and  solution  of  lead  subacetate  in  corre¬ 
spondingly  large  quantities.  Other  prominent  items  in  the  list  are 
tannic  acid,  calomel  and  colocynth  pills,  iodoform,  belladonna, 
and  iodine  liniments,  potassium  permanganate,  strong  solution 
of  ferric  chloride,  etc.,  etc. 


Compressed  and  Other  Medicaments  are  being  supplied  by 
Messrs.  Allen  and  Hanburys  and  Burroughs,  Wellcome,  and  Co. 
The  former  are  sending  a  very  large  stock  of  various  tabellse — 
mercuric  chloride,  opium,  sulphonal,  etc.  In  addition,  their 
order  includes  about  fifty-six  pounds  of  pills  of  different  kinds,  to¬ 
gether  with  three  gross  of  mercuric  chloride  cartridges,  and 
cachets  containing  sulphonal,  bismuth  carbonate,  and  compound 
catechu  powder  respectively.  A  comparative  novelty  is  being  sent 
in  the  shape  of  “chrismoids”  of  carbolic  acid  and  mercuric  chloride. 
These  are  hard  capsules,  which  are  convenient  to  use  when  anti¬ 
septic  solutions  are  not  available. 


Three  Portable  Medicine  Chests  fitted  with  feather-weight 
containers  are  being  lent  by  Messrs.  Burroughs,  Wellcome  and  Co., 
who  are  also  sending  some  fifty  thousand  tabloids  of  antipyrine, 
ammonium  carbonate,  sodium  salicylate,  quinine  bisulphate,  etc., 
in  addition  to  considerably  more  than  two  thousand  tubes  of  hypo¬ 
dermic  tabloids,  containing  cocaine,  morphine,  and  strychnine 
sulphate.  The  medicine  chests  are  supplemented  by  three  dis¬ 
pensing  belts  and  twelve  pocket  cases,  all  fitted  with  feather¬ 
weight  containers  for  tabloids. 


X  Ray  Apparatus  is  prominent  in  the  surgical  outfit  of  this  “Red 
Cross  ”  expedition,  the  apparatus  having  been  selected  and  tested 
by  Ur.  Barry  Blacker,  of  St.  Thomas’s  Hospital.  It  is  similar  to 
the  apparatus  in  daily  use  at  St.  Thomas’s  Hospital,  and  consists 
of  the  following  items  : — A  large  induction  coil  for  obtaining  the 
high  tension  currents  for  generating  the  rays  in  the  vacuum 
tubes  ;  a  double  set  of  accumulators  for  supplying  the  current  to 
magnetise  the  iron  core  of  the  coil,  thus  rendering  the  working  of 
the  rays  possible  for  very  many  hours  in  succession  ;  a  sufficient 
number  of  the  most  efficient  type  of  X  ray  focus  tubes  ;  a  fluores¬ 
cent  screen,  capable  of  showing  every  joint  and  bone  in  the  body, 
coated  with  a  double  layer  of  platino-cyanide  of  barium  on  which 
the  shadows  of  the  bones  and  bullets  will  be  cast ;  a  quantity  of 
Eastman’s  X  ray  paper,  with  developing  solution  capable  of  taking 
five  hundred  prints,  should  the  operator  not  have  the  time  at  his 
command  to  observe  the  shadows  on  the  fluorescent  screen.  The 
secondary  of  the  coil  is  over  thirteen  miles  in  length,  and  will  give 
a  heavy  discharge  through  ten  inches  of  air.  It  is  hoped  that  it 
will  be  possible  to  use  the  fluorescent  screen  to  the  exclusion  of 
the  photographic  method,  as  the  position  of  the  bullet  or  the  seat 
of  the  injury  may  be  viewed  in  many  positions  rapidly,  and  the 
time  required  to  develop  a  dry  plate  (although  much  shortened  by 
the  use  of  Eastman’s  new  X  ray  paper)  constitutes  a  serious  delay 
to  the  busy  surgeon,  especially  on  the  battle-field  or  in  the  hospital 
after  a  hard-fought  fight. 


The  Proposed  Medical  Boycott  in  the  Plymouth  district  has 
been  resolved  upon ,  despite  a  protest  made  at  the  meeting  that  an 


attempt  was  being  made  to  interfere  with  members  of  the  pro¬ 
fession  doing  what  was  quite  legal,  and  a  warning  that  by  at¬ 
tempting  to  “  ostracise  ”  some  of  their  fellows  those  agreeing 
with  the  motion  would  be  lowering  themselves  in  the  eyes  of  the 
public.  Moreover,  it  was  pointed  out  that,  whilst  some  local 
practitioners  had  complained  of  the  abuses  of  clubs  which  provide 
medical  aid,  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  medical  men  are  not 
unknown  as  customers  at  so-called  co-operative  stores.  Never¬ 
theless,  the  original  motion  was- persisted  with,  and  now  twelve 
medical  practitioners  in  Plymouth,  Devonport  and  Stone- 
house  have  solemnly  decided  never  more  to  meet  in  con¬ 
sultation  any  medical  officer  of  the  Three  Towns  Friendly 
Societies’  Medical  Institution.  They  have  also  placed 
on  record  the  expression  of  their  opinion  that  medical 
men  who  take  office  in  the  Institution  are,  by  so  doing, 
lowering  the  dignity  of  the  profession  and  placing  themselves  in  a 
false  position.  Encouraged  by  their  partial  success,  those  present 
at  the  meeting  decided  to  advance  another  step  if  possible.  Accord- 
ingly,  the  meeting  was  adjourned  for  a  week  in  order  that  other 
important  resolutions  might  be  discussed,  including  one  intended 
to  prohibit  meetingin  consultation  any  practitioner  who  shall,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  Plymouth  Medical  Society,  be  guilty  of  advertising, 
touting,  or  other  irregular  practice.  Apparently,  attempts  to 
check  the  wheels  of  the  chariot  of  progress  are  not  yet  entirely 
things  of  the  past,  but  the  present  one  is  more  calculated  to 
provoke  scorn  and  ridicule  than  to  produce  any  good  effect. 

Dr.  Edmund  Russow,  an  honorary  member  of  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society,  died  on  April  11,  at  the  comparatively  early  age 
of  fifty-six  years.  He  was  Professor  of  Botany  and  Director  of  the 
Botanical  Gardens  at  the  University  of  Dorpat.  His  special  de¬ 
partment  of  research  was  anatomical  botany,  and  he  had  devoted 
particular  attention  to  the  comparative  structure  of  vascular 
bundles.  In  manner  he  was  most  pleasant  and  genial,  and  as  a 
teacher  he  was  much  liked.  His  death  is  greatly  regretted. 

The  Liebig’s  Extract  of  Meat  Company,  Limited,  has  won  an 
action  against  Bovril  (British,  Foreign,  and  Colonial),  Limited, 
heard  at  the  Antwerp  Tribunal  of  Commerce,  under  the  presidency 
of  M.  Hertogs.  The  plaintiffs  sought  to  restrain  the  defendants 
from  publishing  statements  in  Belgium,  comparing  the  plaintiffs’ 
goods  unfavourably  with  those  of  the  defendants.  Those  state¬ 
ment  plaintiffs  contended  were  untrue,  and  they  claimed  damages 
and  the  publication  of  the  judgment.  As  a  result  the  Tribunal 
condemned  the  Bovril  Company  and  their  agent  to  withdraw  from 
their  prospectuses,  advertisements,  labels,  and  posters — within 
forty-eight  hours  from  the  delivery  of  judgment — all  comparisons 
unfavourable  to  the  products  of  the  Liebig  Company,  and  ordered 
them  to  pay  to  the  plaintiffs  ten  thousand  francs  damages  and  costs, 
whilst  authorising  plaintiffs  to  publish  the  judgment  at  the 
expense  of  the  defendants  in  ten  Belgian  newspapers. 

A  Dangerous  Adulteration  of  Aniseed  is  reported  by  the 
Berlin  correspondent  of  the  Daily  News,  who  says  it  has  become 
known  there  that  three  bales  of  aniseed  received  at  Rotterdam 
from  Bari,  on  examination  by  the  Board  of  Health  at  The  Hague, 
revealed  the  presence  of  10  per  cent,  of  hemlock  fruits.  The 
sale  of  the  adulterated  aniseed  was  forbidden  in  Holland,  but 
it  was  sent  from  Rotterdam  to  Germany,  and  efforts  to  trace 
it  since  have  so  far  failed.  Assuming  the  accuracy  of  this  report,  it 
will  be  more  than  ever  desirable  for  pharmacists  to  submit  any 
powdered  aniseed  they  may  purchase  to  strict  microscopical 
examination,  more  especially  if  they  have  any  suspicion  that  it  has 
been  imported  from  Germany. 


400 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  8,  1897 


MEETINGS  Op  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIETIES 

- ♦ — i — 

Chemical  Society,  Thursday,  April  29. — Professor  Dewar, 
F.R.S.,  President,  in  the  chair. — There  were  no  authors  present 
at  this  meeting  to  read  their  papers,  consequently  the  business 
was  rather  uninteresting.  The  first  paper  was  by  Prof.  H.  B. 
Dixon,  F.R.S.,  and  S.  J.  Russell,  B.Sc.,  on — 

The  Explosion  of  Chlorine  Peroxide  with  Carbon  Monoxide. 
It  was  read  in  abstract  by  Mr.  Dunstan,  and  is  a  continuation  of 
the  work  done  by  the  authors  on  the  same  subject. — Some  rather 
interesting  points  came  out  in  the  discussion.— Professor  Crookes 
referred  to  the  great  difficulty  of  drying  gases.  With  sulphuric 
acid,  he  said,  it  was  an  impossibility  to  bring  about  complete 
desiccation,  and  even  phosphoric  anhydride  acted  imperfectly. 
—The  President,  Professor  Armstrong,  and  Dr.  Scott  also  had 
a  few  words  to  say  on  the  subject.  A  paper  on — 

The  Decomposition  of  Iron  Pyrites, 
by  W.  A.  Caldecott,  B.A.,  was  received  by  the  Society  in  almost 
a  spirit  of  ridicule,  but  when  Mr.  Crookes  pointed  out  the 
difficulties  under  which  the  chemist  laboured— he  is  an  Australian 
mining  chemist — the  tone  of  the  meeting  changed  a  good  deal. 
The  last  paper,  entitled — 

Monochlordiparaconic  Acid  and  Some  Condensations, 
by  H.  C.  Myers,  Ph.D.,  was  more  an  intimation  that  the  author 
had  taken  up  the  subject  than  anything  else. 

Royal  Institution,  Thursday,  April  29. — Professor  Dewar 
on  this  occasion  gave  the  first  of  a  course  of  lectures  on— 

Liquid  Air  as  an  Agent  of  Research. 

He  began  by  remarking  that  it  was  a  mistake  to  suppose 
that  the  establishment  of  the  various  cryogenic  laboratories 
that  now  exist  in  Europe  was  due  to  a  desire  merely  to 
attain  very  low  temperatures.  The  establishment  of  the 
laboratories  was  rather  to  investigate  the  conditions  of  gases 
at  all  temperatures,  and  thus  carry  on  the  work  of  Faraday, 
Regnault,  and  Dr.  Andrews,  of  Belfast.  The  laws  of  Boyle 
and  Charles,  connecting  together  the  volume,  pressure,  and 
temperature  of  a  gas  broke  down  before  the  liquid  state  was 
reached.  Van  der  Waals,  working  on  the  careful  measurements 
made  by  Andrews,  proposed  for  them  a  new  formula  by  which 
the  gaseous  and  liquid  states  were  connected.  From  this  formula 
it  was  possible  to  calculate  the  critical  temperature  of  a  gas,  above 
which  no  amount  of  pressure  could  liquefy  it,  and  the  work  of 
Cailletet  and  others  consisted  in  the  experimental  verification  of 
the  results  thus  obtained.  Van  'der  Waals  also  predicted  that 
there  would  be  found  one  isothermal  line  which  would  express  the 
pressure,  temperature,  and  volume  relations  of  all  gases,  and  this 
prediction  was  confirmed  by  the  work  of  Amagat.  Coming  to  the 
difficulty  of  getting  to  very  low  temperatures,  Professor  Dewar 
said  that  if  liquid  hydrogen  could  be  had  to-morrow,  the  zero  of 
absolute  temperature  would  still  be  a  long  way  from  being 
attained,  and  there  would  be  no  conceivable  way  of  reaching  it. 
No  liquefied  gas  could  be  utilised  to  produce  a  fall  of 
temperature  more  than  one-third  to  one-half  its  absolute 
critical  range,  hence  the  lowest  temperature  that  could  be  obtained 
by  means  of  liquid  hydrogen  would  still  leave  some  twenty  degrees 
aoove  the  absolute  zero.  Professor  Dewar  then  proceeded  with  a 
number  of  experiments  which  illustrated  the  application  of  extreme 
cold  to  the  purposes  of  analysis,  by  showing  how  such  compounds 
as  ethylene  and  marsh-gas  by  its  aid  could  be  separated  out  in  a 
liquid  form  from  a  mixture  like  coal-gas.  He  also  showed  the 
extreme  contraction  produced  by  cold  in  gaseous  and  other  bodies 
by  cooling  one  end  of  a  tube  full  of  ethylene,  the  other  end  being 
immersed  in  mercury.  When  the  ethylene  became  liquid  the 
mercury  was  seen  to  have  risen  in  the  tube  substantially  as  high 
as  in  the  barometer,  thus  proving  the  vapour  pressure  to  be 
practically  as  small  as  in  the  Torricellian  vacuum. 


Royal  Institution,  May  1. — Sir  James  Crichton-Browne, 
M.D.,  F.R.S.,  Treasurer  and  Vice-President,  in  the  chair. — This 
was  the  annual  meeting  of  the  members,  and  the  annual  report  of 
the  Committee  of  Visitors  for  the  year  1896,  testifying  to  the  con¬ 
tinued  prosperity  and  efficient  management  of  the  Institution,  was 
read  and  adopted.  Fifty-eight  new  members  were  elected  in  1896. 
Sixty -four  lectures  and  nineteen  evening  discourses  were  delivered 
in  1896.  The  books  and  pamphlets  presented  in  1896  amounted  to 
about  274  volumes,  making,  with  621  volumes  (including  periodicals 


bound)  purchased  by  the  managers,  a  total  of  895  volumes  added 
to  the  library  in  the  year.  Thanks  were  voted  to  the  President, 
Treasurer,  and  the  Honorary  Secretary,  to  the  Committees  of 
Managers  and  Visitors,  and  to  the  Professors,  for  their  valuable 
services  to  the  Institution  during  the  past  year.  The  following 
gentlemen  were  unanimously  elected  as  officers  for  the 
ensuing  year  : — President,  The  Duke  of  Northumberland, 
K.G.,D.C.L.,  LL.D.  ;  Treasurer,  Sir  James  Crichton-Browne,  M.D., 
LL.D.,  F.R.S.  ;  Secretary,  Sir  Frederick  Bramwell,  Bart.,  D.C.L., 
LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  M.Inst.C.E.  ;  Managers,  Sir  Frederick  Abel, 
Bart.,  KC.B.,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.,  F.R.S,  the  Right  Hon.  Arthur 
James  Balfour,  M.P.,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  John  Wolfe  Barry, 
Esq.,  C.B.,  F.R.S.,  M.Inst.C.E.,  William  Crookes,  Esq.,  Edward 
Frankland,  Esq.,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  Charles  Hawksley,  Esq., 
M.Inst.C.E.,  Donald  William  Charles  Hood,  M.D.,  F.R.C.P., 
Victor  Horsley,  Esq.,  M.B.,  F.R.S.,  F.R.C.S.,  William  Huggings, 
Esq.,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.,  F.R. S.,  the  Right  Hon.  Lord  Lister,  M.D., 
D.C.L.,  LL.D.,  Pres.  R.S.,  Ludwig  Mond,  Esq.,  Ph.D.,  F.R.S., 
Arthur  William  Riicker,  Esq.,  M.A.,  D.Sc.,  F.R.S.,  Basil  Woodd 
Smith,  Esq.,  F.R.A.S.,  F.S.A.,  the  Hon.  Sir  James  Stirling, 
M.A.,  LL.D.,  Sir  Henry  Thompson,  F.R.C.S.,  F.R.A.S.  ;  Visitors, 
Sir  James  Blyth,  Bart.,  William  Arthur  Brailey,  M.D., 
M.R.C.S.,  Edward  Dent,  Esq.,  John  Ambrose  Fleming,  Esq., 
M.A.,  D.Sc.,  F.R.S.,  Edward  Kraftmeier,  Esq.,  Sir  Francis 
Laking,  M.D.,  Hugh  Leonard,  Esq.,  M.Inst.C.E.,  Sir  Philip 
Magnus,  J.P.,  T.  Lambert  Mears,  Esq.,  M.A.,  LL.D.,  Lachlan 
Mackintosh  Rate,  Esq.,  M.A.,  Thomas  Tyrer,  Esq.,  F.C.S.,  F.I.C., 
Roger  William  Wallace,  Esq.,  Q.C.,  John  Westlake,  Esq.,  Q.C., 
LL.D.,  His  Honour  Judge  Frederick  Meadows  White,  Q.C., 
James  Wimshurst,  Esq. 


Linnean  Society  of  London,  Thursday,  April  15. — Dr.  A. 

Gunther,  F.R.S.,  President,  in  the  chair. — Mr.  W.  B.  Hemsley 
was  admitted  and  Mr.  Daniel  A.  Jones  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the 
Society. — Mr.  H.  Fisher,  the  naturalist  attached  to  the  Jackson- 
Harmsworth  Polar  Expedition,  gave  some  preliminary  observa¬ 
tions  on  the  plants  collected  by  him  during  his  two  years’  resi¬ 
dence  on  Franz- Josef  Land. — On  behalf  of  Mr.  A.  O.  Walker  an 
abstract  was  read  of  a  paper  on — 

Some  New  Crustacea  from  the  Irish  Seas. 

Of  the  four  species  of  Edriophthalma  described  as  new,  two  of 
them,  viz. ,  Leuconopsis  ensifer  and  Stenothoe  cras-sicornis,  were  taken 
at  a  depth  of  thirty-three  and  twenty-three  fathoms  respectively 
during  the  dredging  and  trawling  operations  of  the  Liverpool 
Marine  Biological  Committee,  in  April,  1896,  in  the  steamer  “John 
Fell,”  which  was  then  employed  in  obtaining  ova  for  the  experi¬ 
mental  fish-hatchery  at  Port  Erin.  It  was  found  that  by  attaching 
a  tow-net  with  a  light  cane  ring  to  the  back  of  the  trawl-net  a  short 
distance  behind  the  foot-rope,  many  small  Crustacea  were  cap¬ 
tured,  including  the  above-named  species.  Of  the  other  two 
novelties,  Apseudes  hibernicxis  was  taken  by  Mr.  Gamble  between 
tide-marks  during  a  week’s  collecting  at  Valentia  Harbour,  and 
Parapleustes  latipes  was  found  by  Mr.  Walker  while  naming 
the  collection  of  Amphipoda  in  the  Dublin  Museum  of  Science  and 
Art.  Four  specimens  were  taken  in  750  fathoms  off  the  S.W.  coast 
of  Ireland.  Until  the  publication  of  the  Report  of  the  Committee 
on  the  Marine  Zoology  of  the  Irish  Sea  (‘Brit.  Assoc.  Report,’ 1896, 
pp.  417-450),  very  little  had  been  done  in  investigating  the  Edrio- 
phthalma,  except  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Isle  of  Man,  where 
Mr.  Walker  had  collected  a  large  number  of  species,  as  noticed  in 
the  above-mentioned  report. — The  Secretary  then  gave  an  ab¬ 
stract  of  a  paper  by  Dr.  A.  J.  Ewart — - 

On  the  Evolution  of  Oxygen  from  Coloured  Bacteria. 

The  author  found  that  coloured  bacteria  under  certain  appropriate 
conditions  possess  the  power  of  evolving  oxygen  in  greater  or  less 
amount.  In  some  the  oxygen  appeared  to  be  absorbed  from  the  air 
by  the  pigment  substance  excreted  by  the  bacteria.  The  process, 
he  considered,  was  not  a  vital  one.  The  substances  contained  in 
an  alcoholic  extract  were  found  to  have  the  same  power,  though 
less  marked,  of  occluding  oxygen,'  but  this  property  was  soon  lost. 
The  purple  and  green  bacteria,  in  which  the  pigment  forms  an 
integral  part  of  the  bacterial  plasma,  when  exposed  to  radiant 
energy,  showed  a  very  weak  evolution  of  oxygen,  continuing  for 
an  indefinite  period  under  favourable  conditions.  In  the  former  of 
these  the  assimilatory  “pigment”  is  “  bacterio-purpurin,”  in  the 
latter  “chlorophyll.”  The  process  in  this  case  is  a  vital  one,  and 
the  oxygen  evolved  is  apparently  derived  from  the  assimilation  of 
carbon  dioxide. — A  paper  by  Messrs.  W.  and  G.  S.  West  on 
‘  *  Desmids  from  Singapore  ”  was  deferred. 


Mav  8,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOUItXAL. 


401 


THE  WORLD  OR  PRHRlVIflCY. 

— — 

BUSINESS  MEETINGS. 


Bristol  Pharmaceutical  Association,  Wednesday, 
April  28.— Mr.  Allen,  President,  in  the  chair.— It  was  unani¬ 
mously  resolved  that  a  donation  of  £5  5s.  from  the  funds  of  the 
Association  be  given  the 

Benevolent  Fund  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society. 

The  question  of  special  rates  for  the  carriage  of  small  parcels 
was  then  referred  to  by  Mr.  Plumley,  who  called  attention  to  the 
rates  charged  by  the  various  parcel  companies  for 

Small  Parcels  from  London. 

and  said  that  the  Plymouth  chemists  had  obtained  a  much  lower 
contract  than  that  existing  in  Bristol.  Mr.  Plumley  said  he  had 
approached  all  the  carriers,  but  had  failed  so  far  in  getting  better 
terms. — Mr.  Plumley  was  thanked  for  his  efforts  and  requested  to 
continue  his  negotiations. 

The  Proposed  New  Bye-Laws. 

In  connection  with  this  subject,  Mr.  J.  W.  White  proposed  the 
following  resolution  : — 

“  That  this  Association  desires  to  express  its  approval  of  the  new  bye-laws 
proposed  by  the  Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society.” 

Mr.  White  explained  that  the  proposed  alteration  related  chiefly  to 
two  matters — first,  the  abolition  of  the  existing  Preliminary  exam¬ 
ination  and  the  substitution  of  some  recognised  school  examination  ; 
secondly,  the  increase  of  the  fees  payable  on  the  qualifying  exami¬ 
nation  to  £10  10s.  As  to  the  first,  it  was  a  subject  long  talked  of, 
and  a  step  in  the  right  direction,  because  the  effect  of  the  alteration 
would  be  to  exclude  the  ill-educated  youths  who  now  came  up  time 
after  time,  with  the  inevitable  consequence  of  a  large  number  of 
failures.  He  hoped  this  step  would  secure  youths  from  a  better  class, 
thus  ensuring  more  hope  of  success  in  succeeding  examinations.  With 
reference  to  the  other  matter,  the  Society  no  doubt  wanted  money, 
and  the  Council  naturally  turned  in  that  direction.  There  seemed 
to  be  no  means  of  economising  but  by  abandoning  the  Journal 
or  the  educational  work  of  the  Society,  and  it  was  impossible 
seriously  to  consider  either  of  those  plans.  He  understood 
that  owing  to  repeated  failures  the  average  fee  now  paid  by 
each  candidate  was  £8,  therefore  the  increase  was  more  ap¬ 
parent  than  real.  The  change  would  be  good  if  it  were  the 
means  of  ensuring  candidates  coming  up  better  prepared  than 
at  present.- — Mr.  B.  Keen  seconded  the  motion,  referring  to  the 
unanimous  way  in  which  the  proposals  had  been  agreed  to  by  the 
Council  of  the  Society,  as  well  as  the  uniformity  with  which 
provincial  associations  had  supported  them,  the  only  note  of 
criticism  coming  from  the  Editor  of  the  Chemist  and  Druggist. 
Mr.  Keen  thought  the  Editor  saw  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  a 
formidable  competitor,  though  he  questioned  whether  the  Editor 
was  wise,  even  in  his  own  interests,  for  Mr.  Keen  had  heard  it 
suggested  by  readers  of  the  C.  and  D.  that  steps  should  be  taken 
to  inform  the  Editor  that  the  opinions  he  had  expressed  were  not 
those  held  by  most  members  of  the  trade.  Mr.  Keen  quoted  the 
statistics  published  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  of  March  20, 
showing  that  the  publication  was  no  such  burden  upon  the  Society 
as  had  been  represented.  The  speaker  also  said  that  the  fee  to  be 
increased  was  really  a  registration  fee,  and  the  Society  had  not 
done  with  a  student  when  he  had  been  examined  and  placed  on 
the  Register.  The  Register  had  to  be  kept  and  corrected  from 
time  to  time,  and  if  the  individual  did  not  join  the  Society,  the 
expenses  of  his  registration,  however  long  he  lived,  were  borne  by 
the  members  of  the  Society.  That  was  most  unfair,  for  he  was 
really  reaping  an  advantage  which  others  had  to  pay  for. 

An  Amendment  That  Failed. 

Mr.  Pitciiford  proposed  as  an  amendment — 

That  while  approving  of  the  alteration  in  the  Preliminary  examination,  the 
increased  fee  for  the  Minor  is  altogether  unwarranted." 

He  explained  that  he  was  quite  out  of  sympathy  with  the  Phar¬ 
maceutical  Society  for  a  variety  of  reasons,  and  thought  the  in¬ 
creased  fee  was  really  intended  to  provide  means  of  unfair 


competition  with  trade  journals.  The  amendment  was  not 
seconded,  however,  and  the  original  resolution  was  carried  by  a 
large  majority. — Before  the  meeting  closed,  the  Honorary  Secretary 
called  attention  to  the  forthcoming 

Election  of  the  Council 

of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  and  pointed  out  the  desirability  of 
having  a  larger  proportion  of  London  members  elected. 


Oxford  and  District  Chemists’  Association,  Friday, 
April  30. — Mr.  G-.  Claridge  Druce,  President,  in  the  chair. — This 
was  the  inaugural  meeting  of  the  Association,  and  amongst  those 
assembled  at  the  Clarendon  Hotel,  Oxford,  were  Mr.  Walter  Hills, 
President  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  and  Mr.  R.  Bremridge, 
Secretary  of  the  Society ;  Messrs.  C.  Clayton,  G.  T.  Prior, 
T.  Thurland,  H.  Thurland,  C.  P.  A.  Morrison  (Secretary  of  the 
Association) ;  H.  Mathews,  and  J.  H.  Jessop,  of  Oxford  ;  Mr.  C. 
Bradley,  of  Reading ;  Mr.  Heyhoe,  of  Woodstock,  and  Mr. 
Dolbear,  of  Oxford. — The  Chairman  expressed  the  pleasure  of  the 
members  of  the  Oxford  and  the  District  Chemists’  Association 
at  seeing  those  who  were  present ;  it  was  a  very  awkward  and  in¬ 
convenient  time  for  people  in  the  town  to  have  a  meeting,  as  well  as 
for  those  who  were  absent,  or  else  no  doubt  there  would  have  been  a 
larger  attendance.  That  meeting,  which  was  an  inaugural  meet¬ 
ing,  would,  they  hoped,  lay  the  foundation  of  a  very  useful  Society, 
which  would  not  only  bring  the  members  of  their  trade 
closer  together  in  the  bonds  of  friendship,  but  also  be  in  other  ways 
beneficial.  They  had  meetings  to  celebrate  great  events,  or  to 
mark  an  era  of  great  prosperity,  and  he  only  hoped,  small  as 
that  foundation  was,  they  might  do  something  to  make  their  Asso¬ 
ciation  prosperous  and  themselves  individually  prosperous,  and  he 
thought  they  would  do  that  in  some  measure  if  they  could  show 
that  as  chemists  they  were  carrying  out  in  the  highest  way 
possible  the  responsibilities  of  their  profession.  They  could  not 
expect  to  get  higher  prices  than  other  people  unless  they 
could  do  things  better  than  they,  and  he  thought  they  would  do 
well  to  supply  good  articles  and  secure  the  better  education  pro¬ 
fessionally  of  their  members.  They  must  not  forget  that  this 
education  must  be  the  true  corner  stone  of  their  building.  They  were 
glad  to  welcome  there  the  highest  representative  of  the  pharma¬ 
ceutical  profession,  who  sympathised  with  them  in  all  their 
difficulties  and  knew  what  they  wanted.  He  thought  the  best 
course  would  be  to  ask  the  older  members  to  express  their  views 
about  the  present  situation  of  things,  and  probably  by  discussing 
certain  points  which  were  burning  points  they  might  be  able  to 
arrive  at  some  conclusion  which  would  strengthen  the  hands  of 
the  Society,  and  would  ventilate  some  of  the  grievances  which 
they  felt  and  perhaps  lead  to  a  solution  of  them. — Mr.  Bradley 
said  he  thought  it  would  have  been  better  if  they  could  have  had 
one  or  two  points  brought  forward  for  discussion,  but 
as  they  had  not,  perhaps  he  might  ask  what  the  opinion  of  the 
Society  was  with  regard  to  the 

Increased  Fee  for  Examination, 

which  was  compelling  all  members  of  the  trade  to  pay  a 
registration  fee.  He  believed  that  the  Society  had  decided  to 
increase  the  registration  fee  in  order  to  get  funds  and  sinews  for 
warfare,  but  he  was  afraid  that  instead  of  bringing  the  members  of 
the  trade  together,  they  would  utterly  fail ;  whereas,  had 
they  gone  to  Parliament  for  a  short  Bill  to  have  enabled  them  to 
charge  a  registration  fee  of  either  a  half-guinea  or  a  guinea  per 
annum,  they  would  have  brought  the  members  of  the  trade 
together,  and  by  doing  that  he  thought  they  would  have  got  a 
body  which  would  have  enabled  them  to  take  any  question  to 
Parliament  with  a  chance  of  success.  He  really  thought  that 
instead  of  increasing  the  examination  fee  they  would  have  done 
well  to  have  brought  all  the  members  of  the  trade  together  by 
compelling  them  to  pay  a  registration  fee  in  the  first  instance. — 
Mr.  Lacey  said  he  could  not  quite  follow  the  last  speaker. 
He  could  not  see  where  the  registration  money  was  to  go  to.  \Y  hat 
fund  would  be  formed  with  the  proceeds  of  such  registration  ? 
— Mr.  Mathews  said,  with  regard  to  the  new  bye-law  increasing 
the  fee,  it  seemed  to  him  that  if  the  fee  was  increased  gentlemen 
who  obtained  their  qualification  would  value  it  much  more  than 
now.  He  did  not  know  whether  the  Society  expected  to  get  a 
large  increase  of  revenue  therefrom  ;  from  what  he  could  see  he 
did  not  think  they  would.  He  knew  it  was  argued  by 
some  outside  people  that  they  were  seeking  to  make  these  young 


402 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  8,  1897 


people  pay  a  largely  increased  fee  so  as  to  enable  the  Society  to  conduct 
the  Journal  on  it  present  lines,  but  he  did  not  think  the  Society 
would  gain  very  much  by  the  change.  He  thought  the  increase  of 
the  fee  would  make  men  value  the  qualification  more ;  at  the  present 
time  he  did  not  think  many  of  them  did  value  it,  because  they 
went  outside  and  did  all  they  could  against  the  Society. 
—The  Chairman  thought  Mr.  Mathews  had  made  a  very  good 
point.  It  was  better  that  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  should  be 
a  voluntary  society,  so  that  those  who  qualified  did  it  for  the 
honour  of  the  thing.  Unfortunately  a  number  of  those  who  had 
obtained  the  qualification  had  taken  advantage  of  it  by  going  to  an 
ironmonger’s  or  draper’s  shop  and  qualifying  the  whole  of  the 
establishment  as  bona-fide  chemists.  The  chief  difficulty  he  felt 
was  that  of  the  name;  they  did  think  the  name  of  “chemist” 
was  their  own  property,  but  it  was  not,  unfortunately.  There  were 

“Cash  Chemists” 

who  had  no  more  to  do  with  a  chemist  than  they  had 
with  flying,  and  it  was  due  to  the  fact  that  they  had  on 
their  premises  a  chemist  who  was  supposed  to  look  after 
that  particular  thing.  Chemists  should  see  if  they  could 
not  get  the  Legislature  to  do  something  in  their  favour. 
They  might  have  transgressed  on  the  doctor’s  privileges  of  pre¬ 
scribing,  but  they  did  not  call  themselves  doctors,  and  here  they 
had  people  prescribing  and  taking  their  title  as  chemists. — Mr. 
Bradley  said  that  was  the  fault  of  the  Pharmacy  Act,  and  it 
wanted  amending. — Mr.  Jessop  said  he  thought  they  would  find 
they  were  in  this  position  that  they  must  ask  the  Society  or  the 
Government  whether  they  were  not  going  to  protect  chemists  from 
people  who  were  now  forming  themselves  into  charity  institutions, 
hospitals,  dispensaries,  and,  last  of  all,  so-called  co-operative 
stores.  The  present  condition  of  things  was  brought  about  by 
the  fact  that  so  many  men  were  now  reduced  to  small  pharmacies, 
what  he  should  call  single-handed  business.  They  ought  to  ask 
medical'  men  to  consider  this  question  very  seriously,  because 
they  were  partly  responsible  for  the  origin  of  the  Society ;  they  asked 
for  better  qualified  men  of  higher  standard,  but  what  did  they  do 
now  ?  Did  they  support  them  ?  He  was  afraid  they  went  a  long 
way  from  supporting  them.  People  were  told  now  to  go  to  the 
drug  store,  as  they  could  get  what  they  wanted  better  and  cheaper 
there.  He  thought  a  good  deal  of  the  difficulty  arose  from  what 
he  considered  the  inaction  of  the  Society. — Mr.  T.  Thurland  said 
as  regarded  the  medical  men  insisting  on  a  better  class  of  dis¬ 
pensers,  it  emanated  from  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  waiting  on 
medical  men  and  asking  them  to  support  the  Society  in  educating 
a  better  class  of  men. — Mr.  Dolbear  asked  what  was  the  Society 
going  to  offer  chemists,  suppose  they  took  the  trouble  to  belong  to 
it  ?  He  was  very  keen  on  the  acceptance  of  associates  in  business 
becoming  members  of  the  Society  and  being  allowed  the  privileges 
of  members. — The  Chairman  thought  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
had  been  hampered  because  so  comparatively  few  of  the  trade 
belonged  to  it. — Mr.  Bradley  said  he  had  been  a  local  secretary, 
and  had  found  that  members  dropped  off  as  fast  as  he  could 
get  them,  and  they  would  never  get  members  unless  they 
could  offer  them  the  hope  of  better  things  in  the  future. — 
Mr.  Clayton  said  he  thought  they  had  mainly  two  objects  before 
them.  One  was  to  consider  if  they  could  see  their  way  clearly  to 

Join  the  Pharmaceutical  Society, 
and  if  by  so  doing  they  could  influence  them  in  the  direc¬ 
tion  they  wished.  The  other  point  was  the  enforcement  of 
the  Pharmacy  Act  more  forcibly  to  secure  their  position,  and 
to  protect  them  from  the  number  of  “stores”  which  were 
being  formed  almost  daily. — Mr.  Morrison  said  it  was  a  very 
difficult  thing  to  get  the  majority  of  chemists  to  take  any  interest 
in  the  doings  of  the  Society,  and  until  they  could  get  them  to  do  that 
they  would  not  get  them  to  subscribe  their  guinea.  He  thought 
by  reducing  the  subscription  they  would  get  a  greater  number  of 
associates,  and  more  interest  would  be  felt  in  the  doings  of  the 
Society.  As  to  the  annual  registration  fee,  he  was  afraid  that  was  a 
thing  of  the  very  distant  future.- — Mr.  Lacey  said  if  the  registration 
fee  could  be  enforced,  he  would  give  the  Society  power  to  strike  off 
any  man  who  had  managed  a  store.  He  helped  to  get  the  Pharmacy 
Act  of  1868  passed,  and  a  most  miserable  and  deplorable  job  it  was. 
— The  Chairman  said  the  question  of  increasing  tli£  fees  for  the 
examination  was  a  burning  question,  and  he  thought 
that  Mr.  Hills  would  put  the  matter  before  them  in  a  manner 
which  would  convince  them  that,  after  all,  it  did  not 
mean  entirely  an  increase  ;  it  meant  ten  guineas  to  be  paid  at  once 
for  a  qualifying  examination,  and  he  did  not  think  the  amount  was 


excessive,  and  when  it  was  given  to  protect  a  man’s  title  to  be  a 
chemist  he  did  not  think  there  should  be  any  grumbling. 

The  President  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 

was  the  next  speaker.  He  thanked  the  meeting  for  the  kind 
reception  they  had  given  him.  When  Mr.  Ifruce  wrote  and  asked 
him  to  come  to  Oxford  he  felt  he  could  do  no  less  than  come  down, 
and  he  felt  also  that  he  should  at  least  hear  something  to  stimulate 
pharmaceutical  education.  He  confessed  to  some  disappointment 
that  nothing  had  been  said  of  the  two  great  features  of  the  work 
of  the  Society  of  the  last  twelve  months,  but  he  felt  sure  that  in  a 
city  and  neigbourhood  as  this  the  Council  would  have  their 
sympathies  in  its  desire  to  improve  the  education  of  those 
who  were  coming  into  the  trade  after  them.  He  was  very  glad  to 
be  there  that  day,  because,  as  he  understood,  that  was  the  first 
meeting  of  a  proposed  local  association,  and  he  felt  that  the  more 
the  members  of  their  calling  met  together  and  talked  over 
common  ideas,  the  more  they  would  be  able  to  realise  the 
difficulties  which  the  Society  had  to  deal  with  in  carrying 
on  its  great  and  multifarious  duties.  He  therefore  rejoiced  to 
think  they  were  forming  an  association,  because  whatever 
views  might  have  been  expressed  hostile  to  the  Society,  he  believed 
he  should  find  some  representatives  of  the  chemist’s  calling  in 
this  great  and  important  city  who  would  feel  loyalty  to  the 
Society.  The  Pharmaceutical  Society  was  the  only  body  which 
existed  that  could  really  do  much  for  their  common  success,  and 
it  was  worthy  of  support.  It  was  one  of  the  most  democratic 
bodies  they  could  have,  especially  in  the  elections  to  the  governing 
body.  The  majority  of  those  returned,  when  they  got  behind  the 
scenes,  found  they  were  doing  all  it  was  practicable  to  do  in  the 
interests  of  their  calling,  and  that  there  were  certainly  difficulties 
in  the  way  which  could  only  be  removed  by  united  action.  He 
understood,  when  he  assented  to  Mr.  Bruce’s  invitation  to  come  to 
that  meeting,  that  he  should  not  be  asked  to  make  a  formal  address. 
One  question  had  not  been  raised  thatday,  butwhichhad  been  written 
about  the  last  few  months,  and  that  was  the  position  of  town 
members  versus  country  members.  He  could  speak  with  some 
freedom,  because  he  was  the  only  London  member  who  was  not  up 
for  election ,  and  i  t  was  possible  some  of  the  Londoners  mi  ght  be  thrown 
out.  He  had  occasion,  speaking  at  a  dinner  in  London,  to  point 
out  that  fifty  years  ago  there  were  seventeen  members  out  of  the 
twenty-one  resident  in  London.  A  change  had. taken  place  from 
year  to  year,  until  now  they  had  five  London  members  and 
sixteen  resident  in  the  country.  This  was  the  first  opportunity 
he  had  had  of  speaking  in  the  country,  and  he  asked 
them  to  realise,  and  he  was  sure  that  they  did,  that 
the  London  members  fully  sympathised  with  those  resident  in  the 
country.  They  knew  the  special  difficulties  attaching  to  the 
carrying  on  of  business  in  the  country,  and  they  had  as  much 
sympathy  with  them  as  with  those  living  in  towns.  But  they 
must  not  think  they  had  no  difficulties  in  town.  With  regard  to 
the  remarks  that  had  been  made,  Mr.  Bradley  was  in  favour,  he 
thought,  of  an  annual  registration  fee  by  Act  of  Parliament,  and 
the  question  arose  in  his  mind  whether  the  Council  could  get  a 
united  body  of  chemists  to  back  it  up  in  asking  that  they  should 
pay  a  registration  fee. — Mr.  Bradley  here  said  he  believed  the 
members  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  would  willingly  subscribe  ; 
he  would  give  £5  now  for  them  to  go  to  Parliament  in  order  to  get 
something  of  the  nature  of 

A  Compulsory  Annual  Registration  Fee. 

— Mr.  Hills  asked  what  advantage  that  would  be  over  what 
the  Council  proposed  to  do  at  the  present  time.  It  proposed 
to  ask  for  power  to  have  a  fee  of  ten  guineas,  which  would, 
to  all  intents  and  purposes,  include  a  sufficient  registration 
fee  for  life  ;  and  it  was  also  thought  this  would  be  in  the  interest 
of  the  candidates.  This  question  of  the  registration  fee 
was  one  which  had  arisen  during  the  consideration  of  the 
Preliminary  examination.  He  was  sorry  nothing  had  been  said 
about  that  examination.  The  Committee,  when  it  came  to  work 
upon  it,  found  it  necessary  to  consider  the  financial  aspect,  and 
in  process  of  time  there  would  probably  be  a  considerable  altera¬ 
tion  in  the  revenue  of  the  Society.  There  would  possibly  be  a 
considerable  reduction,  how  much  he  did  not  know.  The  whole  of 
the  financial  aspect  of  the  question  was  taken  into  consideration 
by  the  Committee,  and  it  was  realised  that  a  man  valued  his  quali¬ 
fication  to  some  extent  by  what  he  had  paid  for  it.  The  Council 
proposed  to  ask  ten  guineas  for  a  qualifying  examination  to  enable 
a  man  to  carry  on  business,  and  if  that  amount  could  be  secured 


May  8, 1897J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


403 


there  would  be  sufficient  for  the  registration  fee.  He  thought  it 
would  be  a  very  bad  thing  not  only  for  the  members  and  the  trade 
if  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  were  poor  and  not  able  to  carry  on 
its  work,  he  thought  that  members  outside  would  come  to  that 
conclusion,  too,  and  he  was  of  opinion  that  a  fair  revenue  was 
desirable.  It  was  a  mysterious  thing  that  a  title  for  which,  in 
the  individual,  qualification  by  examination  was  required, 
might  be  taken  by  a  number  of  unqualified  men.  They 
must  recollect  that  by  the  interpretation  of  the  Pharmacy  Act  it 
was  ruled  that  limited  liability  companies  were  altogether  out  of 
the  purview  of  the  Act,  and  they  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
a  title  was  also  outside  the  purview  of  the  Act,  and  he  might  say 
that  at  the  present  time  the  Council  was  not  losing  sight 
of  that  point,  and  was  asking  to  be  heard  before  a  Committee  of 
the  House  of  Lords  on  the  subject.  The  Council  was  asking  to  be 
heard  as  to  its  views  with  regard  to  qualification  necessary  for 
an  individual  who  could  obtain  only  it  by  examination,  and  ap¬ 
parently  not  necessary  for  a  company.  The  Council  was  trying  to 
do  what  it  could  in  that  direction.  He  was  not  prepared  to  say, 
all  the  same,  that  if  they  were  successful  it  would  help  them  very 
much.  After  all,  the  great  difficulty  was  this,  the  House  of  Lords 
had  said  that  men  might  obtain  a  certain  qualification  by  forming 
themselves  into  a  company.  If  the  Council  could  get  all  the 
chemists  in  the  country  to  go  to  Parliament  and  ask  for  an 
alteration  of  this  decision,  none  would  be  more  rejoiced  than 
the  present  President,  but  he  very  much  doubted  if  they  were 
of  one  mind  in  the  matter,  for  they  must  bear  in  mind  that 
many  of  them  were  connected  with  these  stores  and  organisa¬ 
tions.  He  should  be  only  too  glad  to  see  what  he  believed 
was  contemplated  in  the  Pharmacy  Act,  namely,  that  an 
individual  who  opened  a  chemist’s  business  and  who  classed 
himself  as  a  chemist,  should  be  the  only  person  who 
,  could  do  so,  and  that  there  should  be  no  possibility  for 
men  to  drive  through  the  Pharmacy  Act  as  they  now  did.  As 
regarded  a  single-handed  business,  he  could  not  conceive  of  any¬ 
thing  more  trying  than  to  carry  on  such  a  business.  It  did  seem 
very  hard  that  there  should  be  so  little  remuneration  for  what  was 
after  all  a  business  requiring  a  considerable  amount  of  knowledge, 
and  so  much  care.  Mr.  Dolbear  had  asked  what  was  offered  to 
those  who  belonged  to  the  Society.  He  thought  everything  was 
offered.  If  the  Council  could  double  the  incomes  of  all  those  belong¬ 
ing  to  it,  he  thought  it  would  be  a  very  powerful  Society.  The 
Council  did  not  go  out  into  highways  and  hedges  to  try  to  find 
cases  of  infraction  of  the  law,  but  it  did  take  notice  of  every  case 
that  was  brought  before  it,  and  it  had  to  do  so  in  cases  in  which 
their  own  people  had  broken  the  law.  As  regarded  the  Register, 
he  should  like  to  see  it  more  perfect  than  it  already  was.  The 
subject  of  malpractice  had  been  discussed  occasionally  by  the 
Council,  and  it  was  a  difficult  one.  He  did  not  think  it  would  be 
racticable  to  strike  off  those  who  belonged  to  the  “  stores.”  In 
is  opinion  it  was  not  quite  the  right  thing  for  people  to  stand 
outside  the  Society  and  criticise  it.  The  only  way  they  could  do 
anything  was  by  united  effort,  and  if  nine  out  of  every  ten  on  the 
Register  were  in  the  Society,  much  might  be  effected.  He  was 
quite  willing  that  associates  in  business  should  be  members  of  the 
Society,  not  as  a  matter  of  justice,  but  as  a  matter  of  expediency. 
He  hoped  everyone  present  would  join  the  Society  if  they  were  not 
already  connected  with  it. 


Forfarshire  District  Chemists’  Association,  Wednes¬ 
day,  April  28. — Mr.  Charles  Kerr  in  the  chair. — As  briefly  men¬ 
tioned  in  last  week’s  Journal,  one  of  the  features  of  the  opening 
meeting  of  this  Association  was  a  discussion  on 

The  Proposed  New  Bye-Laws  of  the  Pharmaceutical 

Society. 

The  Chairman  said  he  had  asked  Mr.  Hill  to  draft  a  resolution, 
and  the  following  was  what  he  had  prepared 

“  That  this  Association  approves  of  the  amended  bye-laws  of  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society,  and  believes  they  are  for  the  public  benefit  and  in  the 
interest  of  pharmacists." 

He  was  not  sure,  however,  that  he  could  move  that  resolution.  It 
was  rather  too  strong  for  him.  He  believed  they  would  all  agree 
as  to  the  first  part  of  the  bye-laws,  relating  to  the  Preliminary 
examination.  He,  however,  was  not  in  favour  of  the  £10  10s.  fee 
for  the  Minor.  He  thought  it  would  be  hard  on  the  young  men, 


and  that  they  were  moving  with  too  much  rapidity.  They  seemed 
to  want  to  make  their  calling  a  pure  profession,  and  he  did  not 
think  it  would  ever  be  that.  They  would  need  to  have  the  two 
classes  of  druggists  and  dispensing  chemists  as  they  had  in  Ire¬ 
land.  Moreover,  he  thought  that  if  a  lad  had  to  remain  at  school 
till  he  was  seventeen  or  eighteen  years  of  age  he  would  not  be 
willing  to  do  such  things  as  dusting  the  shop,  and  the  getting  of  appren¬ 
tices,  even  already,  was  becoming  a  very  serious  business. — Baillie 
Doig  said  the  acceptance  of  the  leaving  certificates  would  satisfy 
him  very  well,  as  a  lad  could  take  those  at  fourteen  or  fifteen.  It 
occurred  to  him  that  with  the  excessive  development  of  secondary 
education  they  were  preventing  many  people  from  entering  the 
homelier  callings.  In  the  case  of  females  for  instance,  it  was  now 
becoming  very  difficult  to  get  them  to  undertake  the  humbler 
duties.  If  lads  were  sixteen  or  seventeen  years  of  age  before 
they  passed  the  Preliminary  examination,  it  was  questionable  if 
they  would  do  routine  work. — Baillie  Kermath  said  his  ex¬ 
perience  as  a  country  chemist  was  that  the  better  educated 
boy  he  could  get  the  better  service  he  got,  and  the  more  useful  he 
became.  He  thought  they  ought  to  aim  at  getting  a  better  class 
of  boys,  and  many  of  the  shop  duties  should  be  done  by  message 
boys. — The  bye-laws  relating  to  the  Preliminary  examina¬ 
tion  were  unanimously  approved  of. — Mr.  R.  M.  Lindsay 
moved  that  the  Association  disapproved  of  the  increased 
Minor  fee  of  £10  10s.  Tie  said  the  proposal  was  unfair, 

unjust,  and  dishonest  to  the  young  men,  and  there  was  nothing 
to  j  ustify  it.  In  1895  the  receipts  from  these  fees  was  £8740,  and  the 
expenditure  £3428,  showing  a  nett  profit  of  £5312  {sic).  From  1889 
to  1896  there  had  been  an  average  annual  profit  of  between  £3000  and 
£4000.— Mr.  J.  W.  Russell  seconded  the  motion,  and  said  all 
chemists  and  druggists  should  be  admitted  to  full  membership. 
It  was  a  scandal  that  a  man  who  passed  no  examination  and  could 
not  tell  the  composition  of  water  should  put  up  “  Member  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society,”  while  a  man  who  passed  the  Minor 
could  only  be  an  associate. — Mr.  J.  H.  Thomson  said  he  thought 
the  Society  was  entirely  justified  in  raising  funds  for  the 
purposes  of  the  Society  from  examination  fees.  The  members 
of  the  Society  had  to  perform  public  duties,  and  many  of 
those  who  were  registered  contributed  nothing  to  the  Society’s 
expenses. — Mr.  Duncan  said  no  reason  had  been  given  for  this 
increase,  and  the  Society  had  any  amount  of  money  which  they 
simply  squandered.  The  examiners  got  £3  3s.  a  day,  and  it  was 
a  great  deal  too  much.  He  thought  £5  5s.  was  ample  to  meet  all 
expenses.— Mr.  Jack  moved  that  the  Association  approve  of 
the  bye-laws  relating  to  the  Minor  fee  of  £10  10s.  The  work  of 
the  Society  was  not  selfish  but  primarily  intended  for  the  public 
welfare.  This  proposal  was  intended  to  raise  the  trade  to  a  true 
and  satisfactory  position,  and  would  have  that  effect.  The  Asso¬ 
ciation,  he  felt  sure,  had  the  good  of  the  Society  at  heart,  and 
would  do  nothing  to  prevent  these  bye-laws  being  adopted.  He 
entirely  disapproved  of  the 

Extravagant  and  Exaggerated  Language 

that  had  been  used  about  dishonesty  and  unfairness.  The  accounts 
of  the  Society  were  open  to  all,  and  everything  was  honest  and 
above  board. — Mr.  J.  H.  Thomson  seconded  the  motion. — Mr. 
Davidson,  Montrose,  said  this  money  was  required  for  carrying- 
out  the  duties  of  the  Society.  He  believed  the  examinations  did 
not  pay  in  the  way  that  had  been  represented,  and  he  entirely 
supported  Mr.  Jack’s  motion. — Mr.  W.  L.  Currie,  Glasgow,  did 
not  consider  the  £10  10s.  fee  exorbitant,  considering  what  the 
Society  had  to  do  in  protecting  the  interests  of  chemists  and  drug¬ 
gists,  and  in  prosecuting  those  who  infringed  thu  Acts  of 
Parliament.  Out  of  15,000  chemists  on  the  Register  only 
4000  were  members  of  the  Society,  which  he  thought  was  a  dis¬ 
grace  to  those  who  held  the  Society’s  qualification,  and  who  claimed 
all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  Society  without  paying  anything 
towards  the  cost.  He  entirely  agreed  with  the  wish  that  all 
chemists  and  druggists  should  be  members,  but  that  required,  an 
Act  of  Parliament.  Until  such  a  law  was  passed  it  would  be  impossible 
to  weld  the  whole  trade  into  one  body.  He  would  regret  very  much 
if  that  Association  should  at  its  first  meetinsr  give  such  a  straight 
slap  in  the  face  to  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  and  he  would 
support  Mr.  Jack’s  amendment. — Mr.  John  Anderson  said  he  was 
at  first  inclined  to  disapprove  of  the  proposed  fee,  but  on  thinking 
the  matter  over  he  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  Was  the  right 
course  to  take. — Mr.  Baillie  Ferrier  said  he  would  nob  say  a 
word  against  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  for  it  had  done  a  great 


404 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  8,  1897. 


deal  to  raise  the  status  of  chemists.  But  there  was  a  feeling 
among  the  younger  men,  especially,  against  the  increased  fee,  and 
he  agreed  with  them  and  would  vote  against  it.  He  thought  some¬ 
thing  should  be  done  to  protect  the  trade  and  keep  it  in  their 
hands.  It  was  now  taking  such  a  shape  that  any  girl  could  hand 
out  the  things  that  were  made  up  by  specialists. — The  Chairman 
then  put  the  amendment  of  Mr.  Jack,  approving  of  the  bye-laws, 
and  fourteen  voted  in  favour.  The  motion  of  Mr.  Lindsay  was 
then  put,  and  ten  voted  in  favour.  The  motion  in  favour  of  the 
bye-laws  was  therefore  declared  carried. — The  meeting  then  closed. 


North  Staffordshire  Chemists’  Association,  Thursday, 
April  29. — Mr.  J.  Averill,  J.P.,  President,  in  the  chair. — A 
general  meeting  of  this  Association  was  held  at  the  North  Stafford 
Hotel,  Stoke-upon-Trent,  to  consider  the  proposed  alterations  in  the 
bye-laws  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society.  There  were  present  : 
Messrs.  Edmund  Jones  (Hon.  Secretary),  T.  C.  Cornwell,  J.  W. 
Moore  (Vice-President),  I.  H.  Heap  (Hanley),  F.  Adams,  Vice- 
President  (Stoke)  ;  J.  W.  Poole,  Treasurer  (Newcastle)  ;  C.  Wain, 
(Shelton) ;  Prince,  Fisher  (Longton)  ;  Viggars,  McKee  (Tunstall) ; 
J.  Charles,  Hewitt  (Burslem) ;  Hankinson  (Uttoxeter) ;  and  J. 
Brinson  (Liverpool). — The  Chairman,  in  introducing 

The  Proposed  New  Bye-laws 

for  discussion,  said  he  might  classify  them  under  two  heads  :  (1) 
the  substitution  of  the  present  Preliminary  examination  by  a 
certificate  from  one  of  the  approved  examining  bodies,  such  as  the 
Oxford  or  Cambridge  “  locals  ”  or  the  College  of  Perceptors,  and 
(2)  the  raising  of  the  registration  fee  from  five  guineas  to  ten 
guineas.  After  reading  the  old  bye-laws  and  the  proposed  altera¬ 
tions,  the  Chairman  went  on  to  say  that  as  education  had  advanced 
so  much  in  every  class  of  life  it  was  highly  important  that  the 

General  Education  op  the  Pharmacist 

should  be  kept  up  to  modern  requirements.  The  qualifying  exami¬ 
nation  of  late  years  had  become  more  stringent,  and  there  were  in 
consequence  more  failures  than  was  the  case  some  years  ago. 
It  would  therefore  bekinder  to  let  the  young  men  who  were  entering 
pharmacy  know  by  the  nature  of  the  Preliminary  that  a  consider¬ 
able  amount  of  knowledge  would  be  required  before  they  could 
obtain  the  qualification  necessary  to  commence  business.  The 
present  Preliminary  was  not  as  stiff  as  it  should  be,  and  he  thought 
the  Committee  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  had  acted  wisely  in 
deciding  that  the  examination  for  general  education  required  by 
the  Medical  Council  was  one  which  would  be  most  suitable  to  the 
pharmacist.  The  result  would  be  that  a  better  class  of  men  would 
enter  the  calling,  and  that  the  failures  in  the  qualifyin  g  examina 
tions  would  be  considerably  diminished. 

The  Registration  Fee. 

With  regard  to  the  registration  fee  he  thought  £5  5s.  was 
altogether  inadequate,  because  four-fifths  of  the  candidates,  after 
being  put  on  the  Register  for  life,  never  supported  further  the 
Society  which  did  so  much  for  pharmacy.  He  moved  the  following 
resolution  : — 

“  That  this  meeting  of  the  North  Staffordshire  and  District  Chemists’  Asso¬ 
ciation,  having  read  and  considered  the  proposed  new  bye-laws  of  the  Phar¬ 
maceutical  Society,  are  in  full  accord  therewith,  and  beg  to  tender  their 
hearty  support  and  co-operation  to  the  Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
in  their  effort  to  advance  the  education,  interests,  and  status  of  chemists 
generally.” 

— Mr.  I.  H.  Heap  seconded  the  resolution.  He  thought  the  raising  of 
the  Preliminary  was  advisable  from  every  possible  point  of  view. 

- — Mr.  Charles,  whilst  endorsing  the  action  of  the  Council  as 
regarded  the  alteration  of  the  examination,  thought  a  fee  of 
£10  10s.  was  a  little  too  much.  It  might  be  argued  that  the  fee 
would  keep  out  unsuitable  men.  He  did  not  think  so,  and  he  was 
of  opinion  that  the  Associates  who  provided  the  money  of  the 
Society  should  be  allowed  a  seat  on  the  Council  and  more 
privileges  than  they  enjoyed  at  the  present  time. — Mr.  Hewitt 
was  of  opinion  that  boys  should  not  be  taken  as  apprentices 
unless  they  had  passed  the  Preliminary  examination,  or 
were  in  a  fair  way  of  doing  so,  and  he  thought 
the  Preliminary  examination  should  be  on  a  level  with  the  London 
matriculation.  He  agreed  with  Mr.  Charles  that  the  proposed  fee 
was  too  high.  He  thought  £7  7s.  would  be  quite  sufficient. — Mr. 
Weston  Poole  spoke  at  some  length  on  the  matter.  He  agreed 
with  the  proposed  elevation  of  the  Preliminary,  but  did  not  think 
it  went  far  enough.  He  did  not  think  the  status  of  any  man  would 


be  raised  by  higher  payments.  Those  who  were  members  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  enjoyed  a  number  of  luxuries,  and  they 
asked  the  successful  candidates  who  might  not  intend  to  become 
members  of  that  Society  to  pay  for  them.  He  did  not 
think  that  was  fair.  If  the  subscriptions  of  the  members  were 
not  sufficient,  then  he  suggested  that  the  subscriptions  should  be 
doubled. — Mr.  T.  C.  Cornwell  said  that  whether  chemists  were 
members  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  or  not  they  all  received 
benefit  from  that  Society.  He  did  not  think  ten  guineas  at  all  too 
much ;  a  young  man  would  spend  twice  as  much  on  a  bicycle. — - 
Mr.  Hankinson  said  the  fact  that  the  successful  candidates  had  to 
pay  for  a  number  of  luxuries  which  they  did  not  enjoy  would  not 
tend  to  make  them  feel  friendly  towards  the  Society.  There 
would  be  a  growing  distrust  and  dislike  of  the  Society’s  methods 
of  raising  money. — Mr.  Moore  said  he  was  glad  to  see  that  the 
Preliminary  examination  was  to  become  on  “all  fours”  with  that  of 
the  medical  profession.  He  did  not  think  the  increased  fee  would 
drive  anyone  away.  There  would  not  be  any  need,  however,  for 
the  increased  fee  if  all  members  of  the  trade  were  subscribers  to 
the  Society. — Mr.  Jones  thought  the  examination  had  been  in¬ 
sufficient  and  inadequate  for  the  maintenance  of  that  respect  to 
which  the  pharmacist  was  entitled.  He  thoroughly  endorsed  the 
action  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  in  raising  their  funds  by  in¬ 
creasing  the  fees. — After  some  further  discussion  the  resolution 
was  carried  nem.  con. — Messrs.  Poole  and  Hankinson  did  not  vote. 
—-The  Secretary  announced  the  receipt  of  £5  5s.  from  Messrs. 
Evans,  Sons,  and  Co.,  Liverpool,  towards  the  Library  Fund. — 
Mr.  J.  Brinson  was  asked  to  convey  the  thanks  of  the  meeting 
to  his  firm. — Votes  of  thanks  closed  the  meeting. 


Chemists  and  Druggists’  Society  of  Ireland  (North 
Branch),  Friday,  April  30. — Mr.  John  Watson  in  the  chair. 
This  Committee  met  at  10,  Garfield  Chambers  ;  present :  Samuel 
Clotworthy,  Samuel  Gibson,  John  H.  Shaw,  John  Campbell, 
Hugh  Renton,  Joseph  Douglass,  and  W.  T.  Rankin,  Hon.  Sec. 
The  minutes  of  last  meeting  were  read  and  confirmed,  and  a 
letter  from  Mr.  W.  B.  Black,  Ballycaster,  was  read,  asking 
why  grocers  and  other  unregistered  persons  were  allowed  to 
sell  poisons,  as  many  were  doing  in  his  district,  and  stating 
that  he  saw  no  good  subscribing  to  the  Chemists  and  Druggists’ 
Society  or  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Ireland,  as  neither 
body  instituted  proceedings.  The  Hon.  Sec.  was  instructed  to 
write  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of 
Ireland  to  carry  out  the  Act,  and  that  the  police  had  also  power 
under  the  Poison  Act,  1870,  to  prosecute.  Copies  of  Rules  with  list 
of  officers,  etc.,  were  reported  as  being  in  the  hands  of  the  printers, 
and  would  be  circulated  in  due  time.  A  letter  from  Mr.  R.  W. 
McKnight,  M.P.S.I.,Hon.  Sec.,  Ulster  Pharmaceutical  Association, 
was  read,  which  asked  that  the  Committee  of  the  Society  would 
arrange  to  meet  with  the  Committee  of  his  Association  in  order  to 
confer  with  regard  to  extending  an  invitation  to  the  British  Phar¬ 
maceutical  Conference  to  meet  at  Belfast  in  1898.  The  Committee 
unanimously  agreed  to  join  as  asked,  the  Hon.  Sec.  to  make 
arrangements  as  to  time  and  place. — The  Hon.  Sec.  reported 
that  Sir  James  Haslett,  M.P.,  President,  was  agreed  that  if  the 
Conference  accepted  the  invitation  if  extended  to  them,  they 
would  receive  a  very  warm  and  hearty  reception. — Some  other 
routine  business  having  been  transacted  the  Committee  adjourned. 


Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh,  Monday,  May  3. — Dr. 

W.  W.  J.  Nicol  read  a  paper 

“  On  Supersaturation.” 

The  contention  is  that  the  phenomena  of  supersaturation 
and  superfusion  really  depend  on  the  capacity  of  the  sub¬ 
stance  to  exist  in  two  or  more  crystalline  forms.  The 
passage  of  a  salt  from  one  crystalline  form  to  another 
was  beautifully  shown  by  means  of  lantern  slides,  and 
differently  formed  crystals  of  compounds  which  are  not  generally 
supposed  to  be  alio  tropic  were  likewise  exhibited  on  the  screen. 
Among  these  may  be  mentioned  argentic  nitrate,  acetanilide, 
and  citric  acid.  Dr.  Nicol  has  not  found  one  instance, 
although  he  has  examined  a  great  variety  of  compounds, 
in  which  a  substance  capable  of  forming  a  supersaturated 
solution  does  not  exist  in  two  crystalline  forms,  although 
there  may  be  difficulty  in  preparing  the  less  normal  form.  The 
paper  is  of  the  nature  of  a  preliminary  communication,  and  a  more 
complete  statement  and  proof  of  the  theory  is  reserved  for  a  future 
contribution. 


Mat  8, 1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


405 


LEGAL  INTELLIGENCE. 


PROCEEDINGS  UNDER  THE  APOTHECARIES  ACT. 


Case  against  Mr.  George  Ellinor,  of  Sheffield. 

At  the  Sheffield  County  Court  on  Wednesday,  His  Honour  Judge 
Waddy  was  occupied  for  a  considerable  time  in  hearing  a  case 
•of  the  alleged  usurpation  of  the  privileges  of  a  medical  man  by  a 
•chemist.  The  defendant  was  George  Ellinor,  a  pharmaceutical 
•chemist,  who  carries  on  business  at  No.  127,  Spital  Hill,  Sheffield, 
-and  the  action  was  brought  by  the  Master,-  Wardens,  and  Society 
■of  the  Art  and  Mystery  of  Apothecaries  of  the  City  of  London,  14, 
Austin  Friars,  E.C.,  who  sought  to  recover  from  the  defendant  a 
penalty  of  £20,  for  having  attended,  advised,  furnished,  and  sup¬ 
plied  medicines  to  and  for  the  use  of  certain  persons  without 
having  obtained  a  certificate  required  by  the  Act  of  1815  for  better 
■regulating  the  practice  of  apothecaries  throughout  England  and 
Wales. — Mr.  G.  G.  Alexander,  barrister  (instructed  by  Mr.  F.  E. 
Eaton),  appeared  for  the  plaintiffs,  and  Mr.  Neal  defended. 

In  opening  the  case,  Mr.  Alexander  said  the  defendant  was  a 
qualified  chemist,  and  the  Apothecaries’  Society  alleged  that  he 
had  infringed  their  privileges.  The  section  alleged  to  be  infringed 
was  Section  20,  and  the  important  words  were  “did  act  and 
practise  as  an  apothecary.”  The  question  was  what  conduct  con¬ 
stituted  acting  as  an  apothecary,  and  that  had  already  been 
decided  by  Mr.  J ustice  Cresswell.  The  real  distinction  was  that 
between  a  chemist  and  an  apothecary,  and  Justice  Cresswell 
•defined  a  chemist  as  one  who  sold  medicines  which  were 
asked  for,  and  an  apothecary  as  one  who  himself  selected 
the  medicines  and  determined  on  what  he  ought  to  give.  The 
complaint  in  this  case  was  that  defendant — who,  it  was  admitted, 
was  a  duly  qualified  pharmaceutical  chemist,  and  who  also  appeared 
to  hold  some  qualifications  for  midwifery,  which,  however,  were 
not  registered — had  been  carrying  on  the  business  of  an  apothecary. 
He  had  been  visiting  patients  at  their  own  houses,  diagnosing  their 
diseases,  prescribing  drugs  as  remedies,  and  supplying  those  drugs. 
It  was  not  sufficient  to  show  that  this  was  done  on  one  occasion. 
Almost  every  chemist  was  occasionally  asked  over  the  counter  to 
^prescribe  medicines  for  simple  diseases,  such  as  colds,  and  the 
Society  would  take  no  notice  of  an  isolated  act  like  that.  But 
when  it  became  a  habitual  practice,  as  in  this  case,  it  was  a  matter 
that  they  were  bound  to  take  notice  of.  To  prove  the  habitual 
practice,  he  proposed  to  give  evidence  with  regard  to  four  cases, 
which  he  named. 

Mr.  Neal  objected  to  the  evidence  with  regard  to  one  of  the  four 
•cases — that  of  a  man  named  Packard,  which  Mr.  Alexander  de¬ 
scribed  as  perhaps  the  most  important  of  all— as  that  "was  not 
mentioned  in  the  particulars. 

Mr.  Alexander,  nevertheless,  expressed  his  intention  of  going 
iint  i  the  case. 

His  Honour  said  Mr.  Alexander  was  instructed  by  a  great  com¬ 
pany,  and  was  deliberately  going  to  endeavour  to  hit  Mr.  Ellinor 
with  a  case  of  which  notice  had  not  been  given.  He  (His  Honour) 
was  very  sorry. 

Mr.  Alexander  said  that  after  that  expression  of  opinion,  he 
would  not  go  into  Packard’s  case. 

His  Honour  was  quite  sure  it  ought  not  to  be  done.  The  Acts 
with  regard  to  chemists,  dentists,  etc.,  were  very  beneficial,  and 
salutary,  as  they  prevented  unskilled  men  from  playing  with  the 
health  and  the  lives  of  others.  But  it  was  desirable  that  in  cases, 
such  as  the  present,  the  Society  should  carry  not  only  the  profes¬ 
sion,  but  the  public  with  them,  and  should  deal  with  the  matter 
in  a  spirit  of  dignified  justice. 

Mr.  Alexander  said  that  was  exactly  the  spirit  in  which  they 
•approached  that  case.  The  action  was  not  brought  with  any  spirit 
>of  vindictiveness,  but  as  a  matter  of  public  duty.  He  would  rely 
•on  three  cases.  The  patient  in  one  was  attended  at  his  own  house 
by  defendant,  and  received  medicine  from  him  for  a  cold,  but  it 
•  could  not  be  clearly  shown  that  the  medicine  was  fetched  from 
defendant’s  shop.  In  the  other  two  cases,  however,  the  patients, 
who  were  women,  sent  girls  to  his  shop  for  medicine.  He  should 
call  Dr.  Rhodes,  Secretary  of  the  Sheffield  Branch  of  the  Medical 
Defence  Union,  who  would  say  that  all  the  cases  were  purely  and 
simply  medical  cases.  They  were  not  surgical  or  midwifery  cases. 

William  West  Meggitt,  butcher,  250,  Barnsley  Road,  said  during 
ffhe  last  twelve  months  defendant  had  attended  him  and  two 
members  of  his  family,  and  had  supplied  medicines.  Some  of  them 
were  made  up  from  Dr.  Dyson’s  prescriptions,  but  not  all  of  them. 


Mr.  Ellinor  attended  witness  for  a  cold,  and  prescribed  the 
medicine. 

By  Mr.  Neal :  If  he  had  any  little  ailment,  Mr.  Ellinor,  who  was 
his  friend,  sent  him  a  bottle  of  physic,  but  when  anything  serious 
was  the  matter  he  sent  for  Dr.  Dyson.  He  knew  perfectly  well 
that  Mr.  Ellinor  was  not  a  registered  practitioner. 

Jane  Hirst,  wife  of  Alfred  Hirst,  joiner,  62,  Spital  Hill,  said 
she  was  attended  by  Mr.  Ellinor  last  July.  She  had  taken  medi¬ 
cines  sent  by  him.  They  had  done  her  a  great  deal  of  good  ;  she 
owed  her  life  to  defendant. 

Miss  Hirst,  called  to  give  evidence  as  to  fetching  medicine  from 
Mr.  Ellinor,  said  she  had  done  so,  but  could  not  remember  whether 
it  was  last  year  or  not. 

Mrs.  Guest,  wife  of  John  Samuel  Guest,  furnace-man,  7,  Salter 
Street,  said  defendant  attended  her,  and  said  she  was  suffering 
from  congestion  of  the  kidneys.  She  had  some  medicine  from  him, 
but  it  did  her  no  good. 

Dr.  Hugh  Rhodes  said  the  cases  were  all  medical  ones.  He  was 
cross-examined  by  Mr.  Neal  as  to  who  had  brought  the  action.  He 
did  not  know,  but  he  did  not  think  the  Medical  Defence  Union,  in 
the  name  of  the  Apothecaries’  Society,  had  brought  the  action,  and 
were  supporting  it  with  their  funds.  He  thought  that  probably 
the  action  was  brought  by  some  local  medical  men. 

At  this  stage  the  case  was  adjourned  until  the  following  day. 


NEW  REMEDIES. 


\_The  notes  given  under  this  heading  embody  recent  suggestions  in 
therapeutics.  They  cover  both  new  drugs  and  preparations,  and  old  ones 
under  new  aspects.  The  word  “parts”  is  used  to  represent  parts  by 
weight,  both  for  solids  and  liquids .] 


Methylene  Blue  Internally  in  Gonorrhcea. — Given  internally 
in  doses  of  three  grains  three  times  a  day,  Moore  has  found  methylene 
blue  to  be  a  valuable  remedy  in  treating  first  attacks  of  gonorrhoea.  It 
appears  to  cut  short  the  acute  stage  of  the  disease  before  any  serious 
damage  is  done  to  the  urethral  tissues.  Whether  this  is  due  to  the 
dye,  by  its  selective  action  on  the  gonococci  themselves,  impairing 
their  vitality,  or  whether  it  be  that  the  tissues  in  which  they  grow 
are  rendered  unfavourable  for  their  development  is  not  yet  known. 
The  record  of  several  cases  tends  to  show,  however,  that  methylene 
blue  exerts  a  marked  and  beneficial  effect  on  the  disease.—!?.  M.  J., 
1,97/140. 


Malarine. — This  is  a  condensation  product  of  aceto  phenone 
and  paraphenetidine,  the  formula  being — ■ 

c^<o-c>5<cA 

It  crystallises  in  handsome  plates  of  a  citron  yellow  colour,  melting 
at  88",  insoluble  in  water,  slightly  dissolved  by  cold  alcohol,  readily 
so  on  warming,  and  freely  soluble  in  chloroform  and  benzol.  It  gives 
a  salt  with  citric  acid,  crystallising  in  rhombohedra,  which  may  be 
administered  as  an  antipyretic  in  doses  of  50  centigrammes.  It  is 
stated  to  be  perfectly  harmless  even  in  large  doses.—  Journ.  (It 
Pliarm.  [6],  v. ,  58,  after  Ph.  Zeit. 


Benzo-Naphthol  and  Bismuth  Salicylate  in  Infantile 
Diarrhcea. — A  mixture  of  equal  parts  of  benzo-naphthol  and 
bismuth  salicylate  is  given  in  three-grain  doses  to  a  child  of  six 
months,  this  dose  being  divided  in  two  portions,  each  given  at 
intervals  of  two  hours,  or  into  four  parts,  and  one-fourth  given  every 
four  hours.  Milk  diet  is  stopped  for  two  or  three  days,  and  a  little 
barley  water  substituted.  This  regimen  is  difficult  to  enforce  but 
is  most  important,  since  it  allows  the  digestive  system  to  throw  off 
all  irritant  poisonous  matter.  This  method  of  treatment  is  strongly 
recommended  by  Solislchen  for  the  treatment  of  infantile  summer 
diarrhoea.- — Rev.  de  Thirap. ,  Med.  Chirurg.,  after  Med.  News, 
lxiv.,  62. 


Scopolamine  as  a  Cerebral  Sedative. — Scopolamine  has  been 
found  useful  as  a  cerebral  sedative  in  certain  mental  maladies ;  it  is 
given  in  doses  of  a  quarter  to  one  milligramme  hypodermically. 
A  quiet  sleep  of  some  hours’  duration  rapidly  follows  the  dose  ; 
patients  soon  become  habituated  to  the  drug,  hence  it  is  necessary 
to  gradually  increase  the  dose. — Rev.  de  Thirap.,  lxiv.,  198. 


405 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[MAT  8,  1897 


EXTRACTS  FROM  CONSULAR  REPORTS- 


“French  Oils.”— Mr.  E.  FitzGerald  Law,  writing  to  the 
Foreign  Office  respecting  the  financial  situation  in  Italy,  records  a 
number  of  very  interesting  facts  concerning  the  products  and 
industries  of  that  country.  Referring  to  the  exportation  of  olive 
oil,  he  says  the  trade  with  England  is  apparently  diminishing,  and 
with  Russia  it  has  increased,  whilst  the  French  importation,  not¬ 
withstanding  tariff  difficulties  and  the  fact  that  whereas  Italy 
formerly  supplied  about  two-thirds  of  her  olive  oil,  and  now  only 
supplies  about  one-third,  France  still  remains  by  far  the  most 
important  buyer,  which  is  probably  due  to  the  curious  fact  that 
the  best  Italian  oils  are  too  rich  and  heavy  for  public  taste  in 
northern  countries,  and  that  the  French  dealers  who  understand 
preparing  the  article  required,  have  established  a  reputation  for 
so-called  French  oil,  which  is  in  reality  frequently  prepared  from 
oils  imported  from  other  countries. 


Italy’s  Chemical  Trade  with  Britain  has  on  the  whole  declined, 
whilst  Germany  and  France  have  increased  their  trade.  In  potash, 
English  trade  holds  its  own,  and  in  the  supply  of  carbonates  and 
chlorides  there  has  been  no  great  change.  Sulphates,  too,  are 
furnished  by  England  to  the  extent  of  about  two-thirds  of  the 
total  imports,  though  supplies  from  Germany  and  France  have 
greatly  increased,  but  the  importation  of  oxides  from  England  has 
fallen  off  by  nearly  40  per  cent. ,  whilst  the  quantity  imported  from 
Germany  has  increased  by  about  500  per  cent.  The  consumption 
of  nitrates  has  also  increased  by  about  70  per  cent,  to  the  profit  of 
direct  importation  from  South  America.  The  total  consumption 
of  chemicals  is  increasing  with  requirements  for  manufacturing 
purposes,  and  to  judge  from  statistical  estimates  it  would  appear 
that  about  one-half  of  these  requirements  are  supplied  by  Italian 
industry. 


Sulphur  appears  to  be  the  most  important  mineral  worked  in 
Italy,  the  average  annual  output  during  the  last  three  years  being 
about  400,000  tons,  the  number  of  workmen  employed  in  sulphur 
mining  was  estimated,  in  1895,  to  have  been  27,000,  and  the  value 
of  the  production  given  as  £953,500. 


The  Production  of  Mercury  in  Italy,  although  very  profitable, 
is  gradually  declining,  the  output  in  1893  being  about  19,000  tons,  in 
1894  about  15,000  tons,  and  in  1895  about  11,000  tons.  The  average 
annual  value  of  the  ore  in  the  last  two  years  was  estimated  at 
about  £31,400,  and  the  number  of  workmen  employed  in  the  mines 
in  1895  was  501. 


Boracic  Acid  is  produced  in  the  provinces  of  Pisa'  and  Grosseto 
in  Tuscany  in  an  average  annual  quantity  of  about  2800  tons,  and 
the  value  in  1895  was  estimated  at  about  £38,500.  The  number  of 
borax  mines  is  given  as  12,  and  the  number  of  workmen  employed 
as  351.  Of  other  minerals  worked  in  Italy  the  principal  are  man¬ 
ganese,  antimony,  nickel,  cobalt,  alum,  and  graphite. 


The  Ammonia-Soda  factory  at  Lukavica,  near  Dolnja-Tuzla, 
according  to  the  report  of  Consul-General  Freeman,  is  worked  with  a 
capital  of  1,000,000  fl.  (£83,333).  The  annual  output  of  ammoniac 
soda  being  120,000  met.  quintals  (11,810  tons),  which  is  exported  to 
Italy  and  the  Balkan  States,  where  it  competes  successfully  with 
the  English  and  Belgian  article. 


Japanese  Opium  Trade. — Acting-Consul  Layard,  reporting  on 
the  opium  trade  of  Tamsui  and  Kelung  for  the  year  1895,  compares 
the  total  value  of  the  imports  with  that  of  the  previous  year.  In 
1894  the  value  of  imported  opium  was  £168,073,  as  against 
£82,007  in  1895 ;  decrease,  £86,066,  thus  showing  that  the  total 
import  of  opium  has  decreased  by  more  that  half.  The  import  of 
Benares  in  1895  was  37  cwts. ,  as  against  238  cwts.  in  1894,  and 
reached  less  than  a  third  of  its  value.  The  import  of  Persian  opium 
has  fallen  from  1880  cwts.  in  1894  to  860  cwts.  in  1895.  Chinese 
opium  does  not  appear  in  the  Customs’  returns,  but  great  quan¬ 
tities  have,  without  doubt,  been  landed,  by  junks,  all  along  the 
coast.  There  has  been  a  large  increase  in  smuggling  carried  on  by 
Chinese  junks,  which  has  lowered  the  market  to  such  an  extent 
that  holders  of  stock  have  had  great  difficulty  in  clearing. 


NOVEL  PHARMACEUTICAL 
APPLIANCES. 


NEW  SUPPOSITORY  MOULD. 

G.  Lanwer  has  devised  a  new  form  of  suppository  mould,  the 
“Ideal,”  which  possesses  some  advantages  over  the  usual  gun-metal 
moulds.  By  means  of  one  apparatus  six  different  sizes  of 
suppositories  can  be  produced  without  in  any  way  soiling  the 
mould  which,  in  the  case  of  such  drugs  as  iodoform,  is  a  distinct 
advantage.  From  the  appended  illustration  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  mould  A  (seen  in  section  in  B)  is  hollowed  on  both  sides  for 
conical  suppositories  of  two  different  sizes.  The  stick  b  tapers 
at  both  ends  to  fit  the  hollows  on  either  side  of  the  mould.  Each 
tapering  end  of  b  is  ringed  with  a  groove  at  three  points  correspond¬ 
ing  again  to  three  different  sizes  of  suppositories  to  be  made.  The 
tapering  end  of  b  is  first  covered  with  tinfoil  (or  waxed  paper) 


A.  r  B. 


OOOOOO 

o  ooo  oo 

OOOOOO 

OOOOOO 
|Q  O  O  O  O  Q| 

which  is  pressed  flat  by  the  hand,  and  receives  the  impressions  of 
the  grooves.  The  tinfoil  covering  is  then  slipped  off  into  the 
hollow  of  the  mould.  The  mass,  which  may  have  been  melting 
during  the  making  of  the  tinfoil  moulds,  is  now  poured  in  up  to> 
the  desired  groove  (C).  The  suppositories  are  allowed  to  cool,  and 
the  free  tinfoil  end  folded  so  as  to  produce,  in  a  very  short  space 
of  time,  a,  perfect  suppository  wrapped  in  foil  ready  for  sale.  As 
the  stick  is  tapered  at  both  ends,  and  each  end  has  three  grooves, 
six  sizes  of  suppository  can  be  made.  The  apparatus  is  to  be 
obtained  from  G.  Lanwer,  Ramsloh  (Grand  Duchy  of  Oldenburg), 
or  through  a  wholesale  sundry  house.  The  price  of  the  complete 
apparatus  is  10  francs. 


PLASTER  PRESS. 

A  plaster  press  for  pressing  plaster  into  small  sticks  is  also 


manufactured  by  Franz  Hering  (Jena).  The  whole  of  the  press  is 
kept  warm  by  a  circulation  of  hot  water,  as  indicated  in  the  figure. 


May  8,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


407 


PARLIAMENTARY  NOTES  AND  NEWS- 


Progress. — The  Edinburgh  University  (Transfer  of  Patronage) 
Bill,  the  object  of  which  we  explained  in  the  Journal  for  April  3, 
1897,  p.  295,  passed  the  Commons  on  Monday  last.  The  Plumbers 
Registration  Bill  has  also  had  the  good  fortune  to  advance  a  step. 
It  has  been  read  a  second  time,  and  has  been  referred  to  the 
Standing  Committee  on  Trade,  where  its  appearance  has  been 
promptly  recognised  by  a  page  of  amendments  tabled  by  Mr. 
Tomlinson  (Preston).  The  turn  of  the  early-closing  Bills  has  not 
yet  arrived,  and  at  present  they  are  in  a  chronic  condition  of 
deferment.  But  their  time  may  come,  for  the  business  of  the 
House  is  in  no  wise  congested,  and  the  opportunities  for  a  private 
member  this  Session  are  extremely  favourable  if  he  can  only  get 
thirty-nine  other  members  to  stay  in  the  House  with  him  to 
frustrate  the  “  count  out,”  which  is  becoming  such  a  parliamentary 
institution. 


The  Postal  Reforms  foreshadowed  in  the  Budget  statement 
may  be  usefully  referred  to  here  as  being  of  commercial  interest. 
The  letter  rate  of  postage  in  the  near  future  is  to  be  a  uniform 
charge  of  1  d.  for  any  thing  under  4  ounces  and  \d.  for  every  2  ounces 
in  excess  of  that  weight,  thus  abolishing  the  present  distinction 
between  the  rates  for  samples  or  books  and  the  rate  for  letters. 
Arrangements  are  also  to  be  made  to  effect  the  delivery  of  letters 
to  every  addressee  in  the  United  Kingdom — a  boon  to  rural  dis¬ 
tricts,  quite  worth  the  money  it  will  cost.  The  reforms  will  extend 
to  matters  telegraphic,  and  free  delivery  of  telegrams  within  three 
miles  of  the  receiving  office  will  shortly  be  in  operation.  The 
charge  for  delivery  above  that  distance  is  to  be  reduced  to  3 d. 
per  mile.  It  has  been  the  habit  of  the  Post  Office  Department 
to  levy  a  charge  for  delivering  telegraphic  messages  in  London 
after  a  certain  hour  at  night,  but  the  practice  will 
now  be  abolished.  The  parcel  rate  receives  same  modification 
also.  The  initial  charge  of  3 d.  for  the  first  lb.  remains  unaltered, 
but  afterwards  a  penny  rate  per  lb.  will  be  charged.  Thus,  a  parcel 
under  4  lbs.,  which  is  now  charged  l\d.,  will,  under  the  new 
regime,  only  cost  6 d.  The  maximum  charge  is  Is.,  for  which  price 
a  parcel  weighing  11  lbs.  may  be  sent.  Truly,  Mr.  Henniker 
Heaton  must  have  been  profoundly  moved  by  the  Chancellor  of 
the  Exchequer’. ^startling  epoch-making  speech  !  The  alterations 
are  presented  to  the  nation  as  a  kind  of  Jubilee  offering  and  will 
take  effect  from  Commemoration  Day. 


Hope  Deferred.  — The  Food  and  Drugs  Bill  introduced  by  Mr. 
Kearley  has  not  yet  reached  a  second  reading.  It  now  stands  for 
Friday,  May  28 — a  most  unfavourable  day  for  private  members. 


Another  Royal  Commission  is  to  be  appointed.  This  time 
the  water  supply  of  London  is  in  question— a  matter  of  some  mag¬ 
nitude  and  difficulty.  The  Commissioners  have  already  been 
selected.  They  are  :  Lord  Landaff  (lately  Henry  Matthews),  Mr. 
J.  W.  Mellor,  M.P.  (West  Riding,  Yorkshire)  ;  Sir  J.  Dorington, 
M.P.  (Tewkesbury) ;  Sir  G.  B.  Bruce,  C.E.  ;  Major-General  A.  de 
Courcy  Scott,  R.E.;  Mr.  A.  de  Bock  Porter,  C.B.;  Mr.  H.  W. 
Cripps,  Q.C.  ;  and  Mr.  Robert  Lewis.  The  President  of  the 
Local  Government  Board  is  stated  to  be  willing  to  bring  in  a  Bill 
dealing  with  the  water  supply  of  London,  but  will  not  introduce 
it  until  he  sees  some  prospect  of  making  some  headway  with  it. 

Physiological  Experiments  are  severely  discouraged  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  and  it  was  almost  apologetically  that  the 
Home  Secretary  in  reply  to  Mr.  Weir,  gave  the  numbers  of  those 
persons  at  present  possessing  licences  to  perform  experiments  on 
living  animals.  The  numbers  were  :  for  England  145,  Scotland 
52,  Wales  1.  Of  those  who  held  certificates  permitting  inocula¬ 
tions  and  such  minor  operations  without  anaesthetics,  there  were 
in  England  86,  in  Scotland  30,  and  in  Wales  none  at  all.  For 
Ireland  the  record 'does  not  come  up  later  than  1895.  In  that  year 
there  were  six  licencees,  and  one  held  the  certificate  dispensing  with 
anaesthetics. 


The  Half-Holiday  Bill,  or,  to  give  it  the  official  title,  the 
Shop  Assistants  (Half-Holiday)  Bill,  is  still  unopposed,  but  it  does 
not  seem  to  be  able  to  reach  a  second  reading  any  more  readily 
than  measures  which  have  been  blocked.  It  has  now  been  deferred 
till  Thursday,  13th  instant. 


LETTERS  TO  THE  EDITOR. 


“Wanted,  an  Assistant’s  Qualification.” 

Sir, — It  is  quite  natural  for  us— now  that  such  an  important  step 
has  been  taken  by  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  towards  raising  the 
status  of  chemists  and  druggists — to  look  around  to  see  what  other 
improvements  can  be  effected.  Mr.  John  McMillan,  in  his  letter 
in  your  issue  of  April  17,  proposes  to  institute  a  new  grade  in  our 
ranks.  At  first  sight  his  proposal  seems  plausible.  On  considera¬ 
tion,  however,  it  is  evident  that  such  a  proposal  would  introduce 
into  our  somewhat  misunderstood  Pharmacy  Act  only  more  con¬ 
fusion.  Let  us  look  for  a  moment  at  the  new  assistant  whom  Mr. 
McMillan’s  scheme  would  introduce.  He  has  passed  the  “Modified 
Minor,”  and  is  equally  qualified  by  law  to  do  all  that  his  “  Minor” 
superior  does — only  he  may  not  carry  on  business  on  his  own 
account  or  manage  a  branch  shop.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  that 
the  Legislature  would  grant  powers  to  a  “  Modified  Minor”  to  do 
all  the  responsible  work  behind  the  counter  that  his  bigger  brother 
can  do,  but  prevent  him  doing  it  on  his  own  account.  If  the 
Minor  examination  be  unnecessarily  advanced  for  the  practical  phar¬ 
macy  of  to-day,  let  Mr.  McMillan’s  new  qualification  be  the  only  one. 
We  are  all  agreed,  I  think,  that  the  Minor  examination  is  not 
too  advanced.  When  school  boys  of  fourteen  to  sixteen  years  are 
being  taught  the  elements  of  chemistry  and  physics,  and  can  dilate 
freely  about  the  properties  of  oxides,  sulphides,  sulphates,  etc., 
the  Minor  syllabus  ought  to  be  the  minimum  standard  for  chemists 
and  druggists,  who  are  supposed  to  know  their  business.  Instead 
of  going  to  Parliament  on  a  fruitless  errand,  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  might  now  do  what  would  have  a  beneficial  result  on 
assistants,  and  on  the  trade  generally.  There  is  nothing  to  hinder 
the  Society  from  dividing  the  Minor  examination  into  two  parts  ; 
the  first  part  of  the  examination  to  be  in  chemistry,  botany, 
materia  medica,  and  physics,  and  the  second  part  in  dispensing, 
prescription  reading,  and  pharmacy  law.  The  fees  for  each  part 
should  be  £5  5s.,  and  the  second  to  follow  the  first  in  not  less  than  three 
months.  Six  months  at  least  would  thus  be  required  to  prepare 
for  the  qualifying  examination,  and  the  chances  of  failure  would 
be  much  less  than  they  are  at  present.  An  elementary  pharma¬ 
ceutical  examination  is  a  desideratum  for  apprentices,  but  for  this 
“  powers”  are  required. 

Edinburgh,  April  27,  1S97.  W.  S.  Glass, 


Sir, — Evidently  Mr.  Bessant  i3  “down  ”  on  the  Major  men,  and 
he  is  not  alone  in  that  respect  by  any  means.  I  am  told  that  to  fill 
many  positions  in  retail  pharmacies  owned  by  chemists  and 
druggists  a  Major  man  need  not  apply.  Why  is  it  so  ?  I  think  it 
is  simply  jealousy,  and  not,  as  some  say,  that  he  is  well  up  in 
theory  and  not  in  practice.  There  are  exceptions,  of  course.  I  do 
not  agree  with  what  “  One  Who  Respects  the  Major  Qual.  ”  says 
about  Mr.  Bessant’s  experience  of  qualified  assistants.  We  need 
no  long  experience  to  know  it.  I  have  recently  met  several  not 
worth  their  salt  in  a  dispensing  business.  The  principal  reason 
for  such  a  state  of  things  is  that  the  apprenticeship  system  is  dead, 
and  that  the  majority  of  chemists  carry  on  business  on  store  prin¬ 
ciples.  Draw  your  own  conclusions  from  the  difference  between  an 
assistant  of  four  years’  experience  fifteen  or  twenty  years  ago  and  a 
modern  one.  I  am  afraid  there  are  many  apprentices  to-day  taken 
for  their  premiums  and  cheap  labour.  Now  comes  the  question — ■ 
why  should  even  those  who  find  grave  faults  with  qualified  men 
advocate  a  lower  standard  ?  We  would  then  have  a  most  unfair  com¬ 
petition  between  the  qualified  and  unqualified.  What  we  want  is, 
a  more  searching  examination  in  pharmacy  and  dispensing,  and 
until  the  Society  can  see  its  way  clear  to  allow  a  day 
each  for  those  two  subjects,  dissatisfaction  will  continue. 
Every  candidate  ought  to  be  examined  in  spreading  plasters, 
making  suppositories,  blistering  plasters,  ointments,  mixtures, 
emulsions,  and  pills— varnished,  silvered,  and  white  coated.  An 
employer  is  deceived  when  he  engages  an  assistant,  guaranteed  by 
the  Board  of  Examiners  to  be  a  dispenser,  and  finds  later  that  he 
is  not  qualified  to  do  the  work  in  a  first-class  pharmacy.  A  large 
number  of  chemists  nowadays  do  not  make  B.P.  preparations,  a 
tincture  is  made  by  adding  1  of  So  and  So’s  liquor  to  19  of  S.V.R. 
or  S.V.  Ten.  The  same  with  syrups,  ointments,  etc.,  that  take 
a  little  time,  they  are  bought.  As  efficiency  in  pharmacy  and 
dispensing  is  most  important,  and  as  many  young  men,  by 
not  choosing  proper  situations,  do  not  get  an  insight  into 


408 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  8,  1897 


pharmacy  proper,  I  consider  that  a  whole  day  for  each  of  those 
subjects  would  no  more  than  suffice  to  give  a  candidate  fair  play. 
I  fully  approve  of  the  increased  fee  for  the  Minor,  and  I  propose 
that  for  the  extra  £5  the  examination  should  last  three  days 
instead  of  two. 

May  1, 1897.  A  Young  Major  (93/3). 

Chouan  Seed  and  Autour  Bark. 

Sir, — I  have  the  good  fortune  to  possess  a  copy  of  Pomet’s 
‘  Histoire  generate  des  Drogues,’  Paris,  1694,  and  therein  I  find 
reference  to  the  above  colouring  agents  in  the  following  terms  : — 

“  Le  Choiian  est  une  petite  graine  legere,  d’un  verd  jatinatre, 
d’un  goust  tant  soit  peu  sale,  et  aigrelet,  et  de  figure  assex 
semblable  an  semen  contra,  excepte  qu’il  et  plus  gros  et  plus 
leger.  La  plante  qui  le  porte  est  basse  et  a  sa  graine  par  petits 
bouquets,  4  peu  pres  comme  le  semen  contra.  II  n’a  point  d’autre 
usage  en  France,  que  je  s§ashe,  que  pour  faire  le  Carmin,  et  pour 
les  Plumaciers,  quoy  que  presentement  on  s’en  serve  tres-peu.” 

“  L’ Autour  est  une  ecorce  fort  approchante  en  figure  et  en  couleur 
k  la  grosse  canelle,  excepte  qu’elle  est  tant  soit  peu  plus  blafarde 
au  dessus,  et  de  la  couleur  d’une  muscade  cassee  au  dedans,  accom- 
pagnees  de  quantite  de  petits  brillants  :  elle  est  fort  legere  et 
spongieuse,  d’un  gout  presque  incipide  et  sans  odeur.  On  l’apporte 
du  Levant,  de  Turquie  a  Marseille  d’oii  nous  le  faisons  venir.  Cette 
ecorce  n’apoint  d’autre  usage,  aussibien  que  Choiian  que  pour  la 
perfection  du  Carmin.  II  m’a  ete  du  tout  impossible  de  pouvoir 
sijavoir  qui  etoit  l’arbre  ou  la  plante  qui  porte  le  1’ Autour,  ce  qui  a 
fait  que  je  n’en  ay  pu  rien  dire.” 

From  which  it  would  appear  that  our  quaint  old  French  author 
knew  very  little  about  the  source  of  these  pigments.  And  as  he 
speaks  of  them  as  almost  out  of  use  in  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  the  nineteenth  century  Genevan  writer,  quoted  by 

Pharmacist,”  seems  somewhat  belated  in  his  information.  A 
“gros”  is  equivalent  to  an  English  drachm,  being  the  eighth  part 
of  the  old  French  ounce  of  31 -25  grammes. 

Brighton,  May  3,  1897.  C.  S.  Ashton. 


A  Royal  College  oe  Pharmacy. 

Sir, — Almost  every  institution  is  making  an  effort  to  commemo¬ 
rate  the  Queen’s  Diamond  Jubilee,  but  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
of  Great  Britain  makes  no  sign.  The  Society’s  building  and  its 
work  are  all  that  could  be  desired,  and  pharmacists  should  be 
proud  of  them,  but  as  a  result  of  evolutionary  progress,  surely  the 
day  has  arrived  when  its  already  time-honoured  name  might 
be  advantageously  changed  to  that  of  “  The  Royal  College  of 
Pharmacy.” 

20,  New  Street,  Dorset  Square,  May  3, 1897.  Thomas  Greenish. 


ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES, 


Special  Hot  ice. — Scientific,  technical,  legal  and  general  information  required 
by  readers  of  the  ‘  Pharmaceutical  Journal  ’  will  be  furnished  by  the  Editor  as  far 
as  practicable,  but  he  cannot  undertake  to  reply  by  post.  All  communications  must  be 
addressed  “  Editor ,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  London,  W.C.,"  and  must  also  be  authen¬ 
ticated  by  the  names  and  addresses  of  senders.  Questions  on  different  subjects  should 
be  written  on  separate  slips  of  paper,  each  oj  which  must  bear  the  sender’s  initials  or 
pseudonym.  Replies  will,  in  all  cases,  be  referred  to  such  initials  or  pseudonyms, 
and  the  registered  number  add.ed  in  each  instance  should  be  quoted  in  any  subsequent 
communication  on  the  same  subject. 


Diatomos. — This  is  a  very  pure  diatomaceous  earth ;  you  can 
obtain  it  from  Messrs.  Southall  Bros,  and  Barclay,  of  Birmingham. 
[Reply  to  V.  W.  B.—  92/11.] 


Petroleum  Benzene  eor  Removing  Grease  Spots. — Yes,  light 
petroleum  benzene  is  one  of  the  very  best  solvents  for  grease  spots 
on  cloth,  etc.  It  is  to  be  preferred  to  coal-tar  benzene  for  that 
purpose.  [ Reply  to  H.  H. — 92/39.] 


Hydrokinone  and  Pyrogallol  Developer. — A  good  formula 
for  this  combination  would  be  (a)  pyro.,  55  grs.  ;  hydrokinone, 
45  grs.  ;  metabisulphite  of  potash,  \  ounce ;  sodium  bromide,  20 
grs.  ;  distilled  water,  to  10  ounces,  (b)  Washing  soda,  2  ounces;' 
water,  to  10  ounces.  For  use,  mix  in  equal  parts  and  add  an  equal 
quantity  of  water.  [ Reply  to  H.  C.  T.  G. — 91/7. 


Percentage  op  Oleo- Resin  oe  Capsicum  in  Fruct.  Capsici. — 
This  varies  a  good  deal,  some  samples  being  much  richer  than- 
others.  A  manufacturing  firm  inform  us  that  the  average  yield  is- 
18-5  per  cent.  [ Reply  to  Phono. — 92/42.] 


Composition  of  Phonograph  Wax. — We  believe  a  mixture  of 
3  parts  of  white  beeswax  and  1  part  of  carnauba  wax  is  used  as- 
the  basis  for  phonographic  cylinders.  [Reply  to  Phono. — 92/41.] 


Glaze  for  Cookery. — The  glaze  you  mention  on  joints  of  meat- 
consists  of  gelatin  dissolved  in  good  stock  ;  about  3  ounces  of  any 
good  brand  of  gelatin  to  each  quart  of  stock.  The  meat  is  simply 
dipped  in  the  fluid  before  it  sets.  [Reply  to  H.  H. — 92/39.] 


Douglas  Mixture  for  Fo'wls. — This  appears  to-  consist  of 
ferrous  sulphate,  8  ozs.  ;  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  1  fl.  oz.  ;  water,  to- 
2  gallons.  One  teaspoonful  of  the  mixture  is  added  to  a  pint  or' 
more  of  water.  We  are  obliged  to  the  correspondents  who  have  so 
promptly  furnished  the  information.  [Reply  to  J.  E.  D. — 89,32.] 


Bronzing  Gun  Barrels. — The  barrels  should  be  thoroughly  - 
cleansed  from  all  traces  of  grease  by  washing  them  in  hot  soda- 
water.  The  following  mixture  is  then  applied  : — Copper  sulphate,. 
4  parts  ;  sulphuric  acid,  3 ;  nitric  acid,  4 ;  methylated  spirit,  5 
spirit  of  nitre,  8  ;  tincture  of  perchloride  of  iron,  8;  water,  160. 
The  guns  are  then  placed  in  a  damp  heat  for  an  hour  and  a  half,, 
after  which  they  are  again  scalded,  and  the  rust  is  scraped  offi 
The  process  is  repeated  three  or  four  times,  after  which  the  barrels* 
are  cleaned  and  oiled.  A  dead  black  stain  may  be  obtained  withi 
solution  of  perchloride  of  antimony.  [Reply  to  G.  S. — 92/37.] 


Uranium  Intensifier. — There  is  no  uranium  intensifier  which 
will  not  stain  if  the  negative  is  not  properly  washed.  For  this 
method  of  intensification  the  negative  should  be  well  washed  in 
water,  treated  to  three  successive  baths  of  anthion,  which  is  per¬ 
sulphate  of  potassium,  for  five  minutes,  and  then  washed  and  treated’ 
with  the  intensifier,  the  best  formula  for  which  is  uranium  nitrate, . 
100  grs. ;  potassium  ferrideyanide,  100  grs. ;  glacial  acetic  acid,  |  oz.  p 
distilled  water,  10  oz.  Place  the  ferrideyanide  in  a  measure  and 
rinse  with  water  to  wash  off  any  ferrocyanide  or  powder  that  may¬ 
be  on  the  crystals,  then  dissolve.  [Reply  to  Canis. — 92/5.] 


Single  Solution  Developer. — The  following  would  probably 
suit  you  : — Metol,  60  grs.  ;  hydrokinone,  100  grs.  ;  potassium 
metabisulphite,  240  grs.  ;  potassium  bromide,  48  grs.  ;  potassium 
carbonate,  480  grs. ;  distilled  water,  to  12  ozs.  Dissolve  the  metol. 
in  8  ozs.  of  water,  add  the  hydrokinone,  then  the  metabisulphLto 
and  bromide,  ancl  lastly  the  potash,  and  make  up  the  bulk.  Yota 
will  probably  find  this  will  keep  in  solution  all  right.  A  very 
good  developer,  though  somewhat  slower  acting  than  the  above,, 
is  :  hot  water,  12  ozs.  ;  sodium  sulphite,  3  ozs.  ;  potassium  car¬ 
bonate,  3  ozs.  ;  glycin,  288  grs.  ;  potassium  bromide,  60  grs. 
For  use,  dilute  1  part  with  3  parts  water.  This  is  an  excellent 
developer  for  negatives,  bromides,  and  lantern  slides.  It  keeps  well 
and  can  be  used  for  three  or  four  times  or  the  old  developer  used 
for  bromides  and  slides.  [Reply  to  Anglo-Hibernian. — 88/22.] 


INFORMATION  WfiNTID, 

Saxin.— Information  is  required  by  a  correspondent  (U.  D.  K.;, 
93/2)  regarding  this  substance. 


OBITUARY* 


Rants. — On  April  25,  William  Rants,  Chemist  and  Druggist,, 
London.  Aged  58. 

Smote — On  April  29,  John  Frederick  Smith,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  Liverpool.  Aged  70. 

Trollope. — On  May  2,  Edward  Hazel  Trollope,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  Trowbridge,  Wilts.  Aged  64. 


COMMUNICATIONS, LETTERS, etc., have  been  received  from 

Messrs.  Arkle,  Ashton,  Bacon,  Barclay,  Bayley,  Buckfritt,  Cocks,  Flitcroft,, 
Gadd,  Glyn- Jones,  Goodall,  Goodess,  Greenish,  Hewlett,  Hicks,  Hill,  Hogg.„ 
Holding  Howorth,  Junor,  Keen,  Keif,  Kerr,  Lewis,  Merck,  Newsholme,  Parkin. 
Pickering  Rankin,  Rees,  Robertson  Seward  Simpson.  Walker,  Wilkinson. 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


409 


* 


THE  TEACHING  OF  ELEMENTARY  BOTANY. 

SOME  GENERAL  IMPRESSIONS. 

j^onje  "readers  of  the  Journal  may  possibly  be  interested 
in.  tK’e  record  of  a  few  general  impressions  which  are  the  result 
of  experience  in  examining  students  in  the  elements  of  botany. 
After  a  dialogue  at  the  examination  table,  the  opinions  of  the 
student  and  the  examiner  do  not  always  precisely  agree  as 
to  the  standard  which  has  been  reached.  The  candidate 
may  be  conscious  of  the  possession  of  a  goodly  array  of 
facts,  and  satisfied  that  he  is  in  a  position  to  meet  the 
usual  questions  with  sufficiently  technical  and  concise  answers. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  examiner  may  arrive  at  the  con¬ 
clusion  that  behind  the  veneer  of  technical  terminology 
and  text-book  quotations  there  is  no  solid  foundation  of 
intelligent  knowledge.  It  requires  but  a  short  experience  to  con¬ 
vince  an  examiner  that  teacher  and  student  alike  frequently 
approach  the  subject  of  botany  from  an  entirely  wrong  stand¬ 
point. 

Botanical  Knowledge  Required  by  Pharmacists. 


A  pharmacist  does  not  require  a  detailed  knowledge  of  botany 
for  the  efficient  discharge  of  his  professional  duties,  nor  is  it 
probable,  in  most  cases,  that  he  will  pursue  the  subject  beyond  the 
examination  stage.  The  schedule  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society’s 
examinations  very  rightly  requires  as  an  essential  part  of  the 
student’s  training  that  he  shall  possess  a  general  knowledge  of  the 
elements  of  botanical  science.  Such  knowledge  is  not  only  helpful 
to  the  student  as  complementary  to  his  acquaintance  with  other 
subjects  more  directly  connected  with  the  practical  part  of  his 
profession,  but  it  is  of  considerable  importance  as  part  of  that 
equipment  of  scientific  culture,  which  tends  to  place  him  on  a 
higher  level  than  one  who  possesses  nothing  more  than  the  facts 
absolutely  necessary  for  business  purposes. 

Although  the  statement  may  appear  superfluous  and  the 
expression  of  an  obvious  and  self-evident  fact,  it  is  an  in¬ 
telligent  grasp  of  a  few  botanical  truths  that  is  expected  in  a 
competent  candidate.  The  spirit  of  learning  and  the  methods 
of  teaching  at  once  assert  themselves  in  the  character  of 
the  answers.  It  needs  but  a  few  minutes’  conversation  and 
the  mildest  cross-examination  to  discover,  only  too  commonly, 
that  interest  in  the  subject  and  an  intelligent  common-sense  know¬ 
ledge  of  principles  are  alike  absent.  Quality  rather  than  quantity 
is  what  is  required,  and  if  such  obvious  considerations  were  not 
lost  sight  of,  the  subject  of  botany  would  lose  its  apparent  diffi¬ 
culty  and  assume  the  form  of  a  refreshing  and  stimulating  draught 
rather  than  that  of  a  distasteful  but  necessary  dose,  to  be  taken  in 
the  smallest  possible  quantity. 

In  an  examination  confined  to  the  more  elementary  parts  of  the 
science  it  is  surely  advisable  to  keep  in  view  the  wider  influence 
of  botanical^knowledge.  The  man  who  has  learnt  ever  so  little 
in  the  spirit  of  one  who  is  beginning  to  observe  and  to  question 
Nature,  can  hardly  fail  to  be  led  on  to  a  further  intercourse  with 
natural  phenomena,  and  to  a  sense  of  having  raised  himself  to  a 
higher  plane  of  intellectual  existence,  which  makes  for  something 
better  than  success  in  an  elementary  examination. 

The  Over-Growth  of  Technical  Terms. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  of  late  our  text-books  of  botany  have 
become  sadly  overloaded  with  new  technical  terms  which  materially 
increase  the  difficulties  of  a  beginner,  and  too  often  serve  to 
obscure  the  interest  and  significance  of  the  simplest  truths.  Every 
science  must  have  its  nomenclature  or  technical  jargon,  and  it  is 
necessary  to  become  familiar  with  the  more  important  and  useful 

Vol.  LYIII.  (Fourth  Series,  Yol.  IV.).  No.  1403. 


terms.  If  a  little  trouble  were  taken  to  consider  what  the  tech¬ 
nical  terms  mean,  and  to  ask  the  question  why  such  and  such 
structures  are  known  by  such  and  such  names,  the  etymology  of 
the  words  would  often  be  found  a  valuable  aid  to  memory,  and  a 
simple  method  of  converting  a  meaningless  expression  into  a  con¬ 
venient  term  with  a  definite  significance. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  most  fascinating  departments  of  botany  is 
that  which  deals  with  the  physiology  or  life  of  plants.  By  the 
aid  of  a  few  simple  experiments  it  is  perfectly  easy  to  demonstrate 
some  of  the  most  important  rvital  attributes  of  plant  life.  The 
student  who  glibly  tells  you  that  green  plants  derive  their  carbon 
from  the  air  by  assimilation,  in  answer  to  the  question  How  plants 
obtain  carbon,  is  apt  to  fancy  he  has  satisfactorily  disposed  of 
the  question.  If  asked  what  he  means  by  assimilation,  and  what 
part  the  sun’s  rays  and  chlorophyll  play  in  the  process,  his  mind 
appears  to  be  a  blank.  He  has  obviously  never  been  in  the  least 
degree  interested  in  solving  the  problem  how  the  carbon  of  the 
atmosphere  is  taken  possession  of  by  growing  plants. 

Terms  versus  Facts. 

It  happens  not  infrequently  that  a  student  is  able  to  reel  off  a 
string  of  the  most  modern  terms  in  describing  a  transverse  section 
of  a  stem,  but  he  knows  nothing  of  the  functions  of  the  different 
tissues,  nor  has  he  the  faintest  conception  of  the  meaning  of  the 
jargon  he  has  committed  to  memory.  The  same  candidate  calls  a 
Hyacinth  a  Lily  of  the  Valley,  and  regards  a  Composite  flower  as  a 
member  of  the  same  family  as  the  Buttercup.  He  can  tell  you  a 
certain  fruit  has  a  loculicidal  dehiscence,  but  shows  no  interest  in 
the  question  as  to  the  significance  or  means  of  fruit  and  seed  dis¬ 
tribution.  If  once  the  teacher  is  able  to  awaken  some  interest  in 
the  minds  of  students,  the  mere  knowledge  of  facts  will  be  readily 
acquired.  In  elementary  teaching  it  is  of  primary  importance  to 
deal  at  first  with  the  commonest  plants,  to  demonstrate  that 
plants  live  and  breathe,  and  to  bring  out  such  points  in  plant 
biology  and  natural  history  as  cannot  fail  to  be  attractive,  and 
which  add  a  fascinating  reality  to  botanical  studies.  Unless  we 
are  able  to  explain  the  simplest  facts  of  a  subject  to  one 
totally  ignorant  of  the  technicalities  of  the  science,  our  know¬ 
ledge  cannot  be  thoroughly  satisfactory.  It  does  not  follow 
that  our  knowledge  must  be  such  as  to  enable  us  to 
answer  any  question  which  an  ignoramus  may  present  to  us ; 
such  questions  are  frequently  the  most  difficult  to  deal  with. 
There  is  nothing  which  more  surely  detects  the  weak  points  or 
lacunas  in  our  knowledge  than  an  attempt  to  give  a  clear  exposition 
of  some  of  the  most  elementary  facts  to  a  non-botanical  inquirer. 
If  we  thoroughly  understand  and  appreciate  a  certain  phenomenon 
or  set  of  facts,  we  should  be  able  to  communicate  something  of 
our  knowledge  to  an  intelligent  layman.  Take  for  example,  the 
life-history  of  a  fern,  which  is  an  extremely  interesting  story 
even  to  the  most  unscientific  mind,  if  described  with  clearness  and 
a  due  emphasis  of  the  important  points.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  most  striking  facts  are  obscured  by  a  string  of  strange  terms, 
of  which  the  well-crammed  examination  student  has  a  ne'  er¬ 
failing  store,  the  inquirer  would  not  be  disposed  to  risk  any  further 
questions. 

In  order  that  these  remarks  may  not  be  misunderstood,  it 
must  be  added  that  although  it  is  of  the  greatest  importance 
in  scientific  work  to  be  familiar  with  the  recognised  terms,  as 
without  a  technical  language,  concise  description  and  accurate 
comparison  would  be  impossible,  the  point  which  seems  to  be 
most  frequently  ignored  is  that,  terms  unaccompanied  by  an 
intelligent  knowledge  of  the  phenomena  or  structures  for  which 
they  are  used  are  mere  tinkling  cymbals  and  counterfeits  of  the 
worst  possible  type. 


410 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  15, 1897 


PETROLEUM  AND  ITS  PRODUCTS;  THEIR  PHARMA¬ 
CEUTICAL  USES. 

The  earlier  history  of  petroleum,  and  of  the  solid  “  bitumen  > 
produced  by  its  spontaneous  evaporation  and  oxidation  as  it  oozes 
from  the  strata  containing  it,  refers  almost  entirely  to  the  medi. 
cinal  uses  to  which  it  was  put.  The  value  of  petroleum  as  an 
illuminant  and  heating  agent  was  more  or  less  known,  but  it  appears 
to  have  been  entirely  overshadowed  by  its  curative  powers  as  an 
ointment  for  wounds  and  skin  diseases,  and,  to  a  slight  extent,  as 
medicine  for  internal  use. 

Writing  at  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century,  Marco  Polo  (see 
The  Book  of  Ser  Marco  Polo,  the  Venetian,’  London,  1871,  v.  i., 
p.  4),  stated  that  the  oil  of  Baku  was  “  used  to  anoint  camels  that 
have  the  mange,”  and  that  “  people  came  vast  distances  to  fetch  it,” 
and  Jonas  Hanway  in  his  ‘  Historical  Account  of  the  British  Trade 
over  the  Caspian  Sea  ’  (London,  1754,  v.  i.,  p.  263  and  381),  stated 
that  the  Russians  drank  the  thinner  petroleum  as  a  cordial  and 
medicine.  The  solid  bitumen  found  floating  on  the  Red  Sea  was 
early  esteemed  for  medicinal  use.  Diodorus,  a  contemporary  of 
Julius  Caesar,  stated  that  it  was  employed  in  Egypt  for  embalming 
purposes,  and  in  the  ‘  Complete  Chymical  Dispensatory’  of  Dr.  John 
Schroder  (see  English  translation  by  Rowland,  1669,  p.  281),  we 
are  told  tha  the  “Jewish  is  best  that  comes  from  the  Mare 
Mortuum.” 

Among  the  liquid  varieties  of  petroleum  employed  before  the 
present  century,  the  almost  colourless  variety  obtained  in  Persia 
was  most  esteemed,  and  Boerhaave  (‘  Shaw’s  Translation,  1753,  v.  i. 
p.  117)  states  that  the  “oleum  terrse”  of  India  was  in  his  time  so 
scarce  as  to  be  “  kept  by  the  Princes  of  Asia  for  their  own  use.” 

In  Bavaria,  the  petroleum  from  the  Tegern  See  was  used  as  early 
as  1436  as  an  ointment  under  the  name  “  St.  Quirinus’  oil,”  while 
in  Italy,  the  oil  of  Modena  was  similarly  employed  in  the  seventeenth 
century.  In  Pennsylvania  and  New  York,  petroleum  was  formerly 
used  by  the  Indians  as  “Seneca  oil,”  and  about  the  year  1849, 

“  American  oil,”  obtained  by  roughly  distilling  petroleum,  was  sold 
by  S.  M.  Kier  of  Tarentum,  on  a  large  scale,  for  externa  application 
It  is  stated  that  Mr.  Kier’s  operations  were  to  a  great  extent  the 
cause  of  the  earliest  attempts  at  the  drilling  of  Artesian  wells  for 
petroleum. 

In  England,  petroleum  under  such  various  names  as  petroleum, 
naphtha,  bitumen,  oleum  terrse,  earth-balsam,  pisselaeum,  pissas- 
phaltum,  mumia,  etc.,  was  used  quite  as  extensively  as  in  other 
countries,  but  the  price  of  the  colourless  and  light  coloured  oil  was 
so  great  that  the  bulk  of  that  used  is  stated  in  James’  ‘  Medica* 
Dictionary’  (1745),  and  in  Neumann’s  ‘  Chemistry  ’  (1759),  to  have 
been  fictitious.  Among  the  most  approved  varieties  used  were  the 
light  oil  obtained  from  the  East,  mainly  from  Persia,  the  bitumen  of 
the  Dead  Sea,  and  the  “  tar  ”  (or  asphalte)  of  Barbadoes,  but  an  oil 
obtained  by  distilling  a  sandstone  saturated  with  petroleum,  which 
occurred  at  Pitchford  in  Shropshire,  was  largely  sold  as  “  Betton’s 
British  Oil”  (Rees’  ‘  Encyclopaedia,’  1819,  article  Bitumen). 

The  purification  of  petroleum  by  distillation  was  carried  on  by 
the  early  pharmacists,  but  the  product  appears  to  have  been  usually 
regarded  as  little  better  than  an  artificial  petroleum,  and  was  only 
saleable  as  untreated  crude  petroleum. 

Crude  petroleum  varies  from  an  almost  colourless,  highly  mobile 
liquid  to  a  green,  brown,  or  almost  black  oil,  as  viscous  as  treacle. 
Its  composition  varies  according  to  the  strata  from  which  it  is  ob¬ 
tained,  but  it  is  mainly  composed  of  hydrocarbons,  together  with 
small  quantities  of  bodies  containing  oxygen,  nitrogen,  sulphur, 
and  in  some  cases  traces  of  arsenic,  phosphorus,  etc.  The  American 
oil  consists  mainly  of  the  saturated  hydrocarbons  belonging  to  the 
methane  or  paraffin  group,  but  that  of  Russia,  which  is  obtained  | 


from  geologically  newer  strata,  is  principally  composed  of  member 
of  the  naphthene  group  which,  while  isomeric  with  the  olefines  and 
very  similar  in  properties  to  the  paraffins,  belong  to  the  benzene 
group,  and  are  therefore  entirely  different  in  chemical  composition* 
It  is  to  this  peculiarity  that  the  difference  in  the  properties  of  the 
distillates  from  the  Russian  and  American  oils  is  attributable. 

The  various  products  now  obtained  from  crude  petroleum  are  said 
to  amount  to  as  many  as  two  hundred,  but  these  are  mainly 
varieties  of  the  mixtures  of  hydrocarbons  which  are  known  in 
commerce  as  naphtha,  benzoline,  kerosene,  lubricating  oils,  paraffin, 
and  vaseline.  In  order  to  obtain  these  in  a  state  of  purity,  they  are 
first  separated  from  the  crude  oil  by  fractional  distillation,  followed 
by  a  system  of  chemical  purification  by  which  all  colouring  matters 
and  ill-smelling  substances  are  separated. 

Petroleum  naphtha  and  the  still  lighter  distillate  known  as  gaso¬ 
line,  are  used  as  solvents  as  a  means  for  purifying  various  pharma¬ 
ceutical  and  other  products,  and,  like  benzoline,  for  cleaning  fabrics* 

Considerable  quantities  of  colourless  and  odourless  oil  inter* 
mediate  between  kerosene  and  lubricating  oil,  are  now  prepared  in 
Russia  under  the  names  “perfumery  oil ”  and “  mixing  oil.”  For 
this  purpose,  the  higher-boiling  fraction  from  what  is  known  as 
.‘  Solar  oil,”  is  freed  from  water  by  blowing  a  current  of  air  through 
t  at  a  temperature  of  70°  C.,  until  perfectly  bright  and  clear,  and 
is  then  treated  with  ordinary  strong  sulphuric  acid,  and  finally  with 
Nordhausen  acid  with  constant  agitation.  After  the  evolution  of 
sulphurous  acid,  produced  by  the  decomposition  of  the  impurities  in 
the  oil,  has  ceased,  the  acid  is  allowed  to  seitle  and  is  drawn  off,  and 
the  oil  is  washed  with  a  solution  of  caustic  soda  and  finally  with 
warm  water. 

As  described  by  Rossmassler  (‘Die  Petroleum  und  Schmierol- 
fabrikation,’  1893,  p.  78),  “  perfumery  oil  ”  has  a  specific  gravity  of 
0-800  to  0  88  5,  and  does  not  become  yellow  or  deposit  any  impurity 
after  exposure  to  light.  It  is  employed  in  the  preparation  of  per¬ 
fumes,  and  is  known  in  the  German  Pharmacopoeia  as  “  paraffinum 
liquidum.” 

Mixing  oil,  which  is  largely  used  as  an  adulterant  of  other  oils,  is 
usually  of  a  yellow  colour,  and  has  a  specific  gravity  of  not  less 
than  0  860,  and  not  more  than  0'885. 

The  principal  pharmaceutical  uses  of  petroleum  products  are, 
however,  confined  to  the  varieties  of  paraffin  wax,  ozokerite,  and 
vaseline.  Paraffin  wax  is  obtained  mainly  from  the  higher-boiling 
fractions  obtained  during  the  distillation  of  American  petroleum 
and  Scotch  shale-oil,  and  to  a  less  extent,  of  Indian  petroleum. 
Russian  petroleum  yields  practically  no  paraffin,  and  although  large 
quantities  are  obtained  in  Galicia,  the  product  from  that  country  is 
usually  known  as  ozokerite. 

For  use  in  the  manufacture  of  pomades,  etc.,  the  softer  paraffin 
wax  is  preferred,  the  purer  form  which  is  obtained  by  pressing  the 
soft  wax  at  low  temperatures  being  too  hard  for  this  purposes 
although  largely  employed  for  the  manufacture  of  the  better  class 
of  candles,  for  the  adulteration  of  beeswax,  etc.,  as  a  preservative 
coating  for  eggs,  and  for  a  large  number  of  other  purposes.  A 
common  paraffin  wax  obtained  as  a  bye-product  in  the  manufacture 
of  lubricating  oils  in  America,  is  used  in  the  preparation  of 
‘‘chewing  gum,”  while  a  yellow  wax  obtained  from  Galician 
ozokerite,  and  known  as  “  yellow  ozokerine,”  is  used  on  the  Continent 
as  soft  paraffin  wax  is  used  in  this  country  and  in  America,  in  the 
compounding  of  ointments  and  pomades.  Like  vaseline,  paraffin  and 
ozokerite  (which  is  chemically  identical  with, and  physically  but  little 
different  from  paraffin  wax)  are  found  to  possess  far  greater  perma. 
nency  than  lard,  and  their  absolute  freedom  from  any  tendency  to 
become  rancid  is  rapidly  leading  to  their  universal  use  as  a  medium 
for  the  preparation  of  ointments. 


Mat  15,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


411 


The  “  yellow  ozokerine,”  mentioned  above,  is  largely  purified  by 
means  of  Nordhausen  sulphuric  acid,  and  the  colourless  product 
obtained  is  employed  by  French  perfumers  in  the  process  of 
“  enfleurage,”  i.e.,  in  the  extraction  of  scents  from  flowers,  etc. 
Vaseline  is  obtained  mainly  from  American  oil,  but  is  also  pro* 
duced  from  Galician,  Russian,  and  German  oils.  That  from  the 
three  latter  countries,  though  practically  the  same  as  from  America, 
is  frequently  known  as  “  ceresine,”or  “cerasin.”  Although  vaseline 
was  first  obtained  in  America  by  the  Chesebrough  Company,  it  is  to 
the  Germans  that  we  owe  the  greater  part  of  our  knowledge  as  to 
its  composition,  Engler  and  Bohm  Dingier' s poly technisches  Journal, 
v.  262,  p.  468)  having  devoted  particular  attention  to  the  subject. 

The  method  of  preparation  employed  in  America  is  to  a  great 
extent  a  secret  one,  but  is  said  to  consist  in  the  distillation  of 
selected  crude  petroleum  in  vacuum  stills,  and  the  filtration  of  the 
residual  pasty  mass  through  animal  charcoal.  In  the  Old  World, 
the  treatment  is  very  similar,  but  considerable  quantities  of  an 
“  artificial”  vaseline  are  also  prepared  by  admixture  of  solid  paraffin 
with  highly  viscous  paraffin  oil.  This  material  is  said  to  be  some 
times  preferred,  especially  when  fluidity  at  a  moderate  temperature 
is  required,  and  is  included  in  the  German  Pharmacopoeia,  but  it  is 
not  perfectly  homogeneous,  and  shows  a  granular  structure  and  a 
tendency  to  separate  into  solid  paraffin  and  oil. 

V aseline  consists  of  a  mixture  of  solid  and  liquid  hydrocarbons, 
the  former  of  which  are  entirely  without  crystalline  structure,  a 
feature  to  which  the  valuable  properties  of  vaselin  are  largely  due 
Like  paraffin  wax,  it  consists  almost  entirely  of  saturated  hydro¬ 
carbons,  the  small  quantity  of  oxygen-containing  compounds  being 
almost  negligible.  Vaseline  absorbs  a  small  quantity  of  oxygen  from 
the  air,  but  its  value  for  pharmaceutical  purposes  does  not  appear 
to  be  reduced  thereby.  The  so-called  “solidified  petroleum,”  which 
is  employed  to  a  slight  extent  as  fuel  and  for  laundry  use,  and  as  a 
lubricant,  is  usually  prepared  by  incorporating  liquid  petroleum 
with  soaps,  or  by  saponifying  fats  in  admixture  with  petroleum.  It 
is,  however,  of  little  commercial  importance,  and  of  still  less  to  the 
pharmacist. 

Dr.  Squire  has  recently  described  in  the  Journal  of  the  Society  of 
Chemical  Industry  (1889,  p.  441)  an  interesting  process  in  which 
petroleum  is  employed  for  the  purification  of  crude  alcohol.  This 
process,  which  not  only  removes  the  fusel  oil,  but  also  the  ill¬ 
smelling  products  contained  in  the  common  spirit  obtained  from 
molasses,  etc.,  appears  to  be  due  to  Parsons,  of  New  York,  who  in 
1869  patented  the  use  of  paraffin  wax  for  the  purpose.  The  wax 
was  dissolved  in  the  hot  alcohol,  which  was  then  diluted  to  50  per 
cent,  strength,  whereby  the  paraffin  was  precipitated  with  the  fusel 
oil,  etc.  The  method  now  in  use  is  that  of  Ruffin  and  Bang,  and 
consists  in  replacing  the  wax  by  liquid  petroleum  having  a  boiling 
point  of  about  140°  G. 


SUPPOSITORIES  AND  THEIR  MANUFACTURE. 

The  results  of  some  experiments  by  Professor  Lewin  in  con¬ 
junction  with  Apotheker  Eschbaum  have  appeared  in  the  Deutsche 
med.  Wochenschri/t.  According  to  Lewin,  it  is  essential  that  the 
medication  should  be  equally  distributed  in  the  suppository,  and 
that  it  should  be  readily  separable  from  the  basis.  The  suppository 
itself  should  be  as  sterile  as  possible,  and  so  formed  as  to  be  easily 
inserted,  a  special  point  being  that  the  dosage  of  medicament 
should  be  exact.  How  far  the  suppositories  at  present  in  use 
answer  these  requirements  will  be  seen  from  the  following  short 
resumd  of  the  results  of  the  experiments  alluded  to  : — 

Cacao  Butter  Suppositories  only  allow  of  an  equal  distribution 
of  the  prescribed  drugs  if  the  mass  is  mixed  with  fat  or  oil  and 
subsequently  rolled  out.  For  this  method  of  preparation  Lewin 
recommends  formulae  such  as  the  following  : — 


Ij!i  Kali  Iodid . 0,2 

Butyri  Cacao  . . . .  3,0 

Adipis  Suilli  . q.s. 


Ut.  f.  exactissime  terendo  massa  qua  forma  suppos. 

D.  tal.  dos.  No . 

It  is  not  advisable  to  fill  the  medication  into  ready-made  hollows, 
on  account  of  the  insufficient  distribution  in  these.  The  authors 
remark  that  even  when  the  cacao  butter  has  solidified  the 
regular  distribution  of  the  medicine  (morphine,  cocaine,  etc.)  in 
all  suppositories  is  almost  a  matter  of  impossibility  in  all  cases 
where  the  medicine  is  only  added  mechanically  to  the  bulk.  The 
examination  of  a  number  of  suppositories  which  had  been  prepared 
in  various  ways  by  melting  and  moulding  proved  this  conclusively, 
the  greater  part  of  the  dose  of  medicine  being  usually  found  in  the 
tip  of  the  suppository,  whether  the  medicine  was  added  to  the 
cacao  butter  dissolved  in  water  or  as  a  powder. 

Glycerin-Gelatin  Suppositories  are,  according  to  the  authors, 
vastly  superior  to  preparations  of  cacao  butter.  The  medicament, 
which  has  been  dissolved  in  water,  readily  mixes  with  the  aqueous 
solution  of  glycerin-gelatin,  and  is  evenly  distributed  in  all 
suppositories.  Further,  the  glycerin-gelatin  suppository  can 
be  easily  introduced  into  the  rectum  without  loss,  where  the 
moisture  of  the  bowel  quickly  dissolves  it,  so  that  both  the 
medicine  and  glycerin  are  speedily  absorbed  by  the  blood.  The 
disadvantages,  however,  are  that  these  suppositories  are  not 
always  sterile,  they  are  prepared  of  gelatin,  the  nature  of  which 
is  not  always  known,  and  which  may  contain  ingredients  injurious 
to  the  human  organism.  They  also  contain  considerable  quantities 
of  glycerin  which  may  prove  irritating  to  the  rectum.  The 
authors  therefore  reject  this  preparation  and  recommend 

Agar  Suppositories. — If  one  part  of  commercial  agar  powder 
is  heated  with  twenty-nine  parts  of  water  for  some  minutes  in 
the  vapour  bath,  the  result  is  a  mixture  which  can  be  easily 
poured  out  and  which  sets  after  a  little  time  to  a  slippery, 
tough,  and  flexible  mass  which  has  an  acid  reaction.  This 
is  neutralised  by  adding  0,1  gramme  of  sodium  bicarbonate 
to  10  grammes  of  the  powdered  agar.  For  the  preparation  of 
agar  gelatin  they  give  the  following  method  : — One  part  of 
neutralised  agar  powder  is  poured  into  a  small  medicine 
bottle  with  the  quantity  of  medicament  intended  to  be  used 
for  a  certain  number  of  suppositories  ;  then  29  parts 
of  water  are  weighed  and  added,  and  the  whole  shaken  up. 
The  stopper  of  the  bottle  is  well  tied  down,  and  the  bottle  placed 
into  boiling  water  for  five  to  ten  minutes.  None  of  the  many 
bottles  used  by  the  authors  cracked  in  this  process.  Square  pieces 
of  paraffined  paper-  (about  4  Cm.)  are  rolled  into  pointed  paper 
bags,  the  points  turned  over,  and  the  bags  fixed  in  a  suitable 
frame  on  a  scale  pan.  The  respective  quantities  of  the  hot  agar 
mass  are  then  weighed  carefully  into  the  paper  bags,  and  the 
suppositories  are  preserved  for  use  in  the  bags.  If,  for  instance, 
suppositories  of  potassium  iodide  are  intended  to  be  manufactured, 

1  gramme  of  neutralised  agar  powder  would  be  put  into  a  bottle 
with  1  gramme  of  potassium  iodide,  29  parts  of  water  added, 
and  the  whole  shaken  up  until  the  salt  is  dissolved.  The  bottle 
would  then  be  boiled  for  five  to  ten  minutes,  and  the  liquid  agar 
poured  into  ten  paper  bags  of  three  grammes  each.  Some  medicines, 
as  mercurial  ointment  and  bismuth  subnitrate,  cannot  be  formed 
into  suppositories  in  the  manner  indicated.  These  are  rubbed  in 
with  the  prepared  agar  mass.  Antipyrin  e  sometimes  takes  more  of 
the  agar  mass.  Thus  10  per  cent,  of  antipyrine  requires  double 
and  50  per  cent,  of  antipyrine  three  times  the  quantity  of  the  agar 
mass  stated  above. 

Tannin  Suppositories  are  prepared  without  heat.  One  part  of 
tannin  is  mixed  with  two  parts  of  agar  powder  and  massed  with 
seven  parts  of  water.  The  mass  is  then  rolled  out  and  divided. 
Nearly  all  other  medicines  form  perfectly  homogeneous  mixtures  if 
worked  up  into  agar-gelatin  suppositories.  Urethral  and  other 
bougies,  and  vaginal  pessaries,  are  prepared  in  an  analogous 
manner.  For  the  preparation  of  pessaries  a  block  of  wood  suitably 
hollowed  out  should  be  used  with  a  suitable  stamp  to  press  wax 
paper  into  the  hollows. 


Salipyrine  in  Peliosis  Rheum  atica. — Treated  with  salipyrine, 
three  cases  of  peliosis  have  been  rapidly  cured  by  Muhlbauer,  the 
pains  disappearing  “  like  magic,”  the  ecchymoses  vanished,  and 
the  temperature  fell  very  quickly,  in  one  case  after  a  single  dose. 
— Epit.,  1/97/44,  after  Wien  med.  Woch. 


412 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  15  1897 


PHARMACEUTICAL  SOCIETY 


“FIRST”  EXAMINATION  RESULTS. 


A  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Examiners  for  England  and  Wales 
was  held  on  Wednesday,  May  12. 

Certificates  by  approved  examining  bodies  were  received  from 
the  undermentioned  in  lieu  of  the  Society’s  examination  : — - 


Brearley,  Samuel  Edward  ;  Bromley. 
Cocking,  Thomas  Tusting  ;  Sheffield. 
Day,  John  Edwin  ;  London. 

Lawson,  George  Crisp  ;  Darlington. 


Lishman,  Arthur ;  Sunderland. 
Marriott,  Arthur  Eustace  ;  Clapham. 
Swinn,  Charles  Gosling  ;  Manchester. 
Wright,  Herbert  Henry  ;  Kennington. 


The  report  of  the  College  of  Preceptors  on  the  examination  held 
on  April  13  was  received.  469  candidates  had  presented  them¬ 
selves  for  examination,  of  whom  260  had  failed. 

The  following  209  passed,  and  the  Registrar  was  authorised  to 
place  their  names  upon  the  Register  of  Apprentices  and  Students : — - 


Alexander,  John  Henry  ;  Helensburgh 
Allan,  Edwin  ;  Aberdeen. 

Anderson,  David  Roger  ;  Dunblane. 
Baker,  Alfred  Robert ;  Leicester. 

Bartle,  George  ;  Northallerton. 
Baverstock,  Willie  Eaves  ;  Lincoln. 
Bellamy,  Clement  James  Y.  ;  Caistor. 
Benham,  William  John  ;  Braintree, 
Blarney,  Francis  Williams  ;  Truro. 
Bonner,  Alexander ;  Mintlaw. 

Brown,  Arnold  Fitz-John  ;  Hawick. 
Bruce,  John  ;  Ladybank. 

Buchan,  Joseph  Duncan  ;  Fraserburgh. 
Bull,  William  John  ;  Bedford. 

Burnett,  James  ;  Methil. 

Burns,  Wilfrid  Harry  ;  Birmingham. 
Burr,  Josiah  Reginald  ;  Harpenden. 
Burton,  Francis  J.  ;  Thomaby-on-Tees. 
Butlin,  James  Franklin  ;  Liverpool. 
Caines,  Charles  March  ;  Maida  Vale. 
Carter,  Arthur  ;  Tamworth. 

Chaple,  Percy  William ;  Waltham  Cross. 
Chrystall,  C.  G.  W.  ;  Buckhurst  Hill. 
Clee,  Arthur  Richard  ;  Uttoxeter. 
Clough,  Alfred  Hollier  ;  Ventnor. 

Cole,  George  Harold  ;  Hough  Green. 
Connon,  William  Henry ;  Aberdeen. 
Coonan,  John  Woodroffe ;  Stockport. 
Cooper,  Thomas ;  Hanley. 

Coutts,  J ohn  ;  Glasgow. 

Craig,  Charles  Hawkins  ;  Edinburgh. 
Cran,  William  Strath  ;  Peterhead. 
Cresswell,  Harold  S.  ;  Stoke-on-Trent. 
Critchison,  James  B.  ;  Scarborough. 
Cuthbert,  William  Steven  ;  Glasgow. 
Darby,  Leslie  George  ;  Watford. 

Davies,  Dan  ;  Herne  Hill. 

Davies,  David  ;  Pontypridd. 

Davies,  J  ohn  ;  Llandovery. 

Davison,  Henry  G. ;  Newcastle-on-Tyne. 
Dennis,  William  ;  Silloth. 

Derry,  Alfred ;  Wadebridge. 

Devine,  James  ;  Glasgow. 

Dewar,  James  R.  ;  Perth. 

Doig,  John  Allan  ;  St.  Andrews. 

Dumo,  Duncan  Mearns  ;  Aberdeen. 
Edwards,  John  ;  Blaenau  Festiniog. 
Evans,  William  Owen  ;  Ammanford. 
Fairbaim,  James  ;  Redcar. 

Faulkner,  Sidney  H.  ;  King’s  Lynn. 
Fiddes,  Thomas  Matthews  ;  Aberdeen. 
Findlay,  Robert  Miller  ;  Kilmarnock. 
Fisk,  William  John;  Southampton. 
Fowle,  James  Frank  ;  Long  Sutton. 
Freason,  Dora  Julia  Mary  ;  Stevenage. 


Fry,  Albert ;  Taunton. 

Furness,  Harry ;  Clayton-le-Moors. 

Gale,  Percy  ;  High  Wycombe. 

Galloway,  Thomas  McLaren ;  Kirkcaldy. 
Golightly,  Arthur  Grylls  ;  Hartlepool. 
Grant,  George ;  Leven. 

Grant,  William  Alexander  ;  Ballater. 
Grasby,  Richard  ;  Hull. 

Graver,  Herbert  Hodgson  ;  Alford. 
Green,  John  Percy  ;  Stockport. 
Greenhill,  Joseph  John  G.  ;  Maidstone. 
Greensmith,  Charles  C.  ;  Nottingham. 
Griffin,  Frederick  J. ;  Chipping  Norton. 
Griffiths,  Harry  John  ;  Cirencester. 
Griffiths,  Horace;  Newport. 

Hardie,  Douglas  ;  Aberdeen. 

Hardie,  Robert  Mills  ;  Dundee. 

Harger,  Clement ;  Halifax. 

Harratt,  William  Ashby ;  Grantham. 
Harrod,  Charles  Edward  ;  Liverpool. 
Heath,  Walter  Valentine  ;  Ripley. 
Heaton,  J  ohn  ;  Burnley. 

Hey,  Herbert ;  York. 

Hill,  Arthur  Charles  ;  Ellesmere. 

Hill,  George  Grayson  ;  Rothesay. 
Hineh,  Albert  Robert  ;  Leicester. 

Hind,  Ethel  Mary  ;  Rhyl. 

Hipperson,  Charles  W.  W.  ;  Norwich. 
Holmes,  Albert  E.  ;  Melton  Mowbray. 
Howson,  William  Thomas ;  Nottingham. 
Inman,  George ;  Manchester. 

Jack,  Alexander  B.  ;  Dingwall. 

Jackson,  Charles  Henry  ;  Sunderland. 
Janisch,  Ellen ;  Newcastle-on-Tyne. 
Jarvie,  George  ;  Kirkintilloch. 

Jeffrey,  Alexander  Hill ;  Govan. 

Keats,  Frank  Hartford  ;  Plymouth. 
Keddie,  William  Dawson  ;  St.  Andrews. 
Kemp,  George  Mitchell ;  Edinburgh. 
Kennedy,  George ;  Seaeombe. 

Kirby,  Robert  Harrison  ;  Whitby. 
Kirkland,  Arthur ;  Nottingham. 
Knight,  Frank  W.  ;  Weston-super-Mare. 
Laing,  John  Fraser  ;  Aberdeen. 
Lamont,  John  ;  Glasgow. 

Langley,  Frederick  Gabriel ;  Penzance. 
Lees,  James  ;  Dumbarton. 

Leicester,  Charles  ;  Oldham. 

Leslie,  William  ;  Falkirk. 

Llewellyn,  A.  D. ;  Ystrad  Rhondda. 
Lloyd,  Edward  Gwilym  ;  Colwyn  Bay. 
Locke,  Robert  Grey  ;  Ipswich. 

Love,  William  Landels  ;  Kirkcaldy. 
McCallum,  William  ;  Edinburgh. 
Macdonald,  John ;  Rothes. 


McDonald,  John  Bayne  ;  Perth. 
McGillivray,  Alexander  M.  ;  Peterhead 
McIntosh,  William ;  Glasgow. 

McLean,  Alexander  Bennett ;  Glasgow 
McNab,  Leonard ;  Forfar. 

Marris,  George  Wesley  ;  Grimsby. 
Martin,  Annie  ;  Penrith. 

May,  Frederick  Bertram  ;  Manchester. 
Mellor,  Ernest  Martin  ;  Uttoxeter. 
Michael,  George  ;  Edinburgh. 

Miles,  Hubert  William  ;  Ramsgate. 
Mitchell,  J ames  ;  Broxburn. 

Morris,  David  ;  Oswestry. 

Mosley,  Wilkinson  ;  Driffield. 

Muir,  Stephen  ;  Edinburgh. 

Muir,  Thomas  Herbert ;  Haddington. 
Murdoch,  Joseph  C.  ;  Wishaw. 

Neilson,  Robert  ;  Stewarton. 

Nicholls,  Albert  Ambrose  ;  Hackney. 
Nicholson,  Leonard  Edge  ;  Bolton. 
Norweb,  Arthur  ;  Nottingham. 
O’Callaghan,  Charles  W.  ;  Warrington. 
Onley,  Geoffrey  Bernard  ;  Birmingham. 
Orr,  George  Henry  Reid  ;  Gatehouse. 
Paddock,  Granville  Edward  ;  Liverpool. 
Paley,  Frederick  Gartside  ;  Blackpool. 
Palmer,  John  Thomas  D.  ;  Liverpool. 
Parry,  Charles  ;  Patricroft. 

Paterson,  Henry  Ambrose  ;  Arbroath. 
Patten,  Alexander  D.  FI  ;  Alnwick. 
Patterson,  J.  W.  ;  Newcastle-on-Tyne. 
Paulsen,  John  ;  N.  Shields. 

Peasnall,  Horace  Albert  J.  ;  Norwood. 
Perks,  Hugh  Earl ;  Leicester. 

Peters,  Albert ;  Ruabon. 

Pettigrew,  William  ;  Lincoln. 

Phillips,  Philip  John  ;  Carmarthen. 
Pirie,  James  ;  Aberdeen. 

Pollock,  Thomas  Lowthiau  ;  Penrith. 
Quinn,  Thomas  Francis  ;  Douglas. 

Raff  an,  John  ;  Huntly. 

Ragg,  Harry  John  ;  Lower  Edmonton. 
Richards,  Frederick  ;  Newton  Abbot. 
Ridehalgh,  Lincoln  ;  Brighton. 

Robb,  William  Ritchie  ;  Aberdeen. 
Robertson,  Harry  Butchart ;  Dundee. 
Robertson,  Robert  ;  Eyemouth. 
Robertson,  William ;  Kilsyth. 
Robertson,  William  ;  Glasgow. 

Young,  Jan 


Rogers,  Robert  Isaac  ;  Rhos. 

Ross,  Edward ;  Wiveliscombe. 

Sharpe,  John  Balderson  ;  Margate. 
Sheldon,  Constance  F  ;  Birmingham. 
Shelmerdiue,  Henry  ;  Manchester. 
Sidebottom,  Samuel  H.  ;  Accrington. 
Smart,  Helen  ;  Edinburgh. 

Smith,  Alexander ;  Macduff. 

Smith,  Arthur ;  Mansfield. 

Smith,  Edgar  ;  Crediton. 

Smith,  John  Beddall,  Manchester. 
Smith,  Thomas  ;  Farn worth. 

Spouncer,  Stanley  Y.  ;  Gainsborough. 
Stanser,  John  ;  Lincoln. 

Stewart,  Adam  Tennent  ;  Annan. 
Strachan,  Robert  Guild  ;  Dundee. 
Suiter,  John  Ross  ;  Maryport. 

Tait,  James  Nicoll ;  Dundee. 

Taylor,  William  Arthur  ;  Liverpool. 
Teesdale,  Arthur ;  Horncastle. 

Thomas,  William  John  ;  Llanelly. 
Thompson,  Thomas  John  ;  Portsmouth. 
Tibbies,  Edwin  ;  Birmingham. 

Todd,  Tom  Hart ;  Ulverston. 

Tucker,  Francis  Henry  ;  Burnham. 
Tucker,  William  T.  ;  Kentish  Town. 
Tullis,  John;  Dunfermline. 

Turner,  George  Augustus  ;  Belfast. 
Uttley,  John  Edward  ;  Hull. 

Vaughan,  Thomas  William  ;  Chester. 
Veitch,  John  Alexander  ;  Manchester. 
Ward,  William  John  ;  Manchester. 
Wardle,  Arthur  Hampton ;  Maidenhead. 
Watkins,  Charles  W.  J.  ;  Abergavenny. 
Watson,  James  H.  ;  Laurencekirk. 
Webb,  James  Thos. ;  Stow-on-the-Wold. 
West,  Robert  Henry  ;  Halifax. 
Westlake,  William  Smalley  ;  Sutton. 
Whaley,  Harold  ;  Chester. 

White,  George  Harold  E.  ;  Portsmouth. 
Wilkinson,  Joseph  George  ;  Harrogate. 
Will,  Norman;  Campbeltown. 

Williams,  Richard  Henry  ;  Lewisham. 
Williams,  Robert  William ;  Rhos. 
Williams,  William  N.  P.  ;  Holywell. 
Wilsden,  Arthur  M.  A.  ;  Wooler. 
Wilson,  Thomas  ;  Moffat. 

Winter,  Harry  Stanley ;  Manningtree. 
Yardley,  Thomas  Edward  ;  Ruabon. 
s ;  Glasgow. 


The  questions  set  at  this  examination  were  published  in  the  Pharmaceutical 
Journal  for  April  17,  p.  334. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  centres  at  which  the  examination  was  held,  show¬ 
ing  the  number  of  candidates  at  each  centre,  and  the  result : — 


Candidates.  Candidates. 


-A _ 

"-N 

Examined. 

Passed. 

Failed. 

Examined. 

Passed. 

Failed. 

30 

16 

14 

Lancaster . 

6 

9 

4 

22 

7 

15 

Leeds . 

20 

3 

17 

6 

1 

5 

11 

6 

5 

7 

3 

4 

Liverpool . 

27 

14 

13 

5 

1 

4 

42 

19 

23 

6 

3 

3 

Manchester  . .  v . 

39 

15 

24 

Cardiff . 

6 

2 

4 

Newcastle-on-Tyne  .... 

15 

6 

9 

14 

5 

9 

Northampton . 

3 

1 

2 

9 

4 

5 

3 

1 

2 

5 

2 

3 

Nottingham . 

21 

12 

9 

4 

2 

2 

Oxford  . 

2 

1 

1 

4 

3 

2 

2 

0 

18 

10 

8 

Peterborough . 

4 

1 

3 

41 

21 

20 

3 

4 

5 

3 

2 

Sheffield  . 

3 

1 

2 

42 

19 

23 

7 

6 

1 

Hull . . 

12 

4 

8 

9 

5 

4 

4 

1 

3 

York  . 

5 

3 

2 

Mat  15,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


413 


DONATIONS  TO  THE  MUSEUM. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Library,  Museum,  School  and  House  Com¬ 
mittee,  on  Wednesday,  May  12,  the  Curator  presented  the  following 
report  of  donations  : — 

Dr.  O.  Hesse,  Feuerbach  (through  Dr.  B.  H.  Paul) Specimen  of  the  Protea 
mellifera,  from  which  hydrokinone  was  first  obtained  by  him  as  a  natural 
product. 

Messrs.  Potter  and  Clarke,  London : — Two  living  specimens  in  flower  of 
Opuntia  decumana,  Haw.,  two  living  bulbs  of  Urginea  scilla,  Steinh.,  and  a 
specimen  of  Anthemis  cotula. 

Mr.  C.  E.  Sage,  London  : — Specimen  of  the  bark  of  Viburnum  prunifolium. 

Messrs.  Schimmel  and  Co.,  Leipsic : — Leafy  twigs  of  the  plant  yielding  West 
Indian  Oil  of  Sandalwood. 


PARLIAMENTARY  NOTES  AND  NEWS- 


The  Public  Health  Amendment  Bill  which  has  just  been 
introduced  into  Parliament,  and  is  supported  by  Sir  A.  Hickman 
(Wolverhampton,  W.),  Sir  A.  Rollit  (Islington,  S.),  Sir  W.  Foster 
(Ilkeston),  Mr.  Staveley  Hill  (Kingswinford),  Mr.  Whiteley 
(Stockport),  Mr.  Baldwin  (Bewdley),  Mr.  E.  Spencer  (West  Brom¬ 
wich),  and  Mr.  J.  Heath  (N.W.  Staffs),  is  an  attempt  to  carry  into 
effect  the  report  of  the  Select  Committee  which  met  in  1895  and 
1896  to  consider  Police  and  Sanitary  Regulations  Bills.  That 
Committee  drew  attention  to  the  enormous  waste  of  time  and 
money  involved  in  the  present  procedure  whenever  a  local  sanitary 
authority  desired  to  make  regulations  for  the  preservation  of 
public  health— an  application  to  Parliament  being  requisite  for  the 
most  trivial  thing.  It  is  bad  enough  that  matters  affecting  the 
public  weal  should  be  subject  to  the  complexities  and  uncertainties 
of  private  Bill  Legislation,  but  it  borders  on  the  absurd  that  ques¬ 
tions  of,  say,  the  closing  of  a  village  cesspool  should  have  to 
occupy  the  attention  of  the  Imperial  Parliament.  The  new  Bill 
proposes  to  change  all  that  by  giving  power  to  local  authorities  to 
adopt  certain  clauses  of  private  Bills  which  have  been  accepted  by 
Parliament,  and  are  now  in  force  in  various  provincial  centres. 


There  is  a  somewhat  grandmotherly  ring  about  some  of  the 
clauses,  but  as  the  Bill  is  mainly  a  permissive  one,  it  is  quite  open 
for  any  sturdily  independent  town  to  preserve  its  liberty  and  a 
high  death  rate.  The  chief  items  to  which  reference  may  be 
made  are : — (a)  Provisions  for  enabling  medical  officers  to  trace 
the  source  of  infected  milk,  and  to  prevent  the  spread  of  infection 
by  maintaining  supervision  over  the  dairymen  and  laundrymen  of 
their  districts.  Such  clauses  have  already  been  adopted  by  St. 
Helens,  Burton-on-Trent,  and  South  Shields,  (b)  Imposition  of 
penalties  for  sending,  or  permitting  to  be  sent,  meat  unfitted  for 
use  as  human  food,  (c)  Provisions  for  the  compulsory  testing  of 
suspected  drains,  the  closing  of  cesspools,  and  the  erection  of 
suitable  sinks. 


Recreation  is  also  recognised  as  an  important  factor  in  the 
promotion  of  health,  and  the  Bill  provides  for  the  encouragement 
and  regulation  of  public  sports  and  amusements.  There  are 
certain  Police  Clauses,  too,  relating  to  the  height,  structure,  and 
line  of  buildings.  But  the  very  ■choicest  item  in  the  whole  pro¬ 
gramme  is  that  which  enables  a  local  board  to  regulate  public 
advertisements  on  walls  and  hoardings,  and  confers  on  the 
harrassed  citizen  the  incomparable  privilege  of  sending  away— 
without  stating  his  reasons — the  ubiquitous  street  organ  or  German 
band. 


The  Lawyers  triumphed  on  Tuesday  last,  and  the  House  estab¬ 
lished  a  precedent  which  should  be  valuable  to  the  medical  profes¬ 
sion  and  to  the  pharmaceutical  calling.  By  a  majority  of  111 
to  16  the  motion  of  Mr.  Harrison,  that  the  expenses  of  the 
Incorporated  Law  Society  in  expelling  the  black  sheep  of  its  flock 
should  come  out  of  the  public  purse,  was  adopted,  and  the  Journals 
of  the  House  now  bear  the  record  :  ‘  ‘  That  this  House  is  of  opinion 
that  a  portion  of  the  expenses  incurred  by  the  Incorporated  Law 
Society  in  fulfilling  the  duties  imposed  upon  it  by  the  Statute 
51  and  52  Viet.,  c.  65,  should  be  defrayed  out  of  public  funds.” 
What  that  “portion  of  expenses”  will  be  has  not  yet  transpired, 


but  we  have  sufficient  confidence  in  the  legal  profession  to  imagine 
that  an  adequate  contribution  will  be  secured. 


Parliamentary  Art  is  Long,  and  the  time  of  the  session  is 
fleeting,  hence  Major  Rasch’s  attempt  on  Tuesday  to  curtail 
Parliamentary  speeches  and  abate  a  national  nuisance.  Hence 
also  Mr.  Hazell’s  appeal  ad  misericordiam  on  behalf  of  the  Mid¬ 
wives  Registration  Bill.  Why,  asks  the  honourable  member  for 
Leicester,  should  this  Bill,  which  embodies  the  unanimous  recom¬ 
mendations  of  a  Select  Committee  on  the  subject,  be  introduced 
session  after  session  and  dropped  for  want  of  time  ?  and  will  the 
Government  either  give  facilities  for  considering  the  measure  now, 
or,  at  any  rate,  hold  out  some  hope  that  it  may  be  made  a  Govern¬ 
ment  item  next  session  ?  Many  persons  may  be  disposed  to 
sympathise  with  Major  Rasch  and  Mr.  Hazell,  and  regret  that  their 
attempts  to  mend  the  legislative  machinery  of  Great  Britain  have 
failed. 


How  We  Stand. — The  Shops  Bill  is  down  for  the  18th  inst., 
The  Midwives  Registration  Bill  for  the  20th,  and  the  Plumbers 
Registration  Bill  is  half-way  through  the  Standing  Committee. 
Sir  Stafford  Northcote  tables  his  Registration  of  Firms  Bill  from 
day  to  day  in  the  hope  of  securing  a  surprise  second  reading,  and 
Sir  J ohn  Lubbock  is  beginning  to  despair  of  piloting  the  Early 
Closing  Bill  to  the  haven  where  he  would  wish  it  to  be.  It  is  now 
deferred  till  the  18th. 


A  SIMPLE  METHOD  OF  PREPARING 
GLYCEROPHOSPHATES. 

The  following  method  by  Delage  for  preparing  glycerophosphoric 
acid,  and  from  it  the  various  salts  which  have  been  much  employed 
of  late  on  the  Continent,  is,  from  its  simplicity,  well  suited  for  use 
in  the  pharmacy  : — One  part,  by  weight,  of  phosphoric  acid,  sp. 
gr.  1  ‘454,  is  mixed  in  a  flask  with  one  and  a  half  parts  of  glycerin, 
sp.  gr.  1  "242.  The  flask  is  fitted  with  a  double-bored  cork,  fitted 
with  a  thermometer  and  an  exit  tube.  It  is  then  gradually  heated 
in  the  ordinary  way  over  a  Bunsen  ;  at  120“  the  liquid  assumes  a 
straw  colour,  and  as  the  temperature  slowly  rises  it  gradually 
darkens  until  190°  is  reached,  when  the  colour  is  that  of  dark  beer, 
and  vapours  of  acrolein  are  given  off.  The  heat  is  removed,  and 
the  vessel  allowed  to  cool,  a  viscous  mass  resulting.  100  grammes 
of  phosphoric  acid  and  150  grammes  of  glycerin  should  require 
about  forty  minutes  to  complete  the  reaction. 

To  obtain  glycerophosphate  of  lime  the  resulting  liquid 
is  poured  in  small  quantities  at  a  time  into  a  mixture 
of  an  excess  of  50  grammes  of  lime  to  250  grammes  of 
water.  The  mixture  is  stirred,  and  when  effervescence  ceases, 
allowed  to  stand  for  six  hours,  then  filtered.  To  the  faintly  yellow 
clear  filtrate  one-half  its  volume  of  90  per  cent,  alcohol  is  added, 
which  throws  down  a  flocculent  precipitate  of  glycerophosphate  of 
calcium.  This  is  collected,  washed  with  alcohol  of  the  same 
strength,  re-dissolved  in  water,  and  re-precipitated  with  alcohol 
and  dried  at  as  low  a  temperature  as  possible  over  a  desiccator.  In 
this  manner  a  white  powder  is  obtained,  consisting  of  masses  of 
microscopic  crystals,  soluble  in  about  20  parts  of  water,  100 
grammes  of  phosphoric  acid  yielding  about  6  grammes  of  this 
salt.  From  the  mother  liquors  another  salt,  having  the  composi¬ 
tion  of  an  acid  glycerophosphate,  is  obtained  ;  this  is  not  precipi¬ 
tated  by  alcohol. 

The  glycerophosphates  of  sodium  and  potassium  can  only  be 
obtained  in  solution.  Those  of  magnesium,  strontium,  and  lithium 
are  really  obtained  from  their  carbonates  in  a  similar  manner  to 
the  lime  salt.  The  iron  salts  are  easily  prepared,  ferric  glycero¬ 
phosphate  being  obtained  by  the  action  of  glycerophosphoric  acid 
on  moist  ferric  hydrate,  and  precipitating  the  solution  with  alcohol. 
The  ferrous  salt  is  prepared  in  a  similar  way,  using  the  ferrous 
carbonate. 

The  author  gives  the  following  reactions  for  the  pure  salts  : — In 
aqueous  solutions  they  are  precipitated  by  heat ;  alcohol  and  ether 
precipitate  them ;  they  give  no  immediate  precipitate  with 
ammonium  phosphomolybdate,  nor  with  magnesium  mixture,  nor 
uranium  acetate  ;  the  white  silver  nitrate  precipitate  is  soluble 
in  an  excess  of  water  ;  the  white  precipitate  given  by  lead  acetate 
is  soluble  in  acetic  acid.  When  treated  with  absolute  alcohol  no 
residue  should  be  obtained  on  evaporating  off  the  solvent. — Bull. 
Gen.  de  Therap.  (Section  Pharmacol.),  i. ,  225. 


414 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Mat  15,  1897 


LEGAL  INTELLIGENCE- 

PROCEEDINGS  UNDER  THE  PHARMACY  ACTS. 


A  Case  at  Airdrie. 


At  the  Sheriff  Court  House,  Airdrie,  on  Tuesday,  May  11,  the 
case  of  Bremridge  v.  John  Young,  Stirling  Street,  Airdrie,  came 
before  Sheriff  Mair.  Accused  was  charged  with  selling  red  pre¬ 
cipitate  in  an  ointment  to  Mrs.  Jane  Lees,  and  chloroform  and 
morphine  in  a  mixture  to  James  Lees,  on  February  13,  1897. 

Mr.  Robert  Watt,  solicitor,  Airdrie,  instructed  by  P.  Morison, 
S.S.C.,  Edinburgh,  appeared  for  the  prosecutor,  and  Mr.  Orr, 
solicitor,  Coatbridge,  appeared  for  the  defender. 

Mr.  Orr  took  objection  to  the  date  not  being  definitely  stated. 
The  offence  was  said  to  have  been  committed  on  February  13,  or 
on  one  or  other  of  certain  other  days.  He  also  objected  to  the 
want  of  specification,  as  no  definite  quantity  of  poison  was  given 
and  the  quantity  might  have  been  infinitesimal.  Rhubarb  con¬ 
tained  oxalic  acid,  but  it  would  be  absurd  to  charge  a  fruiterer  for 
selling  poison  when  he  sold  rhubarb  stalks.  In  the  third  place,  he 
objected  that  the  accused  was  not  really  liable  as  he  was  only  an 
assistant  to  Mr.  Harvie,  who  was  a  registered  chemist,  and  that 
the  latter  was  superintending  the  sales. 

Mr.  Watt,  in  reply,  said  the  phrase  as  to  the  date  was 
common  to  all  criminal  complaints,  and  it  would  be 
a  question  on  the  evidence  as  to  whether  the  prosecution  had 
exceeded  the  usual  licence  granted  to  a  prosecutor.  They  might 
prove  that  the  sale  took  place  on  the  date  stated.  As  to  the 
quantity  of  poison  the  Act  made  no  demand  as  to  quantity,  and 
that  also  would  be  settled,  as  it  recently  was  in  Lees’  case,  on  the 
evidence.  The  liability  of  accused  was  settled  in  the  Wheeldon 
case. 

The  Sheriff  repelled  the  first  objection,  but  restricted  the  proof 
to  February  13.  The  second  objection  was  reserved  for  the  merits, 
and  also  the  third  objection. 

Defender  then  pleaded  not  guilty,  and  the  diet,  if  proof,  was 
fixed  for  Friday,  May  14. 

PROCEEDINGS  UNDER  THE  APOTHECARIES  ACT. 


Verdict  against  a  Sheffield  Chemist. 

At  the  Sheffield  County  Court  on  Thursday,  May  6,  before  Judge 
Waddy,  the  hearing-  was  resumed  of  an  action  which  had  been 
brought  under  the  Apothecaries  Act  against  George  Ellinor, 
chemist,  of  No.  127,  Spital  Hill,  Sheffield.  The  action  was  brought 
by  the  Master,  Wardens,  and  Society  of  the  Art  and  Mystery  of 
Apothecaries  of  the  City  of  London,  14,  Austin  Friars,  E.C.,  who 
sought  to  recover  from  the  defendant  a  penalty  of  £20,  for  having 
attended,  advised,  furnished,  and  supplied  medicines  to  and  for 
the  use  of  certain  persons,  without  having  obtained  a  certificate 
required  by  the  Act  of  1815  for  better  regulating  the  practice  of 
apothecaries  throughout  England  and  Wales. — Mr.  G.  G.  Alexander, 
barrister  (instructed  by  Mr.  F.  E.  Eaton),  appeared  for  the 
plaintiffs,  and  Mr.  Neal  defended. 

The  plaintiffs’  case  was  completed  on  the  previous  day,  and  was 
reported  in  last  week’s  issue  of  the  Journal  (page  405). 

Mr.  Neal,  on  behalf  of  the  defendant,  submitted  that  the 
plaintiffs  had  not  made  out  any  case,  and  he  therefore  asked  the 
judge  to  non-suit  them.  He  said  counsel  had  admitted  that  an 
isolated  case  of  acting  as  an  apothecary  was  not  sufficient  to  bring 
a  person  within  the  words  of  the  Statute  under  which  the  plaintiffs 
sought  for  a  penalty.  At  the  very  most  his  opponents  had  proved 
only  one  isolated  case.  He  reviewed  the  evidence  at  some  length 
in  support  of  his  contention  that  there  had  been  no  actual  proof 
that  the  defendant  had  acted  as  an  apothecary.  An  apothecary, 
he  said,  was  one  w-ho  prescribed,  dispensed,  and  supplied  medicine, 
and  these  three  acts  must  be  taken  conjointly,  not  separately.  He 
went  on  to  argue  that  the  witnesses  had  not  proved  that  the 
defendant  had  done  all  three  things  in  their  cases. 

His  Honour  (interrupting)  remarked  that  the  defendant  had 
reason  to  feel  proud  of  the  personal  appearance  of  his  patients. 
The  only  one  who  looked  at  all  ill  was  the  lady  who  threw  him  over. 

Mr.  Neal,  alluding  to  a  bill  which  had  been  produced  as  sent  by 
the  defendant  to  a  Mr.  Meggett,  said  that  the  charges  were  for 
attendance,  not  a  word  was  used  about  medicine. 

His  Honour  :  What  sort  of  attendance  ? 

Mr.  Neal  :  Professional  attendance,  as  a  medical  man. 


His  Honour  :  That  is  perfectly  frank.  I  admire  your  bravery  in 
admitting  it. 

Mr.  Neal  replied  that  the  charge  against  Mr.  Ellinor  in  this  case 
was  not  that  he  had  attended  patients  ;  it  was  simply  a  question 
of  whether  he  had  or  had  not  acted  as  an  apothecary.  There  was 
nothing  in  the  law  which  prevented  the  defendant  from  attending 
persons  at  their  houses  and  advising  them  as  to  remedies.  In  that 
sense  Mr.  Ellinor  had  attended  people. 

His  Honour  :  To  my  mind,  there  must  be  something  like  a  man 
holding  himself  up  as  a  person  prepared  to  do  these  things. 

Mr.  Neal  thought  both  sides  would  agree  to  that  view. 

Mr.  Alexander  submitted  that  that  would  constitute  another 
offence.  That  was  holding  himself  up  as  a  duly  qualified  medical 
man,  and  he  would  thereby  render  himself  liable  to  penalties  under 
the  Medical  Acts. 

Mr.  Neal,  continuing  his  defence,  said  he  felt  himself  justified  in 
suggesting  that  the  Judge  should  construe  the  evidence  with  great 
literalness,  and  not  draw  inferences  of  any  description  ;  the  case 
must  be  proved  fully  and  exactly. 

His  Honour  said  he  could  not  stop  the  case.  Mr.  Neal  had  better 
proceed. 

Mr.  Neal  pointed  out  that  the  defendant  had  done  what  he  had 
done  in  the  most  open  manner.  There  had  not  been  the  slightest 
attempt  at  concealment.  That  was  not,  of  course,  material  to  the 
issue,  but  it  was  material  to  the  defendant’s  reputation.  He  had 
by  his  skill  and  knowledge  won  the  affection  and  gratitude  of 
a  number  of  persons  who  lived  in  the  district  in  which  his  shop 
was  situated. 

His  Honour  :  I  think  if  the  result  of  this  action  should  be  to 
stop  Mr.  Ellinor  from  these  practices,  there  would  be  far  more 
lamentation  by  the  people  who  live  there  than  in  the  household  of 
Mr.  Ellinor. 

Mr.  Neal  detailed  Mr.  Ellinor’s  many  qualifications  and  diplomas. 
He  was  qualified  in  midwifery  ;  he  held  an  M.  D.  degree  of  Phila¬ 
delphia  University,  was  a  dental  surgeon,  and  a  pharmaceutical 
chemist.  It  was  admitted  that  he  was  a  very  clever  man,  and  the 
only  reason  why  he  had  not  taken  an  English  medical  degree, 
which  would  have  entitled  him  to  be  registered  as  a  surgeon,  was 
that  he  could  not  spare  the  time  for  attending  at  the  hospitals  and 
to  fulfil  other  requirements  which  would  take  him  away  from  his 
business.  He  had  not,  however,  done  anything  in  the  way  of 
surgery. 

Defendant  being  called,  said  he  was  a  Licentiate  of  Dublin  for 
midwifery,  a  registered  dental  surgeon,  and  a  pharmaceutical 
chemist.  His  Doctor  of  Medicine  degree  of  Philadelphia  University 
had  been  granted  to  him  as  the  result  of  an  examination  by  means 
of  papers.  He  had  practised  medicine  for  twenty  years. 

In  cross-examination  the  defendant  frankly  admitted  that  he  had 
both  prescribed  and  supplied  medicine  to  the  witness  who  had  been 
called.  He  had  a  private  consulting  room  for  dental  purposes,  but 
had  been  consulted  there  and  prescribed  in  medical  cases.  He  had 
no  doubt  the  medicine  he  had  prescribed  had  been  delivered  from 
his  shop. 

Mr.  Alexander,  addressing  the  Court,  said  after  Mr.  Ellinor’s 
admissions  he  did  not  think  he  had  any  case  to  answer.  His 
clients  did  not  question  the  respectability  of  the  defendant,  who 
was  not  one  of  those  gentlemen  who  are  known  as  “midnight 
chemists.”  But  the  defendant  had  made  a  great  mistake  as  to  his 
legal  position.  Qualification  was  one  thing,  but  it  was  not  regis¬ 
tration,  and  the  defendant  did  not  possess  a  diploma  which  was 
recognised  by  the  General  Medical  Council.  A  man  was  not  per¬ 
mitted  to  prescribe  and  supply  medicine  who  was  not  a  certificated 
apothecary,  and  that  the  defendant  had  done. 

Questioned  by  the  Judge,  the  defendant  said  his  practice  had 
gradually  grown  until  at  tbe  present  time  it  was  a  very  extensive 
one.  Among  other  diseases  for  which  he  had  advised  and  pre¬ 
scribed  medicines  were  measles  and  small-pox.  During  the  small¬ 
pox  epidemic  he  had  many  patients  who  suffered  from  that  malady. 

His  Honour,  in  giving  judgment,  said  if  the  question  before  him 
was  one  which  affected  the  moral  and  social  standing  of  the  defen¬ 
dant,  he  thought  everybody  in  the  Court  would  agree  that  it  was 
of  the  highest.  Unfortunately  for  the  defendant,  such  matters 
did  not  affect  the  issue  at  all.  Judge  Cresswell  had  defined  an 
apothecary  as  a  man  who  judged  internal  disease  by  its 
symptoms  and  applied  himself  to  cure  that  disease  by  medicine. 
It  had  not  only  been  proved  that  the  defendant  professed  this, 
but  one  of  his  witnesses  actually  said  that  he  saved  her  life.  He 
greatly  appreciated  the  praiseworthy  openness  of  Mr.  Ellinor  in 
the  box  ;  it  was  straightforward  and  honest,  and  did  him  credit. 


May  15,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


415 


At  the  same  time  he  wished  to  say  as  strongly  and  clearly  as 
possible,  however  hard  it  might  seem,  that  he  entirely  approved  of 
that  class  of  legislation  under  which  this  case  had  been  brought. 
He  thought  it  most  beneficial.  A  man  was  not  allowed  to  plead 
for  another  in  a  court  of  law  or  to  give  legal  advice  who  did  not 
possess  the  recognised  diploma,  and  it  was  still  more  important 
that  there  should  not  be  unqualified  men  going  about  the  country, 
dealing  out  destructive  potions  to  ignorant  or  uneducated  people. 
In  this  case  he  had  no  choice  but  to  find  for  the  plaintiffs ;  the 
defendant  had  acted  in  such  an  open  matter  that  he  (the  Judge) 
had  no  difficulty  in  giving  his  decision.  There  would  be  a  verdict 
for  the  amount  claimed. 

Mr.  Neal  hoped  that  in  the  special  circumstances  of  this  case  costs 
would  not  be  granted. 

Mr.  Alexander  remarked  that  in  previous  cases  under  this  Act 
costs  were  granted  of  the  higher  scale.  He  only  applied  for 
ordinary  costs  and  those  he  must  press  for. 

His  Honour  said  the  costs  must  follow  the  action  in  the  usual  way. 


PROCEEDINGS  UNDER  THE  SALE  OF  GOODS  ACT. 


Claim  against  Manufacturers  of  Arsenical  Soap. 

An  action  was  heard  at  Kingston  County  Court  on  May  7, 
before  Judge  Lushington,  Q.C.,  in  which  Mr.  Alfred  Higgs,  J.P., 
chemist  and  druggist,  carrying  on  business  in  Richmond  Road, 
sought  to  recover  from  Messrs.  Yardley  and  Co.,  Ltd.,  toilet  soap 
manufacturers,  of  Tottenham  Court  Road,  £50  as  damages  for 
fraudulently  selling  him  an  article  purporting  to  be  arsenical  soap, 
and  for  retailing  which  a  conviction  was  recorded  against  him  at 
the  Borough  Police  Court. 

Mr.  Arnold  White,  barrister,  instructed  by  Messrs.  Marsh  and 
Hope,  appeared  for  the  plaintiff,  and  Mr.  A.  Spokes,  instructed 
by  Messrs.  Ford,  Lloyd  and  Co. ,  London,  was  for  the  defendants. 

Mr.  Arnold  White  opened  the  case  at  great  length,  and 
recapitulated  the  events  leading  up  to  the  conviction  of  the  plain¬ 
tiff  in  December  last,  when  he  was  fined  10s.  and  ordered  to  pay 
16s.  costs  for  selling  as  arsenical  soap  a  substance — Dr.  King’s 
Arsenical  Soap — which  upon  analysis  was  found  to  contain  no  trace 
of  arsenic  whatever.  The  defendants  were  personally  made  aware 
of  the  summons  served  on  his  client  in  respect  of  their  soap,  but 
they  absolutely  refused  him  any  assistance,  and  when  he  wrote  to 
them  subsequently  asking  to  be  reimbursed  the  expense  incurred, 
the  reply  was  that  they  declined  to  entertain  the  proposal  as  their 
traveller  had  stated  to  his  client  that  the  soap  contained  no 
arsenic.  Subsequently,  they  sent  him  a  label  for  thesoap,  bearing  the 
words,  “This  soap  does  not  contain  an  appreciable  quantity  of 
arsenic.” 

Mr.  Higgs  said  Messrs.  Yardley’s  traveller  stated,  when  the  order 
was  given,  that  the  sample  offered  was  genuine  arsenical  soap  of 
their  own  manufacture  and  equal  to  any  make.  On  that  repre¬ 
sentation  he  purchased  it.  Subsequently,  Mr.  Challis,  the  managing 
director  of  the  defendant  company,  admitted  to  him  that  there  was 
no  arsenic  in  the  soap.  There  had  been  a  substantial  falling  off  in 
his  business  receipts  since  his  conviction,  the  deficiency  in  January, 
February,  and  March,  as  compared  with  the  average  of  the  past 
ears,  being  £37  8s.  3d.  He  had  lost  more  than  £50  over  this 
usiness.  His  solicitor’s  bill  was  over  £20.  In  cross-examination 
by  Mr.  Spokes  he  denied  that  the  introduction  of  Parkes’  Drug 
Stores  and  other  stores  where  less  prices  were  charged  had  affected 
his  business  ;  in  fact,  the  result  was  quite  the  other  way. 

Mr.  Joseph  Bargery,  of  Cardiff,  but  formerly  an  assistant  to  the 
plaintiff,  gave  corroborative  evidence  as  to  what  transpired  at  the 
sale  of  the  soap  by  the  traveller. 

Mr.  Spokes,  in  opening  for  the  defence,  said  a  most  serious 
charge  of  fraud  had  been  made,  but  he  hoped  to  show  that  did 
not  exist  at  all.  They  had  all  along  contended  that  no  arsenic 
existed  in  the  soap. 

His  Honour  :  Then  why,  instead  of  sending  a  label  saying  the 
soap  did  not  contain  an  appreciable  amount  of  arsenic,  did  the 
company  not  advise  Mr.  Higgs  that  the  soap,  as  stated  by  their 
traveller,  contained  no  arsenic  whatever  ? 

Mr.  Spokes  said  all  soaps  contained  arsenic,  and  the  term 
“  arsenical  ”  was  merely  a  fancy  designation,  such  as  “  Sunlight” 
soap,  in  which  no  one  expected  to  find  sunlight.  The  whole  pro¬ 
ceedings  instituted  against  the  plaintiff  were  bad,  and  the 
decision  of  the  magistrates  was  ridiculous.  No  stretching  of  the 
words  within  the  meaning  of  the  Act  could  make  the  soap  into  a 
drug,  and  the  travellers  employed  by  the  company  were  specially 


instructed  to  inform  purchasers  of  the  soap  that  no  arsenic  was 
contained  therein. 

Mr.  Weston  Robert  Challis,  managing  director  to  the  company, 
after  expressing  the  opinion  that  “commercial  truth”  is  not  the 
same  as  biblical  truth,  said  the  words  “  Dr.  King  ”  and  “  arsenical  ” 
were  merely  fancy  designations,  and  he  put  no  arsenic  in  the  soap 
because  it  was  his  belief  that  other  soaps  described  as  arsenical  did 
not  contain  any  arsenic.  He  was  not  a  chemist  or  a  physician,  but 
it  was  his  belief  that  a  person  might  plaster  his  skin  with  arsenic 
without  harm.  Another  reason  for  not  putting  arsenic  in  the  soap 
was  because  it  was  a  poison.  It  was  true,  however,  that  he  manufac¬ 
tured  carbolic  soap,  though  carbolic  acid  was  a  poison.  Arsenic  was 
cheap  enough,  and  they  now  used  it  in  the  manufacture  of  their 
arsenical  soap.  It  was  true  that  the  legal  expenses  of  another  chemist 
who  was  convicted  for  selling  their  soap  had  been  paid  by  the 
company. 

Defendants’  travellers  deposed  that  before  selling  the  soap,  they 
had  always  stated  that  it  contained  no  arsenic,  and  arguments 
having  been  heard  on  both  sides, 

His  Honour  said  that  if  the  managing  director  of  the  defendants’ 
company  was  so  loose  in  his  employment  of  terms,  he  must  not  be 
surprised  if  his  word  suffered  whensuch  strong  evidence  was  brought 
against  it.  After  reviewing  the  chief  features  of  the  case,  His 
Honour  said  he  thought  the  institution  of  the  proceedings  in  the 
first  case  was  right  and  proper,  and  the  defendants’  company  there¬ 
fore  became  liable  in  the  action  now  being  tried ;  he  should 
consequently  award  £22  for  what  had  been  actually  expended. 
Dealing  with  what  President  Kruger  would  call  moraland  intellectual 
damage,  and  having  regard  to  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  he 
should  award  a  further  sum  of  £10,  with  costs. 


PROCEEDINGS  UNDER  THE  FOOD  AND  DRUGS  ACT. 


The  Sale  of  Arsenical  Soap. 

The  case  of  Houghton  v.  Taplin  came  on  for  argument  on  appeal 
on  Friday,  May  7,  in  the  Queen’s  Bench  Division  of  the  High  Court, 
before  Mr.  Justice  Hawkins  and  Mr.  Justice  Wright,  sitting  as  a 
Divisional  Court.  Mr.  Alexander  Glen  appeared  for  the  appellant, 
Robert  Arthur  Houghton,  an  Inspector  of  Weights  and  Measures 
to  the  Surrey  County  Council,  and  Mr.  Lawless  represented  the 
defendant,  a  Richmond  chemist. 

Mr.  Glen  said  this  was  a  special  case  stated  by  the  magistrates 
of  Richmond  under  the  Food  and  Drugs  Act,  1875.  The  purchaser 
called  at  the  respondent’s  shop,  where  arsenical  soap  was  advertised 
for  sale,  and  as  being  able  to  produce  complexions  like  that  (holding 
up  a  highly-coloured  advertisement  poster)  on  persons  who  suffered 
from  pimples,  and  having  some  beneficial  effect  on  the  skin.  The 
articular  soap  which  was  purchased  was  found  on  analysis  to 
ave  no  arsenic  in  it  at  all,  and  the  magistrates  held  that  it  was  an 
ordinary  soap,  and  that  no  conviction  could  be  sustained. 

Mr.  Justice  Wright :  Do  you  mean  that  if  a  man  sold  something 
as  bread  which  turned  out  to  be  bricks  there  would  be  no  con¬ 
viction. 

Mr.  Glen  said  that  was  the  point.  The  respondent  was  sum¬ 
moned  under  Section  6  of  the  Act  for  unlawfully  selling  to  the 
prejudice  of  the  purchaser  a  drug — to  wit,  arsenical  soap — on 
November  24,  1896.  Appellant  sent  his  assistant,  John  Church¬ 
man,  to  the  shop  of  the  respondent,  William  Joseph  Taplin,  and 
Churchman  paid  6 d.  for  a  tablet  of  the  soap,  which  he  afterwards 
handed  at  the  door  of  the  shop  to  the  inspector.  Churchman  was 
sent  simply  for  a  tablet  of  arsenical  soap,  and  he  was  supplied 
with  a  tablet  of  Dr.  Mackenzie’s  arsenical  soap,  No.  2,  wrapped 
up  in  some  printed  papers  which  described  it  as  an  “innocent” 
and  perfectly  harmless  soap,  and  amongst  the  papers  was  the  highly- 
coloured  picture  which  he  had  exhibited.  On  the  back  of  it  was  a 
report  purporting  to  be  made  by  Dr.  Griffiths,  of  Edinburgh, 
saying  he  had  tested  and  examined  many  samples  of  the  soap. 

Mr.  Justice  Hawkins  :  What  is  the  good  of  reading  all  that?  We 
are  not  advertising  agents  here  for  Dr.  Mackenzie  or  anybody  else. 

Mr.  Glen,  continuing,  said  he  understood  his  learned  friend’s 
argument  was  that  the  transaction  which  took  place  was  not  the 
sale  of  a  drug  at  all.  He,  on  the  contrary,  submitted  that  it  was 
the  sale  of  a  drug,  although  the  thing  sold  was  a  sham  drug.  It 
purported  to  be  a  soap  containing  a  drug.  Dr.  Griffiths  said  it 
contained  a  very  small  proportion  of  arsenic,  but  the  quantity 
useful  for  the  skin  was  so  small  that  it  was  perfectly  harmless, 
although  producing  a  beneficial  effect  upon  the  skin.  Among  the 
advertisements  enclosed  with  the  soap  was  a  letter  by  a  lady 
written  from  the  Hotel  Metropole,  in  which  she  said  that  after  using 


416 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  15, 1897. 


the  soap  the  spots  on  her  face  had  entirely  disappeared,  though 
everything  previously  tried  had  failed. 

Mr.  Justice  Hawkins  asked  who  signed  that. 

Mr.  Glen  said  a  lady  named  Winifred  Vernon. 

Mr.  Justice  Hawkins  held  up  the  highly-coloured  poster  and 
asked  if  that  was  her  portrait. 

Mr.  Glen  said  there  was  no  evidence  to  that  effect. 

Mr.  Justice  Hawkins  then  read  one  of  the  documents  handed  in, 
which  said  the  soap  had  the  property  of  rendering  the  skin  white, 
and  that  it  was  a  perfect  soap  for  beautifying  the  skin  and  impart¬ 
ing  to  it  a  natural  hue. 

Mr.  Glen  said  the  evidence  showed  that  the  purchaser  told  the 
respondent’s  assistant  that  the  sample  was  intended  to  be  sub¬ 
mitted  to  analysis,  and  in  answer,  the  assistant  said  that  did  not 
matter,  as  the  soap  was  a  proprietary  article.  Dr.  Stevenson,  the 
county  analyst,  to  whom  a  third  part  of  the  purchased  tablet  was 
submitted,  certified  that  the  percentage  of  ingredients  in  a  soap, 
which  was  free  from  arsenic,  was  100  per  cent.,  and  he  appended 
the  observation  that  there  was  no  authorised  formula  for  making 
arsenical  soap.  Eor  the  appellants  it  was  contended  that  arsenical 
soap  was  a  drug  within  the  meaning  of  the  Act,  and  for  the  re¬ 
spondents  that  as  the  soap  contained  no  arsenic  there  could  be  no 
conviction,  but  that  if  there  had  been  any  offence  the  proceedings 
should  have  been  taken  under  the  Merchandise  Marks  Acts.  The 
magistrates  upheld  that  contention. 

Mr.  Lawless  said  the  magistrates  held  the  appellants  had  had 
recourse  to  the  wrong  remedy,  and  that  the  proceedings,  if  any, 
should  have  been  under  the  Merchandise  Marks  Act. 

Mr.  Justice  Wright  in  giving  judgment  said  he  thought  the 
magistrates  were  right  on  this  ground  only — it  appeared  that  this 
was  a  case  of  a  compounded  drug,  and  the  information  being 
under  Section  6  of  the  Act,  they  were  bound  to  take  notice  that  by 
the  terms  of  Sub-section  3  of  that  Section  the  sale  of  a  compounded 
drug  was  excluded  from  it.  If  the  question  had  been  whether  a  per¬ 
son  could  with  impunity  sell  an  article  as  a  drug,  but  escape  simply 
because  there  was  no  drug  in  it,  he  (the  Judge)  was  clearly  of 
opinion  he  could  not,  and  that  the  magistrates  would  have 
power  to  convict. 

Mr.  Justice  Hawkins  thought  the  whole  question  seemed  to  be 
whether  soap  is  a  drug  or  not,  and  he  said  he  agreed  that  the  magis¬ 
trates  were  right  in  their  finding.  His  judgment  was  entirely  ar¬ 
rived  at  from  the  view  that  this  article  was  not  a  drug  per  se,  and  he 
did  not  dissent  in  any  way  from  what  Mr.  Justice  Wright  had  said. 

Appeal  dismissed  with  costs. 

The  Sale  of  Glycebin  and  Lime  Juice. 

At  Brentford  Police  Court,  on  Saturday  last,  before  Mr.  M.  Sharpe, 
Chairman,  and  a  full  Bench  of  Justices,  the  third  hearing  of  the 
summons  issued  at  the  instance  of  Walter  Tyler,  the  Inspector 
under  the  Food  and  Drugs  Act  for  West  Middlesex,  against  Mr.  J. 
W.  WTebber,  chemist  and  druggist,  of  High  Road,  Chiswick,  was 
proceeded  with.  The  charge  was  that  defendant  had  sold  glycerin 
and  lime  juice  not  of  the  nature,  substance,  and  qqality  demanded 
(see  ante,  p.  363). 

The  prosecution  was  based  on  a  certificate  of  Mr.  E.  Bevan, 
official  county  analyst,  that  there  was  no  glycerin  in  the  compound, 
but  the  Somerset  House  chemist  appealed  to  under  the  Act 
certified  that  glycerin  was  present  to  the  extent  of  half  a  fluid 
drachm  to  eight  ounces.  This  agreed  with  the  evidence  given  by  the 
defendant  and  his  witnesses  at  the  first  hearing.  The  summons 
stood  adjourned  in  order  that  all  the  analysts  might  be  present  in 
court  to  prove  their  certificates. 

Mr.  Earle  now  appeared  on  behalf  of  the  County  Council,  and 
Mr.  J.  W.  Lay  again  defended. 

The  former,  at  the  outset,  referred  to  the  decision  of  the 
Divisional  Court,  Queen’s  Bench,  in  Houghton  v.  Taplin,  given  the 
day  previously,  and  said  that  he  alluded  to  it  as  he  had  reason  to 
believe  the  defence  would  set  up  the  plea  that  it  ruled  the  present 
case.  At  the  proper  time  he  should  be  prepared  to  show  that  it 
had  no  such  bearing. 

Mr.  Lay  intimated  he  should  raise  such  a  plea,  but  the  Chair¬ 
man  intimated  that  the  Court  would  hear  the  evidence  of  the 
chemists  and  nothing  more. 

Mr.  E.  Bevan  was  then  called.  As  official  analyst  he  received 
a  portion  of  the  sample,  and  he  could  find  no  definite  traces  of 
glycerin  in  it.  Being  a  heavy  drug,  with  a  specific  gravity  of  1  '26 
compared  with  water,  it  would  be  the  heaviest  of  the  component 
parts  of  the  compound.  If  the  bottle,  therefore,  had  been  left  in 

he  chemist’s  window  a  long  time,  the  glycerin  would  sink  to  the 


bottom  and  the  oils  would  rise,  and  it  would  require  a  great  deal 
of  shaking  to  get  them  to  re-mix.  Supposing  the  bottle  was  not 
well  shaken  before  being  divided,  there  would  be  more  glycerin 
at  the  bottom  than  at  the  top.  He  could  not  say  which  portion 
of  the  bottle  came  to  him.  He  considered  that  half  a  drachm 
would  be  insufficient  to  have  any  effect  on  the  compound,  which  in 
his  opinion  was  a  drug. 

In  cross-examination  he  admitted  that  it  was  possible  he  might 
have  obtained  a  portion  with  less  glycerin  in  it  than  that  sent  to 
Somerset  House,  assuming  there  was  insufficient  shaking. 

Inspector  Tyler  deposed  that  the  portion  sent  to  Somerset 
House  would  be  the  portion  that  remained  in  the  original  bottle 
after  dividing  the  contents. 

Mr.  Lay  put  it  to  the  witness  that  it  would  be,  therefore,  most 
likely  to  contain  most  glycerin,  but  Mr.  Earle  said  that  he  was 
prepared  to  admit  that. 

Mr.  Richard  Bannister,  of  the  Government  Laboratory  at 
Somerset  House,  gave  evidence  at  great  length.  He  said 
that  he  received  a  sample  of  the  compound  and  he  never 
noticed  any  separation.  In  fact,  it  would  be  difficult  for  the  com¬ 
ponent  parts  to  separate,  providing  sufficient  art  had  been  used  in 
mixing  them.  He  and  Mr.  Lewin  together  made  the  tests,  and  sub¬ 
mitted  50  grammes  of  the  compound  to  every  possible  examination. 
They  came  to  the  conclusion  stated  in  their  Certificate.  For 
further  proof  they  examined  the  glycerin  separated  by  burning,  by 
taking  its  optical  value,  and  by  exposure  to  the  air  to  note  its 
physical  properties.  The  quantity  they  had  to  work  upon  was  so 
small  that  they  were  unable  to  deal  with  it  as  they  should  have 
liked.  Every  test  applied  indicated  glycerin. 

Mr.  Earle  elicited  that  witness  could  not  say  exactly  how  much 
the  sample  contained  in  bulk,  and  then  severely  examined  the 
witness  as  to  how  he  could  be  sure  of  his  figures  if  he  had  no 
definite  data  to  base  them  on. 

Mr.  Bannister  replied  that  the  matter  was  simple  ;  as  soon  as 
the  percentage  was  determined  it  was  easy  to  work  it  out  for  eight 
ounces. 

Mr.  Earle  :  But  I  want  to  know  where  you  get  your  idea  about 
eight  ounces  from.  Why  should  you  say  eight  ounces  any  more 
than  four  or  sixteen  ?  Were  you  aware  that  the  quantity  had  been 
mentioned  in  the  trade  journals,  and  that  the  defendant  swore  at  the 
first  hearing  he  put  in  half  a  drachm  of  glycerin  to  eight  ounces  ? 
— I  saw  it  in  some  of  the  papers,  but  whether  it  was  before  or  after 
our  certificate  was  written  I  cannot  say. 

Mr.  Earle  pointed  out  that  the  form  of  the  certificate  differed 
from  that  given  in  a  similar  case  at  Sunbury.  In  the  latter  per¬ 
centages  were  used  ;  here  the  language  was  unprofessional.  How 
was  that  ? 

Mr.  Bannister  replied  that  they  were  instructed  to  analyse  for 
glycerin.  They  desired  to  be  as  explicit  as  possible,  in  order  to 
make  the  certificate  intelligible  to  the  Bench.  In  the  Sunbury 
case  the  compound  differed. 

Mr.  Earle  :  Now,  Mr.  Bannister,  did  you  put  it  in  that  form  to 
make  the  glycerin  appear  larger  than  it  would  by  percentages  1 
— No  ;  I  thought  if  we  put  it  in  percentages  the  man  might  not 
get  justice. 

Mr.  Earle  :  It  is  most  unfortunate  that  gentlemen  will  try  to 
decide  these  cases. 

The  Chairman  :  I  must  say  we  do  not  appreciate  your  distinc¬ 
tions.  We  should  have  been  quite  able  to  understand  percentages. 

By  the  Court :  The  compound  was  not,  in  his  opinion,  a  drug. 
He  assumed  the  bulk  he  received  was  equal  to  the  other  two  por¬ 
tions.  If  it  were  not  it  was  wrongly  divided. 

By  Mr.  Lay  :  He  had  had  thirty-two  years’  experience  of  this 
work. 

Mr.  George  Lewin,  of  Somerset  House  Laboratory,  corrobo¬ 
rated.  He  explained  also  that  the  certificate  was  framed  in  the 
way  it  was  to  make  it  simpler  for  the  Bench  to  understand.  He  did 
not  agree  that  glycerin  would  sink,  but  the  aqueous  parts  might.  It 
would  be  purely  conjectural  to  say  that  by  standing  a  long  time 
the  glycerin  would  go  to  the  bottom  of  the  bottle. 

Mr.  Michael  Conroy,  chemist  to  Messrs.  Evans,  Lescher  and 
Webb,  stated  that  he  examined  the  sample  left  with  defendant. 
He  found  it  contained  glycerin,  but  he  did  not  go  so  far  as  to 
ascertain  the  quantity. 

The  Bench  ruled  the  summons  must  fail,  but  was  of  opinion 
that  the  portion  sent  to  the  official  analyst  for  the  county  was 
from  the  upper  part  of  the  bottle,  and  that  sent  to  Somerset  House 
from  the  bottom,  hence  the  discrepancy  in  the  certificates.  They 
allowed  no  costs  to  either  side. 


May  15  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


417 


NOTES  AND  FORMULAS. 


Sodium  Hyposulphite  for  Parasites  in  Cattle. 

F or  internal  use  sodium  hyposulphite  can  always  be  got  at  low 
price,  thus  recommending  itself  to  stock  farmers.  It  can  be  given 
as  a  drench,  3  ounces  to  a  quart  of  water,  or  be  dissolved  in  the 
water  given  to  cattle  to  drink,  where  it  will  be  inimical  to  all  parasite 
worms.  Again,  it  can  be  pounded  up  with  common  salt  and 
given  as  a  lick,  a  mode  by  which  large  numbers  of  cattle  can  be 
dealt  with.  It  is  recommended  as  a  safe  and  certain  cure  for 
various  parasites,  both  internal  and  external,  which  are  frequently 
the  cause  of  serious  disease  in  cattle. — Agric.  Journ.,  ix.,  672. 


The  Colour  of  Alcohols  Compared  with  Water. 

Spring  (Zeit.  Anorgan.  Chem. )  has  compared  the  colour  of  the 
first  members  of  the  series  CnH2n  + j(OH)  with  that  of  water. 
Methyl  alcohol  is  bluish-green,  ethyl  alcohol  a  similar  colour,  but 
less  intense,  amyl  alcohol  is  greenish-yellow.  The  pure  blue  colour 
of  water  is  gradually  more  mixed  with  green  as  one  ascends  the 
homologous  series.  A  column  of  water  20  metres  long  corre¬ 
sponds  in  colour  with  a  column  of  standard  solution  of  copper 
chloride  (16 ‘32  per  cent.)  0’314  metres  long.  The  difference  in 
colour  of  the  alcohols  is  due  to  the  presence  of  the  carbon  chain. 
This  is  clearly  seen  by  comparing  the  spectra.  The  hydroxyl  group 
absorbs  the  red  rays,  and  the  carbon  chain  the  violet  and  blue  rays 
in  accordance  with  the  number  of  the  carbon  atoms.  This  is  clearly 
shown  in  the  case  of  light  petroleum,  a  mixture  of  the  hydro¬ 
carbons  C6H14  and  C8H18,  the  colour  of  this  is  yellow  without  the 
slightest  tinge  of  green,  and  its  spectrum  shows  only  green,  orange 
and  red. — Journ.  Chem.  Soc.  abs.,  lxx.,  Org.  Chem.,  634. 


Eucaine  Ointment  Formula:. 

Eucaine  Ointment. 


Eucaiiwe  Hydrochlorici . 1 

Ol.  Olivse  .  2 

Lanolin  .  7 

M.  f.  unguentum. 


This  ointment  is  specially  suitable  for  rendering  tissues  and  painful  wounds 
anaesthetic. 

Eucaine  Menthol  Ointment. 


Eucain*  Hydrochloric!  . .  10 

Mentholi . 2 

Lanolin  .  ad.  100 

01.  Olivae . 20 

M.  f.  unguentum. 


D.S. — To  be  rubbed  in  externally.  For  itching  haemorrhoids,  pruritus  ani,  and 
pruritus  pudendi. 

— Therap.  Monat.,  xi.  137. 

Gelante  :  A  New  Dressing  for  Skin  Diseases. 

That  prolific  originator  of  skin  medications,  Professor  Unna,  has 
devised  a  new  dressing  composed  of  gelatin  and  gum  tragacanth, 
to  which  he  has  given  the  name  “  gelante.”  It  is  prepared  as 
follows  : — Pieces  of  gum  tragacanth  are  macerated  for  a  month  in 
twenty  times  their  weight  of  water  ;  then  they  are  exposed  for  a 
day  to  the  action  of  steam,  with  occasional  stirring,  and  finally 
strained  through  muslin.  The  same  weight  of  gelatin  is 
softened  in  water  and  submitted  to  the  action  of  steam 
under  pressure  ;  the  two  masses  are  next  mixed,  and  the 
mixture  exposed  to  the  action  of  steam  for  two  days  ;  it  is 
then  again  pressed  through  muslin  and  receives  the  addition  of  5 
per  cent,  of  glycerin,  a  little  rose  water  and  0'02  per  cent,  of  thymol. 
The  liquid  thus  prepared  contains  2-5  per  cent,  each  of  gelatin 
and  tragacanth.  When  spread  upon  the  skin  it  dries  rapidly  and 
forms  a  pliable  varnish.  Considerable  quantities  of  medicament 
may  be  added  to  this  basis  ;  as  much  as  50  per  cent,  of  ichthyol, 
40  per  cent,  of  salicylic  acid,  resorcin,  or  of  pyrogallol,  5  per 


cent,  of  phenol,  and  1  per  cent,  of  mercuric  chloride.  Bodies 
which  are  incompatible  in  aqueous  solutions,  such  as  salicylic  acid 
and  zinc  oxide,  ichthyol  and  various  salts  are  without  action  on 
each  other  when  incorporated  with  this  basis.  The  property  of 
drying  very  rapidly  distinguishes  gelante  from  all  other  water- 
soluble  dressings,  and  from  the  large  amount  of  water  it  contains 
it  exercises  a  marked  cooling  and  refreshing  action  when  applied 
to  the  skin  ;  it  is  capable  of  combining  with  fatty  bodies,  and  can 
be  applied  cold  to  the  surface.  It  promises  to  be  a  valuable  addi¬ 
tion  to  dermato-therapeutics,  particularly  in  the  treatment  of 
eczema  and  psoriasis.— Bullet.  Comm.,  xxiv.,  417,  after  Sem.  Med. 


Manufacture  and  Examination  of  Iodised  Cotton. 

Soulard  recommends  the  use  of  cotton  wool  which  has  been  freed 
from  fat  as  most  suitable  ;  100  Gm.  of  this  is  put  into  a  large  glass 
stoppered  bottle  in  which  8  Gm.  of  iodine  has  previously  been 
placed.  The  bottle  is  heated  in  the  water  bath  for  about  two 
hours,  until  no  more  iodine  adheres  to  the  sides  of  the  bottle  after 
cooling.  By  this  process  3  Gm.  of  iodine  is  chemically  absorbed 
by  the  cellulose.  The  iodine  is  more  quickly  absorbed  if  the 
impregnation  is  carried  out  at  a  temperature  of  more  than  100°,  but 
the  wadding  can  then  be  powdered.  Soulard  determines  the  free 
iodine  by  pouring  10  C.c.  of  thiosulphate  solution,  and 
90  C.c.  of  water  on  1  Gm.  of  iodine  wool,  stirring  the  whole  well, 
filtering  5  C.c.  off,  and  titrating  back  the  excess  of  thiosulphate 
with  standard  iodine  solution. — Pharm.  Centralh.,  xxxviii.,  38. 


Non-Gritty  Soluble  Tooth  Paste. 

Frohmann  deprecates  all  additions  to  tooth  powders  and  pastes 
which  rub  strongly  against  the  enamel  of  the  teeth,  such  as 
pumice  stone  or  charcoal,  also  non-soluble  products  like  calcium 
carbonate,  cuttle  fish,  and  naturally  also  such  articles  as  salicylic 
acid  and  alum,  which  affect  the  enamel.  Further  he  warns  against 
the  use  of  lactic  and  tartaric  acids.  He  recommends  a  tooth  paste 
of  the  following  composition  : — 

Thymol . . 0'25 

Extracti  Ratanhise,  solve  in  .  1-0 

Glycerini  fervidi  adde  . .  6’0 

Magnesise  ustsa  . _. . . .  . .  0'5 

Natrii  biboraoiei . . . .  4-0 

Saponis  medicati,  aa . .  . . . .  30-0 

Olei  mentbaj  piperitse  . . .  1-0 

M.  To  be  used  after  dinner  and  at  night. 

— Pharm.  Centralh.,  xxxviii.,  50. 


Mercuric  Chloride  as  a  Remedy  for  Potato  Disease. 

For  some  years  past  a  mercury  bichloride  solution  has  been  used 
at  Ciphy  as  a  preventive  of  the  ravages  of  Peronospora  infestans. 
A  0  015  per  cent,  solution  of  the  mercury  salt  is  prepared,  the 
liquid  being  coloured  by  0  24  per  cent,  of  copper  sulphate.  In 
this  mixture  the  seed  potatoes  are  steeped  for  about  five  minutes, 
and  then  thrown  into  heaps  for  planting.  Immunity  from  the 
disease  is  the  result.  The  germination  of  the  plants  is  accelerated 
and  the  seed  tubers  are  better  preserved  in  the  ground. 
Immersion  of  the  tubers  for  fifteen  days  in  a  solution 
of  double  the  above  strength  did  not  retard  germination. 
F or  preserving  the  leaves  of  the  growing  plant  from  infection  by 
the  spores  of  Peronospora  the  following  mixture  will  be  found 
useful : — 100  kilos  of  quicklime  is  slaked  with  about  one-third  by 
weight  of  water  containing  200  grammes  of  copper  sulphate  per 
litre,  the  mixture  being  sprayed  in  the  dry  state  over  the  plants 
at  the  rate  of  250  kilos  per  hectare,  after  the  disease  has  become 
fully  apparent  in  neighbouring  fields.  The  powder  adheres 
strongly  to  the  leaves  and  will  withstand  a  week’s  rain. — Jour.  Soc. 
Chem.  Ind.,  xv.,  917. 


418 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  15,  1897. 


THE  STUDEHTS’  PAGE. 


THE  FLOWERS  OF  MAY. 

The  medicinal  plants  in  blossom  during  this  month  in 
the  open  air  are  as  follows  : —  Aconitum  napellus,  Arcto- 
staphylos  uva-ursi,  Arum  maculatum,  Asarum  europceum, 
Berberis  vulgaris,  Carum  carui,  Chelidonium  magus,  -  Coch- 
learia  armoracia,  Cytisus  scoparius,  Cqpiandrum  sativum, 
Convallaria  majcdis,  Geranium  maculatum,  Iris  fiorentina,  Iris 
germanica,  Juglans  cinerea,  Juniperus  communis,  Laurus  nobilis, 
Morus  nigra,  Podophyllum  peltatum,  Pinus  sylvestris  and  other 
species,  Prunus  laurocerasus,  Q,uercus  robur,  Rhamnus  catharticus, 
R.  frangula,  Rheum  officinale,  R.  rhaponticum,  and  R.  tanguticum, 
Rosmarinus  officinalis,  Salix  alba,  Sanguinaria  canadensis,  and 
Viola  pedata.  Of  these,  the  inflorescence  of  the  arum,  the  sensitive 
stamens  of  Berberis,  the  fruit  of  Chelidonium,  the  anthers  of  Laurus, 
the  dioecious  flowers  of  Rhamnus  catharticus,  and  the  stamens  of 
Rosmarinus,  are  especially  worthy  of  examination.  Of  medicinal 
plants  requiring  protection  under  glass  the  following  may  be  seen 
in  flower  in  botanip  gardens  : — Aloe  vulgaris,  A.  plicatilis.  Ana- 
car  dium  occidentale,  Astragalus  gummifer,  Cinnamomum  cassia,  Cis- 
sampelos  pareira,  Cistus  creticus,  Curcuma  longa,  Erythroxylon  coca. 
Quassia  amara,  and  Zingiber  officinale.  Indigenous  wild  plants 
having  especial  features  of  interest  are  Alchemilla  vulgaris,  Claytonia 
perfoliata  (naturalised),  Dentaria  bulbifera,  Geum  urbanum,  Meny- 
anthes  trifoliata,  Myrrhis  odorata,  Myosurus  minimus,  Paris  quadri- 
folia,  Polygonum  bistorta,  Sanicula  europcea,  and  Viscum  album. 


SOME  NOTES  ON  CRYPTOGAMS. 

One  of  the  most  common  mosses,  Mnium  hornum,  which  grows 
in  patches  of  a  pale  green  colour  and  frequently  covers  several 
square  yards  of  soil  in  woods  or  on  damp  hedge-banks,  is  now  in 
a  suitable  condition  for  study. 

The  antheridia  are  found  in  a  conspicuous  terminal  rosette  at  the 
apex  of  the  male  plants  (Fig.  A)  whilst  the  archegonia  are  produced 
at  the  apex  of  the  female  plants,  but  can  only  be  found  on 
dissection  and  careful  examination.  The  fruiting  capsules  are 
raised  on  long  stalks  and  are  produced  freely  (Fig.  B). 

A  longitudinal  section  taken  from  the  apex  of  the  male  plant 
and  examined  under  the  microscope  with  the  1-in.  objective  shows 
a  number  of  spindle-shaped  bodies  (the  antheridia,  Fig.  H). 


B 


Mnium  Hornum. — A,  Male  plant ;  B,  Female  plant  fruiting ;  E,  Young 
fruit  showing  the  oalyptra  at  the  apex  and  the  vaginule  at  the  base ; 
F,  Archegonium ;  G,  Paraph ysis  from  the  female  plant  (magnified) ; 
H,  Antheridium  ;  I,  Paraphysis  from  the  male  plant  (magnified) ;  L,  Leaf 
showing  the  midrib  and  the  thickened  margin  furnished  with  a  double  row 
of  teeth. 

Arranged  on  a  flattened  disc  and  mixed  with  them  are  certain 
club-like  bodies  called  paraphyses  (Fig.  I)  and  a  few  modified 
leaves,  called  pericluetial  leaves,  which  decrease  in  size  towards 
the  centre  of  the  head. 

A  median  longitudinal  section  of  the  female  plant  at  the  apex 
will  reveal  a  few  flask-like  bodies,  the  archegonia,  and  mixed  with 
them  some  shorter  filiform  paraphyses  (Fig.  G),  the  whole  being 
surrounded  by  a  number  of  modified  leaves  forming  the  peri- 
gynium,  and  equivalent  to  the  perichsetial  leaves  in  the  male 
plant.  After  fertilisation  the  oospore  contained  in  the  arche¬ 


gonium  develops  into  a  sporophyte,  which  increases  in  length 
upwards  and  downwards.  The  part  growing  downwards 
penetrates  the  apex  of  the  moss  stem  and  forms  the 
seta  or  stalk  of  the  fruit,  whilst  the  capsule  containing 
the  spores  is  developed  in  the  part  growing  upwards. 
In  the  growth  of  the  sporophyte,  owing  to  the  rapid 
elongation  of  the  seta  or  stalk,  the  body  of  the  archegonium,  which 
meanwhile  has  increased  considerably  in  size,  is  ruptured  near  the 
base,  and  the  upper  portion  is  carried  upwards  by  the  growing 
sporophyte,  forming  the  calyptra  or  hood  (Fig.  E),  which,  as  a 
rule,  is  deciduous  ;  the  lower  portion  surrounds  the  base  of  the 
stalk  and  forms  the  vaginule  or  sheath  (Fig.  E).  The  capsule  is 
developed  at  the  top  of  the  sporophyte  within  the  calyptra,  and 
is  covered  by  a  lid,  called  the  operculum,  which,  in  M.  hornum 
and  many  other  mosses  is  thrown  off  finally  by  the  action  of  an 
elastic  ring  of  cells  on  which  it  rests,  and  which  forms  the  annulus. 
The  removal  of  the  operculum  reveals  "the  mouth  of  the  capsule 
fringed  with  a  double  row  of  teeth,  forming  the  peristome.  These 
teeth  being  hygroscopic,  open  when  dry,  but  close  up  when  moist, 
thus  regulating  the  escape  of  the  spores  from  the  capsule.  Some 
mosses  have  but  one  row  of  teeth,  whilst  others  have  none.  The 
number  of  teeth  varies  with  different  species,  and  in  most 
instances  they  form  a  beautiful  object  for  the  microscope. 

Note. — As  the  season  is  getting  advanced  and  attention  may  now 
be  more  profitably  devoted  to  flowering  plants,  it  is  not  proposed 
to  publish  further  notes  on  Cryptogams  at  present.  At  the  same 
time  students  who  experience  any  difficulties  in  dealing  with 
that  group  of  plants  are  invited  to  communicate  with  the  Editor, 
who  will  be  glad  to  assist  them. 


NOTES  ON  THE  PHARMACOPEIA. 

Decocta. — To  refer  to  this  class  of  preparations  generally, 
a  decoction,  as  the  name  implies,  is  a  preparation  made  by 
a  process  of  boiling,  the  menstruum  being  water  in  all  the 
official  decoctions.  Comparing  the  decoctions  with  the  official  in¬ 
fusions — in  which  the  drug  is  merely  steeped  or  macerated  inwater —  it 
will  be  noticed  that  the  former  are  made  from  drugs  of  a  dense  or 
woody  texture  which  do  not  easily  yield  their  activity  to  warm  water, 
but  require  boiling  for  adequate  extraction  (e.g.,  oak-bark),  while 
their  properties  are  not  damaged  by  the  process.  The  infusions,  on 
the  other  hand,  are  prepared  from  drugs  of  a  thinner  or  looser  tex¬ 
ture,  which  are  readily  permeated  by  the  water,  and  many  of  them 
contain  volatile  aromatic  principles  (e.g.,  orange,  buchu),  which 
would  be  dissipated  during  ebullition.  In  making  decoctions, 
when  the  water  commences  to  boil  apply  the  heat  so  as  to  keep  the 
water  just  simmering.  Violent  ebullition  should  be  avoided ;  it 
does  not  enable  the  water  to  extract  anything  more,  since  the 
temperature  of  boiling  water  is  not  influenced  by  the  rate  of  ebulli¬ 
tion,  and  an  undesirable  quantity  of  water  is  evaporated  during 
the  process.  Note  that  the  finished  product  is  to  be  brought  to  a 
definite  volume  by  pouring  water  over  the  strainer,  in  order  to 
secure  uniformity,  since  more  or  less  water  will  be  lost  by  evapora¬ 
tion,  according  to  the  conditions  under  which  the  decoction  may 
have  been  made. 

Emplastra. — These  preparations  require  little  notice.  The 
proportions  of  mercury,  belladonna,  opium,  and  cantharides  in  the 
plasters  made  from  these  drugs  should  be  remembered.  Lead 
plaster  enters  into  the  composition  of  most  of  them,  and  soap  and 
resin  plasters  are  variations  of  the  same  constituents,  the  latter 
being  the  more  adhesive  on  account  of  the  larger  proportion  of 
resin.  In  spreading  plasters  it  should  be  remembered  that 
their  properties  are  damaged  by  over-heating.  Care  should  there¬ 
fore  be  taken  to  have  the  plaster-iron  only  just  hot  enough  to  melt 
the  plaster.  If  a  plaster  of  more  than  a  few  square  inches  be 
required  it  is  best  to  melt  the  plaster  in  a  dish,  preferably  over  a 
water  bath  to  avoid  over-heating. 

Ergotinum. — Liquid  extract  of  ergot,  being  an  aqueous  extract, 
contains  mucilaginous  and  albuminous  substances  having  in  this 
case  no  medicinal  value.  Since  ergotin  is  used  chiefly  for  subcuta¬ 
neous  injection  it  is  desirable  to  remove  these  in  order  to  get  a 
preparation  sufficiently  concentrated  for  this  purpose.  The  liquid 
extract  is  therefore  evaporated  to  remove  the  bulk  of  the  water  and 
then  mixed  with  a  comparatively  large  quantity  of  rectified  spirit. 
This  precipitates  gum  and  albumin,  and  the  evaporated  filtrate 
yields  a  smaller  product  than  would  be  obtained  by  simple  evapora¬ 
tion  of  the  liquid  extract. 


May  15,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


419 


Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


Editorial  Office :  17,  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.C. 
Publishing  and  Advertising  Office :  5,  SERLE  STREET,  W.C. 


LONDON:  SATURDAY,  MAY  15,  1897. 


THE  DUAL  FUNCTION  OF  THE  PHARMACEUTICAL 

SOCIETY. 

Several  letters  have  been  received  from  members  of 
the  Society,  suggesting  that  the  statements  which  have 
been  put  forward  in  opposition  to  the  proposed  in¬ 
crease  of  the  fee  for  qualification  under  the  Pharmacy 
Act  should  be  replied  to  in  the  Journal  in  order  to 
prevent  the  possibility  of  some  persons  being  misled  into 
believing  them  to  be  correct.  It  has  hitherto  been  thought 
that  the  statements  referred  to  were  so  obviously  mistaken  as 
to  require  no  serious  refutation  beyond  that  published  in  the 
Journal  for  March  20,  which  shows  the  fallacy  of  the  funda¬ 
mental  allegation  as  to  a  loss  in  the  production  of  the  Pharma- 
■ceutical  Journal  being  the  reason  for  requiring  an  addition  to 
the  revenue,  and  for  the  proposed  raising  of  the  examination 
fee.  But  as  something  more  is  desired,  advantage  may  be 
taken  of  the  financial  statement  published  last  week,  which 
will  serve  the  purpose  desired  by  our  correspondents.  Before 
•entering  upon  the  discussion  of  that  document,  it  will  be 
useful  to  point  out  the  changes  that  have  taken  place  in  the 
position  of  the  Society,  and  the  dual  function  it  has  now  to 
perform  towards  the  public  and  the  entire  body  of  chemists 
and  druggists,  on  the  one  hand,  and  towards  its  subscribers 
on  the  other. 

Though  the  work  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  has 
always  been  very  largely  of  a  public  character  it  has,  since 
the  passing  of  the  Pharmacy  Act  1868,  been  almost  entirely 
of  that  description,  and  the  official  recognition  it  then 
received  was  accompanied  by  a  specific  provision  in  the 
Seventh  Section  of  the  Act,  that  such  fees  as  should  from 
time  to  time  be  fixed  and  determined  by  any  Bye-law 
as  payable  upon  every  examination  and  registration,  were  to 
be  applicable  not  only  in  defraying  expenses  connected  with 
the  administration  of  the  Act  but,  “  for  the  purposes  of  the 
said  Society.”  That  provision  may  therefore  be  regarded 
as  intended  to  place  the  Society  in  a  position  to 
•continue  its  public  work  independently  of  the,  income 
derived  from  the  voluntary  subscriptions  of  its  members 
and  associates,  which  had  previously  been  the  only 
means  of  promoting  the  objects  set  forth  in 
the  Charter,  and  of  carrying  out  other  work  of  a  more 
private  character,  such  as  the  holding  of  meetings  for  scien¬ 
tific  discussion,  the  provision  of  a  library,  and  the  issue  of  a 
journal.  All  the  educational  work  of  the  Society  being  accessory 
to  the  administration  of  the  Act,  would  be  properly  chargeable 
against  the  revenue  derived  from  that  source.  But  the  dual 
function  thus  established  did  not  extinguish  the  spirit  of 
voluntary  action  which  led  to  the  formation  of  the  Society, 
and  up  to  the  present  time  the  private  income  derived  from 
subscriptions  has  been  largely  applied  to  subsidise  the 
continually  increasing  public  work.  This  fact  is  clearly 
evident  from  the  financial  statement  for  the  year  1896, 
.published  in  last  week’s  Journal. 

It  will  there  be  seen  that  the  current  expenses  of  all  kinds 


amounted  to  £15,675  Is.  11c?.,  and  classifying  the  several 
items  under  the  two  heads  of  Society  expenses  and  administra¬ 
tive  expenses,  the  following  results  are  obtained  : — 

Journal,  balance  of  a/c  . £2228  1  9 

,,  postage .  875  4  6 

Society  meetings .  48  13  11 

Library .  370  1  5 

Carriage  of  books  .  19  4  6 

Calendar,  balance  of  a/c .  78  17  10 

Society  expenses  .  3620  3  11 

These  expenses  were  covered  by  the  private  income,  con¬ 
sisting  of— 

Subscriptions  . £4679  17  0 

Interest  and  rent  .  337  7  4 

5017  4  4 

leaving  a  surplus  of  £1391  0s.  5 cl.,  or  rather  more  than  the 
amount  of  cash  in  hand  at  the  end  of  the  year.  Hence  it  is 
evident  that  the  predicted  impending  bankruptcy  of  the 
Society  is  purely  a  flight  of  imagination. 

The  item  of  £2228  Is:  9 cl.,  showing  the  actual  cost  of  the 
Journal  to  the  subscribers,  is  the  balance  of  expenditure  over 
receipts,  and  when  divided  among  the  subscribers  (5700)  it 
amounts  to  rather  less  than  eight  shillings  a  year  for  each 
one,  without  allowance  for  the  large  number  of  Journals 
supplied  free  to  honorary  members  and  others.  Even  when 
the  postage  (2s.  2d.)  is  added,  the  total  cost  of  production 
and  distribution  does  not  come  to  more  than  ten  shillings  a 
year.  These  data  are  vouched  for  by  the  Society’s  auditors, 
and  they  fully  support  the  statements  made  by  Dr.  Symes 
at  Liverpool  (see  ante,  p.  383)  in  regard  to  the  present  cost 
of  the  Journal,  just  as  similar  data  relating  to  former  years 
support  the  statement  of  Mr.  Park  (see  ante,  p.  362)  as  to 
the  average  cost  of  the  Journal  in  the  past.  The  greater 
cost  at  the  present  time  is  the  result  of  increased  size 
and  much  larger  circulation,  but  it  is  in  no  sense  to  be 
regarded  as  loss,  as  some  of  the  Society’s  critics  desire  to 
represent.  Their  apparent  dread  of  competition  is  another 
delusion,  for  the  Society’s  Journal  does  not  compete  with 
other  publications  ;  it  has  a  higher  position  than  a  mere  trade 
journal,  and  competition  is  altogether  on  the  part  of  those 
from  whom  it  has  received  the  most  sincere  form  of  flattery. 
If  the  Journal  be  one  of  the  “  luxuries  ”  in  which  sub¬ 
scribers  to  the  Society  indulge,  it  is  a  luxury  that  has  been 
provided  by  their  special  desire,  and  they  have  the  satisfac¬ 
tion  of  knowing  that  it  is  paid  for  by  themselves. 

Passing  from  the  finances  of  the  Society  as  a  private 
body  to  those  connected  with  its  public  work,  a  different 
state  of  affairs  will  be  seen.  The  administrative  expenditure 
last  year  is  shown  below  : — 

Establishment  charges :  London  and 


Edinburgh  .  £5385  6  2 

Education .  1501  3  3 

Examinations .  3492  9  4 

Register,  balance  of  a[c .  9  2  7 

Death  certificates  .  21  10  6 

Law  costs,  balance  of  ale .  685  3  1 

Museum  .  536  3  1 

Annuities .  425  0  0 


Administrative  expenses .  12,055  18  0 


This  amount  exceeds  the  revenue  from  examinations  by 
more  than  two  thousand  pounds,  and  this  deficiency  of 
revenue  would  be  only  partially  reduced  by  crediting  the 
amount  received  as  fees  from  students  in  the  School,  because 
that  is  chargeable  with  payments  yet  to  be  made.  It  is  in 


420 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  15,  1897 


public  department  of  the  Society’s  work  that  financial  diffi¬ 
culty  has  been  experienced,  and  since  it  has  become  evident 
that  the  public  revenue  is  insufficient  for  defraying  the 
increasing  expenses  incidental  to  administration  of  the 
Pharmacy  Acts,  there  is  undeniable  necessity  for  the  pro¬ 
posed  increase  of  the  qualification  fee. 

In  the  year  1896  the  deficiency  was  between  £2396  14s. 
and  £1029  12s.,  and  it  was  met  partly  by  drawing  upon  the 
Society’s  private  funds  and  partly  by  borrowing,  for  though 
£1513  18s.  9 d.,  borrowed  for  a  similar  purpose  in  the  previous 
year,  was  paid  off  between  January  and  April,  a  further  sum 
of  £1500  was  needed  in  November  to  meet  the  current 
expenses  of  the  work  carried  on.  Those  expenses  bear 
comparison  with  those  of  other  institutions  of  a  similar 
character  without  offering  any  foundation  for  the  charge 
of  extravagance  which  has  been  made. 

The  case  of  last  year  is  by  no  means  exceptional,  for  since 
the  passing  of  the  Act  in  1868,  there  has  been  only  one 
year  (1869)  in  which  the  administrative  revenue  was  nearly 
equal  to  the  expenses  incurred.  From  that  time  to  the 
present  there  has  always  been  a  considerable  deficiency  in 
the  amount  of  public  revenue,  and  the  administrative  work 
has  been  subsidised  by  the  Society  to  the  extent  of  some 
two  or  three  thousand  pounds  a  year. 

From  this  brief  statement  of  facts,  which  are  borne  out  by 
the  financial  statements  published  annually,  it  will  be  evident 
that  the  outcry  raised  during  the  last  two  months  in  some 
quarters  has  been,  to  say  the  least,  as  unreasonable  as  it  was 
uncalled  for.  To  inquire  into  the  motive  for  it  would  prob¬ 
ably  be  more  troublesome  than  profitable,  and  since  we  have 
reason  to  believe  that  most  readers  of  the  Journal  justly 
appreciate  the  erroneous  nature  of  the  representations  put 
forward  to  the  detriment  of  the  Society,  it  will  suffice  to 
have  called  attention  to  the  particulars  before-mentioned  and 
thus  to  have  given  any  who  have  been  misled  an  opportunity 
of  judging  for  themselves. 


METHYLENE  BLUE  IN  MEDICINE. 

Pharmacists  are  well  aware  how  quickly  many  members 
of  the  medical  profession  respond  to  a  press  notice  of  a  new 
remedy,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  recommendations  of  the 
internal  use  of  methylene  blue,  which  we  have  quoted  last 
week  and  this  (see  p.  405  and  426)  from  the  British  Medical 
Journal ,  will  revive  a  demand  for  that  substance.  But  there 
are  various  degrees  of  purity  in  methylene  blue,  the  original 
and  only  extensive  employment  of  which  has  been  in  the 
operations  of  dyeing.  A  demand  for  it  for  medicinal  purposes 
having  arisen,  the  pharmacist  has  to  recognise  that  his 
skilled  knowledge  is  called  for,  those  cases  requiring  that  he 
shall  not  be  a  mere  distributor  of  an  article  bearing  the 
required  name,  but  that  he  shall  only  supply  for  remedial 
uses  that  reaching  an  adequate  standard  of  purity.  It  is  not 
an  object  of  these  columns  to  announce  special  manufac¬ 
turers  of  medicines,  but  it  would  be  well  that  anyone  called 
on  to  supply  the  remedy  should  see  that  it  answers  to  the 
description  given  by  Merck,  of  Darmstadt,  viz.,  “Methylene 
Blue,  medicinally  and  chemically  pure,  free  from  chloride  of 
zinc.”  As  so  sent  out  it  is  in  small  granular,  dull  greenish 
crystals,  about  the  size  of  mustard  seeds.  The  ‘  Extra 
Pharmacopoeia’  describes  methylene  blue  as  in  “  bronze-green 
crystals.”  The  showy  massive  lumps  employed  by  the  dyer 
answer  to  this  description,  but.there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  their  form  is  no  guarantee  of  chemical  purity. 


ANNOTATIONS. 

The  Arsenical  Soap  Case  in  which  Mr.  J.  W.  Taplin,  President 
of  the  Western  Chemists’  Association  of  London,  appeared  as 
defendant  some  time  ago,  has  been  carried  to  the  Queen’s  Bench 
Division  of  the  High  Court  of  Justice  by  the  local  authorities,  who 
appeared  as  prosecutors,  but  the  appeal  has  been  dismissed.  It 
will  be  remembered  that  the  case  was  heard  originally  at  Kingston 
Petty  Sessions  (see  ante,  p.  77),  and  evidence  was  there  given  to 
prove  that  the  article  which  formed  the  ground  of  action — Dr. 
Mackenzie’s  Arsenical  Soap — contained  no  arsenic,  or  so  little 
that  it  could  not  be  detected.  The  magistrates  decided,  however, 
that  since  arsenic  was  absent,  the  soap  could  not  be  a  drug  within 
the  meaning  of  the  Sale  of  F ood  and  Drugs  Act,  and  the  case  was 
dismissed  accordingly.  The  appeal  by  the  prosecution  was  heard 
on  Friday,  May  7,  and  dismissed,  as  already  stated.  Mr.  Justice 
.Wright  held  that  the  soap  was  a  compounded  drug  within  the 
meaning  of  Sub-section  3  of  Section  6,  the  very  Section  of  the  Act 
under  which  the  information  was  laid.  This  Sub-section  provides 
that  an  offence  shall  not  be  deemed  to  be  committed  “  where  the 
food  or  drug  is  compounded  as  in  this  Act  mentioned,”  and  the 
latter  words  presumably  refer  to  Section  4,  which  specifies  that  no 
person  shall,  “  except  for  the  purpose  of  compounding,”  mix, 
colour,  stain,  or  powder  any  drug  with  any  ingredient  or  material 
“  so  as  to  affect  injuriously  the  quality  or  potency  of  such  drug 
with  intent  that  the  same  may  be  sold  in  that  state.”  Mr.  Justice 
Hawkins,  whilst  not  dissenting  in  any  way  from  what  Mr.  Justice 
Wright  had  said,  agreed  more  directly  with  the  magistrates.  He 
thought  the  whole  question  seemed  to  be  whether  soap  is  a  drug, 
and  he  was  satisfied  that  the  magistrates  were  right  in  finding  that, 
the  particular  article  in  question  was  not  a  drug. 

“When  is  a  Drug  not  a  Drug?”  is  the  question  Mr.  Justice 
Wright  seems  to  have  set  himself  to  answer,  and  it  is  curious  to 
note  that  his  solution  of  the  problem  appears  somewhat  at 
variance  with  the  decision  in  the  Armson  case,  though  that,  of 
course,  was  under  a  different  Statute.  But  the  fact  remains  that, 
whilst  the  Court  of  Appeal  has  decided  that  a  scheduled  poison 
when  compounded  remains  a  poison  within  the  meaning  of  the 
Pharmacy  Act,  Mr.  Justice  Wright  holds  that  the  Sale  of  Food 
and  Drugs  Act  excludes  the  sale  of  compounded  drugs  from  its  scope. 
In  other  words,  a  drug  ceases  to  be  a  drug  when  it  is  compounded, 
and  arsenical  soap  being  a  compounded  drug  is  beyond  the 
scope  of  the  Act.  It  must  be  confessed,  however,  that  the 
worthy  judge’s  chain  of  reasoning  appears  to  be  no  clearer 
than  the  meaning  of  the  word  “compounded”  in  the  Sale 
of  Food  and  Drugs  Act,  which  is  very  vague  indeed,  and  it 
would  probably  be  unsafe  to  rely  upon  his  dictum  in  this  matter. 
Mr.  Justice  Hawkins’  judgment  is  also  unsatisfactory,  for  though 
he  evidently  tends  to  the  opinion  that  soap  is  not  a  drug  per  se, 
he  contented  himself  with  upholding  the  finding  of  the  magistrates 
that  “  arsenical  soap  ”  devoid  of  arsenic  is  not  a  drug.  The  result 
of  the  case,  therefore,  is  not  likely  to  prove  of  any  value  as 
authoritatively  settling  any  of  the  more  important  points  now  in 
dispute  between  chemists  and  analysts.  This  is  much  to  be 
regretted,  and  we  can  only  hope  that  some  more  suitable  case  may 
shortly  come  before  a  divisional  court. 

Another  Arsenical  Soap  Case  before  the  courts  last  week  is  of 
interest  as  throwing  some  light  on  the  position  in  which  manu¬ 
facturers  and  retailers  stand  to  one  another.  The  commercial 
aspect  of  the  case  (see  p.  415)  shows  that  if  to  sell  their  goods 
manufacturers  make  false  representation  by  description,  retailers 
have  some  remedy  under  the  Sale  of  Goods  Act  (56  &  57  Vic., 


May  15,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


421 


1893),  Sections  13  and  15,  and  can  sue  for  expenses  incurred 
through  such  misrepresentation,  as  well  as  for  what  President 
Kruger  and  His  Honour  Judge  Lushington  describe  as  moral  and 
intellectual  damage.  The  evidence  of  the  managing  director  of 
the  defendant  company  affords  proof,  if  such  were  necessary,  how 
unsafe  it  is  for  retailers  to  deal  in  articles  containing  potent  drugs 
without  satisfying  themselves  of  the  actual  strength  of  the  same. 
He  stated  in  examination  that  he  was  not  a  chemist  or  a  physician, 
and  that  no  chemist  was  employed  on  the  premises,  and  also  ex¬ 
pressed  the  “belief”  that  a  person  might  plaster  his  skin  with 
arsenic  without  harm.  Following  up  this  point,  apparently, 
counsel  for  defendants  made  the  bold  statement  that  all  soaps  con¬ 
tain  arsenic,  but  probably  some  of  the  manufacturers  of  refined 
soaps,  who  so  strenuously  assert  the  purity  of  their  goods,  will 
differ  from  him  on  that  point.  Mr.  Higgs  is  to  be  congratulated 
on  the  result  of  this  case. 

A  Glycerin  and  Lime  Juice  Case,  to  which  attention  has  been 
previously  directed  in  our  pages,  came  up  at  Brentford  Police 
Court  for  the  third  time  on  Saturday  last.  There  had  been  a 
conflict  of  expert  evidence,  the  Middlesex  county  analyst  having 
certified  that  there  was  no  glycerin  present  in  the  compound, 
whilst  the  Somerset  House  chemists  claimed  to  have  detected 
glycerin  to  the  extent  of  half  a  drachm  in  eight  ounces,  the  propor¬ 
tion  said  to  have  been  added  by  defendant.  The  magistrates 
therefore  adjourried  the  case  in  order  that  the  Somerset  House 
chemists  might  attend  and  give  evidence  in  support  of  their  certi¬ 
ficate.  This,  as  will  be  seen  by  our  report  on  page  416,  they  have 
done  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Bench,  and,  confirmatory  evidence 
having  been  given  by  Mr.  Michael  Conroy,  the  case  was  dismissed. 
But  why  defendant’s  costs  were  not  allowed  is  not  clear,  as  the 
prosecution  was  a  most  frivolous  one,  and  no  chemist  and  druggist 
should  be  mulcted  because  of  the  inability  of  a  public  analyst  to 
discriminate  between  hair  dressings  and  drugs  properly  so-called. 
As  matters  stand,  Mr.  Webber  has  been  most  unjustly  treated. 
After  considerable  expenditure  of  time  and  money,  and  in  the  face 
cf  great  difficulties,  he  has  proved  that  the  prosecution  was  not 
justified,  and  yet  he  is  punished  by  having  his  costs  disallowed. 
Without  mincing  matters,  it  may  be  stated  that  the  public  analyst 
had  undoubtedly  made  a  mistake,  as  the  absurdity  of  attempting 
to  shelter  behind  the  supposed  tendency  of  glycerin  to  settle  to 
the  bottom  in  mixtures  containing  water  tends  to  prove.  More¬ 
over,  if  he  recommended  that  proceedings  should  be  taken  in  this 
case,  besides  going  beyond  his  strict  duties,  he  allowed  what  appears 
to  be  a  desire  to  harass  chemists  and  druggists  to  induce  him  to 
commit  a  serious  error  of  judgment.  He  should  feel  greatly 
indebted  to  the  magistrates,  who,  out  of  evident  but  unjustified 
sympathy  with  him,  did  their  best  to  “  let  him  down  gently.” 

The  Government  Laboratory  has  also  maintained  its  position 
in  the  Dalston  milk  case,  referred  to  a  fortnight  ago  (p.  378).  The 
public  analyst  for  Hackney  had  certified  that  6  per  cent,  of  water 
had  been  added,  and  this  certificate  was  practically  endorsed  by 
Mr.  Otto  Hehner,  Dr.  Bernard  Dyer,  and  Mr.  Bevan.  But  the 
report  of  an  independent  analysis  of  a  sample  of  the  same  milk  at 
the  Somerset  House  Laboratory  stated  that  the  milk  did  not  show 
any  conclusive  evidence  of  added  water.  Mr.  Bannister  was  called 
to  support  this  certificate,  and  the  net  result  of  a  lengthy  examina¬ 
tion  and  cross-examination  as  to  specific  gravities,  proportions  of 
solids,  fats,  ash,  etc.,  was  to  show  that  the  methods  of  milk 
analysis  employed  by  the  Society  of  Public  Analysts  and  at  Somerset 
House  are  different.  In  the  end,  therefore,  Mr.  D’Eyncourt  said  he 
believed  that  all  the  witnesses  had  spoken  fairly  t  but  where  there 
was  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  methods  of  analysis  he  would  not 


pretend  to  decide.  The  summons  was  accordingly  dismissed,  with 
seven  guineas  costs.  This,  of  course,  is  how  such  cases  should 
result,  as  defendants  ought  invariably  to  have  the  benefit  of  any 
doubt,  even  to  the  extent  of  having  their  costs  allowed. 

Compounders  op  Spirits  require  to  take  out  a  special  licence, 
and  omission  to  comply  with  this  regulation  has  caused  some  little 
trouble  to  a  St.  John’s  Wood  wine  and  spirit  dealer,  who  has  done 
a  considerable  business  in  the  manufacture  of  cordials,  such  as 
ginger  brandy,  peach  bitters,  lovage,  and  sloe  gin.  Fortunately, 
he  was  able  to  prove  not  only  that  he  had  acted  in  ignorance,  but 
also  with  the  full  cognisance  of  several  Inland  Revenue  officers, 
and  that  during  a  period  of  twenty-five  years.  The  irony  of  the 
situation  was  rendered  complete  when  the  summoning  officer  was 
called  as  a  witness  for  the  defence,  and  acknowledged  that  he  had 
told  defendant  he  was  acting  quite  legally.  He  also  expressed  the 
opinion  that  defendant  would  not  wilfully  defraud  the  Revenue, 
and  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  therefore  that  Mr.  Curtis  Bennett, 
who  heard  the  case,  dismissed  the  summons  and  gave  the  defendant 
costs  ;  for,  as  he  rightly  observed,  since  the  Revenue  officers  knew 
well  that  the  cordials  had  been  manufactured  for  years,  the  defen¬ 
dant  should  have  been  warned  before  proceedings  were  taken.  The 
magistrate  also  refused  to  state  a  case,  when  Mr.  Alpe  made  appli¬ 
cation  to  that  effect,  as  he  said  he  had  dismissed  it  on  the  facts. 
The  moral  appears  to  be  that  whilst  too  much  care  cannot  be  taken 
to  avoid  getting  into  difficulties  with  the  Inland  Revenue  authori¬ 
ties,  it  is  quite  possible  to  dwell  for  a  time — longer  or  shorter,  as 
circumstances  may  decide — in  a  fool’s  paradise,  on  the  strength  of 
encouragement  given  by  one  or  more  Government  agents  in  all 
good  faith. 

The  Idea  op  Wine  Growing  in  England  is  usually  associated 
with  the  homely  products  of  rhubarb,  currant,  cowslip,  etc. ,  but 
during  the  past  twenty-one  years  Lord  Bute  has  been  experimenting 
at  Cardiff  with  vines,  and  it  is  now  stated  in  Public  Opinion  and  other 
papers  that  he  has  succeeded  in  making  the  industry  pay.  Starting 
with  three  acres  of  vines,  of  a  description  known  to  thrive  well  in  the 
colder  parts  of  France,  and  planted  on  a  sunny  slope  in  light  and 
porous  loam,  the  results  were  so  promising  that  at  the  end  of  ten 
years  eleven  acres  more  were  laid  out.  In  1893  the  vines  on  these 
fourteen  acres  yielded  forty  hogsheads  of  wine,  which  is  about 
seventy  per  cent,  of  what  a  full  crop  from  the  same  acreage  would 
yield  in  Germany,  and  this  wine  fetched  in  the  market  three  thou¬ 
sand  pounds,  whilst  some  of  it,  on  re-sale,  was  disposed  of  for  a 
hundred  and  fifteen  shillings  per  dozen.  Both  bad  seasons  and 
good  seasons  have  been  encountered  during  the  twenty-one  years, 
some  being  altogether  barren,  but  on  the  whole  the  enterprise  has 
succeeded  in  a  way  which  is  described  as  astonishing,  considering 
the  fickleness  of  our  climate. 

The  Poisoning  of  Elephants  is  not  an  art  in  which  chemists 
and  druggists  may  expect  to  excel,  the  subjects  being  too  rare  in 
this  country.  But,  if  only  the  facts  could  be  correctly  ascertained, 
the  case  reported  in  Tuesday’s  newspapers  might  serve  as  a  useful 
object  lesson.  An  elephant  had  escaped  from  the  noted  premises 
of  Mr.  Cross,  at  Liverpool,  and  was  not  finally  captured  until  it 
had  got  some  miles  away  and  done  a  considerable  amount  of 
damage.  Having  broken  away  more  than  once,  and  being  in  a 
very  uncertain  frame  of  mind,  it  was  thought  inadvisable  to  take 
the  animal  back  to  Liverpool,  and,  as  the  simplest  way  of  killing 
it,  the  use  of  poison  was  resorted  to.  Aconite  was  first 
experimented  with,  but  that  only  acted  as  a  tonic,  producing  no 
ill  effects.  Recourse  was  then  had  to  prussic  acid.  A  large  brass 
syringe  was  filled  with  the  poison,  and  discharged  into  the 


422 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  15,  189T 


elephant’s  mouth,  but  the  animal  took  prompt  steps  to  avert  evil 
by  taking  a  large  draught  of  water,  with  which  it  washed  out  its 
mouth  and  then  discharged  the  fluid  on  to  the  ground.  After  an 
interval  the  syringe  was  again  charged,  and  this  time  covered 
with  a  cloth  by  way  of  disguise.  The  second  dose  having  been 
satisfactorily  absorbed  another  was  similarly  administered,  but  it 
was  not  until  the  lapse  of  three  hours  that  a  fatal  result  occurred. 
What  should  perhaps,  from  a  chemist’s  point  of  view,  be  regarded  as 
the  most  humorous  incident  connected  with  the  tragic  event  was 
the  mischance  of  the  gentleman  who  suddenly  sent  “a  thrill  of 
horror”  through  the  assembled  crowd  by  crying  “Father,  I  am 
done.”  According  to  a  local  report,  whilst  smoking  a  cigarette 
with  his  mouth  partly  open  (sic),  this  individual  had  inhaled  some  of 
the  prussic  acid,  and  he  only  recovered  from  its  effects  after  being 
pumped  upon. 

Four  Ounces  of  Morphine  is  the  quantity  recently  stated  to  have 
been  sold  to  a  lady  in  one  week,  but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  state¬ 
ment  cannot  be  confirmed.  The  alleged  morphinomaniac — a  person 
of  considerable  means — was  charged  at  Enfield  Petty  Sessions 
with  shop-lifting,  and  the  solicitor  for  the  defence  urged  that  she 
was  not  accountable  for  her  actions,  because  of  the  extent  to  which 
she  had  taken  drugs.  He  said  also  that  a  chemist  would  prove 
having  sold  her  four  ounces  of  morphine  in  a  week.  If  this  be 
so,  we  trust  the  chemist  may  be  able,  in  the  interests  of  his  class, 
to  show  that  he  was  morally  justified  in  acting  as  he  did.  The 
accused  was  committed  for  trial,  and  more  will  probably  be  heard 
of  the  case  anon. 

The  Chemists’  Club  (London)  held  its  annual  dinner  at  the 
Holborn  Restaurant  on  Thursday,  May  6,  when  the  chair  was  taken 
by  Mr.  Horace  Davenport,  Chairman  of  Camwal.  He  was  sup¬ 
ported  by  Mr.  Walter  Hills,  President  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society,  Mr.  William  Martindale,  Mr.  R.  A.  Robinson,  L.C.C., 
Mr.  Richard  Bremridge,  Dr.  Paul,  and  some  fifty  or  sixty  other 
representatives  of  pharmacy  and  the  allied  trades.  The  dinner 
was  excellent,  the  toast  list  brief,  and  the  musical  programme 
attractive.  After  the  usual  loyal  toast,  Mr.  R.  A.  Robinson 
proposed  that  of  “  The  Pharmaceutical  Society,”  which  was 
responded  to  by  Mr.  Hills.  Then  followed  the  toasts  of  “The 
Chemists’  Club ’’and  “The  Chairman,”  proposed  respectively  by 
Mr.  W.  S.  Glyn-Jones  and  Mr.  C.  W.  Martin,  and  appropriately 
responded  to  by  Messrs.  Garman  and  Davenport.  Thanks  were 
subsequently  accorded  to  Messrs.  Garman,  Dewey,  and  Goodall 
for  the  satisfactory  manner  in  which  they  had  carried  out  all  the 
arrangements  in  connection  with  the  dinner. 

An  International  Inventions  Exhibition  is  to  be  held  in 
London  during  August  and  September  of  this  year,  at  the  Marl¬ 
borough  Hall,  Polytechnic  Institute,  Regent  Street,  W.  It  is 
intended  to  exhibit  inventions  and  improvements  relating  to 
science,  industry,  arts  and  crafts,  hygiene,  and  alimentation,  and 
with  this  will  be  combined  an  international  prize  competition  and 
a  special  exhibition  of  dentistry  and  dental  surgery.  All  applica¬ 
tions  for  information  should  be  addressed  to  the  Offices  of  the 
Exhibition,  18,  Hart  Street,  London,  W.C. 

Theodore  Bent,  the  well-known  author  of  the  *  Ruined  Cities 
of  Mashonaland’  died  at  his  residence  in  Great  Cumberland 
Place,  London,  on  Wednesday,  May  5.  He  had  just  returned 
from  a  voyage  to  Socotra  and  an  exploration  of  South  Eastern 
Arabia.  Although  chiefly  an  archaeologist,  Mr.  Bent  rendered  some 
service  to  botanical  science  in  exploring  the  flora  of  Southern 
Arabia  during  his  two  previous  journeys  to  that  country ;  the 
results  of  which  he  contributed  to  Kew.  On  the  present  occasion  he 


had  promised  to  endeavour  to  obtain  for  the  Museum  of  the  Phar¬ 
maceutical  Society  specimens  of  the  plant  yielding  Yemen  myrrh. 
Unfortunately,  both  he  and  Mrs.  Bent  contracted  malarial  fever,  and 
in  his  case  acute  pneumonia  supervened  during  the  return  voyage 
to  England,  and  proved  fatal  on  his  arrival  home. 

Nitrous  Oxide  and  Destructiveness  may  stand  in  the  rela¬ 
tion  of  cause  and  effect,  but  the  ingenious  defence  of  an  individual 
who  was  lately  charged  at  Bow  Street  with  breaking  a  window 
was  not  likely  to  gain  credence.  According  to  this  worthy,  the 
gas  employed  for  dental  purposes  at  St.  Bartholomew’s  Hospital 
was  solely  answerable  for  his  breaking  both  the  law  and  a  window,, 
but  either  his  susceptibility  is  unique  or  the  gas  under  the  influence 
of  which  his  teeth  were  extracted  must  have  been  of  peculiar 
potency,  though  probably  the  magistrate’s  view  of  the  case,  as, 
indicated  by  his  ordering  the  delinquent  a  month’s  imprison¬ 
ment,  is  the  correct  one,  viz. ,  that  the  gas  was  used  as  a  cloak  for 
the  frailty  of  defendant’s  nature. 

In  Working  with  X-Ray  Tubes,  their  efficiency  is  apt  to 
become  impaired,  and  experimenters  will  therefore  welcome  the? 
plan  which  T.  W.  Ireland  and  E.  H.  Howlett  describe  in  the 
British  Medical  Journal  for  increasing  the  efficiency  of  a  tube 
by  simply  wrapping  its  cathodal  extremity  in  damp  cotton¬ 
wool  or  lint.  One  end  of  the  material  touches  and  surrounds- 
the  bulb  at  the  cathodal  end,  whilst  the  other  is  attached  to  the 
cathodal  wire.  One  bulb,  that  had  refused  to  light  up  under¬ 
normal  conditions,  became  flooded  with  a  beautiful  blue-green 
effulgence,  which  is  designated  the  most  effective  form  both 
photographically  and  optically,  after  attachment  of  the  cotton¬ 
wool  or  lint.  The  power  of  the  tube  appears  to  be  increased  and 
the  working  of  the  tube  rendered  constant  by  this  ingeniously  - 
simple  device,  whilst  the  tube  continues  to  act  efficiently  as  long  as- 
the  current  is  passing.  Moreover,  the  trouble  of  heating  the  bulb  is 
avoided,  and  the  life  of  the  tube  prolonged.  No  loose  fibres  of  cotton¬ 
wool  or  lint  must  be  allowed  to  hang  round  the  bulb,  and  if  the 
anodal  connection  be  also  carefully  adjusted  sparking  will  not  take 
place,  whilst  the  trouble  caused  by  constantly  increasing  electrical, 
resistance  will  be  obviated. 

A  Course  of  Botanical  Lectures  is  being  delivered  at  the 
Apothecaries’  Hall,  Blackfriars,  E.C.,  by  Professor  Oliver,  of 
University  College,  and  in  a  letter  dated  May  7,  addressed  to  the 
President  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  it  is  intimated  that  the 
Master  and  Wardens  of  the  Society  of  Apothecaries  will  be  pleased 
to  see  any  members  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  who  may  wish 
to  attend  the  lectures.  The  course  deals  with  the  diseases  of  plants,, 
and  the  subject  of  the  first  lecture,  delivered  on  Tuesday  afternoon 
last,  was  “  The  Plant  in  Health  and  Disease.”  The  remaining 
lectures  will  be  delivered  on  consecutive  Tuesday  afternoons  at 
3.30,  and  will  treat  of  “Witches’  Brooms,”  “Some  Diseases  of 
Cereals,”  and  “  The  Diseases  of  Timber.” 

Anozol  or  Deodorous  Iodoform  is  the  name  proposed  by  Dr. 
Policarpo  Diaz,  of  Salamanca  City,  Mexico,  for  a  mixture  of  iodo¬ 
form  and  thymol.  Writing  to  the  Spatula,  he  recommends  that 
the  thymol  be  powdered  and  mixed  with  crystallised  iodoform,  in 
the  proportion  of  ten  to  twenty  centigrammes  to  each  gramme. 
The  odour  of  the  resulting  mixture  is  said  to  be  that  of  the  thymol 
only,  the  iodoform  being  completely  masked.  The  name  suggested,, 
which  somewhat  too  closely  resembles  “  anusol,”  applied  to  the- 
bismuth  salt  of  iodo-resorcin-sulphuric  acid,  means  free  from 
objectionable  odour.  Whether  the  result  of  blending  the  thymol 
and  iodoform  odours  will  be  as  satisfactory  as  claimed  is  doubtful, 
but  readers  can  easily  satisfy  themselves  about  the  matter. 


MAY  15,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


423 


JflEETIfJGS  Op  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIETIES 

- 4 - 

Chemical  Society,  Thursday,  May  6. — Professor  Dewar, 
F.R.S.,  President,  in  the  chair. — Being  a  ballot  night  there  was  a 
very  good  attendance.  The  President,  after  the  usual  preliminary 
business,  announced  that  there  had  been  a  re-count  in  the  matter 
of  the  late  election,  and  that  the  Council  list  was  confirmed,  the 
votes  being  166  against  152  in  the  election  for  president.  The 
first  paper  read  was  entitled — 

A  Bunsen  Burner  for  Acetylene, 

by  A.  E.  Munby,  M.A.,  and  treats  of  the  application  of  acetylene 
gas  for  heating  purposes.  It  appears  that  the  apparatus  employed 
is  simply  an  ordinary  bunsen  burner  of  special  dimensions — five 
millimetres  internal  diameter.  It  yields  a  very  small  jet,  and 
consumes  something  like  one  cubic  foot  acetylene  per  hour  under 
a  pressure  of  six  inches  water.  The  heating  power  is  very  great, 
and  Mr.  Munby  demonstrated  the  burning  of  zinc  by  its  means. 
It  is  a  flame  which  cannot  be  turned  low  without  becoming 
luminous  ;  it  is  steady  and  moreover  does  not  strike  down.  Mr. 
Munby  is  strong  in  advocating  its  use  in  educational  laboratories, 
as  students  then  require  no  blow-pipe,  and,  since  it  gives  twice 
the  heat  of  coal  gas,  there  is  a  great  saving  of  time.  The  cost 
works  out  very  moderately,  being  only  halfpenny  per  student  per 
hour. — A  paper  was  next  read — 

On  the  Reactions  between  Lead  and  the  Oxides 
of  Sulphur, 

by  H.  C.  Jenkins  and  E.  A.  Smith.  It  was  rather  difficult 
to  follow  Mr.  Jenkins,  who  read  the  paper,  as  his  delivery 
was  somewhat  hesitating.  It  seems,  however,  that  their  work 
was  undertaken  on  account  of  a  statement  made  by  Mr.  Hannay, 
in  a  paper  by  him,  that  an  unstable  body  which  he  could  not 
isolate,  but  to  which  he  gave  the  formula,  PhS.,02,  was  formed 
when  oxygen  was  passed  over  PhS4  at  a  certain  temperature. 
His  equation  is  expressed  thus  : — 2PhS  +  02  =  Ph  +  PhS202.  Mr. 
Jenkins  and  his  colleague  have  endeavoured  in  many  ways 
to  clear  up  the  matter,  and  they  are  certainly  not  in 
favour  of  Hannay’s  theory,  but  they  go  the  length  of  saying  that 
Mr.  Hannay’s  observation  was  a  very  natural  mistake  to  make. 
Professor  Dewar,  in  fun,  said  that  Mr.  Hannay  had  at  least  made 
an  effort  to  invent  a  novel  compound  from  his  results.  Professor 
Roberts-Austen  and  Mr.  Groves  spoke  in  laudatory  terms  of  the 
work  done  by  the  authors.  The  last  paper  was  by  C.  T.  Heycock, 
F.R.S.,  on — 

X-Ray  Photos  of  the  Solid  Alloys. 

His  experiments  were  based  upon  the  fact  that  in  freezing  a  solution 
of  potassium  permanganate  pure  ice  crystallises  out,  and  the 
solution  becomes  concentrated,  and  he  hoped  to  get  a  parallel  in 
the  case  of  metallic  solutions.  He  has  worked  mostly  on  a  solution 
of  gold  in  sodium.  Gold  is  extremely  soluble  in  sodium,  23  per 
cent,  going  into  solution  with  facility.  Sections  of  the  alloy  were 
out  for  the  X-rays,  and  Mr.  Haycock  showed  a  number  of  photos 
of  the  results.  Sodium  being  very  transparent  to  the  rays  and  gold 
quite  opaque,  the  photos  which  were  thrown  on  the  screen  were 
extremely  pretty,  and  were  convincing  enough  that  Mr.  Haycock 
had  found  the  parallel  he  was  looking  for. — Professor  Dewar,  who 
finished  up  the  discussion  on  this  paper,  delivered  quite  a  little 
lecture  on 

Liquid  Air, 

bearing,  of  course,  on  the  subject  at  issue.  This  was  probably  the 
most  generally  appreciated  item  of  the  evening’s  programme. 

Royal  Institution,  Thursday,  May  6. — Professor  Dewar 
-delivered  the  second  of  the  series  of  lectures  on 

Liquid  Air  as  an  Agent  of  Research. 

He  continued  his  remarks  on  the  critical  constants  of  gases,  and 
brought  forward  some  interesting  speculations  founded  on  the 
extension  of  certain  laws,  known  by  experiment  to  hold  good  at 
accessible  temperatures,  to  bodies  which  one  can  never  hope  to 
be  able  to  examine  in  the  liquid  state.  Speaking  of  the  theory 
that  carbon  is  a  very  important  constituent  of  the  sun,  the 
lecturer  pointed  out  that  the  density  of  the  latter  is  l-4,  and 
supposing  it  to  consist  of  carbon  at  the  critical  temperature,  its 


density  when  cooled  to  liquefaction  would  become  4-2  according 
to  known  laws,  and  if  it  were  cooled  to  the  temperature  of  the  earth 
its  density  would  increase  by  something  like  one  quarter. 
Therefore  the  density  of  the  materials  of  the  earth  (which  was  5-5) 
did  not  appear  to  be  far  removed  from  the  density  of  the  sun  at 
the  same  temperature.  The  rest  of  the  lecture  consisted  of 
experiments  to  illustrate  the  capacity  of  high  vacua  to  retard  the 
passage  of  heat.  Before  concluding  the  lecture,  Professor  Dewar, 
for  the  first  time  in  public,  froze  to  the  solid  state  by  means  of 
liquid  air  a  specimen  of  argon  supplied  by  Lord  Rayleigh,  the 
temperature  being  more  than  200  degrees  below  zero. 


THE  WORkD  OF  PHARMACY. 

- 4 - - 

BUSINESS  MEETINGS. 


Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,  Thursday,  May  6. — 
Mr.  Charles  Morley,  President,  in  the  chair.— There  was  a  fair 
attendance  of  members  at  this  meeting,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  the  Chemists’  Club  annual  dinner  was  held  the  same  evening. 
As  this  was  the 

Annual  General  Meeting, 

the  first  business  was  to  appoint  two  scrutineers  to  count  the 
number  of  votes  given  to  each  candidate  for  the  Council,  the 
gentlemen  chosen  for  the  work  being  Messrs.  Smith  and  Meynell. 
— The  President  moved,  and  Mr.  E.  W.  Hill  seconded,  that  Mr. 
E.  J.  Millard  be  accepted  as  a  patron  of  the  Association.  Carried. 
Mr.  C.  J.  Strother,  Treasurer,  then  presented  the  financial  states 
ment  for  the  year,  showing  an  income  of  £227  11s.  10d.  and  an 
expenditure  of  £125  19s.,  leaving  a  balance  in  hand  of 
£101  12s.  lOd.  He  thought  this  was  highly  satisfactory,  being 
the  best  balance  sheet  that  had  been  presented  for  many  years. 
Notwithstanding  the  success  of  the  closing  session,  Mr.  Strother 
was  of  opinion  they  might  do  better  another  year  if  each  member 
would  resolve  to  introduce  at  least  one  new  member  at  the  opening 
of  the  session.  The  membership  now  stood  at  133  and  49  patrons 
(one  short  of  the  usual  number),  whereas  a  few  yearsago  they  had  200 
members.  He  strongly  urged  that  strenuous  effort  should  be  made 
before  next  session  to  increase  the  membership  to  300.  He  saw  no 
reason  why  this  should  not  be  accomplished  with  a  little  individual 
exertion. — Mr.  Morley,  in  moving  the  adoption  of  the  report, 
remarked  that  it  showed  a  balance  to  the  good  which  was  quite 
unprecedented. — Mr.  Hill  seconded  the  motion.  While  it  was 
satisfactory  to  note  the  state  of  the  balance  sheet,  he  thought  the 
slight  decrease  in  membership  was  to  be  regretted,  although  they 
could  not  hope  always  to  maintain  it  at  one  level.  One  point 
worthy  of  notice  was  that  this  year  they  had  a  good  balance  from 
the  annual  dinner,  which  he  thought  reflected  great  credit  on  the 
two  secretaries  who  had  the  management  of  it. — The  report  was 
unanimously  adopted. — Mr.  C.  E.  Robinson,  Secretary,  then  read 
the 

Twentieth  Annual  Report, 

as  follows  :  “  The  Council  has  much  pleasure  in  presenting  this 
the  twentieth  annual  report.  Thirty-six  new  members  have  been 
enrolled  during  the  present  session,  making  a  total  of  one  hundred 
and  thirty-three.  The  number  of  patrons  stands  at  forty-nine, 
being  within  one  of  the  limit  imposed  by  the  rules  of  the 
Association.  Nineteen  notes  and  papers  have  been  contributed 
during  the  session,  and  in  addition  a  discussion  was  held  on  ‘  The 
Proposed  New  Bye-Laws  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,’  as  a 
result  of  which  a  resolution  was  carried,  and  a  copy  of  the  same 
forwarded  to  the  Secretary  of  that  Society.  The  average  attendance 
at  the  meetings  has  been  well  maintained.  The  annual  smoking 
concert,  conversazione,  and  series  of  Cinderella  dances  were  again 
a  great  success,  as  was  the  annual  dinner  at  the  King’s  Hall,  Hol- 
born  Restaurant.  In  the  matter  of  attendance  a  record  was 
established,  two  hundred  and  seventy  guests  having  been  present. 
A  Research  Prize,  consisting  of  the  Association’s  medal  and 
supplementary  prize  of  money  and  books  given  by  Messrs. 
Burroughs,  Wellcome  and  Co.,  has  been  awarded  to  Mr.  R.  Glode 
Guyer  for  work  done  on  ‘  The  Iodine  Value  of  Beeswax.’  The 
Council,  owing,  unfortunately,  to  there  having  been  no  competitors, 
has  been  unable  to  make  the  award  in  the  case  of  the  Essay  Prize. 


424 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  15,  1897. 


The  sum  of  15s.,  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  programmes  at  musical 
and  social  evenings,  has  been  subscribed  to  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society’s  Benevolent  Fund.  The  rooms  so  long  in  occupation 
at  103,  Great  Russell  Street,  had  to  be  vacated  on  Lady  Day,  owing 
to  the  fact  that  the  premises  at  that  address  were  shortly  to  be 
pulled  down.  Since  that  time  the  Association  has  been  temporarily 
installed  at  9,  Queen  Square,  W.C.  The  flourishing  condition  of 
the  Association  from  a  financial  standpoint  is  indicated  by  the  balance- 
sheet,  which  shows  a  further  increase  of  balance  to  the  good.” — 
Mr.  Mobley  moved  the  adoption  of  the  report.  He  thought  it 
was  a  very  fair  resume  of  the  work  done  during  the  session,  and  was 
not  expressed  in  too  glowing  terms. — Mr.  T.  Morley  Taylor  had 
much  pleasure  in  seconding  the  motion. — Mr.  Melhuish,  in  support¬ 
ing,  wished  to  point  out  that  although  they  might  have  been  thought 
to  be  very  frivolous  in  holding  so  many  Cinderellas,  etc'. ,  the  scientific 
papers  read  at  the  meetings  were  of  a  high  order,  and  had  been  a 
great  success.  He  thought  there  was  a  little  misconception  in 
some  quarters  on  that  point.  Perhaps  the  reason  was  that  the 
Cinderellas  had  been  rather  more  successful  even  than  in  previous 
years. — The  report  was  adopted.  A  very  pleasing  duty  now  fell 
to  the  lot  of  the  President,  which  was  to  present 

The  Association’s  Medal 

to  Mr.  R.  Glode  Guyer  who,  Mr.  Morley  said,  had  thoroughly 
earned  the  award  about  to  be  presented  to  him.  He  was  one  of  those 
men  who  had  not  allowed  rebuffs  to  prevent  him  from  trying  to 
secure  the  medal,  which  on  this  occasion  was  awarded  to  him 
simply  because  his  paper  represented  better  work  than  any  other 
sent  in.  He  (Mr.  Morley)  congratulated  him  very  heartily  on  his 
success.  Th6  money  and  the  books  from  Messrs.  Burroughs, 
Wellcome  and  Co.  had  not  yet  been  received,  but  they  would  be 
forwarded  to  him  at  the  earliest  opportunity.  He  had  great 
pleasure  in  presenting  the  medal  to  Mr.  Guyer. — The  hearty 
applause  which  followed  the  presentation  showed  clearly  the  high 
esteem  in  which  Mr.  Guyer  was  held  by  those  present. — Mr.  Guyer, 
in  reply,  said  he  hardly  deserved  the  kindness  he  had  received  at  the 
hands  of  the  gentlemen  connected  with  the  Association  during  the 
five  years  he  had  been  associated  with  them,  and  he  was  exceedingly 
sorry  that  that  would  be  his  last  meeting,  for  he  was  to  leave 
London  at  midnight  for  the  North.  When  he  entered  for  the  prize 
he  felt  that  there  ought  to  be  a  very  strong  competition  for  the 
award,  and  he  had  always  wanted  to  have  the  honour  of  earning 
it.  His  paper  was  not  a  very  big  one,  but  it  involved  a  great  deal 
of  work,  and  he  only  hoped  the  medal  had  been  awarded  without 
any  personal  consideration.  For  all  their  kindness  and  the 
valuable  award  he  thanked  them. 

Ball  or  Conversazione  ? 

After  the  applause  had  subsided,  Mr.  G.  Roe  proposed  that  in 
Rule  6  the  words  “  Annual  Ball  ”  be  substituted  for  that  of  “  Con¬ 
versazione.”  A  long  discussion  followed,  in  which  most  of  those 
present  took  part,  many  arguments  being  adduced  both  for  and 
against  the  motion.  Mr.  Roe’s  idea  seemed  to  be  that  it  was  a  sham 
and  open  to  misconstruction  to  call  the  annual  gathering  a  “  Con¬ 
versazione,”  when  it  was  practically  a  ball  pure  and  simple,  and 
that  it  would  be  better  and  give  greater  satisfaction  to  those 
attending  the  function,  if  it  were  called  a  ball,  dancing 
to  commence  at  the  time  of  opening,  instead  of  having  to  wait 
a  matter  of  two  hours  while  a  concert  or  exhibition  was  being 
held  to  which  no  one  paid  the  slightest  attention,  as  on  former 
occasions.— On  the  other  hand  it  was  contended  by  Mr.  C.  J. 
Strother  and  others  that  by  calling  it  a  conversazione  many  non¬ 
dancing  members  felt  more  at  liberty  to  attend,  whereas  if  it 
were  called  a  ball  they  would  stay  away,  and  as  this  was  the  only 
function  to  which  members  were  admitted  free,  they  would  thereby 
lose  one  of  the  advantages  of  membership. — As  feeling  ran  rather 
strong  on  the  question  it  was  thought  advisable  to  adjourn  the  dis¬ 
cussion  until  an  early  date  next  session,  fourteen  members  being  in 
favour  of  adjournment  and  two  against. 

Result  of  the  Council  Election, 

The  following  was  the  election  result,  the  first  fourteen  being 
elected  : — A  tie  between  Messrs.  Gamble  and  Umney  was  decided  by 
the  President’s  casting  vote.  C.  Morley,  51  ;  A.  R.  Melhuish,  50  ; 
C.  E.  Robinson,  49  ;  T.  M.  Taylor,  49;  E.  W.  Hill,  47 ;  H.  H.  Robins, 
46 ;  C.  J.  Strother,  46  ;  G.  E.  Pearson,  43  ;  T.  Tickle,  40 ;  F.  R. 
Stephens,  40 ;  G.  Roe,  39  ;  F.  Cooper,  31  ;  C.  E.  Pickering,  27 ; 
F.  W.  Gamble,  26 ;  E.  A.  Umney,  26 ;  F.  James,  23 ;  W.  A. 


Jones,  21.  Some  fifty-three  voting  papers,  one  informal,  were 
received  after  the  result  was  declared,  and  therefore  were  not- 
counted. — The  President  then  delivered  his 

Valedictory  Address. 

Mr.  Morley  said  it  was  customary  on  such  an  occasion  to  make 
a  retrospect,  in  order  to  show  the  position  in  which  they  stood, 
that  they  might  ascertain  whether  or  not  the  objects  with  which 
their  Association  was  formed  continued  to  be  fulfilled.  In  answer 
to  this  he  thought  they  could  reply  with  a  distinct  affirmative,  as 
they  had  both  worked  well  and  played  well.  The  mental  pabulum 
that  had  been  provided,  in  the  shape  of  papers  and  notes  read, 
had  been  of  a  high  though  variegated  order,  and  had  been 
met  with  marked  appreciation  by  members,  as  shown  by  the 
attendance  and  interest  taken.  On  the  other  hand,  the  social  side 
of  their  work  had  not  been  neglected ;  indeed,  suggestions  had 
been  thrown  out  that  to  make  further  developments 
of  a  social  character  would  be  detrimental  to  the  interests  of  the 
Association.  With  that  he  was  quite  in  accord.  At  the  same 
time  he  would  point  out  that  any  undue  tendencies  on  their  part 
in  that  direction  had  been  more  apparent  than  real,  for  no  more 
than  the  ordinary  number  of  evenings  had  been  appropriated  for 
social  purposes ;  but  one  form  of  enjoyment  had  been  sub¬ 
stituted  for  another.  The  executive,  moreover,  had  no  intention 
of  making  fresh  departures  of  a  social  nature.  In  the  opening 
address  which  he  had  the  honour  of  delivering  before  the  Associa¬ 
tion  that  session,  he  made  allusion  to  the  fact  that,  compara¬ 
tively  speaking,  so  few  London  assistants  were  induced  to  throw 
in  their  lot  with  them,  and  he  then  proceeded  to  enumerate  the  many 
advantages  that  were  offered  to  them  on  joining.  He  had  to  con¬ 
fess  to  a  feeling  of  disappointment  that  his  appeal  to  outsiders  had 
met  with  such  a  tardy  response,  for  not  only  had  their  member¬ 
ship  roll  not  been  increased  but  it  had  shrunk  to  some  slight 
extent.  To  counteract  that  and  to  endeavour  to  make  the  Associa¬ 
tion  something  like  a  representative  one,  he  now  urged  every 
individual  member  to  do  his  utmost  during  the  coming  vacation  to 
enlist  at  least  one  of  his  fellows  into  their  ranks.  That  surely 
ought  not  to  be  a  too  difficult  task  to  impose,  for  there  must 
needs  be  a  sufficiency  of  men  available  who  were  capable  of  being 
actuated  by  desires  and  motives  of  self-improvement,  and 
who  might  be  convinced  that  it  was  not  necessary  to  go 
far  afield  to  gratify  those  when  the  Association  was 
at  hand  and  so  well  adapted  to  such  a  purpose.  To 
those  who  wished  to  be  of  service  beyond  their  own  doors  (and 
he  was  sure  there  were  many  with  such  inclinations),  before  that 
end  was  attainable  the  essential  preparatory  lesson  of  having  one’s 
self-conceits  eradicated  and  deficiences  made  apparent  could  never 
be  so  well  learnt  as  in  the  attempt  at  public  discussion,  nor  could 
it  be  begun  at  so  opportune  a  time  as  on  the  threshold  of  their 
more  responsible  career  of  mastership.  The  Council  had  again  to 
deplore  the  fact  that  the  Essay  Prize  remained  unawarded, 
but  was  gratified  to  think  that  work  had  been  submitted  of 
sufficient  merit  to  warrant  the  bestowal  of  the  Research 
Prize.  Another  gratifying  result  was  the  further  im¬ 
proved  financial  position  of  the  Association.  The  con¬ 
tinued  augmentation  of  its  funds  would,  however,  have  to 
engage  the  serious  consideration  of  the  in-coming  Council  as  to 
their  proper  utilisation.  In  bringing  his  remarks  to  a  con¬ 
clusion  he  came  to  a  consideration  in  which  he  was  personally  very 
much  concerned.  He  had  such  a  keen  apprehension  of  his  many 
shortcomings  and  disabilities,  and  he  felt  that  had  he  not  had  the 
hearty  co-operation  of  their  two  Vice-Presidents,  the  two  Secre¬ 
taries,  and,  in  fact,  all  the  members  of  Council  to  a  much  more  than 
ordinary  degree  he  could  not  have  arrived  at  a  successful  issue 
with  his  charge.  To  them  and  to  all  he  offered  his  best  thanks. 


Halifax  and  District  Chemists’  Association,  Thurs¬ 
day,  April  29. — Mr.  J.  B.  Brierley,  President,  in  the  chair. — A 
largely  attended  meeting  of  the  Association  was  held  at  the 
Nelson  Rooms,  Old  Cock  Hotel,  Halifax,  the  leading  chemists  of 
the  town  and  district  being  present. 

The  Proposed  New  Bye-Laws 

of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  were  under  close  discussion.  Clause 
11  in  Section  X.  was  unanimously  agreed  to,  but  great  exception 
was  taken  to  Clause  17,  in  respect  to  the  raising  of  the  examination 
fee.  Clause  18  had  the  most  hearty  support  of  the  meeting. — It 
was  agreed  that  the  President  and  Secretary  be  deputed  members  of 


Mat  15, 1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


425 


the  Halifax  General  Trade  Association. — Messrs.  Farr  and  Hebden 
duly  proposed  and  seconded  that  a  conversazione  be  held  in 
October.— "It  was  decided  that  Messrs.  Curtiss  and  Co.,  carriers, 
London,  be  asked  to  come  into  the  town  to  convey 

Parcels  to  and  from  London, 

also  that  Messrs.  Evans,  Sons  and  Co.,  Liverpool,  and  Messrs. 
Newbery,  London,  be  asked  to  join  the  Proprietary  Articles 
Trade  Association. 


Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Ireland  (Council  Meeting) 
Wednesday,  May  5. — Mr.  W.  M.  Wells,  jun.,  President,  in  the 
chair. — The  President  reported  that  a  deputation  had  interviewed 

The  Governors  of  the  Apothecaries’  Hall, 

% 

Dublin,  in  reference  to  complaints  which  had  been  made  to  the 
Council  that  the  Apothecaries’  Hall  granted  their  diploma  to 
medical  men  who  had  not  spent  a  day  at  pharmacy.  The  Governors 
stated  that  they  would  give  the  matter  their  serious  consideration. 
— The  President  read  a  letter  of  the  Irish  Local  Government 
Board  sanctioning  for  six  months  an  appointment  of  Dr.  Murphy 
and  Dr.  O’Brien,  resident  medical  officers  of  Cork  Workhouse,  to 
discharge  the  duties  of  apothecary  to  the  workhouse  at  salaries  of 
£30  a  year  to  each.  The  Vice-President  remarked  that  this 
was  a  reversal  of  a  former  decision  of  that  Board. — Mr.  Kelly 
said  he  had  received  a  letter  from  a  licentiate  complain¬ 
ing  of  the  appointment. — A  letter  was  received  from  Mr. 
Charles  Evans,  Dawson  Street,  Dublin,  resigning  his  seat  on  the 
Council.  The  Registrar  was  directed  to  write  to  Mr.  Evans 
requesting  him  to  reconsider  his  resignation. — A  letter  from  Dublin 
Castle  requested  the  observations  of  the  Council  upon  a  memorial 
which  had  been  addressed  to  the  Lord-Lierftenant  by  the 
Enniscorthy  Co-operative  Agricultural  Society,  Limited,  requesting 
that  a  fine  of  £5  which  had  been  imposed  on  their  assistant  John 
Kinsella  for  an  unauthorized  sale  of  Hayward’s  Sheep-dip  should 
be  remitted  or  abated.  The  President  and  Vice-president  were 
requested  to  draft  a  reply  to  the  memorial. — A  letter  from  Mr. 
J.  C.  MacWalter,  licentiate  of  the  Society,  requested  answers  to 
the  following  questions: — -  (1)  whether  the  Council  accepted  the 
certificates  of  persons  who  had  served  the  required  four  years  in 
the  service  of 

Limited  Liability  Companies, 

where  the  debenture  shareholders  of  such  companies  were  unquali¬ 
fied  persons ;  (2)  whether  an  unqualified  person  in  the  service  of 
such  a  company  might  compound,  dispense,  or  sell  a  medical  pre¬ 
scription  ;  and  (3)  whether  the  name  and  address  of  every  person 
who  being  in  the  service  of  a  limited  liability  company  dispensed, 
compounded,  or  sold  a  poison  or  prescription  should  not  appear  on 
the  article. — The  President  said  the  Council  had  never  knowingly 
accepted  a  certificate  from  a  limited  company,  and  from  what  he 
knew  of  several  members  of  the  Council  he  believed  they  never 
■would  unless  compelled  to  do  so  by  the  Queen’s  Bench. — On  the 
motion  of  the  Vice-President  the  letter  was  referred  to  the  Law 
Committee  with  a  direction  to  obtain  the  opinion  of  the  Society’s 
solicitor,  and,  if  necessary,  of  counsel,  as  to  the  answers  to  be 
given  to  Mr.  Mac  Walter’s  questions. — The  President  referred  to 
a  passage  in  a  letter  of  Mr.  William  Hayes,  in  which 
the  writer  stated  that  a  certain  recommendation  of  his 
had  been  sanctioned  by  the  Council,  with  the  substitution  of  the 
word  “company”  for  “directorate.”  That  had  reference  to  what 
took  place  in  1895,  when  Mr.  Hayes,  who  was  then  president, 
attended  in  London  before  a  Parliamentary  Committee  then 
sitting  to  receive  evidence  in  relation  to  the  amendment  of  the 
Companies  Act.  He  submitted  a  clause  to  them  which  had  been 
appioved  of  by  the  Council,  but  added  another  which  would  have 
made  it  legal  for  a  limited  company  to  carry  on  pharmacy,  pro¬ 
vided  they  had  a  qualified  “directorate.”  Had  that  clause 
passed  it  wrould  have  rendered  the  first  null  and  void.  When  Mr. 
Hayes  returned,  so  far  from  his  action  being  approved  of  by  the 
Council,  some  members  were  disposed  to  move  a  vote  of  censure 
upon  him  for  having  given  the  Society  away,  but  it  was  not  done 
as  he  was  then  leaving  the  chair.  The  difficulty  was  got  over  by 
putting  “company”  for  “directorate”  in  the  clause  which  Mr. 
Hayes  added  ;  but  the  Council  never  approved  of  his  action  in  the 
matter.  A  report  of  a  Committee  of  the  whole  Council,  to  which 
the  question  of  celebrating  the  Queen’s  Jubilee  had  been  referred, 
included  a  draft  address  to  Her  Majesty,  which  was  approved  of, 
and  also  recommended  that  a  dinner  should  take  place.  It  was  | 


resolved,  after  some  discussion,  that  in  future  an  annual  dinner 
should  be  held. — The  Council  then  adjourned. 


Plymouth,  Devonport,  Stonehouse  and  District 
Chemists’  Association,  Wednesday,  May  5. — A  preliminary 
meeting  of  those  members  of  the  above  named  Association  who 
propose  entering  on  a  summer  course  of  practical  botany  was  held 
at  the  new  rooms  of  the  Association,  7,  Whimple  Street.  The 
attendance  was  very  encouraging,  fourteen  members  being  present, 
whilst  several  others  intimated,  by  proxy,  their  intention  of  joining 
the  class.  Mr.  Reade  explained  the  following  rules,  based  on  sug¬ 
gestions  made  by  Mr.  Holmes,  for  the  guidance  of  competitors  for 
the  herbarium  prizes,  viz. 

“  1.  The  number  of  plants  to  be  presented  by  each  competitor  is  limited  to 
forty. 

“  2.  Plants  representative  of  natural  orders  and  illustrative  of  classification 
should  be  collected. 

“  3.  A  flower  should  be  dissected  and  mounted  showing  the  essential  organs, 
with  each  Phanerogam  ;  also  the  fruit,  if  obtainable. 

“4.  In  addition  to  the  name  of  the  plant,  the  competitor  should  state  in  his 
own  language  (not  copied  from  text-books)  the  reason  for  supposed  natural 
order  and-species.” 

After  some  discussion  it  was  unanimously  decided  that  the  class  in 
Morphology  and  Classification  should  be  held  fortnightly  at 
8.30  p.m.  on  Tuesdays,  commencing  on  the  18th  inst.  The  first 
ramble  of  the  season  was  arranged  for  Wednesday,  the  12th  inst., 
and  subsequently  they  will  take  place  fortnightly. 


NEW  REMEDIES. 


[ The  notes  given  under  this  heading  embody  recent  suggestions  in 
therapeutics.  They  cover  both  new  drugs  and  preparations,  and  old  ones 
under  new  aspects.  The  word  “parts”  is  used  to  represent  parts  by 
weight,  both  for  solids  and  liquids.'] 

Ichthyol  as  A  Laxative. — In  the  Bulletin  Generate  de  Thbapeu- 
tique,  Oct.,  1896,  Gunsburg  reports  the  use  of  ichthyol  in  the  case  of 
fifty  women  suffering  from  various  inflammatory  affections  of  the 
genitalia,  accompanied  by  constipation  and  dyspepsia.  The  ichthyol 
was  given  in  pills  of  3  grains  once,  twice,  or  thrice  a  day.  The 
result  was  that  the  constipation  was  overcome  without  any  colicky 
pain  or  diarrhoea,  the  appetite  improved,  and  the  pain  in  the 
abdomen  decreased.  As  the  taste  of  ichthyol  is  disagreeable, 
Gunsburg  suggests  that  it  may  be  given  in  keratin-coated  or  enterio 
pills. — Thera.  Gazette  [3],  xiii.,  11. 

Oxygen  in  Ascites. — Teissier  recommends  oxygen  according  to 
Potain’s  method  in  the  treatment  of  ascites  by  abdominal  punc¬ 
ture,  followed  by  injections  of  oxygen  into  the  peritoneum.  In 
the  instance  under  his  notice  the  operation  was  well  borne  without 
pain  or  local  reaction.  The  oxygen  was  easily  absorbed  by  the 
peritoneum.  For  some  days  there  was  some  gurgling,  which  dis¬ 
appeared  in  a  little  more  than  a  week.  These  results  were  obtained 
in  three  weeks. — Thera.  Gazette  [3],  xiii.,  110. 


Ointment  for  Pustular  Acne. — Subnitrate  of  bismuth,  white 
precipitate,  ichthyol,  of  each,  2 ;  vaseline,  20 ;  mix. — Rev.  de  Thcrap. , 
lxiv.,  209. 


Application  for  Sycosis. — Mercurial  oil,  200;  zinc  oxide  and 
starch,  of  each,  70  ;  vaseline,  140  ;  ichthyol,  10  ;  salicylic  acid,  12. 
Mix. — Rev.  de  TMrap.,  lxiv.,  209. 

Ichthyol  in  Erysipelas. — Nabugnow  states  that  with  the  ich¬ 
thyol  applications,  first  recommended  by  Nussbaum,  he  has  been 
able  to  cure  200  cases  of  erysipelas.  The  ointment  is  bound  on  with 
a  roller  bandage,  or  in  case  of  facial  erysipelas  is  held  in  place  by  a 
mask.  The  following  is  Nabugnow’s  formula : — Ichthyol  ammonii, 
10  to  20;  petrolati,  5;  lanolini,  15.  M.  ft.  ungt. — Pediatrics,  iii., 
159,  after  Wratsch. 


Guaiacol  Valerianate. — Among  the  many  guaiacol  esters 
which  are  attracting  a  considerable  amount  of  attention  at  the 
present  time,  the  valerianate  appears  to  be  one  well  adapted  for 
medical  use.  Vogt  finds  that  it  is  readily  taken  in  doses  of  20  centi¬ 
grammes  in  gelatin  capsules,  without  causing  any  disturbance  of 
the  digestion.  The  author,  in  fact,  took  as  much  as  5  grammes  per 


426 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  15,  1897 


diem  in  this  way  without  experiencing  the  least  unpleasant  effect. 
It  may  also  be  injected  hypodermically  without  occasioning  any 
inconvenience  beyond  a  slight  smarting.  When  used  on  dressings 
it  is  readily  absorbed  if  its  evaporation  be  prevented.  Given  to 
twenty-eight  tuberculous  patients  it  had  a  beneficial  effect  on  the 
appetite  and  general  health  even  in  small  doses.  In  catarrh,  the 
symptoms  rapidly  yielded  to  this  treatment,  and  good  results  were 
also  obtained  in  chloro-ansemia.  Even  where  the  administration 
extended  from  three  to  five  months  no  inconvenience  was  noted. — 
Jtev.  de  Therap. ,  Mid.  Chirurg.,  lxiv.,  64. 


Potassium  Permanganate  in  Lupus.— Butte  states  that  by  the 
local  application  of  permanganate,  he  has  effected  cures  in  several 
cases  of  lupus.  It  is  applied  in  half  per  cent,  to  two  per  cent, 
solutions  directly  to  the  nodules,  and  kept  in  contact  with  the 
surface  for  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  by  means  of  compresses.  The 
application  occasions  some  pain  for  an  hour,  but  this  is  readily 
relieved  with  cocaine  ointment. — B.M.J.,  Epit.,  1/97/44. 


Salophen  in  Pruritus. — By  the  internal  administration  of 
salophen  in  doses  of  4  or  5  grains  a  day,  Wannemarker  has 
obtained  very  satisfactory  results  ;  in  some  few  cases  it  fails,  but 
in  others  it  gives  relief  from  almost  unbearable  irritation. — 
Epit.,  1/97/44,  after  La  Belg.  Med. 


Ethyl  Bromide  and  Suggestion  in  Hysterical  Aphonia.— 
Five  cases  of  hysterical  aphonia  are  reported  by  Arsslan  in  which 
the  patients  were  rapidly  anaesthetised  with  10  grammes  of  the 
drug,  and  as  soon  as  they  were  fully  under  the  influence  of  the 
dose,  it  was  suggested  that  they  should  loudly  shout  their  names, 
count  numbers,  etc.  ;  the  results  were  satisfactory,  and  resulted  in 
recovery.— A. M.  J. ,  Epit.,  1/97/36,  after  Gazz.  degli  Csped. 


Sodium  Tetraborate  (so-called)  in  Otorrhcea.—  After  treating 
overa  thousand  cases  of  chronic  otorrhcea  with  “sodium  tetraborate,” 
Kafemann  concludes  that  this  salt  is  by  far  the  most  useful  appli¬ 
cation  for  this  troublesome  complaint.  The  salt  is  prepared  by 
dissolving  equal  parts  of  borax  and  boric  acid  in  water.  On  cooling 
the  tetraborate  separates  out  as  a  neutral  crystalline  mass,  which, 
when  dissolved  in  water,  crystallises  out  again  but  slowly,  so  that 
50  or  75  per  cent,  solutions  may  be  used.  The  liquid  is  dropped 
into  the  previously  cleansed  passage,  the  orifice  of  which  is  then 
plugged  with  a  pad  of  sterilised  wool.  In  this  way  results  have 
been  obtained  which  are  little  short  of  marvellous.  — Rev.  de  Therap. , 
lxiv.,  235,  after  Deutsch.  Med.  Zeit.  [The  term  “tetraborate”  for 
this  salt  is  misleading.  The  true  tetraborate  of  sodium  is  borax 
Na2B4O7-10H2O.— Ed.,  Ph.  J.] 


Methylene  Blue  in  Rheumatoid  Arthritis.  —Methylene  blue 
seems  to  be  attracting  a  considerable  amount  of  attention  as  an 
internal  remedy.  Dr.  Philpots  has  found  it  to  give  very  marked 
relief  in  obstinate  cases  of  chronic  rheumatoid  arthritis."  He  has 
administered  itin  doses  of  2  grains  afterfood  twice  daily.  Methylene 
violet  tried  in  similar  cases  had  very  little  effect. — B.M.J. — • 
1/97/78. 


Discomfort  from  the  Continual  Use  of  Saccharin.— Hogarth 
concludes  that  saccharin  taken  in  large  doses  for  any  great  length 
of  time  may  cause  acute  pain  in  the  region  of  the  stomach  and 
pancreas.  It  has  before  been  stated  that  acute  neuralgic  pain  in 
the  solar  plexus  and  its  region  has  been  produced  by  saccharin. 
A  case  is  cited  where  pain  resembling  pancreatic  or  pyloric  colic 
supervened  after  taking  six  or  more  saccharin  tablets  daily  for 
three  and  a  half  years.  On  discontinuing  the  saccharin  the  pain 
disappeared.  — Brit.  Med.  Joum.,  1/97/715. 


Dangers  of  Thyroid. — Hessler  gives  an  interesting  account  of 
a  artificially  produced  exophthalmic  goitre  having  all  the  charac¬ 
teristics  of  the  natural  disease,  minus  the  glandular  enlargement. 
When  75  grains  of  desiccated  thyroid  gland  were  given  daily, 
symptoms  of  the  above  appeared,  and  the  remedy  had  to  be  dis¬ 
continued  temporarily,  the  pulse  going  up  to  160.  Hessler  con¬ 
cludes  from  this  and  other  similar  cases  that  Graves’s  disease  is 
due  to  an  over-stimulation  of  the  nervous  system  by  products  of 
the  thyroid  gland,  and  that  therefore  its  administration  is  injurious. 
— Dublin  Joum.  Med.  Sci.,  No.  ccciii.,  276,  after  Journ.  Am.  Med. 
Assoc. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  CONSULAR  REPORTS- 


Camphor  Exports. — Reporting  on  the  trade  of  Tamsui  (Japan) 
for  1895,  Mr.  Layard  states  that  although  nearly  10,000  cwt.  less 
camphor  was  exported  than  in  1894,  the  enhanced  price  of  the 
article,  owing  to  the  disturbed  state  of  the  island,  raised  the  total 
value  of  the  export  by  some  £8000.  The  quantity  exported  in  1894 
was  33,108  cwts.,  value  £90,149,  and  in  1895,  23,696  cwts.,, 
value  £98,905. 


Chinese  Camphor. — The  district  round  about  Amoy,  according  to 
Consul  Gardner,  is  very  suitable  for  the  production  of  camphor, 
and  it  is  hoped  that  the  cultivation  of  the  camphor  tree  will  ulti¬ 
mately  take  the  place  of  tea-plant  culture,  which,  owing  to  Indian 
and  Ceylon  competition,  is  now  a  failure.  The  difficulty  with 
regard  to  camphor  cultivation  is  that  the  tree  takes  long  to 
mature,  and  consequently  some  time  elapses  before  those  who 
invest  in  the  cultivation  get  a  return  for  their  money.  A  small 
amount  was  exported  last  year  from  Amoy,  157,000  lbs.,  to  Hong- 
Kong  for  transhipment  to  Europe. 


For  British  Manufactured  Drugs,  Consul  Gardner  thinks 
there  is  a  good  opening  in  the  way  of  trade  in  his  consular  district 
(Amoy).  The  natives,  he  says,  are  great  believers  in  medicines, 
the  medicines  most  in  demand  being  tonics.  Thus  ginseng,  which 
is  supposed  to  be  a  tonic  and  aphrodisiac,  is  annually  imported 
into  the  district  to  the  extent  of  £30,000  sterling.  The  natives 
suffer  much  from  low  malarial  feveris,  and  as  those  fevers  generally 
yield  to  quinine,  he  thinks  the  sale  of  quinine  might  be  much 
extended.  Other  common  forms  of  disease  are  worms,  dysentery, 
costiveness,  and  coughs.  Neuralgia,  rheumatism,  and  ophthalmia 
are  also  prevalent.  To  push  the  sale  of  medicines  adver¬ 
tising  is  absolutely  necessary,  and  each  bottle  or  packet  of 
medicine  should  be  wrapped  up  in  a  paper,  stating  in  Chinese  the 
diseases  for  which  the  medicine  is  a  remedy.  Vendors  of  drugs 
are  recommended  to  put  on  the  bottles,  etc.,  the  price  in 
“  cash  ”  at  which  it  is  intended  they  should  be  retailed,  leaving  of 
course  a  good  profit  for  the  dealer.  Forty  “cash”  equal  Id. 
There  is  at  present  at  Amoy  one  British  firm  that  devotes  itself 
entirely  to  selling  foreign  drugs  to  natives. 


The  Trade  in  Scents  and  Cosmetics,  Consul  Gardner  also 
believes  would  much  increase  if  British  manufacturers  would  study 
the  tastes  of  the  Chinese.  The  first  thing  to  be  thought  of  is 
cheapness,  and  manufacturers  would  do  well  to  get  the 
cheapest  possible  |-oz.  and  J-oz.  bottles  of  an  attractive  colour, 
like  red  or  yellow,  filled  with  the  cheapest  possible  sort  of  stopper, 
and  filled  with  cheap  strong-smelling  scent  made  of,  say,  coal  tar. 
The  bottles  should  bear  attractive  labels,  and  to  facilitate  the  sale 
the  bottles  should  be  made  in  shapes  which  the  Chinese  consider 
lucky  or  pretty.  Musk  and  patchouli  seem  to  be  the  favourite 
scents  of  the  Chinese.  In  the  same  way  there  would  be  a  great 
demand  for  lip  salve,  rouge,  and  powder  for  the  face,  if  these  were 
done  up  in  attractive  jars  and  packages,  with  attractive  labels, 
and  were  saleable  at  a  cheap  price. 


An  Analysis  of  Trade  Gin  imported  into  West  Africa  has  been 
made  by  Mr.  G.  W.  Robertson,  F.C.S.,  A.I.C.,  at  the  request  of 
the  Consul-General  for  the  Niger  Coast  Protectorate,  it  having 
been  contended  that  the  quality  of  the  gin  was  so  deleterious  as  to 
be  harmful  to  the  persons  drinking  it.  The  report  is  as  follows  : — 

Absolute  Alcohol  .  39 ’3 

Acidity,  expressed  as  Acetic  Acid  ..  0'0068 

Ethers,  „  ,,  Ether..  0'02I 

Furfural  . . ; . !•  Present  in  small  quantity. 

Higher  Alcohols  . J 

The  only  alcohol  that  could  be  determined  quantitatively  was  ethy 
alcohol  ;  there  was  no  methyl,  and  the  higher  alcohols  as  shown  by 
Sivalle’s  method  only  existed  in  traces.  The  spirit  is  flavoured  by 
more  than  one  essential  oil,  and  apparently  oil  of  juniper  is  one  of 
those  oils.  The  liquid  contains  no  sugar,  and  leaves  but  a  small 
extract.  The  liquid  is  said  to  consist  essentially  of  pure  distilled 
spirit  with  essential  oils,  but  no  attempt  was  made  to  identify 
those'  oils  in  the  quantity  sent— viz.,  632  C.c.  The  ethers  are 
returned  as  ethyl  acetate,  but  from  a  fractional  distillation  amyl 
acetate  was  found  to  be  present.  It  would  seem  from  this  analysis 
that  the  trade  gin  of  W est  Africa  is  neither  more  nor  less  dele¬ 
terious  than  the  gin  sold  all  over  London. 


May  15,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


427 


LETTERS  TO  THE  EDITOR. 


The  Approaching  Council  Election. 

Sir, — I  was  surprised  to  see  your  excuse  in  your  last  issue 
for  not  publishing  Mr.  Glyn-Jones’  letter  re  the  election  of 
members  of  Council.  You  state  that  the  Pharmaceutical 
Journal  is  not  the  place  in  which  influence  should  be  exercised 
upon  the  election  in  reference  to  matters  upon  which  difference 
of  opinion  exists.  Now  this  is  not  consistent  with  your  practice 
in  the  past,  and  I  will  point  out  the  following 

instances.  In  your  issue  of  May  5,  1889,  is  a  letter  signed 
by  Messrs.  Benger,  Martindale,  and  others,  asking  members 
not  to  vote  for  Mr.  Wills.  Again  in  yours  of  May  2,  1896, 
a  letter  from  Mr.  Clower,  of  Northampton,  appeared,  asking  that 
votes  should  only  be  given  to  those  who  openly  declared  for  the 
P.A.T.A.,  and  in  yours  of  April  2,  1897,  Mr.  Gostling  writes  sup¬ 
porting  the  London  candidates,  and  Mr.  Keen,  of  Bristol,  writes  in 
the  issue  of  April  10.  Now  it  is  not  fair  to  give  publicity  to  one  side 
and  not  the  other.  It  looks  to  me  as  though  you  had  determined 
to  swamp  the  P.A.T.A,  simply  because  they  aimed  to  remove  some 
of  the  old  members  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Council  who  have  done 
ood  work  on  the  scientific  side  of  the  pharmacy  question,  and 
ave  also  at  the  same  time  watched  the  downfall  of  the  drug  trade, 
and  if  they  will  not  join  hands  with  the  movement  now  on  foot  to 
help  to  get  better  prices  and  a  living  profit  for  their  less  fortunate 
brethren,  then  they  are  not  our  friends  and  do  not  deserve  our 
support. 

Sunderland,  May  10,  1897.  R.  H.  Bell. 

***  Mr.  Bell  overlooks  the  fact  that  in  all  the  instances  he  refers  to  the  writers  were 
entitled  individually,  as  subscribers  to  the  Society,  to  express  their  views  on 
the  matter  in  their  own  journal.  Mr.  Glyn- J ones,  however,  wrote  on  behalf  of 
an  outside  body  which  cannot  reasonably  be  held  to  have  any  more  right  to 
interfere  in  the  election  than  the  Anti-Vivisection  Society  had  some  years 
ago.  That  interference,  it  may  be  remembered,  was  strongly  resented  by 
the  majority  of  the  members  and  associates  of  the  Society.  [Ed.,  P.  J.] 


Sir,— The  abuse  the  Council  and  Society  is  now  passing  through 
will,  I  think,  have  the  effect  of  showing  up  those  who  are  on  its  side 
and  those  who  are  against  it,  and  making  its  supporters  more  loyal 
and  united.  I  am  pleased  with  your  treatment  of  Mr.  Glyn- J  ones’ 
last  movement  re  the  Council  election,  and  think  it  was  quite  the 
right  course  to  adopt.  It  is  out  of  all  reason  to  ask  the  members 
of  the  P.A.T.A.  to  oppose  Mr.  Carteighe’s  election  simply  because 
he  refuses  to  express  an  opinion. 

Chester,  May  10,  1897.  C.  T.  Johnson. 


Sir, — I  think  it  is  a  disadvantage  not  being  able  to  see  in  the  pages 
of  our  Journal  the  names  of  candidates  for  the  Council  favourable  to 
the  P.A.T.A.  As  that  Association  has  no  hostility  towards  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society,  and  its  existence  is  entirely  for  the  well¬ 
being  of  the  trade,  it  is  only  right  that  we  as  electors  should  know 
who  are  our  friends  amongst  those  that  offer  to  represent  us.  Letters 
have  appeared  upon  the  merits  of  candidates  before.  Why  not  now  ? 
As  the  Journal  is  the  only  trade  paper  I  receive,  it  was  only 
through  the  kindness  of  a  neighbouring  chemist  that  the  names  of 
candidates  favourable  to  the  P.A.T.A.  were  made  known  to  me. 
May  they  lose  none  of  the  support  they  are  worthy  of  is  the  wish  of 
May  10,  1897.  Musca  (94/12). 

***  Voters  who  are  anxious  to  obtain  information  respecting  the  views  of  candi¬ 
dates  on  particular  questions  can  readily  do  so  by  addressing  themselves 
direct  to  those  candidates.  [Ed.,  P.  /.] 

A  Pharmaceutical  Cricket  Club  for  Ladies. 

Sir, — As  the  cricket  season  has  come  round  again,  I  beg  to  offer 
a  suggestion  to  the  ladies  engaged  in  “the  art  of  dispensing.” 
Why  cannot  we  have  a  cricket  club  ?  The  many  schools  of  phar¬ 
macy  have  clubs  for  the  male  students,  but  the  females  are  quite 
out  of  it.  I  am  sure  the  ladies  will  agree  it  would  be  most  bene¬ 
ficial  to  us  after  many  hours  spent  in  the  laboratories.  Then  we 
could  have  matches  against  our  men  students,  etc.  I  hope 
sincerely  you  will  allow  this  to  be  printed  in  your  columns,  as  I 
am  sure  the  lady  students  in  London  will  agree  with  this  suggestion. 
London,  May  7,  1897.  Eva  Emery. 


A  Royal  College  of  Pharmacy. 

Sir, — Mr.  Thomas  Greenish’s  suggestion  in  your  last  issue  is 
one  which  should  meet  with  the  universal  approbation  of  the 
members  of  our  craft.  I  well  remember  the  day  when  our  thrice 
blessed  Queen  ascended  the  throne,  and  her  Diamond  Jubilee  is 
almost  coeval  with  my  own  diamond  jubilee  in  pharmacy.  Let 


me  add  my  voice  as  a  pharmacist  of  nearly  sixty  years’  standing 
to  that  of  my  colleague  Mr.  Greenish. 

Bradford,  May  7,  1897.  T.  Garratt  Forshaw. 


Sir,— Mr.  Thomas  Greenish’s  proposition  to  commemorate  the 
Queen’s  Diamond  Jubilee  by  changingthe  title  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  to  that  of  “The  Royal  College  of  Pharmacy”  seems  to 
me  an  excellent  one  and  worthy  of  the  occasion.  I  have  long 
thought  that  the  epithet  “  Royal  ”  ought  to  come  in  somewhere. 
Only  one  objection  to  this  change  strikes  me  and  that  is,  that  the 
contraction  for  ‘ 1  Members  of  the  Royal  College  of  Pharmacy  ” 
would  be  M.R.C.P. ,  which  would  clash  with  the  contraction  for 
“Member  of  the  Royal  College  of  Physicians.”  Mr.  Greenish 
may,  however,  see  a  way  out  of  this.  W e  ought  at  least  to  have 
“The  Royal  Pharmaceutical  Society,”  the  contraction  in  this  case 
being  M.R.P.S.,  which  would  be  distinctive. 

Southport,  May  8,  1897.  C.  F.  JespeR. 


Sir, — We  note  with  extreme  pleasure  the  suggestion  of  Mr. 
Greenish.  An  opportunity  of  enhancing  very  greatly  the  prestige 
of  the  Society  in  the  eyes  of  the  public  presents  itself,  and 
should  on  no  account  be  lost  sight  of.  There  is  no  public 
body  having  any  pretence  to  the  prefix  “  learned”  which  occupies 
a  less  important  position  in  the  public  mind  than  does  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society.  Its  distinctive  title  includes  the 
most  cumbrous  and  awkward  of  adjectives,  an  orthoepical 
terror  to  the  lay  mind.  The  Society  seems  to  have  been  singularly 
unfortunate  in  its  christening.  Contrast  for  effect  and  impressive¬ 
ness  on  the  public  mind  “Member  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society” 
and  “Member,”  or  better  still,  by  far,  “Licentiate  of  the  Royal 
College  of  Pharmacy.”  The  public  sadly  needs  impressing  with 
the  fact  that  the  trained  and  qualified  chemist  is  something  more 
than  a  mere  shopkeeper  ;  and  we  contend  that  the  free  display  on 
labels  and  signboards  of  a  title  plainly  involving  State  recognition 
of  the  scientific  status  of  the  pharmacist,  goes  a  very  long  way 
towards  this.  Why  the  Photographic  Society,  which  surely  would 
hardly  assume  to  itself  the  importance  of  our  Society  as  an 
educational  and  scientific  body,  has  just  secured  this  much  coveted 
prefix,  and  thus  set  the  “College  of  Pharmacy”  an  encouraging 
example.  We  thank  Mr.  T.  Greenish  cordially  for  his  excellent 
suggestion.  The  proposal  is  so  palpable  a  hit,  that  we  trust  the 
Executive  of  the  Society  will  not  be  deterred  by  the  inevitable 
sneers  of  the  cynic,  but  promptly  press  forward  this  matter. 

Bradford,  flay  12, 1897.  M.  Rogerson  and  Son. 


“Wanted,  an  Assistant’s  Qualification.” 

Sir, — I  quite  agree  with  Mr.  Glass  as  to  the  advisability  of 
splitting  the  “  Minor  examination  ”  into  two  parts.  If  possible, 
let  a  period  of  six  months  elapse  between  the  first  and  second  part. 
Let  the  first  part  consist  of  chemistry,  botany,  and  physics,  and 
the  second  of  “materia  medica,”  pharmacy,  etc.  A  good  under¬ 
standing  of  the  first-named  subject  is  absolutely  necessary  to  a 
proper  study  of  those  in  the  second  part.  Such  a  division  would 
to  a  great  extent  do  away  with  the  prevailing  cram-work,  and 
induce  of  itself  a  partial  curriculum,  a  thing  much  to  be  desired. 
Then  we  might  have  the  beneficent  spectable  of  men  knowing  a 
little  of  what  they  profess. 

Leith,  N.B.,  May  11,  1897.  Archibald  Currie. 

Sir, — It  seems  strange  to  me  that  a  subject  of  such  vital  impor¬ 
tance  to  assistants,  and  more  especially  to  unqualified  assistants, 
has  not  yet  received  the  attention  of  those  whom  it  is  intended  to 
benefit,  for  so  far  we  have  had  the  views  and  opinions  of  employers 
only.  After  a  thoughtful  perusal  of  the  correspondence  and  a 
further  careful  consideration  of  the  matter,  I  have  been  induced  to 
send  you  an  expression  of  my  views,  which  may  be  of  some  material 
value  to  the  subject  under  discussion.  Whilst  I  am  con¬ 
vinced,  unlike  one  or  two  of  your  correspondents,  that  both 
Mr.  McMillan  and  Mr.  Bessant  have  been  actuated  entirely  by 
unselfish  and  disinterested  motives  in  bringing  the  matter  forward, 
I  am  sorry  that  I,  as  one  of  the  unqualified  assistants  whom  these 
gentlemen  wish  to  succour,  cannot  say  I  have  much  sympathy 
with  the  proposals  suggested.  As  a  rejected  candidate  at  the  last 
Minor  examination,  my  opinions  may  be  of  some  worth,  inasmuch 
as  I  should  naturally  then  be  uninfluenced  in  my  judgment  by 
bias  or  partiality  in  either  direction.  I  do  not  think  any  qualifica¬ 
tion  other  than  the  usual  one  is  called  for,  because  I  do 
not  think  the  present  Minor  examination  a  bit  too  stiff 
for  anyone  who  poses  as  a  scientific  person,  and  personally  I  should 


428 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Mat  15,  1897 


prefer  seeing  the  standard  raised  rather  than  lowered,  because 
nothing  is  worth  having  unless  it  costs  an  effort  to  acquire,  and  as 
‘  ‘  Saltpetre  ”  has  already  pointed  out,  the  higher  the  qualification 
an  assistant  acquires,  the  better  salary  will  he  be  able  to  com¬ 
mand.  Consequently  it  should  be  at  once  apparent  that  an 
assistant  with  a  cheaper  and  easily-acquired  qualification  cannot 
expect  to  be  able  to  command  so  good  a  salary.  The  existence  of 
such  a  qualification  as  that  proposed  would  probably  flood  the 
trade  with  such  qualified  men,  so  that  owing  to  competi¬ 
tion  among  themselves  they  would  not  be  able  to  command 
any  better  salaries  than  are  at  present  obtainable  by  unqualified 
men.  Consequently  the  benefit  would  be  all  derived  by  the  em¬ 
ployers  instead  of  the  assistants.  On  the  other  hand  I  am  informed 
by  employers  that,  owing  to  the  dearth  of  qualified  assistants,  they 
can  command  any  reasonable  salary  they  like  to  ask  for,  conse¬ 
quently  the  qualification  is  worth  having.  If  it  were  easier, 
competition  among  assistants  would  produce  the  inevitable  result 
that  there  would  be  a  depreciation  in  value.  Although 
unsuccessful  in  my  first  attempt,  I  do  not  despair  of  even¬ 
tually  passing,  and  unless  other  unsuccessful  men  have 
the  same  expectation,  I  think  they  would  do  well  to  seek 
another  vocation  requiring  less  mental  exertion.  Brains 
are  required  to  pass  most  examinations  at  the  present  day,  but  it  is 
a  moderate  amount  only  that  is  required  to  pass  the  Minor.  What 
is  chiefly  required  to  ensure  a  successful  issue  is  application  and 
work,  good  honest  work,  and  no  one  has  a  right  to  expect  success 
without  it.  Instead  of  advocating  a  new  qualification  for  assis¬ 
tants,  I  think  it  would  be  much  better  policy  to  agitate  for  a 
written  examination,  for  there  is  no  gainsaying  the  fact  that  the 
Minor  examination  as  at  present  conducted  is  a  lottery  pure  and 
simple.  I  have  repeatedly  noticed  the  best  of  students,  medal¬ 
lists  of  their  colleges,  getting  ploughed,  while  students  who  know 
practically  nothing  take  what  they  familiarly  term  “their  shot” 
and  are  often  successful.  What  I  wish  to  advocate  is  unifor¬ 
mity,  and  that  is  only  practicable  in  a  written  examination. 
Speaking  from  my  own  experience,  I  can  find  no  fault  with  the 
examiners,  as  they  gave  me  every  consideration  in  all  my  sub¬ 
jects,  and  how  I  failed  is  to  me  a  mystery,  as  I  thought  I  was 
perfectly  safe  till  otherwise  informed  by  the  Chairman. 

May  7,  1897.  Nil  Desperan  dum  (93/33). 


Reading  by  Sir  Henry  Irving. 

Sir, — Will  you  kindly  allow  me  to  announce  for  the  information 
of  the  numerous  strangers  now  in  London,  and  of  all  interested  in 
such  matters,  that  on  May  31  Sir  Henry  Irving  will  read  Tennyson’s 
‘  Becket  ’  in  the  magnificently  restored  Chapter  House  of  Canter¬ 
bury  Cathedral  for  the  benefit  of  the  Thirteenth  Centenary  Fund  ? 
There  will  be  an  exceptional  interest  in  hearing  Sir  Henry  Irving 
read  Lord  Tennyson’s  work  in  the  midst  of  the  scenes  in  which  the 
memorable  death  of  the  great  Archbishop  took  place.  St.  Thomas 
Becket  entered  the  Chapter  House  on  the  evening  of  December  29, 
1170,  only  a  few  minutes  before  his  murder  in  the  adjoining 
“  Martyrdom.”  The  restored  Chapter  House  will  be  re-opened  by 
H.R.H.  the  Prince  of  Wales  on  Saturday,  May  29,  and  will  be  first 
publicly  used  for  the  reading  which  Sir  Henry  Irving  is  so 
generously  to  give.  After  the  reading,  which  will  be  at  2  o’clock, 
opportunities  will  be  afforded  to  visitors  to  see  the  Cathedral  and 
the  very  spot  where  the  four  knights  did  their  terrible  deed. 
Specially  reserved  seats  may  be  procured  at  one  guinea  each  by 
letter  to  Mr.  Crow,  Mercery  Lane,  Canterbury. 

The  Deanery ,  Canterbury,  May  7,  1897.  F.  W.  Farrar. 


A  Question. 

Sir, — If  “  gros”  (masculine),  in  the  quotation  sent  to  the  Phar¬ 
maceutical  Journal  by  Mr.  Ashton,  is  equivalent  to  an  English 
drachm,  what  is  the  equivalent  of  “  grosse”  (feminine)  in  the  same 
quotation?  “From  which  it  would  appear  that  modern  English 
pharmacists,”  etc. - 

Biarritz,  May  10,  1897.  Enquirer  (94/9). 

Sweating  the  Dispenser. 

Sir, — In  reply  to  Anti-Sweater’s  letter  (p.  384),  the  only 
qualification  I  know  of,  except  those  I  mentioned,  that  the 
dispenser  can  obtain  without  an  apprenticeship  is  that  of 
Assistant  of  the  Apothecaries  Society,  and  I  was  not  aware  that 
the  Local  Government  Board  would  accept  that.  They  would  not 
three  years  ago.  I  have  not  the  slightest  idea  how  many 
of  the  118  dispensers  employed  in  the  poor  law  service  are 
egistered  chemists,  but  they  must  possess  some  recognised 


qualification.  As  to  my  ceasing  to  do  extra  work,  if  I  told  my 
Board  the  work  was  too  much  for  me,  they  would  very  soon  tell 
me  to  send  in  my  resignation  and  let  them  get  some  one  who  could 
do  it,  and  there  would  be  plenty  of  applicants  for  my  post.  I 
firmly  believe  the  case  quoted  as  to  “  how  the  work  is  done”  is  an, 
isolated  one.  I  perfectly  agree  with  the  remarks  on  page  319  of. 
the  Journal,  but  as  long  as  the  dispensers  hold  a  qualification  in 
accordance  with  the  Local  Government  Board’s  requirements,  the- 
regulations  for  keeping  open  shop  do  not  apply  to  the  case.^  The 
only  thing  to  be  done  is  to  get  the  Local  Government  Board  to- 
recognise  only  registered  chemists  as  dispensers. 

May  8,  1897.  Dispenser  (93/43). 

The  Proposed  New  Bye-Laws. 

Sir, — I  heartily  congratulate  the  Council  upon  the  general 
acceptance  given  by  the  trade  to  the  proposed  new  bye-laws, 
notwithstanding  the  extra  demand  made  thereby  upon  the  time.- 
as  well  as  the  purse  of  aspirants  to  pharmaceutical  honours. 
Believing,  as  I  do,  that  those  who  are  not  afraid  of  study,  but 
push  forward  to  their  full  qualification  as  pharmaceutical 
chemists,  will  not  in  the  long  run  begrudge  either  the  time  or 
expense  of  so  doing,  may  we  not  hope  that  as  the  educational 
status  of  those  thus  entering  the  business  becomes  recognised  by  the 
medical  profession  and  the  public,  it  will  be  found  also  that  their 
support,  now  too  often  directed  elsewhere,  will  be  transferred  to- 
the  legitimate  and  responsible  body  of  chemists.  I  do  the  more 
fully  endorse  the  proposed  increased  fees,  inasmuch  as  it 
coincides  to  a  very  considerable  extent  with  a  suggestion 
I  ventured  to  make  in  the  pages  of  the  Journal  many  years  since, 
and  I  hope  that  this  may  be  a  stepping  stone  to  the  further  suggestion 
I  then  made,  viz.,  that  the  increased  fees  should,  on  passing  the 
Major  examination,  cover  registration,  not  only  as  pharmaceutical 
chemists,  but  also  as  members  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society.  I 
believe  that  the  increased  interest  in  the  general  work  of  the 
Society  would  by  this  means  be  widely  extended,  and  an  encourage¬ 
ment  given  to  young  men  to  press  forward  to  the  higher  grade. 
The  payment  of  a  small  annual  registration  fee  by  every  chemist 
upon  the  Register,  as  has  been  suggested  recently,  appears  to  my 
mind  a  most  legitimate  source  of  revenue,  which  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society  has  a  right  to  make  in  order  to  cover  the  expense 
laid  upon  it  by  the  Legislature  in  the  preparation  of  the  compulsory 
official  annual  Register. 

Brighton,  May  10,  1897.  Edwin  B.  Vizer. 


INFORMATION  W ANTED. 

Hypnotism  and  Clairvoyancy. — A  correspondent  asks  for  the 
name  of  the  best  work  on  hypnotism  and  clairvoyancy  (Braidism  ?)y 
advanced  or  elementary. 

Chromo  Prints. — Can  any  reader  give  the  addresses  of  firms 
who  supply  the  small  coloured  pictures  that  are  used  to  ornament 
packed  goods  ?  They  are  similar  to  those  appearing  on  the  small 
boxes  of  wax  vestas  that  are  imported  from  the  Continent. 


CORRECTION. 

Council  Report. — Mr.  Alfred  Woods  Saunders  points  out  that 
his  first  name  was  wrongly  printed  “Alf reton”  in  the  list  of  those 
to  whom  diplomas  were  granted  at  last  week’s  meeting  of  the 
Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society.  The  list  was  printed  as 
officially  supplied  to  the  Journal. 


OBITUARY. 


Lumley.— On  April  15,  William  Thompson  Lumley,  Chemist 
and  Druggist,  Kirkbymoorside,  Yorks.  Aged  80. 

Hopkinson. — On  April  30,  Thomas  Hopkinson,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  Grantham.  Aged  72. 

Moore. — On  May  4,  John  Moore,  Chemist  anl  Druggist,  late  of 
Skipton.  Aged  55. 

Merson. — On  May  5,  William  Merson,  Chemist  and  Druggist, 
Paignton,  Devon.  Aged  87. 


COMMUNICATION S,  LETTERS, etc., have  been  received  from 

Messrs.  Bacon,  Barclay,  Bell,  Bennett,  Cocks,  Connan,  Conroy,  Critchley,  Cupit, 
Currie,  Dunning,  Emery,  Evans,  Flatters,  Forret,  Forshaw,  Francis,  Gadd,  Gart- 
side,  Gill,  Goodall,  Haigh,  Hansen,  Hicks,  Higgs,  Hill,  Howlett,  Jesper, 
Johnson,  Line,  Longless,  Makins,  Marshall,  Owen,  Penistan,  Penman,  Pollard,, 
Reynolds  Ridlington,  Rogerson,  Saunders,  Seely,  Smith,  Snow,  Stanley,  Vizer. 

[Numerous  Answers  to  Queries  are  held  over.] 


Mat  22,  1897.] 


IMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


429 


*S>  / 


BENEY0LBNT  Fl)ND  FESTIVAL  DINNER. 

\21  MAY  m  -S 


\  \  .  /  A 

Mr.\W ALT^It y6lLLS,  President,  in  the  Chair. 


HE  Festival  Dinner  in  aid  of  the  Benevolent  Fund, 
which  took  place  on  Tuesday  evening  at  the  Hotel 
Cecil,  was  in  every  way  highly  successful.  Upwards 
of  300  members  and  friends  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  were  assembled  in  the  good  cause.  The 
amount  of  donations  announced  exceeded  the  most  favourable 
anticipations.  The  dinner  was  well  served,  the  speeches  were  not 
too  long,  and  the  pleasure  of  the  evening  was  greatly  enhanced  by 
the  admirable  vocal  music  of  the  Meister  Glee  Singers. 

The  guests  were  arranged  at  a  cross  table,  presided  over  by  the 
President,  and  seven  spur  tables,  presided  over  by  Messrs.  G.  S. 
Taylor,  E.  N.  Butt,  R.  Hampson  (Treasurer),  John  Harrison 
(Vice-President),  Charles  Umney,  W.  Martindale,  and  C.  B. 
Allen.  Amongst  those  present  were  the  following  : — 
W.  Arkinstall,  H.  R.  Arnold,  J.  J.  Arrow,  S.  R.  Atkins,  A. 
Proctor  Atkinson,  L.  Atkinson,  Dr.  J.  Attfield,  H.  F.  Austin, 
Rev.  G.  Baetz,  R.  R.  Bainbridge,  A.  Baiss,  J.  A.  Ball, 

F.  Bascombe,  H.  Bate,  T.  H.  Bateman,  J.  Bates,  T.  Bate¬ 
son,  J.  W.  Bessell,  F.  E.  Bilson,  H.  C.  Birch,  F.  C.  J.  Bird,  Stan¬ 
ley  Bird,  C.  A.  Blake,  H.  Bolton,  jun.,  H.  N.  Bolton,  A.  Bottle, 

I.  Bourdas,  G.  S.  Boutall,  J.  W.  Bowen,  A.  Boyes,  F.  W.  Branson, 

R.  Bremridge  (Secretary),  R.  Harding  Bremridge,  T.  Brewis, 

G.  E.  Bridge,  A.  J.  Brown,  C.  J.  G.  Bunker,  H.  T.  Butler, 

J.  Butterworth,  D.  Calder,  J.  F.  Cantwell,  M.  Carteighe,  R.  W. 
Carter,  J.  W.  Castle,  J.  H.  Chaplin,  A.  J.  Chater,  J.  A.  Clark, 
J.  Clarke,  H.  Collier,  A.  Cooper,  A.  J.  B.  Cooper,  J.  Cooper, 
J.  A.  Cope,  H.  Cracknell,  F.  Cresswell,  H.  Davenport,  T.  Davies, 
T.  H.  Dewey,  R.  J.  Dodd,  Dr.  Dowding,  F.  Durant,  W.  B.  Dyson, 
G.  Eade,  E.  J.  Eastes,  —  Elkington,  J.  G.  Everett,  J.  Laidlaw 
Ewing  (Chairman  of  Executive,  N.B.  Branch),  —  Fitzgerald, 
A.  Flack,  J.  Floyd,  C.  W.  L.  Flux,  T.  G.  Forshaw,  J.  Foster, 

G.  Bult  Francis,  W.  H.  Francis,  Dr.  Frankish,  J.  H.  Frost, 
Dr.  A.  W.  George,  W.  S.  Glyn-Jones,  G.  Goldfinch,  W.  L.  Golds¬ 
worthy,  W.  H.  Gooch,  T.  Green,  Professor  H.  G.  Greenish, 
T.  Greenish,  W.  Gregory,  E.  H.  Grimwade,  Hon.  S.  F.  Grim- 
wade,  N.  M.  Grose,  W.  F.  Gulliver,  F.  Guy,  F.  W.  Hamilton, 

S.  B.  Hardcastle,  J.  F.  Harrington,  R.  K.  Harvey,  R.  M.  Harvey, 
J.  H.  Heap,  K.  Hebbeler, — Hertz,  J.  Hewlett,  E.  J.  Hill,  J.  Ruther¬ 
ford  Hill,  Dr.  R.  Hills,  C.  Hodgkinson,  G.  A.  Hodgkinson, 
J.  Holding,  T.  C.  Holford  and  Friend,  E.  M.  Holmes  (Curator), 
W.  M.  Holmes,  W.  King  Hopkin,  F.  G.  Howe,  C.  T.  Howse, 
E.  A.  Hugill  and  Friend,  J.  H.  Hugill,  J.  Humphrey, 

H.  0.  Huskisson,  J.  C.  Hyslop,  T.  H.  W.  Idris,  J.  Ince,  S. 
Ingall,  Adpar  Jones,  G.  E.  Jones,  N.  C.  Jones,  H.  Kemp, 
G.  A.  Lansdown,  Dr.  A.  Lapworth,  Dr.  H.  Leins,  R.  Leng,  F.  H. 
Lescher,  D.  L.  Lewis,  J.  E.  Lidwell,  W.  Lincolne,  J.  Lloyd 
and  Friend,  W.  L.  Longstaff,  J.  Lorimer,  E.  W.  Lucas, 
P.  MacEwan,  E.  R.  Marsh,  J.  G.  Massey,  Charles  Martin, 

T.  C.  W.  Martin,  J.  H.  Mathews,  A.  J.  Mayjes,  H.  Moon,  C. 
Morley,  A.  Morson  and  Friend,  T.  P.  Morson,  H.  Moss,  J.  Moss, 
W.  A.  H.  Naylor,  J.  Neale,  G.  T.  W.  Newsholme,  T.  Nicholls, 
V.  Norman,  R.  S.  Page,  R.  Pain,  C.  J.  Park,  W.  Parsons, 
Dr.  B.  H.  Paul,  W.  Peacock,  E.  Peck,  D.  Peters,  E.  Pettinger, 
A.  J.  Philips,  W.  J.  Pinchen,  T.  E.  Polley,  Dr.  W.  G.  Potter,  Major 

Vol.  LVHI.  (Fourth  Series,  Vol.  IV.).  No.  1404. 


A.  C.  Preston,  C.  Pretty,  Col.  Clifford  Probyn,  W.  R.  Pryke,  F. 
Ransom,  D.  Rees,  W.  I.  Richardson,  J.  Robbins,  W.  Roberts, 
C.  E.  Robinson,  J.  Robinson,  R.  A.  Robinson,  W.  P.  Robinson, 
F.  A.  Rogers,  W.  J.  Rogerson,  H.  W.  Royle,  C.  Rundle,  Ryman, 
A.  L.  Savory,  A.  Saxlehner,  W.  C.  Sayers,  John  Selley,  A.  Shillcock. 
H.  D.  Simpson  (Mayor  of  Louth),  Adams  Smith,  Rev.  A.  0.  Smith, 
C.  B.  Smith,  P.  J.  Smith,  A.  H.  Solomon,  S.  L.  Stacey,  E.  B. 
Stamp,  J.  C.  Stead,  G.  G.  Stickland,  W.  H.  Stickland,  E.  H. 
Storey,  F.  Sutton,  Dr.  C.  Symes,  A.  E.  Tanner,  J.  W.  Taplin,  R. 
Taubman,  G.  S.  Taylor,  S.  Thompson,  J.  J.  Thorn, 
T.  Tickle,  F.  W.  Truman,  J.  C.  Umney,  A.  C.  Vallance,  H. 
Walker,  W.  P.  Want,  J.  S.  Ward,  A.  W.  Waring,  F.  W. 
Warren,  W.  Warren,  F.  W.  Warrick,  A.  J.  Watson,  C.  Webb, 
H.  E.  Webb,  H.  S.  Wellcome,  S.  J.  Weston,  T.  J.  Whiffen, 
W.  G.  Whiffen,  R.  L.  Whigham,  E.  White,  Dr.  Percival 
White,  J.  Harrop  White,  W.  Whitehead,  H.  Wiggins,  A. 
Wigginton,  Dr.  H.  Wilbe,  W.  W.  Will,  H.  Williams,  W.  Lloyd 
Williams,  G.  S.  V.  Wills,  A.  J.  Wing,  J.  A.  Wink,  E.  P.  Wolff, 
Hermann  Woolley,  W.  Woosnam,  A.  C.  Wootton,  G.  W.  Worfolk, 
J.  R.  Wretts,  A.  Wright,  H.  C.  Wright,  R.  Wright,  and  J.  Rymer 
Young. 

Thetoastsof  “The  Queen”and  “The  Prince  and  Princess  of  Wales 
and  the  rest  of  the  Royal  Family  ”  having  been  duly  proposed  and 
enthusiastically  received,  the  President  gracefully  alluding  to  the 
Diamond  Jubilee  in  regard  to  the  first  toast,  and  in  the  second  to 
the  benevolent  efforts  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  in  connection  with 
the  London  hospitals, 

The  President  again  rose,  and  said  :  The  toast— 

“Prosperity  to  the  Benevolent  Fund” 

is  undoubtedly  the  toast  of  the  evening,  and  is  one  which  will  be 
received  by  this  company  with  the  utmost  sympathy,  even  though 
the  speaker  who  offers  it  for  your  acceptance  lacks  the  eloquence 
which  the  subject  deserves.  Perhaps  the  first  thought  that  arises 
in  our  minds  is  one  of  regret  that  there  should  be  necessity  for 
such  a  Fund,  and  if  we  could  ensure  the  realisation  of  our  wishes, 
we  might  prefer  an  alternative  toast,  “Success  to  all  Chemists.” 
General  experience,  however,  reminds  us  that  failure  is  not 
peculiar  to  our  calling,  and  that  in  every  profession  and  trade 
there  are  those  who  through  misfortune,  want  of  ability,  or  want 
of  wisdom,  are  unsuccessful,  and  need  for  themselves  or  for  their 
families  a  helping  hand.  I  think  it  will  be  generally  admitted 
that  in  all  such  cases,  when  the  circumstances  of  relatives  and 
personal  friends  do  not  make  it  possible  for  assistance  to  be  sought 
in  that  direction,  it  is  the  duty  as  well  as  the  privilege  of  those  who 
follow  the  same  occupation  to  furnish  the  help  that  is  required. 
And  there  is  a  bright  side  that  we  must  not  overlook,  and  one 
which  I  should  like  to  emphasise  on  the  present  occasion.  It  is 
this,  that  the  need  for  such  a  Fund  calls  forth  our  sympathies  and 
supplies  a  theme  which  unites  us  more  closely  together  than  any 
other  of  our  common  interests ;  and  we  would  not  willingly 
dispense  with  anything  which  constantly  reminds  us  that  “we  are 
brethren.”  For  brethren  we  are,  in  spite  of  the  fierce  competition 


430 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  22,  1897 


of  modern  commercial  life,  a  competition  which  promises  to 
become  more  extreme  as  time  goes  on  and  population  increases. 
Well  is  it  that  we  should  in  every  way  endeavour  to  encourage  a 
better  preparation  for  life’s  battle  in  all  who  are  entering  our 
calling  ;  well  is  it  that  we  should  insist  upon  wider  general 
knowledge  and  sounder  technical  training  ;  still,  there  will  be  in 
the  future,  as  there  have  been  in  the  past,  failures,  calling  for  the 
assistance  which  our  Benevolent  Fund  was  established  to  render. 
I  feel  that  I  am  addressing  a  very  sympathetic  audience.  I  know 
that  all  present  are  friends  and  supporters  of  the  Fund,  and  that 
there  is  no  need  to  speak  at  length  about  the  methods  of 
its  administration  and  the  good  work  it  has  accomplished. 
But  it  is  a  fact  of  common  knowledge  that  the  names  of  the  larger 
proportion  of  registered  persons  are  still  absent  from  the  list  of 
donors  and  subscribers,  and  it  is  to  these  that  I  would  make  a 
special  appeal  for  co-operation.  How  is  it  that  so  many  hold  aloof 
in  this  matter?  It  cannot  be  on  account  of  the  cost  of  administra¬ 
tion,  for  I  venture  to  affirm  that  there  is  no  fund  which  is 
distributed  with  less  deduction  for  such  expenses.  When  you 
consider  that  if  you  give  £1  towards  this  Fund,  something  like 
19s.  9 d.  gets  to  the  person  who  needs  it,  I  think  it  says  a  great 
deal  for  the  way  in  which  it  is  managed.  It  cannot  be  because 
the  benefits  of  the  Fund  are  confined  to  a  too  limited  area, 
for  help  is  extended  in  the  most  catholic  spirit,  alike  to  subscribers 
and  non-subscribers,  to  members  of  the  Society,  and  those  un¬ 
connected  with  it.  It  cannot  be  because  there  is  ignorance  as  to  the 
existence  of  the  Fund,  for  to  every  one  on  the  Register  informa¬ 
tion  respecting  it  is  frequently  supplied,  and  personal  appeals  are 
constantly  made  by  our  Local  Secretaries  and  others.  Is  it  possible 
that  some  of  our  friends  still  think  that  by  subscribing  to  the 
Fund  they  are  helping  to  support  a  society  with  the 
general  aims  of  which  they  are  not  in  sympathy  ? 
If  so  I  would  ask  them  all  in  earnestness  to  divest  themselves  of 
this  idea,  and  realise  that  the  Fund  exists  for  the  benefit  of  all 
registered  persons,  and  that  every  case  of  necessity  receives  the 
most  sympathetic  consideration.  The  subscriptions  and  donations 
of  the  more  wealthy  members  of  our  calling  are  very  acceptable, 
but  the  small  gifts  of  the  less  well-to-do  are  valuable  too,  not  only 
because  they  add  to  the  amount  available  for  distribution,  but 
also  because  they  furnish  a  gratifying  indication  of  a  personal 
interest  in  the  furtherance  of  an  object  which  should  command 
the  sympathy  of  all.  As  you  are  all  aware,  the  Benevolent  Fund 
was  founded  more  than  fifty  years  ago,  and  relief  is  given  either 
in  the  form  of  annuities  or  as  casual  grants.  For  the  former  over 
£2000  is  now  annually  required,  and  this  considerable  sum  is  more 
than  double  the  amount  derived  from  interest  on  invested  capital. 
The  remainder,  together  with  all  that  is  needed  to  furnish 
the  casual  grants,  must  be  supplied  by  subscriptions.  These 
casual  grants  are  given  after  full  consideration  of  each  case 
by  the  Committee,  and  often  enable  persons  to  tide  over 
periods  of  distress  or  illness  with  good  permanent  results. 
As  regards  the  candidates  for  annuities  it  is  only  necessary  to  read 
the  short  accounts  of  their  age  and  circumstances  as  furnished  on 
the  voting  papers  to  be  assured  of  their  extreme  and  painful  need 
of  assistance.  The  Council  is  constantly  receiving  grateful  letters 
of  acknowledgment  from  those  whose  last  years  are  made  more 
endurable  by  these  annual  grants.  A  few  details  respecting  the 
Fund  may  prove  of  interest.  Since  1868  the  large  sum  of  £46,800 
has  been  distributed — £33,554  in  the  form  of  annuities,  and  £13,246 
as  casual  grants.  In  1868  the  annuities  amounted  to  £190  only, 
and  the  casual  grants  to  £121.  Since  that  year  there  has  been  a 
steady  advance,  culminating  last  year  in  £2232  for  annuities  and 
£563  for  casual'grants.  Subscriptions  during  the  same  period  have 


risen  from  £551  to  £1739,  and  interest  on  investments  from 
£274  to  £1051.  Last  year  the  total  amount  given  was  £2795, 
and  the  total  income  was  £2790 — £5  less  than  was  expended. 
Since  the  establishment  of  the  Fund  there  have  been  130  annuitants, 
and  at  the  present  time  there  are  45,  nearly  all  of  whom  receive  an 
income  of  £50.  This  is  the  fifth  Festival  Dinner  at  which  special 
efforts  are  made  in  support  of  the  Fund.  Later  I  will  ask  the 
Secretary  to  be  good  enough  to  read  the  list  of  the  larger  dona- 
ions  received  on  the  present  occasion.  To  all  who  contribute,  our 
thanks  are  due — and  I  mention  with  gratitude  the  efforts  on 
behalf  of  the  Fund  made  by  our  Local  Secretaries  and  others. 
Special  efforts  have  been  made  at  Glasgow,  Liverpool, 
Nottingham,  Northwich,  and  other  centres  —  and  particu¬ 
larly  at  Manchester,  where  our  indefatigable  Secretary,  Mr. 
Kemp,  has  been  able  to  collect  no  less  a  sum  than  £114. 
Now,  gentlemen,  I  think  I  have  detained  you  sufficiently  long. 
You  all  know  what  good  work  this  Benevolent  Fund  is  doing,  and 
I  am  quite  sure  that  you  wish  that  it  may  continue  to  do  that 
good  work,  and  that  it  may  always  have  plenty  of  money  to  do  it, 
if  that  money  is  required.  There  are  many  subjects  on  which  we 
have  differences  of  opinion,  whether  in  ordinary  politics  or  in 
pharmaceutical  politics,  but  I  am  sure  we  are  all  of  one  mind  in 
this  matter,  and  desire  to  help  those  of  our  brethren  who  are  in 
trouble  and  distress.  We  may  differ  on  many  things,  but  we  are 
all  at  one  in  the  cause  of  charity. 

In  faith  and  hope  the  world  will  disagree, 

But  all  mankind’s  concern  is  charity  : 

All  must  be  false  that  thwart  this  one  great  end, 

And  all  of  God,  that  bless  mankind  or  mend. 

Mr.  Martindale  next  proposed  the  toast  of 

“  The  North  British  Branch,” 
referring  to  the  prudence  and  foresight  with  which  the  affairs  of 
the  Society  in  Edinburgh  were  managed  by  the  Executive,  and 
coupling  with  the  toast  the  name  of  Mr.  J.  Laidlaw  Ewing,  the 
Chairman,  on  whom  he  thought  had  fallen  the  mantle  of  the  late 
John  Mackay. 

Mr.  J.  Laidlaw  Ewing,  in  response,  said  the  North  British 
Branch  included  so  many  individuals  and  bodies  that  if  he  were  to 
attempt  to  speak  for  them  all  he  would  have  to  detain  the  company 
for  an  inordinate  length  of  time.  With  regard  to  the  Executive 
over  which  he  had  the  honour  to  preside,  he  might  say  that  it  was 
something  like  the  Council  in  London,  only  it  had  the  semblance 
of  authority  without  the  reality,  but  at  the  same  time  it  escaped 
the  fierce  light  of  criticism  which  beat  on  the  more  august 
body  in  London.  Having  briefly  referred  to  the  Board 
of  Examiners  in  Scotland,  and  the  regret  they  felt 
at  having  to  send  so  many  candidates  empty  away, 
he  alluded  to  the  efforts  of  the  Local  Secretaries  in  Scotland  on 
behalf  of  the  Fund,  which  they  considered  not  only  a  duty,  but  a 
privilege.  It  was  sometimes  said  that  there  were  very  few  Scotch¬ 
men  on  the  list  of  applicants  ;  if  so,  it  was  probably  due  to  the  fact 
that  one  trait  in  their  character  was  “to  keep  a  close  grip  on  the 
bawbees  ”  ;  but  at  any  rate,  they  were  all  members  of  one  Society, 
and  ought  all  to  unite  in  the  practice  of  one  of  the  greatest  of 
human  virtues,  a  virtue  which  was  practically  unknown  to  the 
great  nations  of  antiquity,  that  charity' which  was  twice  blessed — 
blessing  him  who  gave  and  him  who  received. 

The  Vice-President  next  proposed  the  toast  of 

“The  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference.” 

Probably  most  present  belonged  to  that  body,  but  if  there  were 
any  who  did  not  he  should  advise  them  to  reconsider  their  position, 
and  join  a  body  which  was  doing  such  remarkably  good  work  for 


May  22,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


431 


pharmacy  in  Great  Britain.  He  was  quite  sure  there  was  need  of 
some  organisation  to  promote  better  union  among  pharmacists,  for 
he  could  well  remember  in  his  own  town  how  difficult  they  found 
it  to  secure  unity  of  action  on  matters  affecting  their  common 
interests.  As  a  former  President  used  to  say,  “  they  were  like  a 
rope  of  sand.”  He  was  happy  to  think,  however,  that  through  the 
exertions  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  assisted  by  the  Con¬ 
ference,  they  were  getting  a  little  more  united,  which  was  a 
benefit,  not  only  to  those  who  joined  the  body,  but  to  all  concerned. 
He  looked  upon  the  Conference  as  very  largely  the  handmaid  of 
the  Society  in  this  respect.  The  Society  was  restricted  by  Act  of 
Parliament,  but  the  Conference  was  a  perfectly  voluntary  body, 
and  could  take  up  work  which  was  beyond  the  scope  of  the  Society, 
and  he  believed  could  do  it  well.  During  the  present  year  they 
were  to  meet  in  the  second  city  of  the  Empire  under  the  presi¬ 
dency  of  Dr.  Symes,  and  he  hoped  and  believed  it  would  be  a  more 
successful  gathering  than  any  which  had  yet  been  held. 

Dr.  Symes,  in  reply,  said  for  many  years  he  had  advocated  that 
every  member  of  the  craft  should  be  a  member  of  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society,  and  that  evening  he  wished  to  add  that  he  should 
also  be  a  member  of  the  Conference.  The  esteem  in  which  the 
Conference  was  held  was  evident  from  the  cordiality  with  which 
the  toast  had  been  received.  Still,  they  were  occasionally  met 
with  the  old  question  of  cui  bono  ?  but  the  answer,  he  thought,  was 
quite  easy.  They  should  consider  the  social  and  intellectual 
advantages  which  accrued  from  the  meetings,  and  also  the  fact 
that  those  who  could  not  attend  received  a  valuable  Year  Book, 
which  contained  matter  of  interest  and  importance  to  him  in  his 
daily  life  which  far  exceeded  the  small  annual  subscription,  and 
was  always  useful  to  anyone  who  was  making  his  living  in  phar¬ 
macy.  It  might  be  said  that  in  these  days  of  competition  it  was 
impossible  to  live  by  pure  pharmacy,  but  he  contended  that  it  was 
out  of  pharmacy  that  a  man  did  make  his  living.  If  such 
were  the  case  it  was  evident  that  even  from  a  selfish  point  of 
view  the  opportunity  should  not  be  lost  of  joining  a  body 
and  assisting  a  movement  which  helped  to  develop  the  art  in 
which  they  were  all  interested. 

Mr.  Atkins  next  proposed  the  toast  of 

“  The  Visitors.” 

He  said  this  year  there  were  fewer  visitors  than  usual,  this  being  a 
Decennial  Dinner  for  the  express  purpose  of  raising  funds  for  the 
Benevolent  Fund,  and,  therefore,  men  of  eminence  outside  their 
own  ranks  had  not  as  usual  been  invited.  There  were,  however, 
this  year  an  enormous  number  of  visitors  in  England  from  all  parts 
of  the  world  who  came  to  take  part  in  our  rejoicings,  and  to  see 
the  priceless  institutions  of  this  little  island  which  had  broadened 
down  from  precedent  to  precedent  until  those  who  lived  in  it  were 
thankful  and  proud  of  their  position.  Both  in  literature  and  in 
science  they  could  show  an  unparalleled  development  in  the 
history  of  the  world,  but  above  all  he  trusted  that  our  visitors 
from  abroad  would  find  that  characteristic  which  he  thought 
might  justly  be  claimed  by  England,  that  righteousness  which 
exalted  a  nation.  He  coupled  with  the  toast  the  name  of  the  Hon. 
F.  S.  Grimwade,  a  Member  of  the  Upper  Chamber  of  the  Legisla¬ 
tive  Council  of  Victoria,  whose  father  he  knew  years  ago,  and 
whose  name  had  stood  high  for  two  or  three  generations,  both 
socially  and  commercially. 

The  Hon.  F.  S.  Grimwade  felt  it  a  great  privilege  to  be  present 
on  that  occasion.  Some  sixty  years  ago  he  remembered  being 
introduced  by  his  father  to  Jacob  Bell,  the  prince  of  pharmacists, 
and  he  was  very  proud  to  be  seated  by  the  side  of  the  present 
President  of  the  Society,  who  was  the  head  of  the  historic  firm  of 


Jacob  Bell  and  Co.  When  he  was  over  here  twelve  years  ago,  Mr. 
Carteighe,  the  then  President,  received  him  with  great  hospitality, 
and  showed  him  over  the  School  of  Pharmacy  in  Bloomsbury 
Square.  He  congratulated  the  Society  on  the  admirable  School, 
Museum,  and  Library  which  it  possessed,  and  said  he  always  felt 
a  great  confidence  when  as  a  wholesale  man  he  was  sometimes 
asked  to  send  assistants  to  take  up  positions  2000  or  3000  miles 
away  in  being  able  to  send  a  man  who  had  studied  at 
that  School  or  passed  the  examinations  of  the  Society. 
Not  only  that,  but  he  had  sent  both  his  sons  there  to  obtain  a 
thorough  training  in  pharmacy,  and  he  was  glad  to  say  they  had 
now  been  his  partners  for  some  years,  and  were  giving  a  very  good 
account  of  themselves  and  the  training  they  had  in  England. 
Although  he  had  lived  in  Australia  two-thirds  of  his  life,  and  his 
wife,  children,  and  grandchildren  were  all  Australian  born,  he  still 
felt  it  was  the  proudest  distinction  that  he  was  a  Britisher.  Im¬ 
mense  progress  had  been  made  during  the  sixty  years  of  Her 
Majesty’s  glorious  reign,  but  in  no  respect  had  the  advance 
been  greater  than  in  pharmacy.  The  ranks  of  pharmacy  now 
contained  many  men  distinguished  in  science,  highly-educated 
gentlemen  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  and  he  only  hoped  as  time 
went  on  pharmacists  would  be  true  to  themselves  and  respect 
their  profession.  He  hoped  the  Society  would  continue  to  prosper, 
and  prove  even  more  useful  in  the  future  than  it  had  in  the  past. 

Amount  Received  for  the  Benevolent  Fund. 

The  Secretary,  at  this  stage  of  the  proceedings,  read  out  the  list 
of  donations  and  subscriptions  (see  pp.  451-452),  and  said  the  total 
amount  received  or  promised  was  £1925  9s. ,  only  £75  short  of  £2000. 

The  President,  amidst  great  enthusiasm,  announced  that  his 
friend,  Col.  Clifford  Probyn,  had  kindly  intimated  to  him  that  he 
would  increase  his  donation  from  10  guineas  to  100  guineas,  in 
order  that  the  2000  guineas  might  be  made  up. 

Mr.  Brown,  of-Greenwich,  also  announced  that  he  would  increase 
his  donation  from  5  guineas  to  10  guineas. 

Mr.  A.  L.  Savory  next  proposed  the  concluding  toast, 

“The  Health  of  the  President.” 

He  said  no  one  who  was  not  a  member  of  the  Council  could1., 
appreciate  the  enormous  amount  of  hard  work  which  fell  upon  the 
shoulders  of  the  gentleman  who  held  that  office.  It  was  by  no  means  * 
a  sinecure,  and  he  was  sure  they  would  all  welcome  Mr.  Walter 
Hills  in  his  present  position.  He  had  all  the  qualifications 
needed  for  a  President,  good  sense,  good  judgment,  patience 
and  tact,  and  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  welfare 
of  the  Society.  They  would  all  wish  him  the  same  robust  health 
which  was  possessed  by  their  past  President,  Mr.  Carteighe,  and 
as  successful  and  long  a  tenure  of  office. 

The  President,  in  responding,  said  Mr.  Grimwade  told  him  there 
was  a  sort  of  bye-word  in  Victoria  that  the  Scotchman  got  all  the; 
money,  the  Irishman  had  all  the  billets,  and  the  Englishman  had  to 
do  all  the  work,  and  with  regard  to  his  predecessor,  Mr.  Carteighe, 
he  claimed  to  have  some  Irish  blood,  and,  therefore,  possibly  that 
was  why  he  got  the  billet  for  fourteen  years,  but  he  was  bound  to  say 
that  he  had  also  done  an  immense  amount  of  work.  At  the  close 
of  his  first  year  of  office  he  must  acknowledge  how  much  he  was 
indebted  to  his  predecessor  for  the  help  he  had  rendered  him,  as, 
he  was  also  to  the  Secretary  and  all  the  senior  members  of  the, 
staff.  He  was  glad  they  had  had  such  a  successful  evening.  The 
Fund  had  profited  by  a  record  amount,  and  they  might  all  feel 
pleased  at  the  result.  He  did  not  propose  to  speak  about  pharma-, 
ceutical  politics,  as  he  should  have  an  opportunity  of  saying  a  few 
words  about  them  on  the  following  day.  He  thoroughly  appre¬ 
ciated  the  cordial  way  in  which  he  had  been  received. 


432 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  22,  1897 


PHARMACEUTICAL  SOCIETY. 

MEETING  OF  THE  COUNCIL. 

WEDNESDA  Y,  MA  Y  19,  1897. 

Present  : 

Mr.  Walter  Hills,  President. 

Mr.  John  Harrison,  Vice-President. 

Messrs.  Allen,  Atkins,  Bateson,  Bottle,  Carteighe,  Cross,  Gost- 
ling,  Grose,  Hampson,  Martindale,  Newsholme,  Park,  Savory, 
Southall,  Symes,  and  Young. 

Several  members  were  restored  to  their  former  position  on  the 
payment  of  the  current  year’s  subscription  and  a  nominal  fine. 
The_Council  then  adjourned  to  the  Annual  General  Meeting. 


THE  ANNUAL  MEETING. 


The  President  took  the  chair  at  12  o’clock,  and  the  Secretary  read 
the  notice  convening  the  meeting.  The  Annual  Report  and  accounts 
were  agreed  to  be  taken  as  read. 

The  Chairman  said :  It  has  been  the  custom  for  many  years 
at  these  meetings  for  the  President  to  move  the  adoption  of  the 
annual  report.  The  arrangement  has  the  great  advantage  of 
giving  him,  as  the  mouthpiece  of  the  Council,  the  opportunity  of 
filling  in  details  between  the  lines  of  the  report,  with  the  result 
that  time  is  often  saved  in  the  subsequent  discussion.  I  have  now 
attended  the  annual  meetings  for  over  twenty  years,  and  I  well 
remember  how,  under  the  old  arrangement,  the  adoption  of  the 
report  was  moved  and  seconded  by  prominent  and  eloquent 
members  not  on  the  Council.  Perhaps  it  is  natural  for  me,  on  this 
my  first  appearance  in  the  capacity  of  President  at  an  annual 
meeting,  to  refer  for  a  moment  to  one  such  occasion,  the  annual 
meeting  of  1874 — the  first  over  which  my  late  uncle  presided.  I 
feel  that  I  have  some  excuse  for  directing  your  attention  for  a 
moment  or  two  to  a  meeting  held  twenty -three  years  ago,  because 
the  subject  of  education,  which  I  consider  to  be  the  keynote  of  the 
report  now  presented  to  you,  was  also  very  prominent  on  that 
occasion.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  towards  the  end  of  the 
meeting  Mr.  Atkins,  who  was  not  then  a  member  of  Council,  and 
who  had  previously  moved  the  adoption  of  the  report,  moved  : — 

“  That  the  Preliminary  examinations  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great 

Britain  be  discontinued  after  the  year  1876,  and  that  the  certificates  of 

legally  constituted  examining  bodies  be  accepted  in  lieu  thereof.” 

This  motion  was  not  put  to  the  meeting,  but  a  short  discussion 
ensued,  for  the  subject  was  at  that  time  receiving  considerable 
attention.  Although  the  transference  of  the  conduct  of  the  ex¬ 
amination  to  the  College  of  Preceptors  was  made  two  years  later, 
it  has  been  left  for  the  present  Council  to  endorse  in  the  amended 
bye-laws  the  motion  tentatively  put  forward  at  that  meeting. 
The  report  of  the  Council  submitted  to  the  same  meeting  re¬ 
ferred  at  length  to  the  important  changes  in  the  conduct  of  the 
School  of  Pharmacy  carried  out  during  the  previous  year.  These 
changes  were,  broadly,  the  severance  of  the  intimate  connection 
which  had  hitherto  existed  between  the  Council  and  the  School, 
and  the  commencement  of  shorter  courses  of  instruction.  In  both 
these  particulars  the  older  arrangements  have  recently  been 
revived,  with  modifications,  by  the  present  Council.  And  no  w, 
gentlemen,  I  propose  to  say  a  few  words  with  reference  to  some  of 
the  paragraphs  in  the  Report  now  before  you. 

The  Financial  Position. 

I  must  confess  that  I  am  not  at  all  depressed  as  to  the  financial 
position  of  the  Society,  about  which  much  has  been  written  lately. 

I  am  not  one  of  those  who  think  that  the  primary  object  of  a  Council 
such  as  ours  should  be  to  save  money  and  make  investments  for 
the  benefit  of  posterity.  In  my  opinion  the  first  aim  should  be  to 
spend  as  much  as  is  available  on  all  objects  which  are  desirable  or 
beneficial  to  the  whole  body.  You  are  all  aware  that  during  the 
last  few  years  a  considerable  portion  of  our  income  and  some  of 
our  invested  capital  has  been  spent  both  here  and  in  Edinburgh 
for  the  purchase  of  premises  and  for  the  erection  and  equipment 
of  buildings  better  adapted  for  examination  and  other  purposes 
than  had  previously  been  available.  The  money  for  this,  as  well 
as  for  the  provision  of  new  offices,  Council  and  Committee  rooms, 
ttc. ,  in  London,  has,  I  think,  been  wisely  spent.  It  has  enabled 


us  to  transact  our  business  with  greater  convenience  than 
before,  and  has  afforded  more  room  in  the  older  buildings 
for  other  important  and  growing  departments  of  our  work. 
The  report  says  that  “  it  is  satisfactory  to  note  that  the  anticipa¬ 
tions  of  the  Council  with  reference  to  the  reduction  of  the  balance 
on  the  Journal  account  have  been  well  founded,  and  it  is  confidently 
hoped  that  the  improvement  will  be  continued.”  You  will  notice 
that  this  balance,  which,  exclusive  of  postage,  was  in  1894  £1471, 
and  in  1895  £2761,  has  in  1896  been  reduced  to  £2229,  and  I  have 
no  hesitation  in  saying  that  I  believe  that  at  the  end  of  1897  there 
will  be  a  further  considerable  reduction.  I  may  mention  paren¬ 
thetically  that  the  specially  large  sum  debited  to  the  Journal  in  the 

1895  account  was  fully  explained  twelve  months  ago  by  my  pre¬ 
decessor,  whose  hopeful  anticipations  on  that  occasion  with  regard 
to  the  Journal  have  been  since  fully  realised.  I  think  you  will 
agree  with  me  that  our  Journal  is  now  quite  up-to-date,  and  sup¬ 
plies  a  large  amount  of  useful  information  to  its  readers.  I  am 
glad  to  know  that  in  its  present  form  it  is  much  appreciated  and 
widely  read,  with  a  corresponding  value  both  to  advertisers  and  to 
proprietors.  Whilst  speaking  of  the  J ournal,  I  should  like  to  say 
that,  in  estimating  the  cost  at  which  it  is  supplied  to  each  member, 
it  is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind  that  about  400  copies  are  given  away 
weekly  to  honorary  and  corresponding  members,  public  institu¬ 
tions,  etc.  In  this  way  the  Society  is  doing  public  work  by  pro¬ 
moting  the  diffusion,  amongst  the  intelligent  classes  of  the  commu¬ 
nity,  of  knowledge  respecting  the  history  and  prospects  of  pharmacy. 
Too  much  importance  must  not  be  attached  to  the  figures  relating 
to  fees  and  the  expenditure  in  connection  with  the  School,  because 
they  cover  a  time  of  transition,  and  therefore  are  somewhat 
deceptive.  A  large  proportion  of  the  students’  fees  received  in 

1896  will  be  paid  out  during  this  .year,  but  I  believe  that  the  future 
cost  to  the  Society  of  the  School  and  the  Research  Department, 
under  present  arrangements,  will  be  considerably  less  than  during 
the  last  few  years.  As  regards  the  examinations  I  have  nothing 
special  to  say,  except  a  word  of  regret  that  such  a  large  proportion 
of  candidates  failed  to  satisfy  the  examiners.  Should  our  amended 
bye-laws  come  into  operation,  I  think  the  percentage  of  failures 
will  be  reduced. 

The  Council  and  the  School. 

I  propose  to  speak  later  about  the  amended  bye-laws, 
and  I  therefore  pass  on  to  the  paragraph  headed  “Council.” 
It  seems  strange,  no  doubt,  to  you,  gentlemen,  as  it  certainly 
does  to  me,  that  Mr.  Carteighe  is  not  occupying  this  chair 
to-day.  At  fourteen  consecutive  annual  meetings  he  has  pre¬ 
sided,  and  for  fourteen  years  he  has  ungrudgingly  devoted  his  time 
and  abilities  as  President  to  the  welfare  of  the  Society.  Our 
special  thanks  are  due  to  him  for  this,  among  other  proofs,  of  his 
loyalty  and  devotion  to  our  corporate  interests.  Mr.  Schaeht’s 
death  so  soon  after  his  retirement  from  the  Council  was  a  matter 
of  the  profoundest  regret  to  his  colleagues  and  friends. 
Having  regard  to  the  life,  work,  and'  character  of  our  de¬ 
parted  friend,  I  think  you  will  agree  that  it  was  desirable 
to  make  this  special  allusion  respecting  him  in  our  Report. 

I  pass  over  the  paragraphs  relating  to  the  museum  and  the  library, 
not  because  of  their  unimportance,  but  simply  because  the  informa¬ 
tion  respecting  them  is  of  the  usual  character,  and  does  not  call 
for  special  comment.  The  important  alterations  arising  from  the 
reorganisation  of  the  School,  which,  I  believe,  have  been  generally 
approved,  are  working  well.  We  have  a  large  number  of  students 
taking  the  elementary  course,  and  next  year  we  hope  to  have  a 
larger  class  for  the  advanced  course,  mainly  composed  of  those  who 
are  at  present  taking  the  elementary  course.  The  extension  of 
these  courses  will  doubtless  be  of  great  advantage  to  the  student, 
and  the  close  connection  restored  between  the  Council  and  the 
School  by  the  appointment  of  a  visitor  from  the  School  Com¬ 
mittee  is  also  satisfactory.  The  retirement  of  Professors  Attfield 
and  Dunstan  and  of  Mr.  Ince,  who  have  for  different  periods  been 
associated  with  our  School,  furnishes  us  an  opportunity  of 
recording  our  thanks  for  their  past  services  and  of  express¬ 
ing  our  good  wishes  for  their  continued  usefulness  and  happiness. 

I  am  sorry  that  grants  for  the  encouragement  of  provincial  education 
are  not  given  more  frequently.  Too  often  local  associations,  which 
have  a  fair  beginning,  undergo  a  gradual  process  of  disintegration 
under  the  depressing  influence  of  apathy  and  indifference,  but  all 
requests  for  help  are  carefully  as  well  as  sympathetically  con¬ 
sidered.  As  regards  the  research  department  of  our  school,  in  case 
there  should  be  any  disappointment  that  there  are  at  present  no 
published  records  of  completed  investigations,  I  may  say  that  work 
in  that  direction  is  being  done,  and  that  I  hope  in  due  course 


May  22,  1897.] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


433 


useful  results  will  follow.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that 
research  is  a  lengthened  process,  and  cannot  be  done  to  order  ; 
also  that  one  of  the  objects  contemplated  by  the  establishment  of 
this  department  was  to  teach  our  advanced  students  the  method  of 
research.  I  trust  that  after  the  expiration  of  our  Major  course  in 
1898  several  students  will  find  it  practicable  to  work  for  some  time 
in  the  research  laboratory. 

Pharmacy  Act  Proceedings. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  a  large  number  of  infringements  of  the 
Pharmacy  Act  have  been  dealt  with  by  the  Council ;  most  of  them 
were  of  the  usual  somewhat  monotonous  character.  As  a  rule 
when  cases  are  brought  into  court  south  of  the  Tweed,  we  have  no 
cause  to  complain  of  any  want  of  sympathy  on  the  part  of  County 
Court  judges  with  our  object  to  enforce  the  conditions  of  the 
Pharmacy  Act,  but  in  Scotland  there  is  a  considerable  difficulty  in 
carrying  out  the  provisions  of  the  law.  It  must  be  remembered 
that,  under  the  Pharmacy  Act,  registered  chemists  and  druggists 
and  medical  practitioners  are  allowed  to  carry  on  business  for  the 
sale  and  dispensing  of  poisons,  and  that  the  interpretation  of  the 
Act  has,  unfortunately,  placed  limited  companies  outside  the 
scope  of  its  provisions.  It  has  also  been  decided  in  the  Divisional 
Court,  by  Mr.  Justice  Hawkins,  that  each  sale  of  such  poisons 
must  be  made  by  the  hands  of  a  registered  person.  It  follows, 
then,  that  on  the  premises  of  chemists,  medical  men,  and  limited 
companies  alike,  proceedings  under  the  15th  Section  can  only  be 
taken  against  the  unqualified  individual  by  whose  hands  the  sale  is 
made,  and  who  is,  in  many  cases,  from  a  moral  point  of  view  the 
less  guilty'  person.  I  regret  that  such  is  the  case,  but,  as  far 
as  I  can  see,  there  is  no  other  method  of  procedure ;  and  this 
condition  of  things  sometimes  induces  an  apparent  sympathy 
on  the  part  of  sheriffs  and  others  with  the  unqualified  assistant 
against  whom  proceedings  are  taken.  This  sympathy  is  shown  by 
the  ridiculously  small  penalties  that  are  imposed  and  the  costs  that 
are  allowed,  and  also  by  the  general  tenor  of  remarks  made 
during  the  conduct  of  the  cases.  This  was  very  marked  during 
the  hearing  of  cases  brought  recently  before  Sheriff  Mair  at  Airdrie, 
these  being  cases  of  sales  of  poisons  by  the  unqualified  assistants 
of  medical  men.  In  giving  judgment  the  sheriff  is  reported  to 
have  remarked: — “ It  was  Said  by  the  prosecutor  that  these  pro¬ 
ceedings  were  taken  in  the  public  interest.  On  the  contrary,  he 
had  a  very  strong  suspicion  that  behind  all  this  some  private 
interest,  of  which  they  knew  nothing,  was  involved.”  And  later, 
“I  do  not  see  why  these  professional  witnesses  should  be  sent  into 
this  district  to  trap  the  doctors’  assistants  and  bring  them  here 
for  punishment,  and  to  mark  my  disapproval  of  the  action  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  in  this  matter,  and  my  condemnation  of 
the  proceedings  in  these  cases  under  the  Pharmacy  Act,  I  will 
inflict  a  nominal  penalty  of  2s.  6d.  on  each  of  the  defendants, 
with  2s.  6 d.  of  expenses.”  Now,  with  reference  to  this  I  should  like 
to  state  that  it  is  not  thecustom  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  to  seek 
out  cases  of  infraction  of  the  Pharmacy  Acts.  Reports  are  made 
by  our  local  secretaries  and  others  that  on  certain  specified  premises 
or  in  certain  specified  districts  the  lav/  is  being  disregarded. 
These  reports  are  brought  under  the  notice  of  the  Council,  whose 
duty  it  obviously  is  to  take  serious  notice  of  such  statements.  In 
order  to  obtain  evidence  it  is  necessary  to  procure  purchases  of 
oisons,  and,  having  regard  to  the  natural  reluctance  of  neigh- 
ours  to  appear  in  any  subsequent  proceedings,  it  is  often  unavoid¬ 
able  to  employ  persons  called  by  the  sheriff  ‘  ‘  professional  wit¬ 
nesses.”  This  is  not  altogether  a  satisfactory  method,  but  it  is 
the  only  practical  one,  whilst  the  difficulty  of  procuring  evidence 
is  also  enhanced  by  the  fact  that  persons  who  are  knowingly 
breaking  the  law  are  often  very  chary  in  supplying  poisons  to 
strangers.  The  points  which  I  wish  to  emphasise  are  these  : — 1. 
That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  to  take  proceed¬ 
ings  against  all  persons  who  are  infringing  the  Pharmacy  Acts. 
2.  That  proceedings  are  taken  against  the  unqualified  assistants  of 
registered  chemists  equally  with  those  of  medical  men  and  com¬ 
panies  when  the  sale#  of  poisons  are  not  under  the  required  super¬ 
vision.  3.  That  in  many  cases,  as  I  have  previously  indicated, 
proceedings  are  only  possible  against  the  person  who  actually 
hands  over  the  poison.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  before  long  it  will 
be  found  that  the  assistant  who  has  been  fined  will  discover  that 
there  is  a  remedy  provided  by  the  law,  and  that  he  will  succeed  in 
obtaining  compensation  from  his  employer.  I  must  once  more  pro¬ 
test  against  the  unwarranted  assertion  that  “some  private  interest 
is  involved,”  and  I  repeat  that  the  Council,  in  proceeding  against 
these  persons,  is  only  carrying  out  statutory  obligations.  If  in 


thus  doing  our  duty  and  protecting  the  interests  of  the  public  the 
advantage  is  on  the  side  of  qualification,  it  is  only  what  is  just  and 
what  is  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  Pharmacy  Act.  With 
regard  to  the  amounts  of  penalties  awarded,  it  is  unsatisfactory 
that  in  Scotland,  where  the  proceedings  bear  the  character  rather 
of  a  criminal  than  of  a  civil  character,  sheriffs  have  the  power  of 
inflicting  merely  nominal  fines.  The  extreme  smallness  of  the  fines 
and  of  the  expenses  frequently  allowed,  together  with  the  considera¬ 
tions  to  which  I  have  already  alluded,  “increase  the  difficulties  of 
carrying  out  the  provisions  of  the  Pharmacy  Act  north  of  the  Tweed.” 
The  case  Society  v.  Fox,  alluded  to  in  the  Report,  is  of  great 
interest,  but  I  will  not  detain  you  now  with  any  remarks  on  the 
subject  of  patent  medicines  further  than  to  say  that  the  Council 
continues  to  carefully  watch  the  applications  for  patents  in  order 
to  prevent  the  granting  of  any  which,  in  their  opinion,  have  no 
claim  to  a  right  to  be  so  protected. 

The  Importance  of  Education. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  speak  about  the  Benevolent  Fund,  as> 
I  had  occasion  last  evening  to  refer  at  some  length  to  this 
important  branch  of  our  work,  and  I  am  rejoiced  to  think 
that  such  a  substantial  addition  to  the  Fund  was  made  at  ofir 
Festival  Dinner.  The  North  British  Branch  is  working 
loyally  and  harmoniously  with  the  Council,  and  I  desire  to 
thank  the  members  of  the  Executive  of  the  Branch  for  the  care 
and  judgment  with  which  they  look  after  our  interests,  and 
especially  my  friend  Mr.  Ewing,  the  Chairman,  whose  loyalty  and 
devotion  it  is  impossible  to  over-rate.  We  regret  the  loss  of  all 
whose  names  are  mentioned  in  the  obituary  paragraph.  Our  rolls 
of  honorary  members,  corresponding  members,  former  members  of 
Council,  iocal  secretaries,  and  divisional  secretaries  are  each 
the  poorer  by  the  deaths  of  those  whose  names  are  recorded. 
Before  I  conclude  I  should  like  to  repeat  that  I  consider  educa¬ 
tion  in  its  widest  sense  to  be  the  prominent  feature  of  the  Report 
before  us.  That  Report  seems  to  imply  that  according  to  the 
opinion  of  the  Council  the  best  weapons  for  the  pharmacist  of  the 
future  with  which  to  combat  the  difficulties  that  beset  his  pro¬ 
gress  are,  firstly,  a  liberal  general  education,  the  test  for  tho- 
possession  of  which  is  provided  for  in  our  amended  bye-laws,  and- 
secondly,  together  with  apprenticeship  or  pupilage,  a  sound  tech¬ 
nical  training,  such  as  is  now  provided  by  the  lengthened  curri¬ 
culum  in  the  Society’s  School.  But  as  in  the  moral  world  there 
are  sins  of  omission  as  well  as  those  of  commission,  and  as  there  are 
critics  who  overlook  neither,  I  should  like  further  to  say  that,  as 
far  as  I  know  the  opinions  of  the  members  of  the  Council,  they  are 
quite  prepared  to  apply  for  Parliamentary  powers  to  consolidate  the 
Society  by  the  election  to  membership  of  all  chemists  and  drug¬ 
gists.  It  is  necessary,  however,  to  remind  you  that  failures  of 
previous  efforts  in  this  direction  have  been  largely  due  to  the  Want 
of  unanimity  and  energetic  support  which  are  required  to  carry  such 
a  Bill  through  Parliament.  It  is  not  possible  to  create  any  outside 
publicinterest  in  thesubject,  and  there  wouldbe  considerable  difficulty 
in  getting  a  department  of  State  to  take  it  up.  It  is  all  the  more 
necessary,  therefore,  that  evidence  should  be  afforded  to  the  in¬ 
coming  Council  of  a  very  general  desire  that  such  a  change  in  the 
constitution  of  the  Society  should  be  effected,  and  that,  should  a 
Bill  dealing  with  it  be  presented  to  Parliament,  our  friends  through¬ 
out  the  country  should  with  no  uncertain  voice  make  their  wishes 
known  to  the  members  of  Parliament  of  their  respective  districts. 
In  this,  as  in  all  other  changes  which  the  Council  may  from  time 
to  time  consider  to  be  beneficial  for  all  who  practise  pharmacy,  it 
is  well  to  remember  that  unless  we  are  ready  at  times  to  sink 
individual  differences  for  the  common  good,  very  little  progress  can 
be  expected.  On  the  other  hand,  if  we  take  as  our  motto  “  Union 
is  strength,”  we  may  confidently  expect  that  many  of  our  aspira¬ 
tions  for  the  advancement  of  pharmacy  may  in  due  time  be 
realised.  I  now  beg  to  move  that  the  Annual  Report  and  State¬ 
ment  of  Accounts  as  published  be  received  and  adopted. 

The  Vice-President  :  I  rise  with  great  pleasure  to  second  the 
motion.  I  do  not  propose,  after  the  very  lucid,  careful,  and 
eloquent  exposition  which  the  President  has  given  of  the  Report, 
to  add  at  this  stage  any  further  words  to  it. 

Mr.  Atkinson  :  From  the  general  disinclination  there  appears 
to  be  on  the  part  of  members  to  make  observations  on  the 
Report,  I  gather  I  shall  be  giving  expression  to  the  general 
feeling,  that  it  will  be  desirable  to  limit  remarks  to  the  smallest 
possible  compass,  and  that  limitation  I  take  to  be  in  order 
that  we  may  have  more  time  to  devote  to  the  business  of  the  day 


434 


PHARMACEUTICAL  journal. 


[May  22,  1897 


which  is  to  come  on  subsequently.  Nevertheless  I  do  not  think 
we  ought  to  allow  it  to  pass  by  without  some  recognition.  The 
reorganisation  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society’s  School  I  believe  to 
have  been  a  very  arduous  work,  and  that  you  should  have  succeeded 
in  reorganising  the  School  and  getting  it  all  into  nice  working  shape 
during  the  recess  reflects  the  greatest  possible  credit  on  everyone 
concerned.  I  believe  that  the  changes  which  you  have  made  will 
meet  with  general  acceptation.  I  think  they  are  almost  too  obvious 
to  require  comment,  but  broadly  speaking  you  seem  to  have  given 
about  double  the  amount  of  time  to  a  large  number  of  very  impor¬ 
tant  subjects,  and  I  can  conceive  that  that  is  a  very  great  advan¬ 
tage,  not  only  to  the  students  but  to  the  teachers,  and  I  believe 
that  we  shall  reap  the  benefit  of  it  hereafter.  I  would  just  like, 
as  briefly  as  possible,  to  call  attention  to  something  I  consider  of 
importance,  and  that  is  the  condition  of  the 

Poison  Schedule. 

I  think  I  may  take  it  that  since  the  passing  of  the  Pharmacy  Act 
over  thirty  years  ago,  there  has  been  but  very  slight  alteration 
indeed  in  the  condition  of  the  Poison  Schedule,  and  when  we  take 
into  consideration  the  enormous  advances  that  have  been  made  in 
medical  therapeutics,  and  side  by  side  with  that  the 
•enormous  number  of  new  remedies  that  have  been 
added  to  the  pharmacist’s  armentarium,  I  think  it 
is  quite  time  there  was  some  alteration  made  in  that  respect. 
I  am  not  bitten  very  severely  with  the  carbolic  acid 
question.  I  know  that  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  have  made 
representations  with  regard  to  the  sale  of  carbolic  acid,  and 
similar  representations  have  been  made  by  other  societies  and 
from  various  other  sources,  but,  considering  the  variety  of  uses 
to  which  carbolic  acid  is  applied,  I  doubt  very  much  whether  you 
would  ever  persuade  the  Privy  Council  to  place  such  restrictions 
on  its  sale  as  would  confine  it  absolutely  to  the  custody  of  regis¬ 
tered  chemists  and  druggists.  I  believe  if  you  put  pressure  on, 
the  condition  of  affairs  might  be  something  like  this,  that  you 
would  have  certain  regulations  made  which  might  have  the  effect 
of  breaking  down  those  broad  distinctions  which  the  public  recog¬ 
nise  between  the  way  in  which  we  handle  these  things  and  the 
way  in  which  they  might  be  handled  by  ordinary  persons.  I  do  not 
think,  therefore,  in  the  interests  of  the  trade,  it  is  necessary  to  take 
some  very  active  steps  with  regard  to  carbolic  acid.  The  things 
I  have  in  mind  more  particularly  are  many  of  the  new  synthetic 
preparations ;  for  example,  sulphonal,  antipyrine,  exalgin, 
phenacetin,  and  cocaine,  the  last  especially.  I  think  the  law  in 
relation  to  the  sale  of  medicated  wines  is  simply  in  a  chaotic  state. 
It  is  very  difficult  to  approach  the  Revenue  on  any  of  these  sub¬ 
jects,  but  it  does  seem  to  me  very  anomalous  that  a  qualified 
chemist  should  be  compelled  to  put  into  his  coca  wine  with  a  full 
quantity  of  alkaloid  an  additional  quantity  of  extracted  matter  or 
•foreign  matter,  which  may  make  it  extremely  unpleasant, 
whereas  anyone  who  takes  out  a  licence,  either  a  grocer 
or  provision  merchant,  can  sell  anything  he  may  call 
coca  wine,  which  may  have  the  minimum  quantity  of 
medicinal  value  and  the  maximum  quantity  of  any  kind  of 
alcoholic  trash,  which  it  is  a  libel  to  call  wine.  I  think  you  might 
with  great  advantage  direct  your  attention  to  this  matter.  I  will 
not  detain  you  longer,  but  I  think  it  is  a  subject  which  the  Council 
are  competent  to  grapple  with. 

Mr.  Glyn- Jones  :  There  are  just  a  few  remarks  I  should 
like  to  offer,  which  appertain  really  to  the  conduct  of  the 
Society’s  Journal,  and  before  doing  so  I  should  like  to  know 
whether  the  question  of  what  appears  in  the  editorial  columns  of 
the  Journal  is  placed  unreservedly  in  the  hands  of  the  Editor,  or 
whether  it  is  subject  to  a  Journal  Committee.  I  should  like  to 
know  that  before  addressing  my  remarks,  as  it  may  have  some 
bearing  on  what  I  have  to  say. 

The  President  :  I  think  I  may  answer  Mr.  Jones  by  saying  it 
is  unreservedly  in  the  hands  of  the  Editor.  Of  course  his  conduct 
is  always  open  to  criticism  and  may  be  brought  before  the  Council, 
and  the  Council  would  take  due  notice  at  any  time  if  they  thought 
the  Editor  had  either  overstepped  his  duty  or  fallen  short  of  it. 

Mr.  Glyn- Jones  :  I  am  exceedingly  obliged  to  you,  sir.  I  do 
not  know  why  I  should  have  had  the  impression,  but  I  have  had 
it,  and  I  think  the  answer  you  have  given  will  clear  up  a  little 
misconception  which  existed  not  only  in  my  own  mind,  bu  t  in 
that  of  many  other  adherents  of  the  Society.  There  is  an  idea 
that  the  conduct  of  the  Society’s  J ournal  is  mainly  in  the  hands 
of  a  general  committee.  However,  the  question  I  have  to  bring 
before  you  is  this.  As  most  of  you  are  aware,  a  letter  was  sent  to 


the  Pharmaceutical  J ournal,  with  a  request  that  it  should  be  inserted 
in  the  issue  of  May  8,  dealing  with  the  Council  election.  I  am  anxious 
not  to  say  one  word  as  to  the  character  or  work  of  any  organi¬ 
sation  or  association  on  whose  behalf  that  letter  was  written  ; 
I  am  here  as  a  private  member  of  the  Society  to  offer  at  any 
rate  my  own  humble  protest,  and  I  think  the  protest  of  many  others 
connected  with  us,  that  that  letter  was  not  allowed  to  appear  in  the 
Journal  of  the  Society,  the  more  so  because  on  turning  to  the 
Journal  I  found  there  that  the  Editor  had  been  good  enough  to 
explain  to  the  readers  why  this  was  done.  He  said  that  it  had 
always  been  held  that  the  Journal  was  not  the  place  in  which 
influence  should  be  brought  to  bear  on  the  Pharmaceutical  Council 
election.  As  to  whether  he  held  that  as  being  judicious  or  wise 
I  have  nothing  to  say,  and  had  the  facts  borne  out  that  statement, 
then  I  take  it  those  of  us  who  were  interested  in  having  that  letter 
appear  had  no  cause  of  complaint.  But  on  looking  through  past 
copies  of  the  Journal,  we  found  letters  have  appeared  dealing 
distinctly  with  the  election,  and  we  also  found  that  individual 
candidates  have  been  selected  and  the  voters  have  been  asked 
to  vote  either  for  or  against  such  candidates.  That  took 
place,  as  you  know,  some  years  ago.  Then,  again,  last 
year  letters  were  inserted  with  the  object  of  influencing 
the  election,  and  in  this  very  election  we  have  letters 
appearing  there  seeking  to  influence  the  candidature  of  London 
members  as  against  those  who  live  in  the  country.  I  am  not  for 
one  moment  arguing  whether  it  is  wise  we  should  have  London 
members,  but  I  do  maintain  that  it  is  a  question  of  opinion,  and 
that  those  gentlemen  who  live  in  the  country  who  are  seeking  seats 
on  the  Council  had  quite  as  much  right  to  think  they  were  eligible 
for  the  Council  as  those  who  live  in  London.  I  am  not  at  all 
objecting  to  those  letters  appearing,  but  what  I  do  strongly  pro¬ 
test  against  is  that  the  slightest  partiality  should  be  shown  by  our 
Journal.  I  know  it  is  necessary  that  we  as  chemists  and  drag- 
gists  should  be  exceedingly  loyal  to  our  Society,  and  I  appeal  to 
those  who  know  anything  about  my  own  views,  publicly  expressed 
in  meetings  of  the  trade  throughout  the  country,  when  I  say  that 
no  one  is  more  anxious  that  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  should 
receive  the  unanimous  support  of  the  trade  than  I  am  myself. 
But  if  that  is  to  be  done  then  freedom  of  criticism  and  freedom 
of  opinion  must  be  allowed. 

The  Pharmaceutical  Journal. 

We  are  always  told,  is  our  Journal,  and  of  late  years  efforts  have 
been  made  to  make  it  a  trade  journal.  Now  if  that  is  so,  is  it  not  a 
suicidal  policy  on  the  part  of  the  Society,  who  wish  to  make  it  a 
trade  journal,  to  shut  out  of  it  letters  which  come  not  from  Glyn- 
Jones,  but  from  a  chemist  and  druggist  who  represents  2000 
chemists  and  druggists  in  business,  between  1400  and  1500  of 
whom  are  members  of  this  Society.  Those  members  wished  to 
bring  certain  things  before  their  fellow-members,  and  I  think  it 
is  most  natural  they  should  conclude  that  their  Journal  was  the 
proper  place  in  which  that  should  be  done.  On  some  of  the 
members  of  the  Society  writing  and  complaining  of  this  conduct, 
we  find  that  a  new  ground  has  been  given  why  this  letter  was  not 
inserted.  We  find  that  the  reason  given  formerly  does  nothold  good. 
That  has  been  shown  to  be  a  weak  argument ;  it  has  been  proved 
that  letters  have  been  admitted,  so  that  we  are  now  told  that  this 
was  not  written  by  a  private  member  of  the  Society,  but  by  a 
person  representing  a  society  which  has  no  more  to  do  with  the 
Pharmaceutical  Council  elections  than  the  Anti-Vivisection 
Society.  Now,  gentlemen,  I  earnestly  wish  to  put  this  before  you. 
It  has  been  recognised  all  round  that  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
as  such  cannot  deal  with  certain  trade  matters,  and  no  one  has 
been  more  anxious  to  put  that  before  the  trade  than  I  am  myself. 
I  constantly  go  amongst  men  who  say  “  I  will  not  support  the 
Society  because  they  do  not  do  this  for  me,  and  they  do  not  do 
other  things,”  and  I  have  tried  over  and  over  again  to  show  them 
how,  tied  as  the  hands  of  the  Society  are  by  the  Pharmacy 
Act,  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  do  that,  and  therefore  there  was  a 
necessity  for  a  certain  organisation  to  deal®  with  trade  matters. 
That  organisation  sought  to  have  men  on  the  Council  who  were 
in  sympathy  with  us  in  these  trade  questions.  Whether 
the  Pharmaceutical  Council  itself  is  to  deal  with  the 
subject  does  not  touch  the  question.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  showed  some  few 
months  ago  that  ideas  of  the  Council  of  the  Society  are 
changing.  Those  in  the  rank  and  file  of  the  trade  are  glad  that 
change  is  being  made.  The  Journal  some  months  ago  said  the 
time  would  come  when  we  should  recognise  that  the  attainment  of 
pure  high-class  pharmacy  was  a  myth  practically — that  is  what  it 


May  22,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


435 


amounted  to.  We  are  glad  to  see  there  are  men  on  the  Council 
who  are  at  any  rate  imbued  with  that  idea,  men  who  are  anxious 
to  do  all  they  can  for  the  education  of  the  craft,  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  feel  keenly  the  wants  and  needs  of  those  who  are  struggling 
in  business.  We  are  glad  to  see  those  gentlemen  there,  and  we 
want  to  see  more  of  them.  It  is,  perhaps,  invidious  to  mention 
names,  but  there  are  men  on  the  Council  such  as  Mr.  Park,  of 
Plymouth  ;  Mr.  Allen,  of  Kilburn  ;  and  Mr.  Grose,  of  Swansea  ; 
and  others  who  take  a  keen  interest  in  these  matters.  We  want 
to  see  more  of  such  men  there,  and  I  think  we  have 
a  right  to  express  our  opinion  and  say  so  through  the 
Journal  that  that  should  be  done.  We  did  not  ask  your  Editor  to 
say  for  us  what  we  wanted  to  say  ;  it  would  have  been  quite 
right  that  the  Journal  should  have  inserted  that  letter,  and  then 
that  it  should  have  shown  how  ridiculous  it  was  if  that  was  the 
opinion  of  those  who  conducted  the  Journal,  and  if  it  could  be 
shown  that  we  had  no  more  right  to  interfere  than  the  Anti- 
Vivisection  Society.  But  I  press  upon  you  gentlemen,  if  you  are 
to  receive  the  support  of  the  trade,  then  anything  which  is  being  done 
for  the  good  of  the  rank  and  trade  must  be  talked  about  in  some 
other  tone  than  that  of  saying  it  has  no  more  right  to  touch  the 
Pharmaceutical  Council  election  than  that  of  the  Anti-Vivisection 
Society.  There  are  many  who  judge  your  attitude  by  that  expres¬ 
sion  alone,  they  will  say,  “Yes,  when  we  try  to  do  what  the 
Council  admit  they  cannot  do  for  us  we  are  told  we  are  practically 
to  them  what  the  Anti-Vivisection  Society  is.”  I  have  said 
enough,  gentlemen.  I  do  not  wish  to  move  that  the  report  be  not 
adopted  on  this  ground,  but  I  do  think  this  was  the  time  to  men¬ 
tion  it,  and  I  hope  that  in  future  the  Council,  or  rather,  perhaps, 
our  Editor,  will  see  to  it,  that  at  any  rate  the  columns  of  the 
Journal  are  open  impartially  to  every  member  of  the  Society. 

Mr.  Hambrook  (Dover)  :  It  is  a  great  many  years  ago  since  I 
was  here,  when  the  Society  was  on  a  very  small  basis.  It  has 
broadened  out  since,  and  I  am  very  anxious  that  it  should  broaden 
more.  I  was  very  glad  to  see  that  the  Council  had  it  in  their  minds 
to  elect  all  associates  in  business  to  be  members  of  the  Society. 
I  think  you  have  shadowed  that  forth  at  the  end  of  the  Report,  and 
I  hope  to  live  a  little  longer  to  see  it  carried  out. 

Mr.  Wiggins  :  I  have  come  here  to  support  the  Council  in  the 
excellent  bye-laws  which  they  propose  should  become  law.  First, 
I  will  take  the  raising  of  the  Preliminary  examination - 

The  President  :  I  am  delighted  to  hear  you,  but  if  you  would 
confine  your  remarks  to  other  portions  of  the  Report  and  leave  your 
remarks  with  regard  to  the  bye-laws  to  the  special  meeting  it 
would  be  more  convenient. 

Mr.  Wiggins  :  I  thought  we  were  at  the  special  meeting. 

The  President  :  No,  we  are  at  the  annual  general  meeting. 

Mr.  Percy  Wells  :  I  think,  sir,  you  have  heard  my  voice  here 
before,  whether  to  your  satisfaction  or  otherwise  I  leave  you  to 
reply.  I  do  not  come  here  to-day  to  criticise 

The  Action  of  the  Council 

either  for  or  against,  because  from  my  previous  experience 
I  find  that,  notwithstanding  all  promises  that  are  made  before 
election,  somehow  or  other  when  these  gentlemen  get  inside 
the  Square  there  is  a  kind  of  shadow  comes  over  them, 
and  they  gradually  drop  down  to  the  normal  condition 
of  things  which  is  peculiar  to  Bloomsbury  Square. 
Then  they  say,  if  we  come  here  and  have  our  annual 
grind  at  them  what  is  the  use  ?  They  seem  somehow  or 
other  to  belong  to  the  order  of  what  is  called  pachydermata — they 
are  absolutely  impenetrable.  But  there  is  some  one  subject  which 
I  have  come  here  to  talk  about  to-day,  and  only  that,  and  that  is 
a  matter  which  at  the  present  juncture  ought  to  appeal  to  the 
feelings  of  every  chemist,  and  that  is  £  s.  d.  Now,  sir,  there  is  no 
doubt  in  my  mind,  looking  at  this  matter  frqm  a  business  point  of 
view,  that  your  expenditure  is  exceeding  your  income.  Last  year 
you  borrowed  £1500  to  carry  on,  and  you  paid  that  off  when  your 
revenue  came  in,  but  then,  again,  you  know  you  had  to  borrow 
£1500  again,  and  that  money  is  still  owing  and  the  interest 
.accruing.  Of  course,  I  never  gave  the  Council  credit  for  being 
thorough  men  of  business. 

The  President  :  I  might  put  Mr.  Wells  right  to  this  extent, 
that  the  £1500  is  not  owing. 

Mr.  Wells  :  It  appears  on  the  balance  sheet  as  owing. 

The  President  :  For  last  year. 

Mr.  Wells  :  We  will  not  quibble  about  that  now,  sir.  I  am 
going  to  prove  that  you  are  not  men  of  business,  and  I  make  that 
statement  boldly,  and  without  any  reservation  or  hesitation,  and 


I  also  accuse  you  of  what  I  would  call  in  the  politest  language  not 
suppressio  veri  exactly,  but  the  suppression  of  facts  that  ought  in 
common  justice  to  be  laid  by  you  before  your  constituents. 
Remember,  if  you  please,  you  as  a  Council  are  only  trustees,  and 
that  you  are  bound  morally,  I  maintain,  and  legally,  to  render  a 
full  and  faithful  account  of  your  stewardship.  Now  what  have  you 
done  ?  What  do  I  find  here  ?  Expenditure  under  the  head  of 
Journal — Journal  balance  of  account  in  one  line  £2228  Is.  9cZ. ,  and 
instead  of  following  that  up  with  the  other  expenditure  con¬ 
nected  with  the  Journal  of  £875,  nearly  £900  for  postage,  you  put 
it  some  distance  down.  Now  you  know  that  is  not  quite  a  fair 
way  of  doing  things.  And  even  the  Editor  of  the  Journal  the  fol¬ 
lowing  week,  on  May  15,  I  suppose  being  worried  a  little  by  the 
protests  of  members  of  the  Society  who  have  seen  through  the 
thing,  sees  fit  to  write  under  the  head  of 

The  Dual  Function  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 

some  wretched  explanation,  at  least  I  suppose  he  calls  it  an 
explanation,  of  the  items.  He  endeavours  to  prove  too  much, 
or  rather  he  endeavours  to  prove  such  a  little,  as  shows  me 
he  is  not  by  any  means  a  man  of  business.  He  may  be  a  very 
good  professional  man,  he  may  be  acquainted  with  all  the 
oologies  in  creation  for  what  I  know,  but  when  he  comes  to  put  his 
pen  to  paper  about  £  s.  d.  he  is  nowhere.  Now,  sir,  I  maintain 
you  are  acting  unfairly,  unjustly,  and  unwarrantably.  I  will  not 
recall  a  single  word— in  simply  saying  to  us  this  is  the  balance  to 
the  debtor  of  the  J ournal  account.  What  we  want  to  know,  and 
what  we  have  a  right  to  know  and  insist  upon  (that  is,  if  chemists 
have  the  moral  courage  to  make  you),  is  the  total  expenditure  con¬ 
nected  with  the  Journal.  We  used  to  have  it.  We  used  to 
have  the  cost  of  printing  ;  we  want  to  know  what  you  pay  your 
Editor  and  Sub-Editor  ;  because  please  to  remember — take  any 
journal  you  like,  take  the  whole  lot  through  the  year,  certainly  a 
great  part  of  it  is  waste  paper  ;  but  I  take  the  lot  simply  for  the 
purpose  of  reference,  and  I  have  kept  them  ever  since  1840,  and  I 
may  tell  you  furthermore,  not  caring  twopence  for  your  index,  I 
have  indexed  them  myself.  I  have  a  fairly  good  memory  for 
figures.  Some  time  ago  you  gave  your  Editor  £500  a  year,  and 
your  Sub-Editor  I  think  £250.  Now  we  have  a  right  to  know 
whether  that  remuneration  is  continued,  or  whether  it  is  increased. 
You  do  not  tell  us  what  the  printing  of  the  Journal  costs;  you 
enter  into  no  explanation  of  how  much  per  page  or  anything  of 
the  kind.  We  are  kept  in  the  most  perfect  ignorance.  That  is 
not  right ;  it  may  suit  your  policy,  but  it  does  not  suit 
ours.  I  appeal  to  these  gentlemen  present  and  ask  them 
whether  they  are  satisfied  with  the  present  condition  of  things  ? 
If  they  are,  I  am  very  sorry  for  them.  Now,  with  regard  to  the 
ability  of  the  Editor,  what  do  I  find  ?  When  I  look  through  the 
Journals  I  find  the  editorial  portion  is  of  the  most  minute 
character,  in  fact,  I  would  do  the  whole  lot  myself,  I  would  just 
write  the  same  copy — that  is  what  it  is  called — every  week  in  half 
an  hour,  and  give  myself  time  to  spare,  too.  Take  the  whole  lot 
of  the  Journal,  and  what  is  it  ?  It  is  what  is  called  in  the  trade — 
not  in  our  profession — scissors  and  paste,  nothing  else.  Anybody 
could  do  it. 

A  Member  :  Do  not  be  so  insulting. 

Mr.  Wells  :  I  am  not ;  I  hope  I  have  not  insulted  anyone. 

The  President  :  I  am  sure  Mr.  Wells  will  try  to  keep  from 
personalities,  and  in  giving  expression  to  his  own  opinion  I  am 
sure  he  will  bear  in  mind  that  others  have  characters  and  reputa¬ 
tions  at  stake  as  well — in  matters  of  opinion  I  mean. 

Mr.  Wells  :  I  have  not  attacked  the  reputation  of  anybody. 

I  am  addressing  you  as  I  have  been  accustomed  to  for  many  years 
of  addressing  the  President.  I  am  speaking  of  the  Editor  of  the 
Journal.  I  began  about  the  Editor,  and  I  am  referring  to  him  ; 
if  you  like  I  will  call  him  Dr.  Paul,  but  that  would  be  personal. 

A  Member  :  Stick  to  the  £  s.  d.  part — not  the  literary  part. 

Mr.  Wells  :  If  scissors  and  paste  is  literary  work,  then  I  have 
for  nearly  seventy -three  years  lived  in  vain.  It  is  a  matter  of 
£  s.  d.,  and  costs  money.  I  know  what  I  am  speaking  about,  and 
I  will  keep  to  the  point.  All  this  stuff,  as  I  call  it,  the  proceedings 
of  some  little  coterie  or  other  which  meet  together  to  have  a  dinner 
or  fgo  out  to  cricket  or  golf,  or  something  or  other — how  in  the 
name  of  patience  does  ,  it  interest  the  majority  of  the  readers  of 
the  Journal  ?  [“  Of  course  it  does.”]  Well,  then,  if  it  interests  the 
majority,  I  am  very  sorry  ;  but  it  does  not  interest  the  minority 
represented  by  the  speaker  who  has  the  honour  of  addressing  you. 

I  maintain  that  you  would  make  the  Journal  more  interesting, 
more  educational,  and  reflect  more  credit  on  the  Society  if  you 


[May  22, 1897. 


436  PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


would  just  take  out  about  two-thirds  of  what  I  call  the  twaddle 
which  is  to  be  found  in  it. 

A  Member  :  Make  Mr.  Wells  Editor. 

Mr.  Wells  :  No;  Mr.  Wells  does  not  consider  himself  suited 
for  an  Editor.  There  is  another  matter  I  want  to  speak  about.  I 
see  two  sums  of  ten  guineas— one  under  the  head  of  “  Library,” 
and  the  other  under  the  head  of  “Museum.”  It  is  peculiar  that 
the  expenses  of  these  two  officers  should  exactly  come  to  ten 
guineas.  Surely  they  are  in  receipt  of  their  salaries  while  they  are 
attending  the  meetings  referred  to  in  this  balance  sheet,  and  may  I 
ask  how  long  was  the  time  occupied  in  attending  the  meeting  and 
the  expense  that  was  incurred  ?  Please  to  remember  that  these 
are  paid  officers,  and  the  time  they  are  attending  these 
meetings  is  the  time  you  pay  them  for  their  services. 
Then,  again,  I  maintain  if  they  are  put  to  any  expense  in 
going  to  and  fro,  you  are  perfectly  justified  in  paying  them  for 
that,  and  for  that  only.  Now  wall  you  permit  me  in  conclusion— 
I  know  that  has  an  exceedingly  pleasant  sound — to  say  that  I 
hope  for  the  future  you  will,  as  you  ought  to  do,  take  those  for 
whom  you  are  trustees  into  your  confidence,  and  that  you  will  put 
out  in  extenso,  if  you  do  not  choose  to  put  it  in  the  balance  sheet, 
then  in  an  appendix  to  it,  the  total  detailed  expenditure  connected 
■with  the  Journal,  and  I  hope  by  this  time  next  year,  by  curtailing 
the  chaff  that  is  in  there  and  only  giving  us  the  wheat  for  our 
food,  the  cost  of  the  Journal  will  be  materially  diminished.  I 
thank  you,  sir,  and  through  you  the  members  present,  for  their 
courtesy  in  listening  to  me,  with  some  pleasing  interruptions. 

The  President  :  If  no  other  gentleman  has  any  remarks  to 
make  with  reference  to  the  Report,  I  should  like  to  say 
one  or  two  words  with  reference  to  the  speeches  to 
which  we  have  listened.  In  the  first  place,  I  should  like  to  say 
how  delighted  we  are  to  see  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Society 
(Mr.  Hambrook)  here,  and  we  hope  he  will  live  a  good  many  years 
and  see  some  consolidation  of  the  Society.  With  regard  to  Mr. 
Atkinson’s  remarks,  I  thank  him  for  the  confidence  he  has  ex¬ 
pressed  with  regard  to  the  general  policy  of  the  Council,  and 
especially  with  reference  to  the  School.  As  regards 
The  Poison  Schedule, 

that  matter  is  constantly  under  our  notice,  and  we  will  bear 
in  mind  the  remarks  he  has  made  to-day.  I  come  now  to  Mr. 
Glyn-Jones’  speech.  I  would  repeat  that  Dr.  Paul,  in  my  judg¬ 
ment,  is  responsible  Editor  of  the  Journal.  We  give  him  a  con¬ 
siderable  amount  of  rope,  and  we  believe  that  our  confidence  in 
him  is  deserved.  If  we  think  that  he  has  made  a  mistake 
we  shall  tell  him  so,  but  with  regard  to  this  special  matter 
to  which  reference  has  been  made,  I  am  not  prepared  to 
say  he  has  made  a  mistake.  I  think,  broadly  speaking, 
the  point  is  this,  that  it  is  open  to  any  member  of  this 
Society  to  send  a  letter  to  the  Editor  with  reference  to  a 
coming  election,  and  provided  there  is  nothing  libellous  in  it 
he  may  expect  that  that  letter  will  be  inserted,  as  a  member  or 
associate  of  the  Society  who  signs  his  name  ;  but  if  any  combination 
of  persons  sends  a  letter,  and  that  combination  may  consist  of 
members  or  associates  of  the  Society,  or  some  who  are  not 
connected  with  the  Society,  or  a  mixture  of  the  two,  then  I  think 
it  is  quite  open  to  the  Editor  to  say  that  he  does  not  think  it  is 
wise  to  insert  that  letter.  I  myself  should  go  a  step  further,  and  I 
rather  deprecate  myself  any  letter  that  says  “  Do  not  vote  for  a 
man.”  By  all  means  show  up  a  man’s  good  qualities,  and  say  why 
you  think  he  is  deserving  of  support,  but  I  am  not  very  much,  I 
confess,  in  favour  of  any  expression  of  opinion  which  says  that  a 
man  should  not  receive  support ;  however,  that  is  matter  of  opinion. 
In  this  particular  I  think  Dr.  Paul  has  done  what  I  should 
have  done  myself.  Now,  Mr.  Percy  Wells  has  spoken 
at  considererahle  length  to-day;  we  are  delighted  to  see 
him  in  excellent  health  and  up  to  his  usual  form,  but  I  must 
confess  that  at  the  end  of  his  remarks  I  am  not  very  much  wiser 
than  I  was  when  he  started.  He  has  expressed  a  great  many 
opinions,  but  I  do  not  think  they  have  been  based  upon  fact.  He" 
says  he  could  write  a  better  editorial,  or  he  could  do  it  in  a  very 
short  time,  but  he  has  also  said  there  is  a  good  deal  of  waste  paper 
on  which  the  Journal  is  printed.  He  has  also  informed  us  that  he 
has  taken  the  trouble  to  index  it.  It  is  a  pity  I  think  to  index 
waste  paper.  With  regard  to  these  little  items  of  expenditure, 
representing  the  cost  of  the  production  of  the  Journal,  I  maintain 
that  the  Council  is  elecied  by  a  number  of  members  and  associates 
who  have  confidence  in  that  Council  when  once  elected.  Whatever 
Mr.  Wells  may  say  as  to  our  want  of  ability  or  our  possession  of  it, 
I  believe  that  the  members  and  associates  of  the  Society  have  con¬ 


fidence  in  us,  and  that  we  have  a  fair  amount  of  business  capacity, 
and  I  believe  that  it  is  in  the  interest  of  the  Society  and 
of  the  Journal  that  the  figures  he  asks  for  should  not  be  given. 
For  what  purpose  do  you  require  to  know  the  exact  income  of  Dr. 
Paul  or  of  the  Sub-Editor  ?  Have  you  not  confidence  in  us  that  we 
should  do  the  best  we  can  for  the  members  of  the  Society,  and  also 
what  is  just  to  the  Editor  and  Sub-Editor  ?  Then  with  reference 
to  the  ten  guineas  for  the  Curator  attending  some  meeting  in  the 
country  and  the  Librarian — it  was  the  express  wish  of  the  Council 
that  those  officers  should  attend  those  meetings,  and  would  Mr. 
Percy  W ells  like  to  see  that  the  expenses  were  £9  4s.  3d. ,  or  would 
he  like  to  see  that  ten  guineas  is  given  to  deserving  persons,  and 
even  if  they  may  be  out  of  pocket  or  they  may  not  have  spent  it 
all,  is  that  a  matter  worth  consideration  here  ?  We  think,  as 
business  men,  it  is  the  right  thing  to  give  what  we  consider  a  fair 
amount  to  cover  the  expense  of  a  visit  to  a  meeting  which  we  have 
asked  them  to  attend.  I  do  not  think  there  is  any  other  point  to 
which  I  need  allude,  and  I  will  therefore  now  put  the  motion. 

Mr.  Stacey  :  Before  you  put  that,  if  I  am  in  order,  I  should 
like  to  say  a  word.  I  understood  Mr.  Wells  to  appeal  to  the 
Auditors,  and  if  he  did  so  I  shall  be  quite  prepared  to  make  some 
remarks  if  the  meeting  wishes  it. 

The  President  :  I  do  not  think  he  did.  I  will  now  put  the 
resolution  : — 

“  That  the  Annual  Report  and  Statement  of  Accounts  be  received  and 
adopted.” 

The  resolution  was  carried  with  one  dissentient. 

Mr.  Stacey  :  I  should  like  with  your  permission  to  make  one  or 
two  remarks  as  to 

The  Position  oe  the  Auditors. 

I  believe  it  is  not  clearly  understood  by  this  Society  what  position  the 
Auditors  hold,  and  I  believe  that  gave  Use  to  the  remark  of  an  appeal 
to  the  Auditors.  I  noticed  also  in  the  J ournal  last  week,  in  a  leading 
article  speaking  of  the  balance  of  the  J  ournal  account,  £2200  odd, 
the  statement  that  “  these  figures  are  correct,  for  they  have  been 
vouched  for  by  the  Auditors.  ”  Those  figures  are  perfectly  correct  as 
matter  of  income  and  expenditure  in  the  office  of  the  Society,  but  the 
Auditors  do  not  vouch  for  any  inference  that  you  may  draw  from 
those  figures.  Our  duty  is  a  very  simple  one,  it  is  a  hardworking 
one ;  but  we  are  very  careful  not  to  infringe  on  the  duties  and  respon- 
sibilitiesof  the  Council  itself.  A  gentleman  called  this  thing,  which  he. 
held  in  his  hand,  a  “balance  sheet,”  this  is  not  a  balance  sheet.. 
I  was  on  the  Council  about  thirty  years  ago,  and  I  have  been  an 
Auditor  now  for  thirty  years,  but  I  have  never  seen  a  balance  sheet  of 
the  Society.  I  think  it  is  important  that  the  members  should  not  be 
misled  in  that  respect.  The  books  of  the  Society  are  most  beautifully, 
neatly,  and  correctly  kept.  This  is  merely  a  statement  of  the  actual 
income  and  expenditure.  We  check  every  figure  and  we  vouch  for 
its  being  correct.  This  is  a  list  of  the  property  of  the  Society,  which 
we  carefully  go  through  every  year  and  see  that  it  is  in  the  Society’s 
possession.  We  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  valueof  it. 
We  simply  go  upon  facts.  The  Auditors  have  sent  to  the  Council, 
and  annexed  to  the  report  this  year  a  request,  which  they  sincerely 
hope  the  Council  will  carry  out,  which  will  be  largely  to  the  benefit 
and  advancement  of  this  Society  in  placing  the  accounts  in  a  more 
business-like  and  material  form. 

The  President  :  Is  there  any  other  business  to  bring  before  the 
annual  meeting  ? 

Mr.  Campkin  :  May  I  ask  one  question,  if  I  am  in  order  ?  I 
intended  to  do  so  earlier,  but  I  was  under  the  impression  that  the 
Report  would  be  taken  first  and  the  accounts  afterwards.  I  am 
following  now  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Stacey  with  regard  to  the 
accounts.  If  no  sufficient  statement  of  accounts  is  given  with 
regard  to  the  Journal  expenditure,  how  is  it  that  we  have  had, 
during  the  past  three  months,  some  very  liberal  statistics  given 
with  regard  to  it  ?  There  must  be  some  account  published  that 
has  enabled  those  who  have  criticised  the  accounts  of  the  Journal 
to  make  the  statements  they  have  done  with  regard  to  it,  that  is, 
with  regard  to  its  financial  position  from  1868  up  to  now,  and  the 
deficit  from  time  to  time  has  been  explained.  I  have  gathered  from 
information  that  I  have  been  able  to  obtain,  that  during  the  past 
28  or  29  years  the  Journal  has  undoubtedly  shown  an  adverse 
balance  in  the  aggregate  when  the  amount  of  postage  to  members 
is  added  thereto  ;  but  we  in  the  country  have  been  led  to  believe 
that  the  Journal  has  cost  considerably  more  in  the  aggregate 
than  the  amount  of  our  subscription  as  members.  From  an  inves¬ 
tigation  of  these  accounts  some  of  us  have  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  those  statements  are  not  founded  entirely  on  fact,  and  that, 
in  fact,  the  members’  subscriptions  have  not  been  infringed  by  the 


Mat  22,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


437 


amount  of  one-half.  Further,  we  have  learnt  that  a  statement 
of  the  receipts  and  expenditure  has  been  given  to  the  Council 
year  by  year  in  connection  with  the  Journal,  and  from  that 
statement  I  have  gathered  that  roughly  for  the  past  twenty- 
nine  years  the  excess  of  expenditure  over  receipts  has  amounted 
to  what,  on  the  average,  would  make  the  cost  of  the 
Journal  to  the  members  something  between  7s.  and  8s.  per 
member,  leaving  a  balance  of  Us.  or  12s.  in  favour  of  the  Society. 
If  I  am  correct  in  that  and  if  I  have  been  able  to  elicit  those  facts, 
I  would  submit  that  there  must  have  been  some  publication  of 
accounts  in  connection  with  the  Journal,  and  therefore  it  is  rather 
an  erroneous  impression  that  there  are  no  means  available  to 
■obtain  this  information.  I  am  afraid  if  I  were  to  go  into  further 
particulars  I  should  weary  you.  There  are  other  matters 
in  connection  with  the  Society  one  would  like  to  have  spoken  of, 
but  knowing  there  is  to  be  a  special  meeting,  which  will  afford  us 
further  opportunity  of  speaking  on  the  general  work  of  the 
Society,  I  refrain  from  further  troubling  you.  After  what  has 
taken  place  during  the  past  two  or  three  months  with  regard  to 
the  J ournal  I  think  some  full  explanation,  following  that  which 
appeared  in  the  Journal  of  May  5,  might  be  made  by  someone 
connected  with  the  Council.  We  have  been  told  it  is  the  unwritten 
law  that  remarks  from  “Members  of  the  Cabinet  ”  at  such  meetings 
as  this  is  not  usual ;  that  the  meeting  is  left  more  particularly  to 
the  individual  members.  That  may  be  right,  and  so  far  we  have 
acquiesced  in  that,  but  at  the  same  time  those  of  us  who  live  at  a 
distance  do  come  to  the  annual  meetings  for  information  with 
regard  to  the  Society,  and  when  we  have  elicited  that  information 
it  is  not  for  ourselves  alone  but  the  whole  pharmaceutical  body,  for 
hey  are  put  in  possession  of  it  throu  ^h  the  medium  of  the  various 
journals. 


Appointment  of  Scrutineers. 

The  President  then  read  a  list  of  names  of  gentlemen  who  had 
been  nominated  to  act  as  scrutineers,  and  their  appointment  was 
unanimously  agreed  to. 


Appointment  of  Auditors. 

The  following  gentlemen  were  appointed  to  act  as  Auditors 

Butt,  Edward  Northway,  77,  Hamilton  Terrace,  London,  N.W. 

Lescher,  Frank  Harwood,  60,  Bartholomew  Close,  London,  E.C. 

Stacey,  Samuel  Lloyd,  22,  Great  St.  Helens,  London,  E.C. 

TJmney,  Charles,  50,  Southwark  Street,  London,  E.C. 

Yates,  Francis,  101,  Southwark  Street,  London,  S.E. 

The  President  then  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  follow¬ 
ing  Registers  had  been  laid  upon  the  table  in  compliance  with  the 
provisions  of  the  Act : — 

‘  Register  of  Members,  Associates  and  Students  of  the  Society.’ 

‘  Register  of  Pharmaceutical  Chemists.’ 

1  Register  af  Apprentices  and  Students  under  the  Act  of  1852.’ 

‘  Register  of  Chemists  and  Druggists  under  the  Act  of  1868.’ 

Mr.  James  Mackenzie:  I  should  like  to  make  some  observations 
on  the  motion  of  which  I  have  given  notice. 

The  President  :  Before  we  go  to  the  special  meeting,  I  am 
willing  to  hear  you  with  regard  to  your  motion.  As  far  as  I  see, 
this  motion  of  which  you  have  given  notice  is  hardly  in  order. 
The  first  portion  of  it  is  a  pious  expression  of  opinion  about  which 
I  am  quite  willing  to  hear  you  make  any  remarks  you  choose,  but 
with  regard  to  the  second  part  of  your  motion  it  seems  to  me  it 
is  not  competent  for  this  meeting,  and  would  be  out  of  order 
altogether  to  resolve  what  you  propose  there,  seeing  that  we 
have,  as  the  legislative  power,  agreed  to  refer  for  confirmation  the 
amended  bye-laws,  and  the  special  meeting  is  going  to  deal  with 
those  bye-laws.  It  is  going  either  to  confirm  them  or  send  them 
back  ;  therefore  it  would  be  obviously  out  of  order  for  any  meeting 
to  say  that  the  bye-laws  are  not  called  for  at  the  present  time.  I 
am  quite  willing  to  hear  Mr.  Mackenzie  on  the  first  part  of  the 
motion. 

Mr.  Robbins  :  May  I  venture  to  suggest  that  Mr.  Mackenzie’s 
attitude  would  be  all  right  if  he  speaks  at  the  general  meeting  in 
the  sense  of  the  motion  of  which  he  has  given  notice.  He  will 
then  have  an  opportunity  of  saying  that  he  thinks  the  bye-laws 
should  not  be  confirmed. 

The  President  :  It  would  be  better  if  Mr.  Mackenzie  reserved 
his  remarks  till  the  special  meeting.  I  will  give  him  any  oppor¬ 
tunity  of  speaking,  subject  to  the  ruling  of  what  can  be  put  and 
what  cannot  be  put  at  that  meeting. 

Mr.  Mackenzie  :  I  stand  here  by  right  that  as  a  member  I  am 
entitled  to  bring  forward  a  motion  at  this  meeting  provided  that  I 


give  due  notice  of  it.  Am  I  to  understand  that  I  may  only  put 
this  motion  in  part  or  wholly  according  to  your  suffrage  ? 

The  President  :  I  understand  that  all  meetings  are  so  far  under 
the  control  of  the  Chairman  for  the  time  being.  Every  member 
and  every  associate  of  this  Society  has  full  power  and  right  to 
come  here  once  a  year  and  express  his  views  at  any  reasonable 
length,  but  I  think  it  is  the  right  of  the  Chairman  for  the  time 
being  to  say  what  he  thinks  is  in  order  and  what  he  thinks  not  in 
order.  Mr.  Mackenzie  has  given  notice  of  a  resolution,  which  I 
have  duly  put  on  the  notice  of  this  meeting,  but  I  rule  at  this 
stage  of  the  proceedings  that  the  second  part  of  his  resolution  is 
out  of  order.  If  he  likes  to  speak  to  the  first  part  as  to  great 
improvements  in  the  constitution,  powers,  and  working  of  the 
Society  being  required,  I  am  quite  willing  to  hear  him  now.  His 
opinion  may  be  seconded,  and  it  may  be  more  or  less  of  an  abstract 
resolution.  I  fail  to  see  how  it  can  have  any  great  weight  unless 
it  is  carried,  but  even  then  it  is  only  an  expression  of  opinion  that 
will  go  on  to  the  Council. 

Mr.  Mackenzie  :  I  am  sorry  to  take  up  the  time  of  this  meeting, 
but  I  thought  my  resolution  was  the  most  business-like  form  to  put 
it  into  in  order  to  bring  into  review  the  whole  case,  because  I  am 
old  enough  to  know  what  the  Chair  can  do,  and  that  it  might  have 
ruled  that  the  point  I  raised  was  not  competent  to  be  raised  ;  but 
I  believed,  by  giving  notice  of  the  motion,  I  could  not  make  it  so. 
On  the  question  of  the  bye-laws  I  am  quite  willing  to  leave  the 
approval  or  non-approval  to  the  special  meeting,  but  it  must  be 
clear  to  all  of  us  that  it  would  not  be  competent  for  me  to  speak 
at  the  special  meeting  on  the  point  that  1  wish  to  speak  at  this 
meeting,  because  the  special  meeting  is  called  for  a  special 
purpose.  I  have  been  waiting  for  the  Chairman  to  refer  to  this 
point,  or  I  would  have  spoken  earlier. 

Mr.  Carteighe  :  It  seems  to  me  that  the  President  is  bound  to 
allow  every  member  of  the  Society  to  give  his  reasons  why  the 
bye-laws  should  not  be  confirmed.  You,  I  presume,  will  object, 
and  I  would  simply  suggest  that  you  should  divide  your  observa¬ 
tions  into  two  parts. 

Mr.  Mackenzie  :  I  am  quite  willing. 

The  President  then  declared  the  meeting  adjourned  until 
Thursday. 

THE  SPECIAL  GENERAL  MEETING. 


Immediately  after,  the  adjournment  of  the  Annual  Meeting  on 
Wednesday,  the  Secretary  read  the  notice  convening  the  special 
general  meeting. 

Mr.  Carteighe  said  :  I  move  formally  : — • 

“  That  the  sections  and  bye-laws  which  are  now  before  the  meeting  be  taken  as 
read  collectively  and  individually.” 

This  having  been  seconded,  was  put  and  carried  unanimously. 

The  President  :  I  beg  to  move  : — 

“  That  the  fourteen  bye-laws  of  the  Society,  numbered  11  to  24  of  Section  10,  be 
abrogated,  and  that  the  new  bye-laws  now  submitted  to  this  meeting  be  con¬ 
firmed.” 

In  offering  this  resolution  to  you,  gentlemen,  I  should  like  to  make 
one  or  two  remarks.  In  the  first  place,  as  you  all  know,  there  are 
two  principal  points  with  which  we  deal  in 

The  Amended  Bye-Laws. 

The  first  point  is  that  with  reference  to  the  conduct  of  the  First 
examination,  which  it  is  suggested  should  be  discontinued  after 
June,  1900,  and  that  registration  as  an  apprentice  or  student  as  a 
necessary  condition  before  entering  for  the  qualification  examina¬ 
tion  should  be  contingent  upon  the  production  of  certifi¬ 
cates  of  general  education  granted  by  an  approved  examining 
body.  Now  that,  of  course,  is  a  very  important  altera¬ 
tion.  We  propose  that  in  future  there  shall  be  a  test 
provided  in  this  way  to  prove  the  existence  of  a  more  general 
and  more  elaborate  education  on  the  part  of  those  who  are  about 
to  enter  our  calling.  With  regard  to  that  point  I  may  say  that, 
as  far  as  I  can  judge,  the  feelings  of  the  members  and  associates  of 
the  Society  and  others  who  have  spoken  at  the  different  meetings, 
there  is  almost  absolute  unanimity  that  this  is  desirable.  There  is 
another  point  which  is  dealt  with  in  these  bye-laws,  and  it  is  this, 
that  the  fee  payable  by  candidates  for  the  qualifying  examination 
should  be  increased  to  ten  guineas.  On  that  there  has 
been  some  little  difference  of  opinion,  but  not,  as  far 
as  we  know,  officially,  or  very  little.  I  have  had 
the  pleasure  of  reading  to  the  Council  resolutions  passed 
at  different  public  meetings  throughout  the  country,  all  of 
which  resolutions  have  been  absolutely,  as  far  as  they  were  worded. 


438 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  22,  1897. 


in  favour  of  the  whole  scheme  contemplated  in  these  amended  bye¬ 
laws.  There  has  been  only  one  jarring  note  as  far  as  I  know 
officially,  and  that  jarring  note  has  been  a  letter  which  was  sent  to 
the  President  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  by  Mr.  Wootton. 
You  all  know  the  contents  of  that  letter,  gentlemen,  and  with 
reference  to  that  I  should  like  to  say  that  there  is  objection,  of 
course,  by  Mr.  Wootton  to  this  second  point  to  which  I  have  alluded ; 
but  in  that  letter  he  gives  a  specific  reason  for  his  disapproval  and  a 
sort  of  general  reason.  With  regard  to  the  specific  reason  of  his 
disapproval,  I  think  it  is  one  which  is  hardly  germane 
to  the  question,  and  I  do  not  know  that  it  is  one  which  the  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  Society  here  will  care  to  discuss  to-day.  He  says 
‘  ‘  the  obvious  effect  of  that  policy  if  it  should  be  adopted  by  the 
Society  and  approved  by  the  Privy  Council  will  be  to  enable  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  to  continue  an  unprofitable,  and,  there¬ 
fore,  unfair  competition  in  the  business  in  which  we  are  inte¬ 
rested.”  I  do  not  think  that  is  quite  germane  to  the  question, 
and  I  do  not  think  we  need  discuss  it.  But  Mr.  Wootton  goes  on 
to  speak,  “At  the  same  time,  you  will,  I  hope,  do  us  the  justice  to 
believe  that  we  would  not  move  in  the  matter  if  we  were  not  con¬ 
vinced  that  the  policy  announced  is  unjust  and  unjustifiable.” 
Now  I  ask  to  whom  will  this  policy  be  unjust  or  unjusti¬ 
fiable?  I  fail  to  see  where  there  is  any  injustice.  We 
are  merely  saying  that  in  the  future,  in  our  opinion,  it  is 
desirable  in  the  interest  of  the  candidate,  and  in  the  interest  of 
the  Society  that  a  ten  guinea  fee  shall  be  paid  after  a  certain  date. 
That  registration  fee  will  be  sufficient  to  cover  the  expenses  of 
registration  for  life.  According  to  the  Charter  and  the  Act  the  fees 
as  determined  by  bye-law  are  to  be  paid  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  said 
Society  for  the  purposes  of  the  said  Society ;  therefore,  wre  are 
obviously  within  our  right  to  ask  for  any  reasonable  fee,  but  from 
the  candidate’s  point  of  view  we  consider  that  a  ten  guinea  fee  is 
not  more  than  is  reasonable.  If  we  look  to  other  bodies,  for 
instance,  the  dental  profession  or  the  veterinary  surgeons,  and  find 
that  their  fees,  exclusive  of  the  expenses  of  their  various  curricula, 
are  about  twenty  guineas  in  each  case,  we  think  that  ten  guineas 
is  not  an  unreasonable  sum  to  pay  for  our  qualification  and  registra¬ 
tion  for  life.  We  also  think  in  the  interest  of  the  chemist  himself, 
probably  he  will  value  more  highly  that  for  which  he  has  paid  a  higher 
fee,  and  he  will  no  doubt  obtain  it  back  in  some  form  afterwards. 
We  also  think  that  if  these  bye-laws  come  into  operation  there 
will  be  fewer  failures.  It  has  been  said,  I  have  not  gone  into  the 
matter  myself,  that  the  average  sum  that  is  paid  for  the  qualifying 
examination  is  about  £8  or  8  guineas  at  the  present  time.  We 
hope  that  if  these  new  bye-laws  are  passed  we  shall  have  com¬ 
paratively  few  failures.  As  regards  the  failures,  if  a  man  makes 
up  his  mind  to  go  on  failing  as  some  appear  to  do  for  a  goodmany 
years  he  will  in  the  end  get  the  advantage,  because  under  the  new 
regulations  he  has  to  pay  3  guineas  only  as  long  as  he  chooses  to 
come  up,  and  there  is  no  second  5  guineas.  Much  has  been  said  with 
reference  to  the  large  amount  we  are  going  to  make  by  this  charge. 
All  I  can  say  is  this,  that  as  far  as  I  know  there  will  be  a 
considerable  loss  to  the  Society  by  the  change  which  we 
contemplate  in  the  first  part  of  these  bye-laws  ;  that  is  to  say,  so 
far  as  the  First  examination  is  concerned,  we  shall  no  longer  derive 
a  revenue  from  the  failures  in  that  examination.  We  have  no 
evidence  before  us  that  there  will  be  any  large  increase  in  the 
revenues  of  the  Society.  Some  people  think  we  are  going  to  make 
a  big  income  out  of  it.  I  do  not  think  we  shall,  but  even  if 
we  do,  I  think  it  will  be  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  body. 
I  think  it  will  be  for  the  benefit  of  the  members  and  the  associates 
of  the  Society  as  well  as  for  registered  persons  that  this  Society 
should  not  lack  in  the  sinews  of  war.  We  do  not  know  what 
expense  we  may  have  to  incur  one  of  these  days,  either  with  regard 
to  proposed  legislation  or  legal  matters,  and  I  say  it  is  a  good 
thing  that  this  Society  should  be  fairly  well  off.  I  do  not  think 
that  you  gentlemen  believe  that  there  has  been  any  very  extrava¬ 
gant  expenditure,  personal  or  otherwise.  I  take  it  that  you 
believe  that  the  whole  of  the  money  that  has  up  to  the  present 
time  been  spent  has  been  wisely  spent,  and  I  believe  you  will  have 
confidence  in  your  future  Council,  even  if  they  do  derive  a  little 
extra  income  from  this,  that  if  they  do  they  will  also  spend  it  in 
the  interests  of  the  general  body.  Having  said  that,  I  will  now 
move — 

“  That  the  fourteen  bye-laws,  Nos.  11  to  14  of  Section  10,  beabrogated,  and  that 
the  new  bye-laws,  Nos.  11  to  23,  now  submitted  to  this  meeting  be  con¬ 
firmed.” 

The  Vice-President  :  I  beg  formally  to  second  that. 

Mr.  Mackenzie  :  I  rise  now  to  move  my  amendment. 


The  President  :  I  think  I  had  better  at  once  tell  you,  Mr, 
Mackenzie,  that  no  amendments  are  possible  at  this  meeting.  I 
think  I  ought  to  make  that  quite  clear  both  to  you  and  to  Mr, 
Wootton,  who  has  given  notice  of  motion.  The  powers  of  this 
meeting  are  simply  to  say  yea  or  nay  to  these  bye-laws.  The 
legislative  body  in  this  matter  is  the  Council.  The  Council  has 
made  and  approved  these  bye-laws  at  three  meetings,  in  accord¬ 
ance  with  the  Statute.  It  then,  in  accordance  with  the  same 
Statute,  brings  them  to  this  special  meeting  to  ask  it  to  say 
whether  they  shall  go  forward  or  not.  They  can  be  either  adopted 
or  sent  back  to  the  Council  for  consideration.  In  that  case  you 
have  only  to  vote  against  the  resolution  which  I  have  moved.  I 
shall  be  very  glad,  I  need  not  say,  to  hear  Mr.  Mackenzie  and  Mr. 
Wootton  or  any  other  gentlemen  who  are  here  to-day  speak  on  this 
matter,  but  I  must  lay  it  down  once  for  all  that  it  can  only  be  a 
question  of  yea  or  nay,  shall  they  be  confirmed  ? 

Mr.  Mackenzie  :  I  would  say  in  the  beginning  of  my  remarks 
that  it  is  very  refreshing  to  me  to  hear  from  you,  sir,  that  there- 
has  been  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  Council  to  take  action  to- 
redeem  our  position  and  to  get  an  amendment  of  our  present  Acts. 
That  is  really  the  fundamental  principle  that  is  underlying  the 
feelings  of  a  great  number  of  the  members  of  this  Society.  We 
cannot  all  come  to  London,  but  you  are  aware,  Mr.  President,  that 
by  various  little  associations  there  have  been  opinions  expressed 
long  before  these  proposed  bye-laws  now  submitted  had  ever  been, 
thought  of  or  drafted.  I  for  one  will  hail  the  time  when  we  can 
with  confidence  and  in  the  proper  order  of  things  go  forward  to 
that  higher  education,  but  at  the  same  time  I  think  it  is  impossible 
for  us  to  overlook  this  fact  that  it  is  altogether  useless  to  talk 
about  putting  more  restrictions  and  exacting  more  fees  until 
this  Society  is  put  in  possession  of  the  means  of  granting 
those  members  that  are  qualified  that  protection  which, 
was  the  very  basis  of  the  intention  of  the  founders  in 
1843.  Without  this  being  done  we  are  but  building  castles 
in  the  air,  we  are  driving  away  the  very  business  that  we 
are  deriving  a  livelihood  from,  and  bringing  about  a  great  increase 
of  these  companies  that  are  quite  legal  and  quite  open  for  anyone 
to  enter  and  are  being  entered  upon  to  the  detriment  of  the  well- 
being  of  the  members  of  the  Society.  I  say,  therefore,  it  is  oi» 
that  ground,  and  with  the  best  possible  desires  I  have,  that 
the  Society  should  have  a  good  foundation  before  it  begins  to< 
build  glasshouses  on  the  top  of  the  present  structure.  It  is  very 
nice  to  cultivate  such  an  idea,  but  without  that  foundation,  which 
will  add  to  the  income,  it  becomes  us  as  business  men  to  look  te 
our  present  situation.  I  say,  therefore,  it  is  protection  that  wo 
wish,  and  protection  as  members  we  must  have  ;  whether  there  be 
those  on  the  Council  who  know  it,  I  say  there  is  necessity  for  it. 
There  may  be  those  whose  lot  has  been  cast  in  pleasant  places, 
and  who  have  not  felt  the  grip  that  many  of  our  friends  in  the 
country  know  right  well.  It  is  easy  for  one  in  a  high  position 
and  occupying  a  high  place  on  the  Council,  but  it  almost  reminds 
me  of  the  princess  who  stated  that  she  was  surprised  at  the 
stupidity  of  people  living  in  a  famine-stricken  city,  because 
she  said  “  I  would  rather  eat  cold  mutton  and  bread 
than  starve.”  That  was  her  idea  of  famine.  It  may 
possibly  be  that  in  London  the  right  idea  of  the  situation 
is  not  felt  ;  therefore,  it  may  be  that  with  the  best  intentions  they 
are  proceeding  with  haste  to  go  on  with  a  good  thing  at  the  wrong 
time.  The  Acts  of  Parliament  and  the  bye-laws  we  have,  it  is 
true,  but  it  is  the  benefit  which  our  Acts  have  not  given  us  that 
we  need  now.  I  recollect  well  that  when  our  Acts  were  passed  we 
were  told  that  grand  things  would  come,  that  we  should  get  pro¬ 
tection  and  other  things ;  but  when  we  come  into  Court  we  find 
we  have  nothing  but  an  empty  shell.  W e  did  not  dream  that  the 
Society  was  going  to  be  upset  on  its  main  point,  and  that  compa¬ 
nies  could  be  established  all  over  the  country.  I  should  have  liked 
to  have  seen  Mr.  Justice  Hawkins’  opinion  carried  to  the  House  of 
Lords.  I  should  have  been  distinctly  in  favour  of  spending  a  large 
sum  to  have  exhausted  that  point  rather  than  to  have  accepted  it. 
However,  it  is  accepted,  it  is  there,  and  we  have  to  deal  with  it. 

Mr.  Carteighe  :  May  I  just  remind  you  in  order  that  the 
meeting  may  not  be  misled  that  that  could  not  have  been  carried 
to  the  House  of  Lords,  because  the  judges  refused  to  allow  an 
appeal ;  therefore  it  is  not  our  fault.  Saddle  the  right  horse,  if 
you  please. 

Mr.  Mackenzie  :  I  can  only  say  that  we  would  have  liked  better 
to  get  the  House  of  Lords’  decision. 

Mr.  Carteighe  :  That  is  a  matter  of  opinion  ;  but  we  were  not 
allowed  to  do  so,  in  fact. 


May  22,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


439 


Mr.  Mackenzie  :  It  seems  to  me  that  our  misfortunes  have 
arisen  from  improperly  applied  English  phraseology.  If  the  clauses 
of  our  Act  had  been  definitely  drawn  we  should  have  possibly  had 
a  better  result.  We  want  to  get  them  properly  drawn,  and  I 
think  the  responsibilities  of  our  business  justify  us  in  asking  that. 

I  am  inclined  to  think  the  Council  will  do  well  to  turn  their 
whole  attention  to  the  securing  of  this  end,  along  with  those 
other  pleasant  things  which  we  have  heard  from  our 
President  to-day ;  and  I  would  say  that  our  motto  should 
be  “  Union  is  strength.”  I  think  we  have  been  too  long  a 
thing  of  threads  and  patches,  too  long  Jews  and  Gentiles  with  its 
newer  and  outer  coat ;  we  have  been  a  conglomeration  of  many 
strange  materials,  which  combined  as  a  whole  has  been  tried  and 
found  wanting  as  far  as  its  compatibility  with  many  in  the  trade, 
who  are  outside  our  ranks.  I  think  we  have  now  come  to  the  day 
when  our  Council  should  be  informed  that  we  want  legislation 
by  all  means,  but  legislation  in  the  direction  of  unity.  We  should 
take  the  College  of  Surgeons  of  England  or  Scotland  as  a  basis, 
and  do  as  they  do,  and  embrace  a  given  period  not  with  the  dis¬ 
tinction  that  we  have  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  but 
making  its  membership  one  grand  standard.  We  must  aim  at 
one  standard  of  membership  before  we  can  ever  have  that  unity 
that  we  need,  and  that  I  think  we  ought  to  have  with  regard  to 
the  matter  before  us.  I  say  boldly  that  it  is  in  no  carping 
or  fault-finding  spirit  that  I  would  raise  the  slightest  objection  or 
call  to  mind  things  that  have  apparently  been  forgotten  in  the 
Council,  so  far  as  we  outsiders  know.  I  speak  only  of  what  we 
have  read  and  heard.  I  think  we  should  be  downright 
earnest  for  our  case,  and  downright  earnest  before  stir¬ 
ring  up  the  country  and  bringing  up  the  necessity  before 
men  who  grumble  at  the  condition  of  things  and  tell  us  what  the 
Council  do  in  order  to  satisfy  them  that  they  are  justified  in  going 
forward  for  amended  Acts,  and  that  such  amended  Acts  should 
embrace  at  the  time  of  passing  every  man  of  business.  I  hold, 
further,  that  membership  of  this  Society  ought  to  be  open  for 
every  associate.  It  is  an  anomaly  that  there  should  be  so  many 
kinds  of  degrees.  We  ought  to  come  to  that  stage  when  we  should 
have  a  common  fellowship.  Who  will  say  that  the  day  for  asso¬ 
ciates  in  business  has  long  since  gone  by  ? 

A  Member  :  I  rise  to  a  point  of  order.  I  submit  the  gentleman 
is  not  speaking  to  the  resolution  before  the  meeting. 

The  President  :  After  what  has  happened,  Mr.  Mackenzie  is 
having  more  latitude  than  is  ordinary,  but  I  do  hope  he  will  confine 
himself  to  the  question  before  the  meeting. 

Mr.  Mackenzie  :  I  am  only  bringing  this  forward  by  way  of 
illustration,  because  I  hold  that  we  ought  to  have  a  Bill  that  will 
bring  about  the  abolition  of  such  an  anomalous  condition  of  things, 
which  is  adverse  to  our  best  interests.  If  you  will  follow  me,  that 
is  the  point  I  wish  to  make.  I  hold,  further,  that  these  bye-laws 
will  not  give  us  what  we  want.  We  have  discussed  bye-laws  here 
before,  but  they  have  not  been  brought  into  law.  The  reason 
given,  so  far  as  my  memory  goes,  was  that  the  subject  of  them 
was  more  suitable  to  be  dealt  with  by  an  Act  of  Parliament 

than  in  a  bye-law.  I  hold  that  we  ought  to  strive  to 

improve  our  Act  of  Parliament,  which  at  the  present 
time  is  a  thing  of  threads  and  patches.  I  therefore  ask 

that  we  should  have  uniformity  of  membership,  uniformity  of 

privileges,  and  at  the  same  time  bring  all  who  are  in  the  business 
within  our  fold.  Let  associates  who  have  passed  the  Minor  be 
admitted  to  membership  right  off,  and  let  the  examinations  be 
divided  into  a  Major  examination  for  principals  and  a  Minor 
examination  for  assistants.  I  will  refer  now  to  the  hardships  of 
the  present  constitution,  and  state  how  I  think  the  prosecutions 
which  have  been  instituted  adversely  affect  the  interests  of  the 
Society.  It  is  especially  hard  on  the  young  men.  We  find  young 
men  who  have  served  their  apprenticeship  coming  into  the  great 
cities,  such  as  Glasgow,  and  seeking  for  situations  in  doctors’ 
shops  because  they  have  more  time  for  study.  I  main¬ 
tain  that  you  should  give  these  young  men  a  helping 
hand,  as  was  said  in  the  Journal  the  other  day.  With 
regard  to  some  of  the  prosecutions  that  have  taken  place  in 
Scotland  of  young  men  who  have  afterwards  passed  their  examina¬ 
tions,  they  have  had  to  go  through  the  Sheriff  s  Court,  and  it  will 
always  stick  to  them,  they  will  be  branded,  and  it  will  be  said  that 
their  own  Society  has  had  them  up  before  the  Courts,  and  it  cannot 
be  to  their  interest  or  credit.  I  say  in  the  interests  of  the  young 
men  these  prosecutions  should  not  be  proceeded  with.  A  judge 
said  the  other  day  he  did  not  think  anything  of  the  fairness  of 


bringing  a  paltry  prosecution  for  selling  a  pennyworth  of  opium 
months  after  the  sale  took  place. 

The  President  :  I  think  you  are  not  quite  speaking  to  the 
point.  I  do  not  know  whether  you  are  arguing  that  these  bye¬ 
laws  should  not  pass  in  order  that  young  men  should  not  pass  the 
examinations  after  being  unqualified  assistants  to  doctors. 

Mr.  Mackenzie  :  I  want  to  make  the  Minor  examination  a 
qualification  for  assistants. 

The  President  :  That  is  not  dealt  with  here  at  all. 

Mr.  Mackenzie  :  It  bears  directly  on  the  present  position  of 
things.  You  are  not  getting  the  young  men  into  the  Society  as 
you  would  do  if  you  were  more  friendly  to  them.  I  hold  that  it 
is  a  wrong  time  to  come  and  ask  for  our  consent  to  a  set  of  bye¬ 
laws  when  we  ought  to  be  going  to  Parliament  and  asking  for 
an  amended  Act  to  deal  with  the  question  that  is  at  the  root  of 
our  very  vitality.  It  is  all  very  well  to  say  that  assistants  will  get 
better  salaries. 

A  Member  :  Some  of  us  who  live  in  the  country  wish  to  get 
home  to-day.  I  should  be  very  glad  if  you  could  confine  your 
remarks  to  the  point. 

Mr.  Mackenzie  :  Instead  of  aiming  to  make  a  profit  from  our 
examinations,  I  think  we  ought  to  begin  with  unity  as  our  cry, 
consolidate  our  foundations,  and  bring  in  all  the  members. 

Mr.  Wootton  :  I  understand,  sir,  that  your  ruling  applies  to  my 
amendment. 

The  President  :  Yes. 

Mr.  W ootton  :  I  will  ask  you  to  take  a  note  that  I  respectfully 
protest  against  your  ruling.  It  dues  not  matter  to  me  whether 
I  speak  to  your  motion  or  in  favour  of  my  own. 

The  President  :  I  merely  repeat  that  I  see  that  this  meeting 
has  been  convened  ‘  ‘  For  the  purpose  of  considering,  and  if  thought 
proper,  of  confirming  and  approving  new  bye-laws  to  be  submitted 
to  the  meeting  by  the  Council  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of 
the  Charter.”  I  rule  that  it  is  only  competent  for  this  meeting 
either  to  approve  or  disapprove  of  what  is  before  them. 

Mr.  Wootton  :  I  submit  to  your  ruling,  of  course. 

The  President  :  As  I  said  before,  I  am  willing  to  hear  you  to 
any  length  with  regard  to  the  point  you  wish  to  discuss. 

Mr.  Wootton  :  The  point  of  your  ruling  is  to  give  me  no 
opportunity  to  make  my  selection  of  the  bye-laws  ;  pointing  out 
those  that  I  approve  of  and  what  I  disapprove  of.  I  approve  of 
a  part  and  disapprove  of  the  other  part.  I  disapprove  of  one  bye¬ 
law  (and  only  that  one)  which  would  increase  the  Minor  examination 
fee.  To  economise  your  time,  sir,  I  will  limit  my  remarks  strictly 
to  that  one.  I  have  carefully  read  and  studied  all  the  arguments 
which  have  been  put  forward  on  behalf  of  the  propositions  which 
are  now  made.  When  you  first  proposed  them  to  the  Council 
they  were  almost  unanimously  advocated  on  the  ground,  both 
express  and  implied,  that  the  examination  at  the  present  rate  did 
not  pay.  It  was  stated  so  in  so  many  words,  and  it  was  also 
indicated  by  a  good  many  speakers  then,  and  has  been 
indicated  by  a  good  many  since,  that  the  men  coming  into  the 
trade  did  not  pay  as  they  should  do  for  the  protection  which  the 
Society  was  going  to  give  them  and  for  the  expenses  of  administra¬ 
tion.  That  is  the  main  point  upon  which  I  wish  to  speak.  A  great 
many  other  arguments  have  been  put  forward,  but  I  do  not  think 
it  is  worth  my  while  to  occupy  your  time  by  alluding  to  them.  A 
large  number  of  speakers  and  writers  have  indicated  that  the  work 
of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  is  of  such  assistance  and  of  such  a 
beneficial  character  that  it  is  right  to  impose  this  extra  tax  on  the 
men  coming  into  the  trade.  I  do  not  say  that  that  has  been  for¬ 
mulated  in  so  many  words  by  anyone,  but  it  has  been  the  general 
burden  of  a  large  number  of  the  speakers.  Of  course,  without 
entering  into  the  question  of  the  premises  at  all,  all  I  say 
is  that  in  that  case  the  inference  is  not  proved,  and  it 
has  not  been  proved,  because,  however  beneficial  the  work 
of  the  Society  may  be,  it  is  certain  you  have  no  power 
to  compel  people  to  pay  for  your  beneficence.  Then,  to  deal 
exclusively  with  this  question  of  whether  the  examinations 
at  the  present  rate  pay,  I  wish  to  use  the  term  in  the  broadest 
possible  sense,  and  if  you  can  show  by  any  means  that  the  present 
fees  do  not  fully  pay  the  Society,  I  perfectly  agree  that  you  have 
an  abundant  right  to  ask  for  an  increase  ;  but  my  point  is  that  I 
controvert  the  statement  from  the  beginning.  Without  going  into 
any  previous  financial  statement,  it  will  be  quite  sufficient  to  take 
the  one  for  the  year  1896.  That  happens,  perhaps,  to  be  rather 
favourable  to  my  argument,  but  it  is  a  fact  that  any  of 
the  financial  statements  from  1892  onwards,  when  the  new 
scale  of  fees  came  into  operation,  would  answer  my  pur- 


440 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  22,  1897 


pose  equally  well,  and .  all  my  remarks  will  apply 
to  them  just  as  much  as  to  the  year  1896,  with  the  exception  of 
small  details.  The  revenue  in  1896  from  the  examinations 
amounted  to  £9659.  This  includes  a  small'  sum,  less  than  £400, 
received  for  the  Major  examination,  and  as  the  cost  of  that  exam¬ 
ination  is  probably  greater  than  the  revenue  from  it,  it  only  affects 
jny  argument  as  against  myself.  The  total  cost  of  those  examinations 
^as  shown  by  the  financial  statement,  amounted  to  £3492,  leaving  a 
gross  profit  of  £6167.  But  of  course  it  is  replied  that  that  does 
not  meet  anything  like  all  the  expenses  incurred  by  the  Society. 
There  are  the  clerical  expenses,  the  rent  for  the  place 
where  the  examinations  are  held,  and  many  other  incidental 
matters.  It  has  also  been  pointed  out,  and  very  properly, 
that  all  men  coming  into  the  trade  may  be  fairly 
expected  to  pay  their  proper  proportion  towards  the  adminis¬ 
tration  of  the  Pharmacy  Act,  which  is  put  into  the  hands 
of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society.  With  all  that  I  heartily  agree.  It 
has  been  difficult  to  get  anything  like  a  fair  statement  of  what  the 
proportion  should  be  to  charge  to  the  examination.  Some  of  us 
have  considered  that  you  might  charge  half  the  rent  and  half  the 
office  expenses,  and  so  on.  I  think  that  is  a  very  handsome  allow¬ 
ance.  But,  without  quibbling  at  all  about  the  amount,  suppose 
you  charge  the  whole  lot  of  the  expenses — all  the  rent,  all  the  taxes, 
all  the  salaries,  all  the  wages,  all  the  repairs,  the  furniture,  fittings, 
the  gas,  the  water,  coal,  the  cleaning,  the  stationery,  the  printing 
(not  of  the  Journal),  all  the  postage,  all  the  Scotch  law,  and  all 
the  expenses  of  maintaining  the  Register  out  of  the  profit  you  get 
out  of  the  examination — you  can  pay  for  all  that,  and  then  have 
about  £700,  out  of  which  you  can  nearlypayforyourmuseumandyour 
library  as  well.  Y  ou  pay  therefore  out  of  the  examination  not  only  for 
the  perfect  administration  of  the  Pharmacy  Act  as  far  as  you 
administer  it,  but  also  for  a  very  large  part  of  your  own  purely 
■voluntary  Society  expenses.  This  is  out  of  the  present  fees,  and 
yet  the  Council  now  puts  forward  a  claim,  and  is  to  submit  it  to 
the  Privy  Council,  to  nearly  double  the  qualifying  fee.  That  is 
the  case  that  I  wish  to  put  against  your  proposal.  In  one  of  the 
discussions  on  this  subject  one  of  your  supporters  in  the  early 
stage  of  the  controversy  made  the  remark  that  it  was  very  easy  to 
prove  anything  by  merely  shuffling  the  figures.  Well,  after  some 
months  of  consideration,  your  side  has  shuffled  the  figures  so  as  to 
prove  your  case.  The  article  in  the  official  Journal  which  I  read 
last  week  entitled  “The  Dual  Function  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  ”  was  really  the  strongest  argument  that  could  possibly  be 
brought  in  support  of  the  amendment  which  I  was  asked  to  put, 
but  I  was  not  allowed  to.  The  writer  set  himself  to  prove  that 
the  subscriptions  of  the  members  and  societies  fully  paid  for  all 
the  Society’s  expenses,  and  that  the  examination  fee  is  not  suffi¬ 
cient  to  pay  for  the  public  functions  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society,  and  he  showed  this  by  two  accounts,  one  below 
the  other.  His  argument  would  have  been  very  effective 
if  it  had  been  made  out.  In  the  account  of  the  Society’s 
expenses  he  debits  to  the  Society  the  Journal  and  the  post¬ 
age  thereof,  the  Society’s  meetings,  the  library,  and  the  calendar. 
To  the  examiners  he  actually  charges  the  whole  of  the  establish¬ 
ment  charges,  all  the  rent  and  salaries,  which  I,  for  the  purposes 
of  argument,  just  now  assumed  might  be  allowed,  although  I  can¬ 
not  admit  that  it  is  a  reasonable  allowance ;  he  charged  also  the 
School  of  Pharmacy,  the  Research  Laboratory,  all  the  Scotch 
and  law  expenses,  all  the  annuities,  and  the  Museum.  I  really 
think  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  discuss  this  argument  because  it  is 
so  palpably  and  obviously  absurd.  One  would  like  to  ask  why,  if 
the  School  of  Pharmacy  is  to  be  charged  to  the  candidates — you 
say  you  must  charge  the  School  of  Pharmacy  because  it  is  a  model 
school — then  I  presume  the  Journal  would  stand  on  exactly  the 
same  ground.  It  is  published  as  a  model  Journal.  Why  should 
the  Laboratory  be  charged  to  the  Society  and  the  Museum 
to  the  examiners  ?  One  is  as  little  public  as  the  other, 
no  outsider  has  a  right,  I  presume,  to  enter  either  of  them! 
Then  the  Society’s  meetings  are  charged  a  small  sum 
which,  I  presume,  is  for  the  expense  of  providing  coffee  and  cocoa, 
but  nothing  is  allowed  for  the  roof,  which  provides  those  Societies 
meetings,  the  rent  is  to  be  borne  by  outsiders  who  have  no  right  to 
come  to  them.  Until  I  read  that  argument  I  hardly  realised  how 
utterly,  hopelessly  weak  your  case  is.  I  have  really  said  all  I 
have  to  say  on  the  matter,  but  I  should  like  to  just  quote  to  you 
what  your  predecessor  in  office  said  on  the  question  of  these  fees 
when  they  were  3  guineas,  not  5  as  they  are  now,  for  the  Minor 
examination.  In  the  Report  for  the  year  1869— that  is  the  first 
year  when  the  examinations  were  made  compulsory  on  everyone 


entering  the  trade — it  is  stated — 

“  Your  Council  lias  great  pleasure  in  congratulating  the  Society  upon  its  social 
and  financial  advancement,  and  the  general  approval  by  the  trade  and  the  public 
with  which  the  new  state  of  things  inaugurated  by  the  Pharmacy  Act  has  been 
received.  The  financial  statement  shows  a  large  increase  of  members, 
whose  subscriptions  have  considerably  augmented  the  revenue  of  the  Society. 
Your  Council  notes  with  satisfaction  that,  during  the  past  year  the.  sum  of 
£4066  10s.  has  been  invested  in  the  Government  funds  to  the  credit  of  the 
General  Account ;  that  a  further  sum  of  £1000  remained  on  deposit  with  the 
bankers,  still  leaving  a  balance  in  December  in  the  Treasurer’s  hands  of  nearly 
£1000.” 

£6000  made  clear  profit  out  of  the  examinations  in  that  one 
year.  Of  course  it  was  rather  an  exceptional  year,  but  that, 
profit  went  on  year  after  year,  though  not  to  the  same 
amount.  The  Society  became  a  little  more  lavish  and 
quite  properly  so.  I  do  not  want  to  see  the  Society  save  up 
all  its  money.  They  spent  more  money,  but  still  they  kept  on 
saving.  Many  of  us  recollect  how  they  went  on  with  a  constant- 
saving  of  £2000  and  £3000,  and  it  seemed  impossible  for  the 
expenditure  of  the  Society  to  overtake  the  income  until  Mr. 
Carteighe  came  to  the  rescue.  Mr.  Carteighe  was  appointed 
President  in  1882,  and  we  all  remember  that  he  held  that  office 
until  1896.  In  1882,  the  first  year  of  his  Presidency,  the  total 
expenditure  of  the  Society  amounted  to  £14,300.  In  1895,  the 
last  year  over  which  he  had  control,  it  amounted  to  £21,800, 
or  just  50  per  cent,  increase.  I  do  not  want  to  go  into 
it  in  detail,  and  I  am  sure  I  do  not  wish  to  allege  that  Mr. 
Carteighe  is  responsible  solely,  because  I  think  the  whole  Council 
are  responsible  for  voting  for  it,  but  that  one  item  shows  and 
explains  the  reason  why  this  demand  is  made,  and  I  say  that  the 
whole  of  that  expense  has  been  devoted,  with  a  few  trifling  ex¬ 
ceptions,  perhaps  the  law  expenses  have  increased,  b  ut  to-  no 
extent  worth  speaking  about,  nearly  the  whole  of  that  £7000  increase 
in  the  expenditure  has  been  devoted  to  Society  pur  poses. 
You  will  say,  quite  rightly  I  am  sure,  that  the  Pharmacy  Act  gives 
you  the  power  to  devote  such  money  to  pharmaceutical  purposes. 
That  is  true,  but  that  is  no  reason  why  you  should  extract  any 
amount  of  money  that  you  like  to  ask  for.  All  I  can  do  now  is  to 
appeal  to  the  meeting  to  vote  on  this  simple  question ;  is 
it  a  fair  thing  to  charge  the  Society  expenses,  as  you  are 
aiming  to  do,  to  those  least  able  to  bear  it  who  come  into 
the  trade  ?  You  are  going  to  charge  a  very  serious  addition 
to  the  expenses  of  the  young  man  who  enters  the  trade. 
You  have  argued  to-day,  and  you  have  argued  before  that  you  do 
it  in  the  interest  of  the  young  man,  and  if  the  meeting  thinks  so, 
they  will  vote  in  favour  of  your  motion  I  presume,  but  how  yon 
can  allege  it  is  to  his  interest  to  charge  him  ten  guineas  for  the 
same  thing  that  you  would  have  given  him  for  five  guineas  I  do- 
not  understand.  Then  a  great  many  questions  have  been  raised 
during  the  controversy  which  have  really  no  connection  whatever 
with  the  main  question.  For  instance,  there  was  an  article 
published  stating  what  the  cost  of  the  Pharmaceutical  J ournal  wa3- 
fifteen  years  ago,*  and  a  member  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Council, 
speaking  to  his  constituents  at  Plymouth,  said  that  was  a  complete 
answer  to  all  that  has  been  said. 

Mr.  Park  :  I  beg  to  contradict  that  statement.  That  meeting 
was  very  improperly  reported.  You  were  represented  at  that  time 
by  a  youth  of  eighteen,  and  I  should  be  very  pleased  if  you  would 
publish  the  report  that  you  had  supplied  you.  It  was  a  half 
report  that  was  put  in  your  paper  afterwards.  I  wrote  a  letter  to 
you  explaining  that,  and  you  did  not  see  fit  to  answer  my  letter  ira 
your  paper. 

Mr.  Wootton  :  As  that  charge  has  been  made  against  me,  I 
must  take  up  another  minute  or  two  of  your  time  to  reply  to  it, 
because  when  I  heard  Mr.  Park’s  statement  the  only  question  was, 
he  said  the  amount  came  to  4s.  4 d.,  and  I  sent  a  special  represen¬ 
tative  to  him,  who  I  believe  called  upon  him  and  asked  if  that  was 
a  correct  statement,  and  he  sent  me  up  a  statement  of  what  he 
gathered,  of  which  I  published  every  word. 

Mr.  Park  :  You  are  at  perfect  liberty  to  publish  my  own  remarks 
which  I  gave  to  your  representative  in  writing.  The  gentleman  who- 
represents  you  I  believe  was,  owing  to  holidays,  unable  to  attend, 
and  the  youth  who  did  represent  you  did  not  evidently  grasp 
the  question.  I  gave  him  a  report  of  what  I  had  said,  which 
appeared  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal,  in  which  I  made  no  reference 
to  the  cost  in  1895  and  1896.  I  think  you  will  see  in  the  report 
that  you  published  yourself  I  referred  to  the  increased  expenditure 
of  later  years.  I  said  in  my  letter  to  you  that  I  referred  to  later 


*  From  1881  to  the  end  of  1S95  the  average  cost  of  the  Journal  was  4s.  4tl.  a  year 
for  each  subscriber  (see  ante,  page  255).  [Ed.,  Pharm.  Journ.] 


May  22,  18971 


PH  ARM  A  OF  HTTP  AT  JOURNAL. 


441 


on,  and  you  have  actually  reported  in  your  paper  that  I  did  so 
refer. 

Mr.  Wootton:  There  was  another  meeting  at  Liverpool,  where 
my  friend  Dr.  Symes  also  raised  the  point.  He  said  that  these  sort 
of  figures  were  all  very  well  in  their  way,  but  he  looked  at  the 
matter  from  an  entirely  different  point  of  view.  He  took  up  a 
higher  position  altogether.  He  said  this  was  a  step  in  the  right 
direction,  and  that  he  had  always  advocated  that  any  person  enter¬ 
ing  the  trade  should,  ipso  facto,  become  a  member  of  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society.  He  would  advocate,  and  I  assume  that  those 
who  agree  with  him  would  equally  support  a  Bill  to  take  to  Par¬ 
liament  asking  Parliament  to  compel  every  chemist  and  druggist, 
as  he  becomes  a  chemist  and  druggist,  to  subscribe  to  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society,  whether  he  wants  or  not. 

The  President  :  I  do  not  think  that  point  is  before  us,  Mr. 
Wootton. 

Mr.  Wootton  :  No,  but  I  am  asking  that  these  matters  which 
are  not  before  us,  and  which  have  been  raised  as,  I 
may  say,  red  herrings,  should  not  influence  members  of  the 
Society  in  their  vote  to-day.  However,  I  will  not  raise  any  more 
of  them.  All  I  will  ask  the  members  is  to  vote  that  they  should 
pay  their  own  expenses  themselves,  even  if  they  have  to  raise  their 
subscriptions  from  one  guinea  to  two  guineas.  That  is  a  new  bye¬ 
law  which  I  would  support  willingly.  I  would  ask  them  to  vote 
and  say  that  they  will  not  any  longer  sponge  upon  those  poor 
fellows  who  are  coming  into  the  trade. 

Mr.  Robinson  :  I  have  listened  with  care  and  attention  to  the 
remarks  which  have  been  made  by  Mr.  Wootton,  and  I  quite  agree 
that  the  whole  policy  of  the  Council  in  asking  us  to  pass  these  bye¬ 
laws  is  raised  here  to-day.  I  say  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Council 
to  amend  their  bye-laws  if  they  think  it  is  necessary.  They  have 
done  so  in  the  past,  and  whatever  may  be  the  vote  to-day  I  have 
no  doubt  they  will  have  to  do  it  in  the  future  ;  therefore  I  say  they 
are  well  within  their  right  in  asking  this  meeting  to  confirm  the 
new  bye-laws.  Before  dealing  with  it  in  detail,  may  I  say  I  am 
surprised  at  the  very  minor  key  in  which  Mr.  Wootton  has  intro¬ 
duced  this  matter  ?  I  thought  we  were  going  to  have  a  great  fight 
over  it,  but  I  do  not  see  that  he  is  in  a  fighting  humour,  and  that  he 
has  confined  his  remarks  to  the  question  before  the  meeting  :  What 
is  the  object  of  the  Society  ?  I  do  not  know  whether  Mr.  Wootton 
will  accept  my  assurance,  but  I  can  tell  you  this,  that  I  see  from 
the  published  statements  of  the  Council  that  they  do  it  because 
they  think  it  is  the  proper  thing  to  do  in  the  interests  of  the  trade. 
I  have  made  personal  inquiry,  and  I  am  told  that  it  is  not  with  the 
view  of  sponging  upon  the  young  men  who  are  coming  into  the 
trade,  but  that  it  is  required  for  the  purposes  of  the  Society.  It 
is  almost  tempting  to  go  into  it  in  detail  if  the  hour  was  not  so 
late,  therefore  I  will  endeavour  to  come  to  the  question  at  once. 
He  bases  his  argument  entirely  on  the  fact  that  he  thinks  there  is 
no  necessity  for  raising  the  fees  for  the  Minor  examination.  He 
argues  in  this  way  that  the  fees  hitherto  paid  by  the  candidate 
have  been  more  than  sufficient  to  cover  the  expenses.  I  join  issue 
with  him  there.  I  say  that  the  Society  has  two  means  of  revenue. 
It  is  the  subscriptions  of  its  members,  and  the  fees  paid  by  the 
candidates.  I  say  that  both  of  those  sums  together  are  properly 
used  for  the  purposes  of  the  Society.  But  if  Mr.  Wootton  wants 
more  proof  of  that,  I  say  emphatically  that  the  fees  of  the  candi¬ 
dates  were  always  intended  to  pay  for  the  Society.  The  Charter 
distinctly  says  the  fees  shall  be  applied  to  the  general  purposes  of 
the  Society.  That  is  also  confirmed  by  the  Pharmacy  Act  of 
1868,  Section  7,  in  which  the  very  same  words  are  used.  It  is 
therefore  quite  clear  that  it  was  always  intended  that  the  fees 
received  from  the  candidates,  the  examinees,  should  be  available 
for  the  expenses  of  the  Society.  So  far  from  it  being  the 
fact  that  the  fees  from  the  examinees  have  been  entrenched  upon, 
it  is  the  other  way  about,  and  applied  entirely  to  the  benefit 
of  the  members.  The  members  of  the  Society  have 
paid  voluntarily  a  sum  equal  to  £5000  a  year.  The  fees 
from  the  candidates  have  never  paid  the  entire  expenses  of  the 
Society.  If,  then,  it  had  not  been  for  the  voluntary  subscriptions 
of  the  members  there  would  have  always  been  a  deficit.  It  is  a 
fact,  as  Mr.  Wootton  knows,  and  I  have  not  the  least  doubt  that 
he  has  discovered,  whether  from  reading  the  articles  in  the  Journal 
or  not,  that  he  was  on  treacherous  ground  in  saying  that  the 
Society  were  improperly  using  the  fees  from  the  young  men. 
When  he  adds  that  in  so  many  years  an  excess  of  £6000  from  the 
examinations  has  been  added  to  the  funds  of  the  Society  I 
think  it  is  time  we  should  get  to  very  close  quarters 


with  Mr.  Wootton.  I  will  take  up  the  paragraph  in 
this  paper,  and  I  will  do  my  best  now  to  disprove  what  he 
says.  Mr.  Wootton  says  in  the  Chemist  and  Druggist  for 
May  15 

“  ‘  Four-fifths  of  those  who  pass  the  Minor  examination  do  nothing  to  support 
the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  which  registers  them  for  life  and  looks  after  their 
interests.  It  is  only  fair,  therefore,  that  the  fee  should  be  raised.’  This  was  the 
first  official  utterance  by  the  President  of  the  Society.  We  replied  that  the 
revenue  from  examination  fees  from  1869  to  1895  was  £87,000  in  excess  of  the 
direct  expenditure." 

Notice  the  words  “direct  expenditure.”  It  seems  to  me  that 
Mr.  Wootton  may  justify  himself  in  that  by  only  meaning 
what  was  paid  to  the  examiners,  but  that  is  not  anything 
like  the  entire  charge  to  be  defrayed  from  the  examination  fees.  He 
says  that  the  excess  over  the  direct  expenditure  is  profit.  What  is 
the  inference  to  be  drawn  from  such  a  statement  as  that  ?  It  seems 
to  me  that  the  word  “direct”  did  mean  that  all  of  this  was 
profit  that  had  gone  into  the  coffers  of  the  Society  from  the 
examination  fees  ;  but  it  is  nothing  of  the  kind.  His  next  item 
is  that  the  yearly  surplus  has  always  paid  for  the  greater 
proportion  of  the  expenses  of  the  Society.  My  answer  is  that  those 
fees  were  always  intended  to  do  that.  Suppose  there  were  fewer 
members  who  join  the  Society,  and  suppose  the  income  was  only 
£2000  instead  of  £5000,  the  Society  would  still  have  to  be  carried 
on,  and  there  would  be  less  revenue  received  from  the  voluntary 
subscriptions  than  there  is  now.  Therefore,  I  say  that  the  fees 
were  always  intended  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  Society.  Then 
he  says  investments  to  the  extent  of  £25,000  have  been  made  from 
the  surplus  of  the  examination  fees.  I  say  that  was  not  so  ;  it  was 
from  other  sources.  Then  he  says  the  subscriptions  of  members  of 
the  Society  fall  far  short  of  the  expenses  incurred  on  their  part. 
That  all  depends  on  the  view  you  take  of  it ;  if  you  say  that  the 
members  of  the  Society  are  to  pay  the  general  expenses  of  the 
Society,  then,  of  course,  I  quite  admit  that  subscriptions  will  not  do 
so ;  but  if  you  look  at  it  reasonably  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  exam¬ 
ination  fees  are  primarily  charged  with  the  expenses  of  the  Society, 
and  it  is  quite  evident  that  the  money  has  been  properly  expended. 
I  entirely  disagree  with  Mr.  Wootton.  The  truth  is  that  the  sub¬ 
scriptions  of  the  members  have  exceeded  what  might  be 
properly  charged  to  the  private  expenses  of  the  Society,  and 
of  course  I  admit  that  the  Journal  is  an  item  which  is  only 
supplied  to  members,  therefore  the  Journal  is  properly  charged  to 
the  subscriptions  of  the  members,  and  I  am  quite  willing  to  throw 
in  some  other  items,  although  I  believe  the  Society,  being  an 
educational  body,  is  an  ample  justification  for  its  keeping  a  library, 
museum,  and  school  of  pharmacy  ;  and  on  that  ground  I  say  that 
the  expenses  of  the  Society  are  rightly  charged  against  the  general 
fund  of  the  Society.  I  must  confess  that  some  months  ago  I 
did  not  grasp  it  fully  myself.  The  revenue  received  from  the 
subscribing  members  is  £5000  a  year,  and  adding  the  debit 
balance  of  the  Journal,  which  the  Society  has  a  perfect  right  to 
carry  on  as  it  thinks  fit,  as  well  as  £1000  more  for  the 
expenses  of  the  evening  meetings,  the  calendar,  and  the  library 
— adding  all  that  together,  I  tell  you  that  the  surplus  from 
the  subscriptions  has  been  considerable.  The  subscriptions 
from  the  members  amply  cover  the  deficit  on  the  Journal 
account,  and  the  £1000  I  have  referred  to.  Therefore  it  is  totally 
incorrect  to  say  that  the  money  received  from  the  subscribers  has 
always  been  far  short  of  what  it  should  have  been.  Mr.  Wootton 
says  that  no  one  has  made  an  attempt  to  controvert  his  statements. 

I  must  leave  it  for  this  meeting  to  judge  what  is  the  fair  way  of 
looking  at  the  affairs  of  this  Society.  If  they  take  Mr.  Wootton’s 
view,  that  the  members  who  join  the  Society  are  to  bear  all  the 
expenses,  they  will  vote  against  these  bye-laws,  but  when  they 
realise  that  these  bye-laws  are  introduced  for  the  best  interests  of 
the  Society,  then  there  will  be  an  overwhelming  vote  for  their  con¬ 
firmation.  I  should  leave  it  there  if  there  had  not  been  so  many 
statements  in  the  public  press  on  the  matter,  and  I  for  one  do  not 
think  they  should  be  passed  over.  I  saw  this  stated  by  Mr. 
Wootton,  or  under  his  authority  ;  he  said,  “Who  will  believe  that 
if  the  Society’s  Journal  had  not  had  a  loss  that  anyone  would  have 
wanted  to  increase  the  fees  for  the  Minor  candidates  ?  ”  He  said 
it  was  owing  to  the  fact  of  having  to  subsidise  the  Journal, 
and  I  believe  he  uses  some  words  about  unfair  competition. 
He  said,  “Who  would  admit  that  anyone  would  increase  the 
fees  ?  ”  I  want  to  tell  Mr.  Wootton  that  I  for  one  easily  believe  the 
Council  when  they  say  that  it  is  not  on  account  of  the  Journal  that 


442 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Mat  22, 1897 


they  want  to  increase  the  fees.  I  do  not  see  myself,  with  all  the 
facts  that  we  have  in  our  possession,  that  the  raising  of  the  fee 
will  be  a  bad  thing  for  the  young  men  themselves.  I  desire  to 
refer  to  this  in  connection  with  that  point.  It  is  known  that  the 
candidates  at  the  present  time  pay  more  than  five  guineas  on  the 
average  ;  they  go  up  for  the  examination  without  being  fully  pre¬ 
pared,  and  the  average  fee  paid  by  the  candidates  I  am  told  is 
somewhere  about  £8.  If  increasing  the  fee  to  ten  guineas  makes 
the  candidates  take  more  care  first  of  all  before  they  enter  the 
business  of  a  chemist  and  druggist  that  will  be  a  good  thing,  and 
if  it  makes  them  take  more  care  that  they  are  properly  prepared 
for  examination  before  they  come  up,  that  would  be,  too,  a  good 
thing  for  the  credit  of  the  Society.  Mr,  Wootton  has  asked  several 
questions,  and  I  think  it  is  fair  that  I,  in  my  turn,  should  ask  a 
question  of  Mr.  Wootton.  It  is  this  :  “  Who  will  believe  that  Mr. 
Wootton,  a  pharmaceutical  chemist,  when  he  sees  the  action 
of  the  Society,  doing  something  that  is  clearly  shown  to  be 
for  the  benefit  of  the  Society — who  would  believe  that  if  he  were 
not  the  Editor  of  the  Chemist  and  Druggist  that  he  would  have 
made  such  a  remark  as  he  has  ?  ”  It  is  so  clear  that  one  need  not 
further  go  into  this  matter  before  this  meeting.  I  travelled  to-day 
on  a  2d.  omnibus  with  a  distinguished  Councillor,  and  he  said  : 
“You  do  not  suppose  that  editors  believe  what  they  write  ?  ”  I 
am  inclined  to  think  that  is  the  case.  Though  Mr.  Wootton  may 
have  thought  there  was  some  unfair  competition  with  him,  he 
must  see  by  this  time  that  it  is  not  so.  I  for  one  would  not  be  a 
party  to  anything  of  the  kind.  I  have  been  a  subscriber  to  the 
Chemist  and,  Druggist  as  well  as  the  Journal.  I  may  be  told  by 
the  Editor  and  Proprietor  of  the  Chemist  and  Druggist  that  it  is 
their  business,  but  are  they  quite  sure  that  in  taking  up  this  line 
of  hostility  to  the  Society,  and  sowing  dissension  as  they  are 
doing,  that  their  own  subscribers  will  approve  of  it?  When 
I  find  that  they  incite  young  men  to  write  to  the  Privy 
Council  protesting  against  the  confirmation  of  these  bye-laws,  I 
think  they  are  treading  on  very  dangerous  grounds,  and  I  am 
exceedingly  sorry  to  see  it.  It  does  not  matter  much  what  people 
say — all  the  members  will  know  that  words  do  not  count  for  much, 
but  this  I  do  say  emphatically,  that  the  J ournal  expenses  are  not 
primarily  the  cause  of  this  proposed  increase  of  fee.  It  is  quite 
true  that  some  seven  or  eight  years  ago  I  said,  “  Why  do  not  you 
make  the  Journal  a  better  one  ?  ”  I  recognised  the  fact  that  we 
had  a  Journal,  and  that  it  did  go  amongst  our  subscribers,  and  I 
said,  “  By  all  means  let  it  be  improved.”  My  suggestion  was  not 
taken  very  kindly  at  that  time,  but  since  then  I  am  glad  to  say  it 
has  been  improved,  but  I  am  not  so  foolish  as  to  say  that  you 
should  not  look  into  the  financial  matters  connected  with  the 
Journal.  May  I  offer  another  bit  of  advice  to  the  Council,  or  the 
Committee,  or  the  Editor  (I  do  not  know  which  it  is),  while  you 
have  made  the  Journal  a  better  journal  than  it  was,  cannot  you  go 
a  little  further  and  see  that  you  are  getting  the  full  value  for  the 
money  that  you  spend  on  it.  My  friend,  Mr.  Richard  Reynolds, 
writes  me  under  date  of  yesterday  referring  to  the  Journal,  and  says 
“  By  comparison  with  its  immediate  predecessor  he  has  remarked 
a  great  advance,  but  the  Press  generally  has  been  the  subject  of  so 
much  enterprise  during  the  last  ten  years  that  literary  matter,  illus¬ 
trations  and  get-up  are  immensely  advanced  on  what  used  to  be  the 
case,  and  he  concludes  by  saying  that  he  is  certain  the  style  of  the 
Journal  is  not  creditable  to  the  Society.  I  thought  it  would  be  of 
interest  to  the  Council  to  have  such  a  valuable  opinion  as  that  of 
Mr.  Reynolds.  I  believe  you  could  get  better  printing  and  a 
better  turn-out  generally  without  increasing  the  expense,  and  that 
if  you  continue  your  exertions  as  regards  the  Journal,  you  will 
make  it  more  successful  and  more  a  medium  for  advertisements. 
I  am  sorry  if  I  have  taken  up  too  much  of  your  time,  and  I  will 
leave  my  friend  Mr.  Carteighe  to  deal  with  any  other  points  which 
do  not  concern  me,  and  will  only  say  that  in  my  opinion  the  Council 
is  well  justified  in  making  the  alteration  in  its  bye-laws.  I  do  not 
believe  for  one  moment  that  the  acrimonious  discussions  which 
have  taken  place  will  influence  us  in  voting  against  the  Council. 
We  sent  them  to  do  the  best  they  could  ;  they  come  before  us 
deliberately  and  unanimously  with  their  proposals,  and  I  hope  they 
will  be  confirmed  to  day.  I  have  very  much  pleasure  in  suggesting 
to  this  meeting  that  we  do  so  with  the  utmost  heartiness  and 
thoroughness,  and  I  believe  it  will  be  for  the  best  interests  of  the 
Society  generally. 

Mr.  Glyn-Jones  :  I  am  sorry  that  for  a  moment  I  questioned 
your  ruling  with  regard  to  this  meeting,  but  I  want  to  be  quite 
clear  on  the  point.  This  is  a  resolution  that  these  bye-laws  should 
be  voted  for  as  they  stand,  and  there  is  practically  before  the 


meeting  a  negative  to  that,  that  they  should  be  opposed,  and  nofe 
confirmed  as  they  stand.  Now  I  do  not  want  to  support  either  of 
those  votes,  and  I  will  give  you  my  reason  for  not  doing  it.  Mr. 
Wootton  has  told  us  that  he  was  prepared  to  vote  that  certain, 
bye-laws  be  confirmed,  and  that  others  be  rejected,  and  to  some 
extent  that  is  my  position  ;  but  I  ask,  Is  there  anything  in  our 
bye-laws  to  prohibit  this  meeting  deferring  the  confirmation  of 
them  until  certain  things  take  place  ?  Can  the  confirmation  be. 
postponed  ?  Is  there  anything  in  our  bye-laws  which  says  that  at. 
this  meeting  these  bye-laws  must  either  be  accepted  or  rejected  ?  I 
ask  this  because  if  I  am  in  order  I  should  like  to  speak  to  this- 
motion  if  this  amendment  which  I  have  in  my  hand  is  out  of 
order.  If  your  ruling  holds  good,  then  my  amendment  is  cer¬ 
tainly  out  of  order.  It  is  this,  that  the  confirmation  of  the  bye¬ 
laws  be  postponed  pending  the  report  of  a  committee,  such  com¬ 
mittee  to  ascertain  approximately  the  amount  of  income  expended 
in  connection  with  the  administration  of  the  Pharmacy  Act. 

The  President  :  I  have  ruled,  Mr.  Glyn-Jones,  that  there  can 
be  no  amendment  whatever  at  this  meeting.  We  are  here  for  the 
purpose  of  confirming  certain  bye-laws  or  not  confirming  them. 

Mr.  Glyn-Jones  :  I  am  sorry  for  that,  because  in  anything  I 
have  to  say  I  should  not  like  it  to  appear  that  I  am  desirous  of 
opposing  the  whole  of  the  bye-laws.  I  am  certainly  at  one  with 
this  Council  in  their  desire  for  insisting  on  a  better  preliminary- 
education,  but  when  it  comes  to  the  other  part,  we  have  had 
figures  put  before  us,  and  I  admit  that  the  opposition  has  come 
from  what  is,  on  the  face  of  it,  a  prejudiced  source — there  is  no 
question  about  it,  and  we  must  recognise  it — but  if  an  argument 
is  put  forward  there  is  no  reason  that  we  should  not  consider  it 
because  it  comes  from  a  prejudiced  source.  There  must  be  a  cer¬ 
tain  amount  of  truth  in  it.  I  am  here  speaking  entirely  as  a  private 
member  of  the  Society,  and  I  suppose  no  body  I  am  connected  with 
will  object  to  my  having  a  pharmaceutical  conscience.  Therefore  I 
say  that  I  look  with  the  greatest  amount  of  eagerness  for  what 
could  be  considered  a  full  argument  to  certain  arguments  which 
have  been  made  by  chemists  and  druggists  against  these  bye-laws. 
The  argument  has  been  that  this  Society  has  a  dual  capacity.  On 
looking  at  the  current  issue  of  the  Journal  I  find  it  is  admitted 
that  there  is  a  dual  function  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society.  Well, 
gentlemen,  it  may  be  a  matter  of  opinion  that  a  man  who  becomes! 
a  chemist  and  druggist  should  pay  for  any  advantages  which  this- 
Society  as  a  Society  is  able  to  confer,  whether  educationally  or 
in  any  other  way,  but  what  I  am  anxious  about  is  that  we  should 
avoid  further  restraining  the  vast  number  of  chemists  and  drug¬ 
gists  from  joining  this  Society.  It  is  admitted,  and  it  is  a 
lamentable  fact  that  out  of  the  large  number  of  chemists 
and  druggists,  we  have  only  a  few  adherents  to  this  Society. 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that  the  application  for  an  increased  fee  rather 
brings  home  to  me  this  idea,  that  the  Society  has  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  they  can  no  longer  look  for  voluntary  support  from 
those  who  are  still  outside  the  Society.  It  appears  to  me  that  for 
the  private  affairs  of  this  Society  we  are  not  able  to  command  the 
support  of  the  trade  to  such  a  large  extent  as  to  enable  us  to  pay 
for  them.  On  looking  through  the  current  issue  of  the  Journal  I  find 
that  there  a  division  has  been  made.  It  seems  to  be  somewhat 
arbitrary.  In  going  through  the  figures  I  find  there  is  a  balance 
to  the  Journal  account  and  other  things,  and  there  is  an  income 
from  the  private  sources  of  the  Society  of  some  £4000  odd.  We 
are  told  that  the  interest  which  is  shown  in  this  income  has  been 
earned  by  the  surplus  from  the  examination  fees.  I  am  not  in  a. 
position  to  say  whether  that  is  so  or  not ;  but  I  do  think  that, 
this  meeting  ought  to  be  in  a  position  to  have  the  figures  before  us 
so  that  we  ourselves  could  come  to  a  conclusion  on  this  matter.  I  ami 
puzzled  yet  to  find  out  what  the  private  concerns  of  this  Society 
are.  Here  there  is  an  attempt  to  explain  it,  and  we  have  the 
library  charged  to  one  head  and  the  museum  to  another, 

I  fail  to  see  why  that  should  be,  because  I  think  I  am  right  in 
stating  that  nobody  who  is  not  an  adherent  to  the  Society  has  any 
right  to  enter  either  of  those  institutions.  If  they  like  to  ask 
for  permission  I  have  no  doubt  it  will  be  given  to  them  in  the 
same  way  that  anyone  asks  to  go  to  the  museum  of  the  Royal 
College  of  Surgeons,  but  my  point  is,  that  no  one  but  an  adherent 
has  a  right  to  the  use  of  those  institutions.  The  question  comes- 
to  this :  Are  the  Library,  the  Museum,  the  School,  and  the 
Journal  all  things  which  are  run  in  the  interests  of  the  general 
trade  ?  I  believe  with  slight  modifications  they  are,  but  appa¬ 
rently  there  are  a  large  majority  of  the  trade  who  do  not  believe 
that,  and  I  am  struck  forcibly  with  an  argument  that  has  been 
made  by  our  leaders.  They  have  said  this  :  You  can  put  the 


Fat  22,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


443 


advantages  of  the  Society  before  the  trade.  You  can  bring  a  horse 
to  the  water  but  you  cannot  make  him  drink.  Apparently  you 
are  going  to  make  him  pay  for  it  whether  he  drinks  it  or  not.  It 
would  be  like  my  asking  one  of  you  to  lunch  and  saying  “  Now  we 
will  share  the  expenses  of  this  lunch,”  and  I  say  “  Bring  a  fowl,” 
and  you  say  you  do  not  want  a  fowl.  I  say  “  It  is  the  right  thing 
for  you;  I  know  better  than  you.”  I  say  “We  will  have  vege¬ 
tables.”  You  say  you  do  not  want  vegetables,  and  when  that 
account  comes  to  be  settled,  on  looking  down  the  items  I  say 
*  ‘Divide  it  between  us,  you  pay  for  the  vegetables,  your  friend 
will  pay  for  the  wine  ;  he  said  he  did  not  have  any,  but  you 
say  he  ought  to  have  it,  it  is  the  right  thing,”  and  I 
say  “I  will  pay  for  the  bread  and  the  gravy.”  My 
point  is  this  :  If  you  wish  to  secure  the  support  of  the  rank 
and  file  of  the  trade,  you  must  show  that  the  income  you  are  ask¬ 
ing  for  is  to  be  used  in  their  interests.  There  are  a  large  majority 
at  present  who  do  not  think  so.  I  think  they  are  wrong  in  not 
seeing  that  the  school  and  other  expenditure  is  for  the  general 
interest  of  the  trade,  but  the  question  I  ask  you  is,  Is  it  right  to 
compel  them  to  pay  for  it  whether  they  see  its  advantages  or 
not?  We  have  to  go  to  the  Privy  Council  to  have  these 
bye-laws  confirmed,  and  before  the  Privy  Council  grant  that  I 
believe  they  would  want  to  know  a  little  more  of  the  financial  con¬ 
dition  than  you  at  present  have  been  able  to  put  before  the 
members.  Our  own  Auditor  has  told  us  that  it  is  a  lamentable 
fact  that  we  have  no  balance  sheet.  It  is  a  lamentable  fact  that 
we  do  not  know  what  the  school  costs  us,  and  we  do  not  know 
what  the  Journal  costs  us.  I  am  making  the  statement  that  the 
financial  statement  is  not  a  sufficient  guide  to  us  as  to  what  these 
things  cost  us,  and  our  Auditor  has  practically  told  us  the  same 
thing.  My  point  is  this  ;  if  those  particulars  are  to  be  given  to 
the  Privy  Council,  why  not  to  this  meeting?  Would  it  not  be  to 
the  advantage  of  the  trade  at  large  that  we  should  say  that  no  man 
is  compelled  to  pay  !  In  ether  words,  that  our  legal  Secretary’s 
work  should  be  superseded  practically  by  an  income-tax  collector. 
That  is  what  it  comes  to.  That  the  men  who  will  not  voluntarily 
subscribe  to  the  Society  are  to  be  made  to  do  so,  to  subscribe  to 
certain  things  which  they  foolishly  do  not  think  for  their  own 
benefit.  Of  course,  we  have  a  perfect  right  to  have  these  bye-laws, 
but  the  question  is,  Is  it  politic,  is  it  wise? 

Mr.  Barnard  :  It  appears  to  me  that  the  whole  of  the  discus¬ 
sion  has  been  on  a  wrong  footing.  It  is  all  a  question  as  between 
the  Journal  and  the  Chemist  and  Drtiggist,  and  I  am  getting  tired 
of  it.  There  is  an  old  saying  which  appeals  to  me  very  forcibly: 
“You  can  tell  bigger  lies  with  figures  than  with  anything  else.” 
What  I  have  to  suggest  to  the  Council  is  that  a  delay  in  passing 
these  bye-laws  is  desirable  from  altogether  another  reason.  I  do  feel, 
sir,  that  we  ought,  before  we  increase  the  difficulties  and  expense, 
and  so  forth,  of  getting  into  the  trade,  the  chemist  and  druggist,  if 
possible,  to  have  something  given  in  return  for  this  extra  expenditure 
and  increased  difficulties  to  young  men  coming  into  the  trade.  But 
will  this  increased  expenditure  give  any  consideration  to  it  ?  I  am 
afraid  not,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  more  you  increase  the 
difficulty  of  entering  a  trade  or  profession,  the  more  likely,  and,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  the  more  frequently,  you  have  illegal  opponents 
in  the  business.  At  the  present  moment  we  have  in  the  East-End 
of  London  an  enormous  number  of  drug  stcres  springing  up  which 
are  just  outside  the  pale  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society.  Could  we 
not  before  we  alter  the  bye-laws  and  double  the  fees  get  back  our 
old  principle,  the  principle  that  our  first  Charter  recognised  ?  In 
the  very  first  Charter  it  stated  that  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
was  for  the  education  of  chemists  and  druggists  and  for  the  pro¬ 
tection  of  trade  interests.  In  the  first  Act  of  Parliament,  passed 
in  1852,  the  words  are  not  as  in  the  Act  of  1868  ;  that  is  who 
shall  assume  the  title  of  chemist  and  druggist  shall  be  liable 
to  a  penalty,  but  we  all  know  what  the  words  are :  those  who 
shall  assume,  use,  or  exhibit  any  name,  title,  or  sign  implying  that 
he  is  registered,  or  that  he  is  a  member  of  the  Society,  that  is  the 
wording  of  the  first  Act  in  1852 — he  shall  be  liable  to  a  penalty. 
Before  we  alter  these  bye-laws  ought  we  not  as  a  trade  to  have 
considered  the  very  great  question  whether  we  could  not  have 
got  an  amended  Act  of  Parliament  whereby  we  could  have  dealt 
with  those  who  pretend  to  be  chemists  and  druggists  ?  It  was 
necessary  that  members  should  belong  to  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society,  so  that  they  should  be  pharmaceutical  chemists  or  dis¬ 
pensing  chemists  for  the  guidance  of  the  public  in  1852.  If  a 
man  put  forth  that  he  was  a  pharmaceutical  chemist,  then 
Parliament  recognised  that  in  order  that  prescriptions  might 
be  carefully  and  properly  dispensed  that  he  should  be  liable 


to  a  penalty  if  they  were  not.  But  now  almost  forty-five 
years  have  passed  since  Parliament  has  recognised  that  there 
should  be  a  method  whereby  all  educated  men  should  be  distin¬ 
guished,  yet  there  is  no  method  now  which  renders  it  illegal  for  a 
man  to  assume  and  pretend  to  be  a  chemist.  I  do  ask  this 
meeting  to-day  to  consider  this  very  great  question,  whether  they 
should  not  negative  this  proposition  on  the  part  of  the  Council 
with  a  view  of  taking  the  whole  question  into  consideration  with 
regard  to  an  amended  Act  of  Parliament  which  shall  give  young 
men  entering  into  trade  some  privilege  in  return  for  the  time  and 
money  tnSy  have  to  expend.  I  will  not  detain  you,  but  I  put  that 
view  before  the  meeting,  because  it  is  a  view  which  has  not  been 
considered  at  all.  It  has  been  merely  the  question  of  trade  inte¬ 
rest  between  the  Pharmaceidical  Journal  and  the  Chemist  and 
Druggist  as  far  as  I  ( a  i  see. 

Mr.  Wills  :  Mr.  President  and  gentlemen,  I  should  like  to  say 
a  few  words  on  behalf  of  the  students.  I  am  very  sorry  that  Mr. 
Wootton’s  amendment  was  not  read,  as  I  should  have  felt  it  my 
duty  to  second  it.  As  it  is,  we  are  only  allowed  to  say  a  few 
words.  I  have  received  a  large  number  of  letters  from  all  over  the 
country  asking  me  to  oppose  these  bye-laws.  I  can  tell  you  that 
I  have  no  objection,  neither  do  I  think  anyone  has,  to  the  pro¬ 
vision  as  to  an  increase  in  the  severity  of  the  Preliminary.  I  think 
that  is  quite  right.  It  is  only  on  the  matter  of  the  increase  of  the 
fee  from  five  to  ten  guineas  that  I  object.  I  claim  to  know  as 
many  assistants  and  chemists  in  business  as  any  man  living.  L 
have  received  a  very  large  number  of  letters,  but  I  will  only  tell1 
you  what  some  of  them  say.  You  have  heard  some  of  the  objec¬ 
tions.  One  wrote  to  me  and  said  he  thought  the  Society  were 
worshipping,  the  Council  especially,  two  gods,  one  was  gold,  not 
their  own  gold,  but  the  students’,  and  the  other  was  their  school. 
Whether  that  is  so  or  not  of  course  I  cannot  say.  There  are 
between  4000  and  5000  students  at  the  present  time  who  have  been 
introduced  to  the  profession  or  the  trade,  who  have  passed  the 
Preliminary  examination,  and  who  yet  have  to  present  themselves  • 
for  the  final.  They  did  so  ;  they  entered  the  trade  and  passed  the- 
First  examination  on  the  understanding  that  they  would  be  allowed 
to  present  themselves  for  the  final  examination  on  paying  the  fee 
of  three  or  five  guineas.  Now  they  will  have,  after  probably  a 
year  or  so,  I  do  not  know  the  exact  time  to  be  allowed,  to  pay  five 
uineas  extra.  I  was  speaking  to  a  member  of  the  Society  on 
aturday,  and  asked  him  what  he  thought  of  the  bye-laws,  and 
of  the  Society.  He  said  he  had  been  connected  with  the  Society 
about  thirty  years,  but  now  he  had  withdrawn  his  subscription 
because  it  seemed  to  him  that  it  was  all  fees,  fees,  fees.  I  know 
these  remarks  of  mine  are  very  rambling,  but  I  should  like  to- 
mention  this  also,  that  all  the  members  of  the  Society  and  some 
of  the  officers  even  do  not  thoroughly  understand  what 
these  new  bye-laws  comprehend.  I  had  a  little  conversation  last' 
week  with  one  of  your  divisional  secretaries,  who  said,  “  What  do 
you  think  of  the  new  bye-laws  ?”  I  said,  “  Some  parts  of  them  I 
very  much  oppose,  and  I  intend  to  do  so  because  I  think  they  are 
very  unfair  on  the  poor  students.”  He  said,  “  Why,  I  think  it  is 
the  best  thing  that  could  possibly  be  for  them.”  I  said,  “  Why, 
they  charge  an  additional  5  guineas.”  “Yes,”  he  said,  “but  do 
you  see  what  they  are  going  to  give  them  in  return  ?  Now,  as 
things  stand,  you  know,  there  is  not  one  in  so  many  scarcely  who 
would  join  the  Society  after  they  passed  the  examination,  but  now 
they  make  them  pay  the  additional  5  guineas  that  will  include,  of 
course,  their  connection  with  the  Society  for  life.”  I  said,  “  Pardon 
me,  I  think  you  are  making  a  mistake.  They  are  no  more  con¬ 
nected  with  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  after  they  have  passed  and 
paid  their  ten  guineas  than  before.”  He  said,  “  I  can  assure  you 
that  is  so.  Instead  of  paying  a  guinea  or  half  a  guinea 
they  will  have  nothing  to  pay,  but  will  be  an  associate 
for  life.”  I  told  him  if  that  was  so  I  had  been 
labouring  under  a  great  mistake,  but  I  would  ascertain.  I 
made  a  reference  to  the  Journal,  selected  one  or  two  passages,  and 
sent  it  on  to  this  gentleman,  and  he  returned  it  to  me  thanking 
me  for  it,  and  saying  he  had  been  labouring  under  a  misapprehen¬ 
sion.  There  are  others  who  really  have  the  idea  that  by  paying 
the  extra  five  guineas  they  are  to  be  associated  with  the  Society 
for  ever.  With  reference  to  students  joining  the  Society,  if  you 
inc  re rse  this  fee  from  five  to  ten  guineas,  I  think  you  will  drive 
them  further  away  than  they  are  now.  The  majority  of  them  are 
not  very  partial  to  the  Society.  I  am  very  sorry  to  see  it,  but  they 
say  “  No,  having  passed  the  examination  the  Society  will  not  get 
any  more  out  of  me.”  If  they  say  that  now,  and  it  is  the  general 
opinion  amongst  the  students,  if  you  charge  them  the  extra  five 


444 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  22,  1897. 


guineas  I  do  not  think  you  will  gain  anything  in  the  end.  You 
will  only  drive  them  further  away. 

Mr.  Butt  :  They  are  outside  now,  they  cannot  go  any  further. 

Mr.  Wills  :  Some  may  support  it  on  the  ground  that  it  will 
keepM  large  number  out  of  the  profession,  but  I  object  to  it  on 
that  Aground.  If  you  close  the  door  against  the  legitimate 
trader  you  simply  open  the  door  to  the  illegitimate  trader.  There 
will  be  so-called  chemists’  shops  everywhere.  1  saw  one  the  other 
day,  and  had  no  idea  it  was  not  a  proper  chemist’s  shop  till  I  saw 
a  written  notice  inside  to  the  effect  that  “poisons  are  not  sold 
here.”  That  will  be  everywhere  the  same.  I  think  it  is  a  mistake 
to  try  and  drive  the  young  fellows  out  in  that  way  by  making  the 
fee  too  large.  There  has  Been  a  profit  of  several  thousand  pounds 
on  the  examination  fees.  Some  gentleman  says  “No;  take  it 
there  is  no  profit.”  Then  if  there  is  no  profit  I  think  it  is  in  your 
power  to  considerably  reduce  the  expenses  of  conducting  examina¬ 
tions.  If  you  take  one  portion  of  it,  say  chemistry  or  botany,  and 
make  it  a  written  examination,  one  examiner  would  be  able  to 
conduct  the  whole  of  the  examination  at  one  time  and  save  the 
Society  a  great  deal  of  money.  Personally,  what  I  most 
object  to  is  this  :  the  constant  changes  that  are  taking  place. 
The  Council  never  seem  to  settle  down  to  anything.  No  sooner  do 
they  get  one  bye-law  passed  than  they  want  to  change  it.  The 
Act  of  Parliament  of  1868  allowed  the  candidates  to  present  them¬ 
selves  at  any  age.  Then  they  soon  passed  a  bye-law  restricting 
the  age  to  21,  which  was  quite  right.  Then  they  altered  the  state 
of  the  examinations  and  made  them  harder.  Then  finding  it  was 
too  hard - 

The  President  :  I  am  sure  the  speaker  will  understand  that  this 
meeting  is  getting  rather  anxious  for  that  meal  to  which  Mr. 
Glyn-Jones  alluded,  and  I  am  sure  he  will  curtail  his  remarks  as 
much  as  possible.  We  really  do  not  wrant  to  discuss  the  course  of 
the  examination,  do  we  ? 

Mr.  Wills  :  We  want  to  reduce  the  expenses  of  the  Society  as 
much  as  possible.  I  am  only  giving  the  opinions  I  have  received. 

The  President  :  I  would  rather  have  your  own  opinion  than 
that  of  these  divisional  secretaries  and  others. 

Mr.  Wills  :  My  opinion  is  it  is  a  most  unjust  demand  to  make 
on  these  poor  students,  and  I  am  very  sorry  they  are  not  more 
looked  after.  I  personally  am  prevented  taking  a  seat  in  the 
Upper  Chamber,  but  I  may  be  allowed  the  position  some  day  of  a 
seat  in  the  Lower  Chamber,  and  if  so,  I  hope  I  shall  represent  them 
properly. 

Mr.  Charles  UmneY:  I  should  like  to  say  just  one  word,  in 
Drier  to  tell  Mr.  Wootton  wdiy  I  am  going  to  vote  against  him. 
We  have  been  talking  all  round  the  circle  instead  of  going 
to  the  pith  of  it.  It  is  purely  a  question  of  ways  and  means, 
and  I  do  think  that  if  we  do  not  support  the  Council,  in  whom 
I  have  every  confidence  in  this  matter,  we  shall  make  a  very 
great  mistake.  I  do  not  support  them  from  statements  made 
here  to-day,  I  think  many  of  them  are  quite  beside  the  ques¬ 
tion,  but  the  Society  has  an  increasing  expenditure  that  must 
be  met,  and  the  better  way  is  to  meet  it  in  the  face.  It 
will  go  on  increasing,  and  I  see  no  other  way  whatever  of  making 
money  to  pay  the  expenditure  except  to  put  up  this  examination 
fee.  It  seems  to  me  that  is  the  true  English  of  the  mat¬ 
ter.  You  may  talk  round  the  circle  as  much  as  you  like,  but 
that  is  the  truth  of  the  whole  thing,  and  I  myself  shall  vote 
in  support  of  the  Council,  because  I  believe  they  will  spend 
the  money  in  a  judicious  manner,  and  for  that  reason  only, 
and  not  for  the  reasons  that  have  been  given  on  your  side 
to-day,  will  I  vote  against  Mr.  Wootton,  and  in  support  of 
the  Council.  I  have  every  confidence  when  the  Council  have  the 
funds  in  their  hands  they  will  spend  them  wisely.  If  they  do  not 
get  funds  they  will  have  bankruptcy  staring  them  in  the  face  in 
the  course  of  a  year  or  two,  because  the  Society’s  expenditure  will 
go  on  increasing.  You  may  shake  your  heads,  but  all  societies’ 
■expenses  go  on  increasing  year  by  year,  and  you  have  to  get 
increased  fees  to  meet  that  expenditure.  For  that  reason  I 
support  you,  because  I  believe  you  wall  spend  the  money  in  the 
best  possible  manner. 

Mr.  Peter  McEwan  :  I  wish  to  call  attention  to  Bye-Law 
No.  11,  and,  as  our  solicitor  is  here,  perhaps  he  will  give  us 
his  opinion.  You  will  find  that  in  that  proposed  amended 
bye-law  the  first  part  of  it  is  concerned  with  the  First 
examination,  and  the  second  part  goes  on  and  says,  “After 
June,  1900,  persons  desiring  the  said  certificates  of  competence, 
skill,  and  qualification  under  the  Act  of  1868  shall  deliver  to  the 
Registrar  on  behalf  of  the  Board  of  Examiners  a  certificate,”  etc. 


What  I  want  to  ask  is,  What  power  have  we  under  the  Pharmacy 
Acts  to  delegate  this  function  to  anybody  ?  If  the  First  examina¬ 
tion,  as  is  clearly  recognised  in  the  first  part  of  this  bye-law,  is  an 
examination,  then  it  must  be  conducted  by  certain  persons 
appointed  by  the  Council  and  approved  by  the  Privy  Council,  and 
according  to  the  6th  Section  of  the  Act  of  1868  you  will  find  it 
there  stated,  “  Provided  that  no  person  shall  conduct  any  exam¬ 
ination  for  the  purpose  of  this  Act  until  his  appointment  has  been 
approved  by  the  Privy  Council.”  How  in  the  world  can  a  board 
of  examiners — for  instance,  the  Oxford  or  Cambridge  local — come 
under  this  definition,  or  any  other  similar  body  ?  That  is  the  point 
on  which  I  want  information  ;  I  do  not  argue  it.  Either  the  Pre¬ 
liminary  is  to  cease  to  be  an  examination  and  to  be  made  a 
regulation,  or  it  is  not.  That  is  point  which  might  be  made 
clear.  Are  we  to  cease  to  make  this  First  examination  an  exa¬ 
mination,  or  are  we  to  continue  it  as  an  examination?  If 
so,  the  line  upon  which  you  are  going  seems  to  me  to  be 
ultra  vires.  As  to  the  money  part  of  the  question,  I  should 
like  to  have  spoken,  as  I  expect  very  many  here  would  like,  but 
like  myself,  you  would  not  like  to  go  into  more  figures  at  this 
hour,  and  it  is  unnecessary  to  do  so,  as  Mr.  Umney  has  replied  to 
the  criticisms  passed  on  my  colleague’s  (Mr.  Woobton’s)  speech  by 
letting  the  cat  out  of  the  bag,  so  that  really  words  would  be 
superfluous  at  this  hour  of  the  day.  It  is  really  because  the 
Society  is  in  need  of  money  the  change  is  made,  and  one  of  our 
Auditors  says  so. 

Mr.  Flux  (the  Solicitor)  :  That  which  has  been  called  a  First 
examination  has  been  only  part  of  an  examination.  In  the  future, 
as  in  the  past,  there  will  be  but  only  one  examination  for  any 
status,  and  the  examiners  will  examine  in  the  particular  subjects 
which  are  reserved  for  them,  and  a  part  of  their  examination  will 
comprise  their  looking  at  the  certificates  which  the  examinee  will 
produce.  They  themselves  will  become  satisfied  by  those  certifi¬ 
cates  that  the  applicant  is  competent  in  certain  respects.  The 
examination  will  be  one  and  entire. 

Mr.  Griffiths  (Cirencester) :  I  will  promise  not  to  keep  you 
more  than  three  minutes.  My  reason  for  wishing  to  say  a  few 
words  to  you  is  to  give  my  reason  why  I  have  come  here  to  vote 
against  these  proposed  bye-laws  this  afternoon,  but  if  I  may  be 
allowed  to  make  a  side  comment  upon  what  has  taken 
place  to-day,  I  should  very  much  appreciate  the  indul¬ 
gence.  I  received  a  notice  with  my  voting  paper — 
this  agenda  paper  which  was  sent  to  me  officially— but  I  think 
it  is  a  very  great  mistake  to  attend,  and  when  we  get  here  to  be 
told  that  that  paper  is  ruled  to  be  out  of  order  by  the  Chairman. 
It  is  rather  like  making  a  fool  of  us.  I  did  come  intending  to 
second  the  motion  of  Mr.  James  Mackenzie,  and  I  find,  although 
this  printed  notice  is  sent  to  me  officially,  that  it  is,  after  all,  out 
of  order.  I  should  like  to  acquit  the  Council  of  any  intention  to 
be  discourteous  to  the  members  of  the  Society,  but  I  think  in  future 
if  they  would  make  some  little  provision  against  that  sorb  of  thing 
occurring  again  it  would  be  a  benefit.  Now  my  reason  for  speaking 
about  the  bye-laws  is  this — that  I  know  a  little  about  a  class  of 
men  in  the  trade  whom  I  think  veryseldom  make  themselves  heard, 
and  about  whom  very  little  is  known.  I  am  a  chemist 
in  a  rural  district,  and  I  can  only  say,  in  the  district 
in  which  I  live,  one  of  the  most  rural  in  England,  with¬ 
out  any  manufactories,  but  entirely  agricultural,  with  small 
chemists  there,  are  entirely  against  these  amended  bye-laws, 
and  I  think  it  is  a  great  pity  that  anything  should  be  done 
in  the  present  day  which  would  widen  the  breach  between  the 
outside  trade  and  the  members  of  the  Society.  My  principal 
reason  for  voting  against  this  increased  fee  is  not  so  much  on  the 
principle  of  increasing  the  fee  itself,  but  I  think  you  are  beginning 
at  the  wrong  end.  You  must  remember  that  the  Pharmaceutical 
Act  was  passed  nearly  thirty  years  ago,  since  which  time  the  con¬ 
ditions  under  which  pharmacy  is  carried  on  have  utterly  changed, 
and  that  Act  has  itself  become  useless  for  the  purpose  for  which  it 
was  intended.  For  my  own  part  I  think  the  best  thing  the  Council 
could  do  would  be  to  elect  a  Parliamentary  Committee  to  consider 
the  whole  question  of  pharmacy  law,  and  see  if  they  could  not 
bring  forward  an  amended  Act  which  would  be  acceptable  to  the 
great  body  at  large.  I  think  then  they  would  have  the  support  of 
the  trade,  and  we  shall  ultimately  be  a  really  representative 
Society. 

The  President  :  I  do  not  think  it  is  necessary  for  me  to  prolong 
this  discussion.  There  have  been  a  great  many  statements  made 
and  opinions  given,  but  they  have  been  principally  on  the  financial 
aspect,  and,  as  one  of  the  speakers  said,  you  can  prove  almost 


May  22, 1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


4  45 


anything  from  figures.  I  do  not  propose  to  enter  into  that  matter 
at  all.  I  repeat  what  I  said  before,  that  wTe  in  our  wisdom  or  in 
our  want  of  wisdom  think  that  it  will  be  for  the  benefit  of  the 
whole  trade  or  profession — -call  it  what  you  will — that  we  should 
have  this  alteration,  for  it  is  one  alteration.  We  say  we  think 
that  it  will  be  better  for  our  descendants  at  all  events  ;  that  we 
shall  have  a  better  educated  class  of  men  coming  into  the  trade  ; 
and  that  those  men  should  pay  five  guineas  more  to  start  with  ; 
and  that  they  will  value  their  position  all  the  more  for  having  paid 
that  additional  five  guineas  for  it.  I  think  I  understood  Mr. 
Glyn- Jones  to  say  that  there  is  a  tendency  for  men  to  come 
less  and  less  into  the  Society,  and  so  we  want  more  money. 
I  argue  on  exactly  opposite  lines.  I  believe  if  these 
bye-laws  are  passed  and  approved  by  the  Privy  Council,  we  shall 
have  a  larger  proportion  of  men  join  the  Society.  We  shall  have 
a  better  educated  lot  of  men  coming  into  the  trade,  who  will 
appreciate  the  good  that  is  being  done  by  the  Society,  and  there¬ 
fore  I  think  we  shall  be  all  the  richer  in  that  respect.  This  is  the 
first  time  I  have  been  in  this  chair,  but  really,  judging  from  some 
of  the  remarks  made,  I  should  almost  have  thought  the  gentlemen 
here  were  not  members  of  the  Society,  but  that  they  were  taking 
up  the  line  of  outsiders  altogether,  as  if  they  wished  this  to  be  a 
poor  body,  and  wished  us  not  to  have  money.  I  do  not  see  that 
there  is  any  injustice  in  this  proposal.  Mr.  Wills  talked  about 
students,  and  so  on.  We  tell  the  students,  the  candidates  of  the 
future,  that  they  must  consider  that  one  of  the  conditions  of  enter¬ 
ing  the  business  will  be  that  they  must  show  evidence  of  a  good 
sound  general  education,  and  that  they  must  pay  ten  guineas 
for  the  qualification.  I  do  not  see  the  injustice  of  it.  I 
say  once  more,  if  we  make  any  more  money,  and  I 
do  not  know  who  is  going  to  prove  that  we  are  going  to  make  a  lot 
of  money,  but  if  we  "do  I  can  answer  for  it  that  as  long  as  I  am  on 
the  Council  I  shall  do  all  I  can — and  I  am  sure  every  Council  in 
future  wfill  do  the  same — to  spend  any  money  we  have  in  the 
general  advancement  of  pharmacy. 

The  resolution  was  then  put  to  the  meeting  and  carried  by  an 
overwhelming  majority,  amid  loud  applause,  there  being  about 
six  dissentients. 

Mr.  Carteighe  moved  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  President,  which 
was  carried  by  acclamation,  and  the  President  having  thanked  the 
members  for  their  courtesy  and  attention,  the  proceedings  ter¬ 
minated. 


ADJOURNED  GENERAL  MEETING, 

Thursday,  May  20. 

MR.  WALTER  HILLS,  PRESIDENT,  IN  THE  CHAIR. 

The  adjourned  meeting  for  receiving  the  report  of  the  Scrutineers 
was  held  on  Thursday,  May  20. 

The  Chairman  of  the  Scrutineers,  Mr.  E.  N.  Butt,  read  the 
following  report : — 

Scrutineers’  Report. 


Martindale  .  1790 

Allest  . .  •. . 1779 

Hampson . 1723 

Atkins  .  1700 

Bottle  ..  ..  1693 

Corder  . . 1651 

Southall .  1611' 

Park . 1587 

Grose .  1524 


Leo.  Atkinson. 
John  Holding. 

C.  A.  Hill. 

Thomas  Tickle. 

B.  Thomas. 

A.  J.  B.  Cooper. 

AV.  Prior  Robinson. 
A.  J.  Brown. 

Henry  Wiggins. 
John  C.  Umney. 


Young . 1519 

Warren  . 1508 

Harrison..  ..  „  1459 

Carteighe . 1443 

Sai  ory  . 1311 


Campkin . 1144 

Hyslop  . 1112 


Edward  N.  Butt,  Chairman,. 
J.  Butterwortii. 

G.  W.  Worfolk. 

A.  E.  Tanner. 

R.  Fisher  Young. 

D.  R.  Jacks. 

T.  H.  Powell. 

Henry  C.  Birch. 

Herbert  Cracknell. 

W.  Arkinstai.l. 

Ernest  J.  Eastes. 


The  New  Council. 

The  President,  as  Chairman  of  the  meeting,  then  declared  that 
the  following  gentlemen  would  constitute  the  Council  for  the 
ensuing  year : — 

Allen,  Charles  Bowen,  20,  High  Road,  Kilburn,  N.W. 

Atkins,  Samuel  Ralph,  Market  Place,  Salisbury. 

Bateson,  Thomas,  23,  Stricklandgate,  Kendal. 

Bottle,  Alexander,  37,  Town  wall  Street,  Dover. 

Carteighe,  Michael,  ISO,  New  Bond  Street,  W. 

Corder,  Octavius,  31,  London  Street,  Norwich. 

Cross,  William  Gowen,  Mardol,  Shrewsbury. 

Grose,  Nicholas  Male,  8,  Temple  Street,  Swansea. 

Hampson,  Robert,  Norland  House,  Sevenoaks. 

Harrison,  John,  33,  Bridge  Street,  Sunderland. 

Hills,  Walter,  226,  Oxford  Street,  London,  W. 

Johnston,  John,  45,  Union  Street,  Aberdeen. 

Martindale,  William,  10,  New  Cavendish  Street,  W. 

Newsholme,  G.  T.  Wilkinson,  27,  High  Street,  Sheffield. 

Park,  Charles  James,  1,  Mutley  Plain,  Plymouth. 

Savory,  Arthur  Ledsam,  143,  New  Bond  Street,  W. 

Southall,  Alfred,  17,  Bull  Street,  Birmingham. 

Storrar,  David,  228,  High  Street,  Kirkcaldy. 

Symes,  Charles,  14,  Hardman  Street,  Liverpool. 

Warren,  William,  24,  Bussell  Street,  Covent  Garden,  W.C. 

Young,  John  Rymer,  42,  Sankey  Street,  Warrington. 

After  the  report  of  the  Scrutineers  had  been  received,  the 
President  moved,  Mr.  Martindale  seconded,  and  Mr.  Bottle 
supported  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  Scrutineers  for  their  labours. 
This  was  suitably  replied  to  by  Mr.  E.  N.  Butt  on  behalf  of  the 
Scrutineers. 

A  vote  of  thanks  was  also  accorded  to  the  President  for  pre¬ 
siding  at  the  meeting. 

o  o 


We,  the  undersigned  Scrutineers,  appointed  at  the  Fifty-sixth 
Annual  General  Meeting  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great 
Britain,  do  hereby  certify  that  we  have  examined  the  voting  papers 


committed  to  us,  and  report  the  following  : — 

Voting  papers  reported  by  the  Secretary  to  have  been  issued  . .  3767 

Voting  papers  received  ..  ...  . .  2035 

Voting  papers  issued,  but  not  returned  . .  ...  ..  1732 

Voting  papers  received  ..  . .  „  .  2035 

Voting  papers  disallowed 

Informal . .  .  • .  . .  19 

Received  by  post  too  late . .  . .  75 

—  94 


Voting  papers  registered  1941 


Vaccination  to  Counteract  the  Poisonous  Effects  of  Ricin. — 
The  poisonous  effects  of  ricin  contained  in  the  marc  of  Ricinus. 
communis  is  well  known.  Cornevin  finds  that  by  heating  ricin  to 
100°  for  two  hours  it  is  converted  into  a  body  which,  injected 
hypodermically,  serves  as  an  antitoxin  to  the  poison.  The 
susceptibility  of  various  species  of  domestic  animals  to  ricin 
is  very  unequal.  Ruminants  are  much  more  easily  affected  by  it 
than  pigs  or  fowls.  Animals  vaccinated  with  modified  ricin  were 
tested  eight  or  ten  dhys  after  the  operation,  and  were  able  to  take, 
with  perfect  immunity,  a  larger  quantity  of  marc  or  seeds  of  Ricinvs 
than  would  have  proved  fatal  to  unvaccinated  animals.  To  two 
small  pigs  of  the  same  litter,  one  vaccinated  and  the  other  not, 
equal  quantities  of  castor  oil  presscake  were  given,  adjusted  to  their 
respective  body-weight ;  the  unvaccinated  animal  died  in  twenty- 
four  hours  ;  the  other  showed  no  signs  even  of  discomfort.  Other 
vaccinated  animals  have  been  fed  for  two  or  three  months  without 
interruption  with  daily  doses  of  castor  oil  seeds  four  or  five  times 
greater  than  the  lethal  amount  for  uninoculated  animals. — Comptcs 
rendus,  cxx.,  835. 


446 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  22,  1897 


THE  G.  F.  SCHACHT  MEMORIAL. 

After  the  proceedings  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  were 
concluded  on  Wednesday,  a  gathering  of  the  subscribers  to  the 
Schacht  Memorial  took  place  in  the  Examination  Hall  at 
Bloomsbury  Square,  for  the  purpose  of  formally  handing  over 
the  portrait  of  the  late  G.  F.  Schacht  to  the  custody  of  the  Society. 

Mr.  Carteighe  opened  the  proceedings  by  reporting  that  the 
Committee  had  been  successful  in  obtaining  a  replica  of  the  very 
excellent  portrait  in  the  possession  of  Dr.  Frank  Schacht.  As  one 
of  the  Hon.  Secretaries  he  had  received  one  or  two  letters  of  regret 
from  gentlemen  who  were  unable  to  be  present,  and  one  from  Mr. 
Martin  he  should  like  to  read  : — - 

Newcastle-on-Tyne,  May  16,  1897. 

My  dear  Carteighe, — I  am  in  receipt  of  your  circular  re  the  presentation  of  the 
portrait  of  Mr.  Schacht  to  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  on  Wednesday  next,  and 
am  extremely  sorry  that  I  cannot  leave  home  to  he  present  with  you  on  the 
occasion.  Schacht  was  one  of  my  heroes  of  pharmacy,  and  whatsoever  I  may 
have  said  or  done  in  connection  with  pharmacy,  which  retains  my  own  self- 
respect,  is  entirely  due  to  the  ideals  which  were  created  in  my  mind  by  Schacht 
and  others  of  his  kind  who  preceded  me  in  the  work.  I  shall  be  glad  if  you  will 
mention  how  much  I  regret  not  being  with  you  in  person,  as  I  certainly  shall  be 
in  spirit,  when  the  portrait  of  our  dear  old  friend  is  handed  over  to  take  its  place 
with  Deane,  Hanbury,  and  the  rest. 

With  kind  regards,  Yours  sincerely,  N.  H.  Martin. 

Mr.  Townsend,  late  M.P.  for  one  of  the  Divisions  of  Bristol,  also 
wrote  to  say  he  was  sorry  he  could  not  come  up  to  town  that 
week,  or  he  should  have  been  at  the  meeting  for  the  presentation 
.to  the  Society  of  the  portrait  of  his  late  friend. 

Mr.  A.  L.  Savory  said  it  was  now  some  time  since,  at  a 
meeting  of  the  Council  which  took  place  shortly  after  the  death  of 
Mr.  Schacht — an  event  which  was  deeply  regretted  by  all  who  had 
come  in  contact  with  him  during  his  long  and  honourable 
pharmaceutical  career — a  question  was  asked  whether  there  was 
any  portrait  of  Mr.  Schacht  in  existence.  He  was  fortunately 
able  to  say  that  he  knew  there  was  such  a  portrait  in 
the  house  of  Dr.  Frank  Schacht,  which  was  considered 
by  all  who  had  seen  it  to  be  not  only  an  excellent  work 
of  art,  but  also  a  very  capital  likeness,  and  he  further 
stated  his  belief  that  Dr.  F.  Schacht  would  willingly  consent 
to  a  replica  being  made.  Thereupon  he  was  asked  to  approach  Dr. 
Schacht  on  the  subject,  and  as  he  anticipated  not  only  was  the 
consent  cordially  given,  but  every  facility  was  afforded  to  the 
artist  for  making  the  replica.  The  picture  was  by  an  artist  who 
had  had  the  advantage  from  her  earliest  years  of  knowing  Mr. 
Schacht  intimately,  and  on  that  account  was  more  likely  to  be 
.  successful  than  if  it  had  been  painted  by  an  artist  who  only  saw 
his  subject  for  the  first  time.  There  was  no  difficulty  in  getting 
.together  the  necessary  funds  up  to  a  certain  point,  but  there  was 
still  a  little  more  wanted,  what  had  been  received  hitherto 
having  come  entirely  from  Mr.  Schacht’s  old  friends  and  colleagues. 
He  was  in  hopes  until  a  few  days  ago  that  Mr.  Giles,  one  of  Mr. 
Schacht’s  oldest  friends,  would  have  been  there  to  make  the 
presentation,  but  he  was  sorry  to  say  that  he  was  informed 
in  a  letter,  which  he  had  mislaid,  that  Mr.  Giles  was 
unable  to  be  present,  in  consequence  of  ill-health.  The  task  had 
therefoie  devolved  upon  himself,  it  being  thought  for  many  reasons 
that  he  should  take  Mr.  Giles’  place,  and  though  he  did  not  feel 
that  he  could  possibly  do  such  justice  to  the  occasion  as  Mr.  Giles, 
he  yielded  to  no  one  in  his  desire  to  do  honour  to  the  name  Mr. 
Schacht  had  left  behind  him,  both  as  a  man  and  a  pharmacist.  It 
was,  perhaps,  not  inappropriate  that  he  should  take  a  leading 
part  on  that  occasion,  seeing  that  he  had  the  good  fortune  of  know¬ 
ing  Mr.  Schacht  intimately  for  a  great  many  years,  and  that  their 
late  friend’s  early  career  as  a  pharmacist  was  passed  in  the  firm  in 
New  Bond  Street  of  which  he  (Mr.  Savory)  was  now  a  member.  Mr. 
Schacht  started  as  a  pupil  under  his  grandfather,  being  apprenticed  in 


about  1836  or  1837  for  seven  years,  and  he  was  pleased  to  say 
that  the  years  so  spent  laid  the  foundation  of  a  friendship 
between  Mr.  Schacht’s  family  and  his  own  which  he  was  proud  to 
acknowledge  and  hoped  would  last  for  many  years  to  come.  If 
Mr.  Giles  had  been  present  he  would  have  been  able  to  give  some 
interesting  reminiscences  of  Mr.  Schacht’s  earlier  career. 
It  was  marked  from  beginning  to  end  by  extreme  ability, 
by  the  most  intense  interest  in  his  calling,  by  an  earnest¬ 
ness  in  everything  he  undertook  which  was  quite  uncommon,  and 
by  an  absolute  devotion  to  the  Society  of  which  he  was  a  member 
from  its  earliest  days.  He  was  one  of  the  first  to  pass  the  examina¬ 
tion,  and  his  diploma  as  a  pharmaceutical  chemist  was  No.  2.  Fora 
number  of  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  Council.  He  was  also  a 
Vice-President,  and  most  ably  filled  the  office.  If  they  looked 
back  on  the  history  of  pharmacy  they  would  see  how  much  it 
owed  to  Mr.  Schacht  in  educational  and  other  respects.  He 
might  refer  with  pride  to  the  intimate  friendship  with  Mr.  Schacht 
which  he  enjoyed.  It  commenced  when  he  entered  the  trade  as 
an  apprentice  at  Bath.  When  he  frequently  met  Mr.  Schacht  at 
Clifton,  he  enjoyed  his  hospitality  and  received  from  him 
many  acts  of  kindness.  In  that  Society  they  had  had  many 
excellent  Presidents  and  Vice-Presidents,  and  wherever  possible 
they  tried  to  perpetuate  their  names  and  honour  themselves  by 
placing  their  portraits  on  the  walls,  and  he  thought  he  was  only 
expressing  the  feelings  of  everyone  present  in  saying  that  if  they 
had  not  taken  this  opportunity  of  having  this  replica  made  and 
added  to  the  collection,  they  would  have  been  distinctly  wanting 
in  not  having  the  portrait  of  a  man  who  left  a  name  behind 
him,  which  would  always  be  respected  and  revered.  On  behalf  of 
the  subscribers  he  asked  the  President  to  accept  the  portrait  and 
give  it  a  place  on  the  walls  of  the  Society’s  house. 

The  President  said  it  was  not  altogether  a  pleasure  to  receive 
this  gift,  the  loss  they  had  all  sustained  being  still  recent  ;  but  as 
Mr.  Schacht  had  been  taken  away,  it  was  a  very  great  satisfaction 
to  him  and  to  all  the  members  of  the  Council  to  have  this  admir¬ 
able  portrait,  which  he  could  assure  the  subscribers  would  be 
taken  the  greatest  care  of  and  highly  treasured.  He  had  had 
recent  opportunities  of  speaking  of  Mr.  Schacht,  and  after  Mr. 
Savory’s  remarks  it  was  not  necessary  to  say  much,  but  he  should 
like  once  more  to  record  his  opinion  of  him.  Mr.  Martin  had 
spoken  of  him  as  a  hero  of  pharmacy,  and  he  (the  President)  had 
said  that  in  his  mind  he  wa.s  the  ideal  pharmacist.  There  was 
something  about  him  very  attractive ;  they  all  knew  that  he  was 
very  capable  in  his  own  particular  line  ;  they  also  knew  that  he 
was  a  man  of  the  very  highest  principle,  who  would  never  take  any 
step  or  give  any  vote  which  he  did  not  think  was  the  absolutely 
right  one,  but  there  was  one  other  point  which  had  not 
been  alluded  to.  There  was  a  certain  boyishness  about 
him  up  to  the  last  which  one  could  not  help  liking  and 
loving.  It  was  impossible  to  know  Mr.  Schacht  and  be  with  him 
without  being  attracted  by  him  in  the  most  marked  degree.  The 
thanks  of  the  Society  were  due  to  the  subscribers  for  providing 
this  excellent  portrait,  and  especially  to  the  energetic  hon.  secre¬ 
taries,  Mr.  Savory  and  Mr.  Carteighe,  who  had  carried  out  the 
project  so  successfully  and  quickly.  They  had  also  to  thank  Dr. 
Frank  Schacht  for  his  co-operation,  and  in  conclusion  he  should  like 
to  congratulate  Mrs.  Tabor,  the  artist,  on  a  very  excellent  portrait. 
In  the  Council  room  were  placed  the  portraits  of  a  number  of 
distinguished  pharmacists — men  who  had  been  an  honour  to  their 
calling — and  he  was  quite  sure  they  would  always  feel  that  this 
picture  was  rightly  placed  near  those  of  men  like  Bell  and  Allen. 
He  trusted  it  would  remain  there  many  years,  and  certainly  every 
possible  care  would  be  taken  of  it. 


May  22,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


447 


Pharmaceutical  Journal. 

ESTABLISHED  1841. 


Circulating  in  the  United  Kingdom,  France,  Germany, 
Austria,  Italy,  Russia,  Switzerland,  Canada,  the 
United  States,  South  America,  India, 
Australasia,  South  Africa,  etc. 

Editorial  Office :  17,  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.C. 
Publishing  ai\d  Advertising  Office :  5,  SERLE  STREET,  W.C. 


LONDON:  SATURDAY,  MAY  22,  1897. 


THE  SOCIETY’S  ANNIVERSARY. 

The  result  of  the  meetings  held  last  Wednesday  furnished 
a  most  emphatic  demonstration  that  the  action  of  the 
Council  in  regard  to  amendments  of  the  bye-laws  meets 
with  very  general  approval  from  the  constituency  by  which 
the  statutory  powers  of  the  Society  have  been  entrusted  to 
the  Council  as  its  Executive  body.  That  result  is  in  ac¬ 
cordance  with  the  indications  already  given,  by  the  resolu¬ 
tions  passed  at  local  meetings,  of  a  great  preponderance 
of  opinion  that  the  amendments  proposed  are  necessary 
at  the  present  time,  and  calculated  to  promote  the  in¬ 
terests  of  the  craft.  Such  opposition  as  there  was 
to  the  confirmation  of  the  bye-laws  could  not  be 
regarded  as  appropriate  or  well  founded.  The  motion 
of  which  Mr.  Mackenzie  had  given  notice  could  only  lead  to 
an  academic  discussion,  having  no  practical  bearing  on 
the  matter,  and  it  appeared  to  have  been  framed  without 
regard  to  the  fact  that  the  Council,  w7hich  is  for  the  time 
being  the  Society,  has  decided  that  alteration  of  the  bye¬ 
laws  is  called  for  at  the  present  time.  The  only  way  in 
which  that  proceeding  could  be  counteracted  would  be  in 
the  event  of  the  Council  having  exceeded  the  powers  dele¬ 
gated  to  it,  or  having  exercised  them  in  a  manner  that  met 
with  disapproval,  and  in  that  case  voting  against  the  confirma¬ 
tion  of  the  proposed  bye-laws  would  have  been  the  con¬ 
stitutional  remedy.  Naturally,  therefore,  Mr.  Mackenzie’s 
motion  was  ruled  out  of  order  by  the  President. 

The  motion  of  which  notice  was  given  for  the  Special 
Oeneral  Meeting  by  Mr.  Wootton,  was  also  ruled  by  the 
President  to  be  out  of  order,  and  the  assumption  upon 
which  it  was  based  was  so  erroneous  that  it  could  not  have 
been  supported  had  it  been  put  to  the  meeting.  Briefly 
■that  assumption  was  that  the  Society  incurs  a  loss  by  the 
publication  of  its  Journal,  and  that  the  only  reason  for 
increasing  the  examination  fee  is  to  provide  a  subsidy  by 
which  the  loss  upon  the  Journal  could  be  recouped.  At 
the  meeting,  and  on  previous  occasions,  it  has  been 
.shown  that  this  assumption  is  utterly  unfounded. 
There  is  no  loss  upon  the  Society’s  Journal.  The 
■adverse  balance  which  represents  the  cost  of  the  Journal  is 
certainly  less  than  half  the  amount  received  from 
subscribers,  and  the  remainder  of  that  amount  has  been 
.applied  to  the  general  purposes  of  the  Society.  With  these 


facts  established  it  would  have  been  wasting  the  time  of  the 
meeting  to  enter  into  discussion  of  objections  founded  upon 
such  fallacious  grounds.  But  on  broader  grounds  several  of 
the  speakers  recognised  the  absurdity  of  making  any  real  or 
fancied  rivalry  with  the  Society’s  Journal  an  argument 
against  the  amendment  of  the  bye-laws  which  the  Council 
had  decided  to  be  requisite.  The  insufficiency  of  the  revenue 
arising  from  examination  fees  for  meeting  the  expenses 
entailed  upon  the  Society  in  the  administration  of  the  Phar¬ 
macy  Acts,  even  when  supplemented  to  a  large  extent  by  the 
subscription  income,  is  the  main  fact  to  be  considered. 
That  is  manifestly  the  reason  by  which  the  increase  of 
the  examination  fee  is  to  be  justified,  without  any  reference  to 
what  the  subscribers  may  choose  to  pay  for  their  own  J ournal. 
Upon  that  view  of  the  matter  Mr.  Umney  pointedly 
expressed  his  intention  of  supporting  the  motion  to  confirm 
the  bye-laws,  inasmuch  as  he  regarded  it  as  a  question  of 
ways  and  means  that  must  be  dealt  with  directly  in  order 
that  the  Society  may  be  enabled  to  carry  out  with  efficiency 
the  statutory  duties  imposed  upon  it. 

In  referring  to  the  various  details  of  the  Council  Report, 
the  President  spoke  of  the  educational  work,  which  is  one 
of  the  most  important  purposes  of  the  Society,  as  having 
engaged  much  attention  from  the  Council  during  the  past 
year.  Besides  the  reorganisation  of  the  School,  the  proposed 
alterations  in  regard  to  the  Preliminary  examination  and  the 
prosecution  of  research,  the  application  to  Parliament 
for  power  to  admit  chemists  and  druggists  to  member¬ 
ship  of  the  Society  has  also  been  considered,  and  in  further¬ 
ance  of  previous  efforts  the  Council  is  quite  prepared 
to  take  steps  for  promoting  a  consolidation  of  the 
trade  and  the  Society  in  that  way.  The  mention  of  this 
latter  subject  drew  from  Mr.  Hambrook,  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  Society,  an  expression  of  hearty  sympathy  and 
approval,  and  many  throughout  the  country  will  join  him  in 
hoping  that  a  very  considerable  broadening  of  the  founda¬ 
tions  of  the  Society  will  result  from  making  the  present 
legal  qualification  the  basis  of  membership  of  the  Society. 


THE  COUNCIL  ELECTION. 

The  result  of  the  election  for  seats  on  the  Council  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  is  that  all  the  retiring  members  who 
offered  themselves  for  re-election  are  returned  once  more, 
with  Mr.  William  Warren  as  their  colleague  in  place  of 
Mr.  Gostling,  of  Diss,  a  London’ member  thus  replacing  a 
country  one.  The  figures  do  not  indicate  that  any  extra 
enthusiasm  has  been  aroused  on  the  present  occasion,  though 
the  highest  and  lowest  numbers  of  votes  recorded  for  candi¬ 
dates  are  both  in  excess  of  what  were  recorded  last  year. 
The  voting  papers  received,  however,  numbered  only  2035, 
as  against  2173  on  the  previous  occasion,  and  it  cannot  be 
regarded  as  satisfactory  that  1732  voting  papers  were  not 
returned,  or  nearly  150  more  than  in  1896.  The  result 
clearly  shows  that  the  loyalty  exhibited  by  the  members  and 
associates  in  business  towards  their  elected  representatives, 
which  has  been  petulantly  declaimed  against  of  late  as  though 
it  were  a  fault,  shows  no  sign  of  diminution,  the  policy  of 
the  retiring  Council  being  fully  approved  of.  The  alteration 
in  the  position  on  the  list  of  some  of  the  successful  candi¬ 
dates  seems  to  indicate  that  adverse  influences  have  been  at 
work  in  respect  of  their  candidature,  but  as  it  happens  the 
actual  position  of  affairs  remains  as  it  was. 


448 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  22,  1897 


ANNOTATIONS, 


The  Annual  Meeting  oe  the  Society  was  a  full  and  enthusi¬ 
astic  one.  Again  the  policy  of  the  body  corporate  as  interpreted 
by  the  Council  was  loyally  supported,  and  further  proof  was 
afforded  of  the  great  confidence  reposed  by  the  electorate  in  the 
governing  body.  The  business  of  the  meeting  was  got  through 
rapidly  and  without  a  hitch,  such  antagonistic  speeches  as  were 
delivered  being  more  in  the  nature  of  criticisms  of  minor  points  of 
detail  than  matters  of  principle.  As  showing  the  practical 
unanimity  of  the  meeting  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  only  one  hand 
was  uplifted  in  opposition  to  the  motion  in  favour  of  adopting  the 
annual  report  and  financial  statement. 

The  Special  General  Meeting  followed  directly  upon  the 
adjournment  of  the  Annual  Meeting,  the  sole  business  then  before 
the  members  being  the  question  of  confirming  or  rejecting  the  pro¬ 
posed  new  bye-laws.  At  the  outset,  the  President  cleared  the  air 
by  announcing  that  no  amendments  could  be  considered,  the  only 
course  open  to  the  meeting  being  to  say  aye  or  nay  to  the 
proposed  bye-laws  as  a  whole.  A  somewhat  desultory  discus¬ 
sion  then  took  place,  in  the  course  of  which  more  than  one  of  the 
speakers  was  unfortunately  interrupted  by  members  who  were 
perhaps  naturally  impatient  at  being  kept  so  long  after  midday 
without  food.  At  last,  however,  the  end  came  in  sight,  and  amid 
repeated  cries  of  “Vote!  Vote!”  the  Chairman  put  the  question 
that  the  proposed  bye-laws  be  confirmed  and  approved.  The  result 
left  not  the  slightest  doubt  as  to  the  opinion  entertained  by  the 
members  as  to  the  desirability  of  the  Council’s  proposals,  for  out 
of  the  whole  of  the  large  number  present,  only  six  voted  in  the 
negative.  And  so  the  draft  bye-laws  passed  th  e  last  obstacle  but 
one,  as  all  that  is  now  required  to  legalise  them  is  the  approval  of 
the  Privy  Council. 

The  Schacht  Memorial  Painting  was  formally  presented  to 
the  President,  as  representing  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  at  an 
informal  gathering  in  the  Examination  Hall  shortly  after  the  busi¬ 
ness  of  the  day  was  concluded.  The  first  speaker  was  Mr.  Michael 
Carteighe,  who  read  a  letter  in  which  Mr.  N.  H.  Martin  feel¬ 
ingly  referred  to  the  late  G.  E.  Schacht’s  great  merits  as 
a  man  and  a  pharmacist,  and  spoke  of  the  considerable  in¬ 
fluence  the  deceased  “hero  of  pharmacy”  had  exercised  upon 
his  own  career.  Mr.  Arthur  Savory  followed  and,  after 
a  brief  account  of  the  circumstances  under  which  the  idea  of  the 
memorial  originated  and  the  steps  since  taken  to  carry  that  idea 
into  effect,  he  asked  Mr.  Walter  Hills  to  accept  the  portrait  on 
behalf  of  the  Society.  On  being  unveiled,  the  picture  excited 
general  admiration,  and  the  prevailing  opinion  expressed  was  that 
it  is  an  excellent  likeness.  The  interesting  ceremony  was  con¬ 
cluded  by  Mr.  Hills  expressing  the  satisfaction  with  which  he 
accepted  the  trust  and  received  for  the  Society  the  speaking  like¬ 
ness  of  one  who  had  been  “  the  ideal  pharmacist.” 


The  Festival  Dinner  on  Tuesday  night  was  a  great  success, 
and  the  event  clearly  showed  that  chemists  are  quite  capable  of 
rising  to  the  occasion  in  matters  that  arouse  their  sympathy.  It 
was  a  thoroughly  representative  gathering,  but  few  of  the  familiar 
names  in  pharmacy  being  missing  from  the  list  of  guests,  and 
everyone  present  seemed  to  derive  a  maximum  of  enjoyment  from 
his  surroundings.  The  dinner  fully  accorded  with  the  reputation 
the  Hotel  Cecil  has  already  gained,  the  musical  entertainment  was 
excellent,  and  the  speeches  were  brief  and  to  the  point.  Probably 
no  more  pleasant  reunion  of  British  pharmacists  and  their  friends 


has  ever  taken  place,  and  the  general  satisfaction  manifested 
should  be  regarded  by  those  responsible  for  the  arrangements  as  a 
distinct  compliment,  fully  compensating  them  for  the  arduous 
labours  spread  over  the  past  few  weeks. 

The  Benevolent  Fund  List  of  donations  and  special  subscrip¬ 
tions,  published  in  this  week’s  Journal,  is  an  extremely  gratifying 
one,  the  total  amount  received  or  promised  being  considerably 
over  two  thousand  pounds,  or  practically  twice  as  much  as  was 
recorded  on  the  similar  occasion  ten  years  ago.  Already  then  it 
is  a  record  list,  but  it  is  hoped  that  a  still  higher  total  may  be 
attained,  and  to  that  end  it  is  proposed  to  keep  the  list  open  until 
the  end  of  this  month.  It  ought  to  be  possible  to  realise  at  least 
two  thousand  five  hundred  pounds,  and  those  individuals  and  firms 
who  have  not  yet  notified  their  intention  of  contributing  will 
doubtless  be  glad  of  the  extra  opportunity  afforded  for  assisting  in 
bringing  about  that  result. 

The  Nature  and  Work  oe  the  Benevolent  Fund  are  perhaps 
not  so  well  known  amongst  chemists  and  druggists  as  they  ought 
to  be,  and  the  present  opportunity  is  therefore  taken  of  empha¬ 
sising  the  fact  that  all  genuine  cases  of  necessity  amongst  chemists 
and  druggists,  and  the  widows  of  chemists  and  druggists,  are  aided 
by  temporary  assistance  when  presented  to  the  Council  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society.  Chronic  cases  of  distress  may  be  per¬ 
manently  relieired  by  the  aid  of  annuities.  As  shown  in  the 
Society’s  Calendar,  the  system  of  granting  annuities  was  com¬ 
menced  in  1865,  two  of  £30  each  being  then  given.  The  amount 
was  increased  to  £35  in  1878,  and  in  1891  the  Council  raised  the 
amount  to  £50  per  annum.  A  smaller  amount  is  granted  to  an¬ 
nuitants  under  sixty-five  years  of  age,  according  to  the  regula¬ 
tions.  At  the  present  time  no  less  than  forty-five  annuitants 
are  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  moderate  fixed  income  from  the  Fund. 
The  relief  granted  during  the  year  1896  was  as  follows  : — 


Total  casual  grants . . . .  £  553  O  0 

Total  paid  in  annuities .  2232  10  O 

Total  relief  granted  during  1S96 .  £  2785  10  O 


This  amount  was  barely  covered  by  the  income  from  subscriptions, 
interest  on  invested  capital,  and  ground  rents,  whilst  the  whole 
cost  of  administering  the  Fund  was  borne  by  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society,  the  Fund  itself  being  freed  from  that  burden. 


Chemists  and  Druggists  who  are  not  connected  with  the  Society 
do  not  contribute  towards  these  administrative  expenses  and, 
unfortunately,  they  do  not  appear  to  feel  it  incumbent  upon  them, 
except  in  isolated  instances,  to  subscribe  towards  the  Fund  itself. 
This  is  not  as  it  should  be  when  it  is  considered  that  the  benefits 
of  the  Fund  are  open  to  all  registered  chemists  without  restriction, 
and  that  those  who  are  assisted  in  case  of  need  are,  more  often 
than  not,  to  be  numbered  amongst  non-supporters  of  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society.  Such  being  the  case,  it  is  only  reasonable  to 
expect  every  member  of  the  craft  to  contribute  something 
towards  the  Fund,  if  it  is  only  half-a-crown  annually.  Even  so 
small  a  subscription  as  this  brings  a  direct  privilege,  for 
all  contributors  to  the  Fund  of  half-a-crown  and  upwards  have 
votes  in  the  election  of  annuitants.  With  regard  to  the  applica¬ 
tion  of  the  money  contributed,  as  matters  stand  the  annual 
subscriptions  require  to  be  drawn  upon  largely  to  pay  the 
annuities,  though  it  is  eminently  desirable  that  the  invested 
capital  should  be  increased  sufficiently  to  insure  from  its  interest 
enough  to  provide  means  for  those  grants,  as  when  once  given 
they  cannot  be  recalled.  It  is  important,  therefore,  that  it  should 
be  generally  known  that  the  interest  of  the  invested  capital  is  not 


May  22,  1897] 


PITA'S MACET7TTCA  L  JOURNAL. 


449 


half  sufficient  to  pay  the  present  annuities,  amounting,  as  shown 
above,  to  £2232  10s.  As  a  result  the  proportion  of  the  annual  sub¬ 
scriptions  absorbed  in  the  payment  of  annuities  leaves  much  too 
small  a  balance  from  which  to  grant  sums  in  casual  cases,  and  con¬ 
sequently  the  Council  is  often  unable  to  deal  so  satisfactorily 
with  many  applications  as  might  otherwise  be  the  case. 

The  Present  Subscribers  Number  Six  Thousand  approxi¬ 
mately,  or  about  as  many  as  subscribe  to  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society.  But  there  are  some  fifteen  thousand  registered  chemists, 
of  whom  probably  half  are  in  business  on  their  own  account,  and 
it  is  not  difficult  to  arrive  at  the  rough  result  that  nearly  four 
thousand  chemists  in  business,  if  not  more  than  that,  do  not  con¬ 
tribute  the  smallest  sum  to  the  Benevolent  Fund.  If  those  four 
thousand  would  only  subscribe  half-a-crown  each,  the  result 
would  be  to  more  than  double  the  amount  at  present  received 
from  subscriptions.  All  cases  of  distress  could  then  be 
much  more  generously  dealt  with  than  is  now  possible,  the 
number  of  annuities  could  be  increased,  and  the  invested 
capital  might  also  be  increased  gradually  until  the  interest  derived 
from  it  should  more  than  suffice  to  pay  those  annuities  without 
drawing  upon  the  annual  subscriptions.  Chemists  who  are  not 
yet  subscribers,  therefore,  are  urged  to  do  something,  if  it  be  ever 
so  little,  in  aid  of  the  only  insurance  fund  of  the  craft.  Moreover, 
former  subscribers  are  urged  to  renew,  and  if  possible  increase, 
their  subscriptions,  whilst  everyone  who  sympathises  with  the 
unfortunate  and  distressed  is  asked  to  assist  by  word  and  deed  in 
establishing  the  Benevolent  Fund  upon  a  sure  and  certain  financial 
foundation. 

The  Pharmacy  Board  or  Victoria  reports  that  only  ninety- 
three  persons  presented  themselves  for  the  Preliminary  examina¬ 
tion  in  1896,  as  against  one  hundred  and  fprty-eight  in  the 
previous  year,  whilst  twenty-five  candidates  presented  themselves 
for  the  Final  Qualifying  examination,  and  six  for  the  Modified. 
With  regard  to  a  request  made  by  the  Board  of  Public  Health  that 
provision  should  be  made  by  the  Pharmacy  Board  for  carrying  ou 
a  system  of  examination  for  persons  desirous  of  qualifying  for  the 
position  of  public  analyst,  the  necessary  arrangements  have  been 
made  and  examiners  duly  appointed  ;  so  far,  however,  no 
candidates  have  presented  themselves  for  examination.  In  previous 
reports  the  Board  has  expressed  its  appreciation  of  the  valuable 
aid  to  state  education  rendered  by  the  Melbourne  College  of 
Pharmacy,  which  is  every  year  extending  its  sphere  of  usefulness, 
and  now  provides  for  the  educational  curriculum  of  pharma¬ 
ceutical  chemists  and  dentists,  as  well  as  the  teaching  of  pharmacy 
to  medical  students  of  the  Melbourne  University.  The  teaching 
has  been  distinguished  by  zeal  and  ability,  and  the  personnel  of  the 
staff  is  said  to  leave  nothing  to  be  desired.  The  number  of 
registered  apprentices  on  December  31  last  was  565,  whilst  the 
pharmaceutical  chemists  numbered  1193.  Of  the  latter,  139  were 
registered  under  certificates  from  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of 
Great  Britain,  16  under  those  of  the  Irish  Society,  14  held  foreign 
diplomas,  and  116  have  been  registered  by  virtue  of  having  been 
in  business  at  or  before  the  passing  of  the  “Pharmacy  Act,  1876.” 

The  Question  of  Reciprocity  of  Certificates  has  again 
occupied  the  attention  of  the  Victoria  Board,  and  a  lengthy 
correspondence  has  taken  place  with  the  Pharmacy  Board  of 
Queensland,  which  invited  the  Victoria  Board  to  join  with  it 
in  asking  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain  to 
recognise  the  certificates  issued  by  the  several  colonial  Pharmacy 
Boards.  As  far  back  as  July,  1881,  a  letter  was  addressed  to  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Bri  tai  n  by  the  Victoria  Board,  asking 


that  recognition  might  be  made  of  persons  holding  the  examination 
certificate  of  the  Board  as  a  qualification  for  registration  in  Great 
Britain,  and  to  that  communication  a  reply  was  received  that  there 
were  no  statutory  provisions  under  the  Pharmacy  Acts  of  Great 
Britain  empowering  the  Registrar  to  place  any  name  on  the 
Register,  excepting  on  the  production  of  certificates  of  skill  and 
competency  signed  by  the  respective  Boards  of  Examiners 
appointed  by  the  Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great 
Britain  and  approved  by  the  Privy  Council.  While  the  Victoria 
Board  holds  the  view  that  the  colonies  could  not  intelligently  join  in 
the  Queensland  proposal  to  ask  Great  Britain  to  accept  certificates 
which  they  themselves  refuse  to  interchange,  it  is  not  easy  to  find 
a  practical  solution  of  the  more  important  question  of  intercolonial 
reciprocity.  The  real  difficulty  is  said  to  be  found  in  the  want  of 
a  common  intercolonial  examination.  “Equality  of  standard  of 
questions  would  not  be  sufficient.  There  must  also  be  equality  of 
judgment  upon  the  answers  of  the  students.  In  the  answers  of 
the  students,  and  the  character  and  conduct  of  the  examinations 
will  be  found  the  satisfactory  evidence  as  to  the  value  of  the 
diploma,  rather  than  in  the  character  of  the  papers.”  And  it  is  said 
to  be  clear  enough  that  the  papers  should  be  judged  by  a  common 
tribunal,  else  what  was  accepted  or  rejected  by  one  set  of 
examiners  might  be  differently  dealt  with  by  another.  In  the 
opinion  of  the  Board  the  only  practical  means  of  establishing  inter¬ 
colonial  reciprocity  is  to  be  found  in  an  agreement  among  the 
colonies  as  to  a  common  examination  paper  and  examination. 
It  is  thought  that,  were  this  agreement  brought  about,  reciprocity 
would  practically  be  achieved. 

The  Streatham,  Balham  and  Tooting  District  now  has  a 
chemists’  association,  which  was  inaugurated  by  the  local 
chemists  at  a  meeting  held  on  Thursday,  May  13.  Mr.  Robinson, 
the  oldest  established  chemist  of  Streatham,  was  elected  President ; 
Mr.  Shacklock,  Vice-President ;  and  Mr.  Laws,  Honorary  Secretary ; 
The  Association  has  been  established  for  discussing  and  adjusting 
the  various  matters  that  may  arise  from  time  to  time  in  connection 
with  the  trade  locally,  and  the  annual  fee  has  been  fixed  at  the 
nominal  sum  of  half-a-crown,  whilst  all  chemists  in  business  for  them¬ 
selves  in  the  above  district  are  eligible  for  membership  on  applica¬ 
tion.  Managers  of  branches  desirous  of  membership  should  apply 
to  the  officers,  and  the  election  will  be  decided  by  the  Executive. 
Chemists  in  the  district  should  find  much  benefit  from  joining 
the  Association,  the  next  meeting  of  which  will  take  place  on 
Thursday,  the  27th  inst.,  at  9.30  p.m.  The  agenda  of  the  meeting 
includes  a  discussion  on  prices  to  be  charged  for  dispensing. 

In  the  Manufacture  of  Dyes,  observes  the  Saturday  Review, 
the  Germans  have  contrived  to  show  us  a  clean  pair  of  heels.  The 
Farbenfabriken  (Freidrich  Bayer  and  Co.),  of  Elberfeld,  made  a 
profit  last  year  of  £266,800,  and  has  just  paid  a  dividend  for  the 
year  of  18  per  cent.  The  Badische  Anilin  und  Soda  Fabrik,  of 
Ludwigshaven,  on  the  Rhine,  had  a  profit  of  £400,938,  and  has 
distributed  26  per  cent. ;  and  Messrs.  Meister,  Lucius,  and  Bruning, 
of  Hochst-am-Main,  came  out  with  £341,555  to  the  good,  and  have 
been  enabled  to  return  28  per  cent.  These  several  results  were 
accomplished  in  spite  of  injury  done  by  the  Presidential  election 
in  America  and  by  the  famine  and  plague  in  India.  What  English 
dye-making  concern,  it  is  asked,  can  boast  of  profits  equally  good  ? 
“No  one  can  be  surprised  at  the  ever-increasing  business  of  these 
German  firms  who  has  made  acquaintance  with  their  murderous 
energy,  and  has  contrasted  their  sample  sheets,  their  pertinacity, 
and  their  terms  with  the  methods  of  English  manufacturers. 
Scarcely  a  week  passes  but  they  offer  you  something  new.  They 
employ  large  staffs  of  highly-trained  and  highly-paid  chemists  who 


450 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  22,  1897 


spend  their  time  on  novelties  and  the  improvement  of  existing 
products.  In  other  words,  they  know  their  business  thoroughly.” 
As  being  likely  to  help  to  a  better  notion  of  the  German  superiority 
in  this  particular,  it  is  stated  that  Germany  sent  to  the  United  States 
during  the  twelve  months  ended  June  last  9,763,080  lbs.  of  alizarin 
against  308,743  lbs.  sent  by  us,  while  of  coal-tar  colours  and  dyes 
the  imports  from  Germany  were  valued  at  §2, 324, 157,  and  those  from 
Great  Britain  at  $191,263. 


Poisoning  by  Linimentum  Belladonna  was  recently  caused 
in  the  case  of  a  lady,  aged  53,  who  during  the  night  measured 
into  a  medicine  glass  a  tablespoonful  of  the  liniment  in  mistake 
for  a  bromide  mixture,  which  she  had  occasionally  taken.  She 
discovered  her  error  after  swallowing  it,  but  not  knowing  the 
dangerous  character  of  the  preparation,  retired  to  bed. 
Subsequently  she  was  discovered  to  be  suffering  from  poisoning, 
and  placed  under  treatment,  with  the  result  that  she  recovered. 
The  medical  man  who  records  this  case  in  the  British  Medical 
J oumal  thinks  it  desirable  to  place  the  case  on  record  inasmuch  as 
the  portion  of  the  drug  taken  was  a  known  quantity,  and  he  also  points 
out  that,  owing  to,  what  he  terms,  the  careless  dispensing  of  half 
a  pint  of  this  powerful  liniment  by  a  firm  of  chemists  in  a  neigh¬ 
bouring  town  in  “an  ordinary  half-pint  medicine  bottle,”  a  valu¬ 
able  life  was  for  a  time  placed  in  jeopardy.  If  the  facts  be  as 
stated,  the  matter  is  certainly  one  for  considerable  regret. 

Monsonia  Ovata  is  used  in  South  Africa  for  dysentery,  but 
there  appears  to  be  some  doubt  as  to  the  species  employed.  Mr. 
J.  Medley  Wood,  A.L.S.,  Curator  of  the  Botanic  Gardens,  at 
Durban,  Natal,  states  that  the  plant  which  was  pointed  out  to 
him  as  the  one  used  for  dysentery  by  two  residents  in  the  Orange 
Free  State  was  Monsonia  biflora,  and  not  M.  ovata.  The  latter  does 
not  grow  in  Natal,  but  in  the  Drakensberg  mountains. 

“  Pharmaceutical  Secrets  ”  is  the  heading  of  a  letter  to  the 
Daily  Graphic  signed  by  “A  Licentiate  of  the  College  of 
Physicians,”  who  is  alarmed  because  a  pharmaceutical  writer  has 
contended  that  medical  secrets  become  eventually  pharmaceutical 
secrets,  and  that  any  rights  or  privileges  granted  to  the  doctor 
should  be  extended  to  the  pharmacist,  since  the  “secret”  is  his 
as  much  as  the  doctor’s.  This  communication  is  said  to  open  up 
alarming  possibilities,  “  showing  as  it  does  that  the  confidences 
of  the  invalid  are  not  reposed  in  the  physician  alone,  but  also  by  a 
side  issue  in  a  tradesman  who  is  bound  by  no  law  of  honour  or 
custom  to  keep  his  secret.”  This  new  medical  alarmist  is  good 
enough  to  say  that  he  does  not  pretend  that  chemists  are  in  the 
habit  of  betraying  confidences,  but  he  does  think  that  the  public 
should  appreciate  “  this  anomalous  condition.”  Naturally,  he 
finds  it  is  easier  to  point  out  an  evil  than  to  suggest  a  remedy, 
but  he  thinks  the  state  of  things  he  imagines  to  exist  could  be 
controlled  by  making  it  illegal  for  a  chemist  to  give  a  copy  of,  or 
state  the  contents  of,  a  prescription  without  an  express  order 
from  the  prescriber.  In  spite  of  the  backwardness  of  the  season, 
it  would  appear  that  the  big  gooseberry  is  already  upon  us. 

Mr.  George  Claridge  Druce,  whose  genial  personality  com¬ 
mends  itself  to  so  many  pharmaceutical  friends,  is,  as  is  well  known, 
the  present  Sheriff  of  Oxford  and  Conservator  of  Port  Meadow 
and  the  Fisheries.  Mr.  Druce  was  born  in  Northamptonshire,  and 
after  following  the  profession  of  pharmacy  for  some  years — 
during  which  he  acted  as  president  of  the  Northampton 
Pharmaceutical  Association,  and  honorary  secretary  of  the 
Northampton  Natural  History  Society— he  proceeded  to  Oxford, 


where  he  was  mainly  instrumental  in  founding  the  Oxfordshire 
Natural  History  Society,  of  which  he  was  elected  president  in  1895 
and  1896.  He  was  elected  on  the  City  Council  in  1893,  and  was. 
local  secretary  to  the  British  Association  on  the  occasion  of  the 
meeting  in  Oxford  in  1894.  For  some  years  Mr.  Druce  was  on 
the  Examining  Board  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  and  his. 
labours  in  connection  with  botanical  science  are  familiar  to  all 
our  readers.  In  recognition  of  the  value  of  his  work  upon  the 
‘  Flora  of  Oxfordshire,’  published  in  1885,  the  University  of  Oxford 
conferred  upon  him  the  honorary  degree  of  Master  of  Arts.  Mr. 
Druce  is  at  the  present  time  president  of  the  Oxford  and  District 
Chemists’  Association,  and  curator  of  the  Fielding  Herbarium  at 
Oxford.  He  has  recently  come  somewhat  prominently  before  his 
fellow-citizens  in  connection  with  the  opening  of  the  Oxford 
Municipal  Buildings  by  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  at  the  last 
meeting  of  the  City  Council  Mr.  Druce  generously  presented  the 
Corporation  with  a  handsome  gold  chain  for  the  use  of  future 
Sheriffs,  in  commemoration  of  the  record  reign. 

Postal  Reforms  Come  Thick  and  fast  nowadays.  Only  a, 
fortnight  ago  we  were  able  to  announce  approaching  changes  of  an. 
almost  revolutionary  character,  when  viewed  from  the  official 
red-tape  point  of  view,  and  now  similarly  progressive  arrange* 
ments  have  been  concluded  with  the  Postmaster-General  in  con* 
nection  with  the  telephone  service.  Thus,  a  number  of  post-offices 
in  the  London  postal  area  connected  to  the  exchanges  of  the 
National  Telephone  Company  (Limited)  will,  on  and  after  June  1 
next,  be  enabled  to  telephone  a  message,  for  :  (a)  transmission 
over  the  postal  telegraphs  and  delivery  as  a  telegram  ;  ( b )  delivery 
as  an  express  letter  ;  (c)  conveyance  and  delivery  as  an  ordinary 
letter ;  or  (d)  calling  for  the  services  of  a  post-office  express 
messenger.  Amateur  postal  reformers  are  being  anticipated  to- 
such  an  extent  that  there  might  be  fear  of  their  occupation 
vanishing  were  it  not  that  such  a  mountain  of  official  prejudice 
yet  remains  to  be  overturned. 

The  True  Pharmaceutical  Chemist,  observes  a  writer  in  the 
Scalpel,  deserves  all  possible  protection  and  encouragement  from 
the  medical  profession.  But  as  to  the  wholesale  chemist,  he  mush 
“  choose  whether  he  will  devote  himself  to  the  profession  or  to  the 
public.  If  he  tries  to  sit  on  two  stools  at  the  same  time  he  will 
fall  between  the  two,  and  very  deservedly.”  A  distinction  is  drawn 
between  manufacturers  of  special  preparations  which  are  non- 
secret  and  really  contain  what  is  represented  to  be  present,  and 
those  who  endeavour  to  thrust  upon  the  profession  and  the  public 
proprietary  remedies  of  unknown  composition.  In  conclusion,  it 
is  pointed  out  that  neither  medical  nor  pharmaceutical  science  is 
advanced  by  ordering  “  Banaline  or  sammittine  and  other  such 
products,”  whilst  patients  are  not  treated  scientifically  or  even 
fairly  when  medical  practitioners  recommend  to  them  proprietary 
medicines  about  which  they  know  nothing.  The  remedy  is  said 
to  be  in  the  hands  of  medical  men  and  pharmacists  ;  if  those  two- 
classes  are  not  content  with  the  existing  state  of  things,  “  then  let 
us  have  some  action  to  voice  the  discontent.” 


The  Chemists’  Exhibition  for  1897  is  to  be  held  in  Covent 
Garden  Theatre,  and  we  are  requested  to  state  that  the  whole  of 
the  space  available  for  stands  in  the  auditorium  and  on  the  stage 
of  the  theatre  having  been  taken,  arrangements  have  been  made 
to  hold  an  overflow  exhibition  in  the  large  saloon  of  the  theatre  on 
the  first  tier.  The  stands  already  arranged  for  will,  it  is  stated, 
comprise  the  largest  and  most  varied  display  of  exhibits  which 
has  ever  been  collected  for  the  inspection  of  pharmacists. 


May  22,  1897J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


451 


LIST  OF  DONATIONS  AND  SUBSCRIPTIONS 

IN  AID  OF  THE 

BENEVOLENT  FUND. 


The  following  donations  and  new  or  increased  annual  subscriptions  were 
announced  at  the  Festival  Dinner  on  Tuesday  last  (see  report  at  page  431). 
Furtherjcontributions  are  solicited,  and  listsof  the  same  will  be  published  shortly;— 


Dons.  Subs. 

Abraham,  A.  C. ;  87,  Bold  Street,  Liverpool  .  2  2  0 

Allen,  C.  B. ;  20,  High  Road,  Kilburn,  N.W .  5  5  0 

Apollinaris  Company,  4,  Stratford  Place,  W .  10  10  0 

Arkinstall,  W.  ;  Burnaby  Gardens,  Chiswick,  W .  5  5  0 

Amfield,  J.  C.  ;  7,  Lower  Hillgate,  Stockport  .  1  1  0 

Atkins,  S.  R.  ;  Market  Place,  Salisbury  . . . 5  5  0 

Atkinson,  Leo  ;  285,  Brockley  Road,  S.E . .  1  1  0 

Attfield,  Dr.  John  ;  Ashlands,  Watford  .  21  0  0 

Ault,  John  ;  TJsk,  Mon . 1  1  0 

Austin,  H.  F.  ;  126a,  Bermondsey  Street,  S.E . .  2  2  0 

Ayrton  and  Saunders,  149,  Duke  Street,  Liverpool .......  2  2  0 

Baiss,  Arnold  ;  4,  Jewry  Street,  E.C .  5  5  0 

Baiss  Bros,  and  Co.  ;  4,  Jewry  Street,  E.C . .  10  10  0 

Barron,  Harveys  and  Co.  ;  6,  Giltspur  Street,  E.C .  10  10  0 

Bascombe,  F. ;  2,  Onslow  Gardens,  Highgate,  N .  2  2  0 

Bate,  H.  ;  125,  South  Lambeth  Road,  S.W .  1  1  0 

Bateman,  T.  H.  ;  223,  Finchley  Road,  N.W .  1  1  0 

Bates,  F.  W.  ;  Brook’s  Bar,  Manchester  .  1  1  0 

Bates,  J. ;  Wellington,  Salop  . 5  5  0 

Bateson,  T.  ;  23,  Stricklandgate,  Kendal..-. . .  110 

Beard,  J.  H.  ;  Great  Ancoats  Street,  Manchester . .  110 

Bell,  C.  B.  ;  6,  Spring  Bank,  Hull .  1  1  0 

Bell,  W.  H.  ;  96,  Albany  Street,  N.W . 1  1  0 

Benger,  F.  Baden  ;  Manchester  . 100  0  0 

Berkefeld  Filter  Co.  ;  121,  Oxford  Street,  W .  1  1  0 

Bessell,  Walter ;  13,  Belle  Vue  Road,  Upper  Tooting,  S.W.  5  5  0 

Bew,  J.  ;  8,  Willow  Bank,  Manchester .  2  2  0 

Bird,  Augustus  ;  Wood  Lane,  Shepherd’s  Bush,  W.  . . . .  21  0  0 

Blackburn,  A.  E.  H.  ;  Beaconsfield,  Eccles .  1  1  0 

Blake,  Sandford  and  Blake  ;  47,  Piccadilly,  W .  5  5  0 

Bly  ton  and  Astley  ;  Lower  Broughton,  Manchester  ...  5  5  0 

Bolton,  C.  A.  ;  40,  Carlton  Street,  Nottingham .  1  1  0 

Booth,  E. ;  5,  Chester  Bridge,  Crewe . 1  1  0 

Bottle,  Alexander  ;  Dover .  5  5  0 

Bourdas,  I.  ;  48,  Belgrave  Road,  S.W .  21  0  0 

Bourne,  Johnson,  and  Latimer ;  35,  Fumival  Street,  E.C.  110 

Boutall,  G.  S.  ;  Marchmont  Street,  W.C . 1  1  0 

Bowen,  J.  W.  ;  13,  Curzon  Street,  W . . .  2  2  0 

Bowerbank,  J.  ;  Castlegate,  Cockermouth .  5  5  0 

Bowker,  J.  T.  ;  Westfield  House,  Farnworth . . .  1  11  6 

Bradford  Chemists’  Association,  per  Mr.  Waddington, 

Local  Secretary  (proceeds  of  Mr.  Howie’s  lecture)  . .  10  10  0 

Bridge,  G.  E.  ;  128,  Christchurch  Road,  Bournemouth  . .  5  5  0 

Bristol  Pharmaceutical  Association  .  5  5  0 

Bristow,  T.  F.  and  Co. ;  Clerkenwell,  E.  C .  5  5  0 

British  and  Colonial  Druggist,  Proprietors  of .  105  0  0 

Brodie,  R.  ;  253,  Crown  Street,  Glasgow .  160 

Brown,  A.  J.  ;  55,  Trafalgar  Road,  Greenwich,  S.E .  10  10  0 

Burgoyne,  Burbidges  and  Co.  ;  Coleman  Street,  E.C.....  10  10  0 

Burroughs,  Wellcome  and  Co.  ;  Snow  Hill  Buildings,  E.C.  105  0  0 

Butt,  E.  N.  ;  77,  Hamilton  Terrace,  Maida  Vale,  N.W.  ..  42  0  0  15  15  0 

Cadman,  D.  C. ;  6,  Royal  Parade,  Blackheath  ..........  220 

Calvert,  F.  C.,  and  Co.  ;  Bradford,  Manchester .  5  5  0 

“  Camwal”  Directors  ;  45,  Gifford  Street,  N .  50  0  0 

Carteighe,  Michael ;  180,  New  Bond  Street,  W .  10  10  0 

Chaplin,  J.  H.  ;  60,  Westgate,  Wakefield  . .  1  1  0 

Chaplin,  W.  H.  and  Co.  ;  10,  Villiers  Street,  Strand,  W.C.  2  2  0 

Chemist  and  Druggist,  Proprietors  of . 105  0  0 

Chemists’  Ball  Committee  .  105  0  0 

Che verton  and  Ogle ;  Tunbridge  Wells . . .  110 

Clark,  J.  A. ;  48,  Broadway,  London  Fields,  E .  5  5  0 

Clark,  R.  U.  ;  14,  Kent  Street,  Jarrow-on-Tyne. .  110 

Clarke,  J.  ;  38,  George  Street,  Croydon . 2  2  0 

Clay,  Dod,  and  Co. ;  52,  St.  Anne  Street,  Liverpool .  110 

Clough,  J.  C.  ;  High  Street,  Northwich  .  110 

Collie,  Professor;  16,  Campden  Grove,  W . .  2  2  0 


Dons.  Subs. 

Collier,  H. ;  Guy’s  Hospital,  S.E . 2  2  0 

Cook,  E.  and  Co. ;  East  London  Soap  Works,  Bow,  E.  . .  110 

Cooperand  Co.  ;  80,  Gloucester  Road,  S.W .  10  10  0 

Corbyn,  Stacey,  and  Co.,  22,  Gt.  St.  Helens.  E.C . 5  5  0 

Cornelius,  R.  B.  ;  Oak  Cottage,  Teignmouth . .  110 

Cracknell,  H. ;  17,  Craven  Road,  W.  . . .  2  2  0 

Crafton,  R.  F. ;  Bramley  Hill,  Croydon  .  1  1  O 

Cresswell,  F.  ;  133,  Burnt  Ash  Road,  Lee,  S.E .  2  2  0 

Currie,  W.  L. ;  223,  Byres  Road,  Glasgow  . .  Ill  6 

Curtis  and  Co.  ;  48,  Baker  Street,  W .  1  1  0 

Dakin,  J.  Harrison  ;  87a,  Leadenhall  Street,  E.C .  2  2  0 

Davenport,  Horace  ;  33,  Great  Russell  Street,  W.C .  5  5  0 

Davenport,  J.  T.,  33,  Great  Russell  Street,  W.C .  10  10  0 

Davenport,  Rev.  John  M. ;  St.  John,  New  Brunswick  ... .  5  0  0 

David  A.  ;  Cross  Square,  St.  Davids .  1  3  6 

Davidson,  A. ;  172,  High  Street,  Montrose .  3  3  0 

Davis,  J.  Morgan  ;  7,  Princess  Buildings,  Coventry  St.,W.  110 
Davy,  Hill  and  Son,  Yates  and  Hicks ;  101,  Southwark 

8treet,  S.E . . . . .  10  10  0 

Deakin,  J.  W.  ;  40,  Witton  Street,  Northwich  .  110 

Dennis  and  Roberts  ;  Nottingham .  1  1  0 

Dieterich,  Eugen  ;  Helfenberg,  near  Dresden  .  3  3  0 

Dinneford  and  Co.  ;  180,  New  Bond  Street,  W . .  10  10  0 

Dodd,  R.  J.  ;  70,  Tottenham  Court  Road,  W. .  10  10  0 

Druce.  G.  C.  ;  118,  High  Street,  Oxford  .  21  0  0 

Duncan,  Flockhart  and  Co.  ;  Edinburgh .  26  5  0 

Dyson,  W.  B.  ;  Gloucester  Road,  S.W .  2  2  0 

Eade,  G.  ;  72,  Goswell  Road,  E.C .  5  5  0 

Bastes,  E.  J.  ;  61,  Chancery  Lane,  W.C .  1  1  0 

Evans,  D.  O.  ;  West  Street,  Ashburton  . 1  1  0 

Evans,  Lescher  and  Webb  ;  60,  Bartholomew  Close,  E.C.  10  10  0 

Evans,  Sons  and  Co.  ;  Hanover  Street,  Liverpool .  52  10  0 

Ewing,  J.  Laidlaw  ;  52,  North  Bridge,  Edinburgh .  10  10  0 

Farr,  E.  H.  ;  Uckfield . .  110 

Flux,  Thompson  and  Flux  ;  3,  East  India  Avenue,  E.C.  10  10  0 

Francis,  G.  B.  ;  38,  Southwark  Street,  S.E .  5  5  0 

Francis,  W.  H.  ;  38,  Southwark  Street,  S.E . 5  5  0 

Frazer,  D. ;  127,  Buchanan  Street,  Glasgow  .  1  1  0 

Frost,  J.  H. ;  High  Street,  Hornsey,  N .  5  5  0 

Frost,  W.  T.  ;  Ingle ville,  Parson’s  Green,  S.W .  2  2  0 

Gavin,  Thomas;  31,  Bristol  Street,  Hulme,  Manchester..  110 

Gibbs,  W. ;  St.  Heliers,  Ryde,  I.W . . .  1  1  0 

Gibson,  R.,  and  Sons  ;  Erskine  Street,  Manchester .  5  5  0 

Gill,  W.  ;  207,  Radford  Road,  Nottingham .  1  1  0 

Goodall,  Backhouse,  and  Co.  ;  Leeds .  10  10  0 

Gossling,  W.  R.  ;  7,  The  Strand,  E.  Southsea .  110 

Gostling,  J.  H.  ;  Halesworth  . . . . 1  1  0 

Gostling,  T.  P.  ;  Diss .  5  5  0 

Greenish,  Professor  ;  20,  New  Street,  N.W .  1  1  0 

Greenish,  T.  ;  20,  New  Street,  N.W .  1  1  0 

Gregory,  W.  ;  Weymouth .  2  2  0 

Grimwade,  E.  H.  ;  Croydon .  5  5  0 

Grimwade,  Hon.  F.  8.  ;  Melbourne  .  5  5  0 

Grose,  N.  M.  ;  8,  Temple  Street,  Swansea  .  2  2  0 

Groves,  T.  B. ;  Belmont,  Seldown,  Poole  ....  1  1  0 

Gulliver,  W.  F.  ;  6,  Lower  Belgrave  Street,  S.W .  1  1  0 

Hampson,  Robert ;  Norland  House,  Sevenoaks .  5  5  0 

Hanbury,  Cornelius ;  Plough  Court,  Lombard  Street,  E.C.  26  5  0 

Hardcastle,  8.  B. ;  71,  East  Street,  Brighton  .  1  1  0 

Hardie,  J.  and  Son  ;  Dundee  .  1  1  0 

Hare,  G.  E.  ;  8,  London  Road,  Nottingham  . - . .  1  1  0 

Harley,  E.  T.  ;  262,  Mare  Street,  Hackney,  N.E .  5  5  0 

Harrington,  J.  F.  ;  45,  High  Street,  Kensington,  S.W.  ..  110 

Harrison,  John  ;  33.  Bridge  Street,  Sunderland  .  5  5  0 

Harvey  W,  K  ,  ^umston  Lodge,  Leicester .  2  2  0 

Hearon,  Squire,  and  Francis;  38,  Southwark  Street,  S.E.  26  5  0 

Hebbeler,  K.  ;  121,  Oxford  Street,  W .  1  1  0 

Heighington,  T.  G.  ;  33,  Hill  Street,  Rutland  Gate,  S.W.  110 
Hertz  and  Collingwood  ;  38,  Leadenhall  Street  .  11 


[Mat  22,  1897 


452 


P3 ARM ACEUTTCA L  JOUR  X  A L. 


Dona.  Subs. 

Hewlett,  James  ;  26,  Ethelbert  Road,  Margate  - .  5  5  0 

Hills,  Walter  ;  225,  Oxford  Street,  W .  10  10  0 

Hobbs,  A.  E.  ;  Tunbridge  Wells  . .  1  1  0 

Hoekin,  Wilson,  and  Co.  ;  14,  New  Inn  Yard,  W .  5  5  0 

Hodgkinsons,  Treacher,  and  Clarke ;  WhitecroSs  St.,  E.C.  10  10  0 

Hogg,  A.  ;  Leven .  1  10  0 

Hogwood,  E.  ;  Plough  Road,  Rotherliithe,  S.E .  1  1  0 

Holford,  T.  C.  ;  a42.  High  Street,  Stratford  . 5  5  0 

Holmes,  E.  M.  ;  Sevenoaks  . . , .  11  0 

Hojikin,  W.  King;  Fern  Brae,  Brondesbury  Park,  N.W.  15  15  0 

Horner  and  Sons  ;  Mitre  Square,  E.C .  ,  110 

Horsley,  J.  ;  104,  High  Street,  Hartlepool .  5  5  0 

Hough,  T.  ;  57,  Station  Road,  Northwich  . .  110 

Howell,  M.  ;  SI,  High  Street,  Peckham,  S.E .  1  1  0 

Howie,  W.  L.  ;  Monton  Lodge,  Monton,  Eocles  .  10  10  0 

Humphreys,  G. ;  44,  High  Street,  Northwich  .  110 

Hunt,  Richard  ;  71,  Parliament  Hill  Road,  N.W .  5  5  0 

Idris  and  Co.  ;  Pratt  Street,  Camden  Town,  N.W .  10  10  0 

Ingram  and  Royle  ;  26,  Upper  Thames  Street,  E.C .  10  10  0 

Jacks,  D.  R.  ;  161,  Gower  Street,  W.C .  1  11  6 

Jackson,  G.  ;  S70,  Rochdale  Road,  Manchester .  1  1  0 

Jewsbury  and  Brown;  Ardwick  Green,  Manchester  ....  10  10  0 

John,  B.  ;  Old  Bond  Street,  Bath  .  1  1  0 

Johnson,  J.  H.  and  S.  ;  Whitechapel,  Liverpool  .  5  5  0 

Johnstone,  C.  A.  ;  Victoria  Bridge,  Manchester  .  5  5  0 

Jones,  W.  ;  2,  High  Street,  Birmingham . . .  1  1  0 

Kay,  S.  and  T.  ;  Stockport . 2  2  0 

Kemp,  D.  S.  ;  52,  Coverdale  Road,  Shepherds  Bush,  W. . .  2  2  0 

Kemp,  Harry  ;  254,  Stretford  Road,  Manchester .  1  1  0 

Kirkby,  Wm.  ;  113,  Market  Street,  Manchester .  110 

Knott,  H.  ;  1,  Blackburn  Road,  Bolton  .  5  5  0 

Lane,  W.  ;  Whalley  Range,  Manchester  . . 1  1  0 

Lansdown,  G.  A. ;  5,  Warwick  Street,  Charing  Cross,  S.W.  110 

Lee,  W.  ;  Castle  Northwich . .  1  l  o 

Lidwell,  J.  E.  ;  257,  Vauxhall  Bridge  Road,  S.W .  1  1  0 

Lorimer  and  Co.  ;  Britannia  Row,  Islington,  N .  21  0  0 

Lucas,  E.  W.  ;  225,  Oxford  Street,  W . . .  8  3  0 

MacEvvan,  Peter  ;  42,  Cannon  Street,  E.C .  2  20 

Macfarlan,  J.  F.,  and  Co.  ;  Moor  Lane,  Fore  Street,  E.C.  10  10  ,0 

Marsh,  E.  R.  ;  73,  Salusbury  Road,  N.W . . .  1  1  0 

Martindale,  William  ;  10,  New  Cavendish  Street,  W .  5  5  0 

Mather,  W.,  Limited  ;  Manchester .  5  5  0 

Mathews,  J.  and  II.  ;  6S,  Queen’s  Gardens,  Hyde  Park,  W.  5  5  0 

Mayger,  W.  D. ;  Regent  Square,  Northampton .  1  1  0 

Meggeson  and  Co.  ;  14,  Miles  Lane,  E.C . . .. ..  21  0  0 

Morson,  A.  ;  Southampton  Row,  W.C .  5  5  0 

Morson,  T.  and  Son  ;  Southampton  Row,  W.C. . . .  10  10  0 

Moss,  John  ;  Wilson  Street,  New  Cross,  S.E .  5  5  0 

Naylor,  W.  A.  H.  ;  3S,  Southwark  Street,  S.E .  5  5  0 

Newbery,  Francis  and  Sons  ;  1,  King  Edward  Street,  E.C.  5  5  0 

Newsholme,  G.  T.  W.  ;  27,  High  Street,  Sheffield  _ 5  5  0 

Oldfield,  Pattinson  and  Co.  ;  Todd  Street,  Manchester  . .  5  5  0 

Paine,  Standen ;  Manchester  .  21  0  0 

Parke’s  Drug  Stores,  Managing  Director  of . 5  5  0 

Parkinson  and  Son  ;  Southampton  Row,  W.C . .  5  5  0 

Parrott,  J. ;  50,  Friars  Stile  Road,  Richmond,  Surrey  . .  110 

Peck,  E.  S.  ;  Cambridge  . 1  1  0 

Peck,  E. ;  East  Dereham  .  1  1  ft . 

Perkins,  T.  J.  ;  Beckenham .  1  1  0 

Peters,  D.  ;  165,  Fortess  Road,  N.W . . 1  1  0 

Phillips,  A.  J.,  156,  Cromwell  Road,  S.W .  2  2  0 

Pidd,  A.  J.  ;  221,  Chester  Road,  Manchester  . .  1  1  0 

Pierce,  Tulley  and  Co. ;  16,  Bishopsgate  Street  Within,  E.C.  110 

Pinchen,  W.  J.  ;  229,  High  Road,  Kilburn,  N.W .  1  1  0 

Pitman,  John  ;  Redcliffe  Hill,  Bristol .  5  5  0 

Plumbly,  W. ;  Newmarket  Place,  Beccles  .  160 

Portway,  A.  C.  ;  189,  Wandsworth  Road,  S.W .  1  1  0 

Potter,  A.  W.  G.  ;  King  Street,  E.C.  - .  2  2  0 

Potter  and  Clarke ;  Artillery  Lane,  E . . . 6  5  0 

Prior,  G.  T.  ;  45,  Holywell  Street,  Oxford  .  1  1  0 

Pritchards,  Ltd.  ;  Manchester . 1  1  0 

Probvn,  Major  Clifford ;  55,  Grosvenor  Street,  W .  105  0  0 

Radford,  J.  S. ;  10,  Derby  Road,  Nottingham  „ .  1  1  0 

Ransom,  F.  ;  Hitchin . . . , .  5  5  0 

Ransom,  W.  ;  Hitchin . 5  5  0 

Reynolds  and  Branson  ;  13,  Briggate,  Leeds .  10  10  0 


Dons.  Subs. 

Reynolds,  R.  J. ;  Manchester  .  1  1  0 

Richards,  F.  J  ;  Dudley  Road,  Birmingham .  1  11 

Richards,  J.  M.  ;  46,  Holborn  Viaduct,  E.C .  1  1  0 

Richardson,  W.  I.,  4  and  5,  Great  Queen  Street,  W.C.  ..  5  5  0 

Robbins,  John  ;  147,  Oxford  Street,  W .  10  10  0 

Roberts,  W.  R.  ;  Rusholme,  Manchester .  1  1  0 

Robertson,  G.  ;  Woodford  . . .  110 

Robinson,  B. ;  Pendleton,  Lancs . . ,...  2  2  0 

Robinson,  R.  A. ;  195,  Brompton  Road,  S.W . .  5  5  0 

Robinson,  W.  P.  ;  17,  Pavement,  Clapham  Common  ....  220 

Rogers,  F.  A.  ;  327,  Oxford  Street,  W . 1  11  6 

Ross,  A.  L. ;  21,  High  Street,  Montrose .  5  5  0 

Rundle,  C.  ;  24,  Russell  Straet,  Covent  Garden,  W.C .  110 

Sadler,  W.  ;  257,  Evering  Road,  Upper  Clapton  .  2  2  0 

Savory  and  Moore  ;  143,  New  Bond  Street,  W .  21  0  0 

Saxlehner,  A. ;  Buda-Pest  .  5  5  0 

Sayers,  W.  C.  ;  63,  High  Street,  Lewisham  . .  5  5  0 

Selley,  J.  ;  142,  Earl's  Court  Road,  S.W.  . .  1  1  0 

Sergeant,  F.  R.  ;  11,  Beast  Market  Hill,  Nottingham -  .  1  1  0 

Sewelson,  D. ;  39,  Cheetham  Hill  Road,  Manchester  ....  1  10 

Siebold,  L.  ;  Sale .  1  1  0 

Simpson,  H.  D.  ;  Louth .  1  1  0 

Slinn,  H.  E.  ;  10,  Northgate  Street,  Gloucester..  _. .  1  1  0 

Smith,  S.  and  Co.  ;  Malmesbury  Road,  Bow,  E .  5  5  0 

Smith,  T.  and  H.  and  Co. ;  21,  Duke  Street,  Edinburgh..  5  5  0 

Smith,  W.  ;  2,  Linsey  Street,  Bermondsey,  S.E . .  1  11  6 

Southall  Bros,  and  Barclay  ;  17,  Bull  Street,  Birmingham  10  10  0 

Stanley,  J.  ;  2,  Crown  Street,  Nottingham .  1  1  0 

Starkie,  R.  S.  ;  126,  Strand,  W.C .  1  1  0 

Stead,  J.  C. ;  Leytonstone  . .  1  1  0 

Stevens,  P.  A.  ;  72,  Mansfield  Road,  Gospel  Oak  ,  N.W.  . .  2  2  0 

Stickland,  G.  G.;  23,  Cromwell  Place,  S.W .  1  1  0 

Storey,  E.  H.  ;  42,  Castle  Street  East,  W .  1  1  0 

•torrar,  D.  ;  22S,  High  Street,  Kirkcaldy  .  2  2  0 

Sumner  and  Co.  ;  Lord  Street,  Liverpool  . . . . . .  2  2  0 

Sunman,  J.  T.  ;  43,  Wellington  Street,  Luton  .  160 

Symes  and  Co.  ;  14,  Hardman  Street,  Liverpool  .  5  5  0 

Taylor,  G.  S.  ;  13,  Queen’s  Terrace,  St.  John’s  Wood,  N.W.  2  2  0 

Thompson  and  Capper  ;  Bold  Street,  Liverpool  - .  1  1  0 

Thomson,  W.  ;  Hillhead,  Glasgow .  1  6  0 

Thorn,  J.  J.  ;  225,  Oxford  Street,  W . .. . 8  3  0 

Tocher,  R. ;  Maybole  . 1  1  0 

Toye,  J. ;  5,  Bonner  Street,  Bethnal  Green,  E .  110 

Truman,  F.  W.  ;  71,  Old  Kent  Road,  S.E . .  1  11  6 

Turner,  E.  A.  ;  2S0,  Fulham  Road,  S.W .  4  4  0 

Umney,  C.  ;  50,  Southwark  Street,  S.E .  5  5  0 

Vallance,  A.  C.  ;  Mansfield  . . ..  1  1  0 

Wade,  J.  ;  174,  Warwick  Street,  Pimlico,  S.W .  1  1  0 

Waring,  A.  W.  ;  3,  Bucklersbury,  E.C . . . . . . .  1  1  0 

Warren,  W.  ;  24,  Russell  Street,  Covent  Garden,  W.C.  ..  3  3  0 

Warrick,  F.  W.  ;  7,  Portpool  Lane,  E.C .  5  5  0 

Waterall,  G.,  and  Son  ;  Nottingham . . . .  110 

Weaver,  A.  C. ;  Wolverhampton  . .  . . .  ......  1  11  (5 

Westmacott,  G.  H.  ;  17,  Market  Street,  Manchester  _  110 

Weston,  S.  J.  ;  151,  Westbourne  Terrace,  W .  1  1  0 

Whiff en,  Thomas  ;  Lombard  Road,  Battersea  . . ..  21  0  0 

Whiffen,  T.  J.  and  W.  G.  ;  Lombard  Road,  Battersea -  5  6  0 

Widdowson,  R.  ;  43,  Mansfield  Road,  Nottingham .  1  1  0 

Wigginton,  A.  ;  137,  Sloane  Street,  S.W .  1  1 

Wilford,  J. ;  Parliament  Street,  Nottingham .  1  1  0 

Wilkinson,  J.  F.  ;  Manchester .  5  5  0 

Will,  W.  W.  ;  162,  Kennington  Park  Road,  S.E . 2  2  0 

Wilson,  J.  ;  76,  Finsbury  Pavement,  E.C .  1  1  0 

Wink,  J.  A.  ;  Devonshire  Square,  Bishopsgate,  E.C .  5  5  0 

Woolley,  G.  S. ;  Victoria  Bridge,  Manchester .  10  10  0 

Woolley,  Hermann  ;  Victoria  Bridge,  Manchester .  10  10  0 

Wootton,  A.  C.  ;  42,  Cannon  Street,  E.C . I _  10  10  0 

Worfolk,  G.  W.  ;  Brook  Street,  Ilkley .  1  11  6 

Wretts,  J.  R.  ;  225,  Oxford  Street,  W .  3  3  0 

Wright,  A.  ;  Yeovil  . . . . . .  2  2  0 

Wright,  G.  B. ;  Hebden  Bridge  . 1  1  • 

Wright,  Layman  and  Umney  ;  50,  Southwark  Street,  S.E.  10  10  0 

Yates,  C.  G.  ;  21,  Upper  Hamilton  Road,  Brighton .  1  1  0 

Young,  J.  Rymer ;  Sankey  Street,  Warrington .  6  6  0 

Young,  R.  Fisher ;  Station  Road,  New  Barnet .  2  2  0 

Other  contributions  of  smaller  sum»  amounting  to .  145  19  6 


May  22,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


453 


THE  WORLD  Op  PHARMACY. 

■ - ♦ - - 

BUSINESS  MEETINGS. 


Apothecaries’  Society. — A  course  of  lectures  was  com¬ 
menced  on  Tuesday,  May  11,  by  Professor  F.  W.  Oliver,  of 
University  College,  London,  on 

The  Diseases  op  Plants. 

The  lecturer  dealt  in  this  first  lecture  with  the  host  and  parasite, 
pointing  out  that  the  host  or  plant  attacked  was  liable  to  a  wide 
variation  in  health  dependent  in  large  measure  on  external  con¬ 
ditions.  As  a  consequence,  when  as  a  result  of  the  checking  of 
important  functions  the  host  possessed  a  lowered  vitality,  it  became 
more  liable  to  attack  than  when  its  members  were  able  to  discharge 
their  functions  in  a  requisite  manner.  The  changes  in  the  tissues 
resulting  from  this  lowered  vitality  were  often  such  as  to  make 
the  host  plant  more  liable  to  attack  from  a  fungal  parasite, 
and  if  at  the  same  time  the  same  conditions  were  favourable 
to  the  fungus  (as  often  happened),  the  attack  would  be  the 
more  virulent.  A  short  account  was  given  of  the  normal 
and  disturbed  functions  of  the  higher  plant,  as  well  as 
of  the  effect  of  various  nutritive  conditions  upon  the  fungus. 
It  was  also  shown  that  plants  in  many  cases  are  especially  liable 
to  attacks  by  parasitic  fungi  at  certain  restricted  periods  in  their 
lives,  and  that  if  they  successfully  passed  through  such  critical 
periods  they  would  in  all  probability  resist  attack.  The  methods 
of  entry  of  fungal  hyphse  into  the  tissues  and  their  action  on  the 
living  cells  were  described.  Yery  interesting  in  this  connection  is 
the  fact  that  in  certain  cases  ( e.g .,  Botrytis)  the  fungus  can  pass 
from  the  condition  of  a  saprophyte  to  that  of  a  parasite  ;  and  its 
conidia,  which  at  first  are  harmless  where  living  tissues  are  con¬ 
cerned,  will  after  a  few  generations,  nourished  saprophytically,  be 
able  to  germinate  on  a  living  host  and  invade  its  tissues. 

The  subject  selected  for  treatment  in  the  second  lecture,  on 
May  18,  was 

The  Witches’  Broom. 

The  classical  instance  of  the  witches’  broom  on  the  silver  fir, 
caused  by  the  fungus,  JEcidium  elatinum,  was  described  as  a  type 
of  peculiar  response  to  stimulus  on  the  part  of  the  host  plant. 
The  group  of  structures  comprehended  under  this  term  was  ex¬ 
tended  so  as  to  include  a  large  number  of  hypertrophies,  involving 
either  parts  or  even  the  whole  of  the  plant  attacked  when  the 
pathological  growth  in  question  exhibited  a  modification  of  the 
normal  plant  habit.  As  further  instances  of  local  hypertrophy 
following  attack  by  members  of  the  family  of  Uredineie,  were  quoted 
swellings  on  the  pine,  due  to  Peridermium  pini,  and  similar 
structures  on  the  juniper,  due  to  Gymnosporangium.  Instances 
of  complete  hypertrophy  of  the  whole  plant  included  Euphorbia 
cyparissias  by  Uromyces  pisi,  and  the  house-leek  by  Endophyllum 
sempervivi.  The  group  of  the  Exoascacese  was  next  dealt  with,  the 
genus  Exoascus  being  remarkable  for  the  witches’  brooms  which  it 
produces  on  common  trees,  such  as  the  birch,  alder,  and  cherry. 
The  life-history  of  a  typical  member  was  described,  and  the 
relations  existing  between  the  fungus  and  the  peculiar  nest-like 
hypetrophies  which  it  causes  pointed  out.  Allusion  was  made  to 
a  lately-cited  instance  of  hornbeams  producing  twigs  with  oak¬ 
like  foliage  and  their  possible  connection  with  an  invading  fungus 
discussed,  whilst  ferns  also  were  shown  to  be  not  entirely  free 
from  the  excrescences  in  question.  Finally  the  biological  meaning 
of  witches’  brooms  was  discussed,  the  view  being  expressed  that 
in  many  cases  they  represented  an  effort  on  the  part  of  the  plant 
attacked  to  localise  the  area  of  attack.  The  lecture  was  very 
fully  illustrated  by  specimens  and  lantern  slides. 


Midland  Pharmaceutical  Association,  Wednesday, 
May  12. — The  Trade  Committee  of  this  Association  has  issued  its 
annual  report,  in  which  it  is  stated  that  during  the  year  five  meet¬ 
ings  have  been  held  under  the  chairmanship  of  Mr.  W.  Jones. 
The  Committee  has  had  under  consideration  the  best  way  of 
strengthening  the  P.A.T.A.,  which  association  it  is  convinced  will 
be  the  means  of  not  only  securing  to  the  retailer  an  adequate 
remuneration,  but  also  of  forming  the  basis  of  a  strong 
and  united  trade  protection  association.  The  Committee  has 
had  correspondence  with  all  the  leading  wholesale  houses  who 


had  not  yet  joined  the  P.A.T.A.,  and  in  most  cases  has  been 
able  to  influence  them  to  reconsider  their  position.  It  has 
also  corresponded  with  all  the  leading  makers  of  proprietary 
articles,  who  still  held  aloof  from  the  association,  and  it  is  found 
that  most  of  them,  while  admitting  that  the  principle  of  a 
guaranteed  profit  was  a  just  one,  are  waiting  developments  before 
they  join.  The  Committee  has  opened  negotiations  with  the 
London  carriers  re  carriage  of  small  parcels  at  a  reduced  monthly 
rate  to  members  of  the  association,  and  it  is  hoped  the  issue 
will  be  satisfactory.  It  is  recorded  with  pleasure  the 

fact  that  the  Chairman  — Mr.  Wm.  Jones  —  was  unani¬ 
mously  elected  President  of  the  P.A.T.A. ,  having  headed  the 
poll  at  the  election  of  the  retail  section.  The  Committee  offer 
the  following  recommendations  to  the  members  of  the  Association  - 
—That  every  member  should  not  only  join  the  P.A.T.A.,. 
but  should  use  every  legitimate  effort  to  persuade  all  the  whole¬ 
sale  houses  he  dealt  with  to  join  also  ;  that  members  should  also- 
use  every  effort  to  induce  the  makers  of  proprietary  articles, 
especially  those  from  whom  they  bought  direct,  and  with  whom 
they  had  any  influence,  to  place  their  articles  on  the  protected  list  j 
that  members  should  protest  strongly  against  any  individual 
scheme  for  protecting  proprietary  articles,  past  efforts  in  that 
respect  showing  absolute  failure  and  annoyance,  besides  entailing 
unnecessary  work  and  trouble,  all  of  which  could  be  avoided  by 
placing  the  articles  on  the  protected  list,  at  the  same  time¬ 
strengthening  and  consolidating  their  efforts.  It  was  further 
suggested  that  at  the  annual  meeting  a  resolution  be  passed 
and  forwarded  to  all  the  firms  who  have  assisted  them  in  their 
work,  thanking  them  for  their  support  and  promising  them  hearty 
co-operation  in  the  future.  The  Committee  is  glad  to  report  that  the 
feeling  of  the  trade  in  Birmingham  and  district  is  entirely  with  it. 
in  its  efforts,  and  it  is  felt  that  the  Committee  can  confidently  rely 
upon  their  united  support.  It  was  suggested  that  members  should 
vote  solid  for  the  candidates  in  the  forthcoming  Pharmaceutical 
Council  election  who  were  in  sympathy  with  the  P.A.T.A.  Mr. 
F.  H.  Prosser  had  continued  in  _  the  position  of  Secretary  to  the 
Committee. 


Midland  Chemists’  Assistants’  Association,  W  ednes- 
day,  May  12. — Mr.  H.  S.  Lawson,  President,  in  the  chair. — The 
annual  meeting  of  the  Association  was  held  at  the  Exchange, 
Birmingham. — The  President,  in  opening  the  proceedings,  con¬ 
gratulated  the  members  on  the  work  they  had  done  during  the 
session.  They  had,  he  felt  sure,  done  an  amount  of  useful  and 
interesting  work  on  behalf  of  the  craft.  They  had  held  meetings 
at  which  scientific  subjects  had  been  discussed,  and  their  social 
meetings  had  been  also  a  great  success — Mr.  Bindloss  (Hon. 
Secretary)  then  presented  the 

Report  of  the  Committee, 

which  stated  that  during  the  session  thirteen  new  members  had 
been  enrolled,  and  the  membership  was  now  seventy-two 
ordinary,  twelve  honorary.  The  donors  had  increased  from 
one  to  nine.  Twenty-seven  meetings  had  been  held,  in¬ 
cluding  eight  social,  the  annual  ball  and  dinner.  Thir¬ 
teen  papers  had  been  read  on  subjects  of  great  interest  to- 
them,  and  at  one  of  the  meetings  a  resolution  was  passed  approving 
of  the  objects  of  the  P.A.T.A.  A  discussion  had  also  taken  place 
on  the  proposed  new  bye-laws. — On  the  motion  of  Mr.  Oasson, 
seconded  by  Mr.  Walton,  the  report  was  approved.— Mr. 
Shorthotjse  stated  that  the  balance  sheet  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
printers,  and  therefore  he  could  not  present  it  to  the  meeting. 
The  receipts,  however,  amounted  to  £26  4s.  2d. ,  and  there  was  a 
balance  in  favour  of  the  Association  of  £7  3s.  O^d. — The  Chairman 
remarked  that  it  was  eminently  satisfactory  to  have  a  balance, 
sheet  of  that  kind,  because  it  was  something  of  a  novelty  for  an 
association  of  chemists  to  have  a  balance  on  the  right  side.  All  he  had 
to  do  was  to  take  farewell  of  that  meeting  and  the  onerous  position, 
of  President  of  the  Association,  and  he  did  so  with  the  feeling  that 
his  efforts  during  the  session  had  not  been  altogether  what  he  had 
hoped  for.  As  they  knew,  the  lot  of  a  pharmacist  was  a  difficult 
one,  and  he  had  not  a  great  amount  of  time  to  give,  even  to  such 
objects  as  were  for  their  mutual  benefit.  However,  he  charged 
them  not  to  be  discouraged  by  any  shortcomings  in  the  President 
in  the  past,  but  to  go  boldly  forward  with  the  Association  and  its 
work.  He  had  no  doubt  their  work  through  the  session  had  had. 
its  weight  in  the  world  of  pharmacy.  They  had  held  meetings  an 
expressed  their  opinions  on  matters  pharmaceutical,  ant  ubon 
changes  that  were  proposed.  They  had  also  expressec^  the  opinion 


454 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


LMay  22,  1897 


that  the  hours  of  labour  which  existed  in  the  trade  were  not  such 
as  they  ought  to  be.  That  was  a  matter  clearly  within  their 
province  as  an  association,  and  they  must  work  more 
energetically  in  the  future  to  secure  shorter  hours. 
They  supported  the  Early  Closing  Bill  in  the  hope 
that  it  might  lead  to  more  reasonable  hours  of  labour. 
Another  point  he  desired  to  mention  was  the  Benevolent  Fund. 
Everyone  of  them  ought  to  support  that  Fund,  which  required  no 
special  pleading  for,  but  many  of  them,  from  indifference  or  other 
reasons,  forgot  to  give  it  their  support.  He  intended  to  become 
an  annual  subscriber,  and  he  hoped  many  of  his  fellow  members 
would  do  likewise.  With  regard  to  subscribing  to  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society,  that  was  a  matter  which  they  could  not  make 
compulsory  on  their  members,  but  he  thought  it  would  lend 
strength  to  their  Association  if  larger  numbers  subscribed  to  the 
.Society.  He  hoped  his  successor  in  that  chair  would  receive 
the  loyal  and  consistent  support  of  the  members. — Mr.  Osborne, 
in  moving  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  Chairman  and  6fficers, 
drew  attention  to  the  fact  that  Mr.  Bindloss  was  shortly  leaving 
Birmingham  to  take  up  a  position  at  Shrewsbury.  He  was 
sure  they  were  all  sorry  to  lose  Mr.  Bindloss,  for  he  had  been  the 
mainstay  of  the  Association,  and  they  wished  him  every  success 
where  he  was  going. — Mr.  Shorthouse  seconded  the  motion,  and 
cordially  endorsed  the  remarks  respecting  the  value  of  Mr. 
Bindloss’s  services  to  the  Association. — The  resolution  having  been 
carried,  Mr.  Bindloss  said  that  he  should  always  watch  the  doings 
of  the  Association  through  the  J ournal,  and  should  continue  his 
interest  in  its  welfare.  The  report  of  the  scrutineers  showed  that 
the  following  were  elected  on  the  Committee  — Messrs.  J.  W. 
Bland,  H.  Jessop,  H.  S.  Lawton,  F.  Casson,  Walton,  E.  Osborne, 
F.  Faulconbridge,  F.  C.  Clarke,  H.  Boucher,  F.  Foster,  W.  E. 
Meggison,  J.  Selby,  and  A.  G.  Trow. — A  vote  of  thanks  was 
passed  to  the  scrutineers,  and  the  meeting  terminated. 


Plymouth,  Devonport,  Stonehouse  and  District 
Chemists’  Association  (Junior  Section),  Thursday,  May  13. 
— Mr.  J.  A.  Buckley  in  the  chair. — A  well-attended  meeting  was 
held  at  the  New  Rooms,  Wimple  Street.  Among  those  present 
were  Messrs.  Shakerley,  Pratt,  Cantle,  E.  T.  Cocks,  H.  Vibert, 
Hellyer,  Body,  Trenear,  Waldon,  and  Reynolds. — Mr.  H.  C. 
Cantle  was  unanimously  elected  junior  delegate  in  place  of  Mr. 
E.  A.  Hodge. — A  long  discussion  took  place  on 

The  New  Bye-Laws. 

— Mr.  Shakerley,  in  supporting,  remarked  that  in  his  opinion  the 
new  bye-laws  were  very  desirable,  especially  so  in  the  case  of  the 
Preliminary  examination.  He  would  like  to  see  the  Preliminary 
so  extended  that  apprentices  would  be  compelled  to  pass  it  before 
leaving  school.  W ith  regard  to  the  Minor  fee,  he  considered  that 
by  means  of  the  raised  fee  the  Society  would  be  placed  in  a 
better  financial  position,  also  it  would  raise  the  status 
and  enable  chemists  to  have  a  pride  in  their  Society. — 
Mr.  Waldon  considered  that  it  was  hardly  fair  that  the  present 
unqualified  man  should  pay  for  the  registration  of  the  qualified 
men  who  did  not  belong  to  the  Society  at  the  present  time. — Mr. 
Cantle  said  that,  although  agreeing  with  the  new  bye-laws,  he 
considered  that  all  qualified  assistants  belonging  to  the  Society 
should  be  entitled  to  vote. — Mr.  Shakerly  proposed,  and  Mr. 
Pratt  seconded,  the  following  resolution  which  was  carried 
unanimously : — 

“  That  the  Plymouth,  Devonport,  Stonehouse  and  District  Chemists’  Associa¬ 
tion  (Junior  Section)  approves  of  the  new  by  e-laws,  but  is  of  opinion  that 
the  Minor  fee  should  not  be  altered  until  1900.” 

The  following  Committee  was  appointed  to  make  arrangements 
for  a  junior  outing  to  take  place  shortly  after  the  senior  outing  : — 
Messrs.  Reynolds,  Shakerley,  Cantle,  Cocks,  Waldon,  and  Buckley. 

Brighton  Association  of  Pharmacy,  Thursday,  May  13. 
— Mr.  W.  H.  Gibson,  President,  in  the  chair,  supported  by  the 
Hon.  Sec.,  Mr.  W.  W.  Savage. — A  meeting  of  this  Association 
was  held  at  the  Grand  Hotel,  to  discuss  the 

Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association. 

Mr.  Glyn-Jones  was  present  on  behalf  of  the  P.  A.  T.  A. — Mr.  Glyn- 
J ones  made  a  very  powerful  and  telling  speech,  setting  forth  the 
objects  and  advantages  of  the  Association,  and  he  urged  all 
those  present  who  were  not  members  to  join,  and  to  do  their 
utmost  to  make  the  movement  a  success ;  by  so  doing 
they  would  further  their  own  interests  and  those  of 


the  craft  in  general.  He  said  that  nearly  all  the  wholesale 
houses  were  members,  and  that  it  only  required  the  hearty 
co-operation  of  the  retail  trade  to  induce  the  manufacturers  and 
proprietors  to  place  their  articles  on  the  protected  list. — Mr.  H.  A. 
Costerton,  after  a  very  effective  speech,  moved  the  following 
resolution 

“  That  this  meeting  of  chemists  residing  in  Brighton  and  District  cordially 
approves  of  the  aims  and  objects  of  the  P.A.T.A.  It  pledges  itself  to  support 
the  Association  in  every  possible  way,  and  urges  upon  all  proprietors  the 
advisability  of  adding  their  preparations  to  the  protected  list.” 

Mr.  Padwick  seconded  the  motion,  and  suggested  that  com¬ 
mercial  travellers,  who  were  the  feelers  of  the  wholesale  trade, 
should  be  made  acquainted  with  the  wishes  and  views  of  the 
chemists  at  whose  places  they  call,  which  by  that  means  would  reach 
the  wholesale  houses. — Mr.  W.  W.  Savage  next  spoke,  and  as 
Secretary  of  the  Brighton  Association  of  Pharmacy  thanked  them 
all  very  cordially  for  having  turned  up  in  such  numbers. — 
Mr.  Martin,  of  Lewes,  also  spoke,  and  made  a  very  vigorous 
speech  in  support  of  the  motion. — Mr.  Lynch,  of  London, 
also  expressed  himself  thoroughly  in  sympathy  with  all  the  objects 
of  the  P.A.T.A. — Mr.  Aston,  Of  Worthing,  spoke  in  support 
of  the  motion,  but  wanted  to  know  how  it  was  that 
some  firms  were  still  obtaining  and  selling  goods  under  the  fixed 
prices.— Mr.  Glyn-Jones,  in  reply,  said  that  he  was  sorry  to  say 
there  were  some  chemists  who  sign  the  agreement  and  then 
hand  over  the  goods  to  these  cutters,  but  it  is  possible  to  trace  the 
source  and  stop  supplies.  He  approved  of  the  plan  suggested  by 
Mr.  Padwick  with  regard  to  commercial  travellers,  and  said  he 
would  be  glad  to  know  that  no  traveller  dared  come  into  the 
town  unless  he  represented  a  P.A.T.A.  wholesale  house. — The 
question  was  then  put  by  the  Chairman  to  the  meeting,  and  it  was 
carried  unanimously  with  loud  applause. — Mr.  Williamson  next 
proposed  a  resolution  : — 

“  That  the  Brighton  Association  of  Pharmacy  should  he  appointed  the  local 
Executive  of  the  P.A.T.A.” 

This  was  seconded  by  Mr.  C.  G.  Yates. — On  the  question  being 
put,  it  was  carried  nem.  con.  — Mr.  W.  W.  Savage  then  proposed — - 

“  That  thanks  be  offered  to  Mr.  Davenport  for  having  included  Dr.  Collis 
Browne’s  chlorodyne  in  the  list.” 

Mr.  J.  R.  Gwatkin  seconded  this  resolution,  which  was  also 
carried  unanimously. — Mr.  Glyn-Jones  next  proposed  that  the 
best  thanks  of  the  meeting  should  be  given  to  the  Chairman 
for  the  great  trouble  in  organising  the  meeting,  and  he  urged 
all  to  join  the  Brighton  Association  of  Pharmacy.— Mr.  Blacks 
seconded  the  proposal. — This  was  carried  unanimously  amid  loud 
cheers. — Mr.  Gibson  returned  thanks,  and  said  he  was  always 
pleased  to  do  anything  for  them,  but  the  credit  for  the  arrange¬ 
ments  of  the  meeting  was  due  to  the  Secretaries,  Messrs. 
W.  W.  Savage  and  C.  G.  Yates,  who  had  both  worked 
hard.  Mr.  W.  W.  Savage  proposed  a  hearty  vote  of 
thanks  to  Mr.  Glyn-Jones,  which  was  heartily  accorded, 
after  which  the  meeting  terminated. — At  the  close  of  the 
meeting  about  twenty  new  members  paid  their  subscriptions 
and  joined  the  ranks  of  the  P.A.T.A. — Mr.  Savage  announced 
that  the  annual  outing  of  the  Brighton  Association  of  Pharmacy 
will  take  place  in  the  third  week  in  J uly. 

School  of  Pharmacy  Students’  Association. — Friday, 
May  14. — Mr.  H.  E.  Matthews  in  the  chair. — A  paper  by  Mr. 
A.  Miles  entitled 

A  Few  Remarks  on  Electricity 
was  read  in  the  author’s  unavoidable  absence,  by  Mr.  W.  B. 
Nelson.  A  discussion  followed,  in  which  the  Chairman,  Messrs. 
Smith,  Morgan,  Happold,  Smorth waite  and  the  Secretary  joined. 


Pharmaceutical  Chemists’  and  Apothecaries’  Assis¬ 
tants’  Association  of  Ireland,  Tuesday,  May  11. — Mr. 

William  MacCarthy,  L.P.S.I.,  President,  in  the  chair. — The  first 
annual  supper  of  the  Association  took  place  in  the  Wicklow  Hotel. 
The  evening  was  an  exceedingly  pleasant  one ;  to  the  right 
of  the  Chairman  were  Mr.  W.  F.  Wells,  President  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Ireland,  Mr.  Beggs,  Treasurer  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Ireland,  Mr.  Patrick  Kelly,  M.C.P.S.I., 
and  Mr.  J.  Smith,  M.P.S.I.,  Examiner  to  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  of  Ireland.  To  the  left  of  the  Chairman  were  Mr.  Jameson 
Johnston,  M.B.,  B.Sc.,  visiting-surgeon,  Baggot  Street  Hospital ; 
Dr.  Walsh,  M.C.P.S.I.,  proprietor  of  Messrs.  J.  J.  Graham  and 
Co.’s  State  Pharmacy,  Dublin ;  Mr.  W.  U.  Smith,  L.P.S.I.,  and 


May  22,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


455 


Mr.  J.  C.  MacWalter,  L.P.S.I.  Amongst  those  present  were 
J.  Tyrie  Turner,  L.P.S.I.  (Hon.  Treasurer),  D.  O’Sullivan,  L.P.S.I. 
(Hon.  Secretary),  W.  Vincent  Johnston,  M.P.S.I.,W.  J,  Dunwoody, 
J.  Savage,  G.  G.  Fetherston,  L.P.S.I.,  W.  J.  Hardy,  L.P.S.I. 
(Vice-President),  J.  Farquhar,  Corcoran,  Dewar,  Lewis,  Taylor, 
Nagle,  L.P.S.I.,  etc. — The  menu  was  choice  and  the  wines 
excellent. — After  supper  the  Chairman  proposed  the  toast  of 

“  The  Queen,” 

and  referred  at  some  length  to  the  good  accomplished  during 
Her  Majesty’s  Reign.  As  Irish  pharmacists  they  were  proud  to 
meet  that  night  and  drink  the  health  of  the  greatest  ruler  in  the 
world.  The  next  toast  proposed  by  the  Chairman  was 

“The  Medical  Profession.” 

Reference  was  made  to  the  cordial  relations  which  exist  between 
the  doctors  and  chemists  in  Dublin,  and  a  tribute  of  praise  paid 
to  the  skill  and  ability  of  Irish  medical  men  in  general,  who 
distinguished  themselves  in  all  parts  of  the  globe. — Surgeon  John¬ 
ston  returned  thanks.  As  an  old  pharmacist,  prior  to  his  entering 
the  sister  profession,  he  had  had  many  opportunities  of  studying 
the  secret  of  the  existing  good-fellowship  between  the  followers  of 
pharmacy  and  medicine.  Happily  in  Dublin  there  was  an  almost 
total  absence  of  the  compounding  doctor  and  the  prescribing 
chemist.  The  medical  profession  owed  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society,  whose  licentiates  might  be  fairly  regarded 
as  the  hand-maidens  of  the  medical  faculty.  Like  charity,  they 
covered  a  multitude  of  sins,  and  doctors  had  often  good  reason  to 
be  grateful  for  the  help  afforded  to  them  by  the  pharmaceutical 
craft.  He  referred  to  the  rapid  growth  of  the  junior  association, 
and  was  glad  to  see  that  the  scientific  element  had  a  large  share 
of  the  syllabus  for  the  past  session.  Up  to  very  recently  too 
much  attention  had  been  paid  by  the  chemist  to  the  art  of  making 
money,  and  he  rejoiced  to  see  that  this  was  changing  in  favour  of 
a  higher  object,  namely,  the  elevation  of  pharmacy  into  an 
acknowledged  profession,  and  he  hoped  to  see  this  consummation 
at  no  distant  date. — Dr.  Walsh  also  spoke.  A  pharmacist  for 
some  years,  he  had  the  old  love  of  the  craft  strong  within  him,  and 
although  he  had  entered  the  portals  of  medicine,  he  felt  as  much 
of  a  pharmacist  as  ever.  He  paid  a  high  tribute  to  the  way  in 
which  the  pharmacists  of  Dublin  carried  out  the  work  entrusted 
to  them  by  the  physicians,  complimented  the  Association  on  its 
prosperous  condition,  and  felt  sure  that  the  social  meeting  that 
night  would  still  further  strengthen  the  existing  goodwill  between 
the  physician  and  the  pharmacist.  He  urged  the  junior  members 
to  study  the  scientific  side  of  therapeutics,  and  do  all  in  their 
power  to  make  themselves  worthy  of  the  trust  reposed  in  them  by 
the  doctors  and  the  public. — Mr.  W.  J.  Hardy,  L.P.S.I.  (Vice- 
President),  proposed  the  toast  of 

“The  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Ireland,” 

coupled  with  the  names  of  the  respected  President,  Mr.  W.  F. 
Wells  ;  the  Honorary  Treasurer,  Mr.  Beggs  ;  and  Councillor  Patrick 
Kelly.  The  Junior  Association  of  pharmacists  in  Dublin  owed  a 
lot  to  the  parent  Society,  and  they  would  indeed  be  wanting  in 
gratitude  if  they  failed  to  take  the  present  opportunity  of  thanking 
the  Council  for  so  generously  placing  the  Society’s  rooms  in  Lower 
Mount  Street  at  the  disposal  of  the  Association.  The  licentiates 
throughout  Ireland  could  have  no  more  worthy  representatives  on 
the  Council  than  the  gentlemen  whose  names  were  coupled  with 
the  toast.  Mr.  Wells  did  not  spare  himself  to  befriend  the  young 
men  in  the  pharmaceutical  profession,  and  it  was  largely  due  to 
his  and  his  fellow-Councillors’  personal  influence  that  the  licentiates 
of  the  Irish  Pharmaceutical  Society  occupied  their  present  position 
in  the  social  and  professional  world.  While  they  had  Mr.  Wells 
at  the  head  of  affairs  there  need  be  no  fear  for  the  future. — Mr. 
Wells,  whose  rising  was  the  signal  for  continued  applause,  thanked 
the  Association  most  heartily  for  the  very  kind  way  in  which  the 
toast  had  been  received.  He  felt  that  in  coming  to  the  enter¬ 
tainment  he  was  coming  amongst  sincere  friends.  The  interests 
of  the  Society  and  Association  were  identical.  The  Council 
had  always  the  desire  to  do  all  they  could  for  the 
benefit  of  the  licentiates.  The  Council  had  a  great  many 
things  to  contend  against  which  did  not  appear  on 
the  surface,  but  he  could  assure  them  that  everything  was  done 
for  the  good  of  all  classes  and  conditions  of  pharmacists.  Since 
the  Pharmaceutical  Society  was  formed  twenty-two  years  ago  it 
had  been  his  great  aim  and  object  to  raise  the  standard  of 
pharmacy,  and  he  flattered  himself  that  his  efforts  had  not  been 


unsuccessful.  When  the  Society  started,  pharmacy  was  at  a  very 
low  ebb,  indeed,  most  of  the  compounding  throughout  the  country 
was  done  by  apothecaries,  and  there  was  consequently  a  great 
want  of  qualified  chemists  to  meet  the  growing  demands  of  the 
public.  The  Pharmaceutical  Society,  as  they  were  probably 
aware,  had  its  birth  owing  to  the  refusal  of  the  Apothecaries’ 
Hall  to  recognise  pharmaceutical  requirements,  and  thanks  to  the 
energy  of  some  good  men  from  Belfast  and  others  the  Pharmacy 
Act  of  1875  soon  became  a  power  for  good.  He  was  not  ashamed 
of  the  work  done  during  the  past  two  decades.  During 
the  last  seven  or  eight  years  pharmacy  had  made  great 
strides.  Englishmen  and  Scotchmen  had  joined  their  ranks,  and 
the  number  was  steadily  increasing.  The  Society  wanted  all  the 
recruits  possible.  Some,  he  was  sorry  to  say,  had  entered  the 
profession  with  no  higher  object  in  view  than  to  make  the  most 
money  they  could  out  of  it.  The  true  pharmacist  should  aspire  to 
something  nobler  than  mere  money-getting.  It  was  necessary  for 
them  to  put  their  shoulder  to  the  pharmaceutical  wheel  and  give 
it  a  strong  push  along  the  road  of  progress.  He  hoped  that  the 
Association  would  hold  many  more  successful  meetings  in  the 
Society’s  House  in  Mount  Street,  and  looked  forward  to  many  a 
pleasant  and  instructive  evening  there.  His  sympathies,  and 
those  of  the  Council,  were  with  the  Association,  and  on  behalf  of 
his  absent  fellow-Councillors  he  thanked  the  Association  for  the 
very  kind  reception  given  to  him. — Mr.  Beg  os  also  returned 
thanks  in  felicitous  terms.  He  thought  that  if  there  was  a  little 
more  of  the  social  element  than  there  had  been  in  the  past,  it 
would  be  better  for  all.  He  considered  that  the  line  of  demarcation 
between  employers  and  their  assistants  had  hitherto  been  too  closely 
drawn.  He  re-echoed  the  President’s  good  wishes  for  the  success 
of  the  Association,  which  had  a  firm  friend  in  him.  Mr.  Beggs’ 
pledge  of  friendship  was  received  with  loud  applause. — Councillor 
Kelly,  in  the  course  of  a  speech  interspersed  with  pleasing  anec¬ 
dotes,  corroborated  the  two  last  speakers.  The  Association  was 
no  longer  the  little  boy  in  knickerbockers,  but  was  now  wearing 
the  long  trousers  of  maturity.  He  referred  in  humorous  terms  bo 
the  study  of  bacteriology  and  the  isolation  of  microbes.  At  present 
the  matrimonial  microbe  was  strongly  in  evidence  in  pharmacy,  and 
he  was  happy  to  say  that  not  all  the  scientific  meetings  held  by 
the  Association  could  eradicate  that  particular  germ.  The  toast  of 

“Our  Visitors” 

was  next  honoured. — Mr.  Wells  (President  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  of  Ireland)  proposed  the  toast  of  “  The  Association,  its  Presi¬ 
dent,  and  V ice-President.  ”  That  the  Association  studied  the  social  as 
well  as  the  scientific  side  of  pharmacy  was  evidenced  by  the  hospi¬ 
tality  shown  to  himself  and  his  colleagues  of  the  Council.  The 
Association  had  done  well  in  the  past,  but  it  should  do  better  in 
the  future.  No  man  was  worth  his  salt  if  he  did  not  improve  with 
age,  and  the  same  thing  applied  to  the  Association.  Upon  the 
President  and  Vice-President  depended  much.  If  there  were  not 
good  men  at  the  helm  the  ship  was  in  danger  of  going  ashore  ;  but 
however  good  they  might  be,  they  could  do  little  without  a  good 
crew. — The  Chairman  (Mr.  W.  McCarthy,  L.P.S.I.)  responded  to 
the  toast,  and  said  a  great  deal  of  the  success  of  the  Association 
was  due  to  the  kindness  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Council  and  the 
medical  profession.  He  hoped  that  the  next  session  would  eclipse 
all  others,  and  that  they  would  have  the  pleasure  of  welcoming 
the  Council  to  their  scientific  and  social  meetings  very  soon.  The 
policy  of  the  Association  was  broad  in  the  extreme. — Mr.  Hardy 
(Vice-President),  in  an  effective  speech,  traced  the  origin  and 
growth,  of  the  Association  up  to  the  present. — The  health  of  the 
Honorary  Secretary,  Mr.  David  O’Sullivan,  L.P.S.I.,  and  the 
Honorary  Treasurer,  Mr.  J.  Tyrie  Turner,  L.P.S.I.,  were  honoured. 
During  the  evening  songs,  duets,  and  recitations  were  contributed 
by  Dr.  Walsh,  Mr.  W.  F.  Wells,  Mr.  Taylor,  Mr.  Fetherston,  Mr.  * 
Farquhar,  Mr.  Dewar,  and  others.  Mr.  Lewis  presided  at  the 
piano  with  his  customary  ability.  The  company  separated  in 
good  time  to  the  refrain  of  “  Auld  Lang  Syne,”  and  the  echo  “  To 
our  next  Merry  Meeting.” 

Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association,  Thursday, 
May  13. — At  a  meeting  of  the  Liverpool  members  the  following 
local  secretaries  for  the  P.A.T.A.  were  appointed 

Local  Secretary  for  Liverpool 

T.  S.  Wokes,  Grassendale. 

Assistant  Local  Secretaries  : — 

Wm.  Gabites,  51,  Upper  Warwick  Street,  Liverpool. 

T.  Hamnett,  38,  South  Road,  Waterloo. 

Joshua  Hocken,  31,  Old  Hall  Street,  Liverpool. 


456 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  22,  1897 


Thos.  H.  Hudson,  111,  Prescot  Road,  Fairfield. 

W.  F.  Partridge,  97,  Admiral  Street,  Liverpool. 

J.  Smith,  164,  Aigburth  Road,  Toxteth  Park. 

R.  Stock  dale,  Blundell  Sands  Road,  W.,  Gt.  Crosby. 

Photographic  Section  : — - 
F.  Y.  A.  Lloyd,  5,  South  John  Street,  Liverpool. 

Important  steps  were  decided  upon,  relating  to  carrying  out  the 
details  of  the  P.A.T.A.  at  Liverpool.  Some  discussion  took  place 
with  regard  to  the  attitude  towards  the  movement  taken  up  by 
Messrs.  Evans,  Sons  and  Co.,  of  that  city,  and  the  following  reso¬ 
lution  was  unanimously  passed  : — 

“  That  this  meeting  of  the  Liverpool  members  of  the  P.A.T.A.,  recognising  the 
friendly  attitude  of  Messrs.  Evans,  Sons  and  Co.,  and  remembering  their 
communication  1  that  they  would  act  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  their 
retail  friends,’  desire  to  express  their  regret  that  Messrs.  Evans,  Sons  and  Co. 
have  not  yet  given  their  support  to  the  P.A.T.A.,  and  to  hope  that  they  will 
see  their  way  to  do  this.” 

Mr.  R.  C.  Cowley  was  heartily  thanked  for  his  kindness  in 
allowing  the  meeting  to  take  place  at  the  Liverpool  School  of 
Pharmacy. 


IVIEETIJ1GS  Of  SCIEfJTIfIG  SOCIETIES 

- ♦ - 

Royal  Institution,  Thursday,  May  13. — The  last  of  the 
course  of  lectures  on — 

Liquid  Air  as  an  Agent  of  Research, 

was  delivered  by  Professor  Dewar,  who  commenced  the  lecture  by 
dealing  with  the  limiting  volume  of  substances  at  the  zero  of 
absolute  temperature.  It  wras  impossible,  he  said,  to  believe  that 
matter  at  that  temperature  would  have  no  mass,  and  the  extension 
by  extrapolation  of  the  curves  expressing  variations  of  density  at 
attainable  temperatures  might  give  entirely  wrong  results,  because 
at  low  temperatures  many  properties  of  bodies  dropped,  as  it  were, 
over  a  precipice.  Professor  Dewar  then  illustrated  by  experiments 
the  changes  produced  in  the  elastic  constants  of  various  substances 
by  intense  cold,  and  proceeded  to  discuss  chemical  action  at  low  tem¬ 
peratures.  All  ordinary  reactions  entirely  ceased,  chiefly  because 
everything  became  solid — a  stateof  matter  not  favourable  to  chemical 
action.  Photographic  action,  however,  persisted  to  a  certain  extent, 
particularly  if  gelatin  plates  were  used.  That  might  probably  be 
explained  as  indirectly  due  to  the  property  possessed  by  organic 
bodies,  especially  the  more  complex  ones,  of  phosphorescing  at 
low  temperatures.  The  lecturer  also  showed  how  cold  increases 
the  magnetic  moment  of  a  permanent  magnet  by  as  much  as  20  or 
30  per  cent.,  and  by  a  number  of  experiments  illustrated  the  mag¬ 
netic  properties  of  liquid  air  itself.  He  then  referred  to  the  effects 
of  extreme  cold  upon  living  organisms.  In  the  case  of  ordinary 
putrescent  matter  it  was  found  that  the  spores  were  not  killed  by 
being  subjected  to  the  temperature  of  liquid  air,  and  experiments 
were  now  being  carried  out  to  discover  whether  seeds  exposed  to 
liquid  air  for  at  least  one  hundred  hours  still  retained  the  power  of 
germination. 

Linnean  Society  of  London,  Thursday,  May  6. — Dr.  A. 

Gunther,  F.R.S.,  President,  in  the  chair. — Professor  Ludwig 
Radlkofer,  of  Munich,  was  elected  a  Foreign  Member. — In  view  of 
the  approaching  anniversary  meeting,  Mr.  Osbert  Salvin  and 
Professor  Farmer  were  elected  Auditors  on  behalf  of  the  Council, 
and  Messrs.  E.  M.  Holmes  and  H.  Druce  on  behalf  of  the 
Fellows. — Professor  Stewart,  F.R.S.,  then  exhibited  and  made 
remarks  on  some  anatomical  preparations  showing  the  different 
modes  of 

Attachment  of  the  Ligamentum  nucha:, 

in  herbivorous  and  carnivorous  mammals,  as  exemplified  in  the 
sheep  and  dog,  and  of  the  Ligamenta  subflava.  The  analogous 
ligaments  of  birds  were  dealt  with,  and  special  attention  was  drawn 
to  a  preparation  of  the  vertebral  column  of  the  python,  showing 
vertebra-costal  fibro-cartilaginous  plates  of  which  he  could  find  no 
description,  and  which  he  believed  to  be  peculiar  to  the  Ophidia. — 
The  Secretary  read  the  abstract  of  a  paper  by  Messrs.  W.  and 
G.  S.  West 

On  Desmids  from  Singapore. 

These  had  been  discovered  in  a  small  collection  of  algae  forwarded 
by  Mr.  H.  N.  Ridley,  F.L.S.,  from  Singapore,  and,  in  addition  to  | 


seven  species  previously  known  from  Sumatra,  contained  several 
which  were  new,  and  now  described  and  figured. — Professor 
Newton,  F.R.S.,  communicated  a  paper  by  Captain  F.  W. 
Hutton,  Curator  of  the  Canterbury  Museum,  Christchurch,  N.Z., 
entitled — • 

The  Problem  of  Utility, 

in  which  the  views  of  Dr.  A.  R.  Wallace  on  “  The  Utility  of 
Specific  Characters”  ( Journ .  Linn.  Soc.,  Zool.,  xxv.,  pp.  481-496) 
were  criticised,  chiefly  as  tested  by  the  study  of  the  fruit-pigeons 
( Ptilopus ). — The  Secretary  gave  an  account  of  a  paper  by  the 
Rev.  R.  Boog  Watson,  LL.D.,  “  On  some  new  species  of  Mollusca 
from  the  Island  of  Madeira,”  prefacing  his  remarks  with  a  brief 
resume  of  the  researches  previously  made  in  the  same  direction  by 
Messrs.  Lowe,  Wollaston,  and  other  conchologists. 


Royal  Society,  Wednesday,  May  19. — A  conversazione  was 
given  by  the  Royal  Society,  when  the  visitors  present  were  enter¬ 
tained  by  a  display  of  many  scientific  objects  of  recent  interest. 
Almost  every  branch  of  science  was  represented,  theoretical  sub¬ 
jects  and  practical  apparatus  both  being  plentiful.  Probably  no 
discovery  will  excite  more  popular  interest  than  photography  in 
colours.  The  most  striking  results  hitherto  obtained  in  this  direc¬ 
tion  have  been  made  by  the  Dansac-Chassagne  process.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  this  method  involves  the  treatment  of  the 
ordinary  silver  print  successively  with  blue,  green,  and  red 
colouring  materials,  in  such  a  way  that  the  colours 
automatically  unite  to  form  the  proper  tints  in  their 
correct  position  on  the  picture.  A  number  of  colour  photo¬ 
graphs,  both  landscape  and  portrait,  taken  by  this  process  were 
shown  by  Sir  H.  Trueman  Wood.  The  successive  stages  in  the 
development  of  the  photos  were  well  illustrated.  A  photo  contain¬ 
ing  a  bouquet  of  flowers  reproduced  their  natural  colours  very 
beautifully.  The  exhibit  of  physical  apparatus  was  extensive. 
J.  Wimhurst  exhibited  an  electric  influence  machine  having 
twenty-four  discs,  each  three  feet  in  diameter.  It  is  arranged  to 
give  three  poles,  one  being  positive,  while  the  other  two  are 
negative,  or  vice  versd.  Thus  the  streams  of  discharge 
can  be  used  simultaneously.  This  machine  is  capable  of 
giving  a  very  high  potential  ;  a  spark  passes  between  the 
terminals  thirty-four  inches  apart,  while  if  discharged  over 
metal-faced  paper  the  spark  reaches  a  length  of  twelve  feet.  Sir 
A.  Noble  had  an  apparatus  for  comparing  the  value  of  explosives. 
It  registers  in  the  form  of  a  curve  the  pressure  generated  by 
explosion  and  the  rate  at  which  the  pressure  decreases  by  cooling. 
A  pretty  experiment  by  J.  W.  Swan  showed  graphically  the  stress 
produced  by  convective  electric  discharge.  When  a  viscous  mix¬ 
ture  of  resin  and  oil  is  interposed  between  the  terminals,  the 
surface  of  the  fluid  is  thrown  into  a  series  of  ridges  and  depressions. 
If  a  plate  of  solid  resin  be  interposed  for  a  time,  the  same  effects 
are  developed  by  subsequent  warming  to  soften.  The  walls  of  the 
room  were  hung  with  diagrams  showing  the  results  of  the 
Rothamsted  experiments  in  agriculture.  The  bones  of  the  exti  net 
Naquada  race  recently  discovered  in  Egypt  were  shown  and  their 
features  pointed  out.  A  series  of  astronomical  spectra  was 
exhibited  by  J.  Norman  Lockyer,  illustrating  the  importance  of 
particular  lines  in  the  hottest  stars.  Many  lines  previously 
classed  as  unknown  are  shown  to  be  enhanced  lines  of  known 
elements. 


Test  for  Nitrites  in  Water. — The  following  substitute 
for  the  metaphenylene-diamine  reaction  for  nitrites  in  drinking 
waters  is  advocated  by  Barbet  and  Jandrier.  Two  cubic 
centimetres  of  the  water  are  taken,  and  10  centigrammes 
of  resorcin  dissolved  therein.  To  the  solution  1  C.c.  of  pure  sul¬ 
phuric  acid  is  cautiously  added,  being  allowed  to  trickle  down  the 
side  of  the  tube  so  as  to  avoid  an  immediate  mixture.  The  tube  is 
gently  agitated  so  as  not  to  unduly  raise  the  temperature.  After 
the  lapse  of  an  hour  the  rose  colour  developed,  if  nitrites  are 
present,  is  matched  with  that  produced  by  a  solution  of  a  nitrite  of 
known  strength.  Water  containing  one-tenth  part  per  million  of 
sodium  nitrite  gives  a  very  characteristic  tint  in  a  few  hours.  In 
place  of  the  standard  nitrite  solution  a  colorimetric  scale  may  be 
made  by  means  of  dilutions  of  solutions  of  cobalt  chloride  in  water. 
— Journ.  de  Pharm.  [6],  iv.,  249. 


May  22,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


45  7 


LEGAL  INTELLIGENCE. 


PROCEEDINGS  UNDER  THE  PHARMACY  ACTS. 


Cases  at  Glasgow. 

Two  cases  came  before  Sheriff  Fyfe  at  the  Sheriff  Court  House, 
Glasgow,  on  Monday,  May  17,  at  the  instance  of  Mr.  Richard 
Bremridge,  Registrar  under  the  Pharmacy  Acts,  1852  and  1868. 

Mr.  Barrie,  writer,  Glasgow,  instructed  by  Mr.  P.  Morison, 
S.S.C.,  Edinburgh,  appeared  for  the  prosecutor,  and  Mr.  Gemmel, 
writer,  Glasgow,  appeared  for  the  defenders. 

The  first  case  was  against  Minnie  Peatt,  assistant  to  Dr.  Mac¬ 
donald,  282,  Cumberland  Street,  Glasgow,  who  was  charged  with 
selling  laudanum  on  November  21,  1896,  to  an  agent  of  the 
Registrar. 

Defender  pleaded  not  guilty,  and  by  request  of  the  Sheriff,  Mr. 
Gemmel  conducted  the  defence. 

Mr.  Rutherford  Hill  proved  that  defender  was  not  registered, 
and  that  the  article  sold  was  laudanum.  There  had  been  great 
difficulty  in  getting  the  name  of  accused,  which  she  persistently 
refused  to  give.  The  name  of  Minnie  Beattie  had  been  got  and  a 
complaint  served  on  the  defender  in  that  name,  but  it  was  with¬ 
drawn  when  the  correct  name  was  got. 

The  witnesses  Spence  and  Tait  proved  the  purchase  of  the 
laudanum  from  accused,  who  was  alone  in  the  shop. 

Eor  the  defence,  accused  said  in  reply  to  the  Sheriff  that  she  was 
an  assistant  in  the  shop,  which  belonged  to  Dr.  Macdonald.  She 
had  no  recollection  of  selling  laudanum  to  Spence,  but  she  remem¬ 
bered  selling  him  a  seidlitz  powder.  She  could  not  say  whether 
the  doctor  was  in.  She  was  the  only  assistant  in  the  shop. 

Examined  by  Mr.  Barrie,  she  said  the  doctor  had  no  particular 
consulting  hours.  She  did  not  know  why  the  address,  10,  Adelphi 
Street,  was  on  the  label.  Dr.  Macdonald  had  no  shop  there. 
These  were  the  labels  used  at  282,  Cumberland  Street.  She  had 
been  two  years  in  the  shop.  She  thought  Dr.  Macdonald  would 
be  there  on  November  21  at  7.30  p.m.  She  took  the  complaint 
against  Minnie  Beattie  from  the  Sheriff’s  officer,  and  she  asked  him 
to  take  it  away,  but  he  would  not  do  so.  She  did  not  say  to  the 
officer  that  her  name  was  Beattie.  She  refused  to  give  her  name 
to  Spence.  He  did  not  say  what  he  wanted  it  for. 

The  Sheriff :  Then  I  think  you  were  quite  right  to  refuse. 

Witness:  When  she  came  out  of  the  shop  at  night  Spence  was 
outside  and  followed  her  home,  and  she  was  afraid  to  pass  through 
the  Green. 

Mr.  Spence,  recalled  by  the  Sheriff,  said  the  accused  several  times 
refused  to  give  her  name.  He  was  instructed  to  find  out  where 
she  lived,  and  as  no  one  could  give  him  the  information  he  took 
that  plan. 

The  Sheriff :  Did  you  think  that  right  ? 

Mr.  Spence  :  I  was  instructed  to  do  so.  I  told  her  I  would  say 
why  I  wanted  her  name  if  she  would  give  it  to  me. 

Mr.  Gemmel  said  it  was  high  time  the  Courts  should  mark  its 
disapprobation  of  the  manner  in  which  the  Society  conducted 
these  cases  and  the  means  they  adopted  for  getting  information. 
He  submitted  that  in  this  case  only  a  nominal  penalty  should 
be  imposed  and  without  expenses. 

Mr.  Barrie  said  there  was  no  reason  why  in  this  case  the  same 
penalty  should  not  be  imposed  as  had  been  imposed  in  previous 
cases  of  a  similar  kind.  This  person  had  refused  to  give  a  name, 
and  her  mother  had  also  refused  it,  and  she  told  the  Sheriff’s 
officer  her  name  was  Beattie,  but  not  Minnie  Beattie.  It  might 
be  the  Society  could  adopt  some  other  means  to  get  names,  but  it 
had  to  be  remembered  that  the  agents  of  the  Registrar  were  in  a 
very  different  position  to  the  inspectors  under  the  Sanitary  Acts, 
where  they  could  demand  a  sale.  They  had  no  power  either  to 
compel  offenders  to  give  their  names.  They  were  also  precluded 
from  saying  they  had  come  from  the  Society,  because  it  had  been 
found  that  these  parties,  who  knew  quite  well  they  were  breaking 
the  law,  telephoned  to  all  the  shops  in  the  neighbourhood  if  they 
found  out  that -the  Society’s  officers  were  in  the  district.  The 
inquiry  which  the  Society  had  to  conduct  was  thereby  frustrated. 

The  Sheriff  said  it  might  be  quite  true  that  the  Society  had  to 
get  the  evidence  in  these  cases  without  the  seller  knowing  any¬ 
thing  about  it.  But  there  did  not  seem  any  reason  why  when  the 
purchase  had  been  made  they  should  not  there  and  then  tell  the 
purpose  for  which  it  had  been  purchased.  The  offenders  would 
not  then  have  the  difficulty  they  had  of  trying  to  remember  what 
happened  at  such  a  distance  of  time.  It  might  be  that  these 


inspectors  had  not  the  same  powers  as  under  other  Acts,  but 
he  thought  there  should  be  no  difficulty  in  getting  such  powers, 
and  he  was  surprised  that  a  powerful  society  like  this  did  not 
apply  itself  to  the  getting  of  some  remedial  legislation  which 
would  bring  their  procedure  more  into  accordance  with  fair-play. 
In  this  particular  case  he  must  express  his  strong  sense  of  dis¬ 
approbation  of  the  mode  employed  by  the  inspector  in  getting  this 
girl’s  name.  If  he  had  asked  it  at  the  time,  and  told  that  he 
wanted  it  because  there  was  to  be  a  prosecution  and  got  a  refusal 
it  would  have  been  very  different.  But  to  ask  it  without  any 
reason,  and  after  a  lapse  of  time,  and  to  pester  her  in  such  a  way 
did  not  reflect  credit  on  an  officer  of  the  Society,  and  in  his  view 
any  young  lady  was  justified,  and  her  mother  also,  in  refusing  the 
name  to  a  stranger.  Such  inquiries  must  be  conducted  on  fair 
lines.  Though  he  must  find  that  technically  an  offence  had  been 
committed,  he  would  mark  his  disapprobation  of  the  methods 
adopted  to  get  information  by  imposing  a  nominal  penalty  of  half- 
a-crown,  and  he  would  allow  no  costs. 


The  next  case  was  against  Alexander  Wilson  Hendry,  assistant 
to  Dr.  Dunning,  383,  Cumberland  Street,  Glasgow,  who  was 
charged  with  selling  laudanum  and  Powell’s  balsam  of  aniseed  to 
two  agents  of  the  Registrar  on  November  21,  1896. 

Defender  pleaded  guilty. 

Mr.  Gemmel  said  defender  had  no  recollection  whatever  of  what 
happened  on  the  date  mentioned.  He  drew  attention  to  the 
case  dismissed  by  Judge  French  on  the  ground  that  one  month 
had  elapsed  between  the  offence  and  the  raising  of  the  case,  and 
said  that  in  the  present  case  there  was  an  interval  of  five  months. 
This  was  a  case  quite  of  the  same  kind  as  the  one  just  disposed  of. 

The  Sheriff :  No,  I  think  this  is  the  exact  converse  of  the  case 
I  have  j  ust  heard. 

Mr.  Barrie  said  this  was  another  of  Dr.  Dunning’s  assistants. 
The  other  assistant  was  convicted  on  last  Court  day,  and  his  Lord- 
ship  would  remember  how  in  that  case  it  was  shown  that  the 
respondent  refused  to  disclose  his  real  name.  He  had  told 
Mr.  Gemmel  that  the  prosecutor  would  drop  the  original 
complaint  and  bring  a  fresh  one  if  he  would  give  his  real 
name,  but  it  was  refused.  It  was  earnestly  to  be  hoped  that  these 
unqualified  assistants  would  particularly  note  what  had  been  said 
as  to  furnishing  their  names  on  demand  to  the  agent  of  the 
Registrar.  Hitherto  the  Society  had  been  met  by  nothing  but  ob¬ 
struction  in  trying  to  get  these  names.  He  thought  this  was  not  a 
case  in  which  any  mitigation  of  penalty  should  be  made. 

The  Sheriff  said  he  had  a  distinct  recollection  of  what  trans¬ 
pired  on  last  Court  day,  and  he  was  then  convinced  that  the 
defender  had  treated  the  prosecutor  with  a  great  want  of  frank¬ 
ness.  There  could  be  no  doubt  that  defender  knew  quite  well  that 
the  officers  wanted  the  information  for  the  Registrar,  and  he  ought 
to  have  been  quite  frank.  He  did  not  think  it  was  quite  fair  to 
endeavour  to  trap  parties  into  the  commission  of  offences  ;  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  these  young  men  must  be  perfectly  fair  and  frank. 
Theymust  know  that  theseproceedings  were  in  the  public  interest,  so 
that  persons  who  required  drugs  should  be  protected  against  harm 
and  loss.  He  could  not  take  it  from  any  assistant  that  he  was  not 
quite  well  aware  that  he  could  not  legally  act  in  this  way.  These 
cases  were  rightly  taken  in  the  public  interest,  and  he  could  not 
take  the  view  that  there  was  any  mitigating  circumstance  in  this 
case,  except  the  usual  one  in  these  cases — namely,  that  while  the 
defender  was  the  hand  by  which  the  sale  was  made,  and  therefore 
liable,  he  was  only  the  doctor’s  assistant,  and  the  doctor  was  far 
more  the  offender  than  he  was.  He  would  for  that  reason  impose 
the  usual  modified  penalty  of  5s.  for  each  offence  and  £2  of  costs. 


Sodium  Bicarbonate  as  a  Dressing. — In  the  Sem.  MM., 
March  3,  Georgevsky  states  that  a  compress  saturated  with  a 
solution  of  chemically-pure  bicarbonate  of  sodium,  and  covered 
with  some  impermeable  material,  will  dry  up  purulent  secretion 
and  cut  short  phlegmonous  inflammation.  Results  are  obtained 
by  this  method  far  more  rapidly  than  any  other  means.  After 
penetrating  the  epidermis,  the  integument  should  be  softened  by 
applying  compresses  of  tarlatan  soaked  in  a  2  per  cent,  solution  of 
bicarbonate  of  sodium.  In  several  cases  under  Georgevsky’s 
notice  this  treatment  effected  a  rapid  cure  without  the  necessity 
for  using  drainage.  Whenever  iodoform  was  substituted  for  bicar¬ 
bonate  of  sodium,  suppuration  began  anew,  ceasing  again  when  the 
bicarbonate  was  reapplied. — Brit.  Med.  Joum.,  Epit.,  i.,  1/97/51. 


458 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  22  1897 


LEGAL  HINTS  FOR  PHARMACISTS. 


Medicine  Stamp  Acts. 

(Continued  from  page  354.) 

Proprietary  Right.— The  words  of  the  Statute  establishing 
the  charge  under  this  heading  are  “  hath'^r  claims  to  have  any 
exclusive  right  in  or  title  to  the  making  or  the  preparing  of  the 
same,”  the  concluding  word  having  reference,  of  course,  to  the 
articles  mentioned  in  the  Schedule  to  52  Geo.  III.,  cap.  150,  and  to 
the  statutory  expansion  of  that  Schedule  effected  by  the  clause 
“all  other  pills,  powders,  lozenges,  tinctures,  potions,  cordials, 
electuaries,  plaisters,  unguents,  salves,  ointments,  drops,  lotions, 
oils,  spirits,  medicated  herbs  and  waters,”  etc.,  intended  for  use  as 
medicines  or  medicaments  for  human  beings.  If  one  spoke 
unreservedly  it  might  be  asserted  that  no  registered  chemist 
who  confined  himself  to  the  legitimate  practice  of  pharmacy  need 
be  hit  under  this  Section  of  the  Act.  Perhaps,  however 
“  legitimate  pharmacy,”  like  the  “  legitimate  drama,”  may  be  provo¬ 
cative  of  considerable  dissension,  but,  seeing  that  pharmacy  has  so 
often  been  referred  to  as  the  handmaiden  of  medicine,  the  use  of 
the  qualifying  word  in  connection  therewith  ought  not  to 
be  open  to  very  much  ambiguity.  The  proprietorship  to 
which  chemists  have  the  highest  claim  is  that  of 
competent  technical  skill  and  scientific  knowledge  in  pre¬ 
paring,  compounding,  and  dispensing  the  medicines  prescribed  by 
medical  practitioners,  and  the  remedies  mentioned  in  the  national 
Pharmacopoeia.  That  right  may  be  made  known  to  the  public,  if 
one  possesses  the  title,  without  involving  any  liability  to  a  duty 
which  was  chiefly  intended  to  fall  upon  quacks  and  their  nostrums. 

Happily  or  unhappily,  according  to  the  view  one  chooses  to 
take,  there  are  inherent  commercial  instincts  in  the  heart  of  man 
— even  in  the  heart  of  the  professional  man  ;  and  Smith  the 
chemist,  regarding  the  success  of  Brown  the  grocer  in  selling 
“  Brown’s  celebrated  Hygienic  Hyson,”  feels  impelled  to  invite 
the  public  to  accord  a  similar  patronage  to  “  Smith’s  World-famed 
Indigestion  Cure.”  And  Smith  becomes  from  that  hour  an  object 
of  solicitude  to  the  Revenue  authorities.  Whether  he  at  the  same 
time  lowers  the  dignity  of  his  calling  it  is  not  our  business  to 
discuss  just  now. 

The  outward  and  visible  sign  of  a  claim  to  have  a  proprietary  right 
in  a  medicine  is  the  use,  by  way  of  prefix,  of  a  proper  name  in  the  pos¬ 
sessive  case.  That  is  an  obvious  and  natural  way  of  conveying  the 
idea  of  ownership,  and,  as  Alpe  in  his  valuable  ‘Handy  Book’  has 
pointed  out,  it  is  the  view  which  has  frequently  been  acted  upon  in 
the  Courts.  There  are  some  notable  exceptions  in  which  the  use  of 
the  possessive  case  involves  no  claim  to  proprietorship  in  the 
medicine,  but  we  propose  to  deal  with  these  later  on  when  discus¬ 
sing  the  exemptions  authorised  by  statute  or  allowed  in  practice. 
The  claim  to  exclusive  right  in  any  preparation  may  be  true  or 
false  without  in  any  wise  affecting  the  liability  to  duty.  “  Mrs. 
Harris’  Cordial  ”  would  be  liable,  though  Mrs.  Harris  may  never 
have  had  corporeal  existence.  The  vendor  is  frequently  not  the 
proprietor  of  a  medicine  in  the  truly  legal  sense  of  the  word,  but 
the  Stamp  Act  does  not  trouble  about  such  nice  distinctions,  and 
if  A  acquires  B’s  business  and  uses  B’s  name  in  a  proprietary  con¬ 
nection,  A  must  take  out  a  licence  and  stamp  the  dutiable  articles. 
It  may  also  be  mentioned  at  this  point  that  any  preparation  which 
has  been  sold  as  a  stamped  medicine  cannot  afterwards  be  removed 
from  liability  to  duty.  That  is  to  say,  if  A  on  coming  into  B’s 
business  thought  it  desirable  to  sell  certain  preparations  which 
B  had  sold  as  stamped  medicines,  A  could  not  claim  exemption 
from  duty,  though  he  personally  might  use  innocent  labels  and  do 
none  of  the  acts  specified  in  the  Statute  as  bringing  a  preparation 
into  the  net  of  chargeability.  Naturally  it  might  be  difficult  for 
the  authorities  to  detect  evasions  arising  in  circumstances 
similar  to  the  above  supposititious  change  of  business  pro¬ 
prietors,  more  especially  if  B’s  specifics  had  not  attained  any 
marked  reputation,  but  it  must  always  be  remembered  that  the 
burden  of  proving  that  any  particular  article  is  not  chargeable 
with  duty  rests  upon  the  defendant — a  somewhat  uncomfortable 
burden  at  times. 

Again,  there  are  more  ways  than  one  of  urging  proprietary  right, 
whether  real  or  assumed.  The  label  may  bear  the  words  “  Made 
only  by  X,”  or  “None  other  genuine,”  or  “Observe  the  trade  mark,” 
in, which  cases  the  proper  name  of  the  vendor  or  maker  might  be 
in  any  declension  without  altering  the  chargeability  of  the  article.  This 


may  be  called  the  “  claim  indirect,”  in  contradistinction  to  the  clai  n 
direct,  conveyed  by  the  use  of  the  possessive  case.  The  claims 
may,  however,  be  more  indirect  still.  The  labi  1  may  in  itself  be 
non-liable,  but  the  energetic  vendor  may  exhibit  in  his  shop  window 
a  notice  calling  attention  to  his  (in  the  possessive)  blood  mixture, 
and  that  notice  will  be  sufficient  to  render  liable  all  the  blood 
mixtures  in  his  shop.  Cases  might  be  quoted  to  sustain  this 
assertion,  but  it  may  be  sufficient  to  simply  impress  the  moral  that 
non-liable  labels  do  not  necessarily  imply  that  the  articles  they  cover 
are  also  free  from  liability.  In  the  absence  of  a  window  notice,  a 
price-list  or  catalogue,  or  even  an  advertisement  in  a  newspaper, 
may  often  bring  about  the  same  unsuspected  and  undesired 
liability  ;  and  it  will  be  no  defence  to  say  that  the  statements 
made  to  the  public  are  untrue,  or  that  the  blood  mixture  is 
nothing  more  than  a  simple  mixture,  the  composition  of  which  was 
probably  public  property  centuries  back.  For  the  purposes  of 
Inland  Revenue,  Somerset  House  places  a  childlike  faith  in 
your  public  announcements,  and  acts  accordingly.  Such  ex¬ 
pressions  as  “J.  S.  desires  to  call  attention  to  the  following  list  of 
valuable- remedies  specially  prepared  by  him  ”  should  therefore  be 
avoided  in  price-lists,  almanacs,  and  similar  trade  stimulants.  It  may 
be  noted  that  no  liability  actually  ensues  from  verbal  statements 
made  by  a  medicine  vendor  in  respect  of  a  medicine  he  sells.  That  is 
to  say,  anon-dutiable  article  does  not  become  chargeable  by  reason  of 
the  vendor  saying  to  the  purchaser,  “You  cannot  get  that  any¬ 
where  else  in  this  country,  I  make  it  according  to  a  special 
formula  of  my  own.”  Strictly  speaking  of  course  the  claim  is 
there,  but  it  would  be  extremely  risky  to  make  oral  statements 
such  as  pass  between  vendor  and  customer  the  ground  for 
prosecution. 


THE  PHARMACIST  AS  A  PHOTOGRAPHIC  DEALER. 


BY  A  PHARMACIST  AND  PHOTOGRAPHER. 


In  the  early  days  of  photography,  the  amateur  photographer 
was  by  no  means  so  common  as  at  the  present  time,  and  the  call 
for  photographic  dealers  but  small.  With  the  introduction  of 
gelatin  dry  plates,  however,  photography  at  once  took  a  leading 
position  as  a  hobby,  and  when  the  professional  photographer  had 
the  chance  to  take  up  the  position  of  dealer  and  the  friend  of 
amateurs,  the  class  to  which  he  belonged  looked  upon  the  man  who 
followed  their  craft  as  a  hobby  as  their  natural  enemy,  the  man  who 
was  to  take  away  their  bread  and  butter  by  working  for  nothing,  or 
at  practically  prime  cost.  This  then  was  the  chance  for  the 
pharmacist  to  take  up  the  neglected  role ,  and  some  availed  them¬ 
selves  of  it.  With  the  passing  of  the  years  the  number  of  amateurs 
has  not  decreased,  in  fact  one  would  not  be  far  wrong  in  saying 
that  they  have  considerably  increased  in  numbers,  and  to  supply 
their  wants  is  an  adjunct  to  the  ordinary  business  of  pharmacy 
which  will  be  found  to  pay  better  than  selling  “patents”  at  cut  rates. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  cutting  is  unknown  in 
the  photographic  world,  many  large  dealers  cutting  the  prices  of 
well-known  articles  such  as  pyrogallic  acid,  doubtless  in  the  hopes 
of  securing  customers  for  the  more  paying  and  more  expensive 
goods.  The  cutting  of  plates  and  sensitive  papers  has,  however, 
been  stopped  to  some  extent  by  the  formation  of  an  association, 
which  has  been  joined  by  practically  all  the  leading  plate  and 
paper  makers,  with  the  result  that  the  dealer  now  gets  his  full 
discount  and  full  profit,  or  if  he  tries  to  cut,  cannot  obtain  the 
goods.  '% 

Photography  being  a  pastime  founded  principally  on  the  art  of 
chemistry,  it  seems  Dut  fitting  that  the  pharmacist  should  cater 
for  the  wants  of  its  devotees.  It  is  not  actually  essential  that  the 
dealer  should  himself  be  a  photographer,  though  this  undoubtedly 
gives  him  an  advantage  in  that  he  can  assist  chance  customers  by 
advice,  and  thus  gain  firm  hold  of  them.  Though  it  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  the  amateur  photographer,  particularly  the 
beginner,  is  an  insatiable  animal,  who  seems  capable  of  absorbing 
any  amount  of  advice  gratis  without  spending  much  money,  but  it 
is  unnecessary  to  give  any  advice  upon  this  point,  for  the  bore 
may  always  be  got  rid  of. 

The  necessary  outlay  of  capital  when  setting  up  as  a  photo¬ 
graphic  dealer  need  not  be  heavy,  as  the  stock  may  be  increased 
from  time  to  time  and  added  to  as  the  requirements  are  found  out. 


May  22,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


459 


As  regards  cameras,  the  humble  quarter- plate  or  very  popular  half- 
plate  will  be  found  the  sizes  most  in  demand,  and  whilst  many 
camera  manufacturers  advertise  largely  in  the  photographic  press, 
and  thus  create  a  demand  for  their  wares,  it  is,  we  think,  preferable 
to  obtain  a  particular  make  of  camera  by  a  less-known  maker  and 
push  it  as  one’s  own.  In  such  a  case  it  is  as  well  to  know  all  the 
weak  points  of  the  well-advertised  cameras  and  the  strong  ones  of 
your  own,  so  that  a  comparison  in  the  favour  of  the  latter  may  be 
drawn. 

With  regard  to  lenses,  it  may  be  assumed  that  as  a  rule  the  more 
intelligent  amateur  and  the  more  advanced  worker  will  only  pur¬ 
chase  well-known  makes  of  lenses,  but  as  really  good  foreign,  prin¬ 
cipally  French,  lenses  can  be  obtained  at  prices  from  one-fourth  to 
one-half  of  those  bearing  the  name  of  eminent  opticians,  it  would 
be  as  well  to  stock  one  or  two.  It  is  also  advisable,  if  the  business 
is  to  be  gone  into  thoroughly,  to  make  one  or  two  negatives  and 
prints  with  the  lenses  and  cameras,  and  thus  show  their  capabili¬ 
ties,  because  such  results  carry  far  more  weight  than  any  amount 
of  talking. 

Coming  now  to  dry  plates,  the  advice  may  be  given  to  feel  the  way 
very  cautiously  and  to  stock  only  those  plates  which  are  asked  for. 
Should  a  chance  customer  come  in  for  a  brand  of  plate  or  parti¬ 
cular  kind  of  paper  which  you  do  not  have  in  stock  then  try  and 
ascertain  how  much  the  customer  is  likely  to  use,  and  then  tell 
him  you  will  keep  the  goods  in  stock  for  him.  As  regards  the 
minor  apparatus,  such  as  printing  frames,  measures,  dishes,  etc. , 
there  is  not  much  trouble,  nor  do  they  require  any  very  great 
outlay,  because  it  will  be  rarely  necessary  to  go  beyond  the  whole 
plate  size. 

Considerable  experience  has  shown  that  where  the  average 
pharmacist  fails  as  a  photographic  dealer  is  in  his  ignorance 
of  the  business  in  the  minor  details.  It  is  of  course  very  rare 
that  one  comes  across  a  man  who  is  thoroughly  au  fait  with  every 
branch  and  every  piece  of  apparatus,  but  the  dealer  should 
at  least  know  where  to  go  to  get  everything.  The  best 
advice  that  can  be  given  to  the  pharmacist  who  wishes  to  cultivate 
the  photographic  trade  is  first  of  all  to  obtain  catalogues  from  the 
leading  houses,  such  as  Fallowfield,  146,  Charing  Cross  Road  ; 
Adams  and  Co. ,  Aldersgate  Street ;  Marion  and  Co. ,  Soho  Square ; 
Levi  and  Co. ,  Hatton  Garden ;  and  S.  J.  Levi,  Farringdon  Road ;  also 
the  British  Journal  Almanac,  which  is  in  itself  a  collection  of  price¬ 
lists.  All  these  should  be  studied  and  carefully  noted  as  to  prices,  etc. 
The  photographic  press,  too,  should  not  be  neglected.  There  is 
not  much  to  be  gained  by  selling  the  weekly  newspapers,  but 
some  at  least  should  be  kept,  as  well  as  a  bookslide  of  the  best 
selling  photographic  hand-books,  etc. ,  and  whilst  it  will  not  pay 
to  go  direct  to  the  publishers,  as  a  rule  at  least,  Messrs.  Dawbarn 
and  Ward,  of  6,  Farringdon  Avenue,  will  supply  all  papers  and 
books  on  terms  quite  as  low  as  can  be  obtained  for  small  quantities 
from  the  publishers  themselves.  If  the  weekly  papers  are  taken,  one 
or  two  of  them  should  be  glanced  through  to  see  whether  anything 
special  is  stirring ;  whether  as  is  often  the  case,  any  new 
chemical  is  just  coming  to  the  front.  If  so,  it  should  be  noted, 
and  if  not  obtained,  one  should  at  least  find  out  whence 
it  can  be  got  in  case  it  is  wanted.  As  a  proof  of  this  it 
may  be  stated  that  only  within  the  last  few  months  a  case 
has  been  brought  under  notice  of  a  demand  arising  for  potassium 
ferric  oxalate,  and  a  chemist  having  been  asked  for  it  stated 
that  there  was  no  such  salt,  as  he  could  not  find  it  in  his  wholesale 
price-list.  As  a  matter  of  fact  there  are  many  chemicals  used  in 
photography  which  find  absolutely  no  place  in  the  B.P.,  the  ‘  Extra 
Pharmacopoeia,’  Squire’s  ‘Companion,’  or  Attfield’s  ‘Manual,’  and 
yet  they  are  well  known  to  photographic  dealers.  As  a  rule,  of 
course,  such  things  may  be  obtained  by  ordering  specially  from  the 
ordinary  wholesale  druggists  or  from  Messrs.  Hopkin  and 
Williams,  or  Mawson  and  Swan,  of  Soho  Square,  the  latter  making 
a  specialty  of  photographic  chemicals. 

One  of  the  most  lucrative  branches  of  the  business  is  in  the 
selling  of  ready-made  solutions.  The  average  amateur  is,  as  a 
rule,  a  bit  clumsy  with  his  scales  and  chary  of  making  up  his  own 
solutions  if  he  can  get  them  ready  made  at  reasonable  prices,  but 
at  the  same  time  he  is  decidedly  unwilling  to  buy  a  “pig  in  a  poke,” 
and  if  he  wants,  let  us  say  a  toning  bath,  he  likes  to  know  exactly 
how  much  gold  it  contains.  In  this  department  it  is  always  advis¬ 
able  to  take  standard  formula;  and  make  them  up  and  label  them, 
and  it  will  be  found  that  many  will  be  willing  to  pay  just  a  little 
more  if  they  can  get  their  solutions  properly  made  up,  and  there  is 
also,  of  course,  the  profit  on  the  raw  material  itself.  _______  t _ 


There  is  possibly  one  caution  which,  speaking  from  an  experience 
of  many  years,  both  from  the  amateur  point  of  view  and  that  of 
the  dealer  too,  will  not  be  out  of  place.  When  asked  for  a  chemical 
be  quite  sure  that  you  know  what  is  meant,  and  do  not  be  in  too 
much  of  a  hurry  to  correct  your  customer.  As  examples  may  be 
cited  two  cases  recently  brought  under  notice,  which  are  not 
solitary  instances.  An  amateur  entering  a  big  chemist’s  shop  not 
a  hundred  miles  from  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  asked  for 
a  pound  of  carbonate  of  soda,  and  the  assistant  gravely 
supplied  him  with  sodium  bicarbonate.  Of  course  in  the  ordinary 
way  this  was  a  perfectly  legitimate  action,  but  in  this  instance  the 
substance  was  by  no  means  what  was  required.  The  second 
case  was  when  an  ounce  of  mercuric  chloride  was  asked  for, 
and  calomel  supplied,  and  the  assistant  was  somewhat  sur¬ 
prised  when  told  that  it  was  not  what  was  wanted:  “Not 
the  mercurous,  but  the  mercuric  chloride.”  The  amateur  photo¬ 
grapher  who  reads  his  papers  and  hand-books  knows  as  a  rule 
far  more  of  the  chemistry  of  photography  and  photographic 
chemicals  than  the  average  pharmacist,  and  therefore  a  mistake 
should  be  carefully  guarded  against. 

Speaking  from  personal  experience,  it  may  be  said  that  a  photo¬ 
graphic  connection  is  not  difficult  to  work  up.  It  certainly  pays 
for  the  trouble,  and  is,  taking  it  on  the  whole,  far  more  profitable 
than  the  “  patent”  medicine,  the  packet  tea,  or  the  cigar  trade,  and 
can  hardly  be  said  to  lower  the  status,  either  professional  or  social, 
of  the  chemist.  By  all  means  fit  up,  if  possible,  a  dark-room  for 
customers’  use,  and  write  to  all  the  photographic  papers,  as  well 
as  to  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal,  informing  them  of  the  fact,  so 
that  they  may  give  you  free  advertisement,  and  you  may  thus 
catch  stray  visitors  as  customers,  especially  in  the  holiday  season. 

In  succeeding  papers  it  is  proposed  to  deal  with  the  preparation 
of  developers,  etc.,  which  may  be  put  up  for  sale,  and  also  some  of 
the  less  known  wholesale  houses  whence  goods  may  be  obtained. 


OBITUARY. 


Hemingway. — On  April  14,  at  Storrington,  Walter  Hemingway. 
Aged  79.  Mr.  Hemingway  was  formerly  on  the  Register  of  Phar¬ 
maceutical  Chemists  and  a  member  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society, 
at  which  time  he  was  interested  in  the  firm  of  Messrs.  Alexander 
and  Walter  Hemingway,  of  Portman  Street.  This  firm  obtained 
a  prize  medal  at  the  Great  Exhibition  of  1851  for  ammonio-citrate 
of  iron  and  citrate  of  quinine  and  iron,  and  Mr.  Hemingway  read 
an  excellent  paper  on  those  preparations  before  one  of  the  medical 
societies.  While  resident  at  Storrington  he  started,  and  for  a 
time  managed,  a  successful  cottage  garden  show,  he  also  con¬ 
ducted  a  night  school,  and  owing  to  his  persistent  efforts  the 
Small  Holdings  Act  was  put  into  operation  there. 

Barber. — On  April  26,  George  Barber,  Pharmaceutical  Chemist, 
West  Kirby,  Birkenhead.  Aged  71.  Mr.  Barber  had  been  a 
Member  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  since  1853. 

Sttxrges. — On  April  30,  William  Thomas  Sturges,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  London.  Aged  61. 

Ford.— On  May  4,  Joseph  Ford,  Chemist  and  Druggist,  London. 
Aged  79. 

Walters.— On  May  5,  John  Walters,  Chemist  and  Druggist 
(Mod. )  late  of  Brecon.  Aged  50. 

Willson. — On  May  14,  Stephen  John  Willson,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  Peterborough.  Aged  61.  Mr.  Willson  died  somewhat 
suddenly  at  his  residence,  Norwood  House,  Park  Road.  He  had 
been  in  business  in  Peterborough  for  33  years,  and  had  gained 
general  confidence  and  esteem  by  his  uprightness,  consistency,  and 
kindness. 

Hodder.— On  May  12,  Henry  Hodder,  Pharmaceutical  Chemist, 
Bristol.  Aged  78.  Mr.  Hodder  had  been  a  member  of  the  Phar¬ 
maceutical  Society  since  1847. 

Stearn. — On  May  14,  Ralph  Marmaduke  Stearn,  Pharmaceu¬ 
tical  Chemist,  London.  Aged  24.  Mr.  Steam’s  death  occurred 
quite  unexpectedly,  and  came  as  a  severe  shock  to  all  who  were 
acquainted  with  him.  He  passed  the  Minor  in  April,  1896,  and 
the  Major  in  April  of  the  pr(  sent  year.  At  the  last  meeting  of  the 
Council  Mr.  Stearn  was  accorded  permission  to  work  in  the 
Pharmaceutical  Research  Laboratory. 


460 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  2?,  1897 


NOTES  AND  FORMULAE. 

( Specially  compiled  for  the  Pharmaceutical  J oumal. ) 

Essences  of  Soaf. 

White  Castile  soap,  100  parts;  alcohol,  80  per  cent.,  200  parts  ; 
pure  carbonate  of  potash,  12  parts.  The  soap  is  dissolved  in  a  wide- 
mouth  bottle  on  the  water  bath  by  constant  shaking  with  the 
alcohol,  the  carbonate  of  potash  is  then  added.  Then  tint  with 
saffron,  or  rosaniline  and  perfume.  Leave  for  some  days  in  the 
cold,  and  filter.  An  excellent  perfume  for  the  above  is  obtained  by 
mixing  tincture  of  vanilla,  10 ;  tincture  of  orris,  20  ;  extract  of 
rose,  20 ;  extract  of  orange  flowers,  50  parts.  Rodiquet  recom¬ 
mends  for  the  preparation  of  the  essence  :  white  soap,  1 ;  alcohol, 
85°,  3 ;  distilled  water,  1 ,  and  for  medicinal  purposes  the  follow¬ 
ing  mixture,  which  lathers  strongly  in  water  :  white  Castile 
soap,  20  ;  distilled  water,  30  ;  60°  alcohol,  60  ;  potash,  1,  and  1  per 
cent,  of  perfume. j — Zeit.  d.  AUg.  (Est.  Apoth.  Verein,  x.,  31. 

Paraffin-Naphthalin  Emulsion  as  a  Plant  Insecticide. 

One  part  of  naphthalin  is  dissolved  by  heat  in  10  parts  of 
paraffin  oil.  The  solution  is  well  shaken  with  a  solution  of  33 
parts  of  soft  soap  in  33  parts  of  water  at  about  85°  C.  The 
emulsion  thus  obtained  is  very  permanent,  and  15  parts  of  same 
diluted  with  1000  parts  of  water  gives  a  very  effective  solution  for 
destroying  insects. — Pharm.  Gentralh.,  xxxviii.,  242. 

Pure  Oxalic  Acid. 

To  obtain  pure  oxalic  acid  Riechelmann  recommends  the  recrystal¬ 
lisation  of  the  crude  commercial  acid  first  with  ether  and  then  with 
water.  The  oxalic  acid,  which  is  difficult  to  dissolve  in  cold  ether, 
is  dissolved  in  Soxhlet’s  apparatus  in  extraction  shells.  The 
contaminating  calcium  and  potassium  salts  remain  completely 
in  the  filter  shells. — Pharm.  Gentralh.,  xxxviii.,  214. 


SOME  FORMULA  FOR  SYNTHETIC  PERFUMES. 


Lilac. 

Ess.  Jasmin  and  Ess.  Rose . . .  of  each  5  fl.  ozs. 

Ol.  Ylang  Ylang  . . .  60  minims. 

Heliotropine  . . .  20  grains. 

Ess.  Tuberose . 10  fl.  ozs. 

Ess.  Civet  . .  1  drachm. 

Terpineol .  6  fl.  drachms. 

Ess.  Ambrette  .  1  fl.  oz. 

Glycerin  .  4  drachms. 

Rectified  Spirit . .to  25  fl.  ozs. 

Hyacinth. 

Geranyl  Acetate .  3  31. 

Ess.  Jasmin .  10  ozs. 

Vanillin  .  10  grs. 

Oil  Neroli . 20  31. 

Hyacinthine  .  25  31. 

Ess.  Ambrette  . 1  oz. 

Coumarin  .  20  grains. 

Ess.  Rose . 3  fl.  ozs. 

Glycerin  . 4  drachms. 

Rectified  Spirit  . . . to  25  fl.  ozs. 

Violet. 

Essential  Oil  of  Orris  .  5  31. 

Essential  Oil  of  Sweet  Orange .  1  minim. 

Essence  of  Tuberose  .  2  ozs. 

Essence  of  Orris  .  5  ozs. 

Oil  of  Lavender  . 2  Tfl. 

Oil  of  Ylang  Ylang  .  10  31. 

Glycerin  .  4  drachms. 

Ionone  . 30  minims. 

Anethol  . * . .  2  minims. 

Essence  Cassie  .  4  drachms. 

Oil  of  Lignaloe . 3  rtf. 

Heliotropine  . 10  grains. 

Essence  of  Violet  . to  25  fl.  ozs. 

Heliotrope. 

Vanillin  . . .  10  grs. 

Oil  of  Ylang  Ylang  . ..  . .  30  31. 

Oil  of  Lignaloe  . .  30  31. 

Ess.  Tuberose . . „....  5fl.  ozs. 

Ess.  of  Ambrette  .  2  fl.  ozs. 

Ess.  Jasmin . 10  fl.  ozs. 

Glycerin  .  4  drachms. 

Heliotropine  .  90  grains. 

Oil  of  Sweet  Orange .  2  31. 

Otto  of  Rose  .  5  31. 

Oil  of  Bitter  Almonds .  5  31. 

Coumarin  . 30  grs. 

Ess.  Civet  . 2  drachms. 

Rectified  Spirit  to  produce  .  25  fl.  ozs. 


Alkaline  Iodides  and  Bromides. 

These  compounds  are  prepared  by  Knobloch  ( Pharm. 
Zeit.)  by  an  ingenious  method,  which  obviates  the  simulta¬ 
neous  production  of  iodates  and  bromates,  and  the  necessity 
for  their  subsequent  reduction.  The  process  depends  upon 
a  series  of  reactions,  in  the  first  of  which  ferroso-ferric 
bromide  or  iodide  is  formed.  This  is  decomposed  by  excess 
of  milk  of  lime,  which  precipitates  the  iron,  as  magnetic  oxide 
The  solution  of  calcium  haloid  salt  is  then  treated  with  an  equiva¬ 
lent  quantity  of  an  alkaline  sulphate,  when  the  insoluble  calcium 
sulphate  is  precipitated,  and  the  alkaline  iodide  or  bromide  goes 
into  solution.  The  following  details  of  the  method  for  preparing 
potassium  bromide  is  typical  of  all,  substituting  the  equivalents  of 
iodine  or  of  sulphates  of  the  other  alkalies  if  it  be  desired  to 
produce  other  salts : — Iron  filings,  8  parts,  are  introduced  into  a 
flask  with  20  parts  of  water ;  bromine,  16  parts,  is  slowly  run 
in,  the  mixture  being  kept  cool  meanwhile.  When  the  action  slackens 
it  may  be  aided  by  a  gentle  heat  if  necessary  until  the  green  solution 
of  ferrous  bromide  is  obtained ;  this  is  decanted,  and  4  parts  of  bromine 
added,  followed  by  a  slight  excess  of  milk  of  lime,  which  precipi¬ 
tates  the  whole  of  the  iron  as  magnetic  oxide,  calcium  bromide 
going  into  solution.  Potassium  sulphate,  21  parts,  is  then 
added,  and  the  whole  mixture  heated  on  the  steam-bath  for  some 
hours.  The  hot  solution  is  filtered,  washed  with  a  little  hot  water, 
the  small  amount  of  sulphate  present  in  the  filtrate  precipitated 
with  a  slight  excess  of  barium  bromide,  potassium  carbonate  added 
to  faint  alkalinity  to  precipitate  traces  of  barium  or  calcium,  and 
finally,  after  filtration,  the  liquid  is  neutralised  with  hydrobromic 
acid,  concentrated  by  evaporation,  and  crystallised.  The  potassium 
bromide  so  obtained  is  pure. 


Clove  Pink. 

Hyacinthine . . . 

Ess.  Rose  . . . 

Otto . . . . 

Coumarin  . .  . . 

Essential  Oil  of  Almonds . 

Heliotropine . ............ 

Caryophylline  . . . 

Oil  of  Cloves . . . 

Ess.  Jasmin . 

Ess.  Jonquille . .  . . „ . 

Oil  of  Orris  . . . . . . . . 

Glycerin . . . .... 

Terpineol  . 

Rectified  Spirit  . . ...to 


5  31. 

2  fl.  ozs. 

3  31. 

10  grs. 

5  31. 

10  grs. 

60  31. 

4  31. 

15  fl.  ozs. 
2  fl.  ozs. 
2  31. 

4  drs. 

5  31. 

25  fl.  oz3. 


Maybells. 

Coumarin . 

Heliotropine  . 

Caryophylline  and  Oil  of  Lignaloe . .  of  each 

,,  „  Sweet  Orange . . . 

,,  ,,  Neroli  . 

Terpineol . 

Ess.  Jasmin . 

,,  Jonquille . 

,,  Rose . . . 

,,  Cassie  . 

,,  Ambrette  . 

Glycerin  . 

Rectified  Spirit  to  produce . . . .  . . 


“  1897.” 

Terpineol . . . 

Oil  of  Lavender . . . 

„  ,,  Bergamot.. . . . . 

,,  ,,  Sandal  and  Caryophylline. . .  .of  each 

Ol.  Ylang  Ylang . * . 

,,  Petit  Grain  . 

„  Pimento  . 

Heliotropine  . „ . . 

Gardenia  . . . 

Aubepine . . . 

Vanillin . . . 

Nerolin  . . . . . 

Ess.  Jasmin . . 

,,  Cassie  . . . . . . . . . 

,,  Civet. . . . 

,,  Orange. . . . . . — 

Glycerin . . . . . . 

Rectified  Spirit  to  produce . 


10  grains. 

40  „ 

20  minims. 

2  „ 

5  „ 

2  drachms. 
8  ozs. 

4 

0  » 

2  „ 

4  „ 

4  drachms. 
25  fl.  ozs. 

2  drachms. 

4  drachms. 
30  31. 

30  31. 

20  31. 

10  31. 

20  31. 

20  grains. 

5  „ 

10  minims. 
30  grains. 

10  „ 

12  fl.  ozs. 

4  „ 

30  minims. 

4  fl.  oz. 

4  drachms. 
25  fl.  ozs. 


[May  22,  1897 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


461 


PARLIAMENTARY  NOTES  AND  NEWS- 


Sale  of  Food  and  Drugs.  — The  consideration  of  Mr.  Kearley’s 
Bill  to  amend  the  law  on  this  subject  having  been  relegated  to  the 
dog  days,  Mr.  Jeffreys  (Basingstoke)  has  very  pertinently  been 
inquiring  when  the  Government  intends  to  bring  in  the  promised 
official  measure  to  effect  the  much-needed  amelioration  of  the 
present  condition  of  things.  In  replying  to  the  inquiry,  Mr. 
Balfour  made  it  appear  that  the  President  of  the  Local  Govern¬ 
ment  Board  is  responsible  for  the  delay — a  political  example  of 
the  intractability  of  partner  Jorkins.  At  any  rate,  the  Leader  of 
the  House  is  in  consultation  with  the  Department,  and  though  he 
cannot  yet  name  a  day  for  the  introduction  of  the  Bill  he  may  in 
time  be  able  to  make  Mr.  Chaplin  realise  that  Her  Majesty’s 
Government  are  pledged  to  introduce  a  Food  and  Drugs  Amend¬ 
ment  Bill,  and  that  unredeemed  pledges  are  not  good  stock  for  a 
Ministry  to  have  in  hand. 


Examiners  in  the  Education  Department  are  apparently  too 
much  of  a  family  party  to  quite  please  those  who  sniff  a  monopoly 
in  every  centre  of  human  activity.  Captain  Norton,  the  Liberal 
representative  of  West  Newington,  asked  the  Vice-President  of 
the  Committee  of  Council  on  Education  (why  not  call  him  Minister 
for  Public  Education  ?)  whether  the  duties  of  the  examiners 
aforesaid  could  not  be  very  well  done  by  the  Upper  Division  Clerks 
in  the  various  departments  of  the  Civil  Service,  and  whether,  too, 
Sir  John  Gorst  could  recommend  that  in  future  the  appointment 
of  examiner  be  thrown  open  to  competition.  Sir  John’s  reply  was, 
as  might  be  anticipated,  in  the  negative.  The  examiners  are 
appointed  by  the  Lord  President  of  the  Council,  and  it  is  not 
believed  to  be  possible  to  secure  by  open  competition  that  combi¬ 
nation  of  special  qualifications  which  the  position  demands.  The 
duties  of  the  examiners,  added  Sir  J.  Gorst,  are  not  analogous  to 
the  work  of  Upper  Division  Clerks.  Captain  Norton  will  probably 
take  the  first  opportunity  of  returning  to  the  charge,  and  he  will 
find  plenty  of  volunteers  ready  to  join  in  any  attack  on  the 
educational  administration  of  the  country. 


The  Copyright  (Amendment)  Bill,  which  has  just  made  its 
ddbat  in  the  House  of  Lords,  under  the  guidance  of  Lord  Monks- 
well,  contains  good  news  for  contributors  to  the  Pharmaceutical 
J ournal  and  similar  periodicals.  Perhaps  the  authors  are  blissfully 
ignorant  of  the  fact,  but  at  present  no  writer  can  publish  sepa¬ 
rately  an  article  he  has  contributed  to  a  journal  or  magazine  until 
after  the  expiration  of  twenty-eight  years — a  term  which  affords  a 
reasonable  time  for  reflection.  Lord  Monkswell’s  Bill  would  effect 
a  reduction  of  this  period  of  probation  to  three  years.  In  fact, 
the  copyright  of  any  article  is  to  be  vested  in  the  author, 
subject  only  to  the  proprietor  of  the  magazine  to  which 
it  is  contributed  having  the  right — the  sole  right,  of  publishing  it 
during  three  years  as  part  of  the  magazine.  The  copyright  of 
articles  or  essays  forming  part  of  encyclopaedias  remains  as 
heretofore,  vested  in  the  publisher  or  owner  of  the  work. 


Lecturers  will  Rejoice  in  the  noble  Lord’s  proposals  to  repeal  the 
old  Copyright  Act  of  1835,  and  to  substitute  provisions  which  shall  en¬ 
title  the  author  of  any lectureto copyright  therein,  as  if  itwereabook. 
The  lecturer  will  have  the  satisfaction  also  of  reserving  to  himself 
the  exclusive  right  of  delivering  the  lecture  in  public.  Even  more 
despotic  may  he  become  if  he  so  wills  it,  for  the  Bill  would  permit 
him  to  prohibit  the  harmless  necessary  newspaper  reporter  from 
publishing  a  report  of  the  lecture.  What  is  sauce  for  the  lecture- 
room  is  sauce  for  the  pulpit,  and  sermons  are  therefore  included 
in  the  category  of  protected  ai  tides.  We  understand  that  the 
Bill  confers  no  privileges  in  respect  of  the  kind  of  lectures  to  which 
Mrs.  Caudle  was  addicted. 


London’s  Teaching  University  has  not  yet  been  created,  but 
the  prospect  has  distinctly  improved  since  last  Session.  Replying 
to  Mr.  Brynmor  Jones  (Swansea)  on  Monday  last,  Mr.  Balfour 
stated  that  the  Lord  President  of  the  august  body  which  fosters 
the  mental  development  of  the  nation  hopes  to  introduce  a  Bill, 
similar  to  last  year’s  University  of  London  Bill,  into  the  House  of 
Lords  shortly.  The  new  Bill  is  at  present  the  subject  of  negotia¬ 
tion  between  representatives  of  the  various  interested  parties,  and 
there  is  reason  to  expect  that  the  opposition  hitherto  shown  to  the 
scheme  in  certain  quarters  will  be  overcome,  and  all  obstacles  to 
the  passage  of  the  measure  removed. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  CONSULAR  REPORTS- 


Obstacles  to  British  Trade. — In  his  observations  on  British 
trade  with  Servia,  Consul  Macdonald  remarks  that  experienced 
merchants  in  Belgrade  are  of  opinion  that  one  of  the  chief  impedi¬ 
ments  to  British  trade  with  Servia  lies  in  the  unwillingness  or 
inability  of  our  manufacturers  to  quote  their  prices  “franco  Bel¬ 
grade,”  and  to  their  failure  to  adopt  the  metric  and  decimal  systems 
of  measurement  and  price.  Complaints  are  also  frequent  of 
unnecessary  delay  in  despatching  goods  ordered  from  England. 
The  question  of  measures  and  prices  has  been  settled  in  individual 
cases  in  favour  of  metres  and  francs,  and  what  is  possible  and 
advantageous  to  one  must  be  equally  so  to  all.  The  prompt 
despatch  of  goods  on  order  seems  too  absurd  to  call  attention  to, 
but  Belgrade  merchants  consider  it  a  substantial  difficulty  in  the 
way  of  our  trade. 


British  Trade  with  Maranham  (Brazil). — Consul  Kanthack, 
in  his  report  on  the  trade  and  commerce  of  Maranham,  publishes  a 
return  showing  the  approximate  value  of  imports  at  Maranham 
from  July  1,  1895,  to  June  30,  1896,  as  compared  with  the  year 
1894-95.  The  return  shows  a  very  considerable  decline  in  imports, 
and  the  largest  proportion  of  that  decline  is  borne  by  imports 
from  Great  Britain,  which  show  a  decline  of  38 -4  per  cent.,  as 
against  23-23  per  cent,  from  the  United  States,  and  21 ‘80  per  cent, 
from  Portugal.  On  the  other  hand,  imports  from  Germany  (vid 
Hamburg)  show  an  advance  of  117 '4  per  cent.,  and  from  France 
49  '6  per  cent.  The  decline  in  imports  from  Great  Britain  is  in 
part  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  goods  manufactured  in 
Brazil  are  those  which  formerly  were  imported  from  this  country  ; 
nevertheless,  the  report  confirms  the  general  impression  as  to  the 
strides  Germany  is  taking  in  pushing  her  trade. 


Bismuth. — The  bismuth  industry  of  Bolivia,  according  to  the 
report  of  Consul  Alfred  St.  John,  is  in  the  hands  of  one  firm 
which  has  been  acting  in  concert  with  other  producers  in  Europe 
for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  monopoly  of  that  article. 


Drugs,  Chemicals,  and  Colours  imported  into  Servia  in  1895 
were  estimated  at  a  value  of  £50,586,  the  value  of  various  chemi¬ 
cals  and  drugs  being  £14,581,  and  that  of  made-up  medicines  and 
chemical  preparations  £24,406.  Dyes  were  valued  at  £11,598; 
£5668  being  for  raw  colours.  Austria-Hungary  furnished  these 
goods  to  the  amount  of  £42,734,  whilst  British  contributions  con¬ 
sisted  only  of  a  few  hundred  pounds’  worth  of  ammonia,  acids, 
varnish,  scented  oils,  and  made-up  medicines. 


The  Adulteration  of  Olive  Oil  evidently  has  not  the  sanction 
of  the  Italian  Government,  Consul-General  Chapman  being  informed 
that  in  some  special  cases  notice  was  given  to  foreign  Governments 
that  shipments  of  olive  oil,  which  was  declared  pure,  had 
been  sent  off  mixed  with  oil  of  other  seeds.  Proceedings  were  con¬ 
sequently  instituted  abroad  against  shippers,  who  were  condemned 
to  the  payment  of  heavy  fines  and  costs.  Such  frauds  have  thus 
been  stopped  with  the  full  approval  of  the  honest  exporters  of 
olive  oil. 


Soap  Manufactories  in  Greece  are  reported  by  Consul  Maxse 
to  number  thirty-seven,  and  the  value  of  the  plant  employed  at 
£45,625.  During  the  last  three  years  the  value  of  soap  exported 
has  risen  from  £12,000  to  £28,000.  The  total  amount  of  soap 
produced  last  year  was  8125  tons,  of  which  1850  tons  were  exported. 
The  import  of  soap  into  Greece,  except  sanitary  and  perfumed 
soap,  is  very  small,  and  the  total  of  all  soap  imported  sank  from 
58  tons  in  1890  to  53  tons  in  1895.  Turkey  imports  by  far  the 
largest  quantity  of  Greek  soap.  The  Government  was  peti¬ 
tioned  to  permit  the  importation  of  olive  refuse  from 
abroad  for  the  purpose  of  making  green  soap,  but  the  entry 
was  refused  on  account  of  the  fear  of  introducing  phylloxera  into 
Greece.  The  demand  for  olive  refuse  is  larger  than  the  native 
supply,  arid  the  importation  is  only  permitted  from  the  islands  of 
the  Archipelago  and  one  or  two  more  ports  in  Asia  Minor. 


An  English  Company  was  formed  in  1896  to  develop  and 
work  magnesite  quarries  in  Greece  and  in  particular  the  Gadladaki 
magnesite  quarry  in  Euboea.  It  has  a  capital  of  £100,900  in  £1 
shares. ' 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  22,  1897 


NOTICES  TO  CORRESPONDENTS. 

All  Communications  for  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal’  must 
be  Addressed  to  the  Editor,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  London, 
W  C ,  and  not  In  any  case  to  Individuals  supposed  to 
be  connected  with  the  Editorial  Staff;  no  responsibility 
can  be  accepted  unless  this  rule  be  observed.  Communica¬ 
tions  for  the  Current  Week’s  Journal  should  reach  the 
Office  not  later  than  Wednesday,  but  news  can  be  Received 
by  Telegraph  until  4  p.m.  on  Thursday. 

Advertisements  and  orders  for  copies  of  the  ‘  Pharmaceutical  Journal’  must 
be  addressed  to  the  Publishers,  5,  Serle  Street,  Lincoln  s  Inn,  London,  W.C. 
Cheques  and  money  orders  should  be  made  payable  to  Street  Brothers. 
Correspondents  should  write  in  ink,  on  one  side  of  the  paper  only,  and  must 
authenticate  the  matter  sent  with  their  names  and  addresses— of  course  not 
necessarily  for  publication.  No  notice  canbe  taken  of  anonymous  communications. 
Drawings  for  illustrations  should  be  executed  twice  the  desired  sixe  ;  clean 
sharp  lines  being  drawn  with  a  pen  and  liquid  Chinese  ink.  Shading  by 
washes  is  inadmissible.  Photographs  can  be  utilised  m  certain  cases. 

Names  and  Formula  should  be  written  with  extra  care  all  systematic  names 
of  plants  and  animals  being  underlined,  and  capital  letters  used  to  commence 
generic  but  not  specific  names. 

Queries  addressed  to  the  Editor  will  be  replied  to  in  the  Journal  as  early  as 
possible  after  receipt,  but  it  is  not  always  possible  to  publish  answers  the  same 
week  as  the  queries  are  received. 

LETTERS  TO  THE  EDITOR. 

Arsenical  Soaps. 

g;r _ Wibli  reference  to  your  report  in  last  week’s  Pharmaceutical 

Journal  of  the  case  of  Houghton  v.  Taplin  will  you  allow  me  to 
inform  your  readers  and  chemists  generally  that  ever  since  the 
first  prosecution  took  place  last  November,  the  amount  of  arsenic 
has  been  increased  in  Dr.  Mackenzie’s  arsenical  soap  and  is  now 
readily  found  on  analysis  ?  At  the  same  time  I  should  like  to  say 
that  it  is  not  pretended  that  the  small  amount  of  arsenic  alone 
produces  the  beneficial  results  claimed  for  the  soap,  but  the 
addition  of  special  ingredients  gives  it  its  distinctive  character. 
London  Bridge,  S.E.,  May  14,  1897.  S.  Harvey. 

Medicine  Stamps — A  Suggestion. 

Sir  —May  I  trespass  on  your  space  in  order  to  bring  before  the 
trade  an  idea  which  I  think,  if  it  could  be  carried  out,  would 
prove  to  be  of  great  benefit  to  chemists,  proprietary  medicine 
dealers,  and  proprietary  medicine  makers?  The  cutting  of 
proprietaries  has  now  got  to  such  a  pitch  and  is  so  general,  that 
the  leverage  to  attract  customers  has  been  almost  entirely  taken 
from  the  so-called  drug  stores,  and  I  am  quite  sure  that  even  they 
do  not  believe  in  selling  goods  without  a  profit ;  this  is  proved  by 
the  systematic  method  they  have  of  substituting.  My  idea  is 
that  our  Society  should  approach  the  Inland  Revenue  authorities 
and  ask  them  to  rearrange  the  prices  of  patent  medicine  stamps, 
and  instead  of  having  these  for  1  \d.,  3d.,  and  so  on,  to  have  them 
for  1  d  2d.,  and  3d.,  for  articles  to  sell  respectively  at  9a.,  Is.  6a., 
and  2s.  9 d.  I  think  the  change  would  bring  in  an  increased 
revenue,  and  would  prove  to  be  a  benefit  to  all  concerned  in  patent 
medicines.  If  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  does  not  see  its  way 
to  take  this  up,  perhaps  the  P.  A.T.  A.  might.  If  the  prices  could  be 
rearranged  as  I  suggest,  a  reasonable  pront  could  be  allowed  and 
secured  to  dealers,  and  I  think  the  manufacturers  would  be  better 
able  to  see  their  way  to  join  the  P.A.T.A.  No  doubt  there  will 
be  many  difficulties  to  overcome  in  order  to  carry  the  matter  out, 
but  I  think  the  idea  is  worth  ventilating,  and  I  hope  that  chemists 
will  not  fail  to  express  their  opinion  about  it. 

Meivark-on- Trent.  John  H.  Smith. 

The  Need  of  a  Chemists’  Protective  Association. 

gir> _ After  reading  in  the  last  issue  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal 

the  reports  of  legal  cases,  showing  what  individual  chemists  have 
experienced  in  the  ordinary  and  legitimate  course  of  business,  and 
necessarily  causing  much  expense  and  annoyance,  I  think  many  of 
your  readers  will  share  the  opinion  that  there  ought  to  be  some 
means  devised  whereby  chemists  can  meet  business  imputations 
preferred  against  them  without  so  much  individual  loss 
as  at  present.  When  I  was  summoned  for  selling  a 
tablet  of  arsenical  soap  of  a  proprietary  nature,  I  thought  the 
manufacturers  would  in  common  justice  have  assisted  me  in  the 
defence,  but  no  such  course  was  adopted,  and  I  was  compelled  to 


bear  the  responsibilities  alone.  As  reported  in  your  Journal,  I 
incurred  thereby  in  legal  expenses  £22,  besides  other  losses  ;  the 
public  generally  do  not  read  newspaper  reports  without  prejudice. 
As  the  outcome  of  this  I  sued  the  manufacturers  for  expenses 
incurred  and  damages,  and  was  successful  in  sustaining  the 
action  before  the  County  Court  judge.  From  time  to  time 
cases  somewhat  on  a  par  with  the  arsenical  soap  and 
lime  juice  and  glycerin  prosecutions  are  sure  to  occur,  so  1 
think  it  behoves  every  chemist  to  be  prepared  against  such  con- 
tino-encies.  To  meet  this  I  would  suggest  that  a  “  Chemists’  Pro¬ 
tective  Association  ”  be  formed,  for  the  mutual  protection  of  its 
members  by  defending  cases  which  the  committee  of  the  association 
so  formed  deems  legitimate  and  desirable.  Apart  from  actual 
legal  expenses,  very  little  would  be  expended,  so  that  the 
subscription  of  its  members  need  only  be  a  trifle.  I  hope 
those  of  our  fraternity  who  favour  this  proposal  will  in¬ 
timate  the  same  to  me  by  letter,  and  I  will  then  take  initiative 
steps  to  arrange  a  preliminary  meeting  to  discuss  the  proposal  on 
its  own  merits.  This  project  concerns  every  chemist  in  business, 
so  I  trust  interest  will  not  be  wanting,  and  that  a  good  response 
will  be  made  at  an  early  date,  with  any  further  proposals  or 
suggestions  advantageous  to  the  desired  end. 

Kingston-on- Thames,  S.  W. ,  May  17, 1897.  Alfred  Higgs. 

An  “Enquirer’s”  Question  Answered. 

gir  —The  would-be  funny  man  from  Biarritz  is  either  wanting- 
in  ordinary  schoolboy  intelligence,  or  he  has  omitted  to  read  the 
original  oucry  in  the  J^hcivnictccuticctl  Jouvncil  of  May  1,  the  result 
being  that  he  has  grossly  misrepresented  the  facts  of  the  case. 
His  witticisms  are  therefore  as  pointless  as  his  innuendoes  are 
unwarranted.  But  there  is  hope  for  «  Enquirer  ”  yet  He  has 
not  gone  abroad  for  nothing  !  He  has  already  learnt  that  grosse 
is  the  feminine  form  of  the  adjective  “  gros,”  and  he  may  some 
day  realise  that  the  substantive  “gros”  refers  to  an  old  French 
weight.  He  may  even  learn  decent  manners  if  he  stays  in  France 

^BrigUo^May  17,  1897.  C.  S.  Ashton. 

The  Sale  of  Morphine. 

girj _ With  reference  to  your  “annotation”  upon  the  case  of 

morphinism  at  Enfield,  the  quantity  of  four  ounces  appears  to 
refer  to  the  solution,  not  to  the  pure  salt  of  the  alkaloid.  It  was 
not  obtained  locally,  but  from  a  chemist  at  a  distance. .  I  am 
sending  you  a  marked  copy  of  the  local  paper,  which  gives  full 
particulars.  I  may  add  that  the  police,  in  working  up  the  case, 
produced  several  articles  of  small  value  which  had  evidently  been 
taken  from  my  counter  ;  petty  thefts  were  also  discovered  at 
several  shops  in  the  town. 

Enfield  Town,  N.,  May  14,  1897.  F.  Goldby. 

“A  Royal  College  of  Pharmacy.” 

gir)_ All  well-wishers  of  the  profession  view  the  new  regulations 
for  the  Minor  examination  with  pleasure,  but  the  same  cannot  be 
said  of  the  proposed  bye-laws  relating  to  the  Major.  The  Major 
examination  cannot  be  said  to  have  been  a  success.  The  undoubted 
reason  for  this  is  that  from  a  pecuniary  standpoint  the  present 
examination  is  worthless.  From  motives  of  curiosity  I  have  made 
a  point  of  asking  persons  whom  I  have  met,  and  who  would  be 
likely  to  know,  whether  they  were  aware  there  was  any  difference 
between  a  chemist  and  a  pharmaceutical  chemist.  I 
have  yet  to  meet  the  man  outside  the  medical  profession 
who  knows  any  such  difference  exists.  The  general  impression 
is -that  if  there  are  two  diplomas,  the  title  “chemist,”  without  any 
qualifying  adjective,  would  be  the  better  of  the  two.  The  public 
might  understand  a  difference  between  druggist  and  chemist,  but 
the  word  pharmaceutical  is  un-English,  and  John  Bull  has  no 
relish  for  names  he  is  afraid  to  pronounce,  and  views  their  use  by 
others  as  a  sign  of  mental  weakness.  Further,  the  diploma  is 
worthless  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  public  scientific  appoint¬ 
ments.  Thus  little  inducement  is  held  out  to  young  men  to  pro- 
ceed  to  the  higher  examination,  and  yet  the  Council  appears  to  be 
about  to  lower  the  standard.  Such  a  step  will,  I  am  sure,  reduce 
the  examination  to  an  absurdity.  What  is  required  is  to  make 
the  examination  equal  to  the  F.I.C. ,  and  thus  fit  men  who 
pass  it  to  hold  scientific  appointments.  Such  a  step  would, 
I  feel  sure,  tend  to  increase  rather  than  diminish  the 
number  of  candidates.  I  cannot  see  why  the  Society 
should  view  with  any  alarm  the  small  number  of  candidates. 
I  believe  that  the  percentage  of  men  who  enter  for  the  Major  is, 


MAY  22,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


463 


quite  as  great,  for  instance,  as  that  ot  veterinary  surgeons  who 
proceed  from  Membership  to  Fellowship  of  their  College.  A  few 
weeks  ago  you  remarked  on  the  British  love  of  seeing  letters  after 
the  names  of  professional  men,  and  although  this  may  be  weakness, 
it  is  an  undoubted  fact  that  such  letters  are  viewed  by  the  public 
as  symbols  of  qualification.  And  yet  in  our  profession  one  barely 
ever  sees  these  imposing  signs,  although  I  know  of  no  profession 
in  which  they  would  be  of  more  service.  The  public  cannot  see 
the  difference  between  Shoes,  cash  chemists,  and  Brown,  store 
chemist,  but  they  would  see  there  was  a  difference  between  Shoes, 
cash  chemists,  and  Mr.  John  Brown,  Ph.C.,  M.P.S. 

And  yet  my  brethren  of  the  pestle,  instead  of  endeavouring  to 
give  the  public  the  impression  that  there  is  a  wide  gulf  between 
a  store  and  a  chemist,  do  their  best  to  further  the  idea  that  there 
is  no  difference  whatever,  and  therefore  call  themselves  store 
chemists.  In  fact,  in  so  little  respect  are  our  diplomas  held  that 
even  our  most  prominent  pharmacists  appear  to  be  ashamed  of 
them.  They  would  scorn  M.P.S.,  but  they  fish  for  F.C.S.,  and 
even  descend  to  F.I.Inst.  No  wonder  learned  sheriffs  ask,  What  is 
the  Pharmaceutical  Society?  No  wonder  the  man  who  places 
M.P.S.  on  his  labels  is  expected  to  know  all  about  photography, 
“  being  a  member  of  the  Photographic  Society,”  or  is  taken  to  be 
a  Quaker,  “  being  a  member  of  the  Peace  Society.”  The  present 
Major  examination  would  become  much  more  popular  if 
some  of  our  prominent  men  would  set  the  fashion  of 
using  the  title  Ph.C.,  which  is  certainly  more  honour¬ 
able  than  F.I.Inst.  or  F.C.S.  The  Society  might  do 
something  in  the  matter  by  using  the  title  on  its  communications 
to  members.  I  know  the  man  in  the  street  has  much  more  respect 
for  a  college  than  for  a  society,  and  I  firmly  believe  if  the  founders 
of  the  Society  had  styled  it  the  Royal  College  of  Chemists  there 
would  scarcely  be  a  chemist  in  the  country  off  the  rolls.  M.R.C.C. 
looks  so  imposing.  I  am  no  lover  of  such  letters  myself,  but  I 
believe  the  Society  would  benefit  immensely  by  putting  sentiment 
on  one  side  and  changing  its  name ;  indeed  I  can  conceive  of  no 
better  way  of  celebrating  Her  Majesty’s  Jubilee.  I  prefer  the 
“  Royal  College  of  Chemists”  to  the  “Royal  College  of  Pharmacy,” 
because  the  former  would  be  better  understood  by  the  general 
public.  A  “  College  ”  in  preference  to  a  “  Society  ”  would  certainly 
be  more  in  accordance  with  the  titles  of  the  other  great  governing 
bo  lies  of  the  medical  profession. 

May  17,  1897.  Fyton. 


The  Minor  Examination  Standard. 

Sir, — For  a  long  time  there  has  been  much  complaining  as  to 
the  standard  of  knowledge  required  for  the  Minor  examination, 
and  as  to  the  way  in  which  such  knowledge  is  elicited  by  the 
examiners.  We  seniors  hear  effusive  declamations  and  pitiful 
descriptions  almost  ad  nauseam  from  rejected  candidates  as  to  the 
trying  ordeal  arranged  for  them  by  the  examiners.  In  support  of 
these  complaints  we  see  the  constantly  recurring  large  percentage  of 
failures.  In  this  state  of  affairs  the  average  Minor  candidate  thinks  his 
task  a  hard  one,  and,  should  he  have  failed  several  times,  looks  upon 
his  chance  of  passing  as  something  very  problematical.  All  this 
tries  his  patience,  jeopardises  his  reputation,  and  hurts  his  pocket. 
Now,  what  is  the  remedy?  On  all  sides  we  hear  it  said  that  the 
scope  of  the  examination  is  too  high,  too  severe,  too  professional ; 
that  it  has  too  wide  a  range.  Indeed,  only  a  few  weeks  ago  a 
worthy  member  suggests  that  the  questions  set  should  be  entirely 
found  within  the  boards  of  the  Pharmacopoeia.  As  an 
old  member  of  the  Society,  I  have  watched  these  matters 
and  should  have  expressed  my  opinion  thereon  long  ago,  but  have 
thought  surely  some  of  our  shining  lights  would  rise  and  show  the 
way  out  of  the  fog.  But  no,  the  grumble  goes  on  without  ceasing. 
I  would  now  ask  my  young  friends  and  those  who  support  them 
what  is  the  use  of  complaining  about  that  which  they  cannot  alter? 
However  and  whatever  they  think  of  the  examination  or  examiners, 
are  they  not  utterly  powerless  to  alter  the  one  or  conciliate  the 
other  ?  Seeing  then  the  difficulty  cannot  be  lessened,  the  question 
is  how  to  grapple  with  it,  that  is,  how  to  pass  ? 

Do  the  candidates  go  the  right  way  about  their  work  ?  I  think 
not.  Their  aim  should  be  to  gain  that  full,  perfect,  and  sufficient 
knowledge  which  would  render  examination  a  very  formal  affair. 
Do  candidates  get  this  knowledge  or  do  they  properly  try  to  get 
it  ?  Seldom  so,  I  think.  Is  it  not  more  usual  by  coach,  by  tips, 
by  cribs,  by  hints,  to  grind,  to  get  up,  to  read  as  much  as  will 
squeeze  a  man  through  ?  Trained  in  this  manner,  although  well 
primed  with  the  newest  theories  of  the  day  and  the 
tips  of  the  hour,  is  there  any  wonder  failure  results  ? 


Rather  let  the  candidate  at  the  commencement  of  his  business 
career  lay  a  broad  and  solid  foundation  by  attending  extended 
courses  of  lectures  on  theoretical  and  practical  chemistry, 
chemical  physics  and  botany.  If  not  well  up  in  Latin  and 
arithmetic,  let  him  by  all  means  take  care  to  improve  himself 
therein.  On  these  bases  let  the  pharmaceutical  structure  be  raised 
by  going  to  one  of  the  many  good  schools  of  pharmacy,  and  let 
honest  work  there  be  assisted  by  diligent  work  in  the  shop. 
In  many  shops  there  may  be  lack  of  opportunities,  but  if  the 
student  be  in  earnest  he  will  find  much,  if  not  abundance,  for  his 
needs.  In  dispensing  let  him  train  himself  to  be  tidy,  accurate, 
and  methodical,  making  up  the  few  prescriptions  which  come  in 
faithfully  and  with  as  much  care  and  concern  as  if  working  at  the 
examination  counter.  Of  course  it  is  hard  work,  but  do  what  we 
will  this  is  still  a  necessity  in  the  lives  of  most  men. 

Manchester,  May  18,  1897.  Index. 


The  Brentford  Glycerin  and  Lime  Juice  Case. 

Sir, — There  are  one  or  two  points  in  your  note  relating  to  the 
case  heard  at  Brentford  on  Saturday  last  which  call  for  comment. 
I  have  on  a  former  occasion  pointed  out  that  it  is  not  I,  but  the 
Inspector,  who  is  responsible  for  the  selection  of  the  samples  that 
he  takes,  and  also  for  the  institution  of  proceedings.  If,  as  I  do 
not  suggest,  the  Inspector  made  an  error  of  judgment  in  applying 
for  a  summons,  the  Magistrates  before  whom  the  applica¬ 
tion  was  made  might  have  refused  to  grant  it.  As  to 
your  statement  that  the  Somerset  House  chemists  supported 
their  certificate  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Bench,  it  is  equally  true, 
as  shown  in  your  report  on  page  416,  that  the  Bench  were  satisfied 
with  the  accuracy  of  my  analysis,  but  this  you  do  not  state.  This 
being  so,  I  do  not  think  it  is  fair  to  say  “  the  public  analyst  has 
undoubtedly  made  a  mistake.”  I  should  like  to  add  that  my 
analysis  would  have  been  supported  by  Mr.  Otto  Hehner,  who 
was,  however,  unable  to  give  evidence,  as  he  was  unfortunately 
detained  abroad.  As  to  the  confirmatory  evidence  of  Mr.  Michael 
Conroy,  I  would  point  out  that  his  evidence  merely  went  to  the 
length  of  showing  what  in  fact  I  admitted  might  have  been  the 
case,  that  there  were  traces  of  glycerin  present.  He  made  no 
attempt  to  estimate  the  quantity. 

London,  May  18,  1897.  Edward  Bevan. 


ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 


Special  Notice. — Scientific,  technical,  legal  and  general  information  required 
by  readert  of  the  1  Pharmaceutical  Journal '  will  be  furnished  by  the  Editor  as  far 
as  practicable,  but  he  cannot  undertake  to  reply  by  post.  All  communications  must  be 
addressed  “  Editor ,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  London,  W.C.,"  and  must  also  be  authen¬ 
ticated  by  the  names  and  addresses  of  senders.  Questions  on  different  subjects  should 
be  written  on  separate  slips  of  paper,  each  of  which  must  bear  the  sender  s  initials  or 
pseudonym.  Replies  will,  in  all  cases,  be  referred  to  such  initials  or  pseudonyms 
and  the  registered  number  added  in  each  instance  should  be  quoted  in  any  subsequent 
communication  on  the  same  subject. 


Botanical. — Lepidium  perfoliatum.  [Reply  to  E.  W.  P. — 94/22.] 
Botanical. — Geranium,  striatum.  [ Reply  to  Cornubia. — 95/5.] 


Botanical. — 1.  Valerianella  olitoria ;  2.  Myosotis  collina ; 

3.  Veronica  serpyllifolia.  [Reply  to  Secundus. — 94/1.] 

Register. — No,  the  book  is  only  corrected  to  the  end  of 
December.  [ Reply  to  Cardiff. — 94/24.] 

Books  Wanted. — We  are  inquiring  about  works  on  the  subject 
you  mention.  The  book  on  midwifery  does  not  appear  to  be  in 
the  Library.  [Reply  to  Penny  Stamp. — 93/20.] 

Pink  Coloured  Hyacinth. — Tint  the  product  of  the  formula 
given  at  page  460  with  a  little  tincture  of  red  sandal  wood, 
alkanet  root,  or  cochineal,  according  to  the  colour  you  require. 
[Reply  to  Pestle. — 92/45.] 

Red  Powder  Used  by  Shoe  Manufacturers. — The  powder 
which  you  send  is  nothing  but  impure  ferric  oxide.  Probably  a 
good  sample  of  red  Armenian  bole  will  answer  all  the  purposes  you 
require.  The  powder  is  in  an  extremely  minute  state  of  division. 
[Reply  to  E.  C.  H. — 93/26.] 


464 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  22,  1897. 


Mineralised  Methylated  Spirit. — Presumably  the  effect 
noted  is  produced  by  the  mineral  naphtha  added  to  the  spirit. 
Retailers  are  not  now  permitted  to  sell  or  have  on  their  premises 
unmineralised  spirit.  [Reply  to  H.  H. — 95/6.] 

Fusible  Alloys.— (A)  Bismuth,  8 ;  lead,  5 ;  tin,  3.  Melt 
together  ;  fuses  below  212°.  (B)  Bismuth,  2 ;  lead,  5 ;  tin,  3. 

Melts  in  boiling  water.  (C)  Lead,  3 ;  tin,  2 ;  bismuth,  5.  Melts 
at  197°  F.  [ Reply  to  Penny  Stamp. — 93/19.] 


Flower  Cement. — A  saturated  solution  of  sandarac  in  methy¬ 
lated  spirit  is  used.  Probably  an  ethereal  solution  of  ordinary 
yellow  resin  would  answer  better,  as  it  would  “  set  ”  almost  imme¬ 
diately.  [ Reply  to  R.  S.  L. — 94/16.] 


Cheap  Hair  Wash. — Soft  soap,  1  ounce  ;  proof  spirit,  2  ounces; 
oil  of  Myrcia  acris,  25  minims  ;  tincture  of  quillaia,  2  drachms ; 
distilled  water,  8  ounces.  Dissolve  the  soap  in  the  spirit,  add  the 
oil  to  the  tincture,  mix,  and  add  the  water.  [ Reply  to  A.  M. — 94/19.] 


Ice  Cream. — The  information  regarding  the  preparation  of  ice 
cream  appeared  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  for  April  10  last,  as 
a  very  moderate  expenditure  of  time  and  trouble  in  referring  to 
the  weekly  indexes  would  have  shown.  [ Reply  to  Verax. — 95/15.] 

_  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference. — The  annual  subscrip¬ 
tion  is  seven  shillings  and  sixpence,  and  you  can  obtain  all  the 
particulars  you  require  by  applying  to  the  Assistant  Secretary, 
B.P.C.,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  W.C.  [ Reply  to  S.  H. — 93/23.] 

Reaction  in  Making  Lin.  Potass.  Iodidi  c.  Sapone. — In 
mixing  curdsoap  (sodium  oleo-stearate)  andpotassium  iodide  double 
decomposition  results,  and  a  soft  soap  (potassium  oleo-stearate)  and 
sodium  iodide  are  formed.  [Reply  to  C.  T.  J. — 94/10.] 

Excipient  for  Pill. — The  prescription,  “Creosoti,  gtt.  xviii.  ; 
pulv.  semin.  conii,  3j.  ;  pulv.  Doveri,  3ij.  ;  m.ft.  pil. ,  xxxvi.,  sec. 
art. should  be  massed  with  a  mixture  of  10  grains  of  powdered  Cas¬ 
tile  soap  and  5  grains  of  heavy  magnesia.  [Reply  to  C.  T.  J.— 94/10.] 


To  Coat  Horse-Balls  with  Gelatin.— Make  a  solution  of  1 
part  of  gelatin  in  4  parts  of  water,  and  add  enough  soluble  black 
to  give  the  requisite  colour.  Fasten  the  balls  to  pieces  of  stout 
wire  (knitting  needles  answer  well),  dip  in  the  solution,  rotate,  and 
dry.  Some  use  sugar  with  the  gelatin,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether 
this  offers  any  advantage,  since  it  takes  much  longer  to  dry. 
[Reply  to  R.  H.— 92/39.] 


Testing  the  Sight. — It  is  impossible,  within  the  limits  of  our 
space,  to  give  you  anything  like  satisfactory  data  as  to  sight¬ 
testing,  and  to  do  it  efficiently  requires  considerable  training  and 
practice.  The  best  book  on  the  subject  is  ‘  The  Refraction  of  the 
Eye,’  by  Hartridge,  published  by  J.  and  A.  Churchill,  of  New 
Burlington  Street.  [Reply  to  A.  H.  0. — 84/17.] 

German  Ph.D.  Degree. — You  can  obtain  this  degree  at  one  of 
the  numerous  German  universities  after  about  two  years’  residence, 
during  which  lectures  and  laboratory  courses  in  the  selected  sub¬ 
jects  must  be  attended.  Proof  of  good  general  education  must  be 
submitted  prior  to  entering  upon  the  university  course,  and  the 
degree  is  granted  after  completing  some  original  investigation 
and  passing  an  examination  in  the  subjects  selected  for  study. 
Apply  to  the  secretary  of  the  university  you  decide  upon  for 
detailed  particulars,  as  these  vary  somewhat  in  each  case. 
[Reply  to  Dispenser. — 94/42.] 


Saxin. — We  are  indebted  to  Messrs.  Burroughs,  Wellcome  and 
Co.  for  the  information  that  “Saxin”  is  the  name  given  to  a 
powerful  sweetening  agent  recently  introduced  and  issued  in 
tabloid  form  by  that  firm.  It  is  said  to  possess  a  sweetening 
power  about  six  hundred  times  greater  than  that  of  sugar  and  is 
most  delicate  in  flavour,  being  thus  rendered  acceptable  to  many 
patients  who  have  hitherto  refused  all  sweetening  agents  other 
than  sugar.  A  J-gr.  “  Saxin  ”  tabloid  may  be  substituted  for  each 
lump  of  sugar  in  the  case  of  patients  suffering  from  diabetes,  gout, 
obesity,  glycosuria,  etc.  By  this  means  the  harmful  effects  of 
sugar  will  be  avoided,  and  “  Saxin  ”  itself  is  understood  to  have  no 
harmful  action  on  the  system.  [Reply  to  H.  D.  K. — 93/2,] 


Pulv.  pro  Pil.  Rhei  Co. — Two  parts  of  powdered  pill  and  one 
part  of  excipient  gives  approximately  the  pil.  rhei  co.  mass  of  the 
B.P.  The  other  pill  powders  are  usually  dispensed  with  just 
sufficient  excipient  to  mass,  and  the  mass  so  made  is,  of  course, 
weighed  before  rolling.  If  you  have  much  of  a  given  mass  to 
make  frequently  you  can  note  the  quantity  of  excipient  required 
and  add  just  that  amount  each  time.  [Reply  to  C.  T.  J.—  94/10.] 


Perfumes  from  the  New  Synthetic  Bodies. — The  articles  you 
name — heliotropin,  coumarin,  terpineol,  ionone,  etc., — are  scarcely 
new  now,  for,  except  the  last-named,  they  have  been  known  for 
some  years.  All  of  them  are  practically  invaluable  for  modern 
perfumery,  and  are  particularly  suitable  for  blending,  since  their 
aroma  is  pure  and  distinctive,  giving  what  may  be  termed  a  very 
sharp  “  odour  reaction  ”  when  suitably  combined.  (See  formulae 
at  p.  460.)  [Reply  to  I.  H.  H. — 92/29.] 


Enamel  Varnishes. — Possibly  something  on  the  following 
lines  will  suit  you  : — Make  a  basis  of  copal  varnish,  2  ;  linseed  oil, 
3  ;  turpentine,  4  ;  boiled  oil,  5.  Mix  in  with  a  muller  the  pig¬ 
ments  such  as  zinc  white,  white  lead,  Indian  red,  yellow  chrome, 
etc. ,  according  to  the  colours  you  want,  thinning  down  from  time 
to  time  with  a  little  more  turps.  The  powdered  pigments  must 
be  in  the  most  minute  state  of  division,  and  thoroughly  mixed. 
[Reply  to  Enamel. — 92/44.] 


Gelatinisation  of  Tincture  of  Kino. — According  to  Rother 
and  others,  the  gelatinisation  of  alcoholic  tinctures  of  kino  is  due 
to  oxidation.  This  is  hindered  by  the  presence  of  glycerin.  That 
body  was  added  to  the  formula  of  the  B.P.  1885,  and  since  then 
we  have  not  experienced  any  difficulty  from  this  pectinisation. 
Probably  your  tincture  did  not  contain  glycerin.  After  it  has 
once  gelatinised  we  fear  you  cannot  do  anything  to  it  to  restore  it 
to  fluidity.  [Reply  to  C.  T.  J.— 94/10.] 


Oxidation  of  Ferrous  Carbonate. — This  process  is  gradual, 
and  probably  many  intermediate  combinations  of  oxygen  are 
formed  before  oxidation  is  complete,  but  if  exposed  long  enough 
to  the  air  almost  all  the  C02  is  lost,  and  ferric  oxide  results,  the 
remaining  small  portion  of  C02  being  in  the  form  of  a  high  basic 
oxy-carbonate,  but  the  whole  process  results  in  very  complex  inter¬ 
mediate  forms,  which  cannot  well  be  represented  by  equations 
and  certainly  not  by  the  one  you  give.  Remember,  equations  only 
serve,  at  the  best,  to  indicate  the  ultimate  result  of  chemical  action, 
and  often  do  not  show  what  actually  takes  place  at  all  in  the 
intermediate  reactions.  [Reply  to  C.  T.  J. — 94/10.] 


Sale  of  Benzine. — Judging  from  the  terms  of  the  Petroleum 
Act,  benzine  should  be  sold  in  sealed  vessels  exclusively,  though 
that  fact  is  not  expressly  stated.  It  is  stipulated  that  the  aggre¬ 
gate  bulk  kept  shall  not  exceed  three  gallons,  and  that  the  spirit 
must  be  kept  in  separate  glass,  earthenware,  or  metal  vessels,  each 
of  which  contains  not  more  than  a  pint,  and  is  securely  stoppered.” 
Those  vessels,  if  sold  or  exposed  for  sale,  must  bear  labels  stating 
the  description  of  the  “petroleum,”  with  the  addition  of  the  words 
“  highly  inflammable,”  together  with  the  name  and  address  of  the 
vendor.  Taken  together,  these  restrictions  seem  to  indicate  the 
undesirability,  if  not  the  illegality,  of  retailing  the  spirit  otherwise 
than  in  sealed  vessels.  [Reply  to  A.  H.  P. — 94/15.] 


Glycerin  and  Cucumber.— The  following  has  given  great 
satisfaction  when  used  :  Take  of  white  castile  soap,  1  oz.  ; 
cucumber  pomade,  4  ozs.  ;  glycerin  borax,  B.P.,‘  3|  fl.  ozs.  ; 
essence  of  jockey  club,  1  fl.  oz.  ;  distilled  water,  63  ozs.  Dissolve 
the  soap  in  part  of  the  water,  and  having  mixed  gradually  with 
the  cucumber  pomade  in  a  hot  mortar,  rubbing  the  whole  into  a 
creamy  product,  then  add  the  remaining  ingredients  and  the  rest 
of  the  water.  Strain  through  muslin  if  necessary,  and  stir  gently 
until  perfectly  cold.  If  there  is  any  tendency  to  separate,  prevent 
this  by  using  tragacanth  powder,  24  drachms  or  less,  which  should 
be  moistened  with  a  little  spirit  and  made  into  a  mucilage  with  the 
soap  solution  before  adding  the  other  ingredients,  as  mentioned 
above.  [Reply  to  Khama. — 94/2.] 


COMMUNICATION S, LETTERS, etc., have  been  received  from 

Messrs.  Ashton,  Bayley,  Bevan,  Butler,  Byles,  Chambers,  Clark,  Cracknel!, 
Dordon  Durrant,  Dyson,  Eberlin,  Elms,  Flatters,  Glyn-Jones,  Goldby,  Hall, 
Harvey,  Heanley,  Higgs,  Howorth,  Hudson,  James,  Lovatt,  Newbery,  Oliver, 
Polley,  Bees,  Reeve,  Reynolds,  Robinson,  Shapley,  Shepherd,  Skinner,  Smith, 
Taylor,  Tschireh,  Walker/ Wallwork,  Wand,  Watson,  Willson,  Wood. 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL, 


465 


E  MONTH.” 


IM  A.  W.  Titherley  states  that  the  beha- 
of  metallic  rubidium  towards  ammonia  is 
^Similar  to  that  of  other  alkali  metals,  such  as 
fin,  and  sodium,  but  its  action  is  not  so  energetic 
as  that  of  lithium,  though  more  marked  than  that  of  either  of  the 
others.  The  formation  of  rubidamide  commences  in  the  cold,  when 
small  pellets  of  rubidium  are  exposed  to  a  slow  stream  of  pure 
gaseous  ammonia,  but  on  heating  to  between  200°-300°  the  action 
proceeds  more  rapidly.  Hydrogen  is  continually  evolved,  and  the 
conversion  is  complete  in  a  very  short  time.  On  cooling,  the  melted 
amide  solidifies  to  a  white,  crystalline,  glistening  mass  of  small 
plates,  very  similar  to  those  of  potassamide.  Lithamide  crystal¬ 
lises  in  needles.  The  formula  of  rubidamide  is  RbNH2,  its 
melting  point  is  285°-287°  (sodamide,  155° ;  potassamide,  270°- 
272° ;  lithamide,  between  380°  and  400°),  and  in  the  fused  state  it 
resembles  the  other  amides  of  the  alkali  metals,  forming  a 
greenish-brown,  oily  liquid,  which  has1  a  tendency  to  creep.  It 
assumes  a  darker  colour  on  heating  more  strongly,  owing,  pro' 
bably,  to  slight  dissociation.  Rubidamide  attacks  glass  when 
heated  with  it,  being  converted  into  rubidium  silicate;  it  is  ex¬ 
cessively  deliquescent ;  violently  decomposed  by  water,  giving 
ammonia  and  rubidium  hydroxide  ;  and  is  less  violently  acted  on 
by  alcohol,  giving  ammonia  and  rubidium  ethoxide.  Complex 
organic  matter  is  at  once  charred  by  rubidamide,  whilst  organic 
compounds  of  an  amidic  or  faintly  acid  nature  evolve  ammonia, 
and  suffer  replacement  of  a  hydrogen  atom  by  rubidium.—  Journ. 
Chem.  Soc.,  lxxi.,  469. 

Experimenting  with  highly  purified  sub- 
Properties  stances,  W.  A.  Shenstone  finds  that,  practically 
of  speaking,  the  action  between  mercury  and 

Purified  chlorine,  bromine  or  iodine,  does  not  depend  on 
Substances.  the  presence  of  water  vapour.  He  is  less 
certain  whether  the  presence  of  moisture  is 
necessary  for  producing  ozone  from  oxygen,  and  as  ozone  changes 
into  oxygen  much  more  rapidly  in  the  absence  of  water  vapour 
than  in  its  presence,  he  thinks  that  fact  disposes  of  the  idea  that 
all  chemical  change  may  be  impossible,  except  in  the  presence  of 
water.  It  remains  to  be  seen,  however,  whether  this  is  true  of 
any  particular  class  or  classes  of  change. — Journ.  Chem.  Soc., 
lxxi.,  471. 

To  determine  the  moisture  in  soaps  and  other 
Drying  Sensitive  sensitive  organic  substances  C.  C.  Parsons  uses 
Organic  an  oil-bath,  putting  the  substance  directly  into 
Substances.  a  weighed  quantity  of  hot  oil,  and  weighing 
again  after  the  moisture  has  been  driven  off.  It 
is  best  to  use  neutral  paraffin  oil,  without  any  admixture  of  animal 
or  vegetable  oils  or  fats,  or  mineral  substances,  and  with  specific 
gravity  0'920,  flash  test  435°,  fire  test  500°,  and  boiling-point  about 
550°.  The  object  of  the  high  fire  test  is  that  the  oil 
should  be  so  freed  from  volatile  matter  that  none  of  it  will  be 
carried  off  with  the  moisture  in  the  substance  to  be  dried. 
Ordinarily  the  whole  operation  may  be  completed  in  twenty 
minutes.  It  should  be  conducted  in  a  drying  closet  kept  at 
240°.  First,  the  oil  is  put  into  an  evaporating  dish  and  kept  in  the 
drying  closet  until  it  has  the  same  temperature,  then  it  is  weighed 
and  about  one- sixth  the  quantity  of  the  substance  to  be  dried, 
weighed  and  added  to  it.  If  very  moist,  add  in  successive  por¬ 
tions.  The  whole  should  be  kept  in  the  drying  closet  for  a  few 
minutes  after  effervescence  has  ceased.  On  again  weighing,  the 
loss  indicates  the  amount  of  moisture  driven  off. — Journ.  Am. 
Qhem.  Soc.,  xix.,  388. 

Vol.  LVHI.  (Fourth  Series,  Vol.  IV.).  No.  1405. 


Professor  Ostwald  records  the  results  of  some 
Crystallisation  instructive  experiments  on  the  crystallisation 
Of  of  super-saturated  solutions  and  of  super-cooled 

Super-Saturated  liquids.  By  a  proper  choice  of  substances  the 
Solutions.  difficulty  caused  by  accidental  infection  of  the 
solutions  by  dust  particles  was  avoided,  so 
that  crystallisation  could  only  be  induced  by  introducing  a 
crystal  of  the  substance  or  of  a  strictly  isomorphous  substance. 
Thus,  fused  salol  (m.p.  39° -5)  cannot  be  induced  to  crystallise 
at  ordinary  temperatures  by  any  of  the  usual  means,  but 
a  fine  thread  of  glass  lightly  drawn  over  a  crystal 
of  salol  acquires  the  power  Of  inducing  crystallisation 
in  the  liquid.  By  exposing  the  glass  to  air  or  wiping 
or  warming  it,  this  power  is  lost  again.  Spontaneous 
generation  of  crystals,  however,  is  impossible  only  within  a 
limited  range  of  temperature  below  the  melting  point,  and 
Ostwald  proposes  the  term  “metastable”  for  this  condition  in 
the  liquid  of  stable  equilibrium,  except  with  respect  to  a  ready- 
formed  crystal.  At  still  lower  temperatures,  crystals  form  spon¬ 
taneously  and  without  the  presence  of  ready-formed  nuclei,  the 
equilibrium  being  here  really  labile. — Zeit.  f.  Phys.  Chem.,  through 
Nature,  lvi.,  61. 

Drs.  J.  J.  Bobbie  and  F.  Marsden,  in  a  fifth 
Corydaline  communication  on  this  compound,  state  that 
when  it  is  heated  on  a  water  bath  with  very 
dilute  nitric  acid  (about  1:20),  a  difficultly  soluble  nitrate, 
C22H29N04,HN03,  is  first  formed.  On  further  heating,  the  solu¬ 
tion  becomes  dark  red  in  colour,  and  soon  ceases  to  give  any  pre¬ 
cipitate  on  testing  with  ammonia.  If  at  this  stage  the  solution  be 
allowed  to  cool,  groups  of  bright  yellow  prismatic  crystals  separate 
out  on  the  sides  of  the  vessel,  consisting  of  the  nitrate  of  a  base — 
dehydrocorydaline — differing  from  corydaline  by  four  atoms  of 
hydrogen.  The  free  base  is  very  soluble  in  water  and  alcohol,  and 
difficult  to  obtain  in  crystals.  Solutions  of  dehydrocorydaline 
and  its  salts  have  an  intense  yellow  colour,  and  give  a  vivid  green 
colour  with  blue  litmus.  Reducing  agents  reconvert  dehydrocory¬ 
daline  into  optically  inactive  corydaline.  Further  concentration 
of  the  acid  solution  until  platinum  chloride  no  longer  gives  a  pre¬ 
cipitate,  causes  yellow  coloured  crystals  of  an  acid  melting  at  218° 
to  separate  out  on  cooling.  This  is  temporarily  named  corydic 
acid.  It  is  readily  soluble  in  hot  water  and  in  alcohol,  but 
insoluble  in  ether.  Its  aqueous  solution  has  an  intense  yellow 
colour,  and  does  not  give  precipitates  with  any  of  the  metals  in 
aqueous  solution.  The  acid  contains  two  methoxy-groups  and  is 
dibasic.  Its  formula  is  C14H9N(0CH3)2(C00H2),^H20. — Proc. 
Chem.  Soc.,  179,  101. 

Behai  and  Francois  find  that  most  of  the 
Presence  of  Water  chloroform  of  commerce  contains  water,  so 
and  of  Alcohol  that  when  the  liquid  is  cooled  to  a  low- 
in  Chloroform.  temperature  small  crystals  of  ice  adhere  to 
the  sides  of  the  containing  vessel.  The 
presence  of  water  in  a  sample  of  chloroform  may  be  easily  detected 
by  first  freezing  the  liquid  and  then,  after  decanting,  applying  a 
few  crystals  of  the  double  iodide  of  mercury  and  ammonium  to  the 
spots  where  the  crystals  have  appeared.  In  the  presence  of  even 
a  trace  of  water  the  yellow  crystals  assume  a  bright  red  tint. 
Alcohol  is  determined  quantitatively  in  the  following  manner  : 
Ten  C.  c.  of  chloroform  is  washed  in  a  separator,  first  with  4  C.  c. 
of  pure  sulphuric  acid,  then  with  three  successive  portions  of  2  C.c. 
each,  so  that  in  all  10  C.c.  of  acid  are  used.  This  acid  solution  is 
then  introduced  into  a  small  flask,  40  C.c.  of  water  is  added,  and 
20  C.c.  slowly  distilled  over  in  about  twenty  minutes.  Five  C.c. 
of  this  distillate  is  taken  for  the  determination  of  the  alcohol  by 


466 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  29,  1897 


the  following  modification  of  Nicoloux’s  method  : — This  quantity  of 
the  distillate  is  introduced  into  a  test  tube  with  2  C.c.  of  sulphuric  acid 
and  placed  in  a  glass  water  bath,  so  filled  with  boiling  water  that  the 
level  of  both  the  liquid  in  the  test  tube  and  the  water  in  the  bath 
is  the  same.  The  warmed  liquid  is  then  titrated  with  a  standard 
solution  of  potassium  bichromate  containing  16  *97  grammes  of  the 
salt  per  litre.  Two  C.c.  of  this  solution  equals  O'Ol  C.c.  of  absolute 
alcohol.  This  is  run  in  drop  by  drop  until  the  blue  tint  at  first 
obtained  changes  to  greenish  yellow.  One  or  two  drops  is  sufficient 
to  produce  this  change  when  the  reaction  is  complete.  The 
authors  apply  this  method  to  the  testing  of  commercial  samples, 
and  find  that  they  contain  from  12 -5  to  3-75  volumes  per  mille  of 
absolute  alcohol. — Journ.  de  Pharm.  [6],  v.,  417. 

Continuingtheir  researches  on  the  jaborandi 
Piloearpidine  alkaloids,  Petit  and  Polonovski  state  that 
in  the  greater  part  of  the  commercial  salts  of 

PiloearpinG  Salts,  so-called  “  pilocarpine  ”  are  in  reality  salts  of 
the  two  bases.  This  is  notably  the  case  with 
the  nitrate,  the  nearly  equal  solubility  of  the  two  nitrates, 
allowing  them  to  crystallise  together.  While  the  greater  number 
of  samples  of  commercial  hydrochloride  of  pilocarpine  contained 
relatively  little  piloearpidine,  nitrate  was  frequently  met  with  con¬ 
taining  50  per  cent,  of  the  latter  base.  This  impurity  may  be 
readily  detected  by  the  lowering  both  of  the  melting  point  and  of 
the  rotatory  power  of  the  solution.  Thus,  the  pure  nitrate  melts 
at  177-178°  C.,  while  a  mixture  of  impure  salt  containing  50  per 
cent,  of  piloearpidine  nitrate  softens  at  140°,  and  is  completely 
decomposed  at  150°.  Not  only  does  the  optical  behaviour  indicate 
the  purity  or  otherwise  of  the  salt,  but  the  observed  figure  allows, 
through  Landolt’s  formula,  of  an  approximate  determination  of  the 
amount  of  the  two  nitrates  present. — Journ.  de  Pharm.  [6],  v.,  475. 

The  same  authors  combat  the  theory  of  Hardy 
Origin  and  Calmels  that  piloearpidine  is  a  decomposi- 
Of  tion  product,  but  consider  it  to  exist  in  the 

Piloearpidine.  plant,  since  in  the  absence  of  strong  acids  and 
alkalies,  the  action  of  boiling  water  alone  can¬ 
not  produce  it  in  large  quantities,  seeing  that  it  has  but  little 
action  on  pilocarpine,  and  even  when  heat  is  entirely  avoided 
more  or  less  piloearpidine  is  always  found.  Again,  operating  under 
like  conditions  with  different  species  of  jaborandi,  the  yield  of  pilo- 
carpidine  varies  greatly,  oscillating  between  5  and  75  per  cent,  of 
the  total  alkaloids  ;  and  lastly  it  is  usually  found  in  greater  pro¬ 
portion  in  the  stems  than  in  the  leaves  of  the  same  plant. — Journ. 
de  Pharm.  [6],  v.,  478. 

So  far  from  these  acids  being  hypothetical, 
Piloearpie  and  Petit  and  Polonovski  have  succeeded  in  isolating 
Piloearpidic  both  in  the  free  state,  and  find  that  they  are 
Aeids.  fairly  stable,  particularly  in  the  presence  of 
water.  The  bases  pilocarpine  and  piloearpidine 
are  regarded  as  anhydrides,  which,  when  treated  with  fixed  alkali, 
undergo  hydrolysis,  and  the  sodium  salt  of  the  acid  is  formed.  From 
this  the  barium  salt  was  prepared,  and  this,  when  decomposed  with 
an  exact  equivalent  of  sulphuric  acid,  liberates  the  organic  acids  on 
evaporation.  These  are  obtained  in  the  state  of  amorphous 
varnishes.  These  acids  are  very  soluble  in  water,  but  insoluble  in 
ether  and  chloroform ;  the  optical  rotation  is  markedly  lower 
than  that  of  the  original  alkaloid.  On  heating,  partial  de¬ 
hydration  takes  place  with  partial  re-generation  of  the 
alkaloids.  On  the  addition  of  an  acid,  even  dilute,  the 
alkaloid  is  rapidly  regenerated.  In  very  dilute  acid  solutions 
the  gradual  dehydration  of  the  acid  may  be  observed  by  the 
progressively  increasing  optical  activity  of  the  solution,  until 


ultimately  it  reaches  the  figure  for  the  pure  alkaloid. — Journ. 


de  Pharm.  [6],  v. ,  481. 

Petit  and  Polonovski  are  inclined  to  regard 
Pilocarpine  pilocarpine  and  piloearpidine  as  isomers.  The 
and  figures  obtained  by  ultimate  analysis  are  so 

Piloearpidine.  close  that  the  physical  characters  are  by  far  the 
most  important  points  of  difference  between 
the  two  alkaloids.  If  pilocarpine  is  regarded  as  the  betaine  of 
pyridine-trimethyl-ammonium-proprionic  acid, 


C5H4N- 


COO 

I 

-C— 


N(CH3)3 


ch3, 


it  is  difficult  to  account  for  the  fact  that  piloearpidine,  which  does 
not,  according  to  the  views  held  by  others,  possess  the  anhydric 
group,  but  is  pyridine-dimethyl-ammonium-proprionic  acid, 


COOH 


C6H4N - C - N(CH3)2 


ch3 

can  yet  furnish  an  acid  by  hydrolysis  in  a  precisely  similar  manner 
to  pilocarpine. — Journ.  de  Pharm.  [6],  5,  482. 

Bourquelot  finds  that  certain  organic  liquids, 
Organic  Liquids  such  as  milk,  blood  serum,  urine,  egg  albumin, 
and  and  the  aqueous  macerations  of  the  seeds  of 

Oxidation.  plants  and  grain  of  cereals,  have  the  property 

of  gradually  destroying  the  oxidising  properties 
of  such  bodies  as  quinone ;  this  action  takes  place  slowly  in  the 
cold,  but  very  rapidly  on  boiling.  Thus,  a  mixture  of  milk 
and  solution  of  quinone  (0-2  per  cent.)  heated  to  boiling,  fails  to 
give  any  coloration  with  tincture  of  guaiacum.  It  appears  that 
in  the  case  of  milk  this  action  is  limited  to  the  albuminoids,  since 
milk  serum  fails  to  prevent  the  oxidation  of  guaiacum,  nor  does 
milk  sugar  have  any  action.  Solution  of  albumin  and  of  blood 
serum  behaves  like  milk.  The  author  finds,  moreover,  that  certain 
organic  liquids  become  active  oxidisers  only  after  the  addition  of  a 
trace  of  hydrogen  peroxide.  Thus,  a  maceration  of  Indian  corn  does 
not  colour  guaiacum  tincture,  but  after  the  addition  of  a  trace  of 
peroxide  it  acquires  powerful  oxidising  properties.  Milk  and  blood 
serum  act  in  the  same  way,  but  urine  and  white  of  egg  do  not  show 
the  same  power.  Blood  serum  requires  the  addition  of  more  per¬ 
oxide  before  it  will  react  than  the  other  substances  enumerated, 
since  it  appears  to  contain  a  body  which  has  a  greater  affinity  for 
oxygen  than  even  guaiaconic  acid.  This  property  of  acquired 
oxidation  is  lost  on  boiling. — Journ.  de  Pharm.  [6],  465. 

This  has  been  accomplished  by  Trevor 
Synthesis  Laurence  by  the  condensation  of  ethylic 

Of  oxalylacetate,  with  ethylic  bromacetate  in  the 

Citric  Acid.  presence  of  zinc.  The  plastic  mass  thus 

obtained  was  extracted  with  ether  after  treat¬ 
ment  with  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  the  ethyl  citrate  thus  removed 
with  other  esters  from  which  it  was  separated  by  fractional  distil¬ 
lation.  From  this,  citric  acid  was  precipitated  as  the  calcium  salt 
after  saponification  with  alcoholic  potash. — Journ.  Chem.  Soc., 
lxxi.,  459. 


The  alkaloid  of  Garica papaya  has  been  further 
Carpaine.  examined  by  Van  Rijn,  who  mentions  the 
method  employed  by  the  Indians  in  extracting 
the  bitter  substance  from  the  leaves.  For  this  purpose  the 
boiled  mass  is  mixed  with  a  certain  kind  of  clay,  then  again  boiled 
with  the  leaves  and  filtered.  Carpaine  is  said  to  act  as  a  febrifug 
even  when  quinine  is  non-effective ;  it  possesses,  however,  a  very 


May  29,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


4  67 


strong  action  on  the  heart.  On  analysis  the  formula 
C14H25N02  was  obtained  for  the  alkaloid.  The  hydrochlorate, 
nitrate,  picrate,  and  other  salts  have  been  obtained  in  crystalline 
form,  and  several  derivatives  of  the  alkaloid  have  been  examined. 
In  addition  to  this  alkaloid  a  glucoside,  carposide,  was  also  isolated 
from  the  leaves  ;  it  forms  a  white  mass  of  small  needles  and  is  very 
hygroscopic.  It  does'not  reduce  Fehling’s  solution  until  hydrolysed. 
— Hed.  Tjd.  voor  Pharm. ,  ix. 

When  reduced  silver,  according  to  Granger, 
Silver  is  heated  to  400°  C.  in  a  stream  of  phosphorus 
Diphosphide,  vapour,  combination  takes  place,  and  on 
suddenly  cooling,  maintaining  the  atmosphere 
of  the  apparatus  full  of  the  gaseous  phosphorus,  a  definite  com¬ 
pound,  AgP2,  is  obtained.  On  heating  to  500°  C.  it  becomes  disso¬ 
ciated,  but  at  900°  C.  the  elements  again  recombine.  In  this 
respect  it  resembles  gold.  The  diphosphide  is  also  obtained  by 
heating  silver  chloride  and  phosphorus  together  to  a  temperature 
of  400°  C. — Comptes  rendus ,  cxxiv.,  898. 

Dupont  and  Guerlain  have  investigated  the 
Basilieum  oil  of  Ocymum  basilieum,  L.,  which  does  not 
Oil.  appear  to  have  been  examined  previously, 

except  that  Dumas  and  Peligot  isolated  from  it 
an  odourless  crystalline  body  to  which  they  attributed  the  formula 
C10H2/)3.  The  essential  oil  reported  on  by  the  authors  was  a 
somewhat  oily  fluid,  yellowish  in  colour,  with  a  peculiar  powerful 
and  characteristic  odour ;  its  specific  gravity  was  at  15°  C. ,  0"9154,  and 
its  rotation  for  100  Mm.  - — 7°40'.  At  ordinary  pressure  80  per  cent, 
of  the  oil  distilled  between  190°  and  220°.  On  refractionation  the 
greater  part,  equivalent  to  about  60  per  cent,  of  the  essence,  dis¬ 
tilled  between  195°  and  200°  C.,  and  had  the  odour  of  linalool. 
Its  optical  rotation  was  — 12°,  and  its  gravity  08552,  its  index  of 
molecular  refraction  and  other  characters  were  those  for  laevogyre 
linalool ;  a  higher  fraction  boiling  between  205-215  had  an  odour 
resembling  estragol  from  tarragon  oil ;  its  rotation  was  — 6°40'.  It 
was  proved  to  be  estragol  by  converting  it  into  its  propenylic 
isomer,  anethol.  The  two  chief  constituents,  of  basilieum  oil  are, 
therefore,  linalool  and  estragol. — Journ.  de  Pharm.  [6],  1.,  453. 

A.  H.  Hills  describes  the  wood  of  Jamaica 
Characteristics  quassia  ( Picraena  excelsa)  as  being  distinguished 

Of  by  the  medullary  rays  being  mostly  three  cells 

Quassia.  in  width,  the  cells  irregular  in  size  and  their 

radial  walls  regular  in  tangential  sections. 
Surinam  quassia  {Quassia  amara ),  on  the  other  hand,  has  medullary 
rays  generally  only  one  cell  in  width,  the  cells  composing  the  rays 
being  nearly  uniform  in  size,  whilst  their  radial  walls  appear  wavy 
in  tangential  sections.  The  characteristics  of  powdered  quassia 
are  also  given,  but  as  the  drug  is  practically  never  seen  in  powder 
in  this  country  it  appears  unnecessary  to  give  them  here. — Journal 
of  Pharmacology,  iv. ,  116. 

Comparison  of  the  relative  percentages  of 
alkaloids  and  of  gelsemic  acid  in  the  rhizome, 
roots  and  stem  of  commercial  gelsemium  have 
been  made  by  Sayre.  He  finds  that  the  active 
principles  of  the  plant  are  absent  or  only 
present  in  very  minute  quantity  in  the  stems, 
the  relative  proportions  per  cent,  being — 

Rhizome.  Roots.  Stem. 

Volatile  Oil . .  0-5  . . . 

Fixed  Oil . . . .  5-7  ... 

Resins  .  4 -4  ... 

Alkaloid  .  0-2  ... 

Gelsemic  Acid  .  0  37  . . . 

Other  Organic  Acids  ....  2  "7  ... 

• — Amer.  Joum.  Pharm.,  lxix.,  234. 


Active 

Principles 

in 

Gelsemium. 


0"4  . trace 

7-4  .  3-2 

2  4  ......  3-8 

0-17  ......  — 

0-3  — 

2-8  1-9 


Coblentz  controverts  Robbins’  statement  that 
Gelsemic  Acid,  gelsemic  acid  is  identical  with  tesculin.  He 
points  out  that  the  melting-points  of  the  two 
bodies  and  of  their  acetyl  and  bromo-derivatives  are  quite  different. 
Gelsemic  acid  melts  at  205 -5°  to  206°  C.,  its  acetyl  compound  at- 
180°  C.,  and  its  bromo-derivative  at  250°.  The  figures  for  aesculin 
are  160°  C.,  and  for  its  corresponding  acetyl  compound  130°  C.,  and 
for  bromo-aisculin  193°  to  195°.  He  states  that  the  formula  found 
by  Robbins  is  incorrect,  and  attributes  the  error  to  incomplete 
combustion.  Gelsemic  acid,  unless  special  precautions  are  taken, 
is  not  completely  burnt,  part  of  the  carbon  condensing  to  a 
graphitic  condition  in  the  tube. — Am.  Journ.  Pharm.,  lxix.,  229. 

C.  Pfister  shows  that  the  pollen  grains  of 
herbs  collected  with  the  flowering  tops  are  so- 
characteristic  in  shape,  whilst  varying  but  little 
in  size,  that  they  serve  as  a  useful  means  of 
distinguishing  powders  prepared  from  the 
herbs.  The  pollens  were  obtained  for  examination  by  breaking 
open  the  anthers  of  the  flowers,  and  then  mounted  in  sweet  almond 
oil,  the  cover  glasses  being  ringed  with  gold  size.  The  varieties 
pictured  and  described  are  classified  into  three  groups  :  1.  Pollen 
bounded  by  smooth  outline — Gataria,  Marrubium,  Artemisia,  Ab¬ 
sinthium,  Lobelia,  Pulsatilla,  Scoparius ;  2.  Echinate  pollen, 

rough,  with  minute  spines — Tanacetum,  Mentha  piperita,  Grindelia 
robusta,  Eupatorium,  Hedeoma,  Chiretta ;  3.  Pollen  with  undulate 
surfaces — Mentha  viridis. — Journal  of  Pharmacology,  iv.,  113. 

From  a  series"  of  experiments  carried  out 
Influence  Of  Light  on  a  variety  of  different  plants,  Herr  K. 
on  the  Growth  Stameroff  obtains  the  following  results. 
Of  Plants.  The  vegetative  hyphse  of  Mucor  and  Sapro * 
legnia  grow  with  equal  rapidity  in  light  and 
in  darkness,  but  light  has  a  depressing  effect  on  the  growth  of  the 
reproductive  hyphse  of  Mucor.  The  rhizoids  on  the  bulbils  of 
Marchantia  polymorpha  grow  more  slowly  in  the  light  than  in  the 
dark.  Light  produces  no  effect  on  the  rapidity  of  growth  of  the 
pollen-tubes  of  Colutea  arborescens  and  Robinia  pseud-acacia. — 
Flora,  1897,  p.  135. 

Herr  F.  Oltmanns  states  that  there  is  for 
Positive  and  every  species  of  plant  an  optimum  intensity  of 
Negative  light  for  heliotropic  sensitiveness.  In  the  case 
Heliotropism.  of  the  fructification  of  Phycomyces  he  found  the 
curvature  to  benegative,  indifferent,  or  positive, 
according  to  the  distance  from  the  source  of  light,  the  former 
being  the  case  with  small,  the  latter  with  great  distances.  Green 
seedlings  of  barley  are  more  sensitive  to  light  than  etiolated  ones. 
The  horizontal  position  of  many  stems  and  aerial  stolons  is  the 
result  of  geotropism  rather  than  of  heliotropism. — Flora,  1897,  p.  1. 

Herr  J.  Schniewind-Thies  describes  the  nec- 
Septal  taries  seated  in  the  septa  of  the  ovary  which 
Nectaries.  are  peculiar  to  certain  orders  belonging  to  the 
Liliiflorae  and  Scitaminese.  The  simplest  form 
occurs  in  Tofieldia  palustris,  where  the  nectar  is  excreted  from 
the  entire  outer  wall  of  the  ovary,  while  in  T.  caly- 
culata  the  secretion  is  limited  to  the  furrows  in  the 
wall  of  the  ovary  which  correspond  to  the  septa.  The 
nuclei  of  the  secreting  tissue  are  distinguished  from  those  of  the 
parenchyme  by  the  large  amount  of  chromatin  contained  in  them, 
and  usually  by  the  greater  abundance  of  nucleoles.  In  most  of 
the  nectaries  the  nuclei  are  erythrophilous.  In  Leucojum  vernum 
the  nectaries  are  found  in  the  apex  of  the  style ;  in  Galanthus  nivalis 
in  the  summit  of  the  ovary  ;  on  the  ovary  of  the  Zingiberaceai  they 
are  excrescences  of  a  club  shape  or  some  other  form. — Beitrdge  zur 
Kenntniss  der  Septal-nektarien,  Jena,  1897. 


Study 

of 

Pollens. 


468 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  29,  1897 


Professor  R.  Chodat  traces  back  all  the 
Evolution  principal  groups  of  chlorophyllous  algae  to  the 
Of  the  Palmellaceas,  comprising  the  genera  Palmella, 
Green  Algse.  Tetraspora,  GMocystis,  and  Apiocystis.  In 
them  cell-division  may  take  place  in  three 
different  ways:  Irregularly  in  all  directions  [Palmella- condition), in 
one  plane  only  ( Tetraspora- condition),  or  tetrahedrally  [Glceocystis- 
condition).  From  these  three  principal  conditions  arise  three  lines 
of  descent :  (1)  the  Volvocinese,  (2)  the  Pleurococcoidese,  and  (3) 
the  Ulvacese  and  the  filamentous  green  algae.  The  Volvocinese^are 
derived  immediately  from  the  unicellular  species  of  Ghlamf- 
domonas.  Nearly  allied  to  them  is  Gonium,  where  the  tetra- 
sporoid  condition  is  motile.  All  the  genera  of  Protococcoideae 
( Oocystis,  Nephrocytium,  Scenedesmus, .  Raphidium,  etc. )  can  be  , 
reduced  to  globular  unicellular  colonies.  The  Pediastreae  ( Pedi - 
astrum,  Gcelastrum,  Sorastrum,  Hydrodictyon,  etc.)  constitute  a 
parallel  group.  The  Ulvaceae  and  Chaetophoracese  are  united  with 
the  simplest  forms  through  Pleurococcus  and  Monostroma.  The 
highest  development  of  the  filamentous  green  algae  is  reached  in 
the  Coleochaeteae. — Annals  of  Botany,  1897,  p.  97. 

M.  A.  Lendner  records  the  results  of  a 
Influence  Of  series  of  experiments  on  the  effect  of  the 
External  conditions  access  and  withdrawal  of  light  on  a  variety 
On  the  Development  of  fungi,  chiefly  Mucorini  and  Ascomycetes, 
Of  Fungi.  grown  on  different  media.  All  the 
Mucorini  examined  developed  sporanges 
under  the  influence  of  light  when  grown  on  solid  substrata  ;  in 
liquid  media  the  results  varied  with  the  species.  In  the  case  of 
the  conidial  forms  of  the  Ascomycetes,  conids  w'ere  invariably 
formed  under  the  influence  of  alternate  day  and  night ;  under 
continuous  light  the  results  varied  with  the  species.  All  the 
phenomena  of  heliotropic  sensitiveness  in  fungi  appear  to  have 
their  source  in  the  need  for  nutrition.—  A nn.  des  Sciences  Nat. 
Botanique,  1897,  p.  1. 

F.  Nobbe  and  L.  Hiltner  have  carried  on  a 
Inoculation  Of  series  of  experiments  on  the  inoculation  of 
Nodule  Bacteria  the  bacteroids  from  the  root-tubercles  of  one 
in  Different  species  of  leguminous  plant  to  those  of  a 
Host-Species.  different  species.  The  results  were  mostly 
negative,  the  inoculation  being  certain  only 
from  one  plant  to  another  of  the  same  species.  The  Viciese  afford 
an  exception,  inoculation  being  in  them  possible  from  one  species 
to  another  without  any  essentially  lessened  effect.  They  found 
the  result  of  inoculation  to  be  increased  vigour,  especially  in  the 
production  of  flower  and  fruit,  and  this  was  observed  particularly 
in  peas  and  red  clover.  The  root-tubercles  have  no  marked 
influence  on  the  growth  of  the  aerial  parts  of  the  plant  so  long  as 
the  soil  contains  a  sufficient  supply  of  nitrogen. — Landwirth- 
schaftliche  Versuchs-Stationen,  xlvii.,  p.  257. 

M.  L.  Planchon  offers  a  mechanical  explana- 
Opening  of  the  tion  of  the  remarkable  phenomena  attending 
Flowers  of  the  sudden  opening  of  the  flowers  of  various 
(Enothera.  species  of  (Enothera  in  the  evening.  At  sunset 
the  afflux  of  sap  and  decrease  of  transpiration 
cause  a  general  swelling  of  the  bud,  and  especially  of  the  petals. 
By  their  swelling  the  petal's  detach  the  calyx,  and  the  reflex  of 
the  sepals  is  the  result  of  the  extension  of  their  upper  surface  in 
consequence  of  a  special  anatomical  arrangement.  The  opening 
and  unfolding  of  the  petals  is  then  effected  by  a  further  swelling 
of  their  lamina  accompanied  by  enlargement  of  the  disk.  The  fall 
of  the  flower  the  next  morning  is  the  result  of  the  dissociation  of 
the  cells  which  unite  the  calycine  tube  with  the  ovary. — Bull.  Soc. 
Bot.  de  France,  vol.  xliii. ,  455. 


Professor  W.  Zopf  gives  a  detailed  account 
ParasymbiOSiS  of  the  fungi  which  grow  on  different  species 
Of  Fungi.  of  lichens,  numbering  344  species  belonging 

to  76  genera.  These  fungi  are  not  in  all 
cases  true  parasites,  but  have  a  kind  of  symbiotic  relationship 
to  the  lichen-host  which  he  terms  parasymbiosis.  The  hyphas  of 
the  “parasite”  completely  envelope  the  algal  constituent  of  the 
lichen  without  inflicting  any  injury  upon  it.  Observations  are 
recorded  especially  on  Rhymbocarpus  punctiformis  growing  on 
Rhizocarpon  geographicum,  and  on  Gonida  punctella  and  G.  rubescens 
growing  on  Diplotomma  alboatrum.  The  hyphse  of  the  parasite 
may  be  clearly  distinguished  from  those  of  the  lichen  by  their 
chemical  reactions,  the  latter  being  coloured  a  beautiful  blue  by 
iodine  solution,  wjiile  the  former  are  not. — Hedwigia,  1896,  p.  312, 
and  Ber.  Deutsch.  Bot.  Gesell.,  1897,  p.  90. 

M.  C.  Candolle  continues  his  researches  on 
Latent  Life  the  powder  of  seeds  to  maintain  their  vitality 

Of  under  low  temperatures.  He  states  that  seeds 

Seeds.  of  Indian  corn,  oat,  fennel,  Mimosa  pudica, 

Gloxinia,  and  other  plants,  when  exposed  for 
118  days  to  a  temperature  of  -40°  F.,  will,  in  most  cases,  still 
germinate.  The  protoplasm  of  the  seeds  he  regards  as  not  actually 
in  a  living  state,  but  as  having  entered  a  stage  of  inaction  in 
which,  though  to  all  appearance  dead,  it  is  still  endowed  with 
potential  life. — Report  Liverpool  Meeting  Brit.  Ass.,  1896. 

The  bushmen  of  the  South  African  district 
Arrow  Poison  “Kalahari”  use  the  juice  of  the  leaf  beetle 

from  “  Diamphidia”  and  its  larva  for  poisoning  their 

Larvae.  arrow-heads.  Lewin  (who  calls  the  beetle 

Diamphidia  simplex,  Per.)  found  in  its  body, 
besides  inert  fatty  acids,  a  toxalbumin  which  causes  paralysis  and 
finally  death.  According  to  Boehm,  the  poison  from  the  larva 
also  belongs  to  the  toxalbumins,  and  Starke  states  that  it  causes 
the  dissolution  of  the  colouring  matter  of  the  blood  and  produces 
inflammation.  To  obtain  a  solution  of  the  poison,  Boehm  recom¬ 
mends  the  maceration  of  the  whole  larva  with  distilled  water.  After 
some  hours  they  swell  up  and  the  solution  becomes  light  yellow 
coloured  and  is  acid  in  reaction.  This  reaction  still  remains  after 
shaking  out  with  ether.  The  aqueous  solution  then  has  poisonous 
properties.  The  action  of  the  poison  is  destroyed  by  boiling.  It 
gives  the  usual  reactions  of  a  toxalbumin,  and  may  be  precipitated 
from  its  aqueous  solution  by  means  of  sulphate  of  ammonia.  — 
Pharm.  Central.,  xxxviii. ,  277. 

This  is  a  fibrous  material  of  serpentinous 
AsbestiC.  origin,  which  remains  after  the  richer  veins 
of  asbestos  have  been  extracted  from  the  rock 
containing  it.  According  to  R.  H.  Jones,  it  can  be  converted  into 
a  fireproof  plaster,  which  is  also  a  non-conductor  of  heat  and 
sound.  It  is  odourless,  elastic,  and  vermin-proof,  forms  a  natural 
filter,  and  will  adhere  well  to  metal  or  glass.  Paper  of  superior 
quality  is  made  from  it,  in  place  of  wood,  straw,  or  other  pulp. — 
Journ.  Soc.  Arts,  xlv.,  544. 

Lannelongue  and  Achard  record  some 
Gallinaceous  Birds  curious  facts  with  regard  to  the  immunity 
and  of  fowls  to  the  action  of  the  human  tubercle 

Tuberculosis.  bacillus.  As  the  result  of  their  experi¬ 
ments  it  would  seem  that  although  the 
bacilli  when  introduced  into  the  body  of  fowls,  retain  their  viru¬ 
lence  for  guinea-pigs,  they  appear  while  in  the  bird’s  body  to  lose 
their  power  of  generation,  and  do  not  increase  in  number.  They 
become  encysted,  not  because  the  secretions  of  the  bird’s  blood  is 
fatal  to  them,  but  merely  because  they  have  no  power  of  reproduc¬ 
tion.  The  blood  and  body  secretions  of  fowls,  per  se,  have  no 


May  29,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


469 


inhibitory  action  on  the  bacilli  when  employed  as  an  antitoxin, 
in  the  case  of  guinea-pigs  inoculated  with  tubercle,  either  before  or 
after  the  bacilli  have  been  introduced  into  the  bird’s  body.  The 
resistance  of  fowls  to  human  tuberculosis  is,  however,  only  partial, 
since  they  may  eventually  be  affected  by  the  necrotic  substances 
contained  in  the  bodies  of  the  bacilli. — Gomptes  rendus,  cxxiv.,  886. 

Dr.  Winter  Blyth  is  convinced  that  formic 
Disinfection  aldehyde  gas  is  superior  to  sulphurous  acid  gas 
with  as  a  disinfectant,  and  he  recommends  its  use  to 

Formic  the  Vestry  of  St.  Marylebone  accordingly.  In 
Aldehyde.  a  comparative  trial  pieces  of  linen  on  which 
were  cultures  of  the  bacilli  of  diphtheria, 
typhoid,  anthrax,  and  tuberculosis  were  exposed  to  the  two  gases 
in  separate  rooms  for  nineteen  hours.  Subsequent  examination  of 
the  infected  pieces  of  linen  by  Professor  Macfadyen  showed  the 
following  results  : — 


Organism. 

Sulphurous  acid. 

Formic  aldehyde. 

Diphtheria  bacillus  . 

No  growth 

N o  growth 

Typhoid  bacillus  . .  . . 

Good  growth 

No  growth 

Anthrax  bacillus  . . 

Good  growth 

No  growth 

Contamination  with  other  organisms  prevented  the  tubercle 
samples  being  properly  reported  on. 

C.  A.  Whitmore  sets  himself  to  disprove  the 
Weather  Signs  popular  notion  that  the  moon  exercises  some 
and  influence  upon  our  climatic  conditions,  its 

Fallacies.  changes  synchronising  with  marked  changes 
in  the  weather,  and  quotes  facts  in  connection 
with  the  weather  of  the  past  twelve  months,  which  should  con¬ 
vince  people  who  misplace  faith  in  the  influence  of  the  earth’s 
satellite.  He  deals  also  with  other  weather  fallacies,  showing  that 
a  heavy  dew  at  night  is  not  a  sign  of  stable  weather,  but  simply 
indicates  that  the  sky  is  clear  and  the  conditions  favourable  for 
the  deposition  of  dew,  whilst  with  regard  to  the  old-time  notion 
that  a  luxuriant  crop  of  berries  foretells  a  hard  winter,  he  suggests 
that  it  implies  no  more  than  the  fact  that  the  past  season  has  been 
favourable  to  the  production  of  berries.  — National  Review,  May,  1 897. 

A.  E.  Munby  points  out  that  the  cheap  pro- 
Bunscn  Burner  duction  of  calcium  carbide  has  placed  a  power - 
fOP  ful  illuminant  within  the  reach  of  those  who 

Acetylene.  possess  no  gas  supply,  but  so  far  little  has  been 

heard  of  the  use  of  acetylene  as  a  heating 
agent.  He  employs  a  Bunsen  burner  of  special  dimensions,  the 
tube  being  5  millimetres  in  internal  diameter.  A  slightly  wider 
tube  may  be  used,  provided  the  mouth  be  curved  inwards,  so  that 
the  actual  exit  does  not  exceed  the  diameter  mentioned  ;  if  larger, 
the  flame  tends  to  strike  down.  The  gas  jet  is  very  small,  being 
only  capable  of  delivering  about  1  cubic  foot  of  acetylene  per 
hour  under  6  inches  water  pressure,  such  a  rate  of  consump¬ 
tion  giving  an  ordinary  working  flame.  The  air-holes  and 
collar  are  arranged  as  in  an  ordinary  Bunsen,  the  exact 
size  of  the  holes  not  being  of  much  importance,  provided 
they  be  large  enough  to  admit  the  air  required.  The  burner 
is  protected  with  a  cap,  when  not  in  use,  as  its  efficiency 
depends  upon  the  jet  maintaining  its  dimensions.  A  generator 
capable  of  giving  gas  under  seven  inches  water  pressure  with  the 
full  number  of  burners  in  use  is  required.  Under  this  pressure  a 
large,  perfectly  blue  flame  is  obtained,  which  may  be  turned  down 
to  what  may  be  termed  a  quarter  Bunsen  flame,  equivalent  to 
burning  the  gas  under  three  to  four  inches  water  pressure.  This 


is  the  smallest  pressure  with  which  the  burner  will  give  a  non- 
luminous  flame ;  when  turned  lower,  the  zone  of  partial  combustion 
appears,  since  the  draught  is  then  insufficient.  The  heating  effect 
of  the  flame  is,  of  course,  very  great,  enabling  one  to  dispense 
with  the  blow-pipe  for  such  operations  as  small  fusions.  From  a 
few  experiments  on  heating  equal  quantities  of  water  under  like 
conditions  with  coal  gas  andacetylene,  it  would  seem  thatin  practice, 
for  equal  volumes  burnt,  the  latter  has  nearly  twice  the  heating 
power  of  the  former.—  Proc.  Ghem.  Soc,,  179,  103. 

The  use  of  the  microbes  of  chicken  cholera 
Rabbits  is,  after  all,  likely  to  be  resorted  to  in 

and  dealing  with  the  rabbit  pest  in  New  South 

Microbes.  Wales.  When  this  plan  was  originally  sug¬ 
gested  by  Pasteur  reluctance  was  felt  to 
introduce  a  new  disease  into  the  Colony.  But  the  Govern¬ 
ment  bacteriologist  has  recently  shown  that  chicken  cholera 
does  exist  both  in  New  South  Wales  and  Queensland,  and 
he  describes  in  detail  various  scientific  investigations,  the  results- 
of  which  place  the  matter  beyond  doubt.  Extensive  experiments, 
prove  the  efficacy  of  this  method  of  destroying  rabbits  to  be  very 
great,  and  the  Government  has  therefore  been  recommended  to- 
grant  permission  to  persons  who  suffer  from  the  depredations  of 
the  animals  to  utilise  this  novel  means  of  suppressing  them.  It 
has  been  calculated  that  two  gallons  of  broth  infected  with  chicken 
cholera  microbes  is  sufficient  to  destroy  at  least  20,000  rabbits, 
irrespective  of  infection  induced  by  contagion. — Nature,  lvi.,  16. 

Professor  Villari  states  that  gases  appear  to 
Gases  as  be  improved  as  heat  conductors  after  being 
Heat  traversed  by  electric  sparks,  the  apparent 
Conductors.  cooling  producing  a  fall  of  resistance  of  10  per 
cent,  in  some  cases.  He  records  a  number  of 
experiments  in  which  the  sparks  were  produced  by  a  powerful 
coil,  supplemented  by  large  Leyden  jars.  After  the  gases  had 
been  traversed  by  the  sparks,  they  were  allowed  to  act  upon  a 
platinum  spiral  heated  to  redness  by  an  electric  current.  Under 
similar  conditions,  oxygen,  nitrogen,  and  air  were  practically  alike 
in  their  cooling  effects,  but  that  of  hydrogen  was  much  less  marked. 
The  cooling  effect  of  the  gases  increased  with  that  of  the  energy 
of  the  sparks,  and  also,  at  first,  with  the  temperature  of  the 
platinum  spiral ;  but  after  the  latter  exceeded  a  certain  limit  the 
refrigerating  power  decreased. — Nature,  lvi.,  15. 

Sabrazes  and  Riviere  find  that  the  X  rays  are 
Action  absolutely  without  action  on  the  growth  and 

Of  pigmentation  of  cultures  of  Microbacillus 

X  Rays.  prodigiosus,  even  when  the  bacilli  were  exposed 
to  their  influence  for  twenty  days.  In  a  like- 
manner  the  leucocytes  of  the  blood  of  a  living  frog  were  not 
affected  in  any  way,  nor  was  their  phagocytosis  perceptibly 
modified  in  any  way.  It  has  been  stated  that  Rontgen’s  rays  have 
affected  the  heart  when  patients  have  been  exposed  to  their 
influence.  The  authors  find,  however,  that  when  the  heart  of  a 
living  frog  is  placed  under  an  intense  source  of  the  X  rays  the 
rhythm  of  that  organ  is  in  no  way  affected  even  after  an  exposure 
of  more  than  an  hour’s  duration.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that 
the  X  rays  are  biologically  inert.  Professor  W.  Crookes  also  con¬ 
firms  the  statement  that  the  X  rays  act  upon  the  skin  of  certain  per¬ 
sons  with  varying  intensity,  but  he  believes  that  the  effects  are 
largely  due  to  personal  idiosyncrasy.  Although  he  has  himself 
worked  with  the  tubes  producing  these  rays  for  a  longer  time 
probably  than  any  other  experimenter,  without  perceiving  the 
least  effect  upon  the  face  or  hands,  he  has  seen  marked  action 
produced  on  the  skin  of  others  who  have  been  exposed  to  the  rays 
for  a  markedly  shorter  time. — Gomptes  rendus,  cxxiv.,  855  and  979. 


470 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  29,  1897 


HISTOLOGY  OF  THE  VEGETABLE  TISSUE  SYSTEMS.* 

BY  DR.  J.  LOUIS  D.  MORISON. 

The  several  tissues  that  compose  the  bodies  of  plants  are  not 
found  in  the  root,  stem  and  leaf  without  definite  order,  but  are 
grouped  into  systems  for  the  performance  of  different  kinds  of 
work.  In  all  the  higher  plants,  at  least,  three  principal  systems 
may  be  distinguished.  These  are  the  epidermal  or  boundary 
tissue  system,  the  fundamental  or  ground  tissue  system,  and  the 
fibro-vascular  or  conducting  tissue  system. 

Development  of  the  Tissue  Systems. — In  the  higher  plants  these 
three  systems  of  tissue  originate  from  meristem  cells  located  at  the 
growing-point  of  the  stem  and  root. 

In  the  growing-point  these  embryonic  cells  very  soon  become 
differentiated  into  three  primary  meristem  layers  known  as 
dermatogen,  periblem,  and  plerome,  from  which  are  developed, 
respectively,  the  epidermis,  the  primary  cortex,  and  the  stele  or 
vascular  cylinder.  The  dermatogen  forms  the  outermost  layer  of 
cells  at  the  growing-point,  and  when  present  always  develops  into 
true  epidermal  tissue.  In  stems  the  dermatogen  is  always  single¬ 
layered,  while  in  roots  it  consists  of  several  layers  and  develops  a 
many-layered  epidermis.  As  the  root  grows  older  the  cells  of  this 
many-layered  epidermis  are  gradually  exfoliated,  persisting  only 
at  the  apex,  where  they  form  a  many-layered  root-cap.  Above  the 
root-tips  the  epidermal  cells  either  all  disappear  but  the  inner 
layer  (dicotyls),  or  disappear  altogether  (monocotyls),  leaving  the 
functions  of  the  epidermis  to  be  performed  by  the  outer  layer  of 
the  primary  cortex. 

The  periblem  occurs  immediately  beneath  the  dermatogen, 
forming  a  hollow  cylinder  of  tissue,  which  surrounds  the  plerome. 
From  the  periblem  is  developed  the  fundamental  tissue  of  the 
primary  cortex.  When  no  dermatogen  is  present  in  the  growing- 
point  (stems  of  vascular  cryptogams)  the  external  layer  of  the 
periblem  develops  cells  which  perform  epidermal  functions. 

The  plerome  occupies  the  centre  of  the  growing-point,  and  con¬ 
sists  of  a  solid  mass  of  somewhat  elongated  cells.  From  the  plerome 
are  developed  the  fibro-vascular  and  fundamental  tissues  of  the 
vascular-cylinder  or  stele.  Usually  but  a  single  stele  is  developed 
from  the  plerome  (monostelic  organs),  but  sometimes  two  or  more 
are  formed,  each  stele  either  developing  from  separate  plerome- 
strands  (polystelic  organs),  or  are  formed  by  the  splitting  of  an 
original  stele  derived  from  a  single  plerome  (schizostelic  organs). 

Epidermal  or  Boundary  Tissue  System. — This  system  constitutes 
the  external  covering  of  the  body  of  the  plant,  and  is  commonly 
called  the  epidermis.  It  includes,  besides  the  ordinary  epidermal 
cells,  the  guard-cells  of  the  stomata  and  water-pores,  the  plant- 
hairs  or  trichomes,  and  the  epidermal  or  external  glands.  The 
epidermal  tissues  are  chiefly  protective  in  function,  serving  to 
prevent  excessive  evaporation  from  the  interior  tissues  of  the  plant. 

In  stems  the  external  layer  of  cells,  whatever  its  origin,  is  known 
as  the  epidermis,  while  in  roots  it  is  called  the  epiblema.  The 
epidermis  usually  consists  of  a  single  layer  of  cells,  but  in  some 
cases  it  is  two  or  three-layered,  as  in  the  leaves  of  figs  and  begonias. 
The  epiblema  is  also  usually  single-layered,  but  occasionally  con¬ 
sists  of  many  layers  of  cells,  as  in  the  roots  of  some  epiphytic 
orchids,  where  the  many-layered  epiblema  is  known  as  the  relamen. 

In  land  plants  the  epidermis  is  usually  strongly  cutinised,  while 
in  submerged  aquatics  it  is  never  cutinised.  The  epidermis  of 
land  plants  is  also  often  waxy,  the  wax  occurring  on  the  surface 
as  minute  grains,  rods  or  flakes,  constituting  the  so-called  bloom 
of  leaves  and  fruits,  and  giving  to  them  their  glaucous  appearance. 
Chlorophyll  bodies  are  usually  absent  from  the  ordinary  epidermal 
cells  of  land  plants,  while  they  commonly  occur  in  the  epidermal 
cells  of  aquatic  plants. 

Ordinary  epidermal  cells  are  usually  thin-walled  and  transparent, 
and  contain  a  nucleus  and  colourless  watery  protoplasm,  but  are 
destitute  of  both  chlorophyll-bodies  and  starch-grains. 

The  external  layers  of  the  outer  walls  are  usually  strongly 
cutinised,  constituting  the  so-called  cuticle  of  the  plant,  while  the 
internal  layers  and  the  radial  and  inner  walls  are  composed  of 
cellulose.  The  cells  of  the  epidermis  are  always  very  compactly 
arranged,  having  their  walls  so  closely  adherent  that  the  inter¬ 
cellular  spaces  are  entirely  obliterated  except  at  the  stomata  and 
water-pores.  In  surface  view  epidermal  cells  are  usually  wavy  or 
irregular  in  outline,  but  are  sometimes  more  or  less  regular,  having 
straight  sides  and  squarish  ends.  In  very  many  cases  they  are 


*  Address  delivered  to  Beta  Phi  Society  of  the  Philadelphia  College,  of  Phar¬ 
macy.  Prom  the  Alianni 'Report. 


elongated  in  the  direction  of  the  organ  which  bears  them,  when 
they  are  apt  to  be  oblique-ended  or  fusiform. 

The  epidermal  system  includes,  besides  the  ordinary  epidermal 
cells  just  described,  other  tissues,  as  the  guard-cells  of  the  stomata 
and  water-pores,  the  plant-hairs  or  trichomes,  and  the  external  or 
epidermal  glands,  all  of  which  are  but  modifications  of  ordinary 
epidermal  tissue. 

The  Stomata  or  Breathing -Pores  —  These  are  apertures  in 
the  epidermis  which  lie  over  large  intercellular  spaces.  They 
are  usually  bordered  by  two  modified  epidermal  cells,  called 
guard-cells.  Stomata  are  formed  in  the  following  manner  :  A 
young  epidermal  cell  divides  into  two  equal  portions  by  the  forma¬ 
tion  of  a  septum  across  its  middle,  each  half  developing  into  a 
guard-cell ;  the  septum  now  splits  lengthwise  and  separates  the 
guard-cells,  leaving  an  aperture  or  stoma  between  them. 

In  the  higher  plants  the  guard-cells  of  the  stomata  are  crescent¬ 
shaped  and  occur  in  pairs,  the  concave  sides  of  the  cells  facing 
each  other  with  the  aperture  between,  while  in  mosses  the  stomata 
possess  but  a  single  annular  guard-cell  which  surrounds  the 
aperture.  The  guard-cells  of  stomata  usually  contain  chlorophyll- 
bodies  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  protoplasm.  They  have  the 
power  of  increasing  or  diminishing  the  size  of  the  aperture  under 
the  influence  of  light  and  moisture,  and  thus  regulate  the  amount 
pf  evaporation  from  the  interior  tissues  of  the  plant. 

Stomata  are  confined  to  the  sporophyte-plant,  occurring  on  the 
stems  and  leaves,  but  absent  from  the  roots  and  from  submerged 
parts.  They  are  most  abundant  on  the  lower  (dorsal)  surface  of 
dorsi-ventral  leaves,  but  are  about  equally  distributed  over  both 
surfaces  of  iso-bilateral  and  centric  leaves.  In  floating  leaves  they 
occur  on  the  upper  epidermis  only. 

Water -Pores  or  Water -Stomata. — These  are  also  apertures  in  the 
epidermis,  similar  in  structure  to  ordinary  stomata,  but  differ  from 
them  both  in  function  and  distribution.  Water-pores  excrete 
water  in  the  form  of  drops,  and  have  their  guard-cells  fixed  and 
immovable.  They  always  occur  at  the  ends  of  vasal  bundles,  and 
are  found  on  the  margin  and  at  the  apex  of  leaves. 

Plant-hairs  or  Trichomes. — There  are  modified  epidermal  cells 
which  have  become  prolonged  externally,  and  may  be  either 
unicellular  or  multicellular.  Each  hair  consists  of  a  basal  portion, 
or  foot,  which  is  embedded  among  the  ordinary  epidermal  cells, 
and  an  apical  portion,  or  body,  which  is  prolonged  externally. 
Ordinary  epidermal  hairs  are  usually  thin-walled,  the  inner  layers 
of  the  wall  being  composed  of  cellulose,  while  the  outer  layer  is 
more  or  less  strongly  cutinised.  Sometimes  the  walls  become 
hardened  by  deposits  of  lime-salts  or  silica. 

When  young,  the  cells  contain  both  protoplasm  and  nucleus,  but 
as  they  mature,  their  protoplasmic  contents  disappear  and  are 
replaced  by  air.  Sometimes  the  cells  become  glandular  and 
secrete  oily,  resinous  or  other  matters,  when  they  are  known  as 
glandular  hairs. 

The  root-hairs  spring  from  the  epiblema,  and  the  part  of  the 
latter  which  bears  the  hairs  is  known  as  the  piliferous  layer.  The 
walls  of  root-hairs  are  never  cutinised,  but  are  frequently  more  or 
less  mucilaginous.  The  root-hairs  are  the  principal  absorbing 
organs  of  the  plant,  and  are  confined  to  the  younger  roots,  occur¬ 
ring  just  above  their  tips.  Root-hairs  are  never  present  in 
aquatic  plants,  and  are  absent  from  the  roots  of  some  of  the 
Conifer®. 

Fundamental  or  Ground  Tissue  System. — This  system  constitutes 
the  groundwork  of  the  plant,  and  is  the  system  through  which  the 
vasal  bundles  are  distributed.  The  fundamental  tissues  are 
composed  largely,  though  not  wholly,  of  ordinary  parenchyma, 
and  are  chiefly  concerned  in  the  metabolic  work  of  the  plant. 

Ground  tissue  includes,  besides  ordinary  parenchyma,  collen- 
chyma,  sclerenchymatous  parenchyma,  fibrous  tissue,  cork  or 
suberous  tissue,  laticiferous  and  glandular  tissues.  To  the 
fundamental  system  belongs  the  green-cells  of  leaves,  the  thin- 
walled  cells  of  the  pith  and  medullary  rays,  the  cells  of  the  cortex 
of  stems  and  roots,  and  most  of  the  soft  cellular  tissues  in  all 
plants. 

The  lower  plants  consist  almost  entirely  of  fundamental  tissue. 
In  the  herbaceous  forms  of  the  higher  plants  the  ground  tissues 
largely  predominate,  while  in  woody  plants  they  are  present  in 
much  smaller  proportion,  the  vascular  tissues  being  the  most 
abundant.  In  aquatic  plants  generally,  the  fundamental  tissues 
constitute  the  principal  system.  According  to  its  relation 
to  the  stele  or  steles,  the  fundamental-  tissues  may  be  divided 
into  extra-stelar  and  intra-stelar  ground  tissue,  the  former 


Mat  29,  1897J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


471 


developing  from  the  periblem,  the  latter  from  the  plerome,  in  the 
growing-point. 

The  extra-stelar  fundamental  tissues  include  all  the  ground 
tissue  outside  the  stele  or  steles.  It  is  bounded  externally  by  the 
epidermis,  and  internally  by  the  stele  or  steles.  In  monostelic 
organs  the  extra-stelar  tissues  consist  of  several  or  many  layers  of 
cells,  and  constitute  the  so-called  cortex  of  stems  and  roots.  In 
polystelic  and  schizostelic  organs  the  extra-stelar  tissues  include 
not  only  the  tissues  of  the  cortex,  but  also  the  ground  tissue 
between  and  among  the  steles,  which  is  sometimes  spoken  of  as 
inter-stelar  tissue.  The  extra-stelar  tissues  may  usually  be 
distinguished  into  three  distinct  layers,  namely,  the  hypoderma, 
the  general  ground  tissue,  and  the  endodermis. 

The  hypoderma  occurs  immediately  beneath  the  epidermis,  and 
consists  of  several  or  many  layers  of  cells.  It  may  be  composed 
of  eollenchyma  or  sclerenchyma,  but  in  a  few  cases  it  consists  of 
aqueous  tissue. 

A  collenchymatous  hypoderma  is  found  in  the  stems  and  petioles 
of  most  herbaceous  dicotyls,  and  frequently  occurs  next  the  mid-rib 
of  leaves,  where  it  forms  a  strengthening  tissue.  A  sclerenchy- 
matous  hypoderma  occurs  either  as  a  continuous  layer  beneath  the 
epidermis,  as  in  the  stems  of  some  ferns,  as  Pteris  aquilina,  and 
some  leaves,  as  those  of  pine  ;  or,  it  may  form  numerous  isolated 
strands  beneath  the  epidermis,  as  in  the  stems  of  horsetails  and 
some  Umbelliferse. 

A  hypoderma  of  aqueous  tissue  occurs  in  the  leaves  of  some 
monocotyls.  It  is  composed  of  thin-walled  parenchymatous  cells 
that  are  closely  packed  together  without  intercellular  spaces.  The 
cells  of  this  tissue  are  usually  filled  with  an  abundance  of  watery 
sap,  and  thus  serve  as  reservoirs  for  water. 

The  hypoderma  of  the  root  is  known  as  the  exodermis,  and 
forms  the  second  layer  of  the  cortex,  the  outer  layer  being  the 
epiblema,  which  bears  the  root-hairs.  The  walls  of  exodermal 
cells  are  usually  cutinised  and  thickened,  the  thickening  occurring 
on  the  upper,  lower,  and  lateral  walls  of  the  cells. 

In  monocotyls  the  exodermis  persists  throughout  the  life  of  the 
root,  while  in  dicotyls  it  very  soon  disappears,  being  replaced  by 
cork  or  periderm  formed  immediately  beneath  it. 

The  general  ground  tissues  lie  within  the  hypoderma,  and  con¬ 
sist  of  several  or  many  layers  of  cells.  They  are  composed 
principally  of  ordinary  parenchyma,  but  may  contain,  in  addition, 
either  stone  cells,  sclerenchyma  fibres,  laticiferous  or  glandular 
tissues.  Between  the  cells  of  the  general  ground  tissues  are 
usually  found  rather  large  intercellular  spaces.  These,  for  the 
most  part,  are  schizogenous  in  origin,  being  formed  by  the  split¬ 
ting  apart  of  contiguous  cells. 

The  endodermis  is  the  innermost  layer  of  the  extra-stelar  funda¬ 
mental  tissues,  and  always  abuts  on  the  stele  or  steles.  In  mono¬ 
cotyls  it  marks  the  boundary  between  the  cortex  and  the  central 
cylinder,  and  it  is  sometimes  spoken  of  as  the  nucleus  sheath. 

The  endodermis  usually  consists  of  a  single  layer  of  cells,  but  in 
a  few  cases  it  is  two-layered.  In  stems  the  endodermal  cells  are 
usually  thin-walled  and  unlignified,  having  a  suberous  thickening 
band  extending  round  the  upper,  lower  and  lateral  surfaces,  which 
in  cross-section  appears  as  a  black  dot  on  the  radial  wall.  Some¬ 
times  this  suberous  thickening  is  wanting,  when  the  endodermis 
may  be  distinguished  by  the  fact  that  the  cells  are  filled  with  an 
abundance  of  starch-grains.  In  roots  the  endodermis  is  generally 
thickened  and  lignified,  the  thickening  occurring  either  uniformly 
over  the  whole  surface  of  the  cell,  or,  more  commonly,  it  is  confined 
to  the  radial  and  inner  walls.  When  the  endodermis  thus  becomes 
thick-walled,  some  of  the  cells  remain  thin  and  unlignified,  and  are 
known  as  passage  cells. 

The  intra-stelar  fundamental  tissues  include  all  the  ground  tissue 
within  the  stele,  and  is  sometimes  spoken  of  as  conjunctive  tissue. 
When  the  stele  develops  but  a  single  vasal  bundle,  it  may  contain 
no  ground  tissue  at  all,  but  more  commonly  fundamental  tissue  is 
developed,  along  with  the  vasal  bundles  from  the  plerome.  , 

According  to  its  position  in  the  stele,  the  conjunctive  tissues 
may  be  distinguished  into  three  principal  portions,  viz.,  that 
portion  which  invests  the  vasal  bundles,  the  pericycle ;  that 
portion  which  lies  between  the  bundles  of  the  stele,  the  inter¬ 
fascicular  conjunctive  tissue  ;  and  that  portion  which  occupies  the 
centre  of  the  stele,  the  medullary  conjunctive  tissue.  The  peri- 
cycle,  formerly  called  the  pericambium,  is  the  outermost  layer  of 
the  conjunctive  tissue  of  the  stele.  It  occurs  immediately 
beneath  the  endodermis,  and  forms  a  continuous  covering  over  the 
vascular  tissues  of  the  stele.  The  pericycle  is  rarely  absent,  but 
when  wanting,  the  endodermis  is  always  two-layered. 


In  roots  the  pericycle  always  consists  of  a  single  layer  of  cells, 
while  in  stems  it  may  be  several  or  many-layered.  The  cells  of  the 
pericycle  are  usually  parenchymatous,  being  thin- walled,  and 
possessing  protoplasmic  contents  ;  but  in  some  cases  they  are 
sclerenchymatous,  being  thick-walled  and  lignified.  Sometimes 
the  pericycle  becomes  meristematic,  and  may  give  rise  to  secon¬ 
dary  formations  of  cork,  or  of  vascular  tissue.  In  phanerogams 
the  root-branches  originate  in  the  cells  of  the  pericycle.  Some¬ 
times  the  pericycle  is  absent,  as  in  the  roots  of  some  aquatic 
plants,  in  which  case  the  vasal  bundles  lie  directly  in  contact  with 
the  endodermis. 

The  interfascicular  conjunctive  tissue  lies  between  the  bundles 
of  the  stele,  and  consists  for  the  most  part  of  parenchymatous 
cells.  Sometimes  the  interfascicular  tissues  become  sclerenchy¬ 
matous,  where  they  abut  on  the  vasal  bundles,  as  in  many  mouo- 
cotyl  stems.  In  dicotyls  and  gymnosperms  the  medullary  rays 
consist  essentially  of  interfascicular  ground  tissue. 

The  medullary  conjunctive  tissue  occupies  the  centre  of  the 
stele,  constituting  the  so-called  pith.  It  usually  consists  of  paren¬ 
chymatous  cells,  but  may  contain,  in  addition,  either  stone  cells, 
sclerenchyma  fibres,  laticiferous  or  glandular  tissues. 

Sometimes  large  intercellular  air  spaces  are  found  in  the  pith  of 
plants.  These  are  generally  lysigenous  in  origin,  being  formed  by 
rupture  and  destruction  of  cells,  as  in  the  stems  of  grasses,  horse¬ 
tails,  and  the  Umbelliferse. 

The  Fibro-vascidar  or  Conducting  Tissue  System. — This  system 
constitutes  the  fibrous  framework  of  the  plant,  and  is  the  system 
by  means  of  which  fluids  are  conducted  from  one  part  of  the  plant 
to  another.  Its  function  is  partly  to  give  strength  and  support,, 
but  principally  to  conduct  the  crude  and  elaborated  juices  to  and 
from  the  leaves.  It  is  found  only  in  the  higher  plants,  consti¬ 
tuting  the  tough  and  stringy  tissues  in  stems  and  roots,  and  the 
system  of  veins  in  leaves.  The  fibro-vascular  system  consists 
essentially  of  vascular  tissue  (ducts,  tracheids,  and  sieve-tubes), 
and  forms  long  strands — the  fibro-vascular  bundles — which 
extend  vertically  through  the  fundamental  tissues  of  the  plant. 
The  term  “  fibro-vascular,”  as  applied  to  the  conducting  system, 
is  not  strictly  correct,  since  fibres  do  not  always  accompany  the 
vascular  elements,  hence  this  system  is  often  spoken  of  as  the 
vascular  system,  and  the  bundles  as  vascular,  or  more  briefly  as 
vasal  bundles. 

The  Vasal  Bundles. — Every  complete  vasal  bundle  consists  of 
two  parts,  the  xylem  or  wood,  and  the  phloem  or  bast ;  and  as 
these  two  parts  are  joined  in  a  single  strand,  they  are  often* 
spoken  of  as  conjoint  bundles. 

Incomplete  bundles  may  consist  either  of  xylem  or  of  phloem  when 
they  are  spoken  of  as  xylem  bundles,  and  phloem  bundles  respec¬ 
tively. 

The  xylem  or  wood  consists  essentially  of  trachery  tissue  (ducts  • 
and  tracheids),  but  may  contain  in  addition  both  wood  fibres  and 
wood  parenchyma.  In  herbaceous  plants  it  may  consist  entirely 
of  vascular  tissue,  while  in  woody  plants  the  ducts  and  tracheids- 
are  nearly  always  accompanied  by  wood  fibres  and  some  wood 
parenchyma.  The  phloem  or  bast  consists  essentially  of  sieve 
tissue  (sieve-tubes,  with  or  without  companion-cells).  It  usually 
contains  some  ordinary  parenchyma,  and  hard  bast  fibres  may  or 
may  not  be  present.  In  angiosperms  companion-cells  always 
accompany  the  sieve-tubes  in  the  phloem,  while  in  gymnosperms 
they  are  absent. 

Between  the  xylem  and  phloem  portions  of  a  conjoint  bundle,  a 
thin  layer  of  meristem  is  sometimes  present.  When  this  is  the 
case,  the  bundle  is  said  to  be  open,  since  it  continues  to  enlarge 
by  additions  of  new  wood  and  new  bast  to  the  already  formed 
elements.  If,  however,  no  meristem  is  present,  the  bundle  is  said 
to  be  closed,  as  no  growth  takes  place  after  it  is  once  fully  formed. 

Complete  or  Conjoint  Bundles. — According  to  the  relative  positions 
of  the  xylem  and  phloem  elements,  there  are  two  principal  kinds 
of  conjoint  bundles — the  collateral  and  the  concentric. 

In  collateral  bundles,  the  xylem  and  phloem  tissues  are  always 
placed  side  by  side.  Of  these  there  are  three  varieties,  viz.,  the 
open  collateral,  the  closed  collateral,  and  the  bi-collateral.  In  the 
open  collateral  bundle  meristem  tissue  is  always  present  between 
the  xylem  and  phloem  elements.  These  bundles  are  usually  more 
or  less  wedge-shaped,  the  xylem  occupying  the  inner  or  narrow 
end  of  the  wedge,  while  the  phloem  is  placed  at  the  outer  or  broad 
end. 

Open  collateral  bundles  occur  in  the  stems  of  most  dicotyls  and 
gymnosperms,  and  are  also  found  in  the  roots  of  these  plants  after 
the  secondary  changes  have  taken  place. 


472 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  29,  1897 


In  the  closed  collateral  bundle  there  is  never  any  meristem 
present  between  the  xylem  and  phloem  tissues.  These  bundles 
are  never  so  distinctly  wedge-shaped  as  are  those  of  the  open 
variety,  and,  as  in  open  collateral  bundles,  the  xylem  tissues  are 
always  directed  toward  the  centre  of  the  stem,  while  the  phloem 
faces  the  periphery. 

Sometimes  these  bundles  are  enclosed  by  a  sheath  of  scleren- 
chyma  fibres,  which,  however,  forms  no  part  of  the  bundle  itself, 
but  belongs  to  the  interfascicular  ground  tissues  outside  the 
bundle. 

Closed  collateral  bundles  occur  in  the  stems  of  most  monocotyls. 
They  are  also  found  in  the  stems  of  Equisetum,  and  occur  in  nearly 
all  leaves.  In  the  bi-collateral  bundle  there  is  a  single  xylem,  but 
two  phloem  portions,  the  xylem  tissues  lying  between  the  two 
masses  of  phloem.  These  bundles  always  have  a  layer  of  meristem 
between  the  xylem  and  one  or  both  phloem  masses,  so  that  they 
may  he  open  on  one  or  both  sides  of  the  bundle. 

Bi-collateral  bundles  occur  only  in  the  stems  of  a  few  families  of 
the  higher  plants,  such  as  the  Cucurbitaceae,  Myrtacese,  Poly- 
gonaceaa,  Apocynaceee,  and  some  Convolvulaceae. 

In  concentric  bundles  one  of  the  elements,  either  the  xylem  or 
the  phloem,  occupies  the  centre,  and  is  more  or  less  surrounded  by 
the  other.  Meristem  tissue  is  never  present,  hence  concentric 
bundles  are  always  closed. 

Concentric  bundles  with  a  central  xylem  occur  in  the  stems 
of  most  ferns.  They  are  always  surrounded  by  a  pericycle  and 
endodermis,  and  are  best  regarded  as  steles.  Concentric  bundles 
with  a  central  phloem  occur  in  the  rhizomes  of  some  monocotyls, 
as  calamus,  iris,  smilacina,  convallaria,  etc.  Bundles  of  this  type 
never  possess  either  pericycle  or  endodermis. 

Sometimes  the  xylem  tissues  do  not  entirely  surround  the 
phloem,  in  which  case  the  bundle  might  be  regarded  as  a  closed 
collateral  bundle  in  which  the  ducts  have  grown  round,  but  not 
quite  enclosed  the  sieve-tissues. 

Incomplete  or  Separate  Xylem  and  Phloem  Bundles. — These  were 
formerly  regarded  as  together  forming  a  single  bundle,  and  as  such 
was  described  as  a  radial  bundle.  They  are  now  considered  to  be 
separate  strands  or  bundles  of  xylem  and  phloem  tissue,  only 
radially  arranged,  and  alternating  the  one  with  the  other.  The 
individual  bundles  are  always  separated  by  interfascicular  ground 
tissue,  and  there  are  as  many  bundles  of  one  kind  as  of  the  other. 
Sometimes  the  xylem  bundles  become  fused  together  at  the  centre 
and  form  a  few  or  many-rayed,  star-shaped  mass.  This  collection 
of  bundles  is  always  surrounded  by  both  pericycle  and  endodermis, 
and  is,  in  fact,  a  stele. 

Separate  xylem  and  phloem  bundles — the  so-called  radial  bundle 
—occur  primarily  in  all  roots,  and  are  also  found  in  the  stems  of 
Lycopodium. 

The  Stele  or  Vascular  Cylinder. — The  vascular  cylinder  or  stele 
is  developed  from  the  plerome  of  the  growing-point,  and  consists 
of  one  or  more  vasal  bundles  imbedded  in  fundamental  tissue,  the 
whole  being  enclosed  by  a  pericycle  and  an  endodermis.  It  usually 
contains  both  fundamental  and  fibro-vascular  tissue,  but  may 
contain,  in  addition,  either  glandular  or  laticiferous  tissue. 

The  typical  stele,  therefore,  includes  all  the  tissues  evolved  by 
the  endodermis,  which,  however,  forms  no  part  of  the  vascular 
cylinder  itself,  but  merely  surrounds  it.  The  pericycle  is  always 
the  outermost  layer  of  the  tissues  of  the  stele,  while  the  endodermis 
is  the  innermost  layer  of  the  extra  stelar  tissues. 


Value  of  Cytisine  in  Medicine. — Plugge  calls  attention  to  the 
alkaloid  of  the  cytisus  as  being  worthy  of  an  extended  trial  in 
therapeutics.  It  causes  contraction  of  the  arterioles,  and  a 
consequent  rise  of  blood  pressure.  It  has  been  recommended  as  a 
diuretic,  and  to  relieve  the  hypersemia  of  acute  arsenical  poison¬ 
ing,  and  again  for  melancholia  and  paralytic  migraine.  Owing  to 
its  great  toxicity  not  more  than  one-seventh  of  a  grain  of  the 
nitrate  should  be  given  hypodermically,  and  it  is  well  to  begin 
with  only  one-twentieth  to  one-thirteenth  of  a  grain.  Plugge  has 
found  that  several  plants  which  have  a  great  local  reputation  as 
medicines  contain  this  alkaloid.  Such  are  Sophora  tomentosa 
whose  seeds  and  roots  were  long  known  in  India  as  “  semina  et 
radix  anticholericse,”  and  were  used  for  haemorrhages,  colic,  and 
dysentery  ;  Euch-sesta  horsfieldii,  which  has  a  great  reputation 
among  the  natives  of  Java  in  haemoptysis  and  diseases  of  the 
lungs,  and  Baptisia  tinctoria,  which  is  much  used  in  North  America. 
The  latter  contains  an  alkaloid  named  by  V.  Schroeder  “  bapti- 
toxin.  ”  According  to  the  author  this  last  is  identical  with  cytisine. 
— Brit.  Med.  Journ.  Epit.,  1,97/71. 


NOTES  AND  FORMULAS. 

(Specially  abstracted  for  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal.) 

Idiosyncrasy  Against  Crabs. 

Cases  of  urticaria  following  indulgence  in  shellfish,  and  particu¬ 
larly  crustaceans,  are  not  rare.  Kirschberg  relates  his  own  case, 
in  which  a  sharp  attack  of  urticaria  followed  indulgence  in 
crab  ;  he  treated  himself  with  warm  baths  and  used  an  embroca¬ 
tion  of  a  3  per  cent,  spirituous  solution  of  menthol,  also  observing, 
of  course,  special  diet.  He  advises  an  energetic  purgation  as  soon 
as  the  symptoms  show  themselves. — Pharm.  Centralh.,  xxxviii.,  260. 


Examination  of  Potted  Meat. 

On  this  subject  Remmlinger  gives  the  following  directions 
If  the  bottom  of  the  tin  is  raised  and  does  not  remain  permanently 
in  position  when  pressed  back  but  bounds  up  again,  this  may  be 
taken  as  indicative  of  the  presence  of  living  anaerobic  bacteria, 
which  produce  gas.  Tins  which  have  a  fishy  odour  or  a  very 
pungent,  or  according  to  some,  a  very  insipid  taste,  should  be 
rejected.  If  the  solder  is  liquid  or  dull  it  is  a  very  suspicious  sign. 
Microscopical  examination  should  be  directed  to  the  colour  of  the 
muscles,  since  the  action  of  anaerobic  bacteria  destroys  this. — 
Therap.  Monats.,  xi.,  182. 

New  versus  Old  Manure. 

The  question  has  been  raised  as  to  whether  new  or  old 
manure  is  better  to  put  on  land.  Taking  it  ton  for  ton,  new 
manure  has  been  found  as  effective  as  old,  also  that  it 
loses  half  its  weight  by  keeping,  besides  losing  some  of  its 
nitrogen.  Experiments  made  in  Canada  last  year  showed  that 
8000  lbs.  of  manure  placed  under  shelter  and  weighed  once  a  month 
was  reduced  to  2600  lbs.  between  March  and  December.  The 
manure  was  at  its  best  at  the  end  of  four  months,  weighing 
3480  lbs.  The  experiments  of  eight  years  appear  to  show  that  the 
action  between  fresh  and  rotted  manure  is  equal,  ton  for  ton.  In 
England,  where  the  soil  is  stiff,  fresh  manure  would  perhaps  be 
more  beneficial,  as  the  soil  is  lightened  by  its  use,  but  in  Canada, 
taking  into  consideration  the  undigested  seeds  in  fresh  manure, 
the  small  rainfall,  and  the  outlay  in  engaging  men  and  horses  for 
daily  carting  the  manure,  it  would  certainly  not  be  economical.— 
Agricult.  Journ.,  x.,  315. 

To  Prevent  Scale  in  Boilers. 

Kerosene  has  been  recommended  to  prevent  scale  in  steam 
boilers,  both  because  of  its  cheapness  and  since  it  leaves  no  residue 
and  has  no  injurious  effect  on  the  iron.  An  injector  is  used  so  con¬ 
structed  that  the  amount  of  kerosene  which  is  fed  into  the  boiler 
drop  by  drop  can  be  very  closely  regulated. — Journ.  Soc.  Chem. 
Bid. ,  xvi. ,  226,  after  Eng.  and  Mining  J, ,  lxiii. ,  45. 


Variation  in  Richness  of  Milk. 

The  following  experiments  made  from  the  successive  milkings  of 
five  cows  at  the  experiment  station  of  New  York  prove  the  difference 
in  richness  in  cream  between  the  first  milk  drawn  and  the  “strip¬ 
pings.  ”  The  first  pint  contained  less  than  1  per  cent,  of  butter 
fat,  viz.,  0-S5  ;  the  second,  1  '40  ;  the  third,  1’68  ;  the  fourth,  2  05  ; 
the  fifth,  3‘27  ;  the  sixth,  265  ;  the  seventh,  3‘7  ;  the  eighth,  4 '05  ; 
the  ninth,  4 ’86 ;  the  tenth,  4-48;  the  eleventh,  4 ’40  ;  and  the 
twelfth  or  strippings,  5  -23.  The  average  of  the  whole  of  the  milk 
was  3  21,  or  about  the  contents  of  the  sixth  pint.  This  experiment 
shows  the  necessity  of  careful  milking,  not  only  to  secure  the 
richest  milk,  but  to  prevent  the  cows  going  dry  too  soon. — Agricult . 
Journ.,  x.,  331. 


May  29,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


473 


PARLIAMENTARY  NOTES  AND  NEWS- 


Mr.  Lough,  the  member  for  West  Islington,  is  very  severe  on 
those  wary  Englishmen  who  take  their  alcohol  in  the  form  of  non- 
exciseable  drinks.  He  has  been  informed,  rightly  or  wrongly,  that 
British  wines,  cyder,  and  perry,  containing  15  per  cent,  of  alcohol, 
may  be,  and  are,  manufactured  and  sold  free  of  duty.  This,  he 
imagines,  is  an  injustice  to  those  portions  of  the  United  Kingdom 
where  whisky  forms  the  staple  article  of  consumption,  and  he  will, 
therefore,  on  the  27th  instant,  ask  the  Chancellor  of  tbe  Exchequer 
whether  any  compensating  immunity  from  duty  can  be  granted  to 
the  native  stimulants  produced  in  Scotland  and  Ireland.  It  will 
be  noticed  that  Mr.  Lough’s  sympathies  are  broad  and  do  not  stay 
within  the  narrow  boundaries  of  his  constituency ;  his  heart  bleeds 
for  those  who  do  not  like  cyder  and  perry,  or  who  despise  the  mere 
15  per  cent,  of  active  stimulant  they  are  reputed  to  contain. 


As  A  Matter  of  Urgency  the  Committee  charged  with  the  duty 
of  investigating  the  administration  and  cost  of  the  museums  of  the 
Science  and  Art  Department  have  issued  an  interim  report  calling 
attention  to  the  unprotected  state  of  the  art  and  other  treasures  at 
South  Kensington.  It  is  well  known  that  the  buildings  in  which 
a  number  of  the  most  priceless  objects  are  exhibited  are  con¬ 
structed  as  though  fire  were  an  unknown  phenomenon.  Lath,  wood, 
tarred  canvas,  and  similar  inflammable  material  forms  a  very 
considerable  portion  of  structures  hitherto  deemed  adequate  to 
hold  the  best  and  most  unique  items  of  the  nation’s  collections, 
and  it  is  a  matter  for  congratualation  as  well  as  astonishment  that 
no  accident  has  yet  deprived  the  people  of  their  deservedly-prized 
possessions.  The  Committee  urges  the  immediate  completion  of 
permanent  suitable  buildings,  and  it  is  hoped  that  no  mind  will  be 
found  economical  enough  to  oppose  the  recommendation  or  to 
grudge  the  halfpennyworth  of  tar  which  is  to  save  the  ship. 


Oaths,  legal  or  vituperative,  are  open  to  objection  on  various 
grounds,  and  Sir  Walter  Foster,  who  as  a  representative  of  medi¬ 
cine  on  the  General  Medical  Council,  ought  to  be  able  to  tell  the 
public  what  to  do  and  what  to  avoid,  has  been  trying  to  render  the 
legal  oath  more  innocuous.  He  asked  the  Attorney-General  on 
Friday  last  whether  the  form  of  oath  could  not  be  so  modified  as 
to  do  away  with  the  abominable  ritual  of  kissing  a  dirty  book — a 
procedure  inviting  the  spread  of  any  amount  of  disease.  The 
Attorney-General,  in  reply,  said  he  had  been  approached  before  on 
the  subject,  but  he  thought  perhaps  the  risk  of  infection  had  been 
somewhat  exaggerated.  After  all,  no  one  is  forced  to  kiss  the 
book,  for,  as  the  law  officer  pointed  out,  the  Oaths  Act,  1888,  gives 
witnesses  the  privilege  of  taking  oaths  in  the  Scots  fashion,  and 
involves  no  close  embrace  of  a  microbe-bound  volume.  The 
Attorney-General  seemed,  however,  to  recognise  that  very  few 
Englishmen  are  familiar  with  the  North  British  mode  of  swearing, 
and  he  therefore  promised  Sir  Walter  to  consider  whether  any 
further  amendment  of  the  law  relating  to  oaths  was  required. 


Mr.  Ritchie’s  promise  to  re-introduce  the  Board  of  Trade  Bill 
to  legalise  the  metric  system  of  weights  and  measures  in  this 
country  is  of  such  ancient  date  that  most  people  have  forgotten  it. 
But  he  has  not,  and  on  the  27th  inst.  he  will  proceed  to  fulfil  the 
promise  by  bringing  to  the  House  a  second  time  a  permissive 
Bill  to  enable  British  exporters  to  use  the  system  of  weights  and 
measures  which  obtains  in  every  civilised  country  except  Russia 
and  England.  As  a  Government  Bill,  Mr.  Ritchie’s  protigi  stands 
a  much  better  chance  of  reaching  the  statute  book  than  a  private 
bill,  but  that  after  all  is  not  saying  much  for  it,  seeing  that  the 
Government  has  big  things  yet  on  hand,  and  the  time  of  the  House 
will  be  curtailed  by  the  Whitsuntide  and  Jubilee  adjournments. 


Food  and  Drugs. — Mr.  Dillon  will,  on  the  27th  inst.,  ask  the 
first  Lord  of  the  Treasury  when  the  Government  intends  to 
introduce  the  Bill  to  amend  the  Sale  of  Food  and  Drugs  Act. 
Last  week  we  chronicled  a  similar  question  by  Mr.  Jeffreys, 
together  with  a  not  altogether  satisfactory  reply  by  Mr.  Balfour. 
But  the  prospect  is  distinctly  brighter  now  that  an  Irish  member 
has  undertaken  to  voice  the  dissatisfaction  existing  outside  the 
House  at  the  delay  in  dealing  with  so  important  a  subject. 


A 

PHOTOGRAPHIC  NOTES- 


The  Anti-Cutting  Movement. — The  principal  plate  and  paper 
manufacturers  have  formed  an  association  to  keep  up  the  retail 
prices,  and  this  has  been  warmly  welcomed  by  the  leading  retail 
dealers,  but  on  the  other  hand  many  professionals  who  will  not 
now  be  able  to  obtain  quite  such  a  large  discount  are  crying  out 
most  bitterly,  and  there  is  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  many  of 
the  foreign  makers  of  papers  especially  will  reap  some  benefit 
from  the  rise  in  price.  That  a  large  quantity  of  foreign  plates 
and  papers  are  already  sold  in  England  cannot  be  denied,  and 
this  movement  will  give  the  foreigners  a  still  better  chance  of 
gaining  a  firmer  foothold. 


Cinematographs  at  a  Discount.— The  awful  fire  in  Paris,  which 
has  claimed  so  many  victims,  was  caused,  it  is  stated,  by  the 
explosion  of  an  ether  saturator  used  in  the  lantern  for  projecting 
the  animated  photographs.  Another  account  states  that  it  was  acety¬ 
lene  that  was  used,  and  that  this  exploded,  whilst  a  third  account 
states  that  it  was  due  to  the  carelessness  of  the  operator  in  allow¬ 
ing  a  lot  of  the  celluloid  film  to  lie  about,  and  that  this  caught  fire. 
Yet  another  story  which  has  arisen  on  this  side  of  the  channel,  is  to 
the  effect  that  the  celluloid  itself  caught  fire  owing  to  the  concentra¬ 
tion  of  the  heat  of  the  lantern  on  the  celluloid.  Whatever  was 
the  cause,  the  fire  has  caused  a  tremendous  drop  in  the  market,  and 
cinematographs  and  cinematographic  shows  are  just  now  at  a  big 
discount,  and  the  makers  of  such  apparatus  are  bewailing  their 
ill-luck. 


Formalin. — rConsiderable  attention  is  being  paid  at  the  present 
time  to  the  various  photographic  applications  of  formalin  or 
formic  aldehyde,  the  use  of  which  in  photography  has  been  pro¬ 
tected  by  patent.  Its  most  valuable  property  is  that  of  hardening 
gelatin  ;  a  film  of  gelatin  soaked  in  the  solution  for  about  ten  minutes 
and  then  washed  and  dried  can  be  treated  with  boiling  water  for 
some  length  of  time  without  being  at  all  softened.  As  it  seems 
to  have  no  ill-effects  upon  the  progress  of  development  nor  upon 
toning,  except  that  of  somewhat  prolonging  those  operations,  it 
will  be  found  to  be  a  valuable  substitute  for  the  more  troublesome 
and  less  efficient  alum. 


The  Latest  in  Colour  Photography. — The  most  extraordinary 
process  in  the  reproduction  of  colour  by  photography  is  that  of 
Villedieu-Chassagne,  which  was  shown  first  by  Sir  Henry  Trueman 
Wood  at  the  Society  of  Arts.  The  process  is,  in  brief,  as  follows  : — 
An  ordinary  print  or  positive  is  obtained  and  coated  or  painted 
first  with  a  blue  solution,  then  with  a  green  solution,  and  finally 
with  a  red  solution,  and  the  silver  image  is  in  some  way  endowed 
with  the  extraordinary  power  of  so  picking  out  the  colours  that  the 
final  result  is  like  nature.  The  patent  specification  describes  the 
preparation  of  those  solutions,  and  after  carefully  examining  it 
there  is  no  wonder  that  M.  Dansac,  one  of  the  original  inventors, 
died  in  a  lunatic  asylum.  The  blue  liquid  is  composed  of  about 
sixteen  of  the  metallic  chlorides,  even  including  the  insoluble  silver 
chloride,  dissolved  (sic)  in  aqueous  solution  of  albumin.  Picric, 
chromic,  and  oxalic  acids  and  other  reducing  agents  are  freely 
mixed  with  the  chlorides,  and  so  complicated  is  the  whole  thing 
that  it  would  be  a  good  test  question  for  the  Major  examination  as 
to  what  does  happen  ;  and  yet,  in  the  face  of  all  this,  a  company 
called  the  “  Radiotint”  Company,  with  a  capital  of  £100,000,  has 
been  formed  to  work  the  process,  and  the  American  rights  have 
been  sold,  it  is  said,  for  another  £5000. 


The  Photographic  Convention. — The  annual  photographic 
convention  is  to  be  held  this  year  at  Great  Yarmouth  from  J uly  12 
to  17,  under  the  presidency  of  Mr.  F.  P.  Cembrano,  jun.  This  annual 
gathering  is  somewhat  on  a  par  with  the  British  Pharmaceutical 
Conference,  with  the’ difference,  however,  that  there  is,  as  a  rule, 
less  work  done  at  the  photographic  convention.  The  papers  are 
few  and  the  excursions  many,  and  even  if  there  are  a  host  of 
cameras  taken  out  on  every  excursion  and  hundreds  of  plates  ex¬ 
posed  each  day,  there  is  really  very  little  solid  work  done.  At  the 
same  time  it  is  a  most  enjoyable  holiday,  and  one  well  worth 
attending.  The  annual  subscription  is  only  5s. ,  which  admits  to 
full  membership.  Mr.  R.  P.  Drage,  of  95,  Blenheim  Crescent, 
Notting  Hill,  W.,  is  the  Hon.  Sec. 


474 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  29,  1897 


THE  STUDENTS’  PAGE. 


NOTES  ON  THE  PHARMACOPCEIA. 

Extra cta.— The  extracts  constitute  a  very  important  group  of 
galenical  preparations.  The  main  idea  in  preparing  an  extract  of 
any  given  drug  is  to  obtain  a  concentrated  preparation  containing 
the  full  activity  of  the  drug  free  from  the  inert  cellulose  and  woody 
tissue  which  constitute  the  framework  of  vegetable  structures.  In 
the  case  of  succulent  leaves  or  herbs,  which  can  be  obtained  in  the 
fresh  condition,  evaporation  of  the  expressed  juioe,  conducted  with 
suitable  precautions,  yields  in  many  cases  an  extract  having  the 
desired  properties.  In  the  case  of  drugs  which  are  not  available 
in  the  fresh  condition,  or  which  yield  little  or  no  juice  by 
expression,  such  as  most  roots,  stems,  and  barks,  the  general 
process  adopted  is  to  exhaust  the  drug  by  treatment  with  a 
suitable  menstruum,  and  the  residue  obtained  by  the  evaporation 
of  the  fluid  so  obtained  constitutes  the  extract.  Before  a  rational 
formula  for  the  preparation  of  an  extract  of  any  given  drug 
can  be  constructed  we  must  possess  a  knowledge  of  the  substances 
upon  which  the  activity  of  the  drug  in  question  depends,  so 
as  to  select  a  menstruum  which  shall  be  capable  of  dissolving  the 
active  principle  or  principles.  The  menstrua  usually  employed 
are  water,  alcohol  of  various  strengths,  ether,  and  dilute  acids. 
Water  is  obviously  the  most  economical  menstruum  to  employ  in 
cases  where  its  solvent  action  is  satisfactory  (extractum  gentianse) ; 
its  use  has,  however,  some  drawbacks.  Owing  to  the  com¬ 
paratively  high  latent  heat  of  steam,  the  evaporation  of  an 
aqueous  fluid  requires  the  application  of  so  much  heat  that 
the  extract  is  liable  to  suffer  if  the  active  principle  is  easily  decom¬ 
posed,  as  in  the  case  of  many  alkaloids.  An  aqueous  extract  also  is 
usually  bulky,  owing  to  the  solubility  in  water  of  inert  matters — - 
chiefly  gum  and  albumen  (proteid)—  which  occur  in  more  or  less 
abundance  in  all  vegetable  tissues.  In  both  these  respects  alcohol 
is  superior  to  water  as  a  menstruum,  less  heat  being  required  for  its 
evaporation,  and  less  inert  material  being  dissolved  by  it  than  water. 
Owing  to  the  cost  of  alcohol  the  bulk  of  it  is  recovered  by  distilla¬ 
tion  (ext.  cannab.  ind.);  the  portion  retained  by  the  marc  being 
recovered  as  much  as  possible  by  expression  (ext.  calumbse),  or  by 
displacing  it  with  water  (ext.  cascarse  sagradse).  The  drug  should 
be  exhausted  with  the  smallest  possible  quantity  of  fluid  in  order 
to  minimise  the  duration  of  subsequent  evaporation  and  consequent 
risk  of  damaging  the  product.  Evaporation  is  generally  conducted 
at  the  temperature  of  the  water  bath,  never  higher,  and  in  certain 
cases  where  that  temperature  is  prejudicial,  lower,  e.g.,  180°  F. 
vext.  cinch,  liq. ),  160°  F.  (ext.  colchici),  or  140°  F.  (“green” 
extracts).  Evaporation  in  vacuo,  although  not  mentioned  in  any  of  the 
official  processes,  is  usually  employed  when  working  on  a  large  scale, 
particularly  if  a  low  temperature  is  necessary,  since  the  time  occu¬ 
pied  by  evaporation  is  very  much  diminished  thereby.  By  reference 
to  the  Pharmacopoeia  the  student  will  observe  that  the  official  pro¬ 
cesses  for  exhaustion  are  of  a  very  heterogeneous  nature.  This  is 
partly  due  to  the  fact  that  each  drug  requires  more  or  less  special 
treatment  according  to  its  physical  properties  and  the  nature  of  its 
constituents  ;  and  although  there  is  little  doubt  that  much  greater 
uniformity  in  the  preparation  of  extracts  is  possible,  the  compilers 
of  the  Pharmacopoeia  would  not  be  justified  in  altering,  merely  for 
the  sake  of  uniformity,  the  formula  for  an  extract  which  has  a  time- 
honoured  reputation  unless  experimental  work  were  available 
showing  that  the  medicinal  activity  of  the  product  would  not  be 
diminished  thereby.  Since  the  publication  of  the  present  edition 
of  the  Pharmacopoeia  in  1885  a  good  deal  of  experimental  work  has 
been  published  in  this  direction.  The  student  will  best  obtain  a 
knowledge  of  the  official  extracts  by  tabulating  them  for  himself, 
classifying  them  on  the  one  hand  according  to  the  menstruum,  and 
on  the  other  by  the  process  employed  in  their  manufacture.  Do 
not  attempt  to  commit  any  process  to  memory,  but  endeavour 
rather  to  obtain  an  intelligent  grasp  of  the  main  principles 
involved.  In  the  case  of  solid  extracts  the  Pharmacopoeia  directs 
the  evaporation  to  be  continued  until  the,  product  “is  of  a 
suitable  consistence  for  forming  pills  ”  (extractum  belladonna),  or 
“to  the  consistence  of  a  soft  extract”  (extractum  cannabis 
indicae),  or  to  a  “  suitable  consistence.”  These  directions  are 
rather  vague,  and  admit  of  considerable  variation  in  their  interpre¬ 
tation  ;  the  strength  of  solid  extracts  is  consequently  liable  to 
vary  somewhat.  Evaporation  to  dryness,  as  is  directed  for  the 
extracts  of  aloes,  pareira,  and  logwood,  would  secure  more 
uniformity  in  this  respect.  Many  extracts,  however,  will  not 
readily  yield  a  dry  extract,  and  the  application  of  a  prolonged  heat 


is  to  be  avoided  ;  moreover,  the  dried  product  is  not  usually  readily 
s  oluble  again.  Standardisation  can  only  be  applied  to  a  few  extracts, 
since  such  a  procedure  requires  a  more  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
active  principles  of  many  drugs  than  we  possess.  Again,  any  pro¬ 
cess  of  standardisation  to  be  practicable  must  be  simple  and 
capable  of  rapid  completion.  Liquid  extracts  are  usually  prepared 
so  that  one  fluid  ounce  contains  the  soluble  constituents  of  one 
ounce  by  weight  of  the  drug.  Such  extracts,  when  prepared  with 
water,  require  the  addition  of  alcohol  to  preserve  them  from  de¬ 
composition. 

Extractum  Cinchona  Liquidum. — Cinchona  is  a  difficult  drug 
to  exhaust  without  using  a  considerable  quantity  of  menstruum. 
The  hydrochloric  acid  is  employed  with  the  intention  of  converting 
the  alkaloids  into  soluble  hydrochlorates,  and  the  cessation  of  pre¬ 
cipitation  is  intended  to  show  that  the  percolate  contains  no  more 
alkaloid.  In  the  process  of  standardisation  solution  of  soda  is 
used  to  precipitate  the  alkaloids  which  are  dissolved  out  by 
agitation  with  benzolated  amylic  alcohol.  Excess  of  soda  is  used 
so  as  to  retain  as  much  as  possible  of  the  colouring  matter  in  the 
aqueous  layer,  which  falls  to  the  bottom  of  the  separator.  Note 
the  exact  form  in  which  the  strength  of  the  finished  extract  is 
stated:  “Five  grains  of  the  alkaloids  of  the  bark  in  100  fluid 
rains.”  This  is  neither  5  per  cent,  nor  5  grains  per  100  minims, 
ut  5  parts  by  weight  in  100  parts  by  measure. 

Extractum  Nucis  Vomicl®. — The  alcoholic  menstruum  dis¬ 
solves  out  some  of  the  oil  from  the  seeds.  The  first  step  in  the 
process  of  standardisation  provides  for  the  removal  of  this  by 
chloroform,  the  alkaloids  remaining  in  the  diluted  sulphuric  acid. 
After  rejecting  the  chloroformic  solution  of  fat,  the  acid  solution  is 
made  alkaline  with  ammonia  :  the  alkaloids  are  precipitated,  and 
removed  by  agitation  with  more  chloroform.  Two  ounces  of 
finished  extract  contain  131|  grains  of  alkaloids,  equal  to 
15  per  cent.  : — 

100  :  15  :  :  875  :  131£. 

Note  that  the  standardisation  is  applied  to  total  alkaloid,  i.e.,  to 
brucine  and  strychnine,  although  the  medicinal  activity  of  nux 
vomica  depends  almost  entirely,  if  not  quite,  on  strychnine  alone. 
The  excuse  for  this  is  that  the  relative  proportions  in  which  the  two 
alkaloids  occur  in  nux  vomica  is  nearly  constant ;  for  if  in  one  extract 
the  total  alkaloid  consisted  chiefly  of  stychnine,and  in  another  chiefly 
of  brucine,  the  potency  of  the  former  would  greatly  exceed  that 
of  the  latter,  although  the  percentage  of  total  alkaloid  might  be 
the  same  in  both  cases.  Moreover,  there  is  no  simple  process 
known  for  determining  the  two  alkaloids  separately,  chiefly  owing 
to  the  similarity  in  the  solubility  of  their  salts.  In  the  B.  P.  test, 
the  fat  is  removed  by  saponifying  it  with  sodium  carbonate, 
which  also  precipitates  the  alkaloids,  the  latter  being  removed 
by  means  of  chloroform,  in  which  the  saponified  oil  is  in¬ 
soluble.  To  effect  a  further  purification  the  latter  is  shaken 
with  diluted  sulphuric  acid,  the  alkaloids  being  converted  into 
sulphates,  and  consequently  pass  from  the  chloroform  to  the 
aqueous  fluid.  On  rendering  the  latter  alkaline  the  liberated 
alkaloids  pass  again  to  the  fresh  chloroform  (see  the  notes  on 
immiscible  solvents  under  “Cinchonse  Rubrse  Cortex”  in  the 
Students’  Page). 

Extractum  Opii  and  Extractum  Opii  Liquidum. — These  will 
be  fully  dealt  with  under  Opium.  The  assay  process  of  opium 
forms  the  basis  of  the  standardisation  of  both  these  extracts. 

Ferri  Arsenias. — Note  that  sodium  arseniate,  Na2HAs04,  is  an 
acid  salt,  i.e.,  one  in  which  the  hydrogen  of  the  arsenic  acid, 
HsAs04,  is  only  partially  replaced  by  the  metal,  whereas  ferrous 
arseniate,  Fe32As04,  is  a  normal  salt.  Hence  double  decomposi¬ 
tion  between  Na2HAs04  and  FeS04  results  in  the  liberation  of 
sulphuric  acid  as  well  as  the  formation  of  ferrous  arseniate — 

2Na2HAs04  +  3FeS04  =  Fe32As04  +  H2S04  +  2Nai.S04. 
Since  arseniate  of  iron  is  soluble  in  dilute  acids,  the  sodium  bicar¬ 
bonate  is  added  to  neutralise  this  sulphuric  acid  and  secure  the 
complete  precipitation  of  the  iron  arseniate.  The  ferrous  arseniate 
becomes  to  a  large  extent  oxidised  during  the  process  of  washing 
and  drying,  hence  the  hydrochloric  acid  solution  gives  a  precipi¬ 
tate  with  both  ferro-  and  ferri-cyanide  of  potassium.  When  boiled 
with  caustic  soda,  sodium  arseniate  is  formed,  and  a  mixture  of 
ferrous  and  ferric  hydrates  precipitated.  The  filtrate  containing 
the  sodium  arseniate  requires  exactly  neutralising  with  nitric  acid, 
since  the  excess  of  caustic  soda  used  in  boiling  would  precipitate 
oxide  of  silver  on  the  addition  of  silver  nitrate,  and  so  obscure  the 
characteristic  brick-red  colour  of  the  silver  arseniate.  Excess  of 
nitric  acid,  on  the  other  hand,  prevents  the  appearance  of  the 
brick  red  precipitate,  silver  arseniate  being  soluble  in  nitric  acid. 


May  29,  1897J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


475 


Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


A  Weekly  Record  of  Pharmacy  and  Allied  Sciences- 


ESTABLISHED  1841. 


Circulating  in  the  United  Kingdom,  France,  Germany, 
Austria,  Italy,  Russia,  Switzerland,  Canada,  the 
United  States,  South  America,  India, 
Australasia,  South  Africa,  etc. 

Editorial  Office :  17,  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.G. 
Publishing  at)d  Advertising  Office :  5,  SERLE  STREET,  W.G. 


LONDON:  SATURDAY,  MAY  29,  1897. 


THE  RECENT  COUNCIL  ELECTION. 

The  result  of  the  Council  election  is  the  subject  of  a  letter 
by  Mr.  Leo  Atkinson  in  this  week’s  J ournal  (see  page  483), 
and  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  opinions  he 
-expresses  are  shared  by  many  other  supporters  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society.  Whether  the  charge  of  fickleness 
and  ingratitude  on  the  part  of  the  electorate  is  well-founded 
need  not  enter  into  consideration  here,  for  after  all  the 
Society  is  essentially  a  democratic  body,  and  no  one  expects 
■democracies  to  he  pervaded  with  sentiment.  It  may  he 
pointed  out,  however,  that  in  practice  change  of  policy  is  often 
found  to  he  desirable  in  democracies,  and  the  electors,  who 
alone  possess  the  power  of  insisting  upon  such  a  change, 
are  not  of  necessity  fickle  in  enforcing  it.  Then,  again, 
gratitude  to  individuals  who  have  done  good  service  in  the 
past  should  hardly  he  allowed  to  serve  as  a  sufficient  reason 
for  unthinkingly  following  their  lead  on  all  occasions  in  the 
future.  But,  leaving  these  matters  for  the  individual  con¬ 
sideration  of  members  of  the  Society,  we  may  proceed  to 
Mr.  Atkinson’s  next  point,  which  is  of  great  interest  as 
hearing  on  a  problem  that  has  been  much  debated  of  late. 
The  development  of  the  anti  cutting  movement  has  led  to 
what  our  correspondent  and  many  others  regard  as  an  “  unholy 
alliance  ”  between  registered  chemists  and  other  tradesmen,  to 
■maintain  the  prices  at  which  a  certain  class  of  medicinal  pre¬ 
parations,  amongst  others,  shall  be  retailed  to  the  public.  The 
question  whether  chemists  and  druggists  ought  to  recognise 
•any  right  on  the  part  of  other  tradesmen  to  deal  in  such 
articles  has  been  waived,  and  those  who  have  agreed  that  it 
should  be  left  out  of  sight  for  the  time  being  have  thus 
relinquished  a  position  which  they  will  find  it  difficult,  if 
not  impossible,  to  re-occupy. 

As  Mr.  Atkinson  suggests,  it  is  quite  possible  that  many, 
if  not  the  majority,  of  those  chemists  and  druggists  who 
bave  associated  themselves  with  the  promoters  of  this 
scheme  for  the  better  regulation  of  prices,  may  have  been 
guided  by  sympathy  for  their  less  prosperous  fellows  rather 
than  influenced  by  any  hope  of  ultimate  benefit  to  the  craft 
resulting  from  such  a  combination.  If  that  be  so,  now  that  they 
have  realised  the  strength  from  a  political  aspect  of  the 
weapon  they  have  helped  to  bring  into  use  for  a  totally 
different  purpose,  they  will  doubtless  be  inclined  to  take  time 
for  reflection.  It  may  be  an  extreme  view  of  the  case  to  see 


in  any  considerable  expansion  of  this  “  unholy  alliance  ”  the 
possibility  of  the  future  Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  being  “  elected,  dominated,  and  its  policy  determined 
at  the  sweet  will  of  the  Grocers’  Federation.”  Nevertheless, 
members  of  the  Society  have  undoubted  reason  for  alarm 
when  a  body  whose  executive  includes  several  individuals 
whose  only  connection  with  pharmacy  is  a  commercial  one, 
seeks  to  influence  the  election  of  those  responsible  for  the 
protection  of  the  professional  interests  of  pharmacy.  Mr. 
IIyslop,  who — though  unsuccessful  on  this  occasion — did  re¬ 
markably  well  for  a  first  candidature,  strikes  a  kindred  note 
of  warning  in  his  letter,  and  it  may  be  left  to  the  good  sense 
of  the  electors  to  ensure  the  non-fulfilment  of  the  prophecy 
of  evil  foreseen  on  various  hands.  It  is  very  necessary,  however, 
that  electors  should  realise  the  fact  that  the  voting  power  they 
possess  is  not  merely  a  privilege,  but  a  duty  they  owe  to  those 
who  are  willing  to  undertake  theexecutive  work.  Everyone 
who  possesses  voting  power  should  exercise  it,  and  as  the 
method  of  voting  is  simplicity  itself,  it  is  hard  to  conceive  of 
any  intelligible  reason  for  not  doing  so  in  the  vast  majority  of 
instmees. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  even  the  Grocers’  Federation 
is  not  entirely  at  one  with  the  Proprietary  Articles  Trade 
Association.  At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  former  body, 
one  speaker  put  it  that  “Mr.  Glyn-Jo\es  requests  the 
power  of  this  association  to  run  his  show,”  though  it  must 
be  added  that  another  speaker  immediately  remarked  that 
“supposing  in  running  his  show  he  was  going  to  put 
hundreds  and  thousands  of  pounds  into  the  pockets  of  the 
grocers,  and  did  no  harm,  why  should  they  not  help  him 
to  run  his  show  1  ”  But  what  might  do  no  harm  from  the 
grocers’  point  of  view,  which  is  probably  to  secure  the 
maximum  of  profit  with  a  minimum  of  trouble,  may  result 
in  utter  disaster  to  the  best  pharmaceutical  interests.  As 
a  professional  body,  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  cannot  stoop 
to  the  methods  of  a  trade  union,  and  it  is  difficult  to  see, 
therefore,  what  benefit  can  accrue  to  any  one  from  candi¬ 
dates  for  seats  on  the  Council  of  the  Society  expressing 
sympathy  with  trade  union  methods.  Such  sympathy,  it 
is  claimed,  was  expressed  by  a  large  majority  of  the  candidates 
at  the  recent  election,  but  we  understand  that  a  perusal  of 
the  letters  upon  which  that  claim  was  based  hardly 
justifies  such  a  separation  into  sheep  and  goats  as  was 
attempted.  At  any  rate  the  agitation  set  on  foot  was  quite 
beside  the  matter,  and  fortunately  the  result  was  not 
materially  influenced.  Apparently,  it  may  still  be  assumed 
as  axiomatic  that  whilst  members  of  the  Society  have  no 
objection  to  any  elector  voting  as  he  thinks  proper,  and  even 
attempting  to  influence  the  votes  of  others,  they  maintain 
a  fixed  objection  to  being  dictated  to  on  such  matters  by  an 
outside  body  whose  machinery  is  set  in  motion  to  act  in  a 
direction  that  was  not  anticipated  when  their  support  to  that 
body  was  solicited.  But  they  ought  to  take  warning  from 
what  took  place,  lest  worse  happen  in  the  future.  Last 
week  the  fact  was  recorded  with  much  regret  that  more 
than  seventeen  hundred  voting  papers  had  not  been  returned, 
whilst  nearly  a  hundred  were  rejected  because  they  were 
informal  or  received  by  post  too  late.  With  regard  to  informal 
and  late  votes,  one  can  only  wonder  at  the  apparent  lack 
of  intelligence  displayed  in  the  face  of  such  explicit  in¬ 
structions  as  each  voter  receives.  As  to  those  who  did  not 
vote,  we  can  only  reiterate  that  they  were  guilty  of  a  grave 
error  of  judgment  in  neglecting  their  most  important  duty 
as  members  of  the  Society. 


476 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  29,  1897  ' 


ANNOTATIONS, 


The  Benevolent  Fund  List  of  donations  and  new  or  increased 
annual  subscriptions,  paid  or  promised  in  response  to  the  special 
decennial  appeal,  still  remains  open,  and  a  list  of  any  further  con¬ 
tributions  received  or  promised  on  or  before  Monday  next,  May  31, 
will  be  published  in  the  Journal  next  week.  It  has  been  hoped 
that  it  might  be  possible  to  announce  at  least  another  five  hundred 
pounds  by  that  time,  and  though  present  prospects  do  not  lend 
much  support  to  that  idea,  a  timely  reminder  may  go  far  towards 
aiding  its  realisation.  As  already  pointed  out,  thisis  the  only  special 
insurance  fund  British  pharmacy  possesses,  find  by  establishing  a 
great  record  this  year,  it  may  be  possible  to  secure  the  Fund  upon  a 
much  more  satisfactory  financial  basis  than  has  ever  yet  been  possible. 

Three  Pharmaceutical  Scholarships  will  be  offered  for  com¬ 
petition  on  Tuesday,  July  13 — two  Jacob  Bell  Memorial  Scholar¬ 
ships  and  the  Manchester  Pharmaceutical  Association  Scholarship 

_ and  it  is  important  that  intending  competitors  should  not  over- 

ook  the  fact  that  all  entries  must  be  in  the  hands  of  the  Registrar, 
17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  W.C.,  on  or  before  Tuesday  next,  June  1. 
The  Bell  Scholars  will  receive  thirty  pounds  each,  in  addition  to 
free  laboratory  instruction  and  admission  to  the  lectures  at  the 
School  of  Pharmacy  for  the  Session  1897-98,  and  books  of  the  value 
of  fifty  shillings,  given  under  a  bequest  of  the  late  Thomas  Hyde 
Hills.  The  Manchester  Pharmaceutical  Association  Scholarship  is 
worth  about  twenty-six  pounds. 

The  School  op  Pharmacy  Students’  Association  will  hold  a 
meeting  on  Friday  next,  at  8  p.m.,  June  4,  when  Mr.  E.  J.  Wall, 
F.R.P.S.,  Editor  of  the  Photographic  Neivs,  will  deliver  a  lecture 
on  “Some  Applications  of  Photography.”  In  this  he  will  deal 
with  the  application  of  photography  to  astronomical  research, 
agriculture,  meteorology,  geology,  botany,  entomology,  criminal 
jurisprudence,  the  study  of  animal  locomotion,  and  as  a  means  for 
the  expression  of  pictorial  effects.  The  lecture  will  be  illustrated 
by  about  a  hundred  lantern  slides,  and  should  attract  a  large 
audience.  The  chair  will  be  taken  by  the  l)ean  of  the  School,  Pro¬ 
fessor  Greenish,  and  we  are  desired  to  announce  that  any  former 
students  or  friends  of  the  School  will  be  welcome  on  this  occasion. 

Mr.  Taplin’s  Letter,  which  was  received  just  as  we  were  going 
to  press  last  week  (see  page  464d),  raises  a  question'  with  regard  to 
notices  of  motion  that  merits  a  little  attention,  inasmuch  as  others 
may  hold  similar  views  with  regard  to  the  alleged  unfairness  of 
the  Chairman  in  not  allowing  the  motions  to  be  put  at  the  general 
meeting.  The  explanation  of  the  matter  appears  to  be  that  the 
President  had  no  authority  to  deal  in  any  way  with  the 
notices  of  motion  until  the  meeting  had  been  opened. 
We  take  it  that  any  notice  of  motion  sent  to  the 
Secretary  by  a  member  of  a  Society  must  be  accepted  by  him 
without  demur,  and  no  one  is  entitled  to  say  officially  whether  or 
not  it  is  in  order  except  the  Chairman  of  the  meeting  at  which  it 
is  proposed  to  put  the  motion.  The  President  is  not  Chairman 
until  he  has  actually  taken  the  chair  at  the  meeting,  and  then 
only  does  he  become  endowed  with  authority  to  allow  motions  to 
be  put,  or  the  reverse.  Whilst,  therefore,  an  apparent  hardship 
may  be  inflicted  at  times,  there  is  no  ground  whatever  for 
suggesting  that  either  the  Secretary  or  the  President  did  any¬ 
thing  in  the  matter  that  was  not  strictly  in  order. 

The  Storage  of  Drugs  and  Arrangement  of  the  Pharmacy 
are  matters  that  deserve  greater  attention  than  they  receive 
usually,  and  Mr.  Hyslop’s  paper,  read  on  Wednesday  last,  is  there¬ 


fore  one  to  be  welcomed.  He  shows  that  the  climatic  conditions 
of  the  pharmacy  form  an  interesting  study  that  may  be  pursued 
alike  with  pleasure  and  profit  in  the  intervals  during  the  day’s1, 
work,  that  pharmacists  know  only  too  well.  It  is  matter  of  com¬ 
mon  remark  that  all  the  work  spread  over  a  long  day  in  the  phar¬ 
macy  might  often  be  condensed  into  a  few  hours  if  clients  would 
but  arrange  accordingly.  Failing  that  happy  state  of  affairs,, 
however,  Mr.  Hyslop  presents  a  useful  alternative  in  the  study  of 
the  thermal,  hygroscopic,  and  barometric  conditions  of  the  pre¬ 
mises,  and  the  proper  adaptation  of  the  latter  to  all  their  varying- 
needs.  Apprentices,  assistants,  and  master  pharmacists  may 
equally  profit  by  a  perusal  of  this  practical  paper,  and  it  is  quite  cer¬ 
tain  that  readers  will  be  glad  to  welcome  many  others  of  similar  type. 

William  Allen,  the  first  president  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society,  is  referred  to  in  an  interesting  letter  that  appears  in 
the  Christian  World.  Speaking  of  the  late  Duke  of  Kent,  the 
father  of  our  present  Queen,  the  writer  of  the  letter — Mr.  Roberta 
Barling,  of  Staplehurst — says  :  “  One  of  the  most  intimate  of  the* 
Duke’s  friends  was  William  Allen,  of  Plough  Court,  one  of  London’s 
merchant  princes,  at  whose  house  such  celebrities  as  Wilberforce, 
Brougham,  and  others  often  met  for  philanthropic  purposes.  Ilis 
great  wealth  was  often  at  the  Duke’s  disposal,  and  the  Quaker  of 
Plough  Court,  by  his  forethought  and  liberality,  supplied  the 
means  by  which  the  Queen  of  these  realms  was  born  in  England.” 

The  General  Medical  Council  met  for  its  sixty-second  session 
on  Tuesday,  when  the  chair  was  taken  by  the  President,  Sir 
Richard  Quain.  In  the  course  of  his  address  he  stated  that  the 
material  for  the  new  British  Pharmacopoeia  had  been  completed* 
and  would  be  placed  before  the  Council  during  the  present  session. 
It  may  be  anticipated,  therefore,  that  the  approximate  date  of 
publication  of  the  work  may  shortly  be  announced.  There  was- 
nothing  else  of  special  interest  to  our  readers  in  the  address,  buf 
we  regret  to  note  that  the  health  of  the  Registrar,  Mr.  Miller,  has 
so  far  failed  that  he  has  felt  it  his  duty  to  send  in  his  resignation. 

The  Use  of  Diphtheria  Antitoxin  during  the  past  year  has 
just  been  reported  on  by  the  medical  superintendents  of  the 
Metropolitan  Asylums  Board,  and  the  figures  presented  confirm 
and  extend  the  favourable  conclusions  reached  in  the  previous 
year,  the  first  during  which  antitoxin  was  used  by  the  Board. 
Comparison  is  made  with  1894,  the  year  in  which  the  lowest 
mortality  was  recorded  prior  to  the  introduction  of  antitoxin,  and 
a  marked  improvement  is  manifested  in  all  classes  of  cases, 
especially  in  the  severer  ones,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  following 
tabular  statement,  showing  the  percentage  of  mortality  to  cases : — 


Year. 

All  cases. 

Under  5  years. 

Laryngeal. 

Tracheotomy. 

1894  . 

29-6 

47‘4 

62-0 

70-4 

1896 . 

20‘S 

30-2 

29-6 

41-0 

The  percentage  of  laryngeal  cases  requiring  tracheotomy  was 
reduced  from  56 '0  to  41  ‘0,  and  in  post-scarlatinal  diphtheria  the 
mortality  was  reduced  to  5  per  cent. ,  the  average  for  five  years 
before  1894  having  been  50  per  cent.  The  clinical  effects  of  the 
treatment  observed  are  a  diminution  of  the  faucial  swelling  and 
consequent  distress  ;  a  lessening,  if  not  entire  cessation,  of  the 
irritating  and  offensive  discharge  from  the  nose ;  a  limitation  of 
the  extension  of  membrane ;  and  an  earlier  separation  of  the 
exudation.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  in  one  hospital  under  the 
Board  antitoxin  was  used  to  a  much  less  extent  than  in  the  rest* 
and  that  is  the  only  hospital  which  shows  no  improvement  in 
results  over  1894. 


May  29,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


477 


The  Serum  Used  was  supplied  by'Dr.  Sims  Woodhead'from  the 
1  aboratories  of  the  Royal  Colleges  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons.  It 
i  s  described  as  being  of  greater  strength  and  more  uniform  than 
that  previously  obtained,  and  the  dosage  could  be  more  accurately 
regulated.  The  importance  of  early  treatment  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  a  dose  of  2000  units  will  usually  secure  a  result  on  the 
first  day  which  50,000  will  not  effect  on  the  fourth.  Though  a 
considerable  increase  of  complications  was  noticed,  especially  of 
albuminuria  and  paralysis,  the  medical  superintendents  attach 
but  little  importance  to  that.  Some  of  the  increase  is  no  doubt 
accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  many  severe  cases  recover  which 
would  otherwise  have  ended  fatally.  The  general  conclusions 
reached  are  that  antitoxin  causes  a  great  reduction  in  the 
mortality  of  cases  brought  under  treatment  on  the  first  three  days 
of  illness,  whilst  there  is  a  lowering  of  the  combined  general 
mortality  to  a  point  below  that  of  any  former  year,  and  a 
still  more  remarkable  reduction  in  the  mortality  of  the  laryngeal 
cases.  A  uniform  improvement  was  also  observed  in  the  results 
of  tracheotomy  at  each  separate  hospital,  as  well  as  a  bene¬ 
ficial  effect  in  the  clinical  course  of  the  disease.  The  results 
recorded  for  1896  are  somewhat  better  than  those  for  1895,  and  it 
is  added  that  the  superintendents  still  hold  to  the  opinion  that  in 
the  antitoxic  serum  a  remedy  is  possessed  of  distinctly  greater 
value  in  the  treatment  of  diphtheria  than  any  other  with  which 
they  are  acquainted. 

The  Treatment  of  Wounds  by  Oxygen  Gas  is  now  in  active 
operation  at  the  Oxygen  Home,  Fitzroy  Square,  which  was  form¬ 
ally  opened  by  the  Princess  Louise  last  week.  The  new  system  of 
oxygen  treatment  was  discovered  by  Dr.  George  Stoker,  brother 
of  Mr.  Bram  Stoker,  of  the  Lyceum  Theatre.  It  depends  on 
exposure  of  the  affected  parts — wounds,  ulcers,  etc. — to  the  action 
of  oxygen  gas,  and  the  ailments  are  said  to  disappear  as  if  by 
magic.  It  is  stated  that  the  new  method  of  treatment  was  sug¬ 
gested  to  Dr.  Stoker  by  the  Zulus,  who,  when  they  are  wounded, 
climb  an  eminence  and  expose  their  wounds  to  the  pure  air  of  the 
mountain  tops.  After  the  Russo-Turkish  War  he  also  noticed  that 
the  invalids  sat  with  their  wounded  limbs  bare  on  the  deck  and 
profioed  thereby.  The  idea  thus  suggested  has  been  scientifically 
developed,  and  during  the  past  nine  months  exceeding  favourable 
results  have  been  obtained.  At  the  Oxygen  Home  a  gasometer  is 
kept  filled  with  a  mixture  of  equal  parts  of  oxygen  and  purified 
air,  and  vessels  filled  with  the  mixture  from  the  gasometer  are 
attached  to  special  chambers  which  enclose  the  wounds. 

Deaths  caused  by  Poisons  and  Poisonous  Vapours  numbered 
598  in  1895,  including  389  males  and  209  females.  Of  the  former 
116  succumbed  to  the  effects  of  lead  poisoning  ;  opium,  laudanum, 
and  morphine  accounted  for  63  ;  chloroform  43  ;  carbolic  acid  11  ; 
chlorodyne  9  ;  chloral  8  ;  and  belladonna  7  ;  no  other  poison  being 
responsible  for  more  than  five  deaths.  Amongst  women,  opium, 
laudanum,  and  morphine  are  credited  with  40  deaths ;  lead  27 ; 
chloroform  25 ;  carbolic  acid  23 ;  ammonia  6 ;  and  others  for 
smaller  numbers. 

The  Proposed  Psychological  Laboratory  at  University 
College,  London,  will  be  carried  on  in  conjunction  with  the 
work  of  the  Physiological  and  Psychological  Departments,  and 
under  the  guidance  of  Professors  Schafer  and  Sully,  the  latter  of 
whom  is  acting  as  honorary  secretary  of  the  Committee.  To  start 
the  laboratory  about  £200  per  annum  is  required.  Professor  Sully 
has  received  £70  towards  the  cost  of  instruments  from  a  lady 
formerly  a  student  at  University  College,  and  he  now  appeals 
for  further  help. 


LITERARY  NOTES. 


‘On  the  Therapeutic  Value  of  the  Hydrocarbons,’  is  a 
pamphlet  by  Professor  Bayer,  of  Brussels,  who  makes  special 
reference  to  the  use  of  the  compounds  dealt  with,  in  the  treatment 
of  diseases  of  the  respiratory  organs  and  particularly  of 
tuberculosis.  The  hydrocarbon  more  particularly  referred  to  is 
the  so-called  oxygenated  petroleum  (vaselina  oxygenata),  or  Valsol- 
Klever.  Copies  of  the  pamphlet  may  be  obtained  from  Mr.  William 
Poppelreuter,  54,  Portland  Street,  Manchester. 

The  ‘  Manuale  der  neuen  Arzneimittel,’  by  J.  Mindes,  is  a 
useful  compilation  in  which  the  more  essential  particulars  are 
given  concerning  more  than  two  thousand  new  remedies,  a  large 
proportion  of  which  have  probably  never  been  heard  of  by  British 
pharmacists.  The  book  is  arranged  in  dictionary  form  and  a  capital 
index  is  included  within  its  three  hundred  and  thirty-five  pages. 
Medical  men  and  pharmacists  who  can  read  German  will  find  the 
compilation  an  indispensable  work  of  reference.  It  is  published 
at  the  Art.  Institut  Orell  Ftissli,  Zurich,  at  five  shillings. 

‘Quarantine  in  England’  was  the  subject  of  the  Milroy 
lectures,  delivered  at  the  Royal  College  of  Physicians  by  Dr. 
William  Collingridge,  and  they  have  now  been  re-published  from 
the  Lancet  in  pamphlet  form.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Dr. 
Collingridge  is  of  opinion  that  the  theory  on  which  the  system  of 
modern  quarantine  is  based  is  untenable,  and  that  in  practice  it 
has  failed  to  confer  any  real  protection  on  those  countries  which 
practise  it.  An  effective  quarantine  is  shown  to  be  practically 
impossible  in  a  commercial  country,  whilst  sanitation  and  a  rational 
system  of  medical  inspection  have  proved  more  efficacious  and  less 
burdensome. 

‘  The  Imperial  Text-Book,  of  Photography,’  by  E.  J.  Wall, 
F.R.P.S.,  is  a  compact  work  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  pages, 
the  special  claim'  of  which  to  attention  is  the  fact  that  every 
process  recommended  has  been  personally  tested  and  proved.  This 
is  so  much  more  than  can  usually  be  said  of  any  book  that  it 
ought  to  direct  the  attention  of  amateurs  to  the  ‘  Imperial  Text- 
Book.’  Cameras,  lenses,  plates,  dark  rooms,  and  all  the  hundred 
and  one  points  in  photography  that  require  attention  are  carefully 
dealt  with,  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  publisher’s  estimate 
of  the  book  as  “a  satisfactory  guide  to  the  practice  of  photography” 
will  be  confirmed  by  many.  It  is  published  in  a  neat  cloth  cover 
at  one  shilling,  by  the  Imperial  Dry  Plate  Co.,  Ltd.,  Crickle- 
wood,  N.W. 

Technical  Education,  as  encouraged  by  the  City  and  Guilds  of 
London  Institute,  continues  to  thrive,  and  the  latest  Report  to  the 
Governors,  at  the  head  of  whom  is  the  Prince  of  Wales  as  Presi¬ 
dent,  is  quite  a  bulky  volume.  The  total  number  of  students  in 
attendance  at  the  Central  Technical  College  during  1895-6  was  214, 
rather  more  than  the  previous  year,  and  at  the  close  of  the  Session 
the  diploma  of  Associate  of  the  City  Guilds  Institute  was  awarded 
to  46  matriculated  third-year  students.  A  considerable  amount  of 
research  work  has  been  done  in  the  laboratories  of  the  College  by 
the  more  advanced  students,  in  conjunction  with  the  Professors, 
and  the  results  in  many  cases  have  been  communicated  to  the 
Royal  Society  and  other  bodies.  The  amount  received  in  students’ 
fees  during  the  year  was  £4876  11s.  8d.  The  Technical  College, 
Finsbury,  has  also  continued  to  do  good  work,  and  altogether  there 
is  continued  evidence  of  the  great  value  and  importance  of  the 
services  rendered  to  technical  education  by  the  City  and  Guilds 'of 
London  Institute. 


478 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Mat  29,  1897 


BRITISH  ASSOCIATION  FOR  THE 

ADVANCEMENT  OF  SCIENCE. 

• - ♦ - 

BOTANICAL  SECTION. 

OPENING  ADDRESS  BY 
D.  H.  SCOTT,  M.A.,  Ph.d  ,  F.R.S. 

"Honorary  Keeper  of  the  Jodrell  Laboratory,  Royal  Gardens,  Kew, 
President  of  the  Section. 

THE  PRESENT  POSITION  OF  MORPHOLOGICAL  BOTANY 
( Concluded  from  page  861. ) 

Chalazogamy. 

Among  the  most  striking  results  of  recent  years  bearing  on  the 
morphology  of  the  higher  plants,  Treub’s  discovery  of  the  struc¬ 
ture  of  the  ovule  and  the  mode  of  fertilisation  in  Casuarina  must 
undoubtedly  be  reckoned.  The  fact  that  the  pollen-tube  in  this 
genus  does  not  enter  the  micropyle,  but  travels  through  the 
tissues  of  the  ovary  to  the  chalaza,  thus  reaching  the  base  of  the 
embryo-sac,  was  remarkable  enough  in  itself,  and  when  considered 
in  connection  with  the  presence  of  a  large  sporogenous  tissue  pro¬ 
ducing  numerous  embryo-sacs,  appeared  to  justify  the  separation 
of  this  order  from  other  angiosperms.  Then  came  the  work  of 
Miss  Benson  in  England,  and  of  Nawaschin  in  Russia,  showing 
that  these  remarkable  peculiarities  are  by  no  means  confined  to 
Casuarina,  but  extend  also  in  various  modifications  to  several 
genera  of  the  Cupuliferie  and  Ulmaceas.  They  are  not,  however, 
constant  throughout  these  families,  so  that  we  are  no 
longer  able  to  attach  to  these  characters  the  same  fundamental 
systematic  importance  which  their  first  discoverer  attri¬ 
buted  to  them.  It  is  remarkable,  however,  that  these  de¬ 
partures  from  the  ordinary  course  of  angiospermous  development 
occur  in  families  some  of  which  have  been  believed  on  other 
grounds  to  be  among  the  most  primitive  Dicotyledons. 

Evidence  of  Descent  derived  from  Fossil  Botany. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  address  I  spoke  of  the  importance  of 
the  comparatively  direct  evidence  afforded  by  fossil  remains  as  to 
the  past  history  of  plants.  It  may  be  of  interest  if  I  endeavour  to 
indicate  the  directions  in  which  such  evidence  seems  at  present  to 
point. 

It  was  Brongniart  who  in  1828  first  arrived  at  the  great  genera¬ 
lisation  that  “  nearly  all  of  the  plants  living  at  the  most  ancient 
geological  epochs  were  Cryptogams,”*  a  discovery  of  unsurpassed 
importance  for  the  theory  of  evolution,  though  one  which  is  now 
so  familiar  that  we  almost  take  it  for  granted.  Those  palseozoic 
plants  which  are  not  Cryptogams  are  Gymnosperms,  for  the  angio¬ 
spermous  flowering  plants  only  make  their  appearance  high  up  in 
the  secondary  rocks.  Even  the  Wealden  flora,  recently  so  care¬ 
fully  described  by  Mr.  Seward,  one  of  the  secretaries  to  this 
section,  has  as  yet  yielded  no  remains  referable  to  Angiosperms, 
though  this  is  about  the  horizon  at  which  we  may  expect  their 
earliest  trace  to  be  found. 

Attention  has  already  been  called  to  the  enormous  antiquity  of 
the  higher  Cryptogams— the  Pteridophyta— and  to  the  striking  fact 
that  they  are  accompanied,  in  the  earliest  strata  in  which  they  have 
been  demonstrated  with  certainty,  by  well-characterised  Gymno¬ 
sperms.  The  Devonian  flora,  so  far  as  we  know  it,  though  an  early, 
was  by  no  means  a  primitive  one,  and  the  same  statement  applies 
still  more  strongly  to  the  plants  of  the  succeeding  Carboniferous 
epoch.  The  palaeozoic  Cryptogams,  as  is  now  well  known,  being 
the  dominant  plants  of  their  time,  were  in  many  ways  far  more 
highly  developed  than  those  of  our  own  age ;  and  this  is  true  of  all 
the  three  existing  stocks  of  Pteridophyta,  ferns,  lycopods,  and 
Equisetineae. 

We  cannot  therefore  expect  any  direct  evidence  as  to  the  origin 
of  these  groups  from  the  palaeozoic  remains  at  present  known  to 
us,  though  it  is,  of  course,  quite  possible  that  the  plants  in  question 
have  sometimes  retained  certain  primitive  characters,  while 
reaching  in  other  respects  a  high  development.  For  example,  the 
general  type  of  anatomical  structure  in  the  young  stems  of  the 
Lepidodendreae  was  simpler  than  that  of  most  Lycopods  at  the 
present  day,  though  in  the  older  trunks  the  secondary  growth, 
correlated  with  arborescent  habit,  produced  a  high  degree  of  com- 

*  Williamson,  ‘  Reminiscences  of  a  Yorkshire  Naturafist,’  1896,  p.  198. 


plexity.  On  the  whole,  however,  the  interest  of  the  palseozoic 
Cryptogams  does  not  consist  in  the  revelation  of  their  primitive 
ancestral  forms,  but  rather  in  their  enabling  us  to  trace  certain 
lines  of  evolution  further  upward  than  in  recent  plants.  From  the 
Carboniferous  rocks  we  first  learn  what  Cryptogams  are  capable  of. 
In  descending  to  the  early  strata  we  do  not  necessarily  trace  the 
trunk  of  the  genealogical  tree  to  its  base  ;  on  the  contrary,  we 
often  light  on  the  ultimate  twigs  of  extensive  branches  which  died' 
out  long  before  our  own  period. 

In  a  lecture  which  I  had  the  honour  of  giving  last  May  before 
the  Liverpool  Biological  Society,  I  pointed  out  how  futile  the 
search  for  ‘  ‘  missing  links  ”  among  fossil  plants  is  likely  to  be. 
The  lines  of  descent  must  have  been  so  infinitely  complex  in  their- 
ramification  that  the  chances  are  almost  hopelessly  great  against, 
our  happening  upon  the  direct  ancestors  of  living  forms.  Among 
the  collateral  lines,  however,  we  may  find  invaluable  indications, 
of  the  course  of  descent. 

Fossil  botany  has  revealed  to  us  the  existence  in  the  Carbon¬ 
iferous  epoch  of  a  fourth  phylum  of  vascular  Cryptogams  quite 
distinct  from  the  three  which  have  come  down — more  or  less  re¬ 
duced — to  pur  own  day.  This  is  the  group  of  Sphenophyllese, 
plants  with  slender  ribbed  stems,  superposed  whorls  of  more  or- 
less  wedge-shaped  leaves,  and  very  complex  strobili  with  stalked 
sporangia.  The  group  to  a  certain  extent  combines  the  characters, 
of  Lycopods  and  Horsetails,  resembling  the  former  in  the 
primary  anatomy,  and  the  latter,  though  remotely,  in  external 
habit  and  fructification.  Like  so  many  of  the  early  Cryptogams,. 
Sphenophyllum  possessed  well-marked  cambial  growth.  One  may- 
hazard  the  guess  that  this  interesting  group  may  have  been  derived, 
from  some  unknown  form  lying  at  the  root  of  both  Calamites  and 
Lycopods.  The  existence  of  the  Sphenophyllese  certainly  suggests, 
the  probability  of  a  common  origin  for  these  two  series. 

In  few  respects  is  the  progress  made  recently  in  fossil  botany- 
more  marked  than  in  our  knowledge  of  the  affinities  of  the 
Calamariese.  Even  so  recently  as  the  publication  of  Count  Solms- 
Laubach’s  unrivalled  introduction  to  ‘  Fossil  Botany,’ the  relation 
of  this  family  to  the  Horsetails  was  still  so  doubtful  that  the  author 
dealt  with  the  two  groups  in  quite  different  parts  of  his  book. 
This  is  never  likely  to  happen  again.  The  study  of  vegetative- 
anatomy  and  morphology  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  the  perfectly- 
preserved  fructifications  on  the  other,  can  leave  no  doubt  that  the- 
fossil  Calamariese  and  the  recent  Equiseta  belong  to  one  and  the 
same  great  family,  of  which  the  palseozoic  representatives  are, 
generally  speaking,  by  far  the  more  highly  organised.  This  is  not. 
only  true  of  their  anatomy,  which  is  characterised  by  secondary 
growth  in  thickness  just  like  that  of  a  Gymnosperm,  but  also 
applies  to  the  reproductive  organs,  some  of  which  are  distinctly 
heterosporous.  In  the  genus  Calamostachys  we  are,  I  think,  able- 
to  trace  the  first  rise  of  this  phenomenon. 

The  external  morphology  of  the  cones  is  also  more  varied  and 
usually  more  complex  than  that  of  recent  Equiseta,  though  in 
some  Carboniferous  forms,  as  in  the  so-called  Calamostachys 
tenuissima  of  Grand’  Eury,  we  find  an  exactly  Equisetum-like- 
arrangement. 

The  position  of  the  Sigillarise  as  true  members  of  the  Lycopod 
group  is  now  well  established.  The  work  of  Williamson  proved 
that  there  is  no  fundamental  distinction  between  the  vegetative 
structure  of  Lepidodendron,  which  has  always  been  recognised  as 
lycopodiaceous,  and  that  of  Sigillaria.  Secondary  growth  in 
thickness,  the  character  which  here,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Calamo- 
dendrese,  misled  Brongniart,  is  the  common  property  of  both 
genera.  Then  came  Zeiller’s  discovery  of  the  cones  of  Sigillaria , 
settling  beyond  a  doubt  that  they  are  heterosporous  Cryptogams. 

A  great  deal  still  remains  to  be  done,  more  especially  as  to  the- 
relation  of  Stigmaria  to  the  various  types  of  lycopodiaceous  stem. 
At  present  we  are  perhaps  too  facile  in  accepting  Stigmaria 
ficoides  as  representing  the  underground  organs  of  almost  any 
carboniferous  Lycopod. 

We  are  now  in  possession  of  a  magnificent  mass  of  data  for  the 
morphology  of  the  palseozoic  lycopods,  and  have  perhaps  hardly 
yet  realised  the  richness  of  our  material.  I  refer  more  especially 
to  specimens  with  structure,  on  which,  here  as  elsewhere,  the 
scientific  knowledge  of  fossil  plants  primarily  depends. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  repeat  what  has  been  said  so  often, 
elsewhere,  that  the  now  almost  universal  recognition  of  the- 
cryptogamic  nature  of  Calamodendrese  and  Sigillarise  is  a  splendid? 
triumph  for  the  opinions  of  the  late  Professor  Williamson,  which 
he  gallantly  maintained  through  a  quarter  of  a  century  of: 
controversy. 


May  29,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


479 


Perhaps,  however,  the  keenest  interest  now  centres  in  the  Ferns 
and  fern-like  plants  of  the  carboniferous  epoch.  No  fossil  remains 
•of  plants  are  more  abundant,  or  more  familiar  to  collectors,  than 
the  beautiful  and  varied  fern-fronds  from  the  older  strata.  The 
mere  form,  and  even  the  venation  of  these  fronds,  however,  really 
tell  us  little,  for  we  know  how  deceptive  such  characters  may  be 
among  recent  plants.  In  a  certain  number  of  cases,  discovery  of 
the  fructification  has  come  to  our  aid,  and  where  sori  are  found  we 
-can  have  no  more  doubt  as  to  the  specimens  belonging  to  true  Ferns. 
The  work  of  Stur  and  Zeiller  has  been  especially  valuable  in  this 
•direction,  and  has  revealed  the  interesting  fact  that  a  great  many 
•of  these  early  Ferns  showed  forms  of  fructification  now  limited  to 
the  small  order  Marattiaceae.  I  think  perhaps  the  predominance 
of  this  group  has  been  somewhat  exaggerated,  but  at  least  there  is 
no  doubt  that  the  marattiaceous  type  was  much  more  important 
then  than  now,  though  it  by  no  means  stood  alone.  In  certain 
•cases  the  whole  fern-plant  can  be  built  up.  Thus  Zeiller  and 
Renault  have  shown  that  the  great  stems  known  as  Psaronius,  the 
structure  of  which  is  perfectly  preserved,  bore  fronds  of  the 
Pecopteris  form,  and  that  similar  Pecopteris  fronds  produced  the 
fructification  of  Aster  otheca,  which  is  of  a  marattiaceous 
•character.  Hence,  for  a  good  many  Carboniferous  and 
Permian  forms  there  is  not  the  slightest  doubt  as  to  their  fern- 
nature,  and  we  can  even  form  an  idea  of  the  particular  group  of 
Ferns  to  which  the  affinity  is  closest. 

I  will  say  nothing  more  as  to  the  true  Ferns,  though  they  present 
innumerable  points4  of  interest,  but  will  pass  on  at  once  to  certain 
forms  of  even  greater  importance  to  the  comparative  morphologist. 

A  considerable  number  of  palceozoic  plants  are  now  known  which 
present  characters  intermediate  between  those  of  Ferns  and 
Cycadese.  I  say  present  intermediate  characters,  because  that  is 
a  safe  statement ;  we  cannot  go  further  than  this  at  present,  for 
we  do  not  yet  know  the  reproductive  organs  of  the  forms  in 
•question. 

In  Lyginodendron,  the  vegetative  organs  of  which  are  now 
completely  known,  the  stem  has  on  the  whole  a  cycadean  structure ; 
the  anatomy,  which  is  preserved  with  astonishing  perfection, 
presents  some  remarkable  peculiarities,  the  most  striking  being 
that  the  vascular  bundles  of  the  stem  have  precisely  the  same 
arrangement  of  their  elements  as  is  found  in  the  leaves 
of  existing  Cycads,  but  nowhere  else  among  living  plants. 
The  roots  also,  though  not  unlike  those  of  certain 
ferns  in  their  primary  organisation,  grew  in  thickness  by  means  of 
•cambium,  like  those  of  a  Gymnosperm.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
leaves  of  Lyginodendron  are  typical  fern-fronds,  having  the  form 
■characteristic  of  the  genus  Sphenopteris,  and  being  probably 
identical  with  the  species  S.  hceninghausi,  Their  minute  struc¬ 
ture  is  also  exactly  that  of  a  fern-frond,  so  that  no  botanist  would 
■doubt  that  he  had  to  do  with  a  Fern  if  the  leaves  alone  were 
before  him. 

This  plant  thus  presents  an  unmistakable  combination  of  cyca¬ 
dean  and  fern -like  characters.  Another  and  more  ancient  genus, 
Heterangium,  agrees  in  many  details  with  Lyginodendron,  but 
•stands  nearer  the  ferns,  the  stem  in  its  primary  structure  resem¬ 
bling  that  of  a  Gleichenia,  though  it  grows  in  thickness  like  a 
cycad.  These  intermediate  characters  led  Professsor  Williamson 
and  myself  to  the  conclusion  that  these  two  genera  were  derived 
from  an  ancient  stock  of  Ferns,  combining  the  characters  of 
•several  of  the  existing  families,  and  that  they  had  already  con¬ 
siderably  diverged  from  this  stock  in  a  cycadean  direction.  I 
believe  that  recent  investigations,  of  which  I  hope  we  shall  hear 
more  from  Mr.  Seward,  tend  to  supply  a  link  between  Lyginoden¬ 
dron  and  the  more  distinctly  cycadean  stem  known  as  Cycadoxylon. 

Heterangium  first  appears  in  the  Burntisland  beds,  at  the  base 
•of  the  carboniferous  system  ;  from  a  Similar  horizon  in  Silesia,  Count 
Solms-Laubach  has  described  another  fossil,  Protopitys  bucheana, 
the  vegetative  structure  of  which  also  shows,  though  in  a  different 
form,  a  striking  union  of  the  characters  of  Ferns  and  Gymno¬ 
sperms.  Count  Solms  shows  that  this  genus  cannot  well  be 
included  among  the  Lyginodendrese,  but  must  be  placed  in  a 
family  of  its  own,  which,  to  use  his  own  words,  “increases  the 
number  of  extinct  types  which  show  a  transition  between  the 
■characters  of  Filicinese  and  of  Gymnosperms,  and  which  thus 
might  represent  the  descendants  in  different  directions  of  a  primi¬ 
tive  group  common  to  both.”* 

Another  intermediate  group,  quite  different  from  either  of  the 
foregoing,  is  that  of  the  Medullosete,  fossils  most  frequent  in  the 


Upper  Carboniferous  and  Permian  strata.  The  stems  have  a 
remarkably  complicated  structure,  built  up  of  a  number  of 
distinct  rings  of  wood  and  bast,  each  growing  by  its  own  cambium. 
Whether  these  rings  represent  so  many  separate  primary  cylinders, 
like  those  of  an  ordinary  polystelic  fern,  or  are  entirely  the 
product  of  anomalous  secondary  growth,  is  still  an  open  question, 
on  which  we  may  expect  more  light  from  the  investigations  of 
Count  Solms.  In  any  case,  these  curious  stems  (which  certainly 
suggest  in  themselves  some  relation  to  Cycadese)  are  known  to  have 
borne  the  petioles  known  as  Myeloxylon,  which  have  precisely  the 
structure  of  cycadean  petioles.  * 

Renault  has  fui’ther  brought  forward  convincing  evidence 
that  these  Myeloxylon  petioles  terminated  in  distinctly 
fern-like  foliage,  referable  to  the  form-genera  Alethopteris 
and  Neuropteris.  Hence  it  is  evident  that  the  fronds 
of  these  types,  like  some  specimens  of  Sphenopteris,  cannot  be 
accepted  as  true  Ferns,  but  may  be  strongly  suspected  of  belong¬ 
ing  to  intermediate  groups  between  Ferns  and  Cycads. 

It  is  not  likely  (as  has  been  repeatedly  pointed  out  elsewhere) 
that  any  of  these  intermediate  forms  are  really  direct  ancestors  of 
our  existing  Cycads,  which  certainly  constitute  only  a  small  and 
insignificant  remnant  of  what  was  once  a  great  class,  derived,  as  I 
think  the  evidence  shows,  from  fern-like  ancestors,  probably  by 
several  lines  of  descent. 

One  of  the  greatest  discoveries  in  fossil  botany  was  undoubtedly 
that  of  the  Cordaitese — a  fourth  family  of  Gymnosperms,  quite  dis¬ 
tinct  from  the  three  now  existing,  though  having  certain  points  in 
common  with  all  of  them.  They  are  much  the  most  ancient  of  the 
four  stocks,  extending  back  far  into  the  Devonian.  Nearly  all  the 
wood  of  Carboniferous  age,  formerly  referred  to  Conifers;  under 
the  name  of  Dadoxylon  or  Araucarioxylon,  belonged  to  these 
plants.  Thanks  chiefly  to  the  brilliant  researches  of  Renault 
and  Grand’  Eury,  the  structure  of  these  fine  trees  is  now  known 
with  great  completeness.  The  roots  and  stems  have  a  coniferous 
character,  but  the  latter  contain  a  large,  chambered  pith  different 
from  anything  in  that  order.  The  great  simple  lanceolate  or 
spatulate  leaves,  sometimes  a  yard  long,  were  traversed  by  a  number 
of  parallel  vascular  bundles,  each  of  which  has  the  exact  structure 
of  a  foliar  bundle  in  existing  Cycadeax  This  type  of  vascular 
bundle  is  evidently  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  persistent  of 
characters.  Both  the  male  and  female  flowers  ( Cordaianthus )  are 
well  preserved  in  some  cases.  The  morphology  of  the  former  has 
not  yet  been  cleared  up,  but  the  stamen,  consisting  of  an  upright 
filament  bearing  2-4  long  pollen-sacs  at  the  top,  is  quite  unlike 
anything  in  Cycadeae ;  a  comparison  is  possible  either  with  Gingko 
or  with  the  Gnetaceae. 

In  the  female  flowers — small  cones — the  axillary  ovules  appear 
to  have  two  integuments,  a  character  which  resembles  Gnetaceae 
rather  than  any  other  Gymnosperms.  Renault’s  famous  discovery 
of  the  prothallus  in  the  pollen-grains  of  Cordaites  indicates  the 
persistence  of  a  cr.yptogamic  character  ;  but  it  cannot  be  said  that 
the  group  as  a  whole  bears  the  impress  of  primitive  simplicity, 
though  it  certainly  combines  in  a  remarkable  way  the  characters 
of  the  three  existing  orders  of  the  Gymnosperms. 

There  is  one  genus,  Poroxylon,  fully  and  admirably  investigated 
by  Messrs.  Bertrand  and  Renault,  which  from  its  perfectly  pre¬ 
served  vegetative  structure  (and  at  present  nothing  else  is  known) 
appears  to  occupy  an  intermediate  position  before  the  Lygino¬ 
dendrese  and  the  Cordaitese.  The  anatomy  of  the  stem  is  almost 
exactly  that  of  Lyginodendron,  the  resemblance  extending  to  the 
minutest  details,  while  the  leaves  seem  to  closely  approach  those 
of  Cordaites.  Poroxylon  is  at  present  known  only  from  the  Upper 
Carboniferous,  so  we  cannot  regard  it  as  in  any  way  representing 
the  ancestors  of  the  far  more  ancient  Cordaiteae.  The  genus 
suggests,  however,  the  possibility  that  the  CordaiteaB  and  the 
Cycadeae  (taking  the  latter  term  in  its  wide  sense)  may  have  had  a 
common  origin  among  forms  belonging  to  the  filicinean  stock.  It 
is  also  possible  that  the  CordaiteaB,  or  plants  allied  to  them,  may  in 
their  turn  have  given  rise  to  both  Coniferae  and  Gnetaceae. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  at  present  we  do  not  know  the  fructifica¬ 
tion  of  any  of  the  fossil  plants  which  appear  to  be  intermediate 
between  ferns  and  Gomnosperms.  Sooner  or  later  the  discovery 
will  doubtless  be  made  in  some  of  these  forms,  and  most  interest¬ 
ing  it  will  be.  M.  Renault’s  Cycadospadix  from  Autun  appears  to 
show  that  very  cycad-like  fructifications  already  existed  in  the 
later  Carboniferous  period,  and  numerous  isolated  seeds  point  in 
the  same  direction,  but  we  do  not  know  to  what  plants  they 
belonged. 


*  Bot.  Zeitung,  1893,  p.  207. 


*  Seward,  ‘  Anna’s  of  Botany,’  vol.  vii.,  p.  1. 


480 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  29,  1897 


I  think  we  may  say*  that  such  definite  evidence  as  we  already 
possess  decidedly  points  in  the  direction  of  the  origin  of  Gymno- 
sperms  generally  from  plants  of  the  Fern  series  rather  than  from  a 
lycopodiaceous  stock. 

I  must  say  a  few  words  before  concluding  on  the  eycad-like 
fossils  which  are  so  striking  a  feature  of  mesozoic  rocks,  although  I 
feel  that  this  is  a  subject  with  which  my  friend  Mr.  Seward  is  far 
more  competent  to  deal.  Both  leaves  and  trunks  of  an  unmis¬ 
takably  cycadean  character  are  exceedingly  common  in  many 
mesozoic  strata,  from  the  Lias  up  to  the  Lower  Cretaceous.  In 
some  cases  the  structure  of  the  stem  is  preserved,  and  then  it 
appears  that  the  anatomy  as  well  as  the  external  morphology  is, 
on  the  whole,  cycadean,  though  simpler,  as  regards  the  course  of 
the  vascular  bundles,  than  that  of  recent  representatives  of  the 
group. 

Strange  to  say,  however,  it  is  only  in  the  rarest  cases  that  fruc¬ 
tifications  of  a  truly  cycadean  type  have  been  found  in  association 
with  these  leaves  and  stems.  In  most  cases,  when  the  fructifica¬ 
tion  is  accurately  known,  it  has  turned  out  to  be  of  a  type  totally 
different  from  that  of  the  true  Cycadeaa,  and  much  more  highly 
organised.  This  is  the  form  of  fructification  characteristic  of 
Bennettites,  a  most  remarkable  group,  the  organisation  of  which 
was  first  revealed  by  the  researches  of  Carruthers,  afterwards  ex¬ 
tended  by  those  of  Solms-Laubach  and  Lignier.  The  genus 
evidently  had  a  great  geological  range,  extending  from  the  Middle 
Oolite  (or  perhaps  even  older  strata)  to  the  Lower  Greensand. 
Probably  all  botanists  are  agreed  in  attributing  cycadean 
affinities  to  the  Bennettitess,  and  no  doubt  they  are 
justified  in  this.  Yet  the  cycadean  characters  are  entirely 
vegetative  and  anatomical ;  the  fructification  is  as  different  as 
possible  from  that  of  any  existing  cycad,  or,  for  that  matter,  of 
any  existing  Gymnosperm.  At  present,  only  the  female  flower  is 
accurately  known,  though  Count  Solms  has  found  some  indications 
of  anthers  in  certain  Italian  specimens.  The  fructification  of  the 
typical  species,  B.  gibsonianus,  which  is  preserved  in  marvellous 
perfection  in  the  classical  specimens  from  the  Isle  of  Wight,  ter¬ 
minates  a  short  branch  inserted  between  the  leaf-bases,  and  consists 
of  a  fleshy  receptacle  bearing  a  great  number  of  seeds  seated  on  a 
long  pedicel  with  barren  scales  between  them.  The  whole  mass  of 
seeds  and  intermediate  scales  is  closely  packed  into  a  head,  and  is 
enclosed  by  a  kind  of  pericarp  formed  of  coherent  scales,  and 
pierced  by  the  micropylar  terminations  of  the  erect  seeds.  Outside 
the  pericarp,  a  wain,  is  an  envelope  of  bracts  which  have  precisely 
the  structure  of  scale-leaves  in  cycads.  The  internal  structure  of 
the  seeds  is  perfectly  preserved,  and,  strange  to  say,  they  are 
nearly,  if  not  quite,  exalbuminous,  practically  the  whole  cavity 
being  occupied  by  a  large  dicotyledonous  embryo. 

This  extraordinary  fructification  is  entirely  different  from  that 
of  any  other  known  group  of  plants,  recent  or  fossil,  and  charac¬ 
terises  the  Bennettiteas,  as  a  family  perfectly  distinct  from  the 
Cycadese,  though  probably  as  Count  Solms-Laubach  suggests,  having 
a  common  origin  with  them  at  some  remote  period.  The  Ben- 
nettiteee,  while  approaching  Angiosperms  in  the  complexity  of  their 
fruit,  retain  a  filicinean  character  in  their  ramenta,  which  are 
quite  like  those  of  ferns,  and  different  from  any  other  form  of  hair 
found  in  recent  Cycadese.  Probably  the  bennettitean  and  cycadean 
series  diverged  from  each  other  at  a  point  not  far  removed  from 
the  filicinean  stock  common  to  both. 

I  hope  that  the  hasty  sketch  which  I  have  attempted  of  some  of 
the  indications  of  descent  afforded  by  modern  work  on  fossil  plants 
may  have  served  to  illustrate  the  importance  of  the  questions 
involved  and  to  bring  home  to  botanists  the  fact  that  phylogenetic 
problems  can  no  longer  be  adequately  dealt  with  without  taking 
into  account  the  historical  evidence  which  the  rocks  afford  us. 

Before  leaving  this  subject  I  desire  to  express  the  great  regret 
which  all  botanists  must  feel  at  the  recent  loss  of  one  of  the  few 
men  in  England  who  have  carried  on  original  work  in  fossil  botany. 
At  the  last  meeting  of  the  Association  we  had  to  lament  the  death, 
at  a  ripe  old  age,  of  a  great  leader  in  this  branch  of  science,  Pro¬ 
fessor  W.  C.  Williamson.  Quite  recently  we  heard  of  the 
premature  decease  of  Thomas  Hick,  for  many  years  his  demon¬ 
strator  and  colleague.  Mr.  Hick  profited  by  his  association  with 
his  distinguished  chief,  and  made  many  valuable  original  contri¬ 
butions  to  palseobotany  (not  to  mention  other  parts  of  botanical 
science),  among  which  I  may  especially  recall  his  work,  in  conjunc¬ 
tion  with  Mr.  Cash,  on  Astromyelon  (now  known  to  be  the  root  of 
Calamites),  on  the  leaves  and  on  the  primary  structure  of  the  stem 
in  Calamites,  on  the  structure  of  Galamostacyhs,  on  the  root  of 
Lyginodendron,  and  on  a  new  fossil  probably  allied  to  Stigmaria.  His 


loss  will  leave  a  gap  in  the  too  thin  ranks  of  fossil-botanists  ;  but 
we  may  hope  that  the  subject,  now  that  its  importance  is  begin¬ 
ning  to  be  appreciated,  will  be  taken  up  by  a  new  generation  of 
enthusiastic  investigators. 

Conclusion. 

To  my  mind  there  is  a  wonderful  fascination  in  the  records  of 
the  far-distant  past  in  which  our  own  origin,  like  that  of  our 
distant  cousins  the  plants,  lies  hidden.  If  any  fact  is  brought 
home  to  us  by  the  investigations  of  modern  biology,  it  is  the  con¬ 
viction  that  all  life  is  one  ;  that,  as  Nageli  said,  the  distance  from 
man  to  the  lowest  bacterium  is  less  than  the  distance  from  the 
lowest  bacterium  to  non-living  matter. 

In  all  studies  which  bear  on  the  origin  and  past  history  of  living 
things  there  is  an  element  of  human  interest — • 

“  Hence,  in  a  season  of  calm  weather, 

Though  inland  far  we  be, 

Our  souls  have  sight  of  that  immortal  sea 
Which  brought  us  hither.” 

The  problems  of  descent,  though  strictly  speaking  they  majr 
often  prove  insoluble,  will  never  lose  their  attraction  for  the 
scientifically  guided  imagination. 


MEETINGS  Of  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIETIES 


Chemical  Society,  Thursday,  May  20. — Professor  Dewar, 
F.R.S. ,  President,  in  the  chair. — There  was  a  large  and  rather 
distinguished  audience  on  this  occasion,  but  the  meeting  as  a  whole 
might  be  placed  in  the  dry-as-dust  category.  The  first  three 
papers  were  by  Mr.  Holland  Crompton,  and  treated  wholly  of 

The  Molecular  Characteristics  of  Liquids. 

They  were  on  “  The  theory  of  osmotic  pressure  and  the  hypothesis 
of  electrolytic  dissociation,”  “  Molecular  rotation  of  optically  active 
salts,”  “  Heats  of  neutralisation  of  acids  and  bases  in  dilute  aqueous 
solution.”  There  was  nothing  in  them  of  the  slightestinterestto  even 
the  most  scientific  of  pharmacists.  Mr.  Crompton  occupied  a  whole 
hour  in  juggling  with  letters  and  figures,  and  the  night  being  very 
hot  and  dusty,  the  papers  were  rather  trying  to  listen  to. 
—Professor  Crum  Brown,  a  former  President  of  the  Society, 
was  present  and  spoke,  and  so  did  Professor  Thorpe  and 
Mr.  Pickering.  —  Dr.  Walker  gave  Mr.  Crompton  a 
few  hard  nuts  to  crack,  as  was  evidenced  by  the  latter’s 
somewhat  weak  reply.  By  the  time  the  reading  of  these 
papers  and  the  discussion  came  to  a  close  the  time  was  already 
twenty  minutes  to  ten,  so  that  it  was  clear  that  Mr.  Tutton’s  paper 
on  “A  Comparative  Crystallographical  Study  of  the  Normal 
Selenates  of  Potassium,  :Rubidium,  and  Caesium,”  and  Mr.  John 
Spiller’s  on  “ The  Platinum-Silver  Alloys;  their  Solubility  in  Nitric 
Acid”  must  be  given  in  the  briefest  of  abstract.  Mr.  Tutton’s 
paper  is  in  continuation  of  several  others  on  the  same  lines,  and  the 
gist  of  it  is  that 

Rubidium  Selenate 

in  its  various  properties,  such  as  solubility,  axial  ratios,  refraction 
constants,  etc.,  occupies  a  place  intermediate  between  that  of 
potassium  and  caesium.  Mr.  Tutton’s  experiments  evidently 
were  conducted  under  the  greatest  difficulties  on  account 
of  the  hygroscopic  nature  of  the  salts,  special  con¬ 
trivances  in  connection  with  the  balances  having  had  to 
be  resorted  to. — Professor  Dewar  complimented  Mr.  Tutton 
on  having  delivered  his  paper  in  its  very  essence.  Mr.  Tutton’s 
characteristic  modesty  and  brevity  made  his  subject  extremely 
interesting. — A  few  words  from  Dr.  Gladstone  brought  the  matter 
to  a  close,  and  then,  already  long  past  ten  o’clock,  Mr.  Spiller  was 
allowed  to  further  entertain  the  loner-suffering  audience.  However, 
what  Mr.  Spiller  said  was  not  dry  by  any  means.  If  Mr.  Spiller 
is  a  brilliant  chemist  he  is  also  a  brilliant  comedian,  for  he  kept 
the  audience,  on  that  hot  dreary  night,  in  a  continued  ripple  of 
laughter.  His  paper  was  an  attack  on  text-book  statements  with 
regard  to 

The  Solubility  of  Platinum-Silver  Alloys 

in  nitric  acid.  He  took  about  fifteen  quotations  from  standard 
works,  and  showed  beyond  a  doubt  that  these  statements  had 
been  made  without  any  attempt  at  verification.  Mr.  Spiller  was 
sorry  that  Dr.  Thorpe  had  just  left  the  room,  but  he  had  a  “hit” 


May  29,  1897 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


481 


at  the  Assistant-Secretary’s  edition  of  ‘Bloxam.’  He  proves 
conclusively  that  the  platinum  is  not  dissolved  in  nitric  acid. — 
Mr.  Friswell,  however,  pointed  out  that  the  presence  of  sulphuric 
acid  in  nitric  acid  might  account  for  the  text-book  statements,  for 
the  presence  of  the  former  acid  in  the  latter  was  extremely 
destructive  on  platinum. 


THE  WORLD  Op  PHARMACY. 

- 4 - 

BUSINESS  MEETINGS. 


Western  Chemists’  Association  (of  London),  Wednes¬ 
day,  May  26. — Mr.  J.  W.  Taplin,  President,  in  the  chair. — The 
following  paper,  by  Mr.  J.  C.  Hyslop,  was  read  : — 

Some  Short  Notes  on  Storage  and  Pharmacy 
Arrangement. 

There  is  a  subject  that  has  never  yet  received  the  attention  which 
its  real  importance  merits.  Being  honoured  with  an  invitation 
to  address  you  this  evening,  I  have  chosen  it  for  some  remarks 
which  are  intended  to  be  but  suggestive,  and  must  from  the 
limited  time  at  my  own  disposal  just  at  present  be  very  elementary 
indeed.  Should  this  present  effort  be  instrumental  in 
provoking  some  others  with  more  time,  and  a  larger  grasp 
of  the  whole  science  of  the  subject,  to  undertake  its  further 
advocacy,  my  object  will  be  fully  attained,  failing  which  I 
cherish  a  hope  of  returning  to  it  myself  when  increased 
leisure  may  be  favourable  for  its  more  exhaustive  treatment : 
The  climatic  conditions  of  the  shop — an  interesting  study  that  may 
be  pursued  with  pleasure  and  profit  quite  as  a  recreation  in  the 
intervals  of  a  pharmacist’s  busy  day’s  work.  The  thermal,  the 
hygroscopic,  and  the  barometric  conditions  of  the  shop  varying,  as 
they  seem,  at  first  thought,  indefinitely,  have  nevertheless  fixed 
natural  limits  of  variation,  with  altitude,  latitude,  and  longitude — 
height  from  floor  to  ceiling,  length  from  front  to  back,  and  breadth 
also — specially  marked  if  the  door  be  not  in  the  centre  of  two 
windows,  quite  analogous  to  what  obtains  in  the  great 
world  outside  with  respect  to  elevation  above  sea-level,  etc. 
And  as  in  this  latter  case  such  widely  different  effects 
are  produced  from  the  most  simple  of  causes,  effects 
that  lie  at  the  centre  of  all  the  differences  of  the  flora  and 
fauna  and  the  anthropological  characteristics  of  the  universe 
around  us,  so  it  needs  but  the  observant  eye  of  a  cultured  mind — 
such  as  we  expect  the  pharmacist  will  be  characterised  by  in  the 
future,  even  still  more  than  in  the  past — to  discern  the  ways  and 
means  of  preserving  in  their  best  possible  conditions  the  thousands 
of  good  things  committed  to  his  charge  always  in  readiness  to 
meet  the  popular  demand,  and  supply  the  need  of  the 

“  Wise  physician,  skilled  our  wounds  to  heal, 

Who  is  more  than  armies  to  the  public  weal.” 

But,  to  dig  straight  into  the  subject.  Which  is  the  dampest  part 
of  the  shop  ?  I  mean  old-fashioned  shops  that  are,  and  wall  be  for 
a  long  time  yet,  lighted  by  gas  ;  perhaps  the  electric  light  will 
introduce  different  conditions  altogether, but  this  is  now  quite  out  of 
my  line.  In  the  generality  of  shops  we  have  going  on  about  mid¬ 
way  between  floor  and  ceiling,  all  the  year  round  for  one-third  of 
our  whole  time,  the  manufacture  of  HO  in  the  form  of  very  hot 
steam  which  gradually  cools  as  it  escapes  into  the  street  above  our 
'heads.  In  winter  time  the  window  glass  is  so  cold  that  it 
•condenses  large  quantities  into  liquid,  which  gives  us  all  some 
amount  of  trouble  ;  this  may,  however,  be  prevented  by  lighting  up 
one  or  two  burners  in  the  window  first,  or  better  still  set  going  a 
Bunsen  burner  to  warm  the  upper  inclosure  before  lighting  up  at  all. 
Whether,  however,  we  adopt  these  precautions  or  not  we  find 
always,  all  the  year  round,  in  dry  seasons  or  wet  ones,  that  the 
•space  under  the  window -board,  where  often  the  gas-meter  is  placed, 
is  as  cool  and  damp  a  position  as  we  could  wish  for  where  confec¬ 
tions  of  senna,  rose,  etc.,  may  be  kept  in  lightly-covered  jars 
almost  indefinitely  of  a  proper  consistency  ready  for  sale  or  the 
dispenser’s  use.  And  perhaps  more  important  still  the  extracts — 
rhubarb,  chamomile,  lettuce,  etc.,  always  in  a  fit  condition  for 
pill-building.  Certain  pill-masses,  too,  as  blue  pill  and  certain 
others,  keep  best  in  this  position ;  whilst  others,  as  comp. 


rhubarb  and  Plummer’s  pill,  must  be  kept  in  a  drier 
place.  Of  the  extracts,  too,  hemlock  and  henbane  and  a 
few  others  must  be  looked  after  and  nursed  a  little,  leaving 
them  for  a  few  weeks  in  one  position  and  then  for  a  few  weeks  in 
another,  but  with  the  greater  part  of  one’s  stock  the  golden  rule, 
•‘A  place  for  everything  and  everything  in  its  place,”  holds  good 
exclusively.  Ordinary  spare  deal  boxes  may  be  utilised  for  these 
purposes,  containing  the  pots  just  as  they  arrive  from  the  whole¬ 
sale  houses,  with  a  lock-up  box  for  ext.  of  aconite,  nux.  vom., 
belladonna,  etc. ,  ranged  above  one  another  from  the  flooring  up¬ 
wards.  Under  the  counter  also  is  the  place  for  capsules,  jujubes, 
and  confectionery  pastilles  generally.  Lozenges  and  all  hard  baked 
articles  should  have  assigned  to  them  a  higher  and  a  drier  place, 
not  kept  in  close  stoppered  bottles,  but  in  boxes  or  lightly  covered 
bottles,  whence  any  trace  of  moisture  may  be  easily  dissipated, 
instead  of  being  transformed  into  overheated  steam  and  spoil  the 
whole  mass.  This  warm  dry  place  is  to  be  found  in  perfection  at 
the  back  of  the  shop  near  the  ceiling,  the  influence  of  the  burning 
gas  over  night  being  shut  in  till  the  next  morning  and  not  nearly 
dissipated  during  the  following  day  until  the  need  arises  for  its 
repetition.  So  that  a  constantly  warm  and  dry  climate  is  here 
available  all  the  year  round.  A  small  packet  of  squill  bulb,  if  well 
dried  at  starting,  will  keep  here  ready  to  be  rubbed  to  powder  in  a 
hot  mortar  whenever  a  little  powdered  squill  is  required.  English 
honey,  procured  in  the  liquid  state  from  the  bee-keeper,  will  here 
keep  liquid  through  the  severest  winter  if  simply  left  alone  as 
much  as  possible,  i.e.,  very  gently  handled  when  the  need  arises. 
And  whilst  speaking  of  honey  let  me  just  add,  in  passing,  that  if 
in  the  forthcoming  B.P.  there  is  retained  that  awful  monstrosity 
of  ancient  ignorance,  “  Mel  Despumatum,”  it  will  prove  one  posi¬ 
tive  disgrace  to  the  pharmacy  of  the  Victorian  era.  Honey  is 
rudely  spoiled  by  being  melted  down  and  strained.  Nor  is  it 
necessary  in  any  sense  to  do  so.  The  same  remark 
holds  good  as  to  asafeetida,  it  spoils  the  drug.  Honey 
will  clarify  itself  if  simply  left  alone;  if  wanted  to  “set,” 
put  it  in  a  cool  place,  and  “setting”  will  soon  set  in  ;  if  wanted 
to  be  kept  in  the  liquid  state,  which  is  a  much  better  condition  for 
it,  keep  it  carefully  and  as  undisturbed  as  possible  in  a  warm,  dry 
place.  Leeches  will  never  go  quite  out  of  date,  in  spite  of  all  the 
mess  .and  muddle  they  are  subjected  to  and  the  sophistry  that  has 
been  written  about  them.  Put  them  into  a  wide-mouth  bottle  half 
filled  with  water  tied  over  with  a  piece  of  flannel  and  covered  round 
with  two  or  three  folds  of  corrugated  paper  to  exclude  the  light 
and  prevent  accidental  fracture.  Place  in  a  cool  dry  corner  and 
very  carefully  examine  once  or  twice  a  week,  and  never  change  the 
water  until  there  is  a  faint/  smell  of  something  going  wrong. 
Never  mind  the  abundant  clots  of  dark-looking  matter.  If  this 
dirtiness  does  not  mix  with  the  water  all  will  go  on  best  by  being 
left  alone.  It  would  seem  as  if  good  leeches  want  simply  to  sleep 
away  their  lives  in  darkness,  peace,  and  quiet  till  man — “that  all- 
depending  lord  ” — requires  the  assistance  that  they  alone  can  render 
him.  For  the  storage  as  well  as  the  manufacture  of  ointment  bright 
tinned  iron  vessels  are  far  more  suitable  than  the  earthen  ointment- 
pot,  the  glaze  of  which  soon  goes  wrong  and  gives  a  bad  character 
to  the  whole  of  the  contents.  To  sum  up  these  desultory  remarks, 
let  me  say  that  lime-water  must  be  kept  on  the  floor,  cool ;  glacial 
acetic  acid  and  liquefied  carbolic  acid  near  the  top  ;  most  syrups 
keep  better  in  a  warm  place,  syrup  of  poppies  specially  excepted ; 
powdered  vegetable  substances  do  best  in  pots  with  tin  covers. 
Distilled  water  in  bright  glass  coppers  at  the  top  of  the  shop  without 
corks,  if  not  glass  stoppers  then  tie  over  with  clean  paper  and 
this  protected  by  a  tin  cover.  Pills  in  shallow  wooden  or  paper 
trays  so  as  not  to  lie  at  top  of  each  other ;  Glauber  salts  and  any 
other  efflorescent  crystals  down  under  the  window  board  in  sound 
paper  packages.  We  sometimes  hear  of  a  chemist  having  to  stay 
in  his  shop  and  wait  for  customers,  a  statement  that  ought  to  Retaken 
up  by  our  old  friend  “  Punch” :  certainly  that  misery  was  never  mine. 

“  Stone  walls  do  not  a  prison  make, 

Nor  iron  bars  a  cage.” 

Then  why  should  a  chemist’s  shop  ?  Depend  upon  it,  sir,  that  as 
the  fruits  of  pharmaceutical  education  and  general  culture  become 
more  diffused  these  groanings  will  cease.  There  is  a  perfect  cosmos 
all  about  him  from  which  a  pharmacist  may  be  ever  choosing  for 
himself  subjects  of  beauty  and  interest  connected  with  his  essential 
avocation,  and  which  dove-tail  in  with  it  in  thousands  of  ways, 
tending  to  make  his  whole  career  one  of  delight  and  happiness,  the 
delight  and  happiness  that  ever  accompanies  the  truly  cultured 
mind  in  every  station  and  condition  of  life. 


482 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[May  29,  1897 


Nottingham  and  Notts.  Chemists’  Association,  Wed¬ 
nesday,  May  26.— Councillor  R.  Fitzhugh,  President,  in  the 
chair. — This  was  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Association,  and  the 
first  business  was  the 

Election  of  Officers. 

The  following  officers  were  re-elected  for  the  ensuing  year  : — 
Councillor  R.  Fitzhugh  (President),  Mr.  J.  Wilford  (Treasurer), 
Mr.  A.  Eberlin  (Secretary).  Mr.  A.  Middleton  vacated  the  office 
of  Vice-President  in  the  ordinary  course,  and  Mr.  F.  R.  Sergeant 
was  elected  to  the  position.  The  following  members  were  elected 
on  the  Council  by  ballot : — Messrs.  C.  A.  Bolton,  E.  Gascoyne, 
A.  Middleton,  R.  Beverley,  W.  Gill,  A.  E.  Beilby,  S.  Cook,  and 
T.  Mason. 

Annual  Report. 

The  Secretary  then  read  the  annual  report,  which  spoke  of  a  very 
successful  year  of  progress.  After  referring  to  the  various  meetings 
held  during  the  year,  including  Mr.  Howie’s  lecture,  the  annual 
dinner,  and  the  special  meeting  to  discuss  the  proposed  altera¬ 
tions  in  the  bye-laws  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  the  report 
proceeded — •“  Turning  now  to  the  important  subject  of  the  educa¬ 
tion  of  the  associates,  your  Council  is  able  to  record  a  very  success¬ 
ful  year.  Botany  and  practical  dispensing  are  the  two  subjects 
taken  during  the  past  year,  and  the  arrangements  previously  held 
with  the  college  authorities  have  been  continued.  In  the  former 
subject  (botany),  held  under  the  tuition  of  Professor  Carr  and  Mr. 
A.  E.  Smith,  B.Sc.,  thirty-one  students  joined  in  the  first  term, 
twenty-seven  in  the  second,  and  seventeen  have  already  joined  in 
the  current  term.  Mr.  Sergeant,  who  has  for  some  time  past  con¬ 
ducted  the  class  in  practical  dispensing,  resigned,  and  the  Secre¬ 
tary  undertook  to  take  his  place  with  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Turton, 
an  associate  of  the  Association.  Eleven  students  joined  and  the 
attendance  was  very  good,  the  progress  also  being  satisfactory. 
At  the  conclusion  of  the  term  Mr.  Sergeant  conducted  an 
examination  and  awarded  first  place  to  M.  Chambers,  second  to 
C.  E.  Bell,  and  third  to  A.  Watson.  The  membership  of  the 
Association  stands  as  follows  : — Members,  49  ;  honorary  ditto,  2  ; 
associates,  33.  Your  Council  records  will  regret  the  loss  by  death 
of  two  members,  viz.,  Mr.  R.  Patchitt,  and  Mr.  John  Marshall, 
the  respected  representative  of  Messrs.  Hearon,  Squire,  and  Francis.  ” 
—The  report  was  adopted  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Warriner, 
seconded  by  Mr.  S.  Cook. 

Financial  Statement. 

Mr.  Wilford  next  presented  the  treasurer’s  report,  which  showed 
that  the  income  during  the  past  year  was  £100  14s.  3d.,  including 
a  balance  from  the  previous  year  of  £47  6-s.  3d.  Thirty, 
nine  members  had  paid  their  subscriptions.  After  meeting 
all  liabilities  there  remained  a  balance  at  the  bank  of  £34  15s.  1  d. 
and  £6  6s.  3c?.  in  hand,  making  a  total  of  £41  Is.  4c?. — Mr. 
Radford  proposed,  and  Mr.  Warriner  seconded,  that  the  report 
be  adopted,  the  resolution  being  agreed  to. — Mr.  Bolton  said  this 
year  had  been  a  very  special  one  in  connection  with  the  Benevolent 
Fund  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  which,  he  was  pleased  to 
know,  the  chemists  of  the  town  had  supported  very  well  by  their 
subscriptions  during  the  year,  and  seeing  that  this  was  a  special 
year  in  connection  with  that  Fund,  he  thought  it  would  be  a  very 
proper  thing  if  the  Association  gave  a  donation  of  £10  towards  the 
Fund  out  of  the  balance  in  hand.  They  all  knew  how  well  that  Fund 
was  distributed,  how  needy  were  the  recipients  who  were  dependent 
upon  it,  and  how  the  money  which  was  given  year  by  year  to 
the  Fund  was  always  devoted  to  the  special  object  for  which  it 
was  given,  namely,  the  relief  of  the  poorer  members  of  the  trade. 
He  therefore  proposed  that  £10  be  paid  to  the  Fund  out  of  the 
balance  in  hand.— Mr.  Gascoyne  seconded,  and  the  resolution, 
after  the  amount  had  been  amended  to  £10  10s.,  was  unanimously 
adopted. — The  Treasurer  was  instructed  to  forward  a  cheque  for 
the  amount  forthwith. 

Address  by  the  President. 

The  President  then  made  a  few  remarks  on  matters  generally  con¬ 
nected  with  the  Association.  He  said  he  was  pleased  to  see  so  many 
present.  The  fact  that  there  were  not  more  was  no  doubt  owing 
to  the  fact  that  those  absent  had  sufficient  confidence  in  those 
present  to  conduct  the  business  of  the  Society  to  their 
satisfaction.  He  was  very  pleased  that  a  great  many  of  those  who 
were  on  the  Council  formerly  had  been  elected  that  night,  and  he 
thanked  Mr.  Warriner  personally  for  retiring  in  favour  of  Mr. 
Mason,  who  was  a  most  genial  man,  and  had  done  a  great  deal  far 
the  Society,  perhaps  not  in  an  educational  point  of  view,  but  from 


the  convivial  aspect.  He  felt  grateful  to  them  for  re-electing  him 
President,  although  he  thought  the  time  had  come  when  some  one 
should  be  found  to  succeed  him.  He  had  filled  the  office  for  many 
years,  and  also  had  passed  through  the  other  offices  of  the  Asso¬ 
ciation.  But  it  seemed  to  him  that  it  was  still  their  wish  that  he 
should  remain  President  of  the  Association,  and  while  he  held  the 
office  he  hoped  it  would  be  his  endeavour  to  do  the  best  he  could  for 
the  Society.  Referring  to  Mr.  Sergeant’s  election  as  Vice-Presi¬ 
dent,  he  said  they  all  welcomed  the  election,  as  Mr.  Sergeant 
was,  he  might  say,  an  old  student  of  the  Association.  Nothing 
gave  him  (the  President)  greater  pleasure  than  to  see  the  younger 
members  of  the  Association  occupying  its  offices.  It  had  been  his 
great  pleasure  to  do  all  he  possibly  could  for  the  advancement  of 
the  younger  members  of  the  Association,  and  he  hoped  it  would 
be  deemed  by  the  Council  of  the  Association  to  be  its  duty  to  do 
all  it  possibly  could  in  the  interests  of  the  younger  members.  He 
was  quite  sure  that  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  would  do  all  that 
was  possible  for  the  advancement  of  the  trade  at  large.  Referring 
to  the  recent  discussion  on  the  proposed  bye-law  alterations,  tho 
President  said  there  was  no  doubt  that  the  examinations  now  were 
much  more  severe  and  strict  than  formerly.  He  did  not  object  to> 
that,  but  he  did  wish  they  could  derive  some  greater  advantage 
than  they  did  in  the  matter  of  protection  to  their  trade.  The  only  way 
he  saw  to  that  end  was  for  members  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  to  elect  gentlemen  on  the  Council  who  would  carry  out 
their  views  more  than  was  done  at  the  present  time.  It  was  all 
very  well  to  say  that  it  was  inconvenient  for  country  members  to 
attend,  but  he  was  sure  they  would  agree  with  him  that  gentlemen  in 
London  did  not  know  sufficient  about  the  country  trade,  and  were 
therefore  not  able  to  legislate  for  it.  Nottingham  was  pointed  to 
in  the  provinces  as  having  a  good  Association  and  taking  a  leading 
part,  and  he  hoped  it  would  continue  to  do  so,  and  with  their 
support  and  the  support  of  the  Council  which  had  been  elected  that 
night,  he  hoped  he  should  continue  to  do  any  service  he  possibly 
could  for  the  Nottingham  and  Notts.  Chemists’  Association. — Mr. 
Sergeant,  Mr.  Wilford,  and  Mr.  Eberlin  also  said  a  few  words  in 
returning  thanks  for  their  election. 

The  Storage  of  Benzoline. 

A  discussion  subsequently  took  place  on  the  new  regulations  issued 
by  the  Nottingham  Corporation  with  regard  to  the  storage  of  ben¬ 
zoline. — Mr.  Lumby  said  he  had  complied  with  the  requirements 
of  the  Markets  and  Fairs  Committee,  and  had  been  compelled  to 
excavate  a  pit  in  the  yard  of  sufficient  depth  to  carry  a  galvanised 
iron  tank  and  put  up  a  brick  structure  covered  with  a  wooden 
roof,  which  in  its  turn  was  required  to  be  surmounted  by 
galvanised  iron  or  slates.  He  had  been  visited  by  the  inspector 
and  three  town  councillors.  What  surprised  him  most  was  that 
one  of  them,  who  was  a  medical  gentleman,  and,  of  course, 
.should  know  something  about  the  nature  of  benzoline,  was 
careful  to  point  out  that  he  must  seek  to  avoid  any  leakage 
from  the  tank,  because  if  the  tap  leaked  and  the  liquid  soaked  into 
the  ground  there  would  be  a  terrific  explosion.  That  was  only  one 
of  the  absurd  provisions  those  who  sold  benzoline  had  to  comply 
with.  Unlicensed  persons  were  not  allowed  to  keep  ben¬ 
zoline  in  quantities  of  more  than  a  pint.  Mr.  R.  Widdow- 
son  said  the  dimensions  of  the  trade  had  shrunk  to  such 
an  extent,  that  it  was  really  not  worth  while  to  store  ben¬ 
zoline.  Another  absurd  regulation  was  that  which  required  a  tray 
to  be  placed  under  the  cistern,  which  was  like  asking  them  to  put 
a  tray  under  a  bottle  of  ether. — The  President  said  they  would, 
agree  with  him  that  benzoline  had  been  stored  in  a  very  dangerous- 
manner,  as  the  recent  explosion  in  Nottingham  proved,  and  he  was 
quite  sure  they  would  agree  with  him  that  some  safeguard  ought- 
to  be  put  on  the  storage  of  the  oil.  Whether  the  Committee  of 
the  Corporation,  however,  had  issued  wise  regulations  was  not  for 
him  to  say,  but  he  did  not  think  the  Town  Council  was  to  blame 
in  putting  some  stringent  regulation  upon  the  storage  of  this  most 
explosive  spirit.  The  Town  Council  had  only  one  object  in  Anew — the 
protection  of  the  public. — Mr.  S.  Cook  and  Mr.  Warriner  having 
spoken  on  the  subject,  Mr.  Bolton  proposed  that  the  following 
gentlemen  act  as  a  deputation  to  the  Markets  and  Fairs  Com¬ 
mittee  to  point  out  what  they  considered  ought  to  be  amended  in 
the  new  regulations : — Messrs.  Widdowson,  Lumby,  S.  Cook, 
Wilford  and  Warriner. — The  President  said  he  would  be  willing 
to  introduce  the  deputation  to  the  Committee. — The  meeting  then 
terminated  with  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  President  for  occupying 
the  chair. 


May  29,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


483 


LETTERS  TO  THE  EDITOR. 


The  Council  Election. 

Sir, — The  result  of  the  recent  election  of  Council  is  particularly 
Instructive — instructive  in  exemplifying  the  fickleness  and  ingrati¬ 
tude  of  the  electorate,  but  opportune  in  demonstrating  the  danger 
which  may  accrue  from  associations  professedly  formed  for  the 
protection  of  specialised  interests.  After  over  fifty  years  of  phar¬ 
maceutical  education,  it  is  a  somewhat  humiliating  reflection  that 
some  2000  members  of  our  craft  (three-fourths  of  whom  are  alleged 
to  be  subscribing  members  of  the  Society)  should  fail  to  see  any¬ 
thing  derogatory  in  discussing  and  arranging  with  grocers,  oilmen, 
and  ironmongers  the  prices  at  which  medicines  shall  be  supplied 
to  the  public.  It  is  quite  possible  that  by  far  the  larger  number 
of  those  who  have  allowed  themselves  to  be  ranged  under  “the 
banner  with  the  strange  device  ”  may  have  been  guided  more  by  a 
sympathetic  regard  for  those  suffering  acutely  from  senseless 
competition  rather  than  from  any  idea  that  an  association  playing 
so  low  down  could  effect  much  for  the  chemist  and  druggist.  Be 
this,  however,  as  it  may,  we  are  now  forewarned  to  this  extent,  that 
not  only  have  those  been  threatened  with  difficulties  in  obtain¬ 
ing  supplies  who  could  not  conscientiously  give  direct  support 
to  this  movement,  but  we  see  further  that,  should  there  be  any 
■considerable  expansion  of  this  “  unholy  alliance,”  the  future 
Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  may  be  elected,  dominated, 
and  its  policy  determined  at  the  sweet  will  of  the  Grocers’  Federa¬ 
tion. 

285,  Brockley  Road,  S.E.,  May  22,  1897.  Leo  Atkinson. 


Sir,- — I  beg  to  present  my  earnest  thanks  to  all  who  contributed 
to  my  total  of  1112  unsolicited  votes  at  the  late  Council  Election, 
and  to  add  that  I  feel  perfectly  satisfied  with  the  result.  The  fact 
that  at  the  dictation  of  an  outside  organisation,  having  for  its 
chief  object  the  cultivation  of  quack  medicine  trade,  men  who  for 
many  years  have  been  the  life  and  soul  of  pharmaceutical  progress 
are  placed  near  the  bottom  of  the  list,  must  surely  awaken  the 
attention  of  many  loyal  adherents  of  the  Society,  who  this  time 
have  refrained  from  voting,  and  they  should  see  to  it  that  the 
intended  contumely  is  wiped  away  upon  the  first  opportunity. 

Marylebone,  N.  W.,  May  24,  1897.  J.  C.  Hyslop. 


The  Proposed  New  Bye-Laws. 

Sir, — It  is  with  great  pleasure  indeed  that  I  approve  of  the  wise 
action  taken  by  the  Pharmaceutical  Council,  both  as  regards  the 
Preliminary  and  Minor  examinations,  and  think  that  every  educated 
and  unselfish  pharmacist  ought  to  support  the  decision  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Council ;  otherwise  he  has  no  love  to  see  his  pro¬ 
fession  placed  upon  a  respectable  standing.  In  fact,  as  regards 
examination  matters  and  decisions  which  tend  to  the  advancement 
of  our  profession  educationally,  socially,  or  financially  to  enrich 
our  corporation,  we  ought  always  to  approve  of  them  as  medical 
men  generally  approve  of  the  steps  usually  taken  by  their 
colleges  and  medical  council  for  bringing  their  profession  and 
curriculum  to  the  standard  of  the  time. 

Aux  Cayes,  Haiti,  May  2,  1897.  E.  L.  N.  St.  Cyr. 


The  Brentford  Lime  Cream  and  Glycerin  Case. 

Sir, — I  think  Mr.  Bevan  would  have  been  better  advised  had  he 
left  his  scientific  reputation  in  the  tender  care  of  the  Brent¬ 
ford  magistrates.  He  certainly  is  not  likely  to  improve  it  by 
rushing  into  print  over  this  case.  Mr.  Bevan  first  certified  that  no 
glycerin  was  present  in  the  compound.  He  now  admits  (as  also 
at  the  last  hearing)  that  he  found  glycerin  present  in  traces.  It 
seems  to  me,  sir,  tbis  puts  the  case  in  a  serious  light.  If  glycerin 
was  found  to  be  present  in  the  sample  received  by  Mr.  Bevan,  by  what 
right  did  he  sign  a  certificate  to  the  effect  that  no  glycerin  was  present? 
In  order  to  defend  his  certificate,  after  three  analysts  had  certified 
glycerin  was  present,  Mr.  Bevan  stated  that  a  separation  had 
occurred,  and  that  the  glycerin  had  settled  down  with  the  watery 
portion  to  the  bottom  !  By  a  singular  chance  Mr.  Bevan  had 
received  the  top  portion  containing,  I  presume,  practically  nothing 
but  oil,  and  the  Chairman,  without  taking  evidence  on  the  point, 
threw  over  the  inspector  by  stating  that  the  samples  were  taken 
without  the  bottle  being  first  shaken.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  as  far 
as  that  point  is  concerned,  the  inspector  did  his  work  properly,  and 
this  is  borne  out  by  the  figures  of  the  Somerset  House  analysts,  who 
certified  they  found  50  p.  c.  oil  and  50  p.  c.  watery  portion,  correspond¬ 
ing  withmyrecipe,  which  contained  just  those  proportions.  Mr.  Bevan 


refers  to  Mr.  Conroy’s  evidence,  which  “  merely  went  to  the  length 
of  showing  .  .  .  glycerin  present,”  and  his  own  duty  was  neither 
more  nor  less  !  As  to  the  amount  of  glycerin  present,  is  a  public 
analyst  to  assume  to  himself  the  right  to  dictate  what  amount  of 
any  ingredient  should  be  present  in  a  private  recipe  for  an 
unofficial  compound?  In  the  case  in  question  the  amount  of 
glycerin  present  is  sufficient  to  answer  its  purpose  in  a  hair  wash 
without  decomposing  the  preparation,  the  recipe  forming  an 
absolutely  stable  emulsion.  I  could  touch  on  other  points,  but  I  do 
not  think  it  would  now  rectify  the  injustice  done  me  in  depriving 
me  of  my  legitimate  costs. 

Chiswick,  May  25,  1897.  J.  W.  Webber. 


“A  Royal  College  of  Pharmacy.” 

Sir, — As  one  of  the  younger  generation  of  chemists,  and  as  one  who 
has  qualified  under  the  Pharmacy  Act  and  believes  in  the  many  bene¬ 
fits  derived  from  its  working,  not  only  as  regards  education  and 
competency,  but  also  as  providing  for  the  public  safety,  I  cannot 
refrain  from  commenting  upon  the  sensible  suggestions  made  by 
Fyton  in  your  issue  of  the  22nd  inst.  As  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  is  very  largely  supported  by  Associates,  and  is  now — and 
rightly  too — proposing  to  give  Associates  the  same  privileges  as 
Members,  it  would  be  well  in  the  interests  of  the  Society  if  the 
President  and  officers  would  do  their  utmost  to  get  the  necessary 
powers  granted  at  the  same  time,  so  that  all  chemists  upon  the 
Register  connected  with  the  Society  could  hold  and  enjoy  some  more 
fitting  title,  such  as  has  been  suggested  by  Fyton — Member  of  the 
Royal  College  of  Chemists.  Would  there  not  then  be  more  chemists 
within  the  fold  of  the  Society  ?  To  my  mind  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  has  done  eminent  service  to  the  State,  by  compelling  all 
those  who  handle  poisons  and  display  the  title  of  chemist  to  first  edu¬ 
cate  themselves  in  such  a  manner  so  that  their  businesses  may  be 
carried  on  under  competent  qualified  supervision  for  the  safety  of  the 
public.  Surely  when  the  Society  has  done  so  much  for  the  proper 
training  and  education  of  chemists  generallly,  it  is  worthy  of  some 
official  recognition  by  the  State,  and  the  distinguished  title  of 
“  Royal  ”  would  be  well  merited.  In  every  succeeding  Register 
of  Chemists  and  Druggists  the  numbers  therein  of  trained  and 
educated  men  will  increase,  and  I  think  now  would  be  a  fitting 
time  to  endeavour  to  raise  the  status  of  the  Society,  not  only  in 
the  eyes  of  the  public,  but  among  the  medical  profession,  and  last 
but  not  least,  among  the  chemists  themselves.  I  trust  this 
subject  may  yet  receive  the  attention  it  deserves,  and  that  some 
more  eloquent  and  influential  person  will  take  the  matter  up  is  the 
earnest  desire  of 

May  24,  1897.  A  Young  Chemist  (96/4). 


ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 


Fern. — Lastrea  spimdosa.  [ Reply  to  Associate.  — 95/ 11.] 

Plant.  — Pedicular  is  sylvatica.  {Reply  to  Minor  Student.  — 95/20.] 

Fern. — Apparently  Osmunda  regalis,  so  far  as  can  be  judged 
from  such  a  fragmentary  specimen.  {Reply  to  T.  E.  P. — 95  22.] 

British  Medical  Association. — The  membership  of  the  Asso¬ 
ciation  is,  we  are  informed,  limited  to  qualified  medical  prac¬ 
titioners.  {Reply  to  A.  R. — 95/42]. 

Tonic  Species. — Four  mixture  appears  to  consist  of  sarsaparilla 
root  and  small  gentian  root,  incised  and  covered  with  ‘  ‘  composi¬ 
tion  powder.”  {Reply  to  W.  H. — 94/29.] 


Essence  for  Ginger  Wine. — Soluble  essence  of  ginger,  4  fl.  ozs.  ; 
soluble  essence  of  lemon,  2  fl.  ozs.  ;  oil  of  sweet  orange,  5  minims  ; 
tartaric  acid,  J  oz.  ;  burnt  sugar,  2  ozs.  Mix.  If  not  pungent 
enough  for  your  purpose  add  to  above  capsicine,  5  grains. 
{Reply  to  W.  W. — 95/8. 


Books  for  the  Retail. — Yes,  a  retail  pharmacist  cannot  afford 
to  be  without  Squire’s  ‘  Companion  ’  ;  in  fact,  the  more  complete 
your  reference  library  the  more  effectually  and  comfortably  will 
you  carry  on  your  business.  Doubtless  new  editions  of  the  works 
you  mention  will  appear  soon  after  the  issue  of  the  new  B.  P.  The 
U.  S.  Dispensatory  is  an  extremely  valuable  work  of  reference,  but 
you  cannot  do  without  the  others.  {Reply  to  W.  W. — 95,8.] 


484 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[Mat  29,  1897. 


Chromo-Prints. — We  are  informed  by  a  correspondent  that  these 
prints  can  be  obtained  from  Messrs.  Greiner  and  Co. ,  10  and  12. 
Milton  Street,  Finsbury,  E.C.  [Reply  to  F.  H.  S. — 94/45.] 


Bending  Brass  or  Steel  Tubes. — According  to  a  correspondent 
of  the  Chemical  News,  cycle  makers  habitually  use  resin  for  filling 
in  steel  tubes  up  to  one  inch  diameter,  prior  to  bending  them. 
[ Reply  to  Spatula. — 91/13.] 


Extract  of  Malt  and  Oil  with  Hypophosphites. — Calcium 
hypophosphite,  30  grains  ;  sodium  hypophosphite,  60  grains.  Rub 
down  to  a  fine  powder  and  then  quite  smooth  with  glycerin, 
2  drachms.  Mix  with  malt  extract,  4  ounces,  and  gradually  stir 
in  cod-liver  oil,  1  ounce.  Flavour  with  a  trace  of  bitter  almond  or 
cherry  laurel  water.  [ Reply  to  W.  W. — 95/8.] 


Liquor  Caulophyllin  et  Pulsatilla;  Co. — We  cannot  pretend 
to  give  you  any  imitation  of  proprietary  articles.  You  can  dis¬ 
solve  the  resinoid  bodies  in  a  little  solution  of  potassa  and  soda, 
and  then  dilute  them  down  with  a  menstruum  of  distilled  water, 
3  parts,  and  rectified  spirit,  1  part.  We  do  not  advise  you  to 
imitate  other  people’s  specialties.  Try  something  original  of  your 
own.  [Reply  to  Volumetric. — 95/4.]  * 


Aqua  Gaultheri.e. — Doubtless  a  saturated  aqueous  solution  of 
oil  of  wintergreen  was  intended  to  be  used,  unless  it  was  some 
private  formula.  We  do  not  find  any  official  formula  for  aqua 
gaultherke.  Perhaps  some  reader  acquainted  with  Canadian 
pharmacy  can  enlighten  us  and  you  regarding  the  accepted  formula. 
There  is  no  Canadian  Pharmacopoeia.  The  B.P.  is  the  official  book, 
but  the  U.S.P.  is  widely  followed.  [Reply  to  C.  T.  J. — 94/10.] 


Keeping  Properties  of  A.C.E. — As  far  as  we  know,  A.C.E. 
prepared  from  pure  ingredients,  properly  secured  and  kept  in  the 
dark,  will  keep  indefinitely.  There  is  no  reason  why  it  should 
not.  If  these  precautions  have  been  observed  we  should  doubt  if 
it  is  possible  that  it  can  be  less  effective  as  an  ancesthetic  after 
being  kept  for  more  than  a  week.  The  definite  formula  given  in 
the  1  Extra  Pharmacopoeia  ’  is  certainly  to  be  preferred  to  the  old 
one.  [Reply  to  Dispenser. — 95/14.] 


Petroleum  Emulsion. — White  vaseline,  24 ;  powdered  gum 
arabic,  6  ;  powdered  gum  tragacanth,  2  ;  tincture  of  quallaia,  2. 
Rub  down  smooth  together  in  a  hot  mortar,  then  add  at  once  warm 
water,  16,  and  rub  vigorously  until  a  perfect  emulsion  results  ; 
then  gradually  add  with  constant  stirring  a  solution  of  calcium 
hypophosphite,  1  ;  sodium  hypophosphite,  2 ;  elixir  of  glucide,  1  ; 
warm  water,  20.  Keep  stirred  constantly  until  quite  cold.  Flavour 
with  orange,  vanilla,  or  winter-green.  [Reply  to  Oleum. — 94/41.] 


Gravimetric  Determination  of  Invert  Sugar. — Beetroot 
sugars,  as  a  rule,  contain  very  little  invert  sugar,  so  it  is  necessary 
to  make  a  strong  solution,  say,  20  grms.  in  100  C.c.  of  water. 
Twenty  C.c.  of  Fehling’s  solution  is  boiled  and  a  few  C.c.  of  the 
sugar  solution  is  run  in  ;  boiling  is  repeated  and  more  sugar  added 
until  only  a  faint  blue  colour  persists  after  boiling  ;  the  number  of 
C.c.  of  sugar  solution  used  is  noted  ;  the  red  precipitate  of  cuprous 
oxide  is  collected,  washed,  dried,  and  burnt  into  CuO.  Every 
gramme  of  this  =  0 ’4535  invert  sugar.  You  specify  a  gravimetric 
process,  but  in  actual  practice  you  will  find  the  optical  method  or 
the  volumetric  process  far  more  rapid  convenient  and  accurate. 
[Reply  to  J.  W. — 94/40.] 


Emulsion  of  Cod-Liver  Oil. — Your  formula  is  not  a  good  one. 
Glycerin  and  arrowroot  are  both  undesirable  ingredients.  The 
following  will  give  you  a  simple  gum  emulsion,  which  will  serve  as 
a  basis : — In  a  dry  mortar  put  powdered  acacia,  1  part,  and  rub  it 
smooth  with  cod-liver  oil,  4  parts  ;  then  add  at  once  water,  2|, 
and  emulsify  thoroughly,  then  gradually  add  water  or  flavouring 
to  make  8  parts  ;  if  you  require  a  thicker  emulsion  than  this,  in¬ 
crease  the  amount  of  acacia  ;  if  thinner,  gradually  add  more  water. 
A  good  emulsion  with  condensed  milk  may  be  made  as  follows 
Cod-liver  oil,  8  fluid  ounces  ;  condensed  milk,  6  ounces  by  weight ; 
tincture  of  quillaia,  2  fluid  drachms  ;  water  to  produce  16  fluid 
ounces.  Rub  the  milk  with  the  quillaia,  and  gradually  add  the 
pil  ;  then  slowly  mix  in  the  water.  Flavour  the  emulsion  to 
taste.  [Reply  to  H.  H.— 95/6.] 


Bolton’s  Collodion  Emulsion.  — Many  formulae  have  been  given 
by  Mr.  W.  B.  Bolton  for  collodion  emulsion,  for  he  was  with  Sayce 
the  originator  of  this  particular  method  of  working.  The  latest 
formula  given  by  him  is  the  following  : —  Absolute  alcohol, 
9  fl.  oz.  ;  methylated  ether  (s.g.  720),  11  fl.  oz.  ;  pyroxylin,  100- 
120  grs.  ;  double  bromide  of  cadmium  and  ammonium,  200  grs. 
Dissolve  the  bromide  in  the  alcohol  in  the  bottle  in  which 
the  collodion  is  to  be  made,  and  when  dissolved  put  in 
the  pyroxylin,  which  should  be  thoroughly  dried,  and. 
pulled  out  into  loose  tufts.  When  thoroughly  saturated 
add  the  ether,  and  on  shaking,  the  cotton  should  imme¬ 
diately  dissolve.  Set  the  collodion  by  for  at  least  three  days 
to  allow  any  sediment  to  precipitate,  decant  in  preference  to 
filtering.  To  every  10  ozs.  of  the  above  collodion  add  150  grs. 
of  silver  nitrate  dissolved  in  75  minims  of  distilled  water  by  the 
aid  of  heat.  Not  more  than  this  quantity  of  water  must  be  used 
warm  1  oz..  of  alcohol,  and  add  to  the  silver  nitrate,  a  few  drops  at  a 
time,  and  boil  in  between  each  addition  so  as  to  keep  the  silver  in 
solution.  Now  in  the  dark  room  pour  into  a  measure  7  ozs.  of  the 
collodion  as  above  to  be  sensitised,  and  add  the  silver  solution 
slowly,  and  gradually  stirring  all  the  time.  Be  very  careful  not 
to  add  the  silver  too  quickly ;  allow  the  emulsion  to  stand  for  hair 
an  hour,  and  then  add  3  ozs.  of  the  bromised  collodion ;  shake  well, 
and  add  15  grs.  of  the  double  bromide  of  cadmium  and  ammonium. 
The  emulsion  now  only  requires  filtering  through  cotton  wool  of 
sponge  to  be  ready  for  use,  and  it  will  then  keep  for  some  months. 
[Reply  to  C.  G.— 93/25!] 


CORRECTION. 

First  Examination  Results. — In  the  list  of  First  examination 
results  published  in  the  Journal  of  May  15,  for  “  Thomas,  William 
John,  Llanelly,”  read  “  Thomas,  William  John,  Tenby.” 


OBITUARY. 

Holland. — On  May  2,  Walter  Holland,  Chemist  and  Druggist, 
Nottingham.  Aged  58.  Mr.  Holland  had  been  a  member  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  since  1870. 

Blackshaw.— On  May  8,  Thomas  Blackshaw,  Pharmaceutical 
Chemist,  late  of  Burslem.  Aged  77.  Mr.  Blackshaw  had  been  a 
member  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  since  1845,  and  was  regis¬ 
tered  as  a  pharmaceutical  chemist  on  July  1,  1852.  He  was  for 
many  years  the  Society’s  Local  Secretary  and  a  generous  subscriber 
to  the  Benevolent  Fund.  He  was  also  an  original  member  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Conference.  He  held  the  office  of  Gas  Examiner 
to  the  Corporation  of  Burslem,  and  was  highly  esteemed  by  his 
fellow  townsmen.  He  was  a  thorough  pharmacist  and  a  clever 
scientist,  his  favourite  studies  being  chemistry  and  botany,  and 
although  a  strict  disciplinarian  in  business,  he  was  a  kind-hearted 
master.  He  occupied  many  posts  of  honour  and  trust  in  the  town. 
For  the  past  few  years  he  had  not  taken  an  active  part  in  the 
business  of  a  pharmacist,  but  lived  at  Alsager  in  retirement. 

Morris. — On  May  13,  Thomas  Morris,  Chemist  and  Druggist, 
late  of  Farnworth,  Lancs.  Aged  62. 

Ryder. — On  May  14,  James  Fielding  Ryder,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  West  Gorton,  Manchester.  Aged  51. 

Raynor. — On  May  18,  Alfred  Raynor,  Chemist  and  Druggist, 
Hull.  Aged  50. 

Savage.— On  May  18,  Fred  George  Savage,  Chemist  and 
Druggist,  Nottingham.  Aged  36. 

Cardwell. — On  May  20,  James  Cardwell,  Chemist  and  Drug¬ 
gist,  Wakefield.  Mr.  Cardwell  was  one  of  the  representa¬ 
tives  of  St.  John’s  Ward  in  the  Wakefield  City  Council,  and 
in  November  last  he  was  selected  to  act  as  Deputy-Mayor.  He  was 
for  several  years  one  of  the  churchwardens  at  the  cathedral,  and 
for  a  long  period  he  had  been  officially  connected  with  the  Wake¬ 
field  Great  Court  Leet. 

Nicholls. — On  May  21,  John  Nicholls,  Chemist  and  Druggist, 
Weymouth.  Aged  73. 

Maitland. — On  May  24,  at  Plymouth,  Harriet,  the  beloved  wife 
of  Samuel  Maitland,  retired  chemist.  Aged  72.  Golden  wedding, 
July  31,  1897. 


COMMUNICATION S,  LETTER S, etc., have  been  received  from 

Messrs.  Alcock,  Atkinson,  Bennett,  Bennion,  Brown,  Doubleday,  Durrant,, 
Edwards,  Elliot,  Elms,  Flatters,  Gall,  Gibson,  Giles,  Goldby,  Griffiths,  Hill, 
Hinkley,  Hyslop,  Johnson,  Jones,  Matthews,  Merson,  Morris,  Nightingale,  Nops, 
Pearson,  Reeve,  Reynolds,  Roper,  Rudd,  Shepherd,  St.  Cyr,  Turner,  Watson. 


June  5. 1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


4*5 


A  SIMPLE  MICROTOME  FOR  BIOLOGICAL  WOiK. 

BY  ABRAHAM  FLATTERS. 

The  microtome  originally  designed  by  me  ( vide  Ph.  J.  [3],  xxiii. , 
1057)  was  very  simple  in  construction,  but  I  now  employ  it  in  an 
improved  form.  It  is  made  entirely  of  brass  and  cast  in  four 
parts  ;  the  tube  or  well  measures  3  inches  by  1  inch  internally ,  and  the 
spindle  is  of  the  same  length,  the  screw  having  twenty-eight  threads 

to  the  inch.  The 
spindle  is  graduated 
to  give  the  required 
thickness  of  section  by 
a  series  of  discs  3 
inches  in  diameter 
and  inch  thick, 
these  being  notched 
as  shown  in  the  right 
and  left  elevations 
(Figs.  1  and  2).  In  the 
notches  works  a  gradu¬ 
ating  spring,  and  by 
its  clicking  arrange¬ 
ment  I  am  enabled  to 
obtain  a  uniform 
series  of  sections  of 
exactly  the  same 
thickness.  In  my  work 
I  use  three  of  these 
discs,  which  can  be 
quickly  changed  by 
means  of  the  clamping 
nut  at  the  base  of 
the  spindle.  One  disc 
has  its  circumference  divided  by  seventy-two  notches,  and  when 
by  its  means  the  spindle  is  moved  to  the  extent  of  one  notch  only 
I  am  enabled  to  obtain  a  section  the  inch  in  thickness. 

This  disc  I  use  only  when  cutting  textile  fibres.  A  second  disc 
is  divided  into  fifty-four  parts,  and  thus  gives  a  section  a  little 
over  x  inch  in  thickness.  The  third  disc  is  divided  into  forty- 

three  parts,  and  gives  a  section  a 
little  over  inch  in  thickness, 
this  being  the  most  useful  for 
general  purposes,  as  when  moved 
two  notches  it  gives  a  section  the 
^(7  of  an  inch  in  thickness,  which 
is  about  the  average  that  most 
botanical  objects  can  be  cut  to. 

The  object  carrier  is  of  the 
same  diameter  as  the  tube  and 
£  inch  thick.  This  serves  for  all 
general  purposes,  but  when  it  is 
required  to  cut  sections  of  very 
small  objects,  and  those  have  to 
be  cut  in  a  special  direction,  it  is 
necessary  to  have  a  cork  carrier 
placed  on  the  usual  brass  one. 
This  special  carrier  should  be 
about  J  inch  thick  and  tapered  a 
little  at  the  top  to  enable  it  to  be 
worked  up  through  the  bevelled 
aperture  of  the  razor  plate.  The 
object  to  be  cut  (say,  a  grain  of  wheat)  should  be  held  in 
position  by  pins  being  stuck  into  the  cork  carrier  on  each 
side  of  it,  and  when  the  imbedding  medium  poured  over  it  is 
Vol.  LVm.  (Fourth  Series,  Vol.  TV.).  No.  1406. 


set,  the  pins  should  be  removed.  The  razor  plate  is  4f  inches 
by  2|  inches  by  yV  inch,  with  an  aperture  at  the  under  surface 
of  the  same  diameter  as  the  tube,  and  tapering  towards  the  upper 


or  cutting  surface  to  H  inch.  This  enables  the  object  along  with  the 
imbedding  mass  to  be  firmly  held  in  position  as  it  is  gradually 
screwed  up.  The  razor  plate  is  attached  at  one  end  to  the  table 
clamp  by  a  stout  screw,  as  shown  in  section  (Fig.  3),  and  when  in  use 


the  other  end  is  clamped  to  the  headstock  by  means  of  a  swinging 
clamp,  which  is  attached  to  the  under  side  of  the  razor  plate  and 
held,  when  in  position  for  work,  by  a  milled  head  and  screw.  This 
arrangement  is  seen  in  the  left  elevation,  where  the  razor  plate  is 


486 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[June  5,  1897 


shown  swung  on  one  side.  When  the  required  number  of  sections 
have  been  obtained  and  it  is  necessory  to  remove  the  uncut 
material,  the  spindle  is  first  lowered  a  few  turns  and 
the  object  pressed  down.  The  razor  plate  is  then  re1  eased 
by  the  clamp,  swung  to  the  right,  and  the  uncut  material 
removed.  The  table  clamp  is  attached  to  the  tube,  as  seen  in  the 
right  elevation,  the  entire  instrument  being  secured  by  a  stout 
grip.  The  graduating  spring  fits  into  the  upright  limb  of  the 
table  clamp,  and  is  held  in  position  by  a  clamping  screw,  as  seen 
in  the  sectional  view. 

In  addition  to  the  instrument  as  described,  I  use  for  special 
work  an  “oblong  top,”  which  fits  on  to  the  top  of  the  microtome, 
and  is  held  in  position  by  a  series  of  clamps  and  the  two  milled 
heads  shown  in  the  illustration  (Fig.  4).  The  aperture  of  this  plate  is 
£  inch  wide  by  1 J  inch  long  by  inch  deep.  The  carrier  for  this  fits 
into  the  tube  of  the  microtome,  and  is  moved  upwards  by  the  ordinary 
spindle.  The  aperture,  like  that  of  the  ordinary  razor  plate,  is 
bevelled  t'b  inch,  as  shown  in  the  diagram  representing  the  under¬ 
side  view.  This  oblong  top  is  required  when  it  is  necessary  to  cut 
longitudinal  sections  of  such  objects  as  the  mouse  and  other  similar 
objects  which  cannot  be  imbedded  in  the  ordinary  tube  of  1  inch 
diameter.  The  imbedding  medium  I  use  is  the  ordinary  hard 
paraffin,  this  being  applicable  for  all  purposes,  except  where  it  is 
necessary  to  permeate  the  object  in  order  to  retain  all  the  parts 
in  their  natural  position.  For  the  latter  purpose  I  use  Schering’s 
celloidin.  In  a  subsequent  note  I  propose  to  describe  in  detail  my 
method  of  preparing  and  cutting  dried  capsicum  fruits,  in  the 
hope  that  the  information  may  prove  of  value  to  pharmacists  and 
students  interested  in  the  histology  of  crude  drugs. 


A  LONDON  RESIDENTIAL  CLUB. 

For  the  young  man  of  moderate  means  who  arrives  in  London 
to  study  for  a  profession  or  to  enter  on  the  duties  of  a  “  situation  ” 
of  one  kind  or  another,  an  initial  difficulty  is  the  selection  of  a 
domicile  suited  to  his  circumstances  and  tastes.  Coming,  perhaps, 
from  a  cheerful  home  under  the  parental  roof,  he  wishes  for  some¬ 
thing  more  than  shelter  from  the  elements  ;  he  looks  for  comfort, 
sociability,  means  of  relaxation,  and,  if  he  be  destined  for  a  pro¬ 
fession,  a  place  where  he  can  read  and  study  undisturbed.  In  a 
general  way,  his  choice  of  domicile  is  pretty  well  restricted  to  two, 
the  lodging-house  and  the  boarding-house.  Let  us  begin  with 
lodging-houses.  They  are  easily  accessible,  and  indeed,  in  their 
case  the  supply  quite  exceeds  the  demand.  But  even  where,  besides 
decent  accommodation  and  attendance,  the  landlady  is  obliging 
and  honest — there  are  many  who  are  neither — life  in  a  London 
lodging-house  can  have  few  attractions  for  the  youth  whom  we 
have  in  our  eye.  Its  solitude  is  apt  to  become  wearisome  and 
depressing.  For  his  meals,  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  break¬ 
fast,  the  lodger  must,  in  most  cases,  go  out  of  doors  in  all  weathers, 
and  often  for  a  considerable  distance.  He  has  no  society,  no 
opportunities  of  recreation  within  doors. 

In  some  respects  the  boarding-house  is  preferable  to  the  lodging- 
house,  but  it  has  drawbacks  peculiar  to  itself.  One  is  that 
though  the  boarder’s  meals  are  furnished  him  “at  home,”  so  to 
speak,  he  must,  being  charged  a  fixed  sum  for  board,  pay  for  them 
whether  he  takes  them  or  not.  The  hours  for  them  are  fixed,  as 
well  as  the  payment  for  them.  If  from  indisposition  or  to  keep 
an  engagement  to  visit  friends,  or  to  make  a  little  excursion,  he  is 
absent  from  any  meal  or  meals,  he  has  to  pay  just  as  if  he  had 
been  present,  and  as  no  provision  is  made  for  meals  at  other  than 
the  stated  hours,  if  he  satisfies  his  appetite  outside  the  house, -he 
has  to  pay  twice  for  what  he  has  had  only  once.  The  boarding¬ 
house,  unlike  the  lodging-house,  does  certainly  offer  society.  But 
the  members  of  it  have  not  been  chosen  by  the  newly-arrived 
-inmate.  He  must  take  them  as  he  finds  them,  and  meet  them 
constantly  at  meal-times  day  after  day.  If  they  are  uncongenial 
or  some  of  them  make  themselves  disagreeable,  the  victim  can  only 
escape  by  going  elsewhere,  perhaps  to  meet  the  same  fate. 
Between  the  solitude  of  the  lodging-house  and  the  society  of  the 
boarding-house  it  is  too  often  only  a  choice  of  evils. 

London  abounds  with  clubs  and  club-houses.  In  any  of  them 
there  is  society  of  the  smoking-room  kind,  but  it  is  casual  and  fit¬ 
ful  ;  few  friendships  or  intimacies  are  ever  formed  at  an  ordinary  club. 
Moreover,  a  desirable  club  is  not  easily  accessible.  Our  young  friend 
may  have  to  wait  some  time  before  being  elected,  if  elected  at  all, 
and  as  we  are  supposing  his  purse  to  be  only  moderately  well 
furnished,  the  entrance  fee  and  the  yearly  subscription,  with  the 
charges  for  meals,  are  beyond  the  means  of  most  of  those  for  whom 


we  are  writing.  There  may  be  some  respectable  clubs  where  the 
comforts  and  agreeable  accessories  of  the  great  clubs,  though  on  a 
smaller  scale,  are  to  be  found  within  the  reach  of  such  as  have 
to  study  a  rigid  economy.  But  at  the  very  best,  a  club  is  not  a 
home.  At  a  certain  hour  you  must  turn  out  of  it,  and  our  imaginary 
young  man  may  have  a  long  distance  to  traverse  before  he  reaches 
his  modest  lodging  in  some  unfashionable  quarter  remote  from 
club-land.  Above  all,  while  at  a  club  you  may  read  newspapers 
and  periodicals,  you  cannot  study  with  your  law-books  or  your 
medical  books  around  you. 

The  ideal  domicile  for  our  young  friend  would  combine  the  com¬ 
forts  and  enjoyments  of  a  good  club,  and  its  perfect  freedom  as 
regards  meals  and  meal-times,  with  that  feeling  of  home  for  which 
the  tenancy  of  a  permanent  bed-room  in  the  same  establishment  is 
indispensable — a  home  in  which  he  could  write  and  read  and 
study  as  if  he  were  in  his  own  house,  where  he  could  have  society 
or  solitude  as  he  was  disposed,  where  the  means  of  recreation  and 
amusement  would  be  as  ample  as  in  an  average  London  club-house, 
where  the  resources  of  a  restaurant  would  be  offered  him,  and  last, 
not  least,  where  all  this  would  be  within  the  reach  of  those  with  very 
modest  means  at  their  disposal.  London  ought  to  be  dotted  with  such 
establishments,  and  that  the  programme  now  sketched  can  be 
carried  out  with  financial  success  on  the  part  of  the  capitalist  and 
with  satisfactory  results  to  the  inmates  is  demonstrated  by  the 
existence  and  history  of  the  Hampden  Residential  Club,  Phoenix 
Street,  N.W.,  which,  it  may  be  hoped,  will  not  long  remain,  as  it 
is  at  present,  unique  of  its  kind. 

This  Club  has  existed  for  twelve  years,  and  its  commercial  pros¬ 
perity  has  steadily  increased.  To  begin  with,  it  contains  sixty 
“cubicles”  at  7s.  6 d.  a  week,  and  some  140  furnished  bed-sitting- 
rooms,  ranging  from  8s.  6 d.  a  week  to  13s.,  those  at  medium  prices 
being  the  great  majority.  In  all  cases  these  payments  include  an 
excellent  service  of  baths,  hot  and  cold,  boot-cleaning  and  bed-room 
lights,  a  number  of  which  are  electric.  Two  large  club-rooms  of  the 
ordinary  kind,  very  comfortably  furnished,  in  both  of  which  smoking 
is  allowed,  are  supplied  with  newspapers,  periodicals,  a  tolerable  col¬ 
lection  of  books,  chess,  and  draughts.  There  is  also  a  card-room  super¬ 
intended  by  a  whist  club — in  this  the  stakes  played  for  are  very 
moderate — and  an  excellent  billiard- room.  One  of  the  most  notice¬ 
able  features  of  the  establishment  is  the  Study,  where  members  can 
read  and  write  in  perfect  silence  and  tranquillity,  the  conversation 
rife,  of  course,  in  the  other  rooms,  being  prohibited  here.  Once  a  week 
there  is  a  discussion  on  some  literary,  political,  or  social  question 
in  which  any  member  or  friend  introduced  by  him  may  join,  and 
which  is  well  supported.  There  are  frequent  smoking  concerts,  in 
which  vocal,  instrumental,  and  other  entertainments  are  given 
by  members  and  their  friends.  Members  may  be  visited  by  and 
hospitably  entertain  lady  as  well  as  gentlemen  friends  in  a 
reception  room  set  apart  for  the  purpose.  Gentlemen  friends  may 
at  all  times  be  the  guests  of  members  in  the  ordinary  rooms.  In 
front  of  the  building  and  hidden  on  all  sides  from  the  outside 
world  is  a  lawn-tennis  court,  flanked  by  a  larere  hall  which  is  used 
as  a  gymnasium  by  day,  and  sometimes  at  night  for  concerts  and 
lectures. 

To  come  now  to  the  provision  made  for  the  inner  man,  break¬ 
fasts  are  served  from  7.30  a.m.  onwards,  hot  luncheons  and  dinners 
from  1  to  2.30,  and  dinners  again  and  hot  suppers  from  6  until 
9  p.m.  But  be  it  noted  that  at  any  minute  from  7.30  in  the  morn¬ 
ing  to  12.30  at  night  an  adequate  meal  may  be  obtained  of  coffee, 
tea,  cocoa,  cold  meats,  sandwiches,  cold  fish,  sausages,  etc.,  etc., 
with  or  without  beer,  wine  or  spirits.  Nothing  has  to  be  paid 
for  that  is  not  actually  consumed  or  ordered.  The  general  tariff 
is  rather  below  than  above  that  of  an  average  restaurant. 

Among  the  nearly  two  hundred  members  of  the  Club,  there  are 
of  course  many  young  men  ;  but  there  are  also  many  seniors, 
bachelors  and  widowers,  who  prefer  the  Hampden  Club  to  the 
lodging-house  and  the  boarding-house.  Law,  medicine,  art,  pictorial 
and  musical,  literature,  the  Civil  Service,  commerce,  engineering, 
practical  science  of  various  kinds  are  represented,  both  among 
the  younger  and  the  older  members  of  the  Club.  Nowhere  else 
that  we  know  of  can  a  young  man  live  at  once  as  economically, 
agreeably,  and  instructively,  and  a  man  of  any  age  must  be 
singularly  fastidious  if  among  so  many  fellow-members  of  diversified 
tastes  and  occupations  he  does  not  find  congenial  companionship. 
All  that  is  needed  for  the  further  development  of  the  usefulness 
of  the  Hampden  Club  is  the  appointment  of  a  consultative  com¬ 
mittee  chosen  from  the  more  experienced  of  the  members  to  give 
suggestions  and  advice  to  the  directors,  who  represent  the  pro¬ 
prietary  alone. 


June  5, 1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURN  AT . 


487 


BRITISH  PHARMACEUTICAL  CONFEFENCE. 


SUBJECTS  FOR  PAPERS. 


The  annual  meeting  of  the  Conference  will  this  year  be  held  at 
Glasgow,  commencing  on  Tuesday,  August  10,  and  authors 
are  specially  requested  to  send  the  titles  of  papers  they 
intend  to  read  as  early  as  possible,  addressed — “  The  Hon. 
Gen.  Secretaries,  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference,  17, 
Bloomsbury  Square,  London,  W.C.”  The  subjects  will  then  be 
publicly  announced,  and  full  interest  will  thus  be  secured.  All 
manuscripts  of  papers  should  be  in  the  hands  of  the  Executive 
Committee  at  least  ten  days  before  the  meeting,  and  as  much 
earlier  as  possible.  Papers  sent  sufficiently  early  and  accepted  by 
the  Committee  will  be  put  in  type  before  the  meeting,  and  after 
the  proofs  have  been  revised,  copies  will  be  supplied  to  the  authors 
to  read  from.  But  it  is  essential  that  all  manuscripts  should  be 
sent  exclusively  to  the  Hon.  Gen.  Secretaries,  as  above,  and  not  in 
any  case  to  other  persons.  All  applications  for  copies  or  abstracts 
of  papers  should  be  referred  to  the  Hon.  Gen.  Secretaries,  and  they 
will  then  receive  due  attention.  The  following  subjects  are 
suggested  for  investigation,  and  the  Executive  Committee  hopes 
that  members  will  undertake  to  work  on  one  or  more  of  the 
questions,  or  upon  others  that  may  occur  to  them.-  Hew  subjects 
have  been  added  to  this  list  to  replace  those  worked  out,  and  the 
Committee  will  be  glad  to  receive  questions  that  may  have 
presented  themselves  as  desirable  for  investigation. 

PLANT  ANALYSIS. 

1.  Strophanthus. — The  chemistry  of  this  drug  requires  further 
elucidation,  the  statements  of  various  authors  hitherto  published 
being  conflicting.  (See  ‘Year  Book  of  Pharmacy,’  1888,  pp.  60-62; 
also  1889,  pp.  449-69  ;  Pharvi.  Journ.  [4],  iii.,  p.  463.) 

2.  Cascara  Sagrada. — What  is  the  nature  of  the  various  resins 
contained  in  this  bark  ?  (See  ‘  Year  Book  of  Pharmacy,’  1893, 
p.  131,  from  Comptes  rendus,  cxv.,  pp.  286-288.) 

3.  Melon  Root. — Torosicviez  some  years  ago  isolated  from  this 
root  a  crude  principle  possessing  marked  emetic  and  purgative 
properties.  (See  Pharm.  Journ.  [3],  xvii.,  687.)  Required, 
an  investigation  throwing  further  light  on  the  chemical  nature  of 
this  constituent. 

4.  Spigelia  marilandica. — This  plant,  which  is  used  as  an 
anthelmintic,  is  reported  by  Dr.  A.  H.  Hare  to  possess  poisonous 
properties  allied  to  those  of  gelsemium.  (See  Practitioner,  July, 
1887,  p.  61.)  A  systematic  examination  is  required.  (See  Journ.  de 
Pharm.  et  de  Chim.,  18S8,  p.  541.) 

5.  Cimicifuga  racemosa  (Actaea  racemosa). — Report  on 
the  chemical  nature  of  the  constituent  or  constituents  to  which 
the  rhizome  of  this  plant  owes  its  activity.  (See  ‘  Year  Book  of 
Pharmacy,’  1885,  p.  149.) 

6.  Euphorbia  heterodoxa. — Required,  a  report  on  the  che¬ 
mistry  of  this  drug,  which,  under  the  name  of  Alveloz,  is  recom¬ 
mended  for  the  treatment  of  malignant  ulcers.  (See  Pharm. 
Journ.  [3],  xviii.,  p.  9  ;  also  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy,  July, 
1885,  p.  328.) 

7.  Astringent  Drugs  and  Preparations. — The  various 
methods  employed  for  the  estimation  of  tannin  in  these  give  very 
discrepant  results.  Required,  a  thorough  research  into  the  com¬ 
parative  merits  of  these  processes. 

8.  Mezereon  Bark. — What  is  the  chemical  nature  of  the  acrid 
principle  of  this  bark  ? 

9.  Arnica. — What  is  the  active  principle,  and  what  are  the 
relative  proportions  of  it  in  the  root  and  flower? 

10.  Chamomile. — Research  on  the  bitter  princip'e  contained  in 
the  flowers  of  Anthemis  nobilis.  (See  Bulletin  de  la  Societd  Chemique 
de  Paris  [2],  xli.,  p.  483.) 

11.  Castor  Oil. — A  research,  having  for  its  object  the  isolation 
of  the  purgative  pi’inciple,  either  from  the  oil  or  the  seed. 

12.  Cascarilla  Bark.— A  re-examination  of  this  bark  is  desir¬ 
able,  and  particularly  with  reference  to  the  observation  that  it 
contains  an  alkaloid  closely  allied  to  choline.  (See  ‘  Year  Book  of 
Pharmacy,’  1886,  p.  168  ;  also  1896,  p.  301.) 


13.  Taraxacum. — Little  that  is  definite  appears  to  be  known 
regarding  the  active  principle  of  taraxacum  root.  A  research  is- 
required  to  clear  up  the  point.  (See  ‘Proceedings  American  Pharm. 
Assoc.,’  1896,  p.  160.) 

14.  Colchicum  autumnale. — The  chemistry  of  Colchicum- 
autumnale  is  still  in  an  unsatisfactory  condition.  It  has  not  3ret 
been  clearly  proved  that  more  than  one  active  principle  exists 
either  in  the  corm  or  the  seeds.  A  careful  proximate  analysis  of 
both  is  urgently  needed. 

15.  Distilled  Spirit  of  Witch.  Hazel. — In  view  of  the  growing 
use  of  this,  the  separation  and  examination  of  the  volatile  principle- 
is  desirable. 

16.  Fucus  vesieulosus. — The  medicinal  virtues  have  been: 
attributed  solely  to  the  presence  of  iodine  and  bromine.  It  is  not 
improbable  that  it  may  also  contain  some  organic  constituent  of 
importance.  A  complete  chemical  investigation  is  required. 

17-  Lobelia  inflata. — One  alkaloid  only  has  been  isolated  from 
this  drug ;  the  question  of  the  existence  of  a  second  is  worthy  of 
attention. 

18.  Jaborandi  Leaves  varying  from  the  official  description 
have  been  placed  upon  the  market.  A  comparison  of  the  active 
principles  with  those  of  the  true  jaborandi  is  desirable. 

19.  Simaruba  Bark. — A  comparison  of  the  bitter  principles- 
of  this  bark  with  those  of  quassia  wood  (both  Jamaica  and 
Surinam). 

20.  Ipecacuanha. — A  further  examination  of  the  alkaloids  of 
ipecacuanha  other  than  emetine  and  cephaeline. 

21.  Pilocarpus  microphyllus. — Examination  of  this  drug  for 
alkaloids  other  than  pilocarpine. 

22.  Damiana  is  reported  to  contain  a  bitter  substance,  resins, 
and  volatile  oil.  The  liquid  extract  of  the  leaves  being  now  ex¬ 
tensively  used,  a  thorough  systematic  examination  of  this  drug  is- 
desirable. 

23.  Chelidonium  majus. — Required,  a  proximate  analysis  of 
the  fresh  juice. 

24.  Proximate  Analyses  of  the  following  drugs  are  also- 
needed  : — Cactus  grcindiflora,  Salix  nigra,  Citmdlus  colocynthis,  Catlia- 
edulis,  Ailanthus  excelsa,  Uemidesmus  indicus,  and  Viburnum  pruni- 
folium. 


CHEMISTRY. 

25.  Commercial  Atropine. — This  is  stated  to  be  a  mixture  of 
atropine  and  hy oscyamine.  How  can  they  be  separated,  and  what 
are  the  relative  proportions  ?  (Consult  Berichte  der  deutsch.  Cliemr 
Ges.,  xxi.,  p.  1717.) 

26.  Glycerin.— Required,  a  good  method  of  estimating  this  sub¬ 
stance,  applicable,  if  possible,  to  pharmaceutical  preparations. 

27.  Strontium  Salts. — Some  specimens  of  salts  of  strontium 
met  with  in  commerce  contain  appreciable  quantities  of  salts  of 
other  bases.  A  report  on  the  quality  of  commercial  specimens  of 
salts  of  strontium  is  needed. 

28.  Solubility  of  Scale  Preparations. — It  has  been  noticed 
that  some  scale  preparations,  notably  the  potassio-tartrate  and 
ammonio -citrate  of  iron,  become  less  soluble  with  age.  To  what- 
cause  is  this  attributable,  and  how  may  it  be  prevented  ? 

29.  Purity  of  Pilocarpine. — It  is  suggested  that  many  speci¬ 
mens  of  pilocarpine  contain  jaborine  as  an  impurity.  Is  this  the 
case  ? 

30.  Jaborine. — Does  this  base  exist  ready  formed  in  jaborandi, 
or  is  it  produced  in  the  process  of  the  manufacture  of  pilocarpine  T 
Published  evidence  points  to  the  latter  as  the  more  likely  alterna¬ 
tive. 

31.  Gun  Cotton. — Does  the  B.P.  process  yield  only  the  di¬ 
nitrate  of  cellulose  as  stated  by  some;  or  (2)  a  mixture  of  tetra-  and 
tri-nitrate,  or  (3)  of  tetra-  and  penta-nitrate,  as  stated  by  others  ? 
(See  ‘Year  Book  of  Pharmacy,’  1896,  p.  344.) 

32.  Albuminate  of  Iron. — What  is  the  composition  of  the 
so-called  albuminate  of  iron  of  commerce  ? 

33.  Quinine. — Results  obtained  in  the  titration  of  this  alkaloid 
suggest  the  possibility  that  it  is  di-basic,  and  not  mono-basic. 
(See  ‘Year  Book  of  Pharmacy,’  1894,  p.  351.)  Further  work  is 
needed  to  clear  up  the  point. 

34.  Subnitrate  of  Bismuth. — It  has  been  noticed  that  some 
samples  are  much  more  readily  decomposed  by  alkaline  carbonates 
than  others.  What  is  the  cause  of  this  ? 

35.  Hypophosphites  of  Calcium  and  Sodium.— Are  the 
official  tests  for  the  purity  of  these  salts  satisfactory  ? 


488  * 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[June  5,  1837 


MATERIA  MEDICA  AND  PHARMACY. 

36.  The  two  Sennas  of  the  British  Pharmacopoeia  are 
permitted  to  he  used  indifferently.— Do  preparations  of  the 
leaves  and  fruit  of  the  two  varieties  of  senna  differ  ?  If  so,  to  what 
extent  ? 

37.  Extraction  of  Drugs  by  Pressure. — This  mode  of  ex¬ 
traction  (see  Dr.  Symes’  suggestions  in  the  ‘  Year  Book  of  Phar¬ 
macy,’  1888,  p.  356)  is  likely  to  produce  good  results  with  a 
number  of  drugs.  Required,  a  series  of  experiments  in  this  direc¬ 
tion,  showing  the  effect  of  the  process  on  the  quality  and  yield  of 
extracts  as  compared  with  the  corresponding  products  obtained  by 
the  ordinary  modes  of  extraction. 

38.  Thyroid  Gland. — Several  different  methods  of  making 
preparations  of  the  gland  have  been  proposed.  It  is  suggested 
that  these  be  compared  with  a  view  to  choosing  or  devising  one 
or  more  that  shall  be  generally  acceptable.  (See  Pharm.  Journ., 
[3],  xxiii. ,  p.  321;  also  Brit.  Med.  Journ.,  i.,  1893,  p.  289; 

‘  Year  Book  of  Pharmacy,’  1894,  p.  421.) 

39.  Standardised  Preparations. — Report  on  commercial 
specimens  of  official  standardised  preparations,  and  those  needing 
standardisation. 

40.  Effect  of  Cultivation,  Soil,  Climate,  and  Time  of 
Collection  on  Medicinal  Plants. — Compare  the  proportions  of 
active  constituents  of  indigenous  plants  grown  in  different  districts, 
and  the  effect  upon  these  constituents  by  time  of  collection. 

41.  Musk. — Chemical  examination  of  commercial  samples  of 
natural  musk.  How  far  may  the  odour  of  natural  musk  be  replaced 
by  artificial  products  ? 

42.  Solvents. — The  employment  of  acetone,  benzol,  petroleum 
ether  (benzoline),  and  bisulphide  of  carbon  in  the  extraction  and 
purification  of  active  principles,  oils,  etc.,  is  to  be  strongly  recom¬ 
mended.  Experiments  are  required  to  find  out  in  what  cases  these 
liquids  may  be  employed  advantageously.  (See  Lefort,  Journ.  de 
Pharm.,  1869  ;  also  ‘  Year-Book  of  Pharmacy,’  1877,  p.  253.) 

43.  Capsules. — The  quality  and  quantity  of  medicines  in  cap¬ 
sules.  (See  ‘  Year-Book  of  Pharmacy,’  1875,  p.  285.) 

44.  Cotton-Seed  Oil.— Can  this  oil  be  used  advantageously  for 
any  pharmaceutical  purposes  ? 

.45.  Mispronunciation  of  Latin  Pharmacopoeia  names  is 
common. — It  is  suggested  that  a  short  prosody  be  compiled  for 
purposes  of  reference. 

46.  Standardised  Tinctures. — Certain  Pharmacopoeial  tinc¬ 
tures  owe  their  activity  to  the  presence  of  one  or  more  resins.  Is 
it  possible  to  “  standardise”  any  of  these  preparations  ? 

47.  Compressed  Drugs  and  Coated  Pills. — Required,  a 
report  on  the  strength  and  quality  of  compressed  drugs  and  coated 
pills  of  commerce  ? 

48.  Acetic  Acid  as  a  Menstruum. — Acetic  acid  has  been 
strongly  recommended  by  F.  Hoffman  (‘Year  Book,’  1893,  p.  190), 
and  also  by  Remington  {Pharm.  Journ.,  iii. ,  xxiii.,  807),  as  a 
menstruum  for  the  exhaustion  of  many  drugs.  An  investigation 
is  required  to  ascertain  for  what  drugs  this  is  suitable. 

49.  Kinos. — The  official  variety  is  now  almost  unobtainable. 
Can  its  place  be  effectively  supplied  by  others  met  with  in 
commerce  ? 

50.  Aluminum. — What  are  the  advantages  of  using  this 
metal  for  pharmaceutical  apparatus  ? 

51.  Copaiva. — It  is  suggested  that  a  report  on  the  quality  of 
the  oleo-resin  of  commerce  is  desirable. 

52.  Digitalis.— A  comparison  of  the  juice  with  the  official 
preparations  is  desirable. 

53.  Wool  Fat. — A  report  upon  commercial  samples  of  wool  fat. 

54.  Sennas. — A  careful  histological  examination  of  Alexandrian 
and  Tinnevelly  senna,  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  whether  it  is 
possible  to  distinguish  the  two  drugs  when  powdered. 

55.  Ergot. — The  determination  of  the  proportion  of  alkaloid 
extracted  from  ergot  by  the  official  processes  for  the  various  pre¬ 
parations. 

56.  Syrup  of  Lemons  and  Syrup  of  Poppies. — Good  for- 
mulse  are  required  for  the  preparation  of  the  syrups. 

57.  Extracts. — The  official  processes  for  preparing  extracts 
appear  capable  of  considerable  simplification  and  improvement. 
Experiments  in  this  direction  are  much  needed. 

58.  Cinnamon  Bark. — An  examination  of  the  commercial 
powder  is  desirable. 

59.  Strophantlius.— An  examination  of  the  seeds  and  tincture 
of  strophanthus  at  present  in  use  in  this  country,  with  the  view  of 
determining  their  variation  in  strength,  and  the  presence  or  ab¬ 
sence  of  ouabain  as  an  ordinary  constituent  of  the  tincture. 


PHARMACEUTICAL  SOCIETY. 

MEETING  OF  THE  COUNCIL. 

WEDNESDA  Y,  JUNE  2,  1897. 

Messrs.  Allen,  Atkins,  Bateson,  Bottle,  Carteighe,  Corder, 
Cross,  Grose,  Hampson,  Harrison,  Hills,  Johnston,  Martindale, 
Newsholme,  Savory,  Southall,  Storrar,  Symes,  Warren,  and  Young 
were  present,  and  the  chair  was  taken  by  Mr.  Walter  Hills. 

The  minutes  of  the  last  monthly  meeting  and  of  the  special  meet¬ 
ing  on  May  19  having  been  read  and  confirmed, 

Mr.  Warren  addressed  the  Council.  He  said  he  did  not 
consider  himself  a  new  member,  as  though  that  was  not  the  first 
time  he  had  had  the  honour  of  a  seat  on  the  Council,  it  was  the 
first  time  he  appeared  there  as  an  elected  member,  and  he 
.should  like  to  heartily  thank  those  who  had  placed  con¬ 
fidence  in  him.  He  believed  he  should  best  thank  them, 
however,  by  diligently  attending  to  his  duties  as  a  London 
member.  That  work  might  not  involve  much  talk,  for  in  spite  of 
the  taunts  levelled  at  some  of  them,  that  they  were  too  weakly 
subservient,  he  believed  the  work  of  the  Society  was  better 
forwarded  by  loyal  and  intelligent  co-operation  with  the  chief 
whom  they  elected  than  by  any  unnecessary  parade  of  indepen¬ 
dence.  He  would  say  the  work  of  the  pharmacists  of  the  country 
rather  than  that  of  the  Society,  because,  although  the  two  terms 
were  synonymous  to  him,  it  appeared  that  in  some  quarters  they 
did  not  convey  the  same  idea.  He  thought  any  intelligent  person 
must  see  that  the  future  of  pharmacy  must  depend  on  a  strong  and 
respected  Pharmaceutical  Society.  If  there  were  a  few  privileges 
possessed  by  members  over  those  who  were  outside,  those  privi¬ 
leges  were  open  to  all  upon  the  same  terms,  and  whatever  good 
might  accrue,  those  outside  could  not  help  sharing  in  it,  both 
morally  and  materially. 


Election  oe  President. 

The  ballot  having  been  taken-  in  the  usual  way,  Mr.  Walter 
Hills  was  unanimously  re-elected  President. 

Mr.  Hills,  in  returning  thanks  for  his  re-election,  said  he 
was  deeply  sensible  of  the  great  honour  that  had  again  been  con¬ 
ferred  on  him,  and  he  was  especially  grateful  for  the  unanimity 
with  which  the  vote  had  been  given.  He  had  had  twelve  months’ 
experience  in  the  office,  and  he  was  bound  to  say  that  he  had 
found  the  duties  and  responsibilities  associated  with  the  office 
not  inconsiderable,  but  they  had  been  rendered  easier  to 
him  during  the  past  twelve  months  by  the  kind  consideration 
and  support  of  his  colleagues.  He  was  sure  from  the  unanimous 
vote  that  had  been  accorded  him  that  he  might  rely  on  that  support 
for  the  next  twelve  months,  and  with  that  support  he  took  up  the 
duties  attaching  to  the  office  with  no  hesitation,  and  felt  sure  that 
together  they  would  be  able  to  do  something  which  would  be  of 
advantage  to  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  which  they  had  the 
honour  to  represent. 


Election  of  Vice-President. 

The  ballot  having  been  again  taken,  Mr.  G.  T.  W.  Newsholme 
was  elected  Vice-President. 

Mr.  Newsholme  thanked  the  members  for  the  great  honour 
conferred  upon  him.  He  had  been  a  member  of  the  Council  for 
ten  years,  and  he  should  like  to  say  how  gratifying  it  was 
to  him  to  know  that  as  the  result  of  the  recent  Benevolent 
Fund  Dinner  there  was  such  an  enormous  increase  in  the 
additions  to  the  Benevolent  Fund  over  that  realised  ten 
years  ago.  That  was  particularly  satisfactory  to  the  Vice- 
President  from  the  fact  that  he  had  to  preside  over  the 
Benevolent  Fund  Committee,  which  had  the  administration  of  that 
Fund.  It  was  unnecessary  for  him  to  say  more,  except  that  he 
felt  how  incompetent  he  was  to  fill  the  position  to  which  he  had 
been  elected,  and  to  follow  the  distinguished  men  who  had  pre¬ 
ceded  him.  When  he  saw  around  him  such  men  as  Mr.  Atkins, 
Mr.  Bottle,  Mr.  Cross,  and  others  who  had  preceded  him,  he 
felt  that  he  had  very  great  difficulty  in  following  such  men  ; 
but  although  they  had  been  brilliant  men,  he  would  say  that  no 
man  could  try  to  be  more  loyal  to  the  Society  than  he.  He 
had  for  ten  years  done  his  best  to  further  the  interests  of  the 


June  5,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


489 


Society,  and  hoped  in  the  future  that  he  would  be  able  to  succeed 
as  well  as  some  of  the  men  who  had  preceded  him. 


Election  of  Treasurer. 

On  a  further  ballot  being  taken,  Mr.  Robert  Hampson  was  re  - 
elected  Treasurer  for  the  ensuing  year. 

Mr.  Hampson,  in  returning  thanks  for  his  re-election,  said  it  was 
undoubtedly  an  important  position,  and  he  should  take  care  of  all 
the  money  placed  in  his  charge,  as  he  had  hitherto  done.  He 
hoped  that  in  the  future  the  funds  would  increase,  for  there  was  much 
to  be  done  by  the  Society  in  the  future,  for  those  outside  it  as 
well  as  for  the  members. 


Standing-  Orders. 

The  Standing  Orders  of  the  Council  were  re-enacted  for  the 
ensuing  year. 

Reappointment  of  Officers. 

Mr.  Richard  Bremridgewas  reappointed  Secretary  and  Registrar 
for  the  ensuing  year  ;  Dr.  B.  H.  Paul  was  reappointed  Editor,  and 
Mr.  John  Humphrey  Sub-Editor,  of  the  Journal ;  Mr.  E.  M.  Holmes 
was  reappointed  Curator  of  the  Society’s  Museum,  and  Mr.  J. 
Rutherford  Hill  was  reappointed  Assistant  Secretary  in  Scotland. 

Examiners  for  the  Council  Prizes  and  Scholarships. 

It  was  decided  that  Messrs.  Balfour,  Gibson,  and  Maben  should 
be  requested  to  conduct  the  examination  for  the  Council  Prizes 
competition  in  July  next.  It  was  also  agreed  that  Messrs.  Arkin- 
stall,  White,  and  Pinches  should  be  requested  to  conduct  the 
examinations  for  the  Jacob  Bell  Memorial  and  Manchester 
Scholarships. 


Death  of  an  Honorary  Member. 

The  President  said  he  had  just  received  information  of  the 
death  of  a  distinguished  honorary  member  of  the  Society,  Dr. 
Julius  von  Sachs,  Professor  of  Botany  in  the  University  of  Wurz¬ 
burg.  Everyone  who  took  any  interest  in  botany  was  acquainted 
with  the  work  and  reputation  of  Dr.  Sachs.  He  believed  he  was 
one  of  the  pioneers  of  what  might  be  called  the  new  botany — the 
physiology  of  the  living  plant,  and  his  works  had  been  translated 
into  English  and  were  very  much  read.  He  was  sure  it  would  be 
the  wish  of  the  Council  that  he  should  communicate  to  his  relatives 
an  expression  of  sympathy  in  their  bereavement  and  of  regret  at 
the  loss  which  the  world  of  science  had  sustained. 


Election  of  Members. 

The  following,  having  .  passed  the  Major  examination  and 
tendered  their  subscriptions  for  the  current  year,  were  elected 
“  Members”  of  the  Society  : — 

Brice,  Henry  Doyle  ;  Chelsea.  |  Dann,  Charles  ;  Tunbridge  Wells. 

Goodall,  Frederic  Charles  ;  Stafford. 


Election  of  Associates  in  Business. 

The  following,  having  passed  the  Minor  examination,  being 
in  business  on  their  own  account,  and  having  tendered  their  sub¬ 
scriptions  for  the  current  year,  were  elected  “Associates  in  Busi¬ 
ness  ”  of  the  Society  : — 


Farrants,  Francis  Samuel ;  Orpington. 
Fletcher,  Charles  Senior  ;  Wakefield. 
Goodess,  Frederick  William ;  Leicester. 
Green,  George  T.  ;  Henley-on-Thames. 


Hickin,  William  Edward ;  Birkenhead, 
Johnson,  Walter;  Bournville. 

Scott,  Thomas  L.  ;  Trimdon  Grange. 
Wallace,  William ;  Ardrossan. 


Anderson,  David  ;  Penicuik. 

Caines,  Charles  March  ;  London. 

Calder,  James  ;  Bathgate. 

Church,  Charles  Edward  ;  Andover. 
Cuthbert,  William  Stiven  ;  Glasgow. 
Davies,  David  ;  Pontypridd. 

Ellis,  William  Frederick  ;  London. 
Galloway,  Thomas  McLaren  ;  Kirkcaldy. 
Griffiths,  Horace  ;  Newport. 

Hipperson,  Charles  W.  W.  ;  Norwich. 
Humphreys,  Ernest  B.  ;  Manchester. 
Jack,  Alexander  B. ;  Dingwall. 

Jackson,  Charles  Henry  ;  Sunderland. 

Wilsden,  Arthur 


Lamont,  John  ;  Glasgow. 

May,  Frederick  Bertram  ;  Manchester. 
Nicholls,  Albert  Ambrose  ;  Hackney. 
Norweb,  Aithur  ;  Nottingham. 

Onley,  Geoffrey  Bernard ;  Birmingham. 
Patterson,  J.  W.  ;  Newcastle-on-Tyne. 
Plumley,  Herbert  James  ;  Bristol. 
Rogers,  Robert  Isaac  ;  Rhos. 

Ross,  Edward  ;  Wiveliscombe. 

Smith,  George  William  ;  Oakham. 
Turner,  George  Augustus  ;  Belfast. 
Westlake,  William  Smalley;  Sutton. 
Wilkinson,  Joseph  George  ;  Harrogate. 
M.  A.  ;  Wooler. 


Restorations  to  Register. 

The  names  of  the  following  persons,  who  have  severally  made  the 
required  declarations,  and  paid  a  fine  of  one  guinea,  were  restored 
to  the  Register  of  Chemists  and  Druggists  : — 

Doe,  Walter  James  ;  19,  St.  Stephen’s  Square,  Norwich. 

White,  Samuel  Banfield  ;  19,  South  Street,  Wellington,  Somerset. 

Young,  James  John  ;  Midsomer  Norton,  Somerset. 

Andrews,  George  James  ;  136,  Stamford  Street,  E.C. 


Several  persons  were  restored  to  their  former  status  in  the 
Society  upon  payment  of  the  current  year’s  subscription  and  a 
nominal  restoration  fee  of  one  shilling. 


Appointment  of  Committees. 

The  Council  went  into  Committee  to  consider  the  arrangement 
of  the  different  Committees,  as  the  result  of  which  the  following 
appointments  were  made  : — 

General  Purposes. — The  whole  Council  to  meet  on  the  evening 
before  the  meeting  of  the  Council,  and  at  such  other  times  as  may 
be  necessary. 

Finance. — The  President  (Mr.  Hills),  Vice-President  (Mr.  News- 
holme),  and  Messrs.  Allen,  Carteighe,  Grose,  Hampson,  Martin- 
dale,  Park,  Savory,  Storrar,  and  Warren. 

Benevolent  Fund. — The  President  (Mr.  Hills),  Vice-President 
(Mr.  Newsholme),  and  Messrs.  Atkins,  Bateson,  Bottle,  Corder, 
Cross,  Harrison,  Johnston,  Southall,  Symes,  and  Young. 

Library,  Museum,  School  and  House. — The  President  (Mr.  Hills), 
Vice-President  (Mr.  Newsholme),  andMessrs.  Allen,  Atkins,  Bottle, 
Carteighe,  Hampson,  Harrison,  Martindale,  Savory,  and  Warren. 

Law  and  Parliamentary. — The  President  (Mr.  Hills),  Vice- 
President  (Mr.  Newsholme),  and  Messrs.  Allen,  Atkins,  Bottle, 
Carteighe,  Cross,  Hampson,  Harrison,  Johnston,  Martindale, 
Park,  Savory,  Southall,  Storrar,  Symes,  Warren,  and  Young. 

Standing  Committee  to  watch  Parliamentary  Business,  and  take 
action  thereon  in  the  interests  of  Chemists  and  Druggists. — The 
President  (Mr.  Hills),  Vice-President  (Mr.  Newsholme),  and 
Messrs.  Allen,  Carteighe,  Martindale,  Savory,  and  Warren. 

Research. — The  President  (Mr.  Hills),  Vice-President  (Mr. 
Newsholme),  and  the  members  of  the  Library,  Museum,  School  and 
House  Committee. 

Evening  Meetings. — The  Staff  of  the  Society’s  School,  the  Editor, 
and  the  Curator  were  appointed  to  assist  the  President  and  Vice- 
President  in  making  arrangements  for  the  Society’s  evening 
meetings  in  London. 

Pharmacopoeia.- — The  President  (Mr.  Hills),  Vice-President  (Mr. 
Newsholme),  and  Messrs.  Carteighe,  Martin,  Inglis  Clarke,  Cross, 
Ekin,  Martindale,  C.  Umney,  Harrison,  J.  Ince,  and  Professor 
Greenish  (as  Secretary). 


Election  of  Associates. 

The  following,  having  passed  the  Minor  examination  and 
tendered  or  paid  as  “Students”  their  subscriptions  for  the 
current  year,  were  elected  “Associates  ”  of  the  Society  : — 


Brodie,  John  Dallas  ;  Broxburn. 
Brown,  John  Arthur ;  Ripley. 
Chapman,  Edgar  Marsh  ;  Scarboro’. 


Gordon,  David  ;  Liverpool. 
Morris,  Henry  ;  St.  Clears. 
Sharpies,  Robert ;  Blackburn. 


A  Congratulatory  Address  to  Her  Majesty. 

The  Vice-President  moved — 

“  That  the  President  be  requested  and  authorised  to  draw  up  and  'send,  on 
behalf  of  the  Council,  a  congratulatory  address  to  Her  Majesty  on  the  occasion 
of  her  Diamond  Jubilee,  and  that  the  address  be  sealed  with  the  corporate 
seal  of  the  Society.” 

This  motion  was  seconded  by  Mr.  Bottle  and  carried  unani¬ 
mously. 


Election  of  Students. 

The  following,  having  passed  the  First  examination  and 
tendered  their  subscriptions  for  the  current  year,  were  elected 
“  Students  ”  of  the  Society  : — 


Finance  Committee. 

The  Secretary  read  the  report  of  this  Committee,  which  was 
of  the  usual  character,  and  recommended  sundry  accounts  for 
payment. 


490 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[June  5,  1897 


The  President,  in  moving  the  adoption  of  the  report  and  recom¬ 
mendations,  said  there  was  nothing  to  which  he  need  call  special 
attention,  and  the  proposition  was  at  once  put  and  carried. 


Benevolent  Fund. 

The  report  of  this  Committee  included  a  recommendation  of  the 
grants  to  the  amount  of  £22  in  the  following  cases  : — 

The  widow  (47)  of  an  Associate,  who  received  a  grant  last  year,  and  is  en¬ 
deavouring  to  support  herself  by  letting  apartments.  (Towyn.) 

A  registered  Chemist  and  Druggist  (84),  who  had  a  grant  in  November  last. 
(London.) 

Two  cases  were  deferred  for  further  information. 

Mr.  Harrison,  as  Chairman  of  the  Committee,  moved  the  adop¬ 
tion  of  the  report.  There  were  only  four  cases  before  the  Com¬ 
mittee  on  the  previous  day,  two  of  which  were  deferred  for 
further  information,  but  in  the  other  two  cases  grants  were 
made.  They  were  both  cases  of  such  an  extremely 
painful  nature  that  the  Committee  had  no  hesitation 
in  arriving  at  a  conclusion  that  relief  ought  to  be  given. 
Although  the  demands  on  the  Fund  this  month  were  small,  there 
was  no  reason  to  expect  that  they  would  remain  so  for  any  length 
of  time,  therefore  the  splendid  response  to  their  late  appeal  was 
the  more  to  be  appreciated.  Their  friends  all  over  Great  Britain 
recognised  that  an  attempt  was  made  to  administer  the  Fund  in  a 
directly  practical  spirit,  and  were  satisfied  that  in  their  hands  the 
best  possible  use  had  been  made  of  the  funds  placed  in  their  hands 
for  benevolence. 

The  report  having  been  agreed  to  unanimously, 

The  President  said  he  should  like  to  say  a  word  with  reference 
to  the  late  Festival  Dinner.  He  might  mention  that  262  persons 
dined  at  the  Hotel  Cecil  on  the  18th  ult.,  and  that  the  sale  of 
tickets  and  the  contributions  from  stewards  who  were  not  able  to 
attend  had  provided  sufficient  to  pay  for  the  dinner  and  to  leave  a 
balance  which  would,  to  a  small  extent,  swell  the  amount  of  sub¬ 
scriptions  and  donations  announced  at  the  dinner.  It  was  very 
satisfactory,  therefore,  to  record  that  the  expenses  had  not 
entrenched  on  the  donations.  It  was  proposed  that  the  Special 
Fund  should  be  kept  open  to  the  end  of  the  month  in  order  to  give 
opportunities  to  those  who  had  overlooked  the  matter,  and  others 
who  would  wish  to  add  to  their  subscriptions.  He  might  mention 
that  the  total  amount  contributed  or  promised  up  to  the  present 
was  £2175.  He  hoped  that  that  amount  would  be  further  increased 
before  he  announced  the  completed  total  at  the  Council  meeting  in 
July. 


Library,  Museum,  School,  and  House  Committee. 

The  report  of  this  Committee  stated  that  the  Librarian’s  report 
had  been  received,  and  included  the  following  particulars 


April 


Attendance. 

/Day . 

'  \  Evening . 


Circulation  of  Books. 
April  . 


Total. 
.  161 


following  particulars  : — 


April 


Attendance. 

/Day . 

•  \  Evening  . . . 


Total. 

Highest. 

Lowest.  Average. 

..  273 

19 

4 

12 

11 

0 

4 

Town. 

Country. 

Carriage  paid. 

73 

88 

£1  Os.  2d. 

also  been  received, 

and  included  the 

Total. 

Highest. 

Lowest. 

Average. 

.  473 

32 

10 

20 

.  35 

3 

1 

2 

Several  donations  had  been  received  (Pharm.  Journ.,  May  15,  p.  413),  and  the  Com 
mittee  directed  that  the  usual  letters  of  thanks  be  sent  to  the  respective  donors. 

The  President  moved  the  adoption  of  the  report,  and  that  was  at 
once  agreed  to. 


The  Inaugural  Address. 

It  was  resolved  that  the  selection  of  a  gentleman  to  deliver  the 
inaugural  address  at  the  commencement  of  the  autumn  session 
should  be  referred  to  the  Library,  Museum,  School,  and  House 
Committee. 


Vote  of  Thanks  to  the  Retiring  Vice-President. 

At  this  stage,  the  President  proposed — 

“  That  the  hearty  thanks  of  the  Council  be  awarded  to  Mr.  John  Harrison  for 
his  valuable  services  as  Vice-President  during  the  past  two  years.” 

He  said  no  words  of  his  were  necessary  to  recommend  this  resolution 
to  the  favourable  notice  of  the  Council  and  for  their  hearty  acclama¬ 
tion.  They  were  all  thoroughly  acquainted  with  Mr.  Harrison 


and  with  the  many  qualifications  which  he  possessed  for  the  office 
he  had  just  vacated.  They  were  all  charmed  with  his  eloquence, 
and  knew  what  a  good  man  of  business  he  was.  They  also  knew 
how  loyal  Mr.  Harrison  was  to  the  best  interests  of  the  Society, 
therefore  he  had  no  hesitation  in  asking  the  Council  to  approve  of 
the  motion. 

Mr.  Carteighe  said  he  had  been  asked  to  second  this  motion, 
as  Mr.  Harrison  was  associated  with  him  during  one  of  his  years 
of  office,  and  he  (Mr.  Carteighe)  could  therefore  thoroughly 
appreciate  his  value  and  the  manner  in  which  he  fulfilled  his 
duties.  There  were  great  advantages  in  having  as  Vice-President 
a  member  of  Council  who  did  not  reside  in  London  ;  but  on 
the  other  hand,  the  difficulties  under  which  the  duties  were 
performed  by  such  gentlemen  were  such  as  gentlemen  in  London 
could  hardly  appreciate.  The  Vice-Pre-ident  had  to  come  to 
London,  to  go  to  Scotland  from  time  to  time,  to  attend  the  meetings 
of  the  Boards  of  Examiners,  and  to  be  constantly  in  touch  with  the 
President.  In  every  position  in  which  Mr.  Harrison  was  called  on 
to  fulfil  during  his  association  with  him,  he  never  saw  a  more  busi¬ 
ness-like  or  more  admirable  Vice-President. 

The  Vice-President  said  he  must  add  a  word  in  support  of  the 
proposition,  as  he  felt  that  Mr.  Harrison  had  performed  his  duties 
with  satisfaction  to  every  member  of  the  Society  and  to  the  whole 
country.  He  occupied  a  prominent  position  in  his  own  town, 
having  recently  been  elected  an  alderman  and  having  been  for 
many  years  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  so  that  it  was  a  marvel  to  him 
how  he  found  time  to  fulfil  his  duties,  but  there  was  no  doubt  he 
did  them  very  well. 

The  resolution  having  been  passed  unanimously, 

Mr.  Harrison  said  he  was  in  the  unique  position  of  feeling 
called  upon  to  respond  to  a  vote  of  thanks  proposed  by  a  President 
and  seconded  by  a  Past  President,  both  of  whom  it  had  been  one 
of  his  highest  privileges  to  serve  under.  With  both  of  the 
presidents  under  whom  he  had  served  he  had  been  in  the  closest 
intimacy.  The  two  years  during  which  he  had  filled  the  office, 
although  exceedingly  responsible  ones  and  well  charged  with  work, 
were  very  pleasant  ones  to  him,  and  the  experience  of  those  two 
years  had  taught  him  a  very  valuable  lesson.  He  could  not  help 
thinking  that  during  the  last  two  years,  although  they  had  not 
shown  the  legislative  activity  which  Mr.  Southall  might  desire,  still 
they  had  been  years  of  exceeding  administrative  activity.  There 
had  been  many  pressing  questions  brought  before  them  for  solu¬ 
tion,  and  all  of  them  were  now  in  a  fair  way  to  be  satisfactorily 
settled  ;  there  was  the  re-organisation  of  the  Research  Laboratory 
of  the  School,  and  the  development  of  the  Journal,  the  work  of  the 
Pharmacopoeia  Committee,  and  lastly,  but  by  no  means  least,  there 
were  the  proposed  new  bye-laws.  That  showed  clearly  that  in 
addition  to  all  the  usual  work  of  the  Society  which,  as  every  one 
who  had  any  experience  knew,  was  rapidly  growing  in  volume,  they 
had  had  all  these  important  questions  before  them,  and  he  believed 
they  had  been  settled  on  a  sound  and  satisfactory  basis,  and  in  a 
manner  conducive  to  the  welfare  of  the  Society. 


Vote  of  Thanks  to  Mr.  Gostling. 

The  President  next  moved  : — 

“  That  this  Council  desires  to  record  its  sense  of  the  services  rendered  by  Mr. 
T.  P.  Gostling  during  the  many  years  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Council, 
and  for  his  valuable  services  as  Vice-President  of  the  Society  during  the 
years  1886-1888.” 

Mr.  Gostling  was  well  known  to  every  member  of  the  present 
Council,  as  he  had  been  associated  with  them  for  many  years.  He 
happened  to  be  Vice-President  on  the  occasion  of  the 
Jubilee  of  Her  Majesty’s  reign,  and  signed  the  address  of  con¬ 
gratulation  on  that  occasion.  He  had  always  been  distinguished  by 
his  great  loyalty  to  the  highest  interests  of  the  Society,  and  though 
he  did  not  speak  much,  when  he  did  it  was  always  on  the  side  of 
advancement  in  the  widest  sense.  Their  best  wishes  would  go 
with  him  in  his  retirement,  and  they  hoped  that  the  comparative 
rest  he  would  now  have,  both  from  business  and  public  duties, 
would  be  beneficial  to  him,  and  that  he  would  have  many  years  of 
health  and  happiness  before  him. 

The  Vice-President,  in  seconding  the  resolution,  said  he  could 
not  but  regret  that  it  was  necessary,  for  he  had  hoped  that  Mr. 
Gostling  would  have  remained  with  them  some  time  longer.  Still, 
as  he  seemed  to  think  that  he  required  a  little  more  ease,  they 
could  only  acquiesce  in  his  decision,  and  he  might  echo  everything 
the  President  had  said.  They  all  looked  on  him  as  a  friend,  and 
as  a  man  who  was  very  loyal  to  the  Society. 


June  5,  1897J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


491 


Mr.  Atkins  said  he  should  like  to  say  one  kindly  word  about 
Mr.  Gostling,  who  was  an  exceedingly  genial,  lovable,  and  excellent 
man.  They  all  enjoyed  his  friendship,  and  he  especially,  as  he 
had  many  times  been  a  visitor  at  his  house.  They  had  never  had 
a  more  loyal  man  on  the  Council  than  Mr.  Gostling.  He  could 
not  say  that  he  retired  with  his  (Mr.  Atkins’)  approval,  as  he  had 
tried  to  dissuade  him  from  that  course,  for  he  thought  he  had 
many  years  of  activity  before  him.  Although  Mr.  Gostling  had 
retired  from  the  Council,  he  had  not  retired  from  sympathy  with 
the  Society  and  its  interests,  and,  as  was  well  known,  he  had 
special  advantages  in  being  in  touch  with  the  medical  profession, 
having  two  successful  and  distinguished  sons. 

The  motion  was  unanimously  agreed  to. 


Correspondence. 

The  President  announced  that  he  had  received  a  letter  from 
Mrs.  Attfield,  asking  him,  as  the  President,  to  accept  a  portrait  of 
Dr.  Attfield  on  behalf  of  the  Society.  The  picture  had  not  arrived 
at  the  present  time,  because  it  was  awaiting  the  signature  of  Pro¬ 
fessor  Herkomer,  the  artist,  who  was  now  on  the  Continent,  but  it 
might  be  expected  in  a  few  days,  and  he  was  sure  the  Council 
would  wish  him  not  only  to  accept  it,  but  also  to  thank  Mrs.  Att¬ 
field  for  the  presentation. 

Several  other  letters  were  also  read. 


General  Purposes  Committee. 

The  Council  went  into  committee,  as  usual,  to  he3r  and  consider 
the  report  of  this  Committee,  which  included  the  solicitor’s  report 
on  cases  placed  in  his  hands.  On  resuming,  the  report  and  recom¬ 
mendations  were  carried  unanimously,  and  special  resolutions  were 
passed  authorising  the  Registrar  to  take  proceedings  against  certain 
persons  named  therein. 


LIST  OF  DONATIONS  &  SUBSCRIPTIONS 

IN  AID  OP  THE 

BENEVOLENT  FUND. 


The  following  additional  donations  and  new  or  increased  annual  subscriptions 
have  been  received  since  the  publication  of  the  first  list.  A  further  list  will  be 
published  at  the  end  of  this  month 

Dons.  Subs. 

Amoore,  A.  S.  ;  173,  Sloane  Street,  S.W.  . .  2  2  0 


REAGENTS,  REACTIONS,  METHODS  AND  FORMULAS, 

KNOWN  BY  THE  NAMES  OF  THEIR  AUTHORS. 

A  list  of  reagents  and  reactions  known  by  the  names  of  their 
authors  was  published  by  A.  Schneider  in  the  Pharmaceutische 
Centralhcdle  some  years  ago,  and  this  has  since  been  revised  and 
enlarged  by  Dr.  Julius  Altschul,  a  translation  of  whose  list  by  R. 
Fischer  has  been  published  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Review,  and 
since  reprinted  in  pamphlet  form.  Referring  to  this  list,  Dr.  Alts¬ 
chul  says  :  “As  far  as  the  selection  of  material  is  concerned,  stress 
has  been  laid  principally  on  qualitative  reactions.  Quantitative 
tests  have  been  added  only  in  so  far  as  they  serve  also  for  qualita¬ 
tive  determination.  Most  of  the  items  belong  to  the  technical,, 
pharmaceutical,  and  physiological  branches  of  chemistry.  Of  bac¬ 
teriological  reagents  only  a  few  of  the  most  important  were  added.” 
With  the  idea  of  increasing  its  utility,  the  list  is  now  further- 
amplified  by  the  addition  of  particulars  regarding  a  large  number 
of  microscopical  and  bacteriological  methods  and  formulae,  collated 
from  the  works  of  Lee,  Squire,  Crookshank,  and  others.  It  is 
possible  that  other  useful  additions  may  suggest  themselves  to 
readers,  and  they  are  requested  to  notify  any  omissions  in  order 
that  the  list  may  be  rendered  as  complete  as  possible. 

Adamkiewics’  stain  for  nerve-centres.  Sections  of  material 
hardened  in  Muller’s  solution  for  1  to  3  months  are  stained  with 
concentrated  solution  of  safranine,  after  being  washed  first  in 
water,  and  then  in  water  acidified  with  nitric  acid.  Afterwards 
remove  superfluous  colour  and  clear  by  treatment  with  alcohol  and 
clove  oil,  pass  into  water  once  more,  then  wash  in  water  acidified 
with  acetic  acid,  stain  with  methylene  blue,  and  clear  as  before. 
Myelin  is  stained  red,  and  nuclei  violet. 

Adamkiewics’  reaction  for  albumin.  Acetic  acid  solutions  of 
albuminous  substances  are  coloured  violet  and  show  a  greenish 
fluorescence  upon  the  addition  of  concentrated  sulphuric  acid. 
The  result  is  the  same  if  the  albumin  is  treated  with  a  mixture 
of  1  vol.  of  concentrated  sulphuric  acid  and  2  vol.  of  glacial  acetic 
acid,  the  reaction  being  facilitated  by  the  application  of  heat,  and 
also,  according  to  Wurster,  by  the  addition  of  a  few  grains  of 
sodium  chloride. 

Agostini’s  reaction  for  glycose.  On  adding  to  5  drops  of  urine 
5  drops  of  0-5  per  cent,  gold  chloride  solution  and  3  drops  of 
20  per  cent,  potash  solution,  and  gently  heating  the  mixture,  the 
presence  of  sugar  will  be  indicated  by  the  formation  of  a  red 


Andrews,  F. ;  34,  Leinster  Terrace,  W .  1  1  0 

Bagshaw,  H.  B.  ;  Oldham .  1  1  0 

Bagshaw,  W.  ;  Oldham .  Ill  6 

Bullock,  J.  Lloyd  ;  3,  Hanover  Street,  W .  5  5  0 

Butcher,  W.  and  Son  ;  Blackheath,  S.E .  1  1  0 

Cooper,  W.  and  Nephews  ;  Berkhamsted  .  21  0  0 

Davidson,  P.  ;  342,  High  Road,  Brondesbury,  N.W .  2  2  0 

Gerrard,  A.  W.  ;  Guildford  Street,  Chertsey  .  1  1  0 

Glasgow  Apothecaries’  Company .  10  10  0 

Harker,  C.  R.,  Stagg,  and  Morgan ;  15,  Laurence  Pountney 

Lane,  E.C .  5  5  0 

Hewlett,  C.  J.  and  Son  ;  Charlotte  Street,  E.C .  5  5  0 

Homer  and  Sons  ;  Mitre  Square,  E . - .  10  10  0 

Huskisson,H.  O. ;  Swinton  Street,  Gray’s  Inn  Road,  W.C.  2  2  0 

Johnston,  J.  ;  45,  Union  Street,  Aberdeen .  2  2  0 

Leins,  H.  ;  149,  Houndsditch,  E.C .  1  1  0 

Manchester  and  District  Chemists’  Assistants,  and 

Apprentices,  per  John  Riding . 20  0  0 

Matthews,  C.  W.  ;  6,  Fortess  Road,  N.W . - .  1  1  0 

Nottingham  and  Notts  Chemists'  Association  .  10  10  0 

Nurthen,  F.  W.  ;  390,  Strand,  W.C .  1  I  0 

Park,  C.  J.  ;  1,  Mutley  Plain,  Plymouth .  2  2  0 

Parker,  R.  H.  ;  35,  Clifton  Road,  Maida  Vale,  W .  1  1  0 

Rankin  and  Borland  ;  7,  King  Street,  Kilmarnock .  5  5  0 

Silverlock,  H. ;  92,  Blackfriars  Road,  S.E .  5  5  0 

Tanner,  A.  E.  ;  Tottenham  .  2  2  0 

Thompson,  John;  58,  Hanover  Street,  Liverpool  . .  110 

Wigginton,  A.  ;  137,  Sloane  Street,  S.W .  2  2  0  1  1  0 

Willows,  Francis  and  Butler ;  101,  High  Holborn,  W.C.  5  5  0 

Wodderspoon  and  Co.  ;  7,  Serle  Street,  W.C . . .  2  2  0 

Other  contributions  of  smaller  sums  amounting  to .  7  11  0 


colour. 

Alleger’s  gelatin  process.  Add  a  few  drops  of  formalin  to  each 
gramme  of  0'5  to  1  per  cent,  gelatin  solution.  After  mounting  the 
section  in  this,  apply  heat  to  the  slide  until  the  paraffin  is 
softened,  and  allow  the  superfluous  gelatin  to  drain  from  the  edge 
of  the  slide. 

Allen’s  reaction  for  vegetable  fats.  Shake  together  equal 
volumes  of  fat  and  nitric  acid,  sp.  gr.  1  ‘4,  for  half  a  minute  and 
then  set  aside  for  15  minutes.  The  presence  of  vegetable  fats  is 
indicated  by  the  formation  of  a  coffee-brown  colour. 

Allen’s  reaction  for  phenol.  A  carmine-red  colour  is  produced 
with  hydrochloric  and  nitric  acids. 

Allen’s  stain  for  embryos.  Dissolve  O'l  per  cent,  methylene 
blue  in  salt  solution  (0'75  per  cent,  sodium  chloride  in  water),  and 
dilute  with  15  to  20  volumes  of  sea  water. 

Almen’s  reagent  for  blood.  Well  shake  the  liquid  containing 
blood  with  a  mixture  of  equal  parts  of  tincture  of  guaiaeum  and 
turpentine  oil,  when  it  will  become  blue  owing  to  the  precipita¬ 
tion  of  guaiaeum  resin.  The  colour  is  permanent  when  heated. 
See  also  Weber  and  Schoenbein. 

Almen’s  tannin  solution  acts  as  a  precipitant  of  albumin.  It 
is  a  solution  of  4  Gm.  tannin,  and  8  C.c.  of  25  per  cent,  acetic  acid 
in  190  C.c.  of  40  to  50  per  cent,  alcohol.  It  also  precipitates 
nucleo-albumin. 

Almen’s  reagent  for  glucose.  Digest  2  Gm.  of  basic  carbonate 
of  bismuth  with  100  C.c.  potash  solution,  sp.  gr.  1'33,  and  4  Gm. 
Rochelle  salt.  Upon  cooling,  the  clear  solution  is  decanted 
from  the  precipitate.  On  boiling  1  C.c.  of  the  reagent  for  several 
minutes  with  10  C.c.  of  urine,  if  glucose  is  present  a  yellowish- 
brown  precipitate  is  formed,  which  becomes  darker  and  finally 
black.  This  reagent  is  also  known  as  the  Boettger-Almen  reagent. 
Compare  also  Nylander’s  solution. 


492  PKARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL.  [June  5,  1897 


Alt’s  nerve  stain.  Solution  of  Congo  red  in  absolute  alcohol. 
Squire  recommends  a  2  per  cent,  solution  in  water. 

Altmann’s  ammonium  molybdate.  A  2  5  per  cent,  solution  to 
which  is  added  about  0 '25  per  cent,  of  chromic  acid. 

Altmann’s  nitric  acid.  A  3  to  3 '5  per  cent,  aqueous  solution 
used  as  a  fixing  agent.  Specific  gravity  about  1  ’02. 

Anderson’s  reaction  for  distinguishing  between  chinoline  and 
pyridine  salts.  This  is  based  on  the  fact  that  the  chloro-platinates  of 
pyridine  salts,  when  boiled  with  water,  are  converted  into  insoluble 
■double  salts,  with  the  elimination  of  hydrogen  chloride,  whereas 
chinoline  salts  remain  in  solution. 

Apathy’s  hsematoxylin  stain.  After  staining  in  1  per  cent, 
solution  of  hsematoxylin  in  70  or  80  per  cent,  alcohol,  wash  out  in 

1  per  cent,  solution  of  potassium  bichromate  in  alcohol  of  the  same 
strength.  The  bichromate  solution  should  be  freshly  made  by 
mixing  one  part  of  a  5  per  cent,  aqueous  solution  with  about  4  parts 
of  80  to  90  per  cent,  alcohol. 

Apathy’s  methylene  blue  process.  Preparations  stained  with 
strong  methylene  blue  solution  are  washed  in  salt  solution  (0'75  per 
cent.),  then  placed  for  an  hour  or  more  in  freshly-prepared  1  to  2 
per  cent,  solution  of  neutral  ammonium  carbonate,  saturated  with 
picrate.  If  the  methylene  blue  solution  is  very  dilute  omit  the 
treatment  with  salt  solution.  Afterwards  immerse  preparations 
in  a  saturated  solution  of  ammonium  picrate  in  50  per  cent, 
glycerin,  then  remove  into  a  saturated  solution  of  the  picrate  in  a 
mixture  of  2  parts  of  glycerin  (50  per  cent.),  1  part  of  cold 
saturated  sugar  solution,  and  1  part  of  cold  saturated  gum  arabic 
solution.  When  thoroughly  penetrated,  mount  in  Apathy’s 
mounting  medium. 

Apathy’s  mounting  medium.  Picked  gum  arabic,  50  Gm.  ; 
cane  sugar,  50  Gm.  ;  distilled  water,  50  Gm.  Dissolve  over  a 
water  bath  and  add  0-05  Gm.  of  thymol.  This  medium  sets  very 
hard  and,  combined  with  a  paper  cell,  it  may  be  used  for  ringing 
glycerin  mounts. 

Arata’s  test  for  artificial  dye-stuffs  in  wine.  Wool  immersed 
in  wine  containing  artificial  dye-stuffs  abstracts  them  from  the  wine. 
The  fibre  is  afterwards  subjected  to  special  reactions. 

Arndt’s  determination  of  sugar  by  means  of  the  ferment 
saccharometer.  See  Einhorn. 

Arnold’s  reactions  for  alkaloids. — I. — Certain  alkaloids  when 
heated  on  the  water  bath  with  syrupy  phosphoric  acid,  obtained 
by  dissolving  metaphosphoric  acid  or  phosphoric  anhydride 
in  phosphoric  acid  Ph.  G.  III.,  produce  characteristic  colour 
reactions  :  aconitine — violet ;  nicotine — yellow  ;  coniine  —  green. 
II. — Others,  when  triturated  with  concentrated  sulphuric  acid, 
yield  characteristic  colour  reactions  upon  the  addition  of  concen¬ 
trated  solution  of  potash  in  30  to  40  per  cent,  alcohol  (or  in  some 
instances  water).  III. — Arnold-Vitali’s  reaction.  A  small  quantity 
of  alkaloid  is  triturated  with  concentrated  sulphuric  acid  and  a  grain 
of  sodium  nitrite  added;  then,  as  in  II. ,  strong  potash  solution. 
A  number  of  alkaloids  produce  characteristic  colour  reactions. 
Thus  atropine  and  homatropine  produce  with  sulphuric  acid 
and  sodium  nitrate  an  orange-yellow  colour  which  upon  the 
addition  of  potash  becomes  reddish-violet  and  afterwards  fades  to 
rose-red. 

Arnold’s  reaction  for  narceine.  When  a  substance  containing 
narceine  is  heated  with  concentrated  sulphuric  acid  and  a  trace  of 
phenol,  a  reddish  colour  is  produced. 

Axenfeld’s  reagent  for  albumin  is  a  01  per  cent,  solution  of 
gold  chloride.  The  solution  to  be  tested  is  acidulated  with  formic 
acid  and  heated  with  a  drop  of  the  reagent.  If  albumin  be  present, 
the  solution  becomes  purplish,  and  upon  the  addition  of  more  gold 
chloride  the  colour  changes  to  blue.  The  latter  colour  reaction  is 
also  produced  by  glucose,  starch,  tyrosine,  leucine,  etc.,  but  the 
purplish  colour  is  characteristic  of  albumin. 

Aymonier’s  reaction  for  a-naphthol.  Upon  adding  cane  sugar 
to  a  15  per  cent,  alcoholic  solution  of  a-naphthol  and  mixing  with 

2  vols.  sulphuric  acid,  it  is  coloured  violet.  The  addition  of  one 
drop  of  a  mixture  of  1  part  potassium  bichromate,  10  parts  water, 
and  1  part  concentrated  nitric  acid  to  an  a-naphthol  solution  yields 
a  black  precipitate.  /3-naphthol  does  not  produce  either  of  these 
reactions. 

Azoulay’s  osmic  acid  method.  Thin  sections  of  material 
hardened  in  Muller’s  solution  are  placed  for  5  to  15  minutes  in  osmic 
acid  solution  (1:500  or  1:1000),  then  rinsed  with  water  and  left  for 
2  to  5  minutes  in  a  5  or  10  per  cent,  solution  of  tannin,  the  latter 
being  warmed  meanwhile  until  vapour  is  given  off.  After  washing  in 
water,  double-stain  the  sections  with  carmine  or  eosine,  and  mount 
in  balsam. 


Bach’s  reagent  for  hydrogen  peroxide  consists  of  the  following : — 
(a)  0-03  Gm.  of  potassium  bichromate  and  5  drops  of  aniline  in  1  litre 
of  water  ;  (b)  5  per  cent,  oxalic  acid  solution.  On  shaking  5  O.c.  of 
the  solution  to  be  tested  with  5  C.c.  of  solution  (cs)  and  1  drop 
of  solution  (b),  a  violet-red  coloration  is  produced  when  hydrogen 
peroxide  is  present. 

Balmer-Friintzel  method  of  staining  tubercle  bacilli.  Immerse 
sections  for  24  hours  in  solution  of  2  Gm.  of  freshly-powdered 
gentian  violet  in  100  Gm.  of  aniline  water.  Subsequently  treat  as 
in  Erlich’s  method. 

Barbot’s  reagent  for  fatty  oils  is  fuming  nitric  acid.  Different 
oils  vary  in  their  behaviour  as  regards  coloration  and  solidification 
when  mixed  with  this  reagent.  Olive  oil  yields  a  white  (not  red 
or  brown)  mixture  which  solidifies  after  1  to  2  hours. 

Barfoed’s  reagent  for  glucose.  A  solution  of  14  Gm.  crystallised 
copper  acetate  in  200  C.c.  water  and  5  C.c.  acetic  acid,  or  it  may 
consist  of  0 ‘5 copper  acetate  in  100  C.c.  water  and  1  C.c.  acetic  acid. 
Glucose  reduces  this  solution  in  the  cold,  and  more  quickly  upon 
heating.  Dextrin,  cane  sugar,  and  milk  sugar  do  not  reduce  the 
solution.  It  is  used  for  distinguishing  between  glucose  and 
lactose  in  urine. 

Barreswil’s  reagent  for  glucose.  The  same  as  Fehling’s  solution, 
except  that  it  contains  potash  in  place  of  soda. 

Basoletto’s  reagent.  A  mixture  of  equal  parts  by  volume  of 
sesame  oil  and  a  2  per  cent,  solution  of  cane  sugar  in  hydrochloric 
acid,  sp.  gr.  1T24,  is  coloured  red  in  the  cold,  but  more  rapidly 
upon  heating.  W ith  glucose  and  lactose  the  colour  is  produced 
only  when  the  mixture  is  boiled  with  the  hydrochloric  acid  and 
allowed  to  cool.  Compare  Baudouin’s  test. 

Bastian’s  gold  stain.  Solution  of  gold  chloride  (1:2000),  acidu¬ 
lated  with  hydrochloric  acid  (1  drop  to  75  C.c.). 

Bates’  safranine  solution.  A  saturated  solution  in  aniline  water 
(aniline,  3  C.c.  ;  distilled  water,  90  C.c.),  prepared  at  60°  C.  and 
afterwards  filtered. 

Bates’  method  of  examining  bacterial  cultivations.  Remove  a 
little  of  the  growth  by  means  of  a  sterilised  platinum  hook  or 
small  loop,  and  spread  it  out  on  a  cover-glass  in  as  thin  a  film  as 
possible.  When  almost  dry  allow  one  or  two  drops  of  weak 
aqueous  methyl  violet  solution  to  fall  upon  the  film  from  a 
pipette.  Carefully  turn  the  cover-glass  over  on  to  a  slide  after 
a  minute,  and  then  gradually  remove  the  excess  of  stain  by  gentle 
pressure  with  a  strip  of  filter  paper. 

Bates’  method  of  staining  leprosy  bacilli.  Stain  with  a  solution 
of  rosaniline  hydrochlorate  in  aniline  water,  decolorise  in  33  per 
cent,  hydrochloric  acid,  and  after-stain  with  methylene  blue. 

Bates’  method  of  staining  the  comma  bacilli  of  Koch.  Leave 
sections  for  24  hours  in  an  aqueous  solution  of  fuchsine,  then  wash 
in  distilled  water  faintly  acidulated  with  acetic  acid,  or  in  subli¬ 
mate  solution  (1:1000).  Afterwards,  pass  rapidly  through  alcohol 
and  clove  oil,  dry  with  filter  paper,  and  preserve  in  balsam.' 

Baudouin’s  test  for  sesame  oil.  The  reagent  consists  of  OT  Gm. 
sugar  dissolved  in  10  C.c.  hydrochloric  acid,  sp.  gr.  1T8.  One 
volume  of  this  solution  is  shaken  with  two  volumes  of  the  oil  to  be 
tested.  If  sesame  oil  be  present,  the  oil  upon  separation  is  cherry- 
red.  According  to  Lewin,  the  reaction  is  carried  out  as  follows  :— 
0-5  Gm.  of  finely  pulverised  sugar  in  a  test-tube  is  covered  with 
2  C.c.  of  the  oil,  then  1  C.c.  of  hydrochloric  acid,  sp.  gr.  IT 8,  is 
carefully  poured  down  the  sides  of  the  tube.  If  sesame  oil  is 
present,  a  rose-red  zone  is  formed  within  1  to  5  minutes. 
According  to  Millian,  Baudouin’s  test  is  more  delicate  when  carried 
out  with  the  well-dried  free  fatty  acids  which  have  been  obtaine  I 
from  the  oil.  Villavecchia  and  Fabris,  replace  the  sugar  and 
hydrochloric  acid  by  furfurol.  Compare  also  Carlinfanti  and 
Gassend. 

Baumann’s  reagent  for  polyatomic  alcohols  and  diamines. 
Benzoyl  chloride  is  added  to  the  solution  of  the  alcohol  or  amine  in 
aqueous  soda  solution.  Insoluble  benzoyl  esters  are  precipitated. 
This  reagent  is  used  for  the  detection  of  glycerin,  carbohydrates, 
and  various  products  of  bacterial  activity  in  urine. 

Baumgarten’s  bleu  de  Lyon  stain.  Sections  of  material 
previously  stained  with  borax  carmine  are  placed  for  12  hours  in 
a  0-2  per  cent,  solution  of  bleu  de  Lyon  in  absolute  alcohol, 
and  washed  out  for  6  hours  before  mounting  in  balsam. 

Baumgarten’s  fuchsine  and  methylene  blue  stain.  Sections  of 
material  hardened  in  chromic  acid  solution  are  placed  for  twenty- 
four  hours  in  a  watch -glassful  of  water  to  which  8  to  10  drops  of 
concentrated  alcoholic  solution  of  fuchsine  have  been  added.  Rinse 
with  alcohol,  stain  for  4  or  5  minutes  in  concentrated  aqueous 
solution  of  methylene  blue,  wash  out  with  alcohol  for  5  to  10 


June  5,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


493 


minutes,  and  clear  with  clove  oil.  Nuclei  are  stained  red  and 
tissues  blue. 

Baumgarten’s  method  of  examining  tubercle  bacilli.  Cover- 
glass  preparations  are  immersed  in  a  watch-glass  of  distilled  water 
to  which  1  or  2  drops  of  potash  solution  (33  per  cent. )  have  been 
added,  and  then  pressed  down  on  slides  and  examined  unstained. 
If  putrefactive  bacteria  are  present  they  may  be  stained  with 
aqueous  solution  of  fuchsine  or  gentian  violet,  and  thus  distin¬ 
guished  from  the  tubercle  bacilli,  which  remain  colourless. 

Baumgarten’s  new  method  for  tubercle  bacilli.  Stain  sections 
in  a  solution  prepared  by  adding  4  or  5  drops  of  concentrated 
alcoholic  methyl  violet  solution  to  a  watch-glassful  of  water.  Wash 
in  water,  and  decolorise  in  absolute  alcohol  for  5  or  10  minutes, 
previously  immersing  for  5  minutes  in  a  half-saturated  solution 
of  potassium  carbonate,  if  necessary.  After  passing  through 
clove  oil,  mount  in  a  mixture  of  equal  parts  of  Canada  balsam, 
free  from  chloroform,  and  clove  oil.  Subsequently,  place  the 
sections  in  alcohol  for  5  minutes,  and  then  in  a  concentrated  solu¬ 
tion  of  Bismarck  brown  in  1  per  cent,  acetic  acid. 

Bayer’s  reaction  for  indol.  A  solution  of  indol  yields  a  red 
colour  or  precipitate  upon  the  addition  of  dilute  nitric  acid  and 
dilute  potassium  nitrite  solution. 

Bayerl’s  decalcifying  fluid.  Equal  parts  of  3  per  cent,  chromic 
acid  solution  and  1  per  cent,  hydrochloric  acid. 

Beale’s  ammonia  carmine.  Carmine,  10  grs.  ;  strong  solution 
of  ammonia,  30  mins.  ;  distilled  water,  2  ozs.  ;  alcohol,  0'5  oz.  ; 
glycerin,  2  ozs.  Dissolve  the  carmine  in  the  ammonia  by  the  aid 
of  heat,  boil  for  a  few  seconds,  and  let  the  solution  cool.  Then 
allow  the  excess  of  ammonia  to  evaporate,  add  the  other  ingredients, 
and  filter.  If  any  carmine  should  deposit  on  keeping,  add  one  or 
two  drops  of  ammonia  solution  to  redissolve  it. 

Beale’s  cement.  A  thick  solution  of  shellac  in  alcohol.  The 
addition  of  20  drops  of  castor  oil  to  each  ounce  has  been 
recommended. 

Beale’s  creosote  mixture  for  imbedding  microscopic  prepara¬ 
tions.  To  a  solution  of  180  Gm.  methyl  alcohol  and  11  Gm. 
creosote,  add  sufficient  chalk  to  make  a  thick  paste.  While  con¬ 
stantly  stirring,  add  1920  Gm.  of  water,  and  then  a  few  fragments 
of  camphor.  After  standing  for  several  weeks  the  mixture  is  filtered. 

Beale’s  digestion  fluid.  The  dried  mucus  from  the  stomach 
glands  of  the  pig  (or  prepared  pepsin)  is  dissolved  in  water  or 
glycerin,  and  tissues  are  kept  in  the  solution  for  some  hours  at  a 
temperature  of  37°  C. 

Beale’s  glycerin  jelly.  Gelatin  or  isinglass  is  soaked  for  2  or  3 
hours  in  cold  water,  then  removed  and  melted.  On  cooling,  but 
whilst  still  fluid,  add  a  little  white  of  egg,  shake  well,  and  heat  to 
boiling  point.  Filter  through  fine  flannel  to  remove  coagulated  albu¬ 
min,  and  to  the  clear  solution  add  an  equal  bulk  of  strong  glycerin. 

Bechi’s  test  for  cottonseed  oil.  Upon  heating  with  an  alcoholic- 
ethereal  silver  nitrate  solution,  cottonseed  oil  yields  a  reddish-brown 
colour ;  olive  oil  and  other  oils  remain  uncoloured.  The  Swiss  Society 
for  Analytical  Chemists  in  1895  suggested  the  following  mode  of 
applying  the  test : — To  1  Gm.  silver  nitrate,  dissolved  in  5  C.  c.  of 
water,  200  C.c.  alcohol,  20  C.c.  ether,  and  1  C.c.  nitric  acid,  sp.  gr. 
1*4,  are  added.  In  order  to  test  for  cottonseed  oil,  10  C.c.  of  the 
fat  and  3  C.c.  of  the  reagent  are  mixed,  and  the  mixture  is  heated 
on  a  boiling  water  bath  for  ten  minutes.  If  cotton-seed  oil  is 
present,  the  mixture  becomes  brown,  or  even  black.  Compare 
Millian’s  reaction. 

Becker’s  reaction  for  picrotoxine.  The  alkaloid  reduces 
Fehling’s  solution  when  gentle  heat  is  applied. 

Bedot’s  fixing  process  for  delicate  pelagic  animals.  Add  sud¬ 
denly  a  large  quantity  of  15  to  20  per  cent,  cupric  sulphate 
solution  to  the  sea  water  containing  the  animals,  and  as  soon  as 
the  latter  are  fixed  add  a  few  drops  of  nitric  acid  and  leave  for  4  or 
5  hours.  Harden  by  adding  two  volumes  of  Flemming’s  ‘  ‘  strong  ” 
solution  to  each  volume  of  sulphate  solution,  leave  for  24  hours, 
then  add  a  few  drops  of  25  per  cent,  alcohol,  and  during  the  next 
15  days  add  more  alcohol  gradually  until  the  strength  of  70  per 
cent,  is  attained.  Use  90  per  cent,  alcohol  for  definite  preservation. 

Behren’s  test  for  fatty  oils.  When  treated  with  a  mixture  of 
equal  parts  of  sulphuric  acid,  sp.  gr.  1  '835  to  184,  and  nitric  acid, 
sp.  gr.  1'3,  different  oils  show  different  behaviour.  Sesame  oil 
produces  a  green  colour. 

Beissenkirtz’  reaction  for  aniline.  If  a  grain  of  potassium 
bichromate  is  added  to  a  solution  of  aniline  in  concentrated  sul¬ 
phuric  acid,  the  solution  first  becomes  red,  and  then  blue,  the 
colour  gradually  disappearing. 

( To  be  continued. ) 


NOTES  AND  FORMULA. 


( Specially  abstracted  for  the  Pharmaceutical  J ournal. ) 


Perfumed  Satchets. 

Pieces  of  fine  kid  of  suitable  shape  are  soaked  in  a  closed  vessel 
for  three  days  in  the  following  solution 


Oil  of  Bergamot  . .  „ .  25 

Neroli  Oil  .  20 

Bitter  Almond  Oil  .  1 

Oil  of  Orris .  40 

Tolu  Balsam .  30 

Cumarin . 2 

Rectified  Spirit  .  100 


The  pieces  of  leather  should  then  be  dried  on  a  line  in  a  room  of 
the  temperature  of  17 '5°  to  20°  0.  After  some  days  the  rough  side 
of  the  pieces  of  leather  should  be  painted  with  gum  arabic,  and 
finely-pulverised  orris  root  strewn  on  and  again  dried.  Then 
prepare  a  mixture  of  2  grms.  finely-pulverised  musk  and  2  grms. 
civet,  and  mix  to  a  paste  with  a  little  gum  arabic.  Smear  on  both 
sides  of  the  leather  and  dry  again.  Two  pieces  of  leather  are  then 
stuck  together,  wound  round  with  wadding,  and  covered  with  silk 
or  other  fancy  material.  These  satchets  will  be  found  to  be  of 
lasting  perfume  and  are  much  liked,  as  they  do  not  give  off  any 
dust  or  powder. — Deutsch.  Amer.  Apoth.  Zeitcj.,  xvii.,  157. 


Copper  in  Oysters. 

Lowe  states  that  some  time  ago  a  sample  of  oysters  was  brought 
to  him  by  a  friend,  which  upon  examination  he  found  to  contain 
copper.  In  some  this  was  apparent  to  the  eye,  though  in  others, 
which  also  contained  a  considerable  quantity  of  copper,  this  was 
not  visible.  [Oysters  are  often  tinted  green  by  the  spores  of  algae: 
such  coloration  is  no  indication  of  the  presence  of  copper.  Ed.  , 
P.  J.~\  The  shells  contained  no  copper,  and  were  free  from 
colour.  The  copper  contained  in  a  single  oyster  amounted  to  40 
milligrammes,  so  but  few  of  them  were  required  to  produce  very 
unpleasant  results. — Analyst,  xxii.,  86. 


Manufacture  of  Sulphur  Soap. 

(a)  1  part  of  sulphurated  soda  is  dissolved  in  water,  the 
solution  filtered  and  mixed  with  2  parts  of  curd  soap.  The 
soap  thus  formed  is  evaporated  to  dryness  on  the  water  bath. 
(b)  25  parts  coco-nut  oil,  5  parts  lard,  and  2  parts  of  lanoline 
are  saponified  with  16  parts  potash  solution  of  38°.  The  partly 
cooled  mass  is  then  at  once  well  mixed  with  2\  parts  of 
sulphur  and  2|  parts  of  water,  and  perfumed  with  J  part 
of  lemon  oil  and  part  of  cassia  oil.  (c)  25  parts  coco-nut  oil  and 
8  parts  of  lard  are  saponified  with  16  parts  potash  solution  38°. 
The  partly  cooled  mass  is  at  once  well  mixed  with  2  parts  of 
flowers  of  sulphur  and  6  parts  of  water  coloured  with  saffron  yellow 
dye  (dissolved  in  hot  water),  and  perfumed  with  essence  of  lemon. 
— Pharm.  Zeit.,  xlii.,  262. 


Silvering  Tinware. 

According  to  Stockmeyer’s  process  a  solution  of  3  grammes  of 
subnitrate  of  bismuth  is  prepared  in  10  C.c.  of  nitric  acid  of  1  "4 
specific  gravity,  to  which  is  added  a  solution  of  10  grammes  of 
cream  of  tartar  and  40  grammes  of  muriatic  acid  in  1  litre  of  water. 
The  tinware,  freed  from  fat  and  oxide,  is  immersed  in  this 
solution.  The  metallic  bismuth  depositing  on  the  surface  is 
rubbed  off,  after  which  the  articles  appear  dark  steel-grey.  A 
mixture  of  10  grammes  chloride  of  silver,  30  grammes  of  salt,  20 
grammes  cream  of  tartar,  and  100  grammes  powdered  chalk,  is 
then  rubbed  with  a  slightly  moist  flannel  on  the  bismuth 
surfaces  of  the  articles.  The  silver  will  only  bite  on  very  thinly, 
and  it  must  be  protected  by  a  protective  coating  of  celluloid  or 
other  varnish. — Pharm.  Centralh.,  xxxviii. ,  279. 


494 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[June  5,  1897 


PARLIAMENTARY  NOTES  AND  NEWS. 


Whether  the  Merchandise  Marks  Act,  1887,  is  to  be 
regarded  as  a  Heaven-sent  blessing  or  a  trade-destroying 
curse,  is  a  problem  that  still  engages  the  close  attention  of  the 
Merchandise  Marks  Committee.  At  the  meeting,  on  the 
24th  ult.,  the  evidence  of  witnesses  representing  provincial 
chambers  of  commerce  was  taken — notably  Manchester  and 
Sheffield.  The  former  was  represented  by  Mr.  C.  Bailey, 
of  the  Manchester  Chamber  of  Commerce,  who  praised 
the  present  Act  with  no  uncertain  voice.  It  had,  said  he, 
raised  the  reputation  of  British  goods  at  home  and  abroad,  and 
had  done  much  to  stop  fraudulent  practices.  The  only  thing  he 
thought  necessary  to  convert  the  Act  into  a  perfect  piece  of  com¬ 
mercial  legislation  was  the  omission  of  Clause  16.  Now,  Clause 
16  is  the  portion  of  the  Act  relating  to  the  marking  of  goods 
with  the  indication  of  their  origin,  and  Mr.  Bailey  thought  that 
sort  of  thing  savoured  too  much  of  the  Inquisition.  With  praise¬ 
worthy  candour  he  told  the  Committee  why  Manchester  objects  to 
Clause  16 — Manchester  merchants  do  not  want  to  disclose  the 
source  from  which  their  products  are  derived. 


Mr.  H.  Hughes,  who  is  Secretary  to  the  Sheffield  Chamber  of 
Commerce  and  has  a  legal  mind,  also  expressed  himself  definitely 
in  favour  of  the  1887  Act.  It  had,  he  thought,  been  of  great  value 
in  preventing  fraud,  and  though  the  actual  prosecutions  under  the 
Act  had  been  small,  the  moral  effect  thereof  had  been  enormous. 
According  to  this  witness,  there  is  really  no  necessity  for  repealing  the 
Act,  and  very  little  need  for  amending  it.  There  might  be  difficulty 
in  substituting  “made  abroad  ”  for  the  present  indication  of  origin 
because  Great  Britain  is  a  party  to  the  Industrial  Property  Con¬ 
vention,  and  is  thereby  obliged  to  guarantee  to  other  countries  the 
same  protection  she  enjoys  herself.  Mr.  Hughes  also  pointed  to 
H.M.  Customs  as  the  exciting  cause  of  most  of  the  hostility  to  the 
Act,  and  urged  that  a  little  wiser  administration  of  the  law  might 
remove  the  grievances  arising  from  unnecessary  interference 
with  trade. 


Mr.  Carlile  (N.  Bucks)  is  going  in  for  a  Vaccination  Act 
of  his  own.  He  is  tired  of  the  Government’s  vacillation  on  the 
subject,  and  has  therefore  decided  to  bring  in  a  Bill  to 
amend  the  Vaccination  Laws  by  providing  for  a  compulsory  supply 
of  calf  lymph  under  Government  control.  We  predict  that  that 
Bill  will  be  blocked  as  soon  as  it  appears.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  the  President  of  the  Local  Government  Board  has  already 
considered  the  subject  of  lymph  supply,  and  has  expressed  his 
sympathy  with  those  who,  like  Sir  W.  Priestley,  want  to  see  an 
ideal  system  established  ;  but  he  has  also  intimated  that  the  cost 
Of  rearranging  and  remodelling  the  present  system  “gives  him 
•  pause,”  and  he  is  not  likely  to  look  favourably  on  a  private 
member’s  Bill  which  binds  the  Government  to  do  certain  things  it 
Is  not  just  at  present  prepared  to  do. 

The  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade  is,  in  the  opinion  of 
Sir  Stafford  Northcote  (Exeter)  not  occupying  his  proper  posi¬ 
tion.  The  department  has  had  during  the  past  few  years 
a  greatly  increased  amount  of  work  thrust  upon  it  as  the 
result  of  the  paternal  legislation  which  is  occasionally  in  high 
parliamentary  fashion.  True,  most  other  departments  are 
suffering  from  the  same  complaint,  but  Sir  Stafford  singles  out 
the  Board  of  Trade  for  a  point  of  new  departure,  and  suggests 
that  Her  Majesty’s  Ministry  should  seriously  consider  the 
advisability  of  assimilating  the  position  of  the  head  of  the 
department  with  that  of  one  of  Her  Majesty’s  principal  Secretaries 
-  of  State.  The  reply  to  that  suggestion  will  be  given  as  we  go  to 
jpress. 

The  Metric  System  Permissive  Bill  is  a  fair  title  for  Mr. 
Ritchie’s  infant,  which  duly  made  its  appearance  on  the  27th  ult., 
and  was  to  have  been  read  a  second  time  on  Monday  last,  but 
failed  to  get  a  hearing.  It  will  perhaps  have  a  further  chance  on 
the  3rd  inst. 


Food  and  Drugs. — The  Kearley  Bill  is  doomed,  for  it  has  been 
shelved  (there  is  no  other  name  for  it)  until  June  24 — a  date  so 
near  the  day  of  jubilation  that  the  probability  of  the  House  sitting 
is  extremely  remote.  After  the  Commemoration  adjournment, 
too,  Mr.  Balfour  has  intimated  his  intention  to  take  as  far  as 


possible  non-controversial  measures,  and  a  second  statement  of  the 
First  Lord  of  the  Treasury  also  stands  in  the  way  of  the  Analysts’ 
Bill,  viz. ,  the  promise  to  introduce  a  Government  measure  which 
would  deal  with  the  same  subject,  only  in  a  slightly  different  manner. 
The  promise  was  made  to  Mr.  Dillon  (who,  being  a  representative 
of  an  Irish  borough,  managed  to  extract  a  more  favourable  answer 
than  Mr.  Jeffreys  was  able  to  do  some  few  days  back),  and  in  the  course 
of  his  remarks  the  Leader  of  the  House  conveyed  the  idea  that  the 
progress  of  the  Government  Bill  would  depend  upon  the  enthusiasm 
exhibited  therein.  Perhaps  the  Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  may  be  able  to  show  the  Government  that  among  chemists, 
at  any  rate,  there  is  a  good  deal  of  very  keen  interest  in  the  sub¬ 
ject,  and  a  very  heavy  sense  of  dissatisfaction  at  the  present  state 
of  the  law  and  the  manner  of  its  administration  ! 


In  Committee  on  the  Civil  Service  Estimates  on  Friday  last 
some  discussion  ensued  respecting  the  brutality  of  the  Patent 
Office.  Mr.  Weir  (who  is  great  in  Committee)  thought  it  nothing 
short  of  a  scandal  that  this  branch  of  a  Government  Department 
should  be  a  profit-earning  one  at  the  expense  of  the  poor  inventor. 
To  mark  his  sense  of  this  enormity  he  moved  to  reduce  the  vote 
by  £1000.  His  principal  grievance  seems  to  us  to  have  some 
foundation.  He  complains  that  there  is  no  examining  body  to 
prevent  the  unwary  soi-disant  inventor  from  paying  his  fees  in 
respect  of  a  worthless,  notion  devoid  of  novelty.  The  result  is  that 
perhaps  fifty  patents  are  sometimes  granted  for  the  same  thing, 
the  Patent  Office  taking  fifty  fees  and  practically  saying  to  the 
patentees,  “Fight  it  out  amongst  yourselves  as  to 
who  has  the  real  right  of  exclusive  user.”  Mr.  Burns 
supported  his  friend  from  Ross  and  Cromarty.  Air. 
Ritchie,  in  reply,  dwelt  upon  the  great  reduction  of  fees 
whereby  it  was  made  possible  for  a  person  to  secure  protection  for 
nine  months  for  his  notion  for  £1,  and  a  further  protection  at  the 
rate  of  £1  for  every  year.  But  he  naturally  did  not  remark  that 
this  “  protection  at  store  prices  ”  is  a  delusion  and  a  snare,  and  that 
those  who  pay  the  fees  on  stale  or  anticipated  notions  find  later  on 
that  the  ‘  ‘  protection  ”  is  not  real,  and  that  the  right  gran  ted  by  Royal 
Letters  Patent  is  of  no  more  real  value  than  the  degree  granted  by 
an  imaginary  College  of  Medicine  or  Arts.  Of  course  one  cannot 
expect  a  branch  of  a  Government  Department  to  take  up  the  work 
of  practical  philanthrophy,  but  seeing  that  the  Patent  Office 
exists  to  foster  the  inventive  faculty  of  the  nation,  and  stimulate 
industrial  progress,  it  is  open  to  the  charge  almost  of  dishonesty 
in  taking  money  from  those  who,  either  from  ignorance  or  from 
guile,  seek  to  patent  articles  which  cannot  by  any  stretch  of 
human  ingenuity  be  termed  inventions.  It  goes  without  saying 
that  Mr.  Weir’s  little  reduction  of  £1000  did  not  come  off,  and  the 
Patent  Office  is  thus  left  to  earn  another  year’s  profit  for  the 
Imperial  Exchequer. 


Education  Department. — Captain  Norton  has,  as  we  expected 
he  would,  returned  to  the  charge  against  this  Department  for  not 
throwing  open  to  competition  the  position  of  Junior  Examiner.  He 
brought  his  heavy  artillery  to  bear  on  the  Treasury  this  time,  in 
the  shape  of  a  very  lengthy  question  levelled  at  the  head  of 
Mr.  Hanbury,  the  Secretary  to  the  Treasury.  To  summarise 
the  question,  the  gallant  Captain  desired  to  know  (a) 
whether  the  method  of  recruiting  (the  captain  is  nothing 
if  not  military)  the  class  of  Junior  Examiners  by  open 
competition  had  ever  been  considered  by  the  Treasury ; 
( b )  whether  vacancies  in  the  examinership  had  ever  been  filled  by 
means  of  the  Higher  Division  Civil  Service  Examination,  and  if 
not  why  not  ?  (c)  whether  the  Higher  Division  Examination  was 
the  method  of  recruiting  the  upper  staff  of  the  Colonial 
Office  and  the  Treasury,  and  ( d )  whether  the  Treasury 
officials  are  satisfied  that  the  duties  of  examiner  are  so  vastly 
superior  to  those  of  the  upper  ten  in  the  aforesaid  departments 
that  they  cannot  properly  be  performed  by  those  who  have 
successfully  stood  the  Higher  Division  Examination  test.  The 
official  representative  of  the  Treasury  stood  the  onslaught 
remarkably  well,  and  did  not  seem  to  be  in  the  least  moved  to 
capitulate.  He  said  the  method  of  open  competition  had  been 
considered  inapplicable  to  the  Junior  Examinerclassof  the  Education 
Department,  and  the  Treasury  could  not  force  upon  other  depart¬ 
ments  the  methods  by  which  it  filled  up  vacancies  in  the  ranks  of 
its  own  Higher  Division.  He  declined  to  make  comparisons  be¬ 
tween  the  duties  performed  by  the  respective  officials  of  the 
Colonial  Office,  the  Treasury,  and  the  Education  Department. 


June  5, 1837J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


495 


Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


A  Weekly  Record  of  Pharmacy  and  Allied  Sciences. 


ESTABLISHED  1841. 


Circulating  In  the  United  Kingdom,  France,  Germany, 
Austria,  Italy,  Russia,  Switzerland,  Canada,  the 
United  States,  South  America,  India, 
Australasia,  South  Africa,  etc. 

Editorial  Office:  17,  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.C. 
Publishing  and  Advertising  Office :  5,  SERLE  STREET,  W.C. 


LONDON  :  SATURDAY,  JUNE  5,  1897. 


THE  COUNCIL  MEETING. 

As  is  usually  the  case  at  the  first  meeting  of  a  reconsti¬ 
tuted  Council,  the  proceedings  last  Wednesday  related  chiefly 
to  the  re-election  and  appointment  of  officers  and  Committees 
for  the  ensuing  year.  After  the  minutes  of  the  last  monthly 
•meeting  and  the  special  meeting  in  May  had  been  confirmed, 
Mr.  Warren  took  occasion  to  return  thanks  for  the  support 
he  received  at  the  election  and  to  announce  his  intention  of 
•giving  diligent  attention  to  his  duties  as  a  London  member 
of  the  Council. 

In  the  election  of  President  the  votes  were  unanimously 
in  favour  of  Mr.  Walter  Hills,  who,  in  expressing  his 
sense  of  the  honour  conferred  by  re-election  to  the  office, 
hook  the  unanimous  vote  as  an  assurance  that  he  would  still 
have  the  same  assistance  from  his  colleagues  which  he  had 
•already  received. 

Mr.  Newsholme  was  elected  Yice-President  by  a  large 
majority  of  votes,  one  vote  each  being  given  for  Messrs. 
Allen,  Grose,  and  Southall.  Mr.  Hampson  was  re-elected 
Treasurer,  two  votes  being  given  for  Messrs.  Allen  and 
Harrison. 

Mr.  Richard  Bremridge  was  re-appointed  Secretary  and 
Registrar  with  Mr.  Rutherford  Hill  as  Assistant  Secretary 
in  Scotland. 

Messrs.  Balfour,  Gibson,  and  Maben  were  requested  to 
conduct  the  Examination  for  the  Council  prizes  in  July, 
and  Messrs.  Arkinstall,  White,  and  Pinches,  the 
examinations  for  the  Jacob  Bell  and  Manchester  Scholarships. 

The  death  of  Dr.  Julius  v.  Sachs  was  reported  by  the 
President  as  having  created  a  vacancy  in  the  list  of  the 
Society’s  honorary  members,  and  removed  from  the  world  of 
.science  one  of  its  most  distinguished  ornaments. 

The  additions  to  the  Society  comprised  three  members, 
fourteen  associates,  and  twenty-seven  students. 

After  the  appointment  of  the  various  Committees  a  reso¬ 
lution  was  passed,  on  the  motion  of  the  Yice-President, 
seconded  by  Mr.  Bottle,  that  a  congratulatory  address, 
sealed  with  the  Corporate  Seal  of  the  Society,  should  be 
sent  to  Her  Majesty  on  the  occasion  of  the  Diamond  Jubilee. 

The  reports  of  the  Finance  and  Benevolent  Fund  Com¬ 
mittees  were  of  the  usual  character,  and  were  adopted  without 
•discussion.  Two  grants  amounting  together  to  £22  were 


ordered  to  he  paid,  and  Mr.  Harrison,  the  Chairman  of  the 
Committee,  spoke  of  the  splendid  response  made  to  the  late 
appeal  on  behalf  of  the  Benevolent  Fund  as  an  evidence  that 
the  efforts  of  the  Council  to  administer  the  Fund  in  the  best 
possible  way  were  recognised  throughout  the  country. 

The  President  also  drew  attention  to  the  very  successful 
results  of  the  dinner,  and  added  that  in  order  to  give  ample 
opportunity  to  any  who  might  have  overlooked  the  matter, 
the  subscription  list  will  be  kept  open  until  the  end  of  the 
month. 

Before  the  conclusion  of  the  meeting  a  resolution  was 
passed,  on  the  motion  of  the  President,  seconded  by  Mr. 
Carteighe,  thanking  Mr.  John  Harrison  for  his  valuable 
services  as  Yice-President  during  the  past  two  years.  A 
similar  resolution  was  passed  expressing  the  Council’s  sense 
of  the  services  rendered  by  Mr.  Gostling  during  many  years 
as  a  member  of  Council  and  as  Yice-President. 

The  President  mentioned  that  he  had  been  requested  by 
Mrs.  Att field  to  accept,  on  behalf  of  the  Society,  a  portrait 
of  Dr.  Attfield,  which  had  been  executed  by  Professor 
Herkomer.  The  substance  of  various  letters  from  provincial 
associations  was  then  communicated,  and  the  proceedings 
were  closed  with  the  adoption  of  the  report  and  recom¬ 
mendations  of  the  General  Purposes  Committee  as  to  certain 
cases  in  which  the  Registrar  was  authorised  to  take  pro¬ 
ceedings. 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  COMMERCIAL  INTERESTS. 

It  would  appear  from  the  tone  of  Mr.  Glyn- Jones’  letter 
that  he  assumes  the  existence  of  some  inconsistency  between 
opinions  expressed  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  last  week 
and  statements  published  on  former  occasions.  But  the  incon¬ 
sistency  is  apparent  only,  misconception  having  arisen  on 
his  part  through  interpreting  attempts  to  take  an  impartial 
view  of  present-day  tendencies  in  business  as  expressions  of 
opinion  on  specific  questions  not  necessarily  involved.  No 
greater  mistake  can  be  made  than  to  separate  the  professional 
interests  of  pharmacy  and  the  commercial  interests  of 
chemists  and  druggists,  and  in  speaking  last  week  of  “  those 
responsible  for  the  protection  of  the  professional  interests  of 
pharmacy,”  refereoce  was  made  to  men  whose  constant  care 
is  the  prosperous  development  of  pharmacy  in  every  legiti¬ 
mate  direction.  We  recognise  no  antagonism  between  the 
professional  and  commercial  interests  of  the  craft. 
The  two  are  inseparably  connected,  and  it  is  because 
of  the  tendency  to  trust  implicitly  in  the  predominant 
importance  of  commercial  interests  that  it  becomes  necessary 
on  occasion  to  give  timely  warning  of  the  rocks  ahead.  The 
chemist  and  druggist  who  best  safeguards  his  professional 
interests  runs  least  risk,  on  the  commercial  side,  of  having 
wrested  from  him  advantage  over  other  tradesmen. 

It  would  not,  perhaps,  be  quite  reasonable  to  expect  from 
the  Secretary  of  the  P.A.T.A.  complete  acquiesence  with  our 
views  on  this  subject,  nor  do  we  begrudge  him  any  consola¬ 
tion  he  may  derive  from  his  own  interpretation  of  our 
remarks  upon  it.  But  we  must  remind  him  that  our  desire 
is  to  maintaiu,  as  far  as  possible,  a  strictly  impartial  position 
as  to  the  work  of  the  P.A.T.A.  While  sympathising  with 
the  principle  of  its  efforts  to  remedy  evils  arising  mainly 
from  that  part  of  the  chemist’s  business  which  Mr.  Hyslop 
describes  as  the  “  quack  medicine  trade,”  it  is  impossible  to 
ignore  the  decided  disapproval  with  which  many  regard  the 
means  adopted  for  that  purpose. 


496 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[June  5,  1897 


ANNOTATIONS. 

The  Benevolent  Fund  Special  List  has  been  extended  by 
the  addition  of  several  more  names,  but  the  total  amount  received 
or  promised  is  yet  far  short  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  pounds. 
It  has  been  decided,  however,  to  keep  the  list  open  until  the  end 
of  June,  when  a  further  list  of  donations  and  new  or  increased 
annual  subscriptions  will  be  published,  and  by  that  time,  it  may 
be  hoped,  the  desired  total  will  have  been  attained.  Meanwhile, 
readers  should  bear  in  mind  the  fact  that  Mr.  Richard  Bremridge 
is  prepared  to  receive  large  or  small  sums  for  the  pharmacists’ 
insurance  fund  at  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  W.C. 

The  Herbarium  Prize  offered  by  the  Council  of  the  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Society  for  the  best  herbarium  collected  in  any  part  of  the 
United  Kingdom,  the  Channel  Islands,  or  the  Isle  of  Man,  between 
January  1,  1896,  and  July  1,  1897,  will  be  awarded  at  the  Council 
meeting  in  August  next.  Competitors  must  be  subscribing 
“students”  of  the  Society,  and  their  collections  must  be  forwarded 
to  the  Secretary  so  as  to  arrive  not  later  than  Thursday,  July  1. 
Botanical  students,  please  note  ! 

Sheriff  Mair  as  a  Pupil  is  distinctly  amusing,  but  it  is  also 
highly  gratifying  to  find  that  his  education  is  progressing  apace, 
and  that  his  ideas  respecting  the  objects  of  the  Pharmacy  Act  and 
the  duties  of  a  petty  judge  are  becoming  much  clearer  (see  p.  501). 
He  has  long  given  the  impression  that  one  of  his  chief  desires  was 
to  preside  at  the  hearing  of  a  charge  against  a  chemist’s  assistant. 
At  last  he  has  been  gratified  in  the  matter,  and  although  he  is 
still  far  from  running  smoothly  in  the  judicial  harness,  he 
has  acknowledged  that  he  is  not  entitled  to  express  any 
opinion  of  his  own,  and  therefore  bound  to  deal  with  the 
evidence  as  it  is  laid  before  him.  Such  modesty  and  self-efface¬ 
ment  are  stupendous,  and  bring  with  them  suspicions  of  the 
atmosphere  of  a  millennial  law  court,  if  the  possible  existence 
of  such  a  place  may  be  assumed.  The  fact  of  the  matter  is 
that  for  once  the  Sheriff  has  proved  an  exponent  of  the  law  as  it 
is,  rather  than  as  it  ought  to  be,  and  if  he  will  only  continue  in 
the  same  path  we  may  hope  to  see  penalties  that  are  more  than 
nominal  imposed  in  due  course  at  the  Airdrie  Sheriff  Court,  even 
at  the  hands  of  Her  Majesty’s  present  representative,  as  a  dispenser 
of  justice.  - 

A  Public  Analyst’s  Omission  to  carry  out  strictly  the  formalities 
stipulated  by  the  Sale  of  Food  and  Drugs  Act,  was  the  cause  of  a 
case  against  a  Dowlais  chemist  being  dismissed  on  Monday  last. 
The  alleged  offence  was  selling  tincture  of  cinchona  not  of  the 
nature,  substance,  and  quality  demanded  by  the  purchaser,  and  it 
appears  that  the  seller  had  declined  the  offer  of  the  purchaser  to 
divide  the  article  in  his  presence.  In  such  a  case  the  duty 
of  the  analyst  receiving  the  sample,  as  laid  down  by  the 
Act,  is  that  he  “shall  divide  the  same  into  two  parts,  and 
shall  seal  or  fasten  up  one  of  those  parts,  and  shall  cause 
it  to  be  delivered,  either  upon  receipt  of  the  sample  or  when  he 
supplies  his  certificate  to  the  purchaser,  who  shall  retain  the  same 
for  production  in  case  proceedings  shall  afterwards  be  taken  in  the 
matter.”  What  the  analyst  did  was  carefully  to  seal  up  an  empty 
bottle,  and  though  defendant’s  solicitor  was  quite  prepared  to 
deal  with  the  case  on  its  merits,  the  Magistrate  said  it  must  fail  on 
the  ground  of  informality.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  nature  of 
the  alleged  deficiency  in  the  tincture  was  not  mentioned,  and  the 
case  gone  into,  as  the  report  might  then  have  proved  instructive.  It 
was  stated  in  court  that  there  is  no  provision  in  the  Act  (sic)  that 
the  tincture  shall  contain  any  specific  quantity  of  alkaloids,  but 
inasmuch  as  the  B.P.  standard  for  red  cinchona  bark  is  that  it 


should  yield  between  five  and  six  per  cent,  of  total  alkaloids,  it 
might  be  contended  that  the  tincture  should  contain  not  less  than 
one  per  cent,  of  total  alkaloids.  At  any  rate,  such  an  assumption 
would  have  served  as  the  basis  of  an  interesting  argument. 

Dr.  Julius  von  Sachs,  whose  death  we  regret  to  announce,  was 
probably  the  most  eminent  man  of  science  on  the  list  of  the  Phar¬ 
maceutical  Society’s  honorary  members.  He  was  Professor  of  Botany 
at  the  University  of  Wurzburg  and  a  Foreign  Fellow  of  the  Royal 
Society.  He  practically  instituted  a  new  method  in  the  study 
of  plant  life,  by  insisting  on  the  necessity  of  dealing  with  plants 
in  a  similar  manner  to  other  living  organisms.  As  a  result, 
he  took  high  rank  as  a  teacher  of  world-wide  influence.  His 
‘  Text-Book  of  Botany,’  ‘  Lectures  on  the  Physiology  of  Plants/ 
and  ‘  History  of  Botany  ’  are  already  classics,  and  have  supplied 
the  substratum  of  most  botanical  text-books  now  in  use.  Few 
botanical  workers  have  done  more  to  advance  the  science,  and  his 
death  leaves  a  sense  of  profound  loss. 

The  Report  of  the  Pharmacopceia  Committee  of  the  General 
Medical  Council  was  presented  to  the  Council  on  Thursday  last, 
and  in  this  it  is  stated  that  the  progress  of  the  work  of  revision  of 
the  British  Pharmacopceia  can  be  readily  estimated  from  the  draft 
proofs  which  have  been  issued  to  the  members  of  the  Council. 
These  comprise  the  whole  of  the  text  of  the  volume,  and  the  work 
which  remains  to  be  done  consists  of  the  preface,  the  completion 
of  the  appendix,  and  the  preparation  of  the  index.  It  is  proposed 
to  place  the  modifications  desired  by  the  Colonies  in  the  appendix, 
and  it  is  also  proposed  to  alter  the  arrangement  of  the  index 
somewhat  so  as  to  include  complete  lists  of  official  preparations 
and  also  the  doses.  After  the  revised  proofs  have  been  received 
from  the  members  of  the  Council,  the  Pharmacopceia  Committee 
will  meet  again,  and  it  is  hoped  that  it  may  be  possible  to  place 
the  completed  volume  before  the  Council  at  the  meeting  in 
November  next.  If  then  approved,  the  order  to  print  will  prob¬ 
ably  be  given  forthwith,  and  pharmacists  may  expect  to  have  their 
eyes  gladdened  by  the  sight  of  the  new  volume  early  in  1898.  But 
until  that  time,  or  later,  their  critical  faculties  must  find  exercise 
in  other  directions.  - 

The  Conference  Blue  List  for  the  year  is  now  being  sent  out, 
and  it  is  reprinted  at  page  487.  Special  attention  is  directed  to 
the  request  that  manuscripts  of  papers  should  be  sent  in  to  the 
Honorary  Secretaries  well  in  advance  of  the  date  of  meeting.  It 
may  also  be  pointed  out  that,  until  papers  have  been  received  by 
the  Honorary  Secretaries  and  accepted  by  the  Executive  Commit¬ 
tee,  authors  are  not  entitled  to  assume  that  they  will  be  permitted 
to  read  their  papers  at  the  Conference.  Papers  accepted  and  read 
become  the  property  of  the  Conference,  and  are  published  later  in  the 
‘  Year  Book  of  Pharmacy.’  But  to  ensure  accuracy  in  reports  of  the 
annual  meetings,  the  Honorary  Secretaries  are  always  prepared  to 
afford  facilities  to  trade  papers.  It  is  quite  unnecessary,  there¬ 
fore,  that  authors  should  delay  sending  in  their  papers  for  the 
sake  of  furnishing  abstracts,  etc.,  to  anyone  who  may  apply  for 
them,  and  to  be  quite  in  order,  all  applications  for  copies  or 
abstracts  should  be  referred  to  the  Honorary  Secretaries. 

A  Medical  and  Pharmacy  Act  Amendment  Bill  is  at  present 
before  the  Cape  Parliament,  and  we  gather  from  the  Gape  Times 
particulars  of  the  discussion  that  took  place  when  the  Legislative 
Council  went  into  committee  on  the  Bill.  An  amendment  was 
proposed  which  would  have  allowed  medical  men  to  open  chemists’ 
shops  in  any  town  or  village  where  there  is  no  chemist,  but  would 
have  prevented  them  doing  so  within  five  miles  of  an  established 
chemist’s  shop.  The  matter  was  warmly  debated  and  a  variety  of 


June  5,  1897] 


pharmaceutical  journal. 


497 


opinions  expressed  with  regard  thereto,  but  ultimately  the  amend¬ 
ment  was  negatived  without  a  division.  This  result  should  be  very 
gratifying  to  our  brethren  at  the  Cape. 

The  Annual  Report  on  Alkali  Works,  for  1896,  states  that 
the  amount  of  salt  decomposed  during  the  year  by  the  Leblanc 
process  shows  a  more  considerable  reduction  than  has  occurred 
since  1893.  At  the  same  time,  the  ammonia  soda  process  shows 
only  a  slight  increase  for  the  year,  though  it  has  largely  increased 
the  lead  over  its  rival,  which  it  obtained  for  the  first  time  in 
1895.  The  figures  in  tons  are  : — 


Process. 

1S96. 

1895. 

1S94. 

Leblanc  . 

360,929 

431,577 

408,173 

428,614 

434,298 

Ammonia-Soda . 

361,603 

Total . 

792,506 

836,787 

795,901 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  relative  positions  in  1894  and  1896 
are  almost  exactly  reversed.  There  has  not  been  much  actual 
addition  during  the  past  year  to  the  manufacture  of  caustic  soda 
and  chlorine  by  electrolysis.  The  work  done  has  been  chiefly 
experimental  in  character,  and  various  mechanical  and  chemical 
difficulties  have  been  experienced  at  St.  Helens.  But  these  diffi¬ 
culties  are  gradually  being  overcome,  and  it  is  stated  that  other 
works  will  shortly  be  completed  where  electrolytic  processes  will 
be  put  in  operation. 

Fluorine  has  at  Last  been  Liquefied,  and  curiously  enough, 
M.  Moissan,  who  first  definitely  isolated  this  element,  appears  to 
have  taken  part  in  Professor  Dewar’s  latest  successful  experi¬ 
ment.  On  Friday,  May  29,  M.  Moissan  delivered  a  lecture  on 
the  isolation  of  fluorine  (see  p.  499)  in  the  lecture  theatre  of  the 
Royal  Institution,  and  on  the  following  day  the  liquefaction  of  the 
element  was  brought  about  in  the  adjoining  laboratory,  at  a  tem¬ 
perature  of  -  185°  C.  A  clear  yellow  and  extremely  mobile  liquid 
was  obtained,  and  it  is  stated  that  this  does  not  possess  the 
property  usually  associated  with  fluorine  of  attacking  glass, 
silicon,  sulphur,  or  phosphorus,  though  it  still  attacks  carburetted 
hydrogen  and  seems  to  retain  its  affinity  for  hydrogen.  The 
apparatus  employed  for  liquefying  the  gas  was  that  rendered 
familiar  in  Professor  Dewar’s  demonstrations.  Whether  the  liquid 
can  be  solidified  remains  yet  to  be  seen. 

The  Edinburgh  District  Chemists’  Trade  Association  will 
bold  its  annual  picnic  on  Thursday,  June  10,  and  the  Committee 
is  hopeful  that  the  charms  of  the  interesting  and  historic  part  of 
Scotland,  which  it  is  proposed  to  visit  on  this  occasion,  will 
attract  an  even  greater  number  than  usual.  The  day’s  proceed¬ 
ings  will  consist  of  a  railway  journey  in  saloon  carriages  by  special 
train  to  Selkirk.  Brakes  will  then  convey  the  party  up  Ettrick 
Water  to  Tibbie  Shiels’  Cottage  on  St.  Mary’s  Loch,  sandwiches 
being  partaken  of  on  the  way.  Two  hours  will  be  spent  here,  and 
tea  and  other  refreshments  may  be  had  by  those  desiring  them, 
either  at  Tibbie  Shiel’s  Inn  or  at  the  Rodona  Hotel,  where  a  very 
fine  view  of  the  loch  may  be  obtained.  The  brakes  will  then 
return  to  Selkirk  by  the  banks  of  the  Yarrow,  renowned  in  song 
aud  story.  Dinner  will  be  served  at  the  County  Hotel,  and  the 
party  will  return  to  Edinburgh  by  train  from  Selkirk  Station.  The 
price  of  tickets  is  11s.  each.  Double  tickets  for  lady  and  gentle¬ 
man,  21s.  All  chemists,  and  others  connected  with  the  trade,  are 
cordially  invited,  and  the  honorary  secretary,  Mr.  Claude  F.  Henry, 
1,  Brandon  Terrace,  Edinburgh,  will  be  glad  to  hear  from  any  who 
propose  to  attend. 


Chemists  who  are  Sub-Postmasters  are  combining  to  protect 
their  special  interests  as  such,  having  resolved,  at  a  meeting  held 
on  Wednesday  afternoon,  May  26,  at  the  Tweedale  Restaurant, 
Manchester,  to  join  in  forming  a  Manchester  and  District  branch 
of  the  National  Federation  of  Sub-Postmasters.  Amongst  those 
present  were Mr.  Breadner,  chemist,  Cheetham  Hill ;  Mr.  Foden, 
chemist,  Chorlton-cum-Hardy ;  Mr.  Wilkinson,  chemist,  Man¬ 
chester;  Mr.  Inglis,  chemist,  Delph;  and  Mr.  Cussons,  chemist, 
Ossett.  Mr.  Morton,  of  Bury  New  Road,  was  voted  to  the  chair, 
and  stated  that  he  had  received  about  fifty  letters  regretting  inability 
to  attend,  and  promising  to  join  a  society  if  formed.  After  short 
addresses  from  Mr.  Ranns,  of  Wakefield  (President  of  the  National 
Federation),  Mr.  Cussons,  of  Ossett  (Honorary  Secretary),  and 
Mr.  Inglis  (Vice-President),  a  resolution  was  carried  unanimously 
to  the  effect  that  a  local  association  should  be  formed  and  affiliated 
with  the  National  Federation.  A  committee  was  elected,  and 
steps  were  taken  to  meet  at  an  early  date. 

Costly  Faith  in  Water  Divining  has  been  manifested  by  the 
Urban  District  Council  of  Ampthill,  Beds,  for  at  the  audit 
meeting  several  ratepayers  objected  to  expenses  which  had  been 
incurred  in  the  employment  of  a  water  diviner.  The  audit  was 
adjourned  for  the  attendance  of  the  members  of  the  council  who 
had  authorised  the  payments,  and  when  those  gentlemen  appeared 
before  the  auditor  they  expressed  their  firm  belief  in  the  powers  of 
the  diviner.  They  explained  that  the  diviner  had  located  several 
places  where  water  would  be  found,  and  that  the  council  had 
applied  to  the  Local  Government  Board  for  a  loan  with  which  to 
carry  out  the  boring  there.  On  the  other  side  it  was  alleged 
that  the  reports  of  the  Geological  Surveyor  to  the  Govern¬ 
ment  showed  that  a  proper  supply  of  water  could  not  be  found 
where  the  diviner  had  indicated  its  existence.  Ultimately,  after 
a  long  hearing,  the  auditor  announced  that  he  would  surcharge 
the  councillors  with  the  payments  which  they  had  authorised,  as 
in  his  opinion  local  authorities  were  not  justified  in  spending 
public  money  in  the  employment  of  persons  professing  to  exercise 
powers  of  this  kind.  The  councillors  had  not  succeeded  in  con¬ 
vincing  him  that,  after  having  obtained  the  report  of  the  diviner, 
they  knew  anything  more  than  was  previously  known  of  the 
water-bearing  properties  of  the  locality.  As  the  courts  had  held 
that  the  pretence  to  a  power,  whether  moral,  physical,  or  super¬ 
natural,  was  illegal,  he  was  bound,  in  the  interests  of  the  rate¬ 
payers,  whose  money  was  taken  from  them  under  threat  of 
distress  of  their  goods,  to  see  that  such  moneys  were  not  expended 
on  such  enterprises  as  water-divining.  And  so  science  triumphs 
once  more  over  superstition. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Attfield  Testimonial  Committee 
asks  us  to  state  that  the  funds  received  are  now  sufficient,  but 
autographs  are  still  invited.  Eleven  hundred  names  have  already 
been  received,  and  these,  with  any  others  that  may  be  sent  in, 
will  be  alphabetically  arranged  in  an  illuminated  album  containing 
an  address.  With  these  signatures  will  be  incorporated  at  least 
one  hundred  autographs  of  Dr.  Attfield’s  compeers  and  other 
public  friends  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  India,  the  Colonies, 
the  United  States,  and  the  chief  cities  of  Europe.  It  will  be  a 
handsome  volume,  twenty  inches  by  sixteen,  and  two  or  three 
inches  thick,  and  with  this  will  be  presented  a  large  silver  tray 
and  a  complete  silver  tea  and  coffee  service.  The  portrait  by 
Professor  Herkomer  is  now  completed.  It  shows  a  three-quarter 
side  face,  is  almost  life-size,  occupies  the  greater  portion  of  a 
plate  fifteen  inches  by  eleven,  and  is  being  printed  on  stiff"  paper 
twenty-seven  inches  long  by  over  twenty  inches  wide.  It  is  a 
capital  likeness  and  finely  executed. 


498 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[June  5,  1897 


NOTICES  OF  BOOKS. 


Green’s  ‘  Manual  of  Botany,’  volume  I.  ( J.  and  A.  Churchill, 
London,  7 s.  6 d.),  has  reached  a  second  edition,  but  this  appears  so 
soon  after  the  first  edition  that  but  few  changes  have  been 
required  in  the  subject-matter  of  the  book,  and  only  six  pages  are 
added.  We  learn  from  the  preface  that  the  chapters  on  morpho¬ 
logy  have  been  revised  and  in  some  parts  compressed,  the  section 
on  the  inflorescence  has  been  re-written,  and  that  on  the  sexual 
reproductive  organs  has  been  re-arranged  in  view  of  two  years’ 
experience  in  teaching  since  the  adoption  of  the  work  as  the 
text-book  at  the  School  of  Pharmacy.  Book  II.,  which  deals 
with  the  anatomy  of  plants,  remains  practically  the  same  as  in  the 
first  edition.  The  general  index  has  been  extended  from  less  than 
three  pages  to  seven  pages,  and  now  partakes  of  the  nature  of  a 
glossary,  a  useful  alteration.  On  the  other  hand,  the  index  of 
plants,  which  formerly  occupied  nearly  five  pages,  is  now  com¬ 
pressed  into  three.  There  is,  however,  no  apparent  disadvantage 
in  this.  The  book  will  doubtless  continue  to  be  “  the  ”  text-book  for 
pharmaceutical  students,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  second 
edition  may  have  as  brief  a  career  as  the  first. 

Wishart’s  ‘Schedules  for  Plant  Description’  (E.  and  S. 
Livingstone,  Edinburgh,  6d.  net)  have  been  planned  on  similar 
lines  to  those  in  Holmes’  ‘  Botanical  Note  Book,’  but  they  allow  of 
much  fuller  treatment  than  is  possible  in  the  latter  on  account  of 
the  extra  space  devoted  to  the  purpose.  On  the  left-hand  page 
the  student  is  expected  to  insert  the  consecutive  number  of 
the  specimen  examined,  followed  by  the  date  of  examination, 
and  then  proceed  to  describe  the  habit  of  the  plant,  its 
root,  stem,  leaves,  inflorescence,  bracts,  flower,  perianth, 
calyx,  corolla,  andrcecium,  and  gymecium.  On  the  right-hand 
page  are  roomy  spaces  for  describing  the  fruit,  seeds,  and  habitat ; 
inserting  the  floral  formula  ;  sketching  the  floral  diagram  and  a 
vertical  section  of  the  flower ;  and  other  spaces  for  miscellaneous 
remarks  and  reasons  for  classification  and  name.  There  are  thirty 
schedules,  and  at  the  end  of  the  book  two  pages  are  provided  for 
an  index  of  contents.  The  wallflower  is  taken  as  an  example  to 
show  how  the  schedules  should  be  filled  up,  and  students  who  go  to 
work  systematically  on  this  plan  should  attain  a  very  fair  knowledge 
of  the  morphology  of  plants.  The  author,  by  the  way,  is  an  old 
pharmaceutical  student,  and  gained  the  Pharmaceutical  Society’s 
herbarium  medal  in  1894.  He  has  since  been  studying  the  arts, 
sciences,  and  medicine  at  Aberdeen  University,  and  is  now  lecturer 
on  zoology  and  general  biology  at  Robert  Gordon’s  College. 

Waring’s  ‘Bazaar  Medicines  of  India’  was  originally 
published  at  Travancore,  in  1860,  with  the  view  of  putting  the 
district  vaccinators  of  Travancore  in  possession  of  the  knowledge 
of  means  by  which  they  might  alleviate  pain  and  cure  diseases 
in  regions  where  regular  medicine  was  not  procurable.  In  that 
edition  the  text  was  printed  in  English  and  Tamil  on  opposite 
pages.  Fourteen  years  later  Messrs.  J.  and  A.  Churchill 
published  a  second  edition  in  English  only,  and  now  the  fifth 
edition  makes  its  appearance  from  the  same  publishers  (price 
5s.).  This  has  been  issued  by  the  author’s  son,  Mr.  C. 
Waring,  with  the  assistance  of  Dr.  J.  E.  T.  Aitchison,  C.I.E. 
The  introduction  treats  of  weights  and  measures,  and  also 
includes  hints  on  the  preparation  of  infusions,  decoctions,  tinctures, 
pills,  ointments,  etc.,  for  the  use  of  readers  who  may  be  wholly 
ignorant  of  matters  pharmaceutical,  or  only  partially  acquainted 
therewith.  Then  follows  an  alphabetical  list  of  the  bazaar 


medicines  and  Indian  medical  plants  included  in  the  work.  A 
brief  description  of  each  is  accompanied  by  a  list  of  its  numerous 
native  names,  and  following  this  we  find  particulars  of  the 
properties  of  the  drug  and  of  the  affections  in  the  treatment  of 
which  it  may  be  usefully  employed.  Part  II.  is  a  synopsis  or  index 
of  diseases,  reference  being  made  in  each  case  to  the  appropriate 
remedies.  Appendix  A  consists  of  directions  for  restoring 
the  apparently  dead  from  drowning ;  B  is  a  summary  of 
treatment  of  persons  bitten  by  venomous  snakes,  and  pre¬ 
cautions  to  be  observed  by  persons  residing  in  snake-infested 
localities ;  0  describes  the  method  of  treating  small-pox 

by  means  of  carbolised  oil.  The  clinical  thermometer  and  its  use 
receive  attention  in  appendix  D,  and  a  few  European  medicines 
for  which  the  Indian  bazaars  supply  no  adequate  substitutes  are 
referred  to  in  appendix  E,  which  also  includes  a  list  of  articles  re¬ 
quired  for  carrying  out  the  directions  in  the  book.  The  object  of 
the  work  is  to  show  how  much  good  may  be  effected  by  the  simple 
means  at  command  at  almost  every  “  up-country  station  ”  in  India, 
and  it  seems  well  adapted  to  secure  the  realisation  of  that  object. 


‘Reagents  and  Reactions  Known  by  the  Names  of  their. 
Authors  ’  is  a  reprint  from  the  Pharmaceutical  Review,  of  Mil¬ 
waukee,  Wis.,  and  consists  of  an  English  translation  by  R.  Fischer 
of  Dr.  Julius  Altschul’s  “Nach  Autoren  benannte  Reactionen  und 
Reagentien,”  which  appeared  originally  in  the  Pharmaceutische 
Centralhalle.  The  list— which  consists  mainly  of  reactions  and 
corresponding  reagents  for  qualitative  tests,  with  a  few  of  the 
more  important  bacteriological  reagents — is  published  by  the 
Pharmaceutical  Review  Publishing  Co.,  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  U.S.A., 
at  50  cents,  and  should  prove  extremely  useful.  It  is  proposed  to 
republish  the  list  in  an  extended  form  in  the  Pharmaceutical 
Journal,  commencing  this  week. 


‘  Summer  Tours  in  Scotland  ’  is  the  title  of  a  little  book,  the 
subject-matter  of  which  is  particularly  attractive  now  that  the 
wintry  weather  seems  fairly  behind  us,  whilst  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
the  district  described  is  likely  to  be  visited  by  many  pharma¬ 
cists  in  August  next,  the  book  possesses  special  interest  to 
them.  It  is  beautifully  illustrated  and  furnished  with  excel¬ 
lent  maps  by  Bartholomew,  in  which  the  routes  of  the 
numerous  excursions  described  are  plainly  indicated.  There  is  a 
capital  service  of  steamers  leaving  Glasgow  daily  (Sunday  always 
excepted)  during  the  summer,  and  conveying  passengers  to  Oban, 
Staffa  and  Iona,  Fort  William,  Inverness,  Skye,  Gairloch,  etc.  The 
trips  may  be  for  the  day  only  or  extended  over  a  longer  period  as 
desired.  Full  information  how  to  proceed  and  as  to  what  may  be 
seen  is  contained  in  this  official  guide  book,  which  is  published 
by  Mr.  David  Macbrayne,  119,  Hope  Street,  Glasgow,  at  the  very 
moderate  price  of  sixpence.  Those  who  propose  to  attend  the 
Conference  should  certainly  see  the  book,  and  those  who  do  not 
may  possibly  be  tempted  to  go  after  dipping  into  its  pages. 

A  General  Index  to  the  ‘  Analyst  ’  has  just  been  published  by 
Bailliere,  Tindall  and  Cox,  London,  16s.  nett,  and  covers  a  period  of 
twenty  years.  It  has  been  compiled  by  J.  C.  Welch,  is  arranged 
in  a  convenient  form,  and  so  far  as  type  and  paper  go,  is 
a  vast  improvement  on  indexes  generally.  The  book  will 
be  found  exceedingly  useful  by  everyone  who  may  need 
to  refer  to  the  back  volumes  of  the  Analyst,  and  such  as  are 
also  readers  of  the  Pharmaceutical  J ournal — not  a  few  in  number — 
will  probably  feel  more  forcibly  than  ever  the  inconvenience  of 
not  having  a  general  index  to  its  last  twenty  volumes.  But  that, 
of  course,  is  quite  another  story. 


June  5,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


499 


MEETINGS  Of  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIETIES 

- + - 

Royal  Institution,  Friday,  May  28.— There  was  a  crowded 
audience,  including  a  large  number  of  ladies,  to  hear  a  lecture 
delivered  by  M.  Henri  Moissan,  who  spoke  in  French,  upon 

The  Isolation  of  Fluorine, 

and  the  interest  evinced  by  the  audience  showed  that  the  lecturer 
did  not  lack  the  power  of  lending  new  attractions  to  a  subject 
already  familiar.  M.  Moissan  commenced  by  discussing  the  history 
of  fluorine,  mentioning  the  more  noteworthy  methods  used  in  the 
attempt  to  isolate  the  element.  The  first  obstacle  chemists  had 
been  compelled  to  face  was  the  energetic  action  of  hydrofluoric 
acid  upon  all  materials  from  which  suitable  apparatus  could  be 
made.  Allusion  was  made  to  the  experiments  of  Lavoisier  and 
of  Davy,  the  latter  of  whom  had  partially  overcome  this  difficulty 
by  using  apparatus  made  of  fluor-spar.  Acids  of  greater  and 
greater  concentration  were  from  time  to  time  obtained,  yet  no  effort 
had  been  successful  in  separating  the  elements  entering  into  its  com- 
osition.  Gay  Lussac  was  the  first  to  disprove  the  original  idea  that 
ydrofluoric  acid  was  a  compound  of  oxygen,  but  for  many  years 
the  element  whose  properties  were  very  well  known  in  combination 
remained  unisolated.  Chemical  methods  analogous  to  those  by 
which  the  halogens  are  obtained  failed  to  isolate  the  substance  for 
reasons  that  are  now  obvious,  seeing  that  the  chemical  activity  of 
fluorine  is  so  great,  and  for  a  long  time  electrolytic  experiments  were 
equally  abortive.  If  a  concentrated  solution  of  hydrofluoric 
acid  was  electrolysed,  at  first  hydrogen  was  set  free  at  the  nega¬ 
tive  pole  and  oxygen  at  the  positive,  the  water  being  virtually 
electrolysed,  for  as  is  now  known,  fluorine  attacks  water  so  ener¬ 
getically  that  when  formed  at  the  pole  it  instantly  reacts  with  the 
water  present,  forming  hydrogen  fluoride  and  setting  free  oxygen  ; 
afterwards  when  the  passage  of  the  current  is  continued  until  all 
the  water  is  decomposed  the  current  is  completely  stopped,  owing 
to  the  exceedingly  low  conductivity  of  anhydrous  hydrogen 
fluoride.  Another  difficulty  was  met  in  the  fact  that  the  electrode 
was  in  every  case  attacked  by  the  nascent  fluorine.  Among  the 
chemical  methods  tried  in  the  hope  of  isolating  fluorine  was  the 
action  of  oxygen  upon  the  fluorides  of  phosphorus.  M.  Moissan 
had  succeeded  in  preparing  an  oxyfluoride  of  phosphorus,  the 
existence  of  which  rendered  probable  the  possibility  of  obtain¬ 
ing  fluorine  in  this  way.  Nothing,  however,  was  achieved  from 
any  of  these  methods,  and  M.  Moissan  soon  became  convinced  that 
the  solution  of  the  problem  was  to  be  looked  for  in  an  electrolytic 
method.  Arriving  at  the  description  of  his  successful  experiments, 
the  lecturer  proceeded  to  sketch  on  a  blackboard  a  section  of  the 
apparatus  used  for  isolating  fluorine.  This  consisted  of  a  platinum 
U-tube,  closed  by  stoppers  of  fluor-spar  through  which  wires 
were  admitted  to  the  electrodes.  The  tube  was  filled  with 
carefully  dried  hydrogen  fluoride,  to  which  potassium  fluoride  was 
added  to  render  it  a  conductor,  and  the  tube  being  surrounded  by 
a  freezing  mixture,  a  current  from  about  twenty  Bunsen’s  elements 
connected  in  series  was  passed.  The  fluorine  produced  was  delivered 
into  the  air  by  a  narrow  platinum  tube.  Platinum  serves  well  as 
a  receptacle,  as  it  is  only  attacked  by  fluorine  at  a  high  tempera¬ 
ture,  but  for  the  electrode  at  which  the  fluorine  is  produced  it  is 
necessary  to  use  an  alloy  of  platinum  and  iridium,  which  resists 
the  corrosive  action  better.  With  such  an  apparatus  M.  Moissan’s 
assistants  prepared  a  quantity  of  the  gas,  while  he  himself 
demonstrated  some  of  its  chief  properties.  Its  effect  on  crystalline 
silicon  was  first  shown,  the  silicon  instantly  bursting  into  flame 
when  a  stream  of  the  gas  was  allowed  to  impinge  on  it.  Silicon, 
it  was  pointed  out,  forms  a  useful  reagent  for  the  detection  of 
fluorine,  the  ignition  of  the  silicon  and  formation  of  a  gaseous 
fluoride  being  characteristic.  Its  action  upon  phosphorus,  sodium, 
boron,  and  iron,  was  then  shown ;  in  each  case  the  substance 
glowed  with  the  heat  of  reaction.  In  general,  metals  are  attacked 
less  rapidly  than  other  elements,  for  the  reason  that  a  protective 
coating  of  fluoride  is  formed  upon  the  surface.  It  is  no  less 
energetic  in  its  action  upon  organic  bodies  ;  benzene  was  instantly 
set  on  fire  when  brought  to  the  mouth  of  the  tube  from  which  the 

fas  was  issuing,  and  a  taper  was  also  kindled  in  the  same  way. 

erhaps  the  most  striking  effect  was  that  produced  on  carbon, 
which  was  made  to  glow  brightly  by  the  action  of  the  gas. 
When  potassium  iodide  is  treated  with  fluorine,  iodine  is  first  set 
free,  but  this  at  once  unites  with  more  fluorine  to  form  a  trifluoride. 
The  method  of  determining  its  density  was  also  described  and  the 


apparatus  shown.  It  is  weighed  in  a  platinum  bottle,  which  is 
filled  with  the  gas  by  means  of  a  tube  passing  to  the  bottom,  the 
air  which  is  thus  displaced  passing  out  by  a  side  tube  at  the  top. 
The  bottle  is  known  to  be  full  when  the  issuing  gas  ignites  silicon, 
and  after  the  two  openings  of  the  bottle  have  been  closed  by 
accurately-fitting  stoppers  it  is  ready  for  weighing.  Among  the 
apparatus  set  upon  the  table  for  inspection  was  a  tube  of  platinum 
closed  at  the  ends  with  transparent  plates  of  fluor-spar  and  pro¬ 
vided  with  a  side  tube  at  each  end,  by  which  it  could  be  filled,  the 
air  being  displaced.  By  means  of  this  tube  the  effect  of  reactions 
may  be  watched.  When  filled  with  fluorine  the  greenish-yellow 
colour  of  the  gas  is  distinctly  visible  in  a  good  light.  The  colour 
is  somewhat  like  that  of  chlorine,  but  fainter  and  yellower.  By 
causing  fluorine  to  react  with  water  in  the  tube,  ozone  is  produced 
of  such  a  concentration  as  to  render  visible  the  blue  colour  ascribed 
to  it  by  MM.  Hautefeuille  and  Chapuis. 


Royal  Society,  Wednesday,  May  19. — The  conversazione  held 
on  this  date,  a  brief  report  of  which  has  already  appeared,  was  the 
first  of  the  two  held  annually  by  the  Society,  and  a  more 
detailed  account  is  now  given  of  the  exhibits.  The  first  entered 
on  the  catalogue  was  a  selection  of 

Photographs  in  Colour 

obtained  by  the  Dansac-Chassagne  process.  A  high  standard  of 
excellence  appears  to  be  obtainable  by  this  method,  the  colours  of 
natural  flowers  and  dress  fabrics  being  faithfully  reproduced.  All 
that  is  known  of  the  process  is  that  a  silver  print  is  treated  with  a 
succession  of  colouring  materials  from  which  it  is  alleged  to 
abstract  selectively  the  tints  proper  to  their  respective  positions. 
A  colour  photograph  was  shown  in  its  successive  stages  of  develop¬ 
ment.  After  the  first  treatment  it  appeared  all  blue,  after  the 
second  it  was  tinted  in  places  with  green,  and  after  the  third, 
yellow  and  red  made  their  appearance,  all  the  colours  showing 
clearly,  and  being  properly  distributed. 

Physical  Apparatus 

predominated  among  the  exhibits,  and  the  next  thing  to  attract 
attention  was  an  electrical  apparatus.  It  consisted  of  a  powerful 
coil,  to  which  was  fitted,  in  addition  to  the  usual  terminals  for 
sparking,  a  pair  of  knob  terminals  separated  by  a  dish  containing 
a  soft  mixture  of  resin  and  oil.  When  sparks  were  passed  between 
the  former  set  of  terminals  the  viscous  fluid  resting  between  the 
latter  was  thrown  up  in  the  form  of  a  cone  with  a  hollowed  apex 
by  the  electrical  stress.  Discs  of  resin  were  also  shown  which  had 
been  subjected  to  this  stress,  and  afterwards  softened  by  heat  to 
allow  the  figure  to  develop.  If  while  the  disc  is  soft  it  is  placed 
in  a  cloud  of  dust,  the  particles  are  attracted  to  the  electrified 
regions  and  a  figure  is  obtained,  characterised,  according  as  it  was 
charged,  positively  or  negatively  on  that  side.  Among  other 
electrical  apparatus  was 

A  Large  Induction  Machine 

exhibited  by  Mr.  Wimshurst.  The  special  feature  of  this  machine  is 
that  it  is  composed  of  twenty-four  plates  of  3  feet  diameter,  and  is 
arranged  to  give  three  poles,  two  of  which  are  positive,  and  the 
remaining  one  negative  or  vice-versd ,  so  that  two  streams  of 
discharge  can  be  used  at  the  same  moment.  While  the  current 
produced  by  this  machine  is  of  only  a  few  amperes  the  potential  is 
very  high.  It  gives  a  spark  of  thirty-four  inches  in  air  ;  and 
it  is  found  that  ordinary  Leyden  jars  or  gutta-percha  covered  wire 
do  not  serve  for  use  with  this  machine,  being  constantly  liable  to 
penetration  by  the  charge.  A  new  apparatus  for  estimating  the 
relative  values  of  explosives  was  shown  by  Sir  A.  Noble.  By  this 
apparatus  the  pressure  due  to  explosion  at  any  given  instant 
after  ignition  is  shown  by  means  of  a  curve  traced  on  a  revolving 
drum.  Some  results  of 

The  Agricultural  Researches 

of  Sir  J .  B.  Lawes  at  Rothamsted  were  exhibited  by  Dr.  Arm¬ 
strong.  Hitherto  the  results  have  always  been  supplied  in  figures; 
now  these  are  replaced  by  diagrams,  which  are  more  favourable 
for  drawing  comparisons. 

The  Extinct  Naguada  Race, 

inhabiting  Egypt  about  3000  years  B.C.,  whose  remains  have  lately 
been  brought  to  light,  were  described,  and  a  collection  of  bones 
from  about  two  hundred  of  their  skeletons  set  out  for  inspection 
by  Mr.  E.  Warren. 


500 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[June  5,  1897 


Some  Zoological  Fossils. 

brought  from  Madagascar  by  Dr.  Forsyth  Major,  were  exhibited 
by  the  discoverer.  Among  them  were  a  fossil  monkey  of  entirely 
new  genus  and  species,  and  a  restored  skeleton  of  Alpyornis 
hildebrandi  (Burckhardt),  an  ostrich-like  animal  now  extinct.  The 
egg  of  another  species,  Alpyornis  maximus,  exhibited  by  Dr. 
Woodward,  measured  twenty-six  inches  in  girth,  and  thirty-one 
inches  in  longest  circumference. 

Photographs  of  the  Moon 

taken  at  Greenwich  with  the  new  Thompson  photographic  tele¬ 
scope  were  shown  by  the  Astronomer  Royal,  and  the  photographic 
atlas  of  the  moon,  published  by  the  Observatory  of  Paris,  was 
lent  from  the  library  of  the  Royal  Society. 

Comparisons  of  Arc  and  Spark  Spectra 

show  that  certain  lines  are  enhanced  in  passing  from  arc  to  spark, 
and  it  has  been  shown  that  many  of  the  lines  in  the  spectra  of 
stars  hitherto  classed  as  unknown  lines  are  identical  with  the 
enhanced  lines  of  known  substances.  Photographs  of  spectra 
illustrating  this  were  exhibited  by  Mr.  J.  Norman  Lockyer.— From 
Kew  Gardens  came 

A  Collection  of  Dried  Plants 

brought  by  Captain  Deasy  from  his  recent  expedition  to  the  lofty 
table-lands  of  Tibet.  These  plants,  growing  at  an  altitude  of  from 
15,000  to  19,000  feet,  are  characterised  by  a  large  development  of 
root,  with  an  almost  entire  suppression  of  stem. — Among  matter 
of  chemical  interest  were  photographs  illustrating 

The  Micro-Structure  of  Alloys. 

These  photographs  show,  as  has  been  demonstrated  in  another 
way  by  Professor  Roberts  Austen,  that  when  fluid  mixtures  of 
metals  and  non-metals  are  allowed  to  cool,  crystals  of  definite 
chemical  composition  are  formed,  and  may  be  clearly  seen  with 
the  aid  of  the  microscope,  after  the  polished  surfaces  have  been 
etched  with  dilute  acids  or  tinted  with  suitable  reagents.  Professor 
Roberts  Austen  exhibited 

An  Apparatus  for  Micro-Photography, 

which  has  been  brought  to  such  a  degree  of  perfection  that  by  its 
means  the  condition  in  which  carbon  exists  in  steel  can  be  clearly 
shown.  Under  a  magnification  of  1000  diameters  steel  is  seen  to 
contain  minute  particles  of  true  diamond.  Mr.  C.  T.  Heycock  and 
Mr.  F.  H.  Neville  exhibited 

X  Ray  Photographs  of  Sodium-Gold  Alloys, 

illustrating  the  results  embodied  in  their  paper  recently  read 
before  the  Chemical  Society.  They  also  showed  a  curious  colour 
effect  produced  by  heating  an  alloy  of  silver  and  zinc  to  over  300° 
and  suddenly  cooling  below  150°.  The  alloy,  which  is  normally 
white,  then  becomes  superficially  bright  red. 

Photographs  of  Optical  Projections  in  Space 

were  shown  by  Mr.  Eric  Stuart  Bruce.  These  photographs  are 
interesting  as  being  obtained  from  an  image  w  iich  does  not  exist 
as  a  whole,  the  camera  having  been  made  to  retain  and  unite  in 
the  same  way  as  does  the  retina  the  various  minute  portions  of  a 
lantern  projection  which  appear  on  the  revolving  lath  of  the  aerial 
graphoscope,  an  optical  instrument  for  producing  these  projec¬ 
tions,  which  was  exhibited  at  a  former  conversazione  of  the  Royal 
Society.  The  image  produced  by  the  aerial  graphoscope  being 
transparent  to  the  eye,  real  objects  standing  before  the  camera 
appear  in  the  photograph  through  the  transparent  image. — Mr. 
Guillaume,  of  the  Bureau  International  des  Poids  et  Mesures, 
illustrated  interesting  facts  relating  to  the  great  variation  in 

Expansibility  of  Nickel  Steel 

for  different  percentages  of  nickel.  A  compensated  pendulum  of 
nickel  steel  was  shown. — Dr.  Norman  Collie  and  Captain  Deasy 
showed 

A  Pocket  Mercurial  Barometer, 

which  consisted  of  a  rubber  tube  joined  at  one  end  to  a  glass  tap, 
and  at  the  other  to  a  glass  tube,  in  which  the  top  of  the  mercury 
column  can  be  viewed.  By  closing  the  tap  and  coiling  the  tube 
the  barometer  is  capable  of  being  packed  in  a  small  compass.  The 
reading  is  made  by  a  folding  pocket-scale.  It  has  been  used  in 
India  with  satisfactory  results. — Professor  Oliver  Lodge  illustrated 


the  important  discovery  of  Zeeman,  that  the  spectrum  lines  from  a. 
source  of  light,  when  acted  upon  by  a  magnetic  field,  are  broadened 
and  in  some  cases  even  split  up  into  two  or  more  lines. — Some 
pretty  experiments  in 

Colour  Phenomena 

were  shown  by  Mr.  Shelford  Bidwell.  If  while  the  eye  is  fatigued! 
by  a  strong  colour  it  is  turned  on  a  white  ground,  the  complemen¬ 
tary  to  that  colour  is  seen.  A  disc  half  black,  half  white,  from 
which  a  sector  is  cut  between  these  two  colours,  is  made  to  rotate 
rapidly.  A  coloured  object  viewed  through  the  rotating  disc 
appears  of  the  complementary  colour  ;  for  example,  a  red  rose  and 
green  leaves  appears  as  a  green  rose  with  pink  leaves.  The  ex¬ 
planation  is  that  while  the  eye  rests  on  the  black  half  of  the  disc 
it  becomes  exceedingly  sensitive  ;  it  then  momentarily  receives  the 
impression  of  the  object— an  impression  too  brief  to  be  observed— 
and  finally  the  negative  after-image  of  complementary  colour 
appears  on  the  white  half  of  the  disc. 

Interesting  to  Rowing  Men 

was  an  ingenious  apparatus  shown  by  Mr.  F.  C.  Atkinson  for 
indicating  on  a  diagram  both  the  style  and  horse- power  of  a  rower 
over  a  course  of  500  strokes.  This  is  effected  by  a  pencil  which 
rotates  with  the  oar  and  moves  vertically  as  the  pressure  of  the  oar 
compresses  a  spring. — Mr.  J.  E.  S.  Moore  had 

A  Collection  of  Animal  Forms 

peculiar  to  Lake  Tanganyika,  which  are  believed  to  be  the  survivals 
of  an  oceanic  fauna  which  existed  at  some  time  in  the  region  of  the 
lake.  Other  exhibits  from  the  Dark  Continent  were  specimens  of 
the  tsetse  fly  and  its  parasite,  the  protozoon  (Trypanosoma),  which 
Surgeon-Major  Bruce  has  succeeded  in  proving  to  be  the  cause  of 
the  deadly  tsetse-fly  disease  or  “ngana.”  The  work  of  the  fly  is 
merely  that  of  communicating  the  micro-organism  from  infected  to 
healthy  animals.  A  similar  parasite  is  found  in  the  blood  of  the 
rat  in  this  country,  but  it  does  not  produce  the  same  fatal  effects. 

Lantern  Demonstrations 

were  given  by  Professor  J.  B.  Farmer,  who  showed  micro¬ 
photographs  illustrating  nuclear  division  both  in  animal  and  vege¬ 
table  cells,  and  by  Professor  Ayrton,  who  demonstrated  some 
electric  and  mechanical  analogues. 


LEGAL  INTELLIGENCE. 


PROCEEDINGS  UNDER  THE  PHARMACY  ACTS. 


Prosecution  at  Airdrie. 

At  the  Sheriff  Court  House,  Airdrie,  on  Friday,  May  28,  the 
case  of  Bremridge  v.  John  Young,  Stirling  Street,  Airdrie 
(see  ante  page  414),  came  before  Sheriff  Mair  for  trial. 

Mr.  T.  B.  Morison,  advocate,  Edinburgh,  and  Mr.  Robert  Watt, 
solicitor,  Airdrie,  appeared  for  the  prosecutor,  and  Mr.  William 
Orr,  solicitor,  Coatbridge,  for  the  defender. 

Mr.  Rutherford  Hill  said  the  information  supplied  to  the 
Registrar  had  been  placed  in  his  hands  by  the  Registrar,  with 
instructions  to  institute  proceedings,  and  he  received  the  purchases — 
a  box  of  red  precipitate  ointment,  and  a  bottle  of  “Balsam  of 
horehound  and  chlorodyne  ”  from  Mr.  Brock,  solicitor, 
Bath  Street,  Glasgow.  On  analysis  he  found  that  the 
former  contained  about  30  grains  of  red  oxide  of  mercury 
and  the  latter  about  half  a  grain  of  morphine,  and  not  less  than  10 
minims  of  chloroform.  The  bottle  was  labelled  “John  Harvie, 
chemist  and  druggist,  Stirling  Street,  Airdrie.”  The  purchases 
had  a  sealed  docket  attached  to  them  bearing  the  signatures  of 
James  Lees  and  Jane  Lees.  He  produced  the  Register,  showing 
that  defender  was  not  a  registered  chemist.  In  cross-examination, 
witness  said  the  bottle  and  the  box  might  easily  have  been  opened 
without  breaking  the  seal,  and  it  would  have  been  possible  to 
tamper  with  the  contents.  Both  were  full  when  he  got  them  from 
Mr.  Brock’s  clerk,  and  there  was  no  evidence  of  tampering  with 
them. 

The  Sheriff :  This  complaint  is  brought  under  Sections  1  and  15 
of  the  Act.  Does  the  respondent  come  under  the  latter  Section  ? — 
Yes,  my  Lord. 

The  Sheriff :  In  what  way  does  he  “keep  open  shop  ”  ? — He  sells 
poisons. 


June  5,  1897 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


501 


The  Sheriff :  He  is  charged  with  selling  by  retail.  Did  he  sell 
by  retail  ? — I  believe  so. 

The  Sheriff  :  Did  he  get  the  benefit  of  the  sale  ?  He  is  called 
the  assistant  to  John  Harvie ;  do  I  understand  that  the  shop 
belongs  to  John  Harvie  ? — I  have  no  information  on  that  point. 
•John  Harvie  is  a  registered  chemist. 

The  Sheriff :  Then,  do  you  mean  to  say  that  a  man  who  is  only 
an  assistant  in  the  shop,  and  who  sells  a  preparation  containing  a 
poison,  falls  within  the  Act  ? — Most  emphatically  yes. 

The  Sheriff :  Can  you  give  me  a  case  of  that  ? — Yes,  I  have  had 
•a  great  many  such  cases. 

Mr.  Morison  :  I  may  just  refer  your  Lordship  to  the  case  of 
Wheeldon  in  the  Queen’s  Bench  reports.  That  was  a  chemist’s 
assistant.  But  this  is  a  matter  for  argument,  and  I  shall  argue 
that  point  at  the  conclusion  of  the  case. 

Mr.  Brock,  writer,  Glasgow,  proved  receiving  the  poison  in  this 
•ease  from  Dr.  Arthur  in  presence  of  the  witness  Lees  and  his  wife. 
He  sent  them  to  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  in  the  same  condition 
as  he  received  them,  and  they  were  in  no  way  tampered  with.  In 
•cross-examination,  the  witness  said  he  could  say  positively  that 
the  purchases  were  in  no  way  interfered  with  up  till  the  time  they 
were  sent  by  his  clerk  to  Mr.  Hill  in  Edinburgh.  Asked  what 
interest  he  had  in  this  case  and  why  these  articles  passed  through 
liis  hands,  witness  declined  to  answer. 

Mr.  Morison  said  he  objected  to  this  line  of  inquiry,  as  these 
questions  had  no  bearing  whatever  on  the  case,  and  were  alto¬ 
gether  irrelevant. 

Mr.  Orr  said  these  cases  were  brought  in  the  public  interest, 
--and  he  wanted  to  know  what  interest  this  party  had  in  this  par¬ 
ticular  case. 

Mr.  Morison  said  this  person  might  have  had  ever  so  strong  an 
animus,  or  might  have  had  a  bad  motive  in  giving  this  information. 
He  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  that,  and  the  evidence  must 
•be  judged  as  it  stood. 

The  witness  said  he  had  got  up  this  case  for  Dr.  Arthur,  to  show 
that  the  statements  he  made  in  recently  defending  the  lad  Lees 
before  his  Lordship  were  perfectly  true,  and  he  thought  the  motive 
dn  doing  so  was  a  perfectly  legitimate  and  good  one. 

Charles  Simpson,  clerk  to  Mr.  Brock,  proved  handing  the 
.poisons  to  Mr.  Hill  in  Edinburgh. 

Dr.  Hugh  Arthur  said  he  remembered  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Lees  coming  to  him  with  a  box  containing  the  poisons 
on  February  13  last,  and  he  identified  the  productions 
now  shown  to  him.  He  affixed  the  seals  to  them,  and  saw  the 
labels  signed  in  presence  of  his  shopman  and  the  purchasers. 
He  kept  them  in  his  safe,  and  they  were  never  opened.  He 
handed  them  to  Mr.  Brock  just  as  he  received  them.  Red  oxide 
of  mercury  was  a  dangerous  poison,  and  so  was  the  chlorodyne  in 
the  bottle.  In  cross-examination  witness  admitted  that  he  was  a 
.party  to  the  getting  up  of  this  case.  Statements  had  been  made 
in  the  public  prints  by  Councillor  Harvie,  and  in  a  letter  sent  to 
the  Town  Clerk,  about  his  preparing  medicines  for  the  hospital,  an 
attack  had  been  made  upon  him,  and  he  must  defend  himself.  His 
shop-boy  had  said  that  Harvie’s  people  were  doing  this  sort  of 
thing  as  much  as  anybody  else,  and  he  wanted  this  to  be  known. 

Mr.  Morison  said  he  must  repeat  his  objection  to  this  sort  of 
thing  being  gone  into. 

Mr.  Orr  said  Dr.  Arthur  was  getting  on  beautifully.  Ho  was 
showing  the  motive. 

James  Lees,  miner,  Airdrie,  and  his  wife,  spoke  to  purchasing 
the  poisons.  They  did  not  see  Harvie  in  the  shop.  He  might  have 
been  in  the  back  shop,  but  defender  alone  conducted  the  sales. 

Thomas  Russell,  clerk  to  Motherwell  and  McMurdo,  solicitors, 
clerk  to  Airdrie  School  Board,  proved  that  John  Harvie  was 
present  at  a  meeting  of  a  committee  of  the  School  Board  at  the 
hour  when  the  purchases  were  said  to  have  been  made. 

James  Bain,  assistant  to  Dr.  Arthur,  said  he  witnessed  the 
labelling  and  signing  of  the  productions,  which  he  now  identified. 

This  was  all  the  evidence,  and  no  witnesses  were  called  for  the 
defence. 

Mr.  Morison  said  both  charges  had  been  clearly  proved.  It  was 
-very  unfortunate  that  there  should  be  feeling  or  irrelevant  matter 
of  a  personal  kind  introduced  into  this  case,  and  these  matters 
effected  the  Public  Prosecutor  neither  one  way  nor  the  other.  It 
had  been  suggested  in  various  ways,  and  remarks  had  been  made  in 
that  Court  on  previous  occasions,  implying  that  these  prosecutions 
were  not  dictated  by  regard  to  the  public  interest,  and  that  certain 
suspicions  attached  to  the  prosecutor.  He  wished  to  say  most  dis¬ 
tinctly  that  nothing  of  that  kind  entered  into  the  Registrar’s  duty  in 


enforcing  the  Statute.  This  Act  applied  to  England,  where  there 
was  no  Public  Prosecutor,  and  as  was  most  natural,  the  Legislature 
had  imposed  that  duty  on  the  Registrar  appointed  by 
the  Pharmaceutical  Society  in  pursuance  of  the  pro¬ 
visions  of  the  Act,  and  it  was  only  what  would 
be  expected,  that  the  prosecutor  appointed  in  accordance 
with  the  procedure  in  England  should  also  be  the  prosecutor  in 
Scotland,  in  an  Act  applying  to  Great  Britain.  But  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  was  not  a  trading  society.  It  was 
essentially  a  licensing  and  administrative  body,  and  as  a  matter 
of  fact  a  great  many  registered  chemists  did  not  belong  to  it  at  all. 
The  Registrar  was  a  public  officer,  and  he  was,  as  the  servant  of 
the  public,  bound  to  institute  prosecutions  for  infringements  of 
the  Acts,  and  the  moment  he  received  information,  no  matter  from 
whom  and  no  matter  who  the  alleged  offender  might  be,  he  was 
bound  to  make  inquiry,  and  if  necessary  institute  proceedings. 
In  addressing  the  Court  therefore,  he  (Mr.  Morison)hadto  do  so  only 
upon  the  evidence  and  not  upon  matters  of  a  personal  kind  that 
had  been  introduced  by  the  defender.  That  an  unqualified 
assistant  in  a  chemist’s  or  doctor’s  shop  who  sold  poisons  himself 
without  supervision  was  liable  under  the  Statute  was  clearly 
settled  by  the  dictum  of  Lord  Selborne  in  the  London  and  Pro¬ 
vincial  Supply  Association  case,  and  in  the  Wheeldon  case  in  the 
Court  of  Queen’s  Bench,  and  the  Tomlinson  case  in  the  High 
Court  of  Justiciary.  It  had  been  attempted  to  bring  out  in  the 
cross-examination  that  Mr.  Harvie  superintended  these  sales,  but 
Mr.  Harvie  was  not  called  as  a  witness,  and  there  was  not 
the  slightest  evidence  that  he  was  present,  and  none  of 
the  witnesses  saw  him,  and  it  was  shown  that  he  was  at 
a  School  Board  meeting  at  ten  o’clock,  and  the  poisons  were 
sold  at  twenty  minutes  past  ten.  He  quoted  Justice  Hawkins’ 
definition  of  personal  supervision,  to  show  that  mere 
presence  in  the  back  shop  or  somewhere  else  in  the  premises  was 
not  enough.  All  the  evidence  went  to  show  that  defender  alone 
sold  the  poisons,  and  that  they  were  handed  to  Mr.  Hill  exactly  in 
the  condition  in  which  they  had  been  received  from  defender.  As 
several  cases  had  already  been  decided  in  that  Court,  he  submitted 
that  justice  could  not  be  done  in  this  one  unless  the  full  penalty 
provided  by  the  Statute  was  imposed. 

Mr.  Orr  said  he  admitted  that  the  Society  had  no  other  course 
open  to  it  than  to  bring  this  prosecution,  but  there  were 
motives  in  bringing  it  which  he  questioned  very  seriously — the 
motives  of  the  parties  who  had  been  acting  behind  the  scenes  in 
this  case.  He  thought  their  motive  could  not  be  too  strongly  con¬ 
demned,  being  one  of  spleen,  which  they  had  carried  out  to  the 
bitter  end.  He  thought  the  fact  that  the  chief  witness  had  been 
sent  by  Dr.  Arthur  to  the  shop  for  the  purpose  of  getting  a  sale 
should  be  enough  to  taint  the  whole  of  the  prosecution.  Dr. 
Arthur  had  tried  to  conceal  the  fact  that  he  instigated  these  pro¬ 
ceedings,  and  he  was  sorry  to  say  he  believed  Dr.  Arthur  was 
quite  capable  of  tampering  with  the  purchases  while  they  were  in 
his  possession.  He  thought  the  case  had  completely  broken  down 
on  the  evidence.  It  had  come  out  that  these  poisons  had  been  for 
weeks  in  the  hands  of  interested  parties,  and  that  they  had  been  in 
London,  and  he  submitted  that  they  could  have  been  tampered  with 
and  poison  put  into  them.  The  prosecutor  had  also  failed  to  prove 
that  Mr.  Harvie  was  not  present  when  the  sales  took  place,  and  he 
submitted  that  the  prosecutor  to  establish  his  charge  must  prove 
that  Harvie  was  not  in  the  shop.  He  also  submitted  that  Section 
16  of  the  Act  indicated  that  so  long  as  the  owner  or  manager  of  a 
shop  was  qualified  the  assistants  did  not  need  to  be  qualified. 

Mr.  Morison  said  the  provision  in  Section  16  was  intended  to 
protect  the  trustee  of  a  deceased  chemist  against  prosecution  for 
putting  up  the  title  chemist  and  druggist  or  keeping  open  shop. 
It  did  not  touch  the  fact  that  only  a  qualified  person  could  sell 
poisons  either  in  a  deceased  chemist’s  shop  or  anywhere  else. 

The  Sheriff  said  whatever  his  own  opinion  was  as  to  the 
Pharmacy  Act  1868,  and  in  particular  Section  15,  he  must  hold 
himself  bound  by  the  decisions  quoted  by  Mr.  Morison  in  the 
highest  court  of  the  realm,  and  also  in  the  supreme  courts  of 
England  and  Scotland,  namely,  as  to  whether  the  assistant  of  a 
duly  qualified  chemist  falls  under  Section  15,  and  in  view  of  these 
decisions  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  a  person  in  the  position  of 
the  defender,  although  in  the  employment  of  a  duly  qualified 
chemist,  if  he  sold  an  article  containing  poison,  fell  under  the 
Act.  He  was  not  entitled  to  express  any  opinion  of  his  own,  and 
that  being  the  case,  he  was  bound  to  deal  with  the  evidence 
as  it  had  been  laid  before  him.  There  was  no  doubt 
whatever  that  the  poisons  were  sold  by  the  defender,  and 


502 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[June  5,  1897 


he  differed  from  Mr.  Orr  in  his  argument  that  Mr.  Harvie, 
being  a  qualified  chemist  under  the  Act,  the  burden  of  proving 
that  he  had  not  been  present  superintending  the  sale  lay  with  the 
prosecution.  He  had  from  the  nature  of  the  cross-examination 
anticipated  that  Mr.  Harvie  would  have  been  examined  as  a  witness, 
but  he  had  not,  and  he  was  not  entitled  merely  to  conjecture  it  in 
the  face  of  the  evidence  otherwise.  If  it  had  been  proved  that 
Mr.  Harvie  was  in  the  shop  and  behind  the  partition,  he  would 
have  had  difficulty  in  finding  the  case  proved,  and  he  doubted  if 
any  court  would  convict  in  such  a  case.  But  he  must  hold 
that  he  was  not  present.  He  did  not  think  that  in 
a  case  like  that  they  had  anything  -to  do  with  the  motives 
that  had  led  to  the  prosecution.  No  doubt  they  were  open  to 
observation,  but  although  the  motives  might  so  far  affect  a  judg¬ 
ment  in  certain  cases,  in  a  case  of  that  kind  he  did  not  think  they 
could  do  anything  of  the  kind  where  these  sales  had  been  clearly 
proved.  As  to  the  argument  of  the  continuity  of  the  possession  of 
the  articles  intact,  he  had  no  doubt  in  the  matter,  there  having 
been  no  evidence  to  show  that  they  had  been  tampered  with.  If 
Mr.  Harvie  had  appeared  and  given  evidence  that  the  contents 
were  now  different  from  what  he  sold  he  might  have  given  effect 
to  that  statement.  He  had  been  disappointed  that  Mr.  Harvie 
had  not  been  examined,  and  if  he  had,  it  was  possible 
that  the  prosecutor’s  coach  might  have  been  upset.  But 
he  had  to  consider  not  negatives  but  affirmatives,  not  possibili¬ 
ties  but  realities.  He  was  not  entitled  to  deal  with  possibilities 
where  positive  evidence  should  have  been  given.  He  must  there¬ 
fore  find  the  charges  clearly  proved.  On  the  question  of  penalty 
he  did  not  agree  with  Mr.  Morison,  and  he  thought  it  would  be 
sufficient  to  impose  a  penalty  of  5s.  for  each  of  the  two  offences 
and  allow  10s.  of  expenses. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  CONSULAR  REPORTS- 


Canadian  Apatite  is  a  most  eligible  material  for  the  manufacture 
of  a  concentrated  superphosphate,  and  the  occurrence  of  workable 
areas  of  apatite  is  known  to  cover  a  very  extensive  area  in  the 
Laurentian  system  of  the  provinces  of  Quebec  and  Ontario,  but 
those  which  have  been  worked  to  date  are  confined  to  the  county 
of  Labelle  in  Quebec  and  to  the  counties  of  Lanark,  Leeds,  Fron- 
tenac,  and  Renfrew  in  Ontario.  During  1878-95  297,342  tons, 
valued  at  over  $5,000,000,  have  been  exported.  The  quantity 
exported  in  1895  was  4189  tons,  or  about  one-fourth  of  the  average 
of  the  previous  eighteen  years.  The  decrease  is  due  to  Algerian 
and  Tunisian  phosphates  having  secured  the  market. 


“  Coccus  Rusci,”  the  parasite  of  the  fig,  has  of  late  attracted 
much  attention  in  Italy.  It  is  an  insect  which  is  especially  partial 
to  the  fig,  but  is  also  found  on  other  trees.  The  diameter  of  a  well- 
developed  female  is  five  millimetres,  their  colour  is  a  greyish-white, 
and  they  have  the  appearance  of  small  cones  upon  the  trunk  and 
boughs  of  the  tree.  They  cover  themselves  with  a  special  sub¬ 
stance  like  wax,  which  protects  them.  If  this  is  removed  with  a 
needle,  the  true  colour  beneath  is  seen  to  be  a  shiny"  reddish- 
brown,  this  being  the  creature’s  true  cuticle.  Raising  this  skin,  a 
vast  number  of  eggs  will  be  observed  (if  the  operation  is  performed 
towards  the  end  of  June),  these  eggs  being  of  a  reddish-brown  colour. 
They  become  larvae  in  the  month  of  July,  and  in  a  few  days,  when 
they  drive  the  proboscis  into  the  bark,  they  manage  to  nourish 
themselves  from  the  tree.  Once  fixed,  they  undergo  a  strange 
metamorphosis,  for  their  legs  drop  off,  their  eyes  disappear,  and 
their  bodies  exude  the  waxy  substance  which  serves  them  as  an 
ultimate  protection.  No  insecticide  will  affect  them  when  once 
they  are  duly  encased ;  but  before  that  takes  place  they  can  be 
killed  by  syringing  the  trees  with  a  solution  of  petroleum  and 
soda  crystals.  This  must  be  done  as  soon  as  the  larvae  appear, 
and  it  will  completely  destroy  them. 

Artificial  Wine. — According  to  a  report  from  Naples,  an  im¬ 
portant  scientific  discovery  has  recently  been  made  in  Germany 
in  connection  with  the  manufacture  of  wine.  It  has  been 
discovered  that  by  a  very  simple  process  “  barley  may  be  made  into 
excellent  wine,  having  the  character  of  port.  The  barley  having 
been  malted,  the  bacilli  of  port  wine  are  introduced  into  the  mead 
when  they  fecundate  incontinently  and  transform  it  from  immature 
beer  into  the  richest  port  wine.  When  the  animalcuhe  have  done 
their  work  they  can  be  sterilised,  a  sufficient  stock  of  microbes 
being  preserved  in  the  laboratory  for  further  use.” 


NOTICES  TO  CORRESPONDENTS. 


All  Communications  for  tha  ‘  Pharmaceutical  Journal  ’  must 
ba  Addressed  to  the  Editor,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  London, 
W.C.,  and  not  in  any  case  to  individuals  supposed  to 
be  connected  with  the  Editorial  Staff;  no  responsibility 
can  bs  accepted  unless  this  rule  be  observed.  Communica¬ 
tions  for  the  Current  Week's  Journal  should  reach  the 
Office  not  later  than  Wednesday,  but  news  can  bo  Received 
by  Telegraph  until  3  p.m.  on  Thursday. 

Advertisements  and  orders  for  copies  of  tlie  ‘  Pharmaceutical  Journal  must 
be  addressed  to  the  Publishers,  5,  Serle  Street,  Lincoln’s  Inn,  London,  W.C. 
Cheques  and  money  orders  should  be  made  payable  to  “  Street  Brothers. 

Correspondents  should  write  in  ink,  on  one  side  of  the  paper  only,  and  must 
authenticate  the  matter  sent  with  their  names  and  addresses— of  course  nob 
necessarily  for  publication.  No  notice  can  be  taken  of  anonymous  communications  „ 

Drawings  for  illustrations  should  he  executed  twice  the  desired  size  ;  clean 
sharp  lines  being  drawn  with  a  pen  and  liquid  Chinese  ink.  Shading  by 
washes  is  inadmissible.  Photographs  can  be  utilised  in  certain  cases. 

Names  and  Formula  should  he  written  with  extra  care,  all  systematic  names- 
of  plants  and  animals  being  underlined,  and  capital  letters  used  to  commence 
generic  hut  not  specific  names. 

Queries  addressed  to  the  Editor  will  be  replied  to  in  the  J ournal  as  early  as- 
possible  after  receipt,  but  it  is  not  always  possible  to  publish  answers  the  same- 
week  as  the  queries  are  received. 


LETTERS  TO  THE  EDITOR. 


The  Brentford  Lime  Cream  and  Glycerin  Case. 

Sir, — I  feel  that  Mr.  Webber  is  deserving  of  every  sympathy  at- 
the  injustice  done  him  by  the  Brentford  Bench  in  depriving  him 
of  his  legitimate  costs.  We  have  lately  seen  two  cases  in  which 
Mr.  Bevan’s  certificate  has  proved  to  be  incorrect,  and  it  seems  as- 
if  he  instead  of  the  defendant  (as  is  usually  the  ease)  was  given  the-- 
benefit  of  the  doubt.  The  remedy  is  to  be  found  in  the  suggestion 
of  Mr.  Higgs,  of  Kingston,  in  your  issue  of  the  22nd  ult.,  namely,, 
a  defence  union.  There  have  been  several  convictions  lately' 
against  chemists,  such  as  the  arsenical  soap  and  lime  juice  and 
glycerin  cases,  which  would  have  been  quashed  had  they  been, 
carried  to  a  higher  court.  Let  every  chemist  in  business  send  his- 
name  to  Tvl r.  Higgs,  anct  let  us  have  that  unity  and  combination 
which  will  prevent  similar  injustices. 

Ealing,  May  31,  1897.  E.  J.  Strickland. 


The  Council  Election. 

Sir,— I  venture  to  think  that  the  letter  of  Mr.  Hyslop  on 
the  Council  election,  will  be  read  by  many  with  feelings  of  in¬ 
dignation.  It  seems  impossible  for  a  number  of  chemists,  who  by 
being  in  a  better  position  than  many  of  their  brother  pharmacists, 
to  be  able  to  understand  what  a  struggle  it  is  for  many  of  us  to 
live  even  decent!} .  They,  with  their  West-end  pharmacies,  un¬ 
limited  wealth  around  them,  their  extensive  dispensing  connections, 
no  “trade  doctors”  round  the  corner,  can  afford  to  taboo  patent 
medicines  and  sneer  at  the  P.  A.T.  A.  But  the  lines  have  not  fallen 
to  all  of  us  in  such  pleasant  places.  Take  my  own  instance.  My 
business  is  a  small  one.  My  patent-house  account  last  year  was 
£150.  Now,  sir,  I  ask  you,  can  I  afford  to  treat  this  branch 
of  my  business  with  the  contempt  it  may  or  may  not  deserve, 
when  there  are  two  doctors  in  the  village,  both  dispensing  every 
bottle  of  physic  they  can,  when  the  grocers  sell  patents  at  cutting- 
prices,  when  half-a-dozen  little  shops  deal  in  a  whole  host  of  penny 
lines  ?  I  trow  not,  and  I  hail  with  delight  any  effort  which 
endeavours  to  increase  my  profits  in  a  legitimate  manner. 
Personally,  I  decline  to  condemn  the  preparations  which  Mr.  Hyslop 
is  pleased  to  include  under  the  designation  of  ‘  ‘  quack  medicine  trade,” 
and  see  no  difference  between  a  West-end  chemist  recommending 
his  antibilons  pills  over  the  counter  and  a  man  who  spends  thousands 
on  advei’tisements  in  the  papers.  A  lot  of  the  tirade  against 
the  quack  medicine  trade  is  mere  humbug.  Until  “  the  gentle¬ 
men  who  have  been  the  life  and  soul  of  pharmaceutical  progress  ” 
condescend  to  the  low  estate  of  their  less  fortunate  brethren  and 
to  the  inevitable  trade  nature  of  their  business,  the  Pharmaceutical 
Council  and  all  its  works  will  be  ignored  by  a  large  majority. 
These  gentlemen  do  not  object  to  the  grocers  and  oilmen  selling 
their  nostrums  by  the  gross.  They  profess  to  be  our  friends,  bub 


June  5.  U97] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


will  not  stir  a  finger  to  ensure  us  a  fair  profit.  Heaven  save  us 
from  such  friends  !  They  urge  us  to  strive  after  the  plums  of  the 
profession,  which  will  ever  be  out  of  the  reach  of  many  of  us.  No, 
sir,  we  shall  have  to  be  content  with  the  bread  and  butter,  but  let 
them  endeavour  to  prevent  its  being  cut  quite  so  fine.  Then  they 
will  not  be  at  the  bottom  of  the  poll  next  time. 

Potters  Bar,  May  31,  1897.  H.  B.  Sharman. 


Sir, — I  should  be  glad  to  be  allowed  to  reply  to  one  or  two  mis¬ 
statements  appearing  in  your  correspondence  columns  last  week 
under  the  heading  of  “  The  Council  Election,”  and  also  to  refer  to 
some  inferences  drawn  by  you  in  your  Editorial  thereon.  The 
charge  of  fickleness  and  ingratitude  brought  by  Mr.  Leo  Atkinson 
against  the  electorate  is  well  replied  to  by  yourself.  Mr.  Atkinson, 
however,  thinks  it  degrading  that  so  large  a  section  of 
the  adherents  of  the  Society  see  nothing  derogatory  in 
■discussing  and  arranging  with  grocers,  oilmen,  and  ironmongers, 
the  prices  at  which  medicines  shall  be  supplied  to  the  public,  and 
in  alluding  to  thi3  you  say,  “The  question  whether  chemists  and 
druggists  ought  to  recognise  any  right  on  the  part  of  other  trades¬ 
men  to  deal  in  such  articles  has  been  waived,  and  those  who  have 
agreed  that  it  should  be  left  out  of  sight  for  the  time  being 
have  thus  relinquished  a  position  which  they  will  find  it 
difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  re-occupy.”  You  at  least,  sir, 
must  know  that  the  recognition  of,  at  any  rate,  the  legal  right 
of  other  tradesmen  to  deal  in  such  articles  is  a  case  of 
Hobson’s  choice.  The  Pharmaceutical  Society  is  impotent  in 
the  matter  of  securing  for  qualified  chemists  the  sole  right  to  vend 
medicines,  whether  proprietary  or  otherwise.  So  long  as  men, 
whom  Mr.  Hyslop,  I  think  rightly,  describes  as  men  who  for  many 
years  have  been  the  life  and  soul  of  pharmaceutical  progress,  see 
nothing  derogatory  in  having  direct  business  dealings  with  any 
outside  tradesman,  be  he  grocer,  oilman,  or  ironmonger,  pro¬ 
vided  he  is  prepared  to  pay  the  price  for  their  proprietary  articles, 
it  appears  absurd  to  talk  of  the  P.A.T.A.  members  as  having 
relinquished  a  position  which  they  will  find  it  difficult,  if  not 
impossible,  to  re-occupy.  That  position  has  been  wrested  from 
them  many  years  since.  You,  sir,  know  this  well,  for  nine 
years  ago  you  said  [Ph.  J.  [3],  xviii.,  827),  “It  ought  to  be 
"unnecessary  to  remind  pharmacists  that,  in  so  far  as  they  are 
tradesmen,  they  must  expect  no  advantage  over  other  tradesmen.” 

In  your  issue  of  January  9  last  you  explained  truly  why  this 
was  so.  Here  is  the  explanation  you  gave  :  “  Manufacturers, 
too,  cannot  be  depended  upon  to  trouble  themselves  much  about 
the  rate  of  profit  reaped  by  distributors.  Their  only  anxiety 
is  to  get  their  goods  into  the  hands  of  the  public,  and  they 
consider  it  of  little  importance  whether  this  is  done  by  the 
chemist  or  any  one  else  so  long  as  business  is  done.  In  the 
end,  therefore,  the  retailer  must  rely  upon  his  own  initiative. 
If,  however,  he  acts  alone,  he  can  effect  but  little,  whilst 
if  he  proceeds  in  accordance  with  a  plan  previously  agreed  upon  by 
the  majority  of  those  similarly  situated  benefit  cannot  fail  to 
ensue.”  Referring  to  the  work  of  the  P.A.T.A.,  you  said, 
*(  Probably  not  the  least  useful  result  will  prove  to  be  the  awaken¬ 
ing  or  re-awakening  of  the  chemists  and  druggists  in  districts 
where  local  associations  have  been  non-existent,  as  they  realise 
what  a  powerful  weapon  is  lacking  in  their  never-ending  struggle 
against  the  changing  conditions  of  business.”  You  practically 
admit  that  there  is  little  ground  for  Mr.  Atkinson’s  fears 
of  the  future  Council  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  being 
elected,  dominated,  and  its  policy  determined  at  the  sweet 
will  of  the  Grocers’  Federation.  The  voting  power  will 
always  be  in  the  hands  of  chemists  and  druggists,  and  the  members 
of  the  craft  banded  together  as  the  Chemists’  Section  of  the 
P.A.T.A.  will  take  care  to  consult  their  own  interests  in  phar¬ 
maceutical  politics,  and  not  those  of  any  outside  body  of  traders. 
In  your  article  appears  the  following  extraordinary  sentence  : — 
“  Nevertheless,  members  of  the  Society  have  undoubted  reason 
for  alarm  when  a  body,  whose  executive  includes  several  indi¬ 
viduals  whose  only  connection  with  pharmacy  is  a  commercial 
one,  seeks  to  influence  the  election  of  those  responsible  for  the 
protection  of  the  professional  interests  of  pharmacy.”  If  that 
statement  means  anything,  it  means  that  the  Council  exists  only 
for  the  protection  of  the  professional  interests  of  pharmacy. 
A  large  section  of  the  trade  are  withholding  their  support  from  the 
Society  because  they  say  it  refuses  to  recognise  our  commercial 
interests  as  business  men.  Your  sentence  just  quoted  goes  a  long 
way  to  justify  their  complaint.  Our  Charter  states  that  the 
Society  exists  for,  amongst  other  things,  the  protection  of  our 


601 


interests  as  chemists  and  druggists.  To  the  average  adherent  of 
the  Society  commercial  interests  are  more  important  than  what  you 
refer  to  as  “the  professional  interests  of  pharmacy.”  When  Mr. 
Atkinson  says  ‘  ‘  that  those  have  been  threatened  with  difficulties 
in  obtaining  supplies  who  could  not  conscientiously  give  direct 
support  to  this  movement,”  he  says  that  which  is  untrue.  No  one 
has  been  threatened  with  such  difficulties  unless  the  minimum 
prices  fixed  by  the  proprietors  have  not  been  maintained. 

I  am  sorry  that  the  result  of  the  P.A.T.A.  circular  has  so  vexed 
Mr.  Hyslop.  His  letter  affords  most  marked  evidence  of  pique. 
However,  I  do  not  think  Mr.  Hyslop,  even  in  his  great  wrath, 
would  willingly  state  what  is  untrue,  though  it  only  concerns  the 
pharmaceutically  fallen  members  of  the  P.A.T.A.  If  anyone  else 
had  stated  that  “  that  Association  had  for  its  chief  object  the 
cultivation  of  quack  medicine  trade,”  I  would  be  compelled 
to  call  it  a  deliberate  untruth,  but  Mr.  Hyslop  has  shown 
all  along  either  that  he  cannot  or  will  not  understand 
what  the  Association,  supported  by  so  many  members  of 
the  Council  upon  which  he  sought  a  seat,  really  exists 
for,  that  I  am  inclined  to  believe  he  really  thinks  there  are 
actually  2000  chemists  who  are  foolish  enough  to  band  themselves 
together  with  the  chief  object  of  cultivating  the  quack  medicine 
trade  !  The  voters  who  had  so  marked  an  influence  on  the  last 
Council  election  are  anxious  to  see  some  interest  taken  by  the 
Council  in  pharmaceutical  commerce.  I  trust  that  the  well-being 
of  the  Society  is  not  seriously  threatened  thereby. 

London,  E.G.,  June  1,  1897.  W.  S.  Glyn -Jones. 

Sir, — In  the  hour  of  defeat  one  is  apt  to  have  morbid  thoughts, 
and  even  give  expression  to  them.  If  Mr.  J .  C.  Hyslop  had  had 
the  experience  of  the  majority  of  ordinary  provincial  businesses 
he  would  not  so  recklessly  have  abused  an  organisation  whose  chief 
object  is  not  “  the  cultivation  of  quack  medicine  trade,”  but  merely 
to  secure  a  little  profit  for  those  who  are  compelled  to  supply  a 
public  demand.  The  public  will  go  to  a  chemist  for  “  patents,” 
therefore  they  must  be  stocked.  Ever  since  passing  the  Prelimi¬ 
nary  examination  I  have  subscribed  to  the  Society,  but  pharma¬ 
ceutical  progress  through  the  “life  and  soul/’  men  has  not  yet 
even  learned  to  stop  company  trading. 

Lowestoft,  June  1,  1897.  A.  H.  Hinde, 


ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 


Special  Notice. — Scientific ,  technical ,  legal  and  general  information  required 
by  readers  of  the  1  Pharmaceutical  Journal*  will  be  furnished  by  the  Editor  as  far 
as  practicable ,  but  he  cannot  undertake  to  reply  by  post.  All  communications  must  be 
addressed  (( Editor,  17,  Bloomsbury  Square,  London,  W.C and  must  also  be  authen * 
ticated  by  the  names  and  addresses  of  senders.  Questions  on  different  subjects  should 
be  written  on  separate  slips  of  paper,  each  of  which  must  bear  the  sender  s  initials  or 
pseudonym.  Replies  will,  in  all  cases,  be  referred  to  such  initials  or  pseudonyms 
and  the  registered  number  added  in  each  instance  should  be  quoted  in  any  subsequent 
communication  on  the  same  subject. 


Soft  Buffalo  Hide. —  The  buffalo  hide  which  you  send 
has  been  softened  with  glycerin,  with  which  it  is  saturated, 
[Reply  to  Verax. — 95/21.] 

Situation  in  Bournemouth. — Your  best  plan  is  to  advertise, 
which  you  can  do  free  of  charge  in  the  Journal  under  the  heading 
of  “  Engagements  Wanted.”  [Reply  to  Quaestus. — 96/40.] 

First  Examination.-*- All  the  examination  papers  have  been 
published  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal.  Any  good  school  books 
will  serve  your  purpose.  [Reply  to  W.  B. — 97/3.] 

Cash  Book. — One  of  the  best  books  of  the  kind  is  ‘  The  Tax- 
Payers’  Cash  Book,’  published  by  the  Income  Tax  Adjustment 
Agency,  12  and  13,  Poultry,  Cheapside,  E.C.,  at  half-a-crown  net. 
See  notice  of  the  book  in  the  Pharmaceutical  J ournal  for  June  6 
last.  [Reply  to  R.  C.  J. — 95/37.] 

Book  on  Tobacco. — Probably  Dunning’s  ‘Tobacco’  one  of  the 
“  British  Manufacturing  Industries”  series,  edited  by  Bevan,  and 
published  by  Edward  Stanford,  55,  Charing  Cross,  price  3«.  6 <7., 
will  suit  you.  You  will  find  notes  on  the  preparation  and 
determination  of  nicotine  in  the  past  volumes  of  the  J  ournal  of  the. 
Society  of  Chemical  Industry.  [Reply  to  Qu-estor. — 96/22.] 


504 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[June  5,  1897 


Rectified  Spirit  of  Paraffin. — In  all  probability  petroleum 
spirit  or  benzoline  is  meant.  [Reply  to  B.  G.  R. — 97/8.] 

Poison  Book. — You  are  under  no  obligation  to  show  the  book 
to  police  officers  armed  with  no  special  authority,  but  it  is  hardly 
politic  to  refuse  in  such  cases.  [ Reply  to  Poison  Book. — 96/24.] 


Books  for  the  Preliminary. — Latin,  English,  and  arithmetic 
are  the  examination  subjects.  Any  first-class  school  books  will  do. 
[Reply  to  W.  B. — 96/17.] 

Brandy  Substitute. — Do  you  mean  a  brandy  flavour  without 
the  alcohol,  or  a  fictitious  brandy?  If  the  former,  “  oil  of  wine” 
will  probably  answer  your  purpose ;  if  the  latter,  see  Cooley’s 
‘  Cyclopaedia,’  new  ed.,  vol.  i.,  page  367.  [Reply  to  B.  S. — 96/38.] 

Food  for  Diabetics,  etc.— You  will  get  all  the  information  you 
require  as  to  gluten  bread  for  diabetic  patients  from  Messrs.  Van 
Abbott  and  Sons,  6,  Duke  Street  Mansions,  Grosvenor  Square, 
W.C.  [Reply  to  E.  A.  T.— 96/2.] 


Books  for  the  Minor. — ‘British  Pharmacopoeia, ’  Attfield’s 
‘  Chemistry,’  Ramsay’s  ‘  Elementary  Systematic  Chemistry,’ 
Southall’s  ‘  Materia  Medica,’  Green’s  ‘  Botany,’  vol.  i.  ;  Ince’s 
‘  Latin  Grammar  of  Pharmacy.’  These  will  form  a  good  nucleus. 
[Reply  to  Ambitious  Student.— 96/25.] 


To  Bleach  Dyed  Hair. — If  the  hair  is  thoroughly  dyed  with  a 
silver  or  lead  dye,  it  is  practically  impossible  to  remove  the  colour ; 
if  a  vegetable  dye,  such  as  walnut-juice  or  pyrogallol  has  been 
used,  peroxide  of  hydrogen  will  bleach  it,  but  it  will  not  much 
affect  the  metallic  dye.  [Reply  to  R.  C.  J. — 95,38.] 


Ginger  Wine  Essence. — A  licence  is  only  required  for  any¬ 
thing  which  can  be  used  as  a  beverage,  and  we  doubt  whether  this 
preparation  can  be  regarded  as  such.  However,  you  can  easily 
settle  the  point  by  submitting  a  sample  to  the  Excise  authorities. 
[Reply  to  W.  W. — 97/6.] 


Alkaloids  of  Calisaya  Bark. — These  vary  in  percentage  very 
much.  Howard  has  found  trees  growing  together  in  Ceylon,  which 
contained  quinine  varying  in  amount  from  3T  to  9'2  per  cent. 
Calisaya  bark  contains  quinine  chiefly,  then  cinchonine,  and  but 
little  cinchonidine.  Paul  found  in  Madras  bark  5 '22  per  cent, 
total  alkaloids,  consisting  of  3 '86  per  cent,  quinine,  0'23  per  cent, 
quinidine,  0'3  per  cent,  cinchonidine,  0'43  per  cent,  cinchonine, 
0'4  per  cent,  amorphous  alkaloid.  The  South  American  calisaya 
bark  is  equally  variable  as  to  the  amount  of  alkaloid 
present,  and  may  contain  from  1'5  to  5  per  cent,  of  quinine. 
[Reply  to  Old  Subscriber. — 95/36.] 


Balls  for  Dysentery,  etc.,  in  Lambs. — These  are  a  very 
crude  preparation.  The  chief  ingredient  is  chalk,  about  60  per 
cent,  of  the  “ball”  being  composed  of  that  body.  There  is  also 
some  root  sliced  up  very  fine,  about  5  per  cent.  This  does  not 
appear  to  be  any  ordinary  drug,  and  is  probably  some  “herb”  or 
wild  plant.  There  is  also  a  distinct  trace  of  zinc  present,  and  at 
least  10  per  cent,  of  coarse  sand.  This  last  ingredient  will  show 
you  how  roughly  the  ball  is  made.  The  red  colour  is  ferric  oxide, 
and  it  is  massed  with  soap,  probably  Castile  soap.  The  zinc  present 
is  equivalent  to  about  2  grains  of  zinc  sulphate  in  the  whole  ball. 
It  may  be  an  impurity,  but  would  probably  have  a  beneficial 
effect.  The  ball  contains  no  catechu  or  other  vegetable  astringent 
matter.  [Reply  to  Agricola. — 95/25.] 

Miscible  Fluid  Extract  of  Coca. — Coca  leaves  in  No.  20 
powder,  12  ozs.  ;  tartaric  acid,  half  an  ounce  ;  proof  spirit  and 
water  of  each  equal  volumes.  Mix  10  ozs.  of  proof  spirit  with  the 
same  quantity  of  water.  Dissolve  the  tartaric  acid  in  the  mixture, 
then  damp  the  powdered  leaves  with  a  portion,  let  the  moist 
powder  stind  in  a  covered  vessel  for  two  hours,  then  divide  it  into 
three  equal  parts,  packing  each  into  a  small  percolator.  Pour  the 
rest  of  the  menstruum  on  percolator  No.  1,  with  a  further  quantity 
of  a  mixture  of  equal  volumes  proof  spirit  and  water.  As  soon 
as  a  few  ounces  percolate  through,  turn  this  on  to  percolator  No.  2, 
and  when  that  begins  to  percolate,  pass  this  through  No.  3.  Add 
more  menstruum  to  No.  1  until  it  is  exhausted,  passing  this  through 
No.  2  and  so  on  ;  the  final  percolate  in  No.  3  should  measure 
12  fluid  ounces.  [Reply  to  J.  D. — 94/26.] 


Bending  Steel  Tubes. — Weare  obliged  to  a  correspondent  for  sug¬ 
gesting  that  you  should  fill  the  tube  with  Calais  sand  and  ram  tight- 
before  bending.  This  process  he  has  seen  successfully  performed 
with  the  handle  bars  of  cycles,  the  sand  seeming  to  prevent  the 
tube  from  flattening  at  the  curved  parts.  He  does  not  know 
whether  it  will  answer  for  brass  tubes,  but  the  process  has  the. 
merit  of  cheapness,  and  no  doubt  would  be  worth  a  trial. 
[Reply  to  Spatula. — 91/13.] 


Essence  of  Rennet. — Take  a  fresh  rennet,  and  if  there  is  a  curd 
of  milk  inside  do  not  reject  this,  as  it  will  contain  much  of  the 
ferment ;  cut  up  the  membrane  small,  and  add  tb  it  50  ozs.  of 
distilled  water  and  2J  ozs.  of  salt.  Let  stand  together  for  six  hours 
in  a  wide-mouthed  bottle  in  cool  place,  with  occasional  thorough 
shaking.  Then  add  15  fluid  ozs.  of  rectified  spirit,  and  allow  to 
macerate  for  fourteen  days  with  occasional  shaking.  Then  strain 
and  filter.  If  it  does  not  run  bright  at  first  tear  up  some  filter 
paper,  and  macerate  the  shreds  in  the  cloudy  liquid  for  twenty- 
four  hours.  Then  filter ;  it  will  then  run  through  bright.  Most, 
essences  of  rennet  are  not  made  sufficiently  alcoholic.  The  rennet 
ferment  is  not  so  easily  precipitated  by  alcohol  as  is  generally 
supposed.  [Reply  to  W.  W. — 95/8.] 


Dispensing  Extract  of  Belladonna. — In  the  prescription 
“potass,  iodid.,  Jfi. ;  ext.  belladonna,  3i. ;  saponis,  §ii.,  m.  ft.  ung.,” 
the  sample  you  send  marked  not  your  own  is  made  with  soft  soap, 
not  curd  soap,  and  it  naturally  gives  a  more  unctuous  preparation 
than  yours,  which  is  made  with  hard  soap.  So  far,  it  is  preferable 
to  yours.  But  on  the  other  hand,  you  are  right  as  to  the  bella¬ 
donna.  The  brown  sample  is  made  by  using  the  alcoholic  extract- 
of  the  root ;  although  this  gives  a  better  Appearance  than  the 
“green”  extract  of  the  fresh  herb;  you  are  right  to  use  the  latter, 
since  this,  and  this  only,  is  “  ext.  belladonnas.”  It  is  taking  an 
unwarrantable  liberty  with  the  prescription  to  substitute  “ext. 
belladonnae  alcoholic  ”  merely  for  the  sake  of  appearances.  This  is- 
carrying  elegant  pharmacy  too  far.  [Reply  to  J.  R.  W. — 96/20.] 


Apparatus  for  Analytical  Work. — Balances. — For  a  cheap 
balance  you  cannot  do  better  than  get  one  of  Becker’s.  Write  to> 
Messrs.  Gallenkamp  and  Co.,  2,  4,  and  6,  Cross  Street,  Finsbury. 
The  balance  No.  1534  on  their  list  is  an  excellent  instrument,  and 
costs  £7.  Properly  used  this  will  last  you  a  lifetime.  A  less 
expensive  but  very  good  instrument  is  made  by  Verbeck,  No.  1576 
Gallenkamp’s  list.  This,  to  carry  50  grammes  and  turn  to  0'5 
milligramme,  is  £4  5s.  with  marked  beam  and  rider.  Their  Students5- 
Balance,  No.  1628,  is  very  good  and  quite  accurate  enough  for 
ordinary  work,  and  is  £2  9s.  The  first  is  recommended,  as  it  will 
always  be  useful  to  you  in  business.  A  good  balance  is  like  a 
horse,  if  you  treat  it  well  it  is  as  good  when  old  as  when  new. — 
Hot  Water  and  Hot  Air  Ovens. — You  will  find  all  details  of  these, 
in  the  list  mentioned  above. — Still  for  Distilled  Water. — One  of  the- 
best  is  Morris  and  Wethered’s  Patent  Still ;  you  will  obtain  full 
particulars  and  prices  for  this  on  application  to  Messrs.  Llewellins 
and  James,  Bristol.  Possibly  the  automatic  still  described  and 
figured  by  Maben  ( Pliarm .  Journ.  [3],  xviii.,  881)  would  answer 
your  purpose.  If  not,  you  would  find  Remington’s  a  very  good 
form,  but  probably  a  home-made  article  would  answer  as  well. 
If  you  have  it  made  of  block  tin  by  a  tinsmith  it  will  last  for  years. 
[Reply  to  Countryman. — 96/35.] 


OBITUARY. 


Keyworth. — On  May  27,  George  Alexander  Key  worth,  Chemist, 
and  Druggist,  Hastings.  Aged  67.  Mr.  Keyworth  was  born  at 
Wantage  in  1830,  and  commenced  business  as  a  chemist  at  12, 
Wellington  Place,  Hastings,  in  1851.  He  took  a  deep  interest  in 
all  municipal  affairs,  and  often  gave  his  fellow-townspeople  the 
benefit  of  his  advice  through  the  medium  of  the  press. 

Starie.— On  May  27.  William  Chantler  Starie,  Chemist  and 
Druggist.  Aged  49. 

Lambert. — On  May  31.  Thomas  Lambert,  Chemist  and  Drug¬ 
gist,  Oldham.  Aged  47. 


COMMUNICATIONS, LETTERS, etc., have  been  received  from 

Messrs.  Bates,  Batly,  Bayley,  Bennion,  Black,  Bullivant,  Butterworth,  Collett, 
Cruickshank,  Cussons,  Dodd,  Durant,  Durrant,  Fletcher,  Glyn -Jones,  Harrison, 
Henry,  Hill,  Hogg,  Knight,  Moss,  Naylor,  Riding,  Rogers,  Sawer,  Sharman, 
Sinclair,  Stott,  Strickland,  U’Ren,  Walker. 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


505 


INSECT  POWDERS  OF  COMMERCE. 

iS'CfeORGE  REYNOLDS  DURRANT. 


jurr 


r  i  JS7 


the  past  quarter  of  a  century  at  least  twenty  eminent 
ch^f^ts^phan  maeiste,  aad  microscopists  have  devoted  some  atten¬ 
tion  to-kne/p^i}}^ i 4al  qhai' ac ter i sti cs ,  chemical  constituents,  and  toxic 
properties  of  the ’Trisect  powders  of  commerce.  In  the  earlier  part 
of  this  period  the  references  were  exclusively  to  the  powder  from 
the  flowers  of  Chrysanthemum  caucasicum  or  Persian  variety,  which 
gradually  gave  way  to  the  Dalmatian  kind  produced  from  the 
flowers  of  the  Chrysanthemum  cinerariafolium,  and  it  is  possible  that 
the  Dalmatian  replaced  the  Persian  variety  because  the  latter  was 
the  first  kind  to  be  grossly  adulterated  ;  at  least,  it  is  true  in  my 
experience  that  both  kinds  are  equally  useful  if  equally  free  from 
sophistication. 

A  careful  study  of  the  whole  of  the  literature  of  the  subject  is 
more  likely,  in  the  absence  of  much  personal  experiment  and 
thought,  to  confuse  the  reader  than  to  provide  him  with  such 
information  as  will  enable  him  to  distinguish  the  true  powder  from 
sophistications,  which  are  still  as  common,  although  changed  in 
character,  as  they  have  been  at  any  time  since  the  Persian  powder 
gave  way  to  its  honester  rival.  To  anyone  who  has  worked  on  this 
subject  for  a  few  years  the  last  paragraph  may  appear  to  be  super¬ 
fluous,  but  it  is  evident  that  there  is  still  a  plentiful  lack  of 
knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  majority  of  buyers,  or  it  would  be 
impossible  to  account  on  any  other  hypothesis  for  the  enormous 
amount  of  grossly  sophisticated  insect  powder  which  is  sold  as 
genuine  every  season.* 

The  object  I  have  had  in  view  in  recording  the  results  of  several 
years’  attention  to  this  subject  is  to  provide  a  ready  means  of 
quickly  and  cheaply  ascertaining  if  a  given  sample  of  insect  powder 
is  what  it  is  represented  to  be  by  the  seller,  but  before  proceeding 
to  this  part  of  the  subject  it  will  be  profitable  to  briefly  set  forth 
the  results  of  the  work  of  other  investigators.  These  references 
will  not  be  by  any  means  exhaustive  of  the  subject,  but  will  include 
most  of  the  literary  notices  which  have  come  within  my  own 
knowledge. 

It  will  be  found  that  the  literature  of  the  subject  divides  itself 
into  the  following  sections  : — 


(a)  Toxic  constituents. 

(b)  Microscopic  appearance. 

(c)  Adulterations. 

It  is  intended  to  keep  to  this  division  of  the  subject  so  far  as  may 
be  possible  and  convenient. 

So  far  back  as  1863,  Hanaman  Roch  (‘National  Dispensatory’) 
attributed  the  insecticidal  value  of  the  powdered  flowers  of  Chrys. 
caucasicum  to  a  volatile  oil.  Some  years  after,  in  the  seventies, 
Semenoff  appeared  to  be  practically  in  agreement  with  this  state- 


*  While  engaged  in  preparing  this  paper  for  the  press,  a  curious  confirmation 
of  my  contention  has  been  supplied  by  a  correspondence  with  a  provincial  firm 
of  dealers  in  insect  powder.  I  have  no  reason  to  doubt  the  bond  Jules  of  the 
firm,  and  must  therefore  conclude  that  such  large  sellers  of  insect  powder  as 
they  claim  to  be  are  yet  profoundly  ignorant  of  the  characteristics  of  true  insect 
powder.  I  fear  my  charity  is  not  sufficiently  broad  to  give  credit  for  good  faith 
in  this  firm’s  opinion  on  the  London  trade  in  insect  powder  !  The  following  short 
extracts  are  reproduced  from  this  correspondence  In  reply  to  my  request  for 
samples  and  quotations,  “  Thank  you  for  your  enquiry,  and  are  sending  samples 
of  insect  powder  from  closed  flowers,  100s.  per  cwt.,  and  from  half-open  flowers 
at  75s.  per  cwt.”  My  reply  to  this  quotation  expressed  regret  at  the  misleading 
description,  as  both  samples  were  grossly  adulterated,  which  drew  a  most  in¬ 
dignant  letter.  “In  reply  to  your  letter,  we  think  the  party  conducting  the 
analysis  must  have  made  some  miscalculation,  as  we  are  direct  importers  from 
Austria,  and  have,  from  the  grinders  there,  the  fullest  assurance  of  its  genuineness 
and  that  the  ‘  closed  ’  and  ‘  half-closed  ’  are  from  flowers  of  that  description  and 
from  flowers  only.  We  have  sold  the  same  article  for  seven  years,  and  our  sale 
has  greatly  increased.  As  regards  the  London  price  for  insect  powder,  the 
import  offered  in  London  is  second  rate,  both  in  quality  and  quantity,  and 
consists  only  of  odd  lots  that  have  passed  through  several  dealers’  hands.  We 
write  strongly  on  this  subject  because  we  should  not  have  been  able  to  advance 
our  trade  in  this  article  to  its  present  state  if  we  had  been  capable  of  mis¬ 
description  1  ” 

Vol.  LVIII.  (Fourth  Series,  Yol.  IV.).  No.  1407. 


ment,  but  treated  the  matter  more  broadly,  if  less  definitely,  by 
substituting  “volatile  substance”  for  the  more  definite,  if  less 
accurate,  “  volatile  oil.”  Immediately  after  (in  1876)  Jousset  de 
Bellesme  stated  that,  in  his  opinion,  the  active  toxic  principle  was 
a  crystalline  alkaloid.  In  1877  this  last  statement  was  corrected 
by  R.  Rother  (Druggists’  Circular  and  Chem.  Gazette)  in  a  paper 
giving  the  results  of  a  very  systematic  and  practical  investigation, 
the  conclusions  at  which  this  writer  arrived  are  as  follow  : — There 
is  no  crystalline  alkaloid  ;  there  are  (a)  an  oleo-resinous  greenish- 
yellow  acid,  “persicein”;  ( h )  another  acid  body,  “  persiretin,” 
both  inactive  ;  (c)  active  principle,  a  glucoside  converted  by  boiling 
into  “  persiretin  ”  and  glucose.  These  constituents  are  all  soluble 
in  ether,  alcohol,  benzine,  and  petroleum  ether,  and  insoluble  in 
chloroform.  With  the  latter  part  of  the  statement,  referring  to 
the  solubility  of  all  the  constituents  of  any  value  in  ether,  etc.,  I 
can  cordially  agree.  Very  shortly  after  the  appearance  of  this 
article  by  Rother  a  notice  appeared  in  the  Bulletin  Soc.  Chim.  by 
G.  Dal  Sie,  in  which  he  claims  that  the  active  toxic  principle  is  to 
be  found  in  a  volatile  acid  existing  in  the  flowers  in  a  free  state. 
M.  Finzelberg  (Pharm.  Centralhalle,  1880)  proved  that  a  concen¬ 
trated  tincture  of  the  flowers  had  definite  insecticidal  properties, 
and  this  statement  has  been  confirmed  by  my  own  experiments  on 
flies.  O.  Tester  (Pharm.  Journ.  [3],  xii.,  359)  states  that 
the  active  principle  is  a  soft  resin.  At  the  British  Pharmaceutical 
Conference,  1888,  a  paper  was  read  by  William  Kirkby  on  the 
microscopical  characteristics  of  the  flowers  of  C.  caucasicum  and 
C.  cineraricefolium.  The  paper  was  valuable  so  far  as  the  subject 
was  treated,  but  it  was  less  complete  than  the  author  intended, 
inasmuch  as  sophistications  were  not  taken  into  consideration. 
Although  the  paper  itself  was  thus  limited  in  scope,  the  discussion 
which  followed  covered  the  whole  ground.  Mr.  Robinson  expressed 
his  incredulity  at  the  presence  of  any  toxic  agent,  but  this 
bold  sceptic  was  crushed  by  the  President,  assisted  by  Mr.  Howie 
and  Mr.  Martindale.  In  the  Pharm.  Zeitschr.  fur  Bussland,  1890, 
E.  Hirschsohn  states  that  the  active  principle  is  neither  a  volatile 
oil  nor  an  acid  resin;  this  statement  is  neutralised  by  F. 
Schlagdenhauffen  in  an  article  in  the  Pharm.  Zeitung,  1892,  in  which 
he  states  that  he  found  the  toxic  properties  to  be  (a)  yellow  volatile 
oil,  and  (h)  uncrystallisable  soft  resinous  mass  (pyrethrotoxic  acid 
very  soluble  in  ether.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  average  buyer  of 
insect  powder,  after  careful  consideration  of  the  foregoing  evidence 
by  so  many  able  men,  would  remain  more  or  less  doubtful  as  to 
the  properties  and  characteristics  for  which  he  ought  to  look  in 
deciding  upon  the  value  of  the  various  qualities  to  be  found  in  the 
insect  powders  of  commerce.  The  results  of  my  own  work  on  this 
part  of  the  subject  may  be  briefly  stated  as  follows  : — 

The  toxic  properties  are  due  to— 

(a)  A  volatile  oil  amounting  to  0-5  per  cent,  in  picked  specimens 
of  closed  flowers  and  much  less  in  open  flowers. 

(b)  A  soft  acid  resinous  body,  this  is  the  principal  source  of 
the  toxic  effect.  It  is  found  to  the  amount  of  4-8  per  cent,  in 
selected  closed  flowers,  less  than  4  per  cent,  in  half-open  flowers, 
and  still  less  in  flowers  that  are  fully  open,  the  whole  plant  apart 
from  the  flowers  contains  mere  traces  of  resin. 

The  fine  dry  powder,  after  exhaustion  with  ether,  has  no  decided 
toxic  properties,  but  numerous  experiments  on  beetles  convince 
me  that  this  exceedingly  fine  powder  contributes  something 
to  the  insecticidal  properties  by  its  physical  action,  perhaps  by 
its  effect  on  respiration  reducing  the  vitality  of  the  insect,  and 
also  by  impeding  locomotion  and  preventing  a  speedy  retreat  from 
noxious  surroundings  and  a  safe  return  to  the  customary  lodgings. 
The  toxic  properties  of  the  volatile  oil  and  resin  may  be  proved  by 
isolating  them  and  mixing  them  with  an  inert  powder  whose 


506 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[June  12,  1897 


physically  deterrent  equation  has  been  ascertained  by  experiment 
on  beetles.  I  believe  no  vivisection  licence  is  required  for  this. 

Having  referred  to  the  toxic  constituents  of,  and  the  propor¬ 
tions  in  which  they  exist  in,  genuine  powder  of  the  flowers  of 
C.  cineraricefolium,  it  is  very  important  to  mention  the  fact  that 
chlorophyll,  in  its  green  unchanged  form,  is  not  found  in  selected 
dried,  closed  insect  flowers,  as  this  fact  has  an  important  bearing 
on  one  (and  I  think  the  most  prevalent)  form  of  sophistication  to 
be  found  in  the  present  insect  powders  of  commerce.  I  cannot 
fully  explain  why  it  is  that  insect  powder  from  half-open  and  from 
flowers  that  are  fully  developed  should  show  a  certain  amount  of 
chlorophyll  colouring  in  the  ether  extract,  but  it  may  possibly  be 
that  less  care  is  taken  in  collection  of  these  than  is  the  case  with 
the  more  valuable  closed  flowers.  But  whatever  may  be  the  cause, 
the  fact  remains  that  insect  powder  ground  from  selected  closed 
flowers  is  sensibly  free  from  chlorophyll,  whereas  traces  of  it  (less 
than  • 5  per  cent. )  will  be  found  in  powders  prepared  from  mixed 
and  half-open  flowers,  and  in  the  foreign  ground  insect  powders  it 
often  amounts  to  from  50  to  80  per  cent,  of  the  total  ether  extract. 
Samples  have  been  recently  examined  by  me  yielding  6  per  cent,  of 
ether  extract,  of  which  more  than  two-thirds  was  owing  to 
chlorophyll.  It  will  therefore  be  seen  that  any  estimate  of  the 
value  of  insect  powder  based  upon  the  percentage  of  ether  extract 
would  be  quite  fallacious  unless  the  chlorophyll  be  also  determined 
and  deducted  from  the  total.  Microscopical  examination  is  useful 
in  distinguishing  the  grosser  forms  of  admixture,  such  as  powdered 
quassia  and  the  woody  tissue  of  the  leaves  and  stems  of  the  plant, 
but  this  latter  form  of  sophistication  can  be  determined  by  the 
method  given  further  on.  [For  full  particulars  of  the  microscopical 
appearance  of  true  insect  flowers,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the 
paper  by  Mr.  William  Kirkby,  F.R.M.S.  (‘Proc.  Brit.  Pharm. 
Conf.,’  1888).] 

Adulterants. — In  using  the  term  adulterants  as  applied  to  our 
subject,  it  is  intended  to  imply  the  presence  in  insect  powder  of 
anything  but  the  flowers  of  G.  cineraricefolium.  Adulterators  of 
insect  powder  have  for  their  first  object  the  cheapening  of  the 
article  sold,  and  occasionally  they  have  a  second  object,  i.e.,  to 
improve  its  colour. 

The  first  object  has  been  achieved  in  the  past  by  the  addition 
of  powder  of  quassia,  aloes,  senna  and  Hungarian  daisy,  and  the 
artistic  eye  of  the  ignorant  buyer  has  been  satisfied  by  the  addi¬ 
tion  of  the  powder  of  fustic,  turmeric  and  chrome -yellow.  The 
presence  of  quassia,  fustic  and  turmeric  may  be  detected  by  the 
aid  of  the  microscope,  and  chrome-yellow  (salt  of  lead)  chemically. 
The  presence  of  the  powder  of  Hungarian  daisy  is  more  difficult 
to  detect  microscopically,  but  it  yields  10  per  cent,  of  ash,  whereas 
true  insect  powder  yields  but  6 ‘5  per  cent.  On  this  point  the 
reader  is  referred  to  an  extract  from  a  paper  by  J.  Schrenk 
(American  Journal  of  Pharmacy,  1889)  in  the  ‘  Year  Book,’  1890. 

It  is  hoped  that  it  will  not  be  difficult  to  accept  my  contention 
that  by  the  term  insect  powder  it  is  intended  by  both  buyers  and 
sellers  that  powder  of  the  flowers  of  the  G.  cineraricefolium  is 
understood,  at  least  so  far  as  transactions  in  the  open  market  are 
concerned.  Owners  of  proprietary  insect  powders  have  a  right  to 
compound  them  as  they  please,  and  this  right  has  been  freely  exer¬ 
cised  by  the  use  of  powdered  quassia,  colocynth,  etc.,  as  well  as 
by  the  addition  of  various  colouring  agents.  Although  powdered 
quassia  mixed  with  powdered  insect  flowers  must  be  considered  to 
fall  under  our  definition  of  adulteration,  it  is  quite  possible  that  a 
small  proportion  is  useful  in  insect  powder,  increasing  or  broadening 
the  base  of  its  usefulness.  The  same  remarks  apply  to  other 
admixtures,  such  as  powdered  bitter  apple,  and  the  only  criticism 
to  be  made  on  this  point  is  that  if  powdered  quassia  or  other 


powders  having  insecticidal  properties  be  added  to  insect  powder, 
let  it  be  done  with  the  knowledge  of  buyers  and  at  the  proper  price. 

The  adulterants  j  ust  referred  to  are  for  the  most  part  things  of 
the  past,  with  the  exception  of  added  colouring  matters,  which 
are  still  very  commonly  used  to  meet  the  too  general  want  of  know¬ 
ledge  of  the  proper  appearance  of  true  insect  powder.  At  the 
present  time  the  insect  powders  of  commerce  may  be  divided  into 
the  following  classes 

1.  Ground  from  closed,  (a)  wild,  or  ( b )  cultivated  flowers  of 

C.  cineraricefolium. 

2.  Ground  from  half  open  or  mixed  half  open  and  open  flowers. 

3.  Ground  from  damaged  flowers. 

4.  Foreign  ground,  divided  into  grades  of  badness  under  the 
meaningless  terms :  “Closed  flowers,”  “half  open  flowers,”  etc., 
etc.  Of  these  sorts  there  appears  to  be  as  many  as  there  are  of 
hen’s  eggs,  which  embrace  all  the  kinds  between  “new  laid”  at 
the  top  of  the  list,  and  “  political”  at  the  bottom.  The  English- 
ground  insect  powders  do  not  always  justify  the  description  given, 
but,  in  my  experience,  the  foreign -ground  specimens  never  do,  and 
it  is  with  much  satisfaction  that  it  is  noted  that  a  ready  method  of 
distinguishing  “  foreign  ground  ”  is  to  hand. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  remarks  made  on  the  toxic  constituents 
of  the  flowers  of  G.  cineraricefolium  that  the  following  statement 
embraces  the  results  of  my  own  experience  as  well  as  that  of  the 
majority  of  labourers  in  the  same  field  : — 

That  the  value  of  insect  powder  is  in  direct  proportion  to  the 
combined  amount  of  essential  oil  and  soft  acid  resin,  and  in  inverse 
proportion  to  the  amount  of  chlorophyll — both  statements  to  be 
read  together. 

It  has  not  been  my  good  fortune  up  to  the  time  of  writing  this 
to  have  met  with  one  sample  of  “  foreign-ground”  insect  powder 
that  was  not  grossly  sophisticated. 

A  perfect  sample  of  insect  powder  should  pass  a  sieve  having  at 
least  eighty  meshes  to  the  linear  inch  ;  the  particles  would  be, 
therefore,  approximately  1/160  of  an  inch  in  greatest  magnitude. 
(The  powder  has  been  passed  through  a  sieve  with  100  meshes  to 
the  linear  inch,  but  90  is  the  more  usual  number. )  The  powder 
should  yield  5  ‘25  per  cent,  of  combined  essential  oil  and  soft  resin  ; 
chlorophyll  should  be  absent  or  present  in  the  merest  trace. 

The  following  simple  method  of  testing  the  value  of  insect 
powder  should  be  adopted  by  all  chemists  who  wish  to  sell  a 
genuine  powder,  or,  to  put  the  matter  on  lower  grounds,  who  wish 
to  increase  their  sale  of  this  really  important  commercial  product. 
Place  100  grains  of  the  powder  to  be  tested  in  the  cylinder  of  a 
glass  syringe  (1  oz.).  The  powder  should  be  pressed  down  com¬ 
pactly  on  to  a  piece  of  absorbent  cotton,  to  act  as  a  filter.  Moisten 
with  ether  ’735.  Close  the  top  of  the  syringe,  and  macerate  for  30 
minutes  ;  percolation  may  then  proceed ;  the  powder  being  reper¬ 
colated  with  the  same  fluid  four  times,  and  finally  washed  through 
with  sufficient  ether  to  make  up  one  fluid  ounce.  The  resulting 
percolate  should  be  of  a  rich  yellow  colour,  if  a  pronounced 
green  colour  be  the  result  the  sample  may  be  discarded  at  once. 

In  the  absence  of  much  green  colouring  matter,  the  fluid  may 
be  carefully  evaporated  (temperature  not  exceeding  200°  F.),  and 
the  residue  weighed  in  a  tared  watch-glass.  The  resulting  soft 
mass  should  not  weigh  less  than  3  '75  grains,  and  in  the  finest 
samples  reaches  5 '5  grains,  and  should  have  the  pleasant  and 
characteristic  odour  of  the  flowers.*  At  the  present  time  the  price 

*  Exactness  may  require  the  determination  of  the  chlorophyll.  If  an  appreciable 
amount  be  present  this  may  be  done  by  boiling  the  residue  in  dilute  sulphuric 
acid  and  volumetrieally  determining  the  converted  chlorophyll  as  glucose  with  a 
suitable  copper  solution.  For  my  own  purposes  I  should  unhesitatingly  reject 
the  sample  rather  than  take  this  unnecessary  trouble,  unless  a  fee  were  attached 
to  the  operation. 


June  12, 1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL 


50  7 


of  insect  powder  varies  between  8 d.  and  2 s.  2d.  per  lb.,  the 
highest  price  representing  the  value  of  English  ground  powder 
from  closed  flowers  and  the  lowest  powder  “  foreign  ground  ”  from 
the  whole  plant.  This  ground  whole  plant  appears  to  be  the  prin¬ 
cipal  sophistication,  apart  from  colouring  matter,  found  in 
commerce  at  the  present  time. 

I  desire  to  acknowledge  my  indebtedness  to  Mr.  Charles  Umney 
for  very  fine  specimens  of  the  dry  flowers  of  G.  cineraricefolium. 

HOW  TO  CUT  SECTIONS  OF  CAPSICUM  FRUITS. 

BY  ABRAHAM  FLATTERS. 

The  method  of  using  the  microtome  having  been  described  (ante, 
p.  485),  the  preparation  and  cutting  of  dried  specimens  will  now 
receive  attention,  capsicum  fruits  being  taken  for  the  purpose. 
The  parts  of  these  fruits,  as  obtained  from  the  shop  of  the  chemist, 
are  naturally  very  much  disorganised,  and  but  a  vague  idea  can 
be  gained  at  the  best  of  the  structural  parts 'by  the  examination 
of  the  very  best  section  obtainable  from  such  a  source.  The  pre¬ 
paration  of  the  capsicum  for  cutting  should  be  effected  in  the  fol¬ 
lowing  manner  :  Select  the  best-looking  and  most  complete  fruits 
for  the  purpose,  place  them  in  water  for  twelve  hours  to  relax,  and 
do  the  same  with  some  of  the  seeds  which  have  been  removed 
from  the  fruits. 

When  properly  relaxed,  pass  the  specimens  through  spirit  of 
varying  strength,  commencing  with  25  to  50  per  cent.,  and  subse¬ 
quently  treating  in  turn  with  70  and  92  per  cent,  alcohol,  allowing 
them  to  stand  for  two  to  three  hours  after  each  change.  They 
will  now  be  ready  for  imbedding  in  the  microtome. 

Imbedding  in  Celloidin. 

1.  Pour  off  the  spirit,  cover  with  absolute  alcohol,  and  allow 
to  stand  for  twenty-four  hours. 

2.  Pour  off  the  alcohol,  cover  with  pure  ether,  sp.  gr.  0'720, 
and  allow  to  stand  for  twelve  hours. 

3.  Pour  off  the  ether,  cover  the  specimens  with  equal  parts  of 
absolute  alcohol  and  ether,  and  add  a  sufficiency  of  celloidin  chips 
(Schering).  Allow  to  stand  for  several  hours,  or  until  the  celloidin 
is  thoroughly  dissolved  and  the  parts  are  permeated.  The  opera¬ 
tion  should  be  repeated  day  after  day  until  a  concentrated  celloidin 
mass  is  obtained.  By  this  means  the  fruit  will  have  become 
thoroughly  permeated,  and  may  now  be  lifted  out  of  the  mass  with 
forceps  and  dropped  into  chloroform,  sp.  gr.  1  '497. 

4.  Allow  to  remain  in  the  chloroform  until  the  celloidin  is 
coagulated.  This  will  be  indicated  by  the  specimen  sinking  to  the 
bottom  of  the  bottle. 

5.  Remove  the  specimen  into  92  per  cent,  alcohol,  in  which  it 
can  be  permanently  preserved. 

Section  Cutting. 

The  imbedded  fruit  should  be  trimmed  ready  for  sectionising 
by  removing  any  projecting  parts  of  the  celloidin.  It  may  now  be 
placed  in  the  well  of  the  microtome  on  its  “  basal  end,”  melted 
paraffin  is  poured  into  the  well,  and  when  this  is  set  hard  the 
sections  can  be  cut. 

For  the  preparation  of  longitudinal  sections  a  hard  cork  carrier 
should  be  placed  in  the  well  of  the  microtome,  and  the  fruit 
arranged  on  this  in  such  a  manner  that  median  sections  can  be 
cut.  This  is  effected  by  sticking  two  or  three  pins  into  the  cork 
to  hold  the  specimen  in  position  until  the  paraffin  surrounding  it 
is  set  hard ;  the  pins  can  then  be  drawn  out  and  the  desired 
sections  cut.  This  method  also  applies  to  the  imbedding  of  a 
single  seed. 

After  the  sections  are  cut  they  should  be  placed  in  92  per  cent, 
alcohol,  stained  with  carmine,  the  celloidinised  ones  cleared  with 
oil  of  bergamot,  the  non-celloidinised  ones  with  oil  of  cloves,  and 
then  mounted  in  Canada  balsam. 


BOTANIC  GARDENS  OF  THE  WORLD. 


VII.— KEW  GARDENS  (Continued). 

The  appointment  of  Sir  W.  Hooker,  then  Professor  of  Botany  at 
the  University  of  Glasgow,  as  Director  of  the  Royal  Gardens  at 
Kew,  resulted  in  a  sweeping  and  much-needed  reform.  From  1841, 
the  year  of  his  appointment,  till  1859,  when  he  presented  an  elabo¬ 
rate  survey  to  Parliament  of  the  changes  and  improvements  made 
there  under  his  direction,  his  aim  was  to  make  of  the  Royal 
Gardens  “a  complete  national  establishment.”  He  had  to 
remember  that  Government  in  taking  them  over  aimed  at  two 
distinct  things  :  the  healthful  recreation  of  the  public,  “gratifying 
the  national  love  of  gardening,  and  affording  much  popular 
information  as  to  the  appearance,  names,  uses,  and  native 
countries,  etc.,  of  an  extensive  series  of  useful  and  ornamental 
plants  from  all  lands  and  climates,  together  with  their  products, 
whether  as  food,  drugs,  dyes,  timbers,  textiles,  or  cabinet  work,” 
and  the  encouragement  of  horticulture  and  scientific  botany, 
“  promoting  the  useful  arts  which  depend  on  vegetable  produce, 
supplying  information  to  botanists,  and  aiding  their  publications, 
and  imparting  a  knowledge  of  plants  to  travellers,  merchants,  and 
manufacturers,  also  by  training  plant  collectors  and  gardeners  for 
home,  colonial,  and  foreign  service.” 

The  Botanic  Gardens  transferred  to  the  nation  in  1841  consisted 
only  of  eleven  acres,  but  by  successive  additions  they  reached  in 
1847  a  total  of  seventy-five  acres.  In  1846  there  was  also  placed 
under  the  direction  of  Hooker  the  Pleasure  Gardens  or  Arboretum, 
consisting  of  250  acres,  separated  by  a  wire  fence  from  the 
Botanic  Gardens  and  opening  into  them  by  four  gates.  The  old 
Arboretum,  consisting  of  five  acres  planted  by  Aifcon,  and  situated 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  Botanic  Gardens,  was  described  by 
Hooker  in  1847  as  “  a  small  piece  of  ground  ....  but  crowded 
with  hardy  trees  and  shrubs  of  extreme  interest  and  value.”  Near 
the  Temple  of  the  Sun  were  noble  trees  of  the  Turkey  oak,  the 
oriental  plane,  a  good  cedar  of  Lebanon,  a  very  large  locust  tree, 
a  lotus  of  North  America,  a  fragrant  sassafras,  and  a  healthy, 
though  young,  cork  tree.  Along  the  walk  by  the  east  end  of  the 
orangery  were  American  limes,  oaks,  hickories,  red  and  yellow- 
flowered  horse  chestnuts.  In  the  other  direction  were  many  other 
interesting  trees,  Napoleon’s  willow,  the  paper  birch,  many  rare 
pines,  the  manna  ash,  and  Glastonbury  thorn.  Hooker  aimed  at 
obtaining  in  the  pleasure  grounds  an  Arboretum  that  should  contain 
every  tree  and  shrub  capable  of  withstanding  the  open  air  in  this 
climate.  In  1859  it  contained  a  classified  collection  of  3500  hardy 
trees  and  shrubs,  which  he  was  able  to  describe  in  his  report  as 
being  mostly  in  a  thriving  condition.  Of  the  two  nurseries  placed 
by  him  in  the  Arboretum,  one  was  specially  intended  for  planting 
the  grounds  at  Kew  with  ornamental  trees  and  shrubs,  and  rearing 
a  stock  for  exchange.  The  other  was  formed  in  1855  at  the 
desire  of  the  First  Commissioner  for  Supplying  the  Metropolitan 
Parks.  “  In  1856  it  furnished  1010  trees  (chiefly  planes  and  elms); 
in  part  1857,  4100  trees  :  and  in  1858,  2475,  the  sizes  varying  from 
6  to  14  feet :  while  our  own  Pleasure  Ground  Arboretum  sent  to  the 
parks  of  the  metropolis,  with  the  sanction  of  the  Board,  in  1857, 
9289,  and  in  1858,  2814;  trees  and  shrubs  of  great  variety,  besides 
furnishing  the  grounds  at  Kew  with  no  fewer  than  18,000  in  the 
year  just  closed”  (1859).  A  lake  was  also  formed  under  Hooker’s 
directions,  and  the  Queen’s  Garden,  a  beautiful  piece  of  ground 
reserved  for  the  use  of  Her  Majesty,  and  situated  at  the  S.W. 
corner  of  the  pleasure  grounds,  was  enlarged  by  fourteen  acres 
being  taken  from  the  Royal  Deer  Park,  new  walks  were  cut  through 
it,  and  much  old  decayed  wood  and  copse  cleared  away. 


508 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[June  12,  1897 


In  1841  there  were  only  9174  visitors  to  the  Gardens.  In  1858 
there  were  405,376  exclusive  of  those  to  the  Herbarium  and 
Library.  In  1856  the  commissioners  to  make  the  Gardens  more 
attractive  to  the  public  obtained  an  increased  grant  for  keeping 
them  up.  More  flower  beds  were  designed,  new  shrubberies  and 
walks  were  formed,  clumps  and  standard  trees  and  flowering  shrubs 
were  planted  with  a  view  to  effect. 

Shortly  after  the  appointment  of  Hooker  as  Director  at  Kew, 
the  subject  of  a  new  Palm  House  was  brought  forward,  and  the 
present  Palm  House  was  completed  in  1848.  For  several  years  the 
palms  stood  on  the  floor  of  the  house,  but  in  1854  a  part  of  this 
perforated  iron  floor  was  removed,  and  three  beds,  each  8  feet  wide, 
were  made  on  each  side  of  the  centre  passage  of  the  house  with  4 
feet  passages  between  them.  The  large  palms  were  planted  in  the 
centre  area  of  the  palm  house,  and  the  others  grown  in  round  and 
square  plant  boxes,  and  pots  of  various  sizes,  the  smaller  ones 
being  placed  on  side  shelves.  With  few  exceptions  they  were 
carefully  labelled,  the  labels  being  conspicuously  placed  so  as  to  be 
readily  seen  by  the  public.  In  his  *  Guide  to  Kew  Gardens,’ 
published  in  1853,  Sir  W.  Hooker  directs  especial  attention  to  the 
date,  cocoa-nut,  oil-nut  and  cabbage  palms,  the  ivory-nut  and  sago 
palms,  the  chocolate-nut,  tamarind,  mango,  breadfruit,  and 
cinnamon. 

In  his  report  for  1854  he  says  “The  palm  house  stove  was 
never  more  beautiful  than  at  the  present  moment,  and  so  rapid 
has  been  the  growth  of  some  of  the  trees  and  shrubs  that  we  have 
been  obliged  to  move  them  from  their  high  tubs  and  sink  them  in 
the  ground.”  In  1856  a  journalist  wrote  of  this  house  and  its 
contents :  “  On  entering  the  magnificent  building  the  visitor 

suddenly  finds  himself  in  the  midst  of  a  tropical  vegetation. 
Broad  leaved  plantains,  bananas,  stoeleitzias  and  uranias,  feathery 
bamboos,  tree  ferns,  and  tamarind  trees.  Spiny  screw  pines  and 
cacti  are  mingled  with  numerous  palms  of  all  dimensions  and  sizes, 
the  whole  being  gracefully  interwoven  and  surrounded  by  creeping 
and  winding  plants,  passion  flowers,  bauhinias,  jasmines, 
aristolochias  and  others,  and  agreeably  relieved  by  the  vivid  green 
of  densely  crowded  lycopodiums,  covering  the  turf,  the  ground 
between  them.” 

When  Sir  W.  Hooker  took  the  directorship  the  collection  of  succu¬ 
lents  ‘  made  chiefly  by  Masson  and  Bowie 5  was  housed  in  a  low  lean- 
to  stove,  40  feet  long,  fitted  up  with  shelf  staging  in  two  directions, 
one  for  euphorbias  and  cacti,  the  other  for  mesembranthemums, 
crassulas,  sempervivums,  small  species  of  aloes,  gasterias,  etc 
The  collection  increased  by  gifts  and  purchases,  especially  in  cacti) 
agaves,  and  other  allied  species  and  plants  from  Mexico.  In  1854 
a  new  house  was  erected  for  its  accommodation,  200  feet  long  and 
30  feet  wide,  having  a  span  roof  facing  east  and  west  15  feet  high- 
Climbers  were  planted  in  a  shallow  trough,  two  feet  wide,  filled 
with  soil  and  supported  with  brick  arches,  and  were  trained  up 
the  rafters,  flowering  freely.  This  trough  occupied  the  sides  and 
ends  of  the  house,  and  its  surface  was  covered  with  sand  or  graveb 
on  which  the  pots  containing  the  low  growing  plants  were  ar¬ 
ranged  according  to  their  families.  On  the  centre  of  the  house> 
■vVhich  was  level,  were  arranged  the  taller  plants  in  pots.  It  was 
heated  by  hot  water  pipes.  Of  this  house  Sir  William  Hooker  says 
in  his  Parliamentary  report  for  1855  :  “  The  erection  during  the 
year  of  a  new  house  for  succulent  plants,  200  feet  long,  30  feet 
wide,  and  15  feet  high,  has  enabled  us  to  display — and  to  advan¬ 
tage  for  the  first  time — our  noble  collection  of  medicinal  aloes  and 
euphorbias,  grotesque  cacti,  and  fibre-bearing  agaves ;  this  is 
perfectly  unique  of  its  kind.” 

In  1856  Mr.  John  Smith,  the  Curator  of  the  Kew  Botanic  Gar¬ 
dens,  drew  up  a  list  of  the  succulent  collection,  which  was  printed 


for  the  purpose  of  making  exchanges  with  other  gardens,  and  this 
he  brought  up  to  date  in  1864. 

In  1844  it  became  necessary  to  find  further  accommodation  for 
orchids,  which  through  purchases,  exchanges,  and  presentations 
had  greatly  increased  in  number.  A  lean-to  house,  60  feet  long 
and  17  feet  wide,  was  doubled  so  as  to  make  a  span-roofed  house 
14  feet  high.  The  centre  was  filled  with  a  staging  of  slate  shelves 
facing  north  and  south  with  a  passage  in  the  centre,  and  passages 
and  stone  shelves  on  both  sides  and  ends.  The  roof  was  glazed 
with  thick  sheet  glass  in  squares  4  feet  in  length.  The  house  was 
thus  well  fitted  and  heated,  but  the  large  area,  dry  stone  paths, 
smooth  slate  shelves,  and  large  squares  of  thick  sheet  glass  were 
ill  adapted  to  keep  tropical  orchids  in  a  healthy  condition.  They 
did  not  thrive,  and  after  a  trial  of  two  years  it  was  found 
necessary  to  remove  them  to  two  of  the  old  fruit  houses  which  had 
been  remodelled  and  heated  by  hot  water.  The  tropical  species 
were  placed  in  what  had  been  a  peach  house  80  feet  in  length, 
while  the  temperate  species  occupied  a  low  pine  stove  40  feet  in 
length.  About  1858  Hooker  secured  a  special  orchid  cultivator 
for  the  Kew  collection,  and  was  able  to  report  in  1859  that  the 
orchideous  plants  were  improving  rapidly  under  his  care. 

In  1847  the  herbaceous  and  grass  collections  were  transferred  to 
new  quarters,  formed  by  the  addition  to  the  Botanic  Gardens  of 
the  Royal  Kitchen  and  Forcing  Gardens.  Three  acres  thus 
acquired  were  laid  out  in  beds  of  various  sizes  to  suit  the  number 
of  species  in  the  different  genera  of  the  system  of  Jussieu.  In 
1853  the  foreman,  James  Niven,  drew  up  a  catalogue  of  these 
plants,  a  considerable  number  of  copies  of  which  were  printed  at 
the  expense  of  the  Garden  for  distribution,  in  order  to  help  in 
making  exchanges  with  other  gardens.  This  catalogue  consisted 
of  sixty-two  pages,  and  enumerates  5414  species  arranged  under 
their  natural  orders,  including  Graminece,  the  number  of  which 
then  amounted  to  359.  Two  collections  much  appreciated  by 
students  were  a  separate  collection  of  British  plants  commenced  in 
1843,  and  a  collection  of  hardy  medical  plants,  contiguous  to  the 
British  collection  made  on  the  acquisition  of  the  ground  called  the 
Paddock  in  1853. 

Another  small  but  interesting  collection  was  made  in  1844,  on 
the  formation  of  the  broad  walk  which  runs  from  the  Orangery, 
afterwards  the  No.  3  Museum,  to  the  pond.  Oblong  clumps  of 
rhododendrons  were  planted  on  each  side,  and  in  front  of  them  a 
series  of  round  and  oblong  beds  was  formed.  These  were  exclu¬ 
sively  occupied  by  low  growing  species  of  Ericaceae,  each  species 
occupying  a  bed.  They  grew  well  and  flowered  freely,  but  were 
removed  in  1855  to  make  way  for  carpet  bedding. 

(To  be  continued.) 


Chrysoidin  and  Cholera. — Blachstein  states  that  chrysoidin 
precipitates  cholera  bacilli  from  a  suspension  of  these  microbes. 
Two  interesting  facts  are  connected  with  this  flocculent  precipi¬ 
tation,  namely  (1),  that  the  same  peculiarity  belongs  to  the  serum 
of  those  immune  against  cholera  ;  and  (2)  that  no  other  body  except 
chrysoidin  is  known  to  possess  this  property.  The  nearest  relative 
of  chrysoidin  (vesuvin)  and  over  fifty  azo  bodies  investigated  by 
the  author  have  no  such  action.  It  not  only  acts  as  a  precipitant, 
but  also  as  a  disinfectant  for  cholera,  being  in  this  respect  more 
active  than  phenol.  It  is  not  poisonous.  A  solution  of  1  in  1000 
may  be  taken  in  teaspoonful  doses  without  harm.  It  might  be 
used  with  advantage  for  disinfecting  water.  It  does  not  appear  to 
act  as  a  curative  agent  when  taken  internally,  but  is  a  good  pro¬ 
phylactic.  Animals  inoculated  with  cholera  bouillon-  containing 
chrysoidin  continued  to  live,  while  the  same  bouillon  without  the 
dye  caused  infection. — B.  M.  J.  Ep.,  1/97/28. 


June  12,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


509 


REAGENTS,  REACTIONS,  METHODS  AND  FORMULAS, 

KNOWN  BY  THE  NAMES  OF  THEIR  AUTHORS.* 

(  Continued  from  page  4-93.  ) 

Bela  Haller’s  macerating  mixture.  Glacial  acetic  acid,  1  part ; 
glycerin  1  ;  water  2.  Cells  of  the  central  nervous  system  of 
mollusca  show  less  shrinkage  with  this  mixture  after  maceration 
for  30  to  40  minutes  than  with  other  liquids. 

Bellonci’s  neurological  method.  Treat  the  material  with  0’5 
to  1  per  cent,  osmic  acid  solution,  hardening  for  14  to  24  hours  only, 
and  after  cutting  sections  treat  them  for  3  or  4  hours  with  80  per 
cent,  alcohol,  and  then  with  ammonia. 

Benda’s  copper  htematoxylin.  Harden  the  material  with 
chromic  acid  or  Flemming’s  solution  and  leave  sections  for  24 
hours  in  a  5  per  cent,  solution  of  neutral  copper  acetate  at  a  tem¬ 
perature  of  about  40°  C. ,  wash  out  well  with  distilled  water,  and 
stain  to  a  dark  grey  or  blackish  tint  in  a  saturated  aqueous  hema¬ 
toxylin  solution.  Decolorise  the  sections  in  0'2  per  cent,  hydro¬ 
chloric  acid  until  light  yellow,  put  back  into  the  copper  solution 
until  they  turn  bluish  grey,  then  wash,  dehydrate,  clear,  and 
mount  in  balsam. 

Benda’s  double  stain.  Sections  are  stained  for  24  hours  in 
aniline  water  safranine  solution,  then  for  about  half  a  minute  in 
a  solution  of  0'5  gm.  Lichtgriin,  F.S.,  or  Saureviolett  (Griibler)  in 
200  C.c.  of  alcohol.  After  dehydration  mount  in  balsam. 

Benda’s  iron  hsematoxylin.  Sections  are  mordanted  for  24 
hours  in  following  solution,  diluted  with  1  or  2  parts  of  water 
Ferrous  sulphate,  80  parts  ;  water,  40  ;  sulphuric  acid,  15  ;  nitric 
acid,  18.  Well  wash  and  place  in  1  per  cent,  aqueous  hfematoxylin 
solution  until  quite  black.  Again  wash  and  differentiate  in  30  per 
cent,  acetic  acid. 

Bergonzini’s  staining  method  for  plasma  cells.  Mix  1  volume 
of  Saurefuchsine  solution  (0-2  per  cent.)  with  2  volumes  of  methyl 
green  solution  (0'2  per  cent.)  and  2  of  gold  orange  solution  (0-2  per 
cent.),  and  filter  the  mixture  through  cotton  wool.  The  gold 
orange  used  must  not  precipitate  methyl  green.  Sections  are 
taken  from  alcohol  or  corrosive  sublimate  solution,  washed  with 
water,  and  stained  for  3  to  4  minutes.  They  are  then  washed  with 
water  for  1  or  2  minutes,  immersed  in  absolute  alcohol  for  2 
minutes,  cleared  in  bergamot  oil  or  creosote,  washed  in  turpentine, 
and  mounted  in  balsam. 

Berkley’s  modification  of  Weigert’s  staining  method.  Harden 
slices  of  tissue,  not  exceeding  2 ’5  Mm.  thick,  for  24  to 
30  hours  in  Flemming’s  solution,  at  a  temperature  of  25°  C. 
Then  place  in  absolute  alcohol,  which  should  be  changed  twice 
during  the  first  24  hours,  and  when  sufficiently  hardened 
imbed  in  celloidin  and  cut.  Wash  sections  in  water,  leave  them 
overnight  in  a  saturated  solution  of  copper  acetate  (or  warm  there¬ 
in  at  35°  to  40°  C.  for  half  an  hour),  then  wash  and  stain  for  15 
to  20  minutes  in  a  solution  made  by  adding  2  C.c.  of  lithium 
carbonate  solution  (saturated)  to  5  C.c.  of  boiling  water,  boiling 
for  2  minutes,  and  then  adding  1'5  to  2  C.c.  of  10  per  cent, 
hsematoxylin  solution.  The  stain  should  be  warmed  to  40°  C.,  and 
after  the  sections  are  cooled  they  must  be  differentiated  for  1  to 
3  minutes  in  Weigert’s  ferricyanide  liquid,  diluted,  if  neces¬ 
sary,  with  one-third  of  water.  Subsequently  treat,  in  the  order 
mentioned,  with  water,  alcohol,  and  bergamot  oil,  and  finally 
mount  in  xylol  balsam. 

Berlinerblaus’  method  of  regenerating  Weigert’s  hsematoxylin. 
Add  2 '5  to  5  per  cent,  of  baryta  water  to  the  used  solution,  shake 
well  and  leave  for  24  hours.  Then  pass  carbon  dioxide 
through  the  solution,  again  allow  to  stand  for  24  hours,  and 
filter. 

Bertlielot’s  alcohol  reaction.  If  a  dilute  solution  of  alcohol  is 
shaken  with  a  few  drops  of  benzoyl  chloride  and  soda  solution  until 
the  odour  of  benzoyl  chloride  disappears,  the  peculiar  odour  of 
ethyl  benzoate  becomes  apparent. 

Berzelius’  test  for  albumin.  Meta  phosphoric  acid  in  freshly 
prepared  concentrated  solution  precipitates  all  albuminous  sub¬ 
stances  (except  peptone)  from  their  aqueous  solutions. 

Betke’s  methylene  blue  method.  After  staining  tissues  of  Ver¬ 
tebrates  and  rinsing  in  salt  solution,  place  them  for  2  to  5 
hours,  according  to  size,  in  a  solution  consisting  of  ammonium 
molybdate,  1  Gm.  ;  water,  10  Gm.  ;  hydrogen  peroxide,  1  Gm. 
(For  Invertebrates  use  ammonium  molybdate,  1  Gm.  ;  water, 
10  C.c.  ;  hydrogen  peroxide,  0-5  C.c.)  This  should  be  not  more 


*  After  Schneider,  Altschul,  Lee,  Squire,  Crookshank,  and  others. 


than  8  days  old,  and  is  best  cooled  to  0°  C.  Subsequently 
wash  in  water  for  0'5  to  2  hours,  dehydrate  in  alcohol  at  0°  C., 
clear  in  clove  oil  or  xylol,  and  imbed  in  paraffin  of  celloidin  in 
the  usual  way. 

Bethe’s  stain  for  chitin.  Place  series  of  mounted  sections  on 
slides  in  a  freshly  prepared  10  per  cent,  solution  of  aniline  hydro¬ 
chloride,  containing  1  drop  of  hydrochloric  acid  for  each  10  C.c., 
for  3  or  4  minutes,  then  rinse  in  water,  and  put  the  slide  with  sec¬ 
tions  downwards  in  a  10  per  cent,  solution  of  potassium  bichro¬ 
mate.  The  process  may  be  repeated  if  the  stain  is  not  sufficient!}' 
intense,  but  the  sections  must  be  well  rinsed  with  water  after  each 
immersion. 

Bettendorf’s  test  for  arsenic.  A  solution  of  stannous  chloride 
in  concentrated  hydrochloric  acid,  sp.  gr.  1T9,  when  heated  with 
a  solution  of  arsenic  or  arsenious  acids  in  strong  hydrochloric  acid, 
yields  a  brownish  turbidity  or  precipitate  of  metallic  arsenic  and 
tin.  The  presence  of  much  sulphuric  acid,  or  of  oxidising  or  organic 
substances,  interfere  with  the  reaction. 

Bianco’s  chromo-acetic  acid.  Add  to  concentrated  acetic  acid 
one-tenth  its  bulk  of  a  1  per  cent,  chromic  acid  solution. 

Bianco’s  narcotising  mixture  for  Actiniae,  etc.  Glycerin, 
20  parts;  alcohol  (70  per  cent. ),  40  parts;  sea  water,  40  parts. 
Pour  carefully  on  to  the  surface  of  the  water  containing  the 
animals,  and  allow  it  to  diffuse  quietly  through  it.  Several  hours 
may  be  necessary  for  this. 

Bickfalri’s  digestion  fluid.  Dried  stomach  mucus,  1  Gm.,  is 
mixed  with  20  C.c.  of  hydrochloric  acid  (0‘5  per  cent.),  and  put 
into  an  incubator  for  3  or  4  hours,  then  filtered.  Macerate  tissue 
in  this  for  0'5  to  1  hour. 

Bieber’s  reagent  consists  of  equal  parts  of  concentrated  sul¬ 
phuric  acid,  red  nitric  acid,  and  water. 

Biel’s  cocaine  test.  If  a  solution  of  0T  Gm.  cocaine  salt  in  1 
C.  c.  concentrated  sulphuric  acid  is  heated  for  several  minutes  on  a 
water  bath,  the  addition  of  several  cubic  centimetres  of  water 
causes  the  formation  of  a  white  crystalline  precipitate  of  benzoic 
acid. 

Biltz’  test  for  sodium  mono-  and  bi-carbonate.  When  treated 
with  mercuric  chloride  under  certain  conditions,  these  salts  yield  a 
white  or  brown  precipitate  respectively. 

Biondi’s  staining  mixture.  See  Ehrlich-Biondi’s  mixture. 

BischofPs  reaction  for  gallic  acid.  When  heated  with  dilute 
sulphuric  acid  and  cane  sugar,  gallic  acid  produces  a  red  colora¬ 
tion.  See  also  Pettenkofer,  Strassburg. 

Bisch.off’s  melting-point  test  for  butter.  See  Drouot’s  test. 

Bizzozero’s  gentian -violet  method.  Stain  in  Ehrlich’s  gentian- 
violet  solution  for  5  or  10  minutes  or  longer,  then  wash  in  alcohol 
for  5  seconds,  in  Gram’s  iodine  solution  for  2  minutes ;  alcohol  for  20 
seconds;  aqueous  chromic  acid  solution  (0T  per  cent.)  for  30 
seconds  ;  alcohol  for  15  seconds  ;  chromic  acid  again  for  30  seconds, 
and  alcohol  for  30  seconds.  Afterwards  treat  with  changes  of  clove 
oil  until  final  decoloration,  and  mount  in  dammar.  In  another 
process  by  Bizzozero  the  treatment  with  iodine  solution  is  omitted. 

Bjeloussow’s  gum  arabic  injection  mass.  Mix  a  syrupy  solu¬ 
tion  of  gum  arabic  and  a  saturated  aqueous  solution  of  borax,  so 
as  to  have  in  the  mixture  1  part  of  borax  to  2  parts  of  gum.  Add 
distilled  water  gradually  to  the  resulting  mass,  rubbing  it  up 
meanwhile,  and  then  force  it  through  a  fine-grained  cloth, 
repeating  the  operations  until  a  mass  free  from  suspended  gela¬ 
tinous  clots  is  obtained. 

Blum’s  hardening  solution.  Formalin  diluted  with  10  volumes 
of  water. 

Boas’  reagent.  This  is  a  solution  of  tropseolin,  or  paper  satu¬ 
rated  with  such  solution. 

Boccardi’s  solution.  Oxalic  acid  solution  (0T  to  0-3  per  cent.) 
or  formic  acid,  5  C.c.  ;  oxalic  acid  solution  (1  per  cent.),  1  C.c.  ; 
water,  25  C.c. 

Bodde’s  reaction  for  distinguishing  between  resorcin  and 
phenol,  benzoic  acid,  and  salicylic  acid.  A  solution  of  resorcin 
yields  a  violet  colour  with  sodium  hypochlorite,  which  fades  to- 
yellow  ;  with  more  hypochlorite  solution  and  heat  a  yellowish-red 
or  brown  colour  is  produced.  If  before  the  addition  of  the  hypo¬ 
chlorite  ammonia  is  added,  a  violet  colour  is  first  produced,  which 
changes  to  yellow  and  upon  heating  is  converted  into  dark  green. 
Phenol,  salicylic  acid,  and  benzoic  acid  yield  a  slight  colour  with 
hypochlorite  only  upon  heating.  Upon  previous  addition  of  am¬ 
monia  the  acids  are  not  coloured. 

Boedecker’s  test  for  albumin.  If  potassium  ferrocyanide  is 
added  to  a  solution  containing  albumin  (e.g.,  urine),  which  is 


510 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[June  12,  1897 


acidulated  with  acetic  acid,  turbidity  or  a  flocculent  precipitate  is 
produced. 

Boehmer’s  hematoxylin.  Dissolve  (a)  crystallised  hematoxylin, 

1  Gm.,  in  absolute  alcohol,  10  C.c.,  and  (6)  ammonia  alum,  10  Gm., 
in  distilled  water,  200  C.c.  Mix  the  two  solutions  and  allow  to 
ripen  for  some  days  before  use.  Filter  after  standing  a  week. 
Wash  out  with  aqueous  solution  of  alum  (05  per  cent.)  or  with 
acids. 

Boernstein’s  test  for  saccharin.  The  substance  to  be  tested  is 
extracted  with  ether,  and  the  extract,  after  the  ether  has  been 
removed  by  distillation,  is  heated  with  resorcin  and  sulphuric 
acid.  An  excess  of  soda  solution  is  then  added,  and  if  saccharin 
is  present,  a  strong  fluorescence  is  produced.  According  to 
Hooker,  other  substances,  e.g.,  succinic  acid,  also  produce  this 
reaction. 

Boettger’s  (also  Boettcher’s)  test  for  glucose.  A  dilute  solution 
of  glucose  (or  diabetic  urine)  is  heated  with  a  solution  of  sodium 
carbonate  and  some  bismuth  subnitrate  or  bismuth  oxyhydrate. 
If  reduction  takes  place,  the  suspended  bismuth  compound  is 
blackened.  According  to  Krueger,  a  stable  reagent  can  be  pre¬ 
pared  by  heating  15  Gm.  bismuth  nitrate,  15  Gm.  tartaric  acid, 
75  Gm.  water,  sufficient  aqueous  potash  solution  to  effect  solution, 
and  some  glycerin. 

Boettger’s  test  for  the  red  colour  of  wine  consists  in  the  addition 
of  1  volume  of  concentrated  copper  sulphate  solution  to  3  volumes 
of  wine  diluted  to  ten  times  its  volume.  Pure  red  vTine  becomes 
discoloured.  Unfermented  wine,  fuchsine,  and  the  colouring 
matter  of  bilberry,  malva,  and  cherries  remain  unchanged  or 
assume  a  violet  colour. 

Eoettger’s  reagent  for  ozone.  Filter  paper  saturated  with 
solution  of  gold  chloride  free  from  acid  is  coloured  violet  by  ozone. 
A  test  paper  formerly  suggested  by  Boettger  contained  thallium 
hydroxide,  which  was  coloured  brown  by  ozone. 

Boettger’s  test  for  sugar  in  glycerin.  Five  drops  of  glycerin 
is  heated  to  boiling  with  100  drops  of  water,  1  drop  of  nitric  acid, 
sp.  gr.  1  '3,  and  0‘03  to  0-04  Gm.  ammonium  molybdate.  If  sugar 
is  present,  the  solution  is  coloured  intensely  blue. 

Boettger’s  reagent  for  hydrogen  peroxide.  On  adding  to  a 
solution  containing  hydrogen  peroxide  a  solution  of  starch,  with 
cadmium  iodide,  and  a  little  ferrous  sulphate,  the  blue  colour  of 
starch  iodide  is  produced.  This  is  also  known  as  Schoenbein’s 
reagent. 

Bohlig’s  reagent  for  ammonia.  1.  Dissolve  mercuric  chloride, 
1  part  in  water  30.  II.  Dissolve  potassium  carbonate  1  in  water 
50.  Ammonia  whether  free  or  combined  with  carbonic  acid 
produces  a  w hite  turbidity  with  solution  I.  If  this  reaction  is 
first  brought  about  upon  the  addition  of  solution  II.,  the  ammonia 
is  combined  with  other  acids. 

Bonastre’s  reaction  for  myrrh.  Strips  of  filter-paper  are 
saturated  with  tincture  of  myrrh,  dried,  and  moistened  writh  a 
drop  of  nitric  acid.  If  the  tincture  be  made  from  genuine  myrrh 
a  violet  colour  will  be  produced. 

Born  and  Wieger’s  quince  mucilage.  To  two  volumes  of 
quince  mucilage  add  one  volume  of  glycerin  and  a  trace  of  carbolic 
acid.  This  preparation  is  used  to  fix  serial  sections  to  slides,  a 
gentle  heat  being  applied  for  that  purpose. 

Borntraeger’s  reaction  for  aloes.  An  alcoholic  extract  of 
aloes  is  shaken  with  benzin,  and  the  benzin  solution,  after  separa¬ 
tion  from  the  alcoholic  layer  and  the  addition  of  a  trace  of  strong 
ammonia  water,  is  slightly  heated  while  shaken.  Aloes,  like 
rhubarb,  turmeric,  galls  and  catechu  produces  a  violet  coloration 
of  the  ammoniacal  solution. 

Bouchardat’s  reagent  for  alkaloids.  Dissolve,  iodine  10  Gm., 
in  potassium  iodide,  20  Gm.,  in  water,  500  Gm.  This  reagent 
produces  reddish-brown  precipitates  with  aqueous  solutions  of 
most  alkaloids. 

Boudard’s  test  to  distinguish  between  fatty  oils.  The  oils 
are  mixed  with  nitric  acid,  sp.  gr.  1 -45  to  1 50.  In  the  case  of 
genuine  cod-liver  oil  a  carmine-red  coloration  is  gradually 
produced. 

Boudet’s  reagent  for  fatty  oils  is  fuming  nitric  acid.  Olive  oil 
becomes  solidified  upon  the  addition  of  5  per  cent,  of  the  acid. 
See  Barbot. 

Brand’s  reaction  for  quinine  and  quinidine.  Salts  of  these 
alkaloids  after  trituration  with  a  little  chlorine  water,  are  coloured 
green  upon  the  addition  of  ammonia  (thalleioquin  reaction). 
If  ammonia  water  be  added  drop  by  drop  to  the  solution  of  the 
alkaloids,  after  the  addition  of  a  slight  excess  of  chlorine  water, 


a  green  flocculent  precipitate  is  produced  which  dissolves  in  an 
excess  of  the  ammonia  water  to  form  a  green  solution. 

Brand’s  reaction  for  fluorine  in  beer  is  a  modification  of  Nivier’s 
test,  which  see.  The  fluorine  in  the  precipitate  is  converted  into 
hydrogen  fluoride  by  means  of  sulphuric  acid,  and  the  former  acid  is 
then  identified  by  means  of  its  etching  properties. 

Brady’s  chloral  hydrate  medium.  A  2'5  per  cent,  solution  of 
chloral  hydrate  in  water. 

Braeutigam-Edelmann’s  test  for  horse  meat.  Boil  50  Gm. 
of  the  meat  with  200  Gm.  of  water  for  one  hour,  and  the  filtered 
extract  is  evaporated  to  one-half  its  volume.  After  the  albumin 
has  been  removed  by  means  of  dilute  nitric  acid,  iodine  water  is 
added  so  as  to  form  a  layer.  Horse  meat,  on  account  of  the  large 
percentage  of  glycogen  it  contains,  produces  a  burgundy-red  zone. 
Starch  and  dextrin  interfere  with  the  reaction,  the  former  pro¬ 
ducing  a  blue,  the  latter  a  red  colour. 

Brandt’s  glycerin  gelly.  Soak  2  parts  of  gelatin  in  water  till 
soft,  then  drain,  melt,  add  3  parts  of  glycerin,  and  filter. 

Brass’  alcoholic  carmine.  Take  100  C.c.  of  70  per  cent,  alcohol, 
15  drops  of  hydrochloric  acid,  and  an  excess  of  carmine. 

Braun’s  test  for  glucose.  On  heating  a  solution  of  glucose  with 
a  few  drops  of  a  solution  of  picric  acid  (1  :  20)  a  deep  red  colora¬ 
tion  is  produced. 

Braun’s  nitric  acid  reaction.  Upon  the  adding  to  a  solution  of 
a  nitrate  (or  of  free  nitric  acid)  a  small  quantity  of  aniline  sul¬ 
phate  and  subsequently  of  concentrated  sulphuric  acid  a  violet-blue 
coloration  results. 

Bristol’s  method  of  regenerating  osmic  acid  solutions.  Add  10 
to  20  drops  of  fresh  hydrogen  peroxide  solution  to  each  100  C.c.  of 
1  per  cent,  osmic  acid. 

Brouardel  and  Boutmy’s  test  to  distinguish  between  pto¬ 
maines  and  plant  alkaloids.  I.  With  potassium  ferricyanide  and 
ferric  chloride  ptomaines  produce  a  blue  colour.  II.  Write  on 
silver  bromide  paper  with  a  quill  and  solution  of  the  alkaloid  or 
ptomaine.  After  the  paper  has  been  laid  aside  for  half  an  hour, 
protected  against  the  light,  develop  with  hyposulphite.  In  the 
case  of  ptomaines  the  writing  appears  black,  but  this  is  not  so  in 
the  case  of  plant  alkaloids.  Morphine  also  yields  reaction  I.  (comp. 
Kieffer’s  reaction,  in  fact  none  of  the  reactions  based  on  reducing 
properties  can  be  regarded  as  characteristic). 

Bruecke’s  digestion  fluid.  Glycerinated  extract  of  pig’s  stomach, 

1  volume  ;  hydrochloric  acid  (0'2  per  cent.),  3  volumes  ;  thymol,  a 
few  crystals. 

Bruecke’s  reaction  for  the  colouring  matter  of  bile.  See 
Gmelin’s  reaction. 

Bruecke’s  biuret  reaction  for  albuminous  substances.  Coagu¬ 
lated  albumin  takes  a  fine  violet  colour  when  treated  first  with 
dilute  copper  sulphate  solution,  and  after  removal  of  the  excess 
of  that  reagent  with  dilute  soda  solution.  Compare  Rose’s  biuret 
reaction. 

Bruecke’s  reagent  for  glucose.  Boil  55  Gm.  of  freshly- 
precipitated  moist  bismuth  subnitrate  with  a  solution  of  30  Gm. 
potassium  iodide  in  100  Gm.  of  water  for  10  minutes.  Then  add 
5  Gm.  of  25  per  cent,  hydrochloric  acid.  Glucose  (diabetic  urine) 
effects  reduction  with  formation  of  a  brown  or  black  coloration. 

Brulle’s  test  for  foreign  oils  (cottonseed  oil)  in  olive  oil.  10  C.c. 
of  the  oil  is  boiled  withO'l  Gm.  of  powdered  albumin  and  20  C.c.  of 
nitric  acid.  When  all  the  albumin  is  dissolved  the  genuine  oil 
remains  almost  colourless,  and  upon  cooling  it  becomes  turbid  and 
straw-yellow.  The  colour  remains  the  same  after  standing  24 
hours,  and  the  liquid  then  solidifies.  In  the  presence  of  cotton¬ 
seed  oil  the  liquid  becomes  orange  to  brownish-red  upon  solution 
of  the  albumin,  and  as  a  rule  no  solidification  takes  place. 

Brunner’s  reaction  for  glucosides.  Upon  heating  with  bile  and 
sulphuric  acid  a  red  colour  is  produced  (reversed  Pettenkofer’s 
reaction). 

Brun’s  glucose  medium.  Mix  distilled  water,  140  parts  j 
glucose,  40  parts ;  and  glycerin,  10  parts ;  then  add  camphorated 
spirit,  10  parts,  and  filter  to  remove  excess  of  camphor. 

Brunotti’s  gelatin  imbedding  mass.  Dissolve  20  Gm.  of  gelatin 
with  heat  in  200  C.c.  of  distilled  water,  and  add  30  to  40  C.c.  of 
acetic  acid  with  1  Gm.  mercuric  chloride  after  filtering. 

Buckingham’s  reagent  for  alkaloids.  A  freshly  prepared 
solution  of  ammonium  molybdate,  1  Gm.,  in  concentrated  pure 
sulphuric  acid,  16  Gm.  Heat  is  applied  until  the  solution  is  clear. 
The  reagent  yields  precipitates  of  different  colour  with  various 
alkaloids.  Comp.  Hager,  ‘  Pharm.  Praxis,’  1 ,  209. 

Bunge’s  method  of  staining  flagella.  Use  as  a  mordant  a 
mixture  of  3  parts  of  aqueous  solution  of  tannin  with  1  part  of 


June  12,  1897J 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL* 


511 


aqueous  solution  (1  in  20)  of  ferric  chloride,  adding  1  C.c.  of 
saturated  aqueous  solution  of  fuchsine  to  each  10  C.c.  of  the 
mixture.  Treat  preparations  with  this  mordant  for  five  minutes, 
then  wash  and  stain  with  Neelsen’s  solution. 

Butschli’s  imbedding  method.  Pass  directly  from  chloroform 
into  a  solution  of  paraffin  in  chloroform,  and  afterwards  evaporate 
off  the  chloroform  at  the  melting-point  of  the  paraffin. 

Butschli’s  iron  hematoxylin.  Treat  sections  with  a  weak 
brown  aqueous  solution  of  ferric  acetate,  wash  with  water,  and 
stain  in  0‘5  per  cent,  solution  of  hematoxylin  in  water, 

(  To  be  continued. ) 


SIXTY  YEARS’  PROGRESS  IN  CHEMISTRY  AND  THE 
CHEMICAL  ARTS.* 

BY  PROFESSOR  THORPE,  LL.D.,  F.R.S. 

Chemistry  as  an  art  has  been  practised  from  time  immemorial, 
and  a  great  variety  of  what  are,  strictly  speaking,  chemical 
products,  such  as  metals,  salts,  acids,  dyes,  pigments,  were  made 
long  before  the  Christian  era.  Chemistry  as  a  science,  however, 
is  barely  a  century  old.  It  is  based  upon  the  Atomic  Theory,  and 
the  idea  of  explaining  chemical  phenomena  by  means  of  the  con¬ 
ception  of  atoms,  foreshadowed  by  Newton,  and  more  clearly 
adumbrated  by  his  followers  Kiel,  Hartley,  Marzucchi  and  Higgins, 
was  first  definitely  stated  by  John  Dalton  during  the  first  decade 
of  this  century.  The  whole  course  of  modern  chemistry,  however 
complex  and  many-sided  it  may  seem,  is  really  one  vast  elabora¬ 
tion  of  the  Atomic  Theory.  As  Liebig  has  said  :  ‘  ‘  All  our  ideas 
are  so  interwoven  with  Dalton’s  theory  that  we  cannot  carry 
ourselves  back  to  the  times  in  which  that  theory  did  not  exist.  ” 
And  yet  this  fundamental  hypothesis,  as  understood  by  chemists, 
had  barely  come  of  age  when  the  Queen  came  to  the  throne ;  it 
was  not  much  older  at  the  time  than  she  herself.  The  illustrious 
philosopher  who  first  gave  precision  to  this  idea  was  still  living, 
but  stricken  down  at  the  time  by  the  paralytic  attack,  the 
beginning  of  the  brain  distintegration  which  seven  years  later 
ended  in  his  death.  Sir  Humphry  Davy — a  younger  man  than 
Dalton — the  pioneer  in  the  then  recently-discovered  field  of 
electro-chemistry,  and  which  to-day  is  yielding  such  splendid 
fruit,  had  been  dead  only  about  eight  years,  as  were  Wollaston 
and  Thomas  Young.  All  three,  in  fact,  died  at  about  the  same 
period,  and  all  from  affections  of  the  brain.  At  the  Royal 
Institution  he  who  has  been  styled  the  greatest  of  Davy’s  dis¬ 
coveries  reigned  in  Davy’s  stead.  Michael  Faraday  of  revered 
memory — blacksmith’s  son,  newspaper  boy,  bookbinder’s  appren¬ 
tice,  and  Fullerian  Professor  of  Chemistry — was  then  in  his  forty- 
fifth  year,  in  the  full  maturity  of  his  intellectual  power,  and  near 
the  meridian  of  his  scientific  glory.  All  his  more  important  work 
in  chemistry — his  discovery  of  benzene,  his  researches  on  the 
liquefaction  of  the  gases — had  been  accomplished,  and  he  was 
almost  wholly  engaged  upon  those  great  problems  of  electrical 
science  which  have  made  the  extraordinary  development  of  applied 
electricity,  as  we  see  it  to-day  in  electrolytic  decomposition,  in 
the  electric  light,  and  in  the  application  of  .electricity  as  a  source 
of  power,  alone  possible.  The  Queen,  in  fact,  may  be  said  to  have 
witnessed  the  birth  of  this  marvellous  application  of  natural  energy, 
to  have  lived  with  it  through  its  vigorous  youth,  and  to  have  seen 
the  promise  of  a  fruition  so  vast  that  no  man  can  set  bounds  to  it. 
Think  of  the  simple  experiments  out  of  which  has  grown  the 
mighty  machinery  of  modern  industrial  electricity  ?  Try  to 
realise  the  difference  between  Faraday’s  simple  home-made 
apparatus — his  small  copper  discs,  his  bits  of  soft  iron  wound  with 
wire  insulated  with  calico  and  twine — and  the  mighty  dynamos 
which  are  converting  the  energy  of  a  “harnessed”  Niagara  into 
heat  and  light  and  chemical  action,  and  supplying  power  to  a 
continent !  And  all  this  within  the  span  of  a  single  reign — within 
the  compass  of  a  couple  of  generations.  This  astonishing  move¬ 
ment  is  what  historians  will  ever  recognise  as  the  characteristic 
feature  of  the  Victorian  era.  It  has  wholly  changed  the  economic 
and  social  condition,  not  only  of  our  people,  but  of  every  country 
which  has  had  the  intelligence  and  the  wisdom  to  participate  in  it, 
or  the  sagacity  to  avail  itself  of  its  fruits.  It  has  reacted  not  only 
upon  industry,  but  on  every  department  of  intellectual  effort.  It 
has  changed,  although  hardly  with  a  commensurate  rapidity — for 
there  is  no  class  so  conservative  as  that  of  the  schoolmaster — the 

*  From  an  address  delivered  at  the  East  London  Technical  College,  People’s 
Palace,  on  the  occasion  of  the  distribution  of  science  certificates,  February  8, 
1§S>T.  With  additions, — Reprinted  from  Knowledge, 


face  of  our  educational  system.  To  judge  what  the  change  hag 
been,  let  us  try  to  realise  how  chemistry  was  taught  in  this  country 
in  1837.  As  a  part  of  school  education  it  was  practically  unknown, 
although  children  whose  parents  had  the  good  fortune  to  be 
influenced  by  the  teaching  of  such  far-sighted  men  as  Mr.  Edge- 
worth,  had  their  curiosity  stimulated  and  fed  by  occasional 
lectures  on  science.  As  regards  the  older  universities,  at  Oxford 
there  was  Dr.  Daubeny,  an  amiable  and  accomplished  gentleman, 
who  was  a  professor  of  botany  to  chemists  and  a  professor  of  che¬ 
mistry  to  botanists  ;  at  Cambridge  there  was  Professor  Camming, 
who  lectured  on  chemistry,  but  interested  himself  mainly  in  elec¬ 
tricity.  At  neither  place  was  there  anything  in  the  nature  of  a 
laboratory  which  the  student  could  attend.  If  the  enterprising 
undergraduate  desired  to  familiarise  himself  with  the  facts  of 
chemistry  by  practical  experiment,  or  sought  to  try  and  work  out 
an  idea  which  might  have  occurred  to  him,  he  had  to  pursue  his 
inquiries  in  his  own  rooms  and  with  such  apparatus  as  his  means 
or  his  opportunities  could  command,  to  the  imminent  risk  of  his 
furniture  and  to  the  dismay  and  disgust  of  his  bedmaker.  It  was 
under  such  conditions  that  the  late  Sir  John  Herschel  discovered 
the  solvent  action  of  silver  salts  unacted  upon  by  light  of  what  the 
photographers  know  as  “hypo”  (sodium  thiosulphate),  and  thereby 
made  photography  possible. 

In  Scotland,  Dr.  Hope — whose  name  carries  us  back  to  the  days 
of  phlogiston — still  enjoyed  at  Edinburgh  the  fame  as  a  lecturer 
which  he  shared  with  Davy  at  the  Royal  Institution  ;  but  no 
tuition  in  practical  chemistry,  as  a  part  of  university  training,  was 
ever  thought  of.  Matters  at  Glasgow  were  a  little  better,  and 
Thomas  Thomson  would  occasionally  extend  a  brusque  hospitality 
to  the  student  who  aspired  to  the  art  and  mystery  of  mineral 
analysis,  but  no  systematic  instruction  was  ever  attempted.  The 
youth  with  no  knowledge  of  manipulative  work,  and  with  scarcely 
an  acquaintance  with  the  forms  even  of  chemical  apparatus,  was 
regarded  as  a  sort  of  laborant,  and  might  be  set,  at  the  very 
outset,  to  struggle  with  a  zeolite,  or  to  grapple  with  an  atomic 
weight  determination,  as  best  he  might.  This  circumstance  prob¬ 
ably  serves  to  explain  the  character  of  much  of  the  analytical  work 
which  is  connected  with  Thomson’s  name,  and  which,  happily 
enough,  has  passed  into  oblivion. 

In  London  there  was  the  promise  of  better  things.  Thomas 
Graham — who  had  already  made  his  memorable  discovery  of  the 
law  of  gaseous  diffusion  whilst  Professor  of  Chemistiy  at  Ander¬ 
son’s  College  in  Glasgow,  where  he  had  established  a  school  of 
practical  chemistry,  and  where  he  had  as  students  the  late  James 
Young,  whose  name  is  linked  with  the  creation  of  the  Scotch 
paraffin  oil  industry,  and  the  present  Lord  Plaj  fair — had  followed 
Ure  and  Birkbeck  to  London,  and  had  been  elected  to  the  chair  of 
chemistry  at  University  College,  Gower  Street,  up  to  that  time 
known  as  the  University  of  London.  Here  as  successor  to  Edward 
Turner,  a  painstaking  and  even  brilliant  manipulator,  whose 
atomic  weight  work  rivals  that  of  Berzelius  in  point  of  conscien¬ 
tious  accuracy,  he  created  the  School  of  Chemistry  which,  aided 
by  Fownes  and  Williamson,  he  made  famous  throughout  Europe. 

But  it  may  be  doubted  whether  in  1837  there  were  more  than  a 
couple  of  dozen  persons  altogether  in  the  British  Isles  receiving 
systematic  instruction  in  practical  chemistry,  and  even  that  supply 
was  probably  fully  equal  to  the  demand.  There  was,  in  fact,  little 
to  tempt  men  to  take  up  the  study  or  practice  of  chemistry  as  a 
means  of  livelihood.  Professorships  or  teacherships  were  few  in 
number  and  poorly  paid  ;  analytical  chemistry,  as  a  profession, 
barely  existed,  although  the  “expert,”  pace  Ure,  was  not  alto¬ 
gether  unknown  ;  and  chemical  manufacturing  was,  for  the  most 
part,  in  the  hands  of  men  to  whom  chemistry  was  an  empirical  art. 
How  things  appeared  to  an  intelligent  and  keen  observer  is  well 
illustrated  by  one  of  Liebig’s  letters  to  Berzelius,  in  which  he 
recounts  his  impressions  of  England,  which  he  had  just  visited. 
Under  date  November  26,  1837,  Liebig  tells  the  Swedish  chemist 
that  he  had  been  some  months  in  England,  had  seen  a  vast  amount, 
and  learnt  little.  England,  he  says,  is  not  the  land  of  science;  her 
chemists  are  ashamed  to  call  themselves  chemists  because  the 
apothecaries  had  appropriated  the  name.  He  was  extraordinarily 
pleased  with  us  as  a  people  and  delighted  with  our  hospitality  and 
welcome,  but  as  regards  our  chemists — well,  Graham  was  the  only 
exception,  and  he  was  precious.  Liebig  evidently  considered  that 
Faraday  could  no  longer  be  reckoned  among  the  chemists. 

But  a  little  leaven  was  leavening  the  whole  lump,  and  that 
leaven  was  Liebig  himself.  Aided  by  the  far-sighted  munificence 
of  a  German  prince,  he  had  succeeded  in  establishing  the  little 
Giessen  laboratory,  and  thither  every  seeker  after  chemical  truth 


512 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[June  12,  1897 


and  every  aspirant  for  chemical  fame  bent  his  step3.  Among  these 
early  chemical  pilgrims  were  Lord  Playfair,  Sir  Henry  Gilbert, 
Professor  Williamson,  Dr.  Gladstone — all  happily  still  among  us. 
Others  might  be  named,  but  the  greater  number  have  now  passed 
away.  All  of  them,  whether  great  or  small,  brought  back  from 
Giessen  something  of  the  spirit  and  method  which  have  made  the 
little  laboratory  on  the  banks  of  the  Lahn  famous  in  the  history  of 
chemistry.  The  influence  of  Giessen  has  been  as  a  seed  which, 
falling  on  good  ground,  has  sprung  up  and  multiplied  an  hundred¬ 
fold.  That  influence  has  made  Germany  pre-eminent  in  the  world 
of  scientific  chemistry,  and  may  make  her  pre-eminent,  if  it  has 
not  already  done  so,  in  the  world  of  industrial  chemistry.  Luckily 
for  this  country,  Liebig’s  influence  has  reacted  also  upon  us.  It 
has  had  a  profound  effect  on  chemical  activity,  and  on  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  chemical  teaching  in  England.  One  of  its  first  results  was 
seen  in  the  founding,  in  1841,  of  the  Chemical  Society,  whose  duty 
and  privilege  it  is  to  foster  chemical  inquiry  and  promote  the 
spread  of  chemical  knowledge.  The  Society  now  numbers  upwards 
of  two  thousand  members.  How  it  is  achieving  its  purpose  may 
be  seen  in  the  activity  and  interest  of  its  meetings,  in  the  extent 
and  value  of  its  publications,  and  in  the  helpful  hand  it  extends 
to  the  investigator  by  the  prudent  administration  of  the  funds 
which  have  been  placed  at  its  disposal  by  the  munificence  of 
private  benefactors  and  public  bodies. 

Another  notable  result  of  Liebig’s  influence  on  chemistry  was 
seen  in  the  foundation,  in  1845,  of  the  Royal  College  of 
Chemistry,  of  which  Hofmann,  one  of  his  most  distinguished 
pupils,  was  invited  to  take  charge — thanks  largely  to  the  action  of 
the  late  Prince  Consort.  What  Hofmann,  fired  by  the  example  of 
Liebig  and  his  own  innate  enthusiasm,  did  for  chemistry  in 
England  may  be  seen  in  the  panegyric  of  Hofmann — the  joint 
work  of  Lord  Playfair,  Sir  Frederick  Abel,  Dr.  Perkin,  and 
Professor  Armstrong,  which  appeared  some  little  time  ago  in  the 
Journal  of  the  Chemical  Society.  There  is  no  more  inspiriting  or 
instructive  chapter  in  the  history  of  chemistry  in  this  country 
than  that  which  records  the  work  of  the  Royal  College  of 
Chemistry,  and  traces  its  influence  on  the  development  of  pure 
and  applied  science.  Although  Hofmann  unfortunately  left  us, 
his  spirit  and  example  still  remain  and  actuate  us.  This  spirit 
has  been  carried  into  a  hundred  places  of  chemical  instruction  and 
research  in  these  islands.  Let  us  pray  that  it  may  continue  and 
increase,  for  it  is  on  its  continuance  and  growth  that  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  chemical  science  and  chemical  industry  depends  ;  and  in 
so  far  as  our  national  prosperity  is  connected  with  the  chemical 
arts  our  national  prosperity  depends  on  it  also. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  nowadays  to  show  how  closely  the  well¬ 
being  of  a  community  is  connected  with  the  chemical  arts. 
Chemistry  and  its  applications  concern  us  at  every  turn,  for  there 
is  scarcely  a  single  industrial  operation  which  could  be  named  with 
which  this  science  has  not  some  relations,  either  proximately  or 
remotely.  There  is  a  noble  passage  in  one  of  Sir  Humphry  Davy’s 
earlier  lectures  which  well  illustrates  this  point.  The  lesson  has 
been  frequently  urged  upon  us,  but  never  more  forcibly  than  by 
Davy  at  the  very  beginning  of  this  century.  It  is  not  often  that 
the  theatre  of  the  Royal  Institution  resounds  with  more  eloquent 
sentences  than  these  : — 

“The  progression  of  physical  science  is  much  more  connected 
with  your  prosperity  than  is  usually  imagined.  You  owe  to 
experimental  philosophy  some  of  the  most  important  and  peculiar 
of  your  advantages.  It  is  not  by  foreign  conquests  chiefly  that 
you  are  become  great,  but  by  a  conquest  of  nature  in  your  own 
country.  It  is  not  so  much  by  colonisation  that  you  have  attained 
your  pre-eminence  or  wealth  as  by  the  cultivation  of  the  riches  of 
your  own  soil.  .  .  . 

“  In  every  part  of  the  world  manufactures  made  from  the  mere 
clay  and  pebbles  of  your  soil  may  be  found  ;  and  to  what  is  this 
owing?  To  chemical  arts  and  experiments.  You  have  excelled 
all  other  people  in  the  products  of  industry.  But  why  ?  Because 
you  have  assisted  industry  by  science.  Do  not  regard  as  indifferent 
what  is  your  true  and  greatest  glory.  Except  in  these  respects, 
and  in  the  light  of  a  pure  system  of  faith,  in  what  are  you 
superior  to  Athens  or  to  Rome  ?  Do  you  carry  away  from  them 
the  palm  in  liteiature  and  the  fine  arts  ?  Do  you  not  rather  glory — 
and  justly  too — in  being  in  these  respects  their  imitators  ?  Is  it 
not  demonstrated  by  the  nature  of  your  system  of  public  educa¬ 
tion  and  by  your  popular  amusements  ?  In  what,  then,  are  you 
their  superiors  ?  In  everything  connected  with  physical  science— 
with  the  experimental  arts.  These  are  your  characteristics.  Do 
not  neglect  them.  You  have  a  Newton,  who  is  the  glory,  not  only 


of  your  own  country,  but  of  the  human  race.  You  have  a  Bacon, 
whose  precepts  may  still  be  attended  to  with  advantage.  Shall 
Englishmen  slumber  in  that  path  which  these  great  men  have 
opened,  and  be  overtaken  by  their  neighbours  ?  Say,  rather,  that 
all  assistance  shall  be  given  to  their  efforts  ;  that  they  shall  be 
attended  to,  encouraged,  and  supported.” 

These  words  were  spoken  in  1809,  and  during  all  the  turmoil 
and  political  disquietude  that  marked  the  opening  years  of  the 
century.  However  willing  and  receptive  the  ears,  tne  time  was 
inopportune.  The  minds  of  the  auditors  might  be  convinced,  but 
their  energies  were  preoccupied  with  the  arts  of  war  rather  than 
with  those  of  industry  and  peace.  A  generation  later,  and  when 
Europe  had  settled  down  after  the  fall  of  Napoleon,  Davy’s 
teaching  began  to  bear  fruit.  We  have  seen  how  far  it  had 
matured  at  the  time  of  the  Queen’s  accession,  and  in  the  years 
immediately  subsequent  to  it :  how  far  has  it  been  attended  to  and 
supported  since  ? 

As  regards  chemical  education  the  difference  is  enormous. 
There  is  not  an  important  town  in  the  kingdom  in  which  chemistry 
is  not  taught,  and,  on  the  whole,  well  taught.  Almost  every 
manufacturing  town  in  the  country  can  show  a  public  chemical 
laboratory  far  better  equipped  with  appliances  for  teaching,  and 
even  research,  than  were  the  most  famous  laboratories  of  sixty 
years  ago.  In  the  matter  of  the  introduction  of  the  teaching  of 
physical  science  into  our  schools,  the  force  of  public  opinion  is 
gradually  making  itself  felt,  although  the  head  master,  as  a  rule, 
hardly  yet  realises  the  full  significance  of  Faraday’s  weighty  words 
when  he  said  :  “I  do  think  that  the  study  of  natural  science  is  so 
glorious  a  school  for  the  mind  that,  with  the  laws  impressed  on  all 
created  things  by  the  Creator,  and  the  wonderful  unity  and 
stability  of  matter  and  the  forces  of  matter,  there  cannot  be  a 
better  school  for  the  education  of  the  mind.” 

Things,  however,  have  improved  since  the  time  that  Faraday 
told  the  Public  School  Commissioners  that  the  fact  that  the 
natural  knowledge  which  had  been  given  to  the  world  in  such 
abundance  was  untouched,  and  that  no  sufficient  attempt  was 
being  made  to  convey  it  to  the  young  mind,  growing  up  and 
obtaining  its  first  views  of  these  things,  was  to  him  a  matter  so 
strange  that  he  found  it  difficult  to  understand.  The  opposition 
which  Faraday  felt  was  so  difficult  to  overcome,  but  which,  he 
added,  he  had  not  the  least  doubt  in  the  world  ought  to  be  over¬ 
come,  has  been  to  some  extent  relaxed,  and,  in  the  curt  but 
characteristic  language  of  the  forms,  “stinks”  are  at  least 
tolerated,  even  if  they  are  not  encouraged,  in  the  curricula  of  most 
public  schools.  It  is,  however,  in  the  newer  provincial  colleges 
that  the  teaching  of  chemistry  has  received  its  greatest  develop¬ 
ment.  Owens  College,  Manchester,  founded  more  than  forty  years 
ago,  has  become,  mainly  by  the  influence  and  organising  power  of 
Sir  Henry  Roscoe,  and  of  his  successors,  Profs.  Dixon  and  Perkin, 
one  of  the  foremost  schools  of  chemistry  in  the  country.  The 
great  success  of  Owens  College  has  stimulated  almost  every  large 
town  to  provide  itself  with  an  institution  of  similar  character,  and 
colleges  of  university  type,  all  of  them  with  well-equipped 
chemical  laboratories,  are  now  to  be  found  in  Liverpool,  Leeds, 
Newcastle,  Nottingham,  Sheffield,  Birmingham,  Bristol,  Cardiff, 
Aberystwith,  Bangor,  and  Dundee.  Institutions  of  a  less 
ambitious  type,  although  provided  for  the  most  part  with  good 
accommodation  for  instruction  in  practical  chemistry,  are  met 
with,  amongst  other  places,  at  Bradford,  Huddersfield,  Preston, 
Oldham,  Chester,  Newcastle-under-Lyme,  Portsmouth,  Southamp¬ 
ton,  Camborne,  Edinburgh,  and  Glasgow.  All  the  older 
universities  have  followed  suit.  The  university  laboratory  at 
Cambridge  is  one  of  the  best  arranged  in  the  kingdom ;  Edinburgh 
is  also  admirably  provided  with  the  means  of  pursuing  research 
in  the  higher  branches  of  the  science,  as  are  the  recently 
opened  laboratories  of  St.  Andrew’s  and  Aberdeen.  With  the 
exception  of  University  and  King’s  Colleges,  and  the  Royal  College 
of  Science  (into  which  has  been  merged  the  chemical  teaching  of 
the  Royal  College  of  Chemistry  and  of  the  Royal  School  of  Mines 
in  Jermyn  Street),  all  the  more  important  schools  of  chemistry  in 
London  are  comparatively  modern.  The  City  and  Guilds  Institute 
in  South  Kensington,  built  in  1883,  and  the  associated  Institute  in 
Finsbury,  erected  a  short  time  previously,  owe  their  origin  to  the 
action  of  the  City  companies,  who  have  been  instrumental  also  in 
founding  or  in  assisting  a  number  of  the  Polytechnics  scattered 
round  London,  such  as  the  Goldsmiths’  Institute  at  New  Cross,  the  • 
Battersea  Polytechnic,  and  the  East  London  Technical  College, 
which  has  its  home  in  the  People’s  Palace.  A  great  number  of  the 
Polytechnics  and  minor  colleges  above  named  are  dependent  upon 


June  12, 1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL, 


Jm 


513 


aid  from  the  Department  of  Science  and  Art,  or  are  supported  by 
funds  at  the  disposal  of  County  Councils.  Indeed,  the  liberation 
of  the  “  beer  ”  money,  and  its  very  general  application  to  so-called 
technical  education,  has  had  a  very  marked  effect  in  diffusing  a 
knowledge  of  the  elementary  principles  of  science.  Whether  the 
money  is  in  all  cases  spent  to  the  best  advantage  may  be  open  to 
question.  There  is,  indeed,  little  doubt  that  more  real  good  might 
be  accomplished  by  a  better  method  of  allocating  the  amount,  as, 
for  example,  by  some  system  of  co-ordinating  County  Councils 
within  specified  areas,  with  a  view  of  subsidising  secondary  schools 
and  the  colleges  of  university  type  situated  within  the  area.  This, 
however,  as  a  part  of  the  general  question  of  what  is  the  best 
method  of  dealing  with  secondary  education  in  this  country,  is  too 
complex  a  matter  to  be  dealt  with  now.  It  is  pretty  plain  that 
before  many  more  years  have  passed  a  Parliamentary  inquiry  will 
be  demanded  on  the  working  of  the  present  method  of  allowing 
each  County  Council  to  do  practically  what  it  likes  with  what  it 
imagines  to  be  its  own. 

No  record  of  the  educational  work  in  science  of  the  last  sixty 
years  would  be  complete  without  some  reference  to  South  Ken¬ 
sington.  The  system  and  its  results  have  been,  at  times,  the  sub¬ 
ject  of  much  hostile,  and,  it  must  be  added,  not  very  well-informed 
or  altogether  impartial  criticism.  But  I  venture  to  think  that  any 
dispassionate  and  unprejudiced  inquirer  who  will  take  the  trouble 
to  make  himself  master  of  the  subject,  will  be  constrained  to  allow 
that  the  Department  has  done  great  and  permanent  service  to  the 
cause  of  scientific  education  in  this  country.  The  general  standard 
of  scientific  knowledge  has  been  enormously  increased  by  the 
hundreds  of  science  classes  created  by  its  agency,  and  which  other¬ 
wise  would  have  been  non-existent.  How  far  it  will  be  allowed  to 
continue  on  its  present  footing  remains  to  be  seen.  It  is,  however, 
certain  that  the  science  teaching  which  it  has  called  into  existence, 
and  which  it  has  fostered  and  encouraged,  is  too  much  an  integral 
and  essential  part  of  our  educational  system  to  be  abolished,  what¬ 
ever  may  be  the  machinery  of  State  by  which  it  is  to  be  directed 
and  controlled  in  future. 

What  Englishmen  of  science  have  done  in  the  way  of  chemical 
inquiry  and  discovery  during  the  Victorian  era,  the  pages  of  the 
Philosophical  Transactions  and  of  the  Journal  of  the  Chemical  Society 
abundantly  indicate.  The  names  of  Faraday,  Graham,  William¬ 
son,  Hofmann,  Frankland,  Miller,  Schunck,  Stenhouse,  Brodie, 
Andrews,  Gladstone,  Crookes,  Perkin,  De  la  Rue,  Muller,  Roscoe, 
Schorlemmer,  Rayleigh,  Ramsay,  Dewar,  are  associated  with 
experimental  investigations  which  mark  points  of  departure  in  the 
history  of  chemical  progress  during  the  last  sixty  years.  These 
investigations  range  over  every  department  of  chemical  inquiry, 
from  the  isolation  of  new  elements — the  preparation  of  new  com¬ 
pounds  of  great  theoretic  and  industrial  importance — to  the 
discovery  of  new  generalisations,  and  the  recognition  of  important 
physico-chemical  laws. 

As  regards  originality  in  the  application  of  chemistry  to  practice, 
our  record  is  hardly  less  brilliant,  although  in  too  many  cases  it 
has  been  given  to  other  nations — and  in  particular  to  Germany — 
to  gather  the  fruit  which  ought  to  have  been  ours.  It  is  interesting 
to  note  that  the  ammonia-soda  process  was  patented  by  Dyar  and 
Hemming  in  the  first  years  of  the  Queen’s  reign,  and  was  worked 
by  the  Muspratts  as  early  as  1839  ;  but  it  was  left  to  two  Belgian 
engineers  to  secure  for  this  method  of  manufacturing  alkali  the 

freat  commercial  success  which  it  now  enjoys.  The  discovery  of 
enzene  by  Faraday  was  the  first  step  in  the  history  of  the  coal-tar 
colour  manufacture ;  the  second  step  was  taken  by  Mansfield,  at 
the  sacrifice  of  his  life,  in  working  out  the  industrial  isolation  of 
the  hydrocarbon ;  whilst  the  third  was  due  to  Perkin,  when,  by 
the  discovery  of  mauve,  he  revealed  the  enormous  wealth  of 
colouring  matter  which  was  latent  in  coal-tar.  In  spite  of  the 
labours  and  example  of  Medlock  and  of  Nicholson,  the  importance 
of  this  great  branch  of  industrial  chemistry  was  not  recognised  by 
manufacturing  chemists  in  this  country,  and  its  present  extra¬ 
ordinary  development  is  due  to  Germany,  which  has  spent  upon  it 
some  of  the  ablest  chemical  talent  it  possesses.  It  is  rather  by  the 
development  and  extension  of  well-established  processes,  depending 
on  comparatively  simple  chemical  principles,  that  our  progress  in 
the  chemical  arts  is  to  be  measured ;  for  our  staple  chemical 
industries  remain  very  much  what  they  were  at  the  beginning  of 
the  Queen’s  reign.  The  industrial  chemistry  of  chlorine  may  be 
said  to  have  been  worked  out  by  Englishmen,  and  the  names  of 
Gossage,  Weldon,  and  Deacon  are  pre-eminently  associated  with 
the  growth  of  this  branch  of  chemical  manufacture.  The  Mus¬ 
pratts  manufactured  Liebig’s  patent  manure  in  1843,  and  this 


marks  the  beginning  of  the  large  trade  in  chemical  fertilisers, 
which  has  been  entirely  developed  during  the  Queen’s  reign. 
Perhaps  the  best  measure  of  the  progress  of  applied  chemistry  in 
this  kingdom  during  the  past  sixty  years  may  be  gathered  from 
the  difference  in  the  amounts  of  oil  of  vitriol  manufactured  in  1837 
and  at  the  present  time.  The  great  value  of  sulphuric  acid  as  an 
index  of  the  prosperity  of  the  chemical  arts  arises  from  the  circum¬ 
stance  that  there  is  no  other  single  chemical  product  that  is  so 
largely  concerned  in  the  manufacture,  directly  or  indirectly,  of 
other  chemical  substances.  To-day  sulphuric  acid  is  manufactured 
with  an  almost  quantitative  precision,  thanks  very  largely  to  the 
introduction  of  the  Glover  tower,  which  it  is  not  too  much  to  say 
effected  a  revolution  in  this  great  industry. 

What  the  future  has  in  store  for  us  remains  to  be  seen.  The 
more  general  introduction  of  electrical  processes  into  chemical 
manufacturing  is  bound  to  effect  great  changes.  The  application 
of  electrical  energy  has  completely  altered  the  aspect  of  the 
metallurgy  of  aluminum,  copper,  and  the  alkali  metals,  and  it 
now  threatens  the  supremacy  of  the  established  methods  of  manu¬ 
facturing  alkali  and  chlorine. 

So  far  as  can  be  seen,  there  is  no  immediate  hope  that  this 
country  will  be  able  to  compete  with  Germany  in  the  manufacture 
of  those  products  which  are  the  direct  outcome  of  the  application 
of  the  higher  and  more  recondite  branches  of  chemical  science  to 
industry,  nor  will  there  be  even  the  prospective  hope  until  our 
manufacturers,  as  a  body,  bring  the  spirit  of  science  into  their 
work,  and  show  a  greater  receptivity  and  a  more  widespread 
desire  to  turn  the  ever-growing  development  of  the  science  to 
practical  account. 


NOTES  AND  FORMULA. 


( Specially  abstracted  for  the  Pharniaceidical  J ournal. ) 


Improved  Linimentum  Calamin*e. 


Calamine,  pure  ...... 

Oxide  of  Zinc . 

Lime  Water . 

Oil  of  Sweet  Almonds 


.  20  grains. 

.  15  grains. 

.  \  ounce. 

to  make  1  fl.  oz. 


■ — Skinner  in  Brit.  Journ.  Derm.,  lxii.,  97- 


Extemporaneous  Preparation  of  Chlorine  Water. 

The  following  method  is  recommended  by  Griggl  for  the  extern* 
poraneous  preparation  of  chlorine  water  in  the  cold.  The  reagents 
are  oxalic  acid,  1*8;  lead  peroxide,  2-39;  and  calcium  chloride, 
249 ;  with  water,  200.  Insoluble  calcium  and  lead  oxalates  result, 
while  the  filtrate  is  practically  saturated  with  chlorine  : — 
2(C.2H2042H20)  Pb08  (CaCl26H20) 

1-80  +  2-39  +  2-19 

CaC204  +  PbC204  +  12H20  +  Cl2. 

— Pliarm.  Era,  xvii.,  512  (after  Bollet.  Farmaceut.  Chirn.). 


Ointment  of  Starch  Iodide. 


Oefele  employs  the  following  formula  to  prepare  an  antiseptic 
ointment  of  starch  iodide  :■ — 


Starch  Iodide . 

Lanolin  . 

Fresh  White  of  One  Egg. 
Boiled  Yolk  of  One  Egg. 


} 


Of  each  5  grammes. 


Mix  intimately  to  make  an  ointment.  — Bull.  de  la  Soc.  de  Pharttu 
Debrux.,  xli.,  120. 


Preserving  Tomatoes. 

Take  the  best,  firmest,  and  not  over-ripe  fruits,  scald  and  skin 
carefully,  take  the  stem  out  with  a  penknife,  being  careful  not  to 
cut  the  tomato  and  let  the  juice  out ;  place  in  a  jar,  some  with  the 
stem  and  some  with  the  flower  end  next  to  the  glass.  Cook  some 
juice,  adding  a  little  salt,  and  pour  over  the  whole  tomatoes  until 
the  jar  is  nearly  full.  Place  the  jars  in  a  common  fish-boiler  of 
oblong  shape,  with  a  cloth  at  the  bottom  to  protect  them  from  the 
heat  of  the.  fire,  which  is  liable  to  crack  them.  Fill  the  boiler 
with  cold  water  and  bring  to  nearly  boiling  point,  or  sufficient^  to 
heat  the  tomatoes  clear  through,  and  seal  the  jars.  In  about  five 
minutes  take  off  the  jar  cover  to  let  gas  out  and  allow  the  tomatoes 
to  settle  ;  then  fill  up  with  boiled  juice  and  seal  again.  Next  day 
screw  the  tops  tight  and  put  away  in  a  dark,  cool  place.— Agricult, 
Journ.,  x.,  320. 


514 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[JiTNE  12,  1897 


THE  STUDENTS’  PAGE. 


EXPLANATORY  NOTES  ON  THE  PHARMACOPOEIA. 

Fel  Bovinum  Purificatum. — Treatment  with  alcohol  precipi¬ 
tates  chiefly  mucin,  and  the  filtrate  contains  the  bile  salts  (glyco- 
cholate  and  taurocholate  of  sodium),  lecithin  (a  complex  fat),  and 
cholesterin  (a  monatomic  alcohol).  The  absence  of  precipitate  on 
the  addition  of  rectified  spirit  to  its  watery  solution  shows  that 
the  purification  with  alcohol  has  been  properly  carried  out. 

Ferbi  Carbon  as  Saccharata. — Ferrous  carbonate,  like  other 
ferrous  salts,  is  readily  oxidised  by  exposure  to  air,  especially  in 
presence  of  water.  The  directions  for  preparing  this  compound  are 
intended  to  diminish,  as  far  as  possible,  the  extent  of  this  oxidation, 
so  as  to  obtain  as  much  as  possible  unoxidised  ferrous  carbonate  in 
the  finished  product.  Ammonium  carbonate  is  used  in  preference 
to  the  cheaper  carbonates  of  potassium  or  sodium.  If  either  of  the 
latter  be  used,  the  precipitated  ferrous  carbonate  carries  down  some 
alkaline  salt  with  it,  and  this  cannot  be  easily  removed  by  simply 
washing.  When  ammonium  carbonate  is  used,  the  iron  pre¬ 
cipitate  is  readily  washed  free  from  ammonium  salt.  Note  that 
the  precipitate  is  washed  by  decantation,  to  avoid  exposure  to  air 
on  a  filter.  Boiling  water  obviously  washes  out  soluble  salts 
more  thoroughly  than  cold ;  boiling,  also,  would  have  expelled 
any  oxygen  dissolved  in  the  water.  Note  that  the  sugar 
is  mixed  with  the  moist  precipitate.  The  addition  of 
the  sugar  retards  to  a  large  extent  the  oxidation  which  would 
occur  if  the  carbonate  be  dried  alone.  The  finished  product 
slowly  oxidises  when  kept,  and  the  oxidation  is  attended  with  a 
change  of  colour  from  grey-green  to  brown.  The  test  with 
barium  chloride  shows  the  absence  of  more  than  traces  of 
ammonium  sulphate.  To  remove  these  last  traces  prolonged 
washing  would  be  necessary,  and  this  is  undesirable  on  account 
of  the  opportunity  for  oxidation  it  would  afford.  In  the  quanti¬ 
tative  determination  of  ferrous  salt  by  vol.  sol.  of  potassium 
bichromate,  the  insoluble  carbonate  is  dissolved  by  means  of  phos¬ 
phoric  acid.  Hydrochloric  or  sulphuric  acid  produce  invert  sugar 
from  cane  sugar  more  easily  than  phosphoric  acid,  and  invert  sugar  is 
attacked  by  chromic  acid  (produced  on  the  addition  of  bichromate 
solution  to  a  solution  containing  free  acid).  The  presence  of  any 
substance  having  a  reducing  action  on  the  bichromate  would 
introduce  an  error  into  the  process,  since  all  the  volumetric  solution 
added  would  not  be  used  up  in  the  reaction  upon  which  the  cal¬ 
culation  is  based,  viz. ,  the  conversion  of  ferrous  into  ferric  salt. 

Ferri  et  Ammonii  Citras. — The  “scale”  compounds  of  iron 
possess  a  special  value  in  medicine,  since  they  are  less  astringent 
than  the  ordinary  salts  of  iron  and  afford  also  a  means  of  giving  iron 
in  neutral  or  alkaline  solution.  The  behaviour  of  iron  and  the  other 
metals  of  the  same  group  towards  certain  organic  acids  (and  other 
organic  bodies  containing  hydroxyl  groups,  e.g. ,  sugar  and  glycerin) 
has  an  important  bearing  upon  practfcal  analysis,  because  in 
presence  of  these  substances  the  hydrates  are  not  precipitated 
on  the  addition  of  ammonia,  soluble  double  compounds  being 
produced.  Hence  the  necessity  in  qualitative  analysis  for  precipi¬ 
tating  the  iron  as  sulphide  with  ammonium  sulphide,  unless  the 
absence  of  these  organic  substances  has  been  determined.  Note 
that  in  preparing  the  ferric  hydrate  the  persulphate  solution  is 
poured  into  the  excess  of  ammonia.  If  the  order  be  reversed  some 
oxysulphate  of  iron  is  carried  down  with  the  ferric  hydrate,  and 
interferes  with  the  brilliancy  of  the  scales.  In  the  tests,  after 
treatment  with  potash  solution  the  filtrate  should  contain 
nothing  but  potassium  citrate,  with  excess  of  potassium  hydrate, 
the  ammonia  having  been  expelled  and  the  iron  precipitated 
as  hydrate.  Formation  of  a  crystalline  deposit  in  this  filtrate, 
when  it  is  acidified  with  acetic  acid,  would  indicate  substitution  of 
(the  usually  cheaper)  tartaric  acid  for  citric  acid  in  manufacture. 
Treatment  with  potash  would  then  result  in  the  filtrate  containing 
potassium  tartrate,  and  on  the  addition  of  excess  of  acetic  acid  the 
sparingly  soluble  acid  tartrate  (cream  of  tartar)  is  precipitated — 
kah4o6+hc2h3o2  _  KHC4H406+K02H302. 

The  absence  of  alkalinity  in  the  ash  shows  the  absence  of  potas¬ 
sium  compounds,  since  organic  salts  of  this  metal  leave  an  alkaline 
residue  of  carbonate  of  potassium,  while  ammonium  salts  are 
entirely  volatilised.  Compare  both  these  tests  with  similar  ones 
given  under  ferrum  tartaratum. 

Ferri  Peroxidum  Hydratum. — Ferric  hydrate,  Fe26(OH),  is 
precipitated  on  the  addition  of  solution  of  ferric  sulphate  to  sodium 
hydrate.  The  washed  precipitate  loses  water  when  dried  at 
100°  C.,  forming  a  compound  intermediate  between  the  oxide, 


Fe.203,  and  the  hydrate.  This  hydrated  oxide  gives  up  more  water 
when  heated  to  redness ;  the  oxide  which  is  left  is  difficultly  soluble 
in  acids,  and  is  not  suitable  for  medicinal  purposes.  The  evolution 
of  about  10  per  cent,  of  moisture  on  ignition,  required  by  the  B.P. 
test,  corresponds  to  the  formula  Fe202(0H)2. 

Fe202(0H)2  =  Fe„0,  +  H,0. 

Fe202(0H)2(M.  Wt.,  178)  loses  H20(M.  Wt.,  18). 

178  :  18  :  :  100  :  10T 


(NH4)3HP04 
MgS04 
NH4HO . 

Arseniate  of  iron  gives  a 


M 

>4 

oj 


Ferri  Phosphas. — In  the  official  test  precipitation  by  both  ferro- 
and  ferri-cyanide  of  potassium  shows  the  presence  of  both  ferric 
and  ferrous  phosphate.  Addition  of  tartaric  acid  before  excess  of 
ammonia  is  to  prevent  the  reprecipitation  of  iron  by  the  latter 
when  the  acid  solution  is  made  alkaline,  a  soluble  ‘  *  scale-com¬ 
pound”  being  formed.  The  crystalline  precipitate  produced 
by  the  addition  of  ammonio-sulphate  of  magnesium  is  the 
characteristic  ammonio-magnesium  phosphate,  which  is  soluble 
in  acids,  and  hence  must  be  precipitated  in  a  neutral  solu¬ 
tion,  or  better  still,  in  presence  of  excess  of  ammonia,  in 
which  it  is  even  less  soluble  than  in  plain  water.  The  alkaline 
liquid  contains  ammonio-tartrate  of  iron,  ammonium  chloride,  and 
ammonium  phosphate. 

(  Mg(NH4)P04 

=  4  (NH4)2so4 

l  H2° 

similar  precipitate  of  ammonio- 
magnesium  arseniate,  MgNH4As04  (note  analogy  of  arsenic  and 
phosphoric  acids  and  cf.  also  molybdate  test  for  these  two  acids). 
The  copper  foil  test,  in  acid  solution,  distinguishes  the  two, 
since  the  arseniate  is  reduced  and  deposits  a  dark  film  of  arsenic 
on  the  copper,  while  the  phosphate  is  unaffected. 

Ferrum  Redactum. — Ferric  oxide  at  a  red  heat  is  reduced  by 
hydrogen  to  the  metallic  state  with  formation  of  water, 

Fe?03  +  3H2  =  2Fe  +  3H20. 

Note  that  this  is  a  good  example  of  a  reversible  chemical  reaction, 
since  steam  passed  over  heated  iron  forms  oxide  of  iron  and  water. 
If  ferric  oxide  be  heated  in  a  closed  tube  containing  hydrogen  the 
reaction  shown  by  the  equation  above  proceeds  to  a  limited 
extent  and  then  stops,  a  condition  of  equilibrium  being 
attained  owing  to  the  retention  of  the  water  vapour 
and  the  consequent  reversal  of  the  first  reaction.  The  extent  to 
which  the  first  reaction  proceeds  is  chiefly  conditioned  by  the 
relative  amount  of  oxide  and  hydrogen  present.  But  in  the  pro¬ 
cess  described  in  the  Pharmacopoeia  a  current  of  dry  hydrogen  is 
passed  continually  over  the  oxide  ;  the  water  formed  is  thus  swept 
out  of  the  tube  by  the  excess  of  hydrogen  and  the  reduction  of  the 
oxide  proceeds.  On  the  other  hand,  if  steam  be  passed  Over  heated 
iron,  the  hydrogen  liberated  by  the  oxidation  of  the  metal  is  carried 
away  by  the  excess  of  steam,  and  the  oxidation  of  the  iron  pro¬ 
ceeds  continuously.  The  ferric  oxide  is  directed  to  be  obtained 
from  the  perchloride,  not  the  persulphate,  although  the  latter  is 
the  more  economical  way.  The  explanation  for  this  is  found  in 
the  tendency  of  ferric  hydrate  when  precipitated  from  the  sulphate 
to  carry  down  and  obstinately  retain  a  small  quantity  of  sulphate. 
During  the  subsequent  ignition  in  hydrogen  the  sulphate  is  reduced 
to  sulphide.  When  reduced  iron  containing  sulphide  of  iron  is 
administered,  the  hydrochloric  acid  in  the  gastric  juice  dissolves 
the  latter  and  sulphuretted  hydrogen  is  evolved,  imparting  to  the 
breath  of  the  patient  its  well-known  objectionable  odour — • 

FeS  +  2HC1  =  FeCl2  +  H2S. 

The  quantitative  test  with  iodine  is  not  satisfactory.  Iodine 
attacks  the  metallic  iron  forming  soluble  ferrous  iodide, 
while  any  oxide  present  is  left  undissolved,  and  may 
be  separated  by  filtration,  washed,  and  weighed.  During  the 
digestion,  however,  some  of  the  ferrous  iodide  is  oxidised  to  an 
insoluble  ferric  oxy-iodide,  which  is  consequently  precipitated  and 
weighed  with  the  oxide.  The  process  therefore  yields  a  larger 
insoluble  residue  than  corresponds  to  the  amount  of  oxide  actually 
present.  Another  process  is  to  heat  the  reduced  iron  with  excess 
of  copper  sulphate  solution.  The  oxide  is  not  affected,  as  in  the 
previous  process,  while  the  metallic  iron  goes  into  solution  as 
ferrous  sulphate,  an  equivalent  quantity  of  metallic  copper 
being  precipitated : —  CuS04  +  Fe  =  FeS04  +  Cu. 
The  filtrate  containing  ferrous  sulphate  (with  excess  of  copper 
sulphate,  which  does  not  interfere)  is  then  acidulated  and  titrated 
with  volumetric  solution  of  potassium  permanganate,  from  which 
one  can  calculate  the  amount  of  ferrous  sulphate  in  the  filtrate, 
and  consequently  of  metallic  iron  obtained  from  the  reduced  iron 
taken  (vide  Pharmaceutical  Journal  June  21,  1890,  p.  1053). 


June  12, 1897J 


Pharmaceutical  journal. 


515 


Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


A  Weekly  Record  of  Pharmacy  and  Allied  Sciences. 


ESTABLISHED  1841. 


Editorial  Office:  17,  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.C. 
Publishing  a^d  Advertising  Office :  5,  SERLE  STREET,  W.C. 


LONDON  :  SATURDAY,  JUNE  12,  1897. 


THE  POSITION  OF  PHARMACISTS  IN  THE 
SOCIAL  SCALE. 

The  fact  that  the  writer  of  an  article  in  a  London  daily 
paper,  in  discussing  the  encroachment  of  drapers  upon  other 
trades,  incidentally  classes  chemists  with  toy  merchants  and 
stationers,  counts  for  little  in  itself  perhaps,  hut  it  re  directs  at¬ 
tention  to  the  delicate  problem  of  the  social  status  of  pharma¬ 
cists.  It  is  well  known  that  none  of  the  petty  vanities  which 
afflict  mankind  are  more  far-reaching  in  their  influence  than 
that  which  instigates  them  to  have  their  position  in  the  social 
scale  strictly  defined  and  if  possible  over-estimated,  and 
though  the  passage  of  a  few  brief  years  reduces  everyone  to 
the  same  uniform  level,  the  matter  of  precedence  during  life 
is  apt  to  assume  an  artificial  importance  which  is  quite 
disproportionate  to  the  advantages  likely  to  accrue.  Never¬ 
theless,  in  numerous  instances  peace  of  mind  and  accompany¬ 
ing  bodily  comfort  are  ruthlessly  sacrificed  if,  by  the 
expenditure  of  badly-spared  energy  or  a  little  judicious 
string  pulling,  the  individual  can  secure  recognition  as 
belonging  to  a  “caste”  of  assumed  superiority  to  that  with 
which  he  has  been  wont  to  be  associated.  The  instinct  of 
self-preservation  may  be  at  the  root  of  this  tendency ;  for,  to 
a  certain  extent,  there  is  little  doubt  that  worldly  advan¬ 
tages  do  flow  in  greater  proportion  in  the  direction  of  those 
who  occupy  positions  above  the  social  zero,  and  the  higher 
those  positions  can  be  made  to  appear  the  more  satisfactory, 
probably,  will  be  the  result  attained  from  a  material  point 
of  view.  Though  whether  the  game  is  worth  the  candle 
is  quite  another  matter. 

But,  however  this  may  be,  it  is  necessary  that  persons 
who  appreciate  class  and  its  privileges  should  set  out  with 
the  axiom  in  view,  that  the  estimation  in  which  an 
individual  is  held  by  his  fellows  is  greatly  influenced 
by  the  estimate  he  puts  upon  himself.  This  has  repeatedly 
been  proved  to  be  true,  and  to  a  degree  that  is  fully  ap¬ 
preciated  only  by  the  few  wfflo  skilfully  turn  it  to  their  own 
personal  profit.  The  man  who  makes  himself  cheap  will 
be  estimated  accordingly  by  those  with  whom  he  comes 
in  contact,  whilst  he  who  puts  an  exaggerated  value 
upon  his  own  position  and  capabilities  is  more  likely  to 
secure  a  higher  level  in  the  opinion  of  others  than  would 
be  the  case  were  ho  recognised  simply  for  w'hat  he  is.  The 
modest  man,  of  course,  suffers  in  comparison  with  pushing 
individuals  possessing  much  inferior  personality,  for  dread 
of  the  mental  unrest  that  would  afflict  him  if  ho  thought  he 
were  reaping  advantage  under  false  pretences  acts  as  an  effectual 
deterrent  to  lofty  self-appreciation  in  his  case.  Taking  one 


thing  with  another,  however,  the  advantages  and  dis- 
advantages  of  his  particular  line  of  conduct  probably  balance 
so  far  as  he  is  concerned.  It  may  be  that  he  will  be  least 
likely,  for  example,  to  forget  that  pharmacists,  like  medical 
men,  follow  a  calling  which  partakes  of  the  nature  of  a  pro^ 
fession  as  well  as  of  a  trade,  and  that  his  business,  if 
rightly  conducted,  should  not  show  its  commercial  side  most 
prominently. 

To  return  to  our  text,  the  pharmacist’s  position  in  the 
social  scale  must  of  necessity  depend  to  a  very  great  extent 
upon  himself.  If  he  is  classed  with  toy  merchants,  stationers, 
drapers,  grocers,  and  other  tradesmen  —all  estimable  persons 
no  doubt  in  their  way — he  has  only  himself  to  blame,  as  it  is 
due  to  his  adoption  of  thfflr  business  methods.  The  fact  of 
keeping  an  'open  shop  perhaps  still  entails  some  disad¬ 
vantage  from  a  social  point  of  view  at  the  outset,  and  it  is 
not  clear  that  this  disadvantage  can  be  entirely  neutralised 
in  the  pharmacist’s  case.  He  may,  however,  reduce  it  to  a 
minimum,  but  only  by  refraining  absolutely  from  the  methods 
of  other  shopkeepers.  If  he  is  content  with  the  results 
obtained  by  setting  out  his  shop  window  so  as  to  attract  the 
attention  of  passers-by  to  his  wares,  well  and  good.  But  he 
must  not  then  expect  to  take  rank  with  the  local  physician 
and  surgeon  who  scrupulously  dissociate  themselves  from 
everything  that  savours  in  the  least  of  self-advertise¬ 
ment.  On  the  other  hand,  by  carrying  the  true  professional 
spirit  into  all  his  dealings,  he  cannot  fail  to  establish  himself 
in  a  position  that  will  demand  and  secure  recognition  as 
effectively  as  in  the  case  of  any  other  professional  class.  It 
would  appear,  therefore,  that  to  those  who  value  social 
position  those  dizzy  heights  are  always  ’  open,  and  the 
elevation  to  which  they  may  attain  is  invariably  if  roughly 
commensurate  with  the  efforts  they  are  prepared  to  put  forth. 
The  ultimate  result,  as  already  remarked,  will  be  the  same  for 
all  men.  Meanwhile,  however,  he  who  is  not  above  such 
vanities,  has  the  way  clearly  marked  out  for  him  to  attain 
social  status  and  its  concomitant  advantages,  such  as  they  are. 


TELEGRAPHY  WITHOUT  WIRES. 

Nothing  more  remarkable  has  been  witnessed  during  the 
past  sixty  years  than  the  rapid  development  of  methods  of 
communication  by  the  aid  of  electricity,  but  it  is  safe  to  assume 
that  we  have  as  yet  but  touched  the  verge  of  the  subject.  The 
lecture  by  Mr.  W.  II.  Preece, reported  at  page  521,  brings  the 
record  up  to  date,  and  shows  that,  marvellous  as  past  progress 
has  been,  still  greater  marvels  may  be  looked  for,  whilst  some 
are  actually  on  the  point  of  practical  realisation.  The  chief 
difficulty  in  the  way  of  extending  telegraphic  communication 
to  many  places  has  been  due  to  physical  obstacles  prevent¬ 
ing  the  extension  of  the  necessary  wires.  These,  it 

is  now  shown,  can  be  dispensed  with  in  many 

instances.  To  take  the  case  of  Sark,  the  smallest  of  the 
four  principal  Channel  Islands,  it  has  up  to  the  present  been 
in  possession  of  no  system  of  telegraphic  communication 
with  the  outside  world.  But  this  undesirable  state  of  affairs 
will  soon  be  a  thing  of  the  past,  for  Mr.  Preece  is  about  to 
establish  the  new  Marconi  system  of  signalling  between 
Sark  and  Guernsey.  As  stated  by  Mr.  Preece  in  his 
lecture,  Marconi  messages  have  been  sent  between  Penarth 
and ’islands  in  the  Bristol  Channel,  more  than  five  miles  dis¬ 
tant,  and  there  seems  no  reason,  therefore,  why  Sark  should 
any  longer  be  in  the  position  of  frequent  isolation  from  the 
outside  world,  as  is  now  invariably  the  case  in  bad  weather. 


516 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL: 


[June  12,  189? 


ANNOTATIONS. 


Grocers  are  not  Attracted  by  the  P.  A.T.A.,  if  we  may  judge 
from  reports  of  meetings  that  have  come  to  hand,  and  perhaps, 
after  all,  there  may  be  little  reason  to  fear  trouble  resulting  from 
the  “  unholy  alliance”  which  is  so  strongly  denounced  by  Messrs. 
Atkinson,  Hyslop,  and  others.  The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that 
grocers  regard  the  whole  affair  as  an  attempt  to  induce  them  to 
help  chemists  to  recover  profits  that  have  been  thrown  away  or 
otherwise  lost  during  the  course  of  years,  and  they  fail,  therefore, 
to  see  that  the  matter  interests  them.  It  must  not  be  overlooked 
that  whilst  chemists  and  druggists  have  practically  built  up  the 
trade  in  proprietary  medicines  and  in  many  cases,  unfortunately,  have 
come  to  depend  upon  that  branch  of  their  business,  grocers  at  first 
took  up  the  sale  of  those  articles  as  profitable  extras  only,  whilst 
they  subsequently  found  that  to  offer  them  at  reduced  prices  acted  as 
an  inducement  to  customers.  At  the  present  time  this  alien  trade 
is  worth  little  or  nothing  to  grocers,  and  except  in  so  far  as  it  is  a 
convenience  to  their  customers  to  keep  a  stock  of  proprietary 
medicines,  they  would  probably  be  glad  to  get  rid  of  them  alto¬ 
gether  as  a  nuisance. 


At  a  Meeting  of  tiie  Blackburn  Grocers’  Association,  the 
Chairman,  in  commenting  on  the  receipt  of  a  letter  from  Mr.  Glyn- 
Jones,  said  he  did  not  see  why  the  members  of  the  Association 
should  go  out  of  their  way  to  assist  manufacturers  or  chemists  in 
fixing  prices  at  a  higher  rate  than  formerly.  Chemists  latterly 
had  not  been  friends  of  the  grocer,  and  if  they  wanted  to  go  hand 
in  hand  with  the  grocers,  they  must  make  concessions  to  the 
latter.  Another  speaker  said  that  in  years  gone  jby  chemists  had 
done  a  grand  trade.  They  had,  however,  cut  down  proprietary 
articles  until  their  profits  were  almost  nil,  and  now  they  were 
going  to  try  to  get  them  up  again.  He  did  not  see  why  grocers 
should  help  them.  The  tone  of  the  meeting  was  clearly 
indicated  by  these  speakers,  and  others  agreed  that  they  ought 
not  to  encourage  chemists  in  this  matter.  Chemists,  they  pointed 
out,  have  no  interest  in  the  prosperity  of  the  grocery  trade,  and 
ultimately  it  was  decided  by  those  present  not  to  join  the  new 
Association. 


At  Cardiff  again,  at  a  meeting  of  the  local  grocers’  associa¬ 
tion,  it  was  pointed  out  that  this  was  the  old  difficulty  over  again 
—that  of  the  regulation  of  prices — upon  which  a  great  many 
associations  had  already  split.  Utterance  was  given  to  the  fear 
that  this  anti-cutting  scheme  would  be  injurious  to  grocers,  from 
the  fact  that  a  chemist  would  be  able  to  substitute  articles  of  his 
own  preparation  in  lieu  of  many  proprietary  medicines,  and 
sell  them  at  prices  below  those  at  which  the  latter  could  be 
retailed.  The  Chairman  thought  the  scheme  was  fraught  with 
many  difficulties,  and  as  opinion  amongst  their  own  members  was  so 
divided,  he  suggested  that  the  less  they  had  to  do  with  it  the  better. 
One  member  did  not  see  that  there  was  a  great  deal  to  be  achieved  by 
the  scheme.  If  a  man  were  determined  to  cut,  cut  he  would,  and  he 
did  not  see  how  they  could  stop  him.  Before  they  could  regulate 
prices  they  must  get  every  grocer  and  chemist  unanimous  on  the 
subject.  Another  view  expressed  was  that  a  man  has  a  perfect 
right  to  conduct  his  business  according  to  his  own  ideas,  and  that 
if  grocers  tied  their  hands  by  joining  this  anti-cutting  associa¬ 
tion,  they  might  most  likely  have  next  door  to  them  a  cutting 
chemist  who  sold  many  of  the  articles  they  themselves  sold. 
Chemists  had  already  gone  into  the  tea  and  soap  trade,  and  sold 
pretty  nearly  everything  that  a  grocer  handled  ;  and  it  would  be 


next  to  madness  to  tie  their  hands  and  so  render  themselves 
incapable  of  competing  successfully  against  such  traders.  Finally, 
it  was  agreed  that  the  Association  should  strenuously  oppose  the 
scheme  proposed  by  the  Proprietary  Articles  Trade  Association,  and 
request  the  delegates  to  the  Liverpool  Conference  to  vote  against 
its  adoption. 


Some  Applications  of  Photography  were  illustrated  by  Mr. 
E.  J.  Wall  in  an  exceedingly  interesting  manner,  at  the  social 
evening  of  the  School  of  Pharmacy  Students’  Association,  held  on 
Friday,  J une  4.  The  lecture  assumed  the  narrowest  possible  limits, 
no  more  being  said,  in  fact,  than  was  required  to  explain  the  bearing 
upon  the  subject  of  the  numerous  lantern  slides  exhibited.  The 
great  dependence  of  modern  science  and  art  upon  photography  was 
clearly  exemplified,  and  all  who  witnessed  the  demonstration  were 
highly  delighted  with  the  evening’s  entertainment.  Mr.  Wall  is 
an  experienced  lecturer,  with  a  thorough  grasp  of  everything 
connected  with  photography,  and  doubtless  many  who  heard  him 
on  this  occasion  will  be  glad  to  have  a  further  opportunity  of 
listening  to  an  exposition  by  him  of  the  same  subject. 


Mr.  Alexander  Sutherland,  whose  death  we  regret  to  record, 
was  an  expert  linguist,  and  could  speak  and  read  several  European 
languages.  He  spent  some  years  in  Rangoon,  where  he  studied 
Chinese  and  other  Oriental  languages,  and  he  also  knew  Hebrew  and 
Syriac,  whilst  he  was  also  a  great  student  of  history,  philosophy,  and 
sociology.  This  was  all  in  addition  to  an  intimate  knowledge  of  prac¬ 
tical  pharmacy  and  materia  medica  and  a  more  than  average  know¬ 
ledge  of  chemistry  and  botany.  Though  of  a  bright,  genial,  and 
hopeful  temperament,  he  possessed  a  very  delicate  constitution, 
which  effectually  debarred  him  against  rising  to  the  dis¬ 
tinguished  position  which  his  talents  otherwise  would  assuredly 
have  secured  him.  Feeling  the  need  of  quietness  and  rest  he  retired 
about  a  year  ago  to  his  native  island  of  Unst,  the  most  northern 
of  the  Shetland  group,  where  he  opened  a  small  pharmacy,  the 
most  northerly  in  the  British  Isles.  But  he  had  to  struggle  with 
feeble  health,  and  he  died  somewhat  suddenly  of  chest  disease  on 
the  24th  ult.  His  address  as  President  of  the  Edinburgh  Chemists’ 
Assistants’  Association  in  1894  was  a  good  example  of  his  thoughtful 
mind  and  singularly  well-balanced  judgment.  From  time  to  time 
he  contributed  similar  papers  to  the  Association,  the  last  being  in 
1896,  on  “  The  Irreducible  Minimum — A  Study.” 


A  Sterilised  and  Humanised  Milk  Factory  has  been  erected 
at  Fodbank,  Dunfermline,  by  Mr.  G.  M.  Wilson,  who  has  secured 
the  right  to  manufacture  by  the  Gartner  patent  for  a  term  of  years, 
The  apparatus  employed  is  described  as  being  of  the  latest  and 
most  approved  type.  The  milk  arrives  at  the  works  from  neigh¬ 
bouring  farms  at  an  early  hour  in  the  morning,  and  before  a  drop 
of  it  is  put  through  the  sterilising  process  it  is  tested  to  see  that  it 
is  up  to  the  standard  of  quality  required.  After  the  testing  pro¬ 
cess  is  finished,  the  milk  is  hoisted  to  the  top  of  the  building,  and 
emptied  into  a  vat,  whence  it  descends  through  filters  to  the 
lower  floor,  and  is  there  bottled.  The  bottles  are  all  supplied  with 
hermetically  sealed  stoppers,  and  after  being  subjected  to  a  tem¬ 
perature  calculated  to  bring  about  complete  sterilisation  of  their 
contents,  they  are  put  through  a  cooling  process.  The  sterilised 
milk  is  simply  purified  by  complete  filtration,  and  rendered  aseptic 
by  the  heating  process,  but  the  humanised  milk  for  infants  also 
has  the  proportions  of  casein,  fat,  and  sugar  adjusted  to  a  definite 
standard, 


June  12,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


517 


Matrimony  and  the  Income  Tax  are  often  associated  and, 
in  future,  those  who  are  fortunate  enough  to  have  wives 
possessing  or  earning  an  income  will  have  cause  to  bless 
the  name  of  Bartley.  The  honourable  member  for  North  Islington 
is  not  unknown  to  fame,  but  his  latest  achievement  of  forcing 
upon  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  the  acceptance  of 
an  amendment  to  the  Finance  Bill  in  favour  of  married 
persons,  greatly  enhances  his  Parliamentary  reputation.  The  effect 
of  his  amendment  will  be  that  husbands  and  wives  earning  sepa¬ 
rate  incomes  aggregating  less  than  £500  a  year  will  be  allowed  to 
return  each  income  separately,  and  they  will  each  be  entitled  to 
claim  the  statutory  abatement  of  £160.  Hitherto  the  joint 
income  has  been  subject  to  only  one  deduction.  Mr.  Bartley  is 
making  his  success  known  through  the  medium  of  the  Press,  and 
we  cannot  grudge  him  his  perfectly  justifiable  pride  in  having 
triumphed. 

A  School  of  Ethics  for  London  would  seem  a  large  order,  but 
the  Daily  Telegraph  states  that  a  movement  is  on  foot  to  form  such 
a  school.  It  is  intended  to  do  for  ethics  and  social  philosophy 
in  London  what  existing  schools  of  economics  do  for  their  particular 
subject,  though  necessarily  upon  a  smaller  scale.  The  subjects  of 
the  lectures  will  embrace  psychology,  the  theory  and  history  of 
ethics,  political  philosophy,  the  history  of  political  theory,  and 
there  may  be  added  special  classes  for  the  study  of  the  great 
philosophical  classics.  It  is  anticipated  that  the  services  of 
lecturers  from  Oxford  and  Cambridge  Universities  would,  amongst 
others,  be  available,  and  it  has  been  suggested  that  the  proposed 
school  might  with  advantage  be  connected  with  some  one  or  other 
of  the  existing  colleges.  An  influential  general  committee  has 
been  formed,  and  steps  have  been  taken  to  ascertain  what  financial 
support  is  likely  to  be  forthcoming.  The  Hon.  Secretary  (pro  tem. ) 
is  Mr.  J.  H.  Muirhead,  30,  Aynhoe  Road,  West  Kensington,  W.  ; 
and  those  among  our  readers  who  are  burning  to  impose  business 
restrictions  upon  themselves,  in  the  form  of  so-called  ethical 
standards,  may  find  it  worth  their  while  to  communicate  with  him. 


The  Dietary  of  Cyclists  is  a  matter  of  considerable  import¬ 
ance,  and  it  is  interesting,  therefore,  to  note  the  opinion  of  Dr. 
Lucas  ChampionnRre,  of  Paris,  who  has  devoted  a  good  deal  of 
attention  to  the  medical  aspects  of  cycling,  with  regard  to  the 
food  taken  by  those  who  took  part  in  the  recent  Paris-Bordeaux 
contest.  The  competitors — Ri  viere  and  Cordang — did  not  eat  food 
containing  nitrogen,  and  they  were  right,  observes  Dr.  Champion- 
niere.  But  though  they  did  not  eat  they  drank  enormous  quantities 
of  liquid— tea,  beef-tea,  and  milk — to  replace  the  liquid  or  weight 
lost  by  perspiration.  It  is  useless,  he  says,  to  eat  during  violent 
exercise,  but  it  is  important  to  drink,  and  if  the  body  is  in  good 
working  order  the  only  result  of  the  effort  is  a  decrease  in  weight. 
The  British  Medical  Journal  thinks  this  is  right  as  regards  the 
quality  of  food  required  on  a  long-distance  contest. 


Poisoned  by  Buttercups  is  a  far  from  inconceivable  occur¬ 
rence,  though  the  Lancaster  coroner,  in  holding  an  inquiry  last 
week,  referred  to  such  an  instance  as  one  of  the  most  extra¬ 
ordinary  poisoning  cases  that  had  come  under  his  notice.  A  boy, 
aged  four,  named  William  Foxcroft,  ate  some  buttercups,  and 
died  in  a  few  hours  from  irritant  poisoning.  This  is  not  at  all 
surprising,  as  it  is  well  known  that  buttercups  belong  to  a  class  of 
plants  many  of  which  are  extremely  poisonouss.  Some  species, 
such  as  llanunculus  Jlammula  and  A.  sceleratus  are  known  to 
possess  vesicant  properties,  and  the  former  is  doubtless  often  fatal 
to  cattle, 


The  Age  of  the  Earth  as  an  Abode  Fitted  for  Life  was 
the  subject  of  a  recent  address  by  Lord  Kelvin,  who,  in  proceeding 
to  adduce  grounds  why  there  should  be  a  definite  beginning,  as 
there  would  be  a  definite  end,  to  this  world  as  an  abode  of  life, 
re-stated  a  number  of  arguments  he  had  brought  forward  thirty 
years  ago.  The  doctrine  of  uniformity  in  geology  shows  that  if 
heat  had  been  uniformly  conducted  out  of  the  earth  at  its  present 
yearly  rate  the  globe  twenty  thousand  million  years  ago  would 
have  been  a  molten,  if  not  a  gaseous,  mass.  Another  argument 
against  the  huge  lengths  of  time  required  by  the  older  geologists 
is  furnished  by  the  constantly  diminishing  velocity  of  the  earth’s 
rotation  owing  to  the  tides.  One  thousand  million  years  ago  the 
earth  was  revolving  faster  than  at  present,  and  consequently  the 
centrifugal  force  was  greater.  If  the  globe  had  become  con¬ 
solidated  when  travelling  at  this  faster  rate,  it  would  have 
possessed  greater  oblateness,  and  the  length  of  its  equatorial  radius 
would  have  been  six  and  a  half  kilometres  more  than  at  present. 
To  judge  by  the  properties  of  rocks  and  by  underground  tempera¬ 
tures,  the  date  of  the  solidification  of  the  earth  was  most  probably 
twenty  or  thirty  million  years  ago. 


As  to  the  Origin  of  the  Atmosphere,  at  the  time  of  solidi¬ 
fication  there  can  have  been  no  free  oxygen,  as  far  as  can 
be  seen,  and  no  chemical  reaction  by  which  it  would  be 
liberated.  Vegetable  life  and  sunlight  must  have  come  into 
play  to  prepare  the  atmosphere  in  the  course  of  a  few  hundred 
or  thousand  years.  A  serious  geological  question  is  the  mode 
of  production  of  the  ocean  depths  and  the  eminences  of  the 
continents.  Many  phenomena  are  doubtless  due  to  strain  on  cool¬ 
ing,  but  that  does  not  afford  sufficient  explanation  in  this  case. 
The  cause  is  probably  to  be  found  in  change  of  density  by  crystal¬ 
lisation.  Perhaps  the  strongest  argument  against  unlimited 
geological  time  is  afforded  by  consideration-  of  the  heat  of  the  sun, 
which,  according  to  the  most  recent  researches  and  corrections, 
may  have  illuminated  the  earth  for  somewhere  about  twenty 
million  years.  The  latest  geological  estimate  of  the  time  required 
for  the  formation  of  all  strata  since  the  beginning  of  the  Cambrian 
rocks  is  seventeen  million  years,  and  Lord  Kelvin  thinks  he  can 
scarcely  be  described  as  merely  a  malicious  physicist  trying  to 
curb  the  aspirations  of  the  biologists  when  he  says  that  the  earth 
cannot  have  been  a  habitable  globe  for  more  than  thirty  million 
years. 


The  Position  of  Naval  Storekeeper  is  a  subject  concerning 
which  readers  write  to  us  from  time  to  time,  and  a  recent  query 
on  the  subject  was  referred  to  a  correspondent  who  is  in  a  position 
to  speak  authoritatively  about  it.  Assistant  storekeepers, 
he  observes,  are  entered  between  the  age  of  eighteen  and 
twenty-one  years.  To  each  vacancy  the  average  number  of 
candidates  is  eight.  Nominations  are  not  required.  The 
examinations  are  competitive,  and  the  compulsory  subjects  are 
arithmetic,  English  composition,  writing,  dictation,  and  precis. 
The  voluntary  subjects  are  Latin,  French,  Euclid,  and  algebra. 
The  necessary  information  for  postal  tuition  and  their  fees  may 
be  obtained  from  the  Secretary,  King’s  College,  London.  All 
information  concerning  vacancies,  salaries,  etc.,  will  be  furnished 
on  application  to  the  Secretary,  Civil  Service  Commission 
Cannon  Row,  London.  There  are  some  fifteen  vacancies  for 
these  appointments  during  the  year,  under  the  designations  of 
assistant  cashiers,  assistantexpenseaccounts  officers,  assistant  naval 
storekeepers,  assistant  victualling  storekeepers.  The  salaries 
and  examinations  are  identical.  The  pay  is  progressive  by 
annual  increments  of  £10  up  to  £350,  unless  promotion  to  deputy 


518 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[June  12, 1897 


takes  place,  which  is  frequently  the  case,  when  it  begins  at  £350 
and  rises  to  £500,  afterwards  advancing  from  £500  to  £700  as  store¬ 
keepers,  etc. ,  and  finally  in  the  case  of  the  three  directors  from 
£800,  by  increments  of  £50  a  year,  to  £1000.  It  will  be  observed 
that  one  of  these  young  men  can  have  completed  four  years’ 
service  before  it  is  possible  for  the  dispenser  to  get  his  qualifica¬ 
tion  to  enable  him  to  enter.  The  dispenser’s  increase  of  pay  at 
the  end  of  five  years  is  £9,  so  that  the  assistant  storekeepers  and 
dispensers  at  twenty-seven  years  of  age  will  receive  £190  and  £109 
respectively.  A  dispenser  works  on  an  average  seventy  hours  a 
week  exclusive  of  night  work,  while  the  storekeeping  branch  does 
thirty-five  hours’  work  only  with  neither  night  nor  Sunday  duties. 


The  Museums  Association  is  amongst  the  first  to  hold  its 
annual  meeting  this  year,  and  the  programme  of  proceedings  is  an 
extremely  attractive  one.  On  Tuesday,  July  6,  the  reception  room 
at  the  University  Museum  will  be  open  from  12  to  6  p.m.,  and  the 
President,  in  Exeter  College,  invites  members  to  a  garden  party, 
from  9  to  12  p.m.  On  the  following  day  the  President  will  give  a 
brief  address  in  opening  the  Session,  the  reading  and  discussion  of 
papers  will  follow  in  the  theatre  of  the  Ashmolean  Museum,  and 
subsequently  visits  will  be  paid  to  the  various  museums  under  the 
guidance  of  the  respective  Curators.  The  day’s  business  will 
conclude  with  the  Association  dinner  at  7.30  p.m.  On  Thursday, 
July  8,  the  reading  and  discussion  of  papers  will  be  resumed  and 
visits  be  paid  to  museums  as  before,  whilst  Mr.  Arthur  J.  Evans 
and  Professor  P.  Gardner  invite  members  to  an  “At  Home”  in 
the  Ashmolean  Museum  in  the  evening.  On  the  last  day  of  the 
meeting  the  general  business  meeting  will  be  held.  The  Colleges, 
with  their  chapels,  halls,  and  gardens,  will  be  open  to  the  visitors, 
and  there  is  ample  opportunity  for  river  excursions.  Happy 
Curators  to  spend  so  pleasant  a  holiday  amid  such  interesting 
surroundings  ! 


The  British  Institute  of  Public  Health  announces  a  meeting 
to  be  held  in  the  Guildhall,  Londou,  on  Wednesday,  June  16,  at 
3  p.m.,  when  an  address  will  be  moved  to  the  Queen  in  connection 
with  the  great  progress  made  in  matters  relating  to  public  health 
during  the  past  sixty  years.  The  Lord  Mayor  of  London  will 
preside,  and  the  Sheriffs  are  expected  to  attend  in  state.  On  the 
four  Wednesdays  immediately  following,  the  Harben  lectures  will 
be  delivered  at  King’s  College,  London,  by  Dr.  G.  Sims  Woodhead, 
who  will  discuss  the  bearing  of  recent  bacteriological  investigations 
on  public  health  work,  especially  in  connection  with  the  diagnosis 
and  treatment  of  diphtheria,  the  stamping  out  of  tuberculosis,  and 
bacteriological  filtration. 


Fire-Resisting  Decorations  and  other  materials  made  from 
asbestos  have  recently  been  exhibited  in  St.  James’s  Hall,  the 
exhibition  having  been  organised  by  the  United  Asbestos 
Company  with  the  view  of  showing  how  such  disasters  as  that 
which  recently  befel  in  Paris  may  be  averted  by  the  use  in  public 
buildings  and  other  places  of  non-inflammable  substances  for 
constructive  and  decorative  purposes.  One  feature  in' the  display 
took  the  form  of  what  are  described  as  “  salamander  ”  decorations* 
in  tli  way  of  friezes,  dados,  ceilings,  and  the  like,  made  wholly 
from  asbestos,  while  specimens  were  also  shown  of  the  mineral  in 
its  crude  state.  A  great  variety  of  articles  made  of  this  substance 
were  exposed  to  the  action  of  flame,  and  showed  such  power  of 
resistance  as  to  demonstrate  conclusively  the  uninflammable 
character  of  the  material  employed. 


PARLIAMENTARY  NOTES  AND  NEWS- 


The  Excise  Licences  Bill  brought  before  the  House  of  Lords 
by  Viscount  Peel  is  a  valuable  addition  to  the  efforts  which  have, 
rather  too  spasmodically,  been  made  in  the  direction  of  statute 
law  revision  and  codification.  Viscount  Peel  thinks  that  there  is 
no  necessary  bond  of  union  between  legality  and  complexity,  and 
he  has,  therefore,  identified  himself  with  the  task  of  drafting  a  Bill 
which  shall  weld  together  in  one  harmonious  whole  the  surviving 
clauses  of  some  seventy-five  statutes,  ancient  and  modern,  relating 
to  the  duties  payable  on  excise  licences.  The  magnitude  of  the 
task  is  faintly  conveyed  by  the  mention  (in  a  schedule  to  the  Bill) 
of  the  enactments  to  be  repealed,  and  it  may  serve  as  the  measure 
by  which  one  may  judge  the  practical  need  for  consolidation. 

No  Amendment  of  the  Law  is  attempted  in  the  Bill,  nor  does 
it  deal  with  the  vexed  question  of  licensing  by  justices.  The 
clauses  are  arranged  in  five  parts  ;  in  fact,  they  seem  to  separate 
naturally  into  that  arrangement.  Part  I.  deals  with  general 
regulations  applicable  to  all  excise  licences — form  of  licences,  etc. 
Part  II.  treats  of  regulations  affecting  licences  for  trades  and  manu¬ 
factures  generally,  for  example,  transfers,  definition  of  retailing, 
provision  as  to  partnerships,  plurality  of  premises,  and  so  forth. 
Part  III.  takes  more  specific  ground,  and  occupies  itself 
with  particular  trade  licences,  such  as  those  for  stamped 
medicines,  methylated  spirit,  stills,  sweets,  vinegar-making,  and 
the  sale  of  wines.  Part  IV.  has  for  its  scope  all  excise  licences 
other  than  those  relating  to  trade,  e.  g. ,  dog,  establishment,  and 
gun  licences.  Part  V.  is  supplemental,  and  “rounds  off”  the 
admirable  compilation  of  fragmentary  statutes  by  bringing 
together  the  various  regulations  as  to  forms,  notices,  and  registers 
in  respect  to  certain  licences.  Those  who  make  the  nation’s  laws 
sometimes  confer  doubtful  benefits  in  the  exercise  of  their  legis¬ 
lative  functions,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  man  who  has 
succeeded  in  evolving  form  and  lucidity  from  the  chaos  of  excise 
enactments  is  entitled  to  rank  among  the  foremost  of  public  bene¬ 
factors. 


The  Select  Committee  on  the  Companies  Bill  has  been 
resting  some  time  now,  and  there  is  no  present  indication  of 
resuming.  The  evidence  already  taken  this  session  has  been  almost 
entirely  legal,  and  the  effect  of  it  has  apparently  been  to  lead  the 
Committee  to  seek  refuge  from  its  embarrassments  in  a  term  of 
“masterly  inactivity.”  Efforts  have  been  made  to  approach  the 
Committee  with  reference  to  the  protection  of  personal  qualifica¬ 
tions,  but  everything  points  to  the  fact  that  in  the  amendment  of  the 
Companies  Acts  the  Board  of  Trade  has  undertaken  a  much  harder 
task  than  it  can  possibly  carry  through,  at  any  rate  this  Session. 


The  Copyright  Amendment  Bill  has  passed  its  second  reading 
in  the  Upper  House,  and  now  awaits  consideration  by  a  Select 
Committee.  The  members  of  the  Committee  will  be  Viscount 
Knutsford  and  Lords  Hatherton,  Tennyson,  Monkswell,  Hobhouse, 
Thring,  Farrer,  Welby,  and  Pirbright. 


Licensing  (Scotland)  Acts  Amendment  Bill. — Any  chemist 
can  obtain  from  the  pages  of  his  Pharmaceutical  Journal 
abundant  evidence  that  the  Pharmacy  Act  is  not  the  same 
public  protection  in  Scotland  as  it  is  in  England,  and  the 
difference  in  legal  procedure  between  two  portions  of  the  same 
country  has  now  revealed  another  disadvantage,  in  reference 
to  the  sale  of  alcoholic  beverages  during  prohibited  hours.  It  is 
possible,  it  seems,  for  Glasgow  shopkeepers  (one  does  not  know 
whether  they  are  chemists)  to  sell,  even  on  the  Sabbath,  British 
wines  or  “  sweets  ”  containing  as  much  as  27  per  cent,  of  alcohol. 
In  fact,  the  inhabitants  of  the  second  city  of  the  empire  are  said  to 
be  developing  quite  an  unpatriotic  taste  for  British-made  and 
Sunday-bought  wines.  Neither  the  Procurator  Fiscal,  the  police, 
nor  the  Inland  Revenue  authorities  can  stop  this  irregular  Sunday 
traffic,  for  “  sweets  ”  in  Scotland  are  not  “  excisable  liquors  ” 
within  the  meaning  of  the  licensing  laws.  The  Amendment  Bill 
now  introduced  proposes  to  check  the  recently-discovered  evil  by 
assimilating  the  law  in  Scotland  to  that  in  England,  and  providing 
that  licences  for  the  sale  of  sweets  and  made  wines  shall  only  be 
given  in  conformity  with  a  magistrate’s  certificate  previously 
obtained.  The  certificate  would  prohibit  the  Sunday  sale  of  the 
27  per  cent,  of  alcohol,  and  would,  it  is  hoped,  save  Glasgow  fropi 
pioral  deterioration, 


June  12,  1897] 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


519 


THE  WORLD  OF  PHARMACY. 


British  Pharmaceutical  Conference  (Executive  Com¬ 
mittee),  Wednesday,  June  2. — Dr.  Symes,  President,  in  the  chair. 

• — The  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  were  read  and  confirmed. 
—By  the  kindness  of  the  Local  Secretary  a  printed  copy  of  social 

Arrangements  oe  the  Glasgow  Meeting 

was  submitted  and  considered,  and  with  one  or  two  suggested  altera¬ 
tions,  approved.  It  was  briefly  as  follows  : — Monday,  August  9, 
reception  by  the  President  at  8  p.m.  at  the  Corporation  Art  Gal¬ 
leries,  to  be  followed  by  a  conversazione. — Tuesday,  August  10, 
opening  meeting  of  Conference  in  the  hall  of  the  Grand  Hotel  at  10 
.a.m.,  when  a  welcome  will  be  given  by  the  Honourable  the  Lord 
Provost,  to  be  succeeded  by  the  Presidential  address  and  the 
reading  and  discussion  of  papers.  Luncheon  will  be  provided 
at  1  p.m.  on  this  and  the  day  following  at  the  Grand  Hotel,  which 
will  be  the  headquarters  of  the  Conference.  The  reading  of  papers 
will  be  resumed  at  2  p.m.,  and  at  4 o’clock  there  will  be  an 
.excursion  to  Loch  Lomond. — On  Wednesday,  June  11,  the  sessions 
of  the  Conference  will  be  resumed  at  10,  and  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  afternoon  sitting  it  is  proposed  to  drive  to  the  Glasgow 
Corporation  Waterworks  at  Mugdock.  In  the  evening  there  will 
be  a  smoking  concert  and  a  drawing-room  entertainment  at  the 
same  hour. — As  usual  Thursday  will  be  devoted  to  the  excursion, 
which  is  to  take  the  form  of  a  day’s  cruise  on  the  Firth  of  Clyde, 
the  Western  lochs,  and  through  the  Kyles  of  Bute. — A  list  of 
officers  for  the  ensuing  year  was  drafted  for  recommendation  to  the 
general  meeting. — It  was  announced  that  Mr.  W.  E.  Smith  of 
Ootacamund  had  consented  to  act  as  honorary  secretary  for 
Madras. — Thirty  gentlemen  having  been  duly  nominated,  were 
elected  to  membership. 

Midland  Pharmaceutical  Association,  Thursday,  June 
3,  Mr.  F.  J.  Gibson,  President,  in  the  chair. — The  annual  general 
meeting  of  the  members  of  this  Association  was  held  at  the  Grand 
Hotel,  Birmingham  — The  Council  submitted  a  detailed  report  of 

The  Work  of  the  Year, 

and  accompanying  it  a  reprint  of  Dr.  T.  Wilson’s  paper  entitled 
“  Doctors  and  Medicine  Men,”  which  was  read  before  the  members 
on  February  9.  The  report  of  the  Trade  Committee  contained  in 
the  document  has  appeared  in  a  recent  issue  of  the  Journal. — The 
Hon.  Librarian  (Mr.  J.  Barclay)  in  his  report  stated  that  the 
>  Council  desired  to  express  the  best  thanks  of  the  Association  to  the 
donors  of  books.  During  the  year  there  had  been  added  the 
Pharmaceutical  Journal  (presented  by  the  Pharmaceutical  Society), 

‘  Calendar  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  ’  (ditto),  ‘  Year  Book  of 
Pharmacy,  1896  ’  (presented  by  the  Pharmaceutical  Conference), 
and  J.  Mitchell  Bruce’s  ‘  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics  ’ 
(presented  by  the  Hon.  Librarian). — In  moving  the  adoption 
of  the  report  the  President  said  that  it  was  so  full  that 
it  did  not  require  any  words  of  his  to  bring  it  to  their 
notice.  They  had  held  nine  meetings  altogether,  including 
the  annual  supper.  The  opening  meeting  and  the  ball  were  very 
successful  and  enjoyable,  and  the  papers  read  by  Mr.  Barclay, 
Mr.  Liverseege,  and  Mr.  Alcock  were  important  ones. 
The  paper  read  by  Dr.  Wilson  was  thought  so  important  by 
the  Council  that  they  decided  to  print  it  in  full. —  Mr. 
A.  Southall  seconded  the  motion,  and  said  that  he  was 
pleased  to  see  they  had  been  rather  more  successful  than  usual, 
but  still  the  scientific  part  of  the  work  did  not  go  down  quite  as 
well  as  it  ought.  They  wanted  a  little  more  power  in  compelling 
the  students  to  work.  When  they  got  the  curriculum  he  supposed 
they  would  do  better  in  that  way,  but  that  seemed  to  be  far  off 
yet.  Parliament  was  so  much  engaged  with  other  matters  that 
they  found  it  difficult  to  get  heard  at  all  in  the  House  of  Commons. 
A  fresh  feature  in  the  report  was  the  record  of  the  doings  of  the 
Trade  Committee.  That  body  seemed  to  have  done  good  work, 
and  Birmingham  had  been  honoured  by  one  of  their  members 
being  elected  President  for  the  year.  The  members  of  theP.A.T.A. 
had  already  shown  their  power  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Society’s 
Council  election.  Mr.  Carteighe,  one  of  the  most  popular  men  in 
the  Society,  occupied  an  unusually  low  position  in  the  voting  list 
because  he  had  not  joined  theP.A.T.A.  He  hoped  that  experience 
might  prove  of  use  in  getting  him  to  join  the  movement.  At 
t  resent  the  members  of  the  Association  were  comparatively  few, 


but  chemists  were  very  backward.  If  they  combined  in  larger 
numbers  the  Association  might  become  a  great  power  in  the  country, 
and  instead  of  losing  on  the  sale  of  proprietary  articles  they  might 
be  able  to  make  a  small  profit. — Mr.  Weaver  supported  the  motion. 
— Mr.  C.  Thompson  said  that  as  an  old  secretary  he  thought  the 
present  report  was  one  of  the  best  that  had  been  sent  out,  at  all 
events,  for  something  like  sixteen  or  seventeen  years.  It  was 
one  of  the  most  complete  they  had  had,  and  from  what  he  had 
heard  during  the  last  few  days  whilst  going  round  Birmingham 
on  business  connected  with  the  Benevolent  Fund,  it  had  given 
general  satisfaction,  and  would  be  the  means  of  getting  them  new 
members.  He  had  already  booked  three  new  members  from  the 
fact  that  through  the  report  they  saw  the  Association  was  doing 
good  work.  He  desired  to  point  out  that  the  Ball  balance  of 
£6  3,5.  9c?.  could  very  well  be  increased  to  £26  if  the 
stewards  threw  a  little  more  energy  into  their  duties, 
and  did  not  leave  the  whole  of  the  work  to  be  performed  by  two 
or  three.  There  was  no  reason  why  the  Ball  should  not  become  a 
valuable  asset  of  the  Association.  There  was  no  mention  in  the  re¬ 
port  of  the  recreation  section.  He  had  the  cricketing  requisites,  and 
would  be  pleased  to  hand  them  over  at  any  time.  Sufficient  interest 
had  not  been  shown  in  the  section  by  the  members  to  warrant 
the  arrangement  of  matches.  He  saw  no  reason  why,  in  this 
jubilee  year,  they  should  not  go  a  little  outside  their 
ordinary  course  and  hold  a  garden  party  or  some¬ 
thing  of  the  kind,  and  with  a,  little  energy  they  might  very 
well  organise  excursions  during  the  summer  months. — The  report 
having  been  agreed  to,  Messrs.  F.  H.  Prosser  and  H.  Shorthouse, 
who  acted  as  scrutineers,  handed  in 

The  Voting  Papers, 

which  showed  that  the  retiring  members  of  the  Council 
were  re-elected  with  the  exception  that  Mr.  F.  Smith  took 
the  place  of  Mr.  Jarvis  for  Handsworth,  and  Mr.  G.  John¬ 
son  that  of  Mr.  Winfield  for  North  Warwickshire. — Mr.  A. 
C.  Weaver  moved  “That  the  best  thanks  of  the  Associa¬ 
tion  be  given  to  those  firms  who  have  supported  the  P.A.T.A. 
movement.”  He  thought  when  they  got  gentlemen  like  Mr. 
Southall  in  sympathy  with  that  movement  that  it  was  making 
great  headway  towards  achieving  the  object  they  desired  to  accom¬ 
plish.  He  thought  if  they  were  all  united  in 

An  Association  Like  the  P.A.T.A. 

they  would  be  able  to  carry  on  their  businesses  much  better 
than  under  the  present  conditions.  No  doubt  what  had 
fallen  from  Mr.  Southall  would  have  some  weight  in  inducing 
members  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Association  to  join  the  movement. 
— Mr.  G.  H.  Brunt  seconded  the  resolution,  and  said  that  he  thought 
the  action  of  the  Midland  Pharmaceutical  Association  in 
supporting  the  P.A.T.A.  had  met  with  the  approval 
of  the  whole  of  the  retail  trade.  He  thought  all 
those  who  benefited  by  the  action  of  the  Association 
ought  to  support  that  and  the  P.A.T.A.  also. — The  President  said 
that  all  the  firms  who  had  joined  that  movement  were  deserving 
of  their  best  thanks.  Those  of  them  who  were  in  the  retail  trade 
knew  what  difficulties  they  laboured  under,  and  they  wanted  to 
get  a  profit  if  they  could,  and  as  far  as  he  could  see,  there  was  no 
means  of  getting  it  except  through  the  P.A.T.A.  The  Pharma¬ 
ceutical  Journal  thought  it  was  undesirable  they  should  combine 
with  grocers,  but  they  were  not  combining  with  grocers  who  sold 
drugs,  only  those  who  sold  articles  everyone  could  sell  by  paying 
five  shillings  a  year  to  the  Government.  At  the  present  time  many 
of  those  articles  were  being  sold  at  cost  price,  and  some  for  less, 
and  if  theP.A.T.A.  became  strong  enough  to  alter  that  state  of 
things  it  was  worthy  of  their  support.  The  resolution  was  carried. 

• — Mr.  C.  Thompson  moved  that  the  incoming  Council  should  be 
instructed  to  reconsider  Rule  6,  having  reference  to 

The  Interviewing  of  Candidates 

in  the  various  Parliamentary  Divisions.  The  motion  was 
seconded  by  Mr.  Prosser  and  agreed  to. — Mr.  G.  E.  Perry 
proposed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  President  and  officers  for  their 
services  during  the  year.  He  said  that  the  report  this  year 
showed  decided  elements  of  progress.  The  year  had  not  been  a 
very  busy  one,  but  they  had  every  reason  to  congratulate  them¬ 
selves.  They  were  moving  onwards  and  that  was  something  to  say 
for  pharmacy. — Mr.  W.  Scott  seconded  the  proposition,  which  was 
carried. — The  President  briefly  replied. 


520 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


[June  12, 1897 


The  Annual  Supper. 

was  held  later  in  the  evening,  when  Mr.  Gibson  took  the  chair. 
The  toast  of  “  The  Queen”  having  been  loyally  honoured,  Mr.  C. 
Thompson  (local  secretary)  proposed— 

“The  Pharmaceutical  Society’s  Benevolent  Fund.” 

He  said  it  was  quite  unnecessary  for  him  to  say  very  much  as 
to  what  that  valuable  Fund  was  doing  for  pharmacists  and  their 
widows,  as  it  was  so  well  known  to  all  present.  He  was  pleased  to 
say  that  Birmingham  had  done  fairly  well  so  far  with  subscriptions, 
though  not  so  well  as  Manchester  and  Liverpool.  Fifteen  of  the 
old  subscribers  had  doubled  their  subscriptions,  there  were  twenty- 
five  new  ones,  and  three  donations.  As  the  time  had  been 
extended  to  the  end  of  June  before  the  special  Jubilee 
Fund  was  closed,  he  sincerely  hoped  and  believed  that  the 
list  would  be  considerably  increased.  —  Mr.  A.  Southall, 
in  responding,  urged  all  to  give  a  subscription,  and  said 
it  was  the  half-crown  and  five  shilling  subscribers  that 
he  wished  to  see  increased,  as  he  thought  every  chemist  should 
give  something.  He  also  urged  the  claims  of  the  Orphan  Fund.— 
Dr.  T.  Wilson  proposed 

“The  Midland  Pharmaceutical  Association.” 

Having  expressed  the  pleasure  he  had  in  being  present,  he  said 
that  anything  which  tended  to  bring  pharmacists  and  the  medical 
profession  together  was  a  step  in  the  right  direction.  He  knew 
their  Association  was  doing  its  best,  and  he  was  pleased  to  find 
the  members  combining  to  get  just  rewards  for  their  labours. 
In  his  profession  they  were  doing  the  same,  and  by  com¬ 
bination  they  could  do  a  good  deal.  It  was  necessary  in 
these  days  that  Associations  such  as  that  should  exist. — The 
President  in  responding,  thanked  Dr.  Wilson  for  the 
kind  way  in  which  he  had  referred  to  the  Association.  They  were 
trying  to  cultivate  a  closer  union  between  the  medical  profession 
and  pharmacists,  and  they  were  also  doing  the  best  they  could  for 
their  members.  There  remained  much  to  be  done,  and  he  hoped 
the  members  would  give  the  Council  their  loyal  support  in  the 
work  in  which  they  were  engaged. — The  proceedings  were 
enlivened  by  an  excellent  musical  programme. 


Edinburgh  District  Chemists’  Trade  Association, 

Monday,  June  7.— Mr.  John  Bowman,  President,  in  the  chair. — 
The  fifth  annual  meeting  of  the  Association  was  held  in  the  Phar¬ 
maceutical  Society’s  House,  36,  York  Place,  Edinburgh.  The 
minutes  of  last  meeting  were  read  and  approved. — The  Honorary 
Secretary  (Mr.  C.  F.  Henry)  read  the 

Annual  Report  and  Financial  Statement. 

The  membership  remained  sixty-five,  as  last  year.  There  was 
nothing  specially  eventful  to  record.  During  the  year  the  Asso¬ 
ciation  had  instituted  an  exchange  among  members  of  out-of-the 
way  articles  and  proprietaries,  which  were  only  sent  out  in  fairly 
large  quantities,  although  retailers  often  wanted  only  a  small 
quantity.  The  plan  had  been  found  useful  so  far.  It  had 
been  suggested  that  the  scheme  should  be  extended  to 
include  certain  proprietary  medicines  which  could  be  pur¬ 
chased  on  more  favourable  terms  in  large  quantities,  but  the 
Committee  after  due  consideration  did  not  consider  it  advisable  to 
enlarge  the  scope  in  this  way.  The  annual  excursion  to  Loch 
Lomond  in  conjunction  with  western  pharmacists  had,  not¬ 
withstanding  unfavourable  weather,  been  very  pleasant  and 
financially  successful.  The  fourteenth  annual  ball  had  also  been 
successfully  carried  out,  and  showed  a  small  balance.  The 
financial  statement  showed  an  income  of  £129,  and  an  expenditure 
of  £120,  and  with  the  balance  from  last  year  there  was  now  a 
balance  of  £56  9s.  9 cL.  in  favour  of  the  Association.  — On  the  motion 
of  Mr.  McLaren,  seconded  (by  Mr.  MacDougall  the  report 
was  unanimously  adopted. — The  Chairman  said  they  had 
now  to  consider  what  should  be  done  with  the  balance 
in  hand.  This  was  the  year  of  Jubilee  celebration  of  Her 
Majesty’s  record  reign,  and  there  had  been  some  suggestion  that 
they  mi uht  signalise  the  occasion  by  increasing  considerably  the 
sum  to  be  voted  to  the  Benevolent  Fund  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society.  It  was  for  the  members  now  to  say  what  they  thought  in 
regard  to  the  matter. — Mr.  Lunan  moved  and  Mr.  McLaren 
seconded  that  the  Association  give  £5  5s.  to  the  Benevolent  Fund 
and  £2  2s.  to  the  Orphan  Fund  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society. 
The  motion  was  unanimously  agreed  to. — The  Chairman  reported 
that  all  the  arrangements  had  been  completed  for  the  annual 


excursion  to  St.  Mary’s  Loch  on  Thursday,  10th  inst.,  and 
it  was  expected  that  about  100  would  be  there.— After 
discussion  Mr.  McLaren  withdrew  a  motion  to  separate  the 
offices  of  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  of  which  he  had  given  notice. 
— On  tjie  motion  of  Mr.  Henry,  seconded  by  Mr.  Lunan,  it  was 
agreed  to  appoint  a  committee  to  consider  and  report  to  next 
meeting  as  to  the  desirability  of  offering  a  prize  or  prizes  to  be 
competed  for  by  assistants  or  apprentices  as  a  means  of  advan¬ 
tageously  expending  some  portion  of  the  Association’s  funds.  The 
President,  Vice-President,  Secretary,  and  Messrs.  Burley  and 
Lunan  were  appointed  a  Special  Committee  for  this  purpose.  The 
following  office-bearers  were  elected  for  next  year  : — John  Bow¬ 
man,  President ;  David  MacLaren,  Vice-President ;  Claude  F. 
Henry,  1,  Brandon  Terrace,  Hon.  Secretary  and  Treasurer  ;  and 
Messrs.  Anderson,  Boa,  Forret,  Glass,  R.  L.  Hendry,  D.  McGlashan, 
J.  McGlashan,  \\  ylie,  Smith,  Macpherson,  McDougall,  and  Lunan, 
as  members  of  Committee.  The  meeting  closed  with  a  vote  of 
thanks  to  the  retiring  office-bearers,  and  especially  to  the  Secre¬ 
tary  for  the  diligence  and  zeal  with  which  he  had  discharged  the 
duties  during  the  year. 


Edinburgh  Chemists’,  Assistants,’  and  Apprentices^ 
Association,  Friday,  June  4. — More  than  thirty  members  left 
Caledonian  Station  for  Colinton  by  the  8.30  p.m.  train  for  the  first 
botanical  excursion  of  the  season.  Mr.  Duncan,  who  was  to  con¬ 
duct  the  excursion,  was  not  able  to  go  all  the  way,  but  his  place 
was  ably  filled  by  Mr.  C.  A.  Macpherson.  The  weather  was  very 
cold  for  the  season,  and  vegetation  generally  was  much  behind, 
but  the  outing  was  greatly  enjoyed  by  all  who  attended.  The 
route  was  by  Colinton  Dell  and  Redliall,  returning  by  Slateford.  The 
following  were  gathered  in  flower  : — Ranunculus  ficaria,  R.  bulbosus. 
Gardavnne  pratensis,  Sinapis  arvensis,  Viola  canina,  Lychnis  diuma, 
Stellaria  holostea,  Ulex  europceus,  Cytisus  scoparius,  Orobtis- 
tuberosus,  Geum  urbanum,  G.  rivale,  G.  intermedium,  Alchemilla 
vulgaris,  Sanicula  europcea,  Anthriseus  temulentum,  Valeriana 
pyrenaica,  Doronicum  pardalianches,  Symphytum  tuberosum,  Vero¬ 
nica  chamiedrys,  Lamium  album,  Primula  vulgaris,  Mercurialis- 
perennis,  Urtica  dioica,  Gonvallaria  majalis,  Agraphis  nutans, 
Allium  ursinum,  and  Luzula  sylvatica. 


Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Ireland  (Meeting  of  the 
Council),  Wednesday,  June  2. —Mr.  W.  F.  Wells,  Junior,  Presi¬ 
dent,  in  the  chair. — A  letter  was  read  from  Mr.  Charles  Evans, 
thanking  the  Council  for  its  kindness  in  asking  him  to  withdraw 
his  resignation,  but  declining  to  do  so. — On  the  motion  of  Mr. 
Conyngham,  seconded  by  Mr.  Whitla,  the  resignation  was 
accepted  with  great  regret. — On  the  motion  of  Mr.  Grindley,, 
seconded  by  the  Vice-President,  Mr.  William  D.  Porter,M.P.S.I., 
of  Phipsborough,  near  Dublin,  was  co-opted  a  member  of  Council 
in  the  room  of  Mr.  Evans. 

Futile  Prosecutions, 

A  letter  from  the  Under-Secretary,  Dublin  Castle,  intimated - 
that  the  Lord  Lieutenant  had  reduced  the  fine  imposed  on 
the  Enniscorthy  Co-operative  Agricultural  Society,  Limited, 
for  an  unlawful  sale  of  sheep  dip,  from  £5  to  £3. — The  President 
said  it  seemed  to  him  that  there  was  really  very  little  use  in- 
the  Society  spending  time  and  money  in  prosecuting  at 
all.  The  Castle  authorities  seemed  determined  that  law¬ 
breakers  should  go  scot-free. — Professor  Tichborne  :  Do  they  give 
any  reason? — President:  No  reason  whatever.  Lately  a  poor 
ignorant  woman  was  fined  £5  for  selling  ether,  but  neither  the 
magistrates  nor  the  Castle  had  any  pity  on  her. — Mr.  Bernard: 
Did  she  appeal  to  have  the  penalty  reduced  ? — President  :  No. 
The  law  was  carried  out  in  her  case  because  she  sold  a  thing  that 
affected  the  excise.  In  the  Enniscorthy  Company  case  the  Inspector 
of  Police  stated  that  as  much  arsenic  was  sold  as  would  poison- 
1600  people.  That  prosecution  cost  us  £12,  and  we  get  £2.  I 
told  a  magistrate  in  England  a  few  of  the  cases  that  have  come 
under  our  notice,  and  he  could  hardly  credit  that  such 
things  were  allowed  to  happen  in  this  country. — Mr.  Bernard  : 
Was  he  an  Irish  magistrate  ? — President  :  No ;  an  English 
magistrate.  —  Mr.  Bernard  :  He  would  want  to  be 
Irish  in  order  to  understand  this  country. — Mr.  Conyng¬ 
ham  said  he  did  not  see  why  they  should  waste 
the  funds  of  their  licentiates  for  the  benefit  of  the  Govern¬ 
ment.- — The  President  said  the  Chairman  of  the  company  in 
question  was  one  of  the  magistrates,  and  he  had  not  the  manliness 
to  sign  the  defendant’s  memorial,  but  let  the  Vice-Chairman,. 


June  12,  1897 


PHARMACEUTICAL  JOURNAL. 


521 


•whose  name  was  Codd,  sign  it.  The  Secretary’s  name  was  Death. 
The  whole  proceeding  meant  “  death  ”  to  the  Society  and  a 
codd”  to  the  law. 

Apothecaries  as  Pharmaceutical  Chemists. 

Dr.  Arthur  Henry  Hadden,  proprietor  of  the  Medical  Hall, 
Wexford,  applied  to  be  registered  as  a  pharmaceutical  chemist. 
His  letter  stated  that  he  was  a  fully  qualified  medical  man,  and 
also  held  by  examination  the  degree  of  the  Apothecaries’  Hall, 
Dublin.  He  also  enclosed  a  declaration  of  apprenticeship  to  a 
pharmaceutical  chemist.  In  the  course  of  discussion  it  was 
stated  that  at  the  Apothecaries’  Hall  medical  men  were  being 
registered  who  had  no  practical  experience  in  pharmacy,  and  also 
that  they  were  not  being  registered  under  the  Act  of  1791, 
which  is  specially  referred  to  in  the  clause  of  the  Pharmacy  Act 
that  authorises  the  registration  of  apothecaries. — It  was 
resolved,  on  the  motion  of  the  Vice-President,  seconded  by  Mr. 
Grindley,  that  Dr.  Hadden’s  application  should  not  be 
acceded  to  unless  he  could  show  that  he  was  a  licentiate 
■of  the  Apothecaries’  Hall  under  the  Act  of  1791,  and 
also  pending  a  reply  from  the  Apothecaries’  Hall  to  a  deputa¬ 
tion  from  the  Council. — A  letter  from  Mr.  Alexander  Knox 
McIntyre,  Official  Assignee  of  the  Irish  Bankruptcy  Court, 
.stated  in  reference  to  the  appointment  under  that  Court  of 
a  general  manager  over  the  business  of  an  arranging  debtor, 
who  was  a  registered  druggist  and  qualified  to  sell  poisons, 
that  the  principal  business  of  the  debtor  was  hardware,  and  that 
the  manager  would  not  be  allowed  to  interfere  in  his  drug  depart¬ 
ment,  the  business  of  which  would  continue  to  be  looked  after  by 
.the  debtor  himself. — Mr.  A.  L.  Doran  was  re-elected  Examiner  in 
Pharmaceutical  and  General  Chemistry. — Other  business  having 
Been  disposed  of,  the  Council  adjourned. 


Plymouth,  Devonport,  Stonehouse  and  District 
Chemists’  Association,  Wednesday,  June  2. — The  annual 
outing  of  this  Association  was  attended  by  a  party  of  seventy,  who 
mustered  at  Millbay  and  Devonport  stations,  le